Pursuit of the Truth

“Striking Lands…” Su Ming’s gaze landed on the nine pillars of light formed by the five-colored circulating lights. Once he swept his gaze past every one of them, the sight gradually overlapped with Dao Kong’s memories in his head.

With his level of cultivation, Dao Kong could only head to the first of the Nine Striking Lands, Rockslide Wastelands, and only managed to clear up to the sixth stage. As for the seventh stage, he had no hope with the strength he possessed at that time.

However, just by clearing six stages had allowed him to obtain a Serendipity Core. It was precisely it that had allowed him to avoid hundreds of years of meditation.

As for the remaining stages in Rockslide Wastelands, there were few people who could clear them. In Dao Kong’s memories, there were only about three hundred something people who had managed to clear all nine stages in the first Striking Lands. Some of them were direct descendants, but most of them were from other races and were disciples of Morning Dao Sect.

However, compared to the direct descendants who could come to the Nine Striking Lands at any moment they wanted, those from the branch families and the disciples from the other races would need to apply for permission from their elders before they could enter.

Three hundred something people might not seem like much, but in truth, they were all who had managed to clear Rockslide Wastelands over the course of hundreds of thousands of years. If that number was spread through the years, then it would mean that there was practically only one disciple in Morning Dao Sect who could clear the first Striking Lands once every century or two.

However, this was just the first Striking Lands. There were nine of them, and each of them was more difficult than the last, just like how it was with the stages. Those who wanted to challenge the next land had to clear all nine stages of the first Striking Lands before obtaining the right. It did not matter whether they were from the branch family or disciples from other races, even the direct descendants had to obey this rule.

“The other nine Dynasts who were conferred the title have already cleared the nine stages of Rockslide Wastelands. I remember that you are ranked in the thousands of those in the first Striking Land, Your Highness. You seem… to have cleared the seventh stage? And then you failed about four hundred something times at the eighth stage, right?” The thin Ma Fei said with an apathetic expression as she cast him a deliberate look.

Su Ming did not speak. He averted his gaze from the Nine Striking Lands and turned to look towards the ninth continent before he spoke based on Dao Kong’s memories.

“On which continent are the Sect Masters who egressed this time?”

There was a Sect Elder Chambers on each of the continents. One of them would be chosen by the three Sect Masters to handle the matters of Morning Dao Sect. Unless multiple Sect Elders egressed at the same time, only one Sect Elder Chamber was activate at any given time. The remaining eight Sect Elder Chambers would be in a sealed state.

“Dust Spirit Chamber, the third continent.” The thin Ma Fei winked.

Without another word, Su Ming moved forward. He immediately turned into a long arc that charged towards the third continent with a roar. If someone only used numbers to label the continents which were located in a ring, it would be difficult for outsiders to identify them. However, with Dao Kong’s memories, Su Ming did not hesitate, and he traveled so quickly that he instantly closed in on the third continent.

The land was vast, filled with tall mountains and forests. The trees were lush, and there were several cities built on the ground, looking like gigantic beasts deep in slumber. Waves of terrifying mighty pressure spread out in an indistinct manner from many spots on the continent.

Su Ming charged forward without stopping for even a moment. Gradually, three tall towers appeared at the easternmost part of the continent. Those three towers formed a triangle. There were threads of light connecting their tops. From the distance, those threads of light flashed, and as they connected with each other, they formed a triangle as well.

A gentle screen of light surrounded the area. It was round in shape, enveloping the three towers. As it stood above the ground, it looked like an air bubble. There was a glossy shine to it, and there were lightning sparks swimming through it. This scene made it seem as if there was a triangular foundation built under a huge crystal ball, or like it was a living creature’s brain.

As Su Ming approached the place, waves of mighty pressure spread out. They went through the entire area, causing the place to become silent.

Su Ming stopped and landed on the ground. He stood on the earth, and a barely noticeable glint shone in his eyes while he wrapped his fist in his palm to bow towards the strange chamber.

“I, Dao Kong, would like to meet the three Sect Masters.”

Only at that moment did Ma Fei arrive while gasping for breath, but she did not approach the place. Instead, she glared at Su Ming in an indignant manner while she was tens of thousands of feet away. Just then, when Su Ming charged through the air, he was so fast that in the blink of an eye, he had already disappeared without a trace. If she did not have the treasure her Master had given her, she did not know just how long she would have needed to catch up to him.

Yet at that moment, the thin Ma Fei’s pupils suddenly shrank. She took a few successive steps backwards with bewilderment and surprise on her face. In her eyes, she could clearly see a powerful light erupting from the Sect Elder Chamber. This light formed a triangular Rune that was formed by countless thin bolts of lightning. It rose from the Sect Elder Chamber and charged towards Su Ming. All of this happened at an incredibly quick speed and could be said to have occurred in an instant.

The triangular ring of light instantly landed on the spot where Su Ming stood. When it descended on the ground, it enveloped his body. The Rune was several hundreds of feet wide. At that moment, a screen of light made of lightning rose from all three sides of the triangle, and booming sounds roared without end.

