Pursuit of the Truth

Yue Hong Bang sighed and closed his eyes again. He knew that the torture he would have to suffer would only increase, but he was confident that the other would not let him die, because when he died, there would truly be no secrets left in him.

However, besides doing this, he could really not think of any other way. If he said it, he would die, and if he did not, he could survive, but the pain of living would make him feel as if his will was about to disperse.

At the instant he closed his eyes, an indifferent voice suddenly spoke airily in the karst cave.

”Just what sort of secret do you have?”

Yue Hong Bang instinctively remained silent and ignored that voice. He thought that the youth had come once again, but suddenly, his body trembled, because that voice did not belong to the young man, but to a person that he knew a long time ago.

At the instant Yue Hong Bang shuddered, the voice spoke once again.

”It’s been many years since we last met, and you’ve become a Lord of a World Plane. Congratulations are in order.”

Yue Hong Bang’s body trembled, and he opened his eyes to see a young man in white standing before him. That young man had gray hair and a handsome face, but the ancient air about him could not be hidden. That young man… was looking at him calmly at that moment.

”My… My Liege?” Yue Hong Bang trembled even more furiously. He could almost not believe what he saw, but the person’s face and expression were the exact same as those from long ago.

Because of it, he became even more certain that this was not a hallucination, but he remembered clearly that Mo Su had been forced into Western Ring Nebula’s foreign land one thousand years ago, and only a handful of people could survive that place during the endless passage of time.

”This is payment for what you did for me in the past,” Su Ming said flatly, and he lifted his right hand to swing it at Yue Hong Bang. Immediately, the chains on his arms shattered inch by inch with loud cracking sounds. Before they fell into the puddle of water, they turned into ashes.

In fact, even the puddle of water in which Yue Hong Bang had been submerged in dried up and revealed his body, which no longer looked like that of a human.

Su Ming cast a glance at Yue Hong Bang’s wretched body, and though his expression remained as calm as ever, he let out a cold harrumph in his heart. Yue Hong Bang was an intelligent person, and he was skilled at seizing the right opportunity. He knew when to take action, and when not to.

This sort of person would usually have a lot of selfish motives. When he acknowledged Su Ming as his lord in the past, he did so to obtain Su Ming’s protection. He had even spared no pains and killed most of his companions without leaving any trace to prevent anyone else from discovering the secret that he was a first-generation criminal in this place.

Because of that, he became the only person who knew about Su Ming, and he also preserved a path of escape for himself after he acknowledged Su Ming as his lord. In fact, to obtain Su Ming’s trust, he had given Su Ming the Enchanted Vessel he used to protect his life to show his firm loyalty.

This sort of vicious and ambitious person was usually disliked by others, but that was mostly by those who could not stop such them. Jealousy would rise within them, and they would not want this sort of person to exist beside them. They would constantly think that such a person was a lurking threat.

However, in Su Ming’s eyes, this person had been very obedient while following him, and even if he left, from the number of blue stones, he could tell that this person had continued obeying his orders for hundreds of years. It was also clear that he had stopped only because he was imprisoned in this place.

That was why it did not matter to Su Ming how this person was. It did not matter to him whether he was ambitious or spiteful. He was obedient, and that was enough, but this obedient person had been tortured to this state. Su Ming might not pity or have compassion for the treatment he received these hundreds of years, but he was a person who protected those close to him.

”I will not allow anyone to harm those who are mine as they please,” Su Ming said flatly, and he swung his right hand at Yue Hong Bang once again.

With it, Yue Hong Bang, who had fallen to the side, immediately felt a wave of life force surge into his body. Flesh and blood instantly grew on him, and in the blink of an eye, he discovered to his shock that his body had recovered instantaneously. In fact, his cultivation base had become even more refined and profound. A presence which belonged to the initial stage of World Plane Realm erupted with a bang from within him.

Yue Hong Bang lowered his head to look at his own body. He clenched his fists, and a feeling that he had control over great power rose madly in his heart. This sort of strength was something that he had never possessed. The refreshing and relaxing feeling of having life force fill his entire body formed a stark contrast to the torment he had suffered for hundreds of years, causing him to be barely able to constrain the instinct to lift his head and roar.

He looked at Su Ming excitedly, but the emotion in the depths of his heart was completely different from the expression on his face. Su Ming had become so powerful that Yue Hong Bang was terrified of him. With just a swing of his arm, Su Ming had healed him, and killing was a much easier act compared to healing someone. From this alone, it was clear that Su Ming only needed to swing his arm to kill him.

”Thank you for saving me, My Liege!” Without any hesitation, Yue Hong Bang immediately knelt down and worshiped Su Ming. The excited expression was put on his face for Su Ming to see, and his trembling body was his respect, which he could not suppress.

”I heard that someone intends to hold a feast to celebrate his birthday. Come with me to take a look,” Su Ming said calmly, then turned around to walk to the entrance of the cave. Yue Hong Bang quickly followed behind him, his heart racing in his chest. He had understood what Su Ming meant, and a powerful desire filled his heart. He had suffered for hundreds of years, and now, he was finally going to make the other pay.

’Zhao Guang You, I will make it so that you won’t be celebrating your birthday!’

Mountain ranges rose and fell. Not far away from the mountain where Yue Hong Bang was sealed was another one. At that moment, there were many voices talking at once at that place. Most of the cultivators in Crimson Flame Planet had arrived and were waiting to present their gifts during the birthday celebration three days later.

