Pursuit of the Truth

”Haha, the Barren Lands of Divine Essence are big, but I, Shan Tai, managed to meet this person. This is my fortune, and also my chance! It is the serendipitous chance that will only arrive once in an eternity!

”The four Great True Worlds has put a bounty on his head, promising a World Stone containing the power of a World Plane to the person who manages to kill the person who lit up the Blood Identification Pearl and absorb his soul into the pearl!”

The plump person trembled in excitement as he kept shouting. The ship beneath him swiftly changed direction and charged towards the meteor Su Ming was sitting on. At the same time, the two cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm sported excited looks on their faces. Even if it would be difficult for them to obtain the World Stone since Shan Tai was around, there would definitely be plenty of other rewards.

They were especially excited since the person that the four Great True Worlds had placed a bounty over… was truly just in Earth Cultivation Realm. There was no possible way for him to have sealed up his cultivation base to hide his level of cultivation, because the four Great True Worlds had clearly stated when they offered the bounty that this person was just in Earth Cultivation Realm.

Whoosh!

The two cultivators charged into the air. Their speed increased so quickly that in the blink of an eye, they had already closed in on the meteor Su Ming was sitting on. They turned into two long arcs with one traveling on the left of the meteor and the other on the right. As the power that belonged to Heaven Cultivation Realm exploded from within them, a powerful suppressive force was formed, and it charged towards Su Ming.

”Haha, die!”

”I’d like to see just how strong is the criminal wanted by the four Great True Worlds!”

Su Ming opened his eyes slowly and cast a cold glance at the people who were charging towards him from his left and right. At the instant he looked over, he swung his arm.

A shrill scream of pain rang out to his right. When the cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm there was less than three hundred feet away from Su Ming, a black dot immediately appeared at the center of his brows.

It looked as if he’d been stung. He could not even see what had happened clearly before intense pain traveled through his entire body. His screams of pain were still echoing in space when his body melted, turning into a puddle of blood that spilled on the meteor.

”You’re just asking for death.”

Su Ming stood up. The cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm that was coming on his left immediately spotted a drastic change in expression. Disbelief and shock appeared in his eyes. Everything just now had happened too quickly. He had not even managed to see anything. He only heard his companion letting out a shrill scream of pain, and the in the blink of an eye, he had turned into a puddle of blood, dead.

This scene immediately made the cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm shudder. He retreated without any hesitation, his heart swiftly filling with terror. He suddenly thought of a terrifying question. Why… was this person wanted by the four Great True Worlds?

The four Great True Worlds had not mentioned a reason when they offered the bounty; they just wanted him. Only now did this cultivator realized that there was no way that a person wanted by the four Great True Worlds would be a weakling.

The cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm’s face turned stark pale, but before he could retreat a hundred feet away, an afterimage appeared before him. He saw it clearly. It was a poisonous wasp.

This was the final thing the cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm saw in his life, his final memory.

Screams of pain echoed in space and blood spilled all over the place, even if everything had happened in the span of a few breaths. In fact, the people on the ship only saw Su Ming doing was opening his eyes and flinging his arm sideways.

With these simple actions, he had taken the lives of two cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm.

”Sir, you blocked my path for no reason. Will you explain yourself?” Su Ming asked flatly. With a calm gaze, he looked towards the large, plump man that was uncertain whether he should retreat or move forward at the moment.

When Su Ming said those words, the meteor beneath him gradually slowed down before it stopped and floated in the galaxy, positioned directly opposite the plump person’s ship.

”Haha, it’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. I recognized the wrong person. I was wrong in this matter. Sir, please don’t be angry with me. I’ll leave right away.” The plump person narrowed his eyes and forced out a cordial smile, moving back slowly.

He could not quite grasp the depths of this wanted criminal’s power. He looked like he was in Earth Cultivation Realm, but he had managed to kill two cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm with such ease that it seemed killing them was no more taxing than breathing. This scene was enough to shock him and start to take this matter seriously.

Compared to a World Stone, his life was more important. Besides, in his eyes, he might have to search for a few more companions before he could have the confidence to kill this person.

While trying to get past this situation by deceiving Su Ming, the plump Shan Tai moved back. Just as he was about to leave, Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. Right then, he looked as if he was still sitting cross-legged on the meteor, but the next moment, he appeared in front of Shan Tai. Only when his form was on the ship did the body on the meteor slowly disperse. It had clearly just been an afterimage.

”Since you’ve already attacked, then don’t be in such a hurry to leave.” Su Ming took a step forward, and the instant he closed in on Shan Tai, he lifted his right hand, clenched his fist, and hurled a punch forward.

He did not use the gourd or the long spear, neither did he use the poisonous wasp or any other divine ability. He only used the power of Qi contained in his physical body. It was a rare occasion for him to run into a powerful warrior in the initial stage of World Plane Realm. Su Ming wanted to see the extent of the combat capabilities contained in his current physical body.

”You’re just asking for death!”

