Pursuit of the Truth

Arc 6: Arid Triad Disaster

Su Ming stared at the galactical vortex in his hand. After a long while, he closed his eyes. He then sent his thoughts into the vortex. It felt as if he had just sent his thought moving past True Morning Dao World, causing it to have his thought contained in it.

This was an incredibly bizarre feeling. True Morning Dao World was him, and he was True Morning Dao World. Perhaps more accurately speaking, Su Ming had turned True Morning Dao World… into one of his clones!

A True World clone!

This clone could not move and did not possess any astonishing divine abilities… but Su Ming was in control of all those in this World. All those from beyond would also have their movements limited by Su Ming when they were in True Morning Dao World.

Because it was his World!

With his eyes closed, Su Ming sensed his senior brothers, the Flame Fiends’ Progenitor and Chang He, who were on a remote planet in True Morning Dao World, and even the woman in blue. In fact, he felt as if he was standing right in front of her. He could see her clearly.

Then, Su Ming saw a figure in a galaxy within his True Morning Dao World. It seemed to be hesitating as if not knowing whether to move forward or retreat. The man was looking around nervously.

That figure was filled with the presence of Abyss and was not a life born in True Morning Dao World. He was someone from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World. Su Ming also sensed Su Xuan Yi’s presence on him. The person was swiftly withdrawing his killing intent back into his heart when the owner of True Morning Dao World changed.

Su Ming only swept his will across that figure once before completely ignoring it. Instead, he went back to observe his True Morning Dao World.

“True World clone…” Su Ming mumbled after a long time. While he sensed his state of being after he had Possessed True Morning Dao World, he noticed that some strange changes had occurred in him. Those changes had promoted his state of being and made him surpass himself. He continued to transform to ascend to a higher state of being.

Su Ming quietly sensed everything as he was immersed in his epiphany. When his thoughts gradually slowed down, he opened his eyes.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe looked at him while sitting by his side. At the instant they met each other’s gazes, the galactical vortex in Su Ming’s right hand disappeared to fuse into his palm and become a part of his soul.

“How does it feel to Possess a True World and turn it into your clone?” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe asked faintly.

“It’s a pity that besides the mighty pressure brought by the will of heaven, this True World clone doesn’t have any other divine abilities or attacks,” Su Ming answered calmly after staying silent for a moment.

“As long as this World does not perish, your soul will not perish, and your will will remain an eternal presence. This is your greatest serendipity. As for divine abilities and attacks… It’s not that they don’t exist, but that is not what a cultivator’s mind can understand. Perhaps you will naturally come to gain an epiphany of it when you have been True Morning Dao World for a long period of time.”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe stared at Su Ming. He might look as calm as usual, but Su Ming could still sense a hint of harmless envy from the old man’s heart.

“It cannot be understood by a cultivator’s minds…”

Su Ming fell silent. He mulled over those words carefully. It was not to say that the old man had more understanding towards what would happen after Possessing a True World, but he had been living for many years, and he was just a step shy from becoming an Ancestral Spirit, which was why he had much more experience than Su Ming. However, this was something that had never happened before, so even the old man did not know any details about it.

“I think I should understand it now…”

Su Ming’s eyes brightened up when he spoke. He lifted his right hand and pointed at the galaxy before him. With it, an unseen force immediately gathered up from all directions without a single sound. In an instant, it turned into huge meteors.

They charged into the distance. In the blink of an eye, more than millions of meteors filled the galaxy. When they left, they turned into long arcs, presenting a breathtaking brilliance.

“I cannot use a cultivator’s mindset to try and understand my True World clone. I have to treat myself as the greatest will in this World. Creating something out of nothing is just within a single thought,” Su Ming murmured.

He pointed in another direction with his right hand. The galaxy immediately distorted, and a planet appeared. It swelled up swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a complete cultivation planet.

The light in Su Ming’s eyes became brighter. When he swung his hands, the galaxy rumbled. A huge crack appeared with a loud rip. It was one hundred thousand feet long, and it was a terrifying sight to behold.

“The power of the True World clone is its will and beliefs. With its will, it can form the universe, and its beliefs are endless.”

As Su Ming mumbled to himself, red light suddenly shone in his eyes. A red bolt of lightning immediately roared and descended from space to charge towards the planet. It struck it, and the planet shuddered before it was reduced to nothingness.

“This is… disaster.”

While Su Ming was mumbling, the pupils of the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe shrank.

“All changes can be brought forth with a single thought… This is one of the divine abilities of my True World clone. Then when it fuses with my real body, new changes…”

A faint smile gradually appeared on Su Ming’s face, and he fell into a contemplative silence. He then brought his right hand up and swung it at the distance. Immediately, ripples appeared in a galaxy located incredibly far away from Su Ming but still located in True Morning Dao World. Those ripples showed up around the swiftly retreating figure who came from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World and looked like it wanted to leave True Morning Dao World.

