Pursuit of the Truth

“There’s something wrong with this Essence of Light!” When another seven or eight days passed, Bai Feng stood beyond the Light of Extreme Darkness. There was an aloof expression in her eyes, but her brows were furrowed.

She had felt from the beginning that the Essence of Light had appeared too suddenly, and there was even a strange feeling about it.

Bai Feng was not the only one who felt this. It could be said that plenty of cultivators were hesitant, but before them was indeed the Light of Extreme Darkness. Because of that, even if they were hesitant and uncertain, that was all. It didn’t affect their actions.

Su Ming did not fine tune his plan. In fact, it could be said that there were plenty of weaknesses in it, but Su Ming did not care. As long as he was the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness, it was enough.

Just this alone was enough!

This could be considered a straightforward plan that everyone could understand. However, it could also be said that it could not even be considered a scheme. It was a game in which Su Ming used himself as bait. During the past few days, he had seen countless cultivators come over and swim about in his Light of Extreme Darkness while investigating it.

Su Ming did not become anxious. He constantly waited for someone who was worthy enough to take the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness. To Su Ming, there were only three people who were worthy to do so in the Immortals’ Union. One of them was naturally the aloof Bai Feng beyond the Essence of Light, the other was Di Tian, and the third was the black-robed man who was one of the Eight Paramount Daos.

Di Tian planned to have his Life change while Bai Feng wished to become an Immortal in Saint Defier. Both of them had their own needs, and there was also the black-robed man.

This coincided with Su Ming’s previous analysis. He had been waiting for the black-robed man in the first place, since he had learned from the soul thread that another powerful warrior from Saint Defier’s camp was about to descend.

It would be a powerful warrior who had the same status as the black-robed man. This would naturally create a competition. That was why Su Ming was certain that if the black-robed man was tempted, he would definitely come to obtain the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness before his companion descended.

Time passed, and the war between Morning Dao Sect and the Immortals’ Union reached its climax. Every single day, there would be intense, large-scale battles in numerous places in the True World. The number of casualties reached a terrifying number, but even so, the war did not end. It just went on even more fiercely.

A few more days passed. When there was less than a month left before the other Almighty from Saint Defier’s camp would descend, numerous Immortal cultivators surrounded the Light of Extreme Darkness layer by layer. They had investigated most of the interior of the light and discovered its pattern. They had also found a path leading to the core.

Su Ming did steer the direction of their investigation. The only thing he did was to turn himself into the Light of Extreme Darkness. As for the other things, if he interfered too much, it would seem too fake.

On that day, the black-robed man appeared beyond the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness again. This time, he had clearly made enough preparations.

The eyes hidden under the black hood sparkled brilliantly, and vast power spread out from his body. It was a power that was equivalent to those in Life Realm, but it was definitely not something those in Life Realm within Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos could win against. There was a huge disparity between them.

‘Arcane Void, the Third Step of the cultivation system belonging to Saint Defier’s camp!’ Su Ming sensed the presence of the power from the black-robed man as well as the vague and slow-moving ripples coming from his divine sense.

‘Dao Kong’s body was destroyed, but as long as my Nascent Divinity is still around, then every single body I have will exude the presence of Dao Kong’s soul. It’s the same for Ecang’s body, and I can do the same thing for that clone of mine which practices the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole.

‘But this black-robed man… might be suitable to become another one of my clones, a body which will allow me to obtain a status within Saint Defier’s camp!

‘If I went along with my original plan, I wouldn’t need to Possess him, but now… Perhaps Possessing him… would make the process of seizing back my physical body slightly smoother.

‘But the difficulty in this is too great. He is, after all, an Almighty in Arcane Void Realm…’

In silence, Su Ming slowly pushed down the thought which had suddenly sprouted in his head. He would not allow anything unexpected to happen when it came to him seizing back his physical body.

Su Ming temporarily gave up on that thought.

The instant the ripples from Su Ming’s divine sense dissipated, the black-robed man who was already in Arcane Void Realm standing beyond the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness slowly raised his foot and walked towards the Essence of Light with the respect of the countless Immortal cultivators around him.

Bai Feng was by his side. She formed a seal with her right hand and pointed at space. Immediately, the galaxy distorted, and huge eyeballs appeared. Thousands of them surrounded the area. Dark light shone in each pupil as they stared at the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness.

The black-robed man came to a halt before he turned his head around and cast a glance at Bai Feng. She bent her knees slightly, lowered her head, and bowed.

“Not bad!” The black-robed man laughed hoarsely, and praise appeared in his eyes. Bai Feng’s action might not seem to be truly useful, but her intentions could be seen, and this brought the black-robed man satisfaction. Since Bai Feng was always incredibly beautiful and bold, the black-robed man kept on feeling somewhat tempted.

“When you go to Saint Defier Expanse Cosmos, you can stay by my side.”

Bai Feng’s face might still be icy cold, but a hint of a smile appeared. There was surprised delight within it, and a barely noticeable bashfulness that was just right on her face. It caused the black-robed man to immediately admire her even more.

