Pursuit of the Truth

Beyond Arid Triad’s gap was Saint Defier Expanse Cosmos, and in it was the 90th Expanse Cosmos among the 180 Expanse Cosmoses there. This Expanse Cosmos was located at the center of Saint Defier, and its galaxy was not black. Instead, there was a faint red glow in it. There were no planets in the galaxy, but there were countless blue threads floating about.

Those threads were all illusory, as if they did not exist, and they looked to be eternally suspended in the air, which gave the galaxy a dreamy air. It was completely different from a normal galaxy.

The people who lived there for a long time would notice that the world outside was different compared to their homeland when they went to the galaxies beyond for the first time.

There were countless bubbles of different sizes in the seemingly endless galaxy within the 90th Expanse Cosmos. At that moment, within a bubble about one hundred thousand feet big were two people, and they were sitting in it.

One of them was a middle-aged man. He was dressed in a casual blue long robe. His long hair was tied up and coiled on top of his head in a bun. That person had a face as fair as jade, and he looked gentle and elegant. There was a smile on his face. In his right hand he held a chess piece while he stared at the chess board in front of him with rapt attention.

Sitting across him was an old man in a white robe. This old man was twirling a part of his moustache while he smiled and stared in silence at the middle-aged man, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“I made a wrong move previously, and with just one wrong move, every single subsequent move I made was filled with mistakes.”

After a long while, the middle-aged man smiled faintly. He placed the chess piece in his hand by the side and raised his head with an expression filled with various emotions.

“If I can make the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei admit that he made a wrong move, I feel honored,” the old man said with a smile. His voice was hoarse, and it sounded as if time flowed from it.

“I made a wrong when playing against the Lord Saint Defier Xuan Jiu, who has remained a Lord Saint Defier since the universe was created, who has never passed down his legacy, and who is the only person who remains as an eternal entity. I can’t find myself complaining.” The middle-aged man shook his head as he spoke at a moderate pace in a self-deprecating manner.

“But I don’t quite understand this. Senior Xuan Jiu, why did you ask to play with me with your divine thought when I was about to descend to Arid Triad?”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man lifted his head. There was still a smile at the corner of his lips, but there was a hint of fierceness in his eyes, and it looked like it was the light that could make the universe lose its color. It was incredibly aggressive.

The old man was silent for a moment before he said languidly with a deep voice, “The chess piece in your hand might not be a chess piece. The chessboard you see might not be a chessboard as well, but no matter what… since we agreed that the first cultivator in Avacaniya Realm sent to Arid Triad would be from Dark Dawn… then I do not wish that this one wrong move would result in subsequent mistakes for the entire game.

“Returning to Arid Triad is the most important thing for the both of us. There can be no error in this. Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei, please regard this matter with importance.”

The sharp glare in the middle-aged man’s eyes grew sharper, and the smile on his lips became colder.

“It’s not yet time for Saint Defier to try and control how I do things! As for this chess piece in my hand… It is his honor to be able to become my chess piece. Also… this chess piece in my hand is destined to be my chess piece. He can’t escape from my palm.”

There was no arrogance on the middle-aged man’s face, but the confidence in his words caused his presence to stand above all in the universe.

“And if you end up with a board full of mistakes because of one wrong move?” the old man asked faintly.

“Even if I end up with a board full of mistakes because of one wrong move, the person who made the move is me, and I can restart the board,” the middle-aged man said coolly.

“If the chessboard is broken?”

“Then I will create the chessboard again!”

A glint appeared in the old man’s eyes as he enunciated his next words slowly. “And if the chess piece became the player?”

“That’s impossible!” the middle-aged man said resolutely.

“Perhaps this is indeed impossible… but what if there is another person besides this chess piece?”

“Are you talking about the ant from that Ninth Summit? That person who fused with True Morning Dao World’s will is just conceited. How dare he fuse with a True World’s will? Right now, he should have long since lost his sense of self. Can he still even be considered human?” the middle-aged man said coldly.

“I sensed something earlier. There was a strange power that spread out from a spot in Arid Triad, and a tunnel was opened. That tunnel went to an unknown spot and exiled some people as if they had been banished.

“Can you do such a thing?” The old man stared at the middle-aged man, and a stern look appeared on his face.

“That’s why you did not want us to forcefully attack the Ninth Summit. Instead, you forced down the fighting spirit of those Paragons and chose to stall for time.” The middle-aged man’s expression was still as cold as ever, and his thoughts could not be read from his words.

“Before we see the light of things and are certain whether he has fused with True Morning Dao World… or whether he has truly replaced True Morning Dao World, I am not willing to offend this person. I also do not want to spread the flames of war and incite this person’s wrath.

The old man was silent for a moment before he said slowly, “At that time, the price of causing a chessboard full of mistakes because of one mistake would result in the cultivators from our Expanse Cosmoses being buried by that person’s anger because of your command.

“When I mentioned a wrong move, I was not talking about you, but myself. Saint Defier made the wrong choice when we chose our chess piece in the past… Right now, the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei is about to descend to Arid Triad, and I do not… want you to continue making mistakes.”

The middle-aged man stared at the old man. After a long while, the aloof look on his face disappeared and was replaced by the smile that was as gentle as a spring breeze. He did not speak, but instead stood up and took a step into the distance.

