Pursuit of the Truth

However, that face was slightly incomplete and faint. It was not very clear.

Anyone who looked at it could only vaguely see the old man’s face rife with disbelief and shock, but it was difficult for this hump on the ground to gain corporeal form. It remained in a state where it continued shifting between illusion and reality.

Bang!

The tombstone shattered, and the hump crumbled. Once Su Ming’s body gathered together, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood with a pale face. An expression of pity that the Art did not work appeared on his face.

As the hump fell apart, the body of the old True Guard inside was revealed. In just those short few breaths, the old man had become much thinner, and his eyes had sank into his face deeply. In fact, even his power of World Planes had been reduced by a third.

At the same time shock appeared in his eyes, there was also anger and lingering fear.

’What is this divine ability?! It’s clearly incomplete. If this Art was completed, then its might would have been incredibly terrifying. This person… cannot be captured alive. He must be killed!’

The sight of Su Ming executing Earthen Script where he covered the old man and turned himself into a grave not only shocked the old man, but also made the pupils of the other eight people shrink. To them, this strange Art definitely did not belong to any of the divine abilities from the four Great True Worlds.

”The alien race’s Art. This is… the alien race’s Art!”

Just as someone from among the eight said these words, the nine-colored net expanded endlessly before shrinking swiftly towards Su Ming so that it could trap him within.

At that moment, ripples immediately spread out from Su Ming’s retreating body. Those ripples instantly covered him, so he disappeared from the nine people’s eyes with a hum, right at the instant he was to be trapped by the net.

”Shifting!”

As the nine people’s expressions changed, they immediately noticed that Su Ming had appeared right at the core of the ocean of wind, which was thousands of feet away from them, and also where the eye of the typhoon was.

”After him!”

The nine people moved and turned into nine long arcs that charged towards Su Ming, who was at the eye of the typhoon thousands of feet away. These people could close the distance of several thousands of feet within a single breath.

Yet almost at the instant they begun to charge over, Su Ming, who had appeared beside the eye of the typhoon, took a step in while withstanding the powerful gusts of wind in the area. Once he walked in, he turned his head around and cast a glance at the nine incoming people. There was still blood at the corners of his lips, which he had not wiped off because he did not have time. When he turned his head around to look, a freezing glare shone in his eyes.

”Relocation hole? Damn it! Why is there a relocation hole here?!”

”Absolutely do not let him escape! We can’t capture him alive, we must kill him!”

The nine people were True Guards and also powerful warriors in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. Their knowledge of the world was naturally extraordinary. At that moment, once they saw Su Ming’s action, they immediately saw the strange properties of the eye of the typhoon.

”I’ve prepared a huge gift for all of you.”

As Su Ming laughed coldly, he moved his body completely into the eye of the typhoon. As his body became obscure, the ground of the entire Heavenly Treasure Planet suddenly started trembling violently.

Bang!

A pillar of air about tens of thousands of feet thick shot up from a spot in the ground. When the entire Heavenly Treasure Planet trembled once more, the second pillar of air that was tens of thousands of feet thick rose up from the ground.

The wave of impact and the destructive presence that was formed by these pillars of air swept through all the world, causing the nine True Guards’ expressions to change abruptly. The ground collapsed beyond the spot where Su Ming was rapidly disappearing into the eye of the typhoon, and a pillar of light that brought with it a destructive presence erupted swiftly.

At the instant the pillar of light shot into the air, the nine True Guards retreated without any hesitation. One of them had slowed down a little, and he was enveloped by that pillar of light. He did not even have a chance to struggle before his entire body and armor were reduced to ashes.

His body and soul were destroyed.

”The essence of the member of the alien race! This is the essence left behind after the member of the alien race sealed in Heavenly Treasure Planet disappeared. He… He’s indeed the source of the change in Crimson Flame Planet! He actually released the seal in Heavenly Treasure Planet as well!”

