Pursuit of the Truth

Beside the sword-ship that led to the isolation grounds of Han Mountain’s ancestor was a tunnel. At the end of it was an entrance, and Su Ming sat there as he opened his eyes. There was a bewildered look in his eyes.

He Feng did not appear; he was submerged in Su Ming’s body, not his mind. He was very weak. This time, he had to enter into deep sleep once more, or else he would disappear.

‘My memories stopped and began at the moment I woke up to catch the vultures. I don’t remember the crack that appeared during the rainy night, neither do I remember myself laughing so hollowly… When I woke up, I was already lying by the mountainside.

‘Perhaps the memories I’m missing are those within the crack.’

Su Ming looked at the entrance by his side and resolution appeared in his eyes.

‘He Feng didn’t seem to be faking his actions. The stone debris in my Spirit Sphere…’ Su Ming touched the mysterious black stone debris hanging on his neck. ‘I’ll risk it!’

Su Ming took in a deep breath. He stood up without hesitation and moved towards the entrance.

He had already lingered around this place for quite some time. Now that he made his decision, he could not afford to waste his time any longer. He had a strong feeling that perhaps he truly had a connection with Han Mountain’s ancestor. He would be able to obtain an answer to all the things that baffled him here.

”Come… come here…”

The aged voice was laden with anxiety. It was much clearer and stronger than when he was outside. The voice echoed in his mind. The moment he set foot through the entrance, his vision became clouded.

Once everything became clear, he saw a piece of sky with stars shimmering in it before him. The end of the sky could not be seen and the stars let out dazzling light.

”Where is this place..?”

Su Ming was momentarily stunned. This place was covered in deathly silence, and he was the only one here.

”This is… the… third dimensional layer… come… come here… let me… see… you…”

The aged voice became clearer as it echoed in Su Ming’s mind. At the same time, the stars in the sky began moving rapidly before his eyes. Gradually, a floating piece of land appeared before him once the stars finished moving.

Su Ming had never seen any of these before. His eyes became even more clouded with bewilderment, but he soon calmed down.

He moved forward silently. He did not know how long he had walked, neither did he know whether he was walking towards the floating piece of land, or whether the floating piece of land was moving towards him.

As he got closer and the floating piece of land rose before him, Su Ming stepped on it and looked around him.

The mountain ranges rose and fell around him with sounds of flowing water coming from the rivers. The ground was covered in green grass and there was a sweet fragrance coming from them. Sitting on the grass meadow was a person wearing gray robes.

This was a person whose age could not be estimated. His entire body was dried up, and there were only a few strands of hair left on his head. His clothes had almost entirely disintegrated. He sat on the ground with his eyes closed as if he was dead.

”You’ve… finally come…”

A hoarse voice echoed through the land.

”Are you Han Mountain’s ancestor?”

Su Ming took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down before he looked at the person who seemed to be dead.

”You can call me Han Kong…”

The aged voice echoed in the air and the direction which it came from could not be determined. When the voice fell in his ears, Su Ming felt shaken.

”Why did you call me here?” Su Ming was silent for a moment before he asked.

”I did not summon you here… you were the one who summoned yourself here…”

This time, the voice did not appear from all around him, but from the dried up person before him. As the words tumbled out of his mouth, this person opened his eyes.

They were a pair of eyes that were incredibly dim, but there was a profound look within them that seemed like stars, but inside there weas also excitement, longing, and anticipation.

”Take me away…”

The hoarse voice came out from Han Kong’s mouth. His voice sounded like two dried up twigs rubbing against each other, which made all those who heard it incredibly uncomfortable.

Su Ming looked at the skeletal Han Mountain’s ancestor and fell silent.

”According to the… promise, I’ve completed my duties. I’ve waited for you for a long time… take me away…”

Han Kong looked as if it had been a long time since he spoke. He had a hard time forming his words, since he bit out each syllable. An expectant look appeared on his calm face.

”I’ve left my home for 8,000 years. I want to go home…”

Han Mountain’s ancestor shivered slightly as he mumbled towards Su Ming.

As Han Kong spoke, the entire sky suddenly shook. The stars in the distance let out a huge rumbling sound, and the stars began fading out one by one rapidly.

”They’re here… quickly…”

Han Kong’s breathing became rapid.

Su Ming remained silent. There were too many things he did not understand from Han Kong’s words.

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and he spoke languidly. ”How can I… take you away?”

”You…”

Han Kong was stunned and he stared at Su Ming. Uncertainty and disbelief gradually appeared in his eyes. It was as if that simple sentence from Su Ming was out of his expectations.

”Who… are you?”

Han Kong immediately became sharp. A great pressure spread out with a boom. Under this pressure, Su Ming felt as if he was an ant caught in a rainstorm. He felt as if he was suffocating.

Su Ming took a few steps backwards. His face was pale. He looked at Han Kong and after remaining silent for a moment, when the booming sounds from afar came nearer, he spoke softly.

”I am Su Ming.”

”Destiny ¹… That’s right, it’s you.”

Han Kong let out a sigh of relief. The pressure disappeared, and the sharp gaze in his eyes turned into expectation. He did not know that he had misheard Su Ming’s name as Destiny.

