Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming did not pay any attention to the bald crane playing around with Hu Zi. At that moment, all of his attention was trained on the Heavenly Incense Rune before him. He fell into pensive silence.

The Heavenly Incense Rune could sever his connection with the portion of his soul. It could even make his clone give birth to its own consciousness. This made Su Ming apprehensive. In fact, he had a vague feeling that this Rune… seemed to specially target Abyss Builders.

While all Almighties in the universe would have clones, the Abyss Builders’ creation of clones was the most mysterious. In fact, they occupied most of their path of cultivation.

With their clones, they could increase their power. This was a principle unique to Abyss Builders and was something other paths of cultivation could not compare. In fact, it was the subject of incredible envy and jealousy from the other races.

In silence, Su Ming turned his head to cast a glance at his clone. Su Ming was certain that he had wiped off the consciousness which had been born in the clone and had fused another portion of his soul in it.

After Su Ming carefully pondered over the Heavenly Incense Rune, a barely noticeable glint shone in his eyes. He raised his right hand and pointed at his clone. Immediately, his divine sense charged out with a bang and fused with the clone’s body. After searching it thoroughly, he did not find any problems.

No matter how Su Ming stared at him, his clone looked the exact same as he did before he entered the Heavenly Incense Rune—like it belonged completely to him. The feeling of it being part of his body was incredibly clear.

This scene caused Su Ming to frown slightly.

‘Could it be that I’m overthinking things?’

Su Ming pondered over this for a moment before he sent a divine thought to his clone. The clone’s eyes immediately sparkled, and he slowly stood up, obeying Su Ming’s will. The moment he was about to leave Heavenly Incense Rune’s territory, Su Ming sent his divine thought into the clone once again.

He controlled the portion of his soul with his divine thought to make the clone return to him, but the clone did not stop. Instead, he charged out of the Heavenly Incense Rune’s territory and turned into a long arc that dashed into the distance.

Su Ming’s eyes shone with a freezing glare. With a cold harrumph, he raised his foot, intending to chase after him, but at that moment, the nine Heavenly Incenses suddenly jolted.

Numerous ripples spread out. The wisps of smoke drifting from the two burning Heavenly Incenses swiftly descended and surrounded the area, blocking Su Ming’s path to his clone.

At the same time, a vast mighty pressure spread out from the Heavenly Incense Rune. Right away, Su Ming felt like he was sinking into mud. His soul could no longer be optimized with ease, and he felt sleepy.

Su Ming might have been able to recover in a few breaths, but this short delay was enough for the clone beyond the blockade formed by the wisps of smoke to leave into the distance.

A chilling glare appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, but he did not continue chasing. Instead, he watched the clone leave into the distance. Hu Zi was stunned by this scene; he was slightly puzzled as to what had happened.

‘I knew that there was a problem. Once the Heavenly Incense Rune severed my connection with the clone, it wouldn’t be that easy to form a connection again. The clone not only has his own independent consciousness, he has also learned deception. The method he used just now to handle matters is similar to what I would have done.

Before I arrived, he might have already made preparations for this and created plenty of backup plans… But if he was prepared for this a long time ago, why did he stay here? He could just leave…’

Su Ming cast a glance in the direction of where the clone had disappeared. A hint of a cold smile appeared on his lips, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

‘I wonder if I can find any traces of myself in the consciousness born in the clone… I’d like to see just where the clone will go now that he has his own independent will.’

A freezing glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He then turned around and no longer bothered with the clone who had now disappeared. Instead, he cast his gaze on the Heavenly Incense Rune.

‘This Rune has been in this place for years. I wonder if Su Xuan Yi ever came here before… Logically thinking, he should have come here before, but the chances of him using his real self to arrive in this place are slim to none. After all, his real self was sealed in the isolation grounds of Morning Dao Sect. Based on this, if he truly came to this place before, then the one who came would have definitely been his clone.

‘If that is the case… I don’t know how many clones Su Xuan Yi has, but the clone who investigated this place in the past must have gained its own will.

‘This Rune… even if it is not targeted against Abyss Builders, the effect it has on Abyss Builders is incredibly great. After all, even if the clones from other cultivators come to this place and face the risk of forming their own consciousness, those people refine their clones every once in a while anyway.

‘But it’s not the same for Abyss Builders. We have very few refinement methods since we do not need to refine our clones. Once we Possess our target, we can form a clone, and because of that, this clone will never betray us or form its own will. After all… for us, there is not much difference between our real selves and our clones!

