Pursuit of the Truth

1

‘That’s why the voice mentioned failure in spirit ascension. This means that there is a high possibility of failing in this spirit ascension. If I fail, I will turn into one of those mindless red figures!’

As Su Ming’s heart shuddered, he remembered the red figure’s murmurs once they appeared.

“One form of life was born before heaven and earth. It allowed all the other forms of life to be born, and it nourished them…”

“Heaven and earth could exist for so long because they do not operate for their own survival. This is what allows them to stay eternal. If you desire life, then you must possess life…”

“Ancestral Spirits precede Antecedental Spirits. They come from before the time of the universe, which is why those who live must destroy lives…”

‘That must be it!’ A brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes, and his breathing quickened. When he lifted his head, he stared at the now white sky. He watched the spot where the hall had floated and longing born from resolve appeared in his eyes.

‘Make the offering… the Heavenly Incense Rune should be something from the second era as well. That is why the soul with the independent will born in the clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole would naturally possess the required characteristics and could be treated as an offering. I can activate the All Spirits Hall and obtain a chance to make my soul ascend!

‘This is… This is…’ Su Ming forced down the desire in his heart. He suddenly thought of Old Man Extermination. The ballad he spoke of in the past also required all lives to give him offerings…

‘If that’s the case, then was Old Man Extermination imitating the second era’s All Spirits Hall? Or was he misleading people? There is another possibility… He could have known the secret of All Spirits Hall and wanted to become an Ancestral Spirit, but lacked offerings, so he used the ballad as bait to gather the power of the entire Expanse Cosmos to find the offering!

‘With this method, he could destroy the third era, and he could also obtain the right to enter the All Spirits Hall…’

Su Ming did not know whether his assumption about Old Man Extermination was correct, but regardless of it, this was not what was important. What mattered was that Su Ming would never give up on this chance.

He stared at the sky, and after a long time had passed, he murmured, “Then… what about the first era? Just… how strong were the people during the first era, the most ancient era in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos?

“If my assumption is correct, then the Predecessor of Dao Ocean is just an Antecedental Spirit, someone who worships the first era’s Ancestral Spirit, and from this obtains great power. Then… just how strong… were the Ancestral Spirits of the first era in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos who had the universe at their beck and call?

“Where did they come from? Why did they disappear? Do they… still exist now?”

Su Ming narrowed his eyes. If he could verify these assumptions then… He suddenly had a feeling that perhaps he was wrong in certain things that he thought he knew.

For example, his experiences as well as those of the old black-robed man he had Possessed all pointed towards Saint Defier and Dark Dawn with 180 Expanse Cosmoses being ancient, eternal existences, while Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was like a newborn universe. It might be weak, but if it had enough time, it could grow into an ancient Expanse Cosmos just like Dark Dawn and Saint Defier.

But if this was wrong…

What if compared to Dark Dawn and Saint Defier, Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was not a newborn… but an existence even older than them?

Su Ming did not continue with that train of thought. He stopped himself from thinking about that theory. He had no proof for this, and it was merely a thought that even he felt was slightly absurd.

He threw those thoughts away, but these assumptions were buried in the depths of his heart. He quietly turned his head around and looked towards the white mountain and the black cave behind him. His eyes sparkled, but he did not immediately step inside. Instead, he slowly sat down cross-legged and remained still outside the entrance of the cave.

He simply allowed time to pass, sitting there for half a month. The color of the fog changed continuously. When it turned purple, Su Ming stood up and left the mountain to rush into the purple fog.

Three days later, he returned to the mountain. This time, without any hesitation, he charged into the cave.

He wanted to go to the Heavenly Spirit Tribe. He wanted to see whether his theory regarding the four eras and the spirit ascension was correct. He had not immediately stepped into the cave half a month ago because he had already used up nearly eight-tenths of his cultivation base when he had the ripple erupt from the ring.

He did not know whether there were any dangers in Heavenly Spirit Tribe, so his cautious nature did not allow him to act recklessly. That is why he had went out to hunt many ferocious beasts in the purple fog. Once he drank their blood, he recovered about eight-tenths of his cultivation, and he returned to the mountain.

