Pursuit of the Truth

The last picture was incredibly complicated. It was also slightly crude, as if the carver’s heart was not in a state of calm at that time, but they had still insisted on carving the picture to record something.

In that carving was a tall platform. There was an old man on it, and he had his arms raised. Floating above him was the hall, and beneath him were countless members of his tribe kneeling and worshiping him. There was excitement and hope on their faces.

However, if Su Ming looked at this scene from another point of view, then the excitement might not be what it looked like, but fear. Similarly, the hope might not be hope, but despair and sadness.

That was all to the picture.

The last crude carving was completely different from the other pictures. It was as if this story said nothing in the end.

Su Ming was silent. When he turned around, he looked at the area where he stood earlier, but he still did not see the old figure behind him watching him silently.

Su Ming swept his gaze across the area and frowned. He could not sense any life in the place, but the voice had clearly come from here. When he immersed himself in his thoughts, his pupils suddenly constricted. He saw that there seemed to be a different region by the side of the skeletons in the depths of the pit.

He charged towards the bottom, where the skeletons were. In the blink of an eye, he reached his destination and stared at a faint hollow on the ground near the wall.

That hollow made it seem that a person had cultivated there for countless years, causing the stone to slowly sink in and form the brand of someone meditating there.

As he stared at the brand, Su Ming narrowed his eyes. When he approached it, he crouched down, and raised his right hand to swipe it past the hollow. At that moment, the hair on his body stood up, because there was a faint warmth coming from it. This meant that not long ago, there was still someone meditating in that place.

“That is the spot I use to meditate.”

Right then, an old voice came from behind Su Ming. He had not noticed the speaker previously, and the voice made it sound as if there was someone whispering by his ears. Su Ming had his cultivation base erupt from his body without any hesitation. He rushed forward, and only when he was some distance away did turn around, but he still did not see anything.

Su Ming’s heart raced, and his skin crawled. Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder lightly.

“What are you looking for?”

Su Ming’s expression changed. This time, he did not immediately turn around. Instead, he brought his right hand up without any hesitation. A ripple spread out from the ring, and he chose that time to charge away. While doing so, he turned around to look behind him, but it was still the same as before. He still did not see anything.

His heart began to race even quicker than before. He might not have seen the person’s body, but he was certain that the person was definitely behind him. In silence, Su Ming forced down the anxiety in his heart and decided that he might as well sit down.

If the stranger wanted to attack him, he would have done so a long time ago. Since he did not attack even up to this moment… Su Ming laughed wryly. He could only sit down and speak in a low voice,

“Thank you for saving me earlier, senior.”

It was quiet all around him. It was as if Su Ming was talking to himself. There was absolutely no response.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, an hour went by. At that time, a thought rose in Su Ming’s mind. He slowly stood up, then walked towards the entrance of the cave, but when he reached the entrance, the air around him suddenly distorted. In an instant, with a wry smile on his face, Su Ming noticed that he had been sent back to the spot where the person had previously meditated.

Su Ming sucked in a deep breath and murmured, “Senior, since you won’t speak and won’t allow me to leave, you can just tell me your requests. If this junior can fulfill them, I will do my best to repay you for saving me earlier.”

“Young lad, which tribe did you come from?” a faint voice asked from behind him after a long time.

“Dark Mountain Tribe. I am a member of Dark Mountain Tribe.”

Su Ming spoke without hesitation, and he prepared the words what he would say once the person said he had never heard of the tribe before, but while he waited for the upcoming questions, he heard the old voice behind him say words that caused his heart to tremble violently.

“Dark Mountain Tribe, one of the thirteen tribes born and split from Great Berserker Tribe…”

When these words fell into Su Ming’s ears, his heart trembled. At the same time, an old man’s withered right hand appeared on his shoulder. It patted his shoulder, and immediately, a domineering presence seeped into Su Ming’s body before it swimming a complete cycle in him. Then, it rushed towards Su Ming’s soul.

The old man did not perform a Soulseek, but only touched Su Ming’s soul lightly. Then, the presence moved back and returned to his shoulder before retreating to the withered right hand.

“It’s indeed the presence of the Berserker’s Initiation, but your soul belongs to Great Abyss Tribe. There is also something nourishing you, something that doesn’t belong to this World. Hmph, I’ve been the most vocal objector towards interracial marriage, but at the very least, you showed that you’re a Berserker by not lying.”

When the old voice echoed in the air, a huge storm raged in Su Ming’s mind.

‘Dark Mountain Tribe… So Dark Mountain Tribe really exists. Berserkers… Great Berserker Tribe… and he says that my soul is from Great Abyss Tribe. This is…’

Su Ming could not calm down. His heart was in complete turmoil due to the old man’s words.

