Pursuit of the Truth

Boom!

While in the purple fog, Su Ming had his right hand wrapped around a ferocious beast that looked like a fierce tiger. The creature might resemble this familiar creature, but it had a horn on its forehead.

At that moment, the tiger look-alike was pushed tightly on the ground by Su Ming’s hand on its neck. Veins popped up on Su Ming’s right hand. The power of his cultivation base reverberated between his fingers.

With a calm expression on his old face, he swept his gaze across the area, then with a powerful squeeze, he crushed the tiger-like beast’s neck, resulting in a loud crack. He then lowered his head to bite down on the creature’s neck and sucked in a large mouthful of its blood, swallowing it all down.

Even if the tiger-like beast had its neck crushed, it still struggled, but with Su Ming’s right hand pushing it down, its struggles were futile, no matter how hard it tried. As Su Ming drank its blood, it gradually stopped moving.

When Su Ming finally raised his head, the corners of his mouth were covered in blood. If anyone saw him at that moment, they would definitely be terrified, and their hearts would tremble. At that moment, Su Ming looked incredibly horrifying and hideous. Even if his Ecang clone was not around, there was still a malicious air spilling out from him.

He wiped off the blood at that corners of his mouth and unfurled his right hand, letting go of the ferocious beast he had pushed down. He stood up, and with a single move charged into the distance. This time, he no longer used his feet to walk, but his cultivation base to do so. If this was a usual hunt, Su Ming would not do so, but right then, he was in the world outside, and he had no idea when the purple fog would turn red. He had to charge forward.

This was part of his plan. Only when the purple fog appeared would the ferocious beasts appear to become his replenishment, making him have fewer misgivings about using his cultivation base.

Su Ming was so fast that he instantly disappeared into the distance. After a moment, a ferocious beast resembling a python had its skull seized by his left hand. No matter how tightly the python wound itself around his body and bound him, Su Ming’s speed did not decrease.

As he charged forward, he bit down on the python’s body and swallowed large gulps of its blood. After a moment, he let go and simply allowed the python’s body to slide off of him. His speed then increase once more.

Time trickled by like that. When the first day of the purple fog was over, Su Ming came to an abrupt halt and let go of a wild dog whose blood he had completely drained. Dark red light shone in his eyes. Besides the color of his blood changing, this was another thing the came from him continuously drinking the beasts’ blood over the past four years.

When he stopped, Su Ming’s eyes shone, and he turned his head to the side to cast a glance at the fog to his right. He had sent out his divine sense outwards before retrieving just as fast. He sensed that there was a small hill in the fog to his right. The inside of the hill was empty, but there were faint ripples from a Rune in it.

He only hesitated for the span of a few breaths before changing his direction and charging towards the small hill. He moved quickly since he had already activated his cultivation base. Before long, he arrived near the small hill. When he looked at it, his pupils shrank.

Before him was a small white hill. Even though there was a purple tint to the hill due to the purple fog, Su Ming could still tell that it was white. The hill was empty inside and there were indeed ripples of a Rune coming from it, but they were damaged. With a single move, Su Ming appeared on the hill. He saw a gigantic pit at the top of the hill, and within it was a cave abode.

The inside was a wreck. There was even dust in it. In fact, there was even some purple fog seeping into the cave and filling it. Su Ming walked in and immediately saw two corpses pinned to the wall of the cave.

One of them was large, and the other small. He could tell that the larger corpse belonged to a man, and the smaller one was clearly a child of only five or six years. Their bodies were twisted, a telling sign that they had suffered great pain before their deaths. The twisted angles on their bodies made Su Ming remember the pain he had suffered when he had almost all of his life force sucked out by the figures in the red fog.

The corpses were pinned to the wall, and the thing which held them there were two red spears made of bone. They had pierced their skulls an unknown amount of time ago.

There were quite a lot of shattered rocks on the ground around them. Su Ming stood there and quietly stared at the two corpses before shifting his gaze to the two bone spears which still exuded waves of murderous, chilling aura. He lifted his head silently and looked at the huge opening above him.

A scene naturally formed in his mind. He saw the two people who were originally not corpses, one an adult, and the other a child. They lived in this place to hide from the dangers of the outside world, but one day, perhaps when the fog in the world outside turned red, their cave abode was blasted apart by someone…

Shattered stones fell, and two bone spears descended, pinning the two people, who might be father and son, to the wall. They screamed shrilly when a bunch of figures from the red fog pounced on them and sucked out all their life force.

