Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-524

As Yun Lai smiled, he even moved back a little and left the spot where Fang Cang Lan was to avoid any misunderstandings. In truth, he had already made preparations before he came to this place.

After all, he had already sensed the presence that swept through the entire Southern Swamp Island before seeing the change in the mountain where Fang Cang Lan was. Once he made the connections, he could guess what had happened pretty easily.

When he saw the layouts of the Runes and felt the remaining ripples in the air once he came over, he became wary of the mysterious person who had suddenly come to Southern Swamp Island.

Yun Lai had always been a cautious man and would not attack easily, especially in the face of an enemy he could not see through. Su Ming, who was standing before his eyes right then, was one such person.

Even if he thought that Fang Cang Lan was very important, the woman was too fierce and her divine abilities were strange. She might not have a high level of cultivation, but it was still enough to make it difficult for Yun Lai to make her submit to him. That was why he had chosen to be kind to her to win her heart. However, compared to offending the person before him, his cautious nature had made him choose to put this on hold.

In his mind, he had already humbled himself despite his level of cultivation, then this person should not choose to stir conflict with him. Then Yun Lai would have enough time to understand him. He had plenty of time in his hands for that.

This decisive surrender was why he could become the chief of an area before and after the calamity, and also the main reason why he could survive till now. If he came face to face with a fight he had no confidence in winning, he would try his best to not engage in battle.

It was just that he ran into Su Ming…

Su Ming’s expression remained aloof. Almost at the instant Yun Lai spoke with a smile, he took a step forward, then like an arrow that left the bow, he arrived before him.

He was so quick that he closed in on the man in the blink of an eye. Yun Lai’s expression changed, and he immediately took a few steps backwards, then lifted his right hand and waved his arm. Immediately, the distortions around him spread forward, charging straight towards Su Ming and crashing into the finger Su Ming had extended as he closed in on Yun Lai.

A loud bang echoed in the air. Su Ming’s expression remained calm and golden light flashed around his entire body. In the midst of the rumbling sounds, his body did not move back even a single inch, and he simply bore through the rebounding waves with raw power before he continued moving forward.

As for Yun Lai, he felt a huge power tumbling backwards and crashing into him, and his body shook. It made him retreat a hundred something feet as rumbling sounds reverberated in the air. His face turned stark white, and he immediately lifted his head to glare at Su Ming, who was walking over.

"You’re going overboard. I’ve already given up and handed over the woman to you! There are no grudges nor any form of enmity between us, why do you do this?!"

"I do not need a reason to kill," Su Ming said calmly. In his eyes, this Yun Lai had to die. Even if it was not for Fang Cang Lai, Zi Yan’s words alone had already convinced Su Ming to kill this person.

If he really had to provide a reason, then it was because he wanted to be able to say that he had not turned a blind eye towards Zi Yan to his second senior brother. He believed that if his second senior brother was here, he would do the same.

With one move, he lifted his right hand and swiftly hurled his fist forward. That punch landed in the air, and shocking booms immediately rang out. Yun Lai let out a low growl and lifted his hands to form a seal. A layer of red fog immediately appeared before him.

The fog tumbled about and turned into numerous shadows. Each and every single one of them were women, and with piercing screeches, they pounced on Su Ming from all sides.

Once they were struck by Su Ming’s fist in midair, the entire Southern Swamp Island trembled furiously, and all the shadows crumbled. Yun Lai’s expression changed continuously, and he started charging back.

Su Ming walked out of the crumbling red fog and looked towards Yun Lai, who was already in midair and leaving this place. He lifted his right hand and seized the air. A gigantic vortex immediately appeared in the fake sky. That vortex rotated and charged towards Su Ming’s right hand with loud, rumbling sounds. In the blink of an eye, it arrived in his right hand as if he had caught hold of it, and he swung it towards the sky.

The instant he swung his hand, it was as if the vortex of wind exploded and turned into a violent gust of wind that lashed out in all directions. It caught up with the fleeing Yun Lai, and the moment it swept past him, light spilled out from Yun Lai’s whole body. Once he bore through it with raw power, blood trickled down from the corners of his lips, and he paused for a moment.

