Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming did not believe in the Candle Dragon’s words at all. However… even if he had believed them, it would still be difficult for him to watch his small snake be devoured just so that he could obtain an incredible power and great serendipity.

‘When a man lives in the world, he should live without any regrets… I dream about becoming stronger, I dream about strength, I dream about ripping fate with my own hands, but… if I give up on the snake today just so that I can obtain these things, then tomorrow, I will give up on other things for stronger desires. Once I give those things up, then for other desires that come after that, I might give up Dark Mountain, and next will be my ideals, and then it’ll be my memories…

‘When I have given up on everything, then at that time… will I still be me..? I yearn for power, I want to become strong, but the base for all this must be that I do not give up on anything!

‘I will do what my heart dictates. Even if I turn into a murderous fiend, even if my hands are bloodied, I will not be ashamed of my decisions!’ Su Ming muttered in his heart.

He had been searching for Dark Mountain constantly, but if he gave up on going back to Dark Mountain while in the process of searching for the path back, then he would have lost his soul.

Part of his memories had awakened. The girl’s faint calls occasionally rang in his head. If he was faced with the decision to give up on the voice calling for him to obtain something, then what was he to do..?

There were some things in the world that once they happened once, they would happen a second time, and a third…

Su Ming did not falter and hurled his fist straight towards the woman’s head. The instant it closed in on her, a layer of illusionary ripples suddenly appeared around that beautiful head. Soon after, a light chuckle came from within that giant mass of flesh and echoed in all directions.

At the same time, the instant Su Ming’s fist rammed into the head, those ripples around the head became invisible and disappeared without a trace, vanishing right before his eyes.

That head was clearly not its real body, just an illusion. The goal behind it was to simply attract Su Ming’s attention, and then it could… buy more time to devour his snake.

However, the Candle Dragon’s remaining will had clearly not expected that Su Ming would be so decisive in his actions. He had attacked without much hesitation, causing the time it had bought to be absolutely not enough to devour the snake.

Su Ming’s expression remained as usual. Not a single hint of shock appeared on his face when he saw the head suddenly disappearing. In all honesty, he had long since seen that there was something off about it.

After all, the head was hidden in that mass of flesh, and there was no need for it to reveal itself when Su Ming arrived. Clearly, its goal was just to attract all of his attention!

That was why the instant Su Ming hurled his fist forward, he spread his divine sense outward swiftly, and it was immediately after that the Lightning Berserker Bone on his spine sent out a strong electrical arc that spread outwards once it swam through his entire body.

An endless amount of lightning seemingly exploded out of Su Ming’s body the instant that electrical arc spread out. With Su Ming’s divine sense, those bolts of lightning surged into the giant mass of flesh around it, sweeping past the walls of flesh like a huge wave in search for the Candle Dragon’s remaining will.

The Wind Berserker Bone also burst forth with a powerful force of wind at that moment, causing Su Ming to stir up a cyclone out of thin air, which became stronger with each passing moment. When a glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and the instant the battle between the dragon snake and the Nine-Headed Dragon reached its most intense state, that cyclone swept through the area with a mad craze, with Su Ming as its center.

It was as if there were several pairs of huge hands flipping over the mass of flesh at that moment. Thunder rumbled, wind moaned, and the mass of flesh around Su Ming immediately started moving as if it was a wisp of smoke blown apart by wind before being ripped apart by lightning.

It was also during that instant that the giant mass of flesh started rapidly turning black for some unknown reason. It looked as if it was being rapidly dyed black by ink.

Su Ming did not have time to bother himself with it, because as he spread his divine sense, his bolts of lightning, and his cyclone through that mass of flesh, he found the presence of his small snake at a corner within the mass of flesh!

Without any hint of hesitation, he immediately charged towards the spot where he sensed the small snake’s presence. In the blink of an eye, he closed in on that spot, but right at the moment he did so, a piercing howl surged right into his mind.

That piercing howl came right from where Su Ming had sensed the small snake’s presence, and it came from the woman’s head floating beside it.

That head had her eyes closed and still did not open them even at that moment. However, that piercing howl from her mouth made Su Ming’s mind shake, and an illusion even appeared before his eyes.

He was incredibly insignificant in front of that illusion. Before him was an incredibly huge Candle Dragon that looked like a city, and its size could not be described by words.

That Candle Dragon opened its mouth and let out a roar filled with a murderous aura and thirst for blood that surged into the skies. That scene felt like the sky was falling with the intention of destroying all lives.

As Su Ming’s mind trembled, he bit his tongue. Sharp pain shot through his body, and a faint, illusionary crack appeared on the gigantic Candle Dragon’s body before him.

The woman’s beautiful head was hidden within that illusion. Her eyes were closed, but inside her opened mouth were sharp, poisonous teeth. She was also hissing with her forked tongue out of her mouth as she charged towards Su Ming.

