Pursuit of the Truth

The sword-ship that was stuck on the ground shone with dark light that looked like flowing water. The moment the gigantic woman’s face formed by the statue of the God of Berserkers crashed into it, the dark light immediately shuddered and gradually stopped flowing. It started showing signs of freezing.

At the same moment, the color on the giant woman’s face started rapidly darkening. It looked as if it had used up most of its energy in the span of a few breaths. Judging by the rate of its color diminished, it looked like it could not completely make the dark light on the giant sword-ship stop flowing.

The speed of the dark light freezing had also started slowing down. Some of the spots that had already frozen up even started showing signs of recovering, beginning to flow once more.

Yan Luan’s eyes flashed where she stood at the center of the woman’s brows. There was a regretful look in her eyes as she lifted her hands and touched the woman’s face with her fingers.

The instant her fingers touched the woman’s face, it shone with a strong red light and turned into a strong red flare that rushed into the sky. The red flare charged into the starry sky, resulting into a huge impact that created a large amount of ripples that spread towards all areas. In an instant, the ripples covered almost the entire sky.

A long string of laughter traveled forth. The vague outline of a person appeared within the red flare that reached the skies. That vague outline quickly became clear, becoming almost completely distinct in an instant.

That person was an old man wearing a red robe. His hair was entirely white, but his face shone with a healthy red glow. A huge gourd could be seen on his back as he stepped out of the red flare.

The instant he appeared, the entire world shook. The starry sky looked as if it could no longer withstand the tremors and was about to crumble. The earth also trembled, causing a large amount of valleys in the area to collapse under this rumbling.

”Greetings, left preceptor Zhou!” Yan Luan said respectfully.

The moment the old man appeared, the woman’s face which had merged together with Yan Luan had faded away and disappeared.

”The Relocation Art that breaks the four dimensional layers is indeed mysterious! Lake of Colors, since you’ve understood this Art and offered it to me, your tribe will claim all credit for this!”

The old man in red robes laughed loudly with sparkling eyes. He stared at the dark light surrounding the sword-ship, which was already rapidly recovering its flow.

”Han Kong, did you think that by hiding here, Freezing Sky Clan won’t be able to touch you? Did you think that because Berserkers don’t understand the seal of the four dimensional layers, that’s why we can’t kill you even though we know you are here?”

The old man in red robes let out a long string of laughter and lifted his right foot before taking a step towards the giant sword-ship on the ground.

”If it’s a complete seal of the four dimensional layers, then I would definitely not be able to break it, but Lake of Colors Tribe has understood your dimensional seal, and now, your seal has a flaw. I… can now open it!”

The old man in red robes approached the sword-ship and lifted his right hand before swinging it in the air. A red demonic claw appeared above the sword-ship and seized it.

There was no way a normal living being could own this demonic claw. The moment it appeared, a strong look of desire and respect appeared on Yan Luan’s face. She was not the only one. Yan Fei Zi and the other tribe members of Lake of Colors Tribe also looked over with respect when they regained their freedom after the woman’s face disappeared.

”Berserker Soul Realm… By condensing and creating my own statue of the God of Berserkers, I will become the Berserk, and the Berserk will be me…” Han Fei Zi’s eyes were bright as she mumbled.

The demonic claw closed in and seized the sword-ship. The dark light that flowed upwards on the object shuddered and let out a booming sound. The dark light shattered like shards and droplets of water. It fell off the giant sword-ship and tumbled to the side.

As the sword-ship trembled, the seal placed on it abruptly disintegrated!

”Han Kong, you came to us Berserkers 8,000 years ago and had your powers limited by the second God of Berserkers. You could only use your powers up to the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm, which would mean your level is at Soul Transformation in your Immortal Realm. You’re ranked in 147th place on the kill list shared among the worlds! Today, I, Zhou Shan, left preceptor of Freezing Sky Clan, will take your life on orders left behind by the third God of Berserkers!”

