Pursuit of the Truth

The white-robed teenager was a Great Dao Paragon! He was Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu, an existence which stood among the strongest, which was one of the thirty most powerful warriors in all of Ancient Zang!

He might have seemed young, but in truth, he had walked the path of cultivation for much longer than the Great Sect Elders of Seven Moons Sect… except for the Great Sect Elder of the first line of Seven Moons Sect. The other great sect elders could not hope to compare to him in terms of their age.

“Xu Zhong Fan… Fellow Daoist Xu, it’s been many years since we last met. I didn’t expect you to be able to gather together the Ring of Great Dao.”

The white-robed teenager smiled faintly. His smile was very sincere, and not a single hint of falsehood could be detected in it. He even gave off a feeling that he was bathing in the light of spring.

The white-robed teenager cast a scrutinizing glance at Su Ming’s Master in Seven Moons Sect, then said with a smile, “I haven’t congratulated you for taking in such a good disciple that your own Life Matrix will gain a noble status so you would have hope of completing your Dao.”

Su Ming’s Master in Seven Moons Sect, the middle-aged man in the sky-blue Daoist robe had a sullen expression on his face. The other great sect elders beside him also had grim and murderous looks. They stared at the white-robed teenager coldly.

Only one person did not do so. He was an old man with a head full of white hair and his eyes closed. He might have been standing among the great sect elders, but there was a faint feeling that made it seem like he was different from the others.

“Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu has come to visit us, and your presence is like that of a friend. However, you have not come to us with grace and you did not wait for us to welcome you. Instead, you stepped into Sky Beyond the Sky on your own, without our permission. Does… One Dao Sect underestimate us so much?” Su Ming’s Master in Seven Moons Sect said while looking at Sen Mu.

“I am already here.”

The white-robed teenager’s expression remained the same. He continued smiling while looking at the Great Sect Elders of Seven Moons Sect. When his eyes landed on the old man who still had his eyes closed, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was silent for a moment before he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to the old man, who still had his eyes shut. “I have been discourteous. Greetings, Senior Gu Tai.”

“You broke into our Sky Beyond the Sky without authorization, then sealed our sect’s fifth layer. You also sent pressure against our disciples. Don’t you think that you degraded your status, Great Dao Paragon? You’re just going to say that you were discourteous? Where would Seven Moons Sect’s dignity be then?!”

Su Ming’s Master in Seven Moons Sect took a step forward at that moment. There was a dark look in his eyes when he spoke.

“I apologize for this matter. I have been practicing cultivation for a long time, and all these codes of conduct in the world outside are rather unclear to me. I have indeed come to this place without careful consideration, and I should not have sealed your fifth layer. Such an act is indeed below my status, and the matter of using pressure to bind those of the younger generation… If I have offended you today, how about you hit me, you ingrate?”

The white-robed teenager looked at Xu Zhong Fan with a smile. Aside from his last sentence, all his words were incredibly sincere. If it was the first time they came into contact with him, the sect elders would be unable to help themselves and relax slightly in his presence.

But once he said the last sentence, the entire tone of his speech changed completely, causing the gazes of the eleven Great Sect Elders of Seven Moons Sect to turn even colder and darker, but they did not show any hint of surprise. Clearly, they knew of Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu’s personality.

“Enough!”

The old man who had his eyes shut opened them slowly at that moment. He had no pupils, just whites, which made him a bizarre sight.

“Sen Mu, we will not hand him over. If you want to fight… then Seven Moons Sect will fight! If you can come here for the eldest prince, then we, Seven Moons Sect, can also… face the risk of our sect’s destruction for the third prince!

“But I heard that Asura Clan, where the second prince is, has also showed signs of gaining power.”

The old man’s words were calm, and not a hint of happiness or anger could be felt, but when he spoke, the other great sect elders immediately took a step back, allowing the old man to be at the center. Clearly, he was the leader.

Even the white-robed teenager no longer had a smile on his face. His expression became solemn.

“Senior Gu Tai, you are still the same as before, I—”

“When I gained enlightenment and completed my Dao, you were still happily prancing about on your Master’s knees. Will you fight or will you not fight? I only need one word for your answer. Cut all your pleasantries, they’re just noise,” the old man said flatly, and a strong, domineering air spread out from him with a bang.

Sen Mu was silent while casting a few scrutinizing glances at Gu Tai. His eyes sparkled slightly before he sighed.

“I heard from my Master that there were three Dao Gods in the ninth level in Ancient Zang, and after them, it was said that all those who become Great Dao Paragons will definitely become Dao Gods in the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm, but only one succeeded, and that is you, Senior Gu Tai.

“After all… you are the only one who once fought against the Imperishable Cultivators with the three Dao Gods in the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm!

“But a pity, you had a burden in your heart, and that caused you to suffer an injury in your heart, and it also resulted in you… being unable to become a Great Dao Paragon… but I will admit that you are still my senior. If you truly want to fight, I do not have the confidence to win against you,” Sen Mu said slowly. While looking at Gu Tai, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to him again.

“I have come here today to make a bet with Seven Moons Sect. The bet will last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Regardless of whether I win or lose, I will apologize and leave.”

