Pursuit of the Truth

As the voices of the thirteen old men echoed in the underground palace, the gray fog on their bodies started tumbling about. It originally served the purpose of providing shade from the sun, but that moment, when Su Ming lifted his hand to swing at it, booming sounds rang out.

”Those who believe in me will obtain the protection of the Ecang galaxies that I, Su, possess,” Su Ming stated flatly. As he swung his arm, the noise from the fog reached its peak, but soon, the sound disappeared.

The fog dispersed to reveal thirteen skeletal old men prostrating themselves on the ground. They might only be skin and bones, but there was a presence within them that made it seem as if there was a windstorm contained within them.

”Thank you for granting us a new life, Progenitor!”

The thirteen old men’s faces were filled with zeal. The purple flames in their eyes burned furiously, and once they replaced their pupils, their eyes turned purple.

That purplish hue in their eyes did not remain stiff and unchanging, but contained the sparkle of life that each person should have. Once these thirteen men said their reply, the residue of the ancient presence about Su Ming’s body returned to where it should belong, in the passages of time.

”The Yu Family will remain the Yu Family. It will be enough for all of you here to know about my existence. You may all leave now. Yu Rou, stay back,” Su Ming said calmly and walked forward. With one step, he moved into the innermost part of the underground palace. There was a flight of stairs there. This area was built like an altar, and there was a gigantic stone chair there.

Su Ming stood in front of the stone chair, then turned around and slowly sat down on the stone chair.

At the instant he did so, an awe-inspiring presence spread out from his body and filled up the entire area. He referred to himself with his family name before these people. Before this, he would have definitely not done such a thing. However, as of then, these thirteen old men as well as Yu Rou had been turned into existences… that were similar to that of an Apostle after Su Ming used that residue of the ancient presence and the Art of Believing on them.

Su Ming was doing the exact same thing as what the Sun God and Moon Goddess did to turn others into their Apostles after making people believe in them.

The thirteen old men immediately voiced their obedience. They lowered their heads and left. Soon, they would appear before the Yu Family and would shock all of its members, who would then burn with zeal because of them. In fact, they would bring the Yu Family to open the curtains to a new struggle for power in Black Ink Planet.

Perhaps they would still be unable to lead their family to become the greatest family in Black Ink Planet, but it was more than likely that they would escape their current state. They would become the leading family for all middle-sized auction halls.

When the thirteen old men left, Yu Rou lowered her head and knelt quietly in front of Su Ming. She did not say a single word.

Even when the area around them was enveloped in dead silence once again, Su Ming still did not speak. Instead, he sat on the stone chair and stared at Yu Rou.

Time trickled by, and Yu Rou gradually found that she could not keep a calm expression on her face. The purple flames in her eyes were burning furiously, and confusion as well as struggle slowly appeared on her face.

”Give me a reason why I should not kill you.” Su Ming’s voice broke the silence, and his words echoed in the air.

”My Lord, why would you want to kill me?” Yu Rou lifted her head to reveal her face, which possessed a beauty that could cause hearts to pound in excitement and could take a man’s breath away.

”Is it because I hid the secrets of the Enchanted Treasure Peace Arrives When the Elephant is Here? Progenitor Yu Han might have planned this for tens of thousands of years, but he is not a God. He cannot be considered an Antecedental Spirit, much less an Ancestral Spirit. He is just a cultivator who is a Succeeding Spirit.

”If a cultivator who is just a Succeeding Spirit like him could truly Possess you, then… you would not be the Apostle. As long as you were the Apostle, Progenitor Yu Han could only fail,” Yu Rou whispered softly. Her voice was incredibly pleasant to the ears, and it moved gently through the underground palace.

”Not enough.” Su Ming shook his head.

Yu Rou bit her bottom lip. After remaining silent for a moment, she spoke once again.

”Progenitor Yu Han might be an ancestor of the Yu Family, but he tried to Possess me before. He might have failed in the end, but I will never forget this.

”I wanted him dead! I wanted him to be killed by the Apostle after he failed to Possess him. In fact, I once had the thought that I… would no longer need to be afraid if the Progenitor was Possessed by the Apostle.”

Su Ming had a calm expression on his face. This time, he did not open his mouth to speak, but neither did he shake his head. Instead, he closed his eyes and waited for Yu Rou to continue speaking.

She lowered her head and fell silent for a time.

”I knew since the start… that you weren’t the Apostle.” After a long while, Yu Rou lifted that enticing head of hers and looked at Su Ming. ”You might have the presence of the Sun God and Moon Goddess on you and you might have walked out of the second gate, but I know that you devoured the spirits of the Sun God and Moon Goddess in the Second Gate of Heavenly Dao.

”At the instant you began devouring them, they sent word to me and ordered me to have the entire Yu Family prevent you from devouring them. In fact, if I had chosen to obey them at that moment, then at the moment you started absorbing the souls of the Sun God and Moon Goddess, the thirteen Progenitors would have attacked, and even you… would have found it hard to withstand their attacks.”

Yu Rou’s face was slightly pale. The purple flames were burning in her eyes and were rapidly enveloping her heart and soul. She was not like the thirteen old men. They might have incredibly high levels of cultivation, but they did not have a power in them to resist that strange divine ability Su Ming had cast. This was a form of oppression from a superior life form on an inferior life form.

