Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming mumbled and lowered his head to look at his right hand. His body had already completely gained physical form and he looked no different than a body that possessed flesh and blood.

A long black robe manifested on him, and his black hair danced in the wind, forming a contrast with the white fog around him, causing him to appear faint and indistinct in the white fog.

That white fog was rapidly seeping into Su Ming’s body as he continued absorbing it.

Su Ming did not bother about that white fog. As his intelligence grew and his eyes began to gain a brilliant sparkle, he looked at his right hand, as if he was immersed in deep thought.

After a long while, when the final wisp of white fog seeped into his body, he stood alone at the empty land with his gaze still on his right hand.

Time trickled by. Several days later, Su Ming’s right hand moved up slowly, then once he pressed downwards, he seized the air.

‘What is this divine ability? It’s just a simple motion of pressing down and seizing the air, but why does it contain such powerful might..? With one press, I can shatter everything in the world, and with one seize, I can absorb the essence of all the things that had crumbled..’

Su Ming closed his eyes, and when he opened them a moment later, he looked at the sky.

As he absorbed the white fog, his memories slowly recovered. Besides remembering his own name, he also remembered that he had died twice in this strange world.

He had died the first time by being devoured by someone, and he died the second time after his body disintegrated when the old man in white pressed down and seized the air…

However, he only managed to remember this much. The memories of how he arrived in this strange world still remained indistinct.

‘Could it be that this action of pressing down and seizing the air contains some form of power that I don’t understand..?’

Su Ming sat down cross-legged on the white ground. He looked at his right hand, and as he fell into pensive silence, he continued immersing himself in the repeated act of pressing down and seizing the air.

As time passed, white wisps of fog gradually seeped out of the ground around him. The souls that had died previously were revived, but almost the instant that white fog appeared, it immediately charged towards Su Ming, as if the spot where he was sitting had turned into a gigantic vortex, and that vortex could suck everything.

As the white fog surrounded Su Ming, it disappeared into his right hand in the blink of an eye and was absorbed into his body. The spark of intelligence in his eyes grew clearer, and an incredibly comfortable feeling spread through him, causing him to close his eyes.

It was the feeling of his body rapidly growing stronger, of his soul becoming more powerful. It was the comfortable sort of feeling that only appeared during metamorphosis, and once a person had a taste of it, it would be difficult for him to not continue with it.

After some time, Su Ming opened his eyes, and a brilliant sparkle shone in them.

”If I devour the other souls here, then I can slowly remember more things, I can also become stronger, and I won’t have to feel the pain of dying here anymore…” Su Ming mumbled. He stood up, looked at the gray sky, took a deep breath, lifted his feet, and charged forward.

A chilling glare shone in his eyes. He charged forth like a wisp of black smoke and continued moving forward on the white land. He did not know how much time had passed, only that there was a desire in his heart - to devour more undying souls.

One day, he saw thousands of undying souls before him. When he saw them, the swarm of undying souls also saw him.

As shrill howls reverberated in the air, the dozens of obviously stronger souls leading the swarm charged towards him.

Su Ming stood there, a glint in his eyes. The instant those undying souls closed in on him, he lifted his right hand and pushed forward. With that one push, a layer of ripples manifested before him, and they spread outward like a wave. Rumbling sounds traveled forth without stop. The undying souls right at the front of the swarm shuddered viciously, and some of them broke down straight away.

Su Ming immediately had his right hand seize the air, and the disintegrating undying souls instantaneously turned into wisps of white fog that charged towards him. As the white fog fused into him, it made him lift his head and let out a contented roar. He charged forward and engaged the remaining undying souls that had yet to die.

Su Ming did not know of any other method. He only knew how to press down and seize the air. However, after trying it multiple times, he found that this simple act contained a powerful might that he did not comprehend. The instant he rushed into the swarm of undying souls, rumbling sounds repeatedly traveled forth.

After the time taken for the burning of an incense stick, Su Ming stood with his head dipped down. Dense white fog surrounded him, and besides the fog, not a single undying soul could be seen.

After a long time, Su Ming lifted his head. His eyes were no longer gray but were sparkling brightly. He licked his lips, then flew up from the ground, and when he was in midair, he started charging into the distance.

At the end of the world, in the distance, was the moaning sound of a horn echoing in the air. It was a guide for all the undying souls that could hear it to move towards that place.

That horn also managed to summon Su Ming. As he absorbed more undying souls, he began to feel the sound of the horn becoming clearer and stronger. It was filled with an enticing air, and it made him feel as if it was his mission to go to the place where the horn was as he continued to become stronger.

As he continued flying forward, he saw several swarms of undying souls on the ground, and whenever he ran into them, he would press down on the ground while remaining midair.

