Pursuit of the Truth

To Su Ming, the thirtieth Sky had long since ceased to be a sky, but was a blade that was placed horizontally in the sky. The gleaming blade was as bright as the sky, which was why it morphed into thirty skies, becoming a ravine that blocked off all those who were not in Boundless Dao Realm.

It was not impossible to cross the ravine, but if anyone wanted to do it, they would require the resolve to sever their Dao. It did not matter whether the Dao they severed was right or wrong, what was important was their resolve!

Tian Xiu Luo thought he had that resolve. He thought he severed his Dao, but when he saw Gu Hong reversing his own Dao in the end and giving up on everything to help Su Ming complete his Dao, he knew that in terms of resolve, he could not compare.

The Sovereign of Ancient Zang also understood that. The two of them had already come to know why they could not step into the thirtieth Sky. It had nothing to do with whether the Dao they severed was right or wrong, but that their resolve was simply not enough…

They had too many things holding them back. With those shackles, it would forever be difficult for them to completely sever their Dao. Be it their kismet or the ability to create all manner of living, if they did not have complete resolve and dedication to it, they could not enter Boundless Dao Realm.

When Su Ming touched the thirtieth Sky, booming sounds shook the sky and earth. As they reverberated through the air, the world trembled. The Sovereign of Ancient Zang’s eyes gathered on him, and Tian Xiu Luo’s eyes shone brightly. As they focused their entire attention on Su Ming, they saw him… charging like a moth into the flames.

When the loud booms echoed in the air, it was as if a gleaming blade came charging down to cut Su Ming. He did not dodge or evade it. With resolve and determination, he took an unwavering step to the blade slicing down at him.

The blade… went through Su Ming’s body as if it had phased through him. It sliced through him, but it did not draw blood nor cause any wounds. It only severed Su Ming’s destiny…

It sounded abstract, but what the blade severed… was Su Ming’s choice, because the concept of severing one’s Dao was in truth a choice. A person could choose the past or the future.

If Su Ming chose to sever the past, then he would have a glorious future ahead of him. If he chose to sever his future, then he could keep the past with him eternally.

No one other than Su Ming knew of his precise choice. Be it the Sovereign of Ancient Zang or Tian Xiu Luo, both of them could only see that Su Ming had severed his Dao, but if he did not describe in detail what he had severed, no one would know about it.

When the blade swung down, loud booms resounded through the air, and the blade shattered. When it fell apart, it turned into the fragments of the sky, allowing Su Ming… to move past the twenty-ninth Sky and step into the thirtieth Sky!

At the instant he stepped there, Su Ming lowered his head, but he did not look at the land nor the area around him. Instead, he was quietly experiencing something.

Under the vortex, the Sovereign of Ancient Zang and Tian Xiu Luo felt their hearts tremble. They stared Su Ming, who was currently standing in the thirtieth layer in the vortex, in a daze.

They did not say a single word, only watched quietly.

After a long, long time had passed, Su Ming lifted his head slowly. His third eye could no longer be seen at the center of his brow, and neither could his nine overlapping Dao Divinities be seen. His entire person seemed to have become different at that moment, but that difference could not be described with words.

He sighed softly, and when he lifted his head, his gaze landed on the thirty-first Sky. That place… was a world the Sovereign of Ancient Zang and Tian Xiu Luo could not see from the ground.

When Su Ming saw the thirty-first Sky clearly, he understood why Gu Hong had fallen silent when he stood at that place.

There was a huge person before them. It sat in space, and beneath him was a Feng Shui compass. Around his wrist was a string of pearls, and he was dressed in a black long robe. It was Xuan Zang.

Or rather, he was the Emperor of Ancient Zang, who disappeared from Ancient Zang’s royal palace and was believed to be dead!

He had clearly not died completely, but instead, drifted about in space in search for a miracle that could resurrect him.

Su Ming stared at the illusory figure quietly. It was a scene that Gu Hong had seen when he stood in that place earlier, and it had made him understand what Su Ming had told him a long time ago.

Su Ming was silent for a long time before he took a step forward and began walking into the sky. When he arrived at the barrier leading to the thirty-first Sky, he crossed it with one step.

When he arrived at the thirty-first Sky and looked above him, Xuan Zang’s figure became even clearer, and Su Ming was able to sense… the bald crane’s presence spreading out of Xuan Zang’s clenched fist.

That presence caused Su Ming to remember the feather he had grabbed. That feather had flown out when the bald crane was swept into the void.

However, Su Ming could not see the Emperor of Ancient Zang’s face clearly. It was rather blurry… but even if it was blurry and Su Ming could not see it clearly, he could still somewhat sense that his face… was the exact same as his.

