Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming’s face remained calm when that cold voice echoed in the air. However, that calmness around him was more terrifying than any sort of murderous aura, was even more frightening than any eruption of a cultivation base. This tranquility contained a power that could make others suffocate once they saw it.

Two long arcs charged through the sky to head straight towards the small bit of the ninth summit remaining above the sea, but before they managed to get any closer, the person in the left arc noticed something off.

He saw that the person sitting on the ninth summit was no longer Hu Zi, but someone who looked somewhat familiar. However, there was something unfamiliar about that face as well, making him unable to recall where he’d seen it before.

The other person also noticed Su Ming’s presence. The two of them came to a halt in midair and floated above the ninth summit while looking at the mountain beneath them coldly.

”Who are…”

One of them frowned, but his expression was as cold and aloof as ever, and along that look on his face was a hint of arrogance that came from his status as a disciple from Heaven Gate. Yet before he could even finish speaking, Su Ming lifted his head, and the instant he opened his eyes, a chilling glare that seemed to have come from the abyss itself abruptly shone within his eyes.

Right then, that disciple from Heaven Gate who was looking at Su Ming from midair suddenly heard a loud bang in his head, and his body started shivering violently. At that moment, he could practically hear thunder roaring in his head. Su Ming’s gaze was like two sharp blades that had pierced into his eyes and shot straight to his head, causing him to feel as if his mind had instantly broken down. Then they rushed into his spirit, causing his heart to continue beating faster and faster with each passing moment until it was racing at lightning speed against his chest.

Cracking sounds also came from his body at that moment, as if it was unable to withstand the will and pressure contained within Su Ming’s gaze!

The unparalleled fury contained in that gaze towards Heaven Gate erupted abruptly in that Heaven Gate disciple’s body.

His face turned pale in an instant, and his eyes became the first thing to explode. Blood poured out of them, and he staggered backwards before coughing up a large mouthful of blood. During that time, his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth started bleeding as well. He let out a shrill scream of pain as his spirit collapsed and his mind broke. Then, right at that moment, his life was extinguished by the pressure formed by the tranquil fury burning in Su Ming’s eyes!

With a bang, that Heaven Gate disciple fell headfirst into the sea, all while his companion watched, dumbfounded.

However, before his body fell into the sea, a black shadow immediately shot out from the ninth summit. Naturally, that black shadow was the bald crane. At that moment, its eyes were sparkling with a brilliant light, and the few remaining feathers on its body were lustrous and glossy. With an excited expression on its face, it caught up with that plunging corpse in the span of a breath, and when it flew past the body, a storage bag appeared in its mouth, and there were even a few shining objects in its claws.

If anyone took a closer look, they would be able to tell that those shining objects were the jade buttons on the dead Heaven Gate disciple’s robes.

’What a waste, such a waste. I’ll just keep collecting these things a little at a time. If I continue like this, I’ll be rich someday!’ The bald crane lifted its head in excitement and fixed its eyes on the other Heaven Gate disciple while expectation shone on its face.

Su Ming’s gaze could not kill, but if the pressure around his body fused with his gaze and his divine sense, then it would be enough to kill a person!

The instant the Heaven Gate disciple died, his companion started shivering. His face instantly turned pale, and his gaze when he looked towards Su Ming was filled with shock. With a piercing scream, he started retreating hastily, thinking of returning to Heaven Gate as quickly as possible.

His mind was in a mess. He could not imagine just what sort of power would be needed to kill his fellow disciple of his with just the pressure from a gaze. His companion… had been about the same level as him.

At that moment, the arrogance he had as a Heaven Gate disciple was gone, and the aloofness and disdain he had when he confronted Hu Zi were absent. Even his screams were no longer cold but filled with terror. The never-ending horror was like a tidal wave that drowned his heart and soul. At that moment, he had only one thought in his head: Run. Run as fast as possible and return to Heaven Gate with the fastest speed he could muster!

”Kill those who have harmed even a single plant of ninth summit.

”Kill those who have harmed even a single follower of ninth summit.

”Kill all the Berserkers of the tribe of the person who harmed even a single disciple of the ninth summit,” Su Ming mumbled to himself calmly. He stood up and took a step towards the sky. When his foot landed, he abruptly appeared in the sky.

”The ninth summit protected me in the past. From now on… it will be my turn to protect the ninth summit!

”All of you from Heaven Gate have humiliated and hurt my senior brother. I… will kill all of you!”

The killing intent in Su Ming’s eyes burst forth swiftly, and he took another step forward to appear right before the fleeing Heaven Gate disciple. That disciple’s soul had practically left his body from fear at that point. He fell to his knees, wanting to beg for mercy. He was afraid of death, especially when he had lived in safety during the calamity. It amplified his terror to a whole different level.

