Pursuit of the Truth

Each person in the group harbored their own thoughts, and since Su Ming was no green horn in this regard, he could naturally see all of this clearly. He had lived in danger his whole life and had ran into many incidents where he tried to deceive and outwit others while they did the same, which was why his wit and cunning were on equal terms as that of these people, even though he did not speak much and maintained a lower profile.

When he saw Sun Kun and Long Li phase through the screen of light and disappear, while Tian Lin was submerged by the dense red threads, Su Ming could not see clearly, and he did not know the details of what happened to Tian Lin.

However, he did notice Ye Shen Tong, who had lost his physical body, using some unknown method to make his Nascent Divinity scatter as the red threads closed in. Even when Su Ming used his Atman to check the area, he could not find his Nascent Divinity.

’I can’t underestimate any of these people. Even if Ye Shen Tong lost his physical body, I still can’t treat him lightly. After all, each one of them… is a World Paragons’ Su Ming’s body blended further into the stone wall. The bald crane was in front of him, and with its illusory Art, it instantly hid Su Ming’s body, making him look like part of the stone that was exactly the same the others in the wall.

As Su Ming hid, his heart gradually calmed down. He no longer thought about the situation outside, for he was in a rather safe state in his current condition. The red threads could not see through the bald crane’s transformation. At that moment, they were outside, continuously crashing against the screen of light.

Time passed. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a violent bang echoed through the tunnel, and the screen of light was torn to pieces by the red threads ramming themselves against it.

As the screen of light shattered, the numerous red threads surged past, in a manner as if they had found a chute. Then, they gradually left into the distance.

Once they left, a green shoot suddenly crawled out of the ground in the tunnel. Right at the moment this shoot appeared, it immediately grew up, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a big tree that could support the entire tunnel. There was a face on that tree trunk, and the face was the exact same as Tian Lin’s.

As that tree appeared, a crack tore through the center of its trunk. Tian Lin walked out from there. His face was slightly pale as he stood there, looking around himself for a while with an incredibly dark expression.

Right at that moment, a ray of light from a Nascent Divinity appeared from the crack at the center of the tree trunk. This was naturally Ye Shen Tong’s pale Nascent Divinity. He came out of the tree after Tian Lin.

A look of lingering fear appeared on Ye Shen Tong’s face. He looked in the direction the red threads had left, then said in a low voice, ”Thank you for your help, brother Tian. Once I get out of this place safely, I will definitely offer you great gifts as thanks for saving my life.”

”Brother Ye, you don’t have to be so polite. After all, I was the one who invited you here. It is only natural that I would ensure your safety. What are your plans now?” Tian Lin shook his head. When he asked his question in a soft voice, he looked at Ye Shen Tong with a profound gaze.

”Fellow Daoist Long and fellow Daoist Sun each have their own methods to obtain their serendipity. Brother Tian, you had your Nascent Divinity change places with your physical body and had even fused together with this tree. I can feel that your life force is so great that you have practically reached an undying and imperishable state. Even that boy Su Ming won’t die so easily. He might have gone off long ago to search for his serendipity.” Ye Shen Tong’s face was pale. As he spoke with a bitter smile, he swept his gaze past the area before he fixed his eyes on Tian Lin.

”I only have my Nascent Divinity left now. I feel disheartened, and I only want to leave this place as quickly as possible now. Brother Tian, please allow me to do so.” Ye Shen Tong’s words were completely logical. After all, if anyone else were in his position, they would first think about protecting their lives, not obtaining a serendipity.

A glint appeared in Tian Lin’s eyes. He gave Ye Shen Tong a scrutinizing glance before smiling suddenly

When Ye Shen Tong saw the smile that abruptly appeared on Tian Lin’s lips, his heart let out a thump, and he instinctively moved a few steps back. He forced a smile on his face and wrapped his fist in his palm towards Tian Lin.

”Brother Tian Lin, please let me leave. I will definitely reward your kindness greatly.”

”Ye Shen Tong.” Tian Lin’s smile grew even more brilliant, but his gaze was cold.

”We’ve known each other for years. Rumors have it that you once had a True Guard after your life, and you did not die from that encounter. Many people do not believe this… but I do!”

Ye Shen Tong’s pupils shrank. His expression immediately turned grave. At that moment, neither of them noticed that Su Ming was in the tunnel’s wall not too far away from them. He might have his eyes closed, but he could hear their voices clearly.

The stone wall that was the bald crane looked incredibly real, so real that even Tian Lin and Ye Shen Tong did not notice it.

”You provoked Su Ming right away because you wanted to determine our relationship, did you not? You also wanted to use the chance to tell the others that we aren’t close friends. This would have created a chance for you to work together with others.

”Then, as you continued with your observations, you decided to attack, but you did not expect that you would suffer such grave injuries in fellow Daoist Su’s hands.

”In my opinion, you wanted to devour fellow Daoist Su’s flesh and blood, then break the screen of light, but even after you did that, you would still have pretended to collapse in exhaustion to achieve your other aim. And that is to leave this place!”

Tian Lin spoke slowly. With every single phrase he voiced, Ye Shen Tong’s face would turn more sour.

”Brother Tian, your analysis is completely groundless. I had promised to come to this place in order to obtain a serendipity. How could I choose to leave before I even obtained my serendipity? If it was not because I had no other choice, how would I have chosen to leave in resignation?” Ye Shen Tong immediately said, clearly afraid that Tian Lin would misunderstand him.

