Pursuit of the Truth

1

The outline of the Rune with crystalline light resembled a cauldron used to make medicinal cores. It shone with a dazzling light and looked like it enveloped Su Ming within itself.

Su Ming had a calm expression on his face as he moved forward. At the instant his body touched a ray of the crystalline light, he sensed a powerful rebounding force trying to prevent him from walking out.

“This item…”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe had stayed by Su Ming from the start. When he cast a glance at the Rune with the crystalline light, he fell into a period of silence before he smiled faintly.

“This item is somewhat similar to the Sacred Vessel of Wei’s Corists, but it’s clearly just an imitation. It has some fragments of the Corists Sacred Vessel though. Looks like there are descendants of the Corists among these cultivators,” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said faintly.

When he finished speaking, nine long arcs flew out from the direction of South Union. They stopped in front of Su Ming and revealed themselves as nine old men.

They had ordinary power. They were only in Solar Kalpa Realm, but there was an air that made it seem that they had inherited an ancient legacy. Once they cast a glance at Su Ming, they formed a seal with their hands, then pointed simultaneously at the medicinal cauldron shining with crystalline light, which was formed by the 999 cultivators.

“The Saint of Medicinal Cores has the will of heavens, and the will of heavens makes medicinal cores sacred!” the nine old men said together in a strange tone, then coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The instant they spoke, the light of the Rune of crystalline light soared one hundred thousand feet into the air. When booming sounds echoed in space, the 999 people moved simultaneously based on some law. If anyone looked at them from a distance, they would clearly see that there seemed to be a huge medicinal cauldron spinning around them.

As it did so, the will of the universe seemed to tear through space and descend from the passage of time. It enveloped the medicinal cauldron, making those who looked at it to naturally feel an ancient presence from it. At that instant, the will of the universe gained a vast presence, and there was a feeling in the air as if it was about to gain corporeal form.

It was a will even stronger than the one used by the thirteen Almighties in Fate Realm to lock down the galaxy around them and separate it from True Morning Dao World. Su Ming could even sense it was infinitesimally close to the will of heaven that belonged to the Antecedental Spirits.

However… it was just very close to it and that was it.

“You’re a mere South Union, but you have quite the foundation,” Su Ming said faintly.

He would have found the will of the universe that was infinitesimally close to the one possessed by Antecedental Spirits to be incredibly difficult to deal with if his soul had not become an Antecedental Spirit. It was just like how a cultivator in Mastery Realm would be completely suppressed if he came face to face with a cultivator in Fate Realm.

“But it’s not enough.”

Su Ming’s expression had not changed much since the start. When he looked at the nine old men, he shook his head. Then, he stopped and did not try to leave the Rune again.

The nine people had gloomy expressions on their faces. With a cold harrumph, they formed a seal with their hands, then formed another and pointed at the Rune.

“With the will of the Saint of Medicinal Cores, we will strip thee of thy soul!” the nine people said simultaneously with aloof and ghastly expressions.

The medicinal cauldron formed by the Rune of 999 people started spinning even more swiftly. The will of the universe contained in it became even fiercer, as if there was an invisible blade that was about to cut down Su Ming.

It did not aim at his body, but his soul. A chilling glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes at that moment, and he lifted his right hand to point forward. Immediately, the invisible blade shuddered and crumbled to pieces. This scene could not be seen by anyone, but the nine old men could clearly sense the invisible blade crumble.

Their expressions changed at that moment. They coughed up blood at the same time, and when their bodies tumbled back, they formed a seal again.

“With the power of three Saints and the will of the universe, we shall strip thee of thy soul!”

Once they roared together, the rotation speed of the Rune formed by the 999 cultivators increased again. The cultivators trembled, and their bodies turned even more messy. It looked like they were about to turn into skeletons.

Su Ming smiled coldly. He moved forward, and the instant his body touched the crystalline light, the light grew to a blinding degree, but it was obviously trembling, as if it could not bear the burden and was about to crumble. The nine people immediately sat down, and as their bodies swiftly withered, their expressions filled with disbelief. They formed seals while shouting.

“Saint of Medicinal Cores, please descend. We offer the souls of these 999 cultivators to turn it into the will of the universe so that we can strip him of his soul!”

Their voices were hoarse and shrill. At the instant they reverberated in the air, the 999 people who formed the medicinal cauldron shuddered. Their life force instantly vanished, and all their flesh and blood disintegrated while their bones vanished. Only blood-red crystals which seemed to have sucked out all of the 999 people’s blood remained. For a moment, they floated in the air, then they shrank inwards and formed a huge medicinal cauldron with Su Ming as its center!

Bang!

It looked like an invisible fire had been lit in the medicinal cauldron. As it burned, the cauldron swiftly spun around. Moments later, a great will that was like the will of heaven descended. It brought with it a mighty pressure, the cheers from the people of South Union after their initial shock, and the nine old men’s cold sneers and derision.

Within that will of the universe was the nine old men’s wills. They wanted to strip Su Ming’s soul from his body, and it was like an order that no living being could withstand. It was like… the will of heaven.

“The soul of Ninth Summit’s Great Sect Elder Mo Su will leave his body and be made into an offering for the Saint of Medicinal Cores!” the nine people said together, and once they formed a seal, they placed their hands at the center of their brows.

