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Chapter 1465: Descent Upon One Dao Sect!
"I'm back," Su Ming said calmly.
At the instant he said those words, cracks appeared on the coffin where Dao Han was. They spread out with every passing second. After a moment, the coffin shattered, and Dao Han walked out of it.
His face was still pale, but there was a hint of madness and excitement in his eyes. That excitement was something incredibly rare for him. He stared at Su Ming in a daze, and after a long time had passed, he threw his head back and laughed.
"It's good that you're back…"
Dao Han, that powerful cultivator who was once rather cold to Su Ming and whom Su Ming had also treated coldly, laughed loudly. Yet once he spoke, anguish appeared in his smile.
"They're dead, they're all dead. Xu Zhong Fan passed away. The great sect elders died one by one. Only two other great sect elders besides me remain. Right now, there are only three of us left.
"Seven Moons Sect only has three great sect elders… My injuries might seem heavy, but they are the lightest of the three of us. One of them had his body destroyed, and only his Nascent Divinity remains, and the other had most of his Nascent Divinity destroyed. I don't know whether they will even wake up anymore."
Dao Han took a few steps back, and in his anguish, monstrous hate appeared in his eyes.
Su Ming was quiet for a while before he said slowly, "One Dao Sect, huh?"
"Yes, it's One Dao Sect. When all the dimensions where the Tree of Dao Verification was located shattered, many of the cultivators from the seven sects and twelve clans died. During the century after that event, the two Great Dao Paragons from One Dao Sect, Bai Lu and Chi Yang descended in Seven Moons Sect and started slaughtering us.
"In the end, if it was not because Sect Master Gu Tai who acted with no hesitation in choosing to give up on the possibility to become a Great Dao Paragon and self-destructing so that he could summon the ancestral spirits of Seven Moons Sect to descend among us, thereby forcing Bai Lu and Chi Yang to temporarily retreat; if the sect master's old friends did not come to help; and if Immortal Qing Han of Asura Clan did not come forth to put a stop to it, then… what you would have found would only be ruins.
"They're all dead…"
Dao Han's laughter was shrill and forlorn. When his voice echoed in the air, it was as if all the innocent souls who died in the slaughter within the seventh Sky Beyond the Sky had started howling.
"Third prince, you…"
As Dao Han spoke, Su Ming turned around and walked away. Judging by the looks of it, he seemed to be about to leave the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. His action filled Dao Han with anguish, and when he looked at Su Ming's back, he found that he could not say a single word.
He knew that the third prince could help Seven Moons Sect, but if the enemy was One Dao Sect, then even if he became a Great Dao Paragon, he would still be slightly wary. He had just come back to take a look at them because he wanted to play his part in the relationship he had formed with Seven Moons Sect in the past.
Despite his anguish, Dao Han would not make over-the-top requests. He only hoped that Seven Moons Sect would come under his protection and there would come a day when they could return to glory.
It was Gu Tai's wish before he died, and it was also Xu Zhong Fan's wish. Right then, it had become Dao Han's wish as well.
"It's difficult for me to stay for long in Ancient Zang… but I will make One Dao Sect pay with blood for every drop they spilled. This will be my way of returning the kindness Seven Moons Sect had showed me."
When Su Ming was about to walk out of the seventh Sky Beyond the Sky, his footsteps came to a halt. After he spoke, he stepped out of the seventh layer.
His words echoed in the air and reached Dao Han's ears, causing him to fall silent while he watched Su Ming leave into the distance.
Pay with blood for every drop they spilled—those words represented what Su Ming thought and contained within them a bloodthirsty intent. The events of the past appeared before Dao Han's eyes and he remembered what had happened when he first met Su Ming.
Su Ming left Seven Moons Sect and the region where it was. He walked quietly in the sky until he came to a forest. He remembered that what he was looking for was located right next to a small mountain village.
He looked at it from a distance, and a melancholic look appeared in his eyes. The village… was no longer around. In fact, there was not even a ruin left behind. Everything had become part of the forest.
The span of two thousand something years could change many things. The scenery may remain the same, but the people were no longer the same. This constantly happened in every corner of the world.
No signs of the mountain village remained. The constant sound of someone chopping wood had also become quiet murmurs in the passage of time.
Su Ming stared at it from midair for a long, long time, until he eventually descended. Based on what he remembered, he walked past each spot where the village once was in the forest.
He walked past the blacksmith's shop, the vintner's house, and the old man's house while looking at the trees around him. Then, Su Ming sat down quietly at the spot where the old man's house was, just like how he had sat in the old man's courtyard to chop wood and listen to the old man's occasionally disconnected words.
As he sat there quietly, the sun set and rose the next morning. Dawn arrived, then dusk dropped by. There was no longer the sound of anyone cutting wood, no white dogs followed him anymore, and the old man's constant chattering could no longer be heard.
Only Su Ming remained there. He sat quietly until snow fell from the sky and landed on his body as well as his head.
It snowed for an entire night. When the sun rose and morning arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes. He stood up, then turned his head around to cast a glance at the world behind him as well as around him. In silence, he then walked through the forest into the distance.
His back was very desolate. There was loneliness about him as well as the air of defeat. The sun could not shine on him, and only the wind and snow remained, as if they would accompany him for the rest of his journey. However, while the snow appeared the same, in truth… once he walked into the distance, he noticed that the snowflakes by his side were no longer the same as the ones in the past.
They seemed the same, but they were different. Only the wind by his side appeared to be the same for eternity.
Su Ming continued walking until he walked out of the forest. Under the morning sun, he walked into the sky and continued moving forward… until he reached a temple one day.
That temple looked very worn down, like it would collapse if wind so much as blew against it or snow fell on its roof but it still continued to stand tall. The ancient air around it bore testimony to how the temple had existed for countless years since it was built.
There were three statues in the temple, and their faces could no longer be seen clearly. The only things that could be seen of them were the cracks that could be found everywhere on their bodies. They were packed densely together, and covered the statues from head to toe.
The temple was very quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the moans of the wind outside. Aside from them, nothing else could be heard.
Su Ming quietly walked into the temple. His gaze was cold and aloof when he cast a glance at the three statues.
With his level of cultivation right then, it was not difficult for him to locate One Dao Sect.
"One Dao Sect…"
When Su Ming said those words flatly, he lifted his right hand and swung it before himself. With it, while the sky outside remained the same and the wind continued to moan, a storm rose up in the temple. It instantly swept through the entire temple with an astonishing roar, and light came out of the cracks on the three statues as if they wanted to create a Rune that resembled a net.
Su Ming's expression was calm. At the instant the net-like Rune appeared, he lifted his foot and took a step forward. The net-like Rune was unable to withstand the pressure of his approach and began to shatter layer by layer. In the span of a single breath, it broke apart completely, allowing Su Ming to step through it without any problems.
When his foot landed, he seemed to have stepped on air. The area around him twisted as if time had distorted. When everything became clear, he appeared in a world covered in dark clouds. It was shrouded in darkness. From a distance, countless volcanoes and three big statues could be seen in the area.
Two of the statues were badly damaged!
The moment Su Ming stepped into the world, the sky rotating swiftly, as if a huge vortex was about to be formed. Piercing shrieks echoed in the air in warning to the cultivators of the land that a powerful enemy had invaded their midst.
"One Dao Sect… Since the people of this sect love using Great Dao Paragons to step into other sects and clans, suppressing them with their power, then today, I might as well try it out."
When Su Ming said those words flatly, his voice spread through the entirety of One Dao Sect's world.
The volcanoes in the distance crumbled with a bang, unable to withstand the mighty pressure contained in Su Ming's voice. In fact, even the ground started trembling violently at that moment. Cries of surprise shot into the air, and Su Ming saw cultivators flying out of the buildings around the land.
"How dare you! How dare you invade One Dao Sect!"
Almost at the same time the people flew out, an enraged shout rang out in the air. The owner of the voice had started shouting almost instinctively, and he regretted his decision right after he said those words, because the loud rumbles from the volcanoes in the area had already told him just what level of cultivation Su Ming possessed.
Su Ming's face was one of cold aloofness. He did not even spare a glance at the people who flew out, but simply walked to one of the three statues in the distance.
The moment he moved forward, several long arcs flew out from the area in front of him. They approached him, and the power from various divine abilities swiftly manifested. While remaining composed, Su Ming let out a cold harrumph.
That one cold harrumph immediately caused the world to roar. With Su Ming as the center, a layer of ripples instantly spread out. The expression of the incoming cultivators changed drastically. They did not even manage to scream before their bodies contorted under the ripples and they broke down, turning into bloody rain that poured down from the sky.
"It's been a long time since I killed in this manner. One Dao Sect…" Su Ming said flatly, and monstrous killing intent shone in his eyes. When he lifted his right hand, he formed a seal and pushed downwards, in the direction of the ground beneath him.
With it, the ground immediately roared. Volcanoes collapsed, and then the entire land shattered. The great, mighty pressure from Su Ming instantly descended on the entire world, and when his third eye opened, it clearly revealed… his eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons, which were shining with endless black light.
"Let darkness descend upon the land. Let night replace day. Let slaughter turn into a… One Dao Sect's blood debt will require the blood of the entire sect to be cleared."
Su Ming's voice s rang clearly in the hearts of each and every one of One Dao Sect's cultivators while the ground rumbled.
"A Great Dao Paragon!"
"He's a Great Dao Paragon!"
Cries of surprise instantly rang out in the air. At that moment, a cold harrumph came from the statue far away from Su Ming. When it resounded through the air, the destruction of the ground stopped. At the same time, a long arc charged at Su Ming like a shooting star. Spreading out of that long arc… was the power of a Great Dao Paragon.
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Chapter 1466: Strongest Great Dao Paragon!
It was… Sen Mu!
Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu had forcefully descended in Seven Moons Sect and launched the first battle between One Dao Sect and Su Ming, who was then the third prince, and Seven Moons Sect. He had personally led the attack.
Even though One Dao Sect had withdrawn from the battle, Sen Mu's bearing had stood above all those from Seven Moons Sect and had forced Gu Tai and the others to participate in a gamble. That alone was enough to see Sen Mu's arrogance.
The moment his voice traveled through One Dao Sect, he appeared in front of Su Ming. He did not use any divine abilities. Instead, with one finger containing power that seemed to be able to destroy the world, he charged at Su Ming.
A loud bang shot up, and it instantly spread through the entire world. Sen Mu's expression changed then. He moved hundreds of feet backwards, and when he lifted his head, he stared up.
Su Ming lowered his right hand. With a fling of his arm, the destructive power in Sen Mu's finger was neutralized. At that moment, when he lowered his right hand, he glared at Sen Mu coldly, though his expression was as calm as ever.
"Sir, you are an unfamiliar sight. I have never heard of any sect in Ancient Zang that had a new Great Dao Paragon. Since you are here and since you say that you want to destroy One Dao Sect, why don't you tell us who you are?!"
Sen Mu stared at Su Ming while speaking coldly, but his heart was already trembling. In fact, he was slightly shocked, because his attack just then had not been as simple as it seemed. It was one of his strongest divine abilities. With a casual point of his finger, he could even fight against Great Dao Paragons who were as powerful as him.
However… the black-robed young man before him right had managed to neutralize his attack with just a fling of his arm. He had not even stepped back after that, which told him a lot.
'This person… is powerful even among the Great Dao Paragons!'
Sen Mu's heart let out a thump. He knew clearly that there were distinctions between the strong and weak even among Great Dao Paragons. However, even though his heart was thumping violently against his chest, he did not feel like he was in danger, because while the distinctions between the weak and strong were clear, there had never been Great Dao Paragons who would kill each other in Ancient Zang.
"Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu, have you forgotten me?"
Su Ming took a step forward. When his foot landed, he lifted his right hand and formed a seal to point in the direction before him. Immediately, the air in front of him roared and shattered. Layers of space tumbled back, and the destruction instantly spread to Sen Mu.
"I am not one to remember faces very well. I do indeed not quite remember who you are."
Just as he said those words, Sen Mu lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction below him. When he lifted his hand, a layer of ripples spread out to crash against Su Ming's incoming destructive power. Booming sounds echoed in the air, and Sen Mu's expression changed again. He staggered hundreds of feet backwards.
"You will remember me," Su Ming said with a calm expression.
As he spoke, he turned into a long arc that charged at Sen Mu. The two of them instantly crashed into each other. Booming sounds shook the sky, and the countless One Dao Sect cultivators beneath discovered to their shock that the supreme Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu… was being forced back continuously.
He was retreating. With each clash, he was forced to move back as if the divine abilities from the young man in black were so strong that they contained a might he could not withstand. In fact, Sen Mu felt a presence around the young man that spoke of an indomitable will. Once Sen Mu took a step backwards… he would be forced to continue moving backwards!
At that moment, it was no longer important who he was. What was important was that Sen Mu had realized that he could not seize control of the situation. While booming sounds echoed in the air, his speed as he was forced back became faster, and he was pushed by Su Ming to the statue.
The shock of it was incredibly great to Sen Mu, because the times when Great Dao Paragons were unable to seize control over a fight were incredibly rare. After all, their power nearly reached the peak. All divine abilities cast by them could destroy the world, which was why if they were suppressed, then there was only one possible explanation to what was going on.
'This person… didn't even use his full power. He's doing all of this with ease!'
This possibility left Sen Mu in shock, and he felt rather aggrieved, because he was in One Dao Sect. He could not use divine abilities that would affect wide areas, or else, even without his enemy attacking, One Dao Sect would be destroyed.
When he saw that his body was about to be pushed to the statue, a sigh came from afar.
"Fellow Daoist, must you do this?"
Once the sigh appeared, an old man with red hair showed up on the other statue in the distance. With a wide stride, he walked towards Su Ming. With just one step, he arrived behind Su Ming. With a swing of his arm, the great power belonging to a Great Dao Paragon swept towards Su Ming while causing the world to tumble.
"I am Chi Yang. Fellow Daoist, if you stop now, we will not prevent your departure, and we can treat what happened today as a misunderstanding. Fellow Daoist, what do you think of this offer?"
Arriving along with the loud bangs were the red-haired old man's words.
When Sen Mu saw that Chi Yang's divine ability swept up the world into a storm to before approaching Su Ming, his eyes shone. He turned around and stopped retreating, then charged at Su Ming. He formed a seal with his hands, and immediately, the world before him distorted. He looked as if he had divided into hundreds of versions of himself. Each of them erupted with different divine abilities, and they all closed in on the black-robed man.
Su Ming's lips curled into a cold sneer. He formed a seal with his right hand and straightened his palm to fight against Sen Mu, then lifted his left hand and formed a seal with it before he threw it at the incoming storm.
At the instant his punch landed, an astonishing power erupted from his fist. A loud bang echoed in every direction. The wave of impact that stirred up instantly tumbled outwards, and all of One Dao Sect was drowned out by the deafening roar.
Many of the cultivators below immediately started bleeding from their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Then, the ones with higher levels of cultivation quickly set up Runes. The Sect Elders of One Dao Sect worked together to form protective seals.
There were seven among the Great Sect Elders of One Dao Sect who were Dao Paragons. When they flew out, they sat down in the air with only one task—to protect the disciples of One Dao Sect.
While the world rumbled, Chi Yang was to Su Ming's left, and Sen Mu was to his right. With his own power, Su Ming withstood the two Great Dao Paragons' attacks. He remained unmoved in the air.
Sen Mu's expression changed, and he swiftly fell back as booming sounds continued without end. He moved one thousand feet back. Blood trickled down the corners of his mouth. When he lifted his head, he looked at Su Ming with incredulity in his gaze.
On Su Ming's other side, the expression of old Chi Yan also changed. He moved one thousand feet back, and when he looked at Su Ming, s grim look appeared on his face.
Just like Sen Mu, he did not expect that the black-robed young man was so strong. With his strength alone, he fought against both of them. His expression did not change either.
'This is not just the power of a Great Dao Paragon. It is a vast power that is far beyond our imagination!
'He is a Great Dao Paragon, but his true power… is far more terrifying than his Realm!'
At the instant Chi Yang and Sen Mu moved back, an old palm appeared behind Su Ming without a single sound to push him down.
That strike contained no aura, and the timing was impeccable. It was right at the moment Su Ming forced Chi Yang and Sen Mu back. Contained in the palm was an incredibly great destructive power, but it did not spread out.
It was just about to touch Su Ming, when… Su Ming's third eye flew open. His eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons immediately shone with a black light. It instantly covered Su Ming's entire body, and the palm landed on the black light.
Booming sounds echoed in the air. With his right hand, Su Ming seized the air behind him without any hesitation. With it, the air behind him distorted and crumbled. An old figure instantly appeared. It was a short old man dressed in a black robe. At that moment, his expression was extremely grim. He took a few steps back to form an encirclement together with Chi Yang and Sen Mu.
"You're all finally here," Su Ming said faintly while standing in the encirclement formed by the three people.
At that moment, there was a black screen of light surrounding him. When it landed in the others' eyes, their expressions changed again. They were… incredulous.
"This is the first time I see a Great Dao Paragon whose power exceeds his current level of cultivation, instead of the same, equal development the rest of us share in this Realm…
"Third prince, your power is so great that if it was not because of the limits of your Realm, you might be able to bring forth the power of a ninth level Dao God, but I have to ask, is Lin Dong Dong alright?" Bai Lu asked slowly with a grim look that had never been seen on his face before.
It was just as he said. Right then, The depths of Su Ming's power of cultivation base came from the Tree of Dao Verification, and it had surpassed his Realm. If he was a jug, he would have enough water, but the mouth of the jug was just so big. Only a limited amount of his power could flow out.
Still, he could already fight against three Great Dao Paragons and not be at a disadvantage, because at that moment, he… was the strongest among the Great Dao Paragons!
"You managed to bring forth a light from your eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons that is different from the other Great Dao Paragons. This is a feat possible only to those who managed to sound nine Dao Spirit Voices, and right now, the only person who has not become a Great Dao Paragon but has sounded nine Dao Spirit Voices… is the third prince who went missing when the dimensions where the Tree of Dao Verification lies were destroyed two thousand something years ago!"
Chi Yang's pupils shrank as he stared at Su Ming. Once he was able to identify him, he knew that on that day… they were bound to fight to the death.
"I didn't expect that you would have become a Great Dao Paragon with just two thousand something years since we last met…" Sen Mu said slowly while looking at Su Ming. There was a slightly complicated look on his face.
When the three of them spoke, their voices were heard by the One Dao Sect cultivators below them. Their expressions changed. There were some among them who had experienced the destruction of the three dimensions, and even those who did not know about it had heard of the drastic changes that had happened at the time.
It was an incredibly devastating blow to all sects and clans in Ancient Zang, and it also brought the end of the competition between the successors.
At that moment, when the cultivators saw Su Ming again and heard the words of the three Great Dao Paragons, the shock in their hearts immediately turned into a howling storm.
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Chapter 1467: Ancient Zang Rules
Su Ming's expression remained calm. When he came to One Dao Sect, he did not intend to continue hiding his identity. It was nothing to him even if he was recognized. The cultivators there were already meaningless to him.
Be it the three Great Dao Paragons or the other cultivators, all of them were just pieces in his process to Possess Xuan Zang. But… that process was too real, so real that even if Su Ming understood everything, he still came to One Dao Sect to kill.
Even though he knew that everything did not exist, he was persistent. In truth, he could just use the epiphany he had gained from Lin Dong Dong. It allowed him to seem separated from the space of the world. His existence could become something without corporeal form, so all divine abilities would seep through his body.
However, Su Ming did not choose to do that. He chose to truly attack. It was all… because of Seven Moons Sect. Be it Lan Lan, Gu Tai, or Xu Zhong Fan, who had been really kind to Su Ming, they had appeared in his life, and even if they had departed from his side, they still left behind different tracks in his life.
It was just as if how destiny would determine who would walk into a person's life, but the people themselves would have to decide who would stay.
Some people were bound to accompany each other for life, and some were bound to just leave a mark in another person's life…
Those marks could be deep or shallow. The deep marks would be remembered for life, and the shallow ones… would just be brief, unmemorable guests in a person's life.
"Lin Dong Dong… is doing well. He's living in his own world."
When Su Ming said those words faintly, his eyes shone with an aloof glare. He took a step forward.
He was an eighth level Great Dao Paragon, but the depth of his cultivation base had long since surpassed what that Realm pertained, which was why he was the strongest Great Dao Paragon… and also the strongest among all below ninth level Dao Gods.
The only thing regrettable about the situation was that his great reputation was still unknown to many people, but he could already foresee that once he left One Dao Sect and everyone heard about the things that happened in One Dao Sect, his name… would become the center of attention in all of Ancient Zang!
The moment Su Ming moved forward, Chi Yang, Sen Mu, and Bai Lu took a step forward as well. Their expressions were different, but the grave look in their eyes was the same. The more they came to understand Su Ming's power, the greater the pressure they felt.
He was the strongest Great Dao Paragon. The power that he could bring forth with the might of his cultivation base was a force that stood at the peak of all others and would not disappear quickly. Su Ming could remain at the peak of his condition for a long time, and even if both sides suffered the same injuries, their effect on him would be drastically reduced, while the three of them could not claim the same.
