Pursuit of the Truth

The sight of Di Tian changing the sky with just a swing of his sleeve fell into the red-haired Su Ming’s eyes and great bitterness appeared on his face.

‘So his power has already reached this level..? This is the power equivalent to that of a Lord of World Plane… But even so, I won’t give up, so what if he’s a Lord of World Plane?!’

The red-haired Su Ming sucked in a deep breath and forced down the bitterness in his heart. A determined look appeared on his face.

He did not bother himself with Di Tian casting his Art. Instead, he took a step towards the ground and landed on the land several tens of thousands away. The earth was soft, and since it lost some of its soul, Su Ming felt as if he was stepping on mud once he landed, and half of his body sank into the soil.

He chose to sit down cross-legged. Placing his hands on the earth beside him, he closed his eyes, and mumbling sounds started falling off his lips.

At that moment, Di Tian was looking at Su Ming’s actions coldly. Once he swung his right arm and changed the sky, he pushed against the sky with all five of his fingers.

”The heaven’s punishment is divided in nine levels of Yang and nine levels of Yin. With thy sins, thou shalt bear the punishment of six levels of Yang and seven levels of Yin… Death is assured at the third day of the six upon seven days of punishment. The first day is the punishment of the Dragon of Yin…”

As Di Tian spoke, the Wind of Yin instantly stirred up in the sky of the Immortals. That Wind of Yin had physical form and contained a faint, greenish hue. As it gathered in the sky, the greenish hue reflected the light of the stars, turning into a long dragon, and it immediately started pacing about in the sky while letting out low, ferocious growls.

Once a Dragon of Yin appeared, a large amount of Wind of Yin gathered together, and gradually, more Dragons of Yin appeared in succession, as the greenish hue of the wind reflected the light of the stars. Eventually, there were nine Dragons of Yin and they started roaring at the ground from the sky. Their voices boomed, and a destructive presence spread out from their bodies to travel in all directions.

If anyone took a closer look, they would be able tell that the Wind of Yin that formed the bodies of these nine Dragons of Yin were made of numerous faces. These faces looked as if they were imprinted onto the bodies of the Dragons of Yin. The protruding parts of their bodies were made of struggling hands and feet. Pain could be seen on the faces, and those wailing voices grouped together to form the Dragons’ of Yin roars.

Su Ming sat on the ground with a pale face. There were still specks of blood left at the corners of his mouth. As he continued mumbling, gradually, the ground lost its soft texture. An indistinct presence started seeping out of it.

”Earth of this world, I can feel your damage and your grudge. I can feel the ties between you disappearing and fading away once your body was severed… I need to borrow your power… Please, lend to me the power of the dragon veins belonging to you…”

Su Ming’s voice reverberated in the air. The presence around him from the ground increased. If anyone looked from the sky, they would find that the ground where Su Ming was had turned into a foggy swamp.

However, compared to the entire Land of South Morning, the earthen aura contained within the small swamp of fog was simply insignificant.

Di Tian started forming seals with his right hand and pointed towards the sky once again.

”The second punishment out of the six upon seven days of punishment is the Illusionary Pus.”

Di Tian’s voice was calm. When his words traveled out, rumbling sounds immediately rang out in the sky of the Immortals, and gigantic bumps slowly formed in the sky in a descending manner. The insides of each and every one of the boils was murky, and a foul stench spread out, as if these bumps were filled with the most unclean things contained in the world.

This scene would make a person’s skin crawl. The entire sky seemed to have turned into a toad’s skin. At the same time this happened, a dark light began shining from within. If anyone took a closer look, they would find that these bumps numbered to sixty-seven!

Su Ming’s face grew increasingly paler. He opened his eyes, and while the earthen aura he borrowed from around him seemed like quite a lot, in truth, it was not enough. Bitterness appeared on his face.

”Earth of this world, with my name, I call upon you. Earthen aura, turn into a dragon! You have turned into a vein of the earth through ages of nurturing. I need your help. Awaken, dragon veins of the earth! Awaken, power of the earth!

