Pursuit of the Truth

‘Child of Morus Alba…’

Su Ming’s eyes shone with a barely noticeable glint. With his intelligence, if he did not want anyone to see anything off about him, no one would be able to find even a single clue, unless he ran into old monsters like the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe.

In fact, even the old monsters like the old man from Heavenly Spirit Tribe would not be able to see everything. After all, the level of complications and number of trials Su Ming had experienced in the one thousand years he had lived was definitely not something other cultivators could imagine.

The people before him were part of the cultivators he had seen in this True World with his divine sense, but he had come for the middle-aged man named Qian.

But he was not entirely certain… because everything in Arid Triad… existed here as well. He was not certain whether this man named Qian was his old friend.

When he heard the title these cultivators used to refer to him and saw the anxiety contained under their respectful demeanor, Su Ming reached his other goal. He had wanted to appear before these people to see whether they would see him as the other version of himself in this world.

“Freezing Winter Sect…” Su Ming’s expression remained the same. When he said those words faintly, he sounded as if he did not quite remember this sect.

“Our sect is not great. Your Grace, there is no need for you to pay too much attention to it. Our sect is one of the four sects under the jurisdiction of Li Tian Wang, one of the three Immortals of Jade Palace. The Sect Masters of our sect have always inherited the divine position of Li Hai, who is one of Li Tian Wang’s four generals,” one of the seven cultivators immediately explained while worshiping him respectfully.

“I have some uses for this person. You may leave now.” Su Ming did not ask anything in detail, and instead chose to speak calmly.

The seven men hesitated for a moment before they cast each other a glance. Then, they bowed to Su Ming again and turned around to turn into seven long arcs that charged into the universe. Soon, they could no longer be seen.

The middle-aged man’s feet trembled. He wanted to slap his own mouth, cursing in his heart that he absolutely should not have sworn in the name of the Child of Morus Alba. But even so, he still thought that there was something too bizarre about all his oaths coming true. It was so bizarre that it made him stare at Su Ming dumbly, and his heart trembled even more.

“Um… Your Grace, why did you come to this lowly commoner?” The middle-aged man felt slightly tongue-tied, and he instinctively put on an obsequious expression.

Su Ming turned his head and directed his gaze on the middle-aged man. After a long while, he suddenly said, “Qian Chen!”

“Here!”

The man was Qian Chen, the person who had accompanied him for some time after getting acquainted with him in the land of Berserkers until Su Ming was forced to head to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, the Qian Chen who he had lost contact with ever since!

Su Ming had asked his second senior brother about Qian Chen later. This person had left on his own not long after Su Ming went to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Even now, Su Ming still remembered the grief and anger on Qian Chen’s face when he witnessed the deaths of all those from the ninth summit when the direct descendant of Morning Dao Sect descended among them. The determination to become someone powerful had flickered within him at that time.

With those memories, Su Ming stared at the man before him and found himself slightly unable to tell… whether he was Arid Triad’s Qian Chen or the Qian Chen of this Expanse Cosmos.

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he suddenly asked, “Do you… still recognize me?”

When he said those words, Qian Chen suddenly trembled. From the moment Su Ming appeared, not many changes on his expression could be detected. At most, he had shown that he was frustrated by his own oaths, but in truth, at the moment Qian Chen saw Su Ming, an anguish that other people would find hard to detect appeared in his heart.

This anguish came from Su Ming’s current appearance. It came from the memories of a certain past, but he did not believe that Su Ming was the one he knew. Instead, he stood there in a daze and stared at Su Ming blankly.

Su Ming’s appearance was slightly different from when he was in the land of Berserkers. However, once one stared at him for a long period of time, they would still be able to find some traces of the Su Ming of the past. Su Ming stared at Qian Chen, and after a long while, he sighed softly.

“Do you still remember the ninth summit?”

When he asked this question, Qian Chen jolted. Disbelief appeared on his face. There was no way he would forget the ninth summit. It was a place he would never forget. He had unintentionally left his Expanse Cosmos in the past and entered Bright Yang Vortex… to come to the Berserkers’ world, and when he was there, he had gotten acquainted with a few people.

Everything that had happened in the ninth summit and the tragedy that fell upon it in the end were engraved deep into his mind. At that time, he did not know about the secrets regarding Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, but when Su Ming left for Divine Essence Star Ocean, Qian Chen had chosen to leave as well. Once he returned to his own world, he began to wander about Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, and by chance…

He was able to witness a grand event in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos from the distance. That grand event… was the appearance of the third Child of Morus Alba in True Victory Colony World. He would never forget how excited he had been when he saw him.

He would also never forget the indifference he met when he tried to approach the third Child of Morus Alba and how lost he had felt. Similarly, he would not forget the dreariness he felt when he understood what happened, and how he had distanced himself as far as possible from the third Child of Morus Alba.

“Your Grace, I do not… understand what you said…” Qian Chen remained silent for a moment before he forced that obsequious expression belonging to a nobody on his face and spoke with a smile while his heart was filled with anguish.

He did not dare to be certain of his own answers, because as time passed, he slowly came to realize a secret regarding Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos—the people who existed here… existed in the outside world as well.

But they were not the same people.

