Pursuit of the Truth

The seven circles of logs forming the Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune were swiftly spinning based on different trajectories. They turned into galactical vortices and surrounded Su Ming, who was sealed in a ten thousand feet tall block of ice. As each of the circles of logs spun, a sealing power swiftly appeared and turned into threads that surrounded the ice as if they wanted to turn it into a silk cocoon and seal Su Ming within.

Anticipation appeared on the thin old man’s face, along with a hint of ferociousness. Under his command, the might of the Rune erupted forth. He had the confidence that even if Su Ming was an Antecedental Spirit, he would still get sealed by the Rune.

“I even offered up my life and spared no pains in transforming the origin treasure I have nurtured for ten thousand years into freezing aura to fill the universe. I refuse to believe that I cannot seal you!

“I do not hope to seal eternally you in ice, but as long as I can seal you until the Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune can be activated fully, you will be sealed up forever!”

The thin old man had a ferocious look on his face. His body might have been weakened and he might have used up most of his cultivation base, but he still continued letting out all of his power without any hesitation for it fuse into the Rune so that he could control it. He gathered the power of the five hundred thousand cultivators and the power of the Rune to fight Su Ming to the death.

Time trickled by, and the Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune formed by the seven circles of logs continued spinning around and forming more threads. The sealing power also grew stronger.

When the ten thousand feet block of ice enveloped within the logs did not show signs of melting but instead grow stronger, the thin old man to immediately felt delight in his heart. However, when the freezing aura of the ice grew thicker, it created a muddled sensation. It prevented divine senses and gazes from being able to see into the ice, which was why the thin old man could not see what exactly was happening inside it.

‘Could this person possess a heat-oriented body, which is why he’s being suppressed so tightly? Otherwise, he would have definitely fought back, at least a little bit…’

The old man’s eyes brightened, but he was still a little uncertain. Yet soon, he erased his own uncertainty and laughed loudly.

Within the ten thousand feet layer of ice which the old man could not see through was Su Ming with his eyes wide open. There was a strange light in them. He might have seemed to have been frozen, but there was puzzlement in his eyes.

He could clearly sense that the thickness of the freezing aura in the ice surpassed all forms of coldness he had ever seen in his life. It was also different from the Light of Extreme Darkness. It was a chilling aura with corporeal form, a power that could seal the power of the universe with ice, but even so, the chilling aura in the ice approached him and surrounded him as if it possessed some form of intelligence and wanted to crawl into him.

But that was not all. Su Ming would not have thought too much about this and would have just attributed it to the old man’s Art, since he did not have the ability to allow the freezing air to enter his body, or else it would have truly frozen him.

However… the hint of familiarity Su Ming had sensed when he had almost lost himself when his soul split up during his spirit ascension went boiling in him at that instant. It charged continuously against him as if it wanted to rush out of his body and touch the freezing air. This was an instinctive desire. If Su Ming had not ceaselessly suppressed that instinct, the freezing aura around him might have instantly rush into him.

“Instinct…” Hesitation appeared on Su Ming’s face, but soon, a glint appeared in his eyes. Resolve soon followed.

‘Since this is an instinct within my soul, then I might as well see what is going on. The elder of Heavenly Spirit Tribe will not just watch me be trapped by this thing. He wants to challenge the Arid Triad, and for that to happen, he has to protect me.’

Su Ming gritted his teeth and relaxed his body, removed the defences he had placed to prevent the chilling aura entering his body. The chilling aura that spun swiftly around him immediately surged into his body with a bang.

Su Ming immediately felt as if his flesh and blood had been frozen. That feeling instantly filled his entire body. The chilling aura seemed to be capable of freezing even his mind, but it could not seal Su Ming’s soul, because it was the will of an Antecedental Spirit. Unless he ran into another Antecedental Spirit, it would be difficult to seal him.

However, Su Ming could clearly sense the chilling aura fusing into his body simply moving past his flesh and blood. It was heading to his soul, and in the blink of an eye, the chilling aura closed in with a bang. At the instant it collided with his soul, it seeped into it and seemingly fused with him.

The chilling aura was so abundant that it seemed like there was no end to it as it continuously rushed at him from the ten thousand feet tall block of ice. This scene caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble, but he did not resist it. Instead, he simply allowed the chilling aura to fuse with him while he directed all his attention to observing his soul.

He could clearly see that when his soul absorbed the vast amount of chilling aura, a certain part of it seemed to have awakened. An understanding towards the cold caused Su Ming to gradually be unable to sense the chill in his flesh and blood. Instead, he gained a feeling as if he was a part of ice.

