Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming’s soul remained completely still. The bald crane was also incredibly nervous. It could sense a presence coming out from the golden tree that horrified and disgusted it. The pressure also surpassed that of Divinity Incarceration Rune. In fact, under that presence and pressure, the bald crane’s muddled memories became slightly disorderly. It seemed to have some sort of recollection of this golden tree, but it could not remember it clearly.

As the furious roar echoed in the air, followed by that light puzzled gasp, the runic symbol formed by the vast number of venous pathways shone. A huge will instantly swept through the entire area, yet when it reached the spot where the bald crane had transformed to cover Su Ming, it simply swept past them.

And then again and again. It was impossible for Su Ming not to get nervous. This directly tied with the success of his plan to Possess the tree and turn it to his clone. If the bald crane’s Transformation Art was discovered, then the sooner that happened, the lower Su Ming’s chances of success would be.

Only if he wasn’t discovered for a good while and managed to gain the span of eight hundred breaths would he succeed.

The bald crane executed its full strength to control its Transformation Art and conceal Su Ming’s presence. It made the area that was covered by its Transformation Art look exactly same as those golden venous pathways no matter how anyone looked at it.

Time trickled by. Several breaths later, a cold harrumph came from that powerful will.

”That damn Sui Chen Zi. Why can’t you just stay dead?! How dare the law you left behind lord over me?! Damn it! Damn it all! Or else I would have killed that person who dared to try Possess me a long time ago!

”Sui Chen Zi! You don’t deserve sympathy even if you died! You deserved death! If it wasn’t because I dared fighting back all those years ago, how could this have happened to me?! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME?!!” a crazed roar shouted out, coming from that will, before it gradually disappeared.

”Haha, I made it! Your Grandpa Crane is good, eh? How dare this small little shrub try to fight against me? Heh heh, I just did a small, insignificant transformation, and it couldn’t discover me, haha!” The bald crane sent out a voice with its soul in excitement. As it was feeling smug about itself, it seemed to have forgotten its previous fear and nervousness.

”Little boy Su, don’t forget the crystals you promised me. This time, I’ve used all my strength and didn’t hold back even a single bit. I’m seriously tired, you know? Look at my small wings and feet, they’ve become thinner…” The bald crane quickly used that opportunity to emphasize its hard work and its contribution.

Su Ming remained silent. He did not look at the bald crane’s ’small wings and feet’. To the bald crane, whose body was formed by its illusory soul, if it wanted to, it could just turn into a giant with huge wings and feet.

Time was running short. At the instant that great will faded away, Su Ming spread his soul outwards once more and continued occupying the golden tree. One breath passed by, and another…

With each breath that passed, Su Ming’s chances of success would increase slightly. To him, this was a scramble, a wrestling match for time.

’Hurry up! Hurry up! Faster!’ Su Ming roared in his heart. His soul continued spreading out. From his previous fourteen-hundredths, he reached sixteen, eighteen, twenty…

All the areas that were covered by his soul would be enveloped by the bald crane’s Transformation Art at the same time, causing that black color to turn gold, and preventing the tree’s will from noticing it.

When Su Ming covered twenty-eight-hundredths of the venous pathways, nearly a hundred breaths had passed since the bald crane had appeared. This sort of speed could already be considered incredibly quick, but Su Ming still felt that he was slow. He saw himself as a thief that had entered a stranger’s house to rob it while the owner was still in the house. Only by finishing it swiftly would his chances of success grow higher.

The bald crane looked excited, but in truth, the nervousness in its heart had never reduced the slightest bit. As time passed, that nervousness became even stronger, and it could not help but start urging Su Ming to hurry up.

”Hurry up, hurry up… STOP!” The bald crane immediately sent out a piercing shout with its soul, and the spread of Su Ming’s soul instantly stopped.

Almost at the instant he did so, a crazed roar that brought with it a great will that could destroy everything descended on their area again. The roaring voice of that will swept through the place as it searched ceaselessly.

”You damned insect, you’re still here! I know you’re still here! You despicable, shameless bastard! I don’t know what method you used to hide yourself, but I will find you! I will definitely find you!” That great will continued sweeping past the area again and again, and the bald crane was incredibly nervous, not daring to move even a single inch.

In the blink of an eye, ten breaths passed by, and the great will still searched through the area, doing it even more frequently, and it was growing even stronger. At that moment, it was already several times greater than before, and as it swept through the area, booming sounds rang out without stop.

”I refuse to believe that I can’t find you, you despicable bastard!” As the tree’s will roared, the golden venous pathways suddenly twisted at the same time before drawing close to the heart that was exuding aura of death, located at the center.

The bald crane quickly used its Transformation Art and performed a corresponding act, causing the area that was covered by Su Ming’s soul to also twist, behaving in the exact same manner as the other places.

However, at the instant the golden venous pathways retracted and approached the heart that was filled with aura of death, Su Ming suddenly felt a great sense of danger. At the same time, as the tree’s will roared, the heart that was filled with the aura of death contracted!

After it did so, it expanded swiftly, as if it was completing a beat.

Thud!

