Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 197: Si Ma Xin!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Si Ma Xin!"

Han Cang Zi took another few steps back, and hatred appeared on her face.

Fang Shen stood there dumbly. As he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar person before him, his heart clenched in pain. He knew the source of Fang Mu’s injuries, but he pretended not to. What else could he do besides that..?

He only pretended not to know and put on an act that he had done everything he could to cure his son’s injuries. He knew that only by doing so could there be a possibility for Fang Mu to truly recover some day.

"I am Fang Shen, tribe leader of Tranquil East Tribe. Greetings, Sir Si Ma…" Fang Shen lowered his head and bore with the pain his heart as he spoke respectfully.

That gentle look remained on Fang Mu’s face, as if he did not see the hatred on Han Cang Zi’s face. He ignored Fang Shen, who was standing by the side. He walked towards Han Cang Zi, and once he was by her side, he lifted Han Cang Zi’s pale chin with his right hand.

"Han Mountain Bell is mine, Fang Mu is mine, and you too, are mine! Now, I will go and see just who is it who dared to take what belongs to me!"

As Fang Mu spoke, a dark look appeared on his face. With a swing of his arm, he no longer paid any attention to Han Cang Zi and walked to the summit of Tranquil East Mountain up the stairs.

As he walked forward, the steps of the stairs would be covered by a layer of freezing air. When he arrived at the summit, the Elder of Tranquil East Tribe only cast him a glance before a shudder immediately ran through his body and he quickly got up to bow towards Fang Mu.

"Greetings, Sir Si Ma."

Fang Mu did not speak. He walked past the Elder of Tranquil East Tribe with a dark expression. He stood at the edge of the mountain and looked towards Han Mountain City!

Without hearing his command, the Elder of Tranquil East Tribe did not dare stand up. After he was bowed for an extended period of time, the other people around him saw this and were shocked. They also bowed down and did not dare straighten up.

Right at the moment Fang Mu stood on the summit and cast his gaze towards Su Ming sitting on Han Mountain Bell in Han Mountain City, the lightning within Su Ming’s body erupted forth with a piercing light and a loud crash. A change that made Su Ming’s body tremble surged out from within him.

Those were thin bolts of lightning arcs. The appearance of these bolts of lightning swimming around his body were not drawn in to Su Ming from his surroundings, but a product from his body after the Earthen Lightning and Void Lightning relentlessly crashed into each other and fused together. After continuously refining it, he finally made a part of it completely belong to him!

What he refined was not lightning, but the source that created lightning’s power!

He refined the Earthen Lightning and Void Lightning. Only during the instant they crashed into each other would these two materials gain substance for refinement, and only then would he succeed.

The Earthen Lightning surged through his organs, and the Void Lightning filled his brain and the top of his skull. When these two bolts of lightning that were not visible to the naked eye fused together and produced a shocking force, lightning would naturally appear outside Su Ming’s body.

He trembled. The lightning in his body was finally completely refined and had turned into his Origin Transcendence Vessel!

However, it was during this moment that Su Ming’s heart leapt and shock replaced all emotions within him. He had thought that he was refining lightning, but once he succeeded, he saw something unbelievable in his body!

Lightning filled his body, but the bolts of lightning would not cause any harm to him. It created a feeling within him as if they were about to fuse into him and become a part of him. He could feel that there was also lightning arcs swimming outside his body. Crackling sounds echoed in the sky and the mark of lightning appeared at the center of his brows!

He succeeded!

He successfully turned lightning into his Origin Vessel. Lightning rumbled in the sky. As the sound spread out, it seemed as if there were countless people roaring in the sky, congratulating Su Ming!

A sensation that made him feel powerful rose within Su Ming’s heart, but it could not dispel the shock he felt at that moment. After a long while, he forcefully suppressed that feeling and opened his eyes. The moment he did so, the small virescent sword came to an abrupt halt and slashed outwards horizontally, piercing through the center of Tranquil East Tribe’s Chief of War’s brows, who had been incessantly throwing attacks at him. It shot through his head with a bit of blood, and Tranquil East Tribe’s Chief of War trembled before he fell down dead.