“When Master stood here and chose to reverse his Dao, he must have also had a sense of what that figure’s face looked like, just like I do…” Su Ming murmured under his breath while sighing softly.

While his sigh still echoed in the air, Su Ming took another step forward. With it, the thirty-first Sky crumbled before him, and the thirty-second Sky’s barrier was also torn to pieces the moment Su Ming walked forward.

When he stood in the thirty-second Sky, he could already see the face of the person sitting on the huge Feng Shui compass in space. It… was Su Ming’s own.

Tian Xiu Luo was quiet for a while before he spoke from beyond the black and white vortex under Su Ming. “What did you see?!”

Tian Xiu Luo had asked Gu Hong about it, and he seemed to have somewhat understand Gu Hong’s answer. However, when he asked Su Ming about it, Su Ming did not provide him with a similar answer.

“I… saw myself,” Su Ming said softly. His voice echoed through the thirty-two Skies and spread to every corner of the world.

Su Ming stared at the figure on the Feng Shui compass, then took that a step into the thirty-third Sky.

With that step, the thirty-third Sky vanished before him as if it no longer existed, allowing Su Ming… to arrive before the huge figure sitting on the Feng Shui compass. He was only one final step away from the center of the figure’s brow.

When he stood there, Su Ming stared at the huge figure for a long, long time. In silence, thousands of thoughts were born in his head. He thought of many people and many things, and then, he sighed softly, channeling all his thoughts into that sigh. It would echo for eternity and never fade away

Then… he took his final step!

When Su Ming put his foot down, purple light shone from his body. It shot through the thirty-three Skies and descended on the ground. It sent all the fog scattering and chased away all emptiness, causing Ancient Zang to turn purple.

Su Ming lowered his head then and cast a glance at the world below him. He saw the person dressed in the straw cape standing outside the city gate of the royal capital. It was Tian Xie Zi. He was staring up at Su Ming, and a smile was on his face. It held a reluctance to part, a farewell, and a blessing.

Su Ming saw that Dao Han was no longer in isolation in Seven Moons Sect, but was instead standing on a coffin while staring at the sky. There was a complicated look on his face, and he was staring at the sky quietly with respect that came from the bottom of his heart…

And in the dimension belonging to One Dao Sect that seemed to be isolated from the world and had shattered, Great Dao Paragon Sen Mu was also staring at the sky in a daze. It was no longer night before him. The sun shone bright, and a ray of sunlight shone on the side of his face, causing the shadow behind him… to be that of Su Ming’s second senior brother, who seemed to be standing among the flowers in the ninth summit with a gentle smile on his face.

There was a woman who had just dragged her exhausted body out of a cave abode in the mountains. Needless to say, it was Xu Hui. Her face was slightly pale, and when she stared at the sky, a look of attention appeared on her face, as if there was a soft sigh in her heart that could not be voiced.

There were others…

Others…

Like Hao Hao. In his world, he sat on the tree crown that replaced the sky. The boy was quiet, and he seemed to be able to see Su Ming too. While smiling happily on the tree, he lifted his hand and waved at Su Ming.

“I’ve already returned home, big brother… you’re about to go home too…”

Like the headless figure sitting on the city in the world under the tree crown. At that moment, he seemed to have moved slightly, and he too became a part of the farewell in the form of laughter that was coming from the palace set in the bustling city.

Di Tian’s joyful laughter and the happiness among the people from his sect sitting around him lingered in the air for a long time, refusing to leave. Di Tian had a wine cup in his hand, and when no one was paying attention, he lifted his head slightly to take a sip of wine, but in truth, he was staring at the sky. There was a blessing in his gaze.

Like Lei Chen, who was sitting under the lamps lit in Dark Mountain Tribe. No matter how the wind blew, it could not extinguish the fire. The sky was covered by the branches that prevented all those on the ground from seeing beyond them, but there was a melancholic air about the tribe that would disappear even without wind blowing against it. That melancholy came from Lei Chen as he stood with his head lifted. He stared at the sky and laughed.

He laughed and laughed until tears trickled down his cheeks…

Like the Old Man Extermination on the lone ship in the sea. When he lifted his head to look at the sky, anguish appeared on his face, and then it morphed into a sigh.

Su Ming moved his gaze away. His expression was very calm at that moment, and there was no longer any red in his eyes. Instead, his gaze was clear. He had seen through all the prosperity in life and lived through many springs, summers, autumns, and winters.

He turned around and his foot also landed…

When he took his final step, he… disappeared into the center of the black robed man’s brow… for all time.

One winter, one life, a world called Ancient Zang, a sigh that departed…

When he woke up, he woke up to unfamiliarity. When he left… he only brought with him loneliness. Only his Dao was like the purple light in the sky. Even if his destiny faded away, the purple light would last forever.