Pursuit of the Truth

‘It’s a pity that this Art is just in Dao Spirit Realm. If it can reach the state at which could affect Dao Paragons in the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky… this person would reach an incredibly terrifying level.’

The red-robed man shook his head.

At that moment, there was a small region the size of a fingernail no one could see in the sky above the seventh layer of Sky Beyond the Sky, right on top of the Rune formed by the twelve great sect elders. It seemed… like it was about to start snowing…

While standing on the Feng Shui compass, Su Ming slowly lowered his head. When he swung his right arm, the snow in the sixth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky disappeared without a trace. Even the Feng Shui compass on which Su Ming stood lost all traces of cold.

But for some unknown reason, while Su Ming stood there with a straight back, he gave off a feeling as if he had fused with the night. It seemed like… he was the night.

‘The power of this Art… is somewhat alright.’

Su Ming closed his eyes. After some time, when he opened them, he used his right hand and pushed down on the Feng Shui compass beneath him.

“Sixteenth formation!”

He had been challenging the Rune for a day and a night. The gazes of the disciples of Seven Moons Sect had been on him for all that time. He had started from the first formation and made his way straight to the fifteenth formation. This left all of the Seven Moons Sect disciples shocked. He had completely crushed the contemptuous gazes directed at him, and the only things remaining was… shock.

His act of clearing the formations had even caught the attention of the sect elders in the fifth layer of Beyond the Sky. Even Lan Lan had already walked out of the palace where she meditated to look at him.

The matter of clearing fifteen formations in one go seemed to be something they had not seen for many years. Something similar had happened at some point in time, but those who had seen it had long ago disappeared in the passage of time, and the ones who remained were the people in the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

“Shadow of autumn!”

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. At the instant the Rune rotated with loud rumbles, he lifted his right hand and swung it against the sky. As the Feng Shui compass rotated, the dark sky instantly turned red!

The red replaced the darkness of night, dyeing the sky the color of fire, but it was not fire. It was the color of autumn, the color of blood. A faint feeling of life withering appeared as well. It was a desolate feeling.

At the same time, the Feng Shui compass seemed to have turned into a huge tree. Its leaves were falling one by one. There was no wind, but each leaf symbolized life force. As they fell, they seemed to show how all manner of being had to walk towards death and nothing could be done to change it.

Su Ming was silent. At that moment, he seemed to have turned into the big tree. The falling leaves did not just bring with them his life force, but also his memories and all that encompassed his life.

“What an Art, this Art of Autumn’s Shadow…” Su Ming said softly. “But the autumn I like is not the shadow under the setting sun… but the quiet withering in the night. This is… the shadow of autumn that I seek.”

At the instant Su Ming’s eyes sparkled and understanding appeared in his eyes, the red sky was dyed black and turned purple. It grew more prominent until the sky turned black again!

The autumn tree Su Ming had manifested was also instantly enveloped by black, as if it was hidden in the dark. No one could see the tree leaves falling, but soon, all the plants and trees in all mountains from the first to sixth layers in Seven Moons Sect’s Sky Beyond the Sky started withering.

It happened in an instant, so no one was aware of it even a breath before it happened, unlike how they would notice the autumn leaves under the setting sun slowly floating down to the ground.

Autumn at night came in an instant…

Night was eternal, and the illusory tree disappeared. Su Ming stood in its place with his purple hair drifting in the wind. At some point in time, he opened his eyes to reveal a darkness in his eyes that the night could not dye black.

“Seventeenth formation!”

At the instant Su Ming said those words, Seven Moons Sect, which had already been sucked into the situation for a long time, immediately burst into an astonishing uproar.

“Sect Elder Wang has cleared the sixteenth formation! He’s already reached the same height as Eldest Senior Sister Yue Yan!”

“That’s not the main point. Sect Elder Wang’s epiphany is clearly different from other people’s. The snow from before and the black light now gives off a feeling as if we’re swathed in darkness… It’s a ghastly feeling, and even if it’s not cold, you can still feel chills down your spine.”

“If he can clear the seventeenth formation… it will mean that he has surpassed Eldest Senior Sister Yue Yan and reached senior brother Chen Tao’s number! And only Eldest Senior Brother Fei Feng would remain in front of him!”

The sounds of discussion rose everywhere, but among the expectations of the many people were also some that held envy and jealousy. Those voices were rather different from those of the rest of the crowd.

“He has clearly reached his limit. The seventeenth formation might be the highest number he can go.”

“Hmph, even if the seventeenth formation isn’t his limit, it’s impossible for him to surpass Eldest Senior Brother Fei Feng. The eldest senior brother stopped at the twentieth formation, and he is an existence we all look up to. It’s… impossible for this person to do so!”

Most of those voices came from the disciples from the first line. They did not want to see Su Ming surpass Fei Feng, even if Su Ming had the status of a sect elder.

