Pursuit of the Truth

Who was it who was unable to see through the mirages of life, just like how the figures who have left into the distance remained as indistinct blurs in other people’s eyes?

Who was it who saw through the beautiful moments of life, just like how Su Ming did not turn his head back to look? He merely watched the clouds around him as he moved, then with a smile, he lowered his head and snapped his fingers.

Perhaps the dust that flew up when he snapped his fingers was a brilliance that no one could see, but Su Ming knew that it would only last for the time he blinked, just like how one thousand years in the world would pass in no time.

He would no longer think about it, no longer reminisce. He would have those beautiful moments from the past remain forever at the bottom of his heart and not have them come into contact with the truth. He would retain his happiness, and also leave behind a fixation in others.

What he cut off was the love in his heart. What he did not cut off was the obsession fixed on him by someone else from the distance, a fixation that tangled itself around him.

‘I retained this happiness… but I’ve never been a person who would just allow another to scheme against me…’ A piercing, cold glare appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He had not cut off his obsession because he wanted to… personally find the person who planted this obsession in him.

This was how Su Ming was. He would definitely take revenge for all the slights done to him, just like the reason he was heading to the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Searching for clues about Lie Shan Xiu had become secondary. His true goal was to wreak havoc in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

He would have all the four venerated races who went after his Master’s life to pay what was due.

Su Ming walked calmly in the galaxy when he asked without turning his head back, “Have you killed many people in your life?”

“Quite a lot.” Xu Hui had recovered most of her cultivation base, but she still wore the sackcloth and did not bother to change her clothes.

“I haven’t killed that many …” Su Ming said calmly.

Xu Hui turned her head to look at him with a slightly strange expression on her face. Forget the ones she did not see, just the Waves of Tears alone was enough for her to sense the murderous aura about his body.

If that was not considered a lot, then Xu Hui suddenly felt that she should have answered that she had only killed a few people in her life.

“The four venerated races have one hundred thousand something people each within the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean. I won’t kill many of them… just thirty thousand something from each race,” Su Ming declared flatly.

Xu Hui remained quiet for a moment before she said softly, “If they can become a venerated race in Divine Essence Star Ocean, then the race will definitely have someone who is a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death among them.”

“There is one in each race. I know about that.” Su Ming turned into a long arc and charged forward through the galaxy. Xu Hui kept him company by the side. Once she heard his words, she smiled faintly and did not continue questioning him.

Since Su Ming knew of how dangerous this trip was but still chose to go, then he had to be quite confident in himself. After all, if he was not confident, he would be just walking to his death for no reason.

A normal cultivator would need a long time before they could arrive at the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean from the periphery, and they would face countless dangers in their journey.

But Su Ming and Xu Hui could both shift, so their speed was exponentially faster. Yet even so, even if they were much faster, they would still need several decades to reach the inner parts.

However, the map from Ninth Tribe marked several Relocation Vortex spots. Because of that, they could shorten the distance. Based on Su Ming’s predictions, they would need only about ten years to be able to step into the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean.

This journey wouldn’t be short. Based on Su Ming’s calculations, the distance from the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean to the inner parts would be the same as the one to the entrance of the Barren Lands of Divine Essence from this place. Such a great distance was a ravine that a mortal would not be able to cross even after he had been reincarnated thousands of times.

Thankfully, this time, Su Ming was not alone. There was a woman by his side. And thankfully… before this woman left Ninth Tribe, she had taken a lot of the wine when Su Ming was not looking.

Hence, Su Ming, who had already grown used to loneliness, was interrupted by occasional conversations which would fill the trip with a unique air.

“Just what happened that night?” On a day several years later, Su Ming sat cross-legged on a meteor flying rapidly forward. He looked at Xu Hui drinking wine by his side. At that moment, her heroic and valiant bearing gave Su Ming a feeling he could not put to words.

“You don’t know what happened?” Xu Hui blinked and looked towards Su Ming.

The contact they had during the past few years seemed to have gone by with just the snap of their fingers, but the company she provided him for nearly one thousand days in the galaxy caused their relationship to become slightly different from before.

Su Ming cast Xu Hui a look and said faintly without any expression on his face, “I seem to have held something very soft,”

Xu Hui smiled faintly. She continued drinking for a time before picking up a pot and throwing it to Su Ming.

“Can you stop drinking like this all the time? You always get drunk.” Su Ming frowned and picked up the pot of wine.

“Getting drunk is good. You can just leave on your own.” Xu Hui narrowed her eyes into the shapes of crescent moons, and a misty look gradually appeared in her eyes. When Su Ming saw this, he sighed. He knew that Xu Hui had become drunk again.

