Pursuit of the Truth

The dimension connecting Ancient Zang and the formerly glorious world and serving as a barrier between the two worlds had incredibly tight seals done by the Emperor of Ancient Zang. With the power of the seals, the most eye-catching and mysterious Tree of Dao Verification, which once belonged to the glorious world, had been bound within the dimension.

From then on, it became an item that belonged to Ancient Zang, and… an Enchanted Vessel that allowed Ancient Zang to keep its kismet firmly in the country!

The royal family of Ancient Zang practiced a cultivation method that required them to understand the will of kismet. The Emperor of Ancient Zang had also reached Boundless Dao Realm through the Dao of Kismet. Because of it, the appearance of the Tree of Dao Verification made those with royal blood shine even brighter.

However… the Emperor of Ancient Zang did not completely win the fight. No one else but he knew what exactly had happened. But the Emperor of Ancient Zang’s disappearance many years later and his life plate’s subsequent destruction told everyone that… he had paid a huge price for his victory.

If he had not disappeared and his life plate had not shattered, then even if the drastic changes had appeared in the dimension, the tree would not be able to break free of its seals.

But… he had already died. Because of it, only the royal family’s kismet was left to maintain the seals in the dimension. Yet kismet was not something solely possessed by the royal family. One Dao Sect was the sect that the Emperor of Ancient Zang had personally created in the past, and it had inherited the country’s kismet, which was why Lin Dong Dong’s actions as a Great Dao Paragon and all of One Dao Sect changing the laws had caused a drastic change to happen in the dimension.

Su Ming also served a critical role. It was he who gave the spirit of the Tree of Dao Verification a sense of closeness. It was what caused the spirit to wake up, and the child was willing to help Su Ming… all for the sake of going home.

When the first and second layers completely shattered and countless cultivators had their bodies shredded to pieces, their blood was absorbed by the Tree of Dao Verification. Its huge trunk contorted and exuded waves of destructive power that could destroy the world. That power swept outwards in every direction, spreading to the third layer, which had yet to be destroyed but was already trembling violently. When the power spread to the tree crown, a roar that came from the ancient Tree of Dao Verification rang out.

“I WANT TO GO HOME!”

When that voice echoed in the air, it immediately shook the sky and earth. A huge wave of impact instantly tumbled outwards from the tree crown of the Tree of Dao Verification.

Lin Dong Dong bore the brunt of the attack. Once the impact crashed into him, blood trickled out of the corners of his mouth. He instantly fell back, and shock appeared on his face. He had already noticed the destruction of the first and second layers and that the connection between the dimension they were in and Ancient Zang had been severed.

He also noticed that… his connection to One Dao Sect has been severed as well. In fact, he could not even leave the first prince’s body. He was forced to stay.

The realization made his face turn pale. When he fell back swiftly, his gaze when he looked at the ancient Tree of Dao Verification was filled with shock, but there was a hint of another emotion that he had not felt for many years in his eyes too—Fear!

He was not the only one who felt it. The impact tumbled outwards in every direction. It flipped over the sky and overturned the earth. The second prince coughed up blood and let out a shrill scream of pain. If the headless figure had turned around to withstand the impact with his back while holding him, then with his level of cultivation, the second prince would have suffered an instant death.

Yet even so, the second prince coughed up blood continuously. The headless figure jolted, and it too was forced back tens of thousands of feet before finally regaining its footing.

If they were already in such a state, then the situation was even more dire for the other disciples from One Dao Sect and Asura Clan in the third layer. The moment the Tree of Dao Verification shuddered, those cultivators were torn by the distortions formed by the ripples in the air. Both their bodies and souls were destroyed without any fight.

The only one who was not affected by that impact… was Su Ming!

He stood on the tree crown, and his body swayed with the tree crown, but he did not sense any impact. The next moment, he sat down without any hesitation. His cultivation base was tumbling about within him. It was the effect of the Phala erupting in his body.

The wondrous effect of the Phala was that it could allow a person to break through the limits of their level of cultivation and become a Dao Paragon. Based on Gu Tai’s descriptions, the powerful effect would be over in a few days, but at that moment, Su Ming noticed that a connection seemed to have formed between him and the Phala. This was definitely not something he could finish absorbing in a few days. Yet… in an instant, Su Ming absorbed about half of the Phala.

At that moment, he could clearly sense the great power of the Phala. Its juice seemed to be raging in his body like a tidal wave that had been lit on fire. It roared continuously within him. In an instant, it filled all of his veins, and the third eye at the center of his brow opened to reveal a monstrous sea of fire!

Su Ming’s four complete Dao Spirits sat meditating within it, but they were were trembling. The fifth Dao Spirit—still an illusion—started contorting violently.

Loud rumbles and invisible waves of impact spread through Su Ming’s body, and they grew stronger with each passing moment. In the end, it was as if Su Ming’s body had turned into a big drum, and every time it was sounde, it would send a loud rumble through him.

