Pursuit of the Truth

The crimson-haired Su Ming threw his head back and laughed. His laughter was filled with madness along with the resentment he had accumulated over the course of countless years. It was a resentment that came from since he was in Dark Mountain, and right then, he had had allowed it to erupt for the first time.

The resentment in his outburst reverberated in the chamber, causing the figure with its back turned towards Su Ming to remain silent as he trembled slightly.

“Make it up to me? What are going to do to make it up to me? How are you going to make it up to me?!” Su Ming swung his arm with red filled eyes. When he turned around, ripples immediately appeared under his feet, and he took a step into the air.

“The fifth kiln where my mother is belongs to me. From now on, I will protect her. You… are unworthy!” With those words, he disappeared from the chamber with a bang.

The final three words were like an invisible sharp sword that stabbed into the person, causing him to tremble and lower his head with blood trickling down the corners of his mouth.

It fell on the ground and dyed the rattling drum. It also dyed the purple wooden sword that was the size of a palm beside it. That wooden sword was something he had nourished for countless years and was prepared to give it to his son as a gift, a present that symbolized his apology and his desire to make it up to him.

If Su Ming could see the sword, he would recognize it. It was the one he’d carved when he was young, and when he toyed with it, he even told Lei Chen in a heroic manner unique to children that he would walk down the path of Berserkers: fly in the sky and charge through the ground, and with the wooden sword, he would travel through the entire land.

Blood fell on the wooden sword and fused into its lines. The figure stared at it blankly, then closed its eyes in anguish.

The chamber might be Dao Chen’s isolation grounds and its protection might be so incredibly terrifying that it was one of the few most tightly defended spots in True Morning Dao World, but the bald crane’s power in disregarding all Runes could weaken the defensive power even in this place. However, it was not enough to allow Su Ming to leave without any damage.

But Su Xuan Yi did not want the Rune in the place to deliver any backlash on Su Ming. At the instant Su Ming left, he had deactivated almost all the Runes and seals in the place.

This was the first time the seal over the Rune was dissipated over a course of countless years, but Su Ming did not know that.

When he left the chamber, he did not see the figure with his back turned towards him touching the rattling drum with trembling hands once he left. The man had tears trickling down his cheeks from his shut eyes.

Neither did he see the shining seals on the trembling body.

“Is the plan to restore the Abyss Builders to their glory more important… or my family?” Light murmurs came from the figure’s mouth, betraying their speaker’s endless fatigue.

Su Ming left. He did not take with him any power, nor did he ask for any divine abilities, and neither did he ask about anything, because at that moment, he was his crazed, red-haired self. With resentment and anger he could not force down, he walked out of the isolation grounds, and when he appeared, he was standing on the altar.

Sang stood by his side. Dao Lin and Dao Hua had also returned at some unknown point in time. At that moment, they had their eyes closed in the distance as if they were meditating, but in truth, their bodies and souls had been frozen in time.

With red in his eyes, Su Ming cast a glance at Sang. He did not speak, but walked down the altar. A ruthless desire filled his whole body. He wanted to vent his anger, but could not find a target to do so.

At that moment, Su Ming was madness personified. There was not a single bit of rationality left in him. With just the tiniest spark, a sea of fire would erupt from him… and he would not care about any consequences of his actions!

Sang looked at Su Ming, then sighed. He had long since predicted this outcome… because he knew Su Ming.

With a sigh, he swung his arm, and the air immediately distorted. An invisible gust of wind swept up Su Ming, Dao Lin, and Dao Hua. They disappeared from the place and returned… to the place where the Anointment Ceremony was held!

“My young La Su has grown up.”

Sang shook his head. There was a hint of sentimentality in his eyes, along with a kindly love that Su Ming did not see. He stared at Su Ming’s figure leaving into the distance, and after a long while, he raised his foot to step into the Rune on the altar. He disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was already in Su Xuan Yi’s isolation grounds.

“Master, he… has left.” Sang stared at the still trembling body in front of him, sighed in his heart, and lowered his head.

The figure was silent for a moment before it asked slowly with fatigue in its voice, “Sang, is restoring the Abyss Builders’ glory more important, or is my family more important? If you were me… how would you choose?”

Sang too fell silent. After some time, he lifted his head and stared at the figure before speaking in a soft voice.

“Master, I will never forget your kindness to me. Even if I am not an Abyss Builder, for you, I can overturn Morning Dao and do everything that you ask me to do. Because… you are my Master.

“Similarly… for Su Ming, I can give up on everything for him… because he is the young La Su I watched grow up. My whole life is only for the two of you.” He did not answer Su Xuan Yi’s question directly, but did so in a roundabout fashion.

With his eyes shut, Su Xuan Yi fell silent. After a long, long time, the purple wooden sword in front of him flashed with light and charged towards Sang.

“Deliver this sword to him…”

“Can he… control this sword?” Sang hesitated for a moment before he cast a glance at the seemingly normal purple wooden sword.

