Pursuit of the Truth

The black Dragon of Destruction floated in the universe, and Su Ming was right across it. As he stared at the dragon, the feeling as if it was him suddenly vanished.

It was not that the feeling was gone, but it had just settled in Su Ming’s heart and turned into a feeling that was wholly unnecessary. Instead, a feeling that this was what was supposed to happen took over. This dragon… was a part of the manifestation of Su Ming’s soul when it was not in his body.

In silence, Su Ming turned his head around and cast his gaze across the frozen vortex and the five hundred thousand cultivators. It landed on the thin old man’s Nascent Divinity above him.

It had broken down, but its collapse was not due to Su Ming. Instead, at the instant he was frozen, the old man had chosen to have his Nascent Divinity self-destruct.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment. He then lifted his right hand and swung his arm. The frozen Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune around him shattered with loud cracking sounds, which resulted in ice shards falling all over the galaxy.

At the same time, the ice around the five hundred thousand cultivators vanished. The logs beneath them started shattering then until they were reduced to ashes.

The five hundred thousand cultivators had pale faces. Under Su Ming’s gaze, they lowered their heads, not daring to say a single word.

Su Ming’s strength had already broken all their will…

“Deliver your souls and have my will be Branded on you. Become the disciples of the Ninth Summit… or die,” Su Ming said flatly.

When his words echoed in space, one of five hundred thousand cultivators gradually bowed to Su Ming in silence. Slowly, more people did so, and when all of them worshiped him, he saw the pale Xu Hui and De Shun standing behind her.

When Su Ming saw Xu Hui, heg frowned. Just as he was about to observe her closely, a thought suddenly appeared in his heart, and he lifted his head to stare at the frozen Nascent Divinity of the thin old man.

He noticed that even though the cultivators had bowed to him, there were some who were subconsciously casting glances at the frozen Nascent Divinity.

As Su Ming watched it, a cold sneer suddenly appeared at the corners of his lips. He saw a hint of a refusal to admit defeat in the eyes of the thin old man’s Nascent Divinity, as well as determination. He also saw no signs of explosive power from when his Nascent Divinity crumbled. Instead, with his own destruction, he had formed a Rune—a Relocation Rune.

This Rune was not used for fleeing. Instead, it seemed like there was someone who was using it to come over.

“So this is your final pillar of support, hmm?” Su Ming asked faintly, then lifted his right hand to push at the ice through space. He narrowed his eyes, and a glint shone in them.

“The presence of an Ancient God…”

He smiled faintly, then pointed at the ice sealing the thin old man. With it, the ice instantly vanished. At the instant it disappeared, the destruction of the thin old man’s Nascent Divinity swiftly continued. As booming sounds surged into space, they spread out to form a Relocation Rune that was tens of thousands of feet big.

At the instant the Relocation Rune was formed, a low growl shot out from it like a thunderous roar. At the same time, a huge hand appeared. It was followed by a thick arm which was about ten thousand feet big. When it stretched out, the huge hand grabbed the Relocation Rune, and with a swift tear, it crumbled with a bang. Ripples spread out in all directions, and the cultivators fell back in all directions when a huge object shot out.

It was a body that was one hundred thousand feet tall, had coarse skin, a presence akin to a giant’s, and seven sparkling stars at the center of its brows. It was an Ancient God with seven stars!

The moment he appeared, the Ancient God threw his head back and roared. A powerful presence spread out from his huge body, and it was so strong that it surpassed all the Ancient Gods Su Ming had met in the past. In fact, Su Ming even saw a faint star right by the seven stars!

It was an Ancient God with eight stars, one which Su Ming had never met before!

However, there seemed to be some problems with the eighth star, for it was already dark. But the power erupting from the Ancient God gave off a feeling that he was nearly in Death Realm.

The Ancient God’s physical strength had to have surpassed his level of cultivation. His physical power was probably on par with a normal Almighty in Death Realm, and he might even be more difficult to handle than those people. The strength of his physical body was his best weapon. If no one was capable of destroying it, then even those in Death Realm would have to turn tail and run from him.

As he growled, a ferocious look appeared on his face. He lifted his right hand and sent a punch over. Su Ming did not dodge. He stared at the Ancient God before him, and his eyes sparkled. He saw that while there was a ferocious glare in the Ancient God’s eyes, it could not hide the emptiness in his gaze.

It was an Ancient God who had lost his intelligence!

At the instant the Ancient God sent his right hand charging towards him, Su Ming vanished. When he reappeared, he was right above the Ancient God’s head. With a look down, he saw countless silver needles stabbed into the top of the Ancient God’s skull. There were perhaps one hundred thousand of them.

“Controlling an Ancient God? Looks like I’ve underestimated these cultivators from South Union. But I do wonder just how many of them are needed for this Ancient God,” Su Ming murmured. He could tell what was wrong with just one glance.

