Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 431: Seven Art Divine Ability!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When Tie Mu saw Su Ming’s grin, he frowned.

He was not the only reacting this way. All the people underneath were puzzled when they saw Su Ming’s grin and heard his words. Su Ming might have performed extraordinarily while going off against a Latter Battle Shaman, but that was all. He was simply extraordinary. The possibility of the two of them fighting on equal ground was simply not in existence.

Even if Su Ming had looked as if he had used all his strength and made Tie Mu to be in a slight disadvantage, but besides his face being slightly darker, Tie Mu was completely unscathed. On the other hand, the blood at the corner of Su Ming’s mouth looked quite terrifying.

By almost everyone’s estimations, Tie Mu only needed to attack one more time and Su Ming would absolutely not be able to stand up to it. His only outcome would be death.

"Hah, he’s just a Medial Shaman, how could he go and challenge a Latter Shaman? I already said it just now, this person is definitely going to die…"

"His courage is praiseworthy, but… he’s not smart enough. This sort of challenge is no different than seeking death."

"That’s a Latter Shaman. An old monster who can become a Latter Shaman is an absolute powerhouse among the Shamans. There’s no way a Medial Shaman will be able to win against him!"

As those pairs of gazes looked over, Nan Gong Hen felt torn, but resolution appeared in his eyes. He had already formed his plan. He will use this battle to have senior Tie Mu quell his anger first, then no matter what, he would do everything he could to try and save Mo Su. On his father’s behalf, that Tie Mu should be willing to spare Mo Su.

As for Nan Gong Shan, she was frowning. Her aloof gaze still remained on Su Ming. The uncertainty in her eyes became stronger.

Su Ming sucked in a deep breath in the sky, and with a move, a layer of black fog immediately seeped out from his chest, rapidly spreading out around him, but in an instant, it gathered together once more and turned into a tall person who was entirely black.

That person did not have any hair and was entirely black, from head to toe. The moonlight was reflecting off of him slightly, as if his skin was made of scales. His eyes, which were revealed for all to see, were cold.

That was Su Ming’s Nascent Soul clone, the puppet that was formed with Ji Yun Hai’s corpse!

Once that clone appeared, green light flashed at the center of Su Ming’s brows. The small virescent sword flew up and began circling round the clone’s head, letting off rays of freezing light and sword whistles.

The instant the clone appeared, cries of surprise immediately rang from the crowd underneath. Quite a few of them had already recognized what Su Ming’s clone was!

"A Soul Catcher’s puppet! That person’s a Soul Catcher!"

"He’s a Soul Catcher? And here I was wondering why his gaze seemed a little strange to me when I saw his eyes just now. So he’s a Soul Catcher!

"Why didn’t he use any of the Soul Catcher’s Spells just now, even though he’s a Soul Catcher? But that puppet is a Soul Catcher’s Puppet, all right! I won’t be wrong about this!"

Tie Mu’s brows crinkled slightly. Su Ming’s methods had surprised him. From his experiences, this person definitely did not come from a small tribe. He could tell just by looking at the puppet itself that it was an incredibly extraordinary item, and that was if he ignored that flying sword that was very similar to those belonging to Immortals and that bell which was clearly a valuable treasure.

In fact, he even had a vague feeling that the puppet was somewhat familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen it before, and more importantly, he could sense that the puppet was a threat to him!

This threat might be faint and indistinct, but it was enough to make him be on guard.

"Senior Tie Mu, I am an untalented person, I would like to challenge you again!" Su Ming declared slowly, and the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even stronger.

"No wonder you are not afraid of me, so you had this supporting you, but do you really think that with just one puppet you can fight against me?! To me, you are still… overestimating yourself!"

Tie Mu’s lips curled up in a cold sneer and he took a step forward. He had already made a decision. He would end this quickly, or else his reputation would be ruined for taking such a long time to kill a Medial Shaman while so many people in Shaman City were watching.

As he took that one step, blue light shone on Tie Mu’s face, especially in his pupils. There were even wave like ripples in his eyes, and with a flash, he charged towards Su Ming.

