Pursuit of the Truth

The nine booms shook the sky and earth. As a brilliant light surged skywards from the first Striking Lands, it shone in all directions, and all the cultivators from Morning Dao Sect on the way immediately stopped moving. When they looked towards the first Striking Lands, shock appeared in their eyes.

They were not the only ones. At that moment, the expressions of the disciples from Morning Dao Sect who had not flown out from the place where the Anointment Ceremony was held changed. The Dynasts who had the same status as Su Ming also narrowed their eyes.

Su Ming was simply too fast. Only around one hundred breaths had passed since he left to the time he cleared all nine stages in the first Striking Lands. It was a sensation due to the time he took and the difficulty that lay in that test itself. It was enough to start a storm which swept in all directions.

Even the previous indifferent expressions of the aloof young man and the gentle middle-aged man turned grave while a dark light flashed in Bei Bang’s eyes while he stood on the largest lotus platform. The three Sect Masters behind him had differing expressions. A barely noticeable fierce light shone in the tanned old man’s eyes.

The thin Ma Fei sucked in a sharp breath as she stood in the crowd, looking rather dumbfounded. Even though she had guessed that Su Ming would be able to clear the first Striking Lands, she had not expected that he would be able to clear them at such a speed.

De Shun, the person who had promoted himself on Su Ming’s platform, was also in the crowd. At that moment, he shrank in slightly, then a thought formed in his head. Immediately, he rose up.

‘I’ll be rich! I’ll definitely be rich this time!’ An excited expression appeared on his face, and he charged towards the cultivators rushing to the first Striking Lands.

With his actions, Su Ming had crushed all of the laughter mocking him just then. With his actions, he told all the people that the Striking Lands posed no difficulty to him if he wanted to clear them.

At that moment, Su Ming took a step forward, turning into a long arc that sliced through the air. When the crowd looked at him from the distance, they saw him rushing towards the second Striking Lands.

“The second Striking Lands! He went to the second!”

“The second Striking Lands is several times harder than the first. Even if he managed to clear the previous one at an incredibly quick speed, he might not be as successful in the second land!”

“But I look forward to whether he will succeed!”

“That’s impossible, the second Striking Lands tests willpower. The illusions there are so strong that a normal person will not be able to go past, or else why would only Dao Lin and Dao Fa be the only ones among the Dynasts who could clear all nine stages in the second land?!”

“That’s not necessarily true. After all, there are hundreds of people who had managed to clear the nine Striking Lands. But even the fastest person used six hours… Dao Kong simply might not have enough time.”

As the noise from the discussions rose, the crowd charged towards the second Striking Lands.

Besides Dao Lin and Dao Da with somewhat grave expressions on their faces, the other seven Dynasts on the lotus platforms sat with various forms of sullenness.

“He only has two hours; it’s impossible for him to clear the second Striking Lands!”

“That’s right. It’ll be especially so for the illusion in the third stage. Even if you know it’s fake, it’s still difficult to prevent your will from shaking. That man… Hmph!”

As the Dynasts sent their thoughts to each other, the long arc which was Su Ming sliced through the air and stepped onto the second continent, right where were the second Striking Lands.

It had the same gigantic round platform, and there were also several dragon-like beasts surrounding a gigantic pillar of light. At the instant Su Ming came to the place, those dragon-like beasts immediately roared at him.

At the instant their voices echoed in the air, Su Ming stepped onto the round platform without any hesitation.

An imposing voice immediately spoke from the pillar of light.

“Challenger… your name.” There was not a hint of emotion in that voice. It echoed in the area and reached the hearts of all the cultivators who were rushing over at their top speed.

“Dao Kong,” Su Ming answered flatly. At the instant his voice rang out, a gentle light spread out from of the pillar of light. It enveloped Su Ming’s body, and when it spread past him, the emotionless voice echoed in the air in the same imposing manner again.

“Dao Kong, the second Striking Lands, the Stage of Illusions, will henceforth be activated.”

When it finished speaking, the world before Su Ming’s eyes changed and turned into emptiness. The darkness there was endless. Strange roars came nonstop from somewhere farther away.

‘Stage of Illusions…’

A cold sneer appeared at the corners of Su Ming’s mouth. Perhaps such illusions would affect the others, but Su Ming had the Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon in his eyes. His own illusions contained the power of the illusion which would turn everything fake into real as long as he believed it. Using an illusion to test Su Ming was akin to a cultivator in Foundation Establishment Realm testing a cultivator in Nascent Soul Realm.

To Su Ming, the most energy-saving method would be to sit down cross-legged and allow the illusions around him to change, become more vicious, stronger, and as he remained unshaken, they would break.

However, this method was not arrogant enough, not ostentatious enough, and it was not what Su Ming wanted.

