Pursuit of the Truth

“I will allow it! All members of the sect will watch you. If you cannot live through the third formation… then you will die.”

Right after Ye Long made his declaration, a low voice echoed through the five layers of Seven Moons Sect’s Sky Beyond the Sky.

That voice belonged to Dao Han, the red-robed man.

With a calm expression, Su Ming cast a glance at the Feng Shui compass formed by the countless runic symbols. At that moment, the Feng Shui compass began to spin and completed the first formation.

Ye Long, who was sitting and meditating on it, suddenly jolted. Resolve showed up in his eyes. Once he shut his closed them, he stayed still on the Feng Shui compass.

Su Ming cast a glance at him before moving his gaze away, back to the blue plate in his hand. He no longer paid any attention to Ye Long, but started pondering over the Seven Lives Art.

Unlike him, quite a number of cultivators of Seven Moons Sect watched Ye Long challenge the Rune from different layers of Sky Beyond the Sky. When an hour passed, the Feng Shui compass formed by the runic symbols let out loud rumbling sounds. It spun again, and the complexity of its rotations dazzled those who saw it.

“Second formation!” The red-robed man’s voice echoed flatly in the air at that moment, causing more Seven Moons Sect disciples to focus their attention on Ye Long.

As if Su Ming did not hear him, he continued being immersed in contemplating the Seven Lives Art. When four hours passed, Ye Long trembled while on the Feng Shui compass. Veins popped up on his face. He gritted his teeth and let out a low growl, and the Feng Shui compass immediately began rotating again. Runic symbols filled up the area, and when their light reached spread everywhere, the red-robed man’s voice appeared again.

“Third formation.”

When his words echoed in the air, another Feng Shui compass appeared above Ye Long. When both Feng Shui compasses rotated at the same time, blood trickled out of the corners of Ye Long’s lips, but he continued to persevere.

When nearly eight hours had passed and the rising sun of the morning cast its rays on the land, Ye Long let out an astonishing cry. The Feng Shui compass above him disappeared. As his body shuddered, he stood up slowly. Upon seeing it, the cultivators of Seven Moons Sect began to speak among themselves at a volume that even Su Ming could hear them.

“I, Ye Long, have not let down my Master’s teachings. I have successfully resisted three formations!” Ye Long sucked in a deep breath. He wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards a mountain in the distance.

When he stood up, he swept his gaze past the mountains in the area and suddenly spoke once again.

“Wang Tao, I’ve already cleared three formations. Will you… dare challenge this Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune just like I did?!”

When Ye Long’s words echoed in the air, the inner sect disciples of Seven Moons Sect in the fourth layer’s Sky Beyond the Sky immediately began speaking to one another. Those in the third, second, and first layers were also doing the same.

There were quite a few people in the fifth layer where Su Ming stayed who began paying attention to the matter as well.

Su Ming’s expression was calm. He cast a glance at Ye Long, but did not speak. Instead, he closed his eyes. He had already discovered some methods to practice the Seven Lives Art. After a while, when he opened his eyes, he lifted his right hand and pointed at his shadow. It immediately started contorting, and overlapping images appeared.

Ye Long’s voice lingered in the air. After a long while, when he saw that Su Ming did not take any action, he repeated his words, but still, no one came forth in response. In the end, Ye Long turned around, transformed into a long arc, and charged towards the mountain in the distance. Once he left, the Feng Shui compass formed by the runic symbols in the land gradually disintegrated.

Seven Moons Sect became calm again, but Ye Long’s name was etched deeply into the minds of the many disciples in the sect.

Time passed, and another year went by in the blink of an eye. During it, Ye Long challenged the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune the second time, and that time, he survived through the fourth formation!

Three years later, he cleared the fifth formation!

Another four years passed, and Ye Long became one of the few people who had cleared the sixth formation. It could be said that during those eight years, Ye Long had become famous in Seven Moons Sect. Practically no disciple did not know about him, and he… was gradually seen as the prodigy with the most potential among the sect members.

Ye Long had only taken eight years to clear the sixth formation, which was far shorter than what everyone else needed.

As for Su Ming, he seemed to have been forgotten. Be it Lan Lan or the red-robed man, they had never appeared in front of him..

Only Ye Long persisted in questioning Su Ming every single time he finished his challenge, asking him whether he dared to challenge the Rune. Because of this, even though Su Ming seemed to have been forgotten, he was still very famous among the disciples in the sect.

But his reputation was mostly negative…

Over the eight years, Su Ming had been mulling over the Seven Lives Art. He tried it a few times, but he was not pleased with the results. Then, on the morning eight years later, when he lifted his right hand and formed a seal, he tapped his own shadow. He bit down on his tongue and coughed up a mouthful of blood, making it fall on his shadow.

His blood instantly melted, making the shadow turn red. Then, as Su Ming slowly pulled his finger back, his shadow twisted and overlapped with the blood… A red figure separated from his shadow!

Two shadows were then under Su Ming!

One was black, and the other red. Facial features slowly appeared on the red figure, and gradually, it appeared the exact same as Su Ming. A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He lifted his left hand and patted the red figure.

The figure immediately vanished.

The moment it disappeared, in the protruding rock wall on the same mountain in the first layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, the air at the same spot as Su Ming… distorted rapidly, and a figure appeared.

That figure was Su Ming!

It was not a clone, and neither was it a Possessed body. Instead, it was a projection formed by Su Ming’s Seven Lives Art.

It was Su Ming, and it had an unbreakable connection to Su Ming’s real body. At that moment, once it walked out, it lifted its head and looked at the sky. When it smiled faintly, it turned around and walked down the mountain. Su Ming wanted to test the projection and see what was the difference between it and a clone.