No matter what, this Candle Dragon only had some remnant of its will left, and a lot of it had been lost over the years. Most of it was used on the dragon snake to fight against the Nine-Headed Dragon at that moment, which was why when Su Ming regained his senses, he found some hints to break the illusion, along with the head hidden under the illusion.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes and lifted his right hand swiftly. A large amount of lightning erupted from his Lightning Berserker Bone, as if Su Ming had swept up a layer of lightning. At the same moment, the bolts of lightning that had spread through the area just now swiftly gathered on him, causing his right hand to look as if it was covered by lightning.

”Lightning Berserker, first move!” Su Ming roared. This was the divine ability that belonged solely to Lightning Berserkers, and it was what he had sensed when he had forcefully absorbed the Lightning Crystal of Inheritance just now!

As Su Ming’s words reverberated in the air, the bolts of lightning covering his right hand increased explosively all of a sudden to turn into a long blade made of lightning. The blade was about several dozens of feet long, and there were distortions on its edges. As thunder rumbled in the air, he swung the blade down on the incoming woman’s head.

It was right at that instant that Su Ming’s expression suddenly changed. The same change of expression also appeared on the woman’s face!

Su Ming saw a wisp of black fog appearing out of nowhere right where he sensed the presence of his snake, and that black fog turned into a huge hand that seized the floating snake that was slumbering behind the head, which was, to the head, her most important spot.

All of this happened too quickly, and so Su Ming’s Lightning Berserker Movement and the woman’s head still crashed into each other.

As booming sounds reverberated in the air, a long string of laughter immediately spread through the area. An old man in black robes appeared along with the laughter, and he had the slumbering snake seized tightly in his hand while his eyes sparkled.

”If any of you dare move, I will crush this snake to death!” As the old man spoke, he increased the strength in his right hand’s grip, and the small snake’s body started twisting and shuddering.

The moment the old man in black robes squeezed the snake, the mass of flesh that had changed its color around them suddenly froze. A piercing howl immediately shot out from the woman’s mouth.

Killing intent shone in Su Ming’s eyes as he glared at the old man. This person appeared too suddenly, and he had abruptly come out when he was fighting against the Candle Dragon. For some unknown reason, Su Ming could also sense a strange feeling from him, one that screamed that he absolutely detested this old man and wanted to kill him.

”This body is just a hint of my divine sense. Even if I die here, it won’t have too much effect on my body.

”Destiny, you’re very fast, but I suggest that you don’t be rash. Candle Dragon, you don’t have much will left, and I am confident that I can kill this snake before you attack! Do you believe me?”

When he heard the word Destiny falling out of the old man’s mouth, Su Ming’s pupils shrank.

After that piercing roar, the woman’s head said in a sinister voice, ”Name your request!”

”Candle Dragon, I don’t want to become your enemy. I just want you to cast the Undying and Imperishable World and seal him inside! After that, I’ll immediately return this very important snake to you!”

The old man in black robes smiled darkly and increased the force of his right hand, causing the small snake to twist even more due to pain. A large amount of white mist spread out from its body and floated around the area.

A glint appeared in the woman’s eyes. With her remaining will, if she cast the Undying and Imperishable World, then she would fall into deep slumber, and only some of her will would awaken after many years.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, she would not want to cast that Art. She would also be unable to absorb that snake if she fell into deep sleep. She could only continue with the process when she woke up.

”Since you refuse to yield, and since you both insist on meddling… Then I will have the Undying and Imperishable World decide your fate. With the remnants of my will, I will curse you…”

The beautiful head looked towards Su Ming, and for the first time, she opened her eyelids, revealing a pair of gray eyes, along with nine pupils that formed some sort of runic symbols within each of her eyes!

Nine-pupil eyes!

”I curse the both of you that your souls are separated from your bodies…

”I curse the both of you that your souls enter my World…

”I curse the both of you that you will sink into the state of not being able to die and not being able to perish, I curse the both of you that you will never be able to be reincarnated…

”I curse the both of you that you will lose yourselves during the endless passage of time and turn into my new Warrior Souls…

”If you fall and lose yourselves, then I will devour the snake and resurrect myself successfully. If you wake up, then I will willingly let myself be devoured by my kind, and I’ll bless its new life!

”Undying and Imperishable Realm, One Hundred Million Vengeful Spirits… Open!”

The instant that piercing voice spoke, the Candle Dragon’s entire body shuddered abruptly, causing the fog that covered several tens of thousands of lis to become much thicker. At the same time, its gigantic body started fossilizing rapidly…

In the blink of an eye, right before the crimson dragon and the old Spirit of Nine Yin’s stunned expressions, the gigantic body turned into a humongous stone statue!

Immediately after, the shadow of a crescent moon appeared in the sky. That shadow slowly started shining with an enchanting light as it hung high up in the dark sky. With the other nine moons around it, the moon became the tenth crescent moon in the sky!

At that moment, all shamans and berserkers within Shaman City, all Spirits of Nine Yin, and all the living within and beyond those one million lis saw that crescent moon!

”The Candle Dragon has turned into stone… The tenth moon… This is the sign that the Sacred Nine Yin has activated the Undying and Imperishable World! As long as this moon doesn’t disappear, then that World will forever remain!” the old Spirit of Nine Yin exclaimed.