Pursuit of the Truth

Hearers were a small tribe in the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean. There were about ten thousand people in the tribe, but only a few thousand of them were warriors.

If those who did not understand the distribution of the powers in Divine Essence Star Ocean saw Hearers for the first time, then perhaps they would think that this was a big tribe. However, those who truly understood Divine Essence Star Ocean would know that there were plenty of tribes like this one in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

They were like Dijiu Mo Sha’s Ninth Tribe. Perhaps they were once a big tribe in Divine Essence Star Ocean. However, as time shifted its gaze away from them, they gradually fell into a state of decline until they could no longer survive in the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean and could only shift to the periphery.

Only in this place could they continue growing.

All tribes with history behind them would have a complicated connection to the inner part of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Even though Hearers had already lived in the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean for a long period of time, they still had a close connection to several big tribes in Divine Essence Star Ocean. With just one order from those big tribes, they would send out all the warriors in their tribe along with the ferocious beasts they had been rearing for years to launch a siege.

As Su Ming watched this scene, he turned into a long arc that charged forward, as loud bangs erupted in space as he broke through it, drawing the attention of the Hearers to him. Yet when they turned their heads around, they only saw a blood-red shadow passing by them.

This was an arrow!

It was an arrow that had no corporeal form, as if it was formed from space itself. It had appeared in the people’s eyes as a crimson shadow because once it had been shot out, it pierced through a dozen something people’s chests, and the blood that was brought out from their wounds had dyed it red.

This arrow shot past thousands of Hearers in space and landed at the foot of the mountain, right on a black beetle that was corroding but still rushing forward with its mouth wide open to devour a member of the Ninth Tribe.

With a bang, the black beetle crumbled to pieces. The impact that was stirred up tumbled through the entire area, stirring up fog that pushed the member of the Ninth Tribe hundreds of feet back. After that, not a single living creature could be found in a circular area of one hundred feet around the spot where the arrow had landed.

There was only… a dozen something dead insects whose bodies had shattered due to the vibrations from the force that had wrecked their bodies.

There was also a person who stood with his back straight and his hair dancing in the wind in the area. He was dressed in a sackcloth and held a longbow in his hand. He also had a woman he carried close to his chest. She was incredibly beautiful, but her eyes were shut tight, as if she was deep asleep.

“Take care of her for me,” Su Ming said faintly and loosened his grip on her. The woman was then sent to the member of the Ninth Tribe behind him, who had escaped death just moments ago.

This was a member of the Ninth Tribe whose face had turned pale because of how shocked she was by Su Ming’s arrival. The danger her tribe faced had forced her to fight for her tribe even though she was a woman. At this moment, she almost instinctively took over the unconscious Xu Hui.

Su Ming’s eyes were calm as roars surged through the area. This battle was an incredibly grand sight to others. After all, this was a fight between thousands of people, and there was even a sea of insects composed of tens of thousands of black beetles. However, this sort of situation was really nothing in Su Ming’s eyes. Whether it was the war between the Berserkers and the Immortal sects when he was in the land of Berserkers or the recent battle against the Waves of Tears, the scale of those fights far surpassed the scale of this battle.

He stood in place. With his left hand holding onto the Sand Spirit’s bow, he raised his right hand, and an arrow shot out. That arrow was still without form. As it sliced through air, it landed in the ground in front of him. Booming sounds reverberated in the air, and an area of one hundred feet shattered once again.

Su Ming did not hesitate and continued to fire arrow after arrow. Each one that he shot could turn an area of thousands of feet into a region of death when it landed on the ground.

For a period of time, booming sounds shot up ceaselessly in the battlefield. At one point, Su Ming leaped up from the ground and appeared at the peak of the mountain behind him. When he stood there, he drew the bow with his right hand, and arrows poured down like rain towards the ground.

He had sufficient cultivation base and a powerful physical body. Because of this, each arrow Su Ming shot felt as if it was a dozen arrows fired at full strength. It could be said that when this bow was in Su Ming’s hand, he could bring forth and even more powerful destructive force than the person who had previously held onto it.

Within a short period of time, his arrival and the arrows he shot caused an uproar among those of the Ninth Tribe and the Hearers. Those from the Ninth Tribe had excited expressions, and their fighting spirit had been kindled once again. The strength of Su Ming’s arrows made it so that all land belonged to him. The sea of insects that was close to the mountain continuously disintegrated amid the booming sounds every time an arrow landed on the ground.

As the members of the Ninth Tribe in the sky executed their divine abilities, their morale was boosted. Occasionally, they would look at Su Ming who stood on the mountain. The image of that person with the bow was then deeply engraved into their eyes.

To the Hearers, Su Ming’s appearance brought a disturbance to the battle, preventing the sea of insects on the ground from moving forward. Fierce, murderous looks appeared on their faces, and they glared at Su Ming with powerful killing intent burning in their eyes.

Dijiu Mo Sha roared, and the centipede which had manifested behind him immediately left his side. Once it grew to several thousands of feet big, it charged towards the thousands of Hearers.

