Pursuit of the Truth

The figure formed by the locusts screamed shrilly and quickly chose to give up on fleeing. Su Ming’s will of an Antecedental Spirit had replaced the universe’s will. It was a power not even the figure could fight against. This was a suppression formed by beings who belonged to different categories of life forms. Su Ming was already an existence which no one could fight against unless their levels of cultivation far surpassed his.

With a shudder, the figure made of locusts quickly bowed to Su Ming. His pleas for mercy also echoed in space. In his mind, as long as he did not die on that day, he would have a chance to flee later on. As long as Su Ming did not kill him, he would definitely have hope in the future.

More importantly though, he only possessed three-tenths of his strength at that moment. The remaining seven-tenths were part of his clones, and they were in the other True Worlds. So as long as he did not die, then even if he had to temporarily submit to Su Ming, he would have a chance to fight back once his original body recovered to an extent that he could gather together again!

But if his current body was destroyed, then even if his original body recovered in the future, it would be impossible for him to regain his full power. To him, this was the greatest blow he could suffer.

When the figure pleaded for mercy, Su Ming cast him a cold glance with a calm expression. When he did, the figure immediately felt his heart thump against his chest. He felt as if all his thoughts were exposed before Su Ming’s eyes. Everything about him seemed to have been laid bare.

This feeling made the figure’s heart shudder. He quickly put on a smile, but just when he was about to speak…

“What benefits do I gain for sparing you?” Su Ming asked faintly.

When he said those words, the figure immediately felt his spirits lift. As long as he did not die on that day, he could pay whatever price was necessary for him to survive.

“I can split myself into several portions and help you fight in battles…”

While saying that, the figure saw impatience appear on Su Ming’s face. His heart immediately shuddered, and he gritted his teeth. He lifted his right hand and swung it forward. Immediately, a black crystal appeared on his hand.

“This is a treasure whose name I do not know. I obtained it by pure coincidence, so I do not know of its effects. Senior, you have monstrous power. As an Antecedental Spirit, you should know what this is. I wish to use this item… to exchange for your kindness in sparing me.”

When the figure finished speaking, his expression immediately changed. His right hand was made to unfurl by an unseen force in space, and the black crystal flew out without his control. It turned into a long arc that charged towards Su Ming.

He lifted his right hand and caught the black crystal. When he swept his gaze across it, a hint of uncertainty rose in his heart. The black crystal appeared unfamiliar, but there was a hint of something that was familiar to Su Ming lying within it. It was as if he had seen it somewhere before.

He put away the black crystal without batting an eyelid, then looked at the figure again and shook his head.

“Still not enough.”

The figure was not alarmed, but delighted. Su Ming did not say that he was displeased, but neither did he say that he wanted to kill him. Instead, he said it was not enough, which meant that there was hope. Yet even though it gave him hope, the act of shaking the head caused the figure’s heart to clench in pain.

He gritted his teeth again and lifted his right hand to swing it before himself once more. Immediately, a brownish yellow item resembling a medicinal core appeared on his palm. When it appeared, a nice fragrance immediately spread out from it, causing all those who smelled it to feel revitalized.

“This is… a treasure I snatched from a powerful enemy after I killed him. Senior, this is my gift to you. I hope you will like it…”

The figure endured a great pain in his heart for having to part with this particular treasure, but he still pushed the brownish-yellow medicinal core forward. When it floated in front of Su Ming, he swept his gaze past it.

“This should be a Demonic Core. This figure of yours also has a Demonic Core, right?” Su Ming asked flatly.

When he said that, the figure’s expression swiftly changed. He did not expect that Su Ming would be able to recognize the object. It was indeed a Demonic Core, and it was something he had retrieved after he killed a powerful enemy of his in Dark Dawn before he descended into Arid Triad. Even among Antecedental Spirits few would be able to recognize it.

“Senior, I’ve never heard of the thing you just mentioned. Is this a Demonic Core? What is a Demonic Core?”

The figure forced himself to laugh while he instinctively took a few steps back, but at that moment, Su Ming lifted his head. A chilling intent appeared at the corners of his lips, and he took a swift step forward.

“You said you wouldn’t kill me!”

Panic appeared on the figure’s face. As he screamed shrilly, he moved back swiftly. Yet no matter how fast he was, he was still slower than Su Ming. At the instant Su Ming took a step forward, he appeared right in front of the figure, and without stopping, he rammed himself against it.

A bang shot up into the air, for the figure simply could not dodge. His body instantly fell apart when Su Ming knocked into him, and he turned into many locusts. At that moment, as if Su Ming had shot through the body, he moved past it, and then, a brown Demonic Core appeared in his left hand!

