Pursuit of the Truth

The rainy season continued. After a few days, the rain started letting up. It would occasionally drizzle, as if the season was reluctant to leave.

Su Ming had already gotten used to the humidity. He was no longer as uncomfortable with this place as he was when he came here initially a few years ago. The act of Fang Mu’s father returning the bone blade to him confirmed Su Ming’s guess, making him motivated. This motivation also allowed him to feel more confident in this strange and unfamiliar place.

The act of luring out Fang Mu, exchanging the blade with other items, and finally having it be returned to him may seem normal, but it was actually a ploy of Su Ming’s. He had slowly but surely built up his own influence while he was still stumbling around in the dark. He had just made short contact with Fang Mu’s father under the premise that Fang Mu’s father’s had his doubts about his level of cultivation.

Su Ming had showed an appropriate level of goodwill, and the act of Fang Mu’s father returning the bone blade to him was an answer to Su Ming’s goodwill. It was also a form of acknowledgement.

The blade itself may not be expensive, but the underlying meaning behind the gift was different.

Once he placed the blade in the torn bag, Su Ming settled down and continued creating pills in his cave, increasing his power a little at a time at a steady pace.

Several months passed by. The blood veins in Su Ming’s body had increased to more than 260. On that day, he was sitting in his cave while his body gave off a blood-red glow. Seven mist dragons tumbled out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, circling above his head.

It did not last long. The seven mist dragons suddenly trembled for some unknown reason and their stability was lost. In an instant, they crumbled with a bang above Su Ming’s head, turning into multiple threads that scattered in all directions, causing Su Ming to open his eyes swiftly.

A shocked look appeared briefly in his eyes. He swiftly raised his right hand and grabbed the large amount of mist threads. They stopped tumbling instantly and gathered together in Su Ming’s right hand, slowly fusing into his palm until disappearing.

Su Ming’s face was dark when he got up slowly and went to the entrance of the cave. The sky was already dark as he stood outside. The moon hung high in the sky, but there were still some thin clouds, dimming out the moonlight that fell to the ground.

Su Ming stood where he was, unmoving, but his expression gradually became more solemn. His Qi was going out of control and showing signs of flowing backwards. His hair was flying in the air even though there was no wind. They weren’t flying back, but went past his ears and face and were floating before him. It was as if there was a mysterious object that possessed absorbing powers sucking in Su Ming’s hair.

The sand and stones that were soaked in puddles of water on the ground were moving slowly, and ripples appeared in the puddles. Rustling sounds came as they moved forward. Some rotten branches and leaves floated in the air, tumbling around strangely before rising into the air even though there was no wind.

A brilliant light appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He entered fine control and spread the area of influence around his entire body, quelling the agitation of his Qi. As he stared at the sky in the distance, a contemplative look appeared on his face.

‘This is a Berserker Art cast by someone in the Transcendence Realm! Whoever he is, he’s not far away, or else I wouldn’t be able to feel the effects so clearly’

Su Ming was just mulling over it when a muffled rumble suddenly came from the sky in the distance. That rumbling sound was like a thunderbolt in the night, bringing forth waves of echoes in its surroundings.

It was soon followed by a long arc breaking through the sky, charging into the forest located behind the mountains in the rainforest, which was located slightly further away from Su Ming.

That direction belonged to the deep parts of the rainforest. Su Ming had went there once, but the humidity there was much stronger compared to the other parts of the forest. The seasons did not matter in there either, the air would always make others nauseous and agitated the moment they breathed it in. The longer they stayed, the harder it would be for them to circulate their Qi.

There was poison in the air itself.

That was why the moment Su Ming set foot in that place, he stopped and turned back, never going back unless he absolutely had to.

There was a figure of a person in that long, charging arc. Su Ming could not see the person’s face clearly, but the light from the arc was dim, a telling sign that the person was near death. That person also coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood as he continued onward.

A presence that felt similar to Transcendence appeared faintly from the person’s body, but it was incredibly unstable. It gave Su Ming the impression that this person was swinging in between the peak of the Blood Solidification Realm and the initial stages of the Transcendence Realm.

‘This is…’

Su Ming’s eyes flashed, and his expression immediately became aloof. Like a sharp sword that left its sheath, he swung his right hand before him. Immediately, the souls of the Wings of the Moon left, surrounding him.

At the very moment Su Ming made that move, another long arc dived down from the darkness of the sky. The long arc looked as if it was covered by a thick layer of fog. As it charged down, Su Ming could see a person standing within. Although his face could not be seen clearly, the murderous look on his face could not be hidden.

The moment he charged in from the sky, the black mist underneath his feet tumbled. That man raised his right hand and pointed towards Su Ming standing in the distance. His pursuit had not been easy, and he encountered a few people on his way, growing increasingly more annoyed. Those people were all killed without any hesitation and their Qi was robbed so that the fog underneath his feet could travel faster.

He had already discovered Su Ming’s existence while the latter was still in the cave. To him, a mere Berserker at the seventh level of the Qi Consolidation Realm was an easy kill. He did not think too much about it and was about to snatch his life away with one point of his finger.

