Pursuit of the Truth

”Every single time Master appears before us in purple robes, there will be much bloodshed… That is something that is very difficult for me to forget…”

Second senior brother let out a long sigh before standing up and taking a light step forward. He let sunlight fall on the side of his face as he placed his hands behind his back and lifted his head to look at the sky with a nostalgic look on his face.

Hu Zi was looking at his second senior brother dumbly. He gulped and mumbled under his breath. He had no idea when this new weird quirk of liking to stand under the sun and facing others with the side of his face was acquired by second senior brother.

Zi Che became nervous as well, sitting not too far since he rarely saw his uncle master Hua make a face like this.

Su Ming cast a glance at his second senior brother and lowered his head to continue copying Si Ma Xin’s sword slash on the drawing board before him.

”That memory is something that I will never forget. It was fifteen years ago, during a night where the moon did not shine and the winds were strong…”

Second senior brother lifted his head and a complicated look appeared on his face.

”At that time, eldest senior brother was still in isolation, training himself, and I was meditating in my cave abode when suddenly…”

Second senior brother’s words faltered and he swept his gaze across Hu Zi and Zi Che before finally settling on Su Ming.

When he saw that Su Ming had also lifted his head, second senior brother’s voice rang out in the air once again.

”Master was dressed in purple when he suddenly entered my cave abode… I will never forget the very first question Master asked me at that time.

”He asked me… whether I knew how to use Arts to fight… At that time, I answered yes, and in the end… Remember this, if either of you sees the purple robed Master in your cave abode and he asks you this question, remember to say that you don’t!” T

Second senior brother cast a solemn glance at Su Ming and Hu Zi before he shook his head and walked into the distance. His footsteps were very strange, because even though he was walking away, he still managed to make sunlight fall on the side of his face.

Hu Zi blinked. He always thought that he was very intelligent, so when his second senior brother’s words reached him, he was not convinced and thought that second senior brother was misleading them. If Master really wore purple robes and came to him, he would definitely not listen to his second senior brother and tell his Master that he knew.

”I’d like to see just what would happen if I said yes.”

Hu Zi lifted his head as if pleased with himself and exchanged a few words with Su Ming before picking up his wine pot and leaving the place.

During the past few days, the three of them had regularly gathered together. One of them would drink and one would let sunlight shine on the side of his face as he planted more flowers on the already green covered ground.

As for the last one, he would be sitting by the side with his drawing board as he drew on it.

Su Ming had already lost count of how many strokes he had drawn. His drawing board may seem empty, but in truth, if anyone sensed it carefully, they could gradually tell that there was a suppressed presence within that was gradually growing stronger.

The day of Sky Mist Shaman Hunt was drawing closer. The disciples in Freezing Sky Clan started making detailed preparations during. There were also many private trades that occurred among them.

In fact, some of the disciples that had been away for many years returned, and their goal was to join the Sky Mist Shaman Hunt this time. Since this battle was a rather large scale battle that occurred only once a century, it was a very attractive thing to the disciples.

The Shamans were a mysterious group of people that were somewhat similar yet completely different to Berserkers. They lived in the area outside Sky Mist Barrier and prevented the Berserkers in the Land of South Morning from completely controlling the entire Land of South Morning. They also prevented countless people from leaving the place, forcing them to be unable to leave the Land of South Morning as well as meet other Berserkers in the other continents in this world, so keeping them from knowing whether they had any other comrades.

To the disciples of Freezing Sky Clan, the battle against the Shamans allowed them to see the Shamanic Spells that were obviously different from Berserker Arts. Perhaps they would even be able to obtain some form of serendipity. Besides, practically all the Beasts in the Shaman Tribe had a Beast Core within them, and this thing was a great tonic for Berserkers.

There was also another rule set by those guarding Sky Mist Barrier that a person would be rewarded based on the number of Shamans he or she killed. The more Shamans he or she killed, the greater the reward would be. Every single time Sky Mist Shaman Hunt was held, the two big tribes and schools, Freezing Sky and Western Sea, would bring out grand rewards for the disciples who killed their enemies.

The rewards offered for the battle this time would also top all the rewards of the past 100 years because the battle was a large scale battle that occurred only once every century.

The rewards were just one of the factors that attracted the people to join the battle. There were also people who joined for the fame that would come from this battle. In Sky Mist City was a gigantic rock. That rock stood tall and towered into the sky. All the people of South Morning who wanted to join the battle would leave a handprint on that rock right at the moment they arrived in Sky Mist City so that their presences would be left behind.

After that, a rather detailed ranking board that would rank all the people based on how many Shamans they killed would appear on that rock! Once Sky Mist Shaman Hunt ended, the ranks would spread through all the Berserker Tribes in the Land of South Morning so that all people would know of it!

During the hunt, the ranking board would be observed by all the powerful Berserkers who came to the place. Those who were ranked higher on the board would receive more attention, and those within the top 100 would temporarily be given the name Tian Lan1.

If they could enter the top 10, then they would be given the title of Sky Mist Guard. If they entered the top three and maintained their position, then they would obtain the right for permanent residency in Sky Mist City. The person in the first place would obtain Sky Mist’s sacred treasure. However, this treasure could only be given to the person in first place temporarily. Once he or she was no longer in the first place, then the treasure would automatically disappear and appear in the hand’s of the new person who obtained first place.

When the battle ended, the treasure would disappear and reappear in Sky Mist City to be worshipped once again.

