Pursuit of the Truth

At the instant Su Ming lifted his head, his eyes sparkled brilliantly. The rain became heavier, and as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, they illuminated everything for a time.

As if he was an entity existing between darkness and light, Su Ming… slowly stood up.

His robes fluttered, and his purple hair danced while he stood on the cliff. Thunder roared even louder at that moment, and lightning intersected with each other. It looked as if night and day were joining together, changing places constantly… in an attempt to overlap with each other.

“As you wish,” Su Ming said flatly.

His voice echoed in the fifth layer of the Sky Beyond the Sky, then entered the fourth layer. Once it attracted the attention of all the people in the fourth layer, Ye Long whipped his head up, and his eyes sparkled in a way that they had never done before.

Su Ming’s voice continued echoing in the air. It entered the third layer, the second layer, and eventually echoed in the first layer. During it, even the roars from the thunder could not drown out his voice. They became faint, and the light from the lightning also seemed to fade away. There were no more flashing lights.

When all the people’s gazes were directed at the sky, Su Ming swung his arm and took a step into the air. With that one step, he stepped off the mountain, and with another, he stepped into the fourth layer. He landed on the huge Feng Shui compass and stood… beside Ye Long.

All the people’s gazes in Seven Moons Sect were gathered on Su Ming.

“That’s Wang Tao?”

“He’s Wang Tao! He’s that Wang Tao! Have you heard? That person isn’t a normal disciple. He’s… one of the sect elders!”

“Sect elder, that’s impossible…”

“Heh heh, I wonder how many formations this sect elder can clear. If he can’t even clear three or five formations, then he’s just a joke.”

The buzz of discussion instantly reverberated through Seven Moons Sect, and it was especially loud among the outer sect disciples in the first layer. They paid attention to the event the most. After all, practically all of them knew about what had happened not too long ago in the outer sect, and their curiosity in regards to Su Ming was incredibly strong.

As for the Seven Moons Sect disciples in the second and third layers, not many of them knew that Su Ming was a sect elder. Once they heard that piece of information, they were surprised, and derision became the dominant emotion when they looked at Su Ming.

Even though they did not know how he had become a sect elder, but in Ancient Zang, the deciding factor for respect was still a person’s level of cultivation. If it was not high, then no matter what status that person had, they would only be able to temporarily obtain respect and polite treatment.

It would not last long. They would be like a tree without roots. Once the chance arose, someone might ensure their untimely demise.

Only those with matching levels of cultivation compared to their status could live long, and only they could obtain true respect.

Besides those from the second and third layers, even those from the fourth layers also looked at Su Ming with mockery. They looked at him like a clown, and their attitude towards him was full of aloofness and disregard.

“I’d like to see just what sort of ability this Wang Tao has after not showing his face for eight years!”

“I admire this Ye Long somewhat, but Wang Tao? Hehe, we’ll know once we watch him.”

“He’s just a coward, what’s there to watch? Hmph. He lives in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky… Looks like the rumors from the outer sect disciples about this person being a sect elder are somewhat believable.”

“Sect elder? What right does he have to be a sect elder?!”

Divine thoughts went back and forth through the fourth layer, and when the people training there looked at Su Ming, their expressions differed, but most of them were aloof.

“Sect members of the third line, when you see this Wang Tao in the future, you will have to immediately kneel down and worship him, then respectfully call him your Uncle-Master.”

When the mocking words came from the fourth layer, the Seven Moons Sect disciples who were training in the projection of a mountain all had incredibly sullen expressions on their faces.

The mountain in which Su Ming had stayed for the eight years belonged to the third line. Right then, the disciples who stayed in it in the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky were disciples whose status were one rank lower than that of Su Ming. All of them were scowling at that moment with dark expressions. The mocking laughter from the other lines in the mountain left them incredibly embarrassed.

“Eldest senior sister, this Wang Tao… He…”

“Damn it, why did he have to embarrass us? Since he already avoided the challenge for eight years, he should have continued doing that. Why must he embarrass us like this? He’s just making our sect the laughing stock!”

The disciples of the third line knew more than the others, for example, they knew his status. They had not been willing to speak of it during the years, but right then… they were forced to face the problem.

“Let him know his own strength. When we meet him in the future after that, he will not put on airs just because he’s our senior!”

“This is a disgrace, the third line’s disgrace!”

A woman who looked to be twenty years old in the mountain in the fourth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky belonging to the third line frowned. When she spoke flatly, her voice echoed in the air, causing all the people in the third line to fall silent.

“That’s enough. He hasn’t challenged the Rune yet. Once he finishes challenging it, you can go on and humiliate him as much as you want, it won’t be too late then!”

