Pursuit of the Truth

The bald crane was holding itself in a smug manner, but the instant it heard Su Ming’s words, it shuddered before turning around swiftly to look toward him.

“Let’s go. In the past, I did not have enough power to help you retrieve your physical body, but now… I believe that I will be able to.” There was no killing intent in Su Ming’s gaze while he stared into the distant galaxy, just a strange and enchanting light.

He charged into the area ahead of him. At that moment, the bald crane no longer cared about quarrelling with Flame Fiends’ Progenitor and hurried over to follow Su Ming.

“My physical body? Are you talking about my physical body?”

“Within the camp of the forces of power from True Sacred Yin World is half of your physical body,” Su Ming said calmly while taking a step forward.

“Who has it?!” A fierce glare appeared in the bald crane’s eyes.

“Huo Zhu [1]!” Su Ming turned into a long arc and charged into the distance.

In the past, Wu Li Zi [2] had used a green feather in hopes of luring the bald crane to the camp. That feather had been given to her by Huo Zhu, who was the person controlling her actions. Wu Li Zi had been threatened by Huo Zhu, which then resulted in the bald crane being lured to their camp. Huo Zhu’s final goal was to unravel a certain mystery contained in the bald crane’s physical body.

In the past, Su Ming might have already known all of it, but he could not enter the deeper parts of the True Worlds’ camps in search of Huo Zhu. His level of cultivation was just not high enough, and he was forced out by the Almighty in Mastery Realm who appeared later on. He had only escaped disaster after running into Western Ring Nebula’s foreign lands.

However, it could be said that the difference between the current Su Ming and his past self was like heaven and earth. Besides, he did not intend to use his power to win. He had an even more persuasive thing that would allow him to enter the place—his status as a direct descendant of Morning Dao Sect, Dao Kong!

They charged forward with a whistle. Su Ming was in front, and the bald crane by his side. Zhu You Cai followed behind them, while Flame Fiends’ Progenitor was the last. The group charged forward through the boundless galaxy, straight toward the place where the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds were stationed.

Time trickled by. With their speed, they had already shot through the endless galaxy in just one day and saw… the barrier formed by shattered stars which Su Ming had passed through in the past.

At the instant he saw the barrier, he brought up his right hand. The bald crane had been with him for many years, so it naturally understood what he intended to do. With one move, it immediately turned into a long arc that entered Su Ming’s storage bag, and he took a step towards the barrier formed by the shattered stars.

A loud bang rang out. The sound might have billoweed into the sky, but it did not stop Su Ming in his tracks. A rampaging force spread out from the Rune serving as a barrier, but at the moment it touched him, it turned gentle, and the Sacred Constellation Robe appeared on his body!

During that instant, he was no longer Su Ming, he had transformed into Dao Kong.

With the Sacred Constellation Robe, a head of black hair falling to his feet, a handsome face, and an awe-inspiring presence, Su Ming moved through the barrier with ease.

The barrier could prevent outsiders from entering and serve as an alarm. However, for Su Ming who had Possessed Dao Kong, the four Great True Worlds would naturally not start a hunt.

As for Zhu You Cai, at the moment the rampaging force touched him, it was as if he had turned into empty air. The rampaging force… did not seem to have noticed his presence, allowing him to calmly walk through the barrier.

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor was the weakest, but he was, after all, an Almighty in Mastery Realm. There was no way he would be stopped by a Rune that had not been fully activated. At the instant the rampaging force came towards him, he let out a cold harrumph, and that force instantly tumbled backwards with a bang, allowing Flame Fiends’ Progenitor to step into the territory where the forces of power from four Great True Worlds were stationed.

However, the instant he touched the Rune, all the Almighties stationed from the four Great True Worlds instantly noticed him.

When Su Ming initially arrived, they remained in isolation and continuing to be in deep sleep. He was strong, but in truth, he could not attract their attention.

