Pursuit of the Truth

In the blink of an eye, three months passed. During them, Su Ming meditated in the area. He strengthened his understanding of the epiphany towards the laws of fate, making his body and mind master it thoroughly.

On that day, Su Ming opened his eyes slowly and stared at the distant galaxy. His gaze was profound, as if the universe was contained in his eyes. Before long, a long arc charged over from the whirlwind.

There was a white ripple around the long arc. Wherever it went, the whirlwind would spread out, allowing the person to muster a certain extent of their power. In the span of a few breaths, the long arc turned into the old Miao Feng hundreds of feet away. He wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards Su Ming.

“Greetings, master.”

Su Ming remained as calm as ever. He cast Miao Feng an indifferent glance and nodded slightly.

“Master, I investigated the easternmost direction and noticed tens of thousands of cultivators in the area. They are either in groups of three or four, or in hundreds. They are scattered in several hidden parts in the east.

“Most of them were wary of me… Besides a small portion who showed delight and surprise towards being offered to join the sect, most of them are hesitant…” Miao Feng explained with his head lowered.

Su Ming swept his gaze past Miao Feng’s body and asked calmly, “How did you get those injuries?”

“I obtained them in a spot in the east, about two months away from here. It is the furthest I have went this time. There is a small army formed by members of the past Morning Dao Sect there. They number nearly ten thousand, and they refused your offer to join the sect. However, they wanted the treasure to move through the whirlwind which you bestowed upon me…” When Miao Feng said that, he lifted his head and cast Su Ming a glance. He did not continue speaking.

A barely noticeable glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He sized up Miao Feng, then raised his right hand and swung it. Immediately, a medicinal core appeared out of nowhere in his palm before it charged to Miao Feng.

“This core is from the Higher Realm and will heal your injuries. Swallow it and meditate for two hours, then bring me to the spot where you were injured.” Once Su Ming finished speaking, he closed his eyes, but his divine sense had locked onto the old man in the distance and began observing him closely.

Miao Feng received the medicinal core and swallowed it without hesitation before immediately beginning to meditate. Soon, sweat broke out on his skin, and two hours later, his eyes flew open. Excitement appeared in them, and banging sounds resounded in his body.

In truth, the injuries on his body were not everything. During the disaster, he had also been injured, but had been suppressing it. Yet the two-hour long meditation had healed most of his injuries and even made his cultivation base slightly stronger. The qualities of the medicinal core made it clear that it was a valuable item.

Miao Feng’s gaze when he looked towards Su Ming immediately filled with gratitude. Right away, Su Ming noticed with his divine sense while he had his eyes shut that a power of the laws of fate leaning towards him had appeared around the old man, though it was weak.

The old man himself did not notice it, but Su Ming could see it clearly. This proved that his previous analysis was correct. At that moment, he was no longer uncertain of what he should do. Once he opened his eyes, he remained still, but overlapping shadows instantly appeared around him. A muddled figure walked out and turned into another him. It was also dressed in a black robe, but it was Su Ming’s clone, the one that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole and which he had just recovered.

A faint layer of golden light surrounded the clone. It was one of Su Ming’s personalities. At that moment, it had been extracted from him as the clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole left him.

In the past, Su Ming could not control his personalities with his own power, but when he gained an epiphany towards fate and took control of the fate in the world around him, he could easily control his different personalities. He could even extract them and fuse into different clones.

“Lead the way,” Su Ming’s clone said in a hoarse voice from within the black robe. Miao Feng immediately voiced his obedience and stood up, turning into a long arc that charged into the distance along with Su Ming’s clone.

The white ripple was beneath their feet. When it spread out, it pushed away the whirlwind, increasing their speed. It was especially so for Su Ming’s clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole. He was already so strong that he could force his way through the whirlwind for a period of time without suffering too much damage. After all, his blood, flesh, bones, and veins were formed after absorbing the Ancient God’s body. While the physical power he controlled might not be able to make him imperishable, he had still reached a state that he was incredibly hard to destroy.

With booming sounds shocking the heavens, two long arcs left swiftly into the distance. After a moment, they disappeared into the whirlwind.

Su Ming slowly lowered his head while he was sitting in the millions of feet of empty space formed by the white ripple. He closed his eyes again and began meditating.

Su Ming’s clone forced his way through the whirlwind with his powerful physical power, and he was so fast that he surpassed Miao Feng. In the end, he grabbed the old man’s arm and charged forward while stirring up piercing whistles which indicated that space had been broken as he charged at a speed faster than lightning.