The Su Ming he saw before him was clearly the exact same as the Child of Morus Alba. It was difficult for Qian Chen to tell… whether this person was Su Ming or the Child of Morus Alba.

Su Ming fell silent. He had recognized Qian Chen. Based on his reactions, Su Ming had been able to see many things, but he did not force Qian Chen to get reacquainted with him. Instead, in silence, he cast Qian Chen a deep glance.

“I didn’t expect for you to have come from this place… Take care of yourself.”

Qian Chen was Su Ming’s friend. Their relationship might not run as deep as the relationship Su Ming shared with his senior brothers, but this person was not his enemy. He was a friend.

As Su Ming shook his head, he turned around and walked into space. Since Qian Chen was hesitant and had difficulties that made him refuse to get reacquainted, then Su Ming would not force him to do so, no matter what that difficulty was. There were times… when friendship was formed due to a chance meeting, but when the two people ran into each other again… perhaps they would become strangers again.

When he watched Su Ming’s figure slowly rise into space, great conflict appeared on Qian Chen’s face. Then, he loudly shouted one question.

“Who is the person I fear the most beside you?!”

“Yu Xuan…” Su Ming came to a halt in midair, then turned his head around to stare at Qian Chen.

“Why did you say that?” Once Qian Chen asked this question, he stopped speaking. Tears fell from the corners of his eyes.

“As the mutt, the Abyss Dragon bullied you, and Yu Xuan bullied the Abyss Dragon. That was why you believed that Yu Xuan was the strongest and most terrifying in the past.”

Su Ming looked at Qian Chen, and a nostalgic expression appeared on his face. That period of time… was filled with beautiful moments.

“You are…”

“I am not the Child of Morus Alba. I am Su Ming, the one from the land of Berserkers!”

At the instant Su Ming said those words, more tears fell from Qian Chen’s eyes. He stared at Su Ming in a daze, and excitement gradually appeared on his face.

“Su Ming… It’s you! It’s really you! You’re not the Child of Morus Alba! You’re Su Ming!”

…..

On a cultivation planet that had been struck into two halves was a sky that was no longer blue. Instead, it was dark. Those on the planet could see the wind howling and charging at the ends of the sky. The ground had shattered, the mountains had crumbled, and the empty land was filled with numerous cracks.

Within an empty spot between some of the cracks was a table. On it were two pots of wine. Su Ming sat beside the table, and by his side was Qian Chen.

Su Ming listened to Qian Chen recounting his tale. He had entered Bright Yang Vortex completely by accident and went into the land of Berserkers. Then, due to Su Ming leaving to the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, he chose to leave and return to Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos. When he was here, he met many people, and some of them were the other Su Ming as well as the other Yu Xuan…

“This is Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos. There is a legend in the land of Berserkers about a butterfly named Harmonious Morus Alba. That legend is real. Harmonious Morus Alba is a supreme existence in our Expanse Cosmos…

“There are four True Worlds here…

“There is a title of the Child of Morus Alba here as well. They are like the children of Harmonious Morus Alba and at the same time its incarnations. In truth, due to some special reasons, they are capable of communicating with Harmonious Morus Alba’s will. They can borrow the power of Harmonious Morus Alba.”

Qian Chen stopped speaking and cast a glance at Su Ming before he said hesitantly, “I also saw… Bai Su…

“She isn’t a cultivator. She’s a mortal I saw many years ago on a cultivation planet in True Sky Hill World. She’s from a huge mortal family in that planet.

“I didn’t see second senior brother or Hu Zi… but I remember Yu Xuan clearly. She’s currently in True Victory Colony World, and she’s…” Qian Chen stopped speaking again. He hesitated for a moment before he continued speaking.

“She’s the lover of the third Child of Morus Alba.”

Su Ming was silent. He had guessed a long time ago that the other versions of the people in Arid Triad would exist in Harmonious Morus Alba, but the land of Berserkers was in the vortex, and the people there… might not have alternative versions of themselves in Harmonious Morus Alba.

Only those with certain characteristics would have other versions of themselves here. It was so for Su Ming, and it was the same for Bai Su.

It was easy to explain Bai Su’s presence. She was a cultivator of Arid Triad to begin with. As for Su Ming… his presence was also very easy to explain. He was not a life from Yin Death Vortex to begin with.

“This is Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos. There are four Great True Worlds here, and they are Immortal Sect, Illusory Yang, Sky Hill, and Victory Colony… There are quite a number of cultivators in Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, and they are all scattered throughout the four Great True Worlds.

“Besides True Immortal Sect World being isolated many years ago and all forms of power being forbidden to form their influence in this place, there is one Child of Morus Alba defending each of the three other True Worlds.

“There are also various powerful sects such as Sky Hill’s Jade Palace in the three True Worlds. There is the Jade Sovereign, Li Tian Wang, the God of Two Tunnels, and Feng Huo. The Jade Sovereign is the leader among them, and the other three have their own sects. They are all uniformly known… as Jade Palace.

“Then there is True Illusory Yang World. There are the Saints of Four Continents. Saint Dou is the leader, and the secondary Saints Yun, Dao, and Xu have their own forces of power.

“There is also True Victory Colony World. Under the Child of Morus Alba are the ten Great Mournful-Death souls. They control the supreme treasure, Eighteen Spirit Hell, and they are incredibly powerful.”