Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 784: Jing Nan Zi Died

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"This is impossible!!" Jing Nan Zi's expression changed in a manner so drastic it had never happened to him before. As he retreated, his pupils shrank violently to reveal shock and disbelief.

What he just saw surpassed all his understanding towards the many seals in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, which he had obtained as a True Guard. Based on it, the seals in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence could not be easily broken. If any outsider touched them, their bodies and spirits would be destroyed.

Even if the person who laid the seal wanted to break open the seal forcefully, they would need to pay an incredibly devastating price for it. Even if they managed to break through, they would be reduced to an incredibly weakened state, and even a cultivator in Human Cultivation Realm would be able to injure them gravely.

This was how brutal the Barren Lands of Divine Essence were to the mighty cultivators from the alien races. It was also the reason why Jing Nan Zi had dared to come alone. The anomaly in Black Ink Planet was an accident that had occurred in an ancient age before Jing Nan Zi's time, and it was only an accident.

However, the scene before him overturned everything he knew, especially when the two arms and legs the bald crane had manifested made it look like a human bird. There was also an incredibly smug look on its face at that moment. As it held onto the short sword in its hand, Jing Nan Zi could only subconsciously look as if he had just seen the most terrifying ghost in the world.

'It's an illusion! This is definitely an illusion type divine ability! It's the illusion that Su Ming cast just now!'

As Jing Nan Zi retreated, dark light glinted in his eyes. He did not believe that the bald crane would be able to break open the seal so easily. If that was the case... Jing Nan Zi knew clearly just how terrifying and disastrous the catastrophe that would land on the entire Barren Lands of Divine Essence would be.

He would rather believe that this was an illusion!

'Even if it's not an illusion, the mighty cultivator from the alien race has just been released from his seal, and it's just the first of the three seals. He must definitely be incredibly weak now. That powerful presence right now is just the sediment that accumulated over the years. With his current power, it'll be impossible for him to kill me with just a finger!'

Jing Nan Zi's intelligence was definitely nothing to scoff at, since he could become a True Guard and reach such a level of cultivation over the years in True Sacred Yin World while he was just a nobody. At that moment, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he resolutely stopped retreating.

"Whether it's real or fake, whether he's strong or weak, I'll know if I test it! If it's real, then I won't be able to escape. If he's strong, then I'll definitely die!

"If that's the case, since I can't escape, then I'll try to fight and see whether this is true and whether he's strong!" Jing Nan Zi roared. The armor on his body shone with a crimson light. Once he wrapped his fingers around the long spear in his hand, he stopped moving backwards and went forward instead, charging swiftly towards the finger the Duke of Crimson Flame's finger had pointed forward.

Even Su Ming felt his heart sink during that instant. This Jing Nan Zi might be arrogant, but the resolve within him was not common. If the same thing had happened to Tian Lin, Long Li, Sun Kun, or Ye Shen Tong, they would have reacted differently, but when it came to Jing Nan Zi, he had chosen to turn back after a short moment of hesitation.

Almost at the instant Jing Nan Zi turned around and came back, a hint of mockery appeared in the dark light within the Duke of Crimson Flame's eye sockets. The moment it happened, Su Ming immediately felt his pupils shrink. He could clearly see an invisible vortex forming in the air before the Duke of Crimson Flame's right index finger. That vortex could absorb all the light from around the area. It could also absorb people's gazes and all the materials in the world. It was as if there was no power contained within that one point itself, but the power of the law contained in it seemed to be able to turn all matter that was rotting away into something amazing, causing that simple point to become the will of the world.

At the moment this happened, the Duke of Crimson Flame's feeble but awe-inspiring voice suddenly reached Su Ming's ears.

"Fellow ally from the sacred Abyss Builders, judging by the age of your soul, you should be a toddler among your people… Look closely at my finger. This is the Ultimate Secret Art among the Surging Indulgers—Indulgence!

"This Art does not contain any law in it and only uses pure physical power to break open a black hole in space to devour all aura and material. Once it does that… break the black hole. At the instant it shatters, the power of the Ultimate Art will erupt forth.

"The sacred Abyss Builders have many clones lying about. Since you chose to use my people's Art to refine your clone, then I will let you know the true power of the Surging Indulgers.

"Look carefully!"

As the Duke of Crimson Flame spoke, Su Ming immediately felt a wave of impact from all directions around him rush into his body. At the same time, he felt his soul expanding out of his physical body, swiftly starting to move outwards. In the blink of an eye, Su Ming felt that his soul had filled every spot in the collapsing sealed region.

It was as if a clear projection had appeared before his eyes. He saw every corner in the sealed region, saw all the shattered stones falling down along with the shattered places, and he also saw a shadow rushing forward swiftly through one of the tunnels. A dense aura of a divine sense was spreading out from that shadow. It was Jing Nan Zi's clone.

At the same time, Su Ming also saw… Long Li, who was running before the clone, being chased by him.

The slightly hunchbacked Long Li was pale as he fled desperately. By the looks of it, he was already at the borders of the sealed region, not far from the exit.

Yet at that moment, just like an outsider, Su Ming saw the clone that was chasing after Long Li suddenly tremble violently at the instant the invisible black hole from the Duke of Crimson Flame's finger appeared. Then, his body started twisting about in an incredibly bizarre fashion, as if he was being sucked into something. In the blink of an eye, he disintegrated as he shivered.

