Pursuit of the Truth

As Zhou Kang looked over, the ninety something people who had taken the test to make their stone monuments reach one million feet and failed at the same time looked swiftly towards the stone monument which had yet to go down in height. With expressions that had changed drastically, they stared at the monument that belonged to the person which had received the test with them, but was the only one who did not come out.

They clearly remembered that this person was known as Mo Su!

At that moment, his name had appeared on nearly one hundred thousand stone monuments. This shocked everyone, and within their hearts, countless guesses arose, each of which could make their breath quicken.

The returnees weren’t the only ones to notice this. Gradually, more took note of it, and after a moment, all the cultivators who were forced out of their worlds in their stone monuments turned their gazes towards one of the many stone monuments on the land.

That was… Mo Su’s stone monument.

The buzzing of voices gradually dispersed in the land of the one hundred thousand stone monuments, replaced by death-like silence. All the people watched Su Ming’s stone monument, and as their expressions changed, myriads of thoughts passed through their heads.

It was especially so for the people who had come for Su Ming’s life. Their expressions were incredibly complicated. Perhaps to the others, Mo Su’s name and status were unfamiliar, but these people had come solely for him. If it had not been because of the laws in this place interfering with their actions, they would have attacked him a long time ago. Their understanding of Su Ming was much greater compared to the others, but due to that greater knowledge, their feelings were even more complicated, and they were even more troubled.

As the people in the land with the one hundred thousand stone monuments fell silent, within the one hundred thousand venous pathways in the trees of the equally numbered galaxies, Ecang truly panicked when Su Ming successfully Possessed ninety-five-hundredths of the venous pathways.

Its angered roars brought with them the fright from the bottom of its heart, along with the wariness and terror. Its roars echoed nonstop.

This was because once Su Ming occupied all of the golden venous pathways, which caused them to turn black, his soul began his final Possession of the one hundred thousand hearts that were exactly the same, filled with the aura of death and located at the center of the venous pathways.

Once Su Ming successfully Possessed those hearts, he would have completed a nigh impossible Possession. From then on, there would no longer be Ecang, only… Su Ming’s strongest clone of Ecang!

”No! You can’t do this! You low-life! You shameless thief! You can’t do this! I, Ecang, am the one and only existence in the universe! I am a life form that stands above all in the universe! What right do you have to Possess me?!” Ecang’s will let out a hysterical, enraged roar.

Booming sounds echoed in the air, stirring up endless ripples that spread out and swept up in all directions, shaking the one hundred thousand galaxies so badly that they started trembling violently. In fact, a large amount of cracks appeared in space, as if those galaxies were about to crumble.

The booming sounds came from Ecang’s hysterical will crashing viciously against Sui Chen Zi’s one hundred thousand shadows. However, it did not matter whether it were Ecang’s roars or the booming sounds in the area, they did not manage to make Su Ming falter for even a moment. With the one hundred thousand shadows formed by Sui Chen Zi’s law fighting against Ecang’s will, it was simply unable to stop Su Ming’s actions.

As Su Ming’s soul spread out, not only did he completely cover all of the golden venous pathways, but his soul also surged forward from all directions towards the golden hearts within their respective venous pathways that were within the one hundred thousand trees.

It was as if a golden sheet of drawing paper had been stained by black ink, with only the spot at the center having yet escaped the calamity. At that moment though, that boundless black ink was swiftly spreading towards the only empty spot, intending to completely dye that piece of paper black.

One hundred thousand galaxies roared. One hundred thousand trees trembled viciously. One hundred thousand Ecang’s wills roared and howled. As their voices echoed in the air, Su Ming’s heart touched those one hundred thousand hearts that were filled with the aura of death.

At the instant he did so, a boom rang out in his soul once again, and it was the same sound that he’d heard after he occupied a third, a half, and an eight-tenths of the venous pathways. Once again… a new illusory picture emerged in his soul!

When Su Ming had occupied a third of the venous pathways, he had seen Ecang’s soul and its gigantic body. He had been incredibly shocked, but it was also at that moment that he learned that the tree was known as Ecang.

As time passed, when Su Ming occupied half of those venous pathways, he saw a scene that brought him an even greater shock and even despair. It had been the one hundred thousand galaxies, one hundred thousand golden seas, and one hundred thousand trees that he saw!

In that scene, Su Ming sensed the difference between what was real and what was false, the difference between illusions and reality, but he still did not give up and made his soul successfully occupy eight-tenths of all the venous pathways.

During that instant, Su Ming saw Sui Chen Zi. He had even become him at that instant and sensed his four Divine Essence Arts, and in the end, verified his Life Matrix, thereby… mastering Sui Chen Zi’s law!

It could be said that if these three pictures had not appeared in his soul, then Su Ming would have definitely been unable to reach this point, which was a point that no one had managed to reach since ancient times. The illusions that appeared in his soul those three times were like three powerful boosts of power, while also acting as three great tests. As long as one got through those tests, then they would be able to obtain help.

All of this had clearly been left behind by someone beforehand. His goal was naturally to make things slightly easier for when the descendants of the later generations came to Possess Ecang, but he only made things slightly easier. If Su Ming had not done the things he did, then even with those three aids, he would have still been unable to reach his current state.

Clearly, the person who had left behind all those… was Sui Chen Zi!

