Pursuit of the Truth

Arc Five: My Morning Dao World

The storm spread out of the blue crystal mirror with a bang, so strong that it couldn’t hand it. As it shattered into countless shards, they swept through the whole area.

Due to the mirror crumbling, the fifth ocean looked as if there was no longer anything suppressing it, and because of it, the ocean let out incomparably loud roars as its impact rushed out.

In the mid of them, the ocean’s frenzied rampage caused waves to tumble about. A large amount of fog surged, rising then falling. When the impact spread out and touched it, it immediately disintegrated as if evaporating layer by layer.

If anyone looked at the fifth ocean from above, they would be able to see clearly that as it tumbled about, the force formed a circular ring of light. It traveled through the area with loud booms, as if a shocking destruction had just occurred.

After a moment, the whole place evaporated under the impact. The booming sounds formed echoes in the inner parts of Divine Essence Star Ocean. The vast and boundless seawater… started showing signs that it was about to vanish.

Disappearing along with it were the people with the Masks of Happiness, Anger, Grief, and Resentment, who had began retreating swiftly after the mirror shattered. Dark waves of light shone on the masks on their faces at that moment before it covered their bodies, which then disappeared without a trace.

Perhaps leaving like that was not their intention, but that light from the mask circling round them and the roars from the fifth ocean formed a power that did not allow them to resist. It was forcibly interfering with everything regarding their intention to escape.

Booming sounds continued resounding in space. The fifth ocean roared as it tumbled and gradually evaporated, slowly disappeared forever from the core of the inner part of Divine Essence Star Ocean.

The spot where the fifth ocean had originally existed was surrounded by a thick fog, and from then on, it would be like that.

Several days later, when the booming sounds gradually grew fainter, a figure appeared in the fog, slowly approaching from the distance. With one step at a time, that figure walked out of the fog, and gray light immediately spread out. It was… the gray Su Ming.

Beside him was a sleazy bald crane whose existence was incredibly discordant with him. Su Ming did not see the crane when he was in the fake Fifth True World, but once he walked out of it, the crane appeared on its own.

Clearly, all of it was related to the fake Fifth True World.

At that moment, as the bald crane followed behind Su Ming, it had its head held high.

Su Ming’s expression was dark. When he walked out of the fog, he turned his head around to cast a glance behind him. By then, the fifth ocean was already distorted beyond recognition.

‘One of the four people with the Masks of Happiness, Anger, Grief, and Resentment is definitely my Master, and the other is Lie Shan Xiu. I wonder just who are they… and who are the remaining two…

‘Now that the fifth ocean dispersed and the four of them disappeared, I cannot find any traces leading to them, but no matter what, all of this has a great connection with the ancient will from Yin Death Region.

‘Once I find that ancient will, I’ll be able to find them!’

A freezing glare shone in Su Ming’s eyes. When he lowered his head, he fell silent. During that time, he remembered his fight against the ancient will within the fake Fifth True World.

That fight might have seemed simple, but it contained the accumulation of countless years’ worth of preparation as well as an invisible battle between Su Xuan Yi and the ancient will.

‘My previous guess was indeed correct. Dao Kong entering Divine Essence Star Ocean… was due to him being led there by Su Xuan Yi’s will. He sent me this body, and his goal was to have me Possess him.

‘Once I Possessed Dao Kong, I would obtain True Morning Dao World’ kismet, but all of that was just to blind Yin Death Region’s will. The true blow… was the Seed of Life Extermination, which is the black stone fragment Xiao Hong gave me in the past!

‘All of that was prepared by Su Xuan Yi.’ Su Ming’s expression was slightly complicated. He remembered the ancient will roaring with refusal to admit defeat before eventually disappearing.

Clearly, that ancient will could learn everything it wanted in Yin Death Region. However, Su Xuan Yi had used some unknown method to hide the fact that Xiao Hong had given Su Ming that black fragment in the past, or rather, he had made the ancient will form an incorrect perception about the stone fragment, because of which it was then ignored.

However, the ancient will understood everything in the end, which was why it uttered that sentence.

When Su Ming remembered all that had happened, complicated emotions rose within him towards Su Xuan Yi. There was resentment there, but also a sigh that meant too many things.

Even though he had never met his father, the man’s actions were filled with great fatherly love, no matter whether it was the matter of giving him the Seed of Life Extermination or delivering Dao Kong for Possession. In fact, there were definitely other things that Su Ming had not noticed even till then, and he could sense the fatherly love from them.

“If that’s the case, why did you leave me alone in the land of Berserkers? Why did you separate my soul from my physical body? Why did you… leave my mother lying in the fifth kiln?

“Just… where are you? Who… are you?” Su Ming mumbled. He knew that everything would be revealed before him when he returned to True Morning Dao World.

After remaining silent for a while, a brilliant light shone in his eyes.

