Pursuit of the Truth

Once they finished checking, a strange light lit up in Chen Wen’s eyes, but before he spoke, the headless man walking over with a heinous murderous aura all over his body spoke in a ghastly, booming voice.

“Did you just say the ninth summit?”

“It is indeed the Ninth Summit!”

Chen stared at the headless man, then wrapped his fist in his palm before he bowed deeply towards him. He swiftly squeezed the jade slip in his hand, intending to send the information of his findings back to Su Ming.

But when he squeezed the jade slip, Chen Wen’s expression suddenly changed drastically. It was the same for Si Ma Yu. They discovered to their shock that the jade slips in their hands had turned into normal stones at some unknown point in time!

Their jade slips had instead appeared in front of the headless man. They shone with a brilliant light as the headless man used his divine sense to check them.

This scene immediately caused Chen Wen and his wife to feel their hearts thump in their chests. Shock and fear filled their bodies. They had no idea how he had been able to do such a thing, and how they had been unable to even notice it.

After a moment, the jade slips in front of the headless man shattered with a bang.

“The person who gave you these jade slips has extraordinary power. I cannot see the contents within them. Lead the way, I will go to… the ninth summit you speak of!”

When the man mentioned the ninth summit, no one noticed that there was a slight quiver in his voice. His heart was far from the calm look he put up on his face. A huge storm was raging within him. It was mixed with extreme anticipation.

‘Are you the one who gave them these jade slips… youngest junior brother?’ the headless man mumbled in his heart.

In silence, he swung the battleaxe in his right hand, and it immediately turned into a long arc that charged towards Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu. The long arc shot through the space between them, going straight towards the whirlwind. With loud booms, a path was opened.

“Lead the way,” the headless man repeated languidly.

Chen Wen and Si Ma Yu cast each other a glance. After a moment of hesitation, they made their choice. Su Ming had given them the jade slips while saying that they were to immediately notify him when they saw the people in the portraits. Although the jade slips had shattered, they would still be considered to have fulfilled his request if they brought the man to him.

As Chen Wen and his wife’s expression changed, they chose to lead the way. The ripples under their feet immediately spread out and enveloped the area. The couple then charged along the path that had been opened in the whirlwind.

Behind them, the headless man took large strides forward. He was followed by the thousands of cultivators with expressionless faces. Together, they all charged through the whirlwind.

The headless man was completely unbothered by it. When he swung his axe, the whirlwind before it would disintegrate and fall backwards, opening a path for him.

In the meantime, Su Ming was still sitting cross-legged in the empty space. The instant the jade slips shattered, his eyes flew open. A dark glare shone in them. He cast a glance at the galaxy in the distance, then frowned slightly.

‘The jade slips I gave Chen Wen and his wife were shattered. It’s not because of them, however, but someone else forcefully shattering them. Yet person would not have been able to obtain the portraits I left behind.

‘Since the person could crush my jade slips, they should have become a true Almighty in Mastery Realm, not like the others in Arid Triad, who have only reached a pseudo Mastery Realm.

‘Looks like even if True Morning Dao World is terrorized by the disaster brought by the whirlwind, there are still plenty of powerful warriors around. This is good.’

Su Ming pondered over it for a moment, then closed his eyes again. He could sense that Chen Wen and his wife were still alive and were rushing in his direction.

All the answers would be clear when they returned.

At the same time, Su Ming sensed that his clones with the different personalities were using different methods to collect more souls and gather more power of the laws of fate. Their actions proved that Su Ming’s assumption was plausible. If he could gather together all the remaining cultivators in True Morning Dao World, he could complete the second step of his plan. He could control his own fate, then use the Light of Extreme Darkness to replace the laws in a small area!

To the east, Su Ming’s clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole was shrouded in golden light. It had a gentle air, but due to the clone’s mighty strength, the golden light had a domineering presence despite it gentleness.

Miao Feng stood behind the clone. He was followed by tens of thousands of people. They moved forward like a great flood while enveloped by the white ripple.

Before them was a planet that was still partially whole. The moment they arrived, nearly ten thousand cultivators flew out.

“Submit to me and join the Ninth Summit. You will then receive protection during the disaster. This is your only choice. You are not allowed to resist or refuse, because this is the only way for you to survive.”

The clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole had golden light spread out from his body. He lifted his hands slowly, and his voice from within the golden light traveled in all directions.

In another place, the west of True Morning Dao World, Su Ming’s Ecang clone killed all those who refused to join the sect with a murderous aura and bloodlust wherever he passed. Roaring behind him was a sea of blood filled with countless heads. They intimidated the tens of thousands of cultivators who followed him; their numbers were similar to those that the golden clone had gathered. The hearts of the cultivators trembled every time they caught a glance of it. When they cast their gazes on Su Ming’s Ecang clone, there was deep respect in them.

