Pursuit of the Truth

“Youngest junior brother, is that your clone?”

Hu Zi cast his gaze on Su Ming’s clone under the second incense stick, and his pupils constricted. The divine ability he previously cast could only allow him to see a picture. He could not see the details, like levels of cultivation, but when he personally saw Su Ming’s clone, he immediately sensed a powerful, mighty pressure coming from him.

That mighty pressure was not the product of a cultivation base, but was a great power that seemed as if it was about to erupt from a physical body. The strength of the clone’s physical body made Hu Zi apprehensive. After all, he also practiced the path of cultivating his physical body.

As for his cultivation base, while his primary focus was the Dream Dao, in truth, he did not like that Dao and was more inclined to training his physical body. Because of it, he knew more than the others about just how terrifying was the power which could erupt from that physical body.

Hu Zi turned his head to look towards Su Ming. When he saw him nodding, Hu Zi sucked in a sharp breath in his heart. He had gauged Su Ming’s level of cultivation previously, and he appeared to have stepped into Fate Realm not too long ago, but only at that moment did he realize that even his eldest senior brother and second senior brother might have miscalculated their youngest junior brother’s true combat powers.

‘Just a clone alone is enough to make me feel such mighty pressure. Heh heh, the Ninth Summit is destined to rise to power. Just how strong is youngest junior brother..?’ Hu Zi grinned, looking very happy.

With his gaze fixed on all nine of the incense sticks, Su Ming took large strides towards the clone with a calm expression. Hu Zi quickly followed behind him. As for the bald crane, it sashayed over as well.

In its eyes, there was practically nothing in True Morning Dao World which could threaten Su Ming. Once the supreme treasure appeared, even if he ran into an Almighty in Death Realm, Su Ming would still be able to fight back.

If he ran into a Sublime Paragon, Su Ming might not be their opponent, but he would still be able to retreat with his body intact.

With that being the case, what should he be afraid of?

Su Ming did not move quickly. As he approached, a feeling of his cultivation base boiling immediately spread through his body. The closer he got to the Heavenly Incense Rune, the livelier his cultivation base grew, and he had a vague feeling as if he was about to reach a breakthrough. As he closed in, hints of an epiphany suddenly appeared in his mind.

However, this epiphany was slightly vague, so Su Ming could not make it out. It had come out of nowhere. When it echoed in Su Ming’s mind, it fused with his cultivation base, making him feel as if it was about to reach a breakthrough regarding the fate in the world around him, thereby allowing him to control the fate in his own heart.

The change brought a thought to Su Ming’s mind. He stopped moving. When he turned his head to look at Hu Zi, the other’s expression was incredibly grave. There were numerous runic symbols flashing in his eyes. There were distortions around him as well. They seemed to have formed a Rune that enveloped Hu Zi within it.

“Hu Zi, wait for me here. Observe the Heavenly Incense Rune. If any changes occur in the Rune, you can detect it in time while you’re here and tell me.”

Su Ming could see the difficulties Hu Zi suffered. Unless he completely gave up on fighting back like the one hundred thousand cultivators in this place, he could sit down and practice his cultivation, but if he felt conflicted in his heart, then as he drew closer, it would be increasingly more difficult to fight against his urges.

Su Ming, however, had the supreme treasure with him. If any dangers appeared, it would not be difficult for him to retreat safely, but if Hu Zi entered the depths of this region, some accidents might occur, especially since he was a spirit of a Rune.

This was why Su Ming asked Hu Zi to wait for him there.

Hu Zi hesitated for a moment before nodding. He knew that since he was a spirit of a Rune, the effect of the Heavenly Incense Rune on him was stronger than on the other cultivators. In fact, the vague sense of the Rune calling to him far surpassed what other people sensed.

In the past, he had not entered deep into the region. If it was not because of Su Ming, he would not have come at all.

A thought appeared in the bald crane’s head. It immediately stopped moving and put on an expression of incredible bravery, one which made it seem that it could sacrifice everything for Su Ming.

In truth though, when it drew close to the Rune, the feeling of its spirit boiling rose within it. This was not a good sign. Once the boiling of its soul reached its peak, its soul would scatter. This terrified the bald crane so much that it quickly stopped moving, but it felt this ruined its reputation as the great Grandpa Crane, which was why it suddenly spoke up.

“About that, Hu Zi is an impulsive person. I will volunteer my services and watch him here. Don’t worry, Little Boy Su, I will absolutely not let him be impulsive.”

Su Ming cast a glance at the bald crane with a ghost of a smile on his lips. When he turned around, he walked towards the Heavenly Incense Rune. His footsteps were not quick, and he did not move fast, but every single time he took a step, the galaxy would shudder slightly.

The mighty pressure spreading out from Su Ming’s body grew increasingly stronger, putting up a fight against the Heavenly Incense Rune. When Su Ming walked past the one hundred thousand cultivators, the mighty pressure spreading out from his body reached an incredible state.

But the others could not see that while Su Ming’s gaze remained determined, a hint of hesitation had arisen within him. This was because he sensed that his cultivation base… had actually reached a breakthrough!

Even though he could clearly sense that this breakthrough was false, the feeling that he had broken through the state of controlling only the fate around him to reach a state where he could control his own fate was incredibly great, giving him a sense that he had reached perfection in Fate Realm!

