Pursuit of the Truth

The ninth echelon was located at the peak of the second layer. If anyone lifted their heads and looked, they would find that there was no sky above them, only a boundless space. That space resembled the universe, causing Su Ming to feel a little dazed at the moment he looked over.

The ancient tree that penetrated the ninth echelon stretched straight into the vast space above. Its very top could not be seen, only a huge trunk that seemed to have lifted up space and kept the ground in place!

The tree was so huge that it was difficult to describe it with words. In the ninth echelon and beneath the tree was an altar. There were one thousand steps leading to it.

The altar was gigantic, but due to it being located under the ancient tree, it looked insignificantly small, giving others a feeling that it was a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

At the instant Su Ming saw the altar, he did not stop. He charged straight to it. At the instant he landed on the altar, the first and second princes appeared behind him. Their expressions were very sour, and it was especially so for the second prince. There was even great killing intent on his face.

He believed that everything should belong to him and not his younger brother. He believed that he should be the one who benefits from other parties fighting against each other and not one of the two parties fighting!

“You’re asking for death!” the second prince snarled and instantly charged towards Su Ming.

The first prince also had monstrous killing intent burning in his eyes, but compared to Su Ming, he hated his second brother even more, because in his eyes, if the second prince had not fought against him, he would have long since succeeded in being the first to arrive.

Right then, he might also be rushing forward, but most of his killing intent was directed at the second prince.

When both of them turned into long arcs and used their fastest speed to charge at the altar where Su Ming stood, Su Ming lifted his right hand with his feet planted firmly on the altar and pushed the jade slip in his hand against the petrified ancient tree!

The petrified tree could not hope to compare with the ancient tree that reached the sky, but it was also thousands of feet tall. Right then, its petrified status completely disappeared, causing the tree to instantly return to normal. When the first and second princes drew closer and stepped on the altar, a huge pillar of light shot up with a bang from the altar and charged towards the sky. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the sky as if it wanted to compete against the ancient tree in a contest of height!

Right when the pillar of light appeared, a loud rumble containing a power that no cultivator could hope to fight against erupted, and it formed an invisible barrier in front of the first and second princes. It bounced them back, and they coughed up blood. When they were forced back, they glared at Su Ming, who had turned his head back and was watching them with a cold glare, with ferocious expressions.

Su Ming was in a pillar of light. When it rose into the air, a presence that was equivalent to the thousand-step altar being activated for the first time instantly surrounded Su Ming and fused into his body, causing his power to continuously rise at that moment. His fifth Dao Spirit… swiftly appeared in his third eye at the center of his brow.

It might have been just a shadow, but when it was fully manifested, Su Ming’s power would reach the fifth level of Dao Spirit Realm. However, while the power from the thousand-step altar was great, it was not enough for Su Ming to immediately form his fifth overlapping Dao Spirit. It could only be in the state of a shadow.

When the altar was activated, Gu Tai’s laughter rose into the air of the eighth echelon. His voice was loud and clear. He might not have been able to see what was happening in the ninth echelon, but right then, the ripples in the second layer served as no interference to the cultivators of Seven Moons Sect. All the people in that echelon were not newcomers, and they could naturally tell just who… had activated the altar in the ninth echelon!

“One Dao Sect, Asura Clan, thank you for letting us win!”

When Gu Tai’s laughter echoed in the air and the faces of the old man from One Dao Sect as well as the woman from Asura Clan became sour, the pillar of light from the ninth echelon shot into the vast space above it. Gradually, a huge vortex appeared. It surrounded the towering ancient tree and swiftly rotated.

It revealed parts of the ancient tree that were previously hidden, allowing all those who lifted their heads to see the parts of the ancient tree that were now uncovered were filled with marks that were terrifying to behold. Its branches were full of cracks.

The feeling the ancient tree gave off made was of it being covered in wounds, but there was an incredibly dense life force within it. It was so great that it was difficult to describe with words. That life force moved along the rotations of the vortex, then spread out with a bang. It then formed a mighty pressure that descended onto the second layer, but even all the cultivators in the first layer could sense that mighty pressure.

At the same time, a powerful suction force came from the vortex that surrounded the ancient tree. That suction force focused only on the altar where Su Ming was, making him slowly rise into the air while standing in the pillar of light.

The first and second princes watched all of it with their eyes burning with ferocious rage. Su Ming’s eyes were also on them until he turned into a long arc that charged into the space above through the vortex.

That was where the third layer was!