“Since I can’t find the real entrance to the Fifth True World… then it’s time for me to leave the Barren Lands of Divine Essence… and return to True Morning Dao World!” Su Ming turned his head around and looked at the galaxy in the distance. A hint of resolve and fierceness appeared in his eyes.

He wanted to return to True Morning Dao World and retrieve his physical body. He wanted to know the answers to all the mysteries around him, and he wanted… to find out who was Su Xuan Yi!

“That’s right! Let’s go back to True Morning Dao World! Darn it all, I want to go back too! I can hear all the crystals in True Morning Dao World calling out to the great me. They’re all waiting for the great and supreme me, myself, and I to love them. Hurry up! Let’s go quickly!”

The bald crane stood with excitement on its face while shouting with joy. It expression was of someone mesmerized, a telling sign that it was imagining something happy and glorious.

“Dao Chen…” Su Ming moved forward, and the sound of air being sliced apart rose swiftly as he charged forth.

With the fifth kiln in his possession and as the current scion of the Seed of Life Extermination, he was already the strongest person in Divine Essence Star Ocean. Even if he did run into an enemy who was an Almighty in Mastery Realm, so what? Su Ming did not even need to activate the fifth kiln to fight against that Almighty on his own!

Even if he ran into an Almighty in Fate Realm, Su Ming had the Art to cut fate, and with the fifth kiln, he could fight against that person.

The only regretful thing about it was that Su Ming did not want to take the fifth kiln away. If he left it in its place, it would reach its optimum state in terms of effectiveness.

‘I will leave this place and return to True Morning Dao World. I… want to go home!’

Su Ming became faster. As he turned into a long arc and charged forward through the galaxy, his hair color gradually changed. It was not red, but neither was it gold. Instead, it returned into its original color, and nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

“Eldest senior brother, second senior brother… and Hu Zi…” Su Ming became even faster. He shifted and shot across the galaxy.

“Yu Xuan too!” the bald crane immediately shouted by the side. As the Abyss Dragon’s boss, it felt that it needed to help the Abyss Dragon speak during that moment.

“Yu Xuan…” A reminiscent look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. In his recollections was a girl who ate roasted seeds with a grin while staring at him.

Several days later, he appeared beyond a burning planet in the region between the inner part and the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean. There were thick flames raging in that planet, and that place… was where Flame Fiends’ Progenitor lived. It was his territory.

Su Ming looked at the planet. After some time, he suddenly opened his mouth, and his voice rang with thunderous booms that echoed in all directions while it went to Flame Fiends’ Planet.

“Progenitor Huo Kui, do you remember your old friend from the fifth kiln?”

“Huo Kui, do you still remember your Grandpa Crane?!” the bald crane shouted loudly as well. It intentionally stood in front of Su Ming. By doing so, it would make it felt that it was the true center of attention. Since Su Ming was behind it, he was just a guard.

The man and the crane’s voices went into Flame Fiends’ Planet and into each of Flame Fiends’ ears. The thunderous roar formed from those voices turned into a mighty pressure. When it descended, the whole planet shuddered, and all the Flame Fiends immediately shuddered as well. Absolutely no thought of resistance could rise in them under that mighty pressure; they felt like the world was crumbling and nothing existed in it anymore. As they quivered, they let out shrill roars as they prostrated themselves on the ground, unable to stand.

In the depths of Flame Fiends’ Planet was a karst cave filled with lava. Within it was a statue which jolted at that moment, and a large number of cracks swiftly appeared on it to reveal the body of Flame Fiends’ Progenitor. His eyes were shut, so he opened them swiftly and looked in the direction of the galaxy and spoke in a wild and untamed manner.

“Which old friend… Hmm?”

Before he could finish speaking, Flame Fiends’ Progenitor started shuddering, and excitement appeared on his face. Without any hesitation, he turned into a long arc and shot from the ground with a bang, shaking the whole planet. In an instant, he rushed out and stood in the galaxy. When he did so, he saw Su Ming looking at him.

“You… you are…” Flame Fiends’ Progenitor stared at Su Ming. The excitement on his face turned into surprised delight. He knew that Su Ming would definitely return one day.

“I’ve come back.”

Su Ming stared at Flame Fiends’ Progenitor, and a smile appeared on his face. He could be said to have gone through many things together with Flame Fiends’ Progenitor in the fifth kiln. At the start, the two of them had fought against each other, then Huo Kui had submitted to him. In time, they got acquainted with each other and slowly formed a bond that gave them the feeling as if they were friends.

In the end, when Flame Fiends’ Progenitor gritted his teeth and stayed after Zi Long and Long Hai had left, Su Ming no longer treated him as an enemy… but a friend.

“Thank you for the matter in the fifth ocean,” Su Ming said to Flame Fiends’ Progenitor as he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed.

His act of bowing immediately made Flame Fiends’ Progenitor nervous. He instinctively took a few steps back and stared at Su Ming with uncertainty. The impression Su Ming left in his mind was too strong, so when he spoke with such courtesy, Flame Fiends’ Progenitor found it uncanny, and he became suspicious of it.