Pursuit of the Truth

In the air beyond the barrier, the middle-aged man exuded an intimidating presence as he stood in that white armor, and was staring coldly at the mackerel pike that was about thousands of lis in the distance along with the female Shaman standing on its back.

Roaring reverberated through the air at that moment. A complicated rune appeared on the mountain range, causing the pressure to grow increasingly stronger, until Su Ming found himself to be unable to withstand it any longer.

”You again? I didn’t kill you last time, but if you continue bothering me, then I will kill you.”

As he stood in the air, the middle-aged man’s face turned stone cold, as cold as his words. The moment he spoke, thunder rumbled above and shook the sky and earth, causing the gigantic mackerel pike in the distance to tremble.

”I brought the Shaman Beast from my tribe, you can’t kill me! Bai Chong, return to me my sister’s mementoes. If you don’t, then even if I lose this time, I’ll still come back!” a woman’s voice floated towards them from the top of the mackerel pike.

”Begone!”

A cold glare appeared in Bai Chong’s eyes. He lifted his right hand and waved it in the air. A rumbling sound that made the world tremble rang out, and as it did so, a mighty pressure erupted forth from the part of the barrier on the mountain range Su Ming was standing on.

Su Ming could not withstand the pressure. He quickly retreated, and the moment the pressure erupted at full force, he left the barrier. When he looked over once again, the world he saw was distorted. The distorted space blocked his view, causing him to be unable to see the middle-aged man beyond the barrier or the gigantic mackerel pike that made his heart lurch with the female Shaman standing on it.

He could only hear muffled rumbling coming from beyond the barrier, which caused the pressure to become stronger with each passing moment. Su Ming could no longer get closer, able only to withdraw.

Only when he was tens of thousands of feet away from the barrier and stood by Han Fei Zi and Chen Yu Bing’s side did the pressure stop spreading outwards.

Chen Yu Bing’s face was pale and he immediately asked in fear, ”Brother Su, what happened? Could it be… could it be that the Shamans are invading us?”

Next to him, Han Fei Zi was also looking at Su Ming with a questioning look.

”No, it was just a Shaman,” Su Ming andswered languidly, looking at the distortions beyond the barrier.

”That’s great. Isn’t this too much of a coincidence for this to happen right at the time we came here? But brother Mo, we’d best leave now. The Relocation Rune is about ready.” Chen Yu Bing could not hide his anxiety and continued looking at the barrier from which the rumblings were coming.

Su Ming looked towards the barrier once again and quelled the shock in his heart. The more he understood about the Land of South Morning and the Berserker Tribe, the more he began to feel uncertain about his dream of returning to the Alliance of the Western Region.

”Brother Su, let’s go.”

Chen Yu Bing was feeling slightly antsy and he urged Su Ming once again. If it was anyone else, he would have ignored them a long time ago, but this was Su Ming. He did not dare ignore him.

Su Ming nodded. He knew that the battle outside the barrier was not something he could participate in with his current level of power. He could not even withstand the pressure from the barrier with his current level of cultivation. There was no way he could provide any help, and Bai Chong did not need any help.

When he saw that Su Ming agreed to leave, Chen Yu Bing let out a sigh of relief. The three of them turned into long arcs and gradually left the place. Before long, they returned to the mountain that was enveloped by golden light.

Even when he was on the mountain, Su Ming continued looking at the barrier in the distance. Even Xu Ru Yue felt what was happening on the barrier. Once she completed activating the Rune with trembling hands and the light from the Relocation Rune surrounded them, Su Ming averted his gaze. They slowly disappeared along with the light from the Relocation Rune.

With one thunderous rumble, the mountain returned to its quiet state and small golden balls of light spread out through the air.

After several Relocations and some rest, Su Ming and the others stepped into the final Relocation Rune seven days later. When they reappeared next, they would be in Freezing Sky Clan.

To the north of the inner parts of the Land of South Morning was a tribe with a name that shocked the entire land. The tribe’s name was Freezing Sky!

The Great Tribe of Freezing Sky was one of the only two great tribes in the Land of South Morning!

The main tribe was located to the north of South Morning. While it might not be big, there were numerous tribes of various sizes belonging to Freezing Sky in the Land of South Morning.

With these tribes, not only did it make the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky’s power to be on par with the Great Tribe of Western Sea and shock the entire Land of South Morning, it also posed difficulties for the Shamans outside the barrier for the last thousands of years.

Freezing Sky Clan was created a long time ago, during the early days of the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky. They also used the tribe to develop a school belonging to a middle-sized tribe to one that belonged to a big tribe. It was located in the north of the Land of South Morning, a mountain range covered in snow.

This particular region was the only region that was covered in snow throughout the year within the barrier erected around the Land of South Morning. The school took up half of the northern region, and same as the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky Clan, they were the strongest force in the north.

Freezing Sky Clan was huge, and there were a lot of disciples in there. They all came from the myriad tribes in the area governed by Freezing Sky Clan.

There were nine main mountains in the Great Frozen Plains. The nine mountains were covered by snow and surrounded the entire region. Each of the mountains could be called a sect of Freezing Sky Clan.

There were shorter ice mountains behind the nine main mountains that connected with each other and spanned endlessly, though they seemed to be strewn out on the ground in a disorderly manner. If someone looked from high in the sky, they would see that the mountains were positioned in a manner akin to a Rune, and they exuded a mighty and intimidating presence.

It was rumored that to the north of South Morning was an ocean. However, that ocean was frozen with an Art when Freezing Sky Clan was formed thousands of years ago, causing the ocean to look like a layer of ice on earth, and that was where Freezing Sky Clan was based.