At the instant Su Ming's foot landed, Sen Mu lifted his right hand. White light appeared on his hand, and white snow showed up before him. It swiftly gathered into a block of ice that instantly froze the entire area.
Immediately after, Chi Yang formed a seal with his hands and let out a breath that turned into a sun. It exuded incredible heat that formed a formation of ice and fire with Sen Mu's ice, which then charged at Su Ming with a force that covered the sky and earth.
As for Bai Lu, he did not participate in the attack. Instead, he swung his arms outwards, and his sleeves immediately grew exponentially longer, until they covered the entire area as if he wanted to cover the sky and the moon.
Two were in charge of attack, and one sealed the area and set up defenses. Each of the three Great Dao Paragons of One Dao Sect chose the area in which they performed the best.
Su Ming's expression did not change much in the face of the trio's combined attack. It was something he hoped would happen, since it would mean that he could spare the effort of killing them one by one. He could just… kill of them in one go.
Su Ming let out a cold snort, then brought his right hand up. Without any hesitation, he pushed it down right after. With it, his four great wills erupted from his body, and the aura that he brought forth increased by leaps and bounds. It was as if his level of cultivation had increased a little!
Wills always had the capability to instantly increase the power of a person's cultivation base. This did not mean that they would help them increase one level in Dao Divinity Realm, but that they were a form of stimulation and release, just like how they had helped Su Ming stand up against a Dao Paragon while he was still in Dao Spirit Realm, albeit with great difficulty. The four great wills from Harmonious Morus Alba also allowed him to kill all cultivators in the first or second level of Dao Divinity Realm in one shot.
At that moment, when they spread out, Su Ming's long purple hair moved without wind. His robes fluttered, and when he pushed his right hand downwards, booming sounds immediately surged into the sky. The next instant, multiple cracks in space that seemed to be able to divide the world appeared around him. They connected together to form a ring, then spread out swiftly with loud bangs.
Wherever the ring went, space would shatter. One Dao Sect's land trembled while the world rumbled. Then, it sank hundreds of feet downwards. As for the protective Rune the disciples of One Dao Sect had formed, a part of it immediately shattered, and a gap was formed. The sect elders of One Dao Sect coughed up blood, and some of the disciples screamed shrilly in pain. When the ground sank, their bodies and souls were destroyed because they could not withstand the force.
When the ground trembled, the expression of Sen Mu and the other two changed drastically at the same time. When the cracks in space surrounding Su Ming swept towards them, they crashed against their divine abilities.
Su Ming did not choose to dodge or retreat, but to fight against them head-on!
Booming sounds instantly echoed in the air, and when they reached a deafening degree, Sen Mu's expression changed. He personally saw Su Ming being able to withstand the Art he used to freeze the area while using his own divine ability to fight against his Art.
Then, Sen Mu had to withstand the force of that Art. The moment he coughed up blood, he sensed a vast amount of power that could not be described with words crash into his body, and he could not help but move back.
Chi Yang also went through the same thing. He personally saw the sun he manifested using his divine ability exude his power of a Great Dao Paragon when it crashed against Su Ming's divine ability, and he too, had to withstand Su Ming's divine ability. When he coughed up a mouthful of blood, he fell back, unable to control himself.
The last was Bai Lu. He did not launch any direct attacks, but the seals and protection he set up showed faint signs of intending to suppress the ripples of Su Ming's power, and at that moment, all of them crumbled to pieces.
As they fell back, the three Great Dao Paragons of One Dao Sect all looked at Su Ming in shock, because he could be said to have completely withstood their divine abilities… but not a single change in emotion could be detected on his face.
"Strongest Great Dao Paragon, the fourth strongest in Ancient Zang. As expected, he isn't someone we can handle…" When Bai Lu moved back, a dispirited look appeared on his face. He stared at Su Ming, and there was a weary tone in his voice.
"We aren't your opponents, but even if you came for Seven Moons Sect and can suppress the three of us with just your power alone… you can't kill us.
"This is a rule set by the Emperor of Ancient Zang. Deaths will not occur in fights among Great Dao Paragons. All those who are yet to become Dao Gods cannot break this rule."
Bai Lu's weary voice sounded calm while Sen Mu and Chi Yang did not say a single word. At that moment, when they moved back, while their gazes when they looked at Su Ming were grim, they did not hold any sort of great fear due to the threat of death.
"Seven Moons Sect went seeking their own trouble, and we were merciful by not destroying all of them. Third prince, you have a great level of cultivation, so you can go on ahead and kill all the disciples in One Dao Sect. It doesn't matter to us even if you kill them all.
"With the three of us still here, One Dao Sect will remain for all eternity. IT has inherited the Emperor of Ancient Zang's kismet, and before long, it will prosper even greater than before," Chi Yang said slowly, completely aloof to the cultivators' below survival.
"The Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule, huh?" Su Ming lowered his head and looked at his right hand. When he lifted his head, a freezing glare shone in his eyes, and he instantly moved in front of Chi Yang.
"Well then, I insist on testing whether this rule can be broken."
As he spoke, Su Ming clenched his right fist while in front of Chi Yang. The four great wills swiftly gathered on him, and he threw a punch.
Chi Yang's pupils shrank, but a cold sneer appeared on his face. When he lifted his right hand, a sun showed up on his palm. Eight more suns manifested alongside it and charged at Su Ming.
Booming sounds shook the sky and earth, but Su Ming did not dodge. He simply let the nine suns approach him. When they landed on his body, his right fist crashed into Chi Yang's chest.
When his punch landed, blood trickled down the corners of Chi Yang's mouth. He was forced backwards.
Su Ming's expression was as calm as ever, but his killing intent grew stronger. He instantly charged after Chi Yang. All along the way, booming sounds rose continuously.
While Chi Yang was forced back nonstop, Bai Lu and Sen Mu chased after them in silence. Just as they were about to attack, Chi Yang's laughter echoed in One Dao Sect.
"Did you sense the rule? As long as you haven't become a ninth level Dao God, you cannot kill Great Dao Paragons!"
While Chi Yang was forced back, his robes were drenched in blood, but his life force was still as abundant as ever and did not show any signs of being extinguished. After seeing that, Su Ming's eyes sparkled. He had indeed sensed a restrictive power descend from the world and weaken his divine abilities and Arts to a point that they could not kill Chi Yang when they landed on him.
"God of Berserkers Transformation!"
The killing intent in Su Ming's eyes remained the same. The moment he spoke, his body let out a bang and instantly grew. His aura grew stronger, gathering together the power of his God of Berserkers Transformation and his four great wills, then fusing with his cultivation base and his eight Great Dao Paragons.
All that power was then channeled to Su Ming's right index finger, and with a power that shook the sky and earth while intending to destroy all manner of being, it charged at the laughing Chi Yang.
Chi Yang did not even bother to dodge. He just looked at Su Ming with a fixed gaze. The strength of that one finger caused him to feel apprehensive. In fact, he could even feel the shadow of death looming over him, but his expression instantly turned ferocious, and contempt appeared on his face. He was mocking Su Ming's act of wanting to kill him and laughing at him because it was only a joke.
So what if Su Ming's strongest force was contained in that finger? With the rule around, Chi Yang was bound to not die!
Piercing howls echoed in his ears when Su Ming's right index finger tore through space. At the instant it closed in on the center of Chi Yang's brow… an endless net appeared in front of it!
That net was practically invisible, and it was between Su Ming's finger and Chi Yang, serving as a block.
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Chapter 1468: Kill Great Dao Paragons!
The nearly invisible net was shining with a piercing dark light at that moment. It was flashing rapidly while acting like a wall between Su Ming and Chi Yang. Every single time it shone, it weakened the power contained in Su Ming's finger.
In just a few breaths, the semi-transparent net took away nearly eight-tenths of the power contained in Su Ming's finger, and derision showed up on Chi Yang's face. Right then, there were only a few inches between him and Su Ming, but that distance might as well have been the one the separating he sky and the earth.
Bai Lu and Sen Mu did not approach them, but just watched Su Ming coldly. In their eyes, the third prince did possess a strength they had never had before and was indeed the strongest among all Great Dao Paragons. In Ancient Zang, only the ninth level Dao Gods were above him…
But… in Ancient Zang, the emperor's rule existed. It did not allow Great Dao Paragons to kill each other, which was why… in truth, the threat of death did not exist for Great Dao Paragons.
"With the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule around, you won't be able to kill me," Chi Yang said flatly while not moving an inch.
Su Ming's eyes sparkled brilliantly.
"Is that so?"
The moment Su Ming said those words, he lifted his left hand, formed a seal, then pushed down with his right hand. His third eye opened at the center of his brow, and the eight Great Dao Paragons in it instantly let out a powerful black light. It swiftly surrounded Su Ming's body.
When it spread out, his eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons showed their forms in his third eye. They fused with him, and when they spread out in every direction, they seemed to do so by treating the semi-transparent barrier as the center, and then, the world around Su Ming turned dark.
It looked like… darkness and light had been very clearly divided. The moment the division formed, Su Ming's power erupted from his body once again.
It surpassed the power contained in his finger just then, and his right index finger… seemed about to phase through the semi-transparent net. When he touched it, a bulge appeared in the net as if Su Ming he was about to touch Chi Yang.
This change immediately caused Sen Mu and Bai Lu's expressions to change. It was the same for Chi Yang, but despite his pupils shrinking, he still did not move back. He would not allow himself to take even half a step back, because he believed firmly that with the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule around, the third prince before him would not have the right to kill him, no matter what.
If he moved back, then he, who practiced the Art of Kismet, would show that he did not believe in the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule, and even if it was an instinctive action, it would have some effect on his power.
If he knew this, then Sen Mu and Bai Lu would naturally understand it as well, which was why even though their expressions had changed, they did not close in. That fight… might have seemed between them and Su Ming, but in truth, it was Su Ming fighting against the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule.
The black light shining from the eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons caused Sen Mu and Bai Lu to feel slightly oppressed, for some unknown reason.
Bai Lu's pupils shrank, and dhe stared at Su Ming's black world before he suddenly spoke. "This black light… After all those who sounded nine Dao Spirit Voices become Great Dao Paragons, they shine in different colors. This is something that is completely different from us, who became Great Dao Paragons even though we never managed to sound nine Dao Spirit Voices.
"We've overlooked the third prince's Great Dao Paragon light just now. Sen Mu, have you ever seen a Great Dao Paragon shine with black light?"
A grave look had long since appeared in Sen Mu's eyes. The black light around Su Ming had also puzzled him slightly. His bewilderment had not been strong before, but right then, he was rather uneasy.
"Black light… I've indeed never seen it before. I remember that Great Dao Paragon Feng Shan's light is white… Why would black light appear around the third prince's Great Dao Paragons?"
The moment Sen Mu spoke, an astonishing bang shot up from the spot where the fight was happening. As that sound spread out, Chi Yang's scornful laughter rang out.
"How are you going to destroy me?" There was a provocative tone in Chi Yang's voice, along with derision as well as great confidence.
"It is indeed rather troublesome." When the bulging semi-transparent net was only one inch away from the center of Chi Yang's brow, Su Ming spoke from his dark world.
"But it's just a minor trouble. It's not hard for me to kill you," Su Ming said flatly and lifted his right foot to step on the air under him. With it, the world immediately roared, and an illusory shadow appeared under his feet.
At first glance, no one could really tell what that illusory shadow was. It was like a tree trunk, and it went charging to the ground under Su Ming with loud booms. Once it landed, the ground cracked as if the trunk wanted to take root. The tree trunk rose upwards, over Su Ming, and in an instant, a huge tree appeared in the black world.
When the existence bearing the appearance of a big tree rose tall in the world, the pupils of Sen Mu and Bai Lu shrank again. Their expressions changed drastically. The incredulity in their eyes surpassed the shock they felt when they noticed Su Ming's level of cultivation. To them, the appearance of the big tree was even more incredible and unimaginable than Su Ming becoming a Great Dao Paragon.
"This… This is…"
"The ancient Tree of Dao Verification! This is the Tree of Dao Verification, how could this be?!"
"The three layers of that dimension were destroyed, and the Tree of Dao Verification died. Ancient Zang's palace had notified the entire country about it, so how could the third prince bring it out?!"
"His level of cultivation… his power… Damn it, his power is different from the other Great Dao Paragons because he obtained the Tree of Dao Verification's power!"
Sen Mu and Bai Lu sucked in sharp breaths because the huge tree that appeared around Su Ming… was the Tree of Dao Verification!
When it manifested around Su Ming, it stood tall in the world. Its roots spread to the depths as if it had long since penetrated far into the ground. Its tree crown lifted the sky as if it wanted to replace it. Moments later, an indescribable presence descended on all of One Dao Sect's world.
That presence was very strong, and it had a desolate air about it. There was also an ancient air filling the entire area.
Chi Yang stared at the huge Tree of Dao Verification that had suddenly appeared before him in a daze. At that moment, his mind was blank, and the shock of what had happened threw all of his thoughts into a mess.
No matter what, he did not expect himself to be able to see… the astonishing Tree of Dao Verification in One Dao Sect's world!
The cultivation base in Su Ming's body had been a serendipity granted to him by Hao Hao. It had existed in him in the body of a tree, and if he hadn't had the chance to gain an epiphany of the power of the Tree of Dao Verification changing the world while it grew for two thousand years, Su Ming would not have been able to make the Tree of Dao Verification manifest. After all, he only had the body of the tree, while the epiphany allowed him to make its form come into being.
When he had both form and the tree's body, the appearance of the second Tree of Dao Verification was no longer something surprising.
It was Su Ming's killing move. It was also why he had chosen to come to One Dao Sect and destroy the sect's very foundation.
The instant the Tree of Dao Verification appeared in Su Ming's black world and its desolate presence spread in every direction, power gathered on Su Ming's right index finger again. Right before Sen Mu and Bai Lu's eyes, the Tree of Dao Verification… started contorting as if the power that surpassed that of all cultivators in the Tree of Dao Verification was fusing into Su Ming's right index finger.
Su Ming's finger then touched the semi-transparent net…
The protrusion on the net reached its breaking point. When the dark light flashed again, the world roared. Right before Chi Yang's face, the net turned into a blurry mess, and an aloof face appeared on it.
That face belonged to the Emperor of Ancient Zang, and it was the one Su Ming had seen on the imperishable will while in the dimension where the Tree of Dao Verification was. The battle to the death then turned into a clash between the Tree of Dao Verification and the Emperor of Ancient Zang.
If the Emperor of Ancient Zang gained the upper hand, the rule would remain unchanged. Su Ming would remain unable to kill the other Great Dao Paragons while he was a Great Dao Paragon in Ancient Zang as well.
However, if Su Ming's Tree of Dao Verification gained the upper hand, he would break the rule, and then, from that moment onwards, he would become someone who could ignore the rule in Ancient Zang. He would be able to kill Great Dao Paragons!
Red appeared in Chi Yang's eyes as he stared fixedly at Su Ming. As a Great Dao Paragon, he believed firmly in his Dao of Kismet and in the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule.
At that moment, he lifted his hands and pushed forward swiftly while he let out a low growl.
The instant the Emperor of Ancient Zang's face crashed against the Tree of Dao Verification Su Ming manifested and mighty pressure swirled around, the world rumbled. All the mountains in One Dao Sect collapsed, and countless cultivators were reduced to ashes because they could not withstand the pressure.
The rumbles became louder, and endless ripples appeared on the Emperor of Ancient Zang's face, but Su Ming's Tree of Dao Verification was also reduced to an illusion. At the moment the clash reached its most intense state, a brilliant spark shone in Su Ming's eyes.
His right hand instantly shot through the face of the Emperor of Ancient Zang formed by the rule and landed directly at the center of Chi Yang's brow.
It was just a slight tap, but when Su Ming pulled his right hand back, the rumbles in the world reached their loudest. The rule shattered. The Emperor of Ancient Zang's face contorted and fell apart. While booming sounds shot up, disbelief appeared in Chi Yang's eyes.
A hole was between his eyebrows. No blood flowed out, but veins popped up on his face. They squirmed about as if countless branches were in them, occupying them. Then, his eyes gradually lost focus.
As if he had lost all his vitality, he plunged to the ground.
The swift change made Sen Mu and Bai Lu's hearts roar, and a huge storm they had never experienced before rose up in their souls.
"The rule… shattered before him…"
"Black light… Black light has never appeared before among Great Dao Paragons. It symbolizes destruction and that he will be able to ignore Ancient Zang's rule from now on!"
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Chapter 1469: The God of Berserkers Rises in Ancient Zang
There was no longer any light in Chi Yang's eyes. As a Great Dao Paragon of One Dao Sect, a powerful warrior who had inherited the Dao of Kismet, and someone who could be said to stand among the most powerful of Ancient Zang, he had never thought there would come a day when he would die.
He had inherited the Art of Kismet, and with how great One Dao Sect's kismet was, the omen of death should have never appeared in his destiny, which was why while Chi Yang did pay attention to Su Ming's appearance, he did not feel any sort of threat to his own life.
He believed in kismet and destiny. He also believed that kismet and the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule was something no one could break. He thus did not believe that he was in danger of dying
His confidence ended the moment Su Ming used his right index finger to break the Emperor of Ancient Zang's rule, tore the semi-transparent net, and tapped the center of Chi Yang's brow.
His finger had torn space in the end and ignored the rule as if it moved through the passage of time to press down between Chi Yang's eyebrows. At that moment, the branches of the Tree of Dao Verification burrowed deep into his body through Su Ming's finger before instantly spreading out. When Su Ming lifted his right index finger, while Chi Yang's body remained the same as it did before, in truth, his insides had been replaced by countless branches, and his soul vanished.
One Great Dao Paragon died, and his body plunged to the ground. His eyes were lustreless, but his indignation seemed to be buried deep in his lifeless pupils. There was also great disbelief there too.
He was in shock because since ancient times, he was the first Great Dao Paragon who did not die by the hands of a ninth level Dao God. His death broke the rules in Ancient Zang, and in Sen Mu as well as Bai Lu's eyes, Su Ming had even affected Ancient Zang's kismet.
Sen Mu and Bai Lu's hearts roared, and their expressions changed when they saw Chi Yang fall. Their pupils shrank, and they looked at Su Ming with an even graver expressions than before.
Su Ming remained calm. When he turned around, his cold and biting gaze landed on Bai Lu.
"The next is you."
When he said those words, Bai Lu's heart let out a thump. A feeling of death he had never experienced before instantly rose in his heart.
Bai Lu moved back without hesitation. He lifted his right hand, swung it before him, and a huge war drum appeared before him.
That war drum was purplish black. The moment it appeared, it exuded an ancient and astonishing presence. An oppressive force that seemed to press down on the world immediately filled One Dao Sect's world.
With a nervous tint to his voice, Bai Lu instantly called out to Sen Mu. "Sen Mu, if we don't attack at full force, then disaster will fall upon us today!"
Right at the moment his voice appeared, Bai Lu lifted his right hand and punched the huge war drum without any hesitation. Booming sounds instantly spread out with loud rumbles while shaking the sky and the earth.
Patches of red instantly appeared on the faces of the living One Dao Sect disciples underneath, and they sat down simultaneously. No matter what level of cultivation they possessed, blood-red threads appeared at the top of their skulls!
That was Bai Lu's true divine ability. His Art could go through various changes, but the quintessence of it was still kismet. When he cast it, he could use the origin kismet within all of the cultivators in One Dao Sect. The red threads were akin to their fates. At that moment, they filled the air, and when Bai Lu formed seals with his hands before pointing at them, they gathered together to turn into a blood-red figure.
Waves of terrifying power spread out of that figure, and it was like Bai Lu's clone, one that he could control at will. At that moment, the figure lifted its head swiftly. Blood-red light shone far and wide from its body, and it turned into a blood-red long arc that charged at Su Ming.
At the same time, a resolute look appeared in Sen Mu's eyes. A feeling of danger had already risen in his heart when he saw Chi Yang perish, and it could be said that he was faced with a life and death situation at that moment. If he and Bai Lu could not fend against Su Ming, then on that day, both of them would surely end up the same way as Chi Yang.
The power they had accumulated for many years would simply disappear. Their might as Great Dao Paragons would no longer exist. Their lives would also fade away, and they would no longer be present in the world.
That sort of thing was something Sen Mu could not accept. The moment the blood-red figure charged at Su Ming, Sen Mu sucked in a deep breath, lifted his right hand, and slapped his palm against his forehead.
"The power I accumulated in the dozens of aeons I practiced cultivation, I will turn it into one hundred cycles of life and death… Open… the power of thirty cycles!"
When Sen Mu's voice resounded through the air, a loud bang rang out in his body, and twenty-nine illusory figures appeared around him.
Among them were men and women. Their faces might have been different, but cultivators who had become Almighties would be able to tell that their souls were the same. All of them were Sen Mu!
Over the countless years Sen Mu practiced cultivation, he had managed to create his own path based on his unique Dao of Kismet. It was… the path of reincarnation!
