Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming swept his gaze across the area. The tunnel was dark. Its walls were not made of stone, but of bronze. Runic symbol after runic symbol could be found shining at a set distance from each other.

The shining symbols were the only source of light in the place.

The hundreds of Fated Kin all remained in silence. Some hints of sorrow could be found on their faces. They had lived together for fifteen years without any future ahead of them, and while they now had hope of leaving this place, nine of theirs had now been eternally separated from them.

Perhaps it would be death that awaited those nine tribesmen, but perhaps not. Yet no matter what, they would still never meet again.

A flicker of light appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and he stopped observing his surroundings. He took a step forward to walk in the lead. As he dashed forward, the Fated Kin behind him followed suit.

No one spoke all along the way, and silence filled the air. Some of the Fated Kin would occasionally lift their heads and their gazes would fall on Su Ming’s back. For some unknown reason, their hearts gradually calmed down. Su Ming had already brought them two miracles.

The first was when they had fallen into despair when facing the Sacred Bats that were slaughtering their men, and the second had happened not long after. They had originally thought that they would be facing a future of never leaving this place after fifteen years of being trapped here, but he told them to prepare to leave.

And they believed that there would be a third miracle. This third miracle would be that the respected senior Mo they worshiped would return them to South Morning!

This was not a thought of only one or two Fated Kin, but all of them harbored the same thoughts as they traveled through the tunnel. It could be said that Su Ming was their hope, and this feeling only became stronger after they witnessed the things that had happened in the World of Nine Yin.

Su Ming moved in front and spread his divine sense outwards, but he could not send it out too far. The walls around him were incredibly averse to his divine sense, and they were stopping it from spreading out.

As he moved forward, Su Ming suddenly came to a halt not too far into the tunnel. They had arrived at a fork, and there were three paths ahead of them, causing people to be unable to tell just which way led to the Relocation Rune.

Once Su Ming stopped, the other Fated Kin also paused in their footsteps. They looked around them in silence, and Nan Gong Hen took a few steps forward to stand beside Su Ming. Once he cast a look around, he looked towards Su Ming. He was not the only one who did so. All the Fated Kin in the area had directed their gazes towards Su Ming.

Su Ming frowned. The old Spirit of Nine Yin had not mentioned that there would be a fork here. He knew that he could not choose the wrong path from among the three paths before him. Once he made the choice, he would be losing on precious time.

Almost the moment Su Ming and the others arrived at the fork and looked at the three paths, the entire tunnel suddenly trembled and shook viciously, causing the people there to almost be unable to stand properly.

Muffled booming sounds traveled forth from outside, as if the tunnel was about to collapse. The runic symbols around them started flashing more frequently, and it caused the people to begin feeling agitated and annoyed once they stayed here for a long period of time.

Su Ming took a few steps forward. He did not immediately make a decision under the gazes of the Fated Kin, but chose instead to sit down cross-legged on the floor. He closed his eyes and spread his divine sense swiftly outward, splitting them into three wisps and sending them charging down those three paths swiftly.

As his divine sense spread down, it was continuously weakened as it continued running into the force repelling it tin the place. Before each part of his divine sense had even spread down one thousand feet into those tunnels, only three strands were left. And when even these looked as if they were about to disappear completely, Su Ming’s Nascent Divinity left his body abruptly and fused with his divine sense.

By doing so, his divine sense instantly increased exponentially and continued spreading downwards. As it did so, he discovered that his divine sense in the tunnel right before him had strangely disappeared without a trace, and it vanished so abruptly that he had not even managed to notice it in time.

Right at the instant that divine sense that was exploring the path ahead disappeared, Su Ming saw a huge Relocation Rune on the path to his left. That Rune was coming into operation slowly, looking as if it was about to be activated at any moment!

Su Ming’s eyes flew open swiftly. He did not have time to think about why his divine sense had disappeared in the path before him. Just as he was about to retrieve the divine sense that had traveled down the path to his right, his body suddenly lurched forward and he turned his head swiftly to look at the path to his right.

His pupils shrank, and a brilliant light appeared in his eyes. All of this was because he had seen a gigantic space with his divine sense when it had traveled ten thousand feet into the path to his right!

In that space were huge bubbles. Most of those bubbles had already burst, but they did not disappear. Some of them had in fact not a single hint of damage on them, and were kept in perfect condition!

Su Ming’s breathing quickened, and he retrieved his divine sense with gritted teeth, no longer looking at the tunnel to his right. Instead, he stood up and brought all the Fated Kin following him to charge towards the tunnel to his left, where he had discovered the Rune.

As the crowd moved down the path at high speed, more tremors shook the area. Booming sounds traveled forth, and the entire tunnel started trembling furiously. Cracks had even appeared on the ground, and powerful light shot forth, making all of them think that the ground in the tunnel was about to collapse at any moment.

As the runic symbols on the walls sparkled, they lit up at the same time. Light illuminated the area, causing the entire tunnel to be lit up as bright as day at that moment.

As the crowd charged forth, an empty space soon appeared before them in the tunnel ahead. There were also cracks on that empty expanse of land, but at the same time, there was also a huge Rune that had come into operation with loud rumbling sounds on the ground.

