Pursuit of the Truth

1

The destruction at that time had nothing to do with Su Ming. He did not care about it. Instead, Old Monster Wen’s suggestion had caused a thought to rise up in his mind.

‘True Morning Dao World no longer has any sect. If I can gather those who survived and form one… they would become a force of power which will be completely mine once people from Saint Defier descend.

‘Since I chose to keep Zhang Ji Dao’s identity, this force would be of a lot of help to me. At the very least, True Morning Dao World would then belong to me in its entirety!’ Su Ming’s eyes sparkled.

The white ripple charged forward through the whirlwind in True Morning Dao World. Su Ming meditated in it. He remained silent during the entire trip. The people beside him kept quiet as well.

Only the bald crane put on airs and acted incredibly smugly, occasionally taunting the other people. In its eyes, they were just asking for death. Even if Su Ming had not woken up, with the great Grandpa Crane’s divine abilities, it could still chase all of them away. At that moment, it had clearly forgotten how dishevelled it had been…

Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, seven days were gone. A week was not a long period of time, but the white ring moved at a speed akin to shifting. Wherever it went, the whirlwind had to move back, and it was so fast that in just seven days, Su Ming and the others had already reached the spot where Old Monster Wen had said the Ancient God’s corpse was located.

It was an area where the whirlwind was incredibly strong. There was endless wind there, and it swept out in all directions. Within it was a corpse which was hundreds of thousands of feet big.

Many of its parts had been damaged, and it was filled with the aura of death. It drifted in the whirlwind, its flesh being ripped apart. In many places, the bones had already shattered, and they looked about to be swept away at any moment.

The Ancient God no longer had a right arm, and there were only three fingers left on the left hand.

His face was indistinct, but Su Ming could still see that the mark of a star at the center of the Ancient God’s brows.

“This is the place. Eight months ago, I passed by it and discovered the giant’s corpse. At that time, it was still in a rather complete shape, but now… it has already been damaged to this extent… but the fact that it could last till now in the whirlwind and not be completely destroyed shows that it was incredibly powerful and tough while alive. If you can refine this body into an Enchanted Treasure, it would definitely be something that is on the level of a supreme treasure,” Old Monster Wen quickly said.

As Su Ming stared at the Ancient God’s corpse, his eyes sparkled. He moved, and immediately stood on the Ancient God’s body with the whirlwind blowing in his face. He then rushed to the center of the Ancient God’s brows, arriving there after a moment, and dipped his head down to stare at the only mark of the star left.

The star was dull. As far as Su Ming understood the Ancient Gods, it seemed like all of their power was gathered in the stars at the center of their brows. After a moment of pensive silence, Su Ming sat down cross-legged and raised his right hand, pressing it against the star. When he closed his eyes, his appearance under the black hood changed. In an instant, he turned into the appearance of the clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.

However, he did not have a corporeal form for this clone, only an illusion. After all, all of Su Ming’s clones were destroyed in the world beyond the universe. While he could make all of them manifest once more as long as his soul was around, he needed to use up different amounts of power to do so.

His Dao Kong clone could be taken as an example. It required the least energy, and it was also the easiest to control. What it required was just Su Ming’s cultivation base, but now that he had Zhang Ji Dao’s body, that clone was no longer of any use to him, which was why he had yet to restore it.

If Su Ming wanted to restore his clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole, he required something with great physical strength. This was the reason why he had rushed to this place when he heard about the Ancient God’s corpse.

As for his Ecang clone, he would need to spend Ecang’s power. Su Ming was already prepared for it. He was the complete Ecang, so he only needed time to recover. It was a lot of time, however, so if Su Ming could find the portions of Ecang’s souls which had escaped from the foreign lands and devour them, he could form his Ecang clone much faster.

‘I no longer have a physical body, or rather, I never had a physical body to begin with. My body was destroyed an unknown number of years ago. This means that what I need to do now is not to obtain a physical body… but to create a body that belongs solely to me!

‘It will have all of my clones serve as its flesh and blood and my cultivation base as its bones. I will use my epiphany of moving from winter to spring to form my soul. When my flesh, blood, bones, and soul fuse together… I will form my real physical body, and it will belong solely to me!’

Su Ming’s eyes shone with a brilliant light while hidden under the black hood. He closed them swiftly, and while his right hand was still pressed at the center of the Ancient God’s brows, he sent his fingers deeply into the skull.

However, the instant he was about to seize the mark of the star, Su Ming’s palm suddenly stopped moving. With his eyes sparkling, he cast a scrutinizing glance at the Ancient God before he raised his head and cast a glance at Old Monster Wen, who was in the distance. A hint of a cold sneer appeared on his lips.

But it did not last. Instead, he swiftly seized the mark of the star with his right hand.

With it, a vast power surged up Su Ming’s right hand into his body. In an instant, it filled his physical body.

‘Explode! Explode!’

