Pursuit of the Truth

Sun Shan stared at Su Ming with a dumbfounded expression, his heart filled with shock. As a Hidden Dragon Sect disciple, he naturally knew about the eight seals on the stone doors. Once he saw Su Ming sitting cross-legged before the first stone door, looking as if he wanted to understand and gain an epiphany regarding the wind runic symbol, disbelief appeared on his face.

He also scoffed coldly in derision at Su Ming’s actions in his heart.

’This person might be powerful, but he’s overestimating himself. Trying to understanding Hidden Dragon Sect’s runic symbols? Ha! There are only a few who have managed to do it in the past. There’s no way he’ll be successful!’ Sun Shan might be thinking this way, but he did not show even a single one of his thoughts on his face.

Time trickled by. Light appeared in the sky. Rain also started falling when it was daybreak. It fell on the ground and washed away the blood in Thousand River Valley.

As thunder started roaring outside the cave, a flicker of light shone in Su Ming’s eyes as he continued staring at the first chamber. At some point in time he lifted his left hand swiftly, and with a flick of his index finger, he drew a runic symbol.

It was written in air, but it was the exact same as the seal on the door.

This was the wind seal, and due to Su Ming’s outstanding knowledge towards wind, he had come to understand this seal the fastest among all who had ever tried. At the instant the seal was written, a runic symbol gradually appeared on the pad of his left index finger.

Once that runic symbol appeared, a loud rumble shot into the air, and the first door opened slowly to reveal the chamber inside, but it was empty. There was nothing within the chamber.

Su Ming remained as calm as ever. There was not a hint of change on his expression. To him, it was no longer important whether there was any treasure in this chamber. He had already found the most valuable thing to him in this place.

The eight runic symbols!

Gu Yuan Hai would have never expected this to happen in the scheme he devised. He had wanted to use Su Ming to ward off his pursuers so that he would have time to escape and that he would not have to pay too much of a price for it. He only had to give up the few things he had in his storage bag and the jade slip to open the cave abode to the treasure trove in this place.

That jade slip could be considered as a valuable treasure usually, because it was the only token that could open this cave abode, and this place also contained the items Hidden Dragon Sect had accumulated for many years.

However, that jade slip was useless to him at that moment, because the cave abode was now empty, and all the things inside had been hidden away in some other place.

Yet he did not expect that the eight seals on the stone doors to the chambers would become Su Ming’s greatest reward during his trip to Hidden Dragon Sect!

The eight runic symbols were something inherent to Hidden Dragon Sect, and it was present within all of its branches. Their usual function was to be used as seals, but there were also rumors that if someone possessed high comprehensive abilities, they would be able to understand the changes in the world with their help.

Because the eight runic symbols were left behind by Hidden Dragon Sect’s ancestor.

Over countless of years, only a handful of people in Hidden Dragon Sect had been able to obtain a serendipitous event from the eight runic symbols. The others had not been able to sense anything, and their numbers were too great to be counted. That was why Gu Yuan Hai had instinctively overlooked it and had instead believed that the things he took away from the chambers were the real treasures.

If he knew about Su Ming’s change right at that moment, he would probably be shocked by it.

Su Ming only gave the empty chamber a flat look before he got up to move towards the second chamber. There he focused his full attention on the second runic symbol.

Su Ming, who had all his attention trained on his target, did not notice Sun Shan’s widened eyes and his expression of disbelief and shock.

The young man’s breathing had sped up some time ago. He had been watching Su Ming all this while, and when he saw the wind runic symbol appearing on the kid’s left index finger, the powerful mental blow left behind by what he saw made his heart race, causing him to be unable to believe in what he saw.

’He understood the wind runic symbol within four hours?! Even if the eight runic symbols here are mere copies and not the real ones from our sect in the land of Immortals, but to be able to understand them fully within four hours… This is…’ Sun Shan sucked in a sharp breath and only managed to recover after a long time had passed.

When he saw Su Ming not taking even a moment to rest and moving to understand the second stone chamber rain runic symbol, Sun Shan could not help but become nervous. This time, he was not anxious for his own safety, but for Su Ming’s actions, because they had completely overturned his beliefs.

Twelve hours later, when the sky outside turned dark once more, Su Ming lifted his right middle finger, and with a bright sparkle in his eyes, he drew out the rain runic symbol on the stone door. At the instant he did so, a runic symbol also appeared on the pad of his middle finger, just like it did for his index finger.

At the same time, the second chamber opened up with a rumble.

Su Ming did not even look inside. He got up and walked towards the third chamber and sat down cross-legged before it. As he looked at the thunder runic symbol, his eyes began shining brightly.

Sun Shan watched the wide-open second chamber with an awestruck face. His mind was completely blank, but before long, when the third chamber, too, opened up with a loud rumble, his gaze as he looked towards Su Ming became filled with terror once again.

He was still not afraid for his own survival, but of Su Ming’s frightening comprehensive abilities!

’What’s with his comprehension skills?! Just who is he?!’

Sun Shan felt that if he spread what he just saw and Hidden Dragon Sect learned about it, it would stir up his entire sect. In fact, perhaps even the other Immortal sects would be shocked by what they heard.

Two days later, with a slight hint of fatigue on his face, Su Ming drew the lightning runic symbol on his left little finger. One he printed it on his finger pad, the four chambers to his left were open.

