Pursuit of the Truth

Bang!

The continent that belonged to the Black Turtle shuddered. The Black Turtle which supported it roared towards the sky, and as the continent trembled, the sky distorted. A gigantic crack was torn swiftly in the air, as if a large, invisible sword had cut through it. Endless bolts of lightning swam in it, and when it spread out, the crack was torn wider apart.

At the same time, in the Fourth True World of the four Great True Worlds within Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was a galaxy that looked like a vast mass of water. In it were thousands of meteors of various shapes. They floated by themselves, and sitting on each meteor was a cultivator.

They were all very quiet, as if each of them was the same; everyone’s expression was filled with sullenness and aloofness. They also exuded a ghastly, grim presence that seemed to come straight from their bones.

This was the mysterious Fourth True World… True Spirit Hell World, which no outsider knew about!

This world was so mysterious that even its name was only known to a small handful of cultivators in the other three Great True Worlds. They would know it, but that would be it. Even if there were people who had visited the other three Great True Worlds, they most likely had never come to True Spirit Hell World!

The difficulty for entering this place was even greater than entering the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Very few people knew the reason behind it, but without a doubt, the mysterious Fourth Great True World was a topic of discussion that the cultivators from the other three Great True Worlds commonly noted.

There were all sorts of guesses, all sorts of rumors, and it was difficult to differentiate which was real and fake.

At that moment, the thousands of cultivators were meditating in silence. Suddenly, the galaxy in front of them let out a shocking roar. A gigantic crack tore through space, lightning swimming in it. Under the booming sounds, the thousands of cultivators in the area swiftly opened their eyes to reveal cold glares.

It was especially so for a middle-aged man dressed in purple right in front of all of them. The inverted image of a purple spark showed up in his eyes. This person was handsome, and if Su Ming was there, he would have been able to recognize him at first glance. Needless to say… he was Reverend Zi Long, the person who had come into contact with Su Ming in the fifth kiln, who had protected him when he was beyond the fifth ocean, and who had left halfway through!

There was an old man dressed in a long blue robe by his side. He looked old, but the ripple of power coming from him surpassed that of Zi Long. At the instant he opened his eyes, that ripple of power spread out.

“Let’s go,” the old man said faintly after casting a glance at the crack in the galaxy.

Reverend Zi Long immediately voiced his obedience. When he took a step forward, he leapt up from the meteor to the crack. The thousands of cultivators behind him flew out together as well. They turned into thousands of long arcs that charged towards the crack with loud roars.

The old man in blue was the last. With a calm expression, he stepped into the crack.

At the same time, the continents on the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird roared together in Morning Dao Sect. Huge cracks appeared in the air. At the instant they were torn open, the lightning opened the cracked and connected to… True Sacred Yin World and the Emperor of Abyss’ True World!

True Sacred Yin World was a galaxy filled with cold air. There were huge ancient bronze swords in it. They looked as if they were dug out of a giant’s grave. The waning and cold presence spreading out from them seemed to resonate with the galaxy.

Compared to the thousands of people from the Fourth Great True World, the people in True Sacred Yin World were much greater in number. If anyone cast a glance over, they would see that the ancient bronze swords were endless. There were nearly one hundred thousand of them, and on each sword were dozens of cultivators, resulting in millions of people.

This sort of army might be nothing to a True World, but if it was used to visit another True World’s Anointment Ceremony, it could be seen as… an act filled with hostility.

It was especially so because of the presences of Almighties among the one hundred thousand ancient bronze swords. There were dozens of them. In fact, there were two old men among them whose bodies were extremely thin. The presence of decay about them was incredibly thick. It looked as if their old eyes could not be opened. However, the mighty pressure spreading out from them was so terrifying that it made the galaxy look like it was trembling.

Next to the two old men was a middle-aged man with his head lowered. If Su Ming could see him, he would definitely be able to recognize him at first glance as well. He was… the Almighty in Life Realm who was initially among the forces of power stationed in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence and who in the end had been spared!

At that moment, when he stood beside the two old men, he looked like a junior, and it was a telling sign in regards to how strong were the two old men who looked as if they could not even open their eyes.

Several breaths later, when the galaxy before them was torn open to form a gigantic crack, the lightning swimming in it caused the crack to open wider. No one spoke, but the ancient bronze swords turned into long arcs, and at an extreme speed, all of them rushed into the crack.

It was as if they were worried that if they were too slow, not all of them would be able to enter Morning Dao Sect, but the instant all of them rushed into the crack, a shocking bang spread out. Under its loud booming, ia screen of light appeared inside the crack, preventing a large number of ancient swords from entering.

But during that moment, the two old men who were so old that they looked as if they could not even open their eyes did open their eyes. Within them, dark green light shone. They raised their arms and swung them forward, and booming sounds shook the sky and earth. The screen of light instantly distorted and shattered.