As his experiences increased and as he grew stronger by continuously absorbing more souls, the area in which he could cause the others to crumble gradually became bigger, until he could make half a swarm break down in a go instead of just a small part.

Su Ming did not keep track of time, he only thought that a long time had passed since he woke up. He had already flown very far away, and by then, large parts of the swarms of undying souls that formed on the ground would break down when he pressed downwards.

His body now seemed like a body possessing flesh and blood. His hair danced in the air, and his black robes fluttered while flowing in the wind. The amount of times when he did that action of pressing downward and seizing the air had become so numerous that they could no longer be counted!

He could feel his own strength clearly. This sort of strength was one with which he did not even need to roar as he flew, and he could already make all the undying souls that saw him shiver.

However… Su Ming’s eyes were no longer sparkling brightly as time continued flowing away. They were gradually stained by fatigue, and a hint of apathy slowly appeared in his eyes as well.

His current appearance made him rather similar to the old man he’d seen before…

The horn still echoed in the air, but it seemed like he would never be able to fly to that place, and eventually, one day, as Su Ming continued flying forward, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt, turning his head around and looking at the world to his right. Over there, he saw a long red arc traveling forth incredibly quickly.

The instant Su Ming saw the long arc, it stopped several thousands of feet away from him before turning into a red-haired man. Half of the man’s body was decked in armor. His red hair floated in the air and he was half naked. He looked at Su Ming.

His eyes were similar to Su Ming’s. They were both dull, and there was apathy flowing out from within them.

Su Ming looked at him, and he looked at Su Ming. After a moment of looking into each other’s eyes in midair, the man suddenly let out a roar and took a step forward to charge towards Su Ming. The moment he closed in, he lifted his right hand and swung it towards the sky. Immediately, a long spear manifested in his right hand and he wrapped his fingers around it.

Once he held that long spear, he threw it towards Su Ming. That long spear stirred up a piercing screech as it sliced through the air and charged towards Su Ming at an incredibly swift speed.

It was so fast that it looked as if a bolt of lightning had pierced through Su Ming’s chest in an instant. However, to Su Ming, the instant that long spear was thrown out, everything in the world slowed down. Not only did the long spear’s speed decelerate, even his body had become slower.

Everything had become slower. He saw the long spear flying towards him, bit by bit, inching towards him, little by little. His right hand was also lifting up slowly, but when the long spear finally arrived before him, he had only just lifted his right hand. He didn’t manage to press down when the long spear stabbed into his chest at an incredibly slow speed. The intense pain of being ripped apart spread through Su Ming’s chest incredibly slowly after being slowed down several times.

In his eyes, after the tip of the spear cut through his body and pierced through his chest, a sharp pain spread out, and at the same time, the entire spear penetrated through him and fell on the ground behind him.

Only then did Su Ming’s world return to normal. Yet the instant the world returned to normal, a small part of his body had already broken down. As he fell apart, Su Ming lifted his right hand swiftly and pushed at the man.

The man jolted and his armor instantly exploded. At the same time his body was exposed, he began trembling violently, and cracks appeared on him

As Su Ming seized the air with his right hand, a large amount of white fog with an intensity so dense it could not be described with words charged towards him…

The man roared with a maddened craze and clenched his right fist before hurling it straight towards Su Ming. The speed of his punch was incredibly slow, but in Su Ming’s eyes, that man’s speed had reached an extreme momentum.

This was a difficult battle. Rumbling sounds reverberated in the world, and they only started gradually disappearing several hours later. An incredible amount of white fog filled the place, and the density of that white fog could almost compare to the amount of all the white fog Su Ming had absorbed on the way to this place.

The dense fog was rapidly disappearing at the moment, as it was being absorbed by the person inside. An hour later, when the fog became thinner, a person’s silhouette gradually took shape.

He had long black hair, long black robes, a vacant face, and apathetic eyes… Su Ming walked out slowly and lowered his head to look at his right hand. The numb look in his eyes was identical to the old man’s he met before!

”Undying soul… I am an Undying warrior soul…” Su Ming mumbled. His memories had yet to recover. It was as if no matter how much fog he absorbed, his memories stopped at the revelation of his own name.

The only thing that increased was his strength, and he felt as if he now had the might to control the entire world!

He… lost himself…

There seemed to be a voice echoing faintly in the gray world. That voice sounded as if it came from the distant past, as if it contained the passages of time itself, but if anyone listened to it closely, they would only hear the moaning sound of a horn, and would not be able to hear the voice formed by it.

”If you fall and lose yourself, then I will devour the snake and resurrect myself successfully. If you wake up, then I will willingly let myself be devoured by my kind, and will bless its new life!”