What disappeared along with him were the collapsing walls around the area. Some sort of aura seemed to have been sucked out of them and once it was gone, the walls were reduced to dust.

In the distance, Long Li's eyes went wide. As he let out a shrill roar, Su Ming saw the flesh and blood on his body squirming about before being torn away. First, it was his flesh and blood, then it was his bones, and finally, his Nascent Divinity. This mighty warrior in the initial stage of World Plane Realm had his body and soul destroyed in the span of a breath.

His storage bag also crumbled, and a large number of personal items scattered on the ground.

Su Ming's breathing became rapid. This might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, this lasted only while the Duke of Crimson Flame lifted his right hand and pointed forward.

Su Ming could see clearly that the space at the tip of the finger shattered. A black hole formed there, and it was this black hole that devoured everything around itself. It caused Long Li to crumble, shattered Jing Nan Zi's clone, and turned all the people and items that it shattered into power that it could devour. They were all absorbed into the hole in an invisible manner.

"I don't have any power of my own. I had simply found a faint weakness that exists everywhere within space, and I opened it… That's how this absorbing and devouring act formed. Now, I will crush it, which is how the collapse and explosion will come into being."

When the Duke of Crimson Flame's voice reverberated in the air, Su Ming saw his finger piercing through the black hole before him. This action seemed to have been slowed down several fold before Su Ming's eyes, allowing him to see the entire process clearly.

It was as if a sharp needle had just stabbed a water sack filled with water. As the water sack burst open, everything in it… exploded forth.

Bang!

The instant it exploded was also the instant Jing Nan Zi turned around. However, what waited for him was not what he believed was false or what he guessed was real. It was not a scene that proved the duke to be truly strong, or how weak Jing Nan Zi thought of him to be.

It was death. A fate he could not run away from.

With a loud clang, the long spear in Jing Nan Zi's hand fell to the ground. He stood there, stunned. Then he lowered his head. At the same time he looked over, Su Ming also saw a bloody hole at the center of his brows. There was blood gushing out of that hole.

The armor on his chest shattered, revealing another bloody hole at the spot where his heart was. Blood flowed out from that place, which was also what remained of Jing Nan Zi's life force.

"Do you understand now?"

At the instant the Duke of Crimson Flame's voice spoke up once again, another bloody hole appeared on Jing Nan Zi's nose, right under the center of his brows. At the same time, the fourth bloody hole appeared in his throat, and when Su Ming continued looking downwards, he found nine bleeding holes from the line between the center of his brows to his heart.

They went right through his body, and from the front, Su Ming could see what was behind Jing Nan Zi.

"This is a way to use power. You might not understand it now, but when you know why nine holes had appeared on his body, you will understand."

As the Duke of Crimson Flame's voice echoed in the air, he pulled back his right hand. His body was still immersed in the purplish black magma. When he looked at Su Ming with that dark light shining in his eye sockets, he turned his gaze away to look at the bald crane.

When he looked at it, a myriad of emotions flashed through Duke of Crimson Flame's eyes. There was uncertainty, shock, and also bewilderment.

In the vast galaxy beyond Crimson Flame Planet was the region where the four Great True Realms suppress the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. In that region was a strange cultivation planet.

More accurately speaking, it was not a cultivation planet, but ninety-eight cultivation planets.

This place had a very bizarre appearance, as if three squares had been stacked right on top of each other. It looked like a twisted staircase, and in each spot in that strange structure was a cultivation planet. These cultivation planets were not still and unmoving, but were circling about as if there was some law contained between them. Because of that, when anyone looked towards the strange picture formed by the ninety-eight cultivation planets, they would feel as if their hearts were shaking, as if a form of supreme will of a world was contained in the picture.

The picture formed by the ninety-eight cultivation planets was known as 'Radix' in the galaxy where the four Great True Realms suppressed the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

It was just one word, and it was said to have been derived from a name from one of the four Great True Progenitors. No one else knew the meaning behind it.

There were nineteen of these pictures that were named 'Radix' within the area in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence that belonged to the four Great True Worlds.

At that moment, a ray of brilliant light suddenly started shining on its own accord in one of the planets in this Radix, illuminating the entire galaxy in an instant. It also attracted the attention of all people from the four Great True Worlds who were stationed there to fend against the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

At the same time, as light spread out from the Radix Planets, an endless amount of faces appeared above it like a projection. These faces flashed too quickly and could not be seen clearly. This lasted for only a dozen something breaths before the projection froze on a face and no longer moved.

That face naturally belonged to Jing Nan Zi!

"Jing Nan Zi. Fourth-tier True Guard. Cultivator from True Sacred Yin World. The Treasured Bronze Tomb [1] was bestowed upon him 1 700 years ago. He died twenty breaths ago in Crimson Flame Planet's sealed region… He died… due to Indulgence, the Art that belongs to the Surging Indulgers, who are one of the alien races," an aloof and emotionless voice explained languidly, its voice reaching all the Radix Planets. Once the message was over, an uproar immediately broke out in the four Great True World's Region of Suppression.

While it had been some time since a True Guard had died, that was not the reason why the shouts rung in the air. It was all due to where he died, from what divine ability, and that member of the alien race had killed him!

The Surging Indulgers! The alien race!

Indulgence! The race's inborn Art!

Translator's Note:

1. Treasured Bronze Tomb: The coffin used by Jing Nan Zi to travel to Crimson Flame Planet

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