In another place was a lone ship sailing through the whirlwind. The gentle man on it was drinking wine while accompanied by beautiful women. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

Behind him was an incredibly boorish person. This man had a simple and honest look on his face. With a sideways glance, he stared at the gentle man with a scornful expression.

“Second senior brother, should I change the way I refer to that woman beside you as my second sister-in-law or as your Master? Damn it, that title is too confusing.” The man harrumphed.

The lady sitting beside the gentle man was a beautiful woman. She was completely unbothered by the big man’s words and covered her mouth to hide a chuckle. Due to her laughter, her eyes narrowed into the shapes of crescent moons, and she stared at the gentle man by her side. This adorable person was once her disciple, but had now become her man.

“Hu Zi, there are three things in a person’s life against which they are completely helpless, do you know what they are?”

The gentle man drank his wine, then put down the cup and signaled to the beautiful woman beside him to pour wine for him. When he turned his head around, he had a smile that was like spring wind.

“Nonsense, of course I know those stupid three helpless things you’re talking about. To me, when I want to drink but there is no wine, I feel helpless. When I want to sleep but can’t, I feel helpless. When I miss home but can’t see the ninth summit, I feel helpless as well. There’s no way you’d feel helpless. Come on, why don’t you tell me? I’d like to hear it. “The honest-looking man seemed to be incredibly dissatisfied with the gentle man and spoke loudly.

“Ahem, third junior brother, you are so rude. It would have been fine if there was no one else beside us, but when there are other people, could you show at least a little respect to your second senior brother?” The gentle man shook his head and picked up the wine cup to take a sip from it with an incredibly resigned expression.

“Rubbish! From the day you went off and left me in the Immortals’ Union, I swore that I would definitely take revenge! Y-y-you… You went off to find love in a woman’s bosom while making me suffer in the Immortals’ Union, and you didn’t even bother picking me up after so many years! There were plenty of times when my body was shot full of holes!” The honest man glared at the gentle man.

“But that is the plan set by eldest senior brother. He wanted us to split up, and he said that you needed to put yourself through the mill. If you want to be angry, go to eldest senior brother.” The gentle man pouted and sighed.

“Hmph, I wouldn’t dare to get angry at eldest senior brother, but as for you… Heh heh, I’ve already helped you preserve enough of your dignity by not mentioning you spying at the female disciples from the other summits in the past. I still remember that you even wanted to figure out the method to create the Rune for peeking at others, but failed and were chased to the ninth summit,” the honest man said with a harrumph while glaring at the gentle man.

The gentle man let out a few dry coughs and changed the topic.

“I have yet to finish speaking. There are three things in a person’s life about which they feel completely helpless. Hu Zi, the three things we feel helpless against are envy, jealousy, and hate. Right now, you’re envious of me, and you’re even jealous of me, and because of it, you have hate growing in you, but I am your second senior brother. Heh heh, oh well, look at the season, could it be spring? Don’t worry, Hu Zi, I will handle your marriage!” The gentle man patted his chest as if he was making a pledge.

“Come on, tell me, what type do you like? Don’t worry, even if I can’t find the type you like among the girls here, when we go to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence to search for youngest junior brother, he will definitely find one that is good for you over there,” the gentle man said in a teasing manner while taking a sip of his drink.

Hu Zi fell silent.

“Hmm? Why aren’t you speaking? Ah, Hu Zi, you shouldn’t be embarrassed at such a young age. Come on, tell me.” When the gentle man saw that Hu Zi had a different expression on his face, he became interested. He even sat up a little straighter.

Hu Zi still remained silent.

“Let me guess. Do you like the younger ones, so that you can enjoy the feeling of protecting them when you’re together? No, that can’t be right. Then do you like older women? The mature ones who still retain some of their charms despite being past their prime?”

The gentle man spoke nonstop, causing Hu Zi’s face to twitch. In the end, he could not take it anymore and his right hand rose swiftly. A pot of wine appeared in his palm, and he threw it at the gentle man.

An incredibly exaggerated scream of pain rose up. It was followed by a sigh.

“Women who are past their prime, young lassies… You’re still too young. Oh, Hu Zi, why are your tastes so strange? Ah…”

“Sir, that is a good poem!”

“That’s right, sir. This is the 637rd poem you made on your way here. I’ve recorded all of them.”

Hu Zi’s face twitched a few more times before he cast the gentle man a resigned look and sighed long and hard. He then picked up a pot of wine and started drinking, no longer bothering himself with him.

In one galaxy, but three different places. Fellow brothers of a lifetime. Perhaps there was some sort of fate manipulating events, but it did not matter whether it was the headless man or the ship, both of them were slowly approaching the spot where Su Ming had made his residence.

If they did not run into any accidents on the way, then perhaps soon, they would be able to see each other…

A separation that lasted for more than a thousand years… Perhaps soon, they would reunite…