Pursuit of the Truth

However, not all cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm chose to leave. There were still some that did not choose to retreat. Instead, they followed behind the World Paragons and watched from the distance. They were still a little unwilling to admit defeat.

Even if they knew that they were weak, their greed made them ignore their rationale. They were like leopards watching a tiger and a lion fight, but were still lingering around in the area because waiting for a chance that might appear, a chance where both would be heavily wounded.

This was the path of cultivation - to kill, to seize, and to snatch!

They were cultivating their Lives in this path of cultivation.

Humans will live through their lives in many different manners and different stages. There were all sorts of people, and among these six-seven hundred people were nearly a hundred people who had this sort of thought to lurk around and watch.

However, it did not matter whether it was these cultivators or the World Paragons, none of them knew that this slaughterfest had not even reached its halfway point based on Su Ming’s plan.

His plan was still far from its peak. As of then, he had just cast his net. The time had not come for him to pull the net back.

”I need you to shift,” Su Ming said flatly in the depths of the ocean of wind.

At the instant he spoke, ripples appeared around him, and he vanished abruptly.

”You have an hour left. An hour later, I will be unable to hide you from being located by the Blood Identification Pearls. You… will have to do your best and survive.”

As the Duke of Crimson Flame’s voice reverberated in the air, Su Ming appeared tens of thousands of feet away. Almost the moment he appeared, his body started withering away rapidly.

His arms, legs, torso, and head were reduced to mere skin and bones within an instant. Soon after, with a bang, Su Ming’s body was torn into shreds and turned into endless shards that blended into the wind.

”Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole…” Only when he turned into shards and left into the distance that Su Ming’s faint murmur spread faintly through the area.

Bang!

”Who is it?! Who’s the one who ambushed me?! Get out here!”

A roar rang in the air, and an old World Paragon was seen covered in blood. All his power of World Planes spread out from his body, causing wind to stir and clouds to surge in the area around him. A layer of lightning bolts sliced through the sky with loud thunderous booms, and the people could hear it even in the distance.

However, not even a second passed after the lightning had appeared, a shrill roar that was filled with unwillingness to admit defeat echoed in the ocean of wind.

”Mo Su—” The voice was cut off before it could say anything else.

This caused the faces of all World Paragons in the ocean of wind to turn incredibly grave. In fact, some of them even stopped moving.

”Progenitor Lei Shan… That was Progenitor Lei Shan’s voice just now. He has power that is close to the peak of the initial stage of World Plane Realm, and once he activates the power of World Planes, he is incredibly strong, he’s…”

”Progenitor Lei Shan has been killed!”

In the mid of the people’s shock, the many shards that were Su Ming swam in the ocean of wind. Those shards were incredibly damaged. Their color was slightly dull, but their speed was even faster than before.

The spot where the shards had been previously was a wreck. There were flesh and blood splattered all over the place as well as a shard that was the size of a palm. It stood erect on the ground, unmoving.

This was not the only place where such a shard could be found. In truth, whenever Su Ming killed a World Paragon, he would leave behind a shard like this. That shard was formed by his Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.

That last hour was rapidly flowing away. The World Paragons charged forward and continuously searched for Su Ming in the ocean of wind. In fact, there were even a few World Paragons that were not searching alone, but were hunting in groups. Their speed as they tried searching for Su Ming might be much slower, but if they ran into him, their chances of winning would be much greater.

After a moment, another furious roar came from all directions, and a loud bang soon shook the sky and earth. That loud bang surpassed all sounds from before, even causing the sky to tremble before it. The ocean of wind on the ground tumbled backwards to reveal a vast and spacious region.

In that spacious region was a man’s body in the mid of exploding. The resulting destructive power swept out in all directions, and fear creeped into the hearts of all who saw it.

”Self-destruction… He was actually forced to self-destruct!”

”Just what skills does this Mo Su have?! Damn it, I can’t sense his presence at all! How can we search for him?! How can we even kill him!”

”Self-destruction…”

Thousands of feet away from that area where the explosion occurred was a large amount of invisible shards tumbling backwards, blown nearly a thousand feet away. Only after traveling this far did they slow down. Those shards immediately gathered together to turn into Su Ming.

He coughed up a large amount of blood, then lifted his head and wiped away the blood from the corners of his mouth while looking at the region where the explosion had occurred.

’He would rather self-destruct than be devoured. This person’s reaction time was the fastest among all that I’ve seen.’ Su Ming narrowed his eyes. Then with one move, he withered away once again and turned into numerous shards that charged into the ocean of wind.

Another, and another, and yet another!

In a short span of a few moments, three roars echoed in the air, and three heads rushed into the human head whirlwind in midair. This meant that three World Paragons had died in this short amount of time.

These were World Paragons, not cultivators in Heaven Cultivation Realm. They were Lords of World Planes, and they were people who stood at that peak of any cultivation planet. They were incredibly hard to kill, but now, in the ocean of wind within Heavenly Treasure Planet, nearly ten of them had died.

There were even three that self-destructed.