At the same time, numerous bolts of lightning spread out from within Su Ming’s body and charged towards the other four people. The four were completely shrouded in black mist, but before they could dodge, they had already been bombarded by the power of lightning. One of the four people instantly exploded, while the other three coughed out blood. Once they tumbled back, the small virescent sword caught up to them, and with one single slash, the three people’s heads flew off their necks.

A chill appeared in Su Ming’s calm gaze. He would never take the initiative to provoke others, but once someone harassed him, then he would definitely not show mercy!

After killing all four in one go, Su Ming looked towards Tranquil East Tribe. He had a strong hunch that there was a person looking at him from Tranquil East Mountain. The moment he looked over, his gaze clashed with Si Ma Xin’s in the air between Han Mountain and Tranquil Mountain.

The moment their gazes clashed, Fang Mu trembled where he stood on Tranquil East Mountain. A large amount of lightning instantly appeared around his entire body and it traveled into the ground through his feet. His pupils shrank.

"I underestimated him!"

The moment Su Ming met Si Ma Xin’s gaze, his body was immediately covered in a chilling layer of frost on Han Mountain Bell. A large amount of freezing air spread out from within his body, and he was covered in a thin layer of ice. Even if the ice were instantly destroyed by the lightning arcs and disappeared, a shudder ran through his body.

Su Ming stood up slowly, and the instant he straightened up, the lightning in the sky let out a rumble and gathered around him, as if it was about to spill out in an instant.

‘I refined lightning and turned it to my Origin Vessel… My Origin Vessel is caught between a state of being an illusion and being real. Its true form rests in me… Yet the moment it spreads out, it would cause the Earthen Lightning and Void Lightning in the word to fuse together…’

A flash appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He lifted his right hand when the lightning from the sky arrived and seized at the air in the direction of the numerous bolts of lightning.

Su Ming’s body was immediately covered by the numerous bolts of lightning. The rumbling sounds shook the heavens and earth. Eventually, there was no longer any lightning in the sky. All of it had gathered on Su Ming and turned into a gigantic ball of lightning.

The light from it shone in all directions, looking as if it was a sun made of lightning.

When Fang Mu saw this on Tranquil East Mountain, his face became even more solemn.

"What’s his name?!"

The Elder of Tranquil East Tribe hesitated for a moment before he spoke in a low voice. "Sir, his name is Mo Su… he Transcended after attaining great completion in the Blood Solidification Realm and was awarded the title… Divine General of Transcendence…"

A piercing glare appeared in Fang Mu’s eyes. He stood on the mountain and lifted his right hand before pointing towards a barren mountain in the distance.

"Freezing Sky Berserker Art, Nine Creations1!"

His voice was calm, but when his words traveled into the Elder’s ears, the Elder of Tranquil East Tribe felt his heart lurch.

‘Nine Creations?! Sir Si Ma has actually managed to control this Berserker Art to this extent?!’

Cold air suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the mountain Fang Mu pointed to. That cold air instantly enveloped the entire mountain, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a mountain of ice.

A rumble that shook the earth echoed in the air. The ice mountain trembled, and a layer of ice broke off from the mountain in perfect condition and floated into the sky.

More accurately speaking, this was an ice mountain that had nothing within. The inside of the mountain was empty, but its shape was the exact same as the mountain on the ground.

As it floated up, the empty ice mountain charged towards Han Mountain with a loud boom, commanded by Fang Mu’s finger, storming towards where Su Ming was and falling on him.

The entire Han Mountain trembled. Many rocks broke off from the mountain and fell down, along with a lot of buildings that instantly shattered.

Su Ming trembled. The giant ball of lightning around him floated upwards and crashed into the empty ice mountain in midair.

