Pursuit of the Truth

“You can call me Sect Elder Mu. I am in charge of the eleventh line in Seven Moons Sect, Mu Zhen!” the ancient voice said. The old man’s expression was calm when he took a slow step towards Su Ming.

There was no shadow beneath him. It was just as he said, the one who appeared was just a shadow figure.

“Seven Lives Art is a cultivation method only the successor disciples in Seven Moons Sect can practice, but in truth, the goal of this Art is to gather together a Dao Shadow, Dao’s figure.” When the old man said those words flatly, he looked at Su Ming.

“And Dao Shadow is not something you can understand with your current potential. Sect Elder Wang, you aren’t my opponent. I would advise you to give up.”

The old man had a calm expression, but there was a hint of arrogance in his words, and it lingered in the air, allowing all those who heard him to be able to hear it clearly.

His arrogance might seem normal to the disciples of Seven Moons Disciple, and they would not feel anything because of it, but when it came to Su Ming, he frowned.

“Since you are a sect elder as well, I do not want to humiliate you too much. I do it for Sect Elder Lan too. Oh well, I will take the initiative and make the decision: I will not return your attacks. You have three chances to attack. As long as you can make me take half a step back, you will be considered to have cleared the formation.

“But Sect Elder Wang, this will only happen once. If you continue to attempt clearing the thirteenth formation, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

From the moment the white-robed old man appeared, he spoke as if he was talking to himself. Each of his words gave others a feeling that he stood supreme above others. His final words also showed incredible arrogance.

Su Ming was originally frowning, but at that moment, the frown disappeared from his face. The ghost of a smile appeared in its place. When he cast a glance at the old man, he said, “Then I will have to thank you, Sect Elder Mu. I will obey you. Are… you prepared?”

“I will not need to prepare myself. You can attack at anytime you please,” the old man said flatly.

His expression might have been calm and gentle, but the pride in his voice remained. In truth, he did indeed have a reason to be proud. With his real body, he had reached the second level of Dao Divinity Realm. Even his shadow figure had the power of those in the later stage of Avacaniya Realm.

His noble status of a sect elder in Seven Moons Sect turned his prideful actions into a habit. He was familiar with his own demeanor, and he did not feel even the slightest bit of discomfort behaving in such a way.

Su Ming nodded and swiftly moved forward. When he lifted his right hand, he did not clench his fist. Instead, when he approached, he pointed at Sect Elder Mu. At the instant he did so, the pupils of the white-robed old man shrank, but by then, Su Ming’s finger had already touched the air seven inches away from the white-robed old man.

An arch-shaped barrier instantly appeared to block Su Ming’s finger. The barrier fluctuated as if it was continuously neutralizing the attack.

The old man’s pupils, originally shrunken, returned to normal. He smiled faintly, but just as he was about to speak, the barrier crumbled, and Su Ming’s right hand shot forward… He tapped the old man’s arm.

“Go away,” Su Ming said faintly.

Since he intended to clear the formations, he did not intend to keep too much of his power a secret. Instead, he wanted to show it bit by bit. At that moment, one of his assumptions had been proved right. It was the one about what sort of things had been going on with the great sect elder of the third line—the middle-aged man in the sky-blue Daoist robe—taking Su Ming in as a disciple, causing him to become the fourteenth sect elder of Seven Moons Sect.

The white-robed old man’s expression changed drastically. He instinctively wanted to move back, but he forced himself not to do so. His body distorted as if he was about to dissipate, and he… could not endure the power from Su Ming’s finger. He could not help staggering and taking dozens of footsteps backwards.

When he stopped with much difficulty, his expression changed continuously. It was occasionally sullen, occasionally aloof, occasionally shocked. When he looked at Su Ming, there was a complicated expression in his gaze. In the end, he did not say another word and turned around. With a swing of his arm, he disappeared from the Feng Shui compass.

At that moment, all those who saw the proceedings from the different layers of Sky Beyond the Sky in Seven Moons Sect let out cries of surprise. They might have had incredibly high expectations for Su Ming, but none of them had expected that he… would so easily clear the thirteenth formation that could be said to be a barrier that reached the skies.

In fact, there were a few who instantly thought that Sect Elder Mu had intentionally done it.

Only the disciples who had cleared the thirteenth formation of the fourth Sky Beyond the Sky had solemn expressions on their faces. The scene when Su Ming had pointed the finger at the sect elder had made their hearts shudder.

It was especially so for the head disciples who were in charge of the mountains. At that moment, their expressions were the most solemn. Clearing the thirteenth formation would mean that Su Ming had similar power to theirs.

But… the ease at which Su Ming had passed the thirteen formations brought them great pressure. It caused them to be even more serious when they stared at Su Ming.

In fact, even the head disciple of the second line, Chen Tao, who had already cleared seventeen formations, opened his eyes at that moment. When he looked at Su Ming, a grim look that was rarely seen on his face showed up on his face.