The voice of the old man in red robes sounded like thunderbolts raining judgment. The moment his voice spread out with a boom, his body turned into a long fire-red arc as he charged towards the sword-ship that had lost its seal.

With a loud crash, the old man rushed inside. The light in Yan Luan’s eyes flickered. She too, charged in, and closely followed by Han Fei Zi and the other people from Lake of Colors Tribe.

Buried deep under the ground was a part of the sword-ship. One of the parts of the section buried underground had cut through a tunnel many years ago. As of then, at the end of the tunnel where the part of the sword-ship was, the stone walls crumbled and turned into countless shards that quickly tumbled backwards as the seal was broken.

”It disintegrated!”

Nan Tian’s face was filled with excitement. He took a step forward quickly, as if he wanted to be the first to go in. Yet the moment he moved, Xuan Lun had already charged in at lightning speed, overtaking him and becoming the first to enter.

Nan Tian and Chou Nu followed closely behind him. The both of them rushed into the entrance that was revealed once the stone wall crumbled.

Su Ming opened his eyes, which were now bloodshot. He silently stood up and looked at the entrance that led into the isolation grounds of Han Mountain’s ancestor. There was an expression filled with mixed feelings on his face, though hidden under the mask.

The voice summoning him was now filled with anxiety as it called out to him incessantly.

‘The voice of Han Mountain’s ancestor is completely different from the voice I heard when I fell into the illusion when walking through the red path. They’re clearly not the same person.’

Su Ming closed his eyes and uncertainty appeared on his face.

”Sir Mo Su?” Dong Fang Hua asked in a low voice. He originally wanted to go in, but when he saw Su Ming keeping still by his side, he hesitated for a moment.

”I need a moment to think. If you want to go in, then go,” Su Ming said coolly.

Dong Fang Hua struggled in his heart. He looked at the entrance and a yearning look appeared in his eyes. He wanted to become stronger, and there was a chance lying right before him at this very moment. If he gave up on it, he would definitely be dissatisfied.

He waited for a little while longer. When he saw that Su Ming remained in pensive silence, he gritted his teeth and wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming before dashing through the entrance. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the place.

Su Ming was the only one left at the end of the tunnel. He stood there quietly as the anxious voice calling out to him echoed in his ears and mind.

After a moment, he opened his eyes.

”Should I risk it, or should I not..? Han Mountain’s ancestor isn’t dead, and it’s strange that he’s summoning me like this. Also, from the bizarre things that had happened on the red path, I can tell that if I go in, it’ll be incredibly dangerous!” Su Ming mumbled.

”But this might be my only chance… to know just what memories I lost, and to know what exactly happened to me…”

Su Ming paced back and forth at the end of the tunnel with a brilliant shine in his eyes.

”He Feng once said that we can create a spirit body if we practice the Art of Han Mountain’s ancestor. And once we have that Spirit Body, we can cast a strange Art. If I didn’t completely subdue He Feng and wear that mask, I would’ve been caught under He Feng’s Art.

”He told me about this Art later. It’s called Possession… only those with Spirit Bodies can cast this Art and take over someone else’s body. During the Possession, they can look through the other person’s memories…

”A person can only create a Spirit Body once they have practiced the Branding Art. Besides He Feng, only Han Mountain’s ancestor has one.”

Su Ming paused in his footsteps and a resolute look appeared on his face.

‘I can take the risk, but I cannot put myself in jeopardy. I won’t ask to be able to completely protect myself, but only when I have a certain amount of confidence in this can I take this risk! My memories may be important, but the thing about me losing my memories is just my guess. If my guess is correct, then it’s fine, but if it turns out that I was just overthinking things, then it’s… not worth it to lose my life over!

‘Putting aside the possible connection between him and me, Han Mountain’s ancestor is calling out to me so urgently mostly due to the breaking of the seal in this place… Besides, I don’t think he’d be summoning me to simply just end my life.

