Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming did not harbor a deep grudge against Shamans’ Great Patriarch.

It did not matter whether it was his previous life or his current life, there was no hate to be spoken about between them. The only thing even remotely important that happened between them was their meeting during the battle between the Shamans and Berserkers.

Su Ming had not expected this battle to end this way, but there was also no reason why he should not let it end this way.

It was especially so since he saw a similar presence to his own within the Great Patriarch. It was the struggle of trying to move from death to life. His was the Life of Nine Deaths, but trying to gain success in this path and trying to fuse with a Life that was given by someone else was very difficult.

Su Ming left God of Shamans Island with all the Shaman Source Blood in hand. When he left, the Great Patriarch personally escorted him a thousand lis away. They bade farewell by wrapping their fists in their palms towards each other. From then on, the boy would still be cultivating his Life of Nine Lives… but only nine lives. If he died during his ninth resurrection, then there would no longer be any possibility of him waking up.

This was because he had destroyed his physical body. This action may seem foolish, but only Su Ming and the boy understood that if he did not destroy it, there would be no possibility for him to reach the breakthrough and step onto a new path! If he did not have the desire to live, then how would he thirst for life? If he did not thirst for life, then how could he go against heaven?!

”I will remember your kindness in my heart. If you ever have a need of me… then I will surely repay you,” the boy said seriously as he looked at Su Ming.

He knew that this enlightenment he had gained was a fortuitous event. This enlightenment had also let him understand that the path he took previously had been wrong, and he would need to change it.

Su Ming looked at the Shamans’ Great Patriarch. After a moment of pensive silence, he said slowly, ”I won’t kill you because the paths we take for Life Cultivation are similar. I want to see whether you can complete the metamorphosis from death to life… but if my eldest senior brother wants to kill you because of what happened between the both of you, I will attack.”

The boy smiled faintly.

”The descendants of Nine Li don’t pass down their inheritance to the direct line of descent, but instead, all those who possess the blood of Nine Li have the possibility of awakening. I have killed many Nine Li Lords who had yet to grow up, but I have not harmed even a single family member of your eldest senior brother’s family. Though I… will admit to my act of pursuing his life in the past.

”However, my physical body has disintegrated, and there is no longer any Great Patriarch among the Shamans, and neither will there be any in the future. There will only be me, a person who is searching for my path of Life. All grudges have already disappeared along with my physical body.

”If he comes for my life… I will give it to him.” The boy smiled and lifted his head to look at the sky. There was an understanding towards life and death on his face.

”I will head off to the Alliance of the Western Region and the Northern Province soon with the Berserkers in Eastern Wasteland to kill all the Immortals there. There should also be Shamans in those two continents.” Su Ming looked at the boy.

”I will be willing to go with you at that time.” The boy was silent for a moment after, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed towards Su Ming once again.

Su Ming did not say anything more. He turned around and headed into the distance. The black dog that was the bald crane followed behind him. There was also the yellow mutt by its side. As for Yu Xuan, she was sitting on that mutt with a grin on her face. She had obtained quite a lot of things from her trip to the Shamans’ island.

As her spirits were lifted, she seized the mutt’s fur, making the mutt to take a few quick dashes forward with a long face. When they caught up to Su Ming, Yu Xuan looked at him with a face full of expectation.

”Little dummy Su, where are we going now?”

Su Ming walked in midair with a calm expression on his face. His gaze fell far into the distance. He had no intention of immediately returning to the ninth summit. After all, even if he had this Shaman Source Blood, his second senior brother won’t have full confidence to make their eldest senior brother recover.

’A Shaman Dragon…’

Su Ming’s footsteps came to a halt. He turned his head to look in another direction. That place was where Western Sea Clan’s island was located. As of then, besides Western Sea Island, Su Ming had gone to all the three islands in South Morning.

When Su Ming’s gaze fell on Western Sea Island, Yu Xuan’s grin instantly grew brighter. She blinked, and eagerness grew within her while she thought about things she could reap from Western Sea Island. She should be able to get a lot of things from that place.

The things she gained were naturally treated as her interest from Su Ming. She also thought that this sort of life was good. Su Ming could go forward and intimidate these people, and she could be right behind him, reaping all the rewards.

”Su Ming, when you go to the Immortal sects in the other continents, I can go with you and boost your morale,” Yu Xuan said with a grin. Her petite little face was full of excitement.

”You’ve extorted quite a lot of things from God of Shamans Island,” Su Ming remarked flatly.

Yu Xuan immediately widened her eyes, and the excited look within them disappeared without a trace. It was replaced by a look of caution.

”What do you want? I didn’t take too many things from them. I only took a small bit. If you don’t believe me, go ask that little baldy,” Yu Xuan immediately said.

”The other Immortal sects are right there. You can go on ahead and snatch them yourself. With your level of cultivation, it shouldn’t be hard,” Su Ming said, looking at Yu Xuan.

”I’m a kind person. How could I do something like snatching other people’s things? There’s too much trouble in that. One careless move, and someone will know about it. Besides, I don’t have any grudges against them, there’s no reason for me to snatch their things. But it’s not the same when I’m following you,” Yu Xuan stated.

”I want a ninth of all the things you extorted,” Su Ming said calmly.

”A ninth… Then why didn’t you go snatch those things yourself?!” Yu Xuan instantly became nettled and stood up on the mutt’s body without caring for her image. Her expression changed.

”I was originally going to snatch them, anyway.” Su Ming looked at Yu Xuan, refusing to back down a single inch.