The one hundred cycles of life and death were all suppressed by his hand and turned into seals that bound his power. At that moment, he released three-tenths of the seals. He could not instantly release all of the seals, or else he would face a catastrophic risk of becoming deranged. He could only gradually release them to stay himself. Right then, releasing three-tenths of the seals at once was his limit.
Along with the original one, there were thirty bodies occupying the sky and earth, and their monstrous presence shook the world at that moment.
When Sen Mu moved, it was as if thirty people moved together. They instantly charged at Su Ming and surrounded him as if they were forming a Rune.
"You will have thirty cycles of life and death reversed upon you, and you will return to the past… End of All Ancientness!"
When Sen Mu spoke, it was as if there were thirty people speaking at the same time. Their voices gathered together, but not only did they not form a wave of sound, they even sounded like a murmur. The words formed a Rune that looked like a vortex leading people into the cycles of life and death.
Within that Rune was Su Ming along with the blood-red figure that charged towards him. There was also another blood-red figure formed using the kismet of three One Dao Sect disciples. It appeared swiftly while seemingly able to shift through space.
Su Ming watched all of that while remaining composed. His gaze was indifferent. When the Reincarnation Rune rotated and the blood-red figures closed in on him, he closed his eyes.
The next moment, the Berserkers' land rose in Su Ming's heart… along with his God of Berserkers' song.
When he opened his eyes, Su Ming opened his mouth… and let out his God of Berserkers' roar!
"ROAR!"
No words could describe that roar.
An astonishing presence filled Su Ming, and waves of ripples spread out from him. Once his roar reached its peak, the dimension started crumbling!
An illusory version… of the Berserkers' land appeared behind Su Ming!
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Chapter 1470: Bai Lu Dies
God of Berserkers' roar!
The God of Berserkers walked on the Berserkers' land. With a roar, the God of Berserkers could make the whole land tremble, and the one that tumbled out of Su Ming's mouth was the strongest in existence. After all, Su Ming was not just the Fourth God of Berserkers, but also the strongest among all of them!
When the ripples spread out, the Berserkers' world appeared behind Su Ming. That world might be a mere illusion, but it exuded thick waves of aura belonging to Berserkers. For an instant, it was as if the World of Berserkers had descended on Ancient Zang.
Its aura spread outwards in waves, and when Su Ming roared, it magnified the explosive sound. The blood-red figures formed by Bai Lu's divine ability were the first to be affected. The moment they closed in on Su Ming, they were attacked by Su Ming's God of Berserkers' roar.
Loud booms shook the sky and the earth. Su Ming's God of Berserkers' roar had not just brought forth an illusory version of the Berserkers' land, but also seemed to have called upon countless Berserkers' souls on that indistinct Berserkers' land. They roared together with their God of Berserkers.
One Dao Sect's land crumbled. One of the three big statues in the distance cracked even more. In the blink of an eye, it shattered while the world roared, which left only two of the three statues that had stood tall in One Dao Sect for countless years!
When the statue shattered, the destruction on the ground had already spread out endlessly. Cracks also appeared in the air. It was as if the apocalypse had descended on One Dao Sect's world.
While the world continued roaring, the blood-red figures fell apart before Su Ming as if a violent gust of wind had swept past them. Then, the Reincarnation Rune Sen Mu formed using thirty cycles of life and death disintegrated under the destruction brought forth by Su Ming's roar.
From the distance, the space where Su Ming stood looked as if it had turned into a huge black hole. However, it was not a suction force that came out of that black hole, but a roar filled with an explosive might.
The moment it swept into every direction, Su Ming took a swift step forward. When his foot landed, he had already walked out of the roaring black hole. When he took his second step, he appeared right in front of Bai Lu, who was in the distance.
At the instant Su Ming showed up in front of him, Bai Lu's expression changed. He lifted his right hand without any hesitation, then pushed his palm against the huge war drum. Booming sounds echoed in the air, and more blood threads instantly grew out of the top of the skulls of the One Dao Sect disciples below them.
"All Kismet Dao!"
Bai Lu's growl seemed to contain some form of law. The moment his voice traveled into the air, the blood threads below him rose into the air and instantly appeared around Su Ming. They swam about and swiftly connected together. From a distance, they looked like a chain.
Su Ming's expression remained the same. He took three steps forward and directly touched the blood threads. When booming sounds rose into the air again, the blood threads crumbled, unable to hold Su Ming in the slightest. When he took his third step, he appeared less than one hundred feet away from the war drum where Bai Lu stood!
With just three steps, it was as if Su Ming had stepped through the entire stretch of heaven, and he was so fast that Sen Mu did not even have the time to draw close to him. The presence that appeared around Su Ming right then also seemed to have replaced the might of heaven, allowing him to become the world's will and master. As he rose, his presence amazed the world!
Su Ming did not say anything. The moment he arrived one hundred feet away from the war drum where Bai Lu was, he lifted his right hand and pointed forward. With it, Su Ming's four great wills, the entirety of his cultivation base, as well as the endless pool of power from the Tree of Dao Verification gathered on his finger.
It was the same action as when he had killed Chi Yang. At that moment, when he launched his attack, Bai Lu's heart immediately roared. His pupils shrank, and the feeling that death was about to fall on his head instantly rose in his heart.
"Singular Kismet Dao!"
When Bai Lu's pupils shrank, his hair moved without wind. He formed seals with his hands, then pushed them swiftly on the war drum. It immediately rotated in midair, then positioned itself vertically. Booming sounds rang out in the air. Ripples were formed and immediately gained a blood red hue, as if the entire world had turned into a sea of blood.
At the same time, Bai Lu's voice echoed in the world again.
"All lives have sinned, and they should sink into the sea of blood. Those who cannot wash away the sin of murder should be buried in the sea of blood for all eternity, to be immersed in suffering, and never to escape!"
A strange light shone in Bai Lu's eyes. After speaking, he clenched his right hand and punched the war drum. Numerous blood capillaries appeared in his eyes as if he had descended into madness.
"Shatter!"
The moment he said that one word, the war drum let out a bang, then shattered. As it crumbled to pieces, a drastic change immediately appeared in the sky. It turned blood red, and the ground vanished, turning into a sea of blood.
The sea of blood was boundless. As it tumbled about, it looked as if it wanted to devour the sky. The blood-red sky and sea instantly replaced the world and trapped Su Ming within it like a seal.
The sea of blood roared, bloody waves surged to the sky, and bloody rain poured down. Besides the color of the sky, the world seemed to be void of all other colors.
A whirlpool appeared on the surface of the sea as it roared. As it rotated rapidly, the entire sea rose rapidly, as if a large amount of mass was being added to it at that moment, causing the sea… to slowly approach the sky.
A vast power filled the world, and it fused into the whirlpool, the sky, and the sea of blood. During that moment, all of them seemed to want to gather together to charge at Su Ming and press down on him.
During that instant, not only did a whirlpool appear on the surface of the sea, a vortex had also appeared in the blood-red sky. Once the two vortices appeared, the sea and the sky were connected in a manner of a dragon sucking water from the sky. A typhoon was formed!
It roared, and as it rotated, it sucked up the sea of blood and countless drops of bloody rain. It replaced the sky and the sea of blood in the span of a few breaths and became a majestic sight. After that, it rushed to Su Ming with a momentum that could destroy all lives an loud booms.
Su Ming saw the typhoon that replaced the blood-red sky and connected the sea of blood beneath him to the sky, but his expression remained the same. He did not move back, but instead took a step forward and lifted his right hand to point at the sky. He then brought down his left hand to push down in the direction of the ground.
His eyes fell shut slightly as his long hair moved without wind. At that moment, endless blood was stirred up by the typhoon while it drew infinitesimally close to Su Ming with loud bangs. From a distance, the typhoon was so big that it looked like a giant of ancient times, and before it, Su Ming was as insignificant as an ant.
But the moment the typhoon struck Su Ming to devour him, Su Ming's eyes flew open. He brought his right hand down and his left hand shot up. Both hands entered the huge typhoon that was right in front of Su Ming.
A brilliant spark shone in his eyes, and he tore through the typhoon as if he was tearing apart the world, space, and destiny. Booming sounds shook the sky and earth, and the huge typhoon connecting the sea and the sky… was completely ripped apart once Su Ming yanked at it.
When the typhoon was torn, the sky crumbled and the sea of blood also fell apart. The entire world broke down at the instant Su Ming tore through the typhoon!
When the world was destroyed and the color of blood faded away, Su Ming was still in One Dao Sect. Near him were the torn fragments of the war drum as well as Bai Lu, who was coughing up blood while retreating. A dark look shone in his eyes.
The divine ability forming the bloody world had come into being when the war drum shattered. Once the divine ability was destroyed, Su Ming took a step forward again without hesitation. His desire to kill Bai Lu had not diminished in the slightest. His body instantly moved through the area filled with the shattered war drum's fragments, and when he appeared in front of Bai Lu, his right index finger charged to the center of the pale Bai Lu's brow.
"One Dao Sect kismet, come to me!"
Bai Lu moved back swiftly and let out a shrill scream. He was in a life and death situation, and besides his own safety, he could really care less about anyone else's life.
At the instant he said those words, Sen Mu, who was rushing to them, came to an abrupt halt. Grief appeared in his eyes, and he looked to the ground below him. He saw nearly three-tenths of the One Dao Sect disciples on the ground—tens of thousands of people—jolt. Their bodies immediately withered, and even thicker blood threads rose from the top of their skulls!
When the disciples died, a huge blood-red statue formed in front of Bai Lu. It stood between him and Su Ming as if it was a wall attempting to block the finger.
"Break!"
Su Ming's expression was calm when he spoke. At the instant his right index finger touched the blood-red statue, it crumbled, but the next moment, another three-tenths of One Dao Sect's disciples below withered. When they let out shrill screams of pain, a large amount of blood threads rose from them to form the second statue before Su Ming.
"Bai Lu, what are you doing?!" A blood-red glint shone in Sen Mu's eyes, and he looked at Bai Lu swiftly.
"If I am here, then One Dao Sect will continue to exist. Dying for me is their destiny!"
Madness was on Bai Lu's face. When his voice echoed in the air, no matter what levels of cultivation they possessed, the remaining One Dao Sect's disciples on the ground all withered together. Their screams of pain shook the sky, and the third statue formed in front of Su Ming.
At the same time, with his hair a mess, Bai Lu roared. With the two statues serving as a barrier protecting him, he turned into fog as if he had no corporeal form and charged at Su Ming.
"You want to kill me? Then today… if you don't die, I will perish!"
At the moment Bai Lu's voice resounded through the air, his power erupted from him. The entire world looked as if it had become still at that moment, with only the booming sounds still remaining.
When his voice faded away and the world was no longer still, Su Ming's right hand touched the second statue. Once it crumbled, his finger shot through the third statue… and touched air.
Fog gradually appeared at the spot where Su Ming touched. Naturally, it was Bai Lu. There was an unwillingness to admit defeat in his eyes, but at the center of his brow was Su Ming's finger. It had already pierced him.
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Chapter 1471: The End of One Dao Sect's Good Fortune
Bai Lu died. Just like Chi Yang's, his cultivation base and his spirit scattered. From then on, he would no longer walk the face of the earth. When Bai Lu's eyes lost their luster, another of the statues in One Dao Sect shattered with a bang, and the entire world shook. Most of One Dao Sect disciples below crumbled while the ground trembled and the mountains shook.
The disciples' souls and kismet had been extracted by Bai Lu. Right then, the only thing left of them was their body, but when the world shuddered, they were reduced to ashes… Only Sen Mu remained in all of One Dao Sect.
He stood in midair while watching everything around him in silence. Grief showed up on his face, along with an air of resignation and helplessness that came from the bottom of his heart. Su Ming was so strong that he had killed Chi Yang and Bai Lu in succession, and it set his status as the strongest below the ninth level of Dao Gods in stone.
His strength was such that he could even ignore the Emperor's rule. His act of killing Great Dao Paragons, who were in the same Realm as him, filled Sen Mu with anguish.
"With such a disaster falling on One Dao Sect… this is the end of our good fortune. If that's the case, then what is the point for me to remain alive?!"
When Sen Mu looked at Su Ming in midair, he laughed forlornly, then lifted his right hand to form a seal before he pushed his palm at the center of his brow. His body immediately let out a bang, and when the air around him distorted, nearly one hundred figures of men and women appeared. They were his one hundred reincarnations.
All one hundred of them were released at once. When they surrounded him, they were just like his clones, but when Su Ming looked at them, he saw that all of the reincarnations had different expressions.
They became clear from their initial blurry states while they were around Sen Mu. Then, they turned vivid and alive, and great sorrow appeared in Sen Mu's eyes. He turned into a long arc that charged at Su Ming.
The one hundred figures beside him also turned into long arcs and charged at Su Ming.
There was desire for death about Sen Mu.
He was One Dao Sect's Great Dao Paragon. If One Dao Sect was reduced to such a state, then there was no point to continue living for him, and he had said that out loud. He did not want to live alone, and he also knew… that Su Ming would not let him live.
If that was the case, he would rather die with his sect. Even if his body would be destroyed, his cultivation base scattered, and his soul disintegrated, he wanted to stay by his sect's side in the underworld. With the desire for death, the long arc, which was Sen Mu, as well as one hundred incarnations charged at Su Ming with a howl.
When they closed in, with a calm expression, Su Ming slowly lifted his right hand. Waves of black light spread out of his third eye and gathered on his right hand, which then was sheathed in piercing dark light. It had the terrifying power that broke the Emperor's rule.
Su Ming saw Sen Mu's desire to die. Since he chose it, then Su Ming would just grant him his wish.
There were very few things that could change his desire to destroy One Dao Sect, but the moment he lifted his right hand, his gaze landed on one of the one hundred reincarnations around Sen Mu, and his eyes focused on that figure.
It was a man, which was like a flower. He was handsome, but there was a determined, resolute look on his face. He… was Su Ming's second senior brother.
There were few things that could change Su Ming's desire to destroy One Dao Sect… but his second senior brother was one of them! The moment Su Ming saw him among Sen Mu's one hundred reincarnations, memories of the past rose in his heart.
All his memories regarding his second senior brother flashed in Su Ming's mind, and he fell silent while staring at his second senior brother. In the end, his gaze landed on Sen Mu, and when he looked at him, Sen Mu and his second senior brother's figures gradually seemed to fuse into one before Su Ming's eyes.
He sighed softly, then the piercing dark light in his right hand faded away. Once it was gone, Su Ming lowered his hand, cancelled his divine ability, turned around, and walked into the distance.
A loud bang shot up. The one hundred reincarnations and the long arc formed by Sen Mu landed at the spot where Su Ming had been, making the air shudder. The dimension trembled, causing ripples to spread out. Sen Mu lifted his head and looking into the distance, where Su Ming was gradually walking further away.
"Why?!" he cried out swiftly in a forlorn voice.
He could not think of a reason as to why Su Ming would not attack him. When he arrived, he had said that he would destroy One Dao Sect, and as one of the three Great Dao Paragons of One Dao Sect, it was clear that Sen Mu had to be killed.
Moments earlier, Su Ming had even lifted his right hand and gathered his divine ability on his palm, but for some unknown reason, when Su Ming looked at him, he sighed and chose to give up on attacking. Instead, he turned around to leave, and Sen Mu could not understand it.
"WHY?!"
Sen Mu's voice rang out in the air again. This time, he was not the only one who spoke. All his one hundred reincarnations bellowed the question at the same time. The wave of sound formed by their voices spread in all directions and fell in Su Ming's ears.
Su Ming could make himself not care about Sen Mu's voice, pretending as if he did not even hear it… but right then, second senior brother's voice was part of the wave of sound that reached his ears. When it resounde in his head, Su Ming paused in his footsteps.
"Because you are a past I am not willing to cut off."
When Su Ming's voice echoed in the air, it held a hint of melancholy and weariness. When it spread in every direction, he slowly left into the distance until he disappeared from One Dao Sect's world.
Sen Mu stood still in a daze. Su Ming's voice seemed to still be echoing in his ears, but the meaning contained in it left him dazed. He should have not understood it, but once he heard Su Ming's words, he had come to understand something.
However, when he mulled over Su Ming's words in detail, he discovered nothing. It caused him to fall silent. In the silent world belonging to One Dao Sect, he slowly sat down cross-legged on the only remaining statue's head and closed his eyes.
When Su Ming left One Dao Sect, his figure appeared in the broken temple. He did not turn his head around to cast a glance at the statue behind him. Fully composed, he calmly walked forward. When he walked out of the temple, a loud bang shot up, and the temple behind him collapsed into ashes and disappeared, as if it had instantly lived through millions of years.
The one point connecting One Dao Sect and Ancient Zang disappeared at that moment. The reason for its disappearance was that One Dao Sect no longer had enough kismet to maintain the existence of the temple!
The instant One Dao Sect's temple vanished, all the cultivators who were Great Dao Paragons in Ancient Zang sensed it in their hearts. A few days later, when a Great Dao Paragon who sensed its collapse personally arrived near there and saw that the temple was no longer around, the news of One Dao Sect's destruction immediately spread throughout the country!
The matter had a great impact on all the sects and clans in Ancient Zang, because One Dao Sect was practically the strongest among one of the seven sects and twelve clans!
If Dao God Tian Xiu Luo was not part of Asura Clan, then even they would not have been able to stand against One Dao Sect, but even with Tian Xiu Luo around, One Dao Sect still lived up to the reputation of being the strongest sect.
After all, Tian Xiu Luo's existence only served as an intimidation. As a Dao God, he was an existence that transcended the existences of all other people, causing no one to dare provoke Asura Clan, but if people of Ancient Zang were to speak of a sect which acted arrogantly and in an overbearing fashion, then it would be One Dao Sect.
Yet someone had destroyed One Dao Sect's kismet. No one might know what happened in the sect itself, but the disintegration of the kismet proved the fact that One Dao Sect had experienced a major catastrophe!
Just who had destroyed One Dao Sect's kismet?!
And what was the situation of One Dao Sect right then?!
Those questions appeared in the hearts of the powerful in each sect and clan when news of One Dao Sect's kismet being destroyed traveled through Ancient Zang.
To every single person, the only people who could do this were the three ninth level Dao Gods, but… all the sects and clans knew that the three ninth level Dao Gods had been sitting in Ancient Zang's royal capital for two thousand years.
Very seldom did they gather together at the same time. They meditated in the royal capital for two thousand years and never took even half a step out. Because of it, it was clear that the three ninth level Dao Gods were not the ones who destroyed One Dao Sect.
Then, who was it who did it? That question rang prominently in people's minds, and the fourteen Great Dao Paragons from the other sects and clans gathered together near the spot where One Dao Sect's temple disappeared and cast a divine ability known as Enquiring the Abyss.
More than ten Great Dao Paragons were required to cast that divine ability for it to take effect. They intended to ask those who died in One Dao Sect about what had transpired. They wanted to ask the souls that had disappeared about… just who had destroyed One Dao Sect's kismet.
The casting of that Art meant that all the sects and clans in Ancient Zang placed incredible importance on the matter. Only… Seven Moons Sect's Dao Han immediately knew that all of that was related to Su Ming once he heard what had happened to One Dao Sect.
Under the attention of many sects and clans, the fourteen Great Dao Paragons cast the Art, and several days later, in the area where One Dao Sect's temple had been reduced to ash, they summoned the first deceased soul… and it was Chi Yang!
Chi Yang's appearance immediately shocked the fourteen Great Dao Paragons. They might have guessed that One Dao Sect's kismet had disintegrated, but they had never expected that a Great Dao Paragon of One Dao Sect would have also died. To them, the possibility of Chi Yang and the others being sealed was higher.
When Chi Yang's soul appeared, the fourteen Great Dao Paragons instantly felt their hearts let out a thump.
"It's the third prince! He broke the Emperor's rule and killed us, Great Dao Paragons!" Chi Yang's soul let out a shrill roar as his soul gradually faded away before he disappeared from the people's eyes.
The area fell into silence. The mention of the third prince immediately caused all the sects and clans to remember everything that had happened two thousand something years ago, and they realized that he had returned. He had become a Great Dao Paragon… and had the power to kill Great Dao Paragons, who were at the same level of cultivation as him!
It was clear that he could break the Emperor's rule because Chi Yang had died!
When all the sects and clans were in an uproar because of the third prince, Su Ming, dressed in a black robe and with his purple hair fluttering in the wind, walked on the main road to Ancient Zang's royal capital, heading for the city.
"Three thousand years are over."
He still remembered his Master, who looked exactly like Tian Xie Zi, telling him that he would wait at the city gate three thousand years later to give him his final lesson.
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Chapter 1472: Now I Shall Turn Back to The World, But I Will Not Be an Immortal!
On that day, when the sun set and the last remaining rays of sunlight shone on the ground, snow flowed down from the sky. Snowflakes fell and covered the land. They hid the world from Su Ming's eyes, but could not cover the royal capital.
Neither could they hide the figure in a straw cape and hat standing at the gate. That person held a wooden staff in his hand while standing outside the city quietly, as if he had been waiting for thousands of years.
