Pursuit of the Truth

In one of the four Great True Worlds, the Emperor of Abyss’ True World, there was an incredibly great galaxy. It was formed by nine vortexes that surrounded the area, creating a forbidden ground. If anyone without a plate allowing them entry stepped here, they would find difficult to survive.

In the depths of the galaxy was a vortex, and at the center of it was a piece of land whose edges were covered by black lightning. That piece of land was not big, only a few millions of lis in size.

The area there was covered in flowers and grass. Thick waves of spiritual energy filled the air, and their presence was so thick that they were corporeal. They circled in the air several times based on some pattern before surging towards the center of the land.

There was a tall platform at the center upon which nine old men sat cross-legged. They were sitting in a circle, and in the middle of them a young woman lay quietly.

She was dressed in a long purple robe and had her eyes closed, as if she was deep asleep.

She was Yu Xuan.

She remained still and unmoving, her face pale, as if she had died.

…..

In the foreign lands of Western Ring Nebula within the Sinful Barren Lands located in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, there were a hundred thousand stone monuments, all of them different in size. Su Ming appeared before his stone monument once again. As his body gradually became completely distinct, the stone monument before him let out booming sounds. It slowly grew from one hundred thousand feet to two hundred thousand feet, and once it did so, the light disappeared.

A calm voice travelled into Su Ming’s ears. ”Congratulations. You managed to make your stone monument grow to such a level within such a short period of time.”

The person who spoke was Zhou Kang. It was clear that he had just come out from his stone monument, but instead of growing, it had become only one hundred thousand feet. The difference was too great compared to the height it reached previously, but the man looked as calm as ever.

After a long time, Su Ming averted his gaze from it and sensed his own power as he looked at his surroundings quietly. When he looked over, he found several dozens of people around, most of them meditating with aloof expressions on their faces. They did not bother each other.

When Su Ming’s gaze fell on Zhou Kang, he saw that his stone monument had shrank, and he could not help but focus on it. He remembered that when he’d first walked out of his stone monument, he had glanced past Zhou Kang’s stone monument and seen that it had reached seven hundred thousand something feet. However, at that time, he had been immersed in his memories of his mother and did not pay too much attention to the changes around him.

”I failed to reach one million feet, so my stone monument regressed to one hundred thousand feet,” Zhou Kang stated flatly when his gaze fell on Su Ming. ”I didn’t expect that your speed would be so quick. Looks like Yue Er’s guess was correct. The Five Illusory Echelons are the best method of training in this place.

”Of course, this has a huge connection to your own potential in understanding things. This should be something that exists, or else why would I, whose potential in the path of cultivation is lesser than that of Yue Er but whose epiphany was slightly deeper, could survive while she left?” Grief appeared in Zhou Kang’s eyes as he mumbled to himself.

”If you fail in reaching one million feet, your stone monument will regress?” Su Ming asked softly.

”You should have realized the benefits after you entered the world in the stone monument, because your world is completely formed based on your memories. This way it’ll be much more convenient for you to gain epiphanies, and your epiphanies will also be much deeper.

”That’s why your cultivation base can be increased in the world within the stone monument. As long as people aren’t afraid of being killed, many of them will choose to give up on reaching one million feet and instead continue immersing themselves in the world within the stone monument so that they can gain deeper epiphanies.

”However, even if that’s not what you want, you will still have no choice, because it’s not incredibly difficult to make your stone monument reach nine hundred thousand feet. Since the start, there have been plenty of those who managed to go up that high.

”But when trying to reach one million feet from nine hundred thousand feet, there is a wall. It’s the same for everyone. If you want to climb over it… it will be difficult, very difficult. If I were to count it, then I’ve run into this wall four times. I didn’t try to climb over it the previous three times but chose to give up on it. I was waiting for my wife.

”Once she passed away, I tried breaking through it, but failed.” Zhou Kang looked at Su Ming, his voice calm.

”If you fail, then you’ll have to start again. It’s like a cycle of reincarnation. You will keep on repeating the process… and those who manage to climb over this wall are few, very few…” Zhou Kang closed his eyes.

Su Ming fell silent. He looked at his stone monument, which was now at two hundred thousand feet. The questions that existed in his heart were now answered. When he first left his stone monument, he had looked at it, which had become one hundred thousand feet, and had been skeptical about the Divine Essence’s legacy. It seemed… as if it was not really that difficult.

So why when were there so many people who had failed, with only a few who managed to reach one million feet? Now, he understood.

Su Ming looked at Zhou Kang, who had his eyes closed, and said in a low voice, ”There should be quite a number of people who will come during the next few days. If… you can make your stone monument reach one million feet as soon as possible, then you should.”

Zhou Kang did not speak. He continued to stand with his eyes closed.

Light would occasionally flash in the area. Some people would walk into their worlds in the stone monuments, while others would walk out. Su Ming noticed that the stone monument of the old man whom he and Zhou Kang had plotted together to kill had already been occupied by someone else, and it had already reached one hundred thousand feet.

Several days later, once Zhou Kang returned to the world in his stone monument, Su Ming also chose to enter again.

