Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming lifted his head and cast his gaze on the jade slip. A contemplative look appeared on his face. After some time, he stood up and swung his arm. The physical body of the dead middle-aged scholar shattered into pieces and turned into ash.

‘The strongest person in Seven Moons Sect, the great sect elder of the first line… Gu Tai, who is also known as the sect master…’

Su Ming was not unfamiliar with that person. After all, he had been in Seven Moons Sect for about fifty years, and when he first woke up in the new world, the man who resembled Tian Xie Zi had given him pointers along their travels. Because of that, Su Ming had quite some knowledge regarding Ancient Zang.

‘He’s the person who reminded me that if I want to fuse with the Seven Lives Art, I would have to break to succeed.’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. The pensive look in his eyes disappeared, and when his gaze returned to normal, he lifted his right hand and picked up the jade slip before taking a step into the air.

With it, the jade slip in his hand exuded a dazzling light that turned into a vortex. It submerged Su Ming, taking him away from the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

At that moment, in the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, the thirteen great sect elders, including Dao Han, sat at the center of a towering altar located right at the first piece of land in the world.

Right then, a vortex appeared out of nowhere at the center of the altar. When it disappeared and the thirteen people looked over, Su Ming gradually appeared.

“Greetings, great sect elders.”

Su Ming swept his gaze across the area, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed. While he did not quite feel as if he belonged to the sect and had joined it with a goal in mind… the sect had defended him while facing the threat of One Dao Sect. Such an action moved Su Ming.

It was the reason why he had bowed to them right then.

The thirteen great sect elders all cast their gazes on Su Ming. Most of them were seeing him for the first time.

The middle-aged man in the sky-blue Daoist robe—Su Ming’s Master in Seven Moons Sect—smiled. “My dear disciple, don’t be so reserved. We’ve known of your status since the start, and it’s precisely because of it that I was in such a hurry in the past to become your Master. I do hope… that you will not blame me for this.”

When Su Ming heard it, his expression remained calm, but he was surprised that this Master of his would admit the matter just like that. His action won him respect from Su Ming.

“Third prince, please sit down,” Gu Tai said. A smile was on his lips, and there was praise on his face. When he offered to sit, Su Ming did not reject and sat down cross-legged.

“Third prince, with the blood of the royal family coursing through your veins, your level of cultivation, and your intellect, you must have surely found clues from our levels of cultivation. Over here… aside from Dao Han, who only became a great sect elder later on and is in the third level of Dao Spirit Realm, there are eight of us who are in the seventh level of Dao Immortal Realm, and the other four are in the fifth or sixth level of Dao Spirit Realm.

“We are the pillars of Seven Moons Sect. With us around, Seven Moons Sect will continue to exist. If we die… then Seven Moons Sect will cease to exist,” Gu Tai said flatly.

Su Ming did not speak. He simply sat there and listened calmly.

“Don’t hold a grudge against Xu Zhong Fan. He was in a little too much of a hurry to become your Master, because only by doing so could he form a connection with your Life Matrix and have a chance to become a Great Dao Paragon.

“But… you should know that he needed determination for such a gamble. It was absolutely necessary at the moment he said he would become your Master. From then on… your survival was destined to become the thing he would care about the most. Your success and failure will be a challenge he cannot avoid.

“If you fail, then he will have to give up his cultivation base, his remaining years of life, as well as his destiny. The stakes of this gamble are so great that I hope you won’t come to understand the full extent of it.

“In fact, would you believe me if I said that if I attacked you right now, your Master would grit his teeth and turn against me? No matter what, he would save you, because he has already formed a connection he cannot sever with your Life Matrix,” Gu Tai explained slowly before casting a deep glance at Su Ming.

“It’s also because of this that I made my decision to bring Seven Moons Sect into the battle of the successors. We will help you with our full strength! Because… be it Xu Zhong Fan or the other eleven great sect elders… in truth, they are all my disciples!”

Su Ming’s expression changed at that moment. It was something he had not known.

“Once they completed their Dao, I asked them to stop calling me Master. One of my disciples formed a connection with your Life Matrix, and as his Master, I was also dragged along.

“That is why from now on, Seven Moons Sect, the thirteen of us, and the tens of thousands of disciples in the sect will help you with everything we have!”

Gu Tai’s voice echoed in the air, causing Su Ming to fall into silence. He turned his head and cast a glance at his Master. At that moment, there was a slightly regretful look on Xu Zhong Fang’s face, but Su ming could not tell whether Xu Zhong Fan was feeling guilty towards Su Ming or his own Master.

In the end, Su Ming cast his gaze at Gu Tai.

“What do I need to do?” he asked calmly. His tone was no longer one he would use as a disciple of Seven Moons Sect, but as an equal to the people around him.

“The eldest prince has One Dao Sect helping him, and it is so strong that it stands atop the seven sects! The second prince has Asura Clan. It is an external clan, and its strength is unfathomable. In fact, in some sense… it even surpasses One Dao Sect!

