Chapter 1476 - 1458 - 1465

Chapter 1458: A Wine Feast in This Life

The sun could not be seen in the sky. It was dark above, as if it was the night when ghosts roamed. If ghosts wanted to wander on the face of the Earth, they required darkness, not daylight.

Under that dark sky, Su Ming approached the city gate, but then, he turned his head around and cast a glance at the palace. He could still somewhat feel Di Tian's presence there.

It spoke of a farewell to Su Ming and filled the surroundings to slowly fuse with the ancient city that had died an unknown number of years ago. Di Tian would live in his own world and lie to himself so that he would come to believe that all of it was real.

Su Ming sighed softly. He understood Di Tian's resolve, which came from the resolve to resurrect the corpses he had placed in the Rune beside the throne.

'Only when you believe that all of this is real will the resurrected people not think that this place is fake. Di Tian…'

Su Ming did not speak. He felt as if he had come to know the other again, after they had been entangled in hate for thousands of years in Harmonious Morus Alba.

'For the people he wants to resurrect, he chose to get lost, to immerse himself in this place… Where is my path, I wonder.'

In silence, Su Ming walked out of the city. When he stepped through the gates, he turned his head around the second time and looked at the headless man who was sitting above and meditating like a statue.

'Eldest senior brother…' Su Ming stared at the man for a time. After a long while, the boy in his arms opened his eyes, and Su Ming turned around to walk into the distance.

The boy lying in Su Ming's arms lifted his head and looked at the city before speaking softly. "Big brother, do you know the person above the city?"

Su Ming did not turn his head around. He only answered quietly. "He is my senior brother."

The boy did not continue speaking. He just stare at the headless figure above the city…

Su Ming did not interrupt his eldest senior brother's training, because his choice was different from Di Tian's. He wanted to take another path and no longer be lost. Instead, he would shatter all veils of illusion and open his eyes to search for the real world.

If he chose to willingly lose his way, then was sure that he would see the headless figure open its eyes. He would see his eldest senior brother from his memories. Su Ming was even sure that he would have a way to find all the familiar faces in the world around him. He would get to see all of them before him.

However… all of those things would still be fake, and Su Ming did not want to choose that path. He wanted to walk down a different path from Di Tian's.

That road would be even more difficult and longer, which was maybe why Di Tian did not manage to finish walking it. He chose to lose his way.

While walking into the distance under the dark sky, Su Ming was surrounded by a presence of determination within the desolate atmosphere that hung in the air. He… would absolutely not give up on his path.

Su Ming could understand why Di Tian did not continue to walk down this path, but he himself would definitely continue to the end of his road!

In silence, Su Ming continued walking further and further away until he disappeared from the horizon. He left the area around the ancient city… and went into the distance.

"I saw the tears at the corners of your senior brother's eyes…" the boy lying on Su Ming's shoulder said softly.

Su Ming's feet came to a swift halt. When he turned his head around, he stared in the direction of the city he could no longer see, then sighed softly.

Time passed, and ten years, twenty years went by… And then, one hundred years were gone.

Su Ming had already walked through three hundred springs in the once glorious world. Year by year, day by day, he walked past the wasteland, the mountains and rivers, the deserts, and the continents.

When he arrived at the sixth continent, Su Ming quietly stopped before a mountain. He closed his eyes. Beneath the night sky adorned by glittering stars, he chose to meditate.

His meditation lasted for ten years.

When Su Ming opened his eyes from his ten-year-long meditation, the entire world seemed to have become different. He did not care to practice his cultivation, and neither did he attempt to check just what level of cultivation he had reached. It seemed as if they were no longer important to him.

What he cared about was not his level of cultivation, but his epiphany. His cultivation and his combat abilities were just mere attachments in the process of gaining his epiphany. They were not his main focus.

"Let's go."

When Su Ming stood up, the boy tugged at his sleeves. Together, they walked into the distance.

The passing of time would not change due to a person's will. Gradually, another ninety years went by them.

It was the four hundredth year since Su Ming had come to the new world when he arrived at the seventh continent. It soil was black, and no end to it could be seen. Yet there were no mountains, no rivers, nor plants around them. The only thing there was endless darkness as if the continent had been cursed.

From a distance, the black land with no mountains was like a black ocean. However, there were no waves on it, and it was just like the Dead Sea…

Perhaps there was an old ship swimming for eternity in that ocean, and sitting on that ship was Old Man Extermination from Su Ming's memories.

"He's there."

At the moment Su Ming stepped on the continent, he said those words softly. He did not intentionally try to search for the first prince's presence on the continent. Instead, he naturally sensed it, or rather… he detected Lin Dong Dong's presence.

That presence was jumbled up. It had Old Man Extermination's presence as well as that of… Su Ming's childhood best friend, Su Xuan Yi's son, Lei Chen.

"Will we meet?" the boy asked softly while tugging at Su Ming's sleeve.

"He will meet us."

Su Ming lowered his head and patted the boy's hair, then walked into the distance. When their fourteenth winter on the seventh continent arrived, Su Ming did not stop moving while the snow fell from the sky. He just continued walking.

Gradually, when the ground turned white, Su Ming saw the first mountain on that continent. It rose into the clouds while looking like a person's palm.

It was… the Dark Mountain of Su Ming's memories.It might have never existed there before, but someone had created it to stand tall in the world. Under that mountain, Su Ming saw a house, and outside it, a person was sitting.

At first glance, that person appeared to be the first prince, but when Su Ming cast a second glance at him, he became Lei Chen. When Su Ming approached him, Lei Chen opened his eyes.

"You're here." A smile appeared on Lei Chen's lips.

Su Ming stood where he was. After a long while, a smile appeared on his face as well, and he went to sit down beside Lei Chen.

"Where are they?" Su Ming asked.

"After we came to this place, we were separated. I too… have no idea where they went." Lei Chen swung his right arm, and a few pots of wine appeared between him and Su Ming.

"It's been… a long time since we last drank together, right? I still remember us stealing the elder's wine while we were in Dark Mountain Tribe and drinking at the foot of the mountain," Lei Chensaid softly. There was a nostalgic look in his eyes.

Su Ming was quiet. A moment later, he picked up a pot of wine and placed it beside his lips, but he did not say that the pots were empty… since for Lei Chen, they were clearly full. There was wine spilling from his lips had falling on the snow.

This scene caused a hint of sadness to appear on Su Ming's face, and he slowly put down his pot of wine.

"Why aren't you drinking? Do you know… that for us to drink together like this again… I've waited for you for four hundred years?" Lei Chen looked at Su Ming with a smile, but a weary look slowly made its way onto his face.

Su Ming looked at Lei Chen and asked softly, "Why?"

"I'm tired… I'm exhausted from the bottom of my heart. It's been many years, and I'm tired, so tired…" Anguish showed up on Lei Chen's face. Once he took a big swig from his pot, he let out a deep breath.

"This place is good. I'm very satisfied with it. You're here, the elder is here, father is here, and all our people of Dark Mountain Tribe are here. This is my world." Lei Chen smiled with great satisfaction.

"The only thing I regret is that it's been a long time since I drank with you… In our previous life, we were brothers… In this life, are you willing to accompany me and finish this pot of wine with me?" Lei Chen asked and looked at Su Ming. His eyes were clear while waiting for Su Ming's choice.

Su Ming was silent, but the boy beside him had become nervous. He tugged Su Ming's sleeves as if his choice was incredibly important to him as well.

"Big brother… don't do this…" Hao Hao was staring at Su Ming.

When he spoke, Su Ming had already picked up his pot.

While holding it, Su Ming slowly closed his eyes in silence. Time passed without any sign. Only the snow falling from the sky seemed to not bother with the coming and going of time. It continued falling to the ground…

When Su Ming opened his eyes again, he saw the snow on the ground, the Dark Mountain, Lei Chen, and he could vaguely see the familiar tribe around the house. Not too far away from the tribe was their elder, who was staring in their direction. There was also Bei Ling, Chen Xin, and the faces of the past all staring at him.

Su Ming then lowered his head. The pot of wine in his hand was no longer empty, but wine had appeared in it. However, the boy beside him was no longer around.

He stared at Lei Chen, then drank the wine from his pot. A smile appeared on his face. It seemed to have taken away his fatigue and made his dispiritedness disappear when he drank with Lei Chen, his first friend, his brother, under Dark Mountain and in his tribe.

From morning till night, Lei Chen and Su Ming continued drinking wine while laughter echoed in the air. They spoke of the past and the beautiful moments they had once shared together.

"I still remember how you looked like when you first saw Bai Ling. Haha, speaking of which, if we hadn't gone to the square between the tribes, I reckon you wouldn't have run into Bai Ling." Lei Chen put down the pot of wine with a smile.

"I still remember that you fell in love with a girl at that time, but I've never agreed to your tastes in women…" Su Ming's smile was very beautiful. It was as pure as it had been in the past, untainted.

When Lei Chen heard those words, he immediately laughed as well. When he shook his head, he appeared to be filled with sentiment.

"At that time, I was still young. When I saw how close you were to Bai Ling, I thought that I should have someone close to me as well. For some reason, I thought she was good, but now, when I look back, I can no longer remember her name."

Chapter 1459: Do You… Still Not Understand?