At the same moment, Su Ming took a step forward with an expressionless face and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already standing right before Yun Lai. Terror appeared in the man’s eyes. When he had attacked just then, Yun Lai had immediately felt a strong offensive power erupting forth from Su Ming’s body. It was such that he could not hope to stand against it. In fact, when he had thrown that one punch and one jab, Yun Lai had the impression that he had come face to face with the calamity that had fallen on South Morning all those years ago.

In his eyes, this person was completely unreasonable. He had already humbled himself, but this person still attacked. This made Yun Lai seethe in anger, but he could do nothing about it.

‘Damn it. This person’s level of cultivation is so high, and he’s being completely unreasonable. This is…’ When he saw Su Ming getting closer to him, a life-and-death sense of danger filled Yun Lai’s heart and body. As he retreated hastily, he quickly spoke once again.

"Sir, let me speak! I may have protected this Fang Cang Lan for many years, but I’ve never touched even a single strand of hair on her head!

"As for that Zi Yan, if it wasn’t for me, she would have died a long time ago in the chaos of the calamity. This is a trade, I didn’t do anything wrong!"

Yun Lai’s words did not make Su Ming stop for even a single moment. He simply continued calmly moving forward, and when he closed in once again, he waved his right hand, and bolts of lightning instantly swam in the air as thunder roared, and a dozen something balls of lightning appeared in the air. As they swam about, they fused together with the balls of lightning and charged straight towards Yun Lai.

"Sir, how could you be so unreasonable?! Do you really think that I’m afraid of you?!"

When Yun Lai saw that Su Ming had completely ignored his words, his pupils shrank. With a low roar, he stretched his arms apart, and immediately, his statue of the God of Berserkers appeared behind him. That statue had nine arms and three eyes at the center of its brows. Once it manifested itself, it swiftly grew larger. Dark light started flashing on its body, and it lifted all nine of its arms at the same time to press down on Su Ming.

At the same time, Yun Lai bit the tip of his tongue and coughed out a mouthful of blood. It immediately exploded and turned into a layer of blood fog. Yun Lai stretched his right hand inside and seized at something. Then, an impressive, long, and blood-red blade was pulled out of the fog.

Once Yun Lai lifted it up, he sat down in the air and a string of incantations spilled out from his mouth. The long, blood-red blade hummed and murderous aura shot into the sky before spreading out. About a hundred souls of women surrounded that long blade, and it sliced down toward Su Ming.

Su Ming’s expression was as calm as usual. The instant the statue closed in on him, he lifted his right hand and seized the air in its direction. The seemingly simple grasp immediately caused booming sounds to come from the entirety of the incoming statue. Cracks appeared on it, and the instant they spread out, Su Ming closed his hand into a fist, looking as if he had gripped something.

The statue immediately exploded with a loud bang, and red threads of aura spilled out from its body, charging towards Su Ming’s right hand. That seize and grip was one of the divine abilities born of a binary opposite, which Su Ming had mastered in the Undying and Imperishable World.

At that moment, red aura surrounded Su Ming’s arm. It looked like fog, and it was formed when Yun Lai’s statue of the God of Berserkers shattered. There was also a large layer of red fog tumbling about before him. Within it was a long, blood-red blade, and it was charging straight towards him.

"Nine Transformations, Ten Transfigurations, One Voice!" Su Ming said calmly.

His Nascent Divinity spread out abruptly and enveloped him before turning into his own Nascent Divinity’s body. This Nascent Divinity stared at the long blade and a brilliant flash appeared in its eyes. The shadow of the incoming blade gradually appeared in his eyes. At the same time, the red aura tumbled about around Su Ming’s right arm and also turned into a long red blade!

This was the Immortal’s divine ability which Su Ming had obtained - Hong Luo’s Nine Transformations Art, which was a part of the Nine Transformations, Ten Transfigurations, One Voice Art.