An incredibly imposing presence spread out from his body. The pressure coming from it immediately caused banging sounds to ring in the air around him.

Su Ming immediately retreated, and as he lifted his right hand, black light shone in it. The spiked club immediately manifested. At the same time, his Nascent Soul clone charged forward.

As he charged forward, Su Ming’s clone lifted his right hand, formed a seal with his hand, and seized at the ground. A circular area of several thousands of feet lurched. It was soon followed by a large amount of white mist that shot out from the ground. It charged into the sky in a moment, and it turned into an azure dragon of one thousand feet long.

"Earthen Aura Dragon Vein!"

This was Hong Luo’s unique divine ability, and he had only used it when he was fighting against Di Tian. Most of the people had not even heard of it before. If Hong Luo was the one casting it, he could gather up the earthen aura from a circular area of ten thousand lis and perhaps even wider, and in fact, he could even summon the true Deity of Dragon Veins.

However, the clone’s power was still not comparable to Hong Luo’s. He was still just a Nascent Soul, yet Su Ming had already obtained Hong Luo’s legacy through the Path of Life. He learned most of Hong Luo’s divine abilities and Arts. After a year of mulling over these things,he could also cast some of them, but the power of these Arts was much weaker.

However, Hong Luo’s enemy was Di Tian, and Su Ming’s current opponent was the Latter Shaman, Tie Mu, who was much weaker than Di Tian, and in fact, could not even hope to compare!

At that moment, as the Earthen Aura Azure Dragon appeared, Tie Mu’s expression changed. He moved forward even quicker, and the moment he got closer, without a word, Su Ming’s clone grabbed that Earthen Aura Azure Dragon and yanked it up!

When the Earthen Aura Azure Dragon appeared, sounds of a violent commotion broke out among the crowd underneath. Su Ming’s divine ability was something they had never seen before, and when they saw the clone actually being capable to absorb the aura of the earth, the shock in their hearts became even stronger.

The instant the Earthen Aura Azure Dragon crashed into Tie Mu, Tie Mu lifted his right hand and hurled his fist forward.

"Four Oceans Ode, First Ode: Eastern Ocean!" he growled, and when he hurled his punch outwards, an ocean manifested before him once again. The azure blue ocean raged madly and charged towards the Earthen Aura Azure Dragon.

The seawater looked to be almost the same as Tie Mu’s previous divine ability, but if anyone looked closer, they would immediately notice that this seawater seemed as if it was real. It was as if it was truly there and not just an illusion.

In fact, the humidity and distinctive smell of the sea even came crashing into Su Ming’s face.

The instant the ocean crashed into the Earthen Aura Azure Dragon, rumbling sounds reverberated through the entire sky.

"Second Ode: Southern Ocean!" Tie Mu spread out his left hand and pushed it in the direction of the south. Instantly, a red ocean manifested to his south. The water made it seem as if it was an ocean of blood. As it roared, the waves came tumbling and crashing down on the clone and Su Ming himself.

The clone ignored it, and instead started forming seals rapidly, then pushed to his sides swiftly.

"The world changes constantly but will eventually end up the same in the end1, the white mountains and black waters may seem different but are all the same… Transformation to Divinity!"

Seven types of divine abilities were contained in those three sentences, and this was the strongest divine ability Hong Luo had among all his Arts during the early stages of his cultivation. He had obtained this from an Immortal ruin, and he had no idea of its origins.

However, even if it was Hong Luo, he had only come to scrape the surface of these seven divine abilities. He did not explore them but had instead placed the vital points of these divine abilities on the communication with Earthen Aura to turn the aura of the earth to blood for the execution of Ten Lives of Subjects.

Hong Luo believed that earth possessed life. If Earthen Aura was the earth’s breath, then it must surely possess blood as well, just like humans. Its blood was not the rivers, not the sea, but was hidden deep under the ground.

Only Earthen Aura would contain some of the blood of earth. He borrowed Earthen Aura to bring out this blood, and only then could he execute the Art of Purge the Heavens, and because earth contained life, that was why by borrowing and fusing with it, he could cast the Origin Divine Ability of the Immortals - Ten Lives of Subjects!

