Pursuit of the Truth

The withered ball of grass in Su Ming’s hand had become yellow, as if it would turn into ashes the moment he poked it gently with his finger. At the instant Su Ming raised his head to speak, black clouds formed under the black rain pouring from the sky. Those clouds spread to the horizon, covering the land in darkness.

The cracks on the ground became larger. The withered trees turned into ashes. The ocean in the distance turned into a basin, and within that deep pit was limitless mud and withered plants.

An aura of death spread out from the withered trees, the basin, and the ground. Once it gathered together, it grew incredibly dense.

Su Ming looked at the area around him. As he swept his gaze across it, he found that everything had fallen into ruin. In fact, he could even see dozens of Heaven Traversers fleeing while wailing and shrieking.

Clearly, not all Heaven Traversers had taken action previously. The dozens of survivors were withering away right then, and no matter whether they were willing or unwilling, a large amount of their life force was being rapidly sucked out of their bodies by the ground, or rather, it was being absorbed by the dying cultivation planet.

If it could acknowledge these Heaven Traversers living on it, then similarly, it would take away its acknowledgement when it needed to, and even take away the life force of these living creatures.

Su Ming watched the dozens of Heaven Traversers being reduced to only skin and bones while screaming in pain after traveling less than several hundreds of feet. When all of their life force had been sucked out from them, they were reduced to dust.

However, their life force was inadequate for this gigantic cultivation planet. It could only allow this planet remain alive for several more breaths under Su Ming’s Curse.

Ten breaths later, cracks no longer appeared on the ground. The trees stopped withering, and the basin in the distance fell into silence as well. Only the black rain remained as it continued pouring from the sky, and the black clouds remained to blot out all light from shining onto the land.

This was… a dead planet.

The stench of decay and the aura of death filled all corners of the planet. They were so strong that anyone who arrived to this planet for the first time would think that it had died a long time ago.

Su Ming lifted his right hand in which the ball woven from withered grass had turned into powder. Once it was drenched by black rain, the powder seeped through the cracks between his fingers and fell on the ground.

“They should be here now.” Su Ming sat down cross-legged and swung his right hand in the air. Once he flung off the wet powder from his hand, he pushed his palm lightly against the ground.

He lifted his palm, then pushed it down once more. With the same rhythm, he performed this action again and again.

When Su Ming pressed his palm against the ground nine times, the cracks in the earth started closing up before his eyes. After a moment, not a single crack could be found anymore.

When Su Ming pressed his palm against the ground eighteen times, the withered trees suddenly became illusions. Once they faded away, trees overflowing with life appeared. After a short while, the cultivation planet was green once more. It made it seem as if the trees in the planet had never withered. There was no end to the forest here, and all of the trees possessed endless life force.

When Su Ming’s hand pressed against the ground twenty-seven times, a hazy fog covered the basin in the distance, and soon after, seawater started surging in. Within an instant, the basin that had previously lost its water became a vast ocean once again.

The dark clouds in the sky started swiftly changing as Su Ming struck the ground. When he pressed his palm against the ground thirty-six times, the black clouds disappeared, and a clear, blue sky as well as a brilliant sun reappeared before his eyes and above the ground.

The black rain became clear as well as it fell on the ground, creating a curtain that made the cultivation planet look as beautiful as it had been in the beginning.

“They’re here… it’s a pity none of them is Heaven Traversers’ Progenitor.”

Su Ming’s right hand paused for a moment on the ground. As he lifted his head and spoke faintly, loud booms came from the sky. As they echoed in the air, three long arcs approached the place. They did not come from the distance, but appeared in the planet’s sky as if they had walked out of space.

These three people were two men and one woman, and all of them appeared to be in their forties. They were dressed in long, deep blue robes. As they spread their wings, flowing streams of light could be seen moving about them. Their long hair danced in the wind, and an astonishing power spread out from their bodies.

If anyone observed them closely, they would be able to see that the shadows of moons could be seen between their wings. The trio… were powerful warriors in Lunar Kalpa Realm!

One of the two men had a moon made of water, while the other’s moon was made of fire. As for the woman, she had a moon made of flower petals behind her.

All of those in Lunar Kalpa Realm belonged to the central power of a race, and it was the same for Heaven Traversers as well. These three were clearly people with extremely high status in this venerated race.

At the instant they appeared in the sky, the trio immediately looked towards the ground, and they were all momentarily stunned.

“We received a call for help earlier, saying that a powerful enemy has invaded the planet, but there’s only peace here now…”

“I sensed ripples of death from the planet just now, but now this place is filled with life.” The trio exchanged glance. The woman’s eyes shone, and she raised her right hand to sweep it across her eyes before closing them. When she opened them again, the forest still covered the ground, and nothing strange could be detected.

“It’s not an illusion.”

Just as the trio were hesitant and uncertain, dozens of people flew up from the ground. Those people… were Heaven Traversers.

