Pursuit of the Truth

1

Su Ming walked through the galaxy in a long arc. Wherever he went, the space behind him would shine with a brilliant light. There were circles of light produced when his body scraped against the galaxy. Because of that, wherever Su Ming went, the sky and earth would shake.

He did not intentionally conceal his presence, but neither did he specifically have his will spread out. He walked calmly in space with an indifferent look on his face, heading straight to the Spiritling’s Expanse Cosmos based on the map of Dark Dawn, which was now an image in his head.

He wanted to go to the Spiritlings. That place was his mother’s homeland. There weren’t many reasons to visit it, but he wanted to take a look. He was not returning to his roots, because Su Ming’s roots were not in that place, and neither were they in the Fifth True World.

His roots were once in the land of Berserkers, and at another moment in time, in the ninth summit, but right then, Su Ming’s roots… were in his heart. It would be everywhere he went. There was no constant place for it, but that did not mean he drifted about either. It was, in fact, a Domain.

The Expanse Cosmos where the Spiritlings were located was incredibly far away for an ordinary cultivator. It would require a journey of hundreds or more than one thousand years to reach that place after moving through Expanse Cosmos after Expanse Cosmos. Even if they used Relocation Runes, the number of crystals that would require would reach astronomical figures.

There were few in Dark Dawn’s camp who were worthy of moving through Expanse Cosmoses, but, in truth, there was no need for people to move through many Expanse Cosmoses. Most cultivators would only have to move through two or three in their entire life while practicing cultivation.

But once a cultivator reached Avacaniya Realm, everything would be different. While they still could not cross immeasurable distances with one thought, it was incredibly easy for them to move through Expanse Cosmoses, and if that was the case for those in Avacaniya Realm, then it would be even more so for Su Ming. Practically every time he took a step forward, he would cross half of an Expanse Cosmos. Usually, it took him only two steps to move through an Expanse Cosmos.

He continued walking until a barrier of another Expanse Cosmos appeared before him. Based on the description of the map in his mind… it was where the Spiritlings lived.

Su Ming stood beyond the barrier. He did not immediately step in. Instead, he closed his eyes, and after quietly sensing the presence of the barrier for a moment, he opened his eyes and took a step forward.

When he came into contact with the barrier, he disappeared into it. The bald crane, who had followed him throughout the journey, stepped into the Spiritlings’ Expanse Cosmos as well.

Ripples spread out in a distant galaxy at that moment, and Cang San Nu’s figure appeared. Killing intent was in his eyes, and there was an awe-inspiring expression on his face. With a swing of his arm, he turned into a long arc. Instantly, he came into contact with the barrier of the Expanse Cosmos, and as ripples resembling those of a disturbed lake appeared on the barrier, he disappeared as well.

There was a huge block of ice floating in the galaxy belonging to the Spiritlings. The eyes of the woman Su Ming had seen while in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos flew open at that moment.

At the time Su Ming had went into Yin Death Vortex, she had chosen to leave. She returned to Dark Dawn’s camp from Arid Triad’s gap, and once she returned to the Spiritlings, she chose to isolate herself to train again. Since she had already given Su Ming the sword and did not have the power to retrieve the power of the Spiritlings from him, she decided to give up. She did not continue pursuing the matter, because aside from it being related to the Sacred Lady of the previous generation… the more important reason was that Su Ming had awakened the Spiritlings’ Dragon of Destruction.

When Su Ming stepped into the territory of the Spiritlings, her eyes flew open while in the block of ice. A hint of hesitation appeared in her gaze as she looked into the distance.

With her power, it was impossible for her to not notice Su Ming’s arrival, and no matter what, she was the Spiritlings’ Sacred Lady. Su Ming’s presence contained the will of the Dragon of Destruction, which was the brightest light in the darkness for her, and because of it, she could immediately sense it.

After all, besides her status as a Sacred Lady, this Expanse Cosmos… belonged to the Spiritlings. They had lived there and grown in numbers for countless years. The Expanse Cosmos was filled with the wills of countless Spiritlings.

Su Ming’s arrival caused all of them to feel as if they were boiling. They sensed… the presence of the Dragon of Destruction, the supreme Spiritling spoken in their legends.

“Is he… here?” The woman was silent for a moment before she mumbled under her breath and stood up to disappear from the ice.

There was a planet that was not very bright in the Spiritlings’ Expanse Cosmos, but it was regarded as an incredibly sacred existence. Its name was Bright Violet.

Bright Violet Planet was the place where all the past tribe leaders, Tribe Elders, and the Sacred Ladies were laid to rest. The ancestors of the Spiritlings over the countless years were also buried there. Once they died, every single generation of the important people in the Spiritlings was buried on that planet.

The sky was blue, and not many stars could be seen in it. The surface of the planet was a boundless ocean, making it clear that this was a planet occupied by ocean. There were quite a lot of islands on it, but no continents.

Buried on each island were the tribe leaders, Tribe Elders, and Sacred Ladies of a generation. Those islands were densely packed together and were as numerous as the stars. They were protected by the Spiritlings every day and every night, which was a tradition which had lasted throughout many ages.

At that moment, Su Ming stood quietly in the sky of the planet and looked at the seawater below him. Waves billowed there. When they tumbled about, they looked like sea dragons swimming about. When the sea was calm, it looked like a mirror. However, it was a mirror that could not reflect any images. It only showed the color of the sky.

