Pursuit of the Truth

”Your level of cultivation is Earth Cultivation Realm, and you have a physical body that is near Heaven Cultivation Realm. You also have many skills and divine abilities. Your illusions are terrifying, and you have an outstanding mind. A normal powerful warrior in the initial stage of World Plane Realm couldn’t hope to be your opponent unless they did not hesitate to use the power of World Plane. Only by using brute strength to suppress you would they be able to win against you,” Jing Nan Zi stated flatly while looking at Su Ming.

”Become my slave for ten thousand years, and I will fight for you to have freedom. If you refuse, then you’ll die.” A cold glare flashed in Jing Nan Zi’s eyes. As he spoke, he took one step towards Su Ming.

A great, mighty pressure spread out from Jing Nan Zi’s body. As it charged over to envelop Su Ming, he staggered a few steps back once again. Su Ming’s expression was incredibly dark. He still had the poisonous wasp in his sleeve, but Jing Nan Zi must surely be on guard against it.

”Fellow ally from the sacred Abyss Builders, come to my side. I haven’t managed to completely force out the sealing sword, but with half of it out, I can already ensure your safety if you’re within thirty feet of me.”

When that feeble voice reached Su Ming’s ears, he swiftly moved backwards. Jing Nan Zi let out a cold harrumph, but he did not chase after. Instead, he lifted his right hand and threw the long spear in his hand forward. With a loud hum, the long spear turned into a blood long red arc that charged towards Su Ming.

On his retreat, Su Ming brought out the gourd.

”Treasured gourd, please kill him!”

Su Ming’s voice was hoarse, for he was caught in a life-threatening crisis. At the moment he said those words, green fog instantly rose from within the gourd. The palm-sized human doll manifested, then as he swept up the fog, he charged towards the long spear with the small sword in hand.

Boom!

A wave of impact swept through the air, and Su Ming used that force to increase his speed of retreat, but before he could move far away, the air before him distorted. Once Jing Nan Zi walked out with that bizarre method of his, he tried to grab the top of Su Ming’s head with his right hand.

Red filled Su Ming’s eyes. During that instant, he could clearly feel that the space around him had been sealed. The hand that looked to be coming towards him from the front felt as if it was rushing towards him from all directions, giving him a feeling that there was no hope for him to dodge it. Even more shocked was the fact that the dimension around him… had completely frozen up.

Su Ming threw his head back and let out shrill howl. During that moment of crisis, he lifted his left hand and pushed upwards with his palm facing up while the palm of his right hand was turned downwards to press against the ground through the air.

”That which exists between the past and the future is Destiny!”

The shadows of a purple-haired man and a white-haired infant appeared before Su Ming. As they overlapped, they covered Su Ming’s body. All of this might seem to have happened over a long period of time, but it only lasted for how long it takes for a person to blink. When Jing Nan Zi’s right hand was less than five feet away from the top of Su Ming’s skull, Su Ming’s body transformed, and what appeared before Jing Nan Zi was a boy that seemed to be around fourteen-fifteen years old.

The boy had a head full of gray hair, and it was so long that it reached his waist. This kid was naturally Su Ming after he had transformed into Destiny. Once he changed, the space around him distorted. He moved. At the instant Jing Nan Zi’s palm almost seized Su Ming, he broke free of the seal in the dimension around him and moved a hundred feet backwards.

”Hmm?” A glint appeared in Jing Nan Zi’s eyes as he looked at Su Ming after he had transformed.

Su Ming’s gray hair fluttered in the air. When he lifted his head, his eyes held a callous and emotionless look. Even now, Su Ming still had many cards that he had not yet revealed, such as the Seven Abyssal Yin Death Seal and the almost shattered Welcoming of Deities.

But he did not choose to attack again. He knew of the difference of power between the two of them. Even if he had turned into Destiny, he could still not close the distance between them.

Once Su Ming broke free of the seal around him, he started retreating without any hesitation. With his current state of Destiny, he had control over the flow of time, and if he wanted to flee, then even if a powerful warrior in the middle stage of World Plane Realm wanted to chase after him, he would be hard-pressed to do so.

At the instant Jing Nan Zi’s pupils shrank slightly, Su Ming had already traveled several thousands of feet to stand on a purplish black molten rock. At the instant he landed there, the Duke of Crimson Flame’s skeleton floated to the surface of the purplish black magma beside him.

The act of the skeleton floating up to the surface on his own accord made Jing Nan Zi freeze in his tracks for a moment, just as he was about to give chase. When he focused his attention on the skeleton, he saw right away that half of the red short sword on the Duke of Crimson Flame’s skull had been forced out.

At the instant Jing Nan Zi saw this scene, his eyes went wide. Shock appeared in his eyes, and all thoughts of toying around with Su Ming were placed aside. A grave look that had never appeared on his face before showed up, and he charged over like a bolt of lightning.

One the way, he seized the air with his right hand. The red spear appeared in his palm, and once he closed in with an indescribable speed, he thrust the spear forward, stirring up loud booming sounds.

Boom! Boom!

The tip of the spear stopped thirty feet in the air away from the skeleton. In the end, it pierced another five feet before it could no longer move any farther. Jing Nan Zi’s expression turned even darker, and there was even a hint of panic in his eyes. He saw Su Ming still standing thirty feet away from him as the short red sword on the skeleton’s skull was coming more loose at a slow pace. By the looks of it, the sword would be completely forced out of the skeleton’s body before long.