Su Ming remained composed. When he shot out another arrow, the ground rumbled, and a deep pit of one thousand feet appeared. Then, he put down the bow.

If anyone looked down from the sky at that moment, they could clearly see that five thousand feet away from the foot of the mountain was a deep pit. It drew a line between the mountain and the black beetles!

Not a single black beetle could be seen behind the line, only the members of the Ninth Tribe. A dense sea of insects could be seen beyond the line, but not a single one took half a step into that line. They only roared and hissed furiously from beyond.

This line was drawn by Su Ming with his arrows. Within it was the remnants of Su Ming’s aloof, murderous aura, along with a ruthless declaration that needed no words but could be felt by all manner of lives that possessed intelligence.

All those who step into the line will die.

Killing this sea of insects and all the Hearers was not difficult for Su Ming. This was a tribe that did not have even a single cultivator in Lunar Kalpa Tribe. The strongest that had appeared in this place was only in the later stage of World Plane Realm.

As for the other Hearers, their levels of cultivation ranged from Earth Cultivation Realm to the middle stage of World Plane Realm. This sort of tribe was completely unable to make Su Ming feel threatened.

He stood at the top of the mountain without saying a single word. However, his existence and his arrows were even more intimidating than words. It could make the sea of insects on the ground not dare to take even a single step forward. The rise in the magnitude of his presence with this action alone caused Su Ming to become an existence that could look down on the world in all the people’s eyes.

“ROAR!”

The old man in the later stage of World Plane Realm among the Hearers in space let out a low roar which turned into two waves of impact. One of them landed on the ground, making the sea of insects on the ground even more savage and violent. Some of them then were no longer able to bear with the violence raging in them and the impulse to move past the boundary rose within them.

The other wave turned into a sound that rushed towards the hundreds of members that belonged to the Ninth Tribe standing in the air, as well as Su Ming standing behind them.

At the same time, the thousands of Hearers around the old man charged out. They turned into thousands of long arcs that rushed towards the mountain, the hundreds of members that belonged to the Ninth Tribe.

As they rushed out, the sea of insects on the ground let out a piercing screech stepped onto the line formed by the pit, intending to cross over.

The old Hearer in the later stage of World Plane Realm kept his gaze fixed on Su Ming. Killing intent shone in his eyes. He could tell that Su Ming was only in the middle stage of World Plane Realm, and he had already made a judgment that Su Ming was only this powerful because of that bow.

He believed that if he got close to this stranger, then with his power, he would immediately let him know the outcome of going up against the Hearers.

With a cold harrumph, he took a step forward. When he raised his right hand, a rattle drum the size of his palm appeared on his palm. The drum was white, and it was clear that it was made of bone. With one shake, rattles reverberated in the air. The sounds seemed to be able to permeate through everything. They spread throughout the area and fell into each person’s ears. The sounds of the drum was not loud, but even Su Ming could hear it.

Almost at the instant he heard it, the old Hearer let out a ferocious bark of laughter, and with one move, he shifted, even though he was just in the later stage of World Plane Realm!

This was something that was almost impossible, unless he was like Su Ming and had the soul of a powerful warrior in Lunar Kalpa Realm by his side so that he could borrow the power of shifting from that person. Otherwise, it was incredibly difficult for those in the later stage of World Plane Realm to shift.

It was especially weird… since it was impossible to shift in this galaxy. Su Ming had tried it before. Yet now, the old man’s body had vanished!

Su Ming’s expression remained the same. Not a single hint of change could be detected on him. He watched the sea of insects rushing past the line. As they spread out swiftly, they stirred up a momentum that made it seem as if they wanted to push down the mountain from where it currently stood.

This time, Su Ming did not draw the bow. He raised his right hand, then dipped his head down to look at it for a few moments before pushing his hand towards the ground on the mountain.

With it, the world rumbled. The ground started trembling intensely. A gigantic palm appeared in the sky and charged towards the ground with loud a rumbling. The movement was so quick that in the blink of an eye, the palm had already reached the ground.

The entire land trembled. Booming sounds reverberated through the world, shaking the sky and earth at this moment. The black beetles within the sea of insects let out cries of despair, and their infestation immediately fell apart as they started fleeing in all directions in a frenzy.

It was also at this moment that distorted ripples appeared behind Su Ming. The old man who had previously disappeared took a step out of those ripples, and with a ferocious smile on his face, he raised his right hand, intending to strike Su Ming’s back. His fingers were pitch black, and wisps of black smoke surrounded his hand, turning into the souls of black beetles. Just as he was about to touch Su Ming, he saw… a palm appear in the sky and saw the sea of insects collapsing. This scene caused his pupils to shrink and his expression to change drastically. It revealed shock and disbelief.

“Master… Master of Fate, Lives, and Death… This is impossible!”

The old man sucked in a sharp breath. In his shock, the thought of injuring Su Ming became the least of his concerns. Instead, as he filled with astonishment, he started moving back, as if the intention of harming Su Ming could not even rise in his heart anymore. The only thought he had was to get out of this place as quickly as possible.