Pursuit of the Truth

Compared to the danger the bald crane was facing when dealing with the six Almighties trying to seize it, the world of reincarnations was in a state of peace.

Since there was no wind, there were no waves. Since there were no trees, there were no leaves which could move, making everything peaceful and quiet… Only the seasons changed silently while governed by a law that was different from the world outside, but no one noticed this change.

Time went by in a blink of an eye. As Su Ming watched the sun rise and set as people moved about around his noodle stall, he grew used to the smell of the smoke from his tobacco pipe, using blades of grass to weave grass puppets, and adding fish bones into his soup so that it would be filled with the scent of seafood.

Almost every day, a fisherman would deliver him fish. When he saw him, Su Ming felt like he was watching his first reincarnation, but also like he was staring at the fish that had been delivered to him. When it opened its mouth once it left the water, suffocating, Su Ming felt like he was watching another of his incarnations.

There was also the doctor who would not come close to his stand every single time he passed by as well as the official who had moved into the county town. He had then come with a group of servants and a palanquin on a rainy night to bring the doctor over.

When he saw them, Su Ming closed his eyes.

There was a teacher who could not achieve his ambitions visiting his noodle stall. He was used to drinking soup and eating noodles in this place, and not even storms could stop him from coming.

He would always bring his son, a child who looked rather smart, to drink soup together while they ate noodles…

Occasionally, a little girl would also follow them. When she came, she would usually play with the boy. Their happy laughter would echo in the air, and when it reached Su Ming’s ears, a faint smile would grace his lips when he looked at them.

“Fisherman, little girl, fish, a doctor, an official, a teacher, the grown-up son, an old man who brews soup and makes noodles in a stall… Eight people, eight lives, but their lives intersect with each other quite often and affect each other…”

When the sun set, rain began to fall. Su Ming sat on the stone and stared at the dark clouds in the distance while he mumbled under his breath.

There was understanding in his eyes, along with a hint of sentimentality.

“If fate governs the sun rising and setting, then this would be the rise and fall of fate… it is also reincarnation… Reincarnation forms a net in which countless fates intersect with each other. Every single life in this net become part of the reincarnation.”

Su Ming sighed softly.

‘Mortal Refinement Art, what an Art… I am actually immersing myself in a cycle of life and death; this is clearly a way for me to gain an epiphany of Fate Realm. I am forming links of fate connecting me with the ring time and again, and they will turn into threads that bind it layer by layer until they cannot be unwound, and the ring would be impossible to separate from me…

‘During one incarnation, I was a fisherman, and it was a fish. Bai Feng was the little girl. When I brought it out of water, I formed a link of fate with it without realizing it. Bai Feng released it, and then it dragged her into the lake, which formed a link of fate as well… and because of it… the incarnation afterwards was formed, because this is the rise of fate…

‘During another incarnation, I was the doctor, and the ring was the baby in the woman’s womb while Bai Feng was its mother… I killed Bai Feng and brought it out… and because of it, I formed a link of fate with it. This is the fate of helping it be born.

‘During yet another incarnation, I was the official, and it was the baby in my wife’s womb. I watched it grow, and it was Bai Feng, but also the soul of the ring. This is the fate of bloodlines…

‘In another incarnation, I was a teacher. I taught children to perform good deeds, and I formed the fate of teaching and educating with it…

‘In another incarnation, I was a fish, and it was the fisherman. As if the cycle of life and death had been reversed, I sensed the pain it felt in the past. This is the fate of empathy…

‘We experienced lifetimes together until Bai Feng and I married each other. It then became my daughter, and this is the fate of a father and child… The ring and I have gone through seven lifetimes together and shared our fates. During the eighth lifetime, I have become an old man who counts the lifetimes and watches the cycles of life and death…

‘This Mortal Refinement Art has nine cycles of life and death. I’ve experienced eight of them, so only one is missing… This missing cycle might be the fall of fate. The rise and fall of fate, a dream of reincarnation.’

Su Ming shook his head and opened his eyes. When he saw the world again, he found rain pouring outside. It was heavy and loud as it fell. After watching it for a long time, Su Ming went to close his eyes again, and but at that instant, he heard an indistinct, barely discernible, shrill cry in the rain.

“Feng Er… Feng Er…”

Su Ming’s heart shuddered violently, but he still closed his eyes, because he knew that the missing cycle might… have already passed, and it was just that he had forgotten about it.

At the instant Su Ming closed his eyes, the world swiftly turned into countless shards. They were swept up into a vortex. As it spun with loud booming sounds, it gradually turned into nothingness.

…..

In True Morning Dao World, the planet in which Su Ming meditated had already shattered; the only thing that remained of it was the stone protected by the bald crane. Yet it was suppressed by the thirteen shooting stars. The Light of Extreme Darkness was attacked by the six Almighties working together, causing the bald crane to spread open a black tail in its madness.

