Pursuit of the Truth

Usually, during this moment, no accidents would occur as they left. The three ferocious beasts would return to the volcano and wait for the next time they came to this place.

Yet for some unknown reason, when the crowd withdrew and the three ferocious beasts had returned to the volcano, the small creature that had devoured Su Ming started trembling furiously and let out a shrill roar.

That roar appeared suddenly, startling the swiftly retreating people, but none of them were fools. All of those who could survive in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence were calculative shrews. They were only stunned for a moment. All of them immediately snuffed out their curiosity and, without any hesitation, increased their speed of retreat.

Curiosity was something that had to be paid for with a person’s life in the galaxy that was the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. This cultivation planet might not be located at the center of the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, slightly closer to the edge instead, but the level of danger here was still incredibly high.

The shrill roars continued to echo, the creature’s voice spreading in all directions, lingering in the air for a long time.

At the instant Su Ming was devoured by the smaller creature, he suddenly came to understand why the ancient existence in Yin Death Vortex had chosen him, who had only arrived at Life Privation, to become Yin Death’s Child, and even paid such a high price to send him to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence.

Because… his body was made of aura of death, and his core was his soul. His soul… was different from that of others!

When the parts of his body were separated from each other, it felt as if shackles that had held him for a long time had been finally removed. A feeling as if he was free and there was nothing affecting his soul rose in Su Ming’s heart.

As his soul spread out and he was absorbed into the ferocious beast’s mouth, his soul enveloped the entire creature’s body, and he could sense that this creature was about seventeen thousand feet long. He could even sense that there was a soul struggling madly within its body to fight against Su Ming’s soul trying to overtake its body.

Yet once this struggling soul touched Su Ming, it out a piercing screech, and a loud roar escaped the creature’s body, echoing far and wide.

A rumble rang in the air, and the small creature’s body fell back into the volcano. The hot magma instantly enveloped the creature. At the same time, the two ferocious beasts beside it cried out and swam around it. However, the confusion in their eyes made it clear that they did not know what had happened to their companion.

The shrill roars from the small creature lasted for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, weakening gradually. Its soul had already shattered by this point, as if it could not put up even a single bit of resistance against Su Ming’s soul.

Its body was being slowly torn apart in the magma. A large amount of blood gushed out, and its scales crumbled. Its body shrank rapidly, as if it was withering away.

The other two ferocious beasts continued to swim about the smaller creature, roaring endlessly while staring at their withering companion.

As it shrank, a hand suddenly stretched out from its bloody back. That hand looked like it was mere bones and was limp, giving an impression that it could not be lifted up. Yet as the small creature continued withering away and its body shrank to less than five thousand feet compared to its previous seventeen thousand feet, the hand that had stretched out of its back filled with strength, and gradually, the entire arm appeared.

Soon after, another arm appeared, and then… Su Ming’s head and the rest of his body pushed through. His eyes were shut. As his body gathered together, the small creature’s body started trembling violently. Its flesh and blood were being absorbed to become the nutrients for the physical body Su Ming had gathered together.

When its body withered to only a thousand something feet, most of Su Ming’s body had left the small creature’s back. At the instant he completely walked out, the thousand feet long creature’s body became stiff. Once it withered away completely, it was submerged in magma.

There was not a hint of blood on Su Ming’s body. Instead, a refreshing scent spread out from his body. His eyes were closed as his body was submerged in the magma. However, the heat of it was unable to injure him even in the slightest.

The large and tiny ferocious beasts were slowly approaching Su Ming at that moment. Once they swam a few circles around him, they stopped screeching. It seemed that in their senses, Su Ming was their small companion.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. Throughout this entire time, Su Ming was submerged in the magma, motionless. On the day after half a month had passed, his eyelashes fluttered lightly, and he gradually opened his eyes.

When he did so, a brilliant light shone within them. It was slightly different from the light in Su Ming’s eyes previously. If no one took a closer look, it would be difficult for them to find anything amiss, but Su Ming himself knew well that there was something different about him.

His previous self had been formed from the aura of death. It might have seemed real, and he had been a real entity when he was in Yin Death Region, but his physical body had been an illusion. It was fake, and everything about him had been formed with his soul as the foundation.

Yet his current body was void of aura of death and was no longer a mere illusion. He now had a real body that was made of flesh and blood. It was a body that was gathered together once he used the ferocious beast as nutrients, which he had managed to do after transforming the its body once he occupied it with his soul.

”Building the Abyss, huh..?” Su Ming whispered softly. His soul had finally become complete after the three seals had been released in Yin Death Region. Once it became complete, he had heard the familiar voice whispering these words in his ear.

When he was in the ferocious beast’s body just now, this voice had reverberated in his ears once again.