It could be said that Hong Luo walked down the traditional path of the Immortals. As for the seven Arts, he had only explored them slightly. However, on Su Ming’s side, with his clone’s current level of cultivation, it was impossible for him to cast Purge the Heavens. Hence, he focused his attention on the seven Arts Hong Luo had somewhat ignored, because some of those Arts could be used by Nascent Soul Cultivators!

"Nine Transformations!"

At that moment, as Su Ming’s clone formed those seals and pushed to both sides while saying those words. Immediately, the clone shuddered, and he swiftly clenched his right hand before punching at Tie Mu through the air, even though he was still far in the distance.

The punch seemed like it contained no strength, but at that moment, Su Ming’s clone, no matter whether it was his expression or his actions, looked exactly the same as Tie Mu when he executed the first Ode of the Four Oceans!

Transformation could be understood as a deeper level of imitation. An imitation of an opponent’s divine abilities and Arts with the user’s own power.

After Su Ming’s clone hurled out that fist, an azure sea immediately appeared before him. Besides being a little smaller, that ocean was no different from the one summoned by Tie Mu’s Spell!

Shock appeared on Tie Mu’s face, but what made him even more surprised was the actions the clone did next!

Imitation was just a part of the Nine Transformations Art. The true Transformation came from after the imitation. This divine ability would start changing as if it was evolving, and the first, the second… and up to the ninth Transformation would happen!

Each Transformation would cause this Art’s power increase to exponentially, but the power of cultivation for it would also increase!

"First Transformation!"

Su Ming’s clone spoke swiftly, and as his voice reverberated in the air, his body charged into the ocean he had summoned. Once he blended with the ocean, it started looking as if it was boiling.

At the same time wisps of white smoke appeared, and the ocean started expanding swiftly. Raging waves soared in the sky, and a large amount of bubbles continuously popped and reappeared. As those bubbles broke, red liquid spread out from within them, looking as if it wanted to dye the seawater red.

"Third Ode: Western Sea!" Killing intent flashed in Tie Mu’s eyes. He was shocked by Su Ming’s strength, but he was still confident that he could use his power to subdue this person!

However, Su Ming’s strength was something he had never expected, because he never thought that a Medial Shaman would be able to fight against him to this point through his varied methods.

In fact, he could already imagine that if he let this person escape, then it would definitely not be a good thing for his tribe. If he was already so powerful now, then if he had a chance to become a Latter Shaman, the enmity they had formed today would cause Eastern Goosefoot Tribe to have to pay a terrible price in the future!

Translator’s Notes:

1) 九變十化雷同一律,2)白山黑水千人一面...3) 行化入神 = 1) The world changes constantly but will eventually end up the same in the end, 2) the white mountains and black waters may seem different but are all the same… 3) Transformation to Divinity

There are seven Arts contained in these three phrases phrases, and Su Ming must understand the phrases to be able to cast the Arts.

The two phrases are actually formed of four Chinese idioms. Transformation to Divinity is not.

九變十化 (jiu bian shi hua) means that things are constantly changing. If I translated it word by word, it would be "nine transformations, ten transmutations".

雷同一律 (lei tong yi lv) means that everything is the same, and if I translated it word by word, it would be "all of the same sound",

白山黑水 (bai shan hei shui) means the eastern north part of China, literally, "white mountains, black waters".

千人一面 (qian ren yi mian) means that everything is the same, and literally means "a thousand people, but the same faces".

The first phrase is broken down into three parts, which also happen to be the names of three of the Arts:

九變 → Nine Transformations

十化 → Ten Transfigurations

雷同一律 → One Voice

Since Su Ming had to understand the phrase, I thought it would be more logical if I used the meaning of the sentence in the phrases he had to understand, and then the seven Arts would be broken down and translated in another manner.

So in my mind, I understood it as Hong Luo doing this.

"Here, you have seven Arts (Insert names of Arts here), by the way, if you wanna use them, understand these phrases (Insert phrases here)."

So that’s how we have two different versions even though they are the same words in the Chinese version.