Pursuit of the Truth

The battle caused the weather to change and the world to roar.

The sea of fire in the sky continuously tumbled about and fell backwards, the fire on the ground spread due to the impact, causing the lava to flow backwards, the air to sparkle in a dazzling manner, the sky to look as if black, resentful flames had sealed off all directions, and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor to look as if he could not escape.

As loud, booming sounds spread out, Su Ming executed a myriad of divine abilities, and a different atmosphere gradually appeared as Flame Fiends’ Progenitor continued acting in this farce of a fight.

He harbored a grudge towards Su Ming since the start, and no matter how many explanations Su Ming provided, it would be difficult to dispel that grudge. Originally, he had it suppressed, but at that moment, as they attacked, this resentment could no longer be suppressed. It fused into his attacks, causing the world to tremble in the mid of the booming sounds brought about as they fought.

As time trickled by, the two of them did not fight in one area, but instead continued moving forward as they battled in the sky. Yet no matter how much Flame Fiends’ Progenitor attacked, he was still surrounded by the black, resentful flames, and that sea of fire was continuously shrinking. Each time it shrank to the greatest limit, it would force Flame Fiends’ Progenitor to use his divine abilities to strike it, and only then could he send the resentful flames back once more.

The white-robed teenager still did not appear, but in truth, there was a figure hiding in lava on the ground since a long time ago. This figure was not big, only the size of a finger. It was a red centipede.

It was in the lava and did not stand out. No one would be able to notice its existence.

Through the lava, it saw Su Ming and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor fighting in the sky. Its eyes shone, but it did not choose to show itself or attack. It wanted to first judge whether this was an act trying to lure him out.

It might have chased after them, but it always thought that there was some form of connection that it did not know between Su Ming and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

While it waited, the battle between Su Ming and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor became even fiercer. In fact, there were a few times that flames from the Resentful Wei almost caused the Nascent Divinity of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor to be destroyed.

However, the centipede still did not attack. Instead, there was a cold look in its eyes, along with a hint of derision.

‘What a fake act, and they have managed to act till now? The black horse only traps him and does not join the battle. There’s something off about this. It’s certain that they’re trying to lure me out.’ The centipede who was the white-robed teenager thought like this as he let out a cold harrumph.

Three days later, Su Ming and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor were on a volcano. The divine abilities they used as they fought against each other were endless. Booming sounds spread all around. The Nascent Divinity of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor was incredibly exhausted. In fact, there were several times when he wanted to escape, but he was swept up by the black resentful flames, forcing him back.

He also noticed that Su Ming’s attacks were getting fiercer. His power was no longer like it was a few days ago and was continuously increasing. This caused Flame Fiends’ Progenitor to immediately have endless thoughts spring in his mind.

‘Could it be that he wants to kill me, and this isn’t an act…’ Flame Fiends’ Progenitor could not decide. In fact, he could not tell clearly whether Su Ming truly wanted to lure the white-robed teenager or whether… he wanted to kill him.

‘But if he wanted to kill me, he could have done so easily when he attacked at the start. Why drag on until now?’ Flame Fiends’ Progenitor became uncertain again.

Just as he thought that, Su Ming took a step forward. He lifted his right hand, and a huge mountain manifested in the air. That mountain was naturally Dao Avenue Mountain, and it charged towards Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

When it was about to close in on him, the Flame Fiend let out a low growl, then formed a seal with both his hands. His Nascent Divinity immediately changed and turned into a soaring bird that swiftly flew into the sky.

However, at the instant he flew up, a dark light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He formed a seal with his left hand, and the shadow of the sun, moon, and stars shone in his eyes. Immediately, the entire sky above Flame Fiends’ Progenitor darkened as the world rumbled. The sea of fire spread out. A huge face appeared swiftly in the sky.

It was an illusion, Su Ming’s Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon. It was the power which would exist if someone believed in it.

That face belonged to the body of the supreme treasure Su Ming controlled. Once it appeared, it opened its mouth wide and sucked in a sharp breath in the direction of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

The expression of the old man changed drastically. When he moved back, he spread his arms outwards, and immediately, his Nascent Divinity changed again into a gigantic python. The python hissed, then curled up into a Rune, but at the instant he formed the Snake Rune, the Resentful Wei around it formed a sea of fire that tumbled backwards swiftly. The black flames, along with Dao Avenue Mountain as well as the gigantic face in the sky rushed towards Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

The expression of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor changed again. He could sense a powerful killing intent, and it caused his Nascent Divinity to tremble. At that moment, he had no time to think about whether this was an act. The giant python he turned into immediately spread out and crashed into the incoming resentful flames with a bang.

As the resentful flames spread out, Su Ming’s Dao Avenue Mountain closed in. The giant face in the sky pushed down, and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor let out a roar that shook the sky. His Nascent Divinity shrank and turned into a huge ball of light. When they crashed into each other, the ball of light spread out rapidly. This was Flame Fiends’ Progenitor using the essence within his Nascent Divinity. It was the first time during these three days that he did not hesitate to use his own Nascent Divinity to fight against Su Ming.

