Pursuit of the Truth

The ocean of light swept Su Ming up. In the mid of the intense pain caused by having his physical body shredded, Su Ming was continuously swept about in the boundless world under space and beyond the universe.

The destruction of his physical body and the destruction of his Nascent Divinity brought an intense pain that almost numbed Su Ming. If it was not because of the Abyss Gate in his body continuously releasing the Aura of Abyss to nourish and heal his Nascent Divinity, his body and soul would have been destroyed a long time ago.

It was quiet around him. The ocean of light moved about without any sound. There was only light, endless light.

In the silence, Su Ming continuously sensed the existence of the Abyss Gate and the Seed of Life Extermination in his body. He could only use this method to divert his attention, because while there were strong and weak lights around him, even the weakest one could cause damage his Nascent Divinity.

Thankfully, the pain did not come to him occasionally but was a constant presence. It numbed him. Since he was in extreme pain which had no comparison all the time, he forgot how it felt to not be in pain. This made it so that he no longer registered pain..

But Su Ming did not give up. He still retained a clear mind, because he believed that the bald crane would come save him. He believed in this firmly.

The bald crane had an unknown origin… and because of it, it could move through space to come to this place.

Back then, there had been no other method for Su Ming to avoid the attack from the seven-starred Ancient God. Even though his physical body was incredibly powerful, it would still have been impossible for him to fight against the explosive power that came from the seven-starred Ancient God when all seven of his stars as well as his body, life, Brands, and even his soul were destroyed.

Perhaps the fifth kiln could allow him to withstand that blow, but summoning it required time, and the Ancient God’s self-destruction was extremely sudden. There was simply not enough time for Su Ming to make too many preparations.

In fact, even the power to reverse time could not be used because during that moment, the explosive power from the Ancient God’s self-destruction was too great. Su Ming might not have executed his ability, but at that instant, he’d known clearly that it was impossible for him to reverse time.

He could either have his body and soul destroyed by that explosion or step into the dangerous world under space, and Su Ming chose the latter.

At that moment, he floated in the ocean of light and was swept forward by the waves. He had no idea how much time had passed or how far he had traveled. To keep his mind clear and so that he would not be in a continuous state of unconsciousness, he kept his full attention on the Abyss Gate and the Seed of Life Extermination. Besides these two things, he had nothing else to pay attention to.

This was not the first time he examined the Seed of Life Extermination, but it was definitely the first time that he observed, experienced, and sensed it with such rapt attention.

He noticed that the fragment Xiao Hong had given him in the past, the Seed of Life Extermination which had fused with his Nascent Divinity many years ago so that they could no longer be differentiated from each other, had been nourished by his soul and everything that he had experienced over the course of the numerous years he had lived. Through it all, it had grown a lot at its edges.

It looked like a statue which had grown to almost half of its full size. With just a little more, it would be half of a statue.

It could be vaguely seen that the statue was an ancient ship.

However, for some unknown reason, as Su Ming continued observing the Seed of Life Extermination, he suddenly had a very strange feeling. This feeling came from the recovery speed of the Seed of Life Extermination. It seemed to have become much slower compared to the first time he had observed it.

He would usually spend quite a lot of time observing the Seed of Life Extermination, but at that moment, he had a feeling that the Seed of Life Extermination could not reach a complete state.

Judging by its recovery speed, soon, half of the statue would be recovered, and then, it would no longer continue growing.

It was as if… even if it had already fused perfectly with Su Ming’s Nascent Divinity, it would reach its limit once it grew to half of its full state.

This was the first time this guess appeared in Su Ming’s head. It caused him to fall silent and sink into contemplation.

‘Could it be that there’s something lacking so the Seed of Life Extermination can’t continue to grow?’

Su Ming could not find the answer. As he stayed in pensive silence, he cast all his attention on the Seed of Life Extermination again. While he observed this thing which seemed to be living in his Nascent Divinity as a parasitical existence, he suddenly saw veins stretching from the Seed of Life Extermination into his Nascent Divinity.

Those veins only appeared for an instant before disappearing. However, their sudden existence just then had caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble.

This was the first time he’d seen such a bizarre scene. The veins were like a net when they spread out from the Seed of Life Extermination. They might have appeared only for an instant, but a chill went down Su Ming’s spine. His first thought was that it was… a spider!

The Seed of Life Extermination was like a spider. It formed countless venous paths that stretched into his Nascent Divinity to form a huge net!

Su Ming forgot the intense pain from his Nascent Divinity being continuously torn apart and disregarded the feeling of the Abyss Gate ceaselessly healing it. All of his attention was placed on the Seed of Life Extermination.

