Pursuit of the Truth

Both sides closed in on each other in an instant, and a shocking boom resounded. Su Ming’s right hand crashed against the Ancient God’s greataxe.

In the mid of the rumbles, Su Ming’s body jolted, and he took three steps back. In the meantime, the Ancient God shuddered, and his greataxe shattered. He took around a dozen steps backwards in succession, ending up pushed back tens of thousands of feet.

“Haha! How enjoyable! Come, let’s do it again!”

The Ancient God threw his head back and roared. His body grew again, and as the seven stars at the center of his brows shone with a strong light, he charged towards Su Ming without any hesitation.

Far away from the battlefield was an empty space. No one noticed that there was a middle-aged man sitting there at that moment. He was dressed in a black robe. He had an apathetic expression, and not a single emotion could be detected on his face.

He sat there quietly, and his body looked as if it had fused together with the galaxy, causing all the others to be unable to tell the changes of aura in the place.

In fact, there was not a hint of life force on the middle-aged man. It was as if he was a puppet that sat there without moving. Only a dark light would occasionally flash in his eyes.

“I discovered Dao Kong. Should we execute the replacement plan?” he said as if mumbling to himself while staring at Su Ming fighting against the ten thousand feet tall Ancient God.

The instant he spoke, the dark light in his eyes flashed even more rapidly.

A gigantic pillar of light could be faintly seen connecting the heavens and the core of the Immortals’ Union. It was shrouded by a thick layer of fog which had appeared all of a sudden many years ago. Once in a while, a figure would shine in it after it descended.

At that moment, there were thousands of Immortals surrounding the pillar while meditating. Among them, there were three who were much closer than the others.

One of them was an incredibly beautiful woman dressed in white. She had an aloof expression, but once upon time, she had spoke gentle, loving words to Su Ming with the intention of confusing him with that same expression… She was Bai Feng, the Sacred Lady of Phoenix Sect!

Standing beside her was a black-robed man. His aura drifted about and surrounded him like wisps of smoke. It looked as if he did not fit into the universe, but he had still forced his way in and stayed.

His appearance was similar to the other black-robed people that Su Ming had met, but his level of cultivation surpassed them by a lot. He also had a mighty pressure which the other black-robed men did not possess. It had naturally formed after remaining in a high position for a long time.

There was another person beside him, which was an old man. He had a head full of white hair and was dressed in a long gray robe. He might have appeared old, but if Su Ming was there, he would have definitely been able to tell at first glance that he looked incredibly similar to the Di Tian. However, by then, he had aged by a lot.

He was no longer dressed in an Emperor’s robe, and neither did he have a crown on his head. However, when he stood there, he had an even greater and mightier pressure than the one spreading out from the black-robed man. He had a dignified face, and his gaze was so profound that the universe seemed to be contained in it.

At that moment, there were six scenes within the gigantic pillar of light before them. Three of them contained Dao Hua, Dao Lin, and Su Ming!

As for the other three, they showed three middle-aged men. They had unfamiliar faces, but based on the power spreading out from their bodies, all of them were incredibly powerful. Aside from Su Ming, the other five were currently with the armies of cultivators from Morning Dao Sect and were all engaged in a chaotic battle against the cultivators from the Immortals’ Union.

Only Su Ming was fighting against the Ancient God.

“Three Dynasts who are known publicly to the world, and three Hidden Dynasts hiding in the shadows. Are these the six Dynasts of Morning Dao Sect?” The black-robed man spoke in a raspy voice. He sounded as if he was laughing, but it was filled with derision.

“Besides him, all the others are trash.” The black-robed man raised his withered right hand and pointed at the pillar of light. Immediately, the scene belonging to Su Ming became clear and was shown to all of them.

“Once we control these six Dynasts, it’ll be the same as controlling the entire Morning Dao Sect. Even if they are fakes released by Morning Dao Sect, it doesn’t matter. At worst, we will only fail,” Bai Ling said aloofly.

“Morning Dao Sect… Su Xuan, he’s the one that stirs up great curiosity within me. What exactly is his goal? Is it his son’s corpse? To turn the entire True Morning Dao World into a territory of the Abyss Builders? Or is he trying to stir up the war between Saint Defier and Dark Dawn?” The black-robed man shook his head.

“It’s none of them. If he wanted the corpse, he could have taken it away many years ago before I descended. Turning this True World into the territory of the Abyss Builders… is not practical.

“As for stirring up the war… I’m very curious, if he’s trying to stir it up, why did he make arrangements to destroy Dark Dawn’s Relocation path so that only Saint Defier can descend right now?

“My old friend, forgive me for forgetting your name. I hope you don’t mind if I call you Sublime Paragon Di Tian.” When the black-robed man spoke in that raspy voice of his, he turned his head around to cast a glance at the old Di Tian in gray robes.

“It isn’t a bad name,” Di Tian said faintly.

“Then since Su Xuan Yi was your old friend and a remnant of the Abyss Builders who had married a woman of Dark Dawn and who along with his people belonged to Dark Dawn’s camp, what exactly is his goal? I’ve been wondering about it for a long time, and I still don’t understand him. He allowed us to descend at will previously, yet now he launched a full counterattack?” The black-robed man frowned.

