Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming did not know anything about Lu Ya. He was not unfamiliar with this name. He was the Sublime Paragon of the Fifth True World and the master of the treasured gourd. He once chased the bald crane to the ends of the universe after it lost its memories, though Su Ming had no idea which time it was.

The fact that he was one of the four Apostles of Happiness, Anger, Grief, and Resentment was everything that Su Ming knew about him.

But no matter who he was and how he had lived his life, Su Ming would obey Tian Xie Zi. Since Tian Xie Zi wanted that person to die, then Su Ming would attack.

Besides, Lu Ya had once chased the bald crane to the ends of the earth. With how protective Su Ming was of the ones he cared, regardless of whether what the bald crane did was right and whether Tian Xie Zi’s words were objective, Su Ming would still choose to kill Lu Ya.

He watched Tian Xie Zi leave into the distance, then slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was already standing before a black-robed man in the third layer of the galaxy.

There was a sinister and cold presence spreading out from that person. His eyes under the hood were freezing, and he looked at Su Ming coldly. He was the one who had said that the drop of blood would be able to deceive Su Ming while he was in Dark Dawn’s camp.

Su Ming cast a glance at the black-robed man and said faintly, “Lu Ya?”

A glint appeared in the black-robed man’s eyes. His expression grew wary, but also ghastly. He took a few steps back before turning into a long arc that swiftly rushed back. He seemed to be able to sense killing intent from the person before him.

Su Ming watched the black-robed man leave into the distance, then lifted his right hand and swung his arm. With it, the galaxy before him roared, distorting as if it was about to crumble. It swept towards the black-robed man, who was retreating swiftly, but who was still unable to avoid the destructive power that came from Su Ming.

When he saw that he was about to be struck, the black-robed man let out a shrill cry, came to a halt, and turned his head around. He formed a seal and pointed forward. The next moment, the shadow of a huge gourd appeared behind him. It had ninety-nine eyes, and at that moment, all of them opened to look at Su Ming.

“Treasured gourd, please kill him!”

When the black-robed man spoke hoarsely, the ninety-nine eyes shone, and ninety-nine wisps of white smoke flew out from the gourd. They turned into ninety-nine small humans that screamed together before turning into Su Ming charging towards him.

Thick murderous aura spread out from them. Su Ming immediately understood that all ninety-nine of the small humans had participated in the three black-robed men’s act of pretending to be him while slaughtering the cultivators from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier.

“The strongest of this aeon… That young Tian Xie Zi’s disciple and the brutish Lie Shan Xiu’s fellow kinsman, hmm? I’d like to see just what makes you the strongest!”

Lu Ya swung his arm, and the ninety-nine eyes staring at Su Ming shone with killing intent. They rushed towards him, and a powerful presence erupted from their bodies. In the blink of an eye, they caused the galaxy to tremble.

During that moment, the ninety-nine Su Mings raised their right hands together and swung their arms, imitating his previous action. The moment they did that, the space before them distorted and shattered. They had completely imitated Su Ming’s divine ability.

Booming sounds spread in every direction. The ninety-nine Su Mings’ act of destroying space turned into a destructive power that formed a storm in the galaxy. It charged towards the destructive Art Su Ming had cast.

At the instant the two forces crashed into each other, deafening bang spread through the area with an intensity that could shake the sky and earth. As space shattered, the destructive power before Su Ming enveloped the ninety-nine Su Mings formed by the small humans like a tidal wave.

When it swept through the area, the little humans let out shrill screams of pain, and their flesh and blood were torn apart. They fell back, and most of them were immediately reduced to ashes.

The remaining few fell back in a disheveled state. Their bodies trembled, and it was difficult for them to keep Su Ming’s form. Soon, they turned back into their original forms.

Shrill, crazed screams tumbled out of their mouths, but before they could do anything, the galactic storm Su Ming had formed when he flung his arm turned into a black hand that closed in on them. It spread open and seized them.The palm had grown to the size where its end could not be seen and seized the galaxy as well as all the remaining small humans.

With one squeeze, the galaxy rumbled. The remaining small humans all shattered while screaming in pain. But this was not the end. The black fist formed by Su Ming might have seized the galaxy, but it did not manage to grasp Lu Ya.

Once he fisted his hand, he threw a punch that instantly closed in on Lu Ya. At the instant the punch was thrown, Lu Ya distorted and changed places with the illusory gourd behind him, making it so the gourd had to face the punch formed by Su Ming’s divine ability.

The punch landed, and loud booming sounds filled the galaxy, causing it to tremble and show signs of shattering. When the loud bang echoed in the air, the huge gourd shuddered. It was only able to last for three breaths before it shattered to pieces.