This feast went from morning till night, then from night to morning. They finished pot after pot in big gulps. When dawn arrived but the world was still engulfed in darkness, Lei Chen became drunk. He picked up his pot, drank a mouthful from it, and when he put it down, he closed his eyes.

Su Ming also put down his pot of wine and looked at the Dark Mountain Tribe around him. He watched the lights from the lamps, but there was a barrier between him and that place. However… Su Ming knew that if he tore through that barrier, he would be able to become one with the place.

Yet… he sighed softly. At the instant Su Ming began tracing the rim of the pot, he closed his eyes.

"Lei Chen, we were brothers in our previous life. In this life… I will finish drinking this pot of wine with you," he murmured.

When he opened his eyes again, Lei Chen was still in front of him, and he seemed to be drunk. However, the tribe was nowhere to be seen. There was now a thick layer of snow on the ground. In the distance, Dark Mountain was a blurry sight.

Hao Hao had showed up beside him, holding onto his sleeve. He was staring at him nervously. When he saw the clarity in Su Ming's eyes, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Ming stared at Lei Chen. When he lowered his head, he found that his pot was still empty. After a long while… he stood up. He did not speak, but just simply picked up Hao Hao, and with the snow and wind blowing against his face walked into the distance.

It was Lei Chen's choice. He chose the same path as Di Tian, to get lost. Di Tian wanted to resurrect the people beside him and willingly became lost so that they would believe that the place was real, while Lei Chen…

It was just as he said: He was tired and exhausted. He did not want to continue down the path because he carried too much anguish on his shoulders.

Su Ming's sigh echoed in the snow and wind. The howls of the wind seemed to turn into a ravine that formed a barrier, blocking him from Lei Chen, who was behind him.

But it did not just block the path between the two of them. It also blocked off their two worlds…

In Lei Chen's world, to satisfy his brother's desire to drink with him, Su Ming chose to temporarily lose himself. After drinking, Su Ming chose to leave, because he had his own path, which Di Tian did not manage to complete and on which Lei Chen did not choose to continue. But Su Ming… would go on.

As he left into the distance, the seemingly drunk Lei Chen slowly lifted his head while the snow blocked the path between the two of them. He stared at Su Ming leave into the distance, and a melancholic look appeared on his face.

"Our relationship as brothers in our previous life allowed us to drink in this life. Su Ming… I hope that you… will be safe in your journey." When Lei Chen mumbled those words, laughter reached his ears from behind.

"Lei Chen, didn't you agree to drink with us today? Come on, I didn't get to win against you last time, but this time, I will definitely outdrink you."

When Lei Chen turned his head around, he saw his version of Su Ming, and there was a girl standing beside him. She was Bai Ling.

Lei Chen smiled. When he tried to sneak a glance at Su Ming who was retreating into the distance, he found that Su Ming had already disappeared into the wind and snow and could no longer to be found.

"What are you looking at?" a woman asked.

When Lei Chen turned his head in the direction of the voice, he saw the built woman who his past self had liked because she had a figure fit for a Berserker. That woman, whose name he had forgotten, seemed to have become prettier when he looked at her at that moment.

"Haha, I'm not looking at anything. I just thought there was a figure over there which looked like Su Ming. Come on, let's drink."

When Lei Chen said tossed words out, he smiled. Next to him was Su Ming, who was standing with Bai Ling. He was momentarily stunned, then he looked at the spot in the snow where Lei Chen had glanced over, but saw nothing.

"You won't be able to see him, because you are in the world that I see, not in the world that he sees." Lei Chen shook his head. While speaking, he picked his pot and took a big swig from it.

The wind blew harder, more snow fell, and the world became blurry. It turned the Dark Mountain Tribe as well as all the people around Lei Chen indistinct.

However, it was just as he said, the world in his eyes…

The boy next to Su Ming, who was already very far away in the distance, turned his head around at that moment. At the very end of what he could see in the wind and snow, he could vaguely see Lei Chen's desolate figure sitting alone.

Time gradually passed with each step Su Ming took. Another century went by. and Su Ming left the black continent and arrived at the eighth continent.

He walked through the endless sea of a desert. During the seven hundredth year, he remembered a promise while he was in an ancient city at the center of the eighth continent. It was a promise between the three ninth level Dao Gods in Ancient Zang, a promise that they would fight in the royal capital after one of them had entered isolated training for one thousand years.

"I can't see it anymore…" Su Ming mumbled softly.

He walked past the city, and in the west of the land, he saw a tower. There was a person meditating in it.

The man's face was unfamiliar, and he looked like a corpse that would no longer rot. The moment Su Ming looked over, the corpse's eyes flew open to reveal a brilliant sparkle.

"I've calculated for six hundred years, and I've finally managed to figure out that you would walk past this place on this day at this date… Third prince, you are the reason why I fell to this state. It's because of you that I got sealed in this world, and I have waited for you for one hundred years in this place…

"You will die now!" the corpse said slowly. Its voice held indescribable resentment.

When the world around them let out a bang, the color of the sky changed. The ground rose, and a large amount of fog filled the land. The fog twisted in the air, then rose to the sky. A huge mark made of fog formed above the figure!

It was not a mark though, but a huge seal that covered a huge area!

The runic symbol shone, and when its surface became uneven, a brilliant, dark light spread out from it to form a screen of light that instantly fell on the land as if it wanted to cover the sky.

The corpse shouted then, and its voice spread through the entire continent in thunderous roars.

Lin Dong Dong!

He was the Great Dao Paragon of One Dao Sect, a powerful warrior who had inherited the Dao of Kismet. Just as Lei Chen had said, in the formerly glorious world, the wills within the first prince had spread out to become Lei Chen, Lin Dong Dong… and Old Man Extermination.

The mysterious aspects of the world they were in right then had separated them. Lei Chen chose to get lost, Su Ming had yet to meet Old Man Extermination, and Lin Dong Dong had clearly chosen to kill Su Ming!

"I will kill you and rob you of your kismet, and then, I might be able to take a step further in my level of cultivation and become a ninth level Dao God. If I'm able to do that, I will have a way to leave this accursed place!"

Murderous intent burned in Lin Dong Dong's eyes. When he lifted his right hand, he pointed at Su Ming. The sky immediately roared. The huge fog seal started rotating swiftly and appeared above Su Ming to push down on him. It stirred up loud booms in the process.

With it, the ground under Su Ming's feet began to tremble violently. Cracks instantly spread through it as if it was about to sink. The signs of its imminent destruction were clear.

Su Ming's expression remained the same. He had not paid any attention to what level of cultivation he had reached during the seven hundred years he wandered through the land, but at that moment, when he looked at the fog seal descend from the sky, he did not sense much pressure from it. It was as if… he could make it disappear with a swing of his hand.

Su Ming did not sense much of a threat from Lin Dong Dong either. Once he focused his attention on the situation at hand, he saw all that was going on.

Lin Dong Dong had been weakened, to the point that he was at the verge of being reduced from a Great Dao Paragon to a Dao Paragon. It almost seemed like his existence was unwelcome in the world.

And while he had weakened, Su Ming had become stronger. In silence, he brought his right hand up and pointed at the sky.

With it, the huge fog seal that was descending let out an astonishing roar and stopped one thousand feet above Su Ming as if there was a barrier that could not be seen beneath it.

"All manner of reality and falsehoods, all glory and destruction are just words spoken by the people after us, and they only exist in the passage of time… Do you understand?" Su Ming asked softly.

He swung his right arm, and immediately, the huge fog seal started trembling. It gradually became indistinct. In just a few breaths, it disappeared like the wind…

Su Ming's composure caused Lin Dong Dong's expression to change while he was on the tower. His pupils shrank, and he swiftly focused his attention on Su Ming, but he only discovered that he could not tell just what level of cultivation Su Ming possessed!

'That's impossible! With my level of cultivation, it's impossible for me to be unable to tell just how high anyone's level of cultivation is!'

When Lin Dong Dong's pupils shrank, he quickly stood up from the tower. He took a step in Su Ming's direction and left behind an afterimage in his wake. Once he went forward, he appeared right in front of Su Ming and seized the air with his right hand.

With it, the sky immediately roared. Its color changed, and a crimson sun appeared in the sky. The ground rumbled with Su Ming at the center, and cracks below him connected in the picture of a moon.

"The sun and moon will shine together, forming the brightest light in the world!"

Lin Dong Dong's voice boomed in the air like thunder and covered the entire land. Immediately, the crimson sun in the sky exuded an indescribable wave of hot air. Then, as if it was plunging from the sky, it charged towards Su Ming with loud bangs.

At the same time, the mark of the moon under Su Ming's feet started rotating as well. The whole ground seemed to be moving. Waves of silver light instantly rose into the air and enveloped Su Ming within them.

"Gather together the threads of kismet in the world, and with the power of all lives, your kismet shall leave you and descend on me!"

Lin Dong Dong's eyes were bloodshot. At the instant he spoke his last word, the sun in the sky descended with a bang. The silver light on the ground turned into countless silver threads of law which charged at Su Ming to kill him.

Each of those silver threads contained all of Lin Dong Dong's kismet. He turned his kismet into a will containing his killing intent, and it was strong enough to even destroy the world. His entire fortune was gathered in the threads, and it was as if One Dao Sect's Dao of Kismet had descended.

