Pursuit of the Truth

”Among the people coming to this place, you will have to pay special attention to one person,” the Duke of Crimson Flame’s said.

”If you coordinate your combat abilities with the Art of Swallowing Hollows Shadows Whole I taught you, you will be able to kill World Paragons, but only those in the initial stage of World Plane Realm. If you meet those in the middle stage of World Plane Realm, like Jing Nan Zi, you will be able to put a fight against them with your divine abilities, albeit with much difficulty. Even so, it’ll be difficult for you to win. If you run into those who are in the later stage of World Plane Realm, you will definitely die.

”There are thirty-seven World Paragons among those people. Thirty-six of them are in the initial stage of World Plane Realm, but one of them is in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. You have to be careful of that person.

”He has the power to trap you, and if you are trapped, you will lose your mobility. When these hundreds of people come down on your head, you will not survive.”

Su Ming stood in the ocean of wind and let go of the head in his hand. He looked up at the long arcs charging towards him from the sky. There was calmness in his eyes, but it was soon changing into murderousness.

”The rewards offered by the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds are incredibly tempting to those in Heaven Cultivation Realm and those in the initial stage of World Plane Realm, because they greatly desire World Stones. However, to the powerful warriors in the middle stage of World Plane Realm, there will be a force rejecting them if they used those World Stones that are not from their Essence of the World, and there are only a few of them to boot, as well.

”Those in the initial stage of World Plane Realm won’t be bothered about this repulsion, because it’s like comparing the light of fireflies to the bright light from a moon when World Paragons from the initial stage use their power of World Planes compared to those in the middle stage. That’s why they can choose not to be bothered by it.

”Those in the middle stage of World Plane Realm are different. It would be fine for them if they had a lot of World Stones. However, the number of the World Stones in the reward is too few for them and it would bring no effect to them.

”That is why there is only one person in the middle stage of World Plane Realm. He must have his own reasons to come to this place,” the Duke of Crimson Flame explained calmly.

”Are you saying that as time passes, there is a possibility that the four Great True Worlds will increase the rewards?” Su Ming retreated to the ocean of wind and sent those words to the duke in his heart.

”The possibility is great.”

Su Ming did not continue speaking. His body disappeared into the ocean of wind. After a moment, long arcs stirred up endless ripples as they sliced through the air and rushed in.

Since too many people came to this place, the ocean of wind began to tremble. The numerous people could sense where Su Ming was. At that moment, once they rushed into the ocean of wind, they dashed to the region where Su Ming was from all directions while booming sounds echoed in the air.

Su Ming stood in the ocean of wind. He lifted his right hand and seized the air. The blood-red long spear immediately took shape. Once he grabbed it, a biting cold presence immediately spread out from his body.

He lifted his left hand and seized the air once again. A blood-red sword manifested in his hand. Once Su Ming held it in his hand, the biting cold presence from his body became even thicker.

With the sword in his left hand and the spear in his right, the crimson red of his robes and his long gray hair fluttering in the wind, Su Ming sneered coldly. When the hundreds of long arcs rushed into the ocean of wind, he did not move. As he looked at the incoming hundreds of long arcs, he felt wisps of presences locking down on his person.

”He’s over there!”

”He’s standing there and not moving, could he be scared silly?”

”He wants to borrow the power from the ocean of wind here, but he should not have thought about how that ocean of wind would weaken him at the same time it weakens us. There’s no difference compared to the world outside.”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The long arcs charged forward and got closer, but right at the moment they locked down on Su Ming, ripples suddenly spread out from his body. That was due to the Duke of Crimson Flame shifting once again under Su Ming’s request.

With a loud whoosh, Su Ming vanished into the ripples. Once he disappeared, the hundreds of people who had locked down on him lost all trace of his presence.

”Hmm? He’s gone?”

”We can’t warp in the ocean of wind, but his action just now clearly indicated a warp. Could it be… that he has some treasure on him that allows him to warp?!”

”That’s definitely the case. It’s a bit troublesome, but he’s alone here while there are hundreds of us chasing after him. Even if he warps, he can’t escape. Besides, the sky has already been locked down. He can’t escape!”

”That’s right. It all depends on who’s the lucky one to meet him in the ocean of wind. Haha, this is also a good thing. At least it means that we cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm have a possibility of running into him and killing him.”

Once the hundreds of pursuers sent their thoughts to each other, they rapidly spread out and began a strict and careful search throughout the ocean of wind. To them, this was a hunt that held no possibility of failure and whose level of danger was not high.

And the rewards of which were very tempting.

Right then, Su Ming appeared in the ocean of wind. There were invisible flames burning around him. Those flames came from the Duke of Crimson Flame.

”I’ve enveloped your body with my divine sense. It can allow your presence to disappear from the Blood Identification Pearl’s perception for six hours. Are you sure you won’t use these six hours to flee but to kill in this place?” the Duke of Crimson Flame’s voice asked, his voice echoing in Su Ming’s head.

Su Ming did not speak. The ocean of wind obstructed vision and blocked all divine senses trying to cover the area, turning this place into a dark world. In this dark ocean of wind, Su Ming was like a hunter, and the hundreds of cultivators were his prey.

