Pursuit of the Truth

“It’s still early, so allow me to introduce myself. You should know the person who killed you, Your Highness.” The young man with the angled eyebrows walked up the stairs towards Su Ming.

“I am Tian He, the seventh disciple under Diao Men, who is in the Second Dao in One Dao Sect. I am the Envoy of Battle in One Dao Sect, and I am in the second level of Dao Divinity Realm. As for my hometown… it’s also in Ancient Zang. It’s not too far away from the royal capital.” As the young man spoke, he walked closer to Su Ming.

“Now, I’ve finished making my introductions. Your Highness… you… can now die!”

A moment ago, the young man was still smiling, but in the next breath, his expression turned ferocious. The killing intent in his eyes burned along with excitement. As he spoke, he lifted his right hand and swiftly pointed at Su Ming.

With it, the world roared. A large number of cracks appeared in the mountain belonging to the third line, and sword shadows manifested in the air before the young man. They immediately reached over one million in number and charged at Su Ming while covering the sky and earth.

Each sword shadow held a terrifying power that could tear through the world. When they charged at Su Ming, his eyes remained closed, but he lifted his hands and formed a seal. Immediately, his hair danced about, and his robes fluttered. A gentle light enveloped his body and turned into a layer of protection.

Loud booming sounds echoed through the world at a volume that shook the sky and earth. The one million sword shadows instantly submerged Su Ming, and the booming sounds grew even louder. The sword shadows crumbled and turned into glittering light that spread through the area.

Su Ming remained seated on the cliff with his eyes closed. The protective screen of light around him had become much darker and fainter, but it did not crack.

“Quite interesting. As expected of the third prince. Do you still have some other Enchanted Treasures to protect yourself?”

The young man smiled, but the killing intent in his eyes became stronger. When he took a step forward, he instantly closed in on Su Ming and lifted his right hand with two fingers pressed together to resemble the tip of a sword. He sliced it through the air, and a white flame lit up. It surrounded his fingers, and he tapped the screen of light around Su Ming.

At the instant his fingers touched the screen, it shuddered. Cracking sounds could be heard, and cracks spread through the screen!

“Shatter!”

When the young man spoke with a cold sneer, a loud bang shot up, and the screen of light around Su Ming shattered as a response. It crumbled to pieces.

A string of conceited laughter came from Tian He, who did not stop moving his right hand. Once he crushed the screen of light, he reached for the center of Su Ming’s brow.

“Third prince, I won’t be sending you off!” the young man said while his laughter still echoing in the air.

At that moment, Xu Zhong Fan was the one who appeared to be the most nervous and worried in the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. He was Su Ming’s Master. Even though he was only Master in name and had forced Su Ming to be his disciple, his worry at that moment was sincere. It did not matter whether his worries were related to things concerning himself, but without a doubt… at that moment, he was worried about Su Ming.

“Sect Master!”

He could clearly see Su Ming and Tian He’s figures in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. In fact, all the people in the seventh layer could see the two of them in the fifth layer.

“He is in the second level of Dao Divinity Realm. This is… unfair!” Xu Zhong Fan looked at Great Sect Elder Gu Tai of the first line.

“Continue watching!” Gu Tai’s expression was calm, but a bright sparkle had appeared in his eyes.

The screen of light around Su Ming in the fifth layer shattered. When Tian He’s finger was about to tap the center of his brow, Su Ming still remained with his eyes closed. He did not dodge, but overlapping shadows appeared around his body. A figure shot out and turned into a long arc that touched Tian He’s approaching finger.

As booming sounds echoed in the air, Tian He’s finger paused for a moment, and he took a few steps back. When he lifted his head, the figure which blocked his finger tumbled backwards while taking on Su Ming’s form, but his face was pale. His body was faint and resembled an illusion, as if he was about to dissipate at any moment. Clearly, Su Ming’s shadow figure had a hard time withstanding the attack.

“A shadow figure? Not bad.”

Tian He grinned. Suddenly, his body vanished, and when he reappeared, he was right in front of Su Ming. However, Su Ming’s shadow figure also disappeared and reappeared between the young man and his real self.

Booming sounds shook the sky and earth while fog filled the area. Tian He lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the sky.

“Sky Sword!”

When he said those words, a huge crack appeared in the sealed fifth layer. It immediately turned into an asymmetrical sword that looked like a crack and which instantly charged towards the ground, straight for Su Ming.

Loud booming spread in every direction. Su Ming’s shadow figure was instantly pierced through by the sword and reduced to black fragments in front of his real self. When they tumbled backwards, they were absorbed back into Su Ming’s meditating body.