The force from it tumbled backwards, affecting Lu Ya, who was retreating at that moment. Lu Ya jolted, feeling as if a violent gust of wind had come crashing against his face. Most of his black robe was immediately torn, especially the hood covering his face. It was ripped to shreds… revealing a middle-aged man’s face!

It was a face filled with firm resolution. Only his dark and sinister gaze caused the feeling he originally gave off to change. Because of his eyes, he gave off a sullen and cold-blooded air. There was a mark at the center of his brow, and it shaped into a gourd.

His gaze was like a blade, and it was fixated on Su Ming at that moment. Blood trickled down the corners of his lips, and it served as a background for the dark expression on his face. He exuded a feeling that Su Ming did not like.

“You should not have appeared, the Fifth True World should not have appeared, and the Abyss Builders should not have appeared even more so… The strongest in this aeon should have been me. The one with all the kismet gathered on me during the final aeon of this Harmonious Morus Alba should have been me!”

Lu Ya’s voice was low. He did not shout. Once he spoke, he brought his right hand up and swiftly struck the center of his brow. With it, the mark of the gourd instantly turned red.

At the same time, his aura increased exponentially. His right hand also swelled up several times its original size. He raised his head and lifted his right hand, then with a cold sneer at the corners of his lips, he punched the space beneath him.

That punch stirred up a ripple whose center was his right hand. The ripple spread out like a tidal wave, and it looked like it would crush the galaxy, reducing the world formed by Su Ming’s True Morning Dao World’s will into pieces.

In truth, he could really do so. The world manifested by Su Ming’s True Morning Dao World’s will shattered under his punch, and True Morning Dao World’s galaxy revealed itself.

Lu Ya threw his head back and laughed. He lifted his right hand and struck space again. This time, his body trembled violently, and overlapping shadows immediately appeared on him. In the blink of an eye, he gained thousands of clones, and all of them tumbled backwards in all directions, tearing through space and stepping into the galaxy. They were not running away, but were using different methods to head to Ninth Summit’s world.

“Su Ming, you only have a little time. If you can’t completely wipe off all of my clones… then your Ninth Summit will disappear from this world forever!” Lu Ya’s thousands of clones said at the same time. Their voices echoed from every direction as if they were about to reach every corner of True Morning Dao World.

From the beginning till the end, Su Ming’s expression remained indifferent. Even when Lu Ya escaped from the world he formed with his True World’s will and the thousands of clones spread out, his expression did not change.

Only when Lu Ya said that he wanted to make Ninth Summit disappear from the world did a cold glare appear in Su Ming’s eyes. They shone with killing intent, and he slowly lifted his head.

“You gave me… another reason to kill you,” Su Ming said faintly in response to Lu Ya’s crazed laughter.

Lu Ya’s clones had already ripped apart the space, and Ninth Summit could be seen in the distance. In fact, some of the clones had already rushed over, and once they ran into the cultivators of Ninth Summit, they attacked.

But… Lu Ya soon realized that Ninth Summit disciples his clones met did not seem to have noticed any danger. It was as if they could not see Lu Ya’s clones. They did not seem to have noticed or even heard them, and it filled Lu Ya’s heart with trepidation.

When, the clones that charged into Ninth Summit were about to begin their slaughter, Lu Ya discovered to his shock that Ninth Summit disciples seemed to have become illusory. Divine abilities cast by his clones simply seeped through them as if they did not exist.

Soon, he came to a realization as to what was happening. What were illusory were not Ninth Summit disciples, but his clones!

“You never left,” Su Ming said faintly, and the hearts of all Lu Ya’s clones trembled. They looked around and immediately found that they were still in the world that Su Ming had formed and which was isolated from the rest of the universe.

It seemed to be a world inside a mirror. They could see what was happening outside, but could not touch it…

Lu Ya might have thought that he had left, but in truth… right when that thought appeared in his head, he was already stuck in that world forever.

Lu Ya’s expression was incredibly sour. His clones moved again and spread through the area. They tore at space again, then stepped through those cracks again, then saw True Morning Dao World once more…

This process repeated itself again and again. Lu Ya continued tearing at the world as if he had gone mad, but every single time, he found that he was still in True Morning Dao World, and there seemed to be countless worlds around him that were all… also True Morning Dao World.

Only Su Ming remained standing in place. His expression had never changed since the beginning. He only watched Lu Ya’s clones continue tearing space with an uninterested expression.

“Since you can’t escape, then may everything turn to dust.”

When Su Ming said those words out of the blue, he closed his eyes. As he did so, the entire world shuddered and shattered. Lu Ya’s clones shattered along with it, which made Lu Ya’s expression change drastically.