Pursuit of the Truth

The entire process from the moment the aura appeared to the moment it vanished lasted for ten or so breaths. When the stone the size of a fingernail in his hand no longer had the aura that did not belong to Harmonious Morus Alba in it, Su Ming’s eyes flashed.

‘A universe beyond Harmonious Morus Alba, huh?’

A contemplative look appeared on his face. When Yan Pei saw Su Ming’s expression, he was momentarily stunned. He had sensed the aura in the stone before and only felt that it was unfamiliar. He had sensed nothing else aside from that.

The stone pieces belonged to the second altar, but due to how unique the aura was and how it continued to dissipate, it would completely disappear in a few years. That was why Bear Chart Tribe had used the method to preserve the last batch of the stones.

But their method of preservation was not perfect, which was why once the seal was broken on a stone piece, the people around it would be able to sense its aura for ten breaths, but after that period of time, the aura would completely disappear.

Not only was Yan Pei stunned, the dozens of people from Bear Chart Tribe were also puzzled as to what had happened to Su Ming when they saw the contemplative look on his face.

The aura was just unfamiliar. Aside from that, they had never been able to find out any other benefits to the stones no matter how they investigated it.

‘By the looks of it, the second altar is really a Relocation Altar, but it doesn’t Relocate to any of the Expanses Cosmoses of Harmonious Morus Alba or Arid Triad. Instead… it can send a person out of the butterfly itself…’

When Su Ming thought of this, his heart trembled. With his level of cultivation, it had become rare for him to be shocked, but the aura and the altar had given him an idea of a possibility!

When the four wings of Harmonious Morus Alba split up and overlapped over the aeons, some cultivators had chosen to survive by fusing with their other selves, some chose to Possess the butterfly, and some people left behind their legacy in All Spirits Hall. However, some people… might have chosen to leave.

They left in the truest meaning of that word. They left Harmonious Morus Alba’s body and went to the universe beyond. They went to the space where the other eight butterflies were.

Su Ming did not know what was there. Even after attaining his current level of cultivation, he did not know that he… was as weak as an ant compared to the entire universe beyond.

While he pondered over it, Su Ming’s eyes suddenly sparkled, and when he lifted his head, he looked at Yan Pei.

“Bring me all of these stones!”

Yan Pei’s heart shuddered. There was a look that allowed neither disagreement nor argument in Su Ming’s eyes. It caused him to feel his skin crawl, and he did not dare say no. Without any hesitation, he immediately looked at the Tribe Elder of Bear Chart Tribe.

The expression of the Tribe Elder of Bear Chart Tribe changed several times. He gritted his teeth, then personally flew away. He was gone only for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn. During that time, everything in the area was silent. No one spoke. Gradually, an unseen mighty pressure filled the area, pushing down on all the people to the point that they felt like they could not circulate their cultivation bases smoothly.

Soon though, the Tribe Elder of Bear Chart Tribe came charging to the area. He did not hand the other two jade boxes to the Sovereign of Dawn Yan Pei, but instead personally brought them to Su Ming. Once Su Ming took them, he cast a glance at the man and nodded.

“I will not take the items of your tribe without offering anything back…”

When Su Ming said that, he lifted his right hand and tapped the center of the man’s brow. It happened so quickly that before the man registered what had happened, his body shuddered. He took a few staggering steps backwards and coughed up a mouthful of black blood. A large amount of black blood trickled out from his pores.

When the tribe members’ expressions changed drastically, the man lifted his hand and gestured for them to not move. He lifted his head with strenuous effort. Crazed delight and excitement appeared on his face, along with disbelief.

He could clearly sense that his blood felt ten times purer than it was in the past. As the black blood trickled out, the shadow of the giant bear behind him instantly grew larger, and it was no longer an illusion. It now looked like it had corporeal form. This could be said to be the greatest serendipity in his life. His blood had been cleansed, causing his cultivation base to increase by leaps and bounds, and his aura also became stronger.

With excitement, the man bowed deeply to Su Ming.

“Thank you… Thank you for your kindness of recreating me, sir!”

When the man said those words in excitement, Su Ming did not speak. Instead, he lowered his head and stared at the jade box in his hand. His expression changed continuously, but after a moment, resolution appeared in his features.

‘I’d like to see… just how the world of this aura looks like.’

Su Ming no longer hesitated. He lifted his right hand, and banging sounds immediately echoed in space. Two of the four jade boxes immediately shattered to reveal two stone pieces with uneven surfaces. Thick waves of unfamiliar aura instantly spread out from them.

Su Ming seized space, and the aura immediately gathered together to turn into a small ball that was about to dissipate. When Su Ming grabbed it and pushed it at the center of his brow, he closed his eyes.

His will instantly burst out. Immediately, the small ball at the center of his brow filled with it, and a loud bang shot up in Su Ming’s mind. Quickly, with the aura as a lead, his will as a bridge, his Art of Time as the divine ability he needed, he executed the Divine Art of turning back time, bringing forth the effect that only he could bring!

Su Ming’s body shuddered. His will seemed to have moved through an innumerable amount of time and swam through aeons until a vast expanse of space appeared before his eyes…

He had seen that space before. It was exactly the same as the universe where the nine butterflies flew.

Endless fog tumbled about continuously in that place. When Su Ming looked towards the fog, he had a strong feeling that the power contained in the fog every single time it tumbled could instantly destroy a powerful warrior in Avacaniya Realm. Even Su Ming himself would not be able to bear the fog for long if he ran into it while it tumbled about.

And this was just the most commonly seen movement of the fog in the vast space!

There were also bolts of lightning swimming in the fog. They twisted about, giving off a feeling of ferocious. They were not truly lightning bolts, but were lines that contained bright and uneven light. However… they caused Su Ming to sense death!

He could clearly tell that with his current body and level of cultivation, his form and soul would be destroyed upon touch. Only his will would remain, but even so, once the lightning bolts touched him a few times, he would definitely end up dead.

Su Ming was silent. He chased after the lead provided by the aura and moved through time, swimming through the tumbling fog and the lightning that was not real… until he saw a butterfly in the fog around him!

It was not Harmonious Morus Alba, because the picture on its wings was different. That butterfly was shuddering and falling apart. There was a Feng Shui compass about its size above it, and it was sucking something out of the butterfly. It continued doing so until the butterfly turned into glittering spots of light. Once they were completely absorbed by the Feng Shui compass, Su Ming saw a black-robed young man sitting cross-legged on the compass while holding a string of pearls in his hand.

“I have the sixth Reversed Spirit now, but I wonder… where the seventh Reversed Spirit hid itself.”

At the moment his voice landed in Su Ming’s ears, the young man suddenly lifted his head and looked at him. His eyes seemed to contain emptiness itself.

“Hmm?”