This sort of slaughter caused the hearts of the World Paragons in the ocean of wind to tremble violently. In fact, as they moved forward, they began to slow down. This dark ocean of wind was no longer a serendipity they could obtain without lifting a finger, but was instead an ancient, ferocious beast that had its mouth opened wide to devour them.

They could not see Mo Su, could not sense his presence. Only when they were close could they sense him, but every single person who noticed him would either self-destruct or die. This filled their hearts with fear and shock, and it was difficult for them to continue.

Yet at the instant the thought of retreating rose within all the World Paragons, the cover the duke had on Su Ming that was supposed to last for six hours vanished. It disappeared earlier, when there was still the time it takes for an incense stick to burn left.

”I can’t continue maintaining the cover. There’s an external force interfering with my abilities… Su Ming, the four Great True Worlds… have come.”

When the Duke of Crimson Flame’s sigh reached Su Ming’s heart, the shards gathered together, and Su Ming’s body was revealed. His face was pale, and there was blood at the corners of his mouth. However, the power of World Planes that spread out from his body was incredibly thick. This was the presence Su Ming possessed after he had devoured ten or so Lords of World Planes.

More accurately speaking, this was his physical body’s presence!

”I can sense it. I’m already touching that wall of the Heaven Cultivation Realm separating me from World Plane Realm that you spoke of, albeit only lightly. If I devour one more person, I’ll be able to touch that wall clearly.”

Su Ming shook his head. At the instant his body showed up, he swiftly retreated to the area where the eye of the typhoon was in the depths of the ocean of wind.

Almost at the instant the Duke of Crimson Flame’s Art disappeared from Su Ming’s body, all the Blood Identification Pearls the World Paragons in the ocean of wind held erupted with a powerful red light. At the same time, Su Ming’s presence became incredibly distinct within all the World Paragons’ hearts.

They could easily lock onto his location. This feeling was akin to a blind man closing his eyes and opening them to find that, suddenly, he had regained his sight.

”Hmm? I can see Mo Su’s location. This is… Haha! This is the heavens helping me! Mo Su, I’d like to see how you’ll counterattack now!”

”That Mo Su used some sort of Art to hide his presence just then. Now, that the Art has clearly lost its effect, his presence is incredibly clear. Haha! This time, he has nowhere to hide.”

”Revealing himself is the same as him having both his legs broken. As long as I’m careful of that strange Art of his and not get close to him, that Mo Su will not be dangerous. When the others fight against him, I will have my chance.”

The reveal of Su Ming’s presence caused all the World Paragons who had wanted to retreat to instantly become pleasantly surprised. They started charging towards the spot where Su Ming was at full speed from all directions with incredible precision.

They had been oppressed for too long. That previous feeling of being blind caused almost all of them to use their full strength once they were able to locate him. However, no one noticed that there were thirteen dull, negligible shards on the ground in thirteen regions within the ocean of wind. Each of which had been left behind by Su Ming.

Each of the spots where Su Ming had left behind a shard was a spot where he had killed a World Paragon.

Within each of the shards was a hint of Su Ming’s presence of life.

Almost at the same time the World Paragons in the area started charging towards the spot where Su Ming was, shocking booms rang out from high above. Those sounds continued without stop, making it look like huge waves had been stirred up in the dark sky. This strange sight immediately caught many people’s attention.

At that moment, a mighty pressure descended from the sky. As ripples spread out in the galaxy beyond Heavenly Treasure Planet, large bronze ancient swords manifested from them, as if the swords had torn through the galaxy itself.

The first to appear were the tips of the ancient swords. Black bolts of lightning were swimming by their edges. In the span of a few breaths, sword after sword appeared in their complete form, and a vast, mighty pressure instantly covered the entire Heavenly Treasure Planet.

There were nine gigantic ancient bronze swords in total. They floated in the galaxy and surrounded Heavenly Treasure Planet. On each of those swords were thousands of people who came to suppress the Barren Lands of Divine Essence from the forces of power within the four Great True Worlds.

Many of those who stood at the tip of the swords revealed themselves to be in the middle stage of World Plane Realm once their power spread out.

The four Great True Worlds had arrived!

At the instant the nine ancient swords appeared, one person flew out from the tip of each of the ancient swords. There were nine people in total. As they stood in midair, golden light shone about their bodies, and there was an endless amount of golden hoops surrounding them before turning into nine miniature versions of the ancient swords that were several hundreds of feet long. Just like how Jing Nan Zi possessed the blood red coffin as a True Guard, the True Guards that flew out of the ancient bronze sword also possessed similar Enchanted Treasures.

The nine swords sliced through the galaxy, stirring up piercing howls. With a whoosh, they charged towards Heavenly Treasure Planet. In the span of a breath, they shot through the layer of wind at the highest point of the planet before reaching the sky and causing Heavenly Treasure Planet to tremble violently. As the planet shook, the nine long arcs that were the swords closed in on the ocean of wind.

This might have seemed to have occurred slowly, but in truth, it happened in the blink of an eye. At the same time the people in the ocean of wind noticed the mighty pressure spreading out in the sky, they saw the nine long arcs arriving.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Nine consecutive booms shook the ground. The nine ancient swords shot into the ocean of wind, embedding themselves into the ground.