Pursuit of the Truth

It was… Sen Mu!

Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu had forcefully descended in Seven Moons Sect and launched the first battle between One Dao Sect and Su Ming, who was then the third prince, and Seven Moons Sect. He had personally led the attack.

Even though One Dao Sect had withdrawn from the battle, Sen Mu’s bearing had stood above all those from Seven Moons Sect and had forced Gu Tai and the others to participate in a gamble. That alone was enough to see Sen Mu’s arrogance.

The moment his voice traveled through One Dao Sect, he appeared in front of Su Ming. He did not use any divine abilities. Instead, with one finger containing power that seemed to be able to destroy the world, he charged at Su Ming.

A loud bang shot up, and it instantly spread through the entire world. Sen Mu’s expression changed then. He moved hundreds of feet backwards, and when he lifted his head, he stared up.

Su Ming lowered his right hand. With a fling of his arm, the destructive power in Sen Mu’s finger was neutralized. At that moment, when he lowered his right hand, he glared at Sen Mu coldly, though his expression was as calm as ever.

“Sir, you are an unfamiliar sight. I have never heard of any sect in Ancient Zang that had a new Great Dao Paragon. Since you are here and since you say that you want to destroy One Dao Sect, why don’t you tell us who you are?!”

Sen Mu stared at Su Ming while speaking coldly, but his heart was already trembling. In fact, he was slightly shocked, because his attack just then had not been as simple as it seemed. It was one of his strongest divine abilities. With a casual point of his finger, he could even fight against Great Dao Paragons who were as powerful as him.

However… the black-robed young man before him right had managed to neutralize his attack with just a fling of his arm. He had not even stepped back after that, which told him a lot.

‘This person… is powerful even among the Great Dao Paragons!’

Sen Mu’s heart let out a thump. He knew clearly that there were distinctions between the strong and weak even among Great Dao Paragons. However, even though his heart was thumping violently against his chest, he did not feel like he was in danger, because while the distinctions between the weak and strong were clear, there had never been Great Dao Paragons who would kill each other in Ancient Zang.

“Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu, have you forgotten me?”

Su Ming took a step forward. When his foot landed, he lifted his right hand and formed a seal to point in the direction before him. Immediately, the air in front of him roared and shattered. Layers of space tumbled back, and the destruction instantly spread to Sen Mu.

“I am not one to remember faces very well. I do indeed not quite remember who you are.”

Just as he said those words, Sen Mu lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction below him. When he lifted his hand, a layer of ripples spread out to crash against Su Ming’s incoming destructive power. Booming sounds echoed in the air, and Sen Mu’s expression changed again. He staggered hundreds of feet backwards.

“You will remember me,” Su Ming said with a calm expression.

As he spoke, he turned into a long arc that charged at Sen Mu. The two of them instantly crashed into each other. Booming sounds shook the sky, and the countless One Dao Sect cultivators beneath discovered to their shock that the supreme Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu… was being forced back continuously.

He was retreating. With each clash, he was forced to move back as if the divine abilities from the young man in black were so strong that they contained a might he could not withstand. In fact, Sen Mu felt a presence around the young man that spoke of an indomitable will. Once Sen Mu took a step backwards… he would be forced to continue moving backwards!

At that moment, it was no longer important who he was. What was important was that Sen Mu had realized that he could not seize control of the situation. While booming sounds echoed in the air, his speed as he was forced back became faster, and he was pushed by Su Ming to the statue.

The shock of it was incredibly great to Sen Mu, because the times when Great Dao Paragons were unable to seize control over a fight were incredibly rare. After all, their power nearly reached the peak. All divine abilities cast by them could destroy the world, which was why if they were suppressed, then there was only one possible explanation to what was going on.

‘This person… didn’t even use his full power. He’s doing all of this with ease!’

This possibility left Sen Mu in shock, and he felt rather aggrieved, because he was in One Dao Sect. He could not use divine abilities that would affect wide areas, or else, even without his enemy attacking, One Dao Sect would be destroyed.

When he saw that his body was about to be pushed to the statue, a sigh came from afar.

“Fellow Daoist, must you do this?”

Once the sigh appeared, an old man with red hair showed up on the other statue in the distance. With a wide stride, he walked towards Su Ming. With just one step, he arrived behind Su Ming. With a swing of his arm, the great power belonging to a Great Dao Paragon swept towards Su Ming while causing the world to tumble.

“I am Chi Yang. Fellow Daoist, if you stop now, we will not prevent your departure, and we can treat what happened today as a misunderstanding. Fellow Daoist, what do you think of this offer?”

Arriving along with the loud bangs were the red-haired old man’s words.