If anyone looked in the direction of Su Ming’s gaze, they would see that he was looking at one of the many islands on the sea. That island was not big, but filled with a brilliant green due to all the plants growing on it. There were three altars on it, which was similar to the other islands. Each of them had three altars, and they were set up to form a triangle.

The altar at the top belonged to Tribe Elders, the one on the bottom right to tribe leaders, and the one on the bottom left to Sacred Ladies.

Su Ming looked over the altars quietly, his gaze penetrating through the distance to land on the tombstone of the Sacred Lady on the left of the island. The tombstone there… was empty.

All the islands with the tombstones of Sacred Ladies had the names of their Sacred Ladies carved on them. The records of their lives were also carved out. Only that one tombstone… was empty!

The empty state did not mean that the Sacred Lady was still alive, since there was no need to erect a tombstone for the living. She had died and was buried in the passage of time, but there were no words on her tombstone, and this provoked much thought…

After a long while, Su Ming took a step forward and disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already standing on top of the altar, directly south of the tombstone. He stared at the empty tombstone. There was not even a name on it. There was only the faint remnant of a soul gathered there, but even it was fading away.

The remnant of the soul caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble when he sensed it. He stared at the stone monument in a daze… having sensed his mother’s presence.

‘Why are there no words on this tombstone? Is it because she did not want the descendants of her tribe to know of her existence, or is it because… she doesn’t want me…’

Su Ming was silent. There was a slightly melancholic look on his face. He could not describe what he felt at that moment. There were mixed feelings in him, sentiment, and also anguish.

“Tell me, why?” Su Ming asked while staring at the tombstone. His words were not directed at the empty tombstone, but the person who had appeared behind him.

It was not Cang San Nu, but a woman. She… was the Spiritlings’ current Sacred Lady, the woman Su Ming had met in Arid Triad… his aunt.

“Before she reached the end of her time, she left behind a will saying that we were not supposed to say anything on her tombstone, because she felt… that she had wronged the Spiritlings… She did not want her descendants to know her name. She…”

The woman who appeared behind Su Ming hesitated for a moment. When her voice echoed in the air, Su Ming brought his hand up swiftly and pushed his hand on the stone monument.

His act of pushing his palm against the stone monument stunned the woman. Her first thought was that Su Ming wanted to crush the tombstone. Her expression changed. But just when she was about to move forward, Su Ming lifted his hand from the stone monument. Some stone powder appeared on his hand, and on it were traces of the remnant of the soul. Su Ming held it in his hand, then pushed it at the center of his brow. The marks of time immediately appeared on him.

It was there only for a moment before disappearing without a trace. Su Ming turned around and took a step forward, immediately disappearing from the woman’s gaze. She did not know where he was going, but her expression kept on changing nonstop…

“She…”

She did not manage to finish her sentence. She only uttered that one word before she stopped speaking. In silence, her gaze turned complicated, and she cast a glance at the altar of the previous Tribe Elder, which was situated at the top of the triangle. With a sigh in her mind, she turned around to leave.

But right when she was about to leave, Su Ming’s figure appeared out of nowhere. It was as if he had never disappeared before. The only thing that had gone away was the woman’s vision of him.

Su Ming had tried to sense the past by fusing himself with time when he cast the Art of Time. Because of that, he would give other people a misconception that he was gone, but in truth, he was always there.

At the moment his figure appeared, Su Ming’s expression grew dark. There was an anger that was rarely seen in his eyes. It was not a small spark of annoyance, but rage that could burn the heavens!

When a weak person became angry, no one would be afraid of them, but when a powerful person became angry, they would affect the universe. When a cultivator was angry, they would cause blood to spill in all directions, but when Almighties grew angry… they could reduce the universe to a wasteland!

Everyone could see the ferocious look on Su Ming’s face. The fire in his eyes felt like it could burn all lives, like a volcano that was about to erupt and bring about the end of the world.

“What a load of nonsense!” Su Ming’s voice was gloomy and dark when he turned around to face the woman.

Her expression changed. At that moment, she felt as if Su Ming had turned into a murderous fiend from ancient times. With just one sentence and one glance, he caused her heart to roar, and she felt as if she was about to break down. She instinctively took a few steps back.

But when she started moving back, Su Ming closed in on her. He raised his right hand and seized her throat.

“I won’t kill you…”

The moment Su Ming said those words in a cold tone, he squeezed her throat with his right hand. Her face became pale, but her expression did not change.

However, numerous cracks appeared on the huge block of ice she used all year long as her isolation grounds in a spot far away from the island. With a bang, it crumbled to pieces.

“I destroyed your Life Nourishment Crystal as punishment for your silence in the past!”

The woman looked as if she still wanted to say something, but when she heard Su Ming’s words, her face turned stark pale. She did not say anything anymore. When Su Ming released his grip, she took a few steps back and coughed up a mouthful of blood. In silence, she cast a glance at the empty tombstone, and tears fell from her eyes.

“Big sister, I’m sorry…”

“Next is you. You… who seized your people’s kismet for longevity, today… your longevity comes to an end!”

Su Ming turned around and lifted his head to cast his gaze on the tombstone of the Tribe Elder of the same generation.

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