Pursuit of the Truth

“With your power, you might not have even brought five-tenths of your true strength, even now. With that great power, while you might not have been able to completely kill those Arid Beasts due to their strangeness, but with a flick of your finger, you could have easily made them dissipate for a while,” Su Ming said languidly after walking out. His expression was calm. Not a hint of anger could be seen in it.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance, then the extra pupils in his eyes disappeared. He returned to normal and smiled slightly.

“The people of Great Abyss Tribe are skilled in scheming. This is something about them that is different from Great Berserker Tribe’s straightforward and bold attitude. With the fact that I didn’t attack at full force as a clue, you guessed that I intentionally led the Arid Disaster to you. This temperament of yours fits with those from Great Abyss Tribe.”

The old man’s words were calm and unhurried. It was as if he was completely unbothered by Su Ming’s words.

“Since you like guessing, then why don’t we play another game? If you’re certain that I intentionally made you receive the Arid Disaster, then tell me, what benefit does it bring me?” The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe spoke languidly and looked at Su Ming with the ghost of a smile.

“Do treat it as me just being crude and rash. It doesn’t matter whether it does or does not bring you benefits. The matter is already done. There is no meaning to it. I still have to thank you for helping me just now,” Su Ming said faintly. His gaze landed on the old man, and he wrapped his fist in his palm to thank him.

“I can now go and fulfill my end of the deal with you.”

Su Ming did attempt a second ascension. He might know the order of the six spirit ascensions, but his body had already reached its limit. If he tried another spirit ascension, only his soul would increase in power, and it would become very difficult for him to improve in all other aspects.

He needed some time to stabilize his first spirit ascension. Only then could he continue. Besides, Su Ming had another thought that had been echoing constantly in his head.

‘Since I possess the presence of Great Berserker Tribe, Great Abyss Tribe, and Dark Dawn, then I wonder if I can have my spirit ascend on a Great Abyss Tribe’s Spirit Ascension Platform as well. I wonder, is possible for the souls of Dark Dawn to have their spirits ascend too? This is something I’ll need to think carefully about.’

Su Ming lifted his head to stare at the sky. The world was still shrouded in fog, but he had a feeling that if he wanted to leave, he just needed to take a step into the air, and he would be able to leave the world in All Spirits Hall.

This was because he was already an Antecedental Spirit. He had obtained his serendipity in All Spirits Hall, and he had become an existence which could come and go as he pleased in this place. To him, be it the red figures or the mummies with bone spears in their hands, none of them would be able to pose a threat to him.

He did not leave immediately, however, since he wanted to fulfill his end of the promise and complete the deal. As for the Arid Disaster, there was no need for him to talk any further.

It did not matter even if the old man gave him a promise, since the Arid Disaster would descend no matter what. Su Ming was also certain of his own judgment, which was why he did not bother wasting his breath and saying everything on his mind.

In this brutal world, it was crucial for a person to be wary of others. This was a truth Su Ming had learned after experiencing far too many things.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a deep glance. He was slightly stunned by the youth’s unwillingness to continue guessing. Then, he sighed in his heart.

“I do indeed want to use you, but you are Great Berserker Tribe’s seed, and you have also become an Antecedental Spirit like me. You just need to know that I will not harm you.

“With my power, I can make it so that you can stay for around two days when you return to the ancient past. During them, search for the reason why I lost my consciousness when I went through the Arid Disaster and why I slaughtered my people.

“Even if you can’t find it, share everything you learn truthfully and in detail when you return. And you must remember one thing, I might be exceedingly powerful, but sending you back to the ancient past isn’t a small feat. You cannot get too far away from Heavenly Spirit Tribe, so you mustn’t go to Great Berserker Tribe, Great Abyss Tribe, or any other tribe!

“Otherwise, I will lose a large amount of my cultivation base, and I will not be able to let you stay in the past for two days. In fact, the instant you leave for the other tribes, there is a high possibility that I will die from the inability to bear the burden of the backlash, and if I die…

“You will also be lost forever in the ancient past. Remember this well. Also, the method which you will use to return to the past will be one in which your soul will fuse into one of my people’s bodies. Thus, you will exist in the ancient world!

“Do not do anything while you are there. If you do anything out of line, you will change history, and Arid Triad’s will will instantly notice it. The history will return to its original path, and both of us will be wiped out. Do not tell what happened in the future to the past me either, or else the results will be like I just described.

“You need to remember that you are just a pair of eyes. All that I’m asking of you is to observe.”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe stared at Su Ming with a solemn expression. When he saw Su Ming nod, he sucked in a deep breath of air. He then sat down and lifted his right hand to strike the center of his brows. With it, eight pupils appeared in each of his eyes, making him look incredibly strange. A mighty pressure and presence that caused Su Ming’s heart to tremble instantly came from the old man’s body.