"You will die now!"

Lin Dong Dong was incredibly confident in his attack. Even though he had been weakened considerably, it was his greatest killing move, and he was certain that Su Ming would definitely die, unless he possessed the power of a Great Dao Paragon!

While surrounded by the silver threads and the setting sun, Su Ming sighed softly.

"Do you still not understand?"

Chapter 1460: Some People

While his sigh was still echoing in the air, Su Ming lifted his right hand. Just like when he dissipated the fog seal, he flicked his wrist, and without a single sound, the silver threads around him instantly stopped moving. Then, they became blurry, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared one by one.

It was as if they had never existed to begin with. When they returned to nothingness, even the sun plunging down from the sky gradually became transparent. It slowly took on the color of the sky, and then disappeared from above Su Ming.

This sight immediately caused Lin Dong Dong's pupils to shrink further. He took a few steps back without any hesitation, but disbelief on his face. As h fixed his stare at Su Ming, his breathing quickened slightly.

"You…"

Lin Dong Dong opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say. The shock he felt at that moment was indescribable. He had never thought that there would be someone who could so easily disperse his killing move right before him. It was as if his divine ability truly did not exist.

This scene overturned his beliefs, causing the Great Dao Paragon Lin Dong Dong to be unable to accept what he saw.

"It's been seven hundred years since we last met, and your cultivation base has far surpassed my expectations… but my desire to kill you will never diminish!"

Lin Dong Dong sucked in a deep breath. His eyes sparkled, and raging killing intent appeared in them. He took a swift step forward and brought his right hand up. A black shortsword immediately appeared in his hand. There were many runic symbols covering it, and with a swing, that shortsword multiplied to ten.

With another flick, the ten shortswords turned to one hundred, then to one thousand. When they covered the sky and earth, their numbers were too great to count. The world seemed to belong to the swords at that moment, and countless sword glints charged at Su Ming.

"It's useless. Time itself stands between us. You… still don't understand?"

Su Ming shook his head. There was clarity in his eyes, and as he sighed, the sword glints pierced through him… but as if Su Ming's body was just an illusion, those sword glints only phased through him and did not deal an ounce of damage to him.

"This world is fake. Ancient Zang is just the battleground between me and Xuan Zang for my Possession. This is an illusion. I am not lost in it, and you… are just a speck of dust in it."

Su Ming shook his head. With each step forward he took, Lin Dong Dong took a step back with an incredibly dark face.

After five steps, he made to speak, but Su Ming did so first. His voice traveled into the air, and it made his expression change again, because Su Ming's words had just given voice to the doubts Lin Dong Dong was just about to say.

"You cannot see through my level of cultivation, but it isn't because my level of cultivation is unfathomable. It's because we are separated by time, and it is a wall you cannot see through clearly."

When Su Ming said those words in a flat voice, he moved to stand in front of Li Dong Dong.

"I refuse to believe it!"

Lin Dong Dong's expression instantly became ferocious. He lifted his right hand and struck his chest. With it, his face instantly became purplish red, and a large amount of black smoke gushed out of his seven orifices. That black smoke instantly gathered into a huge fierce face in midair. When it roared at Su Ming, the weather changed as if the laws in the world had changed at that instant.

When the huge face opened its mouth wide and sucked in a sharp breath in Su Ming's direction, the power of the world in the area charged over with loud booms. Only Su Ming… remained with his long hair unmoving. His robes did not even flutter. He just stood there calmly and watched Lin Dong Dong.

The moment Lin Dong Dong saw that, the huge face into which he had turned filled with shock. His divine ability could absorb all the aura in the world, but it had been unable to affect Su Ming in the slightest.

However, he still did not believe in Su Ming's words. Although, it was perhaps more accurate to say that he did not dare nor want to believe them. At that moment, his reason to kill Su Ming changed into wanting to prove that he was wrong and all that he said was just nonsense.

The huge face closed its eyes, and Lin Dong Dong instantly returned to his body beneath him. His power had increased by a large margin.

Killing intent shone in his eyes, and he disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already behind Su Ming. His fist went hurling towards him, but no sound could be heard. The only thing that happened was his fist phasing through Su Ming's body.

"Impossible!"

Lin Dong Dong's eyes went bloodshot. He appeared around Su Ming continuously and threw punches at him nonstop. It lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Only then did Lin Dong Dong take a few steps back with a pale face. He stared at Su Ming with a stunned expression, and despair appeared in his eyes.

He had not despaired when he was trapped in the formerly glorious world, but instead persisted in his desire to kill Su Ming and rob him of his kismet, because he had his pride. He was a Great Dao Paragon.

Yet then, when Su Ming had finally arrived, Lin Dong Dong's persistence turned into despair. It would have been fine if he could not kill Su Ming, but it was simply impossible for him to even touch Su Ming's body. The man's words also echoed in Lin Dong Dong's ears, making him stumble back, and then, his despair turned into grief and misery.

"Impossible…"

He could only murmur that word to tell himself that none of it was real… but the test that lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn told him that what Su Ming said was the answer, and there was no other explanation to it.

Lin Dong Dong lifted swiftly his head and stared at Su Ming. When his voice echoed in the air, it was like thunder.

"This must be a divine ability you learned in this accursed world! Right now, the one I see before me is not your real self, but a shadow of yours!"

Su Ming turned around and looked at Lin Dong Dong.

"This is the answer, and also the reason why I can't kill you. It's not because time stands between us, and it's because I'm fake… but because the version of you in front of me is just a shadow!

"I understand now, you are a cultivator from Seven Moons Sect, and Seven Moons Sect practices the Seven Lives Art. That Art of yours… must have reached a certain level, which is why you could create an indestructible shadow, but while this shadow of yours cannot be killed, it has trouble killing even a mortal!"

The more Lin Dong Dong spoke, the more convinced he became. Once he finished speaking, there was no longer despair in his eyes. Instead, a cold and fierce killing intent appeared in his eyes again.

"Third prince, you bastard. Your words just now have indeed confused me for a moment, but once I find your real body, I will kill you!"

Lin Dong Dong stared at Su Ming, then moved back slowly and turned on his heel He swung his arm, intending to leave.

Su Ming looked at Lin Dong Dong, then lifted his right hand with a calm expression before he pointed at the sky. It immediately trembled with a bang, and stars appeared in it. The number of the stars could not be counted clearly. All those observing them could only see that they were arranged together into a huge whip!

"I have finally understood why the Space Whip always shows just an illusory power that is similar to a projection instead of its real form when it is shown before me."

When Su Ming said those words softly, he swung his right arm, and the stars in the sky shone with a brilliant starlight. It instantly replaced the sky as well as all the light in the world, making it blindingly bright. The blinding light was the same as darkness. When it reached an extreme degree of brightness, it would appear as black when a person looked at it.

When the light disappeared, Su Ming had already vanished with Hao Hao. The only person remaining in the place was the stunned Lin Dong Dong. At that moment, his body slowly shattered, and only his Nascent Divinity was left floating in the place while staring around it in a daze.

Su Ming did not kill Lin Dong Dong, because at that moment, living for that man would be much more painful than dying.

After a long while, Lin Dong Dong's Nascent Divinity suddenly laughed. His voice echoed in the air, and there was great confidence in it.

"Third prince, you bastard. What an Art, but don't think that you can use it to deceive my eyes. Even if that shadow of yours has some power… As long as I can find your real body, I will definitely kill you!

"Third prince, you'd best hide properly, because on the day I find you, I will destroy both your body and soul. I will definitely find your real body!"

Lin Dong Dong's face was brimming with confidence. He even felt as if he had gained an epiphany, which had not happened since he had become a Great Dao Paragon.

He let out a cold snort, and with his confidence as well as his epiphany, his Nascent Divinity left into the distance. With the remainder of his life, he would use all his power to search for Su Ming's 'real body', and it would last for an unknown number of years…

But he was bound to be unable to find Su Ming's 'real body'. He was just like a fish determined to find its own tears in the sea… but he was sure of himself and would persist in his actions with madness because he believed in them!

Perhaps due to this belief, he would one day come to find the Su Ming his heart believed to be Su Ming, but that Su Ming may not be the real Su Ming.

"Di Tian seeks his beliefs, Lei Chen seeks for peace, and Lin Dong Dong… seeks madness. What do I seek?"

While murmuring that question to himself, Su Ming walked into the distance with the boy in his arms.

Every single one of them pursued what they possessed in the world they believed to be real. They still had dreams, and even if they had already been fulfilled, they were still on their way to fulfill them.

This sort of pursuit was a form of strength, since even if it was impossible to fulfill the dream, it would give them strength to deceive and even numb themselves…

And since pursuing something in itself was a path for someone to take, the road was bound to be filled with hardships, trials, and miseries.

Some people would stop on that path, wanting to rest, but once they rested… they might find that they had already reached the end of their road, just like the butterfly named Harmonious Morus Alba.

Some would give up on moving forward and draw a mark that signified the end of their path. They would live in that mark, and only they themselves would know whether they were happy or not.

Yet some people would continue walking down that path, and even if they were faced with trials and hardships, burdened by desolation and misery, they would soldier on.

