Pursuit of the Truth

The tunnel formed by the vortex in the sky was a path Su Ming had opened so that the boy and others could send out their legacy items. Besides them, they could not send in anything else, like their Nascent Divinities.

Since greed could never be satiated, cultivators like the purple-robed old man, who took the risk, were always present. Since they were all bound to die hundreds of years later, then he might as well step into the world that may or may not exist.

But he was worried that Su Ming would not allow this, which was why he had decided to risk trying to deceive him. In truth, Su Ming had long since noticed it, which was why he had said his words earlier, but he had not done anything to bring about the death of the purple-robed old man’s Nascent Divinity. The man had been destroyed simply because he could not withstand the mighty pressure in the tunnel.

When the vortex vanished and the sky returned to normal, the boy turned his head around with a complicated expression and cast a glance at the spot where the purple-robed old man had stood. At that moment, there was no one there. The purple-robed old man had long since disappeared into the wind as ashes.

The sycamore tree glowed in a shade of red despite being in the dark, but no one took any interest in it.

The boy was silent. The young man in white also had a slightly complicated expression on his face. The other four people beside them did not speak either. A hint of sadness rose in their hearts. They knew that the purple-robed old man’s death was not related to Su Ming. He had just gone seeking his own end.

However, they could understand what the purple-robed old man had felt when he made his decision. In truth, all of them had thought about it at least once…

“If that world truly exists, then your legacies… will continue in that world, and they will have my blessing.”

Su Ming swung his arm and cast a final glance at the cultivators before him. Then, he turned around and stepped into the air.

The boy and the others bowed deeply to him as one. There was no need for them to voice their gratitude, and neither did Su Ming need it. He had just done it because he respected their conviction to pass down their legacies.

When Su Ming left, the boy continued to stand beside the sycamore tree under the night sky. A smile slowly appeared on his face. There was no calculativeness to it. He stared at the sky with a peaceful look. His legacy held his blessings and hopes, wishing that his children might be able to grow to surpass him in that world which may or may not exist.

The young man in white touched his now swordless scabbard with an expression on his face as if he was free. He had turned his own sword into his legacy. Even if it shattered in that world which may or may not exist, it would still turn into numerous sharp swords. Anyone who became their masters would accomplish many great feats.

He did not need a scion. What he needed was just to deliver his will of a sword cultivator into that world, into the hands of those who could obtain his sword!

The other four stared at the sky quietly. There were different hopes in their hearts, but they were all similar in a way too… They would never know how their legacies would shine in that world which may or may not exist.

The answer was not important, however. What was important was that they no longer had any regrets.

“My fellow Daoists, I wish to sleep during the final three hundred something years. I do not want to think about anything else, and will wait for that day to arrive,” the boy said while looking at the people beside him.

“I’m going to wander about. I’m going to create another sword for myself during these three hundred something years.”

The young man in white smiled faintly. It was slightly cold, but it still contained the air of him being free of his burdens. As he spoke, he wrapped his fist in his palm to the others and took a step into the air.

The other four were silent for a moment before they wrapped their fists in their palms towards the boy. They turned into four long arcs that shot into the air and disappeared into the starry sky as well.

When the group left, the boy sat down cross-legged under the sycamore tree and leaned against it. He watched the lights of the houses in the city, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips. He slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The autumn breeze blew past and lifted his hair. The autumn leaves fell and turned into a blanket that covered his body. Once he closed his eyes, the entire world gradually turned indistinct. In the end, it turned into nothingness.

When an unknown amount of time passed and he opened his eyes again, he was no longer under the sycamore tree, but was at the mountainside. The sky was no longer dark. The sun hung high above, showing that it was noon. The mountainside was covered in green grass. Cows and sheep formed herds. He… was still a shepherd boy, but he had already forgotten his true identity at that moment.

“I had a dream…” The boy patted his head with an enraptured expression on his face.

Once Su Ming took a step into the galaxy, the space around him was lifted without a sound, as if a page in a book had been turned. When it fell again, the fourth wing had already been changed and turned into the Heavenly Foxes’ Expanse Cosmos, located in Dark Dawn’s camp.

Su Ming looked at the somewhat familiar galaxy and found that he could not find the bald crane. He could not help but laugh at that. A long time had passed, and with how the bald crane was, it had to have left to fool around somewhere

When Su Ming turned around, he spread his will and noticed that the woman called Zi Ruo was beside Yan Pei. Su Ming was silent for a moment before he chose to take a step towards them.

Zi Ruo stood on a mountain in a planet at the center of the Heavenly Foxes’ Expanse Cosmos. One hundred something years might only be an instant for her, but right then… there was a miserable look on her face.

Beside her was Yan Pei. His face was filled with anguish, and he looked as if he wanted to open his mouth to say something, but when he looked at Zi Ruo’s side profile, he found that he could not say anything.