When his lightning and the ice mountain came into contact, a huge boom that shook the sky and earth reverberated in the air and turned into a wave of sound that spread out in all directions!

The ice mountain was enveloped by lightning. As it shook, it immediately turned into countless shards. Yet the moment it shattered, the ball of lightning around Su Ming also disappeared.

When both lightning and ice disappeared, Su Ming looked as if he was frozen. His entire body was covered in layers of ice. Although the ice shattered soon after, Su Ming’s face was incredibly pale. When the ice on his body disappeared, he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

The blood was also freezing cold. When he coughed out the blood, it turned into grains of ice that scattered away into the wind.

However, there were still bolts of lightning rotating behind Su Ming. They spread out as if they were relentlessly trying to merge together once again. The symbol of thunder also appeared on the center of Su Ming’s brows.

However, the symbol of lightning had numerous branches spreading out. Its shape was incomplete, but it still looked incredibly similar to the lightning people saw in the sky.

Besides those lightning sparks on his body, there was also the armor that was formed by black mist. That armor covered his entire body, including his face. Only his indifferent gaze could be seen as he stared at Fang Mu, who was similarly looking back at him from Tranquil East Mountain.

"What is mine is here. If you dare take it, then you must pay an equivalent… No matter where you are, I will find you!"

Fang Mu spoke languidly. The robe made from purple mist on his body was quickly disappearing. He came to this place personally for one purpose – he wanted to see who the person who dared to take what belonged to him was. Now, he had seen him.

"It’s a pity that this body can only provide me enough power for one strike… but if you’re injured with just one strike, then… you’re too weak. You’re not worthy for me to come here.

"But I’d like to see whether you still dare to take what belongs to me after experiencing my attack."

Fang Mu smiled faintly. As his voice echoed in the air, the purple robe on his body completely dissipated. He sat down cross-legged, and once he cast a glance at Su Ming, he closed his eyes. Once he opened them once again, there was bewilderment in his eyes.

Si Ma Xin had left.

The land was silent. Only the four heads of the fierce beast continued attacking and biting each other in the sky.

Su Ming was silent. He could tell that the other person just now was Si Ma Xin!

‘He’s indeed strong…’

Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the nine-headed beast in the sky. A glint appeared in his eyes and he slowly floated into the air. Once he reached the peak, he looked at the heads that were taken over by Si Ma Xin’s will.

‘But, you can’t… prevent me… from taking what "belongs" to you!’

Once he controlled the two heads, Su Ming could tell that once he took over four heads, then he could take the Bell away.

Translator’s Note:

By now, you’ve probably seen two Creation Arts: Eternal Creation and Nine Creations. Later on, you will see another Creation Art called Endless Creation, and later on, mentioned in passing, One Creation, Ten Creations, One Hundred Creations.

Now, all these Arts are related to creating things (duh), but there’s also a ranking system for these Arts, and they’re listed from strongest to weakest.

Eternal Creation - Strongest

Endless Creation - Weaker than Eternal

One up to 999 Creations – Weaker than Endless and Eternal

The reason for this is because the original version for Eternal Creation is 万古一造, Endless Creation is 千古一造,and Nine Creations is 九古一造. 万, 千, 百, 十, 九, and 一 are numbers for 10,000, 1,000, 100, 10, 9, and 1 respectively. The power system is ranked based on the numbers. If they’re placed with 古, 万古 and 千古 both mean eternity, and since these two refer to time, I thought it was ridiculous to assume that百古一造, 十古一造, 九古一造, and一古一造would be ‘Hundred Ancients Creation’, ‘Ten Ancients Creation’, ‘Nine Ancients Creation’, and ‘One Ancient Creation’. So for one up to 999, these Creations were numbered, but the moment it reaches千古一造 (Endless Creation), Endless is used because I wanted something that showed a peak of something (end), and then had the meaning of eternity as well (-less). 千古一造 jumps to 万古一造 immediately, and Eternal is used to signal that it’s an Art exclusive for God of Berserkers.