’Damn it, how could this happen? The cultivator from the alien race should be in deep sleep, and it should be impossible for him to wake up. But even if he’s about to wake up, it’s fine. He has been sealed up for years, and there’s not a single bit of power left in his body. Even if he wants to recover, he’ll need to spend a lot of time to do so in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.’

Jing Nan Zi let out a cold harrumph, then pulled back the long spear. He took a few steps back before lifting his left hand and breaking the skin on the tips of his fingers. Then, he flung the blood in the air before him.

’When they laid the Runes to seal the mighty cultivators from the alien races in the past, they left behind a subsidiary seal. This subsidiary seal is something all True Guards must learn when they come to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. I thought I would not have the chance to use it while on duty, but it seems that I’ll get to execute the seal today!’

As Jing Nan Zi’s lips curled up into a cold sneer, he quickly waved his left hand before him. In the blink of an eye, a circular, blood-red Rune appeared.

He bit the tip of his tongue and coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. That blood spilled on the blood-red Rune, causing a piercing, blood red light to spread out. Once the Rune appeared, a Rune that was the size of Crimson Flame Planet beyond the sealed region, located in the galaxy away, manifested in the mid of endless distorted ripples.

The Rune was crimson in color, and it was exactly the same as the Rune Jing Nan Zi had laid down!

This was a divine ability that all the people sent from the four Great True Worlds had to learn when they came to keep a lookout over the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. There was only one function for this Art, and it was to activate the Great Divine Essence Rune that was laid out by the four Great True Worlds.

That Rune covered every corner within the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and reached even to the depths of the galaxy. There were only a few spots that were not covered by this Rune. All the other places were within its area of effect.

This Rune had plenty of wondrous effects, and according to the status of each True Guard, they could obtain different types of access to control this Divine Essence Rune. Jing Nan Zi did not have a lot of access. He could only use the most basic function in the Rune - to strengthen the seal.

At that moment, as the red Rune appeared beyond Crimson Flame Planet, Jing Nan Zi laughed ferociously within the sealed region and pushed his left hand against the smaller red Rune before him. It immediately charged towards Su Ming, and at the instant it touched the air thirty feet away from Su Ming, a loud bang resounded.

As it echoed in the air, the Duke of Crimson Flame’s skeleton started trembling viciously. The short red sword that looked as if it was about to be forced out of his skull started letting out a piercing red light, as if its strength had been replenished. It no longer went outwards, but started seeping into the skull once again.

At the same time, the thirty feet wide area of protection around Su Ming became weaker and smaller as the short red sword plunged deeper into the skull. The area was now only twenty feet wide.

Jing Nan Zi smiled in a frightful manner. To him, this trip outside posed no danger. At most, he had lost a clone, but even then, it was nothing compared to the meritorious deed he was about to be credited.

Besides, it was not as if he would not gain any rewards from this, either. When he saw all the treasures on Su Ming’s body, he was incredibly tempted, and he already treated them as his own items.

Su Ming looked at the defense around him shrinking rapidly, certain it would disappear completely before long. He was prepared to flee the danger looming over his head when he suddenly spoke up.

”Can you help him break the seal? If you can, then hurry up and do so. If you can’t, then come back and run away with me!”

His words were spoken very abruptly. Jing Nan Zi was caught off guard by them, then the layer of purplish black magma turned into a bald crane beside Su Ming.

The bald crane was drenched in sweat, a telling sign that it was just about to suffocate in the magma due to the heat. Once it returned to its original self, it immediately flapped its wings, spotting an incredibly pathetic look.

”Darn, too hot. I was almost smothered.”

The bald crane’s appearance made Jing Nan Zi frown. He lifted his left hand and pointed at the red Rune. It shone once again, and as it strengthened the seal, it caused the area of defense around Su Ming to shrink till there was only ten feet left.

The bald crane let out a shrill cry and swiftly moved back while glaring at the red Rune. When a hate filled expression appeared on its face, it whipped its head around. Then, as Jing Nan Zi stared with his mouth hanging open and his expression changing drastically to reveal shock, the bald crane grabbed the short red sword on the Duke of Crimson Flame’s skeleton. The bird was mumbling something that no one could hear clearly while its wings turned into hands around the handle of the sword. The bald crane then transformed its feet into human-like ones and fiercely stomped on the Duke of Crimson Flame’s head.

A loud bang shot into the air, and the Duke of Crimson Flame’s eye sockets were lit with a black light. The short sword in his skull… had been yanked out.

Not only was Jing Nan Zi taken aback by this scene, even Su Ming sucked in a sharp breath. He had not expected the bald crane to be able to do this, either. Even the Duke of Crimson Flame was momentarily stunned, then the dark light in his eye sockets flashed, and a terrifying presence erupted from his body with a bang.

As his presence burst forth, the Duke of Crimson Flame slowly lifted his skeletal right hand, stretched out his index finger, and pointed at Jing Nan Zi!

At the instant he did so, Jing Nan Zi’s expression changed. Fear and disbelief appeared on his face, and without any hesitation, he swiftly retreated.

’H-how can this be?! That’s a sealing sword! It’s the sword that would cause the souls of all the people besides the person who inserted it to disperse! It’s the sealing sword that the mighty cultivators in Hollow Kalpa Realm from the four Great True Realms had laid personally in the bodies of the mighty cultivators of the alien races!’