Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming appeared in the air above the island. He looked at the people in the island, and found the faces somewhat familiar. These people were, naturally, the Fated Kin from the World of Nine Yin.

When Su Ming saw them, a smile appeared on his lips. With a single move, he passed through the screen of light as if it did not exist and walked into the island.

His arrival did not catch the attention of the people who were busy worshiping the statue in the valley. Su Ming stood on a mountain rock in the island and stared at the statue being worshiped by the people in the valley not too far away.

That statue’s appearance might be indistinct, but he could still tell with at a single glance that the person was himself.

‘Fated Kin…’

Once again, this race that was born in the World of Nine Yin left a deep impression in his heart. It would have been easy for them to hold onto this attitude when they were in the World of Nine Yin. After all, at that time, Su Ming was incredibly important to them.

In truth, Su Ming had not cared whether they would keep to their promise after they left the world. However, when he saw these dozen something Fated Kin keeping to their promise and worshiping him, not only did his impression of this race become deeper, a slightly different sort of feeling towards them welled up in his heart.

The words of worship, the voices referring to him as ‘Respected Senior Mo’, and the promises of never forgetting to gather at Sky River Mountain made Su Ming sentimental. His gaze fell on his own statue, and just as he was about to walk forth and appear before them, a crease suddenly appeared between his brows.

He leapt past these Fated Kin who were still worshiping his statue and looked towards the sky in the distance.

At that moment, the fleeing man and woman who were being chased down by the people from the Eastern Wastelands could be found in the sky several hundreds of lis away from the small island. Their faces were filled with grief, and the hatred that existed between them in the past as Shamans and Berserkers could no longer be found.

”Ya Mu, what should we do…? The Remains of the Barren Isles is right in front of us…” The female Berserker bit her lower lip. Her face was ashen pale, and blood could even be seen trickling down the corners of her lips.

”Sir Zong Ze and Sir Yun Lai are still in isolation, or else how would a stupid Eastern Wastelander in the Berserker Soul Realm would dare to be so outrageous in our land?! If this person had dared come here before the calamity, he would had definitely died!” The face of that man named Ya Mu was filled with grief, and he was the Ya Mu who had been acquainted with Su Ming in the past when they were in Autumn Sea Tribe!

However, he had now become a middle-aged man, and there were even flecks of white at his temples.

”The Eastern Wastelanders have always been conceited and arrogant. He has been chasing us all this way but has never tried ending our lives. He must be thinking of using us to lure our people…

”We can’t return to our island. We can’t let the Eastern Wastelanders know where we are… If the Remains of the Barren Isles lie before us, then we will go there!” A determined look appeared on Ya Mu’s face.

”But there are some of those Fated Kin staying in the Remains of the Barren Isles… We…”

”We can’t be bothered by that anymore!” With one move, Ya Mu changed his direction, charging straight towards the direction where he remembered the Remains of the Barren Isles lying.

The old man and the boy remained several hundreds of lis behind them, and since they had the heart to not persecute them too tightly, Ya Mu and the woman approached the Remains of the Barren Isles swiftly. After the time taken for an incense stick to burn, empty islands slowly appeared in their field of vision on the surface of the sea before them.

They closed in swiftly, and when they arrived in the air above the island, they saw the dozen something Fated Kin beneath a screen of light underneath, worshiping the statue.

The two were not unfamiliar with that statue. In truth, they had come to this place two years ago and tried to persuade the Shamans in this place to come with them to Southern Swamp Island. That was the biggest island in the region after the calamity.

However, these people had been aloof towards them, causing their persuasion to fall flat. In Ya Mu’s eyes, these Shamans were incredibly strange. They called themselves the Fated Kin and worshiped this ‘Respected Senior Mo’. And that ‘Respected Senior Mo’ of theirs was the statue.

What surprised Ya Mu even more was that the statue felt somewhat familiar to him, but since it was crudely made and because its appearance was indistinct, he could not tell why that statue felt familiar to him.

Ya Mu and the woman arrived at the island, and neither of them noticed Su Ming standing on a mountain rock and watching the two of them.

”Ya Mu…”

The man outside the screen of light felt somewhat familiar to Su Ming. Once he thought about it, he recognized him. He had also noticed the old man, who was the source for Ya Mu’s hidden panic, chasing leisurely after.

‘A Berserker in the middle stage of the Berserker Soul Realm.’

Su Ming decided at that point that he would not walk out. Instead, he sat down on the mountain rock and started watching in silence.

”Fated Kin, our fellow friends in the Land of South Morning, I am Ya Mu, originally a part of Autumn Sea Tribe, currently a third level guard of Southern Swamp Island Alliance. I came here two years ago.”

As Ya Mu stood outside the screen of light, he forced down the panic in his heart and wrapped his fist in a palm before bowing towards the dozen something people in the valley.

The female Berserker beside him also wrapped her fist in her palm and bowed.

”We are now being pursued by a powerful enemy, and he is right behind us. My fellow friends, please open your screen of light and let us avoid danger once again…”

When Ya Mu said these words, he too felt that he had gone overboard. This practically meant that he was luring the enemy to the island, but he did not have a choice. They either had to die or use the Fated Kin here. And perhaps they would gain a chance of survival in this place.

The thought of returning to Southern Swamp Island did not even cross his mind. He knew that the Eastern Wastelanders had been searching for inhabited islands during the two years after the calamity, and every single time they found one, a bloody massacre would rain down on it.