Yet even so, there were plenty of rumors regarding Sky Mist’s sacred treasure. One among the many rumors had been proven true. The sacred treasure, which was only given to those ranked first temporarily during the battles that occurred only once a century, would increase the power of the person who continuously held onto it incessantly for those two short years!

Prestige, fame, rewards, all these things made the people who wanted to join the Sky Mist Shaman Hunt this time arrive and start an incredibly intense preparation stage.

There were less than ten months before the battle began!

Among the nine summits on the Great Frozen Plains of Freezing Sky Clan, besides the ninth summit, all the other eight summits were preparing for the battle. Only the people in the ninth summit still maintained their peaceful lives as they went on understanding their very own Clearing Mind Art.

Su Ming’s life was very peaceful, and he treasured his current lifestyle. Ever since he came to the Land of South Morning, it was rare that he could experience moments like these, especially the feeling he found here, where he now treated the mountain as his home. His senior brothers were kind to him, and he experienced the type of warmth that he would only find if he belonged to a place over here.

Su Ming might not have shown any desire to join Sky Mist Shaman Hunt, but he had already made his decision in his heart regarding the battle.

He wanted to go!

He wanted to join the fray. Only these sorts of battles would be able to make him improve quickly, because the only demand Su Ming had for himself was to increase his own power.

He had to make himself stronger!

‘My power is still far from enough for me to leave the Land of South Morning and return to the Alliance of the Western Region…’

Su Ming’s right hand slashed across the drawing board before him. He lifted his head and looked at the weather. The sky was already darkening, and even the few rays of evening sun that still remained somewhat visible in the distance had become much dimmer.

Su Ming stood up and walked towards his cave abode. Over the past few days, besides copying Si Ma Xin’s sword slash, he had also been doing something else. That thing was one of the things he was preparing for the Sky Mist Shaman Hunt this time.

His cave abode had become much bigger than how it was a few months back. Three more ice rooms had been opened up, and howls that no one could hear except Su Ming since he had divine senses would travel forth from one of the larger ice rooms in his cave.

Su Ming walked up to the ice room with a passive expression, entering it.

Right as he did so, a gust of cold wind blew against his face, and a blurred figure of a person closed in on him in an instant. Yet the very moment he got closer to Su Ming, that figure let out a shrill cry, tumbling a few dozen feet backward. His face was revealed then.

It was an existence that had the wings of the Wings of the Moon while possessing the body of a person. His eyes were bloodshot with raging violence, and as he retreated, he kept his glare fixed on Su Ming.

His body was caught in-between being an illusion and having physical substance, though he looked as if he was about to fade away at any moment. His entire body was red, and the space around him distorted in a manner that caused him to look as if he was enveloped by invisible fire and that he was burning.

He was naked, and on his skin were scale like objects overlapping each other. His hands turned into claws as he howled at Su Ming.

”He Feng, you were the one who asked to fuse with the souls of the Wings of the Moon within me. The process is still ongoing, are you saying that you can’t hold on anymore?!” Su Ming asked coldly.

His voice reverberated through the ice room and fell into the strange person’s ears. His words made the person shudder and conflict appeared in his bloodshot, violent eyes.

That person… was actually He Feng!

After Su Ming fought against Si Ma Xin and cleared up his cave abode, He Feng told him after much careful thought that he wanted to fuse together with the souls of the creatures he did not know the names of residing in Su Ming’s body.

He Feng was a cautious person. He did not want to become a Vessel Spirit, but if he did not want to become a Vessel Spirit, then he had to prove that he was not a burden. When he fought against Si Ma Xin’s ice wolf spirit, he had struggled greatly, and that was why he made this decision, because his power was simply not enough.

Su Ming kept his silence about the matter for several days before he agreed to He Feng’s request and opened up the ice room so that it could be the place for He Feng to fuse with the souls of the Wings of the Moon.

In the beginning, the fusion was successful, but gradually, something unforeseen happened. As He Feng continued fusing with the countless Wings of the Moon, he lost all form of reasoning, became the way he was now.

The moment the conflicted look appeared in He Feng’s eyes, Su Ming took a step forward quickly and lifted his right hand, swiftly drawing a circle at the center of He Feng’s brows with his right index finger.

Once the circle was formed, blood-red light shone from within it. The circle looked like the blood moon when it appeared on the center of He Feng’s brows.

When the blood moon appeared, He Feng closed his eyes and slowly sat down cross-legged, regaining his calm.

Once every few days, Su Ming would use this method to suppress this change that appeared when He Feng fused with the Wings of the Moon. Only by continuing with this process right up till the end would He Feng become truly strong.

Su Ming expected this process to last for several more months, perhaps even longer.

He stared at He Feng for a long while before turning around and leaving the ice room. He sat down outside and closed his eyes with the drawing board in hand, once again immersing himself in copying the slash.

If there were no interruptions, then he would have perhaps continued copying the slash until he needed to visit He Feng again.

But when morning came, the ninth summit welcomed a guest. That person… came for Su Ming.

Tian Lan - Sky Mist’s pinyin, it’s like a new name given to a person. If you were to remember Fang Cang Lan, and how she’s called Han Cang Zi? Han something Zi is a name given to the top students in Freezing Sky Clan, so you have Han Cang Zi. So Tian Lan something is the same. You have Tian Lan Meng, and I do believe that her name is one of these. ”I take away your surname and your middle name and give you a titled name”.