Su Ming stared at that person from a distance, and he felt as if he had returned to three thousand years ago, to the time he saw Tian Xie Zi upon waking up for the first time.
In the blink of an eye, three thousand years had gone by. Su Ming's level of cultivation was much different from back then, and an even greater ancient air could be found about him. The memories of when he had traveled with Tian Xie Zi were no longer clear… but had become rather muddled.
Just like how snow and wind could make a person's vision unclear and prevent them from seeing far into the distance, time could do the same. But there were certain times when being unable to see things ahead was a form of blessing. If someone saw too far ahead, they might think that their happiness was too far away, or they might not be able to see it at all.
Su Ming walked through the snow and wind with the snowflakes falling on him. When he arrived outside the city gate, he walked to the man in the straw hat and cape.
"You're here." The man slowly lifted his head to reveal the face Su Ming was familiar with under the straw hat. It belonged to Tian Xie Zi.
There was tender affection on his face, like how a senior of the older generation would look at someone of the younger generation. It was a show of loving care and support that came from the soul. Even if Su Ming had grown so much that his power could allow him to reach the skies, to him, the youth was still a child which he wanted to protect even if he no longer needed his protection.
"Master," Su Ming said in a hoarse voice.
He looked at Tian Xie Zi, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply. His Master had accompanied him since he joined the ninth summit in the land of Berserkers, and then, he kept him company in Ancient Zang too.
"Three thousand years ago, I told you that I will wait for you here and give you your final lesson. Have you thought… of what you want to know yet?" Tian Xie Zi said slowly, and a profound look appeared in his eyes, as if there was an indescribable wisdom in them.
Su Ming fell silent. Three thousand years ago, he wanted his final lesson to be about understanding the world they were in, whether it was the world in Xuan Zang's body, or the manifestation of Xuan Zang's memories while he was Possessing Xuan Zang.
But that question had gradually changed as Su Ming walked the earth. It turned into a desire to know how he could leave…
Yet as time passed, Su Ming's question changed again, and it became a desire to know whether there was truly no connection between the familiar faces he saw… and the people in his memories.
Those questions had appeared one by one in Su Ming's heart during the three thousand years, and a new one rose in his mind when he was in Hao Hao's world. It turned into… a desire to know what his Dao was.
He did not know what his Dao was, so he wanted to obtain the answer from Tian Xie Zi. But when Tian Xie Zi spoke and Su Ming truly thought about his question, he suddenly realized that it was not the question he wanted answered, because he did not know what his final question was.
He could only be silent.
While standing outside the city gate in a straw cape, Tian Xie Zi stared at Su Ming in the snow and wind. There was a hint of anguish on his face, as if Su Ming's expression right then caused him to feel slightly sad. He asked softly, "You don't remember?"
Su Ming stayed quiet. He stared at the snow and wind, and after a long while, he sighed softly.
"I… am indeed unable to remember it. Perhaps I have too many questions, but if we're talking about the final question… I can't find it anymore. I've lost it in the passage of time. I want to find it, but space stands between us. I can't touch it, and I can't see it clearly either," Su Ming mumbled.
Tian Xie Zi was silent for a while before he said slowly, "Since you can't find it, then you don't have to look for it. Not having your final question is also a blessing."
Su Ming lifted his head and looked at the snow in the sky. He stared at the city gate behind Tian Xie Zi, and after a long while, he spoke softly. "Master, please help me choose one."
"You're determined?" Tian Xie Zi looked at Su Ming, and his expression became even more profound.
"That is a way that is bound to be filled with trials and desolation. Since I am already walking on that road, why should I not be determined to finish it?" Su Ming said softly.
Tian Xie fell silent. The Master and disciple remained silent for a long while in the snow and wind. They stood there until the sun set and snow completely covered the land. When a thick layer of it gathered on the ground and their hair was filled with white as if they had turned grey, the ancient air about them grew stronger, and the feeling of time became even heavier.
"Stop. Don't continue down that road. Stop here. When you turn your head around, you will see all the faces that exist in your memories. They will appear behind you, waiting for you.
"Turn back and live, become carefree. Don't bother about what is real or fake. Don't insist on walking down this path. Sometimes… the happiness of not choosing might be true happiness."
After a long while, Tian Xie Zi's voice echoed in the air and traveled into Su Ming's ears. He slowly turned his head around as if to return to the normal world… to look behind him.
When he turned his head around, he saw Bai Ling in the snow. She was dressed in a mink fur coat, and with her wild beauty, she watched him with a smile.
Beside her was Yu Xuan. She was smiling beautifully, just like usual. Her resolute gaze could melt Su Ming's heart, and as he stared at her, he felt as if he could hear her calling him big brother, just like she did in his memories.
There was also Cang Lan. The elegant and gentle woman seemed to have waited for Su Ming for countless years. Even if she did not know how much longer she would have to wait, she would still continue waiting, and as she waited, she gradually became the only one in Su Ming's heart.
Xu Hui was the same as usual…
The elder had a smile on his old face, and there was also a kindness in his expression, as if he was waiting for Su Ming to make his choice. Once he chose to turn his head back, he would speak…
Eldest senior brother, second senior brother, Hu Zi… all their faces were there. All of their images were reflected in Su Ming's eyes when he turned his head back… but the bald crane was not there.
"If you continue walking down your path, they might still not be resurrected, but if you don't continue, if you turn your head and walk back, and put down all your burdens… they will be with you.
"Su Ming, you are my disciple. I don't want… you to be so tired. This is the best choice for you," Tian Xie Zi said hoarsely.
When he saw Su Ming's back when he turned his head around, Tian Xie Zi's heart ached for him, and it was reflected on his face. It was just as he said, Su Ming's path was filled with hardships, trials, and desolation. He did not want Su Ming to continue down that path… where no matter how many cycles of life and death everyone experienced, there would always be one person missing.
"If you kowtowed even once during those three thousand years, you would have bidden farewell to your past. You can now turn your head around and walk back. Why do you insist on continuing? Why do you still want to seek the truth? Look at Di Tian and Lei Chen… Don't make it so that in the end, no matter how many cycles of life and death the world goes through… you will always be missing."
Tian Xie Zi sighed softly. His sigh held anguish as well as pity born out of his love for Su Ming, which was causing his heart to ache for him.
He saw Su Ming's entire life, and it was filled with hardships and desolation, just like how it should be when someone pursued the truth.
Su Ming was silent. When he turned his head around, everything was filled with warmth. The faces in his memories caused an urge to rise in him. He wanted to nod, to stop walking down his path. He wanted to stay there and become carefree, to stop bothering about what was real or fake, but seek his happiness in, even though he knew it was just an illusion.
"There are plenty of people here, and many of them are familiar to me, but the bald crane isn't here… The familiar faces here bear the same look as they did in my memories. They live in my memories… but are they still themselves?
"They will no longer have any thoughts regarding the future, because all of their thoughts will be provided based on my memories. In this state… they have no soul," Su Ming mumbled.
Tears slowly fell from his eyes. The faces before him caused his heart to hurt. He gradually turned his head around, and the instant he completely turned away, the snow in the wind became black. The world behind him turned dark. Even the city and the world before his eyes fell black in an instant.
The descent of night seemed to signify Su Ming's decision, which had become a darkness not even night could dye black.
Just like his path. When he turned his head back and looked at the world, he did not choose to become a carefree Immortal.
The path under his feet… perhaps it would be accurate to not call it a path. It was not Su Ming's Dao either. It was an attitude that destined him to be cold and resolute. He would live for himself, for the truth… and also for others.
For that path, for the faces in his memories to possess souls again, for the cycles of life and death to have the bald crane, for all those faces to not just smile but have the spark of life in them, to be able to control lives, fate, and death… Su Ming chose to turn his head back and look at the world, to not become a carefree person… but to turn around and continue down his path!
Even if it meant that no matter how many cycles of life and death there would be in the future, there would always be one person missing. However, on that path filled with hardships and desolation, he would continue pursuing the truth.
Pursuing something was itself a manner of living. It was bound to be filled with hardships and desolation. Seeking the truth, even if it meant becoming the devil, was also an attitude. He was bound to be cold and resolute as he treaded down that path. Pursuing the truth meant that he would find his life in darkness and that he was bound to become the devil due to his attitude on that path.
In the darkness, Su Ming stared at Tian Xie Zi, and in silence, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to Tian Xie Zi. When he straightened his back, he did not speak. He walked past Tian Xie Zi and moved resolutely to the city.
Tian Xie Zi looked at Su Ming's back, then muttered softly, "Whoever comes into your life is determined by destiny, but you are the one who decides who will stay in your life. Since you can't forget them, then don't forget them. If everything has become empty, then all the things from the past are worth having…
"Su Ming, my disciple… Is this your choice? To not turn around and return to the world, all for the sake of the faces you remember, all your memories, and what constitutes as the truth… all so that you can master fate, lives, and death."
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Chapter 1473: How Many Cycles of Life and Death Will End with Boundless Dao
Who could enter a person's life was determined by destiny, but destiny could not determine who stayed in a person's life. The only one who could decide that was the person himself.
Since Su Ming could not forget them, then it was fine for him to not forget them, even if everything was reduced to emptiness… and even if everything turned into the lingering rays of dusk that vanished without a trace as darkness descended, until not even a shadow could be found.
Su Ming walked past Tian Xie Zi, just like how he moved through his life, going from winter to either spring or the other seasons. When he reached the city gate, there was no longer any snow or wind behind him.
When he walked into the city, Tian Xie Zi's faint sigh could be heard behind him. It had compassion, complicated emotions, and pride.
His compassion was due to Su Ming's entire life. His complicated emotions were due to Su Ming's choice, but he was also proud of Su Ming.
The sigh gradually faded into the distance, slowly drifting further and further away from Su Ming. When he walked through the city gate and stepped into the royal capital of Ancient Zang, the sigh behind him seemed to be separated from him by countless years. Then, it disappeared without a trace.
Su Ming did not turn his head back. He walked into the royal capital, then continued onwards without ever looking back.
He did not need to know where to go, because the moment he stepped through the city gate, he already saw it. There were three towers standing tall in the distance, and sitting on top of them were three people.
The person sitting at the top of the tower at the center was dressed in an Emperor's robe, and there was a thick wave of kismet on him, as if the entire world, the changes in the seas and lands, and all of Ancient Zang was centered around him. It was as if… where that person was, Ancient Zang would be there, and if he was not around, then Ancient Zang would not be known as Ancient Zang!
He was the ruler of Ancient Zang… the Sovereign of Ancient Zang who had all of Ancient Zang's kismet gathered on him!
Next to him was the third tower. Sitting on top of it was a middle-aged man. He looked incredibly beautiful, and he had a strange, enchanting air about him. That air was incredibly strong, and it became a presence that surrounded him, making him feel like an existence that did not fit into the world.
It was as if not even kismet could merge with him. He was not one with the world, did not fuse with the heavens, and neither was he part of all lives in the land. Be it the sky, the earth, the heavens, or all manner of living, there was no state of being that could surpass his existence. It was… as if he were the only creator in the world!
He could create the world, which was why there was no way for him to fuse with it. He could create the universe, but there was no way for him to personally descend upon the land he created to become one with it. He could create and change all manner of being, but there was no way for him to become part with it. If he had to fuse with them, then the world, the universe, and all manner of being should be the ones who tried to become one with him!
He was Tian Xiu Luo!
And the path he created was so incredibly domineering that it stood unparalleled!
Of the three towers, the one in the center was taken by the sovereign, the one on the right belonged to Tian Xiu Luo, and last one… had a man watching Su Ming.
There was an ancient air about that person, and the feeling of time passing could be detected upon him. It was as if he had been sitting there for a long time… and waiting for Su Ming.
That person did not have Ancient Zang's kismet gathered on him, like the sovereign, and neither did he have the domineering air about him like Tian Xiu Luo, which screamed that he was the creator of the world. However, he had a presence that seemed to be able to determine what was the truth and what was fake. It felt as if he could see through all illusions and even time itself.
That presence seemed to be the epitome of wisdom. It was the end of what all lives could understand. It was also… a Dao that seemed to be able to understand kismet, domineeringness, and everything about all manner of lives.
On that road, the person would never see illusions. They could see the truth they wanted to see!
That man was… Gu Hong!
He was one of the three ninth level Dao Gods in Ancient Zang, or rather, at that moment, those three people were no longer ninth level Dao Gods. Perhaps they had already severed their Daos and completely formed… their Boundless Dao!
Tian Xiu Luo had already severed his Dao and reached Boundless Dao Realm. Gu Di had also clearly severed his kismet during the two thousand years to reach Boundless Dao Realm!
And Gu Hong… The fact that he was sitting on the tower told Su Ming that he… had severed his choice too!
That word, 'sever', should not be taken literally. Instead, it was a form of resolution, a choice. Once Gu Hong made his choice… he could not turn back. If he was right, then he was right, and if he was wrong, then he was wrong. There were two paths. Perhaps one was right, and the other was wrong.
Once he chose one of them, it would accompany him for life.
Su Ming's footsteps paused for a brief moment. He stood on a street in Ancient Zang's royal capital. There were people who rushed past him, but Su Ming did not look at them, because he knew that even if he looked at them, he would not be able to remember their faces. If that was the case, then he might as well not look at them.
The only person he watched was Gu Hong, who was on the first tower.
The old man was also staring at Su Ming. His lips slowly curled into a faint smile.
"You brat, I've been waiting for you for two thousand years!"
There was laughter in the old man's voice, and when his words swiftly traveled out from the tower, they echoed through the entire royal capital.
Su Ming could feel the warmth contained in those simple words, and his heart warmed up. That loving care was real, so real… that Su Ming would remember it for life.
"I, Su Ming, greet my Master." Su Ming looked at the man sitting on the tower in the distance, then slowly wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply.
Gu Hong's laughter was filled with an ancient air, but the sound of happiness was even more prominent. When his laughter rose into the air again, the old man on the tower had already disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Su Ming.
His appearance was the same as before, but the strange air about him had weakened, replaced by age. When he looked at Su Ming, there was joy in his eyes. Once he cast a few close glances at him, his laughter became even more exuberant than before.
"Very good! You didn't make me wait in vain for two thousand years. I promised you in the past that I would let you personally witness the fight between me and those two stubborn idiots who just refuse to die.
"That was my promise, and since I made it, I definitely had to fulfil it. Forget just two thousand years, even if I had to wait for twenty thousand years, two hundred thousand years, or twenty thousand aeons, I would continue waiting!"
There was originally a lot of wrinkles on the old man's face, but when he laughed, they seemed to vanish.
"Let's go!"
As the old man laughed happily, he took Su Ming's right hand, and with one move, they appeared on his tower.
There was originally only one seat at the top of the tower, because Su Ming could clearly see… that there was only one seat available for one person to meditate on the second and third towers.
However, there were two seats on the first tower. The other spot was formed by the old man during the two thousand years. This action was very simple for him, and it looked very ordinary, but that normal seal caused Su Ming's heart to tremble the moment he saw it.
Contained in the seat was the old man's affection for Su Ming as well as all the tender love he had for Su Ming as his disciple. The old man did not hope for Su Ming to do anything in return, but just to witness his Dao.
It was like the thread of fate that bound them together, like how their Daos… were a similar path.
"Hey, you two old coots, we can fight now! My disciple has come back, haha!"
The old man stood on the tower and laughed loudly. There was a tone Su Ming found familiar in his voice. It was that unreliable air he knew all too well.
The moment the old man spoke, Tian Xiu Luo's eyes flew open to reveal a merciless glare. His appearance also changed. His presence was no longer the same as it was in the past. The merciless glare in his eyes caused him to no longer seem like a cultivator.
"You would rather use a seal to avoid fighting for two thousand years, all for the sake of a cultivator. Gu Hong… your Dao is still as abhorring as it was in the past!"
The old man rolled his eyes and let out a cold harrumph before he immediately started cursing. "Shut up! My disciple is mine, not yours. Of course I have to give a damn about him, if I don't, then who will? Was I supposed to rely on that idiot who plays around with Arts of Kismet?"
As he spoke, the figure sitting on the tower at the center, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang, slowly opened his eyes. When he looked at Su Ming, there were not many changes on his face. Only a sigh came from him, and it resounded through the air.
"Xuan Er…"
Su Ming looked at the Sovereign of Ancient Zang, then was quiet for a while before he said slowly, "My name is Su Ming."
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang fell silent. After some time, his deep voice traveled languidly through the world as if it was echoing in the air.
"Do you still remember… the story of the wanderer who left home?"
Su Ming's gaze focused. He cast a few scrutinizing glances at the emperor, then he remembered the old man he saw in a noodle stall three thousand years ago.
"Why do you insist on being lost? I am not surprised that Gu Hong chose you as his disciple, because your Dao has always been similar to his. But now, Gu Hong has already severed his choice, but you… still don't want to wake up?
"Wake up, my dear Xuan Er, when you wake up… you will be the Sovereign of Ancient Zang. When you wake up… all the kismet in Ancient Zang will gather on you, and you will be the only heir to my kismet and Gu Hong's Dao, and you will be… the only true person who reaches Boundless Dao Realm!"
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang stood up slowly on his tower. When he looked at Su Ming, his voice was like the voice of the world. It echoed in the air, and all the lives in the royal capital felt their hearts shudder. The people immediately fell to their knees in worship.
They were not the only ones. All the cultivators in all the sects and clans within Ancient Zang also prostrated themselves on the ground in the direction of the royal capital… to worship Ancient Zang's kismet!
The world became muddled. Fog rose from the ground, as if it had turned into the Vast Universe Su Ming saw outside Harmonious Morus Alba. Everything seemed to be centered around the Sovereign of Ancient Zang!
Su Ming watched the changes in the world while standing beside the old man, then he said these words languidly, "That is his Boundless Dao Realm, not mine."
All lives have an end, and if a person learn of what it means to reach boundlessness, then how many cycles of life and death they lead would end with them being in Boundless Dao Realm?
Lands would eventually come to an end, but there was no end to the sky. How many lives would lead to thoughts never having an end?
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Chapter 1474: Thirty-Three Skies of Ancient Zang
"We've postponed this for two thousand years. Gu Hong, since your disciple is here, we will start now."
At the instant the presence of the Sovereign of Ancient Zang reached a monstrous degree and all of Ancient Zang worshiped him, Tian Xiu Luo brought out a power that seemed to be able to seep through the world and crush all the cloudiness brought by the Sovereign of Ancient Zang. He stood on the third tower and seemed like an existence that was at the same level with the Sovereign of Ancient Zang.
"We don't need to attack to verify our Boundless Dao Realms. If we attack, then Ancient Zang will no longer exist… We don't need to talk about our Daos either. We are all incredibly confident in our Daos, so no matter how much we argue about it, there is no use to it.
"It's just like how we have been arguing about our Daos during these past two thousand years." Gu Hong's gaze was calm when he looked at the other two people who stood at the peak with him.
"Tian Xiu Luo wants to prove that his Dao is the real Boundless Dao. Gu Di doesn't need to take a direct approach to prove that his Dao is Boundless Dao, because his inheritance itself is the legacy of the Emperor of Ancient Zang's Dao, and there is no need for us to discuss whether the Emperor of Ancient Zang's Boundless Dao was real or fake.
"As for me, I do indeed want to know whether the Dao I have practiced all my life and whether the Realm I have reached is just a moon in the lake… or the real, shining moon in the sky."
When the old man's words echoed in the air, Su Ming stood by his side with a calm expression. He watched everything while knowing that it was a very rare chance for him to bear witness to such a fight.
The chance to witness the battle was equivalent to a serendipity for Su Ming.
Tian Xiu Luo was silent for a moment before a cold sneer appeared at the corners of his lips. There was no emotion in his voice when he spoke languidly.
"How are you going to prove it?"
The old man was silent for a moment before he spoke with a firm look on his face. "Before, you could make a choice, but you intentionally ignored it. Instead, you chose to win against me and the sovereign to prove that yours is the real Boundless Dao Realm. Tian Xiu Luo, there is no need for you to ask when you already know the answer."
Right after he spoke, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang lifted his head. He looked at the old man for a moment before he suddenly laughed.
"Are you talking about Ancient Zang Skies?"
"Ancient Zang Skies…" Dark light shone in Xiu Luo's eyes. After being silent for a moment, he swung his arm.
"Very well then. Out of the thirty-three Skies of Ancient Zang, the Emperor of Ancient Zang managed to cross thirty-two before reaching Boundless Dao Realm. It is said that the final sky cannot be reached unless someone has power surpassing that of Boundless Dao Realm. All those without the power of Boundless Dao Realm cannot step above thirty Skies… Ancient Zang Skies… since the both of you have already made your choice, I will step into that place with you." As Tian Xiu Luo's voice echoed in the air, his determination and resolution became extremely firm.
He had indeed intentionally ignored the existence of Ancient Zang Skies, because he wanted to win against Gu Di and Gu Hong to become the strongest in Ancient Zang and prove that his Dao was correct, but right then… he still chose to take the path… that could not be tread upon unless a person had truly reached Boundless Dao Realm.