The instant Su Ming disappeared into the vortex, the dozen something disciples from Seven Moons Sect who were chosen to enter the third layer and were swiftly scaling the trunk between the eighth and ninth echelons were surrounded by the suction force, then immediately yanked into the ninth echelon before they turned into long arcs that charged into the vortex in the sky.

When all the disciples from Seven Moons Sect vanished, the first and second princes charged to the pillar of light at the same time. This time, they were not bounced back by the light. Instead, once they waited for a few dozens of breaths, they were also sucked into the vortex in the sky. They were followed by… the disciples who were chosen to enter the third layer by their sect and clan!

“The victor has yet to be decided.”

There was a huge meadow within a dark world in Asura Clan, and nine huge statues stood around it. Those statues were all ferocious and malicious ghosts. They had a pair of horns on their heads and were entirely green. They were the exact same as the second prince after his body had grown bigger.

There were cultivators sitting at the top of the nine statues’ heads. They were nine old men with ancient faces. The person who had spoken was one of them.

At the center of the nine statues was a sludge with bubbles coming out of it. As the bubbles burst, wisps of red smoke rose up. A person could also be seen sitting cross-legged in the sludge.

Their gender could not be told, and since they were buried in the sludge, it was also impossible to tell their age, level of cultivation, and face. Also… that person was headless!

“We of Asura Clan will definitely win this battle over the Phala. With this puppet helping us, the second prince will surely succeed. Even if he isn’t the first to step into the third layer, he will still have a great advantage over the others,” another person from among the nine said flatly.

“That’s right, this headless corpse was brought back by Progenitor Xiu Luo when he ventured out during one of his many journeys. There is astonishing power contained in its body, and based on the Progenitor’s estimations, it has the power equivalent to three worlds, which means that this person has the presence of three worlds on him!

“He has also been refined by Progenitor Xiu Luo to this date. Also, thanks to Great Dao Paragon Yin Yue’s sacrifice of sending a portion of her soul into that body so all of its aspects would improve. It has gained power equivalent to a Great Dao Paragon and can stand over all Dao Paragons, so he can be considered to be the third Great Dao Paragon of Asura Clan, right behind Seniors Qing Han and Yin Yue, even though it’s just a puppet!”

“Enough, we need to bring forth our power to guide the second prince. With Great Dao Paragons Yin Yue and Qing Han helping us, we have to be ready to be Relocated into the third layer!”

Once the nine people finished speaking, they closed their eyes. Immediately, the nine statues shone with a dark light. They fused into the sludge, causing a large number of runic symbols to appear in the sludge. Even the rising red smoke had runic symbols contained in it.

At the same time, nearly identical voices echoed faintly in One Dao Sect.

“The battle of Dao Verification, especially during the times when the competition between the successors is nigh, will no longer be dependent on an individual cultivator’s power, but the power of an entire sect.”

The sky and earth had been separated from each other in One Dao Sect, as if someone had intentionally made sure the sky was isolated from the earth. There were three huge statues standing in three directions, surrounding the world belonging to One Dao Sect. The second statue had countless cracks that should have caused the statue to shatter to pieces. Right then, there was light shining on it.

“Great Dao Paragons cannot step into the third layer. This is a part of its laws. These laws were personally set by the Emperor of Ancient Zang himself. Even though we don’t know why he did so, he surely had his own reasons for it…

“But the Emperor of Ancient Zang has died many years ago. The existence of his laws have become a kismet that gathers on the royal family, causing the laws to exist eternally… but it is precisely because of this that some loopholes have appeared.

“These loopholes can be utilized, and Great Dao Paragons can descend in the third layer for a short period of time. This is also why… we of One Dao Sect will win hands down in this battle of Dao Verification!

“One Dao Sect… has always practiced and obeyed the Art of Kismet that is the exact copy as the one practiced by the royal family, since the creator of One Dao Sect was… the Emperor of Ancient Zang!”

There was supreme majesty in the speaker’s voice. When it echoed in the air, it caused the world to tremble. Countless cracks appeared in the sky, and when lightning crackled in them, they illuminated the world. When it was lit up, the faces of the three statues that had been standing in that world for an innumerable number of years were also revealed!

They were three faces of supreme majesty, and they were all the same. They were of one person, and that person… was the Emperor of Ancient Zang!

“Fellow Daoist Sen Mu, fellow Daoist Lin Dong Dong, I cannot leave One Dao Sect, and Progenitor Chi Yang is in isolated training. We cannot bother them. Right now, we only have the two of you left… who will go?”

“It’s naturally me, Lin!”

A voice that seemed to have come from the world beyond echoed faintly in One Dao Sect.