Pursuit of the Truth

There was endless resentment in that voice, along with a hint of madness brought by an unwillingness to admit defeat. When it echoed in every direction and resounded through Seven Moons Sect, the figure in front of Su Ming on top the Feng Shui compass turned into a shadow.

However, that shadow stood vertical and soon began to distort. In the blink of an eye, it turned into an old man with a head full of white hair and dressed in a long robe with stars on it. Veins popped up on his face when he glared at Su Ming.

“Seven Moons Sect disciple, Seven Moons Sect disciple…”

Once the old man cast a glance at Su Ming, he laughed madly. Waves of powerful killing intent spread out from him!

At the instant the old man appeared, cries of surprise rang out in the first layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. Once the outer sect disciples joined the sect, there were few who managed to see the eleventh formation of the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune. Upon seeing it, they immediately began paying attention to it.

Compared to them, the Seven Moons Sect disciples in the second layer of Sky Beyond the Sky were different. Their expressions changed at that moment. Their knowledge of the world was much greater, so most of them had already seen someone clear the eleventh formation… but they had never seen Guru Xing Chen before.

Different shadows had appeared when other people cleared the eleventh formation, but they had never exuded such mighty pressure and crazed killing intent as Guru Xing Chen.

Those in the second layer did not know who he was, but the disciples in the third layer of Sky Beyond the Sky did. At the moment they saw him, they took a few swift steps forward as if they wanted to take a closer look at him.

Their expressions changed, and in the end, a grim look settled on their faces.

“Guru Xing Chen… He’s a powerful warrior who brought chaos to Ancient Zang three thousand years ago. He was then killed by a sect elder of our sect. I didn’t expect… that this person would have already been refined into a Dao Shadow!”

“I heard about him before. Apparently, most of the cultivators who participated in killing this Guru Xing Chen from Seven Moons Sect came from the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. Those of us in the third layer might have been allowed to join the operation, but only a few of us had a direct hand in it. Most of us were in the periphery to set up a Sealing Rune.

“This Wang Tao… He might have quite a bit of difficulty in clearing the formation this time. It would have been fine if he had ran into someone else, but he just had to run into… Guru Xing Chen, who was infamous throughout the land!”

When the disciples in the third layer of Sky Beyond the Sky were shocked because they saw Guru Xing Chen and began discussing about him among themselves, the cultivators in the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky who could be considered to be the most elite of the cultivators in Seven Moons Sect filled with killing intent that came from the depths of their souls.

The sect elder had not appeared in the beginning of the battle. The disciples had been the ones who attacked, but Guru Xing Chen had cast an unknown divine ability that increased his cultivation base exponentially for a short period of time, allowing him to reach the terrifying first level of Dao Divinity Realm. To him, killing them was as easy as crushing ants. He did it, of course, which stirred up the sect elder’s anger, and he had personally descended there. Once they engaged in a fight that shook the sky and earth, the sect elder killed Guru Xing Chen.

They had never managed to find the Secret Art Guru Xing Chen used to increase his level of cultivation from the initial stage of Avanicaya Realm to the first level of Dao Divinity Realm within a short six hours. No matter how Seven Moons Sect searched his soul, they could not find it.

While the Secret Art could not really allow him to remain in the first level of Dao Divinity Realm for a long period of time, but it was so powerful that Seven Moons Sect placed high value on it. That was also the reason why… his body was destroyed, but his shadow was left behind and sealed in the Rune.

Most of the disciples in the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky knew of that secret, but it was the first time that Guru Xing Chen had appeared in the eleventh formation. Upon seeing him again, old hatred rose in the hearts of the disciples from the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. The battle in the past had been a wretched one. Those of the same line beside them had died one by one, and even three head disciples in charge of leading the mountains had died.

“It’s that person!”

“It’s a pity that when I challenged the Rune in the past, I never met his shadow, or I would have definitely taken revenge for Senior Brother Xu!”

“His body was destroyed by the sect elder, so only his shadow remains. His level of cultivation has been reduced to the later stage of Plane Kalpa Realm. It wouldn’t be difficult for me to kill him if he only has that level of cultivation!”

“Wang Tao, kill that person!”

“Wang Tao, that person killed a lot of disciples from Seven Moons Sect in the past! Kill him!”

Voices rose and fell from the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. When they landed in Su Ming’s ears, he cast a glance at Guru Xing Chen, and a thought appeared in his heart.

‘It’s impossible that he brought chaos to anywhere in Ancient Zang with his level of cultivation. It’s also impossible for Seven Moons Sect to have needed to mobilize so many cultivators to surround and seal him… Even if he was in the initial stage of Avacaniya Realm… Looks like this Guru Xing Chen has quite a number of secrets.’

A ghost of a smile appeared on Su Ming’s lips when he cast another glance at Guru Xing Chen.

