Pursuit of the Truth

The sky had already been replaced by darkness when it shattered previously. That darkness was boundless, and no one had any idea how far it stretched to, neither did they have any idea how big it was. The existence of that darkness was like an eerie mouth opening its jaws wide open to devour everything.

Heaven Gate’s eighth layer was being devoured by that darkness at that moment. Perhaps at any moment soon, this entire place would sink into darkness…

At that moment, distortions suddenly appeared in the darkness above. A huge crack tore through the darkness from within, and low roars could be heard traveling from the crack. Su Ming… also saw Bai Su in that crack!

Bai Su’s body was covered in fresh blood. There was an endless sea of corpses before her, and right at that moment, there were two giants that were charging towards her with cruel roars. A broken smile appeared on her beautiful face, and as her blood covered the scar on her face, that scar became an even more startling sight.

The face of the old man behind her was stark pale. His eyes were wide open at that moment and he was looking at Bai Su’s back. Grief was apparent in his eyes.

When the woman saw the two giants moving towards her that were now less than a dozen of feet away from her, a calm look appeared on her face, a stark contrast to the despair in her eyes. She seemed to be a little dazed, as if she had just remembered something right before she was about to die. A smile appeared on her face and she closed her eyes.

The sounds traveling from the crack in the sky made it seem as if it was a tunnel, and people could step right into it!

This was Si Ma Xin’s trick. He opened this tunnel so that Su Ming could see Bai Su in danger. As long as he went to save her, then Si Ma Xin would have a chance to breathe, but if Su Ming did not save her…

No. He believed that Su Ming would definitely save her!

In silence, Su Ming rammed his fist at Su Ma Xin’s body. When it disintegrated once again, he sighed, ended his transformation as Destiny so that he could have the span of a few breaths left and took a step towards the sky.

The moment he moved forward, his body returned to its original state and he stepped into the crack in the sky to appear in that world filled with gray corpses.

He appeared right when Bai Su closed her eyes. As the two giants roared and swung their fists to strike her, killing intent shone in Su Ming’s eyes. The next instant, he disappeared.

Bai Su had her eyes closed. She no longer cared about her life, no longer cared about anything else. Instead, memories surfaced in her head as she started reminisced about the past and looked back on the happy moments she’d when she was in the ninth summit.

She was tired, exhausted. During these twenty years, she had regretted time and again not cherishing that one chance given to her in the past.

But it was all in the past now. She could not change it.

She had thought about this repeatedly. If the heavens gave her another chance, then she would definitely appreciate it. She would definitely cherish it…

Death did not come upon her. Instead shrill screams of pain along with a loud bang surged into the skies, echoing in her ears, causing her to be cut off from her reminiscence. She instinctively opened her eyes, and when she did… she could no longer close them again.

Bai Su saw a back, a familiar back that had been carved into her memories, engraved into her bones, and that back was standing right before her. The bodies of the two incoming giants collapsed at that moment, and they shattered into pieces with shrill screams.

Violet light surrounded her and turned into a ring-shaped wave of force that swept through the entire area. Wherever it went, all the gray corpses would shudder, and they would all shatter into pieces.

”Su… Ming…”

Bai Su was completely stunned. She could not believe her own eyes. When Su Ming turned around and looked towards her, tears escaped her eyes. Her mind turned blank. She could only see him, and it was as if the entire world had disappeared from her sight except him.

The old man also saw Su Ming, and he was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. His eyes were filled with disbelief. He knew Su Ming. How could he not? This was that ninth summit’s disciple who had broken his daughter’s heart.

He had once wanted to kill Su Ming, but had eventually let his thoughts fade away into a sigh because of Bai Su. But now, the shock Su Ming brought to him was nothing short of the shock he experienced when he witnessed Si Ma Xin’s return.

”Su Ming!”

The instant he turned his head around to look towards Bai Su, she cried and went up to hug him, as if she was afraid he would disappear.

Su Ming tensed up, but gradually relaxed his body. He looked at the crying Bai Su in his arms, and the memories of the past appeared in his head, eventually stopping at the moment they walked together in the plain of snow. The change of heart he had experienced had eventually turned into a sigh of regret that no one had any idea who it belonged to in the passage of time.

Yet this was not a place for him to think. He wrapped his arm around Bai Su and looked towards the old man looking at her with a complicated gaze. With a wave of his arm, he dragged the old man towards him and brought Bai Su along with him to charge towards the crack he’d traveled through in the sky. 　　　

The opening was shrinking rapidly. Only a very short amount of time had passed since Su Ming arrived, yet even so, the crack had now become less than half its previous size.

Clearly, Si Ma Xin did not want Su Ming to come back through it!

Roars traveled from the ground, and nearly a hundred of giants started moving towards them from the distance. Su Ming had noticed this way beforehand. These giants were incredibly similar to the giants in the Dead Sea!

