Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming’s eyes shone when he cast a glance at the dark light that Old Monster Wen had flung out from his sleeve. It had surrounded dark light his back, and a faint presence that Su Ming doubted others could notice spread out from it.

‘The presence of an Ancient God. Interesting.’

Su Ming swung his arm, revealing his right hand, and pointed at space. With his move, the galaxy shuddered. The space where Old Monster Wen stood instantly looked like it was about to crumble, but also like it had frozen. At the same time, black light shone in the frozen galaxy. The Light of Extreme Darkness was brought out of Su Ming’s hand, and its might was much greater than when the bald crane had used it.

Old Monster Wen let out a shrill scream of pain. He moved back swiftly, but he felt like he was deep in mud. In a panic, he raised his right hand and swung it. With a roar, a huge item instantly flew out from his storage bag.

It was… a finger!

It was also several hundreds of feet big. It was filled with an ancient air, and it looked like an antique. At the instant it appeared, it pointed at space and the Light of Extreme Darkness as if it was controlled by the old man.

Booming sounds reverberated in the air. The power which froze space instantly shattered, and even some of the Light of Extreme Darkness dissipated. A gap was formed, allowing the old man to pass through in a flash. He was just about to disappear.

“An Ancient God’s finger!”

Su Ming’s pupils shrank. This time, he did not hesitate the tiniest bit. He charged forward and appeared right in front of the old man. Then, he raised his right hand to strike him.

Old Monster Wen growled and formed a seal with his hands before coughing up a mouthful of blood. It fused into the Ancient God’s finger, and it let out a buzz. Its aura grew, then like a huge stick, it went to strike Su Ming with loud bangs in its wake.

At the same time, a pure wave of Ancient God’s power erupted from the finger and charged towards Su Ming. Even if the Ancient God had died, the power in the finger was enough to intimidate Almighties in Mastery Realm and make them not dare to fight against it head on.

However, Su Ming remained calm. At the instant the Ancient God’s finger came towards him, he flipped his right hand over and used the back of his hand to touch it. His body moved a few steps back due to the force, and he flipped his right hand over. Then, as if he had borrowed the finger’s strength and fused it into his own palm before he added in his own cultivation base to it, he struck with his palm.

Loud rumbled deafened the ears, and the old man coughed up blood while staggering thousands of feet back. His face was pale, and when he looked at Su Ming, his body suddenly jolted.

This was because he saw that Su Ming had not come for him. The man patted the Ancient God’s finger, and it disappeared without a trace as if he had taken it forcefully. After that, Su Ming turned to the old man with the ghost of a smile on his lips and a sinister malicious air about him.

“Senior, please calm down and hear me out. I know the spot where the giant’s from the Immortals’ Union corpse lies, but my level of cultivation was not high enough, so I could only obtain one of his fingers. That is why I have been searching for those whose minds are especially strong to obtain the giant’s corpse together.

“Several months ago, I noticed the ripples of your power on that planet, which was why I wanted to test how great was your level of cultivation. My intention was to work with you.

“Senior, you might have been careful while practicing your cultivation, but my divine sense is different from that of a normal person. I do not investigate based on the ripples of a cultivation base, but sense the flames of life in the galaxy, which was why I was able to sense you.”

The old man said quickly told Su Ming everything. He did not dare to hide a single thing from him. Su Ming’s strength was so great that he was already immensely regretting his decision to provoke him. He knew that if he still intended to hide the truth, he would definitely die in this place.

“If you require it, I can lead the way and bring you to the place where the giant’s corpse is. Let me use this as a deed to redeem myself. Senior, please give me this chance so that I may compensate for the agitation caused by my provocation.” The old man’s face was pale. His heart raced in anxiety as he bowed deeply.

Su Ming cast the old man a glance. He did not speak, but turned around and looked towards the pit which he had used as his isolation ground. A complicated look showed up in his eyes when he looked at the spot where Bai Feng had been.

It was an empty place. Clearly, Bai Feng had died a long time ago, and her corpse had turned to dust.

The dream of Dark Mountain, the promise made in the snow, and the sigh that wandered about for one thousand years had come to an end at that moment. Su Ming sighed softly, and the complicated look on his face disappeared.

The nine reincarnations could be said to have allowed him to fulfill the promise, and that he had brought about an ending to their relationship. Since it was over, Su Ming would no longer force himself to persist in anything regarding it. The enmity between him and Bai Feng had come to an end.

He raised his right hand, and the white ring approached him with a hum. When it shrank, it fit itself on his finger, turning into a real ring. A feeling as if he could not be separated from the ring rose in Su Ming’s heart. There were links of fate between them, and they were the knots formed during the cycles of life and death. No one could untie them.

The spirit in the ring had also caused the knot to become something eternal. Perhaps it had become different than before, because now… it had Bai Feng’s soul.

With a swing of an arm, a black robe appeared around Su Ming’s body. A black hood covered his face. Everyone could only see… a black-robed man.

