Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming sat on the 79th step. He looked around him, and especially at the moon in the sky. There was still some time left before midnight, even so, night was a comfortable moment for him.

Ever since he started training in the Fire Berserker Art, Su Ming fell in love with the night. He especially looked forward to the nights when the moon was full. Yet ever since Su Ming started practicing the Fire Berserker Art, he had never seen the full moon.

It may have appeared once, but the moon was covered by dark clouds that day. He could feel restlessness in his body when he was in the fire cave, but there was not much change within him in the end. Su Ming had analyzed it himself, if the moon had not been covered by dark clouds that day, then he may have had some obvious changes.

It was a pity that today was not a full moon either, but Su Ming still felt at ease. At the same time, as the pressure increased with each step he took, the pressure also increased as the moon rose into the sky.

‘The Elder of Wind Stream Tribe did mention that pressure in the mountain would increase at night, looks like it’s true.’

Su Ming smiled. He was not bothered by it. To him, as the pressure at night increased, it meant that his power would reach its peak.

Su Ming was much more terrifying at night than he was at day!

Su Ming averted his gaze from the moon and sat down cross-legged on the 79th step. He took a deep breath and began to quietly feel the difference in this place.

It was just as he expected. This was the 2nd place on the stairs where the pressure was balanced. The pressure may be balanced, but it was still much stronger than the pressure on the 32nd step. This place was extremely suitable for him to continue controlling the Qi in his body to a profound state and control the amount of blood veins he wanted to manifest on his body to extreme precision.

As of then, Su Ming also knew that the additional three blood veins that manifested when he walked to the 79th step were due to him being able to control the Qi in his body to extreme precision. Just one more, and he would be able to reach the 5th level of the Blood Solidification realm!

This made Su Ming extremely excited with the prospect of just how many blood veins he would be able to manifest once the 79th step was no longer enough for his training and he would have to go higher!

Su Ming slowly closed his eyes and began circulating his Qi around his body. Once again, he entered into the fine state of controlling his Qi and tried to control the speed of his Qi reverting into his body, making it slow down according to his will.

As time passed by, the 52 blood veins on his body gradually began to reduce at a steady rate from the erratic pace when he first started training at the 79th step as he began to get used to the state. Slowly, he began approaching his previous limit at the 32nd step, but now that he had three extra blood veins on his body, there were still 40 blood veins left on his body as the blood veins disappeared one by one!

Su Ming was calm. There was not a shred of anxiety on him. He slowly circulated his Qi and focused on exercising fine control. Very soon, two hours passed by.

At that moment, many people had already stopped moving forward in the mountain. They chose to sit down cross-legged on one of the steps to train and observe the rankings on the plate in their hands. They were also waiting for daylight to arrive so that they could continue competing against each other.

Wu Sen panted harshly. His face was pale. After he gritted his teeth and arrived at the 295th step, he finally caved under the pressure and sat by the side. His face was dark. As he looked at the mist, there was uncertainty in his eyes.

‘My Blood of Corpses… Shit! That person stole my Blood. Without it, not only will I be unable to use my powers accurately, I’ll also weaken rapidly… I can already feel myself becoming weaker…

‘I cannot let the elder know about this. If he learns that I lost my Blood, then even if he helps me retrieve it, I’ll lose my value in his eyes…’

Once he thought of the horrific consequences, Wu Sen clenched his fists. There was a hint of fear under the layer of uncertainty in his eyes as well.

‘I definitely can’t let other people know about this, especially the people who offered me their Corpse Blood in the past. I’ve been oppressing them these past few years because I was strong and my status in the tribe was high. If they knew that I lost the Blood of Corpses, they’ll immediately betray me.

‘What should I do..? What should I do..?’

Wu Sen’s face was vicious as he gritted his teeth. Still, there was uncertainty on his features.

Chen Chong was panting harshly. He was mumbling under his breath as he walked. When he looked at the brightening moon in the sky despite it being covered by mist, he wanted to rest and wait for tomorrow. Yet the moment he looked at the rankings on the plate in his hands and saw that the person called Bi Su had surpassed him by two steps, he felt challenged.

”You bastard! I won’t take this lying down!” Chen Chong gritted his teeth and continued walking.

At the same time, Bi Su from Black Mountain Tribe was also panting harshly as he looked at the plate in his hands and continued walking despite the increasing pressure brought by the moon. It was as if he was competing with Chen Chong and was forcing himself to continue climbing the steps.

It was not until an hour later that Chen Chong let out a huge roar and sat down by the side with his legs trembling. He growled a few times at the quiet mist around him.

”Go! Go on ahead! You bastard, I won’t compete with you today anymore! I’ll do it tomorrow!”

Perhaps Bi Su felt it, because after he took a few more steps, he flopped onto the ground. Yet when he looked at his rank, there was a dark smile on his lips.

Lei Chen was sitting somewhere around the 130th step with extreme unwillingness and was panting heavily.