This was the birthday feast of the strongest person in Crimson Flame Planet at that moment. That person had suddenly come to Crimson Flame Planet one thousand years ago. With the power of a cultivator at the peak of the initial stage of World Plane Realm, he overpowered Mei Lan with brute strength and sealed Yue Hong Bang, who had just become a Lord of a World Plane. With a single move, he became the strongest in the planet, occupying the land and building his sect there.

From then on, this place practically became the sacred land in Crimson Flame Planet.

At that moment, Su Ming was strolling confidently up the stairs up the mountain where the sect was located, heading straight to the top. He looked at the cloudy sky and the mountain range in the distance with his usual calm expression.

Yue Hong Bang was behind Su Ming with an incredibly respectful face as he followed with his head bowed.

The two of them were not walking quickly. On their way up, they saw quite a number of cultivators sitting around the area meditating. These cultivators were located in various parts of the mountain range and were waiting for the birthday feast three days later.

As Su Ming and Yue Hong Bang walked over, several cultivators who were sitting cross-legged were speaking to each other in low murmurs, but when one of them cast their gaze casually to the side, he was suddenly taken aback when he saw Yue Hong Bang behind Su Ming.

Only when Su Ming and Yue Hong Bang were already in the distance did he let out a cry of surprise.

”Yue… Yue Hong Bang! That person just now was Yue Hong Bang!”

”What? Yue Hong Bang? Wasn’t he imprisoned and sealed by Sir Zhao Guang You hundreds of years ago?!”

As that person spoke, the expressions of the cultivators by his side immediately changed. When they looked over, they could only see Su Ming and Yue Hong Bang’s backs.

Gradually, more people noticed Yue Hong Bang walking to the top of the mountain. After all, this person was a local of Crimson Flame Planet, so it was difficult for them to forget him in just a few hundred years. Slowly, a commotion rose up, and as it spread among the people, more learned of what was happening.

”It’s indeed Yue Hong Bang, but who… who is that person in front of him?”

”Judging by how Yue Hong Bang is behaving, the person in front of him deserves extreme respect. That person… why is he somewhat familiar?”

”I find him somewhat familiar as well, but I can’t remember where I’ve seen him before… But if Yue Hong Bang is so respectful towards him, then this person… Ah! I remember now!”

”Mo Su! He’s… Mo Su!!”

In an instant, when someone mentioned Mo Su’s name, a loud buzz went through the mountain range as everyone began speaking. The shock that came straight from the depths of their bodies and souls caused all the people to think of far too many things. They remembered the scenes from one thousand years ago, as well as the commotion that was brought upon the entire Western Ring Nebula due to this.

”Something big is about to happen. Sir Mo Su is Yue Hong Bang’s liege, and Sir Zhao Guang You imprisoned Yue Hong Bang for hundreds of years. Sir Mo Su has returned now, and they will definitely have a dispute over this!”

”I didn’t expect that Sir Mo Su would actually manage to walk out of Western Ring Nebula’s foreign land. This… This will definitely shock the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping a lookout over this place, it’ll definitely cause a new disaster in Sinful Barren Lands!”

Long arcs swiftly rose into the air and charged towards the direction where Su Ming and Yue Hong Bang were at the top of the mountain, but they did not dare to come to close to them. They still remembered how Mo Su from one thousand years ago had killed countless people. It was said that wherever he went, he would cause planets to collapse, and none of the cultivators in those planets survived.

At that moment, at the top of the sect built in the mountain was a hall on a piece of rock. Crimson Flame Planet’s strongest person, Zhao Guang You, was sitting on a big chair. He was dressed in a long robe with dashes of blue and white on it, and he appeared to be a middle-aged man, but his face was filled with pitted scars, making him look rather ugly. He was looking at the eight young men in front of him.

These eight people were the disciples he took under his wing in Crimson Flame Planet. All of them were incredibly handsome. As he looked at them, a strange light appeared in the depths of Zhao Guang You’s eyes.

”Master, more than three thousand people came to send you gifts. There are still more coming as well. After all, this is a major event that causes a stir in the entire Crimson Flame Planet. Master, I hope to wish you in advance that you will have endless years and you will live throughout the ages.”

With his disciples wishes upon him, Zhao Guang You laughed loudly and swept his gaze across them before fixing his eyes on the last person among the eight.

”Has Yue Hong Bang spoken?”

”Master, that person… That person still hasn’t said anything. It’s my fault for being so worthless.” The young man whom Zhao Guang You was looking at lowered his head. Naturally, he was the young man who had appeared before Yue Hong Bang earlier.

At the instant he said those words, uproars and the sound of something breaking suddenly came from outside the hall. The noise that rose and fell was incredibly strong.

Zhao Guang You frowned.

”What is going—” Before Zhao Guang You could finish speaking, a loud bang rang out beyond the hall. As the sound shook the ground, a sinister voice rushed into the hall.

”Zhao Guang You, I’ll never forget how you treated me during those hundreds of years. We will settle our matter later. Today, my liege has arrived, now come out and pay your respects to him!”

This was Yue Hong Bang’s voice. In an instant, the expressions of the eight young men in the hall changed at the same time, while Zhao Guang You let out a cold harrumph.

”Your liege? I didn’t even know that you had a liege!” As Zhao Guang You took a step forward, he turned into a long arc and looked as if he was just about to fly out of the hall, but during that instant, his expression suddenly changed drastically, because he had just remembered the liege Yue Hong Bang spoke about.

Based on what he knew, Yue Hong Bang had only one liege, and he was… Mo Su, the man for whom the four Great True Worlds had offered a reward, and the man Zhao Guang You had once joined a group to hunt down. However, he had been scared away by the amount of blood the other had spilled.