Pursuit of the Truth

A profound look appeared in the eyes of the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe. He stared at Su Ming and did not immediately help him. If Su Ming did not choose to personally go through the disaster, he would have naturally helped him, but he would have been certain in his heart that Su Ming’s success would come to an end at that point.

If the person did not even dare to face their own Antecedental Spirit’s disaster, then they would definitely not become someone outstanding. They could only be part of the common folk, and not only would their level of cultivation not increase, their cultivation base would slowly scatter.

This was why when Su Ming asked to get through his disaster himself, the old man saw Su Ming’s worthiness and his responsible nature. He was… very curious as to how many disasters Su Ming could get through.

‘His disaster is bound to be different compared to others due to my existence. His first disaster alone already surpasses what I previously understood of this disaster…

‘And if this place wasn’t Yin Death Vortex, the might of the disaster would have been even more terrifying.’ The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe frowned and watched the red lightning swiftly close in on Su Ming.

A brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. In the face of the powerful Arid Disaster, it was difficult for him to fend against it with his Mountain Shifter Art. But Su Ming had predicted this beforehand, which was why when the huge mountain formed by the one hundred thousand mountains overlapping each other collapsed, he did not wait for the red lightning to descend on him. He formed a seal with his hands and struck his chest.

With it, Su Ming took a few swift steps backwards, and when he opened his mouth, purple light shone. It instantly reached one hundred thousand feet, completely enveloping Su Ming within it. From the distance, Su Ming looked as if he was a huge, purple sword in Yin Death Vortex.

“End of Wills, Mountain Shifter!”

A large amount of red appeared in Su Ming’s eyes at that moment. It was due to him circulating all the cultivation base in his body to activate the End of Wills Sword. With the power of the sword, he shook the universe and connected it with his True World to move all the mountains in it so that he could activate… the strongest Mountain Shifter Art.

The sword shared a similar form to mountains during ancient times. In the hands of men, branches and metal could be turned into swords. Then in the hands of heaven, the mountains on the earth and the logs could also be turned into swords!

That was why he used the sword to activate Mountain Shifter Art.

This was what Su Ming could think of to make his Mountain Shifter Art even stronger. At that moment, when he executed the Art without hesitation, his will of an Antecedental Spirit spread out of Yin Death Region to fill the frozen True Morning Dao World.

The souls of all the countless broken cultivation planets and the ones that existed in the past, the floating continents, and shattered mountains seemed to have been extracted at that instant while they buzzed and trembled.

They instantly appeared around Su Ming in Yin Death Vortex. One hundred thousand, one million, ten million… When there were more than one hundred million of them, they no longer surrounded Su Ming, because Yin Death Vortex could no longer contain them if they did so.

The souls of the mountains overlapped with each other around Su Ming. The tip of the End of Wills Sword before him was the summit, and as mountains manifested and overlapped with each other, in the blink of an eye… there were three hundred million of them!

Once they fused and overlapped with each other… they formed a purple mountain containing the supreme blade of the End of Wills Sword, the vast amount of mountain souls from True Morning Dao World, and an indestructible body!

When the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe saw this, he narrowed his eyes slightly. He had witnessed scenes that could nearly be considered as miracles from Su Ming time and again. Regardless of whether he was in the All Spirits Hall, they were wandering about in the world outside, or Su Ming was fighting against the Antecedental Spirits’ disaster, all of the things the old man witnessed were not usual.

‘This child is skilled in hiding his Arts, such as this one. It is… already much stronger than what he executed before. He is truly someone who is unassuming when he does not take action… but when he does, he will be an astonishing force.’

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe let out a sigh of relief when he saw Su Ming turn into the purple mountain, because he knew that Su Ming had not recklessly stated that he wanted to challenge the Antecedental Spirit’s disaster but had made his decision a long time ago and had even begun making preparations a long time ago.

‘It’s a pity. If only he were a member of my race…’

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe shook his head, unable to hide the harmless envy he had towards Great Berserker Tribe.

At the time the old man shook his head, Su Ming turned into the blade-like mountain in Yin Death Vortex. All of this might seemed to have taken a lot of time, but in truth, it was over in an instant. At the moment the red bolt of lightning approached Su Ming, it crashed into the purple mountain.

Endless booming sounds echoed endlessly in the area at that instant. The red bolt of lightning was the first disaster from Su Ming’s Arid Disaster, and it was also the weakest out of the seven. After being suppressed by Yin Death Vortex and weakened by Su Ming’s first Mountain Shifter Art, it crashed into his End of Wills Mountain Shifter Art, which he had prepared with his full might.

At the instant booming sounds reverberated through the air, the purple mountain that was Su Ming trembled violently. Cracking sounds rose and fell, and cracks swiftly went down the mountain. Red light shone through them.

