Pursuit of the Truth

The Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe was now ashen pale. He stared at the sky with a blank look and a bittersweet smile appeared on his lips. He knew that he would definitely die, and he could not blame anyone for this. If it was not because of his own greed over the Shaman Crystals that caused him to try and destroy White Bull Tribe, he would have not brought such a disaster on his own head.

By his side, most of his tribe members who had offered up their hearts had died. The remaining few old people were by the Patriarch’s side, and their faces were ashen, their presences weak.

”Patriarch, please cast the Spell quick. We’re begging you. Don’t stall anymore. We have to cast the Spell quick, according to the Spell our ancestors left for us. You won’t die…” There was a middle-aged man kneeling before the Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe at the moment, and that man was speaking anxiously.

”I have to die. If I don’t die, then their grudges won’t disappear… If I can buy the tribe’s peace with my death, then there is at least value in my death!

”This is my fault… I shouldn’t have been greedy for the Shaman Crystals… Ha…” the Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe said in a pained voiced. He had lived for a long time and was the Patriarch of a tribe, so he was definitely not a stupid person. He knew perfectly well that this time he had to die!

”Patriarch!” Sorrow filled the middle-aged man and the other tribe members’ faces.

”Enough, this is already decided! Once I die, take out the three sacred feathers of our tribe and offer it to the man… Use them in hopes for exchanging for the tribe’s safety… and then… take our people away. We will have to migrate before the date.

”From now on, you are the Patriarch of your tribe…” Blood poured down from the Patriarch’s lips as he looked at the middle-aged man kneeling before him.

Grief was clear on the man’s face. He did not speak.

”Remember this. Do not think about taking revenge…” The Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe gave a broken smile and he fell to the side, dead.

He could originally live, but he could not. He could have not died, but for the tribe, he had to die.

As he died, the old men who had lost their hearts also breathed their last. Most of the powerful Shamans in Black Crane Tribe were gone.

When Su Ming’s Nascent Soul returned, he saw the Patriarch’s corpse and the members of Black Crane Tribe kneeling down on the ground under the lead of a middle-aged man once they saw him.

With a calm expression, Su Ming charged towards the deep pit in the ground. After the burning of an incense stick, his clone slowly flew up from the pit.

”Sir, please forgive us… We are willing to offer you our tribe’s sacred items…” Once Su Ming flew out, with sorrow on his face, the middle-aged man from Black Crane Tribe lifted his arms high in the air. There was a stone plate in his hands, and there were three black feathers on it.

There were waves of pressure spreading from those three feathers. Yet compared to the feather Su Ming obtained previously, they were insignificant.

Su Ming swept his gaze past the three feathers coldly. He did not look at the middle-aged man but towards the dead Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe.

He remembered that the old man had not died when his heart was eaten by the small crane. Clearly, there was some sort of secret in Black Crane Tribe’s offering that allowed the people who made sacrifices to continue living.

However, the old man still died… Su Ming closed his eyes. When he reopened them a moment later, understanding appeared in his eyes.

”He paid the price, so I’ll let it go!” Su Ming averted his gaze and looked towards the normal tribe members in the tribe. Then he walked towards the air and turned into a long arc that gradually disappeared into the horizon.

He did not take the three feathers. Those things were useless to him, but to a small tribe that lost most of their powerful warriors, the use of those feathers was great.

Su Ming was not the type to kill everyone and spare no one. His grudge had disappeared when the Patriarch of Black Crane Tribe and the other powerful warriors died.

Su Ming sat in his cave abode in the mountain range and held the Wind Crystal of Inheritance in his hands. There was a long gash on his arm. The blood there had dried up, and there was a variety of emotions on his face.

If anyone took a closer look, then they could see that the size of the Wind Crystal of Inheritance had shrank slightly!

”When Madam Ji brought out the red ring that day, she took it out from a bone. With that method, she managed to use the ring…

”Else, she wouldn’t have had to suffer so much and could have just put it on her finger,” Su Ming mumbled under his breath.

”I tried putting this thing in the gash on my arm earlier, and when I circulated my Qi, I managed to absorb some of it… but I only managed to absorb a little of it. It wasn’t particularly useful…” Su Ming held the Wind Crystal of Inheritance in his hands in a tight grip, then gritted his teeth.

‘Oh well, I’ll try it with my original idea, but I won’t do it here. We’re at room temperature here. If I use this method, I’ll lose too much blood.’ Su Ming stood up and took a deep breath before he lifted his head to look at the Fire Ape crouching and leaning against a wall. His lips curled up in a smile.

The Fire Ape also looked at Su Ming and bared its teeth as if it was smiling at him. It looked rather excited.

He walked up and patted the Fire Ape’s head, then walked out of his cave abode.

Once he walked out, the small snake on the Poison Corpse’s head immediately looked towards him.

Su Ming fell into a moment of pensive silence, then gave up on bringing the Poison Corpse on his journey. He sent out a thought and comforted the small snake before walking out of the mountain range towards the frozen Gate to the Void floating in the air.

