Pursuit of the Truth

Right as Su Ming’s balls of lightning and his virescent sword were whittled down by the masked male Shaman’s beast like roars, the male Shaman had quelled down the chaos of his Qi brought by the resisting Han Mountain Bell.

At that moment, he charged forward. When he ran into the balls of lightning, they were destroyed. When he ran into the small virescent sword, that dull sword was instantly sent flying away. The male Shaman seemed to have turned into a violent gust of wind that was charging at Su Ming. The instant he closed in, he clenched his fist once again and punched him.

Su Ming immediately retreated. Once he activated his speed, he immediately dodged the incoming punch, and when he did so, he lifted his right hand, then with three fingers facing the sky, he drew a line down the man’s side.

Execution of the Three Evils!

Ever since Su Ming came to the Land of South Morning, he had never used any Arts from Dark Mountain Tribe. This was the first time he casted it on the battlefield. As his level of cultivation changed, so would the power of the Execution of Three Evils be different.

At that moment, as he casted the first slash of the Execution of Three Evils, half of the vengeful spirits that had been trapped around the man’s body by his murderous aura let out piercing screeches and disappeared. The male Shaman shuddered, but he took the blow face on. He turned around, swung his right arm in a full circle, then charged at Su Ming, shrill blasts reverberating in the air.

Su Ming retreated once again and used that extreme speed to dodge the attack. He appeared in another direction and bit his tongue, then coughed out a mouthful of blood. Once that blood appeared, it instantly started burning, turning into a sea of flames that surrounded the man.

However, right as the sea of fire surrounded the man, a gigantic fist shot through it and rammed straight into Su Ming’s chest.

Su Ming once again activated that extreme speed, and only then did he manage to dodge it.

”I’d like to see just how many times you can use that speed!” The male Shaman smirked coldly in the sea of fire. He jumped, twisted his body, and stirred up a gust of wind that extinguished the flames around him before he started walking towards Su Ming.

The male Shaman did not have a lot of divine abilities, but because his physical abilities were simply too powerful, that was why Su Ming had to dodge his attacks. If he took even one blow to his body, he would find it hard survive through it.

As Su Ming retreated, Han Mountain Bell fell upon the male Shaman once again from midair. A hint of madness appeared in the male Shaman’s eyes, which were hidden underneath the mask. Even though he had already come to know of Han Mountain Bell’s might, he still chose not to dodge it. As he walked towards Su Ming, the bell fell straight on his body.

Yet as booming sounds rose into the air, the man only paused for a brief moment before lifting his foot and continuing walking forward.

Su Ming’s expression changed. With his mind, he lifted Han Mountain Bell once again, but at that moment, the male Shaman suddenly let out that strange beast roar once again.

When that roar resounded, Su Ming’s mind trembled, and without being able to control himself, he became shaken. It caused Han Mountain Bell’s speed, as it fell, to slow down, and at the same time, the male Shaman arrived before Su Ming and threw a punch at him.

”Damn it!”

Su Ming could not control his own heart. The beast roar was simply too bizarre. It felt like the might of life itself, like the roar from his mortal enemy. It was a roar that could make the hearts of all people tremble.

Su Ming was just about to activate his speed and dodge that punch when the male Shaman suddenly increased his speed. His punch landed, but it was not on Su Ming. He had instead hurled his fist to the space next to Su Ming.

When the punch landed, it stirred a large amount of ripples and distortions in the air, causing Su Ming’s speed as he retreated to slow down instantly. The male Shaman used this chance to rush over, and the instant he closed in, before Su Ming even had the time to dodge, he heard the man’s vicious laughter. The man did not use his fists, neither did he use his legs, instead, once he closed in on Su Ming, he rammed his head against Su Ming’s forehead.

Bang!

Su Ming’s vision blurred and a nauseous feeling instantly rose within him. Rumbling sounds went off in his head. As his body fell back, the male Shaman licked his lips under the mask, then rushed out. This time, killing intent appeared in his eyes. With his right hand in the shape of a claw, he swiped against Su Ming’s chest.

He wanted to tear out Su Ming’s heart!

Blood flowed out from Su Ming’s forehead. It dripped into his eyes, and the world seemed to have turned red. He could not see the male Shaman’s attack clearly, but he could feel a wave of killing intent coming swiftly at him.

At that moment of danger, Su Ming let out a low growl and retreated. As he did so, Han Mountain Bell instantly shrank and charged towards him. Once it arrived by his side, it fused into his body, and the instant the male Shaman swiped at him, Han Mountain Bell appeared around him and turned into his defence.

A loud bang rang out, along with the echoes of numerous bell chimes. Su Ming staggered backwards. There was a numbness within him that was brought by the bell chimes, but before he could retreat any further, the male Shaman closed in on him once again, then started throwing punch after punch on the bell.

”You’re just a Berserker Child who only knows how to dodge and be protected. You’re not fit to be a Berserker Warrior and be wilful on this battlefield,” the male Shaman said, and scorn appeared in his eyes. The continued barrage might not have externally injured Su Ming, but as the bell chimes echoed and his mind remained in its muddled state after his head was attacked, blood continued pouring out down his lips.

