Pursuit of the Truth

The instant the old man knelt down to worship Su Ming, the area instantly sank into dead silence again. All of the gazes gathered on Su Ming, and all of them were filled with utmost disbelief and shock, along with great astonishment. The people’s minds had turned blank, and loud booms that surged into the sky rang in their heads.

It was as if there was a sentence that was echoing nonstop in all the people’s heads at that moment.

“That person… is Dynast Dao Kong!”

Needless to say, it was this sentence which was echoing an infinite amount of times in everyone’s head, forming loud booms that were like crackling thunder in the ten million cultivators’ minds.

The old man’s words, expressions, his trembling body, and the gaze that still had lingering fear in it were all proof that there was not a hint of deceit in his words. He had mentioned Progenitor Long Hai and Reverend Zi Long from the Fourth True World, and their presences made it difficult for anyone to dismiss his claims or call them exaggerations.

But the more it was so, the greater shock the ten million cultivators in the area felt. The tanned old man’s face had turned pale at that moment. Even the mind of a powerful warrior like him had went blank. The scene of a single person destroying an entire camp from one the True Worlds kept repeating in his mind, and he could not stop it.

The other two sect masters by his side were the same.

As for Bei Bang, his breathing had become rushed. When he looked at Su Ming, his expression changed. For a time being, he found himself speechless.

Right from the start, Su Ming’s expression had been one of calmness. The camp from True Sacred Yin World in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence had been destroyed, and this matter would spread to all four Great True Worlds without doubt. It was something Su Ming had prepared himself to face a long time ago.

It did not matter to him even if this matter was publicized earlier than expected. However, the people who came from True Sacred Yin World to the Anointment Ceremony might show up seething with rage.

To Su Ming, it did not matter whether the others learned of this later or earlier.

At that moment, when the entire area was enveloped in silence, Su Ming cast a glance before himself with an indifferent gaze. The nine Dynasts who had come to his platform were stark pale at that moment. All of them had dumbfounded expressions, as if they had yet to recover from their shock. After all… the things Su Ming had done were enough to shock and terrify all cultivators.

The instant Su Ming cast his gaze on the nine Dynasts, they shuddered, feeling as if their skin was crawling. Su Ming had seemed like an ailing, injured elderly just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, he had turned into an ancient, ferocious spirit. This change was so great that the nine people charged backwards simultaneously without any hesitation. Trembling, all they wanted was to leave the platform.

“Didn’t you want to challenge me? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Su Ming asked flatly. He took a step forward.

When he was about to attack, the old Bei Bang’s expression changed drastically. He moved forward, and with his power of Life Realm, he appeared on Su Ming’s platform with a bang to stand between him and the nine retreating Dynasts.

“Dynast Dao Kong, please do not be rash. It is forbidden for Dynasts to fight against each other during the Anointment Ceremony.”

Once Bei Bang said those words, he felt slightly anguished in his heart. It wasn’t hard to imagine that this Dao Kong would definitely regard him in contempt due to the matter just now, and he sighed. He too knew that he had been slightly biased just now.

However, no matter what, he did not expect that Dao Kong… would have become so powerful in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. This manner of doing things was definitely not something that could be done by an ordinary cultivator. In fact, it would be difficult for even Bei Bang himself to do such a thing. Destroying an entire camp from a True World and taking everyone’s lives… Bei Bang suddenly felt that there had to be an unimaginable number of vengeful souls surrounding Dao Kong.

Su Ming cast a cold glance at the old Bei Bang before him. He did not say any contemptuous words Bei Bang was prepared to receive. Insted, he said, “If those nine kneel down and shout my name three times, I will treat this as it had never happened.”

When Bei Bang heard his words, for some unknown reason, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart. Dao Kong gave him a fathomless feeling. Even if he looked as if he was heavily wounded at that moment, someone who could destroy an entire camp from a True World stationed in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence was definitely not someone who could be underestimated even when he was severely injured.

It was especially so when he saw Dao Kong’s calm gaze. At that moment, Bei Bang became even more cautious. He immediately turned around and swung his arm toward the nine Dynasts.

“The nine of you were the ones who broke the rules first. Kneel now!”

Five of the nine Dynasts knelt down without any hesitation, shivering. Two of the remaining four hesitated, but soon chose to kneel down and worship Su Ming as well.

The remaining two were naturally Dao Lin and Dao Fa. Their expressions had twisted. Blood trickled out of the corners of Dao Lin’s mouth, a telling sign that he had gritted his teeth so hard that he had crushed them. Without a single word, he lowered his head and knelt down. The humiliation he suffered shattered all of his pride. When he knelt down, he did not just show submission with his body. Even his soul, his honor, and his pride submitted.