In silence, Su Ming lowered his head and looked at his own body with a calm expression. When he lifted his right hand slowly and clenched it, a feeling of power burst forth within him.

It was an incredibly unique feeling of Qi that he had never sensed before.

Besides this feeling, Su Ming also had a faint sense that there was a power of a law he did not quite understand contained within his fist. That power of law was like some form of inborn ability. However, it did not belong to him. It instead belonged to this body of flesh and blood, which originated from the creature with the phoenix head.

’If that is the case, then even though I felt that my body in Yin Death Region was real, it was in fact, fake. Even after I’ve managed to sacrifice all my bones, what had changed was not my illusory body… but my soul.

’Having a soul as my body, that was me when I was in Yin Death Region.’

Su Ming slowly stood up and stepped on magma. He did not sense even a single hint of unbearable heat. This was due to more than just him losing his sense of pain. There were also other reasons behind this.

’All things of earth forming my body, that is the me now.’

Once Su Ming got up, the magma immediately started churning. A creature with a beast head crawled out and approached him with its big head. Once it nuzzled against Su Ming, it let out a cheerful cry.

Su Ming’s presence gave it a sense of familiarity. It was the presence that belonged to its companion. Even if Su Ming’s appearance was different from its companion, their presence was the same.

Su Ming looked at the small creature, and after a long while, lifted his right hand slowly. He patted the small creature’s head, and it immediately flung its head as it screeched, then its body, which was ten thousand something feet, charged out of the magma, heading straight towards the mouth of the volcano above it. After a moment, as piercing cries rang out in the air, the small creature flew back down with a bald crane in its beak.

During the past half a month, the bald crane had been cautiously avoiding the mouth of the volcano, staying at the edges. It had wanted to enter many times to look, but the mighty pressure coming from the mouth of the volcano had robbed it of its courage.

It had been peeking from the edge of the entrance to examine what was inside, but immediately noticed a wave of heat closing in on it. Before it managed to react to the situation, the small creature with the phoenix head had clamped its beak around the bald crane’s body and brought it into the volcano.

As the bald crane screamed, it saw Su Ming standing on the magma, and its screams disappeared, replaced by surprised delight.

”Damn it all, so you aren’t dead yet, Little Su? You made this old crane think you were dead!” The bald crane flapped its wings and flew carefully to a burning crimson rock by the side. After touching it a few times, it decided that it was still bearable and laid there, looking at Su Ming with surprise.

Su Ming’s expression was cold and aloof. Once he cast a glance at the bald crane, he lifted his right hand and stretched his hand towards it.

The bald crane saw the aloof look in Su Ming’s eyes and its words died down in its mouth. It sighed. With a flap of its wings, a storage bag immediately flew out towards Su Ming.

Once he grabbed it, Su Ming opened it calmly and immediately brought out a long robe. Rays of starlight instantly started flashing in the volcano, revealing that this was Dao Yuan’s Sacred Constellation Robe.

Once Su Ming put it on, his disposition changed. However, the stars on his robe did not move, as if they were dead.

’I see, so it’s difficult for those whose family name is not Dao to bring out its power, huh?’

Su Ming cast the Constellation Robe a glance and spread his Atman, which was now at Life Privation Realm, outwards. Then he had his Atman fuse with the robe. When Su Ming retrieved his Atman a moment later, while the stars on the robe remained unmoving, the robe’s color gradually changed until it turned into a very ordinary looking black robe.

’It has a hundred and eight Runes to verify a person’s identity, and only those with the blood of the Dao family can bring out all of its power. Even if outsiders put divine sense into it, they can only bring out the simpler and more basic functions of the robe.’

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He no longer bothered about this matter, but chose to sit down on the magma. With his eyes closed, he exercised his breathing. He had gotten used to this sort of breathing exercise when he was in Yin Death Region, but once he obtained a real physical body, the exercise felt a little unfamiliar to him. As he exercised his breathing, a large amount of heat spread out from the magma and gathered about his body.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Su Ming never left the volcano during this time and continued training while absorbing the hot power of the flames, which caused his hair to turn dark red. His body also blended perfectly with his soul, and he could now bring out the complete power of Life Privation Realm with this body.

On the day three months later, the bald crane yawned on the stone and wondered in boredom whether it should take a stroll outside when the magma around Su Ming suddenly started boiling. At the same time, the colossal ferocious beast with the phoenix head that was about a hundred feet in breadth and had never appeared after Su Ming woke up rushed out of the magma and let out a roar towards the entrance of the volcano before charging towards it.

The smaller creature with the phoenix head also flew out behind it. Su Ming’s eyes sparkled as faint voice from beyond the volcano reached his ears.

”We will now make offerings to our god. O god, please show yourself!”