The red light was naturally the power of the red lightning, and it seemed to be spilling out and scattering into thin air. When it fought against Su Ming’s mountain, its power continued to weaken.

When a deafening roar surged into the sky, the purple mountain formed by three hundred million mountain souls shattered into pieces. With a killing intent that had been accumulating in the End of Wills Sword for a long time, purple light swiftly rushed at the incredibly dull red lightning that had descended into Yin Death Vortex.

Piercing sounds swiftly shot into the air. It was the sound of the End of Wills Sword crashing into the red bolt of lightning. That sound only lasted for about two breaths before a brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes. For the first time since the disaster began, he rushed out and charged towards the red bolt of lightning.

This was Su Ming’s linked series of divine abilities. The first was Mountain Shifter, the second was End of Wills Mountain Shifter, and the third was the killing intent of the End of Wills Sword. Once he continuously weakened the red lightning bolt like that, Su Ming attacked.

With the simplest method, he threw a punch against the incredibly dull red lightning bolt when the End of Wills Sword moved back.

Booming sounds rang out. Su Ming shuddered, but he did not move back. Instead, he lifted his head, and his presence of looking down on the world became stronger. When the red bolt of lightning, the first Arid Disaster, shattered, Su Ming’s presence reached its strongest state.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe witnessed all of this, and praise appeared in his eyes. No matter what method Su Ming used, he had indeed fought against the Antecedental Spirit’s disaster on his own.

Perhaps this would not be enough for his level of cultivation to increase, but his heart and will would get stronger by leaps and bounds, as if he had taken a huge step forward!

“There are seven disasters for Antecedental Spirits. I might have been the one who brought this disaster to you, but I suspect that you will at most go through three disasters. After all, you have only gone through a spirit ascension once. I can help you go through the three disasters. If you want to go through the disasters on your own, then I will take action at appropriate moments. After all, I have already verified one of my guesses.

“Now, what will you do for your second disaster?” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe asked while looking at Su Ming.

“I want to go through the second disaster on my own as well.”

Su Ming remained silent for a few breaths before wrapping his fist in his palm towards the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe. His aura was like a tidal wave at that moment. He could not lose it just yet, which was why no matter how strong the second disaster was, he had to persevere through it.

And… most importantly, Su Ming could clearly sense his aura continue gathering around him, as if it was about to reach a breakthrough. It was related to his state of being as well as his will of an Antecedental Spirit.

Su Ming had only gone through one spirit ascension in All Spirits Hall. It was not because he did not know the number for the second spirit ascension, but because he had a feeling that the second spirit ascension was beyond his abilities. If he forcefully ascended, then even if he had the correct number, he had a feeling that he might not necessarily succeed.

It was just like the feeling of helplessness a mortal would have after seeing a one hundred feet tall rock once they were able to lift a ten feet tall rock.

Yet right then, once Su Ming went through his first disaster, he had a very strong feeling that once he reached a breakthrough this time, he could go through his second spirit ascension!

‘Nine spirit ascensions…’

Su Ming’s heart pounded, but not a single hint of it could be detected on his face. When he lifted his head and stared at the vortex, a hint of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes, and hidden behind that spirit… was anticipation, and it was an emotion only he knew.

“Very well. Based on what I know, the second disaster is the Five Lightning Disaster. This disaster…”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe nodded. But just as he was about to continue speaking, thunderous roars echoed from above Yin Death Vortex.

At the moment the sound appeared, the old man looked at the vortex above him. There seemed to be five colors shining there. This scene caused his heart to tremble, and brilliant light instantly shone in his eyes. He focused his attention on the area.

“This is…”

When the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe saw the five-colored light clearly, his expression changed, and a hint of shock appeared on his face.

At the same time, four bolts of lightning appeared out of nowhere in the north, south, east, and west of the still Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. They turned into long arcs that charged into Yin Death Vortex.

They moved so quickly that no cultivator could compare to their speed. They only needed an instant to move through a True World. The four long arcs had four colors that constantly changed. There was black, white, red, and pink. As they changed, they instantly closed in on Yin Death Vortex.

The moment they arrived, the fifth long arc appeared in the galaxy beyond Yin Death Vortex. It was yellow, and it symbolized supreme majesty!

It was just like the imperial power belonging to the emperors in the mortal world. The yellow light filled the whole place. The other four colors surrounded it, but they did not cluster around it. Instead, they arranged themselves based on some sort of law and charged into Yin Death Vortex.

Booming sounds echoed in the air, and the five long arcs surged into the vortex, instantly appearing before Su Ming’s eyes. It was at that moment that he heard the old man’s disbelieving murmurs.

“Five Colored Lightning. It’s the Five Colored Lightning…”