There were also rumors that there was still seawater underneath the endless layer of ice under Freezing Sky Clan. However, no one knew exactly why Freezing Sky Clan chose to build the school there and freeze the ocean to become a piece of land.

The nine main mountains and the numerous subordinate mountains were like a gigantic fortress that formed Freezing Sky Clan on the endless plains of ice!

However, located in the air above the nine mountains was a building that served as a landmark for Freezing Sky Clan. That building was known as the Heaven Gate.

That was how Freezing Sky came to have its name.

The building might be called a gate, but it was in truth nine floating pieces of land. They overlapped each other to look like a tower. Each of them was about tens of thousands of feet in size and floated above the sky with the nine mountains as their center.

There were some elegant looking towers built on each piece of land. The disciples who could stay within Heaven Gate were definitely not of mediocre standards.

Even if someone lifted their heads, they could at most only see the fifth piece of land. The others above were all covered by clouds and could not be seen. There was a strange force up there. Even if a person flew up, they would not be able to get closer unless they obtained permission.

The disciples in Freezing Sky Clan numbered hundreds of thousands, if one counted the disciples who had went out to train and those who were sent to defend Sky Mist’s barrier. The phrase saying that the place had hundreds of thousands of Berserkers were not baseless words when they were used to describe Freezing Sky Clan, and only Freezing Sky Clan.

On this day, the mountainside of the fourth main mountain was surrounded by hundreds of platforms. These platforms were scattered about, and each of them had a Rune drawn on them.

At that moment, one of the platforms shone with a piercing golden light. Gradually, as freezing wind blew in the air, six people appeared within the Rune on one of the platform’s.

”Freezing Sky Clan…”

The freezing wind blew against Su Ming’s face, and it brought with it some snow that landed on his face, causing his face to feel cold. This was the first time he felt true snow so clearly in the Land of South Morning. Snow that was not formed by any sort of power or any sort of Art.

There were three people sitting on the platform. As the golden light from the Rune shone, the three people opened their eyes.

”It should be junior brother Chen and junior sister Xu,” one of them said calmly as he swept his gaze over the six people that appeared within the golden light.

The golden light from the Rune on the platform dissipated after a moment, revealing Su Ming and the other five people standing there.

The three people sitting on the platform stood up, and one of them smiled as he asked, ”Junior sister Fang came back as well? Junior brother Chen, what were your experiences going out this time?”

”Senior brother Zhou, stop teasing me. It’s better if I don’t talk about what happened…”

Once Chen Yu Bing returned to Freezing Sky Clan, it was clear that he calmed down. Once he heard the person’s words, he laughed and walked towards the three people before him.

”Come, allow me to make some introductions. This is junior sister Han Fei Zi.”

Han Fei Zi frowned, making it clear that she did not like getting to know people this way, but since she had just arrived in Freezing Sky Clan, she had to quell her discomfort and nodded towards the three people.

As for Han Cang Zi, once she smiled as a greeting to the crowd, she walked towards Su Ming.

Su Ming stood by the side and looked at the people talking to each other. Once Chen Yu Bing made introductions, they became much friendlier. The haughty expression gradually returned to Xu Ru Yue’s face once she returned to the school. Her expression was largely similar to those around her.

This seemed to be an expression that existed among most of Freezing Sky Clan disciples. They all looked as if they were way above other people.

Su Ming did not bother with them and chose to walk forward alone to stand at the edge of the platform and look at the white plain of snow that spanned into the distance.

The snow lighted up a special emotion in him. When he stood there and looked outwards, he felt as if he was looking at the snow on Dark Mountain.

When the snow landed on his face due to the wind, the cold feeling brought him a sense of familiarity.

He heard Han Cang Zi’s soft voice by his ear. ”Not used to this? When I first came to Freezing Sky Clan, I had the same feeling.”

Han Cang Zi looked at Su Ming and gave him a gentle smile.

”It’s not too bad,” Su Ming said with a smile.

In truth, Su Ming’s appearance had long since drawn the attention of the three people. They were given orders to wait on the platform. They were not surprised when they saw Han Cang Zi, but when they saw Su Ming, they were surprised.

However, since Chen Yu Bing did not introduce him, they did not ask. When they saw Su Ming leaving the group alone, the three of them found themselves asking about him.

”Junior brother Chen, who is that person? Why did he come back with all of you?”

”This person…”

Chen Yu Bing hesitated for a moment, and before he could finish speaking, a long arc suddenly charged towards them from the sky in the distance. That long arc was incredibly domineering, because when it traveled forth, the other Freezing Sky Clan disciples who were moving around in midair had to move away quickly to avoid knocking into it.

The disciples who moved out of the way were livid, but once they saw who was in the long arc, they shook their heads and decided to ignore this incident.

”Hey, who among you is called Su Ming?” a loud shout came from that long arc, and it was so loud that it was deafening.

When the long arc reached them, it floated in the air a little further away from the platform, revealing a burly looking man built like a hill. This man’s hair was a mess and stank of alcohol. He held a big gourd in his hand, and once he finished speaking, he let out a drunken burp and pointed at the crowd on the platform with a glare.

”Hey, I’m asking all of you, tell your Grandpa1 Hu just who is Su Ming!”

Translator’s Notes:

If you’re male, that is, if you say you’re someone’s grandpa but you’re not related to them by birth, you’re basically implying that you are superior to the other person because you’re older and have more experience. It also makes that person who said it sound rude, uncouth, prideful, and like a total d***. It’s all due to the idea in Chinese society that older people need to be respected because they have more experience. If you’re a woman, I guess you call yourself Grandma..? Honestly, I’ve never heard any girl calling themselves that before, the most was calling themselves ‘Old Woman’, lol. Same implication, same making themselves sound like total d***s.