“This Rune is strange…”

Su Ming did not stop moving. As he took a step forward, he walked past the region where the one hundred thousand people were and stepped into an area less than ten thousand feet away from the Heavenly Incense Rune. About eight thousand something feet away from Su Ming, which was not too far away from where he was located, was the clone which practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.

Su Ming’s expression was composed. The hesitation in his eyes had already turned into a cold glare. He continued walking forward none too quickly, maintaining a speed that was not too fast. However, while he seemed to be moving slowly, it was definitely not the case. He was still moving so quickly that he instantly closed thousands of feet.

This scene caused Hu Zi to suck in a breath in his heart. Surprise appeared in his eyes. He could tell that Su Ming retained the clarity of his mind. The level of cultivation and determination required to be able to do this was incredibly terrifying.

“Heh heh, this is nothing. It’s just barely the tip of the iceberg.” The bald crane saw the surprise on Hu Zi’s face and instantly put on a look of smug pride on its face.

Hu Zi hesitated for a moment before he looked at the bald crane. “What is youngest junior brother’s level of cultivation?”

“Haha! I can’t really tell, but currently, there are very few people who can kill him. Of course, I’m talking about the people in the four Great True Worlds.” The bald crane became even more smug, as if it had been waiting for Hu Zi to ask that question. “I’ve never lied. Have you heard of the Ancient Gods? Those tall giants.”

Hu Zi was momentarily stunned, but he answered after a moment of thought. “Ancient Gods? You mean the Grand Immortals that belong to the Ancient people? I’ve naturally seen them before…”

“Su Ming killed one of them earlier, but it was with my help.”

The bald crane might be speaking casually, but the smug look on its face made it seem as if it was not talking about Su Ming but itself, and it was even in a boastful tone.

Hu Zi shook his head with force. Buzzing sounds appeared in his ears. He was aware of the Ancient God’s strength, and he had even witnessed it with his own eyes before. A huge storm began to rage in his heart.

“Ahem, to be exact, he killed two of them. The second one was right at the spot where you were drinking together. The Ancient God over there ended up being devoured by Su Ming. Of course, this was also with this Grandpa Crane’s help,” the bald crane continued with a look of pride.

As Hu Zi and the bald crane spoke to each other, Su Ming closed the distance of several thousands of feet with a relaxed expression. He came to the spot where his clone meditated and cast a glance at the Heavenly Incense Rune. At that moment, the ripples of power in his body grew stronger, but it could not be seen on his face.

The intensity of the ripples made Su Ming feel like if he took a few more steps, his level of cultivation would break through Fate Realm and he would take a step into Life Realm. In fact, Su Ming had a strong feeling that if he continued walking forward, not only would he reach a breakthrough in Fate Realm, he could even break through Death Realm and the Sublime Paragon Realm.

This feeling was so strong that it turned into a great temptation. Even if he knew it was fake, it was still difficult for him to suppress the urge to walk forward. This urge was so strong that it became easy for cultivators to ignore the scattering of their own soul while they felt like reaching a breakthrough in their levels of cultivation.

However, the souls of all those who stepped into this region would begin to disperse. It was as if everything in this place was false, as if besides the strange characteristics of the Heavenly Incense Rune, even all of them were fake, and that fact would be made true when their souls and bodies completely disintegrated.

That was why Su Ming had lost his connection with the portion of his soul in the clone—it had completely disintegrated.

Su Ming stood beside his clone with a contemplative expression on his face. After a moment, he raised his right hand and placed it on the top of his clone’s skull. The moment he did so, his clone swiftly opened his eyes. A gray light shone within them, revealing a consciousness and chilling glare that did not belong to Su Ming.

The clone moved, wanting to avoid Su Ming’s right hand from landing on him. A great physical power erupted from its body, a ripple of power that charged straight at Su Ming to devour him.

Su Ming remained calm. A hint of derision appeared at the corners of his mouth. He did not stop moving his right hand. With the same speed as before, he pushed his right hand at the top of the clone’s skull.

A ripple swiftly spread out from the ring on his right index finger. The next moment, the clone shuddered and found… that it could not get up. Crazed madness appeared in the gray light of its eyes, but the struggle did not last for long. Su Ming struck the top of the clone’s skull.

The gray light in its eyes vanished without a trace. Gradually, a brilliant light belonging to Su Ming appeared in the clone’s eyes like a burning flame.

Hu Zi saw the whole scene with his own eyes. He was watching when the physical body, which had given off the feeling of incredible power, not being able to put up any resistance before Su Ming. This might be because the clone belonged to Su Ming in the first place, but its betrayal had been suppressed so easily that it spoke volumes of Su Ming’s level of cultivation. It had to have reached an inconceivable state!

“Is youngest junior brother… in Death Realm?” Hu Zi asked instinctively in a foolish manner, his mind having gone numb.

“Death Realm? What even is Death Realm? Forget about him. Look, Little Boy Su grew up quickly under my help. Do you want to consider respecting me with hundreds… no, tens of millions of crystals every year? I can guarantee you that your level of cultivation will raise by leaps and bounds as well.

“So? Think about it, this is a rare chance. Young Hu Zi, you have to seize this chance.” The bald crane’s eyes glowed. It had been confusing the honest-looking man with its words earlier for this very moment.