Three steps later, his figure disappeared without a trace from the world of bubbles.

“One wrong move, and a whole chessboard of mistakes… The chess piece isn’t frightening. What is frightening is the player you do not see beside that chess piece.” The old man frowned and sighed softly. He lifted his head and looked around himself. A hint of determination slowly appeared on his face.

At the center of Dark Dawn Expanse Cosmos was a black galaxy. There was a place filled with ghastly white skeletons in it. They were endless and could not be counted.

There was a middle-aged man who sat at the top of the mountain of the white skeletons.

Needless to say, the man was the person who had been in the world of bubbles. He slowly opened his eyes, and a white light shone in them. A hint of a cold sneer appeared on his lips.

‘Xuan Jiu has lived for too long. What made him outstanding is gone, and he became a mountain without a summit… It’s just some Ninth Summit and a person who was so conceited that he fused with a True World’s will. Why should I be concerned about them?

‘He isn’t my chess piece, and he isn’t even worthy enough to be my chess piece. My piece… is in the Emperor of Abyss’ True World.’

The middle-aged man stood up slowly. When he took a step forward, the mountain of white skeletons behind him rotated. The entire mountain range swayed and turned into a sea of white skeletons. They spun beneath the man’s feet before they swept him up and rushed through the galaxy at an extreme speed. He charged… towards Arid Triad’s gap.

…..

When the flames of war spread through Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos, Yin Death Vortex continued rotating. A strange power seemed to have appeared in it, causing all the people from Dark Dawn and Saint Defier to find it hard to take even half a step inside.

It was just like with the Antecedental Spirit’s disaster. Even if it could enter Yin Death Vortex, it would be weakened.

Yin Death Vortex continued to remain mysterious in other people’s eyes, as if it would continue rotating eternally.

The depths of Yin Death Vortex were connected to the vortex belonging to Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos, which was like a mirror reflecting Arid Triad. At that moment, all of Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos had descended into silence. Every single operation in the Expanse Cosmos had come to a stop… except for the cocoon Su Ming had turned into at the spot where he and his other self had fought in True Sky Hill World.

The cocoon was only about a hundred feet tall. From the distance, it did not seem eye-catching. There was no mighty pressure spreading out from it or any astonishing presence. It was so common-looking that it seemed incredibly ordinary.

But right beside it was a sight rarely seen—Harmonious Morus Alba’s will had personally descended there. It surrounded the area, and with the entire Expanse Cosmos frozen, it prevented all interruptions from the outside world. It cared about this. It protected Su Ming, and it looked forward to his emergence. As the days passed, its care, protection, and expectation grew stronger.

It would not allow a single accident to happen to Su Ming’s metamorphosis. It would not allow him to fail, because his appearance, his fusion with the Child of Morus Alba, the possession of the wills of two Great True Worlds… all of these things were filled with the possibility of variation.

In its mind, Su Ming was not the person who fused with a Child of Morus Alba, but… the first person who fused with a Child of Morus Alba while possessing the wills of two Great True Worlds.

The implications behind this were completely different from everything that had happened before. In fact, to Harmonious Morus Alba’s will, the Children of Morus Alba were not its children, but servants. When they fused with a person from Arid Triad, they would either continue being its servants or become a part of Arid Triad. It did not care about which came to be.

But Su Ming had Possessed Morning Dao and Immortal Sect, which was why a cocoon had appeared after he merged with the Child of Morus Alba, and since he was a cocoon… in some sense, while he was in the cocoon, Su Ming was already an existence in the same Realm as Harmonious Morus Alba and Arid Triad. In fact, he was already a race they acknowledged!

That was why Harmonious Morus Alba paid so much attention to him!

It seemed to have seen a vague form of hope from Su Ming. That was the first time… it saw hope after countless years and after countless eras had transitioned from one to another.

It was the hope to return home!

In the countless eras it could no longer count, it heard its home calling to it more than once, but it could not find the hope to return there. During that moment, however, that hope had been magnified endlessly. Even if it was Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos’ will, it still trembled as its hope continuously grew.

It was different from Arid Triad. Compared to the aloof and nearly numb Arid Triad, it possessed thoughts and emotions that were similar to those of a human being. That was why there would be three Children of Morus Alba in the place, while there was no such thing in Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos.

Time trickled by, but not much time of it passed…

One day, when a light cracking sound traveled through the silent galaxy, Harmonious Morus Alba’s will surrounded the cocoon in an excited manner. The cracking sounds grew in number, as if the cocoon was shattering from within.

The cracking lasted for a period of time. Eventually, a thin crack appeared on the cocoon’s surface. It slowly spread out. When a clear cracking sound spread out incredibly distinctly, the crack widened to a breadth of a finger. Not a single sliver of light spread out from within, but all those from beyond could see into the cocoon.

They could see that there was a young man with his eyes closed inside. He was naked and looked like he was sleeping calmly. He had a head full of black hair, and his face was so fair that he looked sickly pale. The third eye at the center of his brow was not vertical, but a horizontal line. Above it was another vertical line…

That vertical line was like a cut that penetrated the third eye.

It looked like a cross, but the moment Su Ming opened his eyes and the third eye flew open, the cross… looked like a butterfly that had spread its wings!