Pursuit of the Truth

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance, but he did not speak. Instead, he sat down by his side and closed his eyes.

Su Ming might have seemed as composed as ever, but in truth, a storm was raging in his heart at that moment. It was not due to Xu Hui, and neither was it because he had snatched the will to make the Abyss grow contained in True Morning Dao World. Instead… it was because he had sensed the presence that belonged to Di Tian in Yin Death Region!

Di Tian had clearly died. Su Ming had seen it with his own eyes. He personally saw the enmity between Su Xuan Yi and Di Tian coming to an end when the gap was torn in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos all those years ago.

But Su Ming was certain that what he sensed just then was true. It was a presence that came from a certain dimension within Yin Death Region. That presence belonged to Di Tian, and it was much stronger than what he had sensed when Su Ming had last seen Di Tian.

‘A clone. The Di Tian who died was just a clone!’ A barely noticeable glint shone in Su Ming’s eyes as he immediately found an explanation.

‘Su Xuan Yi thought he won, but in truth, the victor between him and Di Tian still hasn’t been decided. The one who died was only Di Tian’s clone, so it’s clear that Di Tian was just conducting a test. If he succeeded, it would be good for him, while if he failed, he would not lose anything.

‘In the meantime however he hid himself in the dark so he could deal a fatal strike to Su Xuan Yi at a critical moment! What a man, Di Tian!’

Killing intent shone in Su Ming’s eyes. It did not matter whether it was Su Xuan Yi or Di Tian, Su Ming harbored no good feelings for either of them. Di Tian was a person Su Ming had wanted to kill since a long time ago, and the enmity he harbored was so strong that there could no longer even be any talk about the reason for it.

As for Su Xuan Yi, his repeated use of Su Ming had eventually caused Su Ming to be bitterly disappointed in him, and at the same time, great aversion had arisen in his heart. In time, that feeling had slowly turned into murderous intent.

‘To them, Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos is just a playground for a game. They do not care about Saint Defier and Dark Dawn descending, and neither do they care about the gap in Arid Triad. But if they do not even care about this… then what each of them care about must certainly be terrifying!

‘I can guess what Su Xuan Yi is aiming for. He’s definitely doing this for Abyss Builders, but what… is Di Tian’s goal? Where does his confidence that his plans won’t fail once Dark Dawn and Saint Defier descend come from?’

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled. He could not guess the answer, but he had a speculation that it was definitely connected to Yin Death Region.

When he thought of this, Su Ming suddenly remembered the vague feeling he had when his divine sense rushed into Yin Death Region. That feeling as if Yin Death Region had not appeared out of the blue but had been born from some changes in its depths made Su Ming think that it had a great connection to Di Tian’s confidence.

‘Just why… is he so confident? Yin Death Region is somewhat connected to Dark Dawn, or else the will in there would not have made me head to the fifth ocean in Divine Essence Star Ocean all those years ago so that I could activate that Relocation Rune similar to the one Saint Defier has in the territory of the Immortals’ Union.

‘Could it be that Di Tian’s confidence comes from Dark Dawn? But this doesn’t explain much. After all, Di Tian is the leader of the Immortals’ Union, and the Immortals’ Union is connected to Saint Defier.

‘If that’s the case, then Di Tian has secret ties to both Dark Dawn and Saint Defier… What exactly is his goal and where does his confidence come from?’

Su Ming was silent. He could not understand it, but his instincts told him that Di Tian’s confidence was largely connected to the strange power that formed the vortex in the depths of Yin Death Region.

With that thought, Su Ming forced down the storm that had come to life in his heart once he learned that Di Tian was still alive. When he lifted his right hand, a black crystal appeared on his palm.

The crystal had been given to him by the figure made of locusts from Dark Dawn’s camp when he was pleading for mercy. At that time, Su Ming sensed a hint of familiarity from that black crystal. When he scrutinized it closely, he found that the feeling was still around, even though it was faint.

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled brilliantly. His divine sense spread out swiftly and fused into the crystal. The familiar feeling immediately became stronger, but no matter how Su Ming investigated the crystal with his divine sense, he found that it was empty inside. The familiar feeling had come to him in an incredibly baffling manner, and he could not find the cause for it.

After a long while, Su Ming retrieved his divine sense and frowned. His gaze landed on the crystal, and a contemplative expression appeared on his face. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes. He remembered why he found the crystal familiar.

‘The Seed of Life Extermination!’ Su Ming’s heart trembled at that thought. The familiar feeling was due to the Seed of Life Extermination!

“While you are in your God of Berserkers Transformation, try to drop some blood on the crystal.”

The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe had opened his eyes at some unknown point in time. He was also staring at the black crystal in Su Ming’s hand with a grave expression on his face.

A thought appeared in Su Ming’s mind. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them after a moment, he was surrounded by souls. They increased in number, and in the blink of an eye, they could no longer be counted. They formed a vast vortex that spun around him, and the one hundred million Berserker souls in it let out soundless roars before charging into his body to fuse with him.

