Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-550

The world was still colored crimson red at the fourth layer, but this shade of red was completely different from the third layer. The third layer’s red was due to the sky being dyed with blood, but the fourth layer’s crimson was due to the illumination of flames!

The entire sky looked as if it was burning, and hot waves of wind filled the entire world the instant Su Ming stepped into the fourth layer.

The entire land was burning with a sea of fire. Within it was a mountain, and that mountain towered in the sky. However, it was still surrounded by the sea of fire, and there were clouds of smoke rising into the sky from inside it.

It was a volcano!

The volcano’s summit was in the shape of a ring, and a middle-aged man was sitting there. He looked incredibly handsome, and he was sitting as if he did not know what heat meant.

His hair was red like fire, and his clothes were also red, as if they were burning in flames.

The moment Su Ming stepped into the fourth layer, that person lifted his head. There was a mark of flames at the center of his brows, and a hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. However, there was a hint of malice contained within that smile.

When he saw Su Ming, flames appeared in his eyes, as if they were burning.

"It’s been a long time." A hoarse voice slowly came from his lips. At the same moment his words traveled through the area, the sea of fire in the world roared and started burning even more furiously.

Su Ming stood in midair and looked at the red-robed man calmly.

"It has been a long time indeed, He Feng."

The moment Su Ming said that name, the red-robed man lifted his head and laughed at the sky. Arrogance could be heard within his laughter, along with madness.

It was true! He was He Feng!

He was Su Ming’s first opponent when he was still in Han Mountain City, and the two of them continued crossing each other’s paths until He Feng ended up becoming his servant, until he betrayed Su Ming during the great war between the Shamans and Berserkers, and until the moment they met each other again within Heaven Gate after twenty years!

"He Feng… I haven’t heard anyone calling me by that name for some time…"

The smile on He Feng’s lips became even more malicious. He looked at Su Ming, and as he continued laughing, he slowly stood up on the volcano and swung his arm.

"Now, I am Heaven Gate’s Right Envoy… the Marquis Fire Berserker who controls an endless amount of lives in my hands!"

As He Feng’s words traveled through the air and as he swung his right hand forward, the volcano behind him immediately erupted, and a large amount of lava swiftly gushed out. The waves of black smoke in the sky started sweeping through the area, causing the world to become hotter with each passing moment.

During the eruption, Su Ming even saw some black skeletons within the lava. They were bones belonging to the elderly and the young, and they were rapidly being crushed by the lava…

"To welcome you, I’ve turned the fourth layer into a sea of fire, turning the entire tribe in this world into sacrifices to my flames, because they wanted to help you with their full strength by fighting against you.

"Only this sort of world is worthy of my status as Marquis Fire Berserker. This is the only world that is worthy of becoming our battlefield!" As He Feng spoke, he took a step forward.

"I am the true Fire Berserker!"

When he said those words, he formed a seal with his left hand and pointed towards the ground. Immediately, the sea of fire there surged into the sky. As the flames tumbled about, all of them swept towards Su Ming.

Once He Feng pointed at the ground, he then pointed towards the sky, and in an instant, the sky started burning, surging towards Su Ming as well, along with the flames from the ground that were roaring loudly.

Su Ming remained as calm as ever, and not much change could be detected on his face. He looked at the arrogant He Feng with a cold and detached gaze, then shook his head.

"You’re not worthy of becoming my opponent." Su Ming lifted his right hand, and the instant the flames from the sky and earth surged towards him from all directions, he seized the air before him with his right hand.

The sea of fire around him immediately shuddered and tumbled towards his palm. The sea of fire behind him also swept past him after briefly submerging his body within itself. This scene was quite astonishing from the distance. The endless sea of fire seemed to be under Su Ming’s total control and was gathering in his right hand.

It was as if Su Ming was the king of these flames. As the sea of fire gathered together on his palm, it turned into a gigantic fireball.

That fireball burned with loud cracking sounds, and was lifted up by Su Ming’s right hand. He looked towards He Feng coldly.

A ferocious expression appeared on He Feng’s face. A strange glare began sparkling in his eyes, and his lips curled up into a cold sneer.

The instant that sneer appeared, a human face abruptly protruded out of the fireball that seemed to be under Su Ming’s control. That human face belonged to He Feng. He opened his mouth wide, and as if the fireball had been split into two, it went on to devour Su Ming. This was a manifestation of the will contained within the fireball.

Su Ming lifted his head and looked at He Feng who was moving in to devour him with his mouth wide open, then looked at the burning fireball, which was serving as He Feng’s body.

"You fused your will into fire. Not bad, you’ve been training really seriously over the years, but…" Su Ming said calmly, and the instant the fireball went on to devour him, he lifted his right hand a little higher and clenched his fist.

The gigantic fireball that was already less than five feet away from him trembled abruptly, and in an instant, it exploded with a bang.

As it exploded, a large amount of the sea of fire flowed backwards, but not a single ember touched Su Ming. He stood at the center of the collapsing fireball and looked at He Feng while shaking his head.

"...You’re still lacking."

He Feng’s pupils shrank, and with a low growl, he leaped into the sky. While in midair, the robes on his back immediately tore apart, and a pair of black wings showed up. As he flapped those wings, flames filled the air above his head, and he began forming a seal with his hands. When He Feng looked towards Su Ming, a cruel expression appeared on his face, and he pushed his hands forward.