As the ground trembled, a gigantic crack tore through the land. It was as if Su Ming’s arrival had caught a large amount of attention from the powerful living beings in this place. Almost the instant he was about to leave with Bai Su and her father through the nearly shut crack, a roar that made Su Ming’s heart tremble violently once he heard it came from the land, and with just a glance, he saw…

...A yellow dragon crawling out from the gigantic crack on the ground!

This might also be a dragon, but it was different from the crimson dragon. The part of its body on the ground was about ten thousand feet long. It did not have any whiskers. Instead, fins formed from sharp spikes covered several thousands of feet on its sides. Its entire body was of a yellowish brown color, and there were many scales covering it.

That dragon let out a shocking roar towards the sky. Its body looked incredibly real, and Su Ming knew immediately that this was not an illusion. This was a real dragon!

One of the dragon’s claws shot up and pressed the ground. As the land shook, the dragon lifted its head and sucked in a few breaths, as if it had just detected a smell that made it go crazy. It swiftly turned towards Su Ming, and as it roared, it charged towards him in a mad dash.

The powerful might from the dragon gave Su Ming a similar feeling as the sight of the Candle Dragon when he was still weak. Right then, the sleeping crimson dragon on Su Ming’s arm opened its eyes.

Right away, it shot out and turned into a crimson dragon of ten thousand feet in midair. It should not have risen from its slumber at that moment, but due to the stimulation provided by the similar presence from its kind, it woke up and started roaring at the yellow dragon.

”Let him go.” As the two dragons roared, the crack before Su Ming started shrinking rapidly, but due to the presence of this might that had far surpassed his current power, he could not move. But right then, a woman’s voice came from the ground.

When it spoke, the yellow dragon stopped roaring, choosing instead to glare over. Right when the land quietened, the pressure on Su Ming’s body vanished. He lowered his head and cast a glance at the ground. Then, without any hesitation, he brought the pale Bai Su and her father towards the crack. The crimson dragon turned into a ray of crimson light and flew out with him.

Once Su Ming left, the crack closed up and vanished without a trace.

At that moment, a woman floated out slowly from the crack on the ground. She looked as if she was twenty years old, but ancientness was within her eyes. She was incredibly beautiful, to the point where it would make the world hide in shame while all the living beings would pale before her.

This sort of beauty was rarely seen in the world. Perhaps it should be said that her beauty should not exist.

She floated up and slowly came to stand upon the yellow dragon’s back. She looked at the sky with her lively eyes and a frown gradually appeared between her brows.

‘Why does he have the presence of Abyss Builders [1], who come from the Emperor of Abyss’ True World…?’ The woman thought about it for a moment before she started chuckling. Her tinkling laughter instantly caused the world to completely lose its color.

”Interesting. This dimensional crack in the True Morning Dao World leads to a spot in Yin Death Region. Since we finally managed to come out of the house, let’s go and take a look at Yin Death Region, Xiao Huang.” The woman placed her hands behind her back, and an air of nobility could be detected from her smile.

The dragon called Xiao Huang blinked and let out a few growls at the woman.

”Hmm? You’re saying he has a presence you dislike? Then we have to absolutely see it now.” The woman lowered herself and stroked the yellow dragon’s head. The dragon looked comforted, then charged into the sky. In an instant, they fused into the air and disappeared without a trace.

”Abyss Builders… This is an incredibly mysterious race that is rarely seen even in the Emperor of Abyss’ True World. Rumors say that they’ve already been all wiped out,” the woman mumbled, and a look of curiosity appeared in her eyes as she went to Yin Death Region with the yellow dragon.

Su Ming walked into the air of Heaven Gate, which had now been swallowed by darkness. The instant he arrived, the eighth layer completely shattered. A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. Without a hint of hesitation, he brought Bai Su and her father straight towards the seventh layer.

Si Ma Xin was not here, but Su Ming believed firmly that he would definitely not leave. His desire to kill Su Ming ran as deep as Su Ming’s desire to kill him!

As the eighth layer shattered to pieces, the fragmented dimension where Heaven Gate was located started trembling violently, and the sealed exit was forced open under these tremors.

Su Ming shot through the seventh layer, the sixth, and the others as well. The darkness continued devouring and destroying everything behind him. By the looks of it, the darkness wanted to completely swallow this fragmented dimension that was Heaven Gate.

Long arcs charged through the air and followed behind Su Ming. These were the people still alive within the lower layers of Heaven Gate, and they knew that they could only survive if they followed him.

The exit had now been forced open by the tremors, and leaving this place had now become possible!

When Su Ming rushed into the first layer, he cast a glance at the activated Rune, then swept up the old man in white who had asked for his help earlier before charging towards the exit.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Abyss Builders: A case of lost in translation. Abyss Builders is 塑冥 (su4 ming2), so now we have 苏铭 (su1 ming2), which is Su Ming’s name, and 宿命 (su4 ming4), which stands for Destiny. Please keep in mind that they all sound similar in Mandarin, because this might be a rather huge clue to Su Ming’s background.