That was not his first choice because he cared about losing… but right then, it was the only path available.
The old man lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of the sky. With it, the sky rumbled. As clouds tumbled about, they looked as if they had become raging waves. They instantly covered the expanse of the sky above Ancient Zang.
"Then I will use my own power to open up the sky!"
When the old man's words echoed in the air, the sky roared, and it looked as if it was about to shatter among the tumbling clouds. As cracks filled it, it looked like it had been connected to an ancient world.
At the same time, Tian Xiu Luo's voice also echoed in the air.
"Then I will open up the ground leading to the underworld."
Tian Xiu Luo pushed down on the ground with his right hand. With it, the ground of Ancient Zang roared at once. Fog instantly rose, seeping out of the ground from every single part of the land. Contained in it were the thick waves of aura of death. It was the resentment that had gathered from the dead over countless years. During that moment, that resentment tumbled back and charged to the city, then to Tian Xiu Luo's right hand.
The sovereign sighed softly while on the tower at the center. He lifted his hands in a manner as if he was pushing up the sky, then murmured.
"The origin of Ancient Zang has always been beyond the thirty-three Skies… With Ancient Zang's kismet and my status as the Sovereign of Ancient Zang… I will now open the path to Ancient Zang's heavens!"
When he said those words, he tore at the sky, and with it, the world rumbled. The loud, rumbling sounds traveled in every direction and shook the sky and earth.
At the instant the sky was torn, a huge vortex formed in the middle of the sky, and it began rotating. The clouds and fog that had appeared in the sky above the old man due to his doing instantly turned white and were swept into the vortex.
At the same time, the resentment on the ground charged into the sky as well. It immediately fused into the vortex and made it turn black. During that moment, only black and white seemed to remain in the entire world.
There was no sky, no earth, only the huge vortex that could not be described with words above the three of them and Su Ming, and it could be seen clearly when they lifted their heads. Half of the vortex was black, and the other half was white. When it rotated, it turned into something that resembled a huge Rune, but it was not a Rune… It was Ancient Zang's sky!
Booming sounds spread out continuously into every direction. Tian Xiu Luo threw his head back and let out a shrill roar, then with one step, charged to the black and white vortex above him.
"I will be the first to step into Ancient Zang's sky to verify my Boundless Dao Realm!" While his words were still echoing in the air, he turned into a long arc that approached the sky in the black and white vortex.
During that moment, be it the sovereign, the old man, or Su Ming, they were all staring fixedly at the black and white vortex as well as Tian Xiu Luo, who was within it.
"First layer!"
When Tian Xiu Luo's voice rang out, he moved through the vortex and charged out of it. When loud, booming sounds shook the sky and reverberated through the air, Su Ming saw thirty-three layers of skies behind the black and white vortex, just like what its name suggested, or more accurately speaking, there were thirty-three vortices in the sky.
"Ninth layer!"
Tian Xiu Luo moved through the vortices like he was splitting apart bamboo with one swift stroke of a blade. As booming sounds continued echoing in the air, he moved through the vortices.
"Twentieth layer!"
His voice seemed to have come from the distance. In Su Ming's eyes, his figure was already blurry, but he saw that Tian Xiu Luo's speed had not diminished, but he had become even faster. There was determination about him, along with madness born from the desire and firm belief in his Boundless Dao Realm. The madness urged him forward to prove that his Boundless Dao Realm was correct.
"Twenty-third layer!"
When Tian Xiu Luo's voice reached Su Ming's ear again, a loud boom accompanied his words. It was formed when he shot through another vortex. Every single time that sound echoed in the air, it caused the world to shudder. It could be said that in all of Ancient Zang, only the three of them had the right to step into Ancient Zang Sky!
The other people did not even have the right to witness it. After all, at that moment, Ancient Zang was clouded. If it were not for the old man, it would have been difficult even for Su Ming to see Ancient Zang Sky.
The booming sounds became even louder, and Tian Xiu Luo's voice reached them once again.
"Twenty-sixth layer!"
It was already difficult for Su Ming to see Tian Xiu Luo's figure. All he could see before his eyes was just a muddled haze, but he did not give up. He sucked in a deep breath and circulated his cultivation base, then made it gather in his eyes. When his third eye opened, his eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons were all activated, but even so, he could only see a shadow.
However, as he kept his focus on the huge vortex, a surprised glint slowly appeared in Su Ming's eyes. His breathing quickened slightly, and he slowly narrowed his eyes.
'Why is this… Why is this vortex giving me a hint of familiarity? This familiarity… is… a presence…'
Su Ming's breathing became quicker. He formed a vague answer in his heart, but he was a little uncertain about it.
"Twenty-ninth layer. Gu Hong, Gu Di, watch carefully and see whether I… can step into the thirtieth layer!"
When Tian Xiu Luo's voice came out from the vortex, the old man and the Sovereign of Ancient Zang trained their gazes on the sky, with a level of attention that they had never paid to anything before.
Su Ming could not see much, only a shadow, but that shadow was enough for him to tell whether Tian Xiu Luo would succeed.
Booming sounds rang out madly at that moment. They appeared again and again, and each sound surged into the sky. It stirred up the vortex, throwing space into chaos. As the booming sounds continued, they grew to a deafening degree, but the old man sighed softly.
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang also moved his gaze away, but a resolute look appeared in his eyes.
"Impossible! I've already reached the peak of my Dao and the limit of my cultivation. I've come to the end of my road… so why… can't I step into the thirtieth Sky?!"
A shrill roar rang out from the vortex. It was Tian Xiu Luo's voice, and it had an unwillingness to give in as well as madness. The booming sounds became even louder as he continuously tried to step into the thirtieth Sky.
The loud noise lasted for seven days and seven nights. Tian Xiu Luo did not once stop trying to step into the thirtieth Sky. His shrill voice would occasionally carry a forlorn laughter filled with the unwillingness to give in, and Su Ming heard it very clearly.
On the eighth day, the booming sounds stopped. Tian Xiu Luo slowly descended from the huge black and white vortex. When he landed, his appearance was very different. A feeling of age filled his body, and his face was pale. When he appeared from the vortex in anguish, he looked at the old man.
"I have never been able to step into Boundless Dao Realm. Boundless Dao Realm… just what exactly is it?!"
The old man was silent for a while before he said softly, "All lives have an end, and if a person learns of what it means to reach boundlessness, then how many cycles of life and death they lead would end with them being in Boundless Dao Realm?"
When the old man spoke and Tian Xiu Luo descended, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang lifted his head.
"Since Ancient Zang Sky has already been activated… I will also try challenging it."
His voice was calm. At the instant it traveled outwards, he lifted his right arm and swung it, then flew into the sky. When he did so, all the kismet of Ancient Zang flew up and surrounded him to make the area around him indistinct. Then, he charged to the black and white vortex.
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Chapter 1475: Gu Hong
Be it the sovereign, who was rushing to the vortex at that moment, the anguished Tian Xiu Luo, or even the old man, none of them noticed that a huge storm had begun raging in the depths of Su Ming's heart while he stared at the vortex and his expression changed.
'This familiar presence… belongs to the bald crane.' While Su Ming thought of that in his heart, his breathing quickened. The presence was very faint, but no matter how faint it was, Su Ming could never miss it.
Aside from the bald crane's presence in the vortex, there was another powerful presence in the vortex. When placed side by side, the two presences were like a comparison, causing Su Ming to not only sense the bald crane, but also the owner of the powerful and vast presence.
It was… Xuan Zang!
It belonged to Xuan Zang, the man who sat cross-legged on the Feng Shui compass in the Vast Universe!
'The thirty-three Skies of Ancient Zang… To them, it is a path to reach and complete their Boundless Dao Realms, but to me… it is the path to leave this world, return to the universe, and open my eyes!
'If I walk into the thirty-third Sky and take a step out of it, I will be able to wake up, and this Possession will end.'
Su Ming's heart trembled. At that moment, his epiphany rose in his heart, and gradually, it became a thought etched deeply in his mind, like a Brand.
'This is my path…' Resolve gradually appeared in Su Ming's eyes.
At that moment, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang had already disappeared into the vortex. As booming sounds accompanied him, he charged upwards and instantly stepped into the twentieth Sky.
He did not declare his location as Tian Xiu Luo had done. Instead, he did not say a single thing. He just continued moving upwards, and soon, he reached the twenty-second Sky, the twenty-third Sky, the twenty-fourth Sky… When he reached the twenty-ninth Sky, he stopped.
Tian Xiu Luo kept his gaze firmly fixed on the vortex. His heart was filled with incredibly complicated emotions. From a personal view, he did not want Gu Di to succeed, but he wanted to know what Boundless Dao Realm truly meant as well. Only when someone reached that Realm could his question be answered.
The old man's expression never changed since the start. Be it regret or expectation, none of them were too prominently reflected on his face. Even at that moment, he only lifted his head to see what would happen.
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang only stopped for the span of a few breaths before he charged to the thirtieth Sky without hesitation. Once he stepped into the thirtieth Sky, he could prove that he had reached Boundless Dao Realm!
Boom!
Boom!!
BOOM!!!
The booming sounds continued without stop and spread out in a manner that shook the sky and earth. It was the same sound that appeared when Tian Xiu Luo collided against the vortex and tried to reach the thirtieth Sky. That sound was a loud bang formed when they were denied entry.
That sound only lasted for the span of half an incense stick before it vanished. The Sovereign of Ancient Zang was different from Tian Xiu Luo, who attempted to reach the thirtieth Sky for seven days and nights due to an unwillingness to give up. He only tried nine times!
He tried nine times and used the span of time required for half an incense stick to burn to do so. When he did not manage to step into the thirtieth Sky, he chose to give up and slowly descended. When he walked out of the black and white vortex, there was no anguish in his expression nor was his face pale. There was only some pity in his gaze, but that emotion was unavoidable.
"I have yet to reach Boundless Dao Realm. It seems like I have not completely severed my kismet either…" the Sovereign of Ancient Zan said softly when he landed on the tower. He might have felt some semblance of pity for failing, but he seemed to be free of his burden.
Perhaps the more determined a person was, the more pressure they would feel when they failed, while people like the Sovereign of Ancient Dawn, who did not truly care about reaching Boundless Dao Realm, could put away that burden as easily as they picked it up in the first place.
As for Tian Xiu Luo, from the moment he failed, he lost his heart, as if he had lost his path. In the process of searching for his Dao, he had walked an extremely long distance, and when he turned his head around, he no longer knew the way back.
"The both of you have already tried, and now, I will try as well. I will see whether the Dao I severed is real or fake." The old man was quiet for a moment before he turned his head around and looked at Su Ming.
Su Ming was also looking at the old man.
"I will help you scout the road ahead. If my path is real, then stay here, but if I am wrong… then I will not change what I have promised you all those years ago!"
The old man cast a deep glance at Su Ming, and a smile full of tender affection appeared on his face. When he looked away, he turned into a long arc that charged to the huge black and white vortex in the sky.
Su Ming stared at the old man's back. The words the old man had said before he left made him remember the scene when the old man had opened the door to his house and waited for Su Ming to acknowledge him as his Master while Su Ming was in his courtyard.
He also remembered what the old man said all those years ago.
"I will help you verify your Dao! If you are wrong, then you will inherit my legacy, and if I am wrong, I will help you leave this place!"
His words seemed to still be echoing in the air when the sky rumbled. The old man rushed into the vortex like a long arc, and when he charged forward, the layers were continuously shattered.
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang lifted his head and looked at the vortex. In silence, Tian Xiu Luo also looked at the vortex. To the both of them, Gu Hong was a little different, because Gu Hong's Dao was not as limitless as kismet, and neither was it as domineering as Tian Xiu Luo's. It was a determination to search for the truth in the world. It was a Dao they did not understand in the past, and even then, they still did not spend any effort in understanding it on a deeper level.
His Dao was a pursuit of what was real and what was fake. All that was true would remain true, and what was fake would still exist as an illusion. During that moment, when the old man rushed into the vortex, the verification of his Dao started.
With booming sounds echoing in the air, the old man rushed up to the twentieth Sky. He then reached the twenty-third Sky, the twenty-sixth Sky… and then, the twenty-ninth!
When he reached that place, he did not stop, but instead, charged straight up the vortex leading to the thirtieth Sky!
At that moment, be it the sovereign or Tian Xiu Luo, both of them trained their gazes on Gu Hong. Su Ming also narrowed his eyes and focused his attention on the old man.
Boom!
A loud bang shook the sky and earth, and it was one that had never appeared since the black and white vortex showed up. It spread out swiftly and echoed in every direction, in every corner of the world, and every bit of space!
"Thirtieth… Day…"
Tian Xiu Luo staggered. When he took a few steps back, he suddenly laughed loudly. However, his voice was full of anguish rather than joy. It also held a great unwillingness to admit defeat.
The old man had stepped into the thirtieth Sky in the vortex!
Once he stepped into the thirtieth Sky, it meant that he had reached Boundless Dao Realm!
At that moment, not only was Tian Xiu Luo filled with anguish, even the Sovereign of Ancient Zang's expression changed. As he stared at the vortex, his breathing quickened.
A loud bang immediately roared in Su Ming's mind. He sucked in a deep breath while staring at the old man in the vortex. He could somewhat see that the old man had stopped at the thirtieth Sky while thinking about something.
Time trickled by slowly, and in the blink of an eye, several hours passed. Then, the old man took a step forward from the thirtieth Sky and booming sounds shook the sky and earth again.
He reached the thirty-first Sky!
"Lands will eventually come to an end, but there is no end to the sky. How many lives would lead to thoughts never having an end? So that's how it is, that's how it is…"
At that moment, the old man's voice came from the thirty-first Sky. He spoke in a murmur, and there was no joy in him when he verified his Dao. Instead, anguish could be heard in his voice, as well as a sigh.
When his words echoed in the air, Tian Xiu Luo was filled with puzzlement, and uncertainty appeared on the sovereign's face.
"So… this is the truth of all things…"
When the old man's laughter echoed even louder in the air, his anguish turned to what resembled madness. He seemed to have seen and understood something, but the anguish and madness in his laughter also gave them a sense of sadness for some unknown reason.
"Gu Hong, what did you see?!" Tian Xiu Luo asked, and his voice traveled into the vortex.
"I saw… a world you cannot possibly imagine… Su Ming… you are right. Your Dao… is right. I was wrong, because this Dao of mine, to me, has no correctness to even speak of…
"What is the world? What is the void? What is true, and what is false? What are the cycles of reincarnation? What is wrong, and what is right… so that's how it is!"
The old man's laughter became even crazier. In a bout of madness, he seemed to have lowered his head. His gaze seeped through the thirty-one Skies to stare at Su Ming.
Su Ming could sense that gaze. He could sense the sadness in it… along with an air of parting. It was a feeling that they were about to be separated by death, the feeling that they were about to be eternally kept apart.
"Master!" Su Ming's heart shuddered, and he instinctively cried out.
"You're right… but I still hope that there will come a day in the future… when you will remember… that you had a Master in this illusory world that appeared because of your battle of Possession."
When the old man spoke right then, there was no longer anguish in his voice. Instead, there was a sigh contained in his speech. It was lamentation for the world and for his own life.
"There are no bounds to Dao… and there is no end to thoughts… but if I don't search for boundlessness and don't break the lines that draw the end and let everything turn in reverse and return to the start, then it will be as if I am going against my own Dao!
"Su Ming, I will make you become a ninth level Dao God, and with it, I will help you… break through the illusory thirty-three Skies so you… can win this battle of Possession. I will help you… go home!"
As he spoke, with madness in his laughter, the old man shone with endless light. It illuminated all thirty-three Skies, then instantly gathered into one single long arc and.. charged downwards, shooting through the vortices… and going straight into the center of Su Ming's brow.
"Master!"
Su Ming instinctively wanted to dodge. He knew what was going to happen next, but before he could dodge, the long arc seeped through space and appeared right in front of him, then landed straight into his third eye!
"Because you are my disciple, my only disciple… Since I am wrong, I will definitely make my disciple… continue to be right! I hope that with this method, I can make my Dao last for eternity…"
Su Ming's mind roared. At the instant the long arc landed at the center of his brow, Gu Hong's voice—ancient and filled with tender affection—echoed in Su Ming's mind.
Tears… fell down from Su Ming's eyes.
Gu Hong had reversed his own Dao and made all of his power of Boundless Dao Realm scatter, because he was willing to become his disciple's ninth overlapping Dao God.
That was… Gu Hong.
Gu Hong, his name meant a lonely feather, and he lived his whole life like a lonely goose feather. In the end, however, for that one bow Su Ming gave him all those years ago, he became a Master who would give up everything for his disciple.
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Chapter 1476: My Thirty Skies
Tears fell from Su Ming's eyes as the ninth overlapping Dao God appeared within his third eye. Once they merged together, they made him… reach the ninth level of Dao Divinity Realm.
The ninth overlapping Dao God had Su Ming's appearance, and he was also weeping.
The voice echoing in Su Ming's head was still around, but the owner of that voice could no longer be seen with the naked eye. However, in Su Ming's heart, his Master would always be around, and he would eternally exist among his Dao Divinities.
Gu Hong was Su Ming's ninth Dao Divinity!
Gu Hong's choice shocked Tian Xiu Luo, and the Sovereign of Ancient Zang's heart trembled. Disbelief appeared on their faces. They had not expected that once Gu Hong stepped into the thirty-first Sky, he would make such a choice while laughing madly.
'Perhaps… with this method, he could gather his legacy on his disciple so that he could continue down his Dao as well. Gu Hong… I have never respected anyone in my life… You are now the only person I will ever respect,' Tian Xiu Luo muttered in his heart.
He stared at Su Ming as if he could still see Gu Hong in him, his friend with whom he had thought his entire life. As he watched him, understanding gradually appeared in Tian Xiu Luo's eyes.
"Go. your Master has chosen to reverse his Dao and become your ninth Dao Divinity so that you could have the right to step into Ancient Dao Skies.
"Su Ming, don't disappoint your Master. No matter what your Dao is, you must persevere down your path!" Tian Xiu Luo said calmly, but his voice echoed in the area.
At that moment, he did not have any other thoughts in his mind, but only a hint of sadness, which caused him to sigh with a myriad of emotions towards the sky, Gu Hong's sigh, and his blessings for Su Ming.
Su Ming was silent. His nine Dao Divinities at the center of his brow were swiftly merging into one, and his cultivation base was erupting madly. He was growing stronger, and his cultivation base changed continuously. His level of cultivation climbed up rapidly.
It was a key stage for an eighth level Great Dao Paragon to become a ninth level Dao God. That step… was incredibly difficult for all Great Dao Paragons, and it was a great serendipity that they could only dream of having but not actively seek. Yet at that moment, while Su Ming had obtained that serendipity, he felt no joy in his heart.
"This is what Dao means." A sigh tumbled out of the Sovereign of Ancient Zang's lips, and his voice echoed in the world.
"It simply means that Dao would last for an eternity… The person who understood it would not care about their physical body, their own survival, nor even whether they could continue with their life. They would only care about Dao and whether it could last for eternity…
"That was Gu Hong, and it is also the reason why he could surpass us and step into the thirty-first Sky… Dao is boundless, and there is no end to thoughts… so that's what it means."
When the Sovereign of Ancient Zang's sigh echoed in the air, he looked at Su Ming. There was no longer a complicated look in his eyes, but an encouraging gaze.
"Whether you are Xuan Er or not, no matter who you are… continue down your path, so that your Dao and Gu Hong's Dao will continue. Don't let yourself feel any regret. Don't disappoint Gu Hong."
Su Ming was silent for a time. Then, he slowly lifted his head and looked at the black and white vortex in the sky. He stared at the path to leave and an end to the battle of Possession.
Once the nine Dao Divinities in Su Ming's third eye completely fused with Dao Hong, they shone with light.
That light was not white, but neither was it black… It was purple! Su Ming's robes were purple, his hair was purple, and his eyes were purple. At that moment, his whole world was purple. That purple hue existed in daylight, and was not the darkness of night. However, when the purple hue shone during the night… it was a darkness that not even night could dye black.
Su Ming sucked in a deep breath and took a step forward. The moment his foot landed, his body let out a bang, and he turned into a long arc that charged into the sky.
He was so fast that he instantly appeared under the black and white vortex. In fact, half of his body had already appeared in the vortex, and with just another half a step, he could completely step into Ancient Zang Skies' vortex.
It was not that he could not take that half a step, but he had stopped for a moment based on his will. He turned his head around and cast a glance at Ancient Zang's world.
It was perhaps his last time looking at Ancient Zang, because right then… Su Ming would definitely succeed! It was what he told himself!
Su Ming saw a vast piece of land. He saw Seven Moons Land, the rising and falling mountain ranges, all the places that granted him experience during the three thousand years he lived in the land. In fact, he could even vaguely see Hao Hao.
With that one glance, he also saw all the people he met in Ancient Zang. After a long while, a look saying that he was about to bid farewell to that world appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He turned around, and with his Dao as well as Gu Hong's Dao, he took the half a step into Ancient Zang Skies.