They were traveling swiftly towards the trio, and the trio instantly looked towards them.

“What exactly happened here? Where are your Garrison Elders Ze Du and Han Duo?” the man with the water moon behind him demanded with a frown.

When he asked this question, the dozens of Heaven Traversers immediately seemed to have gained sentience.

“Was the intruder a ferocious beast or someone from another tribe?” the other man asked. As his words echoed in the air, the minds of the dozens of Heaven Traversers became even clearer, and they looked no different than before they had died.

The woman’s expression changed at that moment. But just as she was about to speak, a loud bang suddenly came from the sky. Four long arcs rushed over, and the crowd immediately turned to them.

Even Su Ming looked towards them as he sat in the forest.

The four were all cultivators, and all of them were men in their thirties. They did not stand far apart from each other, so it was clear that they were in a group. Once they appeared, they immediately came to a halt and stopped in midair. With shock and bewilderment on their faces, the four of them gathered together.

“I am a cultivator from the galaxy beyond, Xuan Shang, and I am good friends with the tribe leader of Dust Burners, Lu Ka. I have come to this galaxy due to his invitation. This is our authentication token. However, we ran into some trouble on our way there and passed by this place by pure coincidence. We did not know that this is Heaven Traversers’ territory, so please don’t take it to mind. We will leave now, we will leave immediately.”

The person who spoke was a man dressed in a long, dark green robe. There was a smile on his face, and he looked incredibly polite. As he spoke, he brought out a black wooden block from his bosom. With a swing, that wooden block floated up and was ignited in flames. The flames were green and looked like a ball of phantasmal fire, but they did not exude hot air. Instead, they let out a chilly aura.

The four cultivators all had outstanding power, and they seemed to be in the later stage of World Plane Realm. If they were outside Divine Essence Star Ocean, then any one of them would be able to become the pillar of a family, and they could even work out some conditions with the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds.

However, in the alien race filled Divine Essence Star Ocean, they were incredibly cautious with their actions. Their words were filled with courteousness because they were afraid of causing a misunderstanding.

In truth, the four of them had indeed passed by this place by pure coincidence, just as they had said. They did not come from Western Ring Nebula but from another galaxy and were prepared to head deeper into the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean.

They ran into plenty of troubles on their way and had wasted almost a hundred years to reach this place. The dangers they faced time and again had reduced their initial group of seven to only four. After arriving here with much difficulty, they saw Outer Skies Planet. The green planet caused them to hesitate for a moment before deciding to come to this place to rest. However, they did not expect that they would run into an alien race there.

It was clear that the one who spoke just then understood the alien races in Divine Essence Star Ocean quite well. Because of that, once he saw the wings on the people’s backs, he could immediately tell that they were Heaven Traversers of the four venerated races.

As the four retreated, they swiftly sent their thoughts to each other, prepared to immediately fight back when Heaven Traversers blocked their path. They might have sensed that the three strongest were in Lunar Kalpa Realm, but cultivators who dared to step into Divine Essence Star Ocean would not carelessly come here without some powerful Enchanted Treasures and divine abilities. It would be impossible for them to reach the inner parts of the galaxy without them. They would die on the way there.

Su Ming swept his gaze across the four cultivators. He could see their fatigue and also tell that their words were not lies. However… without great temptation, no one would dare to step into the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean. These four people… must certainly be harboring some secrets.

The two men out of the three people in Lunar Kalpa Realm in the sky frowned, but when they heard the name of Dust Burners’ tribe leader, they paused for a moment. When they saw the authentication token the man brought out, they averted their gazes and ignored the four cultivators.

The four immediately retreated, intending to distance themselves from trouble. They could vaguely tell that there was a hostile expression on these Heaven Traversers’ faces, as if something had happened among them. No matter what it was, the four did not want to participate in it.

Yet right at the instant they were about to leave, the expression of the woman in Lunar Kalpa Realm changed several times before she went charging after them. She also started speaking hurriedly.

“There’s something off about the four! We can’t let them leave!”

The woman flew really fast, and the expressions of the four cultivators changed. They began fleeing at full speed. The other two Heaven Traversers in Lunar Kalpa Realm frowned, clearly puzzled by their companion’s actions, but they still chased after the group instinctively.

Su Ming sighed in the forest on the ground.

‘There are still some flaws within the Illusion of Stars, Sun, and Moon which now contains the power that will exist when I believe in it. If the appearance of these four people did not serve as a comparison between illusion and reality, then this flaw would not have been so clear.’

Su Ming shook his head. He knew that the woman had discovered that there was something off, but she did not dare to voice it out loud due to her surprise and bewilderment, which was why she had chased after the cultivators in an attempt to mask her desire to leave this dead cultivation planet.

“Since you’re already here, then don’t leave,” Su Ming said faintly and stood up. At the instant he did so, the cultivation planet turned into a withered and dead planet from its previous state of overflowing with life force!