Pursuit of the Truth

1

Everyone has their own secrets, and there is no need for anyone to forcibly obtain them. Even if the four cultivators had a secret, if they insisted on not telling it, Su Ming would not force them. In truth, the thing he saw as the most important was the fact that the four of them were heading to Dust Burners, and he too wanted to go to them.

A person’s age would not show whether they had truly become mature, and neither would their maturity show in the wrinkles that appeared on their bodies as time passed. It would instead show in whether a person learned how to tolerate another.

There were some things that did not need to be spoken. As long as people were willing to tolerate it, then everything would be fine.

Su Ming did not know how to be tolerant towards others in the past, but after going through so many things, he had learned how to be tolerant in certain areas.

‘If you do not want to tell, then I won’t ask.’

In truth, the difference between knowing about something then keeping it a secret and knowing about something then talking incessantly about it lay between whether a person was mature or immature.

Su Ming sat down cross-legged on the Void Beast and said faintly, “Alright, Xu Hui. Turn him back.”

Xu Hui turned her head around to cast Su Ming a glance. A smile appeared on her face. How could she not know about the things Su Ming knew? But there was only happiness in this mode of communication. There were no schemes, and neither were there any other sort of thought contained within it.

Such moments were rarely found in her life.

That was why Xu Hui wanted to treasure this. She did not want to lose this atmosphere of their communication after the truth had been brought out.

They were foolish. They were being rarely foolish.

She nodded obediently, then raised her right hand which she swung at Nian Yin. Two wisps of smoke that were purple and blue landed on the cultivator, causing his Adam’s apple to appear, the bumps on his chest to become flat, his posterior to shrink, and his skin to become rough once again from its formerly smooth state.

Once Xu Hui finished doing all this, she returned to Su Ming’s side.

“If the four of you feel like telling me your secret, you can say it. If you don’t want to, I won’t make things difficult for you… but I want to know how to get to Dust Burners. I’ve been watching the path you took. You should have a map with you. Tell me the route and I will immediately leave,” Su Ming said calmly.

The markers regarding Dust Burners on the map Dijiu Mo Sha had given him were incredibly fuzzy. After all, this tribe was not like Heaven Traversers who were located in the outer layer of the inner part of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Dust Burners were located in a region close to the core of the Star Ocean. It was… a place where Ninth Tribe had never gone before.

Which was why their markings regarding Dust Burners only provided Su Ming with a general outline but not the specifics. If he was to search for them blindly, the difficulty would be incredibly great, and the dangers in it would also be very high.

Once Nian Yin’s body returned to normal, his face turned pale and he immediately returned to his group’s side. He did not dare look at Xu Hui. Perhaps the other true worlds did not know the details of this woman’s reputation, but as someone from True Morning Dao World, he knew well that this woman could be said to be an existence that would cause others’ faces to change color when they spoke about her. She killed others as if she was swatting flies, and the level of malice as well as viciousness within her heart was enough to cause others to tremble in fear.

However, while being wary of Xu Hui, he was shocked by Su Ming. Xu Hui, who was known as the Scorpion Lady, was a merciless and heartless person. The open strife and veiled fights between her and the Snake Lady were never-ending. Besides their own Masters, it was unheard of that anyone else could make them be obedient.

Yet with one sentence, Su Ming had actually made Xu Hui turn him back. If he told others about this, no one would believe him.

When Nian Yin lowered his head, Xuan Shang and the others exchanged glances with each other. They remained silent for a moment before Xuan Shang patted his storage bag and brought out a jade slip. Once he focused his attention and Branded it, he threw the slip towards Su Ming.

“This is the map that will lead you to Dust Burners. Senior, the spot next to you is a Relocation Vortex. When you walk out of the other end, there will be detailed marks on the map leading you to the place.”

Su Ming took the jade slip. Once he scanned it with his Atman, he looked at the four people in close scrutiny. Then, the Void Beast beneath him slowly turned around and floated towards the Relocation Vortex.

When they were beside the Relocation Vortex, the Void Beast came to a halt, and Su Ming said softly, “All of you, you should go in first.”

Xuan Shang nodded. He could guess that Su Ming would definitely not believe in him so easily. After all, if he was in Su Ming’s place, he would do the same thing. He was not against it, since he did not do anything to the map. At that moment, he looked at the trio beside him, completely unperturbed, and once they exchanged glances with each other, they chose to obey.

The four of them turned into long arcs and charged at the Relocation Vortex. When they closed in, they did not hesitate. Xuan Shang was the first to step in, while Nian Yin came right after. The other two stepped in moments later.

After they disappeared, the Void Beast beneath Su Ming looked as if it sucked in a deep breath. Its body shrank, and when it became only about hundreds of feet in size, it crawled into the Relocation Vortex. Its body instantly fused inside before disappearing without a trace.

Within the vortex was the colorful world. In a gigantic, semi-transparent tunnel were Xuan Shang and the other three, and all of them had their eyes closed while allowing their bodies to glide through as they were pulled forward. Behind them was the Void Beast that was now hundreds of feet in size. Standing on its back was Xu Hui, who had her eyes wide open while she observed her surroundings. As for the bald crane, it naturally did not close its eyes due to its personality. Instead, it stared at its surroundings.

The Abyss Dragon did not know about the necessity of closing its eyes, and also looked around.

Su Ming had never taken to the habit of closing his eyes in the place. At the instant he entered the world in the vortex, he immediately looked into the distance – at the dark depths where the familiar ripples of power lay.

