Pursuit of the Truth

The Ecangs could not choose. None of them would willingly allowed themselves to be devoured, but Su Ming’s goal was not to make them choose. The three hundred thousand purple galaxies gathered on him, and he turned into a long arc that charged towards another invisible barrier.

The power of three hundred thousand galaxies allowed Su Ming to move as if he was splitting apart bamboo in one smooth move. At the instant he touched the invisible barrier, it let out a bang and was crushed in one blow. When it was torn into pieces, a white galaxy spread out from within.

It was the white Ecang’s place!

In truth, the ten Ecang’s souls were not truly equal in terms of power. Black, white, and gray were the strongest, while the remaining seven colors were close in terms of strength among themselves. At the instant Su Ming saw white light, his eyes sparkled.

He stepped into the white galaxy and saw that there were no stellar rivers there. It was a stark difference from the other seven colors, for at the center of the galaxy an old man was sitting in white robes. He had opened his eyes at that moment and was staring at Su Ming calmly.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come,” the old man in white said faintly. His voice echoed in the galaxy, and there was an ancient and gentle tone to his words.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are Ecang or a cultivator, the signs of your life belong to Ecang. It doesn’t matter whether you were previously Ecang or if you will just become Ecang in the future, you… will still be Ecang.” The old man stood up slowly. His voice was mild, and there was a tone to his voice that would make others feel fond of its owner.

“The ten Ecang souls have three colors acting as the dominant souls, and the remaining seven are complements… White controls Ecang’s kindness and manipulates the changes in the universe. Black controls Ecang’s evil and manipulates the madness which would bring about the world’s destruction. Gray… is stillness. It will live with the universe, and die with the universe.”

Su Ming’s expression remained the same. He stared at the old man in white before him coldly. He took a step forward, and as he approached, the old man did not dodge. There was not even a hint of change on his face.

“Which is why as long as you are Ecang, it does not matter to me whether you will devour or fuse with me. I hope… that there will come a day when Ecang will descend into the universe once more. Since you can do it, then why should I be stingy with my consciousness? Why should I be bothered… if you devour me?” The old man smiled faintly. When Su Ming came to his side, he closed his eyes slowly.

His demeanor immediately made a barely noticeable glint appear in Su Ming’s eyes. The previous fragments of Ecang’s soul he’d met were mostly violent and did not possess a great amount of intelligence. However, the old man in white that was the white Ecang was completely different from them.

Su Ming did not speak. As his eyes sparkled, his speed increased exponentially, and he closed in on the old man. When he raised his right hand, a large number of branches stretched out from his fingers to charge towards the center of the old man’s brows before seeping through it.

The old man’s body began withering before his eyes. A large amount of the essence of life that belonged to Ecang surged into Su Ming’s body. The amount far surpassed what he got from the blue and crimson Ecangs, and it was so great that the purple light in Su Ming’s eyes instantly became even brighter.

However, at the instant Su Ming was about to devour and absorb the essence of life from the old man that was the white Ecang, the old man’s eyes flew open. A sinister look appeared in his gaze and he formed a seal with his hands before he flinging them to his sides.

“If Ecang is an illusion, then the universe is real. If Ecang is real, then the universe is an illusion!”

As the old man’s voice echoed, the white light from the white galaxy where he was located instantly grew to a piercing degree. Booming sounds reverberated in space, and the entire space… turned into a gigantic white Ecang tree during that instant.

The tree was caught between the state of being an illusion and something that had corporeal form. It filled the entire galaxy… or rather, the white galaxy was part of its body. At that moment, if the body of the Ecang tree appeared, then it would mean that it had already swallowed Su Ming.

“This person intends to sow discord among us. My fellow kinsmen, do not be deceived by him. I am willing to wipe out my consciousness and self-destruct with him. If I succeed, then someone among you will definitely be able to awaken Ecang. If I fail… then you must do the same thing as I did!”

At the instant the old man’s voice echoed in all directions, the gigantic white Ecang collapsed, torn into pieces. It activated the destructive power within it and swept up Su Ming… intending to make him die with it.

However, the instant the white Ecang exploded, a purple hue that surged into the heavens spilled out from Su Ming’s body, and the purple Ecang appeared inside the white Ecang. This scene was just like how Ecang had replaced Sui Chen Zi in the past and was born within the universe!

Su Ming’s purple Ecang was born from the white Ecang’s destruction. At the instant he appeared, purple and white flashed rapidly in the galaxy. When loud booming sounds shook the place, the white Ecang completely broke down. Its origin of power was split into five parts, and one of them fused with Su Ming’s body. The remaining four seeped through space and headed to the other four Ecangs.

This scene was the equivalent of the previous events repeating themselves. If this continued, then there would definitely be one Ecang who would eventually awaken its roots and have the will of Ecang from the past to descend once again in the universe.

