Pursuit of the Truth

“Su…”

When that unfamiliar yet familiar voice spoke again, it had intended to only call out to Su Ming, and there was a feeling within that call that Su Ming could not describe. He could sense… that there was not a single hint of ill will in that voice towards him.

Instead, it radiated warmth that caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble. That warmth gave him a feeling that he had been searching for it for a long time, and he wanted to keep it forever by his side.

However, Su Ming did not expect that the voice would cause such a drastic change in the bald crane, and it was to a degree that Su Ming had never seen before. It had never happened before.

The two voices belonged to the bald crane, both of them being spoken by it. Yet while one of them sounded like the bald crane Su Ming was used to, the other had a wild tone and gave off a cold and arrogant feeling of those who considered themselves superior to others. It was completely different from the bald crane Su Ming was familiar with, even though their voices were the same.

Kong Mo. This was not the first time Su Ming had heard of this name. He knew that a long time ago the bald crane had been known as Kong Mo! This was before it had lost its memories.

When he heard the words the bald crane shouted, which sounded as if there were two wills within the bald crane’s body fighting for supremacy, a loud bang suddenly erupted in his mind, especially when he heard the voice mentioning Saint Defier’s camp.

He understood what was going on in an instant, as if a diaphragm had been torn apart!

He understood why Ecang’s will had called the bald crane a traitor in the past with an enraged roar when it saw it. He also understood that Old Man Extermination did not belong to the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. Instead, he belonged to one of the camps from the 180 Expanse Cosmoses in Dark Dawn.

He could already imagine it. An unknown amount of years ago, Old Man Extermination sat on an ancient ship and came to the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. Over there, he created a ballad. Within it were nine living beings and four races, to whom he granted eternal life.

Within that ballad was Ecang… and also the bald crane!

However, perhaps not even Old Man Extermination had managed see through the bald crane’s real identity. It did not belong to the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. It was Kong Mo, and it belonged to one of the camps in the 180 Expanse Cosmoses of Saint Defier!

Hence, Ecang called him a traitor. Perhaps… Old Man Extermination’s death and plenty of other deeper secrets… came from it being a traitor!

‘Origin of Heaven… Is the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos known as the Origin of Heaven? Because this is an Expanse Cosmos, the camps from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier were fighting for it. If Dark Dawn had one Expanse Cosmos less, then Saint Defier could launch a preemptive strike, or vice versa. Whoever took control of the Origin of Heaven first… could wage war first!

‘That’s why to snatch the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, Dark Dawn and Saint Defier both executed their own methods. Dark Dawn’s camp sent Old Man Extermination, and Saint Defier’s camp created Kong Mo!

‘From this, it can be seen that neither Dark Dawn nor Saint Defier could take the initiative to attack the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos. There had to be some sort of prohibition behind this!

‘Also, the disappearance of Ancient Wei, one of the three Great Ancient Kingdoms… There has to be… some connection between them!’

Su Ming’s heart roared. Everything about this had only existed as scattered hints in his mind, but now, with the bald crane’s changes and the two will’s fight, Su Ming came to an understanding!

‘Kong Mo became the traitor in Ecang’s eyes. Over the course of countless years, Kong Mo was severely injured thrice, to the point it lost its physical body. Even its memories were scattered, but it did not die. It’s just as Kong Mo said, the bald crane should not have appeared… It’s just that Kong Mo’s will had fallen into deep sleep, so the bald crane’s will was born.

‘The bald crane doesn’t have a mission. It is obsessed over crystals. It is sleazy and shameless… but it’s my companion!

‘And I obtained a fragment from the Seed of Life Extermination. I activated its legacy, and based on this… it can be seen that I am Old Man Extermination’s substitute. I… became part of Dark Dawn’s camp, and I became an emissary in the Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos!

‘Then… Xiao Hong gave me the Seed of Life Extermination’s fragment in the past. Was Xiao Hong truly a Fire Ape, or…’ Su Ming’s breathing quickened. His trip into the fifth kiln this time gave him too much too think about.

‘There’s also Berserkers’ supreme treasure, the Barren Cauldron. I once suspected that the Seed of Life Extermination’s fragment was a fragment from the Barren Cauldron, but now, I’m thrown off again. Just what sort of secret is contained here? What sort of existence is Yin Death Region? What sort of connection is there between the Barren Cauldron and the Seed of Life Extermination? And what sort of connection does it have with Dao Chen? After all, that Barren Cauldron once belonged to Dao Chen.’

Various thoughts fleeted instantly past Su Ming’s mind.

He understood many things, but as he understood them, many other thoughts formed in his head. As they became mixed together, it looked as if they turned into a gigantic net in front of his eyes, woven so tightly that it covered the truth.

“Su…”

When that voice spoke again, the struggle on the bald crane’s expression became even more prominent. Killing intent and madness appeared in its eyes. A glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes. The Resentful Wei beneath him rushed forward. Su Ming could not even spare a single glance at the area around him. He knew that Kong Mo’s awakening was definitely caused by some connection to the voice that reached their ears.