The corners of Su Ming’s lips curled up slightly. He sensed the dragon-headed black horse’s presence. That black horse clearly remembered Su Ming very deeply. This time, right when Su Ming entered the vortex, it immediately charged forth from the distance at full speed.

“It’s coming again.” Xu Hui’s voice was calm, but a hint of anxiety flashed briefly in her eyes.

She remembered clearly that when the black horse had caught up to Su Ming the last time, he had nearly been unable to leave this world.

“Who? Who’s coming?” The bald crane widened its eyes and looked around continuously. While it was searching, a roar that stirred up a large number of ripples echoed in the world.

This roar shocked and terrified the people’s hearts, causing the tunnel to tremble and made the colorful jellyfish-like existences around them to quickly retreat.

It also caused Xuan Shang and the other three’s expressions to change, but they kept their eyes firmly shut.

Su Ming directed his attention towards the noise, and a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. The more he saw the black horse, the fonder he grew of it. The desire to tame it also grew stronger in his heart. If it was not because the black horse possessed power equivalent to Masters of Fate, Su Ming would have taken forceful actions a long time ago.

“Sooner or later, you will be mine.”

Su Ming stood up. He could sense that as the black horse roared from the distance, the Void Beast beneath him started trembling violently, conveying just how terrified it was. Clearly, the shock and fear brought by the roar was even greater for a beast.

“Don’t provoke it. The last time, you…” Xu Hui could not help but worry, which was evident on her face. And it was not fake, but a true manifestation of what she was feeling in her heart.

“You don’t have to bother.”

Resolve appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He stared at the darkness in the distance, vaguely able to tell that there was a long arc there charging towards him at an indescribable speed.

There were six dim balls of light in the long arc. Those were the horse’s six eyes. The arrogance within them were the source of Su Ming’s resolve.

This time, the horse had been clearly farther away from Su Ming. That was why based on his experience, he knew that it would be difficult for the horse to reveal itself before they left the vortex. After all, the distance between them was simply too great.

Su Ming wanted to see the horse, and he also wanted the black horse to see him.

He wanted that prideful black horse to remember his provocation. He wanted the horse to immediately appear when he stepped into the vortex. To do this, he needed the black horse to have an incredibly deep impression of him, and for this prideful existence, provocation would become the source of an obsession it would never be able to ignore.

Su Ming moved swiftly. Once he walked off the Void Beast, he threw his head back and let out a long roar. That roar shook the entire world. It continued reverberating in the void, stirring up an endless amount of echoes.

This immediately caused the four cultivators’ expressions to change. They could not help but start cursing in their hearts. This was the world in the vortex. It was a place where they were not allowed to open their eyes and let out a single sound, or else they would run into incredible danger.

This was something they learned a long time ago in incredible detail when they were just introduced to Relocation Vortices. Yet now, Su Ming’s long roar behind them completely broke the silence within this quiet world in the vortex.

That long roar was also filled with a thick air of provocation, which penetrated through the endless depths and landed in the black horse’s ears as it charged forward. Boundless anger appeared in its eyes, and it responded to Su Ming with a roar as well as a speed that increased by almost one hundred times.

Su Ming smiled. This was the black horse’s true speed.

Time trickled by. One breath passed, then another, and another. When everyone was near the Relocation Vortex’s exit, Su Ming saw a long arc at the corner of his vision, and it was coming at them with an indescribable speed. Along with that long arc was a sea of fire that surged into the sky, as well as a black horse with two dragon heads.

This horse was several thousands of feet tall. It stood on fire, and black smoke as well as flames escaped its nostrils when it breathed. A fierce light shone in its eyes. When it lifted its head, it let out its third roar, and galloped on flames while charging towards Su Ming.

From the distance, it looked as if the world in the vortex was burning. When the flames crackled, they swept in all directions.

“You-you-you…”

When the black horse’s body was completely revealed, the bald crane shuddered violently. It flapped its wings, widened its eyes, put on a face full of disbelief, and pointed at the black horse.

“Damn it all, that’s a Resentful Wei [1]! There are still Resentful Weis in the world?! Two dragon heads… This means it’s still a baby. Damn it! How can this be possible!” the bald crane cried out in a shrill voice, yelling out the things it remembered as some fragmented memories appeared in its head at the instant it saw the black horse.

“What’s a Resentful Wei?!” Su Ming asked while staring at the black horse. He knew that the bald crane had a mysterious past and at that its memories were fragmented. It would only occasionally remember certain things.

“Beyond the four Great True Worlds, and even past the Fifth True World were three Great Ancient Kingdoms. One of them was Wei. This kingdom had countless cultivators, but in a single night, all of them died. Once the entire ancient kingdom was reduced to ashes, all the cultivators’ souls gathered together to turn into resentment. This resentment lay in silence for several centuries until eventually forming into Resentful Weis!”

Su Ming’s pupils swiftly contracted.

Translator’s Note:

1. Resentful Wei (怨魏, Yuan4 Wei4): Two words originally from Shiji/Historical Records/Records of the Great Historian (all the same). It’s not a term, per see, because the original phrase is 以怨魏齐故, and the 怨魏 here is a verb + noun. It means ‘Because he hated Wei Qiqu for almost beating him to death’.

怨 can only mean grudge or resentment, but for 魏, it can be 1) a country’s name in Ancient China, 2) a surname, 3) big and tall.

Since 魏 is clearly the name of a country here, Resentful Wei was chosen.

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