This was the one thing Su Ming did not want to happen the most. At that moment, he was watching the four origins of power disappear into space. Right when he appeared from the disintegrated white Ecang, his voice echoed in the one million galaxies with a monstrous killing intent and determination into the hearts of the four remaining Ecang.

“Whosoever snatches my origin of power will be the next to die! Let me devour this white Ecang, and I will give you a relative amount of time!” As his voice reverberated in space, his words reached the black, gray, indigo, and yellow Ecangs.

Among them, the black Ecang was the first to devour the origin of power from the white Ecang without any hesitation. Soon, the gray Ecang did the same thing. The galaxies in which they were located spread out and became stronger.

However… the indigo and yellow fragments of Ecang’s soul hesitated for a moment before deciding not to devour the origins of power. Instead, they activated their own powers and sent them outwards to push away the origins of power from the white Ecang out of their galaxies. Soon, the color of their lights spread out so that Su Ming would know of their decisions.

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He sucked in a deep breath and instantly absorbed the two white origins of power from the white Ecang. He threw his head back and let out a long roar. Purple light filled his body, and the three hundred thousand galaxies he previously possessed increased to around four hundred thousand.

“Black, gray, you’re just asking for death!” A purple glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He ignored the galaxies belonging to the yellow and indigo Ecangs and moved swiftly towards the other two.

“Then go on ahead and devour us. There are four of us remaining. As long as I can last till the end, I will definitely be the one who will take the initiative to awaken Ecang. By then, even if I still can’t fight against purple, at least I can still protect myself.”

A glint appeared in indigo Ecang’s eyes. It realized that once it had devoured a part of the orange and green Ecangs’ origins of power, it seemed to have gained enlightenment and become more intelligent.

The yellow Ecang had the same thought.

Su Ming was so quick that he instantly rammed his fist against the invisible barrier. As the it crumbled, black light spread out. A low roar reverberated in space, and a fist stretched out from the crack in the barrier to collide against that of Su Ming.

With a loud bang, the fist from the black galaxy tumbled back to reveal an old man dressed in black robes. With killing intent on his face. He forced himself to stop as he moved back before rushing at Su Ming again.

A glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes. With a cold snort, he took a step forward.

“Desolate!”

The old man who was the black Ecang threw his head back and roared. Immediately, the black galaxy where he was instantly turned into a gigantic black Ecang, and as if it was collapsing, it fell towards Su Ming.

“Desolate!” Su Ming shouted as well. The four hundred thousand purple galaxies around him turned into the purple Ecang. With the same posture and the same manner of falling down, the two Ecangs crashed into each other, and booming sounds surged into the heavens. The invisible barrier connected to the black galaxy also let out a loud rumble.

In the mid of those rumbles, it sounded as if there was someone ceaselessly pounding against the barrier, intending to walk out from within. Clearly, behind that invisible barrier were the galaxies belonging to the gray Ecang.

“Disaster!”

The old man who was the black Ecang allowed a large amount of his essence of life to trickle out from his mouth. It was not blood, but his origin of power. When they had crashed into each other, he found that he was absolutely not Su Ming’s opponent. As he roared, the leaves on his tree crown shuddered. As they swiftly shot out, they formed a storm and charged towards Su Ming with a howl.

“Disaster,” Su Ming said flatly. He also knew the same divine ability!

The purple Ecang turned around, and immediately, countless purple leaves fell off to turn into a vortex before charging forward. Booming sounds reverberated in space again. The old man who was the black Ecang coughed up a large amount of essence of life again. As his body fell backwards, the invisible barrier behind him shattered with a bang. A large amount of gray light spread out, and an old man dressed in gray robes stepped out.

Once he appeared, he did not look towards Su Ming. Instead, he charged towards the old man in black. Understanding and resolve appeared in the eyes of the fallen man. As he gritted his teeth, he did not avoid and simply allowed the old man in gray to approach him. The other pushed his palm against the top of his skull, and the old man who was the black Ecang shattered with a bang. A great amount of origin of power which was Ecang’s essence of life turned into fog and charged towards the old man in gray who sucked in a breath before fusing with him.

At the same time, Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. He brought his arms up and took a few swift steps forward before he swinging his arms and stretching them out. He then brought his palms together in front of him with a loud clap. It instantly stirred up a violent gust of wind in the galaxy at the spot where his palms collided. The wind howled with a shocking momentum, his clap having been formed with the power from the four hundred thousand purple galaxies merged together. Because of that, the wind that was stirred up was also purple.

It charged forward. In the blink of an eye, it blew against the origin of power from the black Ecang, which the old man in gray was absorbing. When the origin of power which resembled fog was blown apart, it was sent behind the old man in gray.

When Su Ming delivered his attack, he did not hesitate. The effect it was to bring was incredibly important, since it forced the old man in gray to stop in his act of absorbing and fusing with the origin of power.