‘And this is the first time this person appeared in the eleventh formation in three thousand years. I won’t believe that my luck is so good that I met him. Someone… must have manipulated it!’

Su Ming shook his head.

Guru Xing Chen roared at that moment. He formed a seal with his hands, and two black phoenixes flew out of his hands. When they intersected with each other, they occupied most of the Feng Shui compass. Piercing screeches charged at Su Ming, closing in on and enveloping Su Ming.

“You’ve gone against the rules.”

At the instant the black phoenixes enveloped Su Ming and hid him from view, a deep voice spoke from the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. It echoed in the mountains and landed at the top of the mountain belonging to the third line, right in the palace where Lan Lan sat meditating.

“This person is not supposed to be released. We only use the Rune to suppress him. Sect Elder Lan, I will need an explanation.”

Lan Lan opened her eyes and said softly, “Greatmaster, my Master sent a message in regards to this. If you have any objections, please ask my Master.”

Once she said those words, the voice from before did not speak again.

Lan Lan cast her gaze to the area outside as if she could see through the palace to the Feng Shui compass where Su Ming was at that moment.

“Master is in isolation right now. It’s impossible for him to have participated in this… Only when you kill the man in front of the disciples of the fourth layer… will they accept you.

“No one in Seven Moons Sect could find his secret, but I have a feeling… that you can.”

As Lan Lan mumbled to herself, a loud bang that shook the sky and earth shot out from the Feng Shui compass in the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

The two black phoenixes let out shrill screeches of pain. They disintegrated, and the Feng Shui compass became clear again. Su Ming was standing as if he had never done anything, but the eyes of Guru Xing Chen shrank.

“Bring out what made you bring chaos to Ancient Zang, or else you are not worthy of me attacking you,” Su Ming said flatly.

His voice was calm, but when it traveled through the area, it shocked the cultivators from Seven Moons Sect.

With an unprecedentedly grave look on his face, Guru Xing Chen lifted his right hand and swung his arm at the air. Immediately, the world rumbled. An indistinct crack appeared in the sky, but if anyone looked closely, they would see that it was not a crack. It was… a huge whip!

The red whip did not have corporeal form and was just an illusion. When Guru Xing Chen lifted his right hand, he grabbed it.

“Besides having the Secret Art that allowed me to reach the first level of Dao Divinity Realm within a short period of time and become an overlord of a region, I also had this… Space Whip!

“It’s a pity that besides me, no one knows where the real body of the whip lies. And you too… can only see the illusion of the whip… manifested from my heart.

“You won’t have a chance to personally experience its real might. Still, it can be considered to be your serendipity to witness the might of this illusory whip.”

A ferocious smile appeared at the corners of Guru Xing Chen’s lips. When he lifted his right hand, the Space Whip let out a roar as if it had just cracked the space in the world. In an instant, it turned into a red line that charged towards Su Ming.

He remained as calm as ever, but a thought appeared in his mind. The old man had spoken too much, and the information he revealed as well as the discussions from the people around him caused Su Ming to smile when he looked at the old man.

Right when his smile appeared, the whip charged at him. Su Ming took a step forward, lifted his right hand, and grabbed it. Immediately, he caught the red whip.

But the instant he touched the whip, a loud bang shot up in his heart. Memories instantly rose in his mind, and they all came from Harmonious Morus Alba. They tumbled about as if they had been stirred up by a strange power in the whip.

Su Ming’s body jolted. He felt as if his shadow and his soul were about to be extracted by the whip, as if he was about to be separated from Wang Tao, from the body he had successfully Possessed.

‘This whip…’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. He circulated his cultivation base to forcibly stop the whip’s power to stir his memories. When he took a step forward, with the whip seized tightly in his right hand, he drew close to Guru Xing Chen, whose eyes had went wide and whose jaw was slack from shock. Su Ming raised his left hand and swiftly struck Guru Xing Chen between the eyebrows.

A wave of power belonging to Soulseek swiftly spread out from Su Ming’s left hand. He planned to search through Guru Xing Chen’s memories for the true whip from and the Secret Art that allowed his level of cultivation to increase exponentially for a short period of time.

“That’s impossible… you… you managed to catch my Space Whip?!”

Guru Xing Chen saw Su Ming’s left hand approach him, and a hint of scorn suddenly appeared on his face, but that scorn was not very strong, since the shock he experienced just then diminished it.

“No one can search through my memories! If the thirteen Great Sect Elders of Seven Moons Sect could not do it… you have no chance!”

Guru Xing Chen laughed loudly when Su Ming’s left hand pressed down at the center of his brow. Su Ming leaned into Guru Xing Chen then and whispered softly into his ear, “That’s because before me… there have been no Abyss Builders here nor any Arts that could reverse time!”