Many people had already stopped, but there was one person who kept moving forward.

”563… 567… 572… Ye Wang is actually walking during midnight!”

”The 2nd place is Bi Su. He only took 397 steps, but Ye Wang is already up to 500 something steps. Could he be ignoring the stronger pressure at night and wanting to continue walking?”

”As expected of the strongest among the younger generation. That perseverance of his is not something the others can compare!”

The few hundred people in the field were all staring at the rankings on the eagle statues. Right now, the only number of steps that was changing on the board belonged to the person at 1st place.

The others who were partaking in the 1st stage of the test had all stopped.

”587! 589!”

”It changed again. This time it’s 595!”

The field was in an uproar. Everyone’s attention was focused on the 1st place. Even the leaders from other tribes were also sighing in respect for Ye Wang.

”Mo Sang, my tribe’s Ye Wang has really high potential. How is he compared to you?” the Elder of Wind Stream Tribe, Jing Nan, smiled as he looked at the ranks on the statue and spoke slowly.

Mo Sang was calm as he smiled.

”Not bad.”

Jing Nan smiled, but he no longer talked about it.

At that moment, Ye Wang’s gaze was firm as he continued walking forward with his hands behind his back despite the sweat pouring down his forehead. Every single step he took was hard, but he did not hesitate. He only stopped when he reached the 600th step. There was a smile on his face as he sat down by the side.

”The last time I was here, I went up to 580 steps on the first night. This time, I surpassed myself by 20 steps. That’s good enough… I wonder if there’s anyone who’ll be able to find the test at the 562nd step… Still, I’m pretty sure it’ll be same as last time. No one will have the right to experience the test at the 562nd step,” While mumbling under his breath, there was a prideful look on his face that could not be concealed.

The 562nd step was a trap. He failed it when he arrived at that place the first time he took the test and only succeeded the second time. It was now his third time, and he no longer paid too much attention to it. To him, there was no one among the people taking the test who could hope to compete with him. There was no one who had the right to obtain his attention, either.

He had been looking at the plate the entire day as well. However, he was not comparing his score with the other competitors but with himself.

Once he stopped, sounds of discussion arose continuously in the field outside. In their sights, once Ye Wang stopped, the competition for the day had also halted completely. After that, they would have to wait for the next day for the next round.

”The 1st is Ye Wang, 2nd is Bi Su, 3rd is Chen Chong… 12th is Wu Sen… until now, there’s only one outsider among the top 10 ranks, the others are all from Wind Stream Tribe!

But the 48th place is Bei Ling, and the 49th place is Si Kong. They’re also outsiders. I wonder whether those two will be able to maintain their rank in the top 50 tomorrow. After all, today is only the first day. The key that decides the results of the competition is tomorrow!”

”Just where did Bi Su come from? That’s a shocking result he has, he’s in second place! He even topped Chen Chong! This person will be a famous Berserker in the future!”

”It hasn’t ended yet, something unexpected might happen…” The buzzing sounds of discussion gradually died down. The hundreds of people on the field sat down cross-legged and waited for the second day to arrive.

Gradually, the only sounds within the field that could be heard were ones of breathing.

”Mo Sang, let’s go back to the tribe together and continue playing chess. We’ll see whether your Su Ming can reach the top 50 tomorrow.” Jing Nan smiled and looked at Mo Sang.

Mo Sang did not speak, but looked at Su Ming’s name on the eagle statue instead. His rank had fallen from 120 to 123. He nodded his head.

Just as they were about to leave, the elder’s pupils shrank as he saw something at that moment. Very soon, some of the people on the field who had yet to rest and were still looking at the ranking board occasionally let out surprised cries.

”He moved! That person called Mo Su moved!” That surprised cry immediately led those who had already closed their eyes to open them once more instinctively and look over. When they saw it, there was amazement on their faces.

Jing Nang, who was about to leave, stopped. He, too, turned over and stared at the statue.

He was not the only one. All the people on the field, including Dark Dragon Tribe’s Elder, Black Mountain Tribe’s leader, and the leaders from other tribes, looked over. After all, everyone who was partaking in the test had already stopped moving that night. The sudden rise in the ranks by that one person was incredibly eye-catching!

Deep in the mountains, Su Ming, who was sitting and meditating on the 79th step, suddenly opened his eyes. His control over the reduction of the blood veins in his body stopped at the 28th blood vein. That was his limit. He could no longer continue. This time, it was much easier and smoother than before. The time he spent was also much shorter. The reason was because it was night!

There was a faint hint of the red moon in Su Ming’s eyes as he sat under the moonlight. He slowly stood up and looked at the winding staircase. A bright flash appeared briefly in his eyes.

‘The next place…’

Su Ming lifted his right foot. Under the moonlight, there was no other person who would dare continue walking up the mountain besides him, be it Chen Chong, Bi Su, or even Ye Wang. No one else dared to continue moving forward. Only he, Su Ming, pressed on!

The night was his!