Su Ming stared at the opening quietly, his wariness growing stronger. A fierce light lit up in his eyes. In the cave abode, he learned that the dangers in his new world were not just exclusive to the figures in the red fog. There was another equally dangerous existence who could throw bone spears around.

‘Just what happened in this world..?’

In silence, Su Ming left the cave abode. He might not know when the purple fog outside would turn red, but the cave abode was already damaged. With the hole around, it was impossible for him to use it to hide. That was why before the fog turned red, he had to quickly find a spot to hide from the disaster.

As time passed, the purple fog tumbled more intensely. While Su Ming charged through it, a dark look appeared in his eyes. His experience of the last four years told him that once the purple fog reached its most intense, it would then descend into a relative calm. Usually, once this happened, the red fog would descend.

Although this was not absolute, the probability of it happening was six out of ten.

The second day, the third day… When the fourth day arrived, the purple fog around Su Ming became like a roaring wave. It tumbled around while roaring. This was the moment when it was at its strongest, but during the past few days, Su Ming had not managed to find a place to hide from the disaster. He did not give up, however. In silence, he continued charging forward.

When the fifth day arrived, the fog suddenly calmed down, and Su Ming came to a halt. He sighed softly, then threw a carcass of a ferocious beast drained of blood down.

‘I can only use this method now. It might be slightly dangerous, but since I chose to walk out of the cave, it’s only natural for me to hold onto the resolve to face dangers.’

Su Ming shook his head. He raised his right leg and stomped on the ground while facing the calm purple fog. With a bang, cracks appeared on the ground. Su Ming lifted his right hand, then threw a punch down. With booming sounds reverberating in the air, a deep pit appeared in the ground.

Su Ming swung his arm, and the pit immediately sank deeper. The next moment, Su Ming sensed a powerful repelling force spreading out from the ground. Even if he wanted to continue downwards, it was beyond his capabilities to do so.

He knew that this was his limit, so he sat down cross-legged, formed a seal with his hands, and pushed outwards. The earth above him immediately gathered together, and in just a few breaths, the land became flat, burying Su Ming underneath it.

Around two hours after Su Ming hid himself, the calm purple fog in the world outside suddenly started changing color. In an instant, it turned red, and at the same time, the sky was covered in crimson, casting a world in its shade.

At the same time, shrill, piercing screeches echoed in the red fog. Figures who looked like they were born in the red fog walked out and devoured all the life force of the lives they saw.

Murmurs echoed in the world during that instant as well.

“One form of life was born before heaven and earth. It allowed all the other forms of life to be born, and it nourished them…”

“Heaven and earth could exist for so long because they do not operate for their own survival. This is what allows them to stay eternal. If you desire life, then you must possess life…”

“Ancestral Spirits precede Antecedental Spirits. They come from before the time of the universe, which is why those who live must destroy lives…”

The piercing sounds seemed to possess some sort of strange power. Even if Su Ming had hidden himself in the depths of the ground, he could still hear the voices.

He had made his presence disappear and filled his body with the aura of death while hiding from the red fog in the depths. Su Ming had used this method when he was chased down by the figures in the red fog, but he understood that it was only a temporary measure. It could not be used for a long term. During the span of the seven days that the red fog was around, he had at most lasted for four days before he was found.

‘Four days. It’s alright even if I last for only four days. If I can last for one more day, I will have one day less to be pursued by them…’ Su Ming had to make himself calm down and count down the time quietly in his heart.

Days slowly passed. The second day, the third day, and the fourth day went by… While Su Ming waited quietly and vigilantly, the fifth day passed, but when the sixth day arrived, he suddenly jolted, and a fierce light shone in his eyes. Without any hesitation, he raised his right hand and punched the earth above him. As booming sounds surged into the air, the ground trembled, and Su Ming rushed out of it.

At the same moment, more than a dozen red figures pounced at the spot where he had hidden previously. If it was not because Su Ming had noticed them quickly, he would have instantly had all his life force sucked out.

‘Two more days…’

Su Ming’s eyes flashed. Once he rushed out of the ground, he immediately charged into the red fog. He did not choose to hide in the depths of the ground again. He had tried it before, and he had gained some experience after paying a price for it. He knew that he could only hide in the ground once in the red fog. It was completely useless if he tried it again.

As he charged forward through the fog, the piercing voices behind him grew stronger. Figures appeared and charged towards him, dashing in his direction in a frenzy.

In less time than it takes for an incense stick to burn, numerous red figures surrounded Su Ming.

He gritted his teeth and leaped up. With the power to fly, he charged into the distance. Right away, many red figures manifested above him. Once they saw him, they screeched and chased after him.