Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming stood up, and his gaze fell on Bai Su’s picture. Slowly, he closed his eyes. When he reopened them a moment later, he took a few steps forward and stood at the edge of the platform outside his cave abode.

The sky had already become completely dark, but the snow and ice underneath still shone with a white light, causing the land to not be shrouded in darkness.

The platform Su Ming was standing on was near the top of the ninth summit. It could be said that there were hundreds upon thousands of feet from where he was to the ground. If a normal person lowered his or her head to look down, they would find it hard to not have his or her heart start racing while also feeling dizzy.

Su Ming stood there and looked down as the light in his eyes flickered.

‘The Golden Roc rode the winds in the world and flew above the ninth heaven. It won’t be easy trying to copy the movements of the sacred beast of the Shaman Tribe, then Creating it for my own…

‘If I don’t have the Golden Roc’s heart and don’t feel the Roc’s will, then it will be difficult to understand its spirit… then… just what are the Golden Roc’s heart and will..?’

Su Ming stood there, silent for a long while before he closed his eyes. He lifted his right foot, then stepped off the border of the platform, and plunged straight down the canyon.

With that one step, his body was in the air. Without circulating his power of the Awakening Realm and using any enchanted treasure, his body started falling down the mountain like a rock.

His speed as he fell was very quick, so quick that whistling sounds sliced through the air as his body scraped against air. Su Ming closed his eyes and spread his arms open. As he continued falling, the image of the Golden Roc soaring through the clouds formed in his head.

‘The Golden Roc’s heart and its will are reflected as it flies through the world. Within its eyes, there is nothing in the world that can stop its path. It can fly endlessly in this vast sky.’

Su Ming fell even faster, and the sounds of wind moaning rose in his ears. The wind seemed to be able to tear through everything, and when it appeared, it was as if there was a strange sound mixed within it.

10,000 feet, 20,000 feet, 30,000 feet… Su Ming’s eyes remained closed as he continued falling. Besides the Golden Roc, he had nothing else in his mind.

40,000 feet, 50,000 feet… When he had fallen 80,000 feet down and was very close to the foot of the mountain, when his body was charging towards the ground like a comet, all the blood in Su Ming’s body started circulating backwards and surged towards his head, causing his head to buzz.

The buzzing sounds grew stronger, and gradually, Su Ming’s will began to cloud over. Gradually, the Golden Roc also started fading away from his head.

The instant it turned into a mere illusion, Su Ming opened his eyes. When he did so, the buzzing sounds in his head turned into roars that could shake the sky and earth. The Golden Roc in his head lifted its head and let out a howl towards the sky.

‘The Golden Roc’s heart represents freedom. Its will is to be unrestrained, which is what is pursued in seeking freedom! That’s why it’s incredibly hard to tame it, because once the Roc is tamed, then it won’t be free anymore. It would be the same as losing its spirit!

‘Master’s Golden Roc clearly did not have its freedom limited by Master. It could fly at will in the land of the Shamans. Only when Master needs it, then it will appear… There must be some other reasons to this, or else, just having to listen to Master’s orders without any other reason would make it very miserable.’

Understanding appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. His body continued plunging down, but he did nothing to stop himself. Instead, he simply let his body get rapidly closer to the ice on the ground, only lifting his right hand to draw two lines towards the sky!

The two lines contained all of Su Ming’s strength, his understanding, and his perception towards the Golden Roc’s will. The instant he drew the two lines, he was already less than 1,000 feet away from the ground. A sense of danger enveloped Su Ming’s mind and body, but he did not try resist it. When he was only a few dozen feet away from the ground, he drew a perfect arc.

…And he shot into the air, straight into the skies. Su Ming traveled so quickly that he felt like he was crashing against mountain ranges, even though what lay before him was the endless sky.

This feeling was incredibly strong, and it could even be said that it was not just a mere figment of his imagination. It was real pain he sensed of when his body crashed against the wind.

While Su Ming was feeling as if he was crashing against mountains, the distance between the earth and sky shortened by several fold in his eyes. It was as if the two spots and two lines existing between the sky and earth fused together, and once they did, an abrupt change in their positions happened.

All of those things were what Su Ming felt in that instant. His body immediately turned into a black dot in the sky. Excitement appeared in his eyes, but there was sharp pain shooting up his body. During that instant, he had shot up into the sky from the ground at a terrifying speed. His body could not withstand that speed. Su Ming could tell that with his body’s current tolerance, if he used that speed again, his body would be torn apart.

‘Is… this the Golden Roc’s speed..? No, this wasn’t as fast as the Roc. I’m still slightly slower… but this is already astonishing!’

Su Ming quelled his excitement and did not dare use that speed anymore. He walked onto his platform on the ninth summit and immediately sat down. A mouthful of blood spilled out from his mouth.