Standing next to the Gate to the Void, Su Ming closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for something. After a moment, ripples appeared in the sky, and his clone appeared to stand behind him.

Su Ming opened his eyes and lifted his right hand to press against the frozen Gate to the Void. Immediately, the layer of ice shattered slightly. Once a crack showed up, Su Ming moved inside. His clone followed behind him, and with a flash, he disappeared along with Su Ming and the Gate to the Void.

The deep parts of the black seawater and the endless glacier were still as dark as ever. There were numerous living beings sealed in the glacier, keeping their former appearances of when they were alive. They looked as if they were struggling.

The silence around the area seemed to have been there for countless amount of years. The only things that would appear in that black seawater were the occasional creatures of the sea swimming past the area.

In an ice mountain above the glacier was a frozen gate. At that moment, as that gate shone with a dark light, two figures appeared. Naturally, it was Su Ming and his clone!

Once they appeared, they did not move, and it was clear that they were also frozen. It would not be until a few days later when the ice cracked and shattered that Su Ming and his clone would be able to move about in that ice mountain.

The freezing air chilled Su Ming’s bones, and he felt as if his flesh and blood were about to freeze. The circulation of his blood had become a lot slower. His clone stood by the side. With those black beetles around,coupled with the fact that this puppet was originally dead to begin with, it was only natural that he did not fear the cold. As his aura of death fused with the freezing air, he could move around with much more nimbleness and ease compared to Su Ming.

His eyes shone brilliantly, and he was prepared to protect his host.

Su Ming sat down on the ice in the area where he could move around with no problems. He closed his eyes and waited for a few hours. When his body was almost frozen, he opened his eyes, and as he lifted his right hand, the Wind Crystal of Inheritance appeared.

At the same time, his clone opened his mouth and spat out a ray of green light that turned into a small sword. That sword charged towards Su Ming under the control of his Nascent Soul.

With a bang, the small sword stabbed Su Ming’s back. The frozen body caused Su Ming to be numb towards the pain and to be at ease with it. He only frowned slightly but did not make a sound.

The small sword stabbed into his back and started cutting apart his flesh downwards, revealing a small part of his spine inside!

Blood spilled out and seeped into the ice. Due to the freezing air, there was not much blood. However, even if the body was frozen, the pain still made Su Ming’s breathing quicken.

There were four vertebrae on Su Ming’s spine that were shining with a blue light. Those were his Berserker Bones. As the small sword stabbed into his flesh, a glint appeared in the clone’s eyes. He lifted his right hand, and the Wind Crystal of Inheritance in Su Ming’s hand floated and circled above his head once before charging straight to his back, plunging itself deep into the opened wound. Once it touched the fifth vertebrae on Su Ming’s spine, the crystal stuck itself closely there.

Su Ming’s face was pale. His entire body might be frozen, but there was still sweat beading on his forehead. However, there was determination on his face. His right hand was trembling when he lifted it up. He seized at the air, and immediately, half of the Lightning Crystal of Inheritance appeared in his hand.

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth. Immediately, that Lightning Crystal of Inheritance shone and flew up to plunge into the wound on his back, right at his sixth vertebrae. When Su Ming forced both of the Crystals of Inheritance into his body as if he was planting them in himself, he closed his eyes and dispersed the power he was using to resist the cold. His body was slowly covered by ice, and eventually, his entire body froze up, and he turned into an ice statue.

Su Ming’s clone sat by the side and observed the surroundings vigilantly, protecting his host.

Time trickled by. Su Ming had no idea how long he would need to complete this slightly insane action of his. In fact, if he did not have his clone by his side, it would be difficult for him to do this. The slightest lapse of attention when he was doing this would perhaps make him freeze to death in his weakness.

Due to his Nascent Soul, his clone could sense his host’s condition. Once in a while, he would send a warm wave of power into Su Ming’s body, causing him to remain alive while encased in ice. He would be in a state of life and death, which would cause the blood on his back to slowly freeze up so that he could gradually absorb the Crystals’ power and gain an epiphany towards them.

At that moment, Su Ming’s back looked horrifying. His spine was partially revealed and his flesh was ripped apart. There was a small amount of blood flowing out, but his flesh and blood were slowly growing back and recovering.

However, even if he was recovering, the protruding Wind and Lightning Crystals of Inheritance still looked horrifying.

Yet as time passed by and as the wounds slowly recovered, the Wind Crystal of Inheritance from the two protruding crystals gradually shrank…

Su Ming still had his eyes closed. As pain showed on his face, confusion would sometimes show as well, and occasionally, he would look like he was thinking hard about something, and at other times, he would look delighted…

The Wind Crystal of Inheritance became smaller… right until one day sometime in the future, the protruding Wind Crystal of Inheritance had shrank by a large half. The remaining part might still be protruding from Su Ming’s back, but if no one took a closer look, it would be difficult for them to notice it.

On this day, in Su Ming’s mind, a storm stirred up… and it was the storm of inheritance!