Pursuit of the Truth

”Nine-Headed Dragon…” the ancient voice said in a low voice, its words reverberating in the air. ”I have always wanted to ask the Lord of all heavens why the earth must exist after the world has a sky…

”Why is it that when the world has fire, ice must appear..?

”I also wanted to ask the heavens why the Nine-Headed Dragons were born… even after there’s already us Candle Dragons! I spent my entire life searching, but I couldn’t find an answer…

”When ice and fire blend together, what appears is boiling water, frozen fire, and a presence that is completely different from ice and fire!

”When the sky and earth fuse together, what appears is a gray piece of sky, a broken void, and the power of one World!

”Then, what appears after the Candle Dragons and Nine-Headed Dragons fuse together..? What is it..? What is it..? What is it?!” At the end, the voice had practically slipped off the edge, and her roars resounded in the area.

The dragon snake roared at the same time as well. With a savage expression and madness, it charged towards the Nine-Headed Dragon. Su Ming’s Nine-Headed Dragon also roared, and without Su Ming even needing to control it, all six of the heads rushed towards the dragon snake.

Booming sounds reverberated in all directions. The Candle Dragon was already dead, and this dragon snake was put together with great difficulty by its remaining will. The difference between this candle dragon and its original body was like heaven and earth.

Yet similarly, Su Ming’s Nine Headed Dragon did not have a physical body, only a spirit one. It was Han Mountain Bell’s Vessel Spirit, and it had been asleep for many years. It also only had six awakened heads, that was why its strength was largely different from when it was alive.

As such, the Candle Dragon and Su Ming’s Nine-Headed Dragon were an equal match for each other. These two powerful beasts that considered each other as their mortal enemy started fighting against madly.

Su Ming stood there with a hint of confusion in his eyes for an instant. The source of his confusion were the words that the ancient voice had uttered just now. Those words echoed in his head, making him feel as if he had understood something, but when he thought about it carefully, he found that he had gained nothing from it.

‘The fusion between ice and fire… The fusion between sky and earth…’

This sort of feeling was just like the one from when he sat on the platform outside his cave abode on the ninth summit after speaking to Tian Xie Zi. Understanding those words had taken him several months, but in the end, he had obtained his own Creation through an epiphany!

He came to understand his very own method to clear his mind, and the exact same process of confusion followed by understanding had appeared when he drew that one line and executed his first Berserker Obliteration.

As of then, the confusion in Su Ming’s eyes grew stronger. The words from the ancient voice echoed incessantly in his head. Su Ming had a strong hunch that if he understood those words completely, then… he would hold control over an unimaginable power!

However, at that moment, he could only bite down on his tongue and snap himself out of it. This epiphany might be precious, but the timing was absolutely not suitable. If he continued mulling over it, then he would die. He could not think of anything else that would come out of it.

That was why even though he felt that it was a pity, Su Ming had to force himself to instantly snap awake before he completely immersed himself in those words. As he regained his senses, a shocking boom traveled into his ears. The dragon snake and Nine-Headed Dragon were fighting against each other in midair, and the fight between these two enemies had reached its most intense state.

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and he swiftly turned into a long arc. When he took a step forward, he circled around the fighting pair to charge straight towards the giant mass of flesh floating in midair.

The beautiful woman’s face in that mass of flesh did not change. Fine white threads of mist were still continuously seeping out of the small snake before her and being absorbed by the mark at the center of the woman’s brows.

Killing intent flashed in Su Ming’s eyes. He took a step forward, and the instant he closed in on that mass of flesh, it started squirming viciously. At the same time, that ancient voice traveled forth gently.

”I will grant you a long life. I will let you be the same as me, that even when the sky and earth crumbles, you will not be destroyed, that even when the heavens fall to ruin, you will not die… Do you want that?

”I will grant you endless power. I will let your body be almost the same as mine. I can let you break the rules of the world and step into the endless emptiness so that you can see a bigger world and see the stars in the sky… Do you want that?

”I can even grant eternity for your soul so that you can be the brightest star under heaven. I can let all those who see you with their eyes bow down and worship you… Do you want that..?

”I can grant you control over the power of one World. I can let you become a powerful warrior so you will be able to do whatever it is you want… Do you want that?

”I can grant you the power to tear through all mysteries. I can let you understand what is up ahead, above the blue sky. I can let you see what is under the ground. I can let you hold control over your own life with your own hands, and no one will be able to control it… Do you want that?!” When that ancient voice spoke, Su Ming’s footsteps froze for a moment when he heard those words.

”You must have dreams, desires. I can help you fulfill all your wishes and let you obtain the power to fulfill those dreams and desires… You can find your dreams. You can tear away the sky that covers your eyes. You can control your own fate. You can… crush all your enemies before you...

