Pursuit of the Truth

There was a frozen world in the dark and quiet world. There was no powerful wind propelling anything forward, neither was there trembling under anyone’s feet on the ground that would make people uneasy.

There was only dead silence in that place.

The ice statues and ice mountains everywhere were a scene that would never change in the frozen world, besides… a gigantic turtle. It had its eyes wide open and was glaring hatefully at an ice mountain with labored breathing. If gazes could kill, then Su Ming, who was in the ice mountain, would have died several times.

Su Ming smiled wryly, and besides doing that, he simply had no other way to express the gloominess in his heart.

He did not expect that this turtle would still be holding onto his grudge even after fifteen years. It laid there, staring at the ice mountain for fifteen years… Then, two hours ago, that turtle saw his quarry.

Right when Su Ming arrived to this place, the turtle was the first thing he saw, and he was completely stunned. As for the turtle, its eyes started glowing with a brilliant light, and it kept its glare trained on Su Ming.

The human and turtle were separated by the ice mountain, and they simply looked at each other like that. The turtle had left a deep impression on Su Ming in the past. The memory of its strength remained clear in his head, and because his power had become so much more different than before, Su Ming could tell even clearer now just how powerful this turtle was.

This was a strength that had surpassed those of End Shamans. Based on Su Ming’s analysis, the turtle might already be equivalent to those who were walking down the path of Life Cultivation!

He fell into a moment of pensive silence, unsure of what to do, then he lifted his right hand slowly, but right at the moment he did so, the turtle lifted its head swiftly and let out a roar towards him. Its roar shot through the glacier, and Su Ming’s ears rang in sharp pain.

A glint appeared in his eyes. He did not stop moving his right hand, but instead continued lifting it into the air, then pushed forward. Immediately, the layer of ice before him let out cracking sounds, and cracks appeared on its surface.

When the turtle saw that its roar did not intimidate Su Ming, it roared again while lifting its tail swiftly, lashing it against the ice mountain. A howl sliced through the water. When the tail almost touched the ice mountain, the turtle retrieved its tail swiftly and started letting out agitated and annoyed roars.

Su Ming let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He remembered that this creature had seemed like it did not want to destroy the ice mountain all those years ago. Once he tested it, he found that it indeed was still the truth.

‘Then I just won’t go out!’

Su Ming gritted his teeth and no longer bothered himself with the turtle glaring fiercely at him outside the ice mountain. Instead, he lifted his hand and broke the layers of ice around to open up an area for him to sit down and meditate while also serving as an area that could accommodate a few other things.

‘I wonder where the gate in South Morning has sunk to. I won’t be able to go back so soon. This Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands might last for several years before it ends.

‘Oh well, I won’t be able to go out with the turtle outside through here either. I might as well go into isolation for several years. Besides, I have some items with me that I need to refine and develop…’

As Su Ming gathered his thoughts, he looked around himself. This ice mountain was not big, so it was not convenient for him to make it too thin. If he did so, things would become incredibly bothersome for him.

He lowered his head and sank into deep thought. After a moment, his eyes sparkled, and he looked towards the layer of ice beneath him.

‘If I can’t go out, then I can dig out a tunnel here and build my own cave abode under the layer of ice…’

Su Ming’s eyes shone brilliantly. He lifted his head to cast a glance at the turtle, who was glaring at him, and he brought up his right hand before hurling his fist against the ground under his feet. With his power in the past, he would have been unable to open up an area deep into the ice. However, the current Su Ming was no longer his past self.

The instant his punch landed on the ice, cracks immediately formed on its surface. The turtle outside was clearly taken aback, and then it started roaring even louder. It swung its tail back and forth, as if Su Ming’s actions were fueling its anger even more.

Su Ming ignored the turtle outside, then after throwing out a dozen something punches in succession, the layer of ice under his feet shattered, and his body immediately sank down. As booming sounds reverberated in the air nonstop, a simple cave abode under the ice mountain in the glacier where the turtle laid was formed.

The cave abode was still incredibly crude and could only be considered a big cave. Su Ming stood inside and looked at the turtle roaring at him outside the glacier with its head lowered. A faint grin appeared on his lips, and he started making himself busy with the cave.

Soon, the cave in this place became a little bigger, and once it turned into a large expanse of empty land, Su Ming sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, immersing himself in meditation while spreading out his divine sense. He looked as if he was ignoring the turtle, but if that turtle made any moves indicating it wanted to break through the layer of ice, Su Ming would immediately notice.

Time trickled by. A month later, Su Ming opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at the turtle. During this month, he had been getting along quite well with the turtle…

Besides glaring, the turtle did nothing else.

Su Ming looked away. His injuries had already recovered, and the power of his Berserker Bones, as well as everything else, had returned to their peak condition.

In silence, Su Ming lifted his right hand and flipped it over. Immediately, the medicinal cauldron appeared on the ice before him. Whiffs of medicinal fragrance instantly spread out and filled the entire cave abode in the glacier. Some even penetrated through the layer of ice and spread to the area outside.

Almost the instant the medicinal fragrance spread out, Su Ming’s senses tingled, and he saw the small snake flying out of his storage bag. It stared at the medicinal cauldron and hissed at Su Ming.

The turtle on the glacier also widened its eyes, and for the first time, it shifted its gaze from Su Ming’s body to look at the cauldron.

While looking at the medicinal cauldron, Su Ming felt a wave of sentiment welling in him. This item had been with him for many years since he bought it from the auction all those years ago. It had received fifteen years of nourishment and even had the power of the world surge into it in the end. The development of the pill had finally been completed, and the medicinal pill inside had regained its medicinal properties. Right then, it had arrived at a nearly completed state from its previous half-made state.