”Upon my name, wake up!”

Veins popped up on Su Ming’s hands, which were pressed against the earth. They held onto the ground with a death grip, and instantly, layers upon layers of fog seeped out from around him. As it spread, it came from the earth of a circular area of ten lis, one hundred, one thousand, then ten thousand. Once it began, it turned into a sea of fog that covered ten thousand lis, and that area was still spreading outwards.

However, Su Ming still looked bitter. The earthen aura he borrowed might be plentiful and the area was still spreading outwards, but both were all in fragments. Even if that earthen aura could gain the form of a dragon under his divine ability, it would just be an illusion, just like the earthen aura he summoned a few days prior. It was enough for him to deal with normal people, but using it to attack Di Tian was like striking a stone with an egg.

He would only have a chance of fighting against Di Tian if he awakened all the dragon veins in the Land of South Morning, or else, all those thoughts of defeating Di Tian would remain a dream.

”The third punishment out of the six upon seven days of punishment is the Birth of Spirits!” Di Tian’s voice echoed in the sky, and his words were filled with might, along with calmness. It was as if he was not bothered that the red-haired Su Ming might try to escape. Perhaps more accurately speaking, he believed he could control everything in the world where he was at the moment.

When he spoke, the murky insides of the sixty-seven protruding boils suddenly shone with a brilliant dark light, and cicada like creatures appeared inside. These creatures may look like cicadas, but they were entirely black. Their appearances were savage, and once they appeared, they started knocking against the bumps from within. Screeches could also be heard from inside.

There was only one of these creatures in each of the boils, and there were sixty-seven of them!

At that moment, Su Ming was staring at the strange sight in the sky from his seated position. The fog around the circular area of one hundred thousand lis may already be so thick that it looked like a sea and was giving off a shocking presence, but Su Ming knew that this was absolutely not enough.

”Upon my name, Su Ming, awaken, dragon veins of earth!” With his hands holding onto the ground in a death grip, the red-haired Su Ming let out a low growl.

The instant he growled, the dragon veins of earth that he could not awaken even after so long started responding to him!

The earth of the entire Land of South Morning started trembling lightly at that instant. Those tremors affected the entire area of the continent, and there were four spots that shook especially violently.

South Morning contained four and a half dragon veins. Besides that incomplete dragon vein located to the edge of the land to the east, two of the four dragon veins were in the land of the Shamans, while the remaining two were in the land of the Berserkers.

At that moment, the dragon vein that was responding to Su Ming was one located in an area about several tens of thousands of lis away from where he was. It was a dragon vein located in the land of the Shamans. It was not a mountain range… but a long river!

That long river was the now dried up, located not too far away from Su Ming. That part of the river was just a section of its enormous body. In truth, it was heinously difficult for the river to completely dry up. Before long, it would automatically recover.

It was so long that it practically cut through the entire land of the Shamans. As Su Ming spoke, the dragon vein that was the long river responded to him, and at the same time, a large amount of earthen aura instantly shot out from within it, charging towards where Su Ming was.

If anyone looked from the sky, they would find that the earthen aura around Su Ming had become much thicker, especially after the earthen aura from the dragon vein that was the river fused with the rest. It made the area around Su Ming seem as if an azure dragon made of earthen aura had established itself there!

”Thou shalt now receive the six upon seven days of punishment!” Di Tian stared at Su Ming coldly from the sky and lifted his right hand to point at him sitting on the ground.

The nine Dragons of Yin immediately started roaring in the sky and charged towards downwards. The nine Dragons of Yin roared ferociously and the endless faces on their bodies continued wailing, causing the sky to filled with a ghastly air. Even the stars became indistinct.

As they closed in, Su Ming lifted his head and raised his hands from the ground to form seals. He placed his left hand on his right hand, then pointed at the incoming nine Dragons of Yin with one finger.

”Dragon Veins of Earth, Dragon of Earthen Aura, destroy the skies with earth!”

