Pursuit of the Truth

1

When the other Expanse Cosmos came from the space above in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, the Expanse Cosmoses began to be pressed flat. All lives began to be destroyed, and everything sank into a chaotic state that was equivalent to the end of the world.

Death was everywhere!

The wind between the two Expanse Cosmoses formed a nonstop rumble in space. Amid the noise, in a place no one could see, Su Ming and Arid Triad engaged in a fight to the death.

They did not use any sort of divine abilities, but had their wills crash into each other. As space rumbled, their figures could no longer even be seen in the wind. It was as if they had fused together to become one.

“Su Ming, why must you refuse to realize your error? We are cultivators, and Harmonious Morus Alba is just one life form! Why must you do this?!”

“I’m not doing this for Harmonious Morus Alba, but for myself. If I want to survive, then I must do this!”

“Survive? This isn’t difficult. Once we become Harmonious Morus Alba, it won’t be impossible for us to continue living. Be it your family or your friends, all of them will be able to continue living!”

“I once told you about the black-robed young man sitting on the Feng Shui compass. I told you he symbolizes destruction. Do you… still not believe me?”

“I know of that person from the memories I Possessed. His name is Xuan Zang, but he is dead. I didn’t tell you about this in the past, but I will tell you about him right now, and I will do so clearly. He… is dead!

“He has been dead since a long time ago. In fact, when the nine Harmonious Morus Albas were born, he was already dead. How could he have possibly appeared again?!

“No matter what you saw, those things happened in the past. It’s… impossible for him to appear in this place, and the aura of death on Harmonious Morus Alba isn’t because of him either, but because if Harmonious Morus Alba does not devour me and become whole again, it will truly die.

“And its death would mean our rise to power!”

“Then… what about Old Man Extermination?”

“I’ve long since taken note of Old Man Extermination. He has indeed come from another Harmonious Morus Alba. I once suspected that he was the same as me in his Harmonious Morus Alba, that he had also Possessed its will, but his arrival here does not mean that his Harmonious Morus Alba has already died!

“If it died, he would have died a long time ago too. You didn’t Possess Harmonious Morus Alba. You Possessed me, that’s why you don’t know that once you perform the first Possession, unless you become the complete Harmonious Morus Alba, then when one dies, the other will die as well!

“That’s why if Old Man Extermination has completed his Possession, it would be easier to explain why he is here. There’s definitely another universe in him. But if he hasn’t completed his Possession, then his appearance here could only mean that his Harmonious Morus Alba is still around. It’s not dead yet, and neither is the black-robed Xuan Zang around. Su Ming, can’t you wake up a little?!

“The so-called black-robed Xuan Zang is just someone Old Man Extermination created intentionally. In fact… the Harmonious Morus Alba we are in intentionally showed that illusion to you so that you won’t work together with me and so… that you will be obsessed with your beliefs!”

“You… still don’t believe it.”

With a sigh in his voice, Su Ming’s words echoed in space, then he and Arid Triad went to devour and Possess each other. Su Ming was Possessing Arid Triad, and Arid Triad was devouring Su Ming. Their wills erupted with the most brilliant rays of light in their lives.

The devouring and Possession immediately dyed the wind black and white. The white hue was Arid Triad, and the black was Su Ming. The contact of those two colors caused the black and white shades in the wind to look as if they were trying to devour each other.

Either light would devour darkness, or darkness would Possess light. It was… a battle of wills in which someone had to emerge as the winner.

When it became clear that it would be difficult for a result to appear within a short period of time, the butterfly formed by Harmonious Morus Alba fused into the wind. When its will descended, five new colors immediately appeared in the wind.

The original shades of black and white were then matched by a seven-colored light.

Arid Triad was not surprised by Harmonious Morus Alba’s appearance. He knew a long time ago that Su Ming and Harmonious Morus Alba were working together. When it happened, Arid Triad’s wind swept through the entire universe and harvested one life after another. Once Arid Triad absorbed their life force, he launched a counterattack against Su Ming and Harmonious Morus Alba.

When Harmonious Morus Alba flew around the area with its five colors, a deep-seated hatred appeared in its eyes. It hated Arid Triad and even all the lives in its Expanse Cosmos. It glared at Arid Triad and erupted with hatred it had suppressed for countless years.

“Harmonious Morus Alba, if I could Possess you once, then today… no matter how you poisoned Su Ming with your words, I can still Possess you a second time!

“Since you dared come to this place, let’s see… just who among us can persevere till the end and not break!”

There was an air of superiority in Arid Triad’s voice. When it reverberated through space, the white wind he formed howled and crashed against the five-colored wind of Harmonious Morus Alba.