Di Tian, who was dressed in white and had a head full of white hair, had a calm expression on his face at that moment. He did not need to do anything to prove anything. He might long to become an Abyss Builder, but he knew that Saint Defier’s camp longed even more to be able to control an Abyss Builder.

And Di Tian, without a doubt, was the best choice. He was confident that there was no one who could surpass him in this regard, not even those from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World, because he was the one who thought of this plan, and he had been preparing for it for countless years.

In fact, even without Saint Defier’s help, he would have three-tenths of a chance to become an Abyss Builder. The help from the Saint Defiers would just raise his chances. A hint of a brilliant light flashed briefly in Di Tian’s eyes.

‘Su Xuan Yi, we’ve fought against each other our entire lives, and this time, I will stand before you as an Abyss Builder and Possess you!

‘In the end, I will be the one who will win between us!’ Various emotions surged up in Di Tian’s heart. He had been longing for this day for far too long.

Under the gazes of the countless cultivators in the area, the black-robed man took a step forward and stepped into the Light of Extreme Darkness.

The powerful warriors from the Immortals’ sects guarded the area with vigilant expressions. They had been given orders to prevent any sort of problems from arising in this area during this period of time, and should they fail, they would die.

But fortunately, they were at the core of the Immortals’ Union. This was the entrance to the Immortals’ sects, which was why it would definitely not be easy for those from Morning Dao Sect to reach it even if they wanted to.

The possibility of them invading en masse was very small. Perhaps individual powerful warriors might rush in, but Di Tian had already made perfect preparations to prevent this.

When the black-robed man stepped into the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness, the many cultivators in the periphery became on guard. Time trickled by, and soon, the time taken by an incense stick to burn went by.

The black-robed man drifted in the Light of Extreme Darkness. He did not move quickly. Every single time he moved a certain amount of distance, he would stop for a moment to think. Then, he would change his direction before he moved forward. Endless Light of Extreme Darkness moved about around him. The rays of light moved forward with the black-robed man, becoming stronger as time passed.

The stronger they became, the more certain the black-robed man was that the Essence of Light was not sentient.

An hour later, the black-robed man had already completed half of his journey. He became slower. In fact, a large amount of chilling air spread out from his body. The Light of Extreme Darkness around him turned black, as if it had become a gaping mouth that wanted to devour him.

Wariness appeared in his eyes. Occasionally, he would take a few steps and lift his right hand, which made it look like he was calculating something. Like that, he finished seven-tenths of his journey in two full hours.

At that moment, the Light of Extreme Darkness swiftly grew several times brighter and stronger. However, the black-robed man seemed to have expected this since a long time ago. Before the light became stronger, he sat down cross-legged, and as he formed a seal with his hands, he immediately brought out a small cauldron. When he pushed his hands against it, he breathed out a breath of his life at it.

Green light shone on the small cauldron and enveloped him. The light was as smooth as a mirror, and it continuously reflected the incoming Light of Extreme Darkness. Indirectly, the cauldron had become an Essence of Light.

‘It truly only weakens for two hours…’ A faint smile appeared on the black-robed man’s lips. When he closed his eyes, he seemed to relax all forms of resistance. Instead, he placed all his attention on controlling the small cauldron.

When a day passed and the time came for the Light of Extreme Darkness to become weak again, the black-robed man immediately opened his eyes. He put away the small cauldron, then moved forward again.

Since his advance grew harder, when two hours passed, he was still a distance away from the core of the Light of Extreme Darkness.

When the light grew strong again, he sat down cross-legged and used the green light from the small cauldron to fight against it. He closed his eyes and appeared to be very much at ease. He did nothing to fend against anything else.

The third day, the fourth day… When the two hours of the Light of Extreme Darkness weakening during the fifth day nearly ended, the black-robed man reached the core!

It was a dark world, but it could be vaguely seen that there was a perfect runic symbol in the darkness not too far away. It was so complicated that it felt like it would be difficult to remember no matter how many times one looked at it, not to mention that it was barely noticeable in the darkness.

‘This is the core of the origin of the Light of Extreme Darkness!’

A glint shone in the eyes of the black-robed man, and excitement could be seen ons his face. At the instant the two hours during which the Light of Extreme Darkness weakened were about to end, he spread his divine sense outwards and swept it towards the runic symbol. He could sense no form of consciousness over there, but it seemed like he did not have enough time to leave his divine sense as a Brand.

When the span of two hours during which the light weakened passed, the vast power from the runic symbol erupted, forcing the black-robed man to immediately sit down and use the small cauldron to protect himself. He also closed his eyes, and beside the green light surrounding him, he didn’t use anything else to protect himself.

The instant the two hours during which the light weakened arrived on the sixth day, the black-robed man moved swiftly and charged towards the runic symbol. When he approached the it, his body collapsed with a bang. Blood and flesh spilled everywhere, and all of them fell on the runic symbol.

At the same time, a ferocious expression appeared on the black-robed man’s face. With disbelief, he swiftly retreated while screaming in a piercing voice.

“This is a trap! You are sentient!”

Su Ming, who had been observing the black-robed man, was taken aback by the bizarre scene, because he had done absolutely nothing.