”There will be more pursuers. The only method for me to intimidate all those who will come after my life in the future is to use this battle and deliver a huge blow to all who come after me. I will kill until I become famous, kill until the world turns red.

”I must win this battle, and I must win spectacularly. This battle will be… the battle that will make me rise into power and fame in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence!

”I will become famous through this battle!”

Su Ming’s eyes shone. Since the Blood Identification Pearls were unable to locate his presence during this short period of time, he appeared in the distance like a ghost. There was a long arc charging through the air and closing in on the area. Within that long arc was a middle-aged woman. She was thin, and her strength was at the peak of Heaven Cultivation Realm. When she came forward, black fog tumbled around her body. As it surrounded her, she looked incredibly ferocious.

She saw Su Ming rapidly approaching her from the dark ocean of wind right away, and ecstatic joy instantly appeared in her eyes.

”It… is him!”

The Blood Identification Pearl in her bosom instantly shone with a red light. The Duke of Crimson Flame’s divine ability might be able make it so that it would be difficult for those blood red pearls to locate Su Ming, but if he came close to them, it would be impossible for the divine ability to completely hide his presence.

’He’s not running away. I can’t believe I’m able to run into such a chance. If I kill him, I’ll be able to obtain the rewards.’ Pleasantly surprised, the middle-aged woman lifted her right hand. Black fog tumbled about around her and turned into a tiger made of that same black fog. With a roar, it charged towards Su Ming.

”Die!”

”You’re the one who’s dying!” Su Ming let out a cold harrumph. His speed increased by several fold, and he crashed into the tiger of black fog.

Bang!

’Impossible! A cultivator in mere Earth Cultivation Realm can’t possibly have this sort of speed!’

The middle-aged woman’s pupils shrank. As shock surfaced in them, she retreated swiftly, because she could clearly feel the black tiger that was formed from her divine ability shattering from its core due to the crash just then.

Yet before she could retreat even a hundred feet backwards, a booming rang in the air once again. Su Ming appeared right in front of her at an indefinable speed. As she let out a fierce, ear-piercing roar, Su Ming flashed past her body.

A trail of blood was left by the blood red sword in his left hand as he took away with him the middle-aged woman’s head.

”She didn’t scream before she died. It’s not enough to intimidate the others in the area.”

Su Ming’s expression was cold. He did not turn his head back, and neither did he stop. He charged into the distance. After a moment, a shrill scream of pain reverberated in the air. That sound traveled in all directions, and there was a wretched and disbelieving tone to that voice.

”Hmm? Two died?”

”It’s just two people. They should be in the initial stage of Heaven Cultivation Realm. Hmph. That wanted criminal has a treasure that will allow him to warp. He must have run into two weaklings while fleeing.”

”It’s normal for people to die, but if I run into him, then the one who dies will be him.” The hundreds of people in the ocean of wind were completely unbothered. Instead, they charged towards the direction from which the screams of pain had come.

It was especially so for the thirty-seven World Paragons. Their expressions remained as calm as ever. They traveled the fastest, and at that moment, they were closing in rapidly from all directions.

After a moment, another shrill scream of pain rang in the air. Soon after, another three screams shot up in succession, echoing ceaselessly in the air. In fact, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, more than thirty screams of pain had rung out in the ocean of wind.

Those shrill screams of pain contained terror and shock before their owners’ deaths, along with a deep wave of regret. It finally shocked all the pursuers in the ocean of wind.

”Thirty-one… Over thirty people actually died!”

”Only a little more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed, how could over thirty people have already been killed? And every single time we reached the spot, we only saw corpses. We could never find that wanted criminal.”

”That person isn’t in Earth Cultivation Realm!”

”But all those he killed are in the initial stage of Heaven Cultivation Realm. It’s clear that his level of cultivation isn’t really that high.”

After an hour, as shrill screams of pain continued ringing without stop, Su Ming took a spin in the ocean of wind, and the long red spear rushed into the chest of a cultivator at the peak of Heaven Cultivation Realm while roaring like a crimson red, crazed dragon.

Bang!

The old cultivator in Heaven Cultivation Realm was ripped into pieces as his face filled with disbelief. His Nascent Divinity was also completely destroyed. The long blood-red spear flew out from his shattered body and traveled several thousands of feet farther through the air. Once Su Ming appeared in a flash and grabbed it, he disappeared into the ocean of wind along with the spear.

Soon after he left, there were whooshing sounds, and several dozens of people arrived. They saw the mangled corpse on the ground, and their expressions grew dark, their hearts were also filled with apprehension.

”Eighty-three people. He managed to kill eighty-three people within two hours!”

”He didn’t run because he’s treating himself as a hunter while looking at all of us as prey!”

After remaining silent for a moment, the dozens of people swiftly spread out and left. At the same time, amid the slaughter that lasted for two hours and the screams of pain echoing in the air, a heavy and bloody atmosphere pressed down on the ocean of wind.

No one said anything anymore towards the people who died. Once eighty something people had died within two hours, the derision and confidence of those still alive was shaken.

’Ninetieth!’ Su Ming’s robes were drenched in blood. A cold glare shone in his eyes as he moved around in the ocean of wind. He might seem calm, but in truth, he had already descended into a murderous frenzy.

’In this battle, I will make all my pursuers know that they must pay a price if they want to kill me!’