As their voices echoed, the Feng Shui compass under Su Ming activated the seventeenth formation. The rumbles as it rotated drowned out all sounds of discussion in the area for the time being, causing the people to gradually stop speaking. Instead, with differing expressions, they looked at Su Ming.

“This should be… the shadow of summer.”

When Su Ming said those words faintly, the seventeenth formation’s rotation made it seem as if a sea of fire had stirred up in the night sky. It formed a huge sun. That sun did not hang high in the sky… but instead, enveloped Su Ming and the Feng Shui compass within it.

While the night sky remained dark, a sun hung high over Seven Moons Sect!

It was Summer’s Line of Nature, and also the summer of the seventeenth formation that the disciples were required to understand!

Two hours later, the fire turned black. The piercing sun also turned black. The black fire brought with it a powerful presence that could burn everything. It seemed to be burning light and exuding darkness, so the black fire fused with darkness, and the black light penetrated through the six layers of Sky Beyond the Sky.

When the sun disappeared and Su Ming’s figure appeared on the Feng Shui compass, his voice echoed in Seven Moons Sect, and it was as calm as before.

“The eighteenth formation.”

At that moment, Su Ming had already surpassed Yue Yan and reached the same number as Chen Tao, but it was clearly not his limit. He wanted to surpass the seventeenth formation and head to the eighteenth formation!

“Winter, autumn, summer, spring… Spring… I have never come to an understanding of it when I was in Harmonious Morus Alba. Right now… I have already reached a state where I can gain an epiphany. My Life Matrix… will also be completed at this moment.

“My four Shadows of Nature will also appear!”

A sparkle that had not appeared for a long time showed up in Su Ming’s eyes. He sucked in a deep breath, and when the Feng Shui compass rotated and all manner of being was about to be resurrected, he sat down cross-legged on the Feng Shui compass.

“The shadow of spring.”

At the instant Su Ming said those words calmly, the Feng Shui compass on which he stood filled with thick life force. The abundance of it caused Su Ming to instantly appear a little younger.

Spring was the resurrection of all manner of being. The abundant life force was also spring. It was the first season among the four seasons, and also the final grid in Su Ming’s Life Matrix!

He once strived to gain enlightenment of it for a long time, and at that moment, on that Rune, Su Ming finally found a hint of spring, but the price he paid for that enlightenment was too great. He had experienced too much anguish and sadness before he understood what was spring.

‘My Dark Mountain has become an illusion…

‘My ninth summit is buried in the long river of my memories…

‘My Berserkers have turned into a mark in the passage of time…

‘My homeland, my True World, the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos to which I belong have now all turned into nothingness, destroyed…

‘I was born in an Expanse Cosmos formed on a wing of Harmonious Morus Alba, but now, Harmonious Morus Alba has died, and everything has turned into the past… I lost my family, my senior brothers, my elder, and my loved ones…

‘I lost everything. I lost the bald crane and the most precious and valuable things in my life. I feel as if I had lost my soul…

‘While I was in the summer of my Life Matrix, I never managed to gain an epiphany of spring, and instead, I regressed to midwinter. It is the chill of death, what can send my soul to eternal sleep. It is… a mourning hidden when I sink into the darkness.

‘I like darkness and am willing to be immersed in it because only when I am in darkness can I let my sadness melt. Only in darkness can I not see my surroundings, but can be in a daze and remember all the faces in my memories…

‘And I… at this moment, have finally come to understand why spring is so far from my grasp, why my Life Matrix could never be completed in Harmonious Morus Alba’s universe… because the true meaning of spring is a cruelty that can only bloom after I die. Spring is the so-called resurrection of all manner of being. I thought that my Life Matrix is of walking from death to life, but in truth, it encompasses everything.

‘If I don’t die, then how can I be resurrected? If I don’t have the aura of death, how can I have life force? That is spring… and my spring will be the life force in the dark. It will be… the shadow of spring that blooms from my Life Matrix!’

At the instant Su Ming’s eyes flew open, he lifted his right hand and swung his arm. With it, the world roared. The darkness of night descended and enveloped the Feng Shui compass, hiding the abundance of life from spring in the darkness, and no one… could see it anymore!

‘My spring is hidden in darkness. Be it life force or resurrection, it will all be in darkness. They will either wake up or fall asleep… based on my will… because regardless of whether it is spring, summer, the red of autumn, or the snow of winter… all of you have to be in my dark night!’

Su Ming stood up swiftly, and at the instant he did so, besides the two shadow figures by his side, four other indistinct figures appeared around him!

They were… his spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the four Great Shadows of Nature!

“I… will not clear the nineteenth formation!”

When Su Ming got up, his words traveled through Seven Moons Sect. He then flew up from the Feng Shui compass and charged toward the fifth layer of Sky Beyond the Sky.

Behind him, the night sky disappeared. Dawn broke through darkness, and a new day… arrived!