There was also Yue Yan, Lan Lan’s disciple who was also from the third line. She had cleared sixteen formations, but her eyes were burning brightly right then. Su Ming had shocked her time and again.

“Fourteenth formation,” Su Ming called out flatly.

He lifted his right foot and stepped down on the Feng Shui compass. A hint of expectation appeared in his eyes. He was highly expectant of the split he would experience during the fourteenth formation, which was equivalent to the split of his shadow in the Seven Lives Art.

Booming sounds shot up into the air and echoed when the fourteenth formation appeared. The Feng Shui compass on which Su Ming stood began shining rapidly. As it rotated, the light spread out in every direction. In the blink of an eye, the countless runic symbols squirmed and turned into multiple copies of Su Ming.

Countless miniature versions of him had appeared around him at that moment. Soon after, a mighty pressure that caused even Su Ming to feel slightly uncomfortable descended with a bang. That mighty pressure felt as if the sky had collapsed and pressed down on Su Ming’s body, causing his soul, his will, and everything in his body to feel as if they were about to be split apart.

If it was any other disciple who challenged the fourteenth formation, they would have long since sat down cross-legged, circulating all his or her their cultivation base to fight back, but Su Ming only lifted his head and looked at the sky where the mighty pressure came from. Then, he swept his gaze across the figures of himself that were formed by the countless runic symbols.

‘The pressure still isn’t enough. It can’t split another shadow figure from me.’ Su Ming frowned, and resolution appeared on his face. He lifted his right hand and struck the center of his brow.

With it, a loud bang came from his body, and his cultivation base was immediately thrown into chaos. The pressure from the world around him increased, and the shadow under Su Ming’s feet instantly started distorting.

‘It’s still a little lacking.’

A contemplative sparkle shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He lifted his right hand and formed a seal before he tapped his chest. A cyclone was formed in his body, and it turned into a seal that sealed off three-tenths of his cultivation base.

When he did so, the pressure from the world around him became stronger. It caused the feeling of his body being split to become stronger.

‘One more time.’

Su Ming did not change the seal on his right hand. He tapped his Dantian region, and the cyclone appeared in him again to turn into a second seal.

Su Ming did not stop moving his right hand. When he brought it up, he tapped the center of his brow again. Immediately, the third seal appeared in his mind and soul. With three seals, he sealed off about nine-tenths of his cultivation base, causing his body to tremble for the first time.

The disciples of Seven Moons Sect in the area had been keeping a close watch, and practically all of them were stunned by his actions. None of them knew what Su Ming was doing. Only Yue Yan’s pupils shrank when she saw his actions. For the first time since the start, she stood up and strode towards the cliff to stare at Su Ming. A hint of shock appeared on her face.

“Just-just what level of cultivation does he have? This method… is the exact same as the one that Fei Feng used for the fourteenth formation in the past. He had to seal his own cultivation base to have another shadow figure split from his body!”

She was not the only one who lost her composure. Even the pupils of Chen Tao of the second line shrank. He stood up swiftly, and while he did not walk out of his cave abode like Yue Yan, a hint of shock appeared on his face.

In fact… Fei Feng, who was the strongest among the youngest generation of disciples in Seven Moons Sect and who had stayed with his eyes closed as he meditated, opened his eyes a bit at that instant. They shone with a brilliant light.

“Wang Tao…” he murmured.

The three of them were not the only ones who reacted like that. The expressions of the thirteen sect elders in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky and the hundreds of thousands of cultivators who were in the same generation as them changed. They began paying close attention to everything that happened to Su Ming.

“Either this person hid his level of cultivation, or his potential… is unimaginable. What level of cultivation does he currently have? Could it be that he has already attained great completion of Avacaniya Realm?!”

“The Masters of each line sent word before that no one was to interfere or stop Wang Tao when he practices cultivation. A person who is so highly valued by the great sect elders… Even if he shows power belonging to those who have attained great completion of Avacaniya Realm, I wouldn’t be surprised!

“But Mu Zhen, you are the first sect elder to have directly engaged in a battle with him. Lay down your judgment.”

“Great completion of Avacaniya Realm!” A cold harrumph came from the eleventh mountain. It belonged to Mu Zhen.

At the instant the crowd’s voice rose up in Seven Moons Sect’s fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, Su Ming let out a low growl. As his voice echoed in the air, the shadow beneath him distorted and began overlapping. In an instant… the second shadow appeared under him. It was the shadow figure which Su Ming had separated at the start, but once it appeared… a third showed up the next instant!

The third shadow was slightly blurry, but when it appeared, banging sounds came from Su Ming’s body. Once all the seals were released, his cultivation base erupted, and the blurry shadow became clear. It instantly became complete!

“Fifteenth formation!” Su Ming’s voice echoed and caused the entire region to tremble.

At that moment, the night seemed to be over, and… the first rays of light appeared in the distance.