As the eight people retreated in shock, booming sounds rang continuously from various locations in Heavenly Treasure Planet. Pillars that shook the sky and earth rushed into the air. The ripples they formed destroyed the earth and sky wherever they went.

Thankfully, there were no mortals in Heavenly Treasure Planet. There were only cultivators there, or else their lives would have definitely been destroyed if such a change happened in a cultivation planet that was filled with spiritual aura.

As for the cultivators, they would always either survive or be weeded out by the universe itself. From the moment they stepped into the path of cultivation, they had to be ready to either kill or be killed.

The booming continued without stop. Su Ming was within the pillar of air, at that moment. Due to the existence of the eye of the typhoon and the Duke of Crimson Flame’s control over the pillar of air, he did not suffer any impact. His body was swiftly fading out, and at the moment he was about to be relocated, the tips of nine ancient bronze swords that stopped beyond Heavenly Treasure Planet suddenly shone with a brilliant light. The flowing streams of light swimming at the edges of the swords shone especially brilliantly.

This was the True Guards on the ancient bronze swords receiving the divine thoughts from the eight True Guards in Heavenly Treasure Planet. They were to no longer thinking about catching Su Ming alive, but were to changing the plan to executing him.

If they destroyed the entire Heavenly Treasure Planet, then it would be the same as them destroying all the lives in the planet, and naturally, they would also be able to kill Su Ming.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Nine swords. Nine waves of sword aura that were several hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of lis long shot out from the ancient bronze swords at the same time and charged into Heavenly Treasure Planet. Their target… was the eye of the typhoon where Su Ming was in the ocean of wind.

As a wave of sword aura shot through Heavenly Treasure Planet, it crashed into the essence the Duke of Crimson Flame had stirred up. A loud bang that could destroy the world erupted forth, and then, a part of Heavenly Treasure Planet shattered right before everyone’s eyes.

Booming sounds continued echoing in the galaxy without end, while Heavenly Treasure Planet continued crumbling. Waves of sword aura rammed into the eye of the typhoon. They crushed the pillars of air, crushed the eye of the typhoon, and instantly blasted a huge hole in the region where the eye of the typhoon was. That hole went through the entire Heavenly Treasure Planet.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, when a loud bang that shook a small part of Western Ring reverberated in the galaxy, numerous ripples spread out without stopping, and an endless amount of shattered stones tumbled backwards, Heavenly Treasure Planet… collapsed.

The waves of impact that were stirred up could destroy all lives. Besides that one True Guard who had been caught and died, the other eight had their own methods to survive. They turned into eight long arcs and returned to the ancient bronze sword. From all the people who had went after Su Ming’s life, only the purple-robed old man in the middle stage of World Plane Realm managed to flee while sustaining grievous injuries. None of the others survived.

It could not be said clearly as to whether Su Ming or the True Guards were the ones who destroyed the planet. In truth, the essence Su Ming had asked the Duke of Crimson Flame to detonate might have looked vast, but nine-tenths of its explosion were gathered within the ocean of wind. This would not have affected the land too much, and would not have caused Heavenly Treasure Planet to experience such complete destruction.

The true reason behind its downfall were those nine incredibly terrifying waves of sword aura.

This was the first time Su Ming had had a direct confrontation against the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds. Since the True Guards from True Sacred Yin World wanted to capture him alive, they had not attacked him with the aim to kill right away, or else, Su Ming would not have had any possibility of fighting back. He would have died along with Heavenly Treasure Planet.

However, after the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds watching over this place experienced this turn of events, they would no longer think about capturing Su Ming alive the next time they found him. Instead, they would kill him swiftly and cleanly.

The waves of impact and booming sounds stirred up by Heavenly Treasure Planet’s collapse lasted for several months. It shocked all the powerful warriors in Western Ring Nebula, and their shock became even greater when they found out that besides the Heaven Cultivation Realm cultivators who had left early in the battle due to Su Ming’s intimidation, almost everyone else had died.