When his foot landed, Su Ming entered the vortex completely. He stepped into Ancient Zang, and what waited for him was the road of the thirty-three Skies. Once Su Ming reached its end, he would walk out of the thirty-three Skies and the world formed for the battle of Possession, and then… he would open his eyes!
The world rumbled. Clouds and fog surrounded Su Ming. It was foggy all around him, and that fogginess gave him the feeling of seeing the endless universe beyond when he left Harmonious Morus Alba all those years ago.
Su Ming did not pay any attention to his surroundings and did not think too much. He only kept his mind on questioning his own Dao as he used all of his power to turn into a long arc and charge up with an indomitable will.
Boom!
A loud bang echoed in the air. Su Ming felt that he seemed to have rushed past a barrier, and at the instant he did, he went through the first Sky!
Su Ming knew that it was Ancient Zang's first Sky!
Before him were thirty-two more Skies. The path of questioning his Dao and the journey to verify it was right under his feet. He could not turn his head back, and he would not turn his head around!
Resolution appeared in Su Ming's eyes. Not only did his speed not slow down, he even became faster, and throughout his charge, booming sounds accompanied him…
The second Sky, third Sky, fourth Sky… Every single time Su Ming cleared another layer, booming sounds shook the sky and reverberated through the air. When he stepped into the ninth Sky, Su Ming looked down, but he only saw fog below. However, he could still sense the gazes of the Sovereign of Ancient Zang and Tian Xiu Luo.
They held great hope and were clear and expectant, not bearing any personal grudges. It was a form of respect towards Dao, or rather, they respected Gu Hong's choice to help Su Ming complete his Dao!
They wanted to know whether Gu Hong's choice would succeed!
There was no longer any tears in Su Ming's eyes, but Gu Hong's figure had now become an eternal existence in his heart. His tears of grief could not provide him more power to charge forward. He could only use the truth to prove that his Dao was right. He had to rush out of the thirty-three Skies, for only then would he make Gu Hong smile.
Su Ming's gaze became even more resolute. His speed increased swiftly, and as he charged forth in a long arc, he touched the tenth Sky.
Booming sounds shook the sky again. Su Ming's speed did not change, and he continued to charge to the eleventh Sky!
Just like that, Su Ming had all his cultivation base erupt from him, and with his power of a ninth level Dao God, he broke through the thirteenth Sky, crashed past the sixteenth Sky, tore through the nineteenth Sky, and stomped his way into the twenty-second Sky!
A burst of madness spread out of Su Ming's body, and he had no intention of holding any of it back. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mind had already descended into a state of madness which prevented him from being affected by any secondary thoughts. It became an obsessive craze… and it formed his determination to rush out of the thirty-third Sky.
"I will… step into the thirty-third Sky!"
Su Ming threw his head back and shouted. His speed increased exponentially, because he was no longer using only his cultivation base, but his four great wills as well.
As they exploded in power, Su Ming felt as if his resolve was burning and bringing his body—entirely purple and surrounded by a crazed presence—to crash into the twenty-fourth Sky. Even if he ended up in a badly battered state because of it, he would crush the twenty-sixth Sky.
With booming sounds echoing in the air… Su Ming stepped into the twenty-eighth Sky!
Once he was there, Su Ming lifted his head and stared at the twenty-ninth Sky. He could vaguely see… the thirtieth Sky right behind it!
The thirtieth Sky was inaccessible to all those who were not in Boundless Dao Realm!
"After becoming a ninth level Dao God, what comes next is Boundless Dao Realm… Boundless Dao Realm is just like how thoughts have no end. It needs to be severed… Once I sever my Dao, I can make my Dao… become boundless, and my thoughts… will have no end to them."
When Su Ming said those words softly, the flames of determination burned in his bloodshot eyes. He sucked in a deep breath while he was in the twenty-eighth Sky. He did not let out that breath, but instead kept it in his body.
He turned into a long arc that charged to the twenty-ninth Sky. His speed became faster along the way, and at the end, he practically became a shooting star that rose from the ground and traveled in reverse, back to the sky.
The next instant… Su Ming crashed against the barrier in the sky leading to the twenty-ninth Sky.
Boom!
The sound echoed through the heavens and spread through all of Ancient Zang when the barrier before Su Ming shattered. He immediately stepped into the twenty-ninth Sky. At that moment, before him was the thirtieth Sky that the Sovereign of Ancient Zang could not step into and Tian Xiu Luo found difficult enter!
"Thirtieth Sky…"
The flames of determination in Su Ming's eyes spread to his entire body. They spread into his mind and heart. His cultivation base erupted at full force, and his third eye shone with an eye-catching light. Within it, the eyes of the nine overlapping Dao Divinities shone brilliantly!
The four great wills also erupted at full force from Su Ming's body at that moment. Once they fused with his determination, they turned into his madness. He did not let out any sound, but like a volcano that was about to erupt, he delivered the madness of letting out all of his power to the thirtieth Sky.
He instantly flew up, and from a distance, he looked like a moth while the thirtieth Sky was like a fire. He instantly drew close to it…
'My Dao is my determination. It's all the faces I can never forget no matter how many cycles of life and death I have to go through. It is… my promise to them in Harmonious Morus Alba.
'I… will resurrect them. I will take back all that I have lost!
'This is my Dao, and what I need to sever is not this Dao… but that there will be no truths or lies, no dreams, no illusions, no Possessions, no talents… no destiny!
'What I will sever is my life of walking from midwinter to spring. I will sever… the one figure that will be missing for all eternity!'
Su Ming's body looked as if he had been lit on fire when… he crashed against the barrier leading to the thirtieth Sky.
Booming sounds lifted the sky and earth and shook every corner of the world!
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Chapter 1477: Beyond Ancient Zang Skies
To Su Ming, the thirtieth Sky had long since ceased to be a sky, but was a blade that was placed horizontally in the sky. The gleaming blade was as bright as the sky, which was why it morphed into thirty skies, becoming a ravine that blocked off all those who were not in Boundless Dao Realm.
It was not impossible to cross the ravine, but if anyone wanted to do it, they would require the resolve to sever their Dao. It did not matter whether the Dao they severed was right or wrong, what was important was their resolve!
Tian Xiu Luo thought he had that resolve. He thought he severed his Dao, but when he saw Gu Hong reversing his own Dao in the end and giving up on everything to help Su Ming complete his Dao, he knew that in terms of resolve, he could not compare.
The Sovereign of Ancient Zang also understood that. The two of them had already come to know why they could not step into the thirtieth Sky. It had nothing to do with whether the Dao they severed was right or wrong, but that their resolve was simply not enough…
They had too many things holding them back. With those shackles, it would forever be difficult for them to completely sever their Dao. Be it their kismet or the ability to create all manner of living, if they did not have complete resolve and dedication to it, they could not enter Boundless Dao Realm.
When Su Ming touched the thirtieth Sky, booming sounds shook the sky and earth. As they reverberated through the air, the world trembled. The Sovereign of Ancient Zang's eyes gathered on him, and Tian Xiu Luo's eyes shone brightly. As they focused their entire attention on Su Ming, they saw him… charging like a moth into the flames.
When the loud booms echoed in the air, it was as if a gleaming blade came charging down to cut Su Ming. He did not dodge or evade it. With resolve and determination, he took an unwavering step to the blade slicing down at him.
The blade… went through Su Ming's body as if it had phased through him. It sliced through him, but it did not draw blood nor cause any wounds. It only severed Su Ming's destiny…
It sounded abstract, but what the blade severed… was Su Ming's choice, because the concept of severing one's Dao was in truth a choice. A person could choose the past or the future.
If Su Ming chose to sever the past, then he would have a glorious future ahead of him. If he chose to sever his future, then he could keep the past with him eternally.
No one other than Su Ming knew of his precise choice. Be it the Sovereign of Ancient Zang or Tian Xiu Luo, both of them could only see that Su Ming had severed his Dao, but if he did not describe in detail what he had severed, no one would know about it.
When the blade swung down, loud booms resounded through the air, and the blade shattered. When it fell apart, it turned into the fragments of the sky, allowing Su Ming… to move past the twenty-ninth Sky and step into the thirtieth Sky!
At the instant he stepped there, Su Ming lowered his head, but he did not look at the land nor the area around him. Instead, he was quietly experiencing something.
Under the vortex, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang and Tian Xiu Luo felt their hearts tremble. They stared Su Ming, who was currently standing in the thirtieth layer in the vortex, in a daze.
They did not say a single word, only watched quietly.
After a long, long time had passed, Su Ming lifted his head slowly. His third eye could no longer be seen at the center of his brow, and neither could his nine overlapping Dao Divinities be seen. His entire person seemed to have become different at that moment, but that difference could not be described with words.
He sighed softly, and when he lifted his head, his gaze landed on the thirty-first Sky. That place… was a world the Sovereign of Ancient Zang and Tian Xiu Luo could not see from the ground.
When Su Ming saw the thirty-first Sky clearly, he understood why Gu Hong had fallen silent when he stood at that place.
There was a huge person before them. It sat in space, and beneath him was a Feng Shui compass. Around his wrist was a string of pearls, and he was dressed in a black long robe. It was Xuan Zang.
Or rather, he was the Emperor of Ancient Zang, who disappeared from Ancient Zang's royal palace and was believed to be dead!
He had clearly not died completely, but instead, drifted about in space in search for a miracle that could resurrect him.
Su Ming stared at the illusory figure quietly. It was a scene that Gu Hong had seen when he stood in that place earlier, and it had made him understand what Su Ming had told him a long time ago.
Su Ming was silent for a long time before he took a step forward and began walking into the sky. When he arrived at the barrier leading to the thirty-first Sky, he crossed it with one step.
When he arrived at the thirty-first Sky and looked above him, Xuan Zang's figure became even clearer, and Su Ming was able to sense… the bald crane's presence spreading out of Xuan Zang's clenched fist.
That presence caused Su Ming to remember the feather he had grabbed. That feather had flown out when the bald crane was swept into the void.
However, Su Ming could not see the Emperor of Ancient Zang's face clearly. It was rather blurry… but even if it was blurry and Su Ming could not see it clearly, he could still somewhat sense that his face… was the exact same as his.
"When Master stood here and chose to reverse his Dao, he must have also had a sense of what that figure's face looked like, just like I do…" Su Ming murmured under his breath while sighing softly.
While his sigh still echoed in the air, Su Ming took another step forward. With it, the thirty-first Sky crumbled before him, and the thirty-second Sky's barrier was also torn to pieces the moment Su Ming walked forward.
When he stood in the thirty-second Sky, he could already see the face of the person sitting on the huge Feng Shui compass in space. It… was Su Ming's own.
Tian Xiu Luo was quiet for a while before he spoke from beyond the black and white vortex under Su Ming. "What did you see?!"
Tian Xiu Luo had asked Gu Hong about it, and he seemed to have somewhat understand Gu Hong's answer. However, when he asked Su Ming about it, Su Ming did not provide him with a similar answer.
"I… saw myself," Su Ming said softly. His voice echoed through the thirty-two Skies and spread to every corner of the world.
Su Ming stared at the figure on the Feng Shui compass, then took that a step into the thirty-third Sky.
With that step, the thirty-third Sky vanished before him as if it no longer existed, allowing Su Ming… to arrive before the huge figure sitting on the Feng Shui compass. He was only one final step away from the center of the figure's brow.
When he stood there, Su Ming stared at the huge figure for a long, long time. In silence, thousands of thoughts were born in his head. He thought of many people and many things, and then, he sighed softly, channeling all his thoughts into that sigh. It would echo for eternity and never fade away
Then… he took his final step!
When Su Ming put his foot down, purple light shone from his body. It shot through the thirty-three Skies and descended on the ground. It sent all the fog scattering and chased away all emptiness, causing Ancient Zang to turn purple.
Su Ming lowered his head then and cast a glance at the world below him. He saw the person dressed in the straw cape standing outside the city gate of the royal capital. It was Tian Xie Zi. He was staring up at Su Ming, and a smile was on his face. It held a reluctance to part, a farewell, and a blessing.
Su Ming saw that Dao Han was no longer in isolation in Seven Moons Sect, but was instead standing on a coffin while staring at the sky. There was a complicated look on his face, and he was staring at the sky quietly with respect that came from the bottom of his heart…
And in the dimension belonging to One Dao Sect that seemed to be isolated from the world and had shattered, Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu was also staring at the sky in a daze. It was no longer night before him. The sun shone bright, and a ray of sunlight shone on the side of his face, causing the shadow behind him… to be that of Su Ming's second senior brother, who seemed to be standing among the flowers in the ninth summit with a gentle smile on his face.
There was a woman who had just dragged her exhausted body out of a cave abode in the mountains. Needless to say, it was Xu Hui. Her face was slightly pale, and when she stared at the sky, a look of attention appeared on her face, as if there was a soft sigh in her heart that could not be voiced.
There were others…
Others…
Like Hao Hao. In his world, he sat on the tree crown that replaced the sky. The boy was quiet, and he seemed to be able to see Su Ming too. While smiling happily on the tree, he lifted his hand and waved at Su Ming.
"I've already returned home, big brother… you're about to go home too…"
Like the headless figure sitting on the city in the world under the tree crown. At that moment, he seemed to have moved slightly, and he too became a part of the farewell in the form of laughter that was coming from the palace set in the bustling city.
Di Tian's joyful laughter and the happiness among the people from his sect sitting around him lingered in the air for a long time, refusing to leave. Di Tian had a wine cup in his hand, and when no one was paying attention, he lifted his head slightly to take a sip of wine, but in truth, he was staring at the sky. There was a blessing in his gaze.
Like Lei Chen, who was sitting under the lamps lit in Dark Mountain Tribe. No matter how the wind blew, it could not extinguish the fire. The sky was covered by the branches that prevented all those on the ground from seeing beyond them, but there was a melancholic air about the tribe that would disappear even without wind blowing against it. That melancholy came from Lei Chen as he stood with his head lifted. He stared at the sky and laughed.
He laughed and laughed until tears trickled down his cheeks…
Like the Old Man Extermination on the lone ship in the sea. When he lifted his head to look at the sky, anguish appeared on his face, and then it morphed into a sigh.
Su Ming moved his gaze away. His expression was very calm at that moment, and there was no longer any red in his eyes. Instead, his gaze was clear. He had seen through all the prosperity in life and lived through many springs, summers, autumns, and winters.
He turned around and his foot also landed…
When he took his final step, he… disappeared into the center of the black robed man's brow… for all time.
One winter, one life, a world called Ancient Zang, a sigh that departed…
When he woke up, he woke up to unfamiliarity. When he left… he only brought with him loneliness. Only his Dao was like the purple light in the sky. Even if his destiny faded away, the purple light would last forever.
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Chapter 1478: Opened Eyes
The universe had a color. It was gray that was nearly white, but perhaps that description was not too appropriate as well, because when others looked at it, they would feel as if something was pressing heavily against their hearts, and it was a feeling that was near desolation.
It was a color, but also desolation.
And boundlessness meant that something was indistinct and could not be seen clearly. It meant a size that was endlessly big… Once this word was combined with space, it would turn into… a vast universe that had no end.
In the vast universe, just how many worlds existed? How many planets were there? And how many people parted in grief or met in happiness? How many of those meetings and partings flowed in the river of time that had so many years contained in it that no one would know whether they could be counted?
No one knew the answer.
There was one thing in the universe which had not changed since an eternity ago. It was a man sitting on a huge Feng Shui compass. He was dressed in a long black robe, and his long hair fell over his shoulders. He had his head lowered, and thick aura of death seeped out of his body. It was… Xuan Zang!
He sat meditating with the aura of death surrounding him. There was also an ancient air about him, as if he had already forgotten how many years had passed since he sat down, as if he had already forgotten the Dao of his previous life…
At that moment, a sigh tumbled out of Xuan Zang's mouth. When it echoed in the vast universe… he slowly lifted his head. His eyes had been closed since forever ago, but right then… slowly, but surely, he opened his eyes!
The moment he opened his eyes, loud, endless booming sounds reverberated through the vast universe. When those booms tumbled about, it was as if the entire universe was shocked by Xuan Zang's act of opening his eyes. The presence that spread out from hi when he opened his eyes caused the universe to stir!
Fog tumbled about, and it spread out swiftly from around Xuan Zang to form a vortex. It swept up the vast universe, and as the vortex rotated with loud booming sounds, Xuan Zang completely opened his eyes!
A brilliant spark that could cause the vast universe to shake appeared in his gaze. That brilliant spark disappeared after an instant and calm returned… But those were not Xuan Zang's eyes. They belonged… to Su Ming!
The moment Su Ming stepped into the thirty-third Sky and the center of Xuan Zang's brow, he… succeeded in his Possession!
"I made it."
Once Su Ming Possessed Xuan Zang's body and opened his eyes, he looked at the familiar universe, then at the vortex before him.
When his murmurs echoed in space, he lowered his head and looked at the black feather on his open palm. The bald crane's presence was spreading out of that feather weakly, and it filled Su Ming's heart.
"I am… Su Ming."
He closed his eyes and went to gain a sense of the body as well as the ancient world contained within it.
Just like how a world existed in Harmonious Morus Alba's wings, Su Ming also saw a world in the body he had successfully Possessed.
"Xuan Zang didn't fail either."
When Su Ming looked at the world in his body, the sigh he breathed out held an ancient tone. It echoed in space as well as the world in his body.
It was… a world that had died for an unknown number of years. Su Ming saw Ancient Zang, the sects and clans, but they had already been reduced to ruin. They had become debris, and not a single living being could be found.
Everything seemed to have withered away when Xuan Zang closed his eyes in the past and the aura of death filled his body.
"The three thousand years I lived through were a Possession. The world during those three thousand years… could be the Emperor of Ancient Zang's memories, or it could also have been Xuan Zang's memories… Either way, that world was the recollection of the world before it died.
"In that recollection, I became him. Based on this, I succeeded… but from his point of view, his goal was to be revived. He was ready to do anything to be revived, and right now… he has indeed been revived. He was resurrected with my will," Su Ming said softly, murmuring to himself while he stared at the dead world in his body.
Su Ming slowly fell silent. When he stopped mumbling to himself, time continued passing in the vast universe. Each time his thoughts changed, one thousand years seemed to change…
When Su Ming lifted his head and put away the feather on his palm… he slowly stood up on the Feng Shui compass.
At the instant he stood up, the booming sounds from the vortex in the vast universe reached a monstrous degree. The vortex's rotations caused the vast universe to look as if it had turned into a boundless raging sea… and while Su Ming stood on the Feng Shui compass, he seemed like the master of the raging sea.
"This is what it means to reach Boundless Dao Realm," Su Ming mumbled under his breath. However, there was a bleak tone to his voice as well as loneliness. It was a loneliness only he possessed in the entire vast universe.
"It is like how a person becomes a god, and then from a god… the master who stands supreme to all."
Su Ming stood on the Feng Shui compass for a long, long time before he sat down again, and while alone in the vast universe, he closed his eyes.
"I've already reached the limit of my Dao…"
With his eyes shut, Su Ming sighed in his heart before he sucked in a deep breath. The moment he did so, the rotating vortex charged at Su Ming and entered him through every part of his body. Eventually, all of it was within Su Ming's body.
While the vortex in Su Ming's body tumbled about, it crashed against the dead world in him. Gradually, the endless vortex from the vast universe gathered in one spot in Ancient Zang's royal capital, which was the heart of the dead world.
That spot was like a seed, and at that moment… it was buried deep in the world.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, one thousand years went by… In that time, a tree grew in the originally dead world, and it was… the Tree of Dao Verification!
The tree's roots spread through the earth, using the vast universe as its nutrients. It grew up slowly, just like how Hao Hao had done in the past, since Su Ming was using the same method to change the world in his body.
He had an endless amount of time and unimaginable patience to complete all the steps necessary to change the world.
Thousands of years passed, and the Tree of Dao Verification reached the sky. When it covered the world, Su Ming could no longer see any wastelands in his world, and neither was there any wreckage. Everything returned to the beginning. Mountain ranges, rivers, and everything Su Ming could remember about Ancient Zang from the three thousand years he lived in it returned to how they looked then.
Perhaps there was some form of power that caused Su Ming to live three thousand years in Ancient Zang during the process of him Possessing Xuan Zang, because it allowed him to return it to how it looked like before.
Perhaps that vague power belonged to Xuan Zang.
But no matter what, all of that was no longer important. When the Tree of Dao Verification's crown replaced the sky in Su Ming's body, he opened his eyes while still seated.
"There is midwinter in my Life Matrix, and hence, there is winter in this world, just like the autumn sun, summer rain, and an abundance of life like spring. This is life, and it is also my world," Su Ming murmured softly, and the four seasons appeared in the world within his body.
During the thousands of years the tree grew, the Feng Shui compass beneath Su Ming kept moving forward, allowing Su Ming to continuously absorb the power from the vast universe to nourish the world in him and change all that which had died. Even if the world had already taken form and had the four seasons, Su Ming still continued moving forward and did not stop.