The figure was a middle-aged man, and he was dressed in a gray robe. Naturally, he was the cultivator from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World who had been sent by Su Xuan Yi to investigate the will to make the Abyss grow. However, before he could gain any results, Su Ming had already begun Possessing True Morning Dao World, forcing Su Xuan Yi to appear and fight for the World.

The middle-aged man did not have enough time to flee. At that moment, his face was pale. He turned into a long arc, and the only thought in his mind at that moment was to use the shortest time possible to leave True Morning Dao World and return to the Emperor of Abyss’ True World.

As ripples appeared in the space around him without a sound, the man’s face changed. The next moment, countless ripples suddenly gathered together in the galaxy before him, and a huge Abyss Gate appeared with a bang.

The gate was so big that it looked like it was lifting up the heavens. At the instant it appeared, the man’s pupils shrank, and his heart filled with shock.

‘Once the clone fuses with me, my Abyss Gate… will be True Morning Dao World’s Abyss Gate. When this gate appears… there will only be deaths. There will be none who live.’

At the instant a smile appeared on Su Ming’s lips, the huge Abyss Gate in front of the middle-aged man opened with a bang. Once the Abyss Gate was activated, the middle-aged man let out a shrill scream of pain. His body withered swiftly, and his soul, life force, flesh and blood, and everything else disintegrated.

When the Abyss Gate was open to the breadth of three fingers, the gray-robed middle-aged man vanished without a trace while screaming in pain. All traces of his existence were absorbed by the Abyss Gate.

‘Disaster brought forth by my own will, Abyss Gate, and…’

A contemplative look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. Then, a memory surfaced in his mind. It was of a pair of hands weaving a doll with blades of grass. As they continued weaving, the blades of grass gradually gained the shape of a doll. The owner of those hands lifted his head, and a kind smile showed up on his face.

It was Ugly Little Thing’s father, a member of the family Su Ming could not forget.

It was this method of weaving blades of grass that had allowed Su Ming to understand the power of Curses. With the blades of grass forming Curses, he could gather the power of the world and have it descend on the doll. This Art had provided him with great help before. Right then, after he Possessed True Morning Dao World and obtained his True World clone, he remembered this Curse, and a thought gradually formed in his mind.

‘How powerful… would the Curse be if I formed it using grass knots filled with the power of a True World?’

Once that thought appeared in Su Ming’s mind, he closed his eyes. When he spread his divine sense outwards, True Morning Dao World’s galaxies suddenly shuddered. It was as if they had turned into a huge blade of grass, and knots were slowly formed on it. They were weaved together in an unseen manner based on Su Ming’s will until they turned into a doll of True Morning Dao World.

No one could see this doll. It existed only in Su Ming’s mind, and it had his thoughts gathered on it as well as his understanding of the Curse. True Morning Dao World was the foundation, his will and beliefs were the ropes, and his Curse were knots. They appeared one by one, and when they were completely formed, Su Ming’s eyes flew open.

The next instant, all of True Morning Dao World suddenly shuddered as if it had completely turned into the power of the Curse. When Su Ming lifted his right hand and pointed in the direction of the Emperor of Abyss’ True World in the distance, he immediately sensed all the wills in his True World clone, including his will of an Antecedental Spirit, turn crimson. With a great corrosive power and Curse, it turned into a red thread that charged into the distance at an indescribable speed.

Contained within it was Su Ming’s will and everything about True Morning Dao World. It also exuded… a presence that made Su Ming’s heart tremble as well as made the expression of the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe change drastically.

“This is… Arid Triad’s will!” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cried out. However, he immediately noticed something different. The red thread formed by Su Ming’s Curse was not Arid Triad’s will, just incredibly similar to it!

“Su Ming, retrieve this Art! Hurry!” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said quickly. He also spread out his divine sense and turned it into the will of heaven to charge towards the red thread, intending to block it.

Su Ming was shocked, but at that moment, he also sensed something. There were three other great True Worlds’ wills besides himself in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. Besides them, there was also another indescribable will that seemed as if it could seal him and the other three wills with just one thought. It was the highest form of will among them!

That will seemed to be asleep, but even so, Su Ming could sense clearly that this being… was the master of Arid Triad!

The moment Su Ming’s Curse spread out, that will showed signs of waking up. This made Su Ming’s heart tremble. He immediately retrieved his Curse and scattered it in space.

“Did you sense it?” The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe looked swiftly at Su Ming. His expression was complicated, since he was in disbelief towards Su Ming’s Art.

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he asked slowly, “That is… Arid Triad’s will?”

“That’s right. That is the sleeping Arid Triad’s will. Do not ask anything about this will. When your Arid Disaster descends and I am certain of my assumption, I will tell you the answer, but before that… it absolutely must not wake up!

“Remember this. You have to remember this. Unless you absolutely have to… do not use the Art you cast just now. That Art… can affect those in Avacaniya Realm!”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe looked at Su Ming with a grave expression.