Chapter 1461: Planting a Promise

"Perhaps my Master will tell me the answer when I return to Ancient Zang and go to the city gate in the royal capital," Su Ming mumbled softly. He remembered his promise with Tian Xie Zi.

"I… will wait for you outside the city gates at that time. At the moment you step inside the city gate… I will teach you your final lesson."

Su Ming closed his eyes. In his ears, he heard Tian Xie Zi's words. They accompanied him as he continued walking.

He walked for one hundred years, then two hundred years. When he walked past all nine continents, Su Ming saw the desert that once served as an ocean.

The desert was huge, and there was no end to it, just like to the road under his feet. As long as he walked down it, then he had to persist in finishing the journey, even if he did not know where the end was nor the direction of his future. Even if his heart was filled with anxiety and fear… since he chose that path, he would not turn his head back.

While Su Ming stared at the boundless desert, the boy next to him tugged his sleeve and said softly, "We're almost there. The center of this ocean is my home…"

Hao Hao's voice was still as youthful as ever. He had accompanied Su Ming for nine hundred years as they walked through the once glorious world. They had seen shattered mountains, dried-up rivers, corpses, broken skeletons, and right then, Su Ming saw a desert, but perhaps in Hao Hao's eyes, it was an ocean.

Su Ming lowered his head and cast Hao Hao a glance. He did not speak, but instead brought Hao Hao further into the desert.

There was wind there. Its moans filled the air, and it sounded like the wind was sighing desolately. Gusts swept up the sand to lay a curtain on the world around them. It also hid away the majesty that was once possessed by the place. However, the image of the sand and wind covering the stretch of the sky was similar to the ocean… and if time insisted on it being this way, then sand would turn into an ocean, because it had no other choice.

While holding Hao Hao's hand in the sand and wind. Su Ming walked until an old ship appeared in the sandstorm that resembled an ocean. That ship sailed through the ocean of sand, and sitting on it was a man. When Su Ming looked at him, his figure became a blur.

Su Ming followed the ship leaving into the distance with his gaze and said softly, "It's about time that I met him here."

"Who is he?" Hao Hao lifted his head and looked at Su Ming.

"An old acquaintance." Su Ming smiled faintly and patted Hao Hao's head, then brought him further into the sandstorm.

"What's wrong with him?" Hao Hao asked again.

"He lost his way." Su Ming shook his head, and his gaze landed on the blurry figure of the ship. When he moved his gaze away, he continued on with Hao Hao.

Once every few months, Su Ming would see the old ship swimming about the sea of sand as if it had lost its way and was continuously trying to find it.

It gave off a feeling that it was trying to continue down its road… but he simply could not find it.

"He's very pitiful," Hao Hao said softly.

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't want to be lost. If he lost his way willingly, he would at least have his happiness, but he is not willing to be lost. Yet on this road, he is lost, and he can't go back," Hao Hao said after pondering it for a while.

"But he's so silly. How could he actually get lost?" Hao Hao laughed. His laughter was clear, like water drops falling on asphalt roads.

Su Ming also laughed. He stared at the ship swimming past them in the distance with a myriad of emotions contained in his smile. He then sighed softly.

Old Man Extermination had gotten lost on the path he had walked all his life. When he fought against Su Ming, there was no distinction between right or wrong between them. There was only one belief: I can walk this path… but you cannot walk before me!

This was the thought that stirred up emotions in Su Ming's heart, and he had sighed because he did not know whether there would come a day when he would become like Old Man Extermination—lose his way while persisting down his path.

Once he lost his way, he would lose his way in life.

Perhaps there was another possibility…

In silence, Su Ming crouched down and looked at Hao Hao.

"There should be another possibility… Hao Hao, wait for me here," Su Ming said softly. Hao Hao looked at him, then nodded.

"What other choice? Are you going to point him on his way?"

"No one can point others to their paths."

Su Ming shook his head. When he turned around, he walked to the place where the ship had disappeared. His figure gradually faded into the sandstorm until he could no longer be seen.

With the sandstorm blowing at the ship, it moved forward through the sea of sand. Old Man Extermination was dressed in the same long robe as the one Su Ming remembered him wearing before. He sat quietly on his ship as if nothing had ever changed. Be it Harmonious Morus Alba or the once glorious world, everything remained the same.

When Su Ming appeared on the lone ship, Old Man Extermination's eyes instantly flew open. There was firm resolve in his eyes. When he looked at Su Ming, there was not a hint of surprise on his face, as if he knew a long time ago that one day, he would see Su Ming before him.

"Your path is wrong," Su Ming said calmly.

Old Man Extermination was quiet for a moment before he asked faintly, "How do you define wrong?"

Su Ming smiled and did not continue speaking.

"To me, my path is not wrong. The only thing that is wrong is the person walking on that path, and my mistake is that I lost to you in Harmonious Morus Alba…" Old Man Extermination spoke slowly, and when his words traveled languidly through the air, it was as if his memories had been stirred up.

"That was my first mistake, and my second… was losing to you a second time in Ancient Zang's world." Old Man Extermination's expression was the same as before, but a hint of regret had appeared in his eyes.

"I didn't win."

"Then why did you say that my path is wrong?" A brilliant sparkle appeared in Old Man Extermination's eyes.

"Is your path the one that is definitely correct? You think that my path is wrong, but I too think that you are walking down the wrong path. Who is right, and who is wrong? Be it you or me, neither of us has the right to say it.

"Let's look at the end results. The path we chose is the same. You will do everything it takes to resurrect all the familiar faces in your life, and I will reach Boundless Dao Realm. I will turn time back and return to the past, to the point of time before Xuan Zang arrived in our world.

"At that time, I will do whatever it takes to kill Xuan Zang. Even if I have to lose everything, I will give it up to kill him!"

Killing intent filled Old Man Extermination's eyes, and he stared at Su Ming coldly.

Su Ming was silent. After a long while, he said slowly, "If you continue down that path, you will be the only person left in the entire universe."

Old Man Extermination was quiet for a long time. A complicated look gradually appeared on his face, and when he looked at Su Ming, that complicated look became even more prominent,

"Then, what about your path? If you continue down it, then you will be the one who will disappear from the universe!"

Su Ming fell silent, and Old Man Extermination also chose to be silent. The two of them stayed on the ship. One of them was standing, and the other sat meditating. The ship continued moving forward and did not stop. It did not matter whether its path forward was right or wrong. It continued moving and would never stop.

"Then, this will be the third battle between us!"

After a long time had passed, a faint smile appeared on Su Ming's face, and he looked at Old Man Extermination.

"This should be what made you choose to come to me, right?" Old Man Extermination's eyes shone brilliantly while he spoke slowly.

"You've waited for me for such a long time in this place as well, didn't you?" Su Ming smiled faintly.

"It is as you said!"

The brilliant sparkle in Old Man Extermination's eyes turned into fighting spirit. It did not drive him to attack with his divine abilities or attempt to kill Su Ming with his Arts, however. Instead, they would engage each other in their final battle using their Daos and their paths. Since they did not agree to each other's paths, they would verify their own paths, which would conclude their final battle!

"If you lose, could you bury my Dao in your world, because in the universe where I live, I will no longer see you." Old Man Extermination enunciated his words clearly, and his voice was firm.

"If I win, you owe me a promise."

When Su Ming's calm voice traveled into the air, his tone was not as agitated as Old Man Extermination's and ready to fight. His words were calm, and not a single hint of emotion could be detected in his voice. He no longer stared at Old Man Extermination. Instead, he turned around and walked towards the vast space beyond the ship to disappear into the wind and sand.

Old Man Extermination watched Su Ming's retreating figure, and then, his eyes sparkled while he mumbled under his breath, "There is never any right or wrong in our paths, but you insist that one of us is right, and the other is wrong… The third battle, huh? I'm already indignant with my two defeats, and this… is better!"

After a long while, Old Man Extermination slowly closed his eyes. He immersed himself in his meditation while sitting on his ship that traveled into the distance.

Su Ming walked quietly through the sandstorm without turning his head back. There was a strange glint in his eyes, but it disappeared very soon.

Su Ming walked up to the waiting Hao Hao in the sea of sand. When Hao Hao saw him, he immediately flashed him an innocent smile.

"I've thought about it. What you said then was wrong, he isn't lost."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because there is never any path to begin with. The path is right under your feet. The places you arrive are part of your path. They can be the end of your path, but also places along your path. If you insist on whether the path you take is right or wrong, you will be treading down the wrong path. Am I right?"

Hao Hao tugged Su Ming's sleeve with a smile. There was a slightly smug look on his face, as if he was very happy that he understood this logic, which Su Ming seemed to not have understood.

While smiling, Su Ming patted Hao Hao's head. There was a gentle look on his face, and he nodded.

"You're right. There has never been a path set for any person in the world, so it's only natural that there is no right or wrong, and we should not care about these things, or else the right and wrong paths will truly appear," Su Ming said with a smile. With Hao Hao in hand, he walked into the distance.

They gradually walked further and further away, and while their voices were rather muffled, they still traveled faintly through the air.

"Then why did you say that he walked down the wrong path?"

"Because I hope that he will walk down the wrong path."

"Oh… so you left just now to tell him that he's going the wrong way?"

