Pursuit of the Truth

The Great Yu Imperial City rose up. At the instant this ruin that had been buried for an unknown amount of years in the depths of the Dead Sea completely showed up in the world, a freezing air instantly spread through the area.

Wherever it went, the Dead Sea would look as if it had been frozen as it remained still. The rotations within the vortex in the sky also slowed down.

The entire climate in the world of Berserkers became much colder.

Great Yu Imperial City was incredibly big. As it rose from the Dead Sea, the city moats and walls as well as the numerous palaces within were revealed before everyone’s eyes. These buildings gave off an awe-inspiring air, but all of them were frozen. It did not matter whether it was the city moats or the palaces, all of them were encased in thick layers of ice.

It looked like Great Yu Imperial City, but in truth, it was a gigantic block of ice!

It possessed its own intelligence. Due to Su Ming calling to it, it had appeared after being buried for years. At the instant it rushed out of the surface of the sea, the ice on the city distorted and fell off.

However, the freezing air did not disappear. It instead became even stronger. Immediately after, the air before Su Ming distorted, while he stood in the battlefield between the Immortals and Berserkers held in the spot where the Immortals descend in Eastern Wastelands!

An inconceivable, mighty pressure violently spread out from the city that had suddenly risen up. That mighty pressure felt as if it had corporeal form, and wherever it went, the entire world would instantly become still. The expressions of Immortals instantly changed drastically. They could clearly feel their bodies, their Nascent Divinities, and even their souls being squashed with a crazed force. All of them could no longer remain in the sky and plunged to the ground.

”This is… This is Great Yu Imperial City!”

”It’s the holy land! It’s Great Yu Imperial Palace! It’s the Great Yu Imperial Palace which had disappeared countless years ago!”

The Berserkers burned with fevered ardor. In the midst of their disbelief and their endless excitement, they looked at Great Yu Imperial City. A bang rang in their heads, and they knelt down to worship the city as their bodies trembled.

Tears fell down the cheeks of all Berserkers. To them, Great Yu Imperial City symbolized everything that was the Berserkers. At that moment, when they saw Great Yu Imperial City with their own eyes and saw the ice that had encased it for an unknown number of years, a fire born from rage blazed through their blood.

All the Immortals, on the other hand, instantly turned pale. Even the four Relocation Runes in the Sky stopped operating at the instant Great Yu Imperial City appeared, and no more Immortals descended.

This was Su Ming’s retaliation towards the four Runes!

He stood high above and looked at the city he had summoned. At that moment, the faint connection in his heart binding him to the city had become stronger. It was especially so when he saw an old man sitting on a lofty altar under all that ice.

He was Great Yu’s Court Diviner.

Su Ming also saw the numerous dead corpses kneeling under the frozen altar in the imperial city. All of these were the warriors of the past.

The air was still extremely cold. Once Great Yu Imperial City rose up, all the battles stopped. Su Ming took a step forward and appeared above the imperial city, stepping on the gigantic block of ice.

Around him were tens of thousands of Berserkers who were kneeling on the ground as they wept. No matter what level of cultivation they possessed, at that moment, all the Berserkers only had one single thought in their heads. That thought was like a storm in their minds and a fire that had been buried after being oppressed for a long time.

Great Yu Imperial City… It was their Berserkers’ holy land!

”With a single thought, I have made Great Yu Imperial City rise up from the endless Dead Sea!” Su Ming declared, his voice reverberating in all directions, as he stood on the ice.

All the Berserkers were kneeling and worshiping the city at this moment, and tens of thousands of Immortals were shuddering, still in a state of shock.

”Melt Great Yu Imperial City’s ice with the Berserkers’ tears! Dispel the ice on Great Yu Imperial City with the Immortals’ blood! Make Great Yu Imperial City stand tall in our land once again!

”From now onwards, we swear… to kill all Immortals who descend in our land!!” As Su Ming spoke, his Nascent Divinity, which was formed through the Immortals’ cultivation methods, melted and fused with his will and his soul due to his level of cultivation having reached Life Cultivation Realm. It then turned into… Atman [1], a soul unique to those in Life Cultivation Realm!

Su Ming lifted his right hand and swung it. Immediately, the tears flowing down the cheeks of all the Berserkers who were kneeling in the air worshiping the city flew up. These tears then gathered together and charged towards Su Ming.

To be more precise, they were charging towards the ice encasing Great Yu Imperial City. With their hot tears, the Berserkers would melt the ice, with their tears, they would make Great Yu Imperial City stand tall!

The endless amount of tears brought with them everything within the Berserkers’ hearts and souls. At that moment, tears poured down like rainwater and scattered on the ice encasing Great Yu Imperial City. Within an instant, that ice started showing signs of melting!

”Not enough, it hasn’t melted enough. My fellow Berserkers, my fellow people, let us use the heat of the Immortals’ blood to melt the ice on our holy land!”

Su Ming swiftly lifted his head. At the instant his words reached the Berserkers, they immediately lifted their heads, and a crazed killing intent appeared in their eyes.

”With the heat of the Immortals’ blood, we will melt the ice on our holy land!”

These were the words shouted out by all the Berserkers at the same time. These roars had reverberated in the air when Su Ming became the God of Berserkers and caused the Berserkers’ blood to burn and their cultivation base to increase exponentially. It was also there at the time when Berserkers’ soul was born. When Great Yu Imperial City appeared and lit up the flames in the souls of all the Berserkers in the place, waves of madness crashed about in their hearts…

A Berserker who had attained great completion in the Awakening Realm suddenly found his cultivation base erupting with a bang as the roars that symbolized all the Berserkers rang in the air. At the time he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed towards Su Ming, he broke through great completion in the Awakening Realm and reached the initial stage of the Bone Sacrifice Realm!