The power of the Phala was so terrifying that Su Ming bled from his nose, ears, mouth, and eyes, but he still persevered through gritted teeth. However… the more he persevered, the more he felt a maddening sensation that every single part of his body was hurting.

Su Ming wanted to kill, to attack, to vent, but it was not the time just then. He had a vague understanding that the power from the Phala could make a person become a Dao Paragon, and the main focus of the process was enduring the pain. The longer he could endure it, the more power he could bring forth later.

Lin Dong Dong and the second prince could see him clearly. Killing intent shone in Lin Dong Dong’s eyes, but there was also terror in them that he could not describe. Needless to say, what he was terrified of was not Su Ming, but the Tree of Dao Verification, the destruction of the dimension, and the lack of path to return to Ancient Zang.

But he still did not want to admit defeat. At that moment, he turned around swiftly, but he did not pay any attention to Su Ming. He turned into a long arc and left in search of anything that would allow him to rush out and go back to Ancient Zang.

As for the second prince, he felt indignant. His heart was filled with twisted feelings, and his eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Su Ming. A crazed look appeared on his face.

He could not accept that the Phala was taken by Su Ming, and even less so that Su Ming would absorb its power. He had Asura Clan helping him with all their strength, he had been taken in as Progenitor Xiu Luo’s disciple, and he was the second prince of Ancient Zang, a person with royal blood coursing through his veins!

How could he possibly accept it? It was why even though Lin Dong Dong had left, he could not. He wanted to kill Su Ming, refine him, and then devour the power of the Phala!

In truth, he was no longer even thinking about refinement. The expression on his face made it obvious that he wanted to eat the person before him alive. He wanted to eat Su Ming and then seize what he believed was the power of the Phala that belonged to him.

However… with the Tree of Dao Verification around and the impact coming from it, the second prince’s desires were something incredibly difficult to fulfill. Yet even so, his madness burned in him like a raging fire.

Moments after Lin Dong Dong left, the Tree of Dao Verification swayed even more violently. The trunk shook, the countless branches of the tree crown shuddered, and the world showed signs of crumbling. The sky shattered, the ground cracked, and it seemed like the apocalypse had arrived.

“I… want to go home!”

When the child’s voice roared again, the rumbles from the Tree of Dao Verification shook the sky and earth, and numerous branches immediately split up to form two hands on the Tree of Dao Verification. They seized the sky and pulled it in two directions!

The world roared then. The destruction of the entire world became even more serious. However… while the sky could be torn and the air could be ripped apart, the dimension could not be torn apart!

And if the hands could not tear apart the dimension, it would mean that they could not open the door leading to the once glorious world.

The second prince let out a piercing cry, and as the tree spoke, he lifted his right hand, and a helmet immediately appeared in his hand. There was a pair of horns on the helmet, and they looked incredibly ferocious. Once he brought it up, the second prince immediately put the helmet over his head.

In an instant, his roars grew to an astonishing degree. His body began to grow without stop. In the blink of an eye, he grew to be one hundred thousand something feet, and by the looks of it, he had yet to reach his limit.

“Asura Ghost Dao, with the blood of the royal family flowing in my body, I will nourish the ghosts in the world, and gather them… on myself!”

After he spoke, the second prince roared at the sky. He then lifted his right hand, and it seemed to have turned into a phantom’s claw. His skin was green, and his nails were sharp. In fact, a ferocious bone spur had also appeared on his right arm.

His left arm changed as well. His entire body had grown to be around two hundred feet. His aura increased to a monstrous degree, and he was already infinitesimally close to a Dao Paragon. At that moment, his face contorted, and he let out a pained roar.

“Wu Gui! Bring me up!”

At the instant the second prince said those words, the headless man grabbed him, and a tricolored screen of light instantly appeared around him. It surrounded him entirely, and as he rushed up, it withstood the astonishing power of the Tree of Dao Verification swaying.

When he drew close to Su Ming, cracks appeared on the headless man’s body. The tricolored screen of light around him distorted as if it was about to crumble. When he was about one thousand feet away from Su Ming, the tricolored screen of light shattered. A muffled groan came from the headless figure, and he grabbed the second prince to throw him towards Su Ming.

The second prince roared while the headless man sat down cross-legged. His cultivation base spread out with a bang and enveloped the entire area. With his own power, he fought back against the Tree of Dao Verification… so that he could buy a small amount of time for the second prince to attack.

The moment the second prince went to devour Su Ming with madness and killing intent, Su Ming lifted his head while remaining seated. His eyes flew open to reveal a dense blood-red light.

“We should end things between us now!”

Su Ming shuddered. The pain brought by the multiple rumbles in his body had already pushed him to his limit. The second prince’s arrival would be met with… an explosive power from Su Ming!