Pursuit of the Truth

When Su Ming saw Flame Fiends’ Progenitor reacting that way, he laughed wryly in his heart before making his expression turn aloof and letting out a cold harrumph.

When Flame Fiends’ Progenitor heard it and saw the icy expression, he calmed down, finding it normal. Just as he was about to say something, Su Ming raised his right hand and pointed at him.

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor instantly started trembling furiously. Gradually, a large amount of black sweat broke out on his skin. Once it was forced out of his body, it swiftly gathered together and turned into a drop of water that was the size of a fist and gave off a foul stench. When it disappeared before Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, an incomparably light feeling rose within him

“The seal has been broken. Huo Kui, don’t go to the fifth kiln anymore. If we are destined to meet again, the both of us will surely see each other in the future. I bid you farewell.” Su Ming cast a glance at Flame Fiends’ Progenitor before leaving. When he turned around and was just about to leave, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt. He turned his head around and asked, “Where does Zhu You Cai live?”

“In Husband Gazing Mountain,” Flame Fiends’ Progenitor quickly replied. The excitement of seeing Su Ming had already disappeared by then. The wariness and the powerful impression the other had left one hundred years ago rose again in his mind.

Su Ming nodded. When he cast a glance at Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, he saw his cautious demeanor, and his lips slowly curled up into a smile. However, he did not know that when Flame Fiends’ Progenitor saw that smile, his heart let out a loud thump, and panic instantly rose in his heart.

‘What’s going on? This person… kills without batting an eyelid. He’s ruthless, merciless, and a calculative man, and now… he’s smiling? Something’s off! Something’s very off!’ Flame Fiends’ Progenitor became even more cautious, and he took a few instinctive steps back.

“I’m going back to True Morning Dao World. Come… with me,” Su Ming said faintly, then turned around without bothering himself with whether Flame Fiends’ Progenitor would be conflicted about this. He simply walked into the galaxy.

By his side, the bald crane let out a fake cough before casting a profound glance at Flame Fiends’ Progenitor.

“This is very important. Huo Kui, it’s best that you think about it carefully. Heh heh…”

At the end, the bald crane still decided to intimidate him. It felt that its current situation was the most wonderful moment in its life. When it frightened Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, it did not forget to let out a few snorts.

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor was instantly conflicted. He watched Su Ming walking into the distance, then listened to the bald crane threatening him before turning his head around to cast a glance at Flame Fiends’ Planet behind him. Hesitation rose within him.

He was actually not worried about his people. With Flame Fiends’ divine abilities, even if he was not around, no great accident would happen to them while they were in Divine Essence Star Ocean. And if he followed Su Ming, he might run into a great serendipity.

He was especially certain of it when he remembered Su Ming’s actions on their trip one hundred years ago. It immediately gave Flame Fiends’ Progenitor confidence. He gritted his teeth, and resolve appeared on his face.

‘If I follow such a calculative and conniving person, at the very least, I won’t suffer any losses in the hands of other people…’ Flame Fiends’ Progenitor immediately turned his head around and let out a few shouts at Flame Fiends’ Planet.

Immediately, commotion rose within it. Numerous Flame Fiends flew up and stared at their Progenitor. There was a reluctance to part in their eyes, but all of them knelt down and worshiped him simultaneously.

Flame Fiends’ Progenitor let out a few more shouts, a telling sign that he was leaving instructions as to what his people were to do after he left. Then, under the gazes filled with the reluctance to part from his people, he turned his head around and turned into a ball of purple flames that charged in the direction Su Ming had left.

…..

Husband Gazing Mountain was like an eternal existence in the galaxy. There were murmurs from the summit coming down all year long. The beautiful legend surrounding the mountain always stirred up the curiosity of those who came when they heard the murmurs.

At that moment, Su Ming was standing on a stone rising from the ground at the center of the mountain. By his side was the bald crane and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor while in front of him was a dark cave.

“Senior Chang He, I would wish to see you.” Su Ming wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to the mountain cave while he spoke calmly.

The mountain cave was quiet. After a long while, a muffled bang came from the mountain cave, and an incomparably plump, hideous, and ugly figure walked out from within.

Zhu You Cai!

His eyes were crimson red. When he walked out, he stared at Su Ming. Conflict and madness were in his eyes. After some time, a calm expression slowly came to his face. He sat down limply by the side, and when he lifted his head to stare at Su Ming, his expression had already returned to its usual calmness.

“You’re back,” he said faintly.

Su Ming nodded.

“Thank you for helping me when we were in the fifth ocean. About your wife…” When Su Ming said those words, he paused for a moment.

With a calm expression on his face, Zhu You Cai looked at Su Ming’s face while waiting for the second part of his words.

“When my level of cultivation is high enough and I can activate the Abyssal World, I will definitely resurrect her,” Su Ming stated slowly. His understanding towards Abyss Builders was not great, but he had a general idea that they had an inborn ability to resurrect the dead. However, the prerequisite for it was that Abyss Builders needed to activate their Abyssal Worlds.

