Pursuit of the Truth

When the ancient Tree of Dao Verification swayed, the world roared. The countless illusory nets in the area started swaying as well, and if anyone looked down from the highest point in the sky, they would be able to see that the illusory nets had completely enveloped the Tree of Dao Verification. They were formed of laws… and were clearly seals that bound the tree!

However, the parts on the nets that had been weakened previously were swiftly shattering, and the regions where the nets shattered… started cracking!

Booming sounds instantly shook the sky. When the Tree of Dao Verification shook, Lin Dong Dong’s expression changed swiftly. He sensed an indescribably mighty pressure that shook even him. As the tree crown swayed, that mighty pressure gathered on his body, and he felt as if he had been reduced to a mortal. He staggered and was forced to take a few steps back. The power of a Great Dao Paragon which he sent at Su Ming also disintegrated against his will.

The expression of the second prince, who had stepped into the tree crown at that moment, also changed in an instant, and he moved back.

“I want to go home!”

The child’s voice echoed in the air and shook the sky and earth. The Tree of Dao Verification began to sway even more violently. When the world trembled, the illusory nets burst forth with a sealing power that they had never released before.

The Tree of Dao Verification’s swaying affected the first and second princes, but for Su Ming, the effect was miniscule. The moment the Tree of Dao Verification swayed, he charged towards the Phala. He instantly closed in on it, but just as he was about to take the smaller Phala, the first prince let out a powerful roar.

“I am Lin Dong Dong! I inherited the Emperor of Ancient Zang’s Art of Kismet, and I am a Great Dao Paragon! Today, with Ancient Zang Dao Sect’s kismet and the legacy left behind by the Emperor of Ancient Zang, I will change the laws again! Laws of this land, scatter!”

The eyes of Lin Dong Dong, who had temporarily Possessed the first prince, turned bloodshot at that moment. If the Phala was taken by Su Ming right before his eyes, then it would be a great humiliation to him.

Thus, even though the Tree of Dao Verification was swaying violently, Lin Dong Dong was still roaring. And the entire world roared with him. The illusory nets were immediately weakened again, and the damaged areas shattered to pieces… Those cracks then connected together to form a gap!

Lin Dong Dong turned into a long arc, and while the laws changed, his cultivation base was no longer suppressed. Instead, it burst out while he charged at Su Ming.

His face changed slightly while he was in the long arc, and he no longer looked like the first prince. Instead, he looked as if he was about to turn into Lin Dong Dong.

He had increased the power of Possession without caring about destroying the first prince’s foundation. When he rushed forward, he used the laws to chase away the power of the world that erupted when the Tree of Dao Verification swayed. In an instant, he closed in on Su Ming.

But… he was still too late!

Su Ming had already plucked the smaller Phala. And when he stretched his right hand out, he grabbed the larger Phala too!

“GET LOST!”

Lin Dong Dong instantly closed in. With a roar, he swung his arm, and a great power Su Ming could not fight against rammed into his body. It was an attack which contained a Great Dao Paragon’s rage. Su Ming jolted and instantly fell back while coughing up several mouthfuls of blood. His body looked like it was about to break down at that moment. A feeling as if his body and soul were about to be destroyed submerged Su Ming like a tidal wave.

There was blood at the corners of his lips when he was swept back.

When Lin Dong Dong made a grab for the bigger Phala, the second prince narrowed his eyes and charged towards Su Ming with the headless figure. Su Ming lifted his right hand, then threw the Phala in his hand into his mouth. He sucked in a breath, and the Phala instantly withered and disappeared.

There was a murderous glare in the second prince’s eyes, but no anger. Instead, his gaze turned darker and more sinister. He instantly closed in on Su Ming, and his voice echoed in the air.

“If you didn’t swallow the Dao Phala, then on behalf of us being connected by blood, I wouldn’t have killed you, but since you ate the Phala, then I… might have to turn your entire body into the power of a Phala.”

A brilliant glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes, and he immediately cried out, “Hao Hao!”

The ancient Tree of Dao Verification swayed and rumbled again. The noise resounded through the air in every direction and shook the sky and earth. The Tree of Dao Verification did not just move its tree crown, but also shook its branches violently. Even the ground underneath it cracked.

The tremors in the second layer became violent, and even the first layer was affected. When the Tree of Dao Verification swayed, the one hundred thousand trees on the one hundred thousand altars swayed as well. It brought about a destructive power which made it seem like the trees wanted to self-destruct. But at that moment, an illusory net that stretched endlessly appeared in the skies of the second and first layers. They enveloped the ground and completely suppressed the destructive presence.

But this still shocked the cultivators in the first and second layers. Some of them immediately chose to leave.