That heart beat once, and a purplish gold fog spread out. Wherever that fog passed, it would tumble about endlessly. When it touched the area that was enveloped by the bald crane’s Transformation Art, the bald crane let out a shrill scream.

”It found us!”

”So you’re here!” the tree’s will roared. At the same time its voice echoed in the air, a heinous destructive will charged towards the area where the two were hiding.

There was no hesitation within Su Ming. Since he was already discovered, he would not hide any longer. Instead, as he spread out the power of his soul, he sent a shout to the bald crane.

”Ten thousand crystals!”

When the bald crane heard Su Ming’s voice, its body instantly gathered together to turn into its original appearance. It shuddered from the stimulation brought by the mention of ten thousand crystals. The bald crane lifted its head and howled, its eyes bloodshot. At that moment, Su Ming’s words were the only things that echoed in its heart. Ten thousand crystals. To it, this was a temptation greater than anything else in the world. This sort of temptation was enough to make it go mad.

”Ah! Ten thousand crystals! Ten thousand glittering crystals! With the five thousand crystals Su Ming promised me earlier, I’ll have fifteen thousand crystals! I’ll give it my all! Everything! Everything within me!” At that moment, the bald crane was no longer the bald crane. It was a warrior that did not fear death nor any of the powerful warriors in the entire universe!

With an indomitable presence, fearlessness towards the world, obsession towards crystals, and madness that would destroy all manner of things that wanted stop it from obtaining its crystals, it rushed towards the tree’s will which was charging over while flinging all caution to the wind.

The bald crane loved crystals, but it loved harboring grudges even more. And it harbored a grudge towards the four Great True Worlds for shutting down the Divinity Incarceration Rune, which made it so it could no longer extort Su Ming. This made the bald crane so resentful that it practically clenched its teeth in anger while it slept. At this moment, it also hated the tree, not because of standing in its way, but because this tree was stronger than the bald crane itself…

”Twenty thousand! You have to give me twenty thousand crystals. Give me another five thousand and make it twenty thousand crystals, and I… I will fight with my life!” the bald crane roared. In its madness, it asked for additional five thousand crystals.

”I’ll give you thirty thousand!” Su Ming sent his voice to the bald crane with his soul. He was using his full might to quickly cover the area where those venous pathways were. Just a little bit more, and he would be able to cover twenty-nine-hundredths of the venous pathways.

The bald crane went mad, and just like a real warrior, it crashed straight into the tree’s will.

Bang!

As a loud noise reverberated in the air, the tree’s will, which was incredibly terrifying to Su Ming, tumbled backwards when it crashed against its opposition. The body of the bald crane crumbled and fell apart, then gathered together once again a thousand feet away.

As it roared and rose up, an enraged howl came from the tree’s will.

”It’s you! Damn it, I remember now! You failure! How dare you still show yourself in front of me?! You’re not worthy of showing yourself before me!”

As the tree’s roars echoed in the air, Su Ming’s soul occupied twenty-nine-hundredths, and as he pressed on, he occupied thirty-hundredths!

Nearly a third of that large area of venous pathways had turned black and exuded Su Ming’s presence. This level of occupation was something that no one among the thousands of people that tried to Possess the tree had ever been able to achieve.

At the instant Su Ming Possessed this much, a booming sound rang out in his heart. Right then, a gigantic picture rose in his soul.

Within that picture was a big tree in the galaxy. The size of that tree was so great that its end could not be seen with the naked eye. A cultivation planet would be incredibly tiny compared to it. That tree was entirely purple, and the strength of the mighty pressure that spread out from it felt like it would need only a single thought to shatter the whole universe.

However, that colossal tree was not covered head to toe in purple. There was golden light shining from within it, making it seem purplish golden. This was the picture that appeared in Su Ming’s soul after he occupied a third of the venous pathways in that tree. During that instant, he also became aware that… this was the real body of the tree that he was trying to Possess!

The tree was incomplete, however; many of its parts had withered. It might look incredibly big, but there was aura of death and a dismal presence spreading out from it. Yet even so, the shock it brought to Su Ming was still incredibly great.

His soul was connected to the bald crane, which was why when he saw that scene, the bald crane also saw it. It was originally rising to a clamor and roaring, but once it saw that tree, it was suddenly stunned, and during that instant, the endless memories that existed like fragments in its mind grouped together for a moment.

”Ecang! You’re Ecang! You’re not dead?! You weren’t killed by Sui Chen Zi! You’re still alive!” The bald crane had no idea why it said these words. Confusion filled its face, but its voice was shrill, and there was even a hint of fear in it.

”Remember me now? You failure. Sui Chen Zi, that damn bastard, he still doesn’t have the right to kill me! You went against the will of heavens, you failure! You traitor!” the tree’s will roared, and as it echoed in the air, the confusion on the bald crane’s face became even greater.

Its voice became even more piercing to the ears when it spoke next. ”You’re incomplete, you were injured badly… Su Ming… Possess it! Make it your clone! If it was complete and uninjured, then there would be no one that could Possess it in all the worlds that exist in the universe! But now… you have a chance to succeed! I’ll help you Possess it!” The bald crane’s face was still puzzled as it screamed shrilly.