”I can do it. Trust me. I can really do it. I am the Candle Dragon. I am the strongest of all Candle Dragons… When I was alive, I could make darkness fall on one hundred worlds in an instant. I had devoured more than one hundred million souls…

”As long as I wake up, as long as I am resurrected, I can swear on my race’s oath, I will definitely do all that I have just said… As long as… you don’t interrupt my race’s ritual… As long as you back down now and not come closer.

”If you agree to this, then I will fulfill my oath!”

A boom went off in Su Ming’s head. His breathing quickened as he stared fixedly at the woman’s face. The sincerity in her words could not be doubted.

He did not care for eternal life, neither did he care about having an everlasting spirit. But he did care about what lay above the blue sky. He cared about having control over his own fate. He cared about tearing apart the mist that covered his eyes. He cared about searching for Dark Mountain, cared about understanding the true source behind Destiny!

All of these were the things he desired, were things he yearned for so greatly that he almost dreamed about them in his sleep.

”If you don’t believe me, then I can acknowledge you as my master, but the process is separated into two parts. The first part is just the initial state. If we go according to what we promised, then once I am resurrected, we can complete the second step… I will definitely fulfill all that I have promised. You will only lose a snake that is only an infant, and one that doesn’t have a pure bloodline to boot, but in its place will be me!”

Su Ming fell silent, and after a long while, he shook his head.

”I don’t trust you!” The instant he said those words, he charged towards the woman’s head in that mass of flesh.

”Why don’t you trust me? All that I have said is the truth. As long as I am resurrected, I will definitely do it. You are not the first person to whom I have made an oath. There was someone before you who received my oath. I don’t remember his name, but the feeling of his blood is similar to yours!

”He called himself… the third God of Berserkers!”

Right at that moment, within the endless fog surrounding the Candle Dragon’s gigantic carcass, the old man in black robes had already used his final Destiny Talisman as he sat in that fog. The scenes flashing in his eyes were the things that were happening to Su Ming right at that moment.

With a special method, this old man in black robes had seen everything that happened after Su Ming entered the Candle Dragon’s body.

A glint appeared in his eyes, and a strange smile suddenly formed on his lips.

‘The remaining will of the Candle Dragon… might be strong, but it now has to devour its descendant and face Destiny… perhaps I can use it.’ The old man’s smile grew brighter.

‘Destiny has that crimson dragon and the old Spirit of Nine Yin. It’s difficult for me to restore order and let him continue walking down his predestined path… Only when he is in the Candle Dragon’s body can I avoid the crimson dragon. But I, too, can’t enter its body. I can only use the Destiny Talisman to see him…’ The old man licked his lips, and Su Ming’s inverted figure in his pupils twisted.

‘But if I offer my power to the Destiny Talisman, then I can cast some divine abilities. These divine abilities might not be able to fulfill my initial plans to make Destiny fall asleep once again, but… I can use them to stir up the Candle Dragon’s will and have it open up the Undying and Imperishable World so that it will turn into a cage to trap Destiny!

‘He will be forcefully made to stay there, and I will achieve the same result as in my initial plan. I will also have enough time to wait for master’s second projection!

‘If everything goes according to plan, then I will have obtained a huge achievement!’

As the old man in black robes smiled, he lifted his right hand and pointed at the green jade slip at the center of his brows. It vibrated, and a black ball of thread seeped out from its edges. Those black threads were spreading quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they covered his entire face. There were especially a lot of those black threads by the corners of his eyes. They even seeped into the old man’s eyes as they continued stretching outwards.

They replaced the blood capillaries in his eyes, and when they turned into black threads, they covered his pupils. Su Ming’s inverted figure in them also became much fainter. At the same time, the green hue on the jade slip rapidly faded away and became dull. Once it turned black, it exploded with a bang. But the instant it was reduced to powder, the old man in black robes opened his mouth and let out a puff of air.

Once that breath escaped his mouth, it turned into black fog and disappeared into nothingness.

Over at Su Ming’s side, the instant he heard the Candle Dragon mentioning the third God of Berserkers, his heart was shaken, but still, he did not stop. He charged deep into the mass of flesh, clenched his right fist and had the seven Berserker Bones in his body burst forth with incredibly power. Right then, just as he was about to ram his fist into the woman’s head that was absorbing those white threads from the small snake’s body—

Right at that moment, a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere at the edge of that giant mass of flesh, at a spot where Su Ming could not see. A layer of black fog appeared along with that wind and drifted lightly into the giant mass of flesh, disappearing into it. All of this happened in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, it ended.