After a moment, he hugged the sleeping Xu Hui and jumped from the meteor. This was not the first time he carried this drunk woman. Over the course of the past few years, he seemed to have grown used to this action.

Every single time she drank, she would not circulate her cultivation base to get rid of the alcohol, and every time she got drunk, she would fall into deep sleep. A smile would appear at the corner of her lips, causing Su Ming to feel as if he could sense the fatigue and the guard she put up against everyone in the past within her heart every single time he saw that smile.

It was as if… she could only sleep without worry when she was with him. Perhaps it was also because… she liked the feeling of being held by Su Ming after she became drunk.

He did not know whether she was doing it intentionally or unintentionally, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head into his bosom. Her long hair drifted in space, tangling together with his, and giving off a feeling that they could not be discerned from each other.

Perhaps this was what she wished for.

Su Ming moved forward quietly through the galaxy with Xu Hui in his arms. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt. He looked at the area around him carefully before raising his right hand and swinging his arm before him. A wave of air spread through the area and was then rapidly sucked into a spot that was about the size of a palm in front of him.

Su Ming’s eyes focused. After giving the place a few scrutinizing glances, he took a step forward and headed into that formless vortex, disappearing without a trace.

This was not the first time Xu Hui and he used a vortex to Relocate on their journey to the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Su Ming was already well-versed in using them. Within an instant, he appeared in that colorful world.

He did not close his eyes, but had them open. As his body charged forward due to him being dragged, he lowered his head to look at the darkness and the bottom of the colorful world, and in just a few breaths, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips.

A roar came from the darkness, shaking the colorful world. At the same time, the jellyfish like existences floating around Su Ming withdrew.

The black horse with two dragon heads rushed out from the endless darkness. The two dragon heads glared at Su Ming while panting harshly, and with a kick, fire instantly burned the entire area. The color of the fire was black, matching the horse’s body and giving it an incredibly might air.

During the course of the journey, Su Ming had used the vortices to Relocate three times, so this would be the fourth time he saw this horse. Previously, every single time Su Ming appeared in the world within the vortex, the black horse would immediately notice him, and no matter how far away it was, it would use the unique method it possessed to swiftly reach him.

Furious roars echoed in the air. When the black horse lowered its head, it rushed swiftly towards Su Ming with the intent to kill in response to the earlier provocation.

Su Ming’s expression remained the same. During the previous few encounters, he had come to know that the horse would always get a little closer each time, but it would not be close enough for it to kill him. Judging from the spot where it appeared, the horse would need seven breaths after he left the place to be able to close in on him.

“You are mine. One of these days, you will carry me on your back to ride to heaven and hell!” Su Ming smiled. As he spoke faintly, the black horse’s roars became even stronger, and it looked as if it was about to reach Su Ming, but by then, he had already disappeared and left the world in the vortex.

Once Su Ming walked out into the galaxy with Xu Hui in his arms, he did not immediately move forward, but stayed close and listened attentively. Six breaths later, a faint rumble echoed from the vortex he’d left earlier.

“It’s one breath short.” Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. After some calculations, he estimated that he would need at least three more trips to the world in the vortex before the black horse would catch up to him, and then, the time would come for him to capture it.

After mulling over this for some time, Su Ming looked at Xu Hui in his arms. Once he pushed her away, he shook her forcefully until she opened her bleary eyes.

“Wake up. It’s your turn.” When Su Ming saw that Xu Hui had opened her eyes, he let go of her, sat down, and closed his eyes.

Xu Hui rubbed her eyes and said with resignation, “You’re cheating!”

“We promised each other that each of us would take the other and travel a distance. It’s your turn,” Su Ming told her without opening his eyes.

“Vortex Relocations doesn’t count!” Xu Hui glared over at him.

“You didn’t mention that before, so it counts. Are you a woman or not? Aren’t you going to admit to what you said?” Su Ming opened his eyes and looked at her sideways.

“You know more than I do whether I am a woman or not,” Xu Hui retorted without any hesitation.

With that one sentence, she managed to render Su Ming completely speechless for a long time and make him think that something seemed to have been reversed here…

In silence, Su Ming chose to just close his eyes and ignore her.

Xu Hui let out a light snort, then circulated her cultivation base. Once she chased away her drunkenness, she raised her right hand and swung her arm in the space before her. A fire phoenix immediately appeared under her. With a screech, it swept up the seated Su Ming and charged forward. Xu Hui stood at the top of the phoenix and occasionally looked around her as well as glanced back at Su Ming training calmly behind her before grumbling under her breath, “So petty!”

“I don’t have any moles on me, so of course I’m petty.” Su Ming opened his eyes for a moment, then closed them again.

“I know what you want me to say. I just refuse to say it.” Xu Hui smiled, having uttered words that only Su Ming could understand.