Yet Su Ming thought that this spilling of blood was worth it. By coughing out blood once, he understood the will of the Golden Roc as it spread its wings, and placed it into his drawing. That was enough!

‘My body is not strong enough. If I’m strong enough, then I can last longer, and with that speed… even the virescent sword won’t be able to catch up!’

Su Ming’s heart pounded against his chest. It could be said that it was by pure coincidence that he understood the Golden Roc’s speed. If it was not for what Bai Su drew on her drawing board, Su Ming would not have been able to think about this.

His eyes swept past Bai Su’s drawing board before he slowly closed his eyes. In his mind, he continuously replayed the speed at which he had traveled just now and the two lines he had drawn.

When the night went by and light appeared in the horizon, Su Ming opened his eyes. There was still excitement in them. He dipped his head down and looked at his own body. Once he did so, a glint appeared in his eyes.

”If I wore the Divine General Armor, equipped it with Runes to increase its defense, and at the same time removed all the ice rocks… and used the Golden Roc’s speed, then how fast could I travel?”

As Su Ming mumbled to himself, the desire to try it grew within him. However, the chances of him forming Runes within the Divine General Armor were still not high.

He was just about to try when his expression suddenly changed and he charged into the cave abode. Once he was in, he did not hesitate and walked to where He Feng was fusing with the Wings of the Moon.

In the cave, He Feng was slowing opening his eyes, and they were bloody red. He lifted his head and howled, and cracks rapidly tore his skin open, but no blood flowed out. Instead, black mist spread out from those cracks.

There was a pair of wings that belonged to the Wings of the Moon on him. With one flap of those wings, he looked as if he wanted to rush out of the cave, but when Su Ming walked in, he lifted his right hand and drew a line down with his finger.

At the same time, Han Mountain Bell appeared above He Feng. Bell chimes echoed in the air and turned into a mighty pressure in the form of a sound wave. It shook He Feng and caused him to freeze, then he seemed to regain his senses, and pain appeared on his face.

”Master… I’m almost there… I can tell… If I make it through this and make it through another fusion, I’ll succeed…” He Feng’s voice rose and then fell, and when it reached Su Ming’s ears, his finger had already touched the center of He Feng’s brows.

The moment he did so, Su Ming’s robes flapped about violently and his hair was lifted. A grim expression appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. A presence that could rival that of those in the great completion of the Awakening Realm, even the powerful Berserkers who had just arrived at the early stages of the Bone Sacrifice Realm, abruptly erupted forth from his body and his finger, surging into He Feng’s body that was still fusing with the Wings of the Moon.

He Feng shuddered and slowly sat down.

”Master… I... When I was fusing with them… I saw… their… memories… I…”

As He Feng spoke, his teeth suddenly grew longer. They instantly shot out of his mouth, causing his unfinished sentence to turn into a howl.

”Fire…”

That one world was contained within He Feng’s howl. As he howled, fire abruptly burst forth from within his body. It was as if that fire wanted to burn down Su Ming’s cave abode on the ninth summit.

Yet the moment it appeared, the blood moon in Su Ming’s right eye shone. He lifted his left hand and tapped He Feng’s forehead with his finger. He pressed his finger down, and it caused the fire from He Feng’s body to freeze for a moment before flowing back inside.

Time trickled by. The time Su Ming took in this attempt to help He Feng fuse with the Wings of the Moon far surpassed all his previous ones. Even when one day had passed by, it had yet to end.

Bai Su had arrived at the ninth summit a long time ago. She waited for a while before entering Su Ming’s cave abode. Yet the moment she entered, she was immediately pushed out by an invisible force. After several attempts, she sat down by the side with a huff and only left unwillingly when night came.

The entire process lasted seven days. When the seventh evening was over and night fell, Su Ming opened his eyes. He Feng had once again turned into a gigantic black ball of light before him. It was silent all around him, but there was a mighty pressure spreading from the ball of light.

A feeling as if their blood was connected appeared in Su Ming’s heart when he looked at that ball of light. There was a slight hint of fatigue on his face. He looked at it for a little while longer before walking out of the room, sitting down cross-legged in his cave, and meditating to recover.

It was also at that moment that an unwelcomed guest appeared outside Bai Su’s cave abode in the seventh summit. That person was also a woman and lived in the seventh summit. However, her level of cultivation was not high and she usually kept to herself, that was why it was easy for people to overlook her.

The woman came to give a Bai Su a bamboo slip.

The name Si Ma Xin was written beautifully on it.

Once the woman handed the bamboo slip, she stated coolly, ”Senior brother Si Ma wants to see you.” She then turned around and left.

Bai Su looked at the bamboo slip with a blank expression, and her thoughts became chaotic. This was the first time she experienced such an emotion when she heard that Si Ma Xin wanted to see her.