‘Something’s not right…’

But no matter how Su Ming continued observing it, he could no longer see the veins. It was as if everything which he’d seen moments ago were just an illusion. However, Su Ming was certain that even with the intense pain he suffered, what he saw was definitely not an illusion.

After all, he was the Progenitor of controlling all illusions. He had that much confidence in himself.

‘Then for what reason could I see it before but can’t see it now…’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. Suddenly, they focused, and he slowly turned his head around to look at the colorful lights around him. As the colors intersected with each other, they formed countless rays of differing varieties.

“It’s light! That’s right. It’s the light here. When a certain type of light shines on my body, it can show me things I would usually be unable to see!” With a trembling heart, Su Ming immediately recalled what sort of light had appeared around him when the veins had showed up.

However, this was clearly an incredibly difficult thing. The lights around him were a constant. It was impossible to say which specific one had shined on him at a certain point of time.

Determination appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He had to understand just what was going on with the Seed of Life Extermination, because this might possibly be a secret that he would otherwise not discover his entire life. If he had not stepped into this place due to a stroke of luck, it would have been impossible for him to find out why the Seed of Life Extermination had caused his skin to crawl with what he saw even though it had fused with his Nascent Divinity!

A glint appeared in his eyes. As his Nascent Divinity continued being swept away by the ocean of light in the passage of frozen time, he moved. With it, the sensation of being torn apart became several times stronger. It made his Nascent Divinity tremble. If it was not because of the Abyss Gate sending out a large amount of Aura of Abyss, he might have immediately been torn into shreds.

Yet even this pain was unable to make Su Ming give up on his idea. His Nascent Divinity immediately started swimming about in the ocean of light. He endured the pain and pushed down the desire to roar at the sky to vent his pain since he had to keep all of his attention on the Seed of Life Extermination. If he went on to vent his suffering, his will would lax, and he would be unable to pay attention to the Seed of Life Extermination.

His Nascent Divinity continued swimming about, trying to have different rays of light shine on it. Time trickled by. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Su Ming’s Nascent Divinity had become incredibly weakened under the torture of the intense pain of being ripped apart, but at that instant, flashes of red and white swept past him.

Su Ming’s Nascent Divinity shuddered. He saw the veins all around the Seed of Life Extermination which had spread from the fragment to all of his Nascent Divinity!

At the same time, he continued moving, chasing after the red-white light so the veins from the Seed of Life Extermination in his Nascent Divinity would remain clear in his sight. Gradually, a brilliant light shone in his eyes. He saw that the veins were black and that the Seed of Life Extermination had not fused with his Nascent Divinity as he had previously believed…

It was…

‘A parasite!’

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.

He was an Abyss Builder, and his understanding towards parasites and Possession was much greater than that of the others. With just one glance, he could tell that the Seed of Life Extermination had formed a very clear parasitic relationship with his Nascent Divinity.

Su Ming sank into silence. It was not that he could not accept the fact that he had become the host for a parasite, but that it was a lot different from what he had previously thought. As he pondered over this, a crack suddenly appeared at the center of his Nascent Divinity’s brows. His third eye pushed through, and when it stared at those veins, they were instantly enlarged endlessly in Su Ming’s vision.

When they were enlarged by an unknown amount of times, he saw a scene which caused a hint of ferociousness and disbelief to appear on his face.

He saw countless centipede-like threads on each vein once they had been enlarged endlessly. They had fused with his Nascent Divinity and were continuously tearing away pieces of it. Once they managed to take one, they would begin devouring it madly.

Devouring the blood of those from Saint Defier might have aided the Seed of Life Extermination’s recovery and growth, but the greater reason for it was the amount of nourishment it had taken from Su Ming’s Nascent Divinity.

The destruction of the Nascent Divinity could not be seen with the naked eye and could not be discovered with divine senses, but the damage was done constantly. In fact, Su Ming could immediately tell with his level of cultivation that if this process continued for another five hundred years, then even if he raised his level of cultivation, his Nascent Divinity would have irreparable damage.

If fact, if a whole thousand years went by, then no matter what sort of level of cultivation Su Ming possessed, he would still be unable to prevent his Nascent Divinity’s death!

Since Seed of Life Extermination was a parasitic existence which suffered no backlash from his Nascent Divinity, it was a one-sided process of the fragment devouring him. In truth, it had responded to Su Ming’s call to save him every single time because… it was a parasite protecting its host. It had yet to complete its growth, which was why it had to protect its host’s life.

Anguish appeared on Su Ming’s face, and he no longer chased after the red-white light. The veins in his Nascent Divinity about the Seed of Life Extermination soon disappeared and everything returned to normal. If he had not experienced the come to this place, then it was likely that he would have only come to know at the moment of his death that the one who snatched away his Nascent Divinity and destroyed him was the Seed of Life Extermination.