“I’ll make a deal with you, young Berserker. Since you can come here, you and I are linked through fate. Your soul and aura might be a little mixed, but it doesn’t matter whether you’re from Great Berserker Tribe or Great Abyss Tribe, for you’re still a member of the younger generation from one of our allied tribes. This deal will grant you a great serendipity,” the old man said in a faint, ancient voice. A decaying air even formed due to the sediments of time.

Su Ming did not immediately ask what sort of serendipity he would receive. Instead, after hesitating for a moment, he forced down the storm that had begun raging in him due to the old man’s words. “Senior, if you had determined that I wasn’t a member of the younger generation belonging to one of your allied tribes…”

“You’d share the fate of all the other people who had come here. You have your soul Sought through, your skin flayed, your bones plucked out, and when you’re dried up, I would add some seasoning to your flesh and feed you to the beasts of offering,” the old man said faintly.

A barely noticeable glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes. He then asked another question. “What about the other members of the younger generation from your allied tribes who received this great serendipity of yours, senior?”

“They are among the substandard beings you saw in the red fog in the world outside.” The old man’s voice was as calm as usual, but when those words landed in Su Ming’s ears, a cold chill went through his heart.

He fell silent, and the old man did not continue speaking either. When the time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed, Su Ming smiled wryly and sighed.

“Senior, this great serendipity you speak of is a chance for me to have my spirit ascend and become an Ancestral Spirit, right?”

“Hmm? Boy, you’re a shrewd one. You must have deduced this from how I dispelled those substandard beings. That’s right. The serendipity I will give you is a chance for you to have your spirit ascend. Since you like to analyze things, then you can analyze what you will need to do for the deal before I give you the serendipity. If you can guess it, I will give you some rewards.”

The old man’s words came to a halt then as if some emotion that had not existed in him previously had entered his heart, but he soon finished what he wanted to say in a faint voice.

“You only have one chance to guess.”

When the old man’s voice reverberated through the air, Su Ming’s eyes sparkled.

“You should not be thinking of leaving this place…” Su Ming said, and the old man behind him snorted coldly.

“Don’t try pulling some meaningless schemes.”

“Senior, you want me to search for the person who killed your tribe!” Su Ming suddenly said in a firm voice.

He was making a bet, but even if he lost, he would not suffer any loss. Still, Su Ming wanted to win because he had constantly been in the passive during his entire contact with the old man. His constant presence behind him had caused a shadow to loom over his heart. It was also growing larger, and it would continue to do so until Su Ming could no longer muster any will to fight back. At that time, the old man would completely control his mind.

Su Ming wanted to seize control even if it was just an insignificant amount of it, for to him, it was still a form of resistance and struggle against the old man.

And Su Ming had not chosen this answer out of the blue. He had formed it from a couple clues. One, the place had been reduced to ruins and become the burial grounds for Heavenly Spirit Tribe, and the old man had chosen to remain with his tribe members. Su Ming could tell a number of things from this.

There was also the very distinct, crude craftsmanship of the final carving. The things shown in the picture had a bizarre air, and they have the feel of the end of the story. This revealed plenty of things as well. Heavenly Spirit Tribe could have walked to their ruin with all the members’ lives coming to a natural end, but there were children among the skeletons, which wiped off this possibility.

There was also the possibility of the red figures killing them. But even though this was possible, it made no sense with the old man’s strength. There was also the possibility of external reasons causing it, but Su Ming only had one chance to guess, so he had chosen his answer without hesitation.

Even so, he was not certain of it himself. Yet when the person behind him remained silent for a time, Su Ming knew that there was a possibility that his guess had been correct.

“Perhaps I should have agreed to the matter of interracial marriage in the past…” After a long while, a long sigh came from behind Su Ming.

“You’re very smart, and you have a good idea for observations… Your guess is correct, but also wrong. The person who killed my people is me…

“Tell me, what sort of reward do you want?” There was a hint of sorrow in the old man’s voice as it echoed in the air languidly.

Su Ming was silent for a moment before a glint shone in his eyes, and he spoke in a firm voice. .”This junior does not want any sort of reward, but would like to have a look at your face, senior.”

“You are indeed very intelligent… the mental state of a person able to see and unable to see is completely different.” After some time, the old voice reverberated in the cave, and the air in front of Su Ming distorted. A moment later, an old man walked out.

His body was filthy, but Su Ming could tell with just one glance that he was the old man in the last picture, who was sitting on the platform with his arms raised in the hall in the sky while being worshiped by countless people!

There was a profound look in the old man’s eyes, but there was apathy mixed with loss in it. People could not look straight into them for it would feel like their souls would be sucked into his eyes.

The old man just stood there. There was no ripple of power about him, but Su Ming could sense a mighty pressure much greater than what he had felt from the Predecessor of Dao Ocean. It was as if there was an entire Realm between this person and the Predecessor of Dao Ocean!