Pursuit of the Truth

“It’s just as I expected…” the boy said in anguish.

He looked at the purple-robed old man and the young man in white, but the two of them were silent.

Once a person reached their level of cultivation, had lived for an incredibly long time, and had gained an insight towards life and death, they would more or less no longer be that concerned about living and dying.

What they cared about… was their level of cultivation. Perhaps the end of their lives could no longer be changed, but once they reached their particular level of cultivation, their obsession towards the path of cultivation would have long become their greatest desire.

They were no longer living for the sake of living. The state of being alive was simply the most basic need for them to continue training in the path of cultivation, which was the reason they had fallen silent at that moment.

There were few among those who had lived for so long who would be afraid of dying, but most of them knew that they had not reached the limits of their cultivation. Because of that, they would be unwilling to accept the fact that they did not have enough years to live. This was the main reason why they would not want to die.

“So, we only have a few hundred years left, huh?” The young man in white smiled. There was no anguish in his smile. Instead, a hint of determination appeared in it.

“A few hundred years…”

The purple-robed old man sighed softly. He still had plenty of things he wanted to do, but he had too little time left. To them, a few hundred years was equivalent to a few days for a mortal.

“Since everything is about to be destroyed, then even if I leave behind my phala [1] and all the legacy of my cultivation, I still won’t have a chance… to keep it, but I will still try!”

The purple-robed old man also had a determined look. The domineering air spreading out from his body at that moment was incredibly distinct. It was clearly a presence of someone who was fearless in the face of true disaster.

The boy, the purple-robed old man, and the young man in white were incredibly good friends. They had been together for many aeons, and the friendship formed through the course of such a long time allowed them to go through all storms together.

As for the old Ku Mu, it was clear that he had not been on very good terms with the three, or else the event before would have never happened. If the purple-robed old man or the young man in white had been in his place, the boy would surely have stopped them.

This was something Su Ming had deduced based on how everyone had descended, the expressions they had on their faces when they did so, and how they had spoken to each other. It was also why he had attacked so ruthlessly and without hesitation just then. He had wanted to intimidate them.

The three did not show any signs of not trusting what Su Ming said. After all, they had spoken about this beforehand, and they had formed their own speculations. Su Ming’s arrival and his power, which so obviously surpassed theirs, could only come from one logical explanation.

Besides, they had lived for many years, and they each had their own judgments. They… would not doubt Su Ming’s words.

“This is my second question: I would like to ask… how confident are you in surviving this disaster that will truly destroy everything?”

The boy looked at Su Ming when he spoke. Upon hearing his words, the purple-robed old man and the young man in white looked over at Su Ming as well while waiting for his answer.

Su Ming was silent for a long while before he answered slowly, “About half,”

“Is it five-tenths or…”

When the boy heard his words, he formed an answer in his heart, but even so, he still wanted to verify it, and his voice could no longer remain calm.

“Half of one-tenth,” Su Ming answered while looking at the boy.

Once he said that, the trio immediately fell silent. Su Ming did not attempt to hide the truth. He was indeed only half of one-tenth confident that he could live through the disaster.

“What method will you try to attempt living? Are you going to the Vast Expanse?” the boy asked after a moment of thoughtful silence.

“But the universe is boundless, and the fog and lives in it have great strength. It’s impossible for us to survive there for long. In just a hundred years, we would surely die,” the purple-robed old man said calmly with a sigh in his heart.

His words were true. Even with Su Ming’s level of cultivation, it would be impossible for him to survive for long in the Vast Expanse…

Unless he attained great completion in Avacaniya Realm. Once he reached that stage, he would have the right to move in the Vast Expanse, just like the nine Harmonious Morus Albas.

Su Ming sighed softly. He then swept his gaze past the three people and said slowly, “It is one of the choices.”

“Fellow Daoist, do you have other alternatives? Do you mind telling us?” the boy said with a grim expression.

“The second alternative is to make my own level of cultivation reach the level of this Harmonious Morus Alba, but even so, I would still only have half of one-tenth of a chance to survive while in the universe beyond, which is much more dangerous than the disaster.

“The third alternative is something I sensed vaguely in this universe when I received an epiphany some time ago. Perhaps countless years later, or perhaps countless years before, or perhaps in a place incredibly far from here, there was another world.

“I once sent the souls of a race called the Mourning-Death Soul into that world, and they brought with them my Curse, but I don’t know whether that world truly exists or not. Perhaps all of it was fake… but perhaps, it truly exists.

“I will send the people who are most important to me into that world I cannot be certain exists with my blessing, but this choice… is the last choice.

“Because I cannot be certain whether that world truly exists. Once they enter that place, will they still be them? Will they still have their memories intact? Will we… be able to meet again?” Su Ming said slowly, and there was a melancholic tone the trio could sense in his words.