However, the arrival of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor was completely different. With his status of being an Almighty in Mastery Realm and his power, the instant he stepped through the barrier, three powerful presences stirred up a loud bang that surged into the heavens in the territory where the four Great True Worlds were stationed. It caused all the cultivators in the camp of True Sacred Yin World to become apprehensive, and the three presences rose swiftly from the depths of the ground.

In the blink of an eye, they turned into three wills in front of Su Ming. The galaxy trembled, and the three wills turned into three people. They allowed their vast presence as great as the universe to spread out without restraint. It was so strong that it caused the cultivators in True Sacred Yin World to tremble. When they looked towards the sky, zealousness and respect appeared on their faces. They knew that this was the presence that belonged to the True Saints stationed to keep watch over the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

“Progenitor Huo Kui, you’ve overstepped your boundaries!” Booming sounds came from one of the three people. It turned into a thunderous roar that rang out in all directions. As the voice spread out, a large amount of lightning swept through the area.

The person who spoke was an old man. He was a big and tall, and dressed in a long robe. His eyes looked to have lightning contained in them, which could make all those whose level of cultivation was not as great as his to feel their hearts and minds breaking down at the instant they stared into them.

The two people standing beside him were a man and woman. They appeared to be middle-aged, but their power and the feeling of time from their presences made it clear that they were old monsters that had been alive for an unknown amount of time.

The first one they looked towards was Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, then Zhu You Cai, and only then at Su Ming.

When they saw Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, their expressions remained normal, but when they saw Zhu You Cai, their pupils shrank in a barely noticeable manner. Zhu You Cai might have seemed as if he was only in Mastery Realm, but the feedback provided to them by the Rune told them that Flame Fiends Progenitor alone was in Mastery Realm. To the Almighties who had lived for umpteenth years, it wa obvious that something was off.

If this peculiarity had happened about someone who was not an Almighty, it would not have caught their attention, but if when it was regarding an Almighty, then this peculiarity… would signify variance.

It caused the three of them to be unable to help themselves but think of many things. Zhu You Cai’s composure had also forced them to pay special attention to him.

On the other hand, the three of them only swept their gazes past Su Ming before automatically overlooking him. A cultivator in Lunar Kalpa Realm simply did not deserve their attention. Besides, they naturally knew Su Ming’s identity from the Rune.

“My fellow Daoists, I wonder what is the meaning behind your journey to True Sacred Yin World’s camp? And you even brought along a direct descendant from True Morning Dao World’s Morning Dao Sect!” The old man with lightning spreading out of his entire body had a freezing glare. When he looked towards Huo Kui and Zhu You Cai, he completely ignored Su Ming.

Zhu You Cai did not speak. As for Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, he only chuckled. With Su Ming around, he felt that there was no need for him to greet those three people. After all, this was the main camp that belonged to the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds stationed in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Besides, he was also making his guesses regarding Su Ming’s connection with the people present.

With a calm look on his face, Su Ming also did not spare the trio even a single glance. He simply walked forward.

However, his act of walking forward caused displeasure to the Almighties from True Sacred Yin World. The old man did not say much, his gaze still fixed on Hou Kui and Zhu You Cai, but the middle-aged woman beside him smiled faintly.

“Morning Dao Sect’s brat, this isn’t the camp of True Morning Dao World. It’s not some place where you can come and go as you please. Go and wait by the side until the people from True Morning Dao World can come to pick you up.”

Su Ming did not seem to have heard her and continued walking forward. In other people’s eyes, the three people were superior Almighties and True Saints, but in Su Ming’s eyes, killing them was easy.

The middle-aged woman, who was not too fond of True Morning Dao World in the first place, frownd. While the four Great True Worlds might have seemed connected, there was ceaseless internal strife among them. The hostility, however, was not so bad that they would kill a direct descendant from another world when there was no necessity, especially one of such status. Besides, the three of them were not the only ones to have sensed the Rune. The Almighties from True Morning Dao World would have definitely noticed the new arrivals the moment Su Ming stepped through the barrier as well. By then, they might already be hurrying over, but it was not impossible for them to teach the disrespectful boy a lesson about respecting his elders.

She raised her right hand and pointed towards Su Ming.