The shadow of the sun, moon, and stars flashed in his eyes, and his lips curled up into a cold sneer. He wanted to use a method no one else could use to clear the second Striking Lands.

This unprecedented method was not of the illusions in this place testing Su Ming, but him using his illusions… to test the land!

Illusion versus illusion. He would see whose control and skills over illusions was greater.

When Su Ming stepped into the second Striking Lands, there were already millions of long arcs who had arrived at the sky beyond that continent. They surrounded the area and looked at the Striking Lands.

De Shun’s eyes shone as he stood among the cultivators. He swept his right hand across his bosom, and a spirit talisman shining with a blue light appeared on his palm. He stuck it to his neck, then threw his head back to roar.

“Old masters, young masters, brothers, sisters, fellow Daoists, do you remember De Shun? My De means morality, and Shun means having everything go your way when you buy things.

“Today, on this land, I will open a betting pool to bet on how many breaths Dynast Dao Kong will need to clear five stages. If you bet that he will clear it within fifty breaths, your return rate will be one hundred times, if within one hundred breaths, your return rate will be fifty times, within two hundred breaths, your return rate will be ten, and if you bet that he will clear it in more than two hundred breaths, your return rate will be one!”

Under the effect of the spirit talisman, De Shun’s voice immediately echoed in the air in a thunderous manner. Everyone within the area could hear it.

It was clear that his spirit talisman was not an ordinary object, since it was able to achieve such an effect. The price for its creation should have been great, but if De Shun could grasp the right timing, he could earn back several times, several dozens of times, or even hundreds of times the money he lost. When faced with the possibility of such returns, there was no way he would let this chance go.

The millions of cultivators in the area turned their heads towards him, and someone immediately believed in his words and walked towards De Shun to place a bet.

“Why are we only betting for five stages?” There were also those who were suspicious of De Shun’s words.

“Fellow Daoist, we can open another betting pool after five stages. We don’t have to be in a hurry. Besides, Dynast Dao Kong might not be able to clear the first five stages. At that time, I will reimburse all those who bet on the final option. This is a rare chance so what are you waiting for? You only need a few crystals, and if you make the right judgment, then with one crystal, you will earn one hundred crystals!

“You can earn fifty crystals, or twenty crystals, and at the very least anther crystal. Make your bets! My fellow friends, make your bets! Time is almost up! The fifty breaths lot is almost closed, but I’ll still take those for one hundred breaths.” De Shun spoke rapidly and shouted continuously.

The commotion from the world outside could not reach the Striking Lands. At that moment, Su Ming’s eyes sparkled, and the shadow of the sun, moon, and stars manifested in his eyes. Everything around him was dark while strange roars came from all directions. They sounded closer, as if there were plenty of malicious spirits charging towards him.

Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. The sun, moon, and stars shone powerfully in his eyes. Immediately, they reflected Su Ming’s will in the form of pictures, and a layer of golden light spread out from his body. That golden light swept through the area, changing the space around Su Ming from darkness to another world.

Beneath his feet was ground, and above his head was a sky. Beyond the continent was empty, black space, and the land upon which Su Ming sat down was spreading outwards swiftly, as if it was replacing the emptiness in the land, since he was the dictator of the illusions in the land.

The light was created by illusions, and the dark spaces in the area were also created by them. This was a battle of illusions. Those from the Striking Lands contained a power that could shake willpower, but Su Ming’s illusion not only contained this power, but also… the Art from the Ancestral Spirits in Divine Essence Star Ocean—the power that would become reality as long as he believed in it.

Because of it, the superior one was immediately decided. Almost at the instant Su Ming’s world of light swept outwards, the black space dissipated layer by layer to reveal countless ferocious malicious spirits. They let out shrill screams of pain and tumbled backwards.

In an instant, the world before Su Ming no longer had any darkness in it. Light stretched to one hundred thousand feet around him.

“The first stage has been cleared. Activate the second stage.” When the aloof voice rang in the air again, the scene around Su Ming changed once again.

This time, what appeared was a blue sea. Some mountains could be seen far in the distance. Together with the sea they formed a familiar scene from Su Ming’s memories.

“An Art to bring out my memories, then manifest all that is familiar to me. You… are not as familiar as I am with this Art.”

A brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He raised his right hand, then swung it forward. As the sun and moon formed in his eyes, the sea instantly tumbled about. Waves surged upwards and roared. Bolts of lightning flashed with thunderous roars. When they descended, they looked as if they separated the world, tearing the sea and the mountains in the distance apart with one loud bang!

As the whole world shattered and crumbled into fragments that tumbled backwards, what appeared after was a galaxy. Floating in it was a dull, lustreless planet. It looked as if it was dead, without a single hint of vitality that could be detected.