He had just taken a few steps forward when he came to understand many things. His eyes sparkled, and his figure fused with the mountain. When he reappeared, he was already at the foot of the mountain.

“This isn’t a physical body, but is an entity which is similar to an illusion, which is why it is so difficult to destroy, but it’s not a soul… This Seven Lives Art is nothing ordinary,” Su Ming mumbled softly.

When he walked to the foot of the mountain, he suddenly came to a stop and looked at a bamboo forest to the right. A woman was sitting and meditating there.

Notes that seemed to have come from a xun drifted in the air. They echoed without anyone noticing them.

When Su Ming looked at the figure behind the bamboo forest, he was aware that the woman was the other disciple of the middle-aged man in the sky-blue Daoist Robe. She was the junior sister under the same Master who he had never met before.

Su Ming did not bother her training. He moved his gaze away and turned around to walk into the distance. He went down the mountain and entered the Seven Moons Sect which the world saw in Ancient Zang.

“Have you heard? Eldest senior brother Ye Long will attempt to challenge the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune during the next few days. The senior brothers from the second layer mentioned this before. They said that they will be able to see the Talisman Rune then.”

“I wonder whether Eldest Senior Brother Ye Long will be able to succeed this time…”

“It’s not so easy to clear the seventh Rune. It’s not been long since you joined the sect, so you don’t know about this, but I heard from others that Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune is in truth an ancient Rune the thirteen great sect elders obtained from some place in the past. There’s a total of thirty formations in the Rune, and it’s said that not even the thirteen great sect elders can clear more than twenty-seven formations!”

While walking through Seven Moons Sect, Su Ming ran into quite a number of disciples along the way. Most of them were discussing Ye Long among themselves.

After all, during the eight years, Ye Long’s name had already become famous in Seven Moons Sect. He had already cleared six formations, which was an incredibly shocking speed. He was already feverishly idolized by quite a number of disciples.

His status was also that of the disciple of Dao Han, one of the thirteen great sect elders. He might not be a successor disciple and was just a normal disciple that did not have the right to live in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, but even so, his status was great enough to be the subject of envy among the cultivators of Seven Moons Sect.

“That’s nothing. It’s just the sixth Rune. To us, it might be shocking, but there are some among the disciples in the second layer who have cleared the sixth formation, and practically all the senior brothers and senior sisters in the third layer have cleared the sixth formation. It’s even more so for the eldest senior brothers and sisters in the fourth layer!”

“You can’t compare it this way. How many years did they take to clear the sixth formation? Ye Long only used eight years. Just take a look at who else could do this in just eight years?!”

“Isn’t there still Wang Tao around? Heh heh, that person Ye Long challenges every single time… I’d really like to take a look at how that person who was stronger than Ye Long in the past has changed.”

“Speaking of this Wang Tao, it’s a bit strange, but there’s practically no news about him. He joined the inner sect with Ye Long, but Ye Long has already become Great Sect Elder Dao Han’s disciple, while Wang Tao seems to have disappeared.”

The different discussions continuously reached Su Ming’s ears as he walked forward. He naturally did not pay any attention to anyone’s words. As he walked forward, he saw many people’s shadows. They contorted once he walked past them, as if they had become much weaker, and he… became slightly stronger than when he was in the beginning.

But Su Ming had also come to discover that there was no shadow under his feet.

While walking in a circle, he gained an epiphany. He turned around, about to return to the mountain, when a solicitous voice reached his ears from behind him.

“Senior brother, please wait!”

Once Su Ming heard the speaker, he stopped moving. When he turned around, he cast a glance at the figure who was running swiftly towards him.

It was an old man who was dressed in a normal disciple’s robe and had the cheeks of a monkey.

He ran over and cried out with an assiduous look, “Senior brother, please wait. Heh heh, with just one look, I could tell that you are someone outstanding. Clearly, you’re not someone who will remain as a normal, average person. In the future, you will surely be successful and stand above all others.” The old man was dressed crudely. Once he arrived beside Su Ming, he began chattering nonstop.

“Senior brother, when I saw you, I felt that we were fated. How about this, I have some spirit cores and great medicine which can help you in refining your cultivation base. They will make sure you get to soar in the sky. I usually do not sell this to other people, but it can’t be helped, we’re fated. Come, take a look.” As the old man spoke, he came closer to Su Ming and drew his clothes apart to show a dozen something bottles hanging on the inner part of his robe.

“So? Do you see anything you like? You know Ye Long, right? Let me tell you this, if Ye Long didn’t buy my spirit cores and medicine in the past, it would have been impossible for him to clear the sixth formation!”

The old man immediately began introducing the spirit cores and medicine. He brought out bottle after bottle while yammering nonstop.

“I have some medicinal herbs with me as well. Look at this… and at this. Let me tell you, senior brother, I can’t sell this to you, Ye Long has already reserved it.

“And this… Ah, I can’t sell these to you as well, the great sect elder won’t allow me to sell this to you, but if you truly like it, and since we’re connected by fate, I’ll grit my teeth and sell it to you!”

The old man’s spit flew into the air while he spoke. As he continued, he seemed to notice that Su Ming had yet to speak, and he instinctively lifted his head, looking at Su Ming.

It seemed to be the first time he looked at Su Ming’s face clearly. When he saw it, he was first stunned, then his expression suddenly changed drastically!

“You-you…”

Shock and disbelief appeared on his face. It looked as if he had just come face to face with the most shocking thing in his life!