Pursuit of the Truth

1

When the three black-robed men called up many clones with Su Ming’s appearance and stirred up waves of resentment with their slaughter in Saint Defier’s camp, Xuan Jiu, one of the three lords, had already turned into a puddle of black water.

When Fei Hua opened her eyes, anguish appeared on her face. She did not need to touch her face to sense that her life force was about to be extinguished. Even so, she still had one thousand years left to her.

However… her looks could no longer be seen. Her face was old, and her dark locks had turned white. It looked like too much of her life had been extracted from her, and she had withered like an old flower.

Fei Hua sighed softly. There was little reluctance to part with her looks in her heart. The calmness of her personality allowed her to just accept it. Scheming against the powerful warrior from Arid Triad she had never seen before was something she had not agreed to, but the other two had joined their hands, and she then gave silent consent to it.

When she stood up slowly, she saw Xiao Song open his eyes on the other altar. He was no longer as handsome as before, but he did not appear old, like Fei Hua. Instead, he looked like a mummy. So much of his life force had been extracted that it looked like he was rotting away, as if he had just crawled out of a coffin after having been buried for several months.

A foul stench spread out. Then, Xiao Song’s incredibly shrill screams filled the area. Every part of him hurt, as if countless insects were tearing into his flesh and squirming inside. Even his soul felt like that. Under the intense pain, his originally rotting cultivation base was heavily damaged, causing his mind to become muddled. It was as if… he had gone mad.

As he screamed in pain, he flew up swiftly, and with his voice echoing shrilly in space, he charged into the distance.

“It hurts… It hurts!”

His voice gradually turned into lingering notes in space. When they slowly disappeared, Fei Hua lowered her head in silence. The three of them had lost completely. Xuan Jiu died, Xiao Song went mad, and as for her… she lost her looks. Even though her level of cultivation had not changed much, she had only one thousand years left to live.

In the end, Fei Hua sighed. She then cast a glance at the area around her and walked into space. She was tired, and she wanted to finish the journey of her life quietly in her hometown.

“Perhaps I will not be able to wait until he arrives… He never cared about me to begin with. He only ever cared about my sister…” Fei Hua shook her head in anguish, then went into the distance.

In the meantime, the bald crane was smugly rebuking Yan Pei in Dark Dawn’s camp. It was also boasting about itself, but Yan Pei was distracted. He would occasionally train his eyes on Zi Ruo, who was daydreaming in the distance, while he wondered just what exactly had happened in Old Man Extermination’s tomb.

As the bald crane spoke, its heart suddenly clenched in pain for some unknown reason. Its words instantly came to a halt. When it lifted its head, it stared at the galaxy with a blank look on its face. It was looking in the direction of Saint Defier’s camp, and confusion appeared in its eyes.

A faint image took shape in its mind. The picture had a woman who was staring at a handsome young man beside her with a smile. The two of them stared into each other’s eyes and did not notice a black crane in the distance staring at the young man with jealousy on its face. Standing beside the black crane was a teenage girl. She caressed the black crane’s feathers gently, looking innocent and naive.

The scene brought confusion to the bald crane’s heart, causing it to instinctively raise its claws to scratch its face fiercely. Once it shook its body, the image disappeared, and the bald crane suddenly decided that it was no longer in the mood to talk to Yan Pei.

It suddenly had an urge to go to Saint Defier’s camp. It did not know what it wanted to do there, but it grew stronger with every passing moment. In the end, it chose to leave. Yan Pei looked at it with a stunned expression, but the bald crane ignored him and turned into a long arc that charged through the galaxy.

…..

Harmonious Morus Alba’s fourth wing, or what the boy called Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos had a very direct name. Perhaps the people who lived in it did not see a missing part in the heavens, but there were those who knew of the existence of a gap.

If anyone compared the galaxy to the heavens, then that heaven… was indeed lacking.

Su Ming rushed towards the gap in the heavens, which he had seen with his will previously. He did not cast a glance at the unfamiliar galaxy. It might be Harmonious Morus Alba’s Expanse Cosmos, but it was not Su Ming’s homeland.

Once he found Tian Xie Zi and the others, he would not stay around. He also had the same feeling in regards to Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. He would return to his homeland, to Ninth Summit, and when he was there… he would live through the final few hundred years and prevent what he saw in Heavenly Incense Rune from becoming a reality.

‘I need Old Man Extermination to make a fatal mistake. As long as he does it, then no matter what his final plan is, that mistake… will foreshadow his defeat! If he makes no mistakes, then I will make him!’