But the instant the will of the universe turned into the will of heaven that wanted to descend on Su Ming, he shook his head.

“This will of heaven… is merely formed by incomplete thoughts. If you worship the will of heaven so much, then let me show you just what… is the will of heaven,” he said faintly.

When he lifted his head, a freezing glare shone in his eyes, and his divine sense left his body. His will of an Antecedental Spirit also spread out. When it enveloped the entire area, it caused space to shake, the universe to tremble, and the will of the galaxy in all directions to turn into Su Ming’s will.

With a single thought, he could make it so lives were born, and with another, destroy the universe.

At the start of Su Ming’s thought, the descending will of heaven shuddered, and the medicinal cauldron formed by the crystals let out a loud boom. Huge cracks appeared on its surface. The expressions of the nine old men completely changed then. Disbelief flooded their faces and filled their hearts.

The moment Su Ming finished his thought, the descending will of heaven crumbled. The crystal medicinal cauldron shuddered, and with a bang, shattered to pieces. When they fell backwards, they shattered again, and Su Ming walked out from within the rain of dust with a calm expression.

The nine old men coughed up blood. Eight of them exploded right after. Their bodies were reduced to a bloody mess, which was a telling sign that they could not withstand the backlash of the crystal medicinal cauldron. The only surviving old man coughed up blood continuously. When he looked at Su Ming, there was indescribable fear and shock in his eyes. His disbelief was so great that it turned into speech.

“Antecedental Spirit… You are an Antecedental Spirit… This is impossible. All the Antecedental Spirits in this era are either suppressed in True Spirit Hell world or are sealed up so that they cannot venture out. How… How is it possible that you’re an Antecedental Spirit?!

“Unless you have just become an Antecedental Spirit… This is the only possibility. You still haven’t been suppressed! You still haven’t been suppressed by Arid Triad’s will!”

The old man’s eyes widened before he suddenly began laughing loudly. That laughter was filled with madness as well as delight.

“So what if you’re an Antecedental Spirit?! All the Antecedental Spirits have been suppressed by Arid Triad’s will since ancient times. The day for you to be suppressed isn’t far off!”

As the old man laughed, he let out a shrill roar, then coughed up blood and breathed his last.

His life force had been crushed by the backlash, and the moment of life then was only a momentary spurt of vitality before death. As he laughed and coughed up blood, his body fell down.

When Su Ming walked out from the crumbled crystal medicinal cauldron, two long arcs suddenly charged forth from the hundreds of logs in the whirlwind. They had a presence an undying and imperishable will spreading out from them, which meant that those people were clearly two powerful warriors in Death Realm!

They were two of the three leaders of South Union and were also the strongest cultivators in the expedition. They had not appeared previously because the two of them were cautious. If they were not completely confident in winning against Su Ming, they would not attack personally.

However, at that moment, even if they were still not confident, the old man’s words forced the two of them to attack even while their hearts trembled.

“All five hundred thousand cultivators of South Union, hear our words, form South Union’s Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune and seal this person!”

When the two people flew out, one of them immediately gave a command. His voice rumbled, containing the vast, mighty pressure belonging to those in Death Realm. It enveloped the entire area and turned into a vast power that seemed to be able to stand against Su Ming’s presence.

Hundreds of logs flew over after the command was given, and even those hidden in the whirlwind charged out. On one of the logs was Xu Hui with a hint of arrogance on her face. She stood with her chin lifted while staring at Su Ming coldly. The look in her eyes was one a person used when looking at a stranger. There was no longer even a hint of the gentleness she had when she looked at him in the past.

Behind her was De Shun. Naturally, he could not tell that the Mo Su before him was the Dao Kong he had met before. He simply stood vigilantly behind Xu Hui with an obsequious expression on his face.

As nearly five hundred logs charged towards Su Ming, they formed a Rune of seven circles with Su Ming as their center. Their actions were swift and precise, like they had formed the Rune hundreds of times in the past.

The seven circles were of different sizes and were made up of the logs which had attached themselves to one another. They encircled Su Ming while giving off a majestic feeling.

This was an attack executed by all five hundred thousand cultivators of South Union. The mighty pressure formed by nearly five hundred logs surrounding a single person was so great that vortices formed between the logs. There were seven of them, and each one was connected to the other, just like the circles of logs. They moved based on different trajectories, and from a distance, they looked like they were a galactical vortex.

Within the innermost part of the circles of logs was Su Ming fighting against the two old men. Red light shone on one of their faces, and he a head full of white hair. He looked like an old man, but the life force in his body was so abundant that it reached an indescribable state.

The other one was a thin old man. He had a sinister cold presence spreading out of his body, and there were no emotions on his face. He stood like a block of ice, and no sign of any vast life force could be detected in him. However, he gave off a presence as if he was never melting ice. It was as if even if the galaxy crumbled while he stood there, he would not die because of it.

This was what it meant to be in Death Realm!

While the seven circles of wood formed a Rune and surrounded Su Ming, an indistinct figure was hidden in the whirlwind in the distance. It was a woman with an icy cold but incredibly beautiful face. She was staring at Su Ming with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

“Antecedental Spirit…”

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