At that moment, as the picture emerged in his soul, Su Ming clearly knew that this was the fourth time Sui Chen Zi would help him… and it was also likely… that this would be the last time!

Booms rang in Su Ming’s soul, and as they did so, he saw a broken universe.

That universe was boundless and limitless. Su Ming did not know precisely how big it was, but he had a vague feeling that this was a True World. It was a gigantic, complete True World, so great that its size could not be described with words!

Su Ming might not be able to describe how big the universe was, but he could use what he knew about the four Great True Worlds to compare them. This… was also a True World!

Yet this True World was damaged in many ways. Booms from the universe falling apart echoed in Su Ming’s heart. They continued without stop, becoming louder.

When he cast a glance over, the endless planets within that boundless galaxy were rapidly falling apart and turning into rubble. The countless lives within them were also reduced to dust at that instant. It was as if… the galaxy was dying, the planets were falling into destruction, and all manner of living were returning to the embrace of earth.

Everything within this universe had moved to the end of their path, just as a human’s life, and it was rapidly… heading towards the absolute end.

Even the cultivation planets that still had an abundant amount of life force a breath ago were surrounded by the aura of death within a breath, and the entire galaxy was instantly occupied by a dense aura of death.

”The final world in the universe… too cannot escape the disaster of death… I, Sui Chen Zi, also am powerless to fight against it, huh..? I… failed,” an ancient voice thick with sorrow echoed in the universe.

Su Ming saw Sui Chen Zi walking into the dying galaxy while dressed in white. His hair was a mess, and he was laughing long and hard at the sky. However, when that laughter fell into his ears, there was clearly grief contained within it that was difficult to describe with words.

”But I… have also succeeded!” In the midst of Sui Chen Zi’s anguished laughter, Su Ming looked at him in a daze, and he saw a shard falling off Sui Chen Zi’s face. Then… an endless amount of them fell off Sui Chen Zi’s whole body. He looked as if he was formed of countless shards. At that moment, as they fell, his body shattered to pieces.

”If I die, then this world will turn to dust. If I close my eyes, then this cosmos will have no light… Descendant who inherits my Divine Essence, remember how I die, and remember… that the laws governing the operations of the universe also die, as well as that the universe does not possess thought…

”I failed, that’s why I am destroyed, but I also succeeded, which is why… I give you hope!”

As Sui Chen Zi laughed, his body turned into numerous shards, which then transformed into a whirlwind. When it spread out, Su Ming immediately saw that only the heart remained from Sui Chen Zi’s crumbled body.

It was a golden heart. When Su Ming saw it, he felt as if she saw a whole world. This was an indescribable feeling, and Su Ming only had a similar experience once, when he saw the numerous life forms from the World Stone when he was still in Crimson Flame Planet. However, the feeling he had right now was much stronger than what he sensed from the World Stone. In fact, the difference between the intensity of the two was difficult to compare.

It was as if one was the bright sun, and the other just the flickering light from a firefly!

Su Ming was shocked by this scene. He looked at the heart in the whirlwind, and suddenly, though he did not know whether this was just a figment of his imagination, he saw… a seed on that heart!

The seed possessed ten colors, and it was hidden within that golden light.

Before Su Ming could see it clearly, Sui Chen Zi’s body completely dispersed in an abrupt manner, and the galaxy as well as the cosmos tumbled forward, charging towards that golden heart. As they did so, the galaxy and the cosmos experienced continuous destruction. Their laws were shattered, their rules disappeared, the lives within them passed away, their planets died, the flow of time became chaotic as the galaxy and cosmos tumbled forward to gather at the heart. In fact, the memories of a countless life forms before their deaths also turned into fragmented thoughts. They turned into an invisible windstorm in this dying galaxy… until this former True World surged completely into the golden heart before Su Ming’s eyes, and the spot where the galaxy had been located previously turned into a void that had no life.

Boom!

Su Ming saw with his own eyes as the golden heart that had gathered together a True World turned… into a gigantic vortex. There was an endless amount of cracks beyond the vortex, and by the looks of it, it was Western Ring Nebula’s foreign land!

Before Su Ming’s shock could fade away, the scene he saw next brought him an even greater shock that surpassed the totality of what he’d experienced through the scenes that were shown to him when he occupied a third, a half, and eight-tenths of the venous pathways.

He saw a gigantic tree that towered into the heavens. With a great presence, a crazed ferociousness, and a mighty pressure that surpassed Sui Chen Zi’s, it had been born within the vortex!

In the span of a breath, its size surpassed the vortex, as if the tree was devouring it as its nutrients and the Divine Essence within it so it could grow.

The big tree surpassed the size of Ecang Su Ming saw, but it… was clearly Ecang. However, its color was not just purely purple. Instead… it had all ten colors!

During that instant, a sound of a shoot sprouting that was akin to the sound a baby made when it was born came from the tree!

”E… cang…”

These were just two indistinct syllables, but there was a terrifying might contained within them that made it seem as if with just one thought, the tree could destroy Su Ming several millions of times. His heart trembled at that!

It was powerful. It was indescribably powerful. It was the universe’s supreme power, and had in fact… surpassed the universe’s strongest power!

”The complete… Ecang,” Su Ming mumbled as his pupils shrank.