As time passed, the passage of time also became part of the world in Su Ming's body. That world seemed to have become a complete entity, but it was still lacking… true life.
'I will search for them in the cycles of life and death as well as in the vast universe until I find them, and then… it will be time for me to open the Abyss Gate. It will be the first time I open the Abyss Gate in my life, and it will… also be my last.'
While Su Ming sat on the Feng Shui compass, he stared at the vast universe in the distance and mulled over the loneliness he felt during the past thousands of years. He pondered over the isolation he felt by being the only person there and how it would stay with him for life. His isolation would never come to an end.
"This is what it means to be in Boundless Dao Realm," Su Ming said softly. He took off the string of pearls from his right wrist, and after staring at them for a moment, he flung them into the vast universe with his left hand. The universe immediately tumbled about, and an endless amount of power swiftly gathered in the pearls. Once they were filled, Su Ming retained the seventh while throwing away the rest. Six of the pearls contained lives. They turned into butterflies and flew into the distance until all of them vanished from sight.
Only the seventh remained in Su Ming's palm, and he held it tight.
"From now on, there will be eight butterflies which will possess life in the vast universe, and they will be the hope for me to find their tracks…" Su Ming mumbled.
The Harmonious Morus Albas in the vast universe were born on the Tree of Dao Verification. All of them had the same name, the same life, and in fact, it could be said that they were originally one.
When the Tree of Dao Verification had crumbled, they could only flutter and fly about in the Vast Expanse, becoming wanderers who could not find their home… but because their origin essence was the same, Su Ming firmly believed that since his eldest senior brother, second senior brother, Hu Zi, Yu Xuan, Cang Lan, Xu Hui, and the others could be born in the seventh Harmonious Morus Alba's wings, then he could definitely find their traces in the other butterflies' wings.
He would gather all their traces together, and then he would form the key to activate his Abyss Gate.
However, those were just his assumptions. Perhaps he would succeed, but it could also… just be wishful thinking. Yet no matter what, Su Ming had to try. Even if he could not succeed, he would absolutely not give up. He would continue searching for other methods. That was his Dao.
With the seventh pearl, Su Ming slowly closed his eyes. The pearl on his palm could not turn into a butterfly… because the bald crane's Reversed Spirit was not contained in it.
Time passed as the Feng Shui compass on which Su Ming ast continued moving forward through the vast universe. The feeling of loneliness and isolation was something Su Ming was already accustomed to, and he had no choice but to get used to it. He was alone for one thousand years, for ten thousand years… and then thirty thousand years…
A huge butterfly appeared before Su Ming in the vast universe. It was a Harmonious Morus Alba, but not one of those that Su Ming had bestowed life upon thirty thousand years ago. It was a butterfly which Xuan Zang had not killed.
The aura of death was not heavy about that butterfly, and there were countless lives on the four wings. Perhaps there were also people who learned that the world they lived in was actually Harmonious Morus Alba's wings there as well, and perhaps there were also people like Arid Triad who tried to struggle against the fate of being wiped off, but there was no doubt… that they still lived a blessed life.
After all, the person they met was not Xuan Zang, but Su Ming.
While sitting on the Feng Shui compass, he looked quietly at the Harmonious Morus Alba in the distance. When he drew close, the butterfly shuddered visibly, and an air of fear leaked out of its body.
"I will not wipe you off. I only want… to take away some marks of certain people from you."
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Chapter 1479: To Not Wait for the Heavens to Fall Silent
Su Ming stared at the Harmonious Morus Alba letting out a panicking and terrified air before speaking faintly. Then, he shut his eyes, and his will, so great now that it could no longer be described with words, instantly left his body and charged to the Harmonious Morus Alba.
If his will was to be compared with Harmonious Morus Alba's will, it would be the same as comparing a brilliant moon to a firefly. It made the Harmonious Morus Alba unable to struggle and fight back. It could only allow Su Ming's will to completely cover its body, then fuse into all four of its wings from every angle.
During that moment, the four Expanse Cosmoses contained in the Harmonious Morus Alba's four wings shuddered. The galaxies instantly froze… While they kept still, Su Ming's will swept past each life like a violent storm, but he did not harm them. He only searched for the traces and the marks he needed.
After several breaths passed, all four Expanse Cosmoses in the Harmonious Morus Alba returned to normal, and Su Ming's will faded away, but only the Harmonious Morus Alba knew that the existence which terrified it and which it found somewhat familiar in the depths of its mind, did not remove its will, but instead broke it down into several portions and gathered them within the four Expanse Cosmoses.
The Harmonious Morus Alba was uneasy and anxious because it did not know what marks Su Ming was searching for. It could only hope that he would leave as soon as possible. His terrifying might and strength caused it to be unable to fight back even in the slightest. It knew that if he wanted to kill it, he would only need to point a finger at it.
Time trickled as Su Ming sat on the Feng Shui compass and levitated before the Harmonious Morus Alba. He had been broken down his will into several parts, and each of them were by the side of the people who had the marks he wanted.
He did not take those marks away immediately, but instead stayed beside them. As time passed and a long period of time went by, the Harmonious Morus Alba's wings started overlapping, and then, the four Expanse Cosmoses started to be destroyed…
When destruction was over and new lives were born, Su Ming left with the marks he needed. He had accompanied them for an aeon. His will left the anxious and uneasy Harmonious Morus Alba, and returned to his body on the Feng Shui compass. Then, Su Ming opened his eyes.
He lifted his right hand, and there were several feeble souls on his palm. Among them were his eldest senior brother, second senior brother, Hu Zi, Cang Lan, Yu Xuan, Xu Hui, his elder… and all the other people from Su Ming's memories.
Those souls only had a trace of the marks that signified who they were in his memories, and they were not the versions of the people Su Ming wanted.
When the Harmonious Morus Alba spread its wings again, Su Ming left into the distance on his Feng Shui compass. He continued moving forward, alone and isolated in the vast universe for another ten thousand years…
Ten thousand years, twenty thousand years, thirty thousand years… Time passed, but there seemed to be no traces of it in the vast universe. When two hundred thousand years passed, Su Ming opened his eyes again, because right before him… was the ninth Harmonious Morus Alba which was fortunate enough to have never run into Xuan Zang.
It drifted about in the vast universe with an abundant amount of life flowing in it, and countless lives had been born in the Expanse Cosmoses within its four wings.
When it noticed Su Ming's arrival, that Harmonious Morus Alba even showed hostility, perhaps because it had been alive for so long that it had forgotten its instincts. However, the will that spread out from Su Ming immediately crushed that hostility. The butterfly shuddered, and panic and shock instantly rose within it.
Su Ming did not care about Harmonious Morus Alba's feelings. His will enveloped the butterfly's four wings and spread into them. When he swept past the wings, he found the marks, then split up his will and place it next to them.
Despite the Harmonious Morus Alba being wrecked by nerves, Su Ming did not choose to immediately retrieve the marks, just like before, because if he took them directly, it would mean that he would be personally killing them. He could not do it nor did he want to do it. He could wait for the Expanse Cosmoses in this Harmonious Morus Alba to be destroyed, and then, he would take away those marks.
Time passed, and the Harmonious Morus Alba lived in nervousness for an aeon. When it ended, Su Ming did not stay. He brought with him the marks he found and left the Harmonious Morus Alba, which had spread its wings to give birth to four new Expanse Cosmoses. While the Harmonious Morus Alba was still nervous and anxious, Su Ming left into the distance.
One hundred years later, Su Ming met a Harmonious Morus Alba which was born from a pearl after he bestowed life to it, and he began searching for the marks again.
He searched through the butterflies one by one, and it seemed to take an eternity. Ten aeons passed.
Su Ming searched through all the butterflies and found the marks he wanted in all the Harmonious Morus Albas. However… when he had all the marks in his hand, he only let out a melancholic sigh while sitting on the Feng Shui compass and surrounded by an ancient air.
Each of those marks were independent entities. If he forcefully fused them together, the Brands of life which would be formed would still be missing the familiarity from Su Ming's memories. He could open the Abyss Gate and resurrect them, but once they were resurrected, they would no longer remember each other. In Su Ming's heart, they would become his most familiar strangers.
Su Ming did not want to do this sort of thing nor see it happening. He longed for the people in his memories to be resurrected, and he yearned for the people who would be resurrected to still be themselves. He wanted them to have their memories, not just their faces. He hoped that their souls would still be the same, just that they would be separated by unfamiliarity.
"The cycles of life and death are like the sea. Only by living through them can I find the marks they left behind when they disappeared in the beginning. Only then will I be able to make the marks fuse together and turn into the Brands marking their lives."
Su Ming stared at his palm. After a long time had passed, he clenched his palm. Once he placed the marks in his palm into his heart, he unfurled his palm and pushed down gently at the Feng Shui compass beneath him.
With it, the Feng Shui compass jolted, then started rotating on its own. The entire universe seemed to have been drawn in by its movements, and it started rotating as well. As time passed, the boundless universe became a huge vortex which spun with loud bangs until it became a circle.
Every single time the universe spun a circle, a cycle of life and death was completed.
As the universe tumbled about in a vortex, the sediments of time contained in it were dragged to the front of Su Ming's eyes. The dust that had fallen to the depths of the universe flew before him, and Su Ming left the Feng Shui compass to walk into the vortex. It did not matter how much time would pass and how many cycles of life and death he would have to live through, for he would continue walking forward firmly and resolutely.
He would search for the marks everyone left behind when they disappeared in the passage of time…
In the cycles of life and death were the things and the people he had never forgotten and the promises he never failed to recall.
He kept those people in his mind because he yearned for them,to meet them… and to get to know them again.
When his Harmonious Morus Alba was destroyed and Xuan Zang's palm fell, causing all the souls to vanish that night, he already knew that if he was not determined, he would not meet them again in their next life.
It was just like how a person would wait for the heavens to fall silent for thousands of years while they stood in the palace in the sky. How many times would they feel lost, and how many times would they cherish others right down to the core of they soul? And from then on, there would no longer be moments in their life when they would find life to be as beautiful as it seemed at first sight…
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Chapter 1480: Persist with Determination, All So They Could Meet Again
One hundred thousand years…
Two hundred thousand years…
Three hundred thousand years…
One million years passed as Su Ming continued on quietly in the vast space that was the cycle of life and death formed by the vortex. He used all his cultivation base and turned it into his divine sense so he did not miss even a single corner. He searched through every spot carefully for everyone's marks in their cycles of life and death.
Gradually, in his loneliness and isolation, Su Ming forgot how to speak or how to even produce sound. Deep exhaustion filled him, but it was not his body that was tired, because when he reached Boundless Dao Realm, it was difficult for his body to feel weakened. He was tired… in his heart.
He searched for everyone nonstop and was continuously disappointed, but he never gave up, because he knew… that once he let go, there would no longer be any hope.
He could only search and search. Even if the universe died and its life was extinguished, he still had to continue searching. That was his determination, his path.
During the first one million years, Su Ming walked through the vast universe in search of the marks. During the second million years, he still continued searching…
He walked past Harmonious Morus Albas and past multiple vortices that symbolized the cycles of life and death. When the fifth million years passed, the exhaustion in his heart turned into depression. When the sadness fused into the depths of his soul, after searching for five million years, he suddenly came to a stop in the vast universe.
It was the first time he stopped during the five million years. When he did so, he turned his head around and looked at the fog tumbling to the side. Within it, he saw a fragment. It was broken, and it drifted about in the fog for an unknown number of years.
When Su Ming notice the fragment, a brilliant sparkle suddenly appeared in his eyes. He brought his right hand up and did a seizing motion in the direction of the fog. With it, the tumbling fog was enveloped by a will that was greater than the universe. The fog instantly became still, as if it no longer dared to even move. The fragment inside swayed a little and charged to Su Ming before it gently landed on his palm.
As he stared at the fragment on his palm, a smile slowly made its way onto Su Ming's lips, and it was full of joy. It was the first time he smiled in the five million years of continuous searching.
"Ma… Fei…"
Su Ming's voice was hoarse. He had been silent for five million years, and he felt as if he had forgotten how to speak, so his voice was hoarse and indistinct, like the murmurs of an old man who was in his twilight years.
Most of the fragment was made of stone. It was formed by a large amount of dust in the vast universe, which was why it could continue to exist in the vortex/ It was part of the dust.
However… among the great amount of dust in that fragment was a speck that contained a mark Su Ming was familiar with. It belonged to a girl called Ma Fei, whom Su Ming had met in Morning Dao Sect and who had served as his guide while he posed as Dao Kong. The mark in the fragment belonged to her.
That girl might not be the person he wanted to meet the most… but the appearance of her fragment gave an unimaginable boost of confidence to Su Ming, and it strengthened his resolve. He was finally sure that his path of searching for the others was correct, so no matter how much time passed and even if he had to search for countless millions of years, he would still resolutely continue on.
He would persist with determination so that they could meet again.
After gently holding the fragment in his palm for some time, Su Ming unfurled his fist, and the fragment disintegrated. The dust impurities were reduced to ash, and only Ma Fei's mark floated above Su Ming's palm like a broken soul fragment. Su Ming put it away like it was a precious treasure.
After a long while, Su Ming lifted his head, and a clear sparkle shone in his eyes, making them appear even more clear, just like how a child's eyes would look like. He took a step forward and with resolve continued onward.
Time passed, and another one million years went by. Su Ming searched year by year, never holding back on turning all his cultivation base into divine sense to walk through the cycles of life and death in the vast universe…
Su Ming did not know what he was looking for, and perhaps he would have to do it for an eternity. Yet with the long span of life a cultivator in Boundless Dao Realm had, he simply continued searching, just like Xuan Zang had sat for countless years on the Feng Shui compass.
When fifty million years passed, Su Ming had practically become numb, and aura of death began appearing around him. That aura of death had not come because his life was about to come to an end, but because the loneliness and isolation he felt in the vast universe caused a deathly stillness to appear in his heart as he continued searching despite his fatigue.
But even if his heart had become still, it could not stop him from searching. Even if he no longer used his legs to move forward but sat on the Feng Shui compass… he could still not bury the hope to meet his loved ones again.
He searched, and searched, and continued searching.
When eighty million years went by, Su Ming found Ye Wang's mark. Just like Ye Wang, his mark shone with a piercing light, and it was slightly blinding to the eyes. He was in the horn at the head of a ferocious beast in the vast universe.
That ferocious beast was lying sprawled before Su Ming while trembling. It had only sensed a hint of Su Ming's presence, but it had nearly terrified it to death.
Su Ming stared at the horn on the creature's head, then he lifted his right hand and pointed forward. When he pulled his finger back, Ye Wang's soul fragment appeared on his palm.
He put away the soul fragment very carefully before closing his eyes to continue searching.
Time flowed as Su Ming continued searching. No one knew how many aeons had passed or how many times the eight butterflies in the vast universe had overlapped their wing.
When around two hundred and fifty million years passed, Su Ming shuddered while in the vast universe. His eyes flew open, and the brightest sparkle over the course of countless years since he began searching appeared in his eyes. That light was so strong that it instantly caused the vast universe to tremble and rumble. The eight butterflies shivered and did not dare to move even an inch.
An excitement that had never appeared on Su Ming's face showed up. He slowly stood up, and when he took a step forward, his legs trembled. His eyes were fixed on a ball of fog, which had… a white flower.
That fog was like rain, and when inside it, the small white flower looked to be in the rain. It looked weak, but it had its own determination. It seemed like it was waiting for someone.
The flower had waited… for two hundred and fifty million something years. It waited for the ferryman who protected it from the rain when they were at the River of Forgetfulness all those years ago, and who eventually carried it to his boat.
Tears fell from Su Ming's eyes, but a happy smile was on his face. He slowly approached the small white flower in the fog and gazed at it deeply. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
Because he had already forgotten how to speak.
It was of no great concern to him, however, and he laughed happily. While his laughter was silent, the appearance of his smile seemed to have caused ripples to appear in the vast universe. When they spread out, Su Ming lifted his hand and tenderly raised the small white flower from the fog, cradling it in his hand.
Tears fell from the corners of his eyes and slid down his cheeks. One of them fell on the small white flower like a dewdrop, causing it to seem to extend its leaves. It seemed to be… smiling sweetly, so sweetly that Su Ming was caught in a daze.
One of the leaves touched Su Ming's palm, and that gentle touch was just as beautiful as it was in his memories.
He stared at the small white flower on his palm, and his happy smile dyed the cycles of life and death in the vast universe in its color. He… had found Yu Xuan.
He gently put the small white flower into his world, then turned his feelings of cherishing her into something precious so that that feeling could stay with him, just like how the flower had quietly accompanied him all those years ago beside the River of Forgetfulness. It had stayed under the eaves beside a lonely figure in a straw cape while rain pouring around them.
The small white flower in the rain was a daylily, but there was no sadness about her. To Su Ming, she was part of his determination and what he cared for. She brought sunlight to his life, so he could collect mark after mark in the cycles of life and death in the vast universe.
Even though those marks did not contain the faces that had brought about Su Ming's determination, the bits and pieces of their existences in his memories marked their roles in his life. Some of them had appeared in his life as guests and had then left into the distance. They might once have been his enemies, or strangers who moved past him after they brushed their shoulders against his, but Su Ming took their marks with him, treating them as valuable treasures. At that moment, he no longer held any hostility to any of those people.
He found Su Xuan Yi, Morning Dao Sect's De Shun, all the people from the land of Berserkers, Divine Essence Star Ocean, his old friends from Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, and the people who drove him to madness in Dark Dawn and Saint Defier.
As he continued on with the cycles of life and death in the vast universe, he found Change He, but what caused Su Ming's gaze to linger was the mark of an unfamiliar woman beside him.
The woman leaning against his mark was his wife, who had passed away many years ago. As Su Ming watched her, he discovered that she had always been by his side… he had just never discovered her presence while he was alive.
Su Ming found more marks in time. As he walked through the cycles of life and death and the passage of time, he found his eldest senior brother…
His mark was not a speck of dust, but a fighting spirit. It was a vision, and it existed among a pride of beasts in the fog within the vast universe. It was the reason their fighting spirit was always at its peak.
To fight for eternity!
With the marks he found, with hope and determination, Su Ming walked through the fog, and when he left the area, the fog surrounded him. It seemed to be unwilling to let him leave. There was a murmur in the fog, as if it was trying to say something.
Su Ming stopped. He lowered his head and looked at the fog beside him. After a long, long while, his gaze focused, and deep love appeared in his eyes.
He found Fang Cang Lan. She was the fog… or rather, she found him through it.
He took the fog, which was Fang Cang Lan away with him.
The hope in his heart grew stronger, but even with that hope, Su Ming knew since the start that… when he brought the world back into existence, when he turned all the marks into Brands of life and made them return, on that day… he would only be able to watch everyone quietly from the side.
It was not a destiny that had been set in stone since his birth, but the price for his Dao. It was the path he chose, and it was different… from that of Old Man Extermination.
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Chapter 1481: Finale: How Many Cycles of Life and Death Will There Be in Which One Person was Missing, and How Many Cycles of Life and Death Will There Be Until They Return to the Mortal World?
Translator:EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor:EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming brought the fog with him.
He did not care about the passing of time nor about how many cycles of life and death had passed in the vast universe. He only continued searching for the marks belonging to the faces in his memories.
In time, he found his second senior brother. He was in a flower formed by fog, and his state of being had already changed. He was a life form similar to a phantom.
Hu Zi was around too. He seemed to have never been separated from his second senior brother. When second senior brother turned into a phantom and became a different life form, Hu Zi became the endless wind in the vast universe around him.
Later, he saw Xu Hui and Flame Fiends' Progenitor as well as the marks of other people. As many years passed and the cycles of life and death in the vortex within the vast universe continued rotating, Su Ming found each and every one.
He found Bai Ling, Zi Ruo… and his elder.
In the end, Su Ming also found a tree in the vast universe. It was not Ecang, but an incredibly ordinary tree. Under it, Su Ming saw Arid Triad.
Once he found everyone, Su Ming left the cycles of life and death in the vast universe. In the deepest parts of the vortex was his Feng Shui compass. When he reached it, he chose to sit down and meditate again before casting one final glance at the world.
"Are… you lonely?"
Su Ming was silent for a long time before he slowly sent out that thought. He did not open his mouth to speak, but only sent his divine thought to echo in the air. It lingered in the vast universe, refusing to disappear for a long time.
Only one person could hear it.
"How many years has it been? Are you ever lonely being alone in the universe?"
When Su Ming sent another divine thought out, it echoed in the universe, and a cold harrumph traveled out of the vortex before him. Soon after, an ancient ship appeared out of nowhere, seemingly tearing apart space and bringing with it countless bolts of lightning.
Old Man Extermination sat on top of that ship. When he appeared, he opened his eyes slowly, and when he looked at Su Ming, Su Ming lifted his head and looked at him.
Old Man Extermination was silent for a moment before he answered in a hoarse voice. "Our Daos are different… This is the path I chose. For this path, I can live alone for countless years, and I can sacrifice everything… to complete my Dao!"
"Is that path lonely?" Su Ming asked with his divine thought.