“And if you lose?” the old man asked flatly.

“I will give you one hundred thousand Dao scrolls as well as three hundred slips containing different epiphanies to enter Dao Spirit Realm,” Sen Mu answered without any hesitation.

“Not necessary. If you win, we will no longer need to talk about anything else, but if you lose… then all the invaders from One Dao Sect within an area of one million feet must remain in this place!” Once Gu Tai said, and Sen Mu’s pupils shrank.

“Very well!”

Resolution appeared on his face. After all, while the old man was just a Dao Paragon, forget Sen Mu himself, even his Master was slightly wary of him, and they would not easily provoke him. The old man’s reputation was so great in the past that his name had traveled through all of Ancient Zang, and he surely still had some secrets up his sleeves. Legends had it that he could copy one of the divine abilities belonging to the three Dao Gods in the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm!

“Including those in the sky,” the old man said flatly.

This time, Sen Mu went silent, but soon, he nodded and sat down. He swung his right arm, and an incense stick appeared in front of them. It swayed and was instantly lit.

“Sect Master… This matter…” Next to the old man, Xu Zhong Fan had a hint of worry on his face. But just when he was about to continue speaking, Gu Tai cast him a glance.

“I can’t help him in this matter either. If he fails, then it is his destiny, and it also means that he is not a person who can fight to be the heir. If he wins… then why is it wrong for Seven Moons Sect to face the risk of destruction for him?!”

There was a firm tone in the old man’s words, causing the other great sect elders to choose not to speak.

When all of them cast their gazes on the lit incense stick and a wisp of smoke floated up, the young man with the angled eyebrows in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky opened his eyes. He remained still, but a hint of killing intent and excitement appeared in his eyes.

“The game has started. The time it takes for an incense stick to burn, huh? I will only need half of that time.”

At the instant the young man opened his eyes, cracking sounds came from his body. While he seemed to have appeared in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, right then, as the cracking sounds appeared, he seemed to have descended in the fifth layer once more. He took a step forward and… his body turned into a long arc that charged towards the mountain belonging to the third line, where Su Ming was.

“Capturing the third prince alive? I won’t do that. I will kill him! Haha! I will become the first cultivator to ever kill a member of the royal family!

“Once I kill him, then perhaps I will have the chance to snatch his Life Matrix. And my level of cultivation will definitely increase! Besides, even if I kill him, I will not have violated the rules of Ancient Zang, because it’ll be done during the three thousand years!

“As for three thousand years later… If I can’t reach the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm, it’s pointless for me to continue living. And if I can reach the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm… then no one will be able to do anything to me!”

The young man’s laughter echoed in the air.

He instantly appeared on the mountain belonging to the third line. He did not step on the cliff where Su Ming was, but instead, once he showed up at the foot of the mountain, his laughter echoed in the air, and he started walking up the mountain.

With each step he took, the mountain trembled, and powerful, mighty pressure descended every single time his foot landed. It grew stronger and filled the young man’s voice with confidence and excitement.

“Third prince, the person who will kill you… is Tian He!”

Su Ming sat in the mountain in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. Be it the seal in the world or the intimidating suppression, they seemed to not be very effective on him. They seemed to avoid the region where he stayed.

It was also because of it that Seven Moons Sect had agreed to gamble with Sen Mu, or else it would have been a different story. Clearly, everything had been planned to the very last detail by One Dao Sect.

At that moment, while meditating with his eyes closed, Su Ming sensed the seal outside. He sensed a terrifying wave of mighty pressure enveloping the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, which turned it into a prison. The aura of other people caught inside had become chaotic, and they were all fighting against it arduously.

Su Ming had also sensed an unfamiliar presence in the prison-like fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. That presence was strong, and it was full of killing intent as well as madness so great that it caused the mountain to tremble. Then, the voice of that person reached his ears.

Su Ming sighed in his heart. He knew that it was a battle he could not avoid. He could only sigh regrettably, however, because he had already found a sign serving as a guide for him to fuse his shadow figures together, but in the end, he was forced to stop due to an invisible bottleneck. It felt as if he lacked some sort of key to reach a breakthrough.

At the moment he was about to open his eyes, Su Ming suddenly froze, as if he was listening to something. After a long while, his face became calm again, and he gave up on the thought to open his eyes.

The mountain trembled even more violently. The sounds of footsteps gradually grew louder, coming closer. Low chuckles reached his ears, and a presence filled with killing intent as well as excitement covered the entire mountain belonging to the third line.

A dozen something breaths later, Tian He appeared hundreds of feet away from Su Ming. His aura instantly reached its peak.

“Honorable third prince… you have already missed the best chance to counterattack.”

The young man with the dashing eyebrows saw Su Ming meditating outside his house at first glance, and a smile appeared on his face.

Needless to say, there were no fools among people who had reached his level of cultivation. He might be arrogant, but he was also conniving. He had walked over instead of flying to give pressure to Su Ming, but also… because after moving through the Rune of Seven Moons Sect, he needed some time for his power to return to its peak!

And it was the pinnacle of the second level of Dao Divinity Realm!