That Rune was letting off a feeling that it was used for relocation. At that moment, it had already been fully activated, and the moment they stepped in, they would be instantly relocated away from this place.

When everyone saw this Rune and excitement appeared on their faces, suddenly, a vicious tremor shook the tunnel once again. The tunnel that was originally lying down horizontally seemed to have abruptly shot up straight, causing all the Fated Kin to fall back against their will, and they even began to feel as if they were falling.

”A crisis is looming above our heads! Bring forth all of your power and step into the Rune! It doesn’t matter where we are relocated. If we arrive in the Land of South Morning but are separated, remember one thing, we are Fated Kin!

”We are no longer Shamans! We will gather in South Morning’s Sky River Mountain. If Sky River Mountain is no longer there, I will still wait around the area for all of you!

”Let us Fated Kin shout our names in the Land of South Morning! Remember this, Sky River Mountain! Remember this, the person we worship is respected senior Mo!” Nan Gong Hen shouted at the top of his voice. It reverberated in the air and shot into the ears of all the Fated Kin, turning into determination and resolution in their eyes.

”Everyone, let us… meet in South Morning!” Su Ming’s body floated up, and he wrapped his fist in his palm towards the Fated Kin in the now vertical tunnel.

”We Fated Kin will forever worship you, respected senior Mo! We… will meet in South Morning!” Their voices reverberated in the air, and one by one, they charged forward towards the Relocation Rune. Once they stepped inside, they instantly vanished.

The tunnel trembled even more viciously, and one of the spots in the distance had even started showing signs of collapse. The Fated Kin charged forward, and almost every single one of them would stop for a moment as they went past Su Ming. They would then call out to him as respected senior Mo, wrap their fists in their palms to salute him, and only then step into the Rune.

The voices calling him by his title showed their resolution. Perhaps this was no longer a title to them, but had truly become a symbol in their hearts. It was also a show of their disappointment towards the Shamans after fifteen years of waiting without any results.

Once they referred to Su Ming as ‘respected senior Mo’, all of this would turn into eternity and into the fiery ardor of the Fated Kin. The shouts of meeting up in South Morning were not a mere casual remark, but were shouts coming straight from the depths of their hearts.

After some time, when all of the Fated Kin besides Nan Gong Hen had bade their farewells and disappeared into the Rune, he turned his gaze towards Su Ming. He silently wrapped his fist in his palm towards him, then looked as if he wanted to say something, but chose to not do so in the end. Instead, he turned around and walked into the Relocation Rune. As the Rune flashed and his body was about to disappear, he suddenly turned to look at Su Ming.

”The words of the Fated Kin are not just a casual remark, and neither are my words thrown out offhandedly. Even if the world outside has experienced drastic changes, we will never forget the kindness you’ve bestowed upon us, respected senior Mo! We will worship you, and so will our children, and our children’s children. We will worship you for all eternity!” Nan Gong Hen’s words echoed in the air, and his body disappeared inside the Rune.

The Rune was still in operation. Su Ming stood in the tunnel. The tremors around him grew more intense. He looked at the Rune, and suddenly turned around. He did not step into the Rune, but instead walked back on the path he took to come to this place.

If he left just like this, he would be leaving with regrets. If he left just like this, he would have far too many unanswered questions!

The old Spirit of Nine Yin once mentioned that if Su Ming was brave enough and could last till the end, then at the risk of never being able to leave this place, he would be able to see the world as it truly was!

Su Ming had kept those words in mind, and he wanted to see it!

Also, besides the shock that had come when he saw the things in the right path, for some unknown reason, he had also felt a sense of familiarity from it…

The sense of familiarity was very vague. If he paid attention and tried searching for it, it would be difficult for him to find it. He would only have that sense of déjà vu when he was not paying any sort of attention to it.

This sort of feeling had appeared for an instant when he had used his divine sense to investigate the tunnel to his right.

He did not know what this sort of feeling was, neither did he know whether there were other people in the world who would have this sense of déjà vu when they arrived in a place by pure coincidence, or when they saw something by pure coincidence, or after they did something by pure coincidence.

Su Ming charged forth and went through the tunnel in the span of a breath. He shot past several stretches of roads that had collapsed and arrived at the fork. Then, without hesitating, he charged towards the tunnel to his right.

At that moment, the tunnel to the right had also stood up vertically. As if he was running up a path on a stone pillar, Su Ming shot upwards. The runic symbols on the path were shining brightly and were no longer flickering. More cracks appeared all around him, and strong rays of light shone through those cracks.

At the end of this tunnel was the edge of the empty expanse of land Su Ming had discovered previously with his divine sense. More cracks tore through the walls, and one of them was even as large as a fist.

The instant Su Ming stepped into the empty expanse of land, he first swept his gaze across that crack, and he saw… a dense layer of fog that was shining with brilliant light!

There were also waves of cold air gushing out of that crack along with that ray of strong light.

The tunnel shuddered violently once again when he looked towards it. Piercing whistles came from the area outside, and as the tunnel shook, Su Ming had the impression as if the bronze sky where the tunnel was and where he stood within was now spinning rapidly.

His breathing froze and he stepped into the empty expanse of land. Then, he saw all that his divine sense had seen previously!