Overlapping shadows appeared around Su Ming’s body again. This time, he did not just send out one shadow figure, but two, and one of them was the shadow of winter. It was formed when Su Ming had gained an epiphany of winter from the four seasons!

Once the two shadow figures appeared, they charged at Tian He. An arrogant look appeared in his eyes when they drew close. He lifted his right foot and stomped on the ground. A loud bang shot up, and numerous cracks appeared under his feet. The moment they showed up, they turned into contorted swords that charged at Su Ming’s two shadow figures.

“A mere child’s play. You overestimate yourself, third prince. You… can’t run from this disaster!”

As he spoke, Tian He lifted his hands and pushed his palms together before pushing forward. With it, his hair immediately danced in the air, as if a gust of violent wind had crashed into his face. The mountain under his feet trembled, and the world behind him distorted.

Loud booms shot out from the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, and from every direction, contorted swords appeared around him. If anyone looked over, they would find that swords were endless. The air had been replaced by sword glints.

“One Slash, Sever Dao!”

The moment the young man attacked, Su Ming’s two shadow figures shot out. One of them instantly turned into a layer of black fog. When it tumbled out, a huge black palm manifested and charged at Tian He.

At the same time, Su Ming’s other shadow figure, the shadow of winter, opened its eyes, and snow began to fall. The entire sky seemed to have become dark. A blizzard rose up, and a pair of eyes that seemed to be on the verge of opening appeared in the sky, causing the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky to seem to be enveloped by shadow.

“Not a bad Art, but a pity… it’s too weak!”

The young man laughed arrogantly and pulled his hands apart. The world roared. Countless sword glints instantly charged forward and crashed against Su Ming’s palm of black fog, tore at the blizzard around him, and caused loud bangs.

The eyes in the sky were torn, the snow in the area fell apart, and Su Ming’s shadow of winter shattered. The palm of black fog also disintegrated and turned into wisps of black smoke. When they tumbled backwards, they charged at Su Ming’s seated real self and were absorbed back into his body.

“Now then… What other tricks do you have? Third prince, Seven Moons Sect has their Seven Lives Art. Excluding your real self, you should still have three more shadow figures. Only three-tenths of the time it takes for an incense stick to burn have passed. Come, I’ll play with you!”

An excited look appeared on Tian He’s face. He would definitely not do something like that if he attacked someone else, but right then, he liked the feeling of fighting Su Ming. He liked being able to toy with him.

The person before him was part of the royal family of Ancient Zang, the royal family whose status was so great that no one was allowed to show even a single hint of disrespect. Su Ming was the third prince, and the chance to kill and humiliate a member of the royal family excited Tian He, which was why he wanted it to last. He wanted to make the third prince afraid. He wanted to see his fear!

With ruthless ferociousness and excitement, Tian He took a step forward. He lifted his right hand and cut down swiftly!

“Third prince, send out your remaining three shadow figures so I can kill them!”

When he spoke, overlapping shadows appeared around Su Ming’s body once more. The final three figures appeared and turned into his shadows of autumn, summer, and spring. Together, they charged out.

Tian He’s conceited laughter echoed in the air of the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

At that moment, powerful killing intent appeared in Xu Zhong Fang’s eyes. He glared at Tian He. Across from the Great Sect Elders of Seven Moons Sect, the white-robed teenager continued smiling, but there was anger in his heart. He was not angry about Tian He wanting to kill instead of capturing the third prince, but about how slow he was in regards to it. If he continued toying with him and some accident happened…

“This is his disaster. Continue watching!” Gu Tai said faintly again.

Tian He’s laughter echoed in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky again, and he cast a scornful look at the three shadow figures that had overlapped with Su Ming’s body and appeared while sparkling. Once he saw the three shadow figures take Su Ming’s form, he once again felt the excitement of killing a prince.

“We should end the game now. The time it takes for half an incense stick to burn is almost up.”

As Tian He smiled, a contemptuous look appeared on his face. He lifted his right hand and pushed his palm against the ground. With a bang, the ground shuddered, and even the mountain belonging to the third line seemed to want to collapse. In truth, all of the thirteen mountains in the area started trembling.

Once cracks appeared, they instantly turned into swords. They immediately surrounded Tian He, and the moment he lifted his right hand from the ground, they gathered together to turn into… a big sword of one thousand feet in length. While sweeping sideways, it charged at Su Ming.

Booming sounds echoed in the air. With supreme strength and Tian He’s power in the second level of Dao Divinity Realm, the big sword cut through the shadow of autumn, the body of summer, and the mark of spring. At the instant Su Ming’s three shadow figures shattered and tumbled back into his real self, the sword drew close to Su Ming’s head, about to cut into his body!

“The game should indeed end now.”

At that moment, the meditating Su Ming opened his eyes!