After hurling out a few punches, the male Shaman turned on his feet and kicked Han Mountain Bell. His kick looked like the tail of a ferocious beast sweeping out sideways. The moment his leg landed on Han Mountain Bell, a rumble that was far louder than any previous chimes rang out.

Su Ming coughed out a huge mouthful of blood. His body flew several thousands of feet backward and crashed onto the ground.

The instant he fell to the ground, Han Mountain Bell retreated into his body, causing Su Ming to no longer have any form of protection... except the black bracelet on his wrist.

The female slave given to him by his eldest senior brother had not appeared when Su Ming was fighting against the male Shaman. Once the female slave appeared and they worked together, then killing that male Shaman would not be too hard, but if she did that, then even if Su Ming managed to obtain his mask, it would not completely belong to him.

If he obtained the mask this way, then even if he became a Hunter, what awaited him once the female slave was gone would still be a weakness that was not refined through battle, unless, of course, he forever relied on someone.

The bracelet eldest senior brother had given him was also just to protect Su Ming when he was in danger. It was not something for him to rely on. Su Ming understood this perfectly well.

Blood flowed down from his mouth and he had a hard time trying to focus his gaze. In truth, his injuries were not that terrible since he protected by Han Mountain Bell. His physical body was just rather numb.

The true critical injury lay in his mind. The trembling of his spirit under that loud roar was something Su Ming could not control. He had never expected that he would be… so fragile.

‘Am I afraid…?’ Su Ming’s vision began to grow clouded. He could not see the male Shaman walking towards him, could not see the black bracelet on his wrist turning into wisps of smoke that would shoot out at anytime.

‘But what am I afraid of..?’ A melancholic look appeared on Su Ming’s face. This battle seemed to have made him grow up a lot more in a short period of time.

‘That’s right. I’m afraid of death.... I’m afraid that once I die, I won’t be able to find my way back home. I’m afraid that once I die, all these mysteries will disappear. I’m afraid that once I die… I won’t be able to open my eyes.’

Su Ming’s vision became even more clouded and his will began to disappear. Due to the strange power in that beast roar, his mind was forced to shut down. This was not something he wanted, but it was difficult for him to control it.

”What… should I… do..?” he mumbled. In his muddled state, all the sounds around him vanished. All he could see was the green fog tumbling about in the sky.

Gradually, that green fog disappeared and was replaced by the sight of a house lit up by candle flames in a peaceful tribe during a night filled with snow and wind.

Su Ming’s elder held a scroll of bamboo slips in his hands while he himself sat by the side with his chin propped on his hands.

”Not everything went smoothly for our ancestors from Dark Mountain Tribe. They went through many trials and tribulations before forming the gigantic Dark Mountain Tribe, but later on, Dark Mountain Tribe was split up… Let’s talk about Dark Mountain’s ancestor.

”He went through a lot of hardships and left behind many legends, which were all carved onto these bamboo slips by other people to serve as an encouragement for his descendents. You must remember all of these things. Now, let me test you, who did Dark Mountain’s ancestor fight against when he first came to Dark Mountain?”

”He ran into the Mountain Spirit Beast of the land. Our ancestor wanted to build a tribe here, but he was not allowed to, that’s why he fought against it.” With his hand propped on his hands, Su Ming yawned and answered sluggishly.

”Continue.” The elder smiled.

”What’s there to say? He just ran into a big creature and fought against it when he was halfway up the mountain. The beast seemed to be really powerful ‘cause when it exhaled, it could make people terrified of it. At a cliff halfway up the mountain, our ancestor had a tough battle against that creature. He won in the end.”

”Oh? And what did you learn from this legend?” the elder asked with a smile.

”When two adversaries meet at a narrow path and cannot back out from a fight, the courageous one will win. Elder, you told me this many times before. I get it. I get it, really.”

”Alright, then I’ll treat it like you already know it. Perhaps some time in the future, you’ll truly come to understand the meaning behind that sentence and understand just how our ancestor felt at that time…”

As Su Ming laid on the battlefield in the land of the Shamans beyond Sky Mist City, his muddled mind returned to the snowy night many years ago. The instant he heard the words spoken at that time, about the courageous one winning when running into his adversary, Su Ming trembled viciously.

His unfocused gaze instantly became filled with a sharp glint.

”When two adversaries meet at a narrow path and cannot back out from a fight... the courageous one will win,” he mumbled. His ears, which had originally been unable to hear the sounds of battle any longer, suddenly became clear.

About 1,000 feet away, the masked male Shaman was charging towards him in huge steps. The murderous aura surging forth from within him turned into an intense pressure, causing all the people who tried to stop him, be it Berserker or Shaman, to fall back and move away.

The bracelet on Su Ming’s wrist had already turned into wisps of smoke, ready to shoot out, but it was immediately pressed down by Su Ming’s left hand.

”I’ll do it myself!”

With a calm expression, Su Ming stood up from the ground!