"There is no right or wrong for any paths, but once I mentioned it, there now exists right and wrong paths. This is the other possibility. He will continue walking down the wrong path until he owes me a promise."

Their figures slowly disappeared into the sandstorm, and even their voices gradually faded away. Their words were also slowly drowned out by the wind.

Chapter 1462: Hao Hao's Choice

The sandstorm's howls turned into moans by their ears, and they sounded like a song from a xun. It echoed in the air in a desolate manner in the sea of sand.

It had been nearly one thousand years since Su Ming had entered the formerly glorious world. With Hao Hao in hand, he came to a desert, a place that was formerly the sea at the center of the world. They walked on the sand that was once the bottom of the sea towards the very center of the world.

Su Ming's footsteps were not quick. He walked for a long time, until he forgot about the passage of time. Then, on one day, a world appeared in the sandstorm before him and Hao Hao.

That world contained an oasis, and it stood out very clearly in the sandstorm, causing all those who saw it to feel their spirits lift without their notice. This was the first time… Su Ming saw green in the world.

The oasis had a lake, and around it was green grass that gave off a nice scent. There seemed to be a barrier between them; the oasis could be seen, but not touched.

"We're home…" Hao Hao said while holding Su Ming's hand. The two of them had already walked through the sandstorm into the oasis.

The pleasant scent of grass filled the air, causing people to value the only color in the colorless world. Su Ming stood quietly in the oasis while looking at the lake.

"Is this your final decision?"

Su Ming closed his eyes. After a long while, when he opened his eyes, he looked at the boy beside him.

The boy nodded seriously. There was not a hint of hesitation or indecisiveness in him.

"This is my home. I will stay here and change everything," Hao Hao said softly. His voice was rather weak, but there was a firm tone to his words, and his determination could also be heard.

"Big brother, could you stay with me for a few more years? I'm… afraid of being lonely."

The boy held Su Ming's hand while staring up at him. The clarity in his eyes reflected the dependency he had on Su Ming as he waited for his answer.

Su Ming lifted his right hand and patted Hao Hao's head. After a long while, he softly said, "Don't be afraid. I won't leave so soon."

The boy smiled happily and with satisfaction. He cast Su Ming a deep glance, then slowly let go of his hand to walk to the lake. With each step he took, he would turn his head around, and when the lake reached his knees, he turned his head around again and stared at Su Ming.

"Big brother, thank you for helping me. Thank you for sending me to this place… I told you before that if you help me, I will definitely help you… In the future, I will help you gain an epiphany… of my world."

The boy smiled happily and slowly walked into the lake. When he was completely submerged, the lake let out a bang, and a whirlpool showed up at the spot where Hao Hao had disappeared. The vortex rotated swiftly outwards and reveal Hao Hao, who had his eyes shut tightly while sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the lake.

Right before Su Ming's eyes, branches grew out of the bottom of the lake around Hao Hao. In an instant, they surrounded him, and once they completely enveloped him, they formed a seed.

It was the seed of the Tree of Dao Verification. Soon, an indescribably abundant life force come out of it at the bottom of the lake—in Hao Hao's former homeland. That life force could only cover the oasis at that moment, but Su Ming could already see that as the Tree of Dao Verification grew, that life force would spread through the whole world and all of the nine continents.

The desert would become a sea, and mountains as well as rivers would appear on the nine continents again. The monochrome world would gain dashes of brilliant colors, and in time, it would return to its former glory.

At that time, with the overflowing life force, lives may appear once more, and with them, human societies would be born, new worlds would appear, and people would start cultivating again…

After all, if they were to get to the bottom of things, the world had not been reduced to a wasteland because all the strongest people had died or because all the lives in it had returned to dust, but because… the Tree of Dao Verification that provided the means for the world to thrive was taken away by the Emperor of Ancient Zang.

It had taken away the world's roots… but right then, Hao Hao's choice to return caused everything to change once.

It was Hao Hao's decision.

Su Ming quietly watched the whirlpool in the lake slowly disappear. Gradually, the lake water covered the seed of the Tree of Dao Verification that had formed at the bottom of the lake, and in silence, Su Ming sighed softly.

He respected the boy's decision and also understood his wishes. Hao Hao did not want his homeland to continue to be in the state it was. He hoped… that with his return, he could change everything, and perhaps a long time later, when the Tree of Dao Verification reached the skie, the boy would sit on the tree crown and stare at his homeland with a truly happy smile.

Su Ming closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged by the lake. He had promised Hao Hao that he would keep him company for a few years, and so, he meditated nearby. He stayed for a number of years that were equivalent to the number of palm lines he had on his palm. Each line symbolized one year, and in the blink of an eye, one hundred years passed.

During that period of time, Su Ming did not open his eyes. He just sat there and did not even practice his cultivation. Instead, he immersed himself in a state of spiritual quietness.

He did not do it to think or to gain an epiphany. Instead, he had become connected to the seed Hao Hao formed and was sensing its growth…

The lake behind him had also experienced a change during the one hundred years. A small tree had appeared at the center of it. It stood tall, and its roots filled every single corner of the lake. They stretched deep into the soil at the bottom of the lake.

When Su Ming opened his eyes for the first time, he saw the small tree at the center of the lake, and he felt as if he saw Hao Hao. Su Ming did not stand up, but continued sitting in front of the lake before closing his eyes again.

He continued immersing himself in the spiritual quietness. His cultivation base did not experience any sort of increase or decrease, but at some point in time, his seventh overlapping Dao Paragon gained complete form in his third eye.

Su Ming might have put aside his training, but it was precisely because he had been putting it aside that his seventh overlapping Dao Paragon had gained clearer form, and then… the shadow of his eighth overlapping Dao Paragon appeared.

It might just be a shadow, but once it gained complete form, it would mean that Su Ming's level of cultivation would increase by leaps and bounds, and he would become a Great Dao Paragon!

There were less than thirty Great Dao Paragons in all of Ancient Zang, and there was a ravine that could not be described with words existing between Great Dao Paragons and ninth level Dao Gods. The ravine was so wide and deep that even Great Dao Paragons found it hard to cross, or else it would have been impossible for there to only be three ninth level Dao Gods throughout the many years of history in Ancient Zang.

Su Ming did not bother about practicing his cultivation. He only sat there and remained in the state of spiritual quietness while sensing Hao Hao's growth and the world's transformation because of it. He simply allowed time to pass by him until another hundred years went by.

At first glance, his face did not change too much, but a hint of age appeared on him. His black robes pooled on the ground around him while his purple hair spilled over his shoulders. Su Ming had his head lowered while he quietly meditated.

The small tree in the lake behind him had already started growing healthily. It was now a tree of one thousand feet. Its trunk occupied half of the lake, and even though it was not tall enough to reach the sky yet, its astonishing presence could already be felt.

The oasis was still around. The wind howling in the central sea in the past but the world of sand right then had already diminished greatly. Humidity could already be sensed in the world, causing a lot of greenery slowly appear in the desert.

Perhaps, before long, the desert would disappear, and the central sea would return.

When another hundred years passed, Su Ming had already lived through a total of one thousand two hundred years from the moment he woke up in the new world. The Tree of Dao Verification behind him already covered the entire lake, and was nearly ten thousand feet tall. This height allowed the Tree of Dao Verification to show the beginnings of its future splendor. Even from a distance, its will to reach the sky could be seen.

At that point in time, the sand and wind of the desert had already completely disappeared. A layer of faint blue seawater submerged the sand… The abundant amount of life force caused the desert that had been submerged by seawater to welcome its first rays of light after years since it lost its former glory.

When the third century of the second millennium arrive while Su Ming continued sitting, the area around him filled with a large amount of seawater. The desert… turned into an ocean!

The former central sea, the huge ocean that completely covered the basin of sand returned. Standing tall at the center of that sea was a tree which was one hundred thousand feet tall and showed a desire to reach the skies!

The roots of the tree covered the entire oasis, but they automatically circumnavigated Su Ming to reveal an exit that would lead to the area outside. The seawater in the tunnel forming the exit also seemed very gentle, as if it was affected by some powerful will that did not want to bother Su Ming while he was meditating.

As time passed, the seawater grew in amount until it completely covered the desert When a true ocean was formed, half of the second millennium since Su Ming had arrived passed.

Su Ming opened his eyes for the second time then. He looked at the seawater around him, the oasis that was once surrounding him, and the majestic roots before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Su Ming knew that Hao Hao had succeeded. Perhaps he would not need much longer before the world regained its former colors, and then, the tree would show its true glory.

Su Ming could sense the success. Since he was connected to the Tree of Dao Verification, he felt as if he could experience that success and witness everything that happened in the world.

"When I stand in the sky, I should be able to see a Tree of Dao Verification that wants to compete against the sky!

"Or rather, even the sky will have to bow its head before this tree, because the Tree of Dao Verification will have become the world," Su Ming murmured softly before closing his eyes again.

'Then, it will be the time for me to leave… to fulfill the promise I made three thousand years ago to meet outside the city gate of Ancient Zang's capital…

'The time has also come for the battle of Possession to finally end… But when I open my eyes, will the path belong to me, or will it belong to him? I… am not confident,' Su Ming murmured in his heart.