Soon after it spread out, it shrank, and several complicated and difficult to understand syllables tumbled out of the old man’s mouth. He lifted his left hand and slashed the air in front of him. Immediately after, the air rumbled. A crack that was not too big swiftly appeared in the air. There were countless vortices within it, and when they spun around, moaning sounds could be heard.

When he stared at the crack, Su Ming felt as if he saw the sun, moon, stars, the universe, the galaxy, and the process of something beginning and coming to an end. This was due to the swift flow of time.

Just tearing apart the seemingly normal gap caused the old man’s face to turn slightly pale. He swiftly lifted his head to look at Su Ming.

“Now, have your soul enter!”

A focused look appeared on Su Ming’s face, and he no longer hesitated. This was his deal with the old man. Forget the moral principles, the old man’s strength alone was something Su Ming could not fight against. He had to step into the gap.

However, this did not mean that Su Ming was not wary. A glint appeared in his eyes, and he decided to be resolute. He did not have his soul leave his body and enter the ancient past, as the old man had asked of him. Instead, he took a step forward and had his body move into the crack. Immediately, he was swept inside by a huge force and disappeared without a trace.

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe remained silent. He did not stop Su Ming, but instead shook his head and closed his eyes to maintain the crack while he waited for the two days to end.

When Su Ming stepped into the crack, he felt a huge force sweep up his body. The sun, moon, and stars charged about around him. The rise and fall of the universe moved about before his eyes. He saw the four Great True Worlds in the universe as time moved in reverse. They became smaller right before Su Ming’s eyes until they turned into five glowing dots.

They were becoming smaller and smaller. In the end, two of the glowing spots fused together to turn into four glowing dots, and then, they turned into a brilliant, blinding light.

There were not just four of these lights. Another five appeared beside them, and a total of nine glowing spots moved in a circle in the universe. When they brightened up, Su Ming saw nine huge True Worlds.

He saw a lone ship traveling among them. It left into the distance, and as it did, the nine huge True Worlds formed by the glowing spots became smaller. When they fused together, they gathered into a ball of light.

And it wasn’t alone! There were two equally huge balls of light near it.

‘The four glowing spots that appeared in the beginning showed the birth of the four Great True Worlds. The fifth glowing spot appeared because one of the four of True Worlds separated from one of those spots. The connection between the Emperor of Abyss’ True World and the Fifth True World could be used to explain this.

‘The nine glowing spots that appeared later are the nine Great True Worlds from the previous era. That was the time of Sui Chen Zi, and the lone ship leaving into the distance… clearly belonged to the Old Man Extermination!

‘In a period of time long before the nine glowing spots, they had formed one ball of light, and if my guess is correct… that ball of light… is the missing Wei!

‘The other two balls of light are clearly Wu and Shu!’

As all of it dawned on Su Ming because of the old man’s divine ability, he gained more epiphanies in regards to his inborn ability to reverse time that came from the Great Abyss Tribe, and he felt faint signs of a breakthrough.

Su Ming had no idea how much time had passed when he sensed a huge suction force catch him and drag him towards the ball of light formed by the nine glowing spots. When he approached it, a loud bang rang out in his mind.

With his consciousness still clear, he shut his eyes. The next moment, he smelled the fragrance of grass in the air. His ears filled with the joyful laughter of playing children along with all the sounds of a tribe in the morning.

Su Ming opened his eyes and saw a blue sky, gentle sunlight, a huge tribe, and all the people within it.

He was in the ancient past.

“Han Di, what are you doing here? Everyone’s looking for you,” someone said in a gentle voice behind Su Ming and patted his head.

Su Ming turned his head around and found himself looking at a young man who was staring at him with a smile.

“Let’s go, you clumsy idiot.” The young man pulled up Su Ming, then walked forward. “Today is a great day. Before the elder has his spirit ascend, he will speak of the will of the Arid Dao to all the people in the tribe. Don’t be naughty now. You have to listen carefully,” the young man said while rubbing Su Ming’s head with a smile.

Su Ming stared at the young man blankly. In silence, he lowered his head to look at his own body and found a teenager’s body.

He was dragged by the young man to a huge field. At the center of it was a tall platform. At that moment, there was an old man sitting on it. He had a kindly look on his face and was staring at his people in the area.

There were thousands of them. Most of them were teenagers, and all of them were staring at the old man with idolization on their faces. They were waiting for him to speak of the Arid Dao.

“Han Di’s here. Where did you run off to again?”

The old man directed his gaze at the approaching duo when the young man dragged Su Ming over. When he saw Su Ming, his smile filled with even more kindness.