Pursuit of the Truth

“The Nine Deaths Disaster is derived from the concept of being at death’s door nine times. It will turn into nine deaths, making you to experience nine different deaths. This disaster will descend without being seen and without warning, making people unable to fend against it and difficult to stand up against it.

“The more you fight back, the stronger the disaster becomes. There is only one way to clear it, which is to use your will. You must search for the one chance to live during the nine deaths!” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said, his voice reaching Su Ming’s ears. His voice was grave and deep as it echoed in the air.

When Su Ming heard it, his hands and feet had already turned emerald green, but they were swiftly growing darker. In the blink of an eye, his limbs turned dark green.

A numb sensation instantly rose in Su Ming’s heart. It came from the discomfort in his body, and it directly affected his mind, causing him to instantly sense the arrival of death.

But that was not all. His body was not the only one affected. Su Ming could also sense that all of True Morning Dao World was affected during that instant. It had started turning green.

“Die!”

The will filling up Yin Death Vortex said one word once it declared Su Ming’s hands and feet to be green. During that moment, Su Ming felt intense pain in his limbs. Wisps of green smoke that were like threads covered his body while heading onwards to cover his soul and mind.

Wherever they went, a thick aura of death would spread out. Su Ming threw his head back and roared. His face contorted, and faint green light lit up around him.

His expression was ferocious, and his will was desperately fighting against the intent to die growing in his body. The feeling of death swept through him with loud rumbles like a tidal wave, and Su Ming was like the lone ship in a raging sea, struggling to persevere.

But his struggle did not last long before the will formed by the fourth disaster filling Yin Death Vortex murmured once more.

“Your… veins… will… wither… Your… teeth… will… dry. Die!”

A loud bang shot up in Su Ming’s body, and his veins withered as if they had lost their life force and energy. They became dry, just like how a river would dry up. His teeth became dry as well, as if they had become loose.

His entire face instantly became much older. Blood trickled down the corners of his mouth, and his expression grew ferocious.

The final word felt like a heavy hammer striking Su Ming’s body. It made him stagger backwards, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood. His cultivation base was rapidly disappearing and his body was swiftly becoming weaker. The shadow of death became larger while it loomed over him.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe watched this scene from not far away. He sighed in his heart. He could tell that Su Ming had already reached his limit. He moved forward, about to lend a hand, but Su Ming lifted his head swiftly.

His expression grew even more ferocious, and his eyes became bloodshot. With great difficulty, he lifted his numb right hand and pushed it in the direction of the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe, as if he wanted to stop him from coming towards him.

“I… can do it!” Su Ming hissed through gritted teeth. Blood trickled out of his mouth from the effort, but a hint of determination as well as madness appeared on his face.

“God of Berserkers… Transformation!”

At the moment it sounded like Su Ming was gnashing his teeth, more than one hundred million Great Berserker souls charged at him. They surrounded him and swiftly fused into his body, making it feel like he had just obtained nourishment, and he quickly began recovering.

But at that moment, the murmurs from the fourth disaster appeared again.

“Your… voice… will… scatter. Die!”

Su Ming let out a shrill scream of pain, and his God of Berserkers Transformation started showing signs of scattering. It didn’t seem like the one hundred million Great Berserker souls could make his body recover anymore.

His screams also grew incredibly weak. It sounded like were scattering in a manner as if he was about to die, making all those who heard them sense that he was no longer struggling. Instead, they would feel as if he was gasping on his deathbed and sighing before he died.

Even Su Ming’s True Morning Dao World began withering as if it was about to disappear from Arid Triad.

“Your… nostrils… will… flare. Die!

“Your… lips… will… become… cold… to… the… touch. Die!”

The continuous murmurs and the impact from the declarations of wanting him dead made it seem like the will was the curse of destiny that could not be resisted. Each statement had an immediate effect on Su Ming’s body, like how lips now turned purple. As they became cold, it felt like all warmth had disappeared from them. Su Ming’s breathing weakened, and his nostrils instinctively flared to try and gain more air.

“Damn it, just what is this disaster?!”

The madness in Su Ming’s eyes grew stronger. He stayed in his God of Berserkers Transformation since this was the only method with which his body would continuously recover, but even so, he could not recover to how he was previously, and the divine ability was losing its effect rapidly. The deterioration of Su Ming’s body had become incredibly bad.

He was just like a mortal who was about to die and was struggling before his end.

At that moment, if he called out to the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe, the other would immediately take action… but Su Ming chose not to!

He did not believe that he could not fight against the fourth disaster. He refused to accept that he would die from the fourth disaster. He would not not!

He refused to admit defeat. His pride did not allow him to fail like this.

As intense pain filled Su Ming’s body, a large amount of red appeared in his bloodshot eyes. They dimmed as if he was a candle flame in the wind and he was about to extinguish at any moment, but right then, Su Ming came to a swift realization.