Besides the deaths that were related to the True Guards, all the clues of the others’ deaths pointed towards another person. That person’s name spread through the entire Western Ring Nebula, courtesy of the word of mouth by the cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm who had left in fear.

Mo Su!

The wanted criminal’s name was Mo Su!

With his own power alone, he had killed countless powerful warriors. He also caused the four Great True Worlds to destroy a planet. This tremendous act and this way of shocking all the people caused Mo Su’s name to ring through all of Western Ring Nebula.

All those who wanted to continue going after Su Ming’s life would have to first think about the change in Heavenly Treasure Planet and about their own abilities. Gradually, almost all of the people gave up on their thoughts to hunt Mo Su down, because this was no longer them going after someone’s life. They would be blatantly walking towards their own deaths.

Su Ming had managed to do it, becoming famous through one battle.

By killing all those people, he had managed to intimidate everyone else!

There was another important reason behind why Mo Su’s name spread through the entire Western Ring Nebula besides the intimidating awe caused by his killing frenzy and Heavenly Treasure Planet’s collapse.

Ten days after the tent, the four Great True Worlds sent out another order of arrest to all of Barren Lands of Divine Essence. They also added the rewards. From the few World Stones that could only cause those in the initial stage of World Plane Realm to be interested, they raised the rewards, offering enough for most of the cultivators in Western Ring Nebula to go mad!

A hundred World Stones!

It did not matter whether Su Ming was alive or dead, those who caught or killed him would be offered a hundred World Stones!

It was not as if this sort of reward had never appeared before. Last time, during the change in Black Ink Planet, one of the rewards offered was a thousand World Stones for the capture or killing of the mighty cultivator of the alien race that had escaped from Black Ink Planet. However, the mighty cultivator who could escape from the seal was definitely not a weakling. That was why such a tempting bounty was offered.

It was also this sort of bounty that could make the true powerful warriors in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence to temporarily suppress their hate for the four Great True Worlds and allow themselves to be used by them.

Su Ming might be strong, but when compared to the mighty cultivator from the alien race, he wasn’t much. The difference between them was akin to one between heaven and earth. That was why the reward of a hundred World Stones could tempt others just as much.

As the bounty increased, all the cultivators who believed that they could obtain this reward in Western Ring Nebula placed their attention on Mo Su. A storm of searches were being carried out with a vicious intensity.

A month after Heavenly Treasure Planet crumbled, a gigantic crack suddenly appeared out of thin air at the center of Western Ring Nebula in the vast galaxy. There was dark light shining within the crack, and a person walked out from it.

That person had gray hair and was dressed in red robes, and it was naturally Su Ming. Once he walked out, he coughed out a mouthful of blood. His blood instantly fell apart in the galaxy to turn into a layer of blood mist that spread out. In fact, there was even an indistinct presence of a sword aura within that blood aura. It was also this sword aura that caused Su Ming’s blood to turn into mist after he coughed it out.

’Those nine waves of sword aura could destroy a cultivation planet. Even if I was relocated before I descended, I was still affected by them. I remained unconscious for an entire month in that still and silent void, and my body was also heavily wounded by the shock.’ Su Ming’s face was pale. He lowered his head and looked at his chest, then lifted his right hand to pull open the Sacred Constellation Robe. He saw a bruise on his chest.

That bruise looked like a sword, and the tip of the sword was located right above Su Ming’s heart.

’I was just affected by the shock, but there was such a mighty power contained within it alone No wonder it could destroy Heavenly Treasure Planet. Four Great True Worlds… Since you were the ones to provoke me first, then I will definitely not let this end until I die!’

Su Ming’s expression turned dark. He was a stubborn and intolerant person, but after he was forced into the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, he had mostly suppressed his thoughts. Right then, after he had been chased down and injured, the madness of his personality erupted forth. Murderous aura filled his entire person, and once he swept his gaze around the area, he turned into a long arc that left into the distance.