The voice had incited Kong Mo’s killing intent in the bald crane’s body, and because of the stimulation from it, Kong Mo began to show signs of awakening. It intended to destroy the bald crane and once again become Kong Mo.

It was difficult for others to help in this. The key lay in whether the bald crane could fight back. At the moment, the best thing to do was to leave the voice behind so that Kong Mo would fall asleep once more.

Su Ming could not make the voice disappear, but after he moved between dimensions, it had clearly become weaker. It could be seen that if they continued moving farther in, the voice would become increasingly weaker, until it disappeared. Perhaps it would reach them again later on, but they would still have bought the bald crane some time.

The Resentful Wei was so quick that it covered an incredible distance in an instant. With its natural instinct and Su Ming’s Atman, it immediately found the exit and shot through it. They moved between dimensions time and again, rushing through all of them.

During this, they ran into several worlds filled with ferocious spirits. However, under Su Ming and the Resentful Wei’s cooperation, who both did not have the heart to fight against the spirits there, they passed through some twenty dimensions after experiencing several dangerous situations. Only then did the voice completely disappear.

At that moment, the bald crane started to slowly calm down. Fatigue appeared on its face, and it fell into unconsciousness.

Su Ming let out a sigh of relief in his heart. Not a single treasure could be found in the previous twenty something dimensions. All of them had already been taken away many years ago. Once the bald crane passed out and Su Ming left the dimension to appear in another one, his pupils suddenly shrank.

This was a world whose sky was filled with green light and which was clearly a different world from the ones which possessed a blue sky. The ground was filled with plants, and it could be seen that there was a tree that was about several thousands of feet tall in the land in the distance.

Above the crown of the tree… a blade of grass floated. It had three leaves. They shone with a green light, and because of that, the whole world was dyed green.

‘Complementary treasure!’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. This dimension was not big. Based on its area, it could be seen that this was not a land with a supreme treasure. This was still a normal dimension, but the treasure here had yet to be taken away.

Xuan Shang and the others immediately saw the difference in this place and turned solemn. When they looked towards the floating green grass above the tree in the distance, greed appeared in their hearts.

Even if it was just a complementary treasure, a treasure that could exist in the fifth kiln definitely had some aspects about it that were extraordinary. Based on the grass’ ability of changing the sky’s color, it was definitely nothing ordinary.

Su Ming observed his surroundings carefully and did not act recklessly. Dimensions with treasures would definitely have plenty of ferocious spirits to protect them, but when Su Ming scanned the entire area with his Atman, he did not notice a single shadow.

He frowned, then sent a thought to the Resentful Wei. The black horse immediately approached the tree. As it continued getting closer to it, Su Ming’s heart shuddered when they were around one thousand feet away from the tree.

Xuan Shang, Yun You, Nian Yin, and Hua Yu’s hearts shuddered as well. Even Xu Hui immediately became stern and serious.

Su Ming saw four people sitting cross-legged under the big tree!

They were four cultivators, and those Su Ming had never seen before. These four people had not died. They sat there, and their chests rose and fell. In fact, their eyes were wide open as they stared at the tree, unmoving.

There were dazed expressions one their faces, along with a look of struggle. There was also an indescribable, bizarre air about them. It was unknown… how many years they had been sitting there.

Their robes were in tatters, and their faces were pale. From the mighty pressure spreading out from their bodies, it was clear that the three cultivators were in Solar Kalpa Realm, while the other one was clearly a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death.

It was because of this scene that Su Ming stopped moving.

“Progenitor Long Hai!” There was a hint of disbelief contained in Xu Hui’s voice. “That Almighty Master of Fate, Lives, and Death is Progenitor Long Hai from True Morning Dao World. He was stationed to keep watch over the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Ten thousand years ago, he stepped into the fifth kiln and never returned. His soul point shattered, so he was verified to have died!

“But… but now, with how he looks, he’s actually alive!” Xu Hui immediately sent her thought to the others, and her voice echoed in everyone’s minds.

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. When he observed the area again, he became certain that there were no ferocious spirits in the area… besides the tree that was one thousand feet tall!

If there were no ferocious spirits in this place, then based on the statement that there was definitely something protecting the treasures, the tree… was the ferocious spirit here!

It was also this tree that trapped the three old monsters in Solar Kalpa Realm and Progenitor Long Hai!

‘A tree…’ The corners of Su Ming’s lips suddenly curled up into a cold sneer.

‘The Ecang body I possess is also a big tree, and it is the ancestor of all trees!’

At the instant a brilliant light shone in Su Ming’s eyes, he suddenly turned his head to look at the space behind him. Great distortions appeared in the spot from which Su Ming had stepped into the dimension.

‘Finally, someone has stepped into the same dimension as me…’

Su Ming narrowed his eyes. He moved and landed on the ground. The body of the supreme treasure changed as well, and he had it fuse into the surroundings. When he hid himself, the space in the distance distorted, and a hunchbacked old man walked out.

It was Flame Fiends’ Progenitor!