‘Then besides some other reason I don’t know of, there’s only one possibility as to why he’s doing this, he’s going to perform the Possession He Feng spoke about!

‘The elder once taught me that when I don’t understand certain things, I can try putting myself in the other person’s shoes to guess his thoughts by going through the things that person had experienced.

‘If I am Han Mountain’s ancestor and I haven’t gone out of this place for many years all while having to watch the three slave tribes rebelling to the point that I can’t do anything… then he must be injured, and it’s not a light injury… Now that Lake of Colors Tribe has broken the seal and Freezing Sky Clan is supporting Lake of Colors Tribe, then those from Freezing Sky Clan must also be in this operation.

‘Han Mountain’s ancestor is most likely going to die!

‘There’s a high possibility that he’s calling out to me for the Possession He Feng spoke about! He’s going to Possess my body and avoid being killed… The reason why he chose me is perhaps because I have the path of blood within me… then could it be that the small virescent sword, the red meadow, and the other things chose me because of this as well?

‘He drew me here step by step…’

A chilling look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.

‘He won’t live for long. If Lake of Colors Tribe dared to break the seal, then they have full confidence in killing him as well… the safest way for me is to wait here and not go in. Before long, Han Mountain’s ancestor will die.

‘This is the safe way, but if I do that, then I won’t be able to obtain Han Mountain’s ancestor’s training method, and I won’t be able to obtain the answer I want. I won’t be able to know just how many memories I lost…

A cold sneer appeared at the corners of Su Ming’s lips. He sat down cross-legged and lifted his right hand before tapping his chest. Immediately, his Qi tumbled within his body like a furious wave crashing around inside him.

Almost at the instant he tapped his chest, a ball of dim light was forced out of his chest. Inside that dim light was He Feng’s Spirit Body. He had his eyes closed as if he was in deep sleep.

Su Ming looked at He Feng’s Spirit Body before he lifted his right hand and touched it. A wave of ripples spread out. Once they traveled over the small figure, a shudder ran through his body and he slowly opened his eyes.

”Mas…”

There was a dazed look in He Feng’s eyes, who had just recently woken up. Once he took a good look at his surroundings, especially the entrance at the end of the tunnel, a violent shiver ran through his body.

”This is… This…”

”He Feng,” Su Ming said slowly. His voice was low and deep, and there was an intimidating force behind it. ”I need you to do something for me,” he stated, looking at the small figure.

”Master, please speak. As long as I can do it, I won’t dare to decline,” He Feng quickly adjusted his mind to the situation and spoke cautiously, yet there was a slight nervousness in his heart. He did not know what Su Ming wanted him to do, especially when he was forcefully awakened in this place.

Translator’s Notes:

Some of you might already know that Pursuit of the Truth, Renegade Immortal, and ISSTH share the same universe. Because of this Pursuit of the Truth is more affected than you would think by Renegade Immortal. The people from the Land of South Morning use A LOT of concepts and terms from the world in Renegade Immortal and ISSTH. 嬰變 (Soul Transformation) just happens to be one of the many, many, many concepts and terms. When I was translating this chapter, Renegade Immortal was at chapter 530++, and ISSTH chapter 1580++ (I think, can’t really remember, wrote this TL note later, whoops).

To maintain some sense of continuity, I ripped off those terms from Renegade Immortal and ISSTH if they had translated it, and if their RAWs had that term but it was at that moment of time not translated, I translated the names myself. There will be some differences, in my free time I’ll check Renegade Immortal and ISSTH to see whether the terms have been translated and I’ll change it accordingly.

That said, since plagiarism is the root of all things evil in the world of creating stuff and I had to use other people’s work in my own translated work, my leader said he’ll inform Ren and Deathblade in private, and since he is a good man, he must have informed them.

THE POINT IS, here’s a disclaimer, because disclaimers are important. I used Ren’s and Deathblade’s terms in Renegade Immortal and ISSTH in Pursuit of the Truth.