“Then let me teach you the price of disrespecting your seniors on behalf of the elders in your family.”

At the instant the woman pointed to him with her right index finger, Su Ming turned his head around and cast a cold glare her way. “So noisy, are you asking for death?”

While his voice was still echoing in space, he disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already in front of the woman. He raised his right hand, and with a calm look on his face, slapped her.

A loud smack rose into the air. The middle-aged woman coughed up a mouthful of blood. Many of her teeth were shattered by the slap. As she fell back, her left check instantly swelled up. Disbelief appeared in her eyes, but she did not have time to be angry before her expression turned into one of shock. She saw Su Ming’s action just then, but did not manage to dodge. It was not that Su Ming was fast, but that the instant he looked at her, a loud bang had rang out in her mind, and she lost all her senses.

The old man beside her had whipped his head around and stared fixedly at Su Ming. There was a grim look and an expression of shock that had never appeared before on his face.

The middle-aged man beside them sucked in a sharp breath. When he looked towards Su Ming, his gaze was filled with shock. He also saw that strike, which was definitely not a divine ability that a person in Lunar Kalpa Realm could execute.

“Detain these three here. Injuring them will do. We’ll let them keep their lives for now,” Su Ming said flatly.

“Those who dare disrespect my master should indeed have their mouths struck!” The wild and arrogant words from Flame Fiends’ Progenitor reverberated in the air. He then charged towards the trio.

With a relaxed expression on his face, Zhu You Cai raised his right hand to seize the empty space in front of him. Immediately, the galaxy roared, and the expressions of the trio changed drastically. As they moved back together, the galaxy around them distorted as if it had been sealed and completely locked away.

“Master? You…” The middle-aged woman’s expression changed again. The other two acted the same. Loud bangs rang out in their heads. This was a title they had never imagined Flame Fiends’ Progenitor using to address Dao Kong.

What caused them to be in even more shock was that Zhu You Cai’s casual grip had completely sealed the three of them in that galaxy. To the middle-aged man and woman, that power and that divine ability was definitely something that did not belong to those in Mastery Realm. It… was Fate Realm!

However, the old man did not believe so. His pupils shrank drastically. When he looked towards Zhu You Cai, terror appeared in his eyes. When he turned his head around and looked towards Su Ming, his shock became even greater.

Su Ming, who had obtained the fifth kiln and absorbed Ecang’s soul, was the strongest person in the entire Divine Essence Star Ocean and the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. He could be as wilful as he wanted.

The strong ruled. If a person had enough power and did not have any yokes on his shoulders hindering him, then forget any Almighties, even if he wanted to wreak havoc throughout the entire Barren Lands of Divine Essence and slaughter all lives in there, it would just be a matter of wanting to do it to him.

The middle-aged man forced down the shock in his heart and immediately said, “Dao Kong, what exactly do you want to do? This is True Sacred Yin World. As a direct descendant of True Morning Dao World, if you break into our camp, then you must provide an explanation for your actions to True Sacred Yin-”

“Do you really want to die?” Su Ming turned his head around and stared at the middle-aged man with a serious gaze.

The middle-aged man’s heart trembled. It were the same words as before. He trembled, but just as he was about to say something, the old man by his side let out a low shout.

“Shut up!” The old man’s words were directed to the middle-aged man, and immediately after, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards Su Ming. “Fellow Daoist, if you have any personal grudges against someone in True Sacred Yin World, then we will definitely not stop you!”

The old man forced down the shivers in his heart and the rarely seen fear that had risen in his body. He could already tell that the plump person was not in Fate Realm… but Life Realm!

So how terrifying would be a person who could make a person in Life Realm follow him willingly? He did not dare to think about it!

Translator’s Notes:

1. Huo Zhu: The one who has a grudge against Su Ming and had given permission for the True Guards to use the bald crane’s feathers to wait for Su Ming to appear from Western Ring Nebula’s foreign lands the first time. Has a grudge against the bald crane.

2. Wu Li Zi: Says she’s friends with the bald crane, but also seems to hate him.