Old Man Extermination fell silent again. Only after a long time had passed did his voice travel into the vast universe with a firm tone. "Saying any more is useless. From the moment you successfully Possessed Xuan Zang, I lost half the battle. On this day, after countless years have passed, you will tell me your request, and I will do everything in my power to fulfill it."
"Help me… find the bald crane. It's in a world that might or might not exist. You have to help me find it… then bring it back… No matter what it is doing in that world, no matter what form of life it has turned into, please help me bring it back. Bring it… back home," Su Ming said softly.
He then lifted his head to look at the vast universe in the distance. Fond remembrance and yearning appeared in his eyes, and melancholy as well as regret showed up as well. He had found everyone, but not the bald crane.
Because… the bald crane was not there.
Su Ming lifted his right hand, and a pearl appeared on his palm. It was the seventh pearl from Xuan Zang's string of pearls. The bald crane's shadow was originally contained in it, but it had long since disappeared.
"If even you can't find it, why should I be able to do it? Why won't you search for it yourself?" Old Man Extermination scowled at him.
"You will be able to find the bald crane through its tracks… I can no longer find it myself."
When Su Ming said those words softly, Old Man Extermination fell silent. He cast Su Ming a scrutinizing glance, then a complicated look gradually showed up in his eyes.
"Is it worth it?" he asked softly.
When he looked at Su Ming, he could already see that Su Ming's body was slowly becoming rigid. His life force was dwindling. He had poured all of his life force into the world in his body to make sure that there would be life born in that world. It was to ensure that the lives he found could wake up from within his Abyss Gate.
"This is my Dao… I no longer… want to continue being alone."
A smile appeared on Su Ming's face. He did not answer Old Man Extermination's question, but his words could be considered to have given his answer.
Once he said them, Su Ming unfurled his right hand. The pearl on his palm turned into a long arc, but it did not fly towards Old Man Extermination. Instead, it left into the distant space as if it wanted to break through the world containing the vast universe and charge… to the world where the bald crane was, even if no one knew how far it was located or whether it even existed.
At the same time, the Feng Shui compass under Su Ming's body stopped rotating abruptly. It turned into a long arc that charged after the pearl, then gradually shrank. When it caught up to the pearl, it fused with it!
"Perhaps in that world, there will be one person… who will hold onto a white piece in his life," Su Ming said softly. At the instant he shut his eyes, the pearl, which had fused with the Feng Shui compass, turned white.
Old Man Extermination fell silent. After a long while, he sighed softly. He swung his arm, and the lone ship beneath him swiftly flew in the direction of the Feng Shui compass-pearl. They rushed out of the universe together. When their forms disappeared from the vast universe, they left for the world which may or may not exist. They disappeared… from Su Ming's vast universe.
"I will bring it back. This is the debt I owe you," Old Man Extermination had said before leaving.
Su Ming had already shut his eyes, and it was the last time he did so in his life. His body had turned completely rigid. The life force in his body had been completely turned inward. The only thing that spread out of his body right then was an aura of death that was becoming thicker with each passing moment.
His life force fused into the world in his body, into each Brand of life formed by the marks. Only by doing so could he make those Brands of life open their eyes in his world.
When Su Ming's life force fused into the Brands of life, ripples of emotion rose in his heart towards Yu Xuan, Cang Lan, and Xu Hui.
'I've never been able to give all of you anything… Right now, I can only give you… a child born of my life so that our story can continue…'
His soft voice fused into Yu Xuan, Cang Lan, and Xu Hui's Brands of life, and in them was not just his life force, but also the conglomeration of his life.
There was no longer any Feng Shui compass under Su Ming's body while he was in the vast universe. He gradually sank into the cycles of life and death in the vast universe as he sat in place. Slowly, the vortex submerged his body, and then, he slowly sank into the cycles of life and death, and no one… could find him ever again.
A sigh echoed in the vast universe then, and Tian Xie Zi's figure slowly gained corporeal form from its initial illusory form. He walked out of space at the spot where Su Ming had disappeared into the vortex, and grief appeared on his face.
"Then, I… will keep you company." As he mumbled softly, Tian Xie Zi walked towards the vortex in which Su Ming had vanished into and disappeared as well.
When Su Ming closed his eyes, the world in his body became abundant with life. The sky was blue, the ground was filled with green, and in the distance was a vast ocean. Mountain ranges rose and fell, and there was a mountain among them called the ninth summit…
Then, a door appeared in the sky.
It was a purple door, and when it slowly opened, the entire world turned purple.
The purple light shone for a very long time. When it vanished, the door vanished without a trace as if it had never existed in the first place.
Hu Zi was the first to open his eyes when he landed in the ninth summit. He stared at the sky in a daze, then shook his head violently. He lifted his right hand and instinctively patted the spot by his side, but he did not manage to find any wine pots.
"Darn it all, why does it feel like I've slept for a very long time?"
Hu Zi scratched his head in astonishment. He looked into the distance, where his second senior brother had just opened his eyes from his meditation and quickly went to him.
His second senior brother quietly stared at the ground in the distance with a slightly dazed look in his eyes, but soon, he seemed to have thought of something and lifted his head to look at the sky. As he stared at it, his eyes grew moist.
The sound of footsteps reached his ears when eldest senior brother walked towards them. He had a head and a strong body, but when he arrived behind second senior brother and Hu Zi, he shuddered as if he had been weakened.
"Where is youngest junior brother?" he murmured in a slightly hoarse voice, but no one answered him…
"Where is youngest junior brother?" Second senior brother stared at the sky. After a moment, he bit down on his lip, and anguish appeared on his face.
Hu Zi's eyes went wide, and he quickly stood up and started shouting. "Stop hiding, youngest junior brother, you're making me worried! Hurry up and come out!"
His echoes resounded through the air…
"Haha! I get it know! Youngest junior brother, you're definitely hiding in your cave abode! Heh heh, I'll definitely be able to find you."
Hu Zi's voice seemed to have come from a distance. It resounded through the ninth summit and lingered in the air, refusing to leave. At the foot of the mountain, Zi Che stared at the woman beside him in a daze. It was Zi Yan, his older sister.
In the distance… Bai Chang Zai stared in front of himself in a daze. He mumbled under his breath, but he seemed as if he could no longer remember exactly what had happened.
Even further into the distance, Chang He woke up on a meadow. He opened his eyes and felt that he seemed to be holding onto a person with his hand. He instinctively turned his head around, and then, a loud rumble shot up in his head. Tears fell from the corners of his eyes as he stared at his wife, who had also woken up at that moment.
Su Ming's elder sat quietly at the foot of Dark Mountain and stared at the sun setting in the distance. By his side was Bei Ling, Chen Xin, and everyone from Dark Mountain Tribe. Not a single one of them was missing, except Su Ming and Lei Chen.
However, they were all staring around themselves in a daze, as if they did not know where they were in the unfamiliar yet familiar world.
Su Xuan Yi sat quietly beside a lake. He stared at its surface and murmured under his breath, his words unintelligible to everyone else. His expression was occasionally full of complicated emotions, then dejected, and at other times full of madness.
In the distance was snow and Bai Ling, walking gradually into the distance through the snowy plains…
The only sound there was the shrill cry of an ape. It seemed to be echoing in the snow and wind, and it came from a red flash in Dark Mountain.
Standing on a beach was Fang Cang Lan, who watched the waves rise and fall on the sea. She sat down, quietly grabbed a handful of sand, then furled her fingers around it softly, but she could not stop the fine sand from slipping out through her fingers… She simply could not hold onto too much of it.
Tears fell from the corners of her eyes. They slid down her cheeks and fell on the sand. Perhaps when the next tide came, the tears that had fused with the sand would be taken away by the seawater to become part of the sea.
All sorts of lives and all sorts of events happened at the same time in that world…
Yu Xuan hugged her legs while sitting on a cliff. Her had was buried in her knees, and her long hair covered her face, but it could not cover the crystal drops that showed from the slits between her hair. It was already dusk. Evening rays shone on her, elongating her shadow… until it became very long.
Xu Hui's robes danced in the wind as she stood on top of a mountain. That spot was the closest place to the sky. While standing there, Xu Hui stared into the distance. When dusk faded away, she turned around and left. Her long hair fluttered, and a teardrop left her cheeks, but no one knew where it flew.
"If you continue down that path, you will be the only person left in the entire universe in the end."
"Then, what about your path? If you continue down with it, you will be the only one who will disappear from the entire universe!"
The words exchanged between Su Ming and Old Man Extermination seemed to echo in the world at that moment. They resounded in the ears of all the people who remembered Su Ming.
There was one person missing from the cycles of life and death, and he would never return to them. That person was Su Ming.
While he was in the thirty-third Sky, he did not choose to sever his past like Old Man Extermination. Instead, he chose to sever his future and keep the beautiful moments in the past with him.
It was just like his path. He walked down the path of pursuit, which was full of hardships and desolation. It was just like his pursuit for Dao throughout his life, which was lonely but full of determination. Or rather… it was what it meant to become the devil, for it was the path to pursue the truth.
He stood before the devil in antiquity and watched Harmonious Morus Alba transform into the world.
He sighed and pursued the truth for tens of thousands of years, and after many cycles of life and death, he returned to Ancient Zang's side.
Time passed, and aside from the lives Su Ming resurrected, gradually, other lives also appeared on the land. They were lives that belonged to that world. Cities were built. Sects and clans were formed.
Cycles of life and death came and went as if they could bury all the stories of the past in emptiness.
Only… a sect called Ninth Summit would eternally have a legend that circulated in the world. The legend said that the world was formed by Ninth Summit's Progenitor, Su Ming. Whenever night fell, he… would watch over the sect and all manner of living.
There was also a similar legend in Dark Mountain. The only thing different about it was that in that legend, the world had daylight because the Su Ming spoken about in the legend could not forget the night, and it had nighttime because when the stars shone, his eyes would sparkle, and he would be able to see his home.
There was also a continent that belonged to the Berserkers in that world, and the legend of the God of Berserkers circulated among them. That legend changed gradually, and slowly, the world became known as the God of Berserkers' World.
Wind fluttered and snow drifted about.
In a dream, no one knew they would grow old. In a foggy land, who would climb to the top?
In indistinct darkness, smoke curled skywards.
Truth and lies lay on a bridge. Cycles of life and death came and went, but one person was missing.
Many years later, during an evening when it rained, a woman held an oil-paper umbrella in her hand while she stood within a pavilion. Her long hair fell over her shoulders, but only her beautiful back could be seen. Her face was not visible.
Standing by her side was a child of about six or seven years of age. It was a girl with her hair tied up in two pigtails. With one hand, she held the woman's hand, and with the other, she held a doll. She had rosy cheeks, but she seemed to not be very happy at that moment.
"Ma… I dreamt of pa yesterday. Pipi also dreamed of him. Just where is Pa? This time, you have to tell me…"
The woman lowered her head and gave the girl a tender, loving smile. She patted the girl's hair, and her gentle voice echoed in the evening rain.
"If you close your eyes, you will find that he is by your side, Tong Tong. You will sense… that he is forever by your side." While speaking, the woman smiled into the distance.
The girl seemed to not have understood her words. As she listened to her mother speak, she slowly closed her eyes.
When the remaining rays of dusk shone on the ground through the rain, the figure of a man seemed to have appeared to the girl's right. It gradually became clearer, revealing that he was someone who stood straight. His hair was purple, and there was an air of cordiality about him.
When he lowered his head, he looked at the girl with a gentle smile on his lips.
From a distance, the scene in the pavilion made it seem as if they were a family of three and filled with warmth and happiness…
"Ma, I sensed him!"
The little girl immediately opened her eyes, and with surprised delight, she looked to her right…
"Big brother Su Ming, you have to come back... Once you're back, I'll tell you the secret…"
"Big brother Su Ming, this is an amazing secret. Yesterday, I had a dream. Many years later, you became my pa…"
End of Pursuit of the Truth.
Epilogue, Renegade Immortal
"Wan Er, there is no end to the path of cultivation. There is definitely the Fifth Step, the Sixth Step, and even the Seventh Step…"
"Then, I will stay by your side. Even if we cannot reach the end of our Dao, we can enter the cycles of life and death together.
On Immortal Asral Continent, Wang Lin stared at Li Muwan gently. He held her hand and walked to the distant galaxy, leaving further and further away… Then, in the endless galaxy, he saw an ancient ship.
Sitting on that ship was an old man, and he was smiling while looking at him. Wang Lin was also looking at him. That old man was the person who had played a game of chess with him in the past.
"Meeting you in this world has allowed me to no longer have any regrets. You've surpassed me, but in the end… my Dao was not a complete failure. Wang Lin, you still have a long way ahead of you. Continue down your path…"
Wang Lin smiled faintly at the old man on the ship. He did not speak, but held Li Muwan's hand while walking into the distance…
After a long time, the old man on the ship moved his gaze away and looked at the Immortal Asral Continent.
"I've searched for you for countless years, and you've finally woken up. Bald crane, I am Old Man Extermination, and I owe Su Ming a promise… to bring you home!"
"My home… Morning Dao…"
An absent-minded murmur resounded from the air in Immortal Asral Continent, and a black crane… flew out. Excitement appeared in its eyes, and finally, after it had been lost in countless cycles of life and death… a figure of a person it would never forget no matter how many years had passed and no matter how its appearance changed appeared in its eyes.
It was a man with a smile on his face while he extended his hand to it.
His name… was Su Ming.
"I'll go home…"
Fin.
Author's Note:
Pursuit of the Truth has ended for six days. Today is the seventh day.
Let me tell you how my life has been for the past few days. Since the book ended, I have become much more irritable. When I moved, I even argued with my wife for several days...
I will admit it. Something has happened to my temper. I am very depressed and sad. I cannot describe this feeling precisely, but when I ended Renegade Immortal, I had this feeling, and now, when Pursuit of the Truth ended, I have the same feeling again.
This is something I have been writing continuously for years, and now, I do not need to continue writing it. The disappointment of it is like a tidal wave that can make a person drown. Pursuit of the Truth has went on for two years, and it is now over in the blink of an eye. I remember that six days ago, it was the first day that marked the end of Pursuit of the Truth.
I am used to booting up my computer, opening up Word, but now, I cannot, by habit, write Su Ming's name anymore, because when I opened Word, I saw that I had already penned down 'End of Pursuit of the Truth' the day before yesterday…
Now, six days have already gone by, but I am still unable to get my mind out of my book. I know that it will take me a month, and only when I get my mind out of Pursuit of the Truth will I be able to create a new book, or else, I will not be a responsible author to all of you, and I will also not be responsible to my new book, and even to my life as a creative writer.
Pursuit of the Truth… Pursuit of the Truth. Pursuit is in itself a manner of living, and it is bound to be filled with hardships and desolation. Seeking the truth is an attitude, and it is bound to make a person cold and determined. This is not something I created, but what a reader wrote down in a forum in Tieba.
At that time, when I saw it, I gained very strong feelings from those words. That person was the first reader who truly understood what Pursuit of the Truth meant.
My skill in writing is limited. My knowledge is limited. My experiences are limited. The things I want to present might not be very clearly presented in my story, but he understood.
I used his words in my story.
In my stories, my words are commonly found and easily understood. They entertain the masses. This is what they are supposed to do, but I am unable to make my words too easily understood, and in that sense, I am a failure, because I always want to write down some of my experiences, my epiphanies, and some words… that I want to say to my daughter in the future. I want to write down the words I want to use to educate her in how to act and how to live in the future.
I remember how many years ago I once said during an interview with Ku6 Media that I love my books very much and that I intend to still be able to enjoy them when I am old, so I hope that they will not appear to be disgusting before my eyes. I also intend to have them be books that my daughter can read when she grows up. I will let her read my books so that I can tell her all my epiphanies and my understanding of the world in the form of my novels.
That is why romantic love is mostly pure in my books. You will not find any hint of indecency, because I do not want to write those things.
People's schemes against each other, the attitude of the strong preying on the weak, the firm attitude towards friendship, the love for family, the loyalty to love… all these beautiful moments in the book and the understanding towards the world, be it darkness or light, are part of my life.
In Renegade Immortal, I wrote of a nobody who was unwilling to bend his head to fate. He fought against the heavens and destiny. His was a story of a person who walked out of the rough trails in life. In that story was my belief that I was someone special when I was a teenager, my many hardships in life when I was a young man, and my sentiments as well as weariness when I became a middle-aged man.
To achieve success, Wang Lin had to give up on far too much. Hidden under his bright glory was everything that he had given up for his achievements.
And in Pursuit of the Truth, I wrote another story. It was a story of a person who lived but died in the hearts of the others yet survived in their memories.
Su Ming's story was a story of a person who when he knew who he was, he was no longer himself, and when he no longer knew who he was, only then was he himself.
His was a story of the only person awake when everyone else was drunk… or when everyone else was awake, he was the only one drunk.
What is the devil? If there are some among you who still care about Su Ming becoming the devil, succeeding in becoming the devil, becoming the Devil Paragon, or some of the other words associated with this, and if you still care about not seeing the conflicts of a devil even after you have read the entirety of Pursuit of the Truth, then I have failed.
Because what I wanted to show since the beginning was not a devil, but a person… chasing after an extreme Dao!
I could only use one word to describe this Dao, and that was the devil. 'He kowtowed before the devil during those three thousand years.' These words were of the moment Su Ming had the choice to sever his future or his past while he was outside Ancient Zang.
That pronoun 'he' does not mean a single person. It is a general reference. It refers to all the people Su Ming met in his life and cared about, people whom he could give up everything for.
All of them.
"If you continue down that path, you will be the only person left in the universe in the end."
"Then, what about your path? If you continue down it, you will be the only one who will disappear from the universe!"
Those who sever their past belong to the former, and those who sever their future are the latter.
This is Pursuit of the Truth. It is a path, a Dao. When you run into different events but come to face the same choice as Su Ming did, what will you choose?
In Pursuit of the Truth, I wrote Su Ming's choice, and it is also my choice.
Just like the changes of heart in Pursuit of the Truth, I also went through changes of heart. What changed was my writing style and my creativity. If turning to a mortal in Renegade Immortal can be compared to a stage in my writing career, then in that stage, I will say that I have reached Soul Formation.
After experiencing several changes of heart for Pursuit of the Truth, under certain intentional changes in plot, I sometimes found that my writing was too heavy, and sometimes, there would be confusion. At the moment I ended the book and I penned down the words 'End of Pursuit of the Truth', I knew that I had experienced a change of heart. If I was to compare this to a level of cultivation, then it would be the beginning, middle, and later stages of Soul Transformation.
And my new book will be my Ascendant Realm!
There are plenty of regrets contained in Pursuit of the Truth. Due to the lack of accomplishments in the early stages of the book, I experienced a change of heart before the expected time. I questioned myself, and I sought change.
When I reached the middle part of the book, I saw many readers saying that the beginning of the book was good, but the later part was only average, but you do not understand that every time I saw those words, I would sigh.
I sighed, because a new book needs plenty of people protecting and cherishing it while it grows, for only then would it be able to grow well, and there are plenty of readers who wait and only start reading a book when it has plenty of chapters on its back. I too do the same, but Pursuit of the Truth has allowed me to understand that those who read must also let the writer know that they are reading the book. You need to subscribe to the book and let the numbers grow so that the writer will have sufficient confidence.
Those who write need support and encouragement. Even if you are only reading, please subscribe during the early stages of the book. Only by doing so will the writer be confident when he sees the numbers and not feel lost while he is writing.
These are all objective reasons. On a subjective reason, when I started Pursuit of the Truth, I wrote about Berserkers, and many people were not used to it, and when my body did not give me the strength, I could not produce a lot of chapters in one go, and my heart grew tired. The tone of the book also caused the entire story to be filled with an oppressed and depressing air. All of these caused me to only feel about seventy percent satisfied with this book, even though I was initially very confident that I would write it well.
That was why I said that writing Pursuit of the Truth for two years was also a period of time when I experienced a change of heart.
Now, I have experienced turning into a mortal, I have experienced a change of heart, and I am now confident in reaching Ascendant Realm! With my new book, I will breakthrough and crush the wall to Ascendant Realm!!!
1st of March will be the date when I, Ergen, will write my third book after Renegade Immortal and Pursuit of the Truth. I will not give it a depressing air. I will fill all of you with passion when you read it. This is the tone I have set for that book!
The next book I want to write is still Xianxia, but the emphasis will be leaning more towards a person reaching a high state. All the hardships contained in that path will contain Wang Lin's rebellion and Su Ming's determination!
This will be my creation once I have reached Ascendant Realm after I experienced my change of heart! In fact, my book will no longer only contain two words or four words, but five words!
My fellow Daoists, please look forward to it. I have here a small request. All the readers who are used to reading, if you acknowledge me, then I sincerely hope that when you read, you will subscribe and support me. Please do not waste your recommendation tickets and comment in the review section, because in my next book, I will reach Ascendant Realm, and I will need your help to be able to succeed. Your help is strong enough to change a book's fate.
30th December 2013.
Written on the seventh day Pursuit of the Truth ended.
Ergen.
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