However, Su Ming’s right hand had already swept past the center of his brows almost the instant he fell to his knees, before he even managed to beg for his life. When Su Ming walked towards the sky, the Heaven Gate disciple started trembling, and a crack appeared at the center of his brows, ripping right through his skull. The top half of his head was torn off, along with his hair, and as blood gushed out from the remaining half, the top part fell into the ocean.

The same scene appeared once again. The bald crane let out a few excited screeches and rushed over swiftly. When it returned, another storage bag and a few more buttons appeared in its claws.

’I’m rich! I’m rich! If the Berserker child kills more, I will become richer… Hey… following him doesn’t seem like such a bad idea!’

It was simply unfortunate for that Heaven Gate disciple. He had to die while in tattered garments as his body sank into the ocean… Right at the final moment of his life before he died, that disciple suddenly remembered why the stranger felt so familiar. In the midst of his terror, he had finally managed to recognize that person. He was the fourth disciple of the ninth summit, the disciple who had gone missing for twenty something years… Su Ming!

The moment he recognized, his world turned dark, and he never woke up again.

Hu Zi’s snores were still traveling through the air. He had been far too exhausted for too many years, and with Su Ming’s help, he would sleep for a long time, until his body was fully recovered. Perhaps, when he eventually woke up, everything in his sight would be different.

Su Ming stood in midair. He had been waiting for those Heaven Gate disciples’ arrival for the past few days because he had sent his divine sense to scan the sky a few days ago, but he had been unable to find any traces of any sort of Rune whatsoever in the sky.

That was why he waited. When the sky distorted and those two people appeared, he immediately noticed a single dot appearing in a single spot in the vast sky.

Before he met Fang Cang Lan, Su Ming would not have been able to recognize that one dot, but now, with just one glance, he could tell that it was a dimensional realm locus!

The instant he noticed it, he took a third step, and right when his foot landed, he moved into the dimensional realm locus.

When he stepped there, everything he saw turned chaotic for a brief instant, but he had already sent his divine sense sweeping through all directions. Without even needing his eyes, he could sense that he had landed on some sort of relocation spot.

When his vision became clear, he found himself standing on a gigantic Rune. Outside it were nine huge stone pillars, and there were all sorts of different bizarre looking creatures carved on them. Nine people sat cross-legged on top of those pillars.

The sky was blue. There was no sun up ahead, but light was still shining on the ground. When Su Ming looked into the distance, he could see mountain ranges rising and falling up ahead. There were long arcs weaving through the white clouds in the sky.

Birds chirped, and the beautiful fragrance of flowers filled every corner of the air. The spiritual aura in this place was incredibly thick, and there were quite a large number of precious medicinal herbs planted on the ground. Green could be seen everywhere, and anyone who saw all of these things would be struck by a feeling that this place was the paradise itself.

Tranquility and serenity filled this beautiful world. Nine gigantic stones could be seen floating in the sky. Those stones were in the shape of a cone, their pointed ends facing the ground. On the flat surfaces above were palaces built in a variety of styles.

The nine of them were like the most supreme beings in this world. They floated high in the sky, and the long arcs weaving in and out of the clouds were mostly moving about those nine palaces.

Faint sounds of running water could be heard in the air as well. It came from a long river running through the grounds. The sounds of it were accompanied by the sounds of women giggling and playing. Occasionally, some birds would fly through the sky elegantly. They looked incredibly beautiful and did not look like ferocious beasts, but were like pets that had been tamed.

The sky was clear and blue, a stark contrast to the world outside, causing the people who saw it to be unable to help themselves but be hypnotized by the sight.

At the center of the nine floating palaces in the sky was a mountain that reached the clouds. There was a big stone plate erected on it, one that could be seen clearly even from the distance.

There were four golden words carved on it, and they were glowing with endless light, causing all the people in the place to be able to see them the moment they lifted their heads!

”Freezing Sky Heaven Gate!”

This was Freezing Sky Clan’s Heaven Gate. Before Su Ming arrived in here, he had very limited knowledge about this place, but now, with the experiences he had accumulated, he was able to tell with just one glance that this was a fragmented dimension!

This place did not belong to South Morning. It was just a fragmented dimension that might have developed on its own or had been discovered by chance.

Perhaps this place was not even part of the land of the Berserkers, because the moment Su Ming placed his feet on the ground here, a faint aura of death immediately started spreading out from his body. It was incredibly similar to the moment when he left Yin Death’s Region in the ancient bronze sword and his blood landed on Fang Cang Lan’s finger.

But this was much weaker. It was not strong at all, and was nothing compared to the time he left the ancient bronze sword.

Yet all of this clearly told Su Ming that this was a mysterious dimension located between Yin Death and Bright Yang!

The spread of the aura of death from Su Ming’s body upon his appearance was something that simply could not fit with this dimensional world, even though it was very faint. Because of that, the instant he appeared in the Rune, the aura of death from his body turned to black smoke, and as it tumbled about, it rose into the sky, causing a small part of it to be shrouded by a black fog, as if someone had spilled ink on a piece of paper!