The instant Su Ming put on the black robe, Miao Feng’s pupils shrank, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Shock appeared in his eyes again. Since he was a member of the Immortals’ Union, there was no way he would not recognize a black-robed man like Su Ming.

“I, Miao Feng, member of the Tower Rememberers in the Immortals’ Union, greet Master. Greetings, Grand Immortal!’

The young man in the Constellation Robe had a slightly complicated look on his face, but he soon lowered his head to bow respectfully as well.

“I, Dao Zhong, member of Morning Dao Sect’s branch family greet my master. Greetings, Grand Immortal!”

“We, Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu of the Rune Runagates in the Immortals’ Union, greet our master. Greetings, Grand Immortal Daoist Zhang!” Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu had a dazed look on their faces the moment they saw Su Ming in different clothes. They cast each other a glance, then lowered their heads in anguish and bowed sincerely.

They had… met Zhang Ji Jun before, which was why their words as they greeted Su Ming were different from the others. They could tell that all the black-robed people who appeared in the Immortals’ Union were this person’s subordinates.

They had only seen his black robes before and not the face, which was why it had been difficult for them to recognize him. However, the mighty pressure from Su Ming was the exact same as that of the black-robed Daoist Zhang whom even the higher ups in the Immortals’ Union had to be polite towards.

Old Monster Wen’s expression turned paler at that moment. As he stared at the black-robed Su Ming, he groaned in his heart. He had not expected that this person would be an Immortal of the Higher Realm; he had actually told him he was aiming to plunder the corpse of the giant who was also an Immortal of the Higher Realm.

“How did you manage to move about in the whirlwind?” Su Ming asked in a hoarse voice. At that moment, his ancient presence carried with it a mysterious air. It caused all those who looked towards him feel their hearts tremble.

“I… Since my divine sense is different from the others, that is why… I can see the trajectory of the destructive power in the whirlwind. It’s because of this that I can move through it and avoid the destructive power. It might be slow, but it is better than being trapped in a place, like the others,” Old Monster Wen quickly explained. His expression was one of immense respect.

“Come on. Lead the way.” Su Ming swung his arm, and a faint white ripple spread out from his ring to surround an area of around three hundred feet around him.

Old Monster Wen hesitated in his heart, but did not dare think too much about it. He summoned all his courage and stepped into the area of three hundred feet belonging to Su Ming, then bowed towards the hostile looking Miao Feng and the others before he began leading the way in low whispers.

Su Ming’s eyes flashed while hidden beneath the black hood. Immediately, the white ripple charged forward. When it passed by the thirteen meteors, they were instantly retrieved by him. With a whoosh, the white ripple charged towards the whirlwind. Wherever it went, the whirlwind would fall back. Even the destructive power of the World in it would disintegrate once it touched the ripple.

“How many survivors like all of you still exist in True Morning Dao World?” Su Ming asked hoarsely while sitting in the white ripple.

Miao Feng and the rest stayed quiet, so Chen Wen, who was highly skilled in the Art of Runes, said in a low voice, “We can only live in a small corner and cannot venture too far away. Fellow Daoist Feng should know the details about this.”

Miao Feng remained silent for a moment before he said softly, “Only one in one thousand could survive… I’ve gone to many places during the past ten months, and I’ve only seen two slightly larger gathering spots. The others are mostly scattered… Plenty of people died in the disaster or the lawless chaos after it.”

Old Monster Wen cast Su Ming a glance and spoke of everything that he knew. “The Immortals’ Union has turned into complete ruins. All the entrances to Morning Dao Sect have crumbled. No one knows what is happening inside, but based on what I could sense from the divine sense I sent in, there’s a thick wave of death there. Perhaps… a drastic change had also happened in Morning Dao Sect…”

“Morning Dao Sect…” Su Ming’s eyes fell slightly under the black hood. The moment the Seed of Life Extermination flew back, he could guess that Su Xuan Yi began a bloodbath in Morning Dao Sect.

It would not be out of Su Ming’s expectations if everything in that place had been reduced to ruins. He was only worried… about Xu Hui. Did she die in the disaster or was she fortunate enough to escape from it? He sighed in his heart, and that sigh turned into a sharp stab of pain that made him fall silent.

Old Monster Wen hesitated for a moment before he suddenly said, “Those who could survive are definitely not weaklings. With your power, you could bring these people together and form a new sect…”

Su Ming lifted his head and cast a cold glance at him. When the old man’s heart trembled, Su Ming slowly nodded.

He knew some of the things that the people here did not know. For example, that the whirlwind surrounding True Morning Dao World would not remain there forever. It would disappear after some time. This might happen soon, but it might also take a long time. Even so, the longest stretch of time before it disappeared would not be too long.

Once the whirlwind disappeared, Dark Dawn and Saint Defier would descended through the gap. At that time… what awaited Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos would be a bloodbath.