Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming looked at the old man coldly. He could not move his body. The lack of aura of death had caused him to no longer look like a young man but an old man with an aged face.

The boils that covered many parts of his body made him into a terrifying sight to behold.

If no one had bothered Su Ming, then based on his current condition, he would have needed another half a month to get used to the climate in this place and regain his mobility. That is if he didn’t die from the loss of all the aura of death in his body.

Since Su Ming’s current body was formed of aura of death, what truly existed was only his soul, so the poisonous air in the area could not hurt his soul. The boils were formed when the poisonous air crashed against the aura of death in Su Ming’s body. It might look devastating, but in truth, not much damage was delivered to him.

The greatest harm to him was the fact that the aura of death in this place was very thin.

When the old man’s voice reached the seven people in the distance, they came back and closed in on Su Ming in the span of a breath. The speed at which they traveled caused Su Ming’s eyes to shrink, though only in a barely noticeable manner.

The cultivation levels of the six were about the same as Su Ming’s.

Based on the mighty pressure spreading out from the purple-robed man’s body, it was obvious that he was a powerful warrior at the peak of the Second Step. He only had one step remaining before he could become a Lord of a World Plane.

The purple-robed man crouched down and lifted his right hand before touching the spot above Su Ming’s heart. After a moment, he pulled back his right hand.

”The poisonous air attacked his physique, and aura of death filled his entire body. This sort of pain is incredibly hard for others to endure. His will is powerful, at the very least. He actually managed to stay alive despite these injuries… It’s a pity that it’s difficult to recover once aura of death enters your body, or else he would be a good worker,” the purple-robed man said faintly. Once he got up, he swept his gaze over Su Ming’s body and frowned slightly.

He could not find any storage bags on him.

Su Ming’s storage bag was indeed not on his body. When the bald crane had transformed into a stone, its mind had worked nimbly, and it had instinctively taken Su Ming’s storage bag. Now that the crane had turned into a stone, no one could see it.

”Let’s take him. Our god should like a living offering even more.”

The purple-robed man charged into the distance. The thin old man giggled and brought Su Ming over his shoulder. He grabbed the corpse he’d placed on the ground earlier with his right hand and rushed off with the team.

The stone that was the bald crane lifted its head behind them. Once it blinked, it carefully moved, swiftly following after them.

The group charged forth through the dark. None of them spoke on the way as they were rushing forth, their expressions filled with caution as they occasionally observed their surroundings.

The eruptions from the volcanoes at night in this abandoned cultivation planet were weaker than when they were during the day. The poisonous air scattered slightly under the moonlight, turning into a layer of fog that covered the entire area.

Under the purple-robed man’s lead, the group charged forth without stop for several hours. When it was almost midnight, they arrived at the foot of a large volcano.

This was a volcano that was millions of feet in size and towered into the clouds. Its open maw could be seen faintly high above. At that moment, there were billows of black smoke rising into the sky, and when muffled booms came from the volcano’s mouth, they sounded like ferocious beasts roaring.

The purple-robed man’s footsteps halted for a moment, then he sucked in a deep breath. The wariness on his face became even greater. The people behind him spotted the same reaction, as if there was a great danger within this place.

Su Ming’s face remained calm. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the volcano. His body was carried by the thin old man, who moved forward, charging towards the mouth of the volcano.

The moment the group got close to the gigantic opening, a low shout immediately came from inside it.

”Who is it?!”

The purple-robed man wrapped his fist in his palm and replied in a low voice, ”Yue Hong Bang.”

After saying that, the purple-robed man charged toward the mouth of the volcano. The seven people behind him immediately followed. When they got close, Su Ming saw that the ring that formed the mouth of the volcano now had nearly a hundred people standing there.

Most of these people were thin and emaciated. However, their eyes were bright. Strangely, though, all of these people carried a corpse over their shoulders. There were even some who carried about four or five of them on their shoulders.

Yue Hong Bang’s arrival attracted quite a lot of attention, but the purple-robed man’s expression did not change. He brought the people behind him to an empty spot at the edge of the ring. When he stopped there, a brilliant light shone in his eyes as he looked coldly at the people who had turned their gazes towards him.

A glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes. None of the near hundred people in this place were weak. Even the weakest among them were in the initial stage of the Second Step. Not a single one among them was below the Second Step.

In fact, Su Ming had also spotted about seven among the near hundred people in this place who were at the peak of the Second Step, just like the purple-robed man. Su Ming might not know the reason why these people had come to this place, but once he saw that all of them had brought corpses here, his gaze turned towards the mouth of the volcano.

It was pitch black inside. Only billowing black smoke rose into the sky. Whatever was within could not be seen clearly. However, the occasional booms that sounded like roars emitted a powerful pressure that could bring fear to hearts.

