Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 1455: The Path Down South is Difficult!

The power of the tree’s cultivation base instantly swam through Su Ming’s body, and his aura increased exponentially. Su Ming immediately noticed that the feeling of that power was practically the same as that of the Phala… barring the extreme pain it had brought to him!

The intense pain he suffered after he swallowed the Phala was still fresh in Su Ming’s mind, but when Hao Hao held his hand and sent his power into him, there was no pain. However… the explosive increase of his cultivation base was even greater.

“You…” Su Ming looked at the boy before him and sighed softly.

“I can’t go back home with the Tree of Dao Verification… Instead of having it stay here, it’s better for me to give it to you, and only if I do so will you have the strength to tear through the seal. Then, we can go home…”

The boy looked at Su Ming, and his eyes were clear. They shone brightly with firm resolve.

Su Ming was silent. His power was increasing exponentially with loud bangs at that moment. The power surging into him was so strong that it instantly caused his aura to become stronger, and it filled the world. Due to the vast amount of cultivation base surging into him, Su Ming could not immediately absorb it, which was why the number of Dao Paragons in his third eye did not increase, but… the power of the cultivation base accumulating in his body immediately surpassed what a Dao Paragon would possess!

Su Ming did not need to deduce just what level of cultivation he had reached. He could sense that as his power grew, the boy gradually grew weaker, but the clarity and resolve in his eyes did not weaken. Instead, they only become stronger.

At the same time, the Tree of Dao Verification that had partially shattered… started withering from its roots. It seemed to be sending all of its life force and power into Su Ming through Hao Hao’s hand.

It was… Hao Hao’s gift. A gift from the Tree of Dao Verification.

As the gift was sent his way, a wave of determination was also given to him. Su Ming stared at the young boy, and after a long while, he said softly, “I promise you that… no matter what price I have to pay, I will send you home.”

The boy smiled. His smile was pure, and he held tight on Su Ming’s hand. A dependent look appeared on his face, as if only by holding Su Ming’s hand could he feel safe. Su Ming’s promise seemed to be everything to him.

The Tree of Dao Verification’s withering became faster, and its roots gradually turned into ashes. When Lin Dong Dong’s saw it, shock appeared in his eyes. It was soon replaced by wonder and then an unprecedented jealousy.

‘This… This is the Tree of Dao Verification giving all its life force and everything else to the third prince. Damn it… Damn it! How could he obtain such a serendipity?!

‘Once… Once he absorbs all the Tree of Dao Verification’s power and completely fuses with it… just what level of cultivation will he reach?

‘This is a serendipity the world has never seen before!’

Blood capillaries appeared in Lin Dong Dong’s eyes as he glared at Su Ming, but he did not dare to do anything reckless. The jealousy simply grew stronger in his heart, and in the end, it turned into a powerful killing intent towards Su Ming.

If he was overcome by killing intent, then it was even more so for the second prince. At that moment, he stared at Su Ming without moving his gaze. He had also seen the serendipity Su Ming was receiving at that moment. The crazed jealousy in his heart replaced all other emotions in his heart.

“This should have belonged to me, ME! You snatched away my Phala and even my serendipity! If you weren’t here, that Phala would have belonged to me, and that serendipity would have also been mine!”

In his madness, Di Tian’s figure in his right eye grew clearer. When he looked at Su Ming, a complicated look appeared in his eyes.

But jealousy and killing intent could not affect Su Ming in the slightest. Under the vast power send away, the Tree of Dao Verification’s withering slowly spread up the tree. One-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths… When eight-tenths of the tree had withered, from the distance, most the Tree of Dao Verification looked to have withered, and the only parts left untouched was the tree crown.

Su Ming’s cultivation base had become so strong that it was already difficult for him to describe it with words. The face of the boy next to him had grown pale, and his body started to fade away, but the clarity in his eyes and the smile on his face remained the same as before. He was still as determined as ever, and there was a mournful look on his face that made Su Ming’s heart ache in pain for him.

Beside him was a child who could give up on everything to go home. When Su Ming sighed softly in his heart… the tree crown withered. It was the last part of the Tree of Dao Verification, which was a towering tree that had stood tall for countless years.

Its glory had began in its world, and the remnants of its glory were brought to Ancient Zang. Right then, it gathered on Su Ming and became the boy’s hope to go home.

As the Tree of Dao Verification disappeared, the boy slowly lost his strength. He was about to let go of Su Ming’s hand, but right when he wanted to do it, Su Ming held on tight, and a gentle aura as well a soothing wave of cultivation base was delivered into the boy’s body from Su Ming.

“Don’t sleep. You have to watch me… bring you home.”

Su Ming crouched down and looked at the boy before him, who had now turned into a mere illusion. He stroked his head.

The boy looked at Su Ming, and after a long time had passed… he nodded seriously.

“I won’t sleep. I’ll look at the road back home.”

A smile appeared on Su Ming’s face. That smile was very gentle. He stroked the boy’s head again and stood up. When he lifted his head, the first thing he saw was the figure formed by the Emperor’s indestructible will contained in the talisman covering the scar in the sky.

At the moment he looked over, the black-robed man also cast his gaze on him.