Shan Tai’s flesh quivered. When he saw that this person actually dared to attack him, his heart let out a thump, but no matter what, the other still looked and felt like he was just in Earth Cultivation Realm. Shan Tai began forming seals with his hands before growling and flinging his hands forward. The space before him tore open, and a huge net manifested and charged towards Su Ming to envelope him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Su Ming took large strides forward. With each step, he threw a punch forward. The huge net exploded after it suffered three strikes, and the torrent that was formed swept outwards. Shan Tai’s expression changed. With a roar, all his flesh started quivering, and during that instant, he shrank into a ball. As he rapidly chanted something, a brilliant greasy light erupted. He turned into a huge ball of flesh and charged towards Su Ming to crash into him.

”You want to compare physical strength with me? You’re just in Earth Cultivation Realm. I originally wanted to let you leave, but since you decided to seek death, then die.”

”You’re noisy!” As Su Ming took a step forward, he threw another punch.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

These two people exchanged nearly a hundred blows within an incredibly short amount of time. Shan Tai’s body continuously became thinner, and eventually, with a bang, the both of them fell back.

A focused glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he gasped in his heart. His physical power had only reached the peak in Earth Cultivation Realm, so he had not reached the state where his entire body had the power akin to that of a divine ability that was equivalent to the might of those Lords of World Planes. He could not kill a World Paragon, and it would also be difficult for him to suppress them by brute strength, but similarly, if they did not use the power of World Planes, it would be difficult for them to injure him.

After all, most of World Paragons chose to practice Arts, very few of them would purely train their physical bodies.

While Su Ming was considering this, Shan Tai looked as if he had just seen a malicious spirit. His heart was in incredible shock, and there was even a faint hint of amazement in him. He knew clearly that even if he did not use the power of World Planes, the near a hundred punches he threw just now were enough to kill all the cultivators beneath the level of a World Paragon. In fact, even if he was facing off against a World Paragon of the same level, he would still have an upper hand in terms of physical body alone.

However… he had delivered nearly a hundred punches, but this person was almost completely unharmed. On the other hand, the shock from the punches had caused Shan Tai to feel pain himself. His mind was even a little muddled because of it.

”As expected of the person wanted by the four Great True Worlds who are keeping an eye over this place. But since you had the courage to stand before me, then I will let you know just where the difference lies between a Lord of World Planes and those in Heaven, Earth, and Man Cultivation Realms.

”I will kill you. Even if I have to use the power of World Planes, it’ll be worth it.” A fiendish look appeared in Shan Tai’s eyes. Then, despite the fact that they were in space, he opened his mouth and sucked in a deep breath of some unknown air.

Bang!

Shan Tai’s hair began fluttering, and his body also started withering rapidly. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a tall, thin person with waves of ripples spreading out from his body. At the same time a vast amount of aura erupted from his body, a wave of presence that belonged to the power of World Planes forced its way out and spread along with his aura.

This was the true strength of a Lord of World Planes, and only those who had used the power of World Planes could be called a World Paragon!

The galaxy around them turned into a huge ocean at that moment. As layers of ripples surged forward, the power of World Planes swept outwards. A focused glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He retreated in the mid of those ripples.

”Do you want me to attack?” The Duke of Crimson Flame’s voice reached his ears.

”If I use the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole with my full power, can I kill this person?” While staring at Shan Tai, Su Ming sent his question to the duke in the form of a thought.

”It depends on how much you’ve understood. If you understood a third of it, you can injure him. If you understood a six-tenths of it, you can injure him gravely. If you understood eight-tenths of it, you can kill him.” When Su Ming heard those words, a sparkle appeared in his eyes.

”I will use one move, and I will take your life.” Shan Tai’s voice had a ghastly quality to it as he lifted his right hand to form a seal before pointing forward. Immediately, the power of World Planes around him surged forward to gather into a transparent board of light. It flashed, multiplying, and about ten of those boards surrounded Su Ming from all directions.

”World Plane’s Slaughter!”

Shan Tai swung his arm forward, and some sort of law instantly filled those boards of light formed by the power of World Planes. They charged towards Su Ming with a bang. But before they even closed in on him, he already sensed a mighty pressure that was incredibly difficult for him to withstand.

”The Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.”

Su Ming swiftly closed his eyes. He lifted his hands and struck a few parts on his body in succession. His right arm instantly withered away, with his left arm following suit. Then, his legs, his torso, and even his head mummified.

Only Su Ming’s eyes shone with a dark light at that instant. After flashing several times, the moment the boards of light squeezed down on him, Su Ming’s body… exploded into an endless amount of shards as if he was a person in a mirror shattering along with the mirror.

These shards rushed outward with a loud noise.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The boards of light crumbled upon touching the shards. Once the power of World Planes contained within was absorbed by the shards, they appeared right before Shan Tai with an indescribable speed and pierced into his body.

In the blink of an eye, all the shards entered Shan Tai’s body. They then melted, and an incredibly shrill scream of pain left Shan Tai’s lips.

His memory was being rapidly devoured. His flesh and body were swiftly disappearing, and the power of World Planes in his body was completely sucked away in the blink of an eye.

Bang!

Shan Tai’s body fell apart. An endless amount of shards flew out from his body and gathered together nearby. Then, like a broken mirror being repaired, Su Ming regained his form.

His body was originally in a withered state. At that moment, it swiftly swelled up, and once he returned to his original state, a wisp of presence that belonged to World Planes came from his body.

”The Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole… How powerful.”

Su Ming closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel the vast amount of Qi in his body. The clear sensation of having grown even stronger felt addicting.