The cave was narrow and long, and it extended downwards. Su Ming did not move quickly. He sent his divine sense outwards in a barely discernible manner.

Time trickled by as Su Ming continued down the cave. Eventually, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he reached a large opening. At the instant he walked out of the tunnel and saw the cave abode clearly, he shuddered and sucked in a sharp breath.

It was a huge cave. A small part of it was the inner part of the mountain while the majority was a huge pit dug in the ground.

In the pit… were skeletons of people who had died an unknown number of years ago. He was not in Heavenly Spirit Tribe, but a mass grave!

There were quite a number of skeletons that belonged to children in the pit as well. They might have belonged to a tribe called Heavenly Spirit Tribe while they were alive, but right then, all of them were dead and had been thrown into pit.

The pile was high, and all the skeletons were black, terrifying anyone who saw them. They also gave off a ghastly presence.

Su Ming was silent. He had clearly heard the old voice come from the cave half a month ago, and he had also seen fear appear on the apathetic faces of the red figures who had failed in the ascension of their spirits. They had swiftly retreated as if they were extremely terrified of the voice.

Su Ming looked around him quietly. The place was filled with dead silence. Not a single sound could be heard. When Su Ming cast his gaze on the stone walls around him, his pupils constricted. He saw some carvings on the wall.

They were usually a habit shared among tribes to record certain things. Su Ming knew about this, and he approached the murals to observe them closely.

The first carving was of a beautiful, large tribe. It was peaceful, and the sun as well as the moon were simultaneously in the sky…

Su Ming could tell from the second carving that the people in the tribe worshiped a statue. It was of a man who had long hair, and it had clearly been worshiped in the tribe for years. The people knelt before it, their faces filled with sincerity.

The third carving was of a teenager in the tribe being brought before the statue. Once he knelt down and worshiped it, he seemed to have obtained some sort of legacy…

When Su Ming saw this, his heart suddenly trembled. He was incredibly familiar with this scene. It was clearly the same as Berserker’s Initiation from the time he was in the land of Berserkers!

He immediately moved and checked another wall. He saw a tall stone platform in the fourth carving. Kneeling on the platform was an old man. He had both his arms raised as if he was calling to the sky.

There was a gigantic face there, and it belonged to the statue of the man Su Ming saw before. That man stared at the ground and the people on it with a gentle gaze. There was a smile on his face, and he seemed to be bestowing the old man some sort of power. Light spread out from his whole body.

In the fifth carving, Su Ming saw that the face of the man in the sky was no longer smiling. Instead, it held grief. The members of the tribe on the ground were kneeling, and their faces were also filled with grief.

The man’s face was no longer in the sixth carving. The sun and moon in the sky had been shattered, and in their place were now countless figures. It was as if they were disappearing somewhere, and most were still staring at the ground. In their gazes was reluctance to leave, grief, and also a thick aura of death.

It was as if they were about to die, but before they did so, they seemed to be worried about the lives on the ground. They joined their hands, raised their arms, and pushed against the air. Then, in that spot, a towering hall appeared!

But a bolt of lightning came from above and struck the hall…

When Su Ming saw this, his heart shuddered. He could understand the meaning pertained in the drawing. There was a high possibility that the figures were the Ancestral Spirits of the first era. Due to some destruction which had descended upon them, they had to leave and walk towards death, but before they died, they gathered all their power and built the hall.

Yet at that moment, a bolt of lightning descended, making it flawed. This was what the carvings wanted to tell him.

Su Ming was silent. He continued observing the final two carvings. One of them showed a hall in the sky. There were plenty of people worshiping it on the platforms on the ground with faces filled with ferociousness and madness. Carved above them were indistinct figures. These figures were filled with the air of death, and they were dressed in long robes. With just one glance, Su Ming could tell that those were the red figures he had seen outside.

When he recognized them, he sucked in a deep breath. The scene in the carving verified some of his assumptions. The red figures who had failed in the ascension of their spirits were once… members of the tribes on the ground.

In silence, Su Ming turned his head and looked towards the final picture. When he did so, he did not notice that a figure had appeared behind him at some unknown point of time.

It belonged to an old man, and he was covered in filth. His gaze was unfocused even though he was staring straight ahead while standing behind Su Ming.

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