Pursuit of the Truth

It was Su Ming’s punishment for the strange man.

A similar scene appeared in hundreds of places at the same time in the Fourth True World… Based on how they acted, some of the Antecedental Spirits were wiped off by Su Ming, some were warned, but none were exempted.

The Antecedental Spirits released from the Fourth True World were connected to each other through their minds. When some of them were wiped off by Su Ming, all the Antecedental Spirits could sense their deaths clearly when they died.

They would not have been too shocked if not many of them died, but in a few short few breaths, a total of thirty-two Antecedental Spirits had been wiped off. The shock of this incident intimidated the other Antecedental Spirits.

The moment they noticed it, the surviving Antecedental Spirits immediately sensed Su Ming’s terrifying will around them. They all received punishments of varying heaviness without exception, and all of them felt chills run down their spines.

Ninth Summit’s name was carved deeply into their minds.

As Su Ming’s will descended in True Sacred Yin World, the dozen something Antecedental Spirits who had their seals released felt their hearts tremble. No matter what they had been doing, all of them felt a layer of ice envelop them.

Almost at the same time, Su Ming’s words reached their ears.

“Such maliciousness and brutality should be wiped off!”

As they echoed in the mind of every single Antecedental Spirit in True Sacred Yin World, they immediately sensed the presence of one of their companions disappearing. It symbolized death.

“Since this is your first offense, I will let you off, but do not repeat your mistake!”

“You will be warned once for killing for fun!”

“For your extreme brutality, you will be wiped off!”

Su Ming’s voice echoed in the air for a few breaths, and a total of three Antecedental Spirits were wiped off. The intimidating force formed by the shock instantly caused fear to appear on the faces of the Antecedental Spirits who were in True Sacred Yin World.

“If any of you dare provoke Ninth Summit in the slightest bit, you will be wiped off!” When Su Ming’s final words echoed in the Antecedental Spirits’ ears, all the Antecedental Spirits in True Sacred Yin World sank into silence as they sensed Su Ming’s terrifying might and domineering will.

It was the same in the Emperor of Abyss’ True World. As Su Ming’s will descended and left, four of the Antecedental Spirits who had surged into this True World disappeared for all time.

The last was True Morning Dao World. There were thirteen Antecedental Spirits who had stepped into this True World to cause chaos. The method Su Ming used to handle them was completely different compared to what he used in the other True Worlds.

He did not say anything to them, but instead had his will sweep through the True World, and when booming sounds reverberated through space, the thirteen Antecedental Spirits who were already terrified by their companions’ continuous deaths were all destroyed. Neither their souls nor bodies survived.

Dragons had taboos, and Su Ming’s taboo could be said to be True Morning Dao World. He would not allow any accidents to happen in this place, which was why all who dared invade would die without question.

All of this might have seemed to have happened over a long period of time, but in truth, it only lasted for a time it takes half an incense stick to burn. When Su Ming opened his eyes while sitting beside the chessboard, his expression was one of indifference.

He watched his elder talk about the interesting things that had happened to him while he was younger and Yu Xuan, Cang Lan and Xu Hui listen to him with great interest. A smile appeared on Su Ming’s face. When he lowered his head to look at the chessboard, he picked up a black piece, but he was suddenly taken aback.

One white piece was not in the position he remembered it to be… When a rather strange look appeared on his face, the bald crane lifted its head from the ground and cast a glance at Su Ming in a lackadaisical manner before it looked at Yu Xuan. A thought appeared in its head, but just as it was about to show off its knowledge in a manner of currying his favor, Yu Xuan suddenly turned her head sideways with a grin and cast the bald crane a glance.

This glance caused the bald crane to shudder. It could clearly sense a warning om Yu Xuan’s gaze… and it quickly steeled its expression before swiftly running to the Abyss Dragon.

As for the Abyss Dragon, it was staring at the lake water while daydreaming. Occasionally, it would growl at the surface of the water. When the bald crane came over, it struck the dragon’s head fiercely.

“What are you looking at? Darn it all.”

The Abyss Dragon tapped its head and spoke as if it had suffered greatly. “You hit me again… I… I seem to have seen another me in the lake…”

It constantly thought that it had become much dumber than before, but if anyone else had their head continuously struck for the one thousand years, the repeated concussions would cause them to do actions that other people would not understand…

“Y-y-you… You stupid dragon, the one in the surface of the lake is you—Hah…”

The bald crane shook its head and cast a pitying look at the Abyss Dragon. It began mumbling in its mind that if it ever found anyone unpleasant in its eyes, it would strike their heads repeatedly for a whole year.

When it thought of this, the bald crane’s eyes immediately brightened, and it grew slightly smug, as if it had thought of a divine ability that possessed unparalleled might. At that moment, while it was feeling all smug, it did not notice that the reflection of the Abyss Dragon in the lake had a similarly smug look on its honest-looking face.

‘Heh heh, does this stupid crane really think I don’t know? I, the great Abyss Dragon, is much smarter than it. It thinks I’m stupid? Well, I’m just toying with it.’

