Pursuit of the Truth

”Youngest junior brother, let me tell you this. Our eldest senior brother is in constant isolation. He will only come out on the Day of Eternal Creation, and every single time he comes back, he’ll make a huge ruckus. Even if yer dead drunk, you’ll still wake up because of him. You’ll have to listen to him shouting that he’s finally out, and it’s a real headache.

”You can treat him like a turtle. He usually sleeps, and when he wakes up he’ll let out a loud yawn, then he’ll go back to sleep.” This was Hu Zi’s description of his eldest senior brother.

”Our eldest senior brother is our older brother. He is an older brother who will stand in front of us and shield us from danger…” These were words once uttered softly by Su Ming’s second senior brother as he looked at the foot of the mountain.

The scenes that appeared in Su Ming’s head caused blood to flow down from his eyes. The color of that blood was crimson red, and it was formed by the maddened roars in his heart, as well as an outburst that was caused by a raging killing intent and extreme pain.

”Eldest senior brother…” Su Ming looked at the man walking out of the vortex on the ground, and his vision seemed to have become indistinct.

Eldest senior brother’s eyes were lifeless. Not a single hint of light could be detected within them. His eyes were dull, as if they belonged to a dead person. However, the presence bursting forth from his body at that moment was strong enough that he could fight against Ji An.

This was clearly an attack Di Tian had prepared for Ji An, and it was the killing move that would help him determine the ownership of Eastern Wastelands Tower.

Su Ming’s gaze met with his eldest senior brother’s, but the two of them had changed since that time long ago. Due to the grief on Su Ming’s face and the apathetic expression on his eldest senior brother’s, the meeting of their eyes brought no joy to either of them, like what had happened when they were a family in the ninth summit and their gazes had met. There was only a feeling of unfamiliarity between them, as if they were strangers meeting in a foreign land.

”Di Tian… As long as I live, I will definitely kill all Immortals, I will make you suffer utmost pain, and if I cannot achieve this, I will sink into the netherworld forever and have my soul disappear!”

Su Ming let out a shocking roar towards the sky as he cried tears of blood. Within that roar was a wave of madness and hatred that made all those who heard it feel their hearts tremble in fear.

At the instant Su Ming roared, his eldest senior brother lifted his right foot from the ground and, with his still apathetic face, took a step forward and appeared instantly in front of Su Ming.

His speed had already surpassed that of warping. At the instant he appeared, Su Ming instinctively lifted his hand, but the familiar presence, the warmth of his eldest senior brother from the past, and the endless scars on his body made Su Ming… unable to attack.

A loud bang shook the sky and reverberated swiftly through the air.

Su Ming coughed up blood and staggered backwards until he was several hundreds of feet away. He had lifted his right hand, but had never attacked. Instead, he chose to guard against his eldest senior brother’s punch.

This punch was also so familiar it made Su Ming feel as if his heart was being torn apart. It the presence of… a Shaman.

As a descendant of Nine Li Tribe, his eldest senior brother was exuding the ripples of power that belonged to a Shaman. As they spread out, a gigantic statue of the God of Shamans appeared. That statue had his arms crossed over his chest, and once it appeared, Su Ming saw that it had the same scars, same tears, and the exact same runic symbols as his eldest senior brother.

This statue of the God of Shamans was also covered in wounds, but not a hint of weakness due to them could be detected from it. Instead, there was a huge wave of overflowing life force. However, Su Ming could sense that the life force was burning.

His eldest senior brother’s life was being burned so that this statue could appear.

Su Ming lifted his head swiftly. In the midst of his grief, he looked at his eldest senior brother and lifted his trembling right hand. He told himself that… his eldest senior brother was no longer around.

Only when he attacked could he chase away Di Tian’s will from his eldest senior brother’s body and let his eldest senior brother have a slim chance of survival.

However, even Su Ming himself found that he could not believe in these words. At the instant he lifted his right hand, which was trembling, and formed a seal, a gentle voice suddenly echoed in his ears, and that voice… came from his eldest senior brother’s lips.

”Youngest junior brother, how long has it been since we last met..?” That voice was rather stiff, but it was incredibly gentle. That was… indeed his eldest senior brother’s voice, the one that belonged to him in Su Ming’s memories.

The appearance of that voice caused Su Ming’s lifted right hand to freeze, and he looked towards his eldest senior brother as more tears of blood flowed down from his eyes while his heart clenched in pain.

That familiar voice made Su Ming feel as if he had returned to the ninth summit. He knew this was not real. He knew.

But there were certain times when even if someone knew what they saw was fake, they would still choose to look and listen, because that was no longer their bodies taking action. Those were actions taken by their hearts driven by familial love.

Almost at the instant Su Ming looked towards his eldest senior brother, he lifted his head swiftly, and blood-red light shone in his lifeless eyes.

”Nine Li Tribe relic, Forbidden Curse: Blood Swamp...” Veins popped on eldest senior brother’s skin at that moment, and his body was swiftly torn to pieces before he turned into a sea of blood that quickly disappeared as it rushed forward.

”He’s not Di Tian… He’s my eldest senior brother…” Su Ming mumbled. There was still blood trickling out of his mouth, and he was still feeling the sharp pain, which was caused by latest strike just now.

If eldest senior brother had executed Di Tian’s divine ability, then Su Ming might have been able to deceive himself by saying that the person before him was not his eldest senior brother but Di Tian’s clone… but he had cast a Shaman divine ability, Nine Li Tribe’s Art. All of this made Su Ming unable to attack.

He could not attack his eldest senior brother, who was like a brother to him.