”Alright, time’s up. Those who should be here are here. As for those who aren’t here, they should have run into some form of accident.” As the people around the area remained silent, an old man with white hair who was dressed in a black robe spoke languidly.

The number of people behind him was the greatest. There were about twenty standing at attention behind him. All of them had brightly burning eyes, and they all had extraordinary power.

”We will proceed with the established rules regarding the offerings to our god. I will still be the one who starts first, and then, starting from my left, you’ll each make an offering one by one. The offerings will end at the one standing to my right. Then, we will leave at the same time, and we won’t be allowed to travel in the same direction.” As the old man spoke, he bowed towards the mouth of the volcano.

”We will now make offerings to our god. O god, please show yourself!” The old man’s voice rang in the air. Once it traveled into the volcano, he swung his arm, and the three corpses placed by his side flew out at the same time, then fell straight into the mouth of the volcano.

A roar that shook the hearts of the people in the area and even caused some to instinctively take a step backwards came from inside the volcano.

At the same time, a crimson red shadow was flung out. As it shone, the three corpses falling down immediately shattered. They did not turn into torn pieces of flesh, but disintegrated and turned into ashes. Wisps of light green aura spread out from the ashes and were absorbed by the crimson-red shadow.

When the crimson-red shadow no longer swayed and became clear, what was revealed was a gigantic, ferocious creature with the body of a snake and the head of a phoenix. Its body, which was connected to the entrance of the volcano, was a hundred feet in breadth and was endless in terms of length.

If no one paid any attention to the creature’s body, then this would be a divine phoenix in the volcano that was looking at the crowd around it coldly.

All those who were seen by the creature would instinctively lower their heads, nod daring to meet its gaze.

Su Ming’s pupils constricted as he stared at the strange ferocious beast. He had never seen its kind before. A mighty pressure was spreading out from the ferocious beast’s body, rising the temperature in the area to a state where it was scorching hot.

The old man who had thrown the three corpses wrapped his fist in his palm towards the creature in respect. When he took a few steps back, the followers behind him immediately moved forward and threw out the corpses they’d brought as well.

There were thirty-two corpses in total. Once they tossed them outwards, the beast with the phoenix head would ram against them, turning them into ashes. It would absorb the light green aura that spread out from those ashes, and once it devoured it, the ferocious beast would let out an ear-splitting roar.

As it roared, it spat out thirty-two balls of fire from its mouth. These balls of fire immediately extinguished once they flew out, turning into thirty-two crystals that were filled with impurities and charged towards the old man.

Excitement appeared on the old man’s face. With a swing of his arm, the crystals were immediately swept towards him. Once he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed towards the beast, he retreated ten steps away from the inner edge of the ring along with his followers.

As Su Ming looked at this scene, understanding appeared in his eyes. This was, after all, a land barren of resources. Since they were cultivators, food was not that important to them. However, the lack of power of the world would be a huge blow. Crystal would then become the most important thing to them.

If there were no crystals, not only would they not be able to improve, their cultivation bases would start regressing slowly. Once that started, they would end up dead in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

’By feeding this beast with the phoenix head, they obtain crystals which exist in the beast’s body in exchange. They must’ve appeared there by some unknown method...’ Su Ming narrowed his eyes.

Once the old man retreated, the person to his left immediately repeated the process and threw out the corpses he’d brought with his followers. The corpses were all reduced to ashes once the ferocious beast crashed into them, and when it devoured the light green aura, it spat out an equivalent amount of crystals.

Before the purple-robed man’s turn, two more roars came from the volcano, and two slightly smaller beasts with phoenix heads rose from the volcano to devour the light green aura from the corpses.

Before long, it was the purple-robed man’s turn. He immediately threw out the corpse he carried over his shoulder, and the seven people behind him did the same. Su Ming kept his eyes open all this while, but he could not move. Once he was thrown out, a smaller beast head immediately flung itself to touch his body. Once it did so, Su Ming immediately sensed a great force traveling into his body. That power seemed to contain some form of law in it that could cause a person’s body, blood, flesh, and bones to be perfectly separated from each other. They would not turn into torn pieces, but would disintegrate into ashes.

In fact, the way Su Ming felt it, this force that knocked into him was not strong at all. It was not enough to make his body crumble, but that crash seemed to contain some kind of power that was similar to the power of law, forcing Su Ming to disintegrate and turn into ashes.

Yet there was no light green aura that spread out from his body when it turned into ashes. The small beast with the phoenix head was stunned momentarily, but it still opened its mouth wide to suck in a deep breath. Even though Su Ming’s physical body was no longer around, his soul was still around, and once the creature sucked in that breath, his soul was immediately absorbed into its mouth due to the suction force.

After a moment, when the crowd at the entrance of the volcano had tossed out all the corpses they brought and obtained an equivalent amount of crystals in exchange, they retreated and charged backwards in different directions, leaving the place.