Countless souls fused into Su Ming’s arms, legs, and body, creating a huge body of around one hundred feet. The next moment, Su Ming’s cultivation base erupted with a bang. An astonishing presence swelled up swiftly from his body, and Su Ming slashed across his index finger with his right thumb without any hesitation. Immediately, a drop of golden blood fell down and landed on the black crystal.

It immediately let out cracking sounds. When it began to crack, the familiar feeling started to change. Su Ming did not know the cause for it; he only felt a hint of unfamiliarity appeared in that familiar sensation. Both feelings intersected with each other and formed a feeling that he could not put into words.

It was as if he was staring at a person whom he knew very well. Su Ming could remember his name and all that, but certain things suddenly changed in front of him. Some features were taken away and some new ones added, which left him in a daze.

“This is indeed a Spirit Refinement Stone! But it isn’t complete. It needs two others to make a whole!” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe said slowly while staring at the black crystal in Su Ming’s hand.

“Spirit Refinement Stone is a rare spirit stone from the Ancestral Spirit era. There was only one use for it back in the day—to create the Sacred Vessels of each tribe!

“The more Spirit Refinement Stones were used, the stronger the Sacred Vessels would be. That includes the ring on your finger. It was also created from Spirit Refinement Stones, but less than one hundred were put into it,” the old man from Heavenly Spirit Realm explained.

“Why did I previously sense a familiar feeling from this item?”

Su Ming’s God of Berserkers Transformation disappeared. When his body returned to normal, he looked at the old man.

“I do not know why you would have a sense of familiarity, but I do know of the three curious aspects of these Spirit Refinement Stones. Perhaps when you understand them, you will have your answer.

“These stones are sentient. Their sentience is the reason why they are used to create the Sacred Vessels of each tribe. If they are given enough time, they might even take life. The life born from that sentience can be remolded. If you know how to use them, you can change them to take the form of what you need.

“The stones might seem like single units, but in truth, during the era of the Ancestral Spirits, all the Spirit Refinement Stones had a strange connection. It’s like they are a singular whole. If you a drop of your blood falls on it, you can sense all the other Spirit Refinement Stones with your blood on them.

“This means that you can find the tribe where your blood lies and their Sacred Vessel through a complete Spirit Refinement Stone. It does not matter where the Sacred Vessel is or whether it has shattered, you will be able to find it through this method.

“That is why this is the best item to create a tribe’s Sacred Vessel, since it has the characteristic of allowing a legacy to be passed down.

“The second trait is that when you touch a Spirit Refinement Stone, you will have a familiar feeling when you touch another one” The old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe cast Su Ming a glance, then at the Spirit Refinement Stone in his hand.

Su Ming was silent. While he stared at the black crystal in his hand, a strange light appeared in his eyes.

The old man’s words echoed in his head. Once he linked his words to the familiar feeling from earlier, Su Ming immediately understood that the black stone fragment, the so-called Seed of Life Extermination that had previously resided in his soul, was a Spirit Refinement Stone!

That was why the Spirit Refinement Stone had that faint feeling of familiarity at the start. It came from the Seed of Life Extermination Su Ming hadowned in the past!

Once he had a drop of blood fall on the stone, the unfamiliarity in that familiar feeling was due to Su Ming’s blood on the stone. It was not the blood of an Abyss Builder, but the blood of Su Ming’s Berserker Body. It was the blood of a Berserker!

A myriad of thoughts ran through Su Ming’s head, and a version of truth based on his deductions gradually formed.

An unknown number of years ago, in the age of Successor Spirits, which was the era after the disaster fell on the Antecedental Spirits, an ancient ship descended from space. The old man on the ship represented Dark Dawn’s camp, and he brought a Spirit Refinement Stone with him. Perhaps it was unintentional, or maybe it was, but he found a few other fragments.

Those fragments fused with the Spirit Refinement Stone, making it change. Perhaps that transformation had always been supposed to happen, but what mattered was that those fragments were used to serve as nutrients for Seeds of Life Extermination.

Those fragments came from a Sacred Vessel. Perhaps there were many more of them and the old man had just gathered some of them…

But that Sacred Vessel belonged to Great Berserker Tribe, and it was known as the Barren Cauldron…

The Seeds of Life Extermination were now part of the Barren Cauldron while the other fragments were buried in some unknown corner of the universe… Only those who possessed the blood of Berserkers and have been baptized by the ancient Great Berserker Tribe, or rather, only those with the blood of Great Berserker Tribe’s Antecedental Spirits could use the Spirit Refinement Stones to locate their tribe’s Sacred Vessel.

“Great Berserker Tribe’s Sacred Vessel is a cauldron. Among the tribes in Wei, this item was ranked first along with Great Abyss Tribe’s Nine Swords and Heavenly Spirit Tribe’s Mountain Lake.”

There was a nostalgic look on Tian Bai’s face when he said that.