”You are Destiny. You know how to take me away from this place…”

Han Kong spoke with difficulty. At that moment, the last star in the sky outside faded out. At the same time, as muffled booming sounds appeared where they were, the land also trembled furiously. It was as if there was someone outside using an unseen method to attack the place.

”Damn it! They’re here too soon!”

Han Kong’s face twisted. He struggled up and took a step towards the sky.

”They won’t be able to see you here, neither will they bother you while you cast your Art. I’ll stall them. You are Destiny. You will send me back… You must send me back… You have to send me back!”

Han Kong suddenly turned back and a ferocious look appeared for the first time in his eyes. He cast a look at Su Ming before he charged into the sky.

Outside the floating piece of land, the night sky that had fallen into darkness once it lost all its starlight started twisting. As Han Kong walked out, a large amount of ripples spread through the twisting sky. A loud bang resounded, and the old man in red robes from Freezing Sky Clan walked out of the ripples.

”Han Kong!”

With a low growl that echoed in the air, the face of the old man in red robes became grave and filled with a mighty presence. He lifted his right hand abruptly.

The dark sky around them was suddenly filled with colors. As they spun around, they formed a large vortex. Rumbling sounds filled the air, and the vortex circled around Han Kong with him acting as its center. It spun around him quickly, turning into a shocking power.

Han Kong let out a shrill and mournful howl. He swung his right hand before him and instantly red light appeared underneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, that red light turned into the red meadow. As he swung his hand forward, the meadow spread out through the surroundings rapidly, and in an instant, it covered an area of 100 li.

Han Kong panted harshly as if he was a wild beast that had been pushed into a corner. His eyes were fiercely lit with aversion, and he pressed his right hand towards the ground below him.

The moment he did so, the 100 li meadow tumbled about and sounds akin to roars rang out. A bundle of red mist appeared from the place where Han Kong had his right palm pressed down. That mist quickly condensed and gathered together before it turned into a three headed giant python. With a hiss, it charged towards the old man in red robes.

Han Kong pressed his left hand on the meadow right after that and immediately a battle cry reverberated through the air. Red mist rose from the meadow once again and turned into a man in red armor. That man held a blood sword. Once he appeared, his eyes were lit with fighting spirit and he charged at the old man.

Han Kong’s enchantment had not ended. He bit his tongue and coughed out a mouthful of blood. His blood splattered on the red meadow, and the meadow seemed to go into frenzy immediately. It started rapidly squirming and growing at a shocking pace, spreading outwards like hair at lightning speed.

”Berserkers! How dare you oppose us Immortals!”

Han Kong raised his arms into the air swiftly while standing on the rapidly growing red meadow. He might have looked dried up and shriveled at the moment, but there was a presence spreading out from him that was hard to describe.

When Su Ming saw this scene, his heart pounded against his chest. This was the most intense battle he had seen besides the battle of Dark Mountain executed by the shadow in the starry sky. Han Kong’s Arts made him feel shaken to the core.

The face of the old man in red robes was calm. He lifted his right hand and pointed not towards Han Kong, but at the center of his brows, then from there, his finger trailed down to the tip of his nose, carving out a trail of blood.

The moment the trail appeared, a roar rose from the space behind the old man in red robes. A gigantic apparition seemed to have torn through the space and a spirit that was entirely red and was about 10,000 feet tall came forth.

It looked like a giant, but was more like a monster turned from a statue of the God of Berserkers. It wore beast skins and was half naked. The moment it appeared, it let out a shocking roar.

At the same moment, the red gourd slung over the back of the old man in red robes floated up. The cork popped out and many black shadows flew out. These black shadows were the souls of wild beasts. They howled as the giant monster seized them and devoured them.

When that three-headed giant python and the man with the fighting spirit and the red armor charged towards him, the giant monster lifted its head swiftly. There was a fierce light in its eyes. With a howl, it charged towards the giant python and once it grabbed it with its claws, it brought it to its mouth and bit down before throwing it aside and charging towards the man in armor.

Booming sounds echoed in the air. As the giant monster continued with its slaughter, Han Kong’s red meadow was still spreading out, practically covering all the space before it suddenly shrank and let out a shocking boom.

Su Ming took in a deep breath. He had not even managed to recover from the battle before the space before him twisted and Han Kong walked out from within. The moment he did so, Han Kong’s legs shattered and turned into nothingness. His face was filled death, but he still flew up and seized Su Ming before he charged forward and disappeared with him.

All of these happened too quickly. Su Ming did not even have time to dodge before he was caught by Han Kong. The moment he disappeared with Han Kong from the place, he saw the red meadow spreading out like hair and covering the sky around the floating piece of land. Amidst the booming sounds, Han Kong flew up once more. He coughed out blood, but continued charging into the distance.

Behind him, the old man in red gave chase.

Destiny is 宿命, and the pinyin is (su1 ming1 (E.D Note: the numbers are for different tones, there are four different in total), which is like the homonym for Su Ming (蘇銘, by the way), very different meanings and very different characters, as you can tell. Su Ming’s name is pronounced as su1 ming2, so the second character also sounds differently, but Han Kong misheard it.