“This is…”

When Su Ming murmured those words, he clearly sensed that his soul seemed to be slowly forming a nucleus while the chilling aura gathered in him. At that moment, the nucleus was caught between a corporeal state and an illusion, as if some strange life form was being formed.

This scene should have made Su Ming apprehensive, but the life being formed in that nucleus caused Su Ming to feel as if it was he himself that was the strange feeling he sensed, as if the living being that was about to be born in it was incredibly important to him. It was an essential change of his soul.

A freezing glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He decided to not bother about it and continue observing it as he allowed the freezing aura in the area to continue surging into him. In the eyes of those in the world outside, in just the span of a few breaths, the ten thousand feet block of ice encasing Su Ming shrank so swiftly that nearly three-tenths of its original size were gone.

This scene caused the eyes of the thin old man to shrink. His face twisted into a ferocious expression, and he shouted out, “Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune, first ultimate seal!”

The old man’s roars reverberated through space, and the innermost circle of logs out of the seven circles surrounding Su Ming shuddered. It abruptly stopped spinning, and the vortex formed from it seemed to seep through space in an unseen manner and charge towards the block of ice. In an instant, it enveloped the ice, and at the same time a loud bang shot up, a heinous chilling aura spread out.

The thin old man could not relax yet, so he bit the tip of his tongue and coughed up blood. He formed a seal with his hands and pointed at the ice. His blood turned into a blood crystal in midair while flying over. When it touched the ice, it shattered and released an even greater amount of chilling aura.

The old man had used the essence of his blood to turn into a cold chill signifying his life. From this, it could be seen that he intended to seal Su Ming at any cost to himself.

Once the first seal of the Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune and the cold of the old man’s life appeared, the ice that had shrank by three-tenths of its original size to swiftly increase in size once more. From its previous seven thousand feet, it grew to eleven thousand feet. It became even thicker than before, and the chilling aura grew even stronger.

This scene caused the thin old man to let out a pleased, cold sneer, but the women who still kept herself hidden in the whirlwind in the distance only sighed softly.

“Is the old man a fool? This Rune is a Rune that transforms the extreme Yin of the world into cold aura. It would already be of great help to him, but the old man even used the cold of his life… This serendipity. This boy… hmph!”

As the woman mumbled, a rare hint of envy appeared in her voice. She was not envious of the cold of the old man’s life, but the power of the Rune. After all, it was a Rune formed by five hundred thousand cultivators. All the logs also had the cold property, which was why the cultivators of South Union could use them to move through the whirlwind.

A cold chill surged into the heavens, and Su Ming immediately sensed the chilling aura around him increase by leaps and bounds. It seeped into his body at an even faster speed and fused into his soul, causing the nucleus in his soul to become even larger. The presence of the life being formed in it also grew stronger.

It caused Su Ming to feel as if it was him who was getting stronger, and his understanding towards the cold also became better. In fact, he even felt that the chilling aura around him was no longer his enemy, but had become a part of his body.

He no longer felt any pain. Instead, there was an indescribably comfortable feeling, causing Su Ming to be unable to help but hope that there was more chilling aura around him, and that the chilling aura was thicker…

As it increased, he absorbed it even faster, and as the comfortable feeling grew stronger, the eleven thousand feet tall block of ice shrank swiftly in the span of a few short breaths. This time, nearly four-tenths of its original size went away.

This scene left the thin old man flabbergasted. Madness appeared on his face, and he let out an indignant roar. His cultivation base erupted from him, and a roar echoed in space.

“Seven Ultimate Yin Transformation Rune, second ultimate seal!”

There was madness in the old man’s voice. When he shouted, he lifted his right hand and swiftly struck his chest. He then coughed up a large amount of blood again. With a swing of his arm, it charged towards the ice.

A loud bang echoed in space. As the second circle of logs stopped and the second vortex swiftly approached the ice, countless threads enveloped it, and with the cold from the blood crystal, the ice encasing Su Ming swelled in size once more. It became nearly twenty thousand feet tall.

But the next second, it immediately shrank again. This time, it shrank to nearly five-tenths of its original size, but even so, there were still about ten thousand feet of it left. This scene gave the thin old man pleasure and hope, making him feel as if all that he did was not in vain and that he could really seal Su Ming as long as he continued.

“Hmph, even if you can break my ice, the speed at which you do so cannot compare with my Rune!”

The old man’s spirits lifted. He struck his storage bag with his right hand and brought out a large number of medicinal cores. He swallowed them while looking like he would fight Su Ming to the death on that day.

A soft sigh came from the whirlwind behind him. It held resignation.