‘This medicinal fragrance… It doesn’t seem like those I’ve finished making myself. It’s scattering too much. Looks like I didn’t manage to make it perfect in the end, but there’s nothing else I can do about it.’

Su Ming shook his head, then stood up and went beside the cauldron.

He focused his attention on it for a moment before he lifted his right hand resolutely and pressed his palm against it. The medicinal cauldron started trembling viciously, and banging sounds came from the lid. A large amount of white smoke spread out from beneath the lid, and the medicinal fragrance instantly turned thicker, causing the small snake by the side to immediately start hissing excitedly. The turtle on the layer of ice also stood up and widened its eyes to look, seemingly very curious.

As the white smoke spread out, a frown gradually appeared between Su Ming’s brows. This was not a good sign. Before he opened the lid, he could have still said that the medicinal fragrance in the air was merely some of the scent escaping from the pill itself. However, if such a thick fragrance appeared after he opened the lid, then it could only mean that the medicinal pill inside had melted and did not turn into a pill!

As white smoke spread out, the lid lifted itself slowly after several breaths. Once it moved away completely, the inside of the cauldron was revealed. When Su Ming looked inside, his pupils shrank.

There was only one medicinal pill inside the cauldron, but there was a pool of black liquid beside it. The thick medicinal fragrance came from this pool of black liquid.

Su Ming sank into his thoughts for a moment, then brought out two small bottles. He first took out the complete medicinal pill and scrutinized it as he held it in his hand, but he could not tell just what were its effects.

He did not eat it in a fit of recklessness. Instead he put it into a bottle, then brought out the other bottle and placed the black liquid in it. The small snake immediately let out a hiss and wrapped itself around Su Ming’s head, lifting its small head to look at the bottle, then at Su Ming, looking like it really wanted to take a bite out of the pill.

”This pill is something that is at least several thousands of years old, and we don’t even know its effects. Are you sure you want to eat it?” Su Ming tapped the small snake’s lifted head, then his gaze automatically wandered to the turtle staring curiously at that small bottle with wide eyes.

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Su Ming’s lips. He brought the bottle up and swayed it slightly before he returned to the ice mountain that had received him when he first arrived. He lifted his right hand, then tapped the ice mountain. Immediately, a crack appeared, and once it penetrated through the ice, a small hole was formed in the mountain!

The turtle roared, then turned around and glared at Su Ming.

Su Ming first shook the medicinal bottle in his hands right before the turtle with the glacier between them, then poured out one drop and flicked it through the small hole. That drop of black medicinal liquid appeared before the turtle in the span of breath, then floated before it without moving.

That turtle hesitated for a moment, then took a few sniffs of it. An intoxicated look appeared on its face. It did not look at Su Ming staring at it. The small snake on Su Ming’s arm also looked at the turtle with a rather nervous gaze. Clearly, it knew exactly what its master’s intentions were.

The turtle seemed to be rather hesitant, but eventually, breathed out two puffs of air from its nostrils, then turned its head around in disdain, no longer looking at the black liquid that was spreading out whiffs of medicinal fragrance.

Su Ming averted his gaze and no longer looked at the turtle. He returned to his cave abode under the layer of ice and observed the medicinal bottle in his hands closely before putting it away. Since the turtle refused to eat it, he could not see its effects for the time being. The only thing he could do was to search for its effects once he left this place.

The small snake looked at Su Ming putting away the medicinal bottle with a great reluctance to part with that bottle shining in its eyes. That medicinal fragrance was incredibly attractive to it, but since Su Ming refused to give any of it, the snake could do nothing about it either.

Su Ming no longer bothered himself with the ancient medicine and sat down and patted his storage bag. Immediately, a ray of purple light shot out of the bag. That purple light instantly caught the turtle’s attention as it continued lying on the ice.

However, Su Ming was no longer concerned about the turtle that was clearly curious about everything. He looked at the purple armor before him and sank into deep thought.

He had obtained this armor from the single person in the Candle Dragon’s body. This was also the person who had mentioned the third God of Berserkers.

‘This is definitely not the Armor for Divine Generals of Bone Sacrifice. This should be the Armor for Divine Generals of Berserker Soul… And it’s not an illusion, like the one I have. This is the real Divine General Armor!’

Su Ming stared at the purple armor before him, and as his eyes sparkled, he bit the tip of his tongue and coughed out a mouthful of Berserker Blood. Right at the instant that blood touched the armor, it immediately fused in, and a ray of light flashed on the armor, but it soon became dull once again.

Su Ming remained as composed as ever, as if he knew since a long time ago that this would happen. A pensive look appeared in his eyes, and after some time, he opened his mouth and sucked in a breath in the direction of the armor. That armor instantly turned into a ray of purple light. As it shrank, it went into Su Ming’s mouth, and he swallowed it.

He closed his eyes, and golden light shone within his body. All his Berserker Bones were activated, and their power enveloped that purple armor, seeping into it inch by inch. He wanted to forcefully refine it and turn it into his own armor!

Ever since he obtained it, he did not have much time to do this thing. However, now that he was under the layer of ice, Su Ming had all the time in the world, which was why he decided to make this armor his personal property.

As Su Ming closed his eyes and refined this armor, the turtle on the layer of ice cast a sideways glance at the black liquid floating beside it. Its face was filled with disdain, but before long, it looked towards that drop of liquid again, and after a moment of internal struggle, it opened its mouth hesitantly and swallowed that drop of liquid.

It even licked its lips...