A large amount of blood flowed out from Su Ming’s mouth. At the same time, the azure dragon made of earthen aura lying around him lifted its head and let out a howl towards the sky. It did not move its entire body, only lifted its head to charge towards the nine Dragons of Yin.

Compared to the azure dragon, the nine Dragons of Yin could not even be called dragons. They could only be considered as snakes. Both sides collided with each other in midair within an instant. Rumbling sounds exploded from the spot, and they started rapidly spreading outwards, stirring up a large amount of ripples and force, causing cracks that looked like fish scales to appear in the sky, and those cracks continued spreading.

Once the nine Dragons of Yin crashed into the Dragon of Earthen Aura, they started disappearing, turning into nine green threads that charged into the body of the Dragon of Earthen Aura. As they swam in its body, it caused the Dragon of Earthen Aura to let out a pained howl.

A large amount of earthen aura from several hundreds of thousands of lis around Su Ming surged towards him, and eventually, it forced the nine threads to disappear into his body.

Yet at that moment, Su Ming’s entire body shuddered violently and he coughed out a huge mouthful of blood. Nine threads appeared on his body, and those nine threads swam under his skin, plunging him into an indescribable pain. Cold sweat broke out on his entire body. That sort of pain that drilled itself into the heart was one that could make the minds of powerful warriors crumble. However, Su Ming only laughed in the face of that pain.

It was not a chuckle. He threw his head up and laughed.

”This pain is nothing! Di Tian, what else can you do? Just bring it all out!”

Su Ming’s face was stark white. As he laughed, the pain in his body became even more violent. The nine threads had already disappeared from his skin and had crawled into his body.

Su Ming decided at that point that he would not endure that pain and simply let it spread through his entire body. He struggled to lift both his hands up and pointed at Di Tian. Immediately, the Dragon of Earthen Aura around him let out a roar and charged upwards.

Di Tian’s expression remained as aloof as ever. He stood there and did not move even the slightest bit to dodge the dragon. However, before the Dragon of Earthen Aura managed to close in on him, the sixty-seven protruding bumps in the sky burst open simultaneously, and when they did so, a large amount of liquid fell like rain from the sky.

A foul stench filled the entire world, and as the tainted rainwater fell down, the Dragon of Earthen Aura was drenched. It shuddered and let out a shrill scream of pain. Its body shrank continuously, and the earthen aura around Su Ming also started rapidly shrinking.

Translator’s Notes:

Nine levels of Yang and nine levels of Yin.

The original RAW version for this, translated word by word and literally, mean Heaven Punishment Nine Nine (天罚九九). Heaven punishment is easy, but the problem comes with nine nine, which has a lot of meanings.

It can mean 9 x 9 = 81.

It can also mean the 81st day of the winter solstice.

It can also mean absolute, since 9 is the peak of a singular number.

It can also mean the Double Ninth Festival.

It can also mean 阳九 and 阴九之灾, which is literally Yang Nine and Nine Yin disasters. So when put together with the context of this novel and how it was used, I thought that this was the closest possible answer. Hence, Nine levels of Yang and nine levels of Yin. It is written as ”闵九九,伤牛山,宿心载违徒昔言” which is ”The nine upon nine disasters of sorrows harm the mountains, and it will cause us to go against our own words.” in 顺东西门行 (Shun Dong’s journey to the west, not official translation of the book, mind you. Couldn’t find it.) among one of the three books this thing is written in.

Now look at the first phrase ”The nine upon nine disasters of sorrows”, this one comes with a footnote, which is ”闵九九谓闵阳九阴九之灾也”, and it is ”The nine upon nine sorrows means the nine sorrowful disasters of Yang and the nine sorrowful disasters of Yin.” From what I can understand, it means that when the world is about to end, there will be nine disasters coming from both sides of Yin and Yang, most likely because balance is lost, and positive and negative energy is going haywire, and then when all these disasters are over, the world ends.