Su Ming looked at the man and the face he would never forget. It was… Xuan Zang’s face. This was something Su Ming had already noticed before, but he had never expected that he would get to look at Xuan Zang like that once more.

“May you be Xuan Zang or the Emperor of Ancient Zang… we meet again.”

Su Ming’s devotion to Possess Xuan Zang was contained in his voice. At the instant he spoke, he turned into a long arc and charged into the sky.

He drew closer!

Right when Su Ming got close to the sky, he lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the sky. The black-robed man also brought his right hand up, then did the exact same action and spoke in the exact same voice as he did when he dealt with the Tree of Dao Verification.

“Punishment!”

Booming sounds echoed in the air. Nine bolts of black lightning instantly drew close to Su Ming. When they struck him, Su Ming flung his right arm swiftly, and his will erupted from his body. The terrifying power of the Tree of Dao Verification that had accumulated in his body spilled out from him at that instant.

When Su Ming flung his right hand, his will crashed into the nine bolts of lightning.

Loud, booming sounds rang out nonstop. Every time a bolt of lightning struck Su Ming, it would cause him to jolt, but he did not stop him moving. When all bolts of lightning shattered, the palm lines that were like mountains on the black-robed man’s right hand and which had caused the Tree of Dao Verification to fail previously went to suppress Su Ming.

The feeling of being suppressed was incredibly great. It was a suppressive force formed by nine layers of overlapping power, and each layer was stronger than the former. Once they overlapped with each other, they formed a powerful seal that felt as great as the world itself.

A loud bang shot up then, and blood trickled out of the corners of Su Ming’s mouth. It was due to the first layer of suppression, which was followed by the second layer of suppression.

It caused Su Ming’s footsteps to come to a stop, and at the same time, he coughed up blood again. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he let out a low growl. Without any hesitation, he took a step forward, and his right hand touched the black-robed man’s right hand.

At that moment, the third suppressive layer descended on him. It caused the black-robed man to become slightly blurry, and Su Ming immediately felt an intense pain that made him feel as if his body was about to crumble.

He did not cough up blood then. Instead, he stirred up his four great wills to fight against the powerful third suppressive layer. During the loud bangs that stirred up, all four of Su Ming’s wills crumbled, but he withstood the third suppressive layer, and with the power of his cultivation base, he went to fight against the fourth layer!

When booming sounds spread out from between Su Ming and the black-robed man’s right hands, Su Ming used the power he had accumulated from the Tree of Dao Verification to withstand the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh layers of suppression!

Most of the black-robed man’s body was reduced to an illusion, but fresh blood dyed Su Ming’s robes.

Then, a loud bang shot up from Su Ming’s right hand. Under the seventh suppressive layer, it had shattered. Su Ming roared, and when he lifted his right hand, he shouted four words from his mouth.

“God of Berserkers Transformation!”

It was the first time Su Ming executed the God of Berserkers Transformation after he woke up in the strange new world. His body instantly grew, but soon, all the parts that grew were reduced to blood rain, because Su Ming’s growing body had broken down, and blood gushed out of it. Yet once he paid this price… he remained standing in the air and withstood the eighth suppressive layer.

“I refuse to believe that I can’t tear open your seal!”

Su Ming threw his head back and laughed. As he did so, a bloody stench spread out from his body, which was surrounded by an air of madness that seemed to have come from within his bones themselves. ‘If my right arm is broken, I can still use my left hand. If my left hand is broken… I can still use my head!’

Booming sounds echoed in the air. When the ninth suppressive layer descended, the black-robed man’s body turned into a complete illusion. Only his right palm remained. When the talisman behind the palm could be seen, Su Ming’s left arm shattered. Once he lost both his arms, he used his head to ram it against the black-robed man’s right hand without any hesitation.

A loud bang shot up. Su Ming no longer had the four wills with him, and he had also released all his cultivation base. The God of Berserkers Transformation had shattered, but he had his determination with him, as well as his belief and promise. He believed that he could resurrect all the people who had died, and he had also made a promise!

He had promised Hao Hao that no matter the price he had to pay, he would send him back home. Those words were Su Ming’s promise, and he would not give up on fulfilling it!

When he crashed into the right palm of the emperor’s will, he was also crashing against fate while backed by his unwillingness to admit defeat, his desire to see his homeland, and resolve to resurrect all the familiar faces in his memories.

Many years ago, when the bald crane was dying, Su Ming had also rushed against the then death-shrouded Xuan Zang while fuelled by madness. Many years later, on that day, he still… chose to crash against Xuan Zang, with the same madness!

He would continue heading south and not turn back until he ran into a wall, and even when he ran into the wall, he would crush it and rush to the Vast Expanse. It was a resolve… that was easily declared, but difficult to follow through!

Because the path south… was difficult!

The solemn and tragic scene in the air shocked Lin Dong Dong and the second prince, but after they overcame it, they were filled with delight and started raining down malicious curses on Su Ming. They hoped that he would have his body and soul destroyed by the Emperor’s indestructible will!

However, their curses were destined to not be fulfilled. While booming sounds shook the sky and earth, the third layer completely shattered to pieces, blood flowed down from Su Ming’s forehead, and the black-robed man’s right hand shattered… When it shattered, Su Ming used his mouth to bite down on the talisman covering the scar in the sky and yanked it to the side!

The seal… shattered!