“This isn’t a disaster. This is a curse…”

The so-called Nine Deaths Disaster killed a person in an unseen manner, so it was clearly a curse!

The disaster was powerful and caused a person to feel powerless against it because all of Arid Triad’s will went to curse a single person. Because of that… there was no way that anyone could fight against it. They could only passively be cursed!

Su Ming understood that this was a form of manifestation of Arid Triad’s will… Not only did he understand that the Nine Deaths Disaster was a curse, he also understood during that moment that the so-called Antecedental Spirit’s disaster was also a form of manifestation of Arid Triad’s will.

It was just like how he could kill any cultivator he wanted in his True World with his will of a True World and could also use his will to send a similar disaster on them!

“Your… lips… will… swell… and… your… teeth… will… be… scorched. Die!”

The moment Su Ming understood everything, the murmurs from the will appeared again. This time, when they echoed in the air, the will made Su Ming’s face change. It swelled, and his loose teeth felt a sort of heat, even though his body was clearly cold. This feeling was very contradictory, similar to the relationship between life and death.

The moment that feeling appeared, Su Ming could vividly sense… that death had descended on him without him being able to resist it. He was still under the effect of his God of Berserkers Transformation, but it was on the verge of crumbling.

“Your… hands… will… fall… out… of… your… sleeves. Die!

“You… will… sweat… but… it… will… not… flow… down. Die!”

With a bang, Su Ming’s God of Berserkers Transformation scattered. The one hundred million Great Berserker souls could no longer strengthen his body and fight against the Arid Triad’s curse!

“It’s just a curse… If it’s curses… I know them as well!”

Su Ming’s body was weak and he was about to die. At the moment the old man stopped hesitating and was about to help, Su Ming began laughing.

His laughter was incredibly weak, and it could not even escape from his throat. It could only come out without a sound. However, an arc had appeared on the lips of Su Ming’s swollen face. As he laughed soundlessly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Murmurs swiftly tumbled out of Su Ming’s mouth. There was some strange power contained in his voice, and it immediately echoed in the air, stirring up his True World clone. He was clearly using his power of a True World… to Curse Arid Triad!

This was his strongest Art—Arid Curse. The strength of this Art could affect those in Avacaniya Realm, but its true might could allow him to Curse Arid Triad’s will and make it show signs of waking up from its sleep.

“Your… tongue… will… roll… back… Your… reproductive… organs… will… shrink. This is the Nine Deaths Disaster… Die!”

The final murmur of Nine Deaths Disaster’s will rang out through the area during that instant and turned into a loud, thunderous rumble. The sound shook the sky and earth, and it caused Yin Death Vortex to shudder. During that instant, Su Ming’s Curse was completely executed.

“Curse Arid Triad!”

Booming sounds surged into the sky during that moment. Su Ming’s Curse required a doll, but at that moment, he did not have one in hand, so he used his own body as its replacement. With the will of his True World clone, he would Curse Arid Triad’s will and the fourth disaster!

This was a fight between curses. It was also the strongest counter of Su Ming’s life when he was intent of rising against the will wanting to bring about his death. When he launched his counter, for the first time ever… he showed an absolute unwillingness to surrender, an indestructible madness, and posed a threat to Arid Triad’s will.

‘There are two outcomes. One, I will die and make you wake up beforehand. But your awakening ahead of schedule will make you incomplete, and this does not go according to your will. I might not know what sort of changes will happen when your awakening is early, but I believe that you are sentient and will not wish for it to be so.

‘The second would be… that the disaster will shatter because of me. It will shatter, and it will stop trying to use a Curse on me!’

This was a blatant threat from Su Ming. It was very direct and also very thorough!

The moment Su Ming cast his Curse and had it crash into the Nine Deaths Disaster in an unseen manner, an enraged roar seemed to be emitted by someone who was still sleeping rang out in the silent Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. It had an indescribably mighty pressure.

When it reverberated through space, it filled all of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. If there would have been any life forms that were awake at that moment, their bodies and souls would have been destroyed, no matter what sort of level of cultivation they had.

At the instant the voice appeared, the Nine Deaths Disaster around Su Ming disappeared without a trace. Al the curses on him weakened before they vanished simultaneously. Everything about him returned to the state before the disaster fell on him.

At the same time, his will reached a breakthrough, causing his aura to become even greater. The vortex he formed became thousands of feet tall, and he could sense that he had gone through a sort of cleansing. At that moment… he had the confidence to go through his fourth spirit ascension!

The sleeping Arid Triad’s will had compromised!

At the moment a brilliant light appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe suddenly took a step forward and appeared before him. His expression was solemn when he lifted his right hand and swiftly grabbed the disappearing fourth disaster in the vortex.

His action jolted the fourth disaster.

“I… will clear all of your subsequent disasters. Your task is to head to the depths of Yin Death Vortex and verify my assumptions! Go! Hurry!”