Pursuit of the Truth

The four people’s faces were calm, and not many changes could be detected on them. However, they had all directed their gazes towards the long arc traveling into the distance—the long arc that was Su Ming.

The tanned old man remained composed, but he was laughing coldly in his heart. He hoped that Su Ming would be as ostentatious as possible, because when the person he had sent to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence returned, the effect would be greater.

He might have the golden light from his blood and it might not be possible to shake his status, but what the tanned old man wanted was to shake human hearts.

As long as the disciples of Morning Dao Sect heard about everything that had happened to Dao Kong in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and grew suspicious of him, the tanned old man would have reached his goal.

He only needed the disciples in Morning Dao Sect to suspect Dao Kong, for suspicions would naturally cause more rumors to be born. Because of it, even if he became a Dynast, as long as there were people who suspected him, it would be no different from him not being made a Dynast.

There was no need to render a person useless by stripping them off their status. The best weapons were the doubts in human hearts and malicious gossip.

As the tanned old man laughed coldly in his heart, Su Ming approached the third Striking Lands in the sky. As he closed in, he saw the platform at the center of the continent at first glance. There were less than thirty names shining on the pillar of light.

There were eight names at the highest part, while the other names were slightly smaller. They were placed lower. The eight names signified the people who had cleared the land, and as for the smaller names, they symbolized the people who had cleared certain stages.

Su Ming stared at the pillar of light. as whistling sounds reached his ears. They came from all ten million cultivators charging towards him as they sliced through the air with their speed.

He did not bother himself with the fact that he’d drawn a crowd. Su Ming lifted his foot and stepped onto the platform. At the instant he did so, a gigantic figure made of light appeared before him.

It might be vague, but based on the outline, it was a man dressed in golden armor. He had a golden helmet, and his armor was shining with golden light. His arms were positioned before him, pressing on a gigantic golden sword which was stabbed into the ground.

His eyes were closed. When his body slowly became clearer and his complete appearance was revealed, he opened his eyes, and a brilliant light shone from within them.

At that moment, the cultivators arrived one after another in the area nearby. The people who arrived the quickest had solemn expressions on their faces. The power exuding from their bodies showed that all of them were not weak; quite a large number of them were cultivators in Solar Kalpa Realm.

“The third Striking Lands is definitely not like the previous two lands. All eight of the people who had cleared it might not have been appointed as Dynasts, but all of them had attained great completion in Solar Kalpa Realm. In fact, there are people who suspect that they had broken through the limitation of their Realm and become Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death!”

“They might not be Dynasts, but even the ten Dynasts have to be polite when they meet these people to win their support. That Dynast Dao Kong might have the ability to clear the previous two Striking Lands, but he probably won’t be successful in the third Striking Land.”

“That’s right. After all, even Dao Lin and Dao Fa were forced to stop when they reached the ninth stage. No matter how strong this Dao Kong is, he will be forced to stop here.”

“Indeed. Those eight are all people who have built quite a reputation for themselves. Perhaps they don’t even find the title of Dynasts worthy of them, which is why they did not come to the challenge this time. In fact, there are also direct descendants in Morning Dao Sect who have great power, but are still in isolation. They have completely disregarded this Anointment Ceremony.”

“That’s because these ten Dynasts are not strong enough, or else why do you think there were no powerful warriors who came to challenge them?”

As the crowd discussed among itself, it suddenly stopped talking and looked towards the platform.

At that moment, the man in golden armor before Su Ming had completely opened his eyes. Two bolts of lightning swam in them as the man stared at Su Ming coldly.

“This land is known as the Striking Land of the Battle of the Golden Armor. I am the garrison, Jin Xiu, and due to the protection bestowed upon me by Morning Dao Sect, I am to train the disciples of the sect in battle. There are nine stages, and I wilt release one-tenth to nine-tenths of mine cultivation base to battle thee according to the stage thou shalt challenge. If thou art able to square off against me from the first stage to the ninth without stop, then thou wouldst earneth the right to challenge me at full strength,” the old man in golden armor said in a booming voice, but no one in the area outside could hear it. Only Su Ming alone could hear his words.

When he finished, the man in golden light took a step forward. He wrapped his fingers around the golden sword with his right hand, and as he moved forward, he lifted it with his right hand in a simple movement upwards before swinging it down.

With that action, the power which erupted from him was only at the middle stage of World Plane Realm. It might have seemed ordinary, but when it landed in Su Ming’s eyes, he found that the golden sword’s slash contained a will to cut through laws!

This discovery made Su Ming swiftly stop himself from taking a step forward and move back instead. He gave up on attacking and just stared at the incoming slash while he retreated. His eyes flashed as he did that.

The slash sliced through the air and descended on Su Ming in an instant. He had a vague feeling that the laws around him had changed during that instant to form an invisible ripple that charged towards the old man from all directions. It fused into the sword and slashed down along with it.

‘This is… the power to cut the laws of fate!’

A brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. If he had not come to understand the Execution of Three Evils, he would definitely not have been able to see the strange power contained in the man in golden armor’s slash.

Boom!

The golden sword cut down swiftly. Su Ming had clearly retreated, but when he was about to avoid the attack to observe it carefully, he discovered that at the instant the sword swung down, the dimension around him had changed. It was as if the space in which he was had moved to appear under the sword all on its own!

Su Ming could not dodge it!

‘This isn’t just a slash containing the power to cut fate. The power that spread out to change the laws just now changed the dimension around me as well as my location so that the sword… would definitely hit me!

‘Jin Xiu, what a man!’

For the first time, fighting spirit rose in Su Ming’s eyes. It was the first time he became so excited ever since he had come to Morning Dao Sect. It did not matter whether it was the challenges just then, the Rockside Wastelands, or even becoming the master of the Stage of Illusions—none of them had been capable of making Su Ming feel such a powerful desire to fight.

Only at that moment did it raise within him and result in a brilliant light in his eyes. He did not choose to retreat any longer, but instead lifted his right hand to hurl a punch towards the incoming slash.

Loud bangs echoed in the air, and the golden sword distorted. When it touched Su Ming’s fist, it dissipated, but a wave of tremors surged into his hand and surged through his whole body repeatedly, making him sway. Even though he did not retreat, his Qi and blood tumbled about. This caused the will to fight become stronger in his eyes, and at the same time, a determined glare appeared in them.

‘What is this divine ability?!’ Su Ming sucked in a deep breath, and his determination became stronger. After all, his physical body was strong enough to shock an Almighty in Mastery Realm, but his Qi and blood had went wild from one single slash containing the power of the middle stage of World Plane Realm. Before it, Su Ming had never thought such a thing was possible.

‘There’s no way a cultivator in the middle stage of World Plane Realm could win against this slash. Even those in the later stage of World Plane Realm would find it hard to fight against it. A cultivator who had attained great completion in World Plane Realm would be able to withstand the strike, albeit with great difficulty. The final tremor would definitely hurt them.

‘No wonder… No wonder there are only thirty-something names in this place, and only eight people have managed to pass. Those eight people must have incredibly great power.

“A sword attack with three styles… This is the might of this sword, but if that’s the case, could it be that there are divine abilities hidden in the nine Striking Lands… If that’s true, then what is hidden in the first and second Striking Lands? It’s a pity I didn’t notice it sooner.’ A glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes, and he raised his head slightly before the man in golden armor.

“I shall now use two-tenths of my power.”

The instant the man in golden armor spoke, he took a step forward. This time, he remained in his previous posture. The golden light in his right hand began to shine, and when the golden sword appeared again, he swung at Su Ming.

The power which erupted from him was no longer in the middle stage of World Plane Realm, but the later stage. In fact, a piercing golden light surrounded the golden sword. The sound of air being sliced apart reverberated around it. The man used the same sword style, but in Su Ming’s eyes, it was much swifter and fiercer than before.

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled fiercely. He remembered the trajectory of the man’s sword as it swung down, and when it was about to fall on his head, he lifted his right hand to swing it before himself.

After a bang, Su Ming moved again. His Qi and blood began to surgae about even more furiously. Even though it went away in an instant, this sort of a powerful divine ability still made the determination in Su Ming’s eyes become even greater.

“Again!” Su Ming laughed loudly, then took a step forward.

A barely noticeable glint shone in the eyes of the man with the golden armor. He nodded, and when he raised his right hand, he used the same sword style, the same action, but this time, he used the power of those who had already attained great completion in World Plane Realm in his attack.

A loud bang rose into the air, and Su Ming actually took half a step back! When he raised his head, he could vaguely see a golden sword that seemed as if it was about to manifest.

“Again!”

A solemn look appeared in the eyes of the man in golden armor. He raised his right hand and struck the center of his brows, and cracking sounds came from his body. Immediately, the ripples of power which belonged to those in Lunar Kalpa Realm burst out from his body. A golden moon appeared behind him, and the golden light surged into the sky from the sword in his hand.

“This is me using four-tenths of mine power. Observe carefully.”

The man in golden armor moved. It was still the same sword trajectory, but the instant it landed, Su Ming had a strong feeling that the sword seemed to have shuddered in midair. When it did so, the sharpness of the sword immediately grew by leaps and bounds.

The slash landed, and booming sounds surged into the air. This time, Su Ming took a step backwards, but the man in golden armor also trembled. He took a step back. When he lifted his head, a hint of astonishment could be seen on his face.

“Dost thou understand?”

“I’m still a little off.” The image of a golden sword had already manifested in Su Ming’s eyes, and it was flashing rapidly.

Su Ming, determined to learn the sword attack, did not know that an uproar which surged into the skies had erupted in the area beyond when the ten million cultivators saw him battle against the man in golden armor. Even the expressions of cultivators in Solar Kalpa Realm and Dynasts changed drastically.