“And is that Dynast Dao Kong who seized control over the fifth kiln Su Xuan Yi’s descendant?”

“The Predecessor of Dao Ocean told me that he isn’t. As for what Su Xuan Yi thinks… He’s a lunatic. I might have fought against him for most of my life, but it’s still difficult for me to speculate what a lunatic thinks. In the end though, it’s all to make the Abyss Builders raise to power.” Di Tian could only shake his head.

“Since the Predecessor of Dao Ocean said this… then that Dao Kong is a fake that Su Xuan Yi sent out to make us pay attention to him while he protects his real son.

“No wonder then that everything that Dao Kong did in Morning Dao Secs provoked so much discussion.” The black-robed man shook his head.

“Are Su Xuan Yi’s thoughts on the matter really that important? If Saint Defier sends down a Great Heavenly Sovereign[1], everything will be solved,” Bai Feng said flatly.

“Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos’ barrier isn’t that easily broken. We’ve been invading and making preparations for many years, but the strongest people we can send are still only Almighties in Void Tribulant Realm.

“But if you can occupy the entire True World, you will greatly reduce the difficulty for those from Saint Defier descending into the land. In fact, the three Paragons of Saint Defier, those three supreme existences, are also quite interested in descending to this place.” The black-robed man smiled faintly.

“Alright, since it’s decided that Dao Kong isn’t Su Xuan Yi’s son and not an Abyss Builder, we will replace him along with everyone else, but our main focus will still be on him. I’m very interested in this person.” The black-robed man swung his arm, and Su Ming’s picture in the pillar of light became a mere illusion again.

“The physical body of Su Xuan Yi’s son is lacking an arm right now. I’ve already gathered all of the materials you asked of me for our promise. When… will you help me change my Life?

“If I can become an Abyss Builder, Saint Defier’s plans will go even more smoothly,” Di Tian lifted his head and stared at the black-robed man while speaking calmly.

“It’s a pity that the person I first chose was Sang. He was even more compatible with that physical body. But as a former Sublime Paragon, you have the right. The one descending three months later will be an Almighty of Saint Defier. His name is Xing Ji Dao, and he has the same status as I do. We are both Greatmasters of the Celestial Realm’s Eight Paramount Daos.

“He will bring the supreme treasure that the three Paragons of Saint Defier had been merging for tens of thousands of years, and with the preparations you made previously, we will have a five-tenths of a chance to succeed in helping you change your Life so you would become an Abyss Builder!

“But you must also be prepared to fail,” the black-robed man said faintly. With a single move, he walked into the pillar of light, and once he sat down, he remained still and unmoving.

Bai Feng’s eyes shone. She lifted her pale hand and formed a seal to point at the pillar of light. Immediately, the six pictures within it shone with a dazzling light. When they surrounded the black-robed man, the eyes of a cultivator from Morning Dao Sect in the picture with Dao Hua shone before he collapsed to turn into a layer of fog that spread through the area. It caused chaos, and Dao Hua shuddered,. A strange glare appeared in his eyes.

Similar scenes appeared in the other pictures as well. Dao Lin and the three Hidden Dynasts faced all sorts of accidents in succession, and it was difficult for other people to notice that someone else seemed to have replaced them, because they instantly returned to normal.

No one in their surroundings knew that they… were no longer themselves. The unexpected change was so quick that they had been replaced in a manner akin to Possession, and the Flourishing Lotuses on their bodies didn’t even have time to activate their protection.

The only picture in which nothing had happened was where Su Ming was fighting against the Ancient God. When it had come to the black-robed man, he hesitated for a moment.

“If an Ancient God dies in battle, there will definitely be Immortal Paragons who will communicate with the Ancient Paragons in Saint Defier. I’m far away in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, and there are plenty of things that I can no take care of all by myself. After all, when the cultivators in the Celestial Realm died, the only thing the Ancient Gods do is to stand by and watch, no?” the black-robed man mumbled, then raised his right hand to point at the Ancient God in the picture.

At the same time, a dark light shone in the eyes of the person who had an apathetic expression while he sat and meditated in the battlefield between the War Chamber and the Immortals’ Union. His body disappeared into nothingness.

Soon after, when Su Ming crashed against the Ancient God, a loud rumbled resounded. The Ancient God coughed up a mouthful of blood. When he sent Su Ming backwards with the force from the clash, his body too moved back. However, an even greater fighting intent erupted in his eyes. He roared, but just as he was about to take a step forward, his body suddenly lurched forward as if there was a strange divine ability which had descended on his body in an unseen manner.

As he trembled, a bang rang out at the center of his brows. One, two, three… When all seven stars shattered, they turned into a destructive, explosive power. At the instant fear and anger appeared in his eyes, the seven-starred Ancient God… self-destructed!

Translator’s Note:

1. Great Heavenly Sovereign: Mentioned in Renegade Immortal chapter 1640.