Su Ming remained as calm as ever. There was not even the slightest change of expression on his face. When he lifted his head, he did not even cast a glance at the triangular lightning Rune which had surrounded him, but instead stared at the Sect Elder Chamber.

“Might I know what is the meaning of this, Sect Masters?”

A cold harrumph came from the Sect Elder Chamber.

“Who are you?!”

As the cold harrumph reverberated in the air, an old man with a grim and frightful air came out from the chamber, causing the area to instantly turn cold.

Su Ming remained as composed as ever. Not a single change could be detected on his face. He did not reveal a single thought in his mind. After going through all the things in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, he had already perfected a level of control which he could execute as he pleased.

“I wonder what you mean by your words, Sect Masters.” Su Ming smiled faintly.

“You’re not answering?” The ghastly voice echoed in the air, and the triangular lightning Rune around Su Ming spun swiftly. Waves of piercing light shone, and a presence that could make even Su Ming feel that it was dangerous came from within it.

But Su Ming’s expression remained the same. He stood quietly without moving. He simply allowed the triangular lightning Rune to shrink around his body. Based on the Rune’s aura, it looked like it wanted to dismember Su Ming.

He was betting on that the Sect Masters in Morning Dao Sect were just suspecting him, but did not know for certain that he was not Dao Kong. If he was just a normal direct descendant, they would not have bothered, but he had just been conferred the title of a Dynast. With that being the case, even if the three were Sect Masters, they could not kill him just because they wanted.

And more importantly, Su Ming… was completely unbothered by the triangular lightning Rune.

Even if the mighty pressure spreading from it made him feel incredibly threatened, if Su Ming had all his power erupt and had Ecang’s true form appear, the Rune would only be able to deal superficial damage to him. It would not be able to cause anything real injury to him.

After all, it was just a Rune that could seal an Almighty in Mastery Realm.

It was completely out of the three Sect Masters’ expectations that while Su Ming might seem like he was in Lunar Kalpa Realm, he was an unprecedented case among all those in Lunar Kalpa Realm. His physical body was so strong that he surpassed the tenacity of physical bodies possessed by those in Mastery Realm. Once he fused his cultivation base together with his clones, he could fight against the Almighties in Fate Realm. In fact, if he truly ran into a life-threatening crisis, Su Ming could call upon the fifth kiln and have it descend in True Morning Dao World.

With all that in his sleeves, he was completely unbothered by the three presences who belonged to the Sect Masters who had completed Fate Realm. The only thing he was concerned about was the hidden existences in Morning Dao Sect… as well as Progenitor Dao Chen, about whose identity Su Ming was still uncertain!

If his guess was correct, he could be as willful as he liked in Morning Dao Sect, as if he was in his home.

That was why he had the courage to take the gamble.

While Su Ming’s expression remained unchanged, the triangular lightning Rune stopped an inch from him with a bang.

“The three of us are Morning Dao Sect’s Sect Masters. Your level of cultivation has become vastly different from your past self after you returned from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. You also have an Almighty by your side, so we have to suspect that you were Possessed by a member of an alien race. We would not bother if you were a normal direct descendant, but since you are a Dynast, then surely you would not refuse to receive the Blood-Soul Fusion test.” Another old man’s voice came from within the Sect Elder Chamber. It appeared to be much calmer and was not as ghastly and chilling as the one before.

Without waiting for Su Ming to speak, the triangular lightning Rune around him turned blood-red before charging towards him. At the instant it pressed against his body, it looked as if it had Branded itself on him. At the same time, a presence which caused Su Ming’s blood to boil spread through him. It fused into his blood, seeped into his bones, and swam through his whole body. During that time, Su Ming remained as calm as ever.

When that presence swam through his body once, a dense, blood-red light immediately spread out from him with a bang. As it shone a long arc flew out from each of the three corners before turning into three pearls the size of a fist in the air above Su Ming.

“These three pearls are Bloodline Pearls which were sent out from Progenitor Dao Chen’s isolation grounds ten thousand years ago. The power of our bloodline is strong in those pearls, and if we use them for the test, there will be no margin for error. You can rest assured.” The third old man’s voice came from one of the three towers. There was a gentleness to it as it echoed languidly in the air.

When Su Ming heard that sentence, a strange expression appeared briefly on his face.

The three pearls swiftly absorbed the blood-red light above Su Ming. After a moment, red light instantly shone from them, but it was slightly darker. It made Su Ming’s pupils constrict.

He could clearly sense that at the moment the three blood red pearls appeared, his blood and soul started surging furiously. If Su Ming had not suppressed the, the force from those surges would have erupted from him at full force.

It was as if there was a presence within the three blood red pearls which caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble fiercely. It was a presence that was incredibly familiar to him, but also somewhat unfamiliar, and a feeling rose in the depths of Su Ming’s heart.

In silence, he suppressed the surging blood and soul. When they calmed down slightly, a loud bang rang out in his head. The blood red pearls immediately started absorbing all the blood-red light spreading out from Su Ming’s body. Then, a piercing red light erupted from them, and it was so dense that it looked like it couldn’t get any brighter. Then, it changed into silver!

That silver light dyed the sky and earth, enveloping the entire region, and it became the most impeccable color in the area!