Su Xuan Yi was silent for a moment, then whispered, “He should have lived happily without knowing or understanding anything. He could have lived his lives happily. Even if they were fake, he could have still been happy.

“But he chose another path. This path is full of hardships and trials, and he has… only walked a small portion of it. There is also a limit to how much I can help him. If he can control this sword, then he will be able to move forward through his path at a faster pace in the future. In fact… he would even be able to walk out of Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos.

“If he can’t control it… it will still be a good thing,”

In silence, Sang nodded.

…..

In the air above the spot at the center of the nine continents in the first plane in Morning Dao Sect, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Turtle had four continents on their backs. The Azure Dragon was at the center.

There was a large number of tables on the four continents, and an Anointment Ceremony was about to take place.

There were less than one million out of the ten million cultivators from Morning Dao Sect who were worthy of sitting on the Azure Dragon’s continent. These one million people were standing by the sides of the tables.

The remaining cultivators were all at the spot used for the Anointment Ceremony. They had yet to possess the right to step on the Azure Dragon’s continent.

Located in three different directions from the Azure Dragon’s continent were the Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Turtle’s continents. As the beasts roared, there were three gigantic cracks in the air above them expanding as the lightning in them swam about.

Around the three cracks were twenty-four Sect Masters keeping the lightning in control. The three Sect Masters Ri, Yue, and Xing were each on one of the continents.

People walked out of the crack above the Black Turtle’s crack. The person in the lead was the old man from True Spirit Hell World, the Fourth Great World. He was dressed in a blue robe, and the moment he stepped out, Reverend Zi Long followed swiftly behind him.

“We welcome the Fourth True World!” one of the twenty-four Sect Masters around the crack above the Black Turtle’s continent immediately said. The near one million cultivators on the Azure Dragon’s continent wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed towards the Black Turtle’s continent.

“Fourth True World!”

The voices from the near one million people were like thunder. When they echoed in the air, the old man in blue from the Fourth True World smiled. He wrapped his fist in his palm towards the twenty-four Sect Masters beside the crack. Behind him, Reverend Zi Long and the one thousand something cultivators from the Fourth True World all wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed deeply.

“My fellow Daoists, you are too polite. Congratulations on anointing your Dynasts, Morning Dao Sect. I have prepared a congratulatory gift for them.” The old man in blue smiled and swept his gaze past the twenty-four Sect Masters before finally looking at Sect Master Ri who was one of the three strongest people in Morning Dao Sect.

“Old friend, I hope you are well.”

“Brother Tan, you are as elegant as always. This way, please!” A smile appeared on Sect Master Ri’s face, and he pointed with his right hand towards the Black Turtle’s continent. The old man in blue smiled faintly. As he nodded, he brought Reverend Zi Long and the one thousand something cultivators behind him to the Black Turtle’s continent.

Reverend Zi Long’s eyes shone while he scrutinized the crowd on the Azure Dragon’s continent. With his level of cultivation, he could see everything there at one glance. He looked like he was searching for something, but in the end, he cast his eyes at the spot in the distance.

At that moment, a chilling presence erupted from the crack above the White Tiger’s continent. At the same time, ancient bronze swords charged out with arrogance and an overbearing attitude. There were tens of thousands of them, and for a short period of time, they filled the entire area. In the end, two old men so old they looked as if they could not open their eyes walked out.

These two old men had sullen expressions, and when they walked out, they turned their heads and cast a glance at Sect Master Yue of the three Sect Masters standing among the twenty-four other Sect Masters by the crack. A cold sneer appeared on their lips.

Sect Master Yue had a smile on his face and wrapped his fist in his palm to greet them.

The two old men, You and Ming let out cold snorts. Without a single word, they charged towards the White Tiger’s continent with the tens of thousands of ancient bronze swords. They descended instantly, but none of the cultivators disembarked. Only You and Ming as well as the middle-aged man in Life Realm previously tasked to fend against the Barren Lands of Divine Essence stepped on the White Tiger’s continent.

“Welcome, True Sacred Yin World,” one of the twenty-four Sect Masters said with an imposing voice. Once he spoke, the one million cultivators on the Azure Dragon’s continent sported odd expressions, but they still wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed to the White Tiger’s continent.

“I’m not important enough to receive your greeting. Where is Dao Kong?” the old Ming said coldly and flatly. His voice had a rotting presence to it, but the instant he spoke, the crack in the air above the Vermilion Bird’s continent suddenly let a shocking dragon’s roar pass through it. A gigantic Abyss Dragon extended its huge head from the crack. When it rushed out, a thousand something Abyss Dragons behind it flew out as well.

Sitting on the first and largest Abyss Dragon was the third prince of the Emperor of Abyss’ True World. By his side… was Yu Xuan. A complicated look flashed briefly through her eyes before her expression returned to apathy that made it looked like her heart was dead.

“We welcome the Emperor of Abyss’ True World!”

All three Great True Worlds had arrived, and they were all waiting… for the arrival of the Morning Dao Sect’s Dynasts.