Numerous cultivators flew out of the black hole in the vortex in the sky above Ancient Zang. The entire sky rumbled. The vortex looked as if it was about to collapse, but it was soon wrapped up by the illusory net.

The middle-aged man dressed in the Emperor’s robe in the royal capital under the vortex was standing on an altar in the palace. There was a cauldron before him, and a black-green dragon sprawled under it. Its body surrounded the altar.

The dragon opened its eyes at that moment and let out a shrill roar.

“Someone changed the laws… causing the kismet to change… our inexorable doom will descend upon us. Will… the words spoken by the emperor in his chamber… really come true?”

The middle-aged man dressed in the Emperor’s robes stared at the roaring dragon while mumbling under his breath.

At the same time, long arcs flew out from the world in One Dao Sect where the three ancient statues were. The three statues were shuddering. Plenty of dust fell from them, creating chaos.

“Stop changing the laws! Remold them into their original form!”

“Lin Dong Dong, stop changing the laws!”

When the anxious voices echoed in the air, even Asura Clan was in shock. The nine old men on the statues watched everything reflected in the ancient mirror with their mouths hanging open.

“This is…”

“This is the Tree of Dao Verification wanting to break free from the laws the emperor set all those years ago. Damn it, One Dao Sect! They should not have changed the laws like that!”

At that moment, the Tree of Dao Verification swayed violently again in the third layer. This time, it tore through the illusory nets, making everything fall into chaos as if the world had been overturned. Rumbles shot up into the air.

Even the second layer started trembling at that moment. The ten thousand altars roared, and the illusory net could no longer envelope them. It was torn to shreds straight away.

The trunk of the ancient Tree of Dao Verification stood tall in the desolate world. A powerful mighty pressure spread out from it, and in that instant… the cultivators who did not leave the second layer crumbled. Their blood charged towards the trunk to be swiftly absorbed into it!

At the same time, the second layer… shattered to pieces and completely collapsed!

When it crumbled, all its connections to the third layer was cut off… and the first layer experienced a drastic change as well. The one hundred thousand altars roared!

Countless figures flew out from within the vortex in the sky above Ancient Zang’s royal capital in a panic. Among them was Gu Tai and the other elders. They had all rushed out of the second layer. The shock brought forth by a sense of life-threatening danger had caused them to fly out of the vortex without having the time to care about anything else. At the moment their bodies appeared in the sky above Ancient Zang, an astonishing boom resounded through all of Ancient Zang.

The vortex in the sky… had crumbled. The illusory net that enveloped it had shattered, which resulted in the loud bangs that shook the sky and earth. When the vortex immediately broke into pieces, even the first layer… exploded.

The dimension was destroyed when the one hundred thousand altars had exploded together!

That destruction was similar to Ancient Zang cutting off all connections with the dimension where the Tree of Dao Verification was located. From then on, Ancient Zang would no longer have any new Phalas ever again.

This matter was akin to a disaster that came out of the blue sky. When the vortex in the sky slowly dissipated and the sky slowly returned to normal, the many people in the royal capital stared above them in a daze. Their minds were blank.

There were quite a lot of cultivators who had managed to escape, but there were also plenty of those who had not managed to flee in time, and among those were Su Ming, the first prince, and the second prince. All of them were trapped in in the third layer. Since the vortex crumbled, they no longer had any way of returning.

Once the sky returned to normal, the black-green dragon in the royal capital roared, and its roars were especially loud at that moment.

The world of One Dao Sect swayed. Two of the three statues of the Emperor of Ancient Zang crumbled, and all of One Dao Sect descended into chaos…

There were three people standing on the only statue that did not crumble at that moment. One of them was Sen Mu, and the other two old men beside him were two of the four Great Dao Paragons of One Dao Sect!

Chi Yang and Bai Lu!

“It’s not that… they have a way to return, but it’s better this way. The person who manages to walk out will be our future ruler!” The three of them cast each other a glance, and they too saw the dark look in each other’s eyes.

While there was no chaos in Asura Clan, what they saw in the third layer had already left them in shock.

Most of the other sects and clans were in the same situation. They were stunned by the destruction of the dimension where the Tree of Dao Verification was, and their amazement only intensified when they remembered… that the three princes were trapped inside!

“When we meet again, it should be outside the gate to the royal capital…”

An old figure with a straw hat in the royal capital lifted its head at that moment. The man stared at the sky, and after a long while, he sighed softly.

At the same time, the sounds of wood being cut came to a stop in a small village located among the mountains in the southwestern region of Ancient Zang. The old man in the courtyard stared at the log of wood before his eyes. In silence, he lifted his head and looked at the distant sky.

“One thousand years later, I will head to the royal capital, and the three of us will fight. Will you… be able to return in time to attend the ceremony and watch us fight? Oh well, I will wait for you,” the old man mumbled softly, then quietly lowered his head.