With a whoosh, the galaxy seemed to freeze at that instant, and the Light of Extreme Darkness which surrounded Su Ming swept out violently. The giant log was the first affected and crumbled with a bang. It was disassembled layer by layer until it was reduced to ashes. The three-headed malicious spirit let out shrill screams of pain and retreated swiftly. Green smoke poured out from the magical entity, and it instantly became much weaker.

The Freezing Blade sliced down, but was sent backwards once it touched the black light. As booming sounds reverberated in the air, the expression of the young man in the Constellation Robe changed, and he staggered a few steps back.

The huge seal formed by the old man named Miao shattered as well, which made his pupils shrink.

Only the white sword beam coming from the long white blade between the wedded couple’s palms did not dissipate when it charged down with a howl. Even if it had also been weakened when it touched the Light of Extreme Darkness and was reduced to a single thread, it still charged straight towards the meditating Su Ming.

Clearly, the wedded couple’s target was not the bald crane or the ring, but Su Ming!

As long as they killed him, there would naturally no longer be any problems.

When booming sounds echoed in the air and the bald crane delivered its final hit after it spread its tail, most of the Light of Extreme Darkness around Su Ming dissipated, the spot in which Su Ming sat and his appearance was seen rather clearly by the group.

The bald crane let out a roar. With a bang, it turned back into its original appearance. Weakness appeared on its face, and its body that was a soul was reduced to a semi-transparent state. The bald crane rushed towards Su Ming, wanting to close in on the white sword thread before it reached him and stop it.

Yet at that moment, the three-headed malicious spirit that was originally retreating turned around swiftly. The six eyes on its three heads fixed on the bald crane before the creature rushed over at an indescribable speed.

“Damn it! This bald soul entity is mine! No one snatches it from me! I will swallow it! I’m going to crunch it to pieces bit by bit!” the three-headed malicious spirit roared.

The bald crane was about to reach Su Ming, but it could only watch helplessly as the white sword thread seeped into the center of his brows with a bang, and the three-headed malicious spirit caught up. It lifted its claw and sent it sweeping at the bald crane with a ferocious smile. The other people in the area rushed over, but at that instant, a flat voice echoed in all directions. It was not loud, but the instant everyone heard it, their hearts trembled!

“Who gave you the right?”

Su Ming opened his eyes. He had the look of someone who had experienced the vicissitudes of life from the cycles of life and death in his eyes, along with a chilling glare that could make the entire world submit to him. He also had a domineering air that could make the galaxy tremble and the universe surrender!

A boundless, maliciousness surrounded im. When it fused with his appearance, the feeling Su Ming gave off turned into a huge, chaotic presence. It could absorb all the wills in the world, and the dead stillness within him erupted without holding anything back.

He lifted his right hand and with just the simple act of seizing the air, the three-headed malicious spirit with the power of an Almighty found itself frozen, unable to fight back. As fear and shock appeared in its eyes, the magical entity disappeared before showing up in Su Ming’s hand. He pushed his fingers inside it to grab its heart!

“Was it you?” Su Ming’s gaze swept past the area.

The first person he looked towards was the young man in the Constellation Robe. His face instantly turned pale. A bang shot up in his head, and he staggered a few steps back. When he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his heart filled with great fear, causing him to instinctively shake his head. He felt that if he did not do so quickly enough and actually dared to nod, then with just one thought, this person could make him die ten million times.

“Then was it you?” Su Ming looked towards the old man named Miao.

The old man’s face turned stark white. His body shuddered violently. An unprecedented fear rose up in him when he met Su Ming’s gaze. He felt like the stranger was the universe, and at that moment, it seemed to be intent on wiping off all lives with an aloof mercilessness.

And the old man was just a tiny ant beneath the universe’s anger!

“Then it was you,” Su Ming stated flatly.

At the instant he said those words, the white ring above his head moved, and a ripple spread out from it before instantly disappearing. When it reappeared the next moment, it was in front of the purple-robed man who had activated the giant log. Fear showed up on his face. Before he could even say a single word, the ripple shot through his body, shattered it and destroying the soul.

At the same time this happened, Su Ming slowly furled his right hand and crushed the heart of the magical entity. With a bang, its body turned into a ball of fog. Su Ming flung it towards the bald crane’s mouth.

“Chew it slowly. I didn’t make its soul dissipate, so you will have to chew it slowly, bit by bit.”

When Su Ming said those words in a flat voice, excitement and eagerness showed up in the bald crane’s eyes. It opened its mouth and even used it claws to stuff the soul fog formed by the magical entity into its mouth… and it actually started chewing it slowly.

Shrill screams of pain shook the area, making the hearts of everyone present to tremble. At that instant, their gazes focused on Su Ming were filled with fear, as if they had just seen an ancient, ferocious beast that could shake the entire universe!

‘Run!’

The remaining four Almighties and the twenty something people in the area only had one thought in their heads at that moment!