Time passed in this warmth that was something Su Ming had not encountered for a long time. A year later… Su Ming had already stayed in Ninth Summit for a total of ten years.

Su Ming did not continue living peacefully in Ninth Summit after that. Instead, he chose to leave. He had to go and complete the third matter he had decided upon—to go to Dark Dawn to take a look at his mother’s race… and also search for his Master, Tian Xie Zi’s tracks.

Perhaps he could also find the God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu.

On that day, Su Ming’s elder stood outside his house and watched the sky. He seemed to be able to see Su Ming turning his head back to cast a glance at Ninth Summit while he was in the galaxy.

“Your path is still very long… but I am already very satisfied to be able to see you having grown this much…” the elder murmured.

The smile on his face became even more kindly and amiable, but there was a faint hint of aura of death within it. It… was already time for him to return to the embrace of earth. He had lived through countless cycles of life and death, and finally, in this cycle, he completed his wish.

Su Ming turned his head around to look at Ninth Summit while he was in the galaxy. He saw his senior brothers, Yu Xuan, Xu Hui, and Cang Lan, and also saw the aura of death about his elder’s body. The presence was not thick, but as time passed, it would become thicker.

Being born, growing old, getting sick, and dying was a process in life that could not be changed… but perhaps the disaster that would occur five hundred years later would allow it all to become different.

In silence, Su Ming turned around and walked into space. The bald crane followed behind him, occasionally turning its head to look at the Abyss Dragon. There was a slight reluctance to part on its face, but that reluctance was born due to it not being able to strike the Abyss Dragon’s head every single day.

While it was lamenting this fact, it made up its mind that when it went to Dark Dawn, it would find a substitute. It could not let itself get rusty with this powerful divine ability.

The galaxy was boundless, and there was no end to it. Brilliant starlight would occasionally look like embellishments on a picture. No one knew who it was who had drunk wine and accidentally spilled ink on a canvas to draw the galaxy…

Su Ming walked through the galaxy and arrived at Arid Triad’s gap in True Morning Dao World. It was the place where Dark Dawn and Saint Defier descended, and it was also the entrance leading to those lands.

The bald crane continued chattering all the way, talking about how it would obtain crystals when it arrived in Dark Dawn. As it spoke, Su Ming stopped moving and turned his head around to look at it.

“Darn it all… When I’m there, I’ll definitely loot all their crystals, I will definitely… Huh?” When the bald crane saw Su Ming turn his head back, it was taken aback. It looked behind it, then turned around to look back at Su Ming.

“What’s wrong?”

Su Ming stared at the bald crane, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll take you there… and no one can stop you from regaining your identity,” Su Ming said softly. When he said those words, the bald crane shuddered, then lowered its head and fell silent.

Its constant rapid speech had allowed Su Ming to see that it was afraid. It was afraid of going to Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. That was not because there was anything terrifying about that place… but because it might be its hometown.

After a long while, when the bald crane lifted its head, the uncaring and unbothered look appeared on its face again. It continued chattering about how it would loot crystals while walking next to Su Ming.

After a long, long time passed, when the bald crane stared at the galaxy in the future, it would try to recall, but it could never be able to find its memories… However, it would still be able to occasionally remember a white-robed figure in the galaxy telling it to not be afraid.

Every single time, it would feel sad, but the source of the sadness it could not find was the melancholy it could never trace back. It could only… stand at the peak of a mountain and look at the galaxy. Even if it had its own sect and it was no longer as obsessed with crystals and even if it was worshiped by countless cultivators… it still tried to search for the past it lost and could never get back.

It could only vaguely remember that there was once a person who brought it to walk through a part of its life…

As the bald crane continued mumbling, Su Ming took it into the distance. He walked to Arid Triad’s gap. The Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei had long since arrived to fulfill his task of meeting Su Ming, which he had received ten years ago. In fact, he had arrived in this place a few months ahead of schedule and had been waiting for Su Ming ever since.

…..

When Su Ming walked towards Arid Triad’s gap… there was a vast space located beyond Arid Triad, or rather, there was a vast space beyond the sleeping Harmonious Morus Alba’s four wings.

There were no galaxies, only a clouded space that looked like muddled fog that only existed before everything was created.

At that moment, a sudden ray of white light suddenly illuminated everything in every direction, causing the fog to tumble about and avoid it to reveal…

A huge, ring-shaped Feng Shui compass. It was covered in talismans and carvings that could not be counted. They were the ones who emitted the white light and illuminated the empty space.

At that moment, there was a black-robed young man sitting on the Feng Shui compass. He had long black hair and was filled with ghastly aloofness.

In his hands he held a string of pearls. There was a total of nine of them, and six were shining, while the remaining three were dark. However, at that moment, one of the three dark pearls suddenly shone with a faint light. The vague shadow of a crane seemed to be visible in that light…

When the black-robed young man turned the string of pearls in his hand, he slowly lifted his head and looked into a distant space. Over there… was the spot where the nine butterflies once were… and where Harmonious Morus Alba had stopped to rest.

“I’ve finally… found the seventh Reversed Spirit!”