Tian Lin ignored Ye Shen Tong’s words and suddenly asked arily, ”How does it feel like to have a True Guard go after your life?

”Perhaps I should reword that. How does it feel to be one of the True Guard’s spies after he left his Brand on you?”

”Brother Tian, what do you mean? I don’t understand what you’re saying.” A glint appeared in Ye Shen Tong’s eyes. At that moment, his face was no longer pale. Instead, there was a strange, sinister look on his face, and a ghostly dark light appeared in his eyes.

”You want to leave because you want to tell what happened here to your master… and there is only one way to report this matter to him - to burn one of your clones.

”What a coincidence. After I fused together with this precious tree, I obtained some of its innate abilities, and I can tell whether a person is his real self or his clone. With you, I saw a clone that is very similar to his real self.

”You have a physical body and a Nascent Divinity. There is practically no difference between the two of you, but a clone is still a clone.

”You want to leave this place and use three days to set up a Rune to burn your clone to activate it. Then, you would let a certain True Guard sense the memories before your clone’s death and see everything in here.

”As for you, you will obtain a reward. Let me think, did you master promise you that if you discovered something important, he would communicate with the other True Guards and let you be free from then on?” Tian Lin spoke calmly, but at the moment he mentioned the word ’free’, his heart twisted and a shock of pain went through it.

Ye Shen Tong’s facial color had completely changed at that point. He instinctively took a few steps back, while the dark light in his eyes continued to shine intensely.

”That’s right. Fellow Daoist Tian, since you can tell, then there’s no need for me to continue hiding this. But fellow Daoist Tian, how is it that you know about this in such detail? Are you also one of True Guard’s spies?”

Ye Shen Tong fixed his stare on Tian Lin. At that moment, his heart was in incredible shock. This was his greatest secret, and he had thought that no one knew about this, hence he did not expect that Tian Lin would speak of it so easily.

His heart trembled from it. A memory that was buried in the depths of his heart emerged against his will. It was something that happened hundreds of years ago. As he was chased by a True Guard, he experienced several life and death situations, and if that man had truly wanted to kill him, Ye Shen Tong might have died a long time ago.

In the end, that man had left a section of a chain in his chest. That chain grew in his flesh, like a Brand. From then on, he became that True Guard’s spy.

”My hometown is far, far away from Crimson Flame Planet… Do you know why I came to this place?” Tian Lin looked at Ye Shen Tong and suddenly smiled. ”It’s because of you! You have Jing Nan Zi’s presence on your body!”

At the moment Jing Nan Zi’s name was brought up, Ye Shen Tong’s expression changed drastically. Jing Nan Zi… that was the name of the True Guard who left the Brand on his body!

”For the purpose of getting closer to you, I came to this place. I was worried that I would cause you to be suspicious of me if I got closer in a too straightforward manner, so I decided to stay in Crimson Flame Planet! Then, we’d be not too close, but not too far away, either.

”I fused with this precious tree because of you as well… Do you know why I’m telling you all of these things?” When Tian Lin curled his lips into a grin, an absent-minded look appeared in the eyes of Ye Shen Tong’s Nascent Divinity before he slowly closed his eyes, then fell to the side as if he had fallen asleep. One after another, tree branches swiftly closed in on him and wrapped him up into a cocoon.

”Besides being able to discern whether a person is his real self or just a clone, my precious tree has a second inborn divine ability. It can make a clone fall into deep slumber, and his real self would not notice it, either. Instead, this precious tree will fuse into the clone’s Nascent Divinity and cast a Dream Art.

”Ye Shen Tong, I’ve waited for this day for a long time. When I saw that chain growing in your flesh all those years ago, I investigated your past. Then, I was able to discern that you were one of the spies chosen by Jing Nan Zi, the man who massacred the Tian Family.

”Jing Nan Zi, my ancestor was your spy, and for generations, he investigated and gathered all forms of news that you wanted. You promised freedom for the Tian Family, but this freedom… was a bloodbath aimed to destroy my family. This… was the freedom you spoke of...

”It was your greatest mistake that you did not kill me in the past! I will make you pay the price with your death!”

Tian Lin’s expression twisted. Low laughter echoed in the tunnel, and he charged into the depths right away.

”Jing Nan Zi, you would only need ten days to reach this place from the four Great True World’s Region of Suppression. I won’t let you come right now, however, because your grave isn’t ready yet. Once I finish arranging everything, I will let Ye Shen Tong’s clone wake up and finish what he is required to do… He will tell you everything about this place!” Tian Lin’s laughter gradually left into the distance, and the tunnel returned once more into silence.

After about an hour, a few shoots crawled out from the ground of the now silent tunnel before turning into Tian Lin’s blurry figure, which was gathered together by a wisp of his divine sense.

”Looks like Su Ming has indeed left and is no longer here.” Tian Lin shook his head. The figure that was formed by his divine sense disappeared.

Four more hours passed. Tian Lin’s shadow appeared once again in this area. This time, he did not speak to himself, but chose to charge towards his real self.

Su Ming, who was hidden in the stone wall, opened his eyes. He looked at Tian Lin’s shadow leaving into the distance, and he started laughing coldly in his heart.