A glint shone in Old Monster Wen’s eyes while he sat in the white ripple in the distance. He was shouting loudly and smugly in his heart. Su Ming was not the first person he had met. In truth, he was the third to be tricked into coming to this place over the last couple months. Every single one of them craved for the physical power of the Ancient God and wanted to absorb it, but both had exploded while they were absorbing the power.

Su Ming was the third, and on his way to face the same fate. Old Monster Wen could practically see Su Ming exploding in a few breaths. When he died there, all of his treasures would belong to Old Monster Wen.

He felt proud of himself, but as time passed and the ten breaths went by, the pride in Old Monster Wen’s heart slowly turned into hesitation. He stared blankly at Su Ming who was at the center of the Ancient God’s brows. His aura was running rampant, and his robes fluttered. It was as if he was still continuously absorbing the power, but the sight Old Monster Wen longed to see, the sight of Su Ming exploding, did not bless his eyes.

His heart made a loud thump.

‘It’s fine. It has only been ten breaths. Before long, this person will definitely explode. No one can absorb the giant’s physical body. Even if he is a Grand Immortal, it’s impossible for him to be able to do so. After all, the Ancient God personally told me that no one can obtain his physical power!’

Old Monster Wen sucked in a deep breath, but when time trickled by and another twenty breaths passed, his face gradually turned pale.

At the same time, Su Ming’s lips curled up into a cold sneer once more. He had noticed a long time ago that he was not absorbing the Ancient God’s physical power from the mark of the star, but its ancient thought hidden within it.

The divine thought was disguised as his physical power, like a flying beast pretending to be a candle flame so that it could devour all the moths lunging at it. After devouring enough of them, he could repair his body until all of his injuries were healed.

“The Ancient Gods who descend in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos only have at most seven stars at the center of their brows. Forget the fact that you’re injured. If I could fight against Ancient Gods with seven stars at the peak of their condition, then it is even easier for me to stand up against you, since you’re heavily wounded and recuperating.

“You disguised your divine thought as your physical body. Once I tried to devour it, you could obtain my cultivation base and Nascent Divinity to use as nutrients for your recovery. You’ve… overestimated yourself in this matter.”

At the same time Su Ming absorbed the divine thought, he sent his own divine thought into the Ancient God’s mind through his right hand. It turned into a rumble as loud as thunder.

The Ancient God jolted. His eyes instantly flew open, and a hint of panic showed up in them while the smile on Su Ming’s lips grew colder. A white ripple spread out from the ring on his right index finger. It surged into the Ancient God’s mind through the mark of the star, and a loud rumble echoed in space. It turned into a power that suppressed the Ancient God.

At the same time, Su Ming lifted his right hand. With a single move, he appeared on the Ancient God’s left arm, then raised his left hand to seize it.

“There is an incredibly sinister Art in Zhang Ji Dao’s memories. I’ll use your body to test Saint Defier Expanse Cosmos’ Forbidden Art! Foul Flesh of Hell!”

The instant Su Ming touched the Ancient God’s left arm with his own, a black ripple spread out from it. Immediately, the Ancient God’s left arm started withering before his eyes. The Ancient God started trembling violently, but his divine thought had already been suppressed, and he could not fight back in the slightest. His entire left arm was swiftly reduced to only skin and bones in the the span of a few breaths.

At the same time, a large amount of physical power surged madly into Su Ming’s body, causing his clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole to gain corporeal form at a terrifying speed.

In just ten breaths, the Ancient God’s left arm no longer had any flesh or blood left. However, it was not the end yet. Once the Ancient God’s left arm was reduced to only skin and bones, his torso and his legs withered away. The vast power of his flesh and blood was continuously absorbed by Su Ming, and his clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole gained corporeal form. It was swiftly getting stronger.

The Foul Flesh of the Netherworld lasted for half the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. The Ancient God remained large in stature, but he had become completely emaciated and resembled a skeleton. He looked incredibly terrifying.

This scene caused the faces of Miao Feng and the other three to turn pale. Fear appeared in their eyes, and when they looked towards Su Ming, they seemed to see an evil spirit.

“Netherworld Burns Bones!”

Su Ming moved. This time, he appeared at the top of the Ancient God’s head and pushed his left hand against the skull. He grabbed it swiftly, and as cracking sounds reverberated in space, a black ripple spread out from Su Ming’s hand and covered the Ancient God’s body.

The Ancient God trembled even more violently. If it was not because of the white ring suppressing him at that moment, his shrill roars would have rang out in all directions. He would not be acting as quiet as he was now, only able to shudder. The Ancient God’s eyes turned bloodshot as he descended into madness. He wanted to self-destruct, but due to the white ring suppressing him… he could not!

As he trembled, his legs gradually melted and his body slowly became pliant. Su Ming absorbed the power from the bones with his left hand and fused it with his clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.

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