”I’ll give you one tenth, one tenth at most. You have to know that these things are my blood, sweat, and tears, and also my capitalized costs, and also… Well, anyway, I’m only giving you a tenth of it,” Yu Xuan said with a huff, her eyes wide.

”If you weren’t around, I would have obtained everything.”

”I know how to perform Soulseek. I can find the places they hide their treasures, and it’ll save you a lot of trouble.”

”I don’t need Soulseek. I’m going to destroy their sects.”

”I-I can help you open the Runes of their mountain gates, so the Berserkers won’t have to suffer so many deaths,” Yu Xuan immediately said.

Su Ming fell into a moment of pensive silence. While he was thinking, a thought struck Yu Xuan, and the mutt beneath her immediately turned into a long arc and flew into the distance with her.

”Su Ming, you must be tired. Why don’t you let me handle Western Sea Island? It’s just a Shaman Dragon, right? I’ll get it for you.” As Yu Xuan left into the distance, her voice traveled clearly through the air. Judging by the looks of it, she was heading to Western Sea Clan’s island by herself.

Su Ming kept his frown for a minute more, then a faint smile curled up on his lips. He started walking at a moderate pace towards Western Sea Island.

The black dog that was the bald crane had an expression as if it had just gained an epiphany. It looked at Su Ming, then at Yu Xuan in the distance, and then bared its teeth in a smile.

’Looks like this Su Ming is also a shrewd person. I’ll have to be careful next time.’ The bald crane suddenly found itself missing Qian Chen and thought that he was great, because he was stupid and it could just bully him how it liked.

Yu Xuan traveled incredibly quickly. When Su Ming reached Western Sea Island, loud booming sounds reached his ears, and dragon roars reverberated in the air.

The Rune of Western Sea Island started trembling and distorting. Su Ming took a step forward and phased through the Rune, entering Western Sea Island.

When he looked across the island, he found that this place was not that different compared to Freezing Sky Clan’s island. The ground was filled with mountains and forests, and in the distance… was a brownish yellow… giant dog of several tens of thousands of feet roaring from midair. As it roared, violent gusts of wind wreaked havoc on the ground, and the waves that spread out from its mouth caused all the mountains to crumble and earth to shatter wherever they went.

Yu Xuan was standing at the top of the big yellow dog’s head. She used some sort of unknown divine ability to make all the storage bags, spirit stones, and all sorts of Enchanted Treasures to move towards her as if they were being absorbed. They were charging towards her, and they were all swiftly put away, as if Yu Xuan was afraid that Su Ming would come over and snatch her things is she was too slow.

There were several dozens of Western Sea Clan Elders right before the big yellow dog, but they were all being pushed back against.

Su Ming stopped at one of the mountain ranges. He sat down and watched the things happening before his eyes. He did not do anything, but as he swept his gaze across the land, he sent his Atman outwards, covering the entire Western Sea Island. After a moment, he looked towards the northern side. That place was a forest, but within the depths of it was a swamp. The water there was clear, and there was a wooden house near it.

Su Ming stood up. He did not bother with Yu Xuan extorting these people or the mutt flaunting its prowess. With one move, he charged towards the forest located to the north. The bald crane hesitated for a moment, slowing down a little, then turned around and charged towards the ground. It wanted to see whether it could reap some benefits while everything was in chaos.

Su Ming walked into the forest in the north. While listening to the mutt’s roars, he arrived outside the swamp and the wooden house in the depths of the forest.

When he got closer, the volume of the noise outside seemed to have been reduced by a large margin. There was a sense of tranquility in the air.

”An old friend has come, but I cannot serve him well.” When Su Ming stepped into this place, a hoarse and old voice came from within the wooden house, along with a white-haired old man dressed in a sackcloth.

He walked out slowly from the wooden house and looked towards Su Ming.

His eyes were as clear as the water in the swamp, and there was a look within his eyes that could captivate souls. When he looked towards Su Ming, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

”I, Li Long, greet the God of Berserkers.” The old man was silent for a moment, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed.

Su Ming looked at the old man. He could sense a wisp of power that had surpassed that of great completion of the Berserker Soul Realm within the old man. It was the sign of taking half a step into Life Cultivation Realm, but the sign was very faint and not stable.

The old man looked at Su Ming and asked in a low voice, ”Why would you have come here, God of Berserkers?”

Su Ming looked at the swamp and asked faintly, ”Western Sea Island is too small, and South Morning has shattered. Are you willing to move and let Western Sea Clan grow?”

”Oh?” A barely noticeable glint appeared in Li Long’s eyes.

”You are already halfway into Life Cultivation Realm. You searched for a place to train quietly, not bothering with someone trespassing into Western Sea Clan. You must have gained some sort of epiphany and are searching for a way to enter Life Cultivation Realm.

”If you want to enter Life Cultivation Realm, then you must know about your Life. What is it?” Su Ming turned around and looked at the old man with bright eyes.

Li Long remained silent.

Su Ming did not continue speaking, either. Instead, he went to the swamp and looked at it without a single word. He could see that there was a pair of eyes looking at him from the depths of the swamp. There was wariness, fear, and respect within that gaze.

”I am about to die, how would I know about my Life?” Li Long finally said.

Su Ming did not answer him, but instead crouched down and placed his right hand on the water. Ripples immediately appeared on the surface of the water, and a large head gradually rose from the depths.

It was a dragon head that was about several dozens of feet big and belonged to a Shaman Dragon that was covered in scales.