They fell silent again.

“You’ve finished asking the three questions, right? If you don’t want to talk about Life Extermination Hall, then it’s fine… I will take my leave now. If we are fated to meet again, perhaps we will. Fellow Daoist, thank you for your nectar.” Su Ming wrapped his fist in his palm towards the trio.

“Fellow Daoist Su!” the boy said.

When Su Ming looked towards him, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply towards him. Stern looks appeared on the purple-robed old man and the young man in white’s faces, and they wrapped their fists in their palms. They too bowed deeply to Su Ming.

“It’s not something I cannot say. The ancient ship is ever at one spot, and that is beside the gap leading to the Vast Expanse, but it will occasionally hide itself. However, I can be certain that it’s there.

When the boy lifted his head, determination appeared on his face. He did not hesitate in his speech. “As for Old Man Extermination… He always sits on the ancient ship!”

Su Ming looked at him. It might have been the first time they met, but the feeling the boy gave Su Ming was very unique. He was a powerful warrior who came from an ancient aeon and who possessed great wisdom.

“Thank you.” Su Ming nodded.

“I do not deserve your thanks. I would like to ask you to promise me something as well, fellow Daoist Su…”

There was resolve in the boy’s determination. When he spoke, he looked at Su Ming with expectation in his eyes.

“My Dao is different from other people’s. Among the cultivators over the countless aeons in this universe, my Dao… is one of a kind! My Dao is born from my epiphany. In it, the world, the universe, this Harmonious Morus Alba, and all lives contain two forms. When all people close their eyes, everything is reduced to nothingness. They are pellets no one can see.

“When everyone open their eyes, the pellets instantly gather together and turn into this world.

“This is my Dao, and it is also the origin of my Daoist monastic name. My only wish is that the legacy of my Dao will not end with me. Fellow Daoist Su, please agree… to send my Dao into that world that may or may not exist. Let it have hope in that place!”

The boy’s expression was grim. When he spoke, he bowed deeply to Su Ming again.

“It’s the same for me. Fellow Daoist Su, please fulfill my request. Please send my legacy, which is the accumulation of all my epiphanies and my cultivation into the world that may or may not exist!”

The purple-robed old man swung his arm, and he too wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to Su Ming.

“Since the two of them have already decided to do this, then I also do not wish to have lived in vain. If that world truly exists, I wish the will of my sword will have a legacy as well. If it doesn’t exist… then it’s fine that everything that I have done will return to dust.”

The young man in white smiled, but a resolute glint appeared in his eyes. He wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to Su Ming.

“Have you thought about this properly?”

Su Ming looked at the people who had wrapped their fists in their palms towards him, then sighed in his heart. The trio did not care about their lives, but they could not afford to not care about the legacy of their cultivation. It was why before the destruction, they wanted to fight for their survival.

“There’s no need to think!” The boy lifted his head and stared at Su Ming.

Su Ming was silent for a while before he made his decision. The three had gained his respect. “Alright. I don’t know how long I’ll be in this Expanse Cosmos. The shortest will be several months, but perhaps I will stay longer… Three months later, I will come to this place again, and I will execute my divine ability to send your legacy items into that world,”

“If there are others…” The boy hesitated for a moment.

“As long as they are as determined as you are, then even if I have to spend some of my cultivation base, I will help all of you, but I cannot guarantee whether that world exists once I send your legacies over, and I cannot guarantee whether your legacies will change if that world truly exists.”

Su Ming looked at the boy while speaking, then nodded at the other two as well. Once he wrapped his fist in his palm towards them, he turned around and walked towards the sealed entrance of the cave abode above him. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

When Su Ming left, only the boy and his two friends were left. They were silent for a moment before the purple-robed old man let loose a long sigh. More wrinkles appeared on his face.

“I have to go back and prepare the Brand of my legacy. I will take my leave now. A few hundred years…”

The purple-robed old man shook his head, then once he wrapped his fist in his palm, he stepped out of the entrance.

The young man in white did not say anything. He only nodded to the boy and left as well.

When the boy was the only one left in the cave abode, he slowly sat down beside the table, picked up his wine cup, and drank. The determination on his face grew stronger.

‘Only hundreds of years, huh? If I could personally witness the destruction, then even if I died… I would not have lived my life in vain! But the only difference between me and the others is my legacy… It contains my epiphany and also the legacy of my life.

‘I wonder… how the children who have my legacy will look like when they are sent to that world that may or may not exist. I wonder if they will remember that an ancestor of theirs existed here?’

The boy drank all of his wine in one gulp while full of anguish. The wine was spicy, but the sweetness at the end was like time and the vicissitudes of life…