Yet the moment he was about to point down, the expression of the person in the black fog changed. At that very moment, he could clearly feel a presence that made his heart jolt outside Su Ming’s body as he stood at the mountain range below.

That moment of shock made him unwilling to cause any more problems for himself. He let out a cold harrumph and moved his finger away, focusing all his attention on the escaping man and giving chase once again.

Cold sweat beaded on Su Ming’s forehead as he stood there. His face was slightly pale, but his eyes were as calm as still water. During that instant, if he had reacted a little slower in activating the might of the souls of the Wings of the Moon, then that one finger from the person in the black fog would have brought about great disaster to him. Even if he did not die from it, the end result would still be troublesome.

‘That’s Xuan Lun!’

Su Ming took in a deep breath, and his eyes sparkled. He had been unable to identify that man previously, but he was familiar with the cold harrumph. Xuan Lun left a deep impression on him when he was in Han Mountain City, so Su Ming could still remember him in his heart.

‘The person he’s chasing after is most likely He Feng!’

Su Ming fell into silence and cast his gaze to the deeper parts of the rainforest. He could clearly see the distance between the two long arc closing. Then with a clash, the two people engaged each other in a battle to the death.

‘He Feng broke through! This person was taken away by Han Fei Zi previously. I didn’t expect to see him again here. He’s not only being chased down by Xuan Lun, he also reached a breakthrough here… No wonder Xuan Lun had to chase him to this place. If He Feng did not breakthrough, he would have died on the way here.’

Su Ming’s face was sullen. This thing originally had nothing to do with him. Yet the rainforest had turned into the place for the two of them to clash against each other. If Su Ming had not been fast enough, then with Xuan Lun’s ruthless behaviour, he would have been dragged into their fight.

”Oh well, looks like I can’t stay here anymore. Ha…”

Su Ming sighed. He quickly returned to his cave and put away all of his things into the torn bag, then dashed out of the cave before running into the rainforest located at the foot of the mountain.

‘He Feng may have just broken through, but from the looks of it, he’s still not Xuan Lun’s opponent. Once Xuan Lun kills him, it’ll be great if he just leaves, but if he comes back and tries to cause trouble for me… I can’t risk it.’

Su Ming made his decision. He ran through the forest, opting to bring forth his plan to go to Tranquil East Tribe.

Although this will throw my plans into disarray…

Su Ming felt depressed. This had nothing to do with him, but he was still caught in it because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This rainforest was a natural shelter, and there were a lot of herbs in it. Su Ming was reluctant to leave the place behind.

‘Once this is over, perhaps I can come back…’

As Su Ming ran, he quickly put a stop to that thought. He understood Xuan Lun a little bit more from what had happened just now. It was clear that he was someone whose moods were erratic.

While he ran, booming sounds reverberated from behind him, along with faint, shrill cries.

‘This is a little odd. The rainforest is huge, and there are a lot of places to go, why did He Feng specifically come here? Let’s hope this is just a coincidence.’

A cold glint appeared briefly in Su Ming’s eyes.

‘If this isn’t a coincidence, then it means He Feng lured Xuan Lun here intentionally. Could it be that there’s something here that could help him in his battle?’

Su Ming could not obtain an answer no matter how much he thought about it. His feet moved at a faster pace, and he was about to leave this troublesome place when a distressed voice traveled from the deeper parts of the rainforest behind him amidst the booming sounds.

It was clear that the voice traveled forth with a special Berserker Art. It contained a penetrating force that could spread far into the distance, far enough that Su Ming could hear it even though he was already far away from the location of the battle.

”I’ll hold Xuan Lun back! Brother Xu… go! I have one request, take the item I hid at that place as my token of gratitude!”

The voice echoed through the surroundings, but it did not spread too far away. It traveled straight towards where Su Ming was running.

”Hmm? Hmph, how foolish!”

The moment Xuan Lun heard the words while fighting against He Feng in the deeper parts of the forest, a flash passed through his eyes. He smirked coldly and continued fighting, but he lifted his right index finger and pointed towards Su Ming in the distance.

The moment he pointed towards him, the black fog by his side twisted and turned into a ferocious face of a malicious spirit. It let out a roar and charged towards where Su Ming was.

A murderous look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes as he continued running. He had already caught onto what was happening. That He Feng was vicious, he was using this to force Su Ming to help him.

Else, even if he escaped, he would never be free of pursuit.

There were far too many loopholes in his words, but Su Ming knew that He Feng was not worried about them. He just wanted Xuan Lun to hear it. Even if Xuan Lun was almost certain that He Feng’s words were fake, he would be suspicious and would chase after Su Ming’s life after he was done here.

”Bastard!”

Su Ming clenched his fists. Ever since he came to this unfamiliar place, everything had been going well for him. Yet no matter how careful and cautious he was, he was still no match to the people who were well-versed in scheming.

He swiftly turned his head back. Behind him, the face of the malicious spirit created from the black fog was closing in on him with a sharp cry. It was not even 1,000 feet away from his position.