In an instant, a large number of ancient bronze swords rushed into the crack. In the blink of an eye, nearly thirty thousand entered. At the instant the seventy thousand ancient swords behind it were about to enter as well, the screen of light appeared again. This time, a human face had also appeared on it.

It was an ancient face, and it belonged to Sect Master Yue who was one of the three Sect Masters Ri, Yue, and Xing in the Council of Sect Masters in Morning Dao Sect!

“You, Ming, my two old friends. What need is there to be so angry? There are always ways to solve this, unless the two of you are unwilling and are intent to wage a war between True Worlds,” an ancient voice said.

You and Ming, the two old men from True Sacred Yin World mentioned by Sect Master Yue, snorted coldly at the same time. However, they did not forcefully tear open the screen of light again. They did not order the remaining seventy thousand ancient swords to forcefully rush in either.

Instead, the two of them swung their arms and swept up the middle-aged man who was previously tasked to fend against the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. With one jump, they charged into the screen of light and instantly fused into it before disappearing without a trace.

The two of them did not truly intend to wage a war between True Worlds. Everything previously was just to show their anger and determination.

At the same time, in a galaxy shrouded in fog within the Emperor of Abyss’ True World were Abyss Dragons that shot through the fog silently as it tumbled about. They were moving forward swiftly.

If anyone cast their gazes over, they would find that the fog was like a sea, and the Abyss Dragons were like huge beasts swimming through it. Waves of mighty pressure spread out from one thousand Abyss Dragons. A cultivator sat on each one. All the cultivators were filled with a strange aura of death, but it was not absolute. There was still life force in them. However, based on their possession of intelligence, these people were not puppets, but living, breathing cultivators.

In front of the group was an Abyss Dragon which was clearly much bigger than the others. There were two people sitting cross-legged on it—a man and a woman. The man was handsome and dressed in black. He had a crown on his head, and even though his face was pale, his eyes shone with a brilliant light, and there was an aggressiveness to him.

Sitting beside him was a woman. She had no expression, but she was incredibly beautiful. She might have been sitting, but her graceful figure could still be seen. She was dressed in a long, purple dress, and there was a hairpin in her hair with several strings of jewels attached to it. They tinkled when they knocked against each others.

She might have been beautiful, but the expressionless face, and especially the dreary and apathetic look in her eyes made her look as if she had lost her soul. Or maybe that that she no longer cared about anything in the world.

All the people who were familiar with her would find it hard to recall that she had been mischievous and capable of bell-like laughter just over a thousand years ago. She had been filled with joy back then and able to make her eyes curl into the shape of crescent moons when she smiled. The cunning look she gave off would often fill her with an air of vitality and spiritedness

In the past, she had been a girl without worry. She was filled with wildness and rebelliousness. Due to her displeasure with her marriage partner, she even took an Abyss Dragon who was slightly foolish and fled from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World. In the process of escaping from her marriage though, she had accidentally stepped into a place that changed her fate forever.

Over there, she met a man whose expression was cold, but whom she could not resist provoking. It was a man around whom she hung around and whom she often teased. It was a man… who made her happy, and because of whom she had subconsciously forgotten that she had ran away from her marriage. It was a man… who in the end had let her block an attack… willingly!

All of that was a thousand something years ago. To a mortal, that would be about ten lifespans. They would forget everything about their past in that time, but to the cultivators, while one thousand something years might be long, they would never forget their past. They could only hide all the beautiful moments in their heart and recall it in quiet reminiscence.

One thousand something years could make a cultivator grow, and from being a happy person, they could become expressionless and dead inside.

In the past, the woman had been a flower like her name, a daylily. She bloomed in the rain and smiled happily, persisting in waiting for the sun to appear.

She might still be a flower in the rain. However, it had already lost the dream about sunlight. She no longer smiled or acted boldly. Instead, she had forgotten how to be happy. She no longer waited for the sunlight in the rain… but to wither away.

She sat beside the handsome man with an apathetic expression. The Abyss Dragon beneath them charged into the huge crack that appeared at that moment and headed to Morning Dao Sect, to the True World that was difficult for the woman to forget. It still made her numb heart ached with pain.

The handsome man turned around and smiled slightly before he spoke softly while staring at the woman. “Yu Xuan [1], once we go through this entrance, we will enter True Morning Dao World’s Morning Dao Sect. Even if you just woke up not too long ago, you will surely not have forgotten… Yet the more reluctant you are to come here, the more I will bring you here, my betrothed.

“It is a pity that the person is no longer in Yin Death Region and I have no idea where he has gone. If I could find him, it would be good. I would invite him to our wedding.”

Translator’s Note:

1. Yu Xuan: Girl who sold Su Ming, annoyed him to no end, then saved him.