The Ancient God opened his mouth wide and let out a roar that shook the galaxy. His roar was so strong that it was akin to a soundwave, and as if it had gained corporeal form, it turned into countless ripples that charged towards Su Ming.

‘This was originally an Ancient God with eight stars, but for some unknown reason, he fell into the hands of South Union. Since they could not control him while he had eight stars, they used some rather complicated methods to suppress his eighth star.

‘Such a battle would be meaningless…’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. At the instant the Ancient God’s roars turned into ripples and closed in on him, he did not dodge, but took a step forward and faced the roar that could make those in Life Realm tremble in fear and ordinary Almighties in Death Realm flee. The next instant, he appeared at the center of the Ancient God’s brows, right where the eighth star was.

Su Ming moved incredibly quickly. At the instant he approached the giant, he lifted his right hand and pointed at the dim eighth star with his index finger..

His power and his will of an Antecedental Spirit erupted from him the moment he touched it and gathered on his finger. He tore open a gap in the Rune sealing the Ancient God’s eighth star by pure external force. Then, Su Ming lifted his hand and straightened his palm to strike the Ancient God’s forehead.

With it, booming sounds surged into space. The Ancient God shuddered and staggered a few steps back. The one hundred thousand silver needles at the top of his skull were pulled one inch higher due to the shock created by Su Ming’s palm strike.

The Ancient God let out a shrill howl, but a hint of intelligence appeared in his eyes and gathered together in a barely discernible manner.

“As you are right now, you are not my opponent. I will give you a chance, a chance to restore your eighth star and a chance to make it so that the people who control you can no longer do so.

“If you seize that chance, you can fight against me to your heart’s content, but if you don’t…” Su Ming said flatly while moving back.

He did not finish speaking, but the spark of intelligence in the Ancient God’s eyes gained focus. He had clearly understood what Su Ming had meant. The next second, he roared and struck his own body at full force.

With that one strike, the Ancient God shuddered. The silver needles at the top of his skull were raised a little more, and the dim eighth star at the center of his brows glimmered, but its light was soon suppressed. The silver needles at the top of the Ancient God’s skull buzzed, causing him to let out a shrill roar.

“I am an Ancient God, a powerful warrior of my people! You have no right to control my mind!”

For the first time since showing up, the Ancient God spoke. In his words were a hint of arrogance and madness. As he roared, his body grew swiftly. He grew several times his previous size of one hundred thousand feet before lifting his right hand to strike his forehead. With it, the eighth star at the center of his brows lit up once more. It might have become dim moments later, but some of the silver needles at the top of the Ancient God’s skull were forced out with a bang.

“When I was going through the eighth star’s transformation, you used the Divine Soul Incense to make me fall unconscious, so you must receive the Ancient God’s wrath! I am an Ancient God, one who is not to be offended! I am the Ancient God Ta Jia, the one you must worship!” Ta Jia howled.

He struck the center of his forehead with his hands once more. This time, his skull shuddered, and three-tenths of the silver needles were forced out with a bang. The eighth star at the center of his brows grew brighter, and a presence much greater than before erupted from him nonstop.

“I am…”

“So noisy. Instead of howling like this, it’s better that you keep all that grudge in you and let it all out in one go to break the seal!” Su Ming said coldly.

The Ancient God was stunned, but he obediently stopped howling. He shut his mouth, and veins popped up on his face. His presence seemed to be pulled back, as if it was the calm before a storm, but he was shuddering slightly.

About ten breaths later, an unprecedented howl came out from Ta Jia’s mouth. The eighth star at the center of his brows brightened swiftly, and all the seals in it were crushed. The remaining silver needles at the top of his skull were forced out and shattered right after.

All eight stars started shining, and Ta Jia’s roars reverberated through space. His presence swelled up again. In the blink of an eye, he surpassed Life Realm and reached Death Realm from being only near it. He actually went as far as nearing the peak of Death Realm.

The strength of his physical power caused his body to shrink at that moment, and once he became only about ten thousand feet big, his presence grew to a heinous degree, causing the galaxy to tremble.

“Damned Arid Triad, damn the savage and barbaric cultivators, damned universe, damned Saint Defier Expanse Cosmos, I have finally broken through the limit of seven stars and reached eight stars. I will leave this place and return to the world of Ancient Gods!

“Before I leave, I will kill all those damned cultivators of South Union, I will crush their bones into ashes, I will…”

“Are you done?” Su Ming asked flatly.

Ta Jia turned his head around and stared at Su Ming before he suddenly grinned. There was even a good-natured feeling to his smile.

“Oh well, you might have offended me twice, but you were kind to me, so I’ll let it slide,” Ta Jia said loudly while hitting his chest.

“I helped you because only your current self has the right to let me test… my God of Berserkers Transformation!”

A great fighting spirit arose in Su Ming’s eyes.