However, Yu Rou was different. She was… after all, the chosen one by the Sun God and Moon Goddess. She might not have fulfilled the conditions to be Possessed by Progenitor Yu Han, but she was clearly different from the average cultivator.

Su Ming opened his eyes to reveal a pair of profound eyes as he asked indifferently, ”What do you know of Ancestral Spirit, Antecedental Spirit, and Succeeding Spirit?”

”This is a legend. Due to the age of the legend, there should be no one who knows whether it is true or false.” Yu Rou hesitated for a moment before she chose to tell Su Ming all that she knew.

”Legend has it that when the sky, the earth, the universe, the heavens, the galaxy, and the cosmos had yet to take form, the first living things that were born were known as… Ancestral Spirits.

”They created life, which is why we have so many races and so many different types of living beings.

”These living beings worshiped the Ancestral Spirits. In the endless passage of time, among the races that did so, life forms that could bear the power of the Ancestral Spirits slowly came into existence. They were known as Antecedental Spirits. Some people believe that the word Antecedental refers to Immortals, since the Immortals’ Dao will eventually turn them into Gods, but there are some that believe that the word Antecedental refers to the binary opposite before and after. Since the era was different, the words were different. However, the meaning behind them was the same, despite the fact that the words weren’t alike.”

After saying this much, You Rou paused for a moment before she spoke again.

”A disaster no one knows about caused all manner of living to die or fall to sleep. It didn’t matter whether it was the Ancestral Spirits or those who became Antecedental Spirits due to their worship were able to escape from the disaster.

”As the disaster went on, the races fell to ruin. They were either dissolved or destroyed, and in the end, they were no more. This was the case for the Gate of Dao race.

”In the endless passage of time after the disaster, there were no longer any Ancestral Spirits or Antecedental Spirits, but the people could see the changes in the universe, could see the world, the planets, could sense the rules and laws in the universe, and from then on, consolidate some of the cultivation methods to slowly create their own cultivation systems.

”It was… a cultivation system that aimed to achieve perfection and become a superior life form. The system for each race was different, but their goal was the same. Over the course of time, the outstanding ones who practiced this sort of cultivation system were known as Succeeding Spirits.

”By now, even Succeeding Spirits are incredibly rare, and due to dissemination and growth of the numerous races in the universe, the people who practice these sort of cultivation systems are known as cultivators. Based on the ancient titles, some of them could be known as Succeeding Spirits.

”The Sun God and Moon Goddess were Antecedental Spirits… and they were very ancient. In fact, I suspect that their slumber had caused them to fall to being life forms that were only Succeeding Spirits.”

Yu Rou spoke softly, her words echoing in the underground palace, but Su Ming’s expression remained calm as he digested them.

After a moment, he asked coolly, ”What is Yin Essence?”

His question immediately caused Yu Rou’s face to turn slightly paler. She did not speak, but with anguish on her face, she slowly lowered her head and lifted her hands to gradually undress before Su Ming.

As her robes fell off to reveal a skintight singlet that showed off her beautiful figure, her pretty face and figure brought about an image that could make others’ hearts pound. It was a feast that no one could refuse.

”The power of Yin Essence is a type of Divine Essence that I obtained in the Second Gate of Heavenly Dao. It slowly grows in my body, pushing my level of cultivation to its peak. It will allow me to become a life form in-between Succeeding Spirits and Successor Spirits. I may even be able to reach a breakthrough and become a Successor Spirit.

”At that time, I will be summoned by my mission and will offer up everything of myself to the Moon Goddess.

”If you could devour the Moon Goddess in the Second Gate of Heavenly Dao, then you can definitely devour my Yin Essence. I can… give it to you as long as you give me my freedom back, so I won’t be a puppet who can’t control its own fate.” Yu Rou lifted her head. The burning purple flames in her eyes had almost replaced all of her pupils. She looked at Su Ming with her pale face as she walked closed to him.

Su Ming’s expression was calm. Not a hint of change could be spotted on him. When Yu Rou gradually came over to stand in front of him, he looked at her beautiful form and continued watching as she slowly lowered her body, as if she was kneeling down to worship him.

He lifted his right hand and placed it on her skin, which looked as if it would break if the wind so much as blew on it, then began to slowly trace his finger through the spots where her curves were. Wherever his finger went, that part of Yu Rou’s body would immediately begin trembling from nervousness.

When Su Ming’s finger slid to her face, he lifted her chin, forcing her head up. Then, he slowly got closer to her, to the point that they could sense each other’s breathing and heartbeat.

”No matter what reason it is, those who scheme against me will never know freedom in their lives again,” he said softly. His words made Yu Rou tremble, and her face turned even paler.

”Judging by the method with which you will offer up your Yin Essence, you will clearly become my woman … but your Yin Essence is not enough of a compensation for you to become my woman.”

Su Ming lifted his head. There was a smile on his lips. A strange light shone in his eyes, giving him an indescribable, mysterious, and enchanting air.

Yu Rou lowered her head and whispered softly, ”Has anyone told you before that you give others… a feeling that you’re incredibly evil?”

”Evil… I like that word.”

Su Ming stood up and took a step forward before he disappeared into the underground palace, leaving behind Yu Rou still wearing her skintight singlet and a complicated expression on her face.