“Asura Clan has one of the three ninth level Dao Gods in Ancient Zang, Tian Xiu Luo!”

When Gu Tai said those words, the expressions of the twelve great sect elders changed. Clearly, it was the first time they heard of this matter.

“But Senior Tian Xiu Luo has been in isolated training for a long time. Unless Asura Clan runs into something that threatens their existence, he will not egress, and neither will he join the battle of the successors.

“Because if he joins, the first person he will have to face… is your father, who is also the Emperor of Ancient Zang and one of the three ninth level Dao Gods!

“One Dao Sect and Asura Clan. These are the two great enemies you will have to face now, because these two sects’ kismet is already the same as that of Seven Moons Sect. They already have a connection they cannot sever with one of the three princes!

“The other sects and clans will gradually gather to the three of us in the subsequent years, and our three sects and clans will become the core. Three thousand years later… a great war to determine the successor will erupt!

“But the prerequisite is that you will not die before the war arrives! This is something you must remember. If you die, then Seven Moons Sect will be eliminated from the battle of the successors.

“This is the first thing. The second thing is that while you are in Dao Spirit Realm, you have not stabilized your cultivation base. You will need to sound the Dao Spirit Voice that belongs to you. This is a major event. Seven Moons Sect will make detailed preparations so that all the sects and clans in Ancient Zang will bear witness when you sound your Dao Spirit Voice. Then… we will also help you build your influence!

“Third, you are still not strong enough. In terms of level of cultivation, we cannot help you by much, but the Phala of Dao Verification that appears once every ten thousand aeons is about to ripen, and there will be a competition in all of Ancient Zang for it.

” Phala of Dao Verification only bloom once every five thousand aeons, and after the flower blooms, five thousand aeons later, it will bear fruit. Each time, it only bears two fruit, and one of them is big while the other small!

“The big one can be refined into a supreme treasure which can contain all manner of beings in the world. It is an enigmatic and amazing existence. The small fruit… is the most precious, however. Once you swallow it and enter isolated training for three months, you will be able to make your level of cultivation increase from one to three levels of Dao Divinity Realm, but you must be in Dao Spirit Realm when you swallow it. Once it takes effect, you will reach a level anywhere below Dao Paragon!

“We have records saying that it will be the eighth time the Phala grows fruit!

“Fourth, you are lacking in Enchanted Treasures. The treasures in Seven Moons Sect no longer suit you, however. Sect Elder Lan Lan might have summoned Guru Xing Chen by herself, but it is also in accordance to our wishes.

“Judging by the looks of it, you should have gained some clues. We will utilize all our strength to find that whip that can affect planets!

“Fifth, once you finish doing all these things, you must move to the top. Once you eventually become the emperor, Seven Moons Sect will reach the peak, and since the thirteen of us have your kismet on us, we can also become Great Dao Paragons, and I… will have hope to become a ninth level Dao God!” Gu Tai said while looking at Su Ming.

“Since ancient times, did all Great Dao Paragons reach that Realm by doing what you did?” Su Ming asked after a moment of silence.

“No. This is a shortcut, or else why would One Dao Sect and Asura Clan be so enthusiastic about this matter?” Gu Tai answered calmly.

“I can do all the other things, but there is an Enchanted Treasure I need in Seven Moons Sect,” Su Ming suddenly said.

A smile appeared at the corners of Gu Tai’s lips after he spoke. “Tell us. I knew that you must have set your eyes on something for choosing to enter Seven Moons Sect under a disguise.”

“I want the pearl in his hand!” Su Ming did not hesitate and neither did he continue to hide. As he spoke, he looked at Dao Han.

At the instant Su Ming spoke, a light crease appeared between Dao Han’s eyebrows.

“This isn’t a pearl, this is…”

Gu Tai fell silent for a while. Clearly, he had not expected that Su Ming would want that item. When he lifted his right hand, Dao Han unfurled his fist. Immediately, the pearl that had always been on his palm flew out and charged towards Gu Tai, who caught it.

“This is… a Phala! The Phala I told you just now comes in two sizes, one of them is big, and the other small. When I was at the peak of my form, during a battle for the Phala of Dao Verification, I snatched this Phala after having a close brush with death.

“This item is known as a Reversed Spirit Pearl, and I refined it into a supreme treasure, a legacy used to protect Seven Moons Sect…” Gu Tai whispered, as if he was thinking about something.

“I don’t need to be in possession of this item for long. I just need to borrow it and use it once,” Su Ming said while looking at the pearl in Gu Tai’s hand.

“Oh?” Gu Tai lifted his head and cast a glance at Su Ming before he smiled. He swung his right hand, and the pearl charged to Su Ming.

“If Seven Moons Sect can stake our kismet on you, then why should we hesitate on giving you an external object?!”

Su Ming lifted his hand and took the pearl. At the instant he touched it with his hand, a powerful light erupted from the pearl. It alternated in degrees of brightness as if there were roars coming out of it. They were filled with cheers as well as a call that caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble.