Pursuit of the Truth

1

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he swept his gaze over the area. When he looked away, his expression turned calm. He took a step forward and walked towards the fourth wing’s gap with the specter in his hand.

He drew closer to the gap, but even up to the moment he stepped into the gap, no other strange life form appeared behind him. The battle seemed to have turned Su Ming into that area’s master in the hearts of the strange life forms.

Only when Su Ming stepped into the gap did the specter in his hand struggle weakly. When he entered Harmonious Morus Alba’s universe, the specter started shuddering, and its body distorted as if it was about to wiped off. A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he pushed outwards with his right hand. Immediately, the specter was sent out of the gap and appeared in the Vast Expanse.

The specter who escaped death by luck was stunned beyond the gap. It might not have much intelligence, but it knew that it had been about to die just then. It then looked at Su Ming, who was still in the gap.

As it watched him, a hint of respect appeared in the specter’s eyes. Then, it turned around and disappeared without a trace.

Su Ming watched the specter disappear while deep in thought. The lives in the Vast Expanse did not possess much intelligence, but they had the most basic instincts, and while Su Ming had noticed the respect, he was still a little uncertain. Based on how all lives with intelligence acted, hatred was always much easier to come by compared to gratitude.

Lives who only had instincts could hate, but if they wanted to learn how to be grateful, they needed intelligence for that. When Su Ming fell into pensive silence over that, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind. He suddenly remembered seeing distortions that seemed to resemble death when the specter was brought into Harmonious Morus Alba’s universe.

‘Could it be that the reason they gathered around the near-dead Harmonious Morus Alba is because this place can help them gain intelligence?

‘And that huge specter had a universe in its body! It might not have any lives in it, but I can tell that if it reached the later stage of Avacaniya, life forms might appear in it.

‘But there’s also a possibility that it would still be impossible even after it reached the later stage. It might only be able to do so once it attained great completion! No matter what sort of level of cultivation it needs before it could make lives appear in its universe… the lives born in the Vast Expanse are the same as Harmonious Morus Alba. They can create their own universes!

‘If this guess holds true, then could it be that the black-robed young man also has a universe in him? And by the looks of it, his universe would be much larger than Harmonious Morus Alba’s!’

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes when the bold assumption took shape in his mind.

‘A universe… Countless mortals look at the blue skies and white clouds on their planets. They watch the sun and moon take each other’s places and live through their short lives. It’s impossible for them to know that perhaps the universe where they live… is within a strange life form’s body in the Vast Expanse.

‘All schemes and ploys against each other and all entanglements are truly insignificant compared to the will of the entire universe and the Vast Expanse…’

Su Ming sighed softly. It was only a guess, but he was sure that it was infinitesimally close to the truth.

‘What is the point of practicing cultivation? Is it for eternal life? That is too narrow of a goal.’

Su Ming turned around to cast a glance at the galaxy in Harmonious Moros Alba’s universe. He did not care about the hidden Old Man Extermination and his ancient ship. With his questions and epiphany, he walked towards the galaxy.

‘How many people would know just what is eternal life? Even Arid Triad cannot live forever. Would the black-robed young man dare say he can live eternally?

‘Everything in the world ends. Eternal life… is just something that comes along. The true goal of cultivation is to pursue the truth!’ A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and his footsteps became firmer.

‘To search for the truth, to search for an answer to a question. This… is the goal of the cultivators of my generation and why we practice cultivation. Getting stronger and having longevity are just affiliations in the path of pursuing the truth.

‘When we search for the truth, we also cultivate the truth!

‘When we seek understanding, we also cultivate understanding. I, Su Ming, practiced cultivation because I wanted to understand what is happening around me. I wanted answers to my questions. It is just like what they say, Dao is the truth. Even though life is ephemeral… we can leave the world with a smile.’

As he gained his epiphany, Su Ming gradually gained an unfathomable presence. It was faint, and there was only a hint of it, but its appearance made it look like Su Ming was about to become transparent. It was as if at that moment, he surpassed Harmonious Morus Alba!

‘But even if I pursue the truth, even if I pursue understanding, it is only for an answer. But the phrase “to seek the answer” means that the path of cultivating Dao… is destined to be boundless.

‘You will never know where the end is… because the path of cultivation is only differentiated by how far different individuals can go. The end can never be seen.’

Su Ming smiled. He looked like he had just been freed from something. With his epiphany, he laughed, and his laughter gradually grew louder.

‘I live in Harmonious Morus Alba’s wings, but in whose body does Harmonious Morus Alba live? Even that life hosting Harmonious Morus Alba will only live for a short moment. When it lifts its head, would it not see that it is living in another life that will only live for a short moment? And when that life hosting these two is laughing, would it in the future understand that perhaps it is just a short brushstroke for a writer?

‘When that writer looks at the sky… I wonder, who will be the writer?

‘There is no end… just like how Dao is boundless.’

Su Ming stopped for a moment. When he lifted his head, a resolute light shone in his eyes. Slowly, he murmured, “I do not wish for much, only for those eyes to be mine!”

When Su Ming said that, his body became even more indistinct. The aura of one who surpassed Harmonious Morus Alba in terms of Realm became even stronger around him.

Su Ming lifted his head, and his aura spread out in an unseen manner. It enveloped his body, and Su Ming no longer had any semblance of sentience in his eyes, only empty eyes…

He was still moving forward, but he did not know where he was headed, or what his destination was, because his soul, his consciousness, and his will were completely immersed in his epiphany. It bloomed about him as the invisible aura roared.

He had no idea how long the epiphany would last. Perhaps for several days, perhaps for several years, or perhaps for several decades, centuries, or even more… Even Su Ming himself did not know how long it would last. He did not know what the epiphany would signify for him either.

He also did not know that since ancient times, over the countless aeons in Harmonious Morus Alba’s universe, there had never been anyone… who had obtained an epiphany that would lead them to Boundless Dao’s Realm!

Forget others, even Arid Triad had never had such an epiphany. In fact, even the once complete Harmonious Morus Alba had only longed for it. However… Su Ming had gained it at that moment!

It was the first time, and perhaps…the last for that universe!

The moment Su Ming gained his unprecedented epiphany, he lost his consciousness. With a dazed expression, he continued walking through the empty galaxy.

At that moment, Harmonious Morus Alba’s will shuddered while hiding in its Expanse Cosmos—the place connected to the end of Yin Death Vortex’s tunnel.

Its will turned into a butterfly and stared at the distant galaxy. Its body trembled. It sensed a presence that shocked it.

It was Boundless Dao’s presence. Someone was trying to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao!

To Harmonious Morus Alba, this was something unbelievable. As it shuddered, it showed signs of scattering, but it soon gathered together, but it was a telling sign of how shocked it was at that moment.

‘Is it him? Is the person trying to gain the epiphany him?’

Complicated emotions appeared in Harmonious Morus Alba. The epiphany was something that it longed for, but it had never gained it. And right then, it had appeared in its universe.

In the capital planet of the Emperor of Abyss’ True World within Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was a tree that looked incredibly lush, but was in truth dead. The young man formed by Arid Triad stood underneath it silently and stared at the tree. No one knew what he was thinking about.

When Su Ming gained his epiphany, the young man’s expression changed drastically. He turned around swiftly and lifted his head, staring at the galaxy. Disbelief gradually appeared on his face, and it was an expression that he wore incredibly rarely. He took a step forward, intending to investigate what was going on.

‘Boundless Dao’s presence… This is Boundless Dao’s presence. Someone is trying to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao. It’s impossible. There is no life here who has gained great completion of Avacaniya Realm, and for anyone not in that Realm, it’s impossible to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao!

‘This is… It’s Su Ming!’

The young man’s footsteps stopped. There was still disbelief on his face, but he no longer moved forward.

Within Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos, Old Man Extermination was sitting on an ancient ship hidden by the gap with a cold sneer on his lips while staring at Su Ming’s palm print on the wooden plate before him. However, the cold sneer suddenly froze on his lips. He swiftly lifted his head, and his expression changed drastically.

‘He’s gaining an epiphany of Boundless Dao? This… This is…’

Old Man Extermination’s pupils shrank. His disbelief even surpassed that of Arid Triad and Harmonious Morus Alba. In fact, he did not dare to think more and moved swiftly. While it looked like he was still sitting, a shadow overlapped itself on his body before it flew out swiftly. It instantly appeared in the Expanse Cosmos like an afterimage, then brought up its right hand to push against Su Ming who was moving forward in a daze.

But the moment his palm touched Su Ming, a hint of an aura that could shake the heavens spread out from Su Ming’s body without a sound, and it… belonged to Boundless Dao!

At the instant that aura appeared, the afterimage let out a shrill scream of pain and disintegrated, but Su Ming did not seem to be aware of it. He continued moving forward in a daze.

He was indeed not aware of anything. At that moment, while in the state of gaining an epiphany, he forgot everything. His mind was blank.

When the shadow disintegrated, Old Man Extermination’s body jolted while he was sitting on the ancient ship, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

It was… the second time he saw his blood since he stepped through the gap in Harmonious Morus Alba’s wing. The first was due to his injuries when he just arrived.