Miao Feng felt excitement as well as shock. He knew that his master’s level of cultivation was astonishing, but he did not expect that a mere clone would possess such terrifying power. This shocked him, but no rebellious thoughts rose in his heart, only obedience.

Half a month after the clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole left, long arcs charged over from the distance into the region where Su Ming as Zhang Ji Dao meditated. The long arc was incredibly frail, and it seemed to be struggling.

When the person rushed into the region within the ripple, he showed up to be Dao Zhong. His face was pale, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. There were numerous white insects squirming in his blood. When he spat some out with the blood, they let out shrill screeches before shattering with a bang. They then turned into centipedes with wings that charged towards Dao Zhong while roaring at him.

“Master!” Dao Zhong, who was immensely weakened, immediately shouted while raising his right hand. When he was about to make the last bit of his cultivation base in his body erupt, Su Ming’s eyes flew open. He raised his right hand and pointed forward.

With it, a power of time descended with a bang on the region where the young man was. It caused a terrifying reversal of time in that small area. As time flowed back, the centipedes with wings fell backwards and turned back into white insects with blood staining their bodies. The blood also immediately flowed back and returned into Dao Zhong’s mouth.

At the same time, his body trembled. In just five breaths, countless white threads seeped out of his pores with a bang, then gathered together to form a small white ball the size of a fist in space.

As it formed, Dao Zhong’s cultivation base started recovering from its weakened state. He didn’t recover to his best condition, but most of his cultivation base had been restored. Only then did the power to reverse time dissipated.

Dao Zhong was struck dumb. His body shuddered slightly. His gaze when he stared at Su Ming filled with fear greater than ever before in his life. His heart trembled, for he could sense that what had happened to him just now then was due to a power of time. It was the reversal of time, a great divine ability allowed a person to control time.

Only this sort of divine ability could make the injuries on his body to instantly become better. Only it could make the white threads come out of his body in the same manner they entered until they turned back to their original form.

Su Ming’s strength stunned Dao Zhong at that instant, as if he had been suppressed. He sucked in a sharp breath, then bowed deeply to Su Ming. With respect in his eyes, he said in a deep voice, “Thank you for your help, master!”

“What happened?” Su Ming asked flatly. He seized the space with his right hand, and the small white ball immediately went to him. When Su Ming caught it, he began observing it carefully.

“Master, I found thirty-one spots where the cultivators who survived gathered to the west of this place. Most of them have less than one hundred people. Only two of them have thousands, and they are two shattered planets. Based on my observations, I could tell that they are filled with cultivators who were once from the Immortals’ Union.

“There are four Almighties in Mastery Realm among them… During the investigation, I was heavily injured by a mortal enemy of mine. If it was not because of the treasure you bestowed upon me allowing me to move through the whirlwind while the other could not chase after me, I might have already died there…” Dao Zhong explained with a bitter smile.

“And…” He hesitated for a moment.

“Speak,” Su Ming said flatly while staring at the small white ball in his hand.

“The forces of power from the Immortals’ Union which chased after me seemed to have formed their own sect…” Dao Zhong immediately said.

Su Ming shifted his gaze away from the small white ball and let his eyelids fall slightly. Immediately, overlapping shadows appeared around him once more. After a moment, a layer of fog manifested around his body. When it moved out of him, it turned into a man with an indistinct appearance.

There was an indescribable, malicious air about the man’s body. It was Su Ming’s Ecang clone, and the black shade from among Su Ming’s personalities was within it. That color represented the will of midwinter, signifying destruction and slaughter!

When the black shade fused with the Ecang clone, its gradually went black.

The black-haired man’s appearance could not be seen clearly, but a powerful, killing intent surrounded him.

“There can only be one sect in True Morning Dao Sect from now on. No second one will be tolerated. Once any appear, we will simply destroy it. Only kill their leader. If the ones remaining submit to us, bring them back.”

Su Ming did not look at Dao Zhong but instead continued staring at the small white ball as if he was incredibly interested in it.

A blood-red light shone in the eyes of the black Ecang clone. He did not speak, but took a step forward to appear next to its guide. Dao Zhong felt his heart freeze. He could sense the dense killing intent emanating from the black figure, along with madness that made him shudder. He quickly lowered his head and voiced his obedience while looking forward to the expression his enemy would have upon his return.