The woman was eldest senior sister and Lan Lan’s head disciple.

Amid the buzzing noise in the area, Ye Long stared at Su Ming on the Feng Shui compass. Strong fighting spirit was in his eyes. During the trial in the past, he had never taken the step into Su Ming’s blood moon-enveloped mountain, and it had become a constant thought in his heart.

It filled his mind and became the reason why he continuously used the Rune to prove himself over the eight years, and it was also the reason why he kept challenging Su Ming. His opponent had never appeared, but it only served to make Ye Long even more determined.

At that moment, he finally saw Su Ming, the person who could no longer avoid him. They met for the first time since eight years ago!

“With eight years, I’ve successfully cleared seven formations. Wang Tao, as the person known as the eldest senior brother due to the trial in the past, today, I want to see how many formations you can clear!”

Ye Long laughed loudly. He turned into a long arc and returned to his mountain. He turned around after landing on it and looked at Su Ming with brightly burning eyes.

When he had spoken, the buzz in the first four layers of Seven Moons Sect instantly became a little quieter, but soon, they grew loud once more.

“I remember now. This Wang Tao surpassed all the others in the trial in the past. It’s said that he obtained one hundred forty something spirit plates during that time!”

“Hehe, you only remembered now? That’s right, it’s that person! But his splendor only lasted for a brief moment.”

Amid the discussions, Su Ming stood on the Feng Shui compass and watched the fourth Feng Shui compass beneath him disappear. Then, it was followed by the third Feng Shui compass, and after it, even the second Feng Shui became an illusion. After they disappeared, Su Ming stood on the first Feng Shui compass right at the bottom.

“I, Wang Tao, will challenge the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Rune!”

Su Ming’s words were simple. At the instant he spoke, he heard quite a lot of mocking laughter. It was also during that moment that a languid voice came from the sixth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

“Permission granted!”

That voice belonged to Dao Han, the red-robed man. When Ye Long wanted to challenge the Rune, Dao Han had to approve of it, because Ye Long was his disciple. If it was anyone else, they would not deserve him opening his mouth for them.

But Su Ming… was a sect elder, and only the Greatmaster of Seven Moons Sect had the right to approve sect elders who wanted to challenge the Dao Divinity Shadow Descension Runes.

Perhaps the outer sect disciples from the first layer in Seven Moons Sect did not have much knowledge about it, but the disciples from the second to the fourth layers knew about it. At that moment, all of them instantly fell silent. The rumors regarding Su Ming being a sect elder seemed to have been true.

But even though the Seven Moons Sect disciples had become quiet, most of them had derision and scorn in their eyes when they looked at Su Ming. Only a small part of the outer sect disciples in the first layer of Seven Moons Sect were excited and hopeful.

While standing on the Feng Shui compass, Su Ming lowered his head to look at the runic symbols forming it and remembered the bald crane.

‘If the bald crane was here, it would definitely open a betting pool, then with an excited and eager expression, it would wait for the harvest.’

As Su Ming thought about it, a smile appeared on his face. He shook his head, then lifted his right leg and stomped on the Feng Shui compass.

As booming sounds echoed in the air, the Feng Shui compass began rotating. A powerful pressure instantly spread out from the runic symbols to gather on Su Ming.

“I’ve been silent for eight years. It’s about time that I show a bit of my power, or else… it’s not too good for people to constantly call out my name.”

When Su Ming spoke faintly, he did not even spare a glance at the pressure that was gathered on him. Instead, he lifted his right foot again and stomped on the Feng Shui compass.

With a bang, the pressure that had gathered on Su Ming instantly crumbled. Crumbling with it was the rotating Feng Shui compass. It fell apart, and the countless runic symbols tumbled backwards as if they could not withstand the power from Su Ming’s stomp.

“Second formation.”

When Su Ming spoke, the runic symbols that had spread out instantly gathered together to form a Feng Shui compass once more. At the instant it rotated, Su Ming lifted his foot again and put it down gently.

BOOM!

In front of the shocked faces of the Seven Moons Sect disciples, the Feng Shui compass crumbled again and tumbled backwards in every direction. It looked like its mighty pressure and the power of the Rune were so weak that they could not even withstand a single hit from Su Ming!

When the Feng Shui compass crumbled again, Su Ming levitated in midair. “Third formation,” he then said flatly.

The moment he spoke, the hope and excitement within the outer sect disciples in the first layer grew, and the inner sect disciples in the second layer were all flabbergasted. They clearly knew the strength of the first and second formations. While they might not be too difficult… Su Ming had cleared them with just a few simple steps, which left them in disbelief.