This Art was activated in an instant and turned into the long red blade in Su Ming’s right hand. He lifted it up and sliced up towards the same long red blade that was coming down from the sky.

Rumbling sounds spread out, and the two long blades shattered completely together, but before the shards disappeared, Su Ming let out a breath, and that breath turned into a violent gust of wind that swept up the blood-red blade fragments to charge towards Yun Lai.

"Zong Ze! If I die, Southern Swamp Island will return to the surface of the sea! Are you still going to standby and do nothing?!"

Shock and terror appeared on Yun Lai’s face. Su Ming’s strength had far exceeded his expectations, and he was also shocked by the divine abilities Su Ming possessed. When he saw the blood-red blade fragments charging towards him with a sharp whistle, he hastily fled and immediately started shouting.

Almost the instant he let out that roar, a sigh echoed in the world, and Zong Ze took a step out of the air beside the retreating Yun Lai. The instant he walked out, he looked at Su Ming with a complicated gaze. Yun Lai continued fleeing behind him, charging straight towards his cave abode as his heart roared madly. He still had one killing move left, but he had to return to his cave abode before he could execute it with the help of the offerings there.

Zong Ze stood face to face against the incoming shard storm in the midst of all his mixed feelings. He lifted his right hand, formed a seal, and pushed forward. His body instantly touched the shard storm that was sweeping towards him, and booming sounds reverberated in the air.

Another person appeared behind Zong Ze. That person looked a little old, and judging by his looks, he was Zong Ze as well. Immediately after, another person appeared, and that person was also Zong Ze, but he looked even older.

Eight of these increasingly older figures appeared and stood in a line to resist the wind before they eventually fused together, turning back into Zong Ze. He spread his arms wide open, and a presence belonging to an End Shaman instantly turned into a screen of light that separated Su Ming and the rapidly fleeing Yun Lai.

"If my friend Yun Lai dies, then Southern Swamp will face a great change. There are thousands of Shamans and Berserkers on this island, please…"

Before Zong Ze could finish speaking, his pupils shrank and he immediately took a few steps backwards. His presence as an End Shaman shot up in his body once again, and at the same moment, he formed a seal with both his hands and tapped a few spots on his body before a dark light flickered in his eyes.

The reason behind his actions was because violet light had started flashing on Su Ming’s body as he continued walking towards him. That violet light was like flowing water. Once it covered Su Ming’s entire body, it turned into a set of violet armor. At the same time, Su Ming lifted his right hand, and during that process, that violet light spread out, and a long violet spear of several dozens of feet appeared in a stunning manner right before Zong Ze’s eyes.

Power. Madness. Slaughter. These sensations ripped into Zong Ze’s heart, causing a dazed expression to appear briefly in his eyes. It felt as if his heart and soul had been dragged into a vortex called the abyss.

The instant clarity returned to his eyes, he found himself facing a sight that he would never forget - a violet hue that filled the entire sky. He saw Su Ming rising his hand and tossing that long spear swiftly outwards. With a hum, it shot through the isolation light screen Zong Ze had placed up, and the light screen could not fight back even for a single moment. It exploded into pieces, and during that instant, the long spear turned into a purple shadow that surged into the sky and charged straight towards the clouds. It was so quick that it seemed like it had sliced through the world to pierce through the utterly shocked and terrified Yun Lai.

As he let out screams of pain, he exploded, and that long spear stabbed into an empty mountain in the distance with a bang. That mountain shuddered and was reduced to ashes...

Su Ming stood in midair. The violet light covering his entire body quickly faded away, and the armor changed to fine threads that seeped into his body. The long spear he had thrown out just now into the distance also turned into a ray of violet light that returned to Su Ming’s hand. In the span of a breath, he returned to his normal self, and he wrapped his hand in his fist towards Zong Ze in an apology.

"Sorry, my hand slipped."

Translator's Thoughts

Mogumoguchan Mogumoguchan

Preview to next chapter: I'll Do One Thing

Zong Ze tells Su Ming about Scour Sieve Island