Su Ming rushed forward calmly. He had already grown used to the loud rumbles around him. He did not seem to move fast, but with his power, before long, he appeared at the spot the boy had mentioned, which was also the place Su Ming had seen with his will—the gap leading to the Vast Expanse.

From the distance, the borders of the tear were not uniform. There was nothing beyond the gap, only the gray of the universe. It had no bounds, and thin fog tumbled about as if hiding some secret within it.

The closer Su Ming got, the thicker the presence of the universe beyond became. If he was a normal cultivator, then at that moment, his cultivation base would get jammed greatly. Only powerful warriors like the boy could persevere and step into the Vast Expanse to see the world outside.

With a calm expression, Su Ming walked near the gap. He stood there and stared at the Vast Expanse in silence.

Based on what the boy had said, the ancient ship was hidden there. Based on that, it was not hard to imagine that perhaps… Old Man Extermination was also looking at him.

“You don’t want to meet me, huh?” Su Ming said faintly. “Perhaps you think that it is not time yet.”

Su Ming turned around and looked at space with his back turned towards the gap.

Old Man Extermination was sitting on the ancient ship hidden in space and also looking at Su Ming. They seemed to be in different worlds, but their gazes met.

“Since you don’t want to show yourself, I won’t force you either,” Su Ming said slowly. As his voice echoed in the air, it did not drown out the rumbling bangs. Instead, his words seemed to fuse with them, making it hard to hear him clearly.

“But…”

Su Ming lifted his left hand and lowered his head to cast a glance at his palm lines. Slowly, he clenched his left hand before he slowly unfurled his palm towards a spot in space, as if he was pushing at it.

The loud rumbles that seemed like they would echo eternally in space instantly fell into true silence. At that moment, all sounds in the Expanse Cosmos disappeared.

It lasted for about three breaths. After them, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Su Ming pulled back his left hand. He did not say anything more and turned around, taking a swift step towards the Vast Expanse.

His target at the gap was Old Man Extermination, but since he hid himself, it was clear that he did not wish to meet Su Ming. With that being the case… Su Ming would have to try achieving his other goal.

And that was… to test just how dangerous and treacherous was the so-called Vast Expanse, where Harmonious Morus Alba flew. Su Ming wanted to personally experience it and… to see Harmonious Morus Alba, in which he lived, from the outside!

With a step forward, Su Ming turned into a long arc. With determination in his heart, he closed in on the gap. In a flash… he rushed out of Harmonious Morus Alba for the first time in his life and stepped into the universe beyond.

During that moment, ripples appeared in his calm heart. He could not describe that feeling. It was a form of transcendence, of ascension, where he stepped into a place that was truly unfamiliar to him!

After all, what he sensed in the Art of Time and what he sensed with his own body was different.

The instant Su Ming stepped into the Vast Expanse, the eyes of Old Man Extermination shone on the ancient ship beside the gap. When he lowered his head, he saw a clear palm print on the wooden plate at the bow of the ship.

That palm print was very distinct, but when he looked at it closely, he felt that he could not see the palm lines clearly. However, Old Man Extermination could sense a wave of murderous aura within the palm print at first glance.

It was so thick that it was almost corporeal. There was a threat in it, and even Old Man Extermination could not overlook it, because Su Ming had gained an epiphany that allowed him to reach a state at which he could pose a threat to him.

It was just a palm print. Even if the meaning contained in was ignored, just its appearance alone spoke volumes. It showed that Su Ming could find the hidden ancient ship!

The threat contained in the palm print and the powerful presence spreading out from it passed over Su Ming’s silent words.

He had chosen a signal that could only transfer meaning.

‘Don’t provoke you, huh?’ Old Man Extermination mumbled, and his lips curled up into a cold sneer.

‘You are just a life that has lived through half an era of this aeon. As expected, a fool. Even if you have reached a high level of cultivation, your mind is still immature.

‘Is this supposed to be effective… If you think I will truly stop provoking you just because of your threat, then besides being ludicrous, you are plain ridiculous.

‘And I say you are a fool because of this palm print. Su Ming, you have practically delivered me a sword that can kill you!’.

As Old Man Extermination stared at the palm print, a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. He lifted his right hand, swung his arm, and the indistinctiveness of the palm print was forcefully chased away to reveal Su Ming’s palm lines!

‘With these palm lines, I will no longer need your blood.’.

A flash of dark light shone in Old Man Extermination’s eyes. He naturally had a method to check whether the palm lines were real.