Su Ming laughed brokenly, and during that moment, the sea of blood that had disappeared just now swiftly appeared around him.

”Youngest junior brother, why don’t you tell me where you’ve been over the past few years..?”

When that sea of blood appeared, eldest senior brother’s apathetic voice echoed in the air once again, and it caused Su Ming to be filled with an indescribable sorrow in the midst of his broken laughter.

He did not choose to dodge as that wave of sorrow filled his body. Instead, he simply allowed his eldest senior brother to surround him. Then, that sea of blood swiftly gathered on him, and in the blink of an eye, it had Su Ming completely covered.

An even more shocking loud bang reverberated in all directions during that instant. Once the sea of blood regained its human form, Su Ming’s body was like a kite with a broken string flying in a storm. Blood gushed out from his mouth, as well as other parts of his body. Su Ming’s face turned pale. He fell back several thousands of feet before he managed to find his footing, and as he smiled brokenly, he looked towards his eldest senior brother.

His injuries had become worse. However, at this moment, his eldest senior brother’s words reached him again.

”Youngest junior brother… with this power, how could you look for Master and your second eldest brother..?” Eldest senior brother took a step forward, and a loud bang exploded before Su Ming.

Su Ming coughed up blood and fell back once more. If his body had not been strong enough, he would have collapsed and died a long time ago, but even so, his body was still hurting badly, and the pain would not stop.

Su Ming wiped away the blood at the corners of his mouth. In the midst of his grief, his body was no longer the one in pain; it was his soul hurting. He was about to lift his hand again, but right at the moment he was about to counterattack in his sorrow...

”Do you still remember the time when we worked together and attacked Phantom Dais Tribe..?” His eldest senior brother’s voice echoed in the air.

Su Ming’s hand shook.

”Do you still remember the Shaman Soul I gave you before you went to the battlefield..?” Those words reached Su Ming’s ears, and a shocking boom immediately resounded.

Su Ming fell back again. His whole body was covered in blood, but no matter how much blood he spilled, it could not hide away the pain in his heart, and neither could it cover the thick sorrow that surrounded him.

A layer of silence covered the area. All the Immortals were watching the battle with complicated expressions on their faces. They could see Su Ming’s abnormal behavior and could tell that the person who walked out of the coffin had a incredibly unique relationship with him.

Eldest senior brother, this was what Su Ming had called the person in the coffin, and youngest junior brother was what that person had called Su Ming. These titles only served to prove their guesses correct. Tian Lan Meng stared at Su Ming’s eldest senior brother in the sky with a dazed look, then at Su Ming. She bit her bottom lip, and an absent-minded expression appeared on her face.

She had only learned of her identity as an Immortal moments before the Catastrophe of the Eastern Wastelands. This had caused her to sink into a long period of silence, and no one could have possibly understood the confusion and mixed feelings in her heart.

When she gradually began to accept her identity, she found that the Immortals she saw and the things she heard them say were vastly different from those of the Berserkers. The Berserkers might also fight among themselves, but they were much less sinister and had way fewer methods they could deploy against their enemies compared to the Immortals, just like… what was happening right at the moment.

A fight to the death between brothers of the same Master. Perhaps Di Tian had already predicted this. He might had even wanted to see this.

”Eldest senior brother…”

Su Ming lifted his head and let out a loud roar towards the sky. He told himself that his eldest senior brother’s voice was numb and apathetic. He told himself once again that as long as he destroyed Di Tian’s divine will, his eldest senior brother could return.

Su Ming repeated this thought in his mind again and again, taking a swift step forward as he roared. With it, tears of blood were shed, and as he formed a seal with his right hand, the arms of his statue of the God of Berserkers immediately appeared behind him and charged towards his eldest senior brother with a bang.

This time, his eldest senior brother did not dodge. Strangely enough, he chose to stand in the spot. He did not move, but at the instant the arms of Su Ming’s statue closed in on him…

”Youngest junior brother, kill me!

”Youngest junior brother, I’m your eldest senior brother!

”Youngest junior brother, I’m under Di Tian’s control. I can only fight against him for a while. Kill me! And in our next life, let us be fellow clan brothers again!”

There was an anxious tone in eldest senior brother’s voice, along with a wave of grief, causing Su Ming to forcefully stop his charging statue of the God of Berserkers at that instant.

Yet when he stopped, his eldest senior brother opened his eyes, and the apathetic, lifeless look in his eyes, along with the words he just said made Su Ming understand… that everything he had told himself was false.

”Youngest junior brother, kill me…”

Eldest senior brother may be saying these words, but he also took a step forward and closed in on Su Ming, ramming his head into him. With a bang that rang in the air, Su Ming staggered backwards, and a cross-shaped shadow appeared on his face.

That cross-shaped shadow was the same as the cross-shaped scar on his eldest senior brother’s face. Once it appeared on Su Ming’s face, it looked as if it had sunk deeply into his flesh, and a burning, rotting sensation swiftly came from it.

However, Su Ming was completely unbothered by this pain. He looked at his eldest senior brother and the apathetic, lifeless look in his eyes, before he closed his eyes. After a brief instant, he reopened them, and the grief in his own eyes had been hidden in the depths of his heart. What appeared at the front were complicated feelings, as well as understanding and anguish towards life.

”Eldest senior brother, I understand now.” With pain and grief in his body and soul, Su Ming lifted his right hand and pointed towards the sky.

”Later stage of the Berserker Soul Realm… Activate!”

Su Ming’s voice almost turned hoarse from his roars as he vented the endless depression in his heart at that moment.