Almost at the instant this person’s level of cultivation reached a breakthrough, more people’s cultivation bases erupting within their bodies, and many of those who were in the Awakening Realm reached Bone Sacrifice Realm!

Similarly, those who were the backbone of the Berserkers’ power, the people in Bone Sacrifice who had attained great completion in Bone Sacrifice but did not have the confidence to reach higher found their cultivation bases breaking through, allowing them to reach Berserker Soul Realm!

This was not a single person’s cultivation base increasing, either. It was something fel by all the Berserkers in the place at the same time. All of their levels of cultivation increased by a stage when their blood started burning and Great Yu Imperial City rose up!

Those in the initial stage reached the middle stage, and those in the middle stage reached the later stage. As for those in the later stage, they attained great completion, and those who had attained great completion… reached a new Realm!

It was especially so for Xue Sha and Tian Qi, who were originally powerful Berserkers who had attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm in Eastern Wastelands. They might not have truly stepped into Life Cultivation Realm, but as all the Berserkers’ blood evolved and their roars shook the sky, they took half a step forward in their level of cultivation. They were no longer Berserkers who had attained great completion in the Berserker Soul Realm, but were people who were half a step into Life Cultivation Realm! They might not be able to compare to Su Ming’s strength, but their existence alone caused a tremendous change in the Berserkers’ overall power.

The same change happened among the tribal leaders who were in the Berserker Soul Realm since the beginning. The increase in their levels of cultivation not only brought out their roars that shook the sky and earth, but also symbolized the rise of the Berserkers!

”Kill them!” Su Ming shouted out and lifted his right hand to point towards the Immortals on the ground. The black aura of death around him then immediately charged forth and turned into a black Aquatic Dragon, rushing into the Immortals’ midst.

At the same time, all the Berserkers, now filled with excitement born from the explosive increase in their cultivation, turned into long arcs to charge towards the Immortals..

As booming sounds exploded into the air and Su Ming pointed forward, the black Aquatic Dragon started ripping apart the Immortals. The tens of thousands of Immortals that were trapped in the barrier Su Ming had set up previously shuddered, filling up with despair. In the midst of it all, most of the people found their bodies exploding with a bang, and blood spilled into the air.

An even more brutal fight begun.

The Immortals who died did so with their minds broken as they watched Su Ming and Berserkers’ rise to power. If Su Ming had not set up other plans for them, it would have been impossible for them to live up to this moment.

Right then, their value was their blood, and it was to be used to melt the ice on Great Yu Imperial City.

This was Su Ming’s retaliation towards the Immortals sending three other Runes after one of them had collapsed!

’Since you brought out three other Runes, I summoned Great Yu Imperial City and killed all the Immortals to melt the ice with their blood. If you create more Runes and send more Immortals here, then this war between the Immortals and Berserkers will last until one side is completely destroyed!’

The sounds of battle echoed through the world, and Ji An’s face was pale. Even he would not be able to fight against the Berserkers, who had now risen to power, especially since Di Tian’s magical body had died. Su Ming’s might shocked his heart and soul, and the world of Berserkers’ suppression towards the Immortals was becoming stronger rapidly.

Perhaps before long, as this suppression increased, the Immortals’ power would become even more limited.

Ji An knew that all laws were balanced. If there was a powerful law around, there would also be weak laws lying about. The evolution of the Berserkers’ blood, the increase in their levels of cultivation would make the laws in the world of Berserkers become stronger. Once that happened, then it was only natural that the power the Immortals could bring out in the land of Berserkers would once again be suppressed.

This was also why the Immortals had not dared to step into the world of Berserkers when the first God of Berserkers was still around, because the Berserkers were too strong at that time, resulting in the laws in the world of Berserkers reaching an inconceivable level. Even powerful Immortals who had reached the Third Step would instantly find themselves only able to bring out the power of those in Ascendance when they arrived in the land of Berserkers.

At that moment, Ji An lifted his right hand without hesitation, and a simple jade slip with an endless amount of runic symbols carved on it appeared on his palm.

An ancient air spread out from that jade slip. Clearly, it was a relic, and it was definitely no ordinary item. The runic symbols glowed on the jade slip as if they contained the laws in the galaxy.

At that moment, Ji An did not hesitate and crushed that jade slip. At the instant it was destroyed, a powerful light erupted from Ji An’s magical body. As that light shone, his body immediately disappeared.

Su Ming looked coldly at the spot where Ji An had disappeared. He could feel the waves of relocation coming from a Rune over there, which was a sign of Ji An leaving the land of Berserkers. This body of his might just be a magical one, but as one of the three Sovereigns, he was definitely not someone normal Immortals could compare to. His jade slip could break through the space separating worlds, allowing him to leave this place.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Atman, 意魂(yi4 hun2) : 意 is thoughts/will, 魂 is soul. Will/Thought/Mind Soul doesn’t really encapsulate the idea behind it all, because the word 意 in Confucianism means the attitude towards the things in the world, and these views can affect the perception towards good and bad. If you then link it to the word soul, doesn’t it mean how a person acts and behaves due to his/her inner soul?

So after searching through some words associated with soul and attitude in different religions, these four came up → Pneuma (Christianity), Atman (Hinduism), Psyche (Greek), Anima (Greek).

Anima was automatically eliminated since it was used in ISSTH and it meant a state of subconscious, not very suited here.

Psyche was then eliminated because it was more geared towards creativity, apparently.

Pneuma was eliminated next because it had the meaning of governing a person’s attitude based on external force (Holy Spirit).

Atman was left, and it was the closest. First, it is born from the self, represents the inner self, and also means the essence of the individual, so it was practically perfect for this context.