Su Ming did not know much about that. The Duke of Crimson Flame did not know about it clearly, but Su Ming believed that as his level of cultivation rose, there would surely come a day when he would understand his race’s inborn ability.

“Senior, before that time comes, if you believe me, then I can activate the fifth kiln and have your wife’s soul fuse into it to be nourished. With this, we could ensure that during this period of time, her soul will not scatter and vanish.” With sincerity on his face, Su Ming bowed.

Zhu You Cai was silent. After a long time, he stood up, lifted his head, and looked up at the summit.

After some time, Zhu You Cai asked calmly, “Have you heard of the legend regarding this mountain?”

“I’ve heard of it before.” Su Ming nodded.

“A woman in the past waited for her husband’s return on the mountain. As time passed and things changed, she did not manage to see him. Her body turned into stone, and the presence of her yearning… turned into the mountain.

“When I was in the fifth kiln, I thought that I was already dead, and I was bent on seeking death… but when I died, I woke up again. Yet when I woke up, I was already here, and my body had become as such.

“I don’t know the answer to all of this, but I can sense that there is another person in this person. He… coexists with me. And his name is Zhu You Cai.” He stared at the mountain as his voice echoed in the area.

“Do you want to go to the summit and meet the woman who has turned into stone?” Zhu You Cai moved and turned into a long arc that charged at the summit.

Su Ming stared at the man leaving into the distance. The legend Zhu You Cai had spoken of might not matched with the legend Su Ming had heard, but he still chose to turn into a long arc and charge towards the summit.

When the bald crane arrived at the mountain, its spirits became slightly downcast. At that moment, it stared at the mountain cave with a blank look on its face before also following behind Su Ming in silence.

Ordinary people could not step into the mountain’s summit. However, it was different for Zhu You Cai and Su Ming. They did not spend much time before arriving there.

Su Ming saw a stone human at the peak of the mountain.

Based on its appearance, it should have been a woman. She stood at the summit and stared into the distance, her thoughts unknown.

Zhu You Cai stared at the stone, and a complicated expression appeared in his eyes. Perhaps he was not what he claimed to be—he did not wake up not knowing the reason behind his awakening after he died.

Perhaps he knew the reason, but he did not want to say it; it was his secret.

Behind Su Ming, the bald crane shuddered. Grief appeared in its eyes when it looked at the statue. As it watched it, eternity seemed to envelop it. Its current demeanor was something that could not be seen on usual days.

“Why do I feel so miserable, as if my body is about to disappear?” the bald crane mumbled. At that instant, a few scenes flashed in its mind.

Those pictures were indistinct, containing a vague form a woman. She had her back turned toward the bald crane and was staring at a distant galaxy just like the statue.

The bald crane could only sneak peeks at her while standing behind her and hiding its emotions since it did not want to show them.

That lasted till one day when the woman began crying while staring at the galaxy, and the bald crane heard itself speak in a murmur, “So what if it’s Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos? So what if my soul will scatter and vanish? I will help you find him!” That voice echoed in the bald crane’s mind. As it listened, it heard the anguish contained in the voice.

The bald crane’s vision became blurry. The pictures in its mind shattered and turned into fragments. When they were swept away, the bald crane felt awful and sad.

“In other words, before you have enough power to activate your Abyssal World, I will need to protect you.” After a long while, Zhu You Cai averted his gaze from the stone human and turned his head around.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he met Zhu You Cai’s gaze.

“You can understand it that way.”

“I don’t need the fifth kiln to provide nourishment to her. With my power, I can constantly ensure that her soul will not scatter and disappear.” Zhu You Cai closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a hint of fatigue appeared on his face.

“Then… if you don’t fulfill your promise to resurrect her, I will make you suffer… the same pain,” Zhu You Cai said calmly and lifted his foot to take a step into the galaxy.

“Once I’ve made a promise someone, I will definitely not go back on my word. Only death will stop me.” Su Ming enunciated each of his words clearly.

He then took a step forward. But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly had a stranger feeling and turned his head around to cast a glance at the bald crane before leaving into the distant galaxy while deep in his thoughts.

While they were going forward, Su Ming walked in front. The bald crane was beside him while occasionally turning its head around to look at the mountain. Behind them were Zhu You Cai and Flame Fiends’ Progenitor. The strange expression on the bald crane’s face had attracted Zhu You Cai’s attention, but he did not say much about it. He also seemed to be immersed in his thoughts.

As the group charged forward, they left the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean and moved past Black Ink Planet to step into Western Ring Nebula.

‘Western Ring’s foreign lands…’

At the moment Su Ming stepped into Western Ring Nebula, a brilliant light shone in his eyes. Before he left the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, his final stop had been Western Ring Nebula’s foreign lands.

Once he arrived there, it would be the time for his Ecang clone to devour the other Ecang souls.

When he succeeded, his level of cultivation would increase by an incredible margin. Only then… would he be able to stir up the disaster in True Morning Dao World once he returned to that place.