Chapter 1463: Big Brother, Goodbye

While in that state of spiritual quietness, Su Ming did not think about anything complicated. In fact, he did not think even about Ancient Zang. In that spiritual quietness and calmness in his mind, he silently let time pass.

If he did think about something, then it was about what sort of road he pursued.

He immersed himself in the state of spiritual quietness, the Tree of Dao Verification's growth, and the transformation of the world. Those experiences were something that no cultivator had ever obtained.

Be it in Ancient Zang or this world in the past, there had never been a cultivator who could sense a world's transformation like Su Ming—by fusing with the Tree of Dao Verification's will and personally witnessing everything.

The Tree of Dao Verification… its namesake meant to verify Daos, and right then, what Su Ming did was akin to… verifying Daos as well!

The seasons passed one after another. Soon, the ocean returned to its former glory. When the Tree of Dao Verification grew from one hundred thousand feet to one million feet, its trunk occupied a small part of the ocean and it stood tall at the center…

However, the tree crown had already grown to the point where it covered the entire ocean and reached the sky.

Green life gradually appeared in the nine continents surrounding the ocean. It filled the lands, and the nine continents slowly gained complete mountain ranges. Rivers began to flow, and more lives slowly appeared in the world.

Su Ming experienced all of it personally. It was just as Hao Hao had said… if Su Ming helped him, Hao Hao would help him in return. Over the years, Hao Hao used his actions to explain what he meant by those words.

To Su Ming, such a serendipity surpassed the limits of what any cultivator could ever know. The value and rarity of such an experience was never felt by anyone in the past, and Su Ming could say with certainty that in the future, it would also be difficult for anyone else to obtain it.

He saw the transformation of a world and the Tree of Dao Verification growing to reach the skies and cover the world from a seed. Being able to witness and experience this personally was Su Ming's greatest serendipity in life.

While experiencing that growth, Su Ming gradually gained his epiphany. As time went by, it slowly became clearer. When another hundred years passed. Su Ming had already been in the world for one thousand seven hundred years… In the state of spiritual quietness, his eighth overlapping Dao Paragon in his third eye became clear from its initial blurry form. It slowly manifested until it gained complete form…

As it gained complete form, the power Hao Hao had given Su Ming before slowly merged with him. In truth, Su Ming had only been able to reach his level of cultivation because of the Phala as well as all that Hao Hao had given him.

What Hao Hao gave him was all the life force in the former Tree of Dao Verification. The strength of it was enough to transform Su Ming's level of cultivation, and while he bore testimony to the Tree of Dao Verification's continuous growth from a seed to its current height, the epiphany resulted in the metamorphosis of his cultivation base.

After fusing with the life force Hao Hao provided for one thousand something years, Su Ming's eighth Dao Paragon was fully formed, but even then, Su Ming did not open his eyes. However, the eighth Dao Paragon in his third eye had already reached a certain level, and he needed to fuse it with something before he could break through Dao Immortal Realm and become one of the Great Dao Paragons.

However, that fusion was not simple. If any accidents occurred, then everything would end up in vain. But Su Ming did not pay any attention to it or spare it any thought. He just meditated quietly.

Changes happened every year in the world outside. As the mountains and rivers were restored in the nine continents, as green filled the lands, as the final one hundred years of Su Ming's second millennium passed, the nine continents returned to their former glory.

When Su Ming looked over, spiritual aura was within the land, and a hint of spirituality appeared in the seawater. Besides still having no living creatures in it, the world was completely different from before.

The roots of the Tree of Dao Verification had already filled half of the ocean while the tree crown had already surpassed the surface of the ocean and even covered a small part of the nine continents.

The tree was nearly ten million feet tall. When Su Ming looked over, he could not see the sky. The only thing he saw was the endless Tree of Dao Verification.

The spot where Su Ming sat could be considered the deep parts of the Tree of Dao Verification, but there was always a path laid out before him that stretched far into the world beyond. From the distance, the road was like a crack. It was the path the Tree of Dao Verification had left for Su Ming.

When three centuries of the third millennium went by, the sky in the world outside could no longer be seen from the ground. The only thing that could be seen was the Tree of Dao Verification's crown, which had replaced the sky!

The sky was not blue, but green, and the green sky… was the one that truly belonged to that world! The tree crown no longer just covered a small part of the nine continents. Instead, with the central sea as the center, it had continuously spread out for one thousand something years and completely covered all of the nine continents. It did not stop there though and continued to spread to the end of the world.

Because of it, the nine continents and the world looked like they were protected beneath the Tree of Dao Verification's crown…

This scene caused Su Ming's epiphany to become clearer. A great, majestic presence appeared around him while he meditated, and when it spread out, it caused Su Ming to slowly open his eyes. However, his eyes no longer held the quiet emptiness born from spiritual quietness. It was as if when he opened his eyes, he did not see the area around him, but the world outside, and when he closed his eyes again, his epiphany was kept in his heart.

Before him was the world that had amazed the Emperor of Ancient Zang when he first stepped into it once he tore through space after he reached Boundless Dao Realm.

It was also the reason why he placed such a high value on the Tree of Dao Verification. It was… a tree that served as the guardian of an entire world!

At the start of the third century in the third millennium since Su Ming came to that place, the Tree of Dao Verification's crown replaced the sky, and lives appeared on the land.

Trees appeared, living creatures appeared… and all of them created the cycle of life for a world. Su Ming watched all of it from the beginning to the end. Like that, seven hundred years of the third millennium went by.

Two thousand seven hundred years had passed since Su Ming stepped into that world. To a mortal, this amount of time was perhaps enough for several dynasties to come and go, for living through several cycles of life and death. Even a cultivator would feel like it's a long time if they had to live through it.

Su Ming opened his eyes at that moment. He had been silent for a long time. When he slowly stood up, it was the first time in nearly two thousand years. Once he got up, he walked forward, down the path left for him by the Tree of Dao Verification. The roots behind him slowly closed up, destroying the path he walked.

When Su Ming walked out of the path made from the roots of the Tree of Dao Verification and the ocean, he walked into the sky. He stood in the air, and when he looked over, he saw that the green sky was the tree crown, and the blue beneath him was the ocean. It surrounded the nine continents filled with in abundance with lives. The world… had been completely changed.

Its former glory had returned, and whether or not brilliant flowers would bloom again would depend on the living beings who were born in the place to personally create them in the future.

A smile appeared on Su Ming's lips. When he swept his gaze past the land, his third eye opened… to reveal his power of an eighth level Great Dao Paragon!

It was a white light. It filled Su Ming's third eye, causing others to be unable to see the Great Dao Paragons contained in his pupil. What they saw was only the endless white.

When he used his third eye to glance at the earth, Su Ming saw Di Tian's city and several figures around him. At that moment, the smile on Di Tian's face was one that Su Ming had never seen before.

After watching him for a long time, Su Ming shifted his gaze away and looked at Lei Chen, Dark Mountain, the tribe under the mountain, and heard the cheers and laughter filling that tribe. It was enveloped in joy.

Be it Di Tian or Lei Chen, they had chosen that place and chosen to lose their way. Yet no matter what, since they had chosen to be lost right there, they would naturally be affected by the changes in the world.

However, they could not see the effects themselves, just like how Lin Dong Dong could not. He was on the sixth continent at that moment. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was a mess. He looked like a mad man, and he was still searching for Su Ming's 'real body'. He believed that once he killed him, he could rob him of his kismet and go back to Ancient Zang.

After a long while, Su Ming closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked at the Tree of Dao Verification. It had provided him with a great amount of cultivation base and given him the serendipity of being able to see a world's transformation.

Because of that, Su Ming wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to the Tree of Dao Verification.

That bow immediately caused the Tree of Dao Verification to rumble and shake. As it shook, a gap appeared in the green tree crown serving as the sky. It grew wider, and the sunlight from the sky beyond spilled through the gap and shone on Su Ming.

When he lifted his head, he saw the gap that had appeared in the green sky and knew that Hao Hao… had opened a path for him to return to Ancient Zang.

In silence, Su Ming cast a glance around him again to remember everything about that place. Then, he turned into a long arc that charged to the gap in the sky. When he moved through it, he saw a huge vortex in the sky. The center of it was a black hole, and there was a powerful suction force coming out of it at that moment. It enveloped Su Ming, drawing him closer to it.

Su Ming's expression was calm, and when he approached the black hole, he lowered his head. Then, he saw a boy of about five years old standing on the tree crown beneath him. He was staring at him with an innocent smile on his face and… waving.

"Big brother, bye bye… Remember me, okay?"

When Su Ming looked at the boy, a gentle smile appeared on his face, and he too waved at him until he disappeared into the black hole.

Chapter 1464: Seven Moons Sect After That Period of Time

It was dusk in Ancient Zang. Far away from the country's center was Seven Moons Sect. Right then, it was shrouded by snow.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky and covered the land. The white curtain connected the land to the sky, hiding most of Seven Moons Sect's splendor.

The exact same amount of time Su Ming had spent keeping Hao Hao company had also passed in Ancient Zang. Two thousand seven hundred years had also gone by in the land before him.

To any country, the period of the two thousand seven hundred years could not be considered as short. Even in the world of cultivators, many people would have come and gone during the two thousand seven hundred years.