Time passed. When in the world of the stone monument, he returned to the time when he became the God of Berserkers, when he was still in Dark Mountain, when he experienced the great war between the Shamans and Berserkers, and when he had just entered Freezing Sky Clan.

The experiences, epiphanies, and killings caused more runic symbols to overlap, making it seem as if the universe was contained in Su Ming’s right eye. Its power also grew the extent that it terrified even Su Ming himself.

This power was not something he had obtained through an epiphany. Instead, he had naturally obtained it after he used his eye to enter the stone monument.

Without being aware of it, Su Ming had already spent sixty years in this place. During that time, there were more than thirty thousand people who had come to this place, and once they arrived, they became one of the candidates to obtain the Divine Essence.

There were men and women among those thirty thousand people, and almost every single one of them came for Su Ming’s life. Once they saw him in this place, some of them chose to attack, but after multiple deaths, the others noticed the will in this place and gave up, since they could do nothing about it.

Occasionally, some more newcomers would arrive, but Su Ming was completely unconcerned. In fact, he did not even attempt to dodge. As long as their divine abilities landed on his person, they would all die.

Gradually, the old timers in the place noticed what was happening, and they were delighted by the proceedings. After all, every time a person died, it would mean that a stone monument would be emptied, so when a new person arrived, they would receive that monument, and the old timers would thus skip one turn of possibly dying.

The arrival of thirty thousand people meant that there was an equivalent amount of people who had died. The old names on the stone monuments were gradually replaced by new ones, and the occasional deaths put pressure on everyone that they had never experienced before.

There was a continuous string of people who attempted to break the wall of one million feet, but during the sixty years, not one managed to succeed.

There were still people entering the foreign land, and Su Ming had even sensed a powerful threat several times. This sensation had eventually dissolved, but those few times had put pressure on Su Ming.

Once his stone monument reached six hundred thousand feet, it became harder for it to grow. In fact, Su Ming needed to fuse with the stone monument’s world several dozens of times before he could make his stone monument grow even a few tens of thousands of feet.

In sixty years, Su Ming managed to grow his stone monument to nine hundred nine thousand feet. At the same time, Zhou Kang’s stone monument also reached nine hundred eight thousand feet.

This was the second time Zhou Kang made his stone monument reach that height during the sixty years, and it was also the sixth time he’d reached that height.

”We’ve known each other for sixty years now, and to lifeforms like us, sixty years is too short, but to mortals, sixty years might be their entire lives.

”Today, your stone monument also reached a similar height. It’s a pity that I can’t tell you anything about the experiences about the wall in trying to reach one million feet. This is a restriction placed on us by the laws here. I can only… wish you success!” Zhou Kang looked at Su Ming. Once he sucked in a deep breath, he pushed his right hand on the stone monument and disappeared.

Su Ming looked at his own stone monument, which had reached nine hundred nine thousand feet. During the sixty years, he had seen almost every single person here. The apathetic faces and gazes that would occasionally shine with a gloomy light were expressions that said that they hoped for others to be quickly replaced by newcomers so that their chances of death would be lowered, and it was an expression that showed just how cruel this place was.

Some of the one thousand people who had made their stone monuments reach one million feet had returned from the world outside during those sixty years, a telling sign that their time limit of a thousand years had drawn near, and they had to continue trying to receive the Divine Essence.

Su Ming shook his head. Once he sat down with his legs crossed, he looked at the stone monument. He noticed that there was quite a large number of people around him who were sizing him up, but he was already accustomed to these kind of gazes. After all, compared to other people, he had chosen to walk down the path of the Five Illusory Echelons. He was different from the others, and he would naturally catch their attention. Besides, during the sixty years, the newcomers would occasionally attack him straight away, ignoring everything else. So it was impossible for him to not catch people’s attention even if he wanted.

After a moment, a vortex appeared on the stone monument in front of him. As it rotated with loud booming sounds, Su Ming’s body swiftly became obscure and he disappeared.

When his field of vision cleared, he immediately had his Atman sweep through the area. This was a galaxy, and there was a cultivation planet not too far away from him. That planet was golden, and it shone with a brilliant light.

”Those who wish to obtain my Divine Essence must go through this test if they want to make their stone monument reach one million feet. If you succeed… you will obtain a part of the power of my Divine Essence. If you fail, then you will have to start over.

”That cultivation planet before you is my homeland. In that place is my Divine Essence, but whether you can obtain it… will depend on your serendipity!” Sui Chen Zi’s ancient voice, which had spoken to Su Ming sixty years ago, echoed in his head once again. ”You can use whatever methods you have at your disposal… as long as you obtain that Divine Essence!”

Sui Chen Zi’s ancient voice gradually disappeared, and once it vanished, Su Ming lifted his head. A glint appeared in his eyes, and the overlapping shadows from those runic symbols in his right eye gave him an especially stately appearance, making him look incredibly bizarre. He took a step forward and, with a bang, turned into a shooting star that charged down towards the cultivation planet in the distance.

Su Ming’s speed grew increasingly faster. In the blink of an eye, he sliced through the galaxy and closed in on the cultivation planet that was shining with golden light. Right then, a powerful and mighty pressure spread out from the cultivation planet. The golden light around then became akin to a golden sea, which decreased Su Ming’s speed by a large margin.