When Sen Mu saw that Chi Yang’s divine ability swept up the world into a storm to before approaching Su Ming, his eyes shone. He turned around and stopped retreating, then charged at Su Ming. He formed a seal with his hands, and immediately, the world before him distorted. He looked as if he had divided into hundreds of versions of himself. Each of them erupted with different divine abilities, and they all closed in on the black-robed man.

Su Ming’s lips curled into a cold sneer. He formed a seal with his right hand and straightened his palm to fight against Sen Mu, then lifted his left hand and formed a seal with it before he threw it at the incoming storm.

At the instant his punch landed, an astonishing power erupted from his fist. A loud bang echoed in every direction. The wave of impact that stirred up instantly tumbled outwards, and all of One Dao Sect was drowned out by the deafening roar.

Many of the cultivators below immediately started bleeding from their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Then, the ones with higher levels of cultivation quickly set up Runes. The Sect Elders of One Dao Sect worked together to form protective seals.

There were seven among the Great Sect Elders of One Dao Sect who were Dao Paragons. When they flew out, they sat down in the air with only one task—to protect the disciples of One Dao Sect.

While the world rumbled, Chi Yang was to Su Ming’s left, and Sen Mu was to his right. With his own power, Su Ming withstood the two Great Dao Paragons’ attacks. He remained unmoved in the air.

Sen Mu’s expression changed, and he swiftly fell back as booming sounds continued without end. He moved one thousand feet back. Blood trickled down the corners of his mouth. When he lifted his head, he looked at Su Ming with incredulity in his gaze.

On Su Ming’s other side, the expression of old Chi Yan also changed. He moved one thousand feet back, and when he looked at Su Ming, s grim look appeared on his face.

Just like Sen Mu, he did not expect that the black-robed young man was so strong. With his strength alone, he fought against both of them. His expression did not change either.

‘This is not just the power of a Great Dao Paragon. It is a vast power that is far beyond our imagination!

‘He is a Great Dao Paragon, but his true power… is far more terrifying than his Realm!’

At the instant Chi Yang and Sen Mu moved back, an old palm appeared behind Su Ming without a single sound to push him down.

That strike contained no aura, and the timing was impeccable. It was right at the moment Su Ming forced Chi Yang and Sen Mu back. Contained in the palm was an incredibly great destructive power, but it did not spread out.

It was just about to touch Su Ming, when… Su Ming’s third eye flew open. His eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons immediately shone with a black light. It instantly covered Su Ming’s entire body, and the palm landed on the black light.

Booming sounds echoed in the air. With his right hand, Su Ming seized the air behind him without any hesitation. With it, the air behind him distorted and crumbled. An old figure instantly appeared. It was a short old man dressed in a black robe. At that moment, his expression was extremely grim. He took a few steps back to form an encirclement together with Chi Yang and Sen Mu.

“You’re all finally here,” Su Ming said faintly while standing in the encirclement formed by the three people.

At that moment, there was a black screen of light surrounding him. When it landed in the others’ eyes, their expressions changed again. They were… incredulous.

“This is the first time I see a Great Dao Paragon whose power exceeds his current level of cultivation, instead of the same, equal development the rest of us share in this Realm…

“Third prince, your power is so great that if it was not because of the limits of your Realm, you might be able to bring forth the power of a ninth level Dao God, but I have to ask, is Lin Dong Dong alright?” Bai Lu asked slowly with a grim look that had never been seen on his face before.

It was just as he said. Right then, The depths of Su Ming’s power of cultivation base came from the Tree of Dao Verification, and it had surpassed his Realm. If he was a jug, he would have enough water, but the mouth of the jug was just so big. Only a limited amount of his power could flow out.

Still, he could already fight against three Great Dao Paragons and not be at a disadvantage, because at that moment, he… was the strongest among the Great Dao Paragons!

“You managed to bring forth a light from your eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons that is different from the other Great Dao Paragons. This is a feat possible only to those who managed to sound nine Dao Spirit Voices, and right now, the only person who has not become a Great Dao Paragon but has sounded nine Dao Spirit Voices… is the third prince who went missing when the dimensions where the Tree of Dao Verification lies were destroyed two thousand something years ago!”

Chi Yang’s pupils shrank as he stared at Su Ming. Once he was able to identify him, he knew that on that day… they were bound to fight to the death.

“I didn’t expect that you would have become a Great Dao Paragon with just two thousand something years since we last met…” Sen Mu said slowly while looking at Su Ming. There was a slightly complicated look on his face.

When the three of them spoke, their voices were heard by the One Dao Sect cultivators below them. Their expressions changed. There were some among them who had experienced the destruction of the three dimensions, and even those who did not know about it had heard of the drastic changes that had happened at the time.

It was an incredibly devastating blow to all sects and clans in Ancient Zang, and it also brought the end of the competition between the successors.

At that moment, when the cultivators saw Su Ming again and heard the words of the three Great Dao Paragons, the shock in their hearts immediately turned into a howling storm.