Pursuit of the Truth

The protection Su Ming had to offer this time was incredibly important to him, to the point that it was even more important than his life, because… if anyone disturbed them while they were casting their Arts, causing them to fail, then not only would eldest senior brother not be able to wake up, it would be likely that he would never be able to wake up again. His consciousness would fade away, and he would… truly turn into a headless stone statue.

At the same time, Hu Zi, who was protecting eldest senior brother’s consciousness, would also fall into a deep sleep he would be unable to wake up from when their eldest senior brother’s consciousness dispersed. He would be like a person without a soul, and even if his physical body was fine, there would be nothing within it.

Su Ming’s second senior brother was the person who was taking the lead in casting the Art and was using his body to activate his divine ability to stir up the Great Heavenly Phantom Art to awaken their eldest senior brother. If someone interrupted him and he failed in casting the Art, then the Heavenly Phantom Art would turn against him, and he would… become one of the Heavenly Phantoms that had no consciousness and will, which were also known as the fragmented souls in the world. He would then be doomed for all eternity.

Hu Zi knew the consequences of being disturbed, but he did not care, because it was for his eldest senior brother. Besides, he trusted his youngest junior brother. Su Ming would absolutely not let anyone come and disturb them, unless… he died.

However, if there was really anything that could threaten youngest junior brother’s life, then even if they were not casting any Arts, they would still have only a slim chance to survive.

Second senior brother also knew about the consequences, and he would not do something that would put him at such a risk if the person involved was not from the ninth summit. However, since it was his eldest senior brother, then even if he had to pay an even bigger price than this, he would still make this choice.

They entrusted Su Ming with their lives, and to him, the three of them were incredibly precious existences. He… would not let anyone bother them.

Moonlight scattered on the ground. Su Ming was sitting cross-legged on the top of the mountain. He looked at his second senior brother, who had his eyes closed and was meditating as he dispersed his soul to fuse it with the world. He looked at Hu Zi, who was in deep sleep, and looked at the statue of his headless eldest senior brother. He still remembered what his second senior brother said before he began.

”The casting of this Art can take anywhere from three months to half a year… However, as long as the process goes smoothly, the Shaman Source Blood you retrieved will allow me to almost certainly be successful… in making our eldest senior brother wake up!”

Su Ming scattered his Atman and had it surround the entire ninth summit to sense the many Runes and seals he had placed around the mountain during the past few days to defend it. There were also some Runes Hu Zi had placed himself when he decided to be serious in casting his Arts.

It could be said that the circular area of ten thousand lis around the ninth summit was filled with Runes and seals. All of this was the first layer of defense set in the periphery of the island.

There were also seals placed on the walls at the top of the mountain. Su Ming had been the one who placed them there.

He stayed the way he was, sitting cross-legged on a mountain rock, and sucked in a deep breath before beginning to silently protect everyone while waiting for eldest senior brother to wake up.

He looked forward to the happiness when their eldest senior brother woke up. All of them would gather together and head to the Alliance of the Western Region as well as the Northern Province. His senior brothers would accompany him to see whether Dark Mountain truly existed in the Alliance of the Western Region… and whether Lei Chen was an actual person.

Then, they would head to the land of Immortals together and search for their Master and purge the Immortals’ galaxy.

As Su Ming thought about these things, he smiled happily, like a child. This smile was something that was rarely seen on him, and only when he was in the ninth summit would this smile show up so clearly. There was no scheming involved, and neither was there any form of plotting. There was only a warmth in this place that was akin to familial love.

The ninth summit was like home.

Su Ming looked at his second senior brother, at his eldest senior brother, and at Hu Zi. Then, as he continued smiling, determination appeared in his eyes.

It did not matter who it was or what force of power it was, unless they stepped over his corpse, then he would absolutely not allow any form of disturbance to happen to the casting of this Art.

Days went by. The top of the ninth summit was filled with Runes, and even Yu Xuan and the others could only remain outside. If anyone showed any signs of breaking into the place, they would suffer severe attacks from Su Ming.

Not a single person was allowed to move even half a step toward the top of the mountain.

An oppressive atmosphere gradually surrounded the ninth summit, but there was a huge amount of understanding within the people despite the atmosphere. Everyone in the ninth summit was keeping to their promise to Su Ming and not stepping near the peak.

Days passed.

In Eastern Wastelands was a small tribe. This tribe was not big, and there were only about a couple hundred people in that tribe.

The mornings in the tribe would usually be filled with smoke. The children’s voices as they player with their friends would be filled with joy, and the Berserkers who woke up early would go about doing their tasks. The men would hunt, and the women would take care of the elderly. In the peace that arrived when they were no longer threatened by the Immortals, they lived in happiness.

Yet when the eighth morning arrived, there was no smoke coming from the tribe in the morning, no joyful laughter as children played. There were only… shrill screams of pain which showed that whoever it was that screamed was now incredibly weakened.

Those screams were enough to make a person feel their hearts trembling once they heard them. They were the terrified screams of women as they cried out in despair.

There was dried up blood everywhere within the tribe. Corpses that belonged to the elderly, to men, to women, and children were scattered all over the ground.

Judging by the dried-up blood, it could be seen that these people had died several hours ago. Their expressions were filled with despair and confusion as they had died incredibly devastating deaths.

No signs of battle could be seen. It was as if this was a one-sided massacre.

There was even a child of four or five years old who was pinned to a tree. His weak body had already become icy cold a long time ago, but the pained expression on his pallid face was a telling sign of what sort of intense pain he had suffered as he died this way.

There were five aloof men standing outside a tent in the tribe. They were all dressed in black, and their robes were filled with starlight. They seemed to take no heed of the hundreds of corpses around them.

The women’s shrill screams of pain were coming from the tent, and these sort of voices had been coming from different women through the entire night.

As if the sun was unwilling to see this devastating sight on the ground, when morning came, dark clouds gradually covered the bright sky, and rain started falling. While it poured down from the sky, the flap to the tent was lifted.

A young man walked out as he smoothed out his clothes. There were constellations on his clothes, and they were moving about slowly, making it look as if he was not part of this world.

This person was naturally the one the Immortals had addressed as ’Young Lord’, the person whose status was incredibly high in Morning Dao Sect - Dao Yuan!

He held a fan in his hand and had an arrogant look on his face. When he moved, the tent’s flap fell down. No one outside should have been able to see what was inside, but the wind that blew past lifted the flap, revealing the devastating sight inside.

There were more than ten women’s corpses there, and all of them were naked. Their eyes were wide open, and the despair as well as the aura of death in their eyes were enough to make anger rage in all those who saw them.

”The Berserkers are really boring. They don’t even have someone who is decently powerful. Their women are vulgar and a sorry sight, too. No one here is even the least bit pleasant to my eyes. The past few days have been barely tolerable, how boring.” The young man who held a fan shook his head, and a disappointed look appeared on his face as he walked outside the tribe.

He had been in the land of Berserkers for the past few days, and had went by the Alliance of the Western Region as well as the Northern Province. His guards had slaughtered more than a hundred tribes, and many of the women were humiliated and brutally killed in his hands, but he had not met even a single person or thing that caught his interest.

”But no matter what, they’re people from Yin Death Region. Heh, I’ve toyed with plenty of Yin Death Women by now, I’ll brag about it when I return to the sect.”

The young man stepped on blood and on corpses as he moved forward. The five men in black behind him remained expressionless, as if nothing would be able to make them reveal what they thought, even the collapse of the sky or the shattering of the ground. There was an indistinct but thick murderous aura about their bodies, which was due to them being merciless people who had spilled a lot of blood.

Shocking waves were sealed in their bodies, causing no one to be able to see through their levels of cultivation. However, the people who had accompanied Dao Yuan into the land of Berserkers were clearly not weaklings.

Once the young man walked out of the dead tribe, he asked flatly, ”It’s about time now. Let’s go to South Morning and have a look. Dao Slave 19, how’s the Soulseek going on?”

”Young Master, I didn’t manage to find the God of Berserkers, for this place restricts my divine sense… However, we’ve already moved through the other continents, so if the Berserkers truly have a God of Berserkers, he must be in South Morning,” one of the five men in black said in a low voice.

”Then let’s go to South Morning and then leave after. This place is boring, anyway.” The young man closed his fan and walked into the air. The five Dao Slaves followed behind him and charged towards South Morning.

As they flew, the young man yawned. He would occasionally look at the ground, and his expression would be filled with scorn. In his eyes, these people were all uncivilized. They wore beast skins and sackcloths, and even those who were slightly better off were still a far cry from Morning Dao Sect.

”Primitive, but not barbarians. How uninteresting.” The young man averted his gaze scornfully.

The five people behind him said nothing, following in silence. To them, it was not important whether this place was primitive or not. Their mission was to ensure their young master’s safety while killing all those who their young master wanted dead.

Besides, to these five people, the land of Berserkers… was really so weak that none of the natives could withstand even a single blow. Even if there were a few Berserkers who barely passed their standards, they were at most between the First and Second Step. Crushing them would be like crushing ants.

There were only several spots they needed to pay attention to, like Eastern Wastelands Tower and Great Yu Imperial City, which was located in the spot where the Immortals descended. The five of them had automatically avoided those places, and neither did they tell the young man about it.

Soon after, by the time the young man had lost most of his interest and stopped looking at the ground, they left Eastern Wastelands and appeared above the Dead Sea.

”Young master, the Land of South Morning has shattered and turned into a countless amount of islands… Many of these islands are inhabited by Berserkers. There are three islands that are larger than the rest, and they should have the most people.” One of the five men in black was holding onto a Feng Shui compass, and the entire topographic map was shown on it.

”Then let’s go straight to the three biggest islands.”

The young man yawned and swung his right arm. A black longship of a hundred feet immediately appeared before him. He stepped onto that longship, and when the other five people behind him moved onto the ship as well, it let out a swooshing sound and charged into the distance.

It traveled at a speed so quick that it disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Before long, the bored young man on the ship swept his gaze across the ground and brought up his fan. While holding onto it, he suddenly widened his eyes.

”Stop!”

He shouted out a command, and the longship instantly came to a halt in midair. The young man’s gaze was trained on an island in the Dead Sea… and that… was Southern Swamp Island, where Fang Cang Lan was.