"Still lacking? Wings of Fire!"

As he roared and pushed forward, he bit the tip of his tongue and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Once it appeared, it started burning, and when the flames gathered together, they turned into a Wings of the Moon!

However, this Wings of the Moon was filled with fire. Brutality was in its eyes, and a howl tumbled out of its lips. Its body was formed by He Feng’s blood, and it was born from fire. Once it appeared, it roared, and a large number of its kind immediately appeared around him. In the blink of an eye, almost a hundred of these fire Wings of the Moon appeared before He Feng.

When He Feng pointed towards Su Ming, these fire Wings of the Moon howled and charged forward.

A ferocious grin appeared on He Feng’s lips. He was confident that he had completely escaped Su Ming’s control and turned into a real Fire Berserker. During the past twenty years, he had been constantly hoping that he could meet Su Ming again. He wanted to let him know that he was the only Fire Berserker in the world!

Even if his status as the Fire Berserker originated from Su Ming, He Feng was confident that he was the superior one!

The acts of fusing his will into fire and turning the Wings of the Moon who were loyal towards Su Ming into flames were the source of He Feng’s confidence. He believed that he could definitely kill Su Ming. He would absolutely be able to end the grudge he bore from all those years ago!

When the near hundred fire Wings of the Moon charged towards Su Ming, He Feng also took a step forward. Flames appeared out of thin air around him and surrounded his body, turning into a fire Wings of the Moon that was a thousand feet tall. It enveloped him within, causing him to turn into that Wings of the Moon itself!

Su Ming still remained as composed as ever in the face of the multiple changes in He Feng’s Fire Berserker Arts. At that moment, he lifted his right hand slowly, dipped his head down to look at his palm, or more precisely, at the palm lines on his hand.

"You, who do not even know what is a true Fire Berserker, who do not even know why a Fire Berserker is born… are still lacking, even in the end."

Su Ming clenched his right hand, and when he unfurled his fist, three pearls appeared in his hand.

The instant the three pearls appeared, the incoming near hundred fire Wings of the Moon suddenly started shivering, and all of them exploded together with a loud bang, turning into an endless amount of flames that surged towards Su Ming’s right hand.

The change in the fire Wings of the Moon caused He Feng to be momentarily stunned. During that instant, he discovered, much to his shock, that his body, which had turned into the thousand feet Wings of the Moon, started to become greatly unstable. Before he could register what was happening, the Wings of the Moon which he had become exploded with a bang, turning once again into flames that charged towards the three pearls on Su Ming’s palm.

The instant He Feng saw the those pearls, a feeling that his heart was shaking and trembling while his power started to show signs of scattering away rose within him. The instant this feeling appeared, He Feng discovered, much to his horrified surprise, that he seemed to have lost all connection with the world at that instant!

It was as if the world was rejecting him, as if the flames that should have been so familiar to him that they were a part of him had become something strange to him.

And all of this was because those three pearls had appeared in Su Ming’s hand!

The flames in the world surged towards Su Ming’s palm with loud rumbling sounds. In an instant, when all the flames had been absorbed by the three pearls, not a single ember was left of the sea of fire in the world. Even the volcano stopped producing any flames after a violent tremor wrecked its body, as if every last flame within it had been extinguished.

"What is fire? Why do you wish to obtain fire? Why do you wish to control fire? You don’t even have the answers to these questions, and you dare call yourself the Fire Berserker before me?" Su Ming clenched his fist and put away the three pearls as he looked at He Feng coldly.

Right up to that point of time, Su Ming had never attacked. He simply allowed He Feng to continue executing his divine abilities and watched as if he was looking at a clown. At that moment, He Feng’s face turned pale under Su Ming’s gaze, and madness appeared in his eyes.

"Impossible. I am the Fire Berserker. I am the true Fire Berserker!" As he roared, he moved forward, and just as he was about to continue executing his divine abilities, Su Ming shook his head.

"You are not the Fire Berserker, and neither am I, because I… do not lack fire in my Life!"

Su Ming took a step forward and swung his right arm forward. That one swing immediately caused a violent gust of wind to appear before He Feng out of nowhere. It turned into a whirlwind that exploded the instant it touched him, turning into a loud bang that surged into the skies. It caused He Feng to cough up blood and forced him to take a few steps back.

He was rejected by fire, and he could no longer feel any traces of it.

"I am the Fire Berserker! I have already given up everything in my life to the flames in the world! I am the person who is the most devoted to fire in the world! I… am the true Fire Berserker!"

As He Feng coughed up blood, his face twisted with a ferocious expression. Without caring about the injuries he sustained on his body, he lifted his head and roared towards the sky. He had very little to no rationale left within him when he began shouting. The only things left in his mind was an unwillingness to admit defeat and a will that surged to the skies!

He had always believed that he was the true Fire Berserker. Over the past twenty years, fire had been his companion, and that was the source of how he managed to stand above everyone else and obtain his current status. Yet now, before Su Ming, his right to control fire had been stripped away from him. This was something he could not accept. This was something that drove him mad!

As he roared… a hint of fire appeared on his body, even though there was no longer any flames in this world!