After a long while, Yan Pei sighed in his heart and said slowly, “You should know that the person who appeared in Dark Dawn and Saint Defier earlier was not him…”

“Of course I know it’s not him… but I personally saw my people die in his hands. It was his face, his presence, and I saw my people’s madness and resentment… What am I supposed to do?!” Zi Ruo shuddered, and hatred appeared in her eyes.

Yan Pei was silent. He did not know what he should say. Even though he knew that person was not Su Ming and even though he was a Sovereign of Dawn, it was impossible for him to make the cultivators filled with intense resentment believe in his words.

If he had not been familiar with Su Ming, then even he would have been in disbelief when he saw what happened…

At that moment, neither he nor the miserable Zi Ruo noticed Su Ming standing behind them. When he heard their conversation, he frowned.

As he did so, he spread his will quietly through the area, making it fill the Heavenly Foxes’ Expanse Cosmos, and by extension, all the Expanse Cosmoses in Dark Dawn. He also spread it into Saint Defier’s camp so that he could see all the 180 Expanse Cosmoses there.

The things happening in the two Expanse Cosmoses appeared like pictures in Su Ming’s mind. He saw that nearly half of the Heavenly Foxes had died, and it was it was practically the same for all the races in Dark Dawn’s camp as well as the 180 Expanse Cosmoses in Saint Defier’s camp.

There were many people who hated him. During the one hundred something years, they watched the brutality of the person named Su Ming as he slaughtered their people, and the depth of their resentment as well as the intensity of their killing intent towards him caused Su Ming to fall silent once he saw everything.

It was clearly Old Man Extermination’s doing, but Su Ming could not think of why he would do so. It did not matter how many people died in the one hundred something years since the moment the disaster descended, they would all be wiped off. Besides gathering resentment, there was no other gain in performing such an act.

‘Resentment…’

Su Ming frowned. After a long while, the crease between his eyebrows disappeared. Since he could not understand what was going on, it would be better if he chose not to think about it. The event had already happened, so even if he tried to resolve it, it would be useless, just like crying over spilled milk.

Su Ming’s expression was calm, and his heart was at ease. He only needed to know that it was not of his doing. As for the rest… Su Ming did not want to care.

In fact, he could already imagine that since it was related to Old Man Extermination, there was a high possibility that it was connected to the three black-robed men Old Man Extermination had sent to Arid Triad.

When he thought of them, Su Ming sighed softly, then turned around and left. He did not show up and interrupt Yan Pei and Zi Ruo.

He turned around and stepped into space. When his foot landed, he had already left Dark Dawn’s camp and stepped into the galaxy belonging to Saint Defier’s camp.

He went to the place where the bald crane was located.

Saint Defier’s camp had an Expanse Cosmos known as Small Falling Dust Cosmos. It was a small Expanse Cosmos located at the borders, near the Expanse Cosmos belonging to the Sky Buriers. Falling Dust had a sacred position in Saint Defier’s camp… because one of the three Lords of Saint Defier stayed there—Fei Hua.

There was only one cultivation planet in Falling Dust Cosmos. It was covered in lush greenery, which was surrounded by rivers and seas, making the planet look like a land of water. It was filled with a graceful and gentle air, but it also had a mighty presence, giving off a feeling that was no weaker than that of tall and gigantic mountains.

There was a lake on the planet, and a wooden house beside it. Countless plants and flowers grew around it, and a nice fragrance filled the air, making the place overflow with vitality. There was an old woman sitting outside the wooden house. She watched the lake by herself with a gentle smile on her face as if she was going through her memories and was immersed in the past.

Not too far away from her was the bald crane. It had turned into a stone and lay on the ground in a daze. Over the one hundred something years, it had stared at the wooden house and the old woman just like that. It felt like it could continue staring at her until the world was destroyed and the universe was no longer around.

It did not know why it stared at her, and it also did not know why it came there. Every single time the bald crane thought of that question, its heart would throb in pain, and it would feel as if it was about to be ripped apart.

Once it stopped trying to figure it out, the bald crane found another form of peace in the one hundred something years, one that was different from when it stayed beside Su Ming. It was no longer obsessed with crystals, no longer thought about the past it could not remember, and in fact, it decided to stay beside the old woman and accompany her for the rest of its life.

Then one day, when Su Ming appeared quietly beside it and sat down silently, the stone that was the bald crane slowly transformed. Once it gained its original form, it looked over at him.

Su Ming was also looking at the bald crane. He saw the tears in the bald crane’s eyes. For an illusory body with no physical form… tears were a luxury. It was impossible for them to fall, so those tears were the manifestation of sadness.

“Su Ming… I want to cry…” the bald crane murmured.