Seven Moons Sect, that powerful sect among the seven sects and twelve clans nearly three thousand years ago in Ancient Zang had entered decline. From a distance, it had a depressed air about it. Snow might not have fallen in the Sky Beyond the Sky, but the dying air spreading out from it caused a certain figure who was staring at Seven Moons Sect while standing at the mountain in the distance to sense something ancient and weary.

That figure belonged to a young man who was dressed in a simple long black robe and had a head full of purple hair. He appeared to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, but there was an ancient air that could not be described about him. He seemed to have lived for far too long.

'Five thousand something years of practicing Dao… and I walked through worlds after worlds. I met various people, and the corpses of those who died by my hands are too numerous to count… Now, I have become a Great Dao Paragon.'

While staring at Seven Moons Sect in the distance, the young man let out a long sigh.

He was Su Ming, who had returned from the formerly glorious world.

He stared at Seven Moons Sect, and after being quiet for a moment, he lifted his foot and walked towards Seven Moons Sect's outer sect. He saw the disciples in there, but they were no longer as numerous as he remembered. There were only hundreds of them left.

Su Ming was mostly unfamiliar with them. In fact, some of the attendants of the outer sect were not part of those he remembered either. Many things had changed.

Then, Su Ming walked into the first layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, the second layer, the third layer… and when he arrived at the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, he did not see Lan Lan, but her memorial.

It was placed in the palace of the mountain that belonged to the third line in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. It was a somber memorial worshiped by the disciples in that line, and it was placed in the memorial hall at the back of the palace.

There was a middle-aged woman standing outside the memorial hall. She was dressed in a Daoist robe, and in her hands she held a broom. While dusk approached as snow fell from the sky, she sat under the eaves of the memorial hall and stared into the distance quietly.

Su Ming remembered her somewhat. She was Lan Lan's head disciple in the third line. However, after two thousand something years had passed, the once young and pretty girl had already become a middle-aged woman.

Su Ming walked into the courtyard outside the memorial hall. He stepped on the snow and left behind his footprints until he arrived next to the middle-aged woman.

As if she had only just noticed that there was someone next to her, the middle-aged woman lifted her head swiftly, and when she looked at Su Ming, she was taken aback.

"Which line do you belong to? Do you have any business here?"

Su Ming's face was incredibly unfamiliar to the woman, but his presence prevented her from mustering any sort of hostility. In fact, for some unknown reason, she felt a hint of cordiality with him, and hence, instinctively, she said those words.

Su Ming's gaze landed on the door to the memorial hall, and a hint of melancholy appeared on his face. "I came to see Sect Elder Lan Lan," he said softly.

When his words reached the middle-aged woman's ears, she fell silent. She might have felt that Su Ming was unfamiliar, but at that moment, as if her heart had been affected, her expression did not change. Instead, she stared at Su Ming in a dazed manner, as if all his words and actions had fused with the world and everything he did was part of nature's law.

It was as if his arrival was also predestined.

"You…" The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment. "Master passed away one thousand nine hundred years ago…" she then said softly.

Su Ming fell silent. After a long while, he lifted his feet and walked towards the memorial hall. Once he stepped inside, the door to the memorial hall slowly fell shut.

There were dozens of memorial plates on the altar. They all belonged to the people from the third line who had the right to be placed there. Once they died, the sect carved their names on memorial plates on the altar so that their descendants would not forget them.

While standing there, Su Ming let his gaze land on the last memorial plate on the altar. Carved clearly on that plate were four words: Sect Elder Lan Lan.

Su Ming stared at the four words in silence, then slowly closed his eyes. In the darkness that descended and the silence of the memorial hall, Su Ming felt like he had returned to the moment many years ago when he had first met Lan Lan.

She… gave Su Ming a feeling that she was Fang Cang Lan, and he later came to understand that she was that world's Fang Cang Lan. Su Ming had always avoided having much contact with her because he was afraid that he would lose his way in the end.

Various memories rose in his mind at that moment. When the time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed, Su Ming opened his eyes, and once he turned around, he walked out of the memorial hall.

"Why did she die?" he asked faintly.

The middle-aged woman was silent for a moment before she saying softly, "One Dao Sect…"

Su Ming nodded. He did not say anything more, but simply walked out of the palace on the mountain to return to his house in the fifth layer of Seven Moons Sect's Sky Beyond the Sky. That place had not changed much from what he remembered, but there was now a layer of dust covering everything.

Su Ming stood on the cliff and stared at his former house. After a long while, he turned his head around and saw Ye Wang meditating on the mountain belonging to the first line in the fifth Sky Beyond the Sky.

He appeared to be a middle-aged man, and his power was great. There was a resolute and level-headed look on his face. He… had become a sect elder.

Su Ming moved his gaze away and walked to the sixth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. Then, he walked to the Seven Moons Sect's seventh Sky Beyond the Sky. When he arrived there, a brilliant spark slowly appeared in his eyes.

It was one that had not appeared for a long time in his eyes, since he had mostly remained calm over the years. Even though he had told himself many times that Ancient Zang was just the battlefield for the battle of Possession between him and Xuan Zang, at that moment, killing intent emerged from the depths of his eyes.

The seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky had become a wasteland…

There were only three continents left out of the thirteen. The others had all been reduced to rubble. What remained of them floated about the world like dust. Waves of mighty pressure belonging to a Great Dao Paragon still filled the place, though it was barely perceptible.

Su Ming could guess that many years ago, a Great Dao Paragon had descended in a monstrous rage and nearly destroyed the place, which was why his presence still remained to that date.

The remaining three continents were filled with a deathly silence. However, Su Ming could still sense three presences from the highest mountains on them.

They belonged to Dao Han and two former great sect elders. Gu Tai was not among them, and neither was Xu Zhong Fan.

The remaining three people's presences were very faint, since they most likely had been injured gravely. At that moment, they seemed to be resting, but they would need an endless amount of time to recover.

Su Ming gradually suppressed the killing intent in his eyes. He kept it in him and made it fuse with his presence. He swept his gaze past the three continents, then eventually fixed his gaze on the first one. He moved forward and instantly appeared on the tallest mountain of that continent.

There was a huge platform on the summit, and it had a large Rune. At the center of the Rune was a sunken concave the size of a fist. It was like a small pit.

Su Ming stared at the pit, and as a former Seven Moons Sect disciple, he knew how Seven Moons Sect worked. If there was nothing happening, only one great sect elder would be awake in each generation. That great sect elder would be in charge of Seven Moons Sect while the other great sect elders would be asleep to train.

If anyone wanted to wake up the great sect elders, they would need to gather drops of fresh blood with the Seven Lives Art accumulated in them. This was the only way to wake up a sleeping great sect elder, and it was what Lan Lan had done in the past. She had used that method to wake up Xu Zhong Fan.

While standing on the Rune, Su Ming was quiet for a moment. Then, he lifted his right hand and sliced his fingertip. His blood dropped into the small pit under him.

When nine drops of blood fell, Su Ming swung his right arm. No blood dropped from his finger anymore, and he stood there and waited quietly.

The blood in the pit at the center of the Rune instantly vanished. The next instant, blood-red light shone from the Rune, and it surged straight into the sky. At the same time, a loud, thunderous roar that seemed to have come from hell rang out from within the mountain.

The Rune shone and started rotating. Booming sounds echoed in the air, and a huge crack spread out from the center of the Rune. An ice coffin slowly rose from the mountain, then straightened itself before landing on the ground with a bang in front of Su Ming.

Through the ice coffin's lid, Su Ming saw Dao Han, who was withered and had his eyes shut tightly. There was a hideous wound on his chest. It ran through his body and the heart meridian.

His body was as withered as a skeleton. While Su Ming looked at him, the coffin turned blood red in color. Gradually, the withered corpse slowly started squirming, and in the span of a few dozen breaths, Dao Han returned to how he looked in Su Ming's memories.

"Who… Who woke me up?!"

With another roar, Dao Han opened his eyes in the coffin. It was the first time he opened his eyes since Seven Moons Sect suffered the disaster two thousand years ago and he fell into deep slumber due to severe injuries.

Almost at the instant he looked up, Su Ming's figure entered his eyes. At the moment he saw him, Dao Han's pupils shrank. He could clearly sense… the power of a Great Dao Paragon from him!

It was also at that moment that he discovered that the severed heart meridian in his chest… had started showing signs of recovery.

"You are…"

Dao Han's expression was grim. He did not relax because his injuries were recovering. Instead, his gaze became even sharper. However, there was a hint of excitement hidden in the depths of his sharp gaze.

He was not unfamiliar with Su Ming's presence. Even though it belonged to a Great Dao Paragon, he would never forget Su Ming's presence. However, his appearance had changed considerably. At that moment, the Su Ming who stood before him had Su Ming's real appearance from Harmonious Morus Alba.

Chapter 1465: Descent Upon One Dao Sect!

"I'm back," Su Ming said calmly.

At the instant he said those words, cracks appeared on the coffin where Dao Han was. They spread out with every passing second. After a moment, the coffin shattered, and Dao Han walked out of it.

His face was still pale, but there was a hint of madness and excitement in his eyes. That excitement was something incredibly rare for him. He stared at Su Ming in a daze, and after a long time had passed, he threw his head back and laughed.