Booming sounds surged into the sky, causing cracks to appear in the sky and the ground to shatter. Amid these loud bangs, the face in the sky shattered, Dao Avenue Mountain collapsed, and Su Ming froze for a moment in midair. Flame Fiends’ Progenitor retreated swiftly and turned back to human form, his Nascent Divinity had become incredibly dull.

“What are you doing?!”

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor had a dark expression on his face, but he did not say these words outright. Instead, he sent his divine thought to Su Ming while he retreated swiftly. However, at the instant he retreated, the sea of fire formed by the Resentful Wei swept up and prevented him from leaving. Killing intent also spread out from those resentful flames. It and the obstruction formed by the flames immediately let Flame Fiends’ Progenitor realize that he… could truly no longer escape from the ring of flames formed by this resentful aura!

After all, Flame Fiends’ Progenitor had intentionally made it seem that he could not escape the previous few times. If he truly wanted to leave, he could have done so by sacrificing some of his essence, but now… he realized in shock that he… truly could not escape.

This realization also allowed him to see that this was not an act they put to lure the white-robed teenager to attack. This was… Su Ming wanting to kill him!

As for why he had not immediately attacked a few days ago, it was because he could still make his Nascent Divinity self-destruct. Once he self-destructed, Su Ming would not be able to get anything yet the others would have the mistaken notion that he was hiding the Nascent Divinity of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

That was why Su Ming had used his words to deceive him. With this method and with the excuse of luring the white-robed teenager to attack, he slowly made him waste away his essence and… gradually lose his power to self-destruct. At that moment when he could no longer self-destruct, he was so exhausted that he even lost the right to self-destruct.

“Who are you?! There is no way for you to be an unknown person when you’re so diabolical!” Flame Fiends’ Progenitor roared as madness appeared in his eyes. He gathered his essence without stop, but to his grief realized that he had really wasted most of his essence during the past few days.

“You destroyed my physical body, then lied to me saying that you wanted to lure the Heavenly Centipede here, yet your true goal was always my Nascent Divinity! That Heavenly Centipede didn’t even come here!”

Su Ming looked at Flame Fiends’ Progenitor without speaking, then his attacks became even fiercer. The speed and rate of burning of the resentful flames around him also became much greater.

This scene was seen by the white-robed teenager hiding in the lava. He was at first uncertain, but that uncertainty was soon followed by a smile. At that moment, greed appeared in his eyes.

‘What a diabolical person. He actually used this method to prevent Flame Fiends’ Progenitor from self-destructing before he could obtain his Nascent Divinity. This method is incredibly sinister and vicious… but I like it!

‘Looks like this isn’t a trap. It seems like I’ve been overthinking it. If that’s the case… then I’ll let you know that… the words you used to lie to Flame Fiends’ Progenitor… are actually real!’

The white-robed teenager’s eyes flashed, but he soon forced down the greed in his heart and continued observing them. He was a skeptical person, and unless he was completely certain, he would not appear.

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor had anger raging within him, but there was also despair along with it. His madness reached its peak, but by then, he had even lost his right to self-destruct. He knew that if he tried to self-destruct, he would not be able to succeed… but he still wanted to try!

“Even if I die, I still won’t become a Vessel Spirit under your control!” As Flame Fiends’ Progenitor roared, all his essence swiftly started boiling, and the explosive presence of self-destruction spread out from his body, but right at the instant it happened, Su Ming’s eyes shone. With a step forward, his power instantly rose, and he fused with his Ecang clone, but he did not have Long Hai offer his power. Yet even so, it was enough to overpower Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, who had lost his physical body.

The resentful flames formed by the Resentful Wei around the area also tumbled back. If anyone looked from the ground, it could be seen that when the resentful fire in the sky tumbled backwards, there were countless shadows of Resentful Weis in them, as if there were endless horses galloping about. In the blink of an eye, they swept towards the self-destructing Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

With a bang, the self-destruction of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor and the resentful flames crashed into each other, then he froze. To his grief and despair, he realized that his Nascent Divinity was filled with resentful aura. It came from the charges from the resentful flames during the past few days.

The instant the self-destruction of his Nascent Divinity came to a halt, his body was occupied by the resentful aura. The resentful flames around him surrounded and trapped him in layers, like a seal, and Su Ming closed in on him with a step. He lifted his right hand, and a dazzling light shone in his palm. It was the light from the Soul Sealing Art, the one that belonged to Hua Yu from Xuan Shang’s group.

The palm was about to land. Once it did, Flame Fiends’ Progenitor would lose his consciousness, and perhaps he would never wake up again. Despair, grief, and madness turned into his last thoughts.

At the instant Su Ming’s palm was about to land, a mighty power erupted from the ground, and a ray of white light instantly shot out. It was a centipede that was completely white, and this time, in contrast to the previous black centipede, it exuded a mighty power.

That centipede was so quick that it instantly rushed into the resentful flames. As a long string of laughter echoed in the air, he charged towards Flame Fiends’ Progenitor in front of Su Ming and instantly pounced on him.

Needless to say, that centipede was the white-robed teenager. At that moment, he was completely certain that he… did not fall into a trap!

But did he truly not fall into a trap? Su Ming’s lips curled up into a faint smile the moment the white-robed teenager stepped into the resentful flames.