A shrill roar came from the locusts that had appeared once the figure fell apart, but none of them dared approach to Su Ming. Instead, with a bang, they fled in all directions. However, the locusts which belonged to Su Ming and which he had summoned earlier let out a similarly piercing sound at that moment and rushed towards the locusts to fight against them.

If Su Ming was not by their side, the locusts belonging to him would definitely not be an opponent for the original ones. Yet at that moment, Su Ming was by their side. The galaxy in the area had been replaced by him, and its will had turned into the will of an Antecedental Spirit. Because of it, it was impossible for the locusts belonging to him to lose.

They ripped into the escaping locusts and devoured them brutally. The entire process lasted for only about ten breaths before the locusts formed by the figure were completely destroyed. The ones belonging to Su Ming were incredibly energized at that moment. Each of them had devoured quite a number of their own kind, and they had become stronger.

When they surrounded Su Ming, they cast covetous glances at the brown Demonic Core in his hand, but they did not dare to get any closer to it. They could only let out longing shrieks around him.

Su Ming swept his gaze across the brown Demonic Core in his hand, then sent his great divine sense along with his will of an Antecedental Spirit at it. Once he destroyed all forms of sentience within it, he threw it forward, and the locusts around him instantly rushed over with a buzz. They surrounded the Demonic Core and turned into a small ball that was not the same size as it had been when Su Ming had summoned them.

Once he finished doing all of this, Su Ming turned his head to look towards the hundreds of thousands of cultivators from New Dao Sect as well as the dozens of shuddering Almighties standing in front of them.

When Su Ming looked over, all the cultivators from New Dao Sect who met his gaze felt a storm rise up in their hearts, and booming sounds roared ceaselessly in their minds, causing their minds to tremble endlessly.

Everything had happened too quickly. The turn of events also cast them into disbelief. They were originally the invaders and Ninth Summit was supposed to be destroyed, but in the blink of an eye, the moment this person whose presence was akin to that of a nightmare appeared out of the blue… everything changed.

If the fact that just one glance and one cold harrumph was enough for him to instantly kill their Sect Master was difficult for them to accept, then the collapse of the eight yellow-robed cultivators’ bodies that turned into a figure made of locusts who ceaselessly begged for mercy until he was destroyed when Su Ming took a step forward as well as the buzzing from the locusts that covered the entire sky… All of these brought an indescribable fear to the cultivators from New Dao Sect, and they trembled.

At that moment, when Su Ming looked towards them, a small part of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators immediately knelt down in worship. Their act soon triggered all the people around them as well. In the blink of an eye, the hundreds of thousands of cultivators knelt down, illustrating Su Ming’s might and great presence.

The latter turned into a mighty pressure that made the dozens of Almighties standing in front of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators to quietly lower their heads. They chose to kneel down and submit to Su Ming too.

From the start to the end, Su Ming had not said a single word to them. When they knelt to him, he turned to his senior brothers. Second senior brother smiled softly and walked forward.

“I will handle this, youngest junior brother. Things have yet to come to an end. Besides us, there is another force of power in True Morning Dao World. They call themselves South Union, and they are on the other side of the whirlwind. Several months ago, we noticed that they were moving in our direction through the whirlwind.”

“South Union…” Su Ming nodded, then smiled at his second senior brother.

“That’s right, it’s that South Union or whatever it is they’re called. Youngest junior brother, I’ll destroy them with you, how does that sound?” Hu Zi smiled in the honest manner of his, then patted his chest with banging sounds.

“Hu Zi, concentrate on cracking the Rune. You do not need to follow him,” eldest senior brother said in a slightly imposing voice. Hu Zi immediately pulled a long face, but he did not dare retort. He could only sigh and look at Su Ming.

“Youngest junior brother, do handle the matter concerning South Union. Once you are done… since you have this sort of power, perhaps we should… return to Yin Death Region!”

Eldest senior brother slowly tightened his grip on the battleaxe. A great murderous aura seeped out of his body before it gathered together to turn into determination. This was the first time he mentioned returning to Yin Death Region. He had never done it before because he believed that even if the four of them worked together, they would not be able to fight back… but it was different now.

Su Ming nodded. He wrapped his fist in his palm to bow to his eldest senior brother before casting a glance at his second senior brother, who was smiling at him. Then, he charged into the distance.

Behind him, the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe followed with an apathetic expression. He had been present since the start, but what made Su Ming think was how he had been unable to see the old man’s image in the others’ eyes even at the moment he left.

It was as if he did not exist.

“They cannot see me,” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said faintly, as if he had guessed Su Ming’s puzzlement.

When Su Ming took a step forward, he was already close to the spot beyond the whirlwind where the gap of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was. Once he sat down there, he asked in a languid manner, “Senior, you mentioned that the will to make the Abyss grow is quite abundant in this World. What did you mean by that?”