‘If we must talk about differences, then there is only one. The Abyss Builder’s soul is like a person’s body, and the clones are like clothes, that is all!’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. He moved slowly towards the Heavenly Incense Rune, no longer in a hurry to leave. The strangeness of the Heavenly Incense Rune had piqued his interest.

‘There were three Heavenly Incenses burning previously…’

When Su Ming took a step forward, he raised his right hand and seized the space in the direction of the one hundred thousand meditating cultivators. One of them immediately shuddered and turned into a long arc that charged towards him. Su Ming pressed his hand at the top of his skull. His divine sense surged into him, and he found that the cultivator was not at all injured. He then sent him back, because Su Ming had already found his answer.

‘When my clone arrived in this place, he was about to leave, but the third incense extinguished. That’s what happened. Yet when my clone approached this place, my connection to him was already lost.

‘There were nine Heavenly Incenses burning before. Now, seven are extinguished. Then, is there a possibility that the extinguishing of the Heavenly Incense Rune is not related to time alone, but also another reason? That is… due to making a clone form its consciousness. Seven incenses would mean that seven clones have become independent.

‘But this is also wrong. Heavenly Incense Rune has been here for countless years. There must be plenty of clones that have formed their own consciousness because of it. If each of them caused one Heavenly Incense to be extinguished, there would have been no more burning Heavenly Incenses since a long time ago.

‘This… either I have made a wrong assumption, or a certain condition must be met, such as only an Abyss Builder’s clone can make it extinguish, or that besides satisfying this condition, there is also a requirement for the level of cultivation. Perhaps there are other requirements as well.’

Su Ming took a step forward and moved to an area nearly one thousand feet from the nine Heavenly Incenses.

At the instant, a wave of ripples erupted from the cultivation base in his body, instantly causing Su Ming’s mind to stop working. In the mid of the ripple of power no one else could see, Su Ming sensed that he had reached a breakthrough in Fate Realm. He had entered Life Realm, though it was false.

The epiphany of reaching Life Realm filled Su Ming’s mind, but when he tried searching for it in detail, he found that his mind was blank.

In silence, Su Ming frowned. The closer he came to the Heavenly Incense Rune, the more prominent was the feeling of his mind warning him that there was something dangerous around. It was as if there was a secret lying between the Heavenly Incense Rune and his clone. That secret was the key to why the clone had not left after he had formed his own consciousness but had instead waited for Su Ming.

Yet Su Ming could not figure out why even after some time passed.

His expression was dark. He cast a glance at the Heavenly Incense Rune, then decided to continue walking forward. When he was around five hundred feet away from the Rune, his cultivation base let out a bang and reached a breakthrough, arriving at Death Realm. This power felt incredible to Su Ming, as if… he had truly reached this Realm.

When the ripple from the ring on his right index finger spread out, Su Ming recovered from the false perception. A glint appeared in his eyes. When he raised his head to look at the nine Heavenly Incenses, he lifted his right hand. A powerful ray of white light spread out from the ring, and it expanded rapidly through the area. In a forceful manner, it spread to the nine Heavenly Incenses. At the instant it swept past them, Su Ming cast his gaze on the third incense stick.

At that moment, Su Ming saw a presence that was almost the exact same as his in the third Heavenly Incense. While Su Ming’s cultivation base increased exponentially in the illusion, it seemed to continuously analyze Su Ming and perform a certain form… of copying!

‘No wonder the clone waited for me here even though he had already gained consciousness. He predicted that I would definitely come to this place, and he needed me to come here.

‘He wanted to lure me here so that the Heavenly Incense which had extinguished because of him copy my path of cultivation and the future path I will take for my cultivation. Once it copies it, it will definitely use some sort of special method to make my clone sense it.

‘This is equivalent to the incense stick providing the clone with the exact same path of cultivation as mine.It will also give the clone the chance to surpass me.’

Su Ming’s experiences over the years had already honed his intelligence until it was like that of a monster. The moment he connected all the suspicious parts together, he found the truth behind all the strangeness.

‘Copying… clone of mine, you were created by me, and you are the body I formed after I Possessed the Crimson Python Phoenix. You became stronger as I practiced the secret art of Surging Indulgers. You went through the various changes to mend the flaw in your Life, and you gained perfection when I devoured the Ancient God. From the beginning to the end, you were created by me.

‘You are just a mere clone. How dare you harbor such ambitions against me? You want to copy my future path? I’d like to see whether this Heavenly Incense Rune is worthy of copying me! If you can completely copy me, then I will give away this clone. There is in fact no harm in me giving you a serendipity!’

Arrogance appeared on Su Ming’s face. After going through everything in his life, he had confidence in his words.

It was the confidence that all cultivators and powerful warriors had to have.