At the same time, the black wind Su Ming had formed created a vortex that seemed to pull at the other winds. When Arid Triad and Harmonious Morus Alba crashed into each other, he too joined the fray.

Boom!

The three great wills of that universe had crashed into each other at full strength for the first time. What would shatter because of it would be their wills, what would be reduced to madness would be their souls, and what would be Possessed would be the fragments left behind.

The crash caused Su Ming’s whole body to jolt, and the wind he formed looked about to crumble. It was the same for Arid Triad, but it was worse for Harmonious Morus Alba. It looked as if it was about to scatter. Its aura of death was already thick enough, and at that moment, it became even stronger.

At the same time, Di Tian coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. The life matrix floating above him let out cracking sounds and started shattering. Di Tian’s eyes were bloodshot, but he growled and formed a seal with both his hands, sparing no pains in using his life to mend the life matrix.

“Arid Triad… die!”

For the first time since the start of the battle, Harmonious Morus Alba’s voice appeared in the wind. It was full of hatred that would not weaken in the slightest even if tens of thousands of years passed. When it spread out, it caused the entire world to tremble.

The five-colored wind formed by Harmonious Morus Alba turned into a vortex. It spread out, swept outwards, and crashed into Arid Triad again.

“Su Ming, use the Harmonious Morus Alba Art I taught you!”

At the instant Harmonious Morus Alba crashed into Arid Triad, it quickly spoke. Its voice echoed in Su Ming’s ears, but Su Ming… had a calm expression on his face, as if he did not hear it.

A string of incantations had indeed appeared in his mind. They were complex and difficult to understand, but it did not look like there was any danger lurking inside it; it was just a method to shift wills around. However, Su Ming was already in possession of a Dao Divinity. When the incantations appeared in his mind, his Dao Divinity sent him a strong warning of danger.

Boom!

The second crash caused Arid Triad to tumble backwards. The white wind he formed almost disintegrated, and it was the same for Su Ming. As for Harmonious Morus Alba, three of its five-colored light had vanished, and a shrill cry came from it.

“Su Ming!”

“I can help you Possess Arid Triad, but this doesn’t mean that I will change my own will to assimilate with yours and become a part of you,” Su Ming said slowly.

The instant he spoke, the butterfly formed by Harmonious Morus Alba jolted, and its body disintegrated, causing the wind it formed to regain all five colors. It swept towards Arid Triad, then spread out to form a vortex that surrounded Su Ming as well.

“Harmonious Morus Alba’s form!”

A hoarse, ancient voice echoed in space. The vortex formed by the wind created by Harmonious Morus Alba turned into a huge five-colored butterfly. When it flew around them, Arid Triad closed his eyes, and in an instant, his body vanished. As the wind around him howled, he turned into a white butterfly as well.

The third eye at the center of Su Ming’s brow flew open. His Dao Divinity opened his eyes as well, and his body vanished too. He turned into the third butterfly in the wind of the disaster—a huge black butterfly!

Three butterflies crashed into each other. It was Harmonious Morus Alba’s full powered strike, Arid Triad’s attempt to devour Su Ming, and Su Ming’s… try to Possess Arid Triad!

When the three of them turned into butterflies and crashed against each other, the huge Feng Shui compass with the black-robed young man in the Vast Expanse Harmonious Morus Alba appeared above the butterfly, and what Su Ming had seen in the past repeated itself. The black-robed young man brought up his left hand and pushed down gently on his Feng Shui compass.

With it, all the runic symbols on the Feng Shui compass immediately shone. Waves of power that could destroy all space erupted from the Feng Shui compass and turned into a great suction force that instantly enveloped the butterfly.

From a distance, it could be seen that the Feng Shui compass was thousands of times larger than the butterfly, and only when it was compared to the butterfly could its size truly be understood!

When it was in the vast universe, due to it not having any sort of comparisons around, its size could not be seen, but right then… the size of the Feng Shui compass also indirectly verified just how large the black-robed young man was.

Before him, the butterfly was the same as a normal butterfly before a mortal!

When the Feng Shui compass began sucking the butterfly and the usual aloof look appeared in the black-robed young man’s eyes, Harmonious Morus Alba, who was fighting in a battle to the death against Su Ming and Arid Triad within its universe, shuddered. The five-colored butterfly filled with an unprecedented fear and disbelieving shock.

“This… This presence is…”

The butterfly formed by Harmonious Morus Alba revealed its despair while shuddering. It wanted to give up on devouring Su Ming and Arid Triad and return to its body so that it could see the source of the presence in the Vast Expanse… but there was no longer a need for that. At the moment it noticed the presence, it understood everything.

“He… didn’t die?”