"It's good that you're back…"

Dao Han, that powerful cultivator who was once rather cold to Su Ming and whom Su Ming had also treated coldly, laughed loudly. Yet once he spoke, anguish appeared in his smile.

"They're dead, they're all dead. Xu Zhong Fan passed away. The great sect elders died one by one. Only two other great sect elders besides me remain. Right now, there are only three of us left.

"Seven Moons Sect only has three great sect elders… My injuries might seem heavy, but they are the lightest of the three of us. One of them had his body destroyed, and only his Nascent Divinity remains, and the other had most of his Nascent Divinity destroyed. I don't know whether they will even wake up anymore."

Dao Han took a few steps back, and in his anguish, monstrous hate appeared in his eyes.

Su Ming was quiet for a while before he said slowly, "One Dao Sect, huh?"

"Yes, it's One Dao Sect. When all the dimensions where the Tree of Dao Verification was located shattered, many of the cultivators from the seven sects and twelve clans died. During the century after that event, the two Great Dao Paragons from One Dao Sect, Bai Lu and Chi Yang descended in Seven Moons Sect and started slaughtering us.

"In the end, if it was not because Sect Master Gu Tai who acted with no hesitation in choosing to give up on the possibility to become a Great Dao Paragon and self-destructing so that he could summon the ancestral spirits of Seven Moons Sect to descend among us, thereby forcing Bai Lu and Chi Yang to temporarily retreat; if the sect master's old friends did not come to help; and if Immortal Qing Han of Asura Clan did not come forth to put a stop to it, then… what you would have found would only be ruins.

"They're all dead…"

Dao Han's laughter was shrill and forlorn. When his voice echoed in the air, it was as if all the innocent souls who died in the slaughter within the seventh Sky Beyond the Sky had started howling.

"Third prince, you…"

As Dao Han spoke, Su Ming turned around and walked away. Judging by the looks of it, he seemed to be about to leave the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky. His action filled Dao Han with anguish, and when he looked at Su Ming's back, he found that he could not say a single word.

He knew that the third prince could help Seven Moons Sect, but if the enemy was One Dao Sect, then even if he became a Great Dao Paragon, he would still be slightly wary. He had just come back to take a look at them because he wanted to play his part in the relationship he had formed with Seven Moons Sect in the past.

Despite his anguish, Dao Han would not make over-the-top requests. He only hoped that Seven Moons Sect would come under his protection and there would come a day when they could return to glory.

It was Gu Tai's wish before he died, and it was also Xu Zhong Fan's wish. Right then, it had become Dao Han's wish as well.

"It's difficult for me to stay for long in Ancient Zang… but I will make One Dao Sect pay with blood for every drop they spilled. This will be my way of returning the kindness Seven Moons Sect had showed me."

When Su Ming was about to walk out of the seventh Sky Beyond the Sky, his footsteps came to a halt. After he spoke, he stepped out of the seventh layer.

His words echoed in the air and reached Dao Han's ears, causing him to fall silent while he watched Su Ming leave into the distance.

Pay with blood for every drop they spilled—those words represented what Su Ming thought and contained within them a bloodthirsty intent. The events of the past appeared before Dao Han's eyes and he remembered what had happened when he first met Su Ming.

Su Ming left Seven Moons Sect and the region where it was. He walked quietly in the sky until he came to a forest. He remembered that what he was looking for was located right next to a small mountain village.

He looked at it from a distance, and a melancholic look appeared in his eyes. The village… was no longer around. In fact, there was not even a ruin left behind. Everything had become part of the forest.

The span of two thousand something years could change many things. The scenery may remain the same, but the people were no longer the same. This constantly happened in every corner of the world.

No signs of the mountain village remained. The constant sound of someone chopping wood had also become quiet murmurs in the passage of time.

Su Ming stared at it from midair for a long, long time, until he eventually descended. Based on what he remembered, he walked past each spot where the village once was in the forest.

He walked past the blacksmith's shop, the vintner's house, and the old man's house while looking at the trees around him. Then, Su Ming sat down quietly at the spot where the old man's house was, just like how he had sat in the old man's courtyard to chop wood and listen to the old man's occasionally disconnected words.

As he sat there quietly, the sun set and rose the next morning. Dawn arrived, then dusk dropped by. There was no longer the sound of anyone cutting wood, no white dogs followed him anymore, and the old man's constant chattering could no longer be heard.

Only Su Ming remained there. He sat quietly until snow fell from the sky and landed on his body as well as his head.

It snowed for an entire night. When the sun rose and morning arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes. He stood up, then turned his head around to cast a glance at the world behind him as well as around him. In silence, he then walked through the forest into the distance.

His back was very desolate. There was loneliness about him as well as the air of defeat. The sun could not shine on him, and only the wind and snow remained, as if they would accompany him for the rest of his journey. However, while the snow appeared the same, in truth… once he walked into the distance, he noticed that the snowflakes by his side were no longer the same as the ones in the past.

They seemed the same, but they were different. Only the wind by his side appeared to be the same for eternity.

Su Ming continued walking until he walked out of the forest. Under the morning sun, he walked into the sky and continued moving forward… until he reached a temple one day.

That temple looked very worn down, like it would collapse if wind so much as blew against it or snow fell on its roof but it still continued to stand tall. The ancient air around it bore testimony to how the temple had existed for countless years since it was built.

There were three statues in the temple, and their faces could no longer be seen clearly. The only things that could be seen of them were the cracks that could be found everywhere on their bodies. They were packed densely together, and covered the statues from head to toe.

The temple was very quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the moans of the wind outside. Aside from them, nothing else could be heard.

Su Ming quietly walked into the temple. His gaze was cold and aloof when he cast a glance at the three statues.

With his level of cultivation right then, it was not difficult for him to locate One Dao Sect.

"One Dao Sect…"

When Su Ming said those words flatly, he lifted his right hand and swung it before himself. With it, while the sky outside remained the same and the wind continued to moan, a storm rose up in the temple. It instantly swept through the entire temple with an astonishing roar, and light came out of the cracks on the three statues as if they wanted to create a Rune that resembled a net.

Su Ming's expression was calm. At the instant the net-like Rune appeared, he lifted his foot and took a step forward. The net-like Rune was unable to withstand the pressure of his approach and began to shatter layer by layer. In the span of a single breath, it broke apart completely, allowing Su Ming to step through it without any problems.

When his foot landed, he seemed to have stepped on air. The area around him twisted as if time had distorted. When everything became clear, he appeared in a world covered in dark clouds. It was shrouded in darkness. From a distance, countless volcanoes and three big statues could be seen in the area.

Two of the statues were badly damaged!

The moment Su Ming stepped into the world, the sky rotating swiftly, as if a huge vortex was about to be formed. Piercing shrieks echoed in the air in warning to the cultivators of the land that a powerful enemy had invaded their midst.

"One Dao Sect… Since the people of this sect love using Great Dao Paragons to step into other sects and clans, suppressing them with their power, then today, I might as well try it out."

When Su Ming said those words flatly, his voice spread through the entirety of One Dao Sect's world.

The volcanoes in the distance crumbled with a bang, unable to withstand the mighty pressure contained in Su Ming's voice. In fact, even the ground started trembling violently at that moment. Cries of surprise shot into the air, and Su Ming saw cultivators flying out of the buildings around the land.

"How dare you! How dare you invade One Dao Sect!"

Almost at the same time the people flew out, an enraged shout rang out in the air. The owner of the voice had started shouting almost instinctively, and he regretted his decision right after he said those words, because the loud rumbles from the volcanoes in the area had already told him just what level of cultivation Su Ming possessed.

Su Ming's face was one of cold aloofness. He did not even spare a glance at the people who flew out, but simply walked to one of the three statues in the distance.

The moment he moved forward, several long arcs flew out from the area in front of him. They approached him, and the power from various divine abilities swiftly manifested. While remaining composed, Su Ming let out a cold harrumph.

That one cold harrumph immediately caused the world to roar. With Su Ming as the center, a layer of ripples instantly spread out. The expression of the incoming cultivators changed drastically. They did not even manage to scream before their bodies contorted under the ripples and they broke down, turning into bloody rain that poured down from the sky.

"It's been a long time since I killed in this manner. One Dao Sect…" Su Ming said flatly, and monstrous killing intent shone in his eyes. When he lifted his right hand, he formed a seal and pushed downwards, in the direction of the ground beneath him.

With it, the ground immediately roared. Volcanoes collapsed, and then the entire land shattered. The great, mighty pressure from Su Ming instantly descended on the entire world, and when his third eye opened, it clearly revealed… his eight overlapping Great Dao Paragons, which were shining with endless black light.

"Let darkness descend upon the land. Let night replace day. Let slaughter turn into a… One Dao Sect's blood debt will require the blood of the entire sect to be cleared."

Su Ming's voice s rang clearly in the hearts of each and every one of One Dao Sect's cultivators while the ground rumbled.

"A Great Dao Paragon!"

"He's a Great Dao Paragon!"

Cries of surprise instantly rang out in the air. At that moment, a cold harrumph came from the statue far away from Su Ming. When it resounded through the air, the destruction of the ground stopped. At the same time, a long arc charged at Su Ming like a shooting star. Spreading out of that long arc… was the power of a Great Dao Paragon.