The last one standing was Dao Fa. The gentle look on the seemingly gentle-looking middle-aged man had long since disappeared and become sinister. He glared at Su Ming while standing with his back straight.

“Fa Er, kneel down! Apologize to Dynast Dao Kong!” The tanned old man’s expression changed. When he gave his command, he took a step forward, intending to head to the platform.

Yet the moment he lifted his foot, Su Ming raised his right hand. The Life Inequity Spear moved, and was flung with a bang. It flew in a long arc which charged towards Dao Fa.

The instant he flung that Life Inequity Spear forward, Su Ming spoke in an aloof manner. “Zhu You Cai.”

This was clearly a name, but no one understood why Su Ming had said it. Bei Bang lifted his right hand, but just as he was about to grab the Life Inequity Spear Su Ming had thrown, his body trembled, and his lifted right hand froze in midair.

A powerful sense of danger had risen in his heart. He could clearly feel a murderous intent coming from a distance and locking down on him. This was a divine sense belonging to someone who was clearly stronger than him and who had almost stepped into Death Realm. If he did anything rash, that person would definitely deliver an attack that would come charging at him like a lightning bolt.

At that instant, Bei Bang thought of the words from the person who had returned from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence had said. Among his accomplishment, he’d mentioned Dao Kong having a person in Life Realm as his follower.

When Bei Bang froze, the Life Inequity Spear charged past him with a bang and rushed towards Dao Fa. The man roared, and the tanned old man charged forward, but his speed could not compare to the Life Inequity Spear’s. When a loud bang that shook the skies reverberated in the air, the tanned old man let out a sorrowful cry towards the heavens.

Dao Fa’s body was torn to pieces. As blood splattered in all directions, his soul and Nascent Divinity were instantly torn as well. Once they were pierced by the Life Inequity Spear, they were destroyed.

All of this might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, it was over in an instant. Blood gushed in all directions and landed on the eight Dynasts who had chosen to kneel down. It made them shudder, and even Dao Lin’s face turned pale and bloodless.

“Dao Kong, how dare you kill my Fa Er!” The tanned old man’s face twisted as he roared. He whipped his head around to glare at Su Ming, and a large amount of red appeared in his eyes.

“I won’t just dare to kill your Fa Er. If you continue causing a ruckus, I will also dare to kill you right here and right now. You’re just a cultivator in Fate Realm, so how dare you act arrogantly before me again and again?”

Su Ming’s response to the tanned old man’s roars was a string of calm words.

They were like a bucket of cold water that had been poured over the old man’s head. He trembled, and was forced to push down the raging anger in his heart. He remembered all that he had heard about Dao Kong in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and that he was a terrifying existence who could destroy an entire True World’s garrison. He also recalled how Bei Bang had lifted his right hand as if he wanted to stop Dao Kong, but had frozen for a moment, and how his expression had changed.

But the anger and sorrow in his heart was not something that he could suppress so easily. Yet when he saw Su Ming’s aloof gaze once more, he forced down the killing intent which had risen in his heart. He suddenly came to the realization that if he attacked, it would be the same as him breaking the rules in the sect. Dao Kong could then have his follower kill him.

The tanned old man coughed up a mouthful of blood. This was an internal injury caused by him forcing down the madness in his heart. This injury was not serious, but his heart was filled with outrage and sorrow at that moment, and this feeling was something that he had never sensed since he had become a sect master.

“Dynast Dao Kong. Dynast Dao Kong. Dynast Dao Kong.”

The eight Dynasts kneeling on the platform, including Dao Lin, all had their heads lowered as they said the three sentences towards Su Ming.

Their dignity had been completely trampled. Their pride as Dynasts was stomped under Su Ming’s feet, and after a few vicious stomps, it was completely crushed.

The grievances and humiliation from submission due to fear of death was even worse than death… But there were times when even if one knew that by kneeling they would no longer have any sort of prestige left, they could only kneel, swallowing down their humiliation to survive.

This was also Su Ming’s goal. He could accept not killing the eight, but he would then destroy their spirit of being Dynasts in an unseen manner, and he had managed to do it. This was also something that the tanned old man had previously wished to do to him.

When all the cultivators in the area saw this, Su Ming’s might had instantly become as great as that of a storm. His might swept through the entire area and became the deepest memory etched into the minds of all the cultivators present.

“Senior Bei Bang, based on your previous words, please heal me.”

Su Ming’s gaze was calm as he sat down on the lotus platform. When he closed his eyes, he circulated his cultivation base and sucked in a large amount of life force from the platform.

Bei Bang’s expression was dark, but the intimidating force was still locked on him. In silence, he sighed in his heart. Dao Kong did not pester him for not stopping the challenge from the other Dynasts, which was already allowing him to avoid humiliation. As he sighed to himself, he had his cultivation base spread out from his body, and the life force Su Ming could absorb instantly became greater.