Su Ming did not look at them. Instead, he lifted his left hand and cast his gaze on the four fingers on his left hand. Gradually, his lips curled up into a smile, and he had a strong feeling that his left hand had now obtained control over wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. He might only have a small amount of control over these elements, but that control was like a seed that was buried deep within him!

At that moment, Sun Shan was gradually growing numb towards all the shocking sights he saw during these past two days. As he looked at Su Ming, besides laughing wryly in his heart, he only felt miserable. It did not matter whether it was Su Ming’s appearance or his power, he had far surpassed him in both aspects. Even his comprehensive abilities were terrifying. His intelligence was nothing to be scoffed at either. There might just be a simple seal placed around Sun Shan, but the more he thought about it, the more he believed that there was something else lying in wait for him. No matter what it was, there were problems lurking all around for him.

One small mistake, and it would be over for him.

’Either this old monster has been walking down the path of cultivation for an unknown amount of years, or he’s a prodigy of some sect. Ah… I might be lacking compared to those prodigies, but the achievements I’ve gained up to this date due to my upbringing are not something they can compare!’ Only by thinking this way could Sun Shan feel a little comforted in his heart.

Su Ming did not immediately head off to understand the four runic symbols of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Instead, he chose to sit down and rest for some time. Once his fatigue disappeared, he opened his eyes and looked towards the first chamber to his right - the spring runic symbol!

”Spring means to have an abundance of life. It is the season where all manner of life wake up from their slumber…” Su Ming mumbled. He looked at the spring runic symbol, and this lasted for several days!

All that time lasted only for an instant to him, but he never managed to immerse himself completely within the symbol, and could not copy it down just as he did after understanding wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

During those days, the fatigue in Su Ming’s eyes appeared once again, and this time, it was stronger than before. He did not go on to try and think about what was happening in the world outside, but poured all his heart and soul into trying to understand the runic symbol and to copy it. Nothing about the world outside mattered to him at that moment, even if it meant that Thousand River Valley was by then occupied by Evil Spirit Sect once the Hidden Dragon Sect was completely annihilated. The valley thus then turned into the location for Evil Spirit Sect’s branch, which resulted in the place becoming a line of defense for the eastern front of Eastern Wastelands, and one of the ways to reach the continent’s center.

Numerous long arcs flew about in the sky. The members of Evil Spirit Sect were not the only ones occupying the valley, the people from the other Evil Sects also came to the place, causing Thousand River Valley to bustle with life.

Compared to the liveliness outside, Su Ming’s cave abode was filled with silence. His breathing was not loud, and even though his eyes were slightly bloodshot, he still continued trying to understand the spring runic symbol.

The difficulty in his efforts to try and understand the symbol this time made Sun Shan breath out a sigh of relief. At least this person was slightly more normal because of this. If he had truly come to understand all eight runic symbols, then this would have become a huge slap in the face of Hidden Dragon Sect.

’This old monster might have extraordinary comprehensive abilities, but our eight runic symbols aren’t that easy to understand. These ones might just be copies, but they still won’t be easy for him to grasp!’ Sun Shan cast Su Ming a glance, and he started laughing coldly in his heart again.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. Su Ming’s face was colored in fatigue, and there was even more red in his eyes as he stared fixedly at the spring runic symbol. Over the past few days, no matter how he tried to understand it, he never managed to immerse himself, as if the life force contained within it was out of his element!

’Yin Death Region…’ Su Ming closed his eyes for the first time since several days ago. In his mind, the memory of him rapidly aging and fading away as he stood on the ancient bronze sword as he left Yin Death Region surfaced.

Right after this scene was the memory of his blood turning into the aura of death on Fang Cang Lan’s finger before it disappeared.

’Spring is the revival of all life, and summer is when all lives reach the pinnacle of their being… Autumn is the decline of life and the beginning of death, and winter… is the cold state of death for all lives!’

Su Ming’s eyes flew open. He did not look at the spring runic symbol, but chose instead to look at the fourth runic symbol on the fourth door - the winter symbol that meant the lifeless state of all lives!

’I am in Yin Death Region, and that spirit from Nine Yin World once mentioned that I was dead, and I can also tell that from what I saw. I might not want to accept it, but there is a high chance that his words were true!

’Since I’m dead, then it’s natural that I can’t sense the life force of spring, but I can try and understand the lifeless state of winter, and I will reverse the flow of spring, summer, autumn, and winter to that of winter, autumn, summer, to spring, and with this order, I will walk down the path of revival from death!’

Su Ming’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light. He had been lost for many years, and still could not see the path before him clearly. He had only been walking forward in this path that he could not see with a single-minded thought, and only at this moment, within this cave abode in Hidden Dragon Sect, did he gain a chance and found the path from death to life!

This path overturned the world, which reversed the flow of the four seasons. This path was a path depicting life and death, and it would start from winter before leading him straight to spring!

If everything in the world started from winter where all manner of life slept deeply in the lifeless state, then when autumn arrived, the snow and ice would melt, and the aura of death would exchange places with the faint traces of life. When summer came about, the aura of death would disappear, and life would erupt forth, which would allow a person to use it to move towards spring, and during spring, he would be fully revived, and he would wake up from his sleep!

Su Ming’s eyes shone. At the moment he looked towards the winter runic symbol and came to understand the path of life and death in his heart, he lifted his right little finger and swiftly drew the winter runic symbol!

And with a bang, the door with the winter runic symbol opened!