Since Southern Swamp Island was one of the big islands in the region, the powerful Shamans and Berserkers had done their best to hide it, and that was the reason why it could remain untouched. There was no way outsiders could learn about the island’s existence, and a seal was placed inside the bodies of all those who left the island. If anyone tried searching their memories forcefully, then their memories of the island would be instantly destroyed.

”Our pursuer came from Eastern Wastelands, and he is the mortal enemy of us from South Morning. If he runs into any of us from South Morning, he will kill them and take their souls… We were forced to a corner and are in a desperate situation. My fellow friends, please help us. Even if we leave now, the island will be exposed…” Ya Mu spoke in anguish, and the crowd within the valley behind the screen of light lifted their heads and looked at both of them aloofly.

There was not a hint of fear or terror on the Fated Kin. Compared to the things they had to suffer through during those fifteen years in the World of Nine Yin, all of this was really just a speck of dust in their eyes.

After all, the enemy they had to face now was still human, not a Sacred Bat, or a Drifting Roamer, or a Spirit of Nine Yin…

An old man walked out from among the dozen something Fated Kin. His gaze was as sharp as lightning, and his level of cultivation was the same as that of Ya Mu. They were both Medial Shamans who had reached the peak of that stage, and were both halfway through to becoming Latter Shamans.

He first cast an aloof glance at Ya Mu and the woman, then waved his arm. Immediately, a crack opened up in the screen of light beneath them.

Ya Mu and the woman did not hesitate and quickly crawled into the crack to step into the island. When the crack in the screen of light closed up, an old man with a boy in tow could be seen in the sky far away, walking leisurely in the air.

Ya Mu swept his gaze across all the Fated Kin as he stood in the valley. All their expressions were incredibly aloof, and when they looked at the both of them, he had a feeling they were treating them as air.

This sort of gaze made the woman beside Ya Mu instinctively take a few steps back.

Ya Mu did not have a lot of knowledge regarding the Fated Kin, but he still knew a little more than the woman. He knew that this strange race was entirely composed of Shamans. They worshiped this Respected Senior Mo and did not want to have any form of contact with outsiders. They were a very closed off group.

He knew nothing else besides this.

Under the Fated Kin’s aloof gazes, Ya Mu immediately took a step forward and wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards the gigantic statue before him.

”I am Ya Mu, from Southern Swamp Island. Greetings, statue of respected senior Mo. I hope that you will last forever and your spirit will never die!”

The woman beside Ya Mu also instantly took a few steps forward and bowed to the statue as well.

When the Fated Kin saw these two people acting this way, they gradually warmed up slightly, but their expressions were still rather cold.

”Respected Senior Mo is not a spirit, he is even stronger than a spirit. He is our people’s God. You will only find yourself in good hands if you worship him. Nothing bad will come to you,” the old man stated languidly at that moment. He was also the leader of the Fated Kin on this island.

Ya Mu did not agree to the old man’s words in his heart, but his expression was solemn, nonetheless. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the old Fated Kin lifting his right hand, and immediately, a large black bow manifested in his hand with a flash.

A middle-aged man walked out from the Fated Kin gathered around them at that moment, and banging sounds appeared all over his hand. When he lifted his right hand, a similarly large bow appeared in his grasp.

The next instant, four people immediately walked out from among the crowd gathered around the two who had never seen the Fated Kin attack before. Their presences spread out from their bodies, and the duo found, to their amazement, that they were all Soul Catchers!

Moreover, they were all Medial Soul Catchers who had reached the later stage. While they might not have reached great completion, but Soul Catchers were powerful to begin with, and they were few and rare in-between!

Then, when Ya Mu still had not recovered from his shock, another four people walked out from among the dozen something people. They stopped beside the old man and the middle-aged man with the large bows, and the instant their presences spread out from their bodies, he found that they were Spirit Mediums!

‘They have nineteen people, and three of them are teenagers. Among the remaining sixteen, four are Soul Catchers, four are Spirit Mediums, and two are Battle Shamans…’ Ya Mu sucked in a sharp breath. Even before the calamity, only a middle-sized tribe could bring out a group like this, and what was more, they were all Medial Shamans.

Yet before he finished sucking in that breath, he found himself widening his eyes immediately, because he saw four other people walking out once again from among the few left in the group!

These four people closed their eyes before the crowd and lifted their hands. Then the power of Thought Soothsayers abruptly spread forth from their bodies.

‘Thought Soothsayers!’ Ya Mu instinctively took a step back, finding himself in disbelief towards what he saw.

‘Four Thought Soothsayers, four Soul Catchers, four Spirit Mediums, and two Battle Shamans… They are only nineteen people, and such powerful warriors exist among them?!’

Ya Mu knew full well just how powerful Thought Soothsayers were. When he saw these four were Medial Thought Soothsayers who had arrived at the later stage of their Realm, he could not help but be stunned.

What pushed him into further disbelief was that a thick wave of murderous aura that rose from beneath their still aloof demeanor. That murderous aura was absolutely not something that could be born overnight. This was a murderous aura that could only manifest through continuous slaughter and nonstop waves of heated frenzy, a murderous aura that could only be born after prolonged exposure to a unique situation!

When Ya Mu saw the same thick wave of murderous aura around the three children, he suddenly became incredibly wary of these mysterious Fated Kin that had suddenly appeared during the past few years.

‘Just… where did they come from?’

Translator’s Note:

Ya Mu: The only guy from Autumn Sea Tribe who had been nice to Su Ming when he traveled with their tribe, and was not a total jerk, even though he had tested Su Ming slightly. He also gave Su Ming the map of the land of the Shamans before Su Ming left.

Also, the identity of the woman will be revealed later. She’s also someone Su Ming knew. I wonder if you people can remember her ;3