Pursuit of the Truth

The moment Su Ming said those words, the old man who had grabbed White Five’s tail laughed loudly, and the originally gloomy expression on his face due to White Five not cooperating with him disappeared without a trace.

“Not bad~ As expected of my good disciple. Those words are far too domineering!”

The old man let go of White Five’s tail and placed his hands behind his back. He moved next to Su Ming and stood beside him while staring at the white-robed man, who was now smiling pleasantly.

“You son of a b*tch, what are you doing here?!” the old man shouted angrily.

The moment he said that, the man in white frowned. Only the old man before him would dare to say such words before him in all of Ancient Zang.

“Oh wow, you’re even frowning? Even when you frown, you’re still a son of a b*tch!” the old man shouted out loudly while glaring at him.

The man in white stared at the old man coldly. After a long while, the frown disappeared, and he said, “We’ve finally met again, so could you stop talking in such a crude manner every single time you flap your mouth, you mad old man!”

The old man glared and even rolled up his sleeves before roaring loudly. “You son of a b*tch!”

The man in white shook his head, and his gaze landed on the exit. When he swept his gaze past the area calmly, he spoke languidly.

“Han Yu, come in. This is the person I want you to meet.”

After he said that, a figure appeared at the door of the courtyard. It belonged to a woman. Her long black hair spilled over her shoulders, and she was dressed in white. She was incredibly beautiful, and the calm look in her eyes gave off an elegant feeling that caused others to feel comfortable.

She was clearly a woman whose personality was also gentle. Her skin was fair, and she seemed to be twenty years old. Once she appeared, she walked slowly into the courtyard and bent her knees slightly to bow respectfully to the old man.

“I am Han Yu. Greetings, senior Hong Yu.”

Su Ming’s expression remained the same; his expression did not change. He lifted the axe and continued cutting wood. It did not matter who appeared in the courtyard. He did not pay much attention to it, even if he… had already guessed the white-robed man’s identity.

When the sounds of wood being cut echoed in the air, the old man saw Han Yu, and the cynical look on his face instantly disappeared. It was replaced by a hint of solemnness.

“She’s the baby from all those years ago?” the old man asked slowly after staying silent for a while. Even his voice was different from before, causing Su Ming to turn his head slightly to cast a glance at him.

“Han Yu, show me your right arm.”

When the white-robed man said those words, Han Yu’s face turned slightly red. She glanced at Su Ming, then lowered her head and rolled her right sleeve up until she revealed her elbow. There was a red birthmark on her fair skin.

The old man scrutinized it. He stood silent, then sighed softly, without a single hint of his usual craziness around. Instead, it had turned into calmness. He cast a deep glance at Han Yu, then looked at the white-robed man with a complicated expression.

“I might not approve of your Dao, but I have to admit that your Dao… is indeed astonishing!” The old man shook his head. He moved next to Su Ming and patted his shoulder.

“Greet this old son of a b*tch. You should already know who he is.”

When Su Ming heard this, he put down his axe with a calm expression, then got up, wrapped his fist in his palm, and bowed to the white-robed man.

“Greetings, senior Tian Xiu Luo.”

The white-robed man stared at Su Ming. After some time, he frowned, but soon, that frown disappeared.

“Are you using this person to cut your Dao? But what is so special about him besides his bloodline? Even if he managed to sound nine Dao Spirit Voices, it’s quite impossible for him to stir up your interest and for you to take him in as your disciple to clear the confusion in your heart,” the white-robed man said calmly.

“As long as you don’t cut your Dao, it’ll be impossible for you to step into Boundless Dao Realm. This will be the last day I come here. My goal isn’t your disciple either, but to prove that my Dao is true in Ancient Zang!

“I’ve already gone to the royal capital,” the white-robed man said faintly. When he spoke, he swept his gaze past Han Yu, and there was a gentle, kindly look in his eyes.

“I acknowledge your Dao, but also don’t acknowledge it. I still… believe that your Dao is the stray path!” the old man said slowly after staying quiet for a while.

“A stray path? Over the last tens of thousands of years, I’ve adopted tens of thousands of Han Yus, and nothing wrong appeared in every single one of them. This isn’t a stray path. This is my Dao!” The white-robed man smiled faintly.

Su Ming listened to their conversation while deep in thought. His gaze was on Han Yu, who remained elegant and quiet. Once he cast a few close glances at her, he slowly frowned.

The old man cast Su Ming a glance and asked calmly, “You can tell as well?”

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he answered slowly. “She… should be a man.”

“He should have been a man, but since he was brought up as a girl since young, he always thought that he’s a woman.” The old man’s calm voice landed in Su Ming’s ears at that moment, causing Su Ming’s pupils to shrink.

“This also proves that my Dao is the Great Dao!” The white-robed man moved his gaze away from Su Ming and fixed his eyes on the old man.

“My Dao is one of lives and deaths of all living beings as well as their destinies not existing! Living and dying as well as the differences in our destinies only exist because the wills of the world have deceived all of us. It tells all manner of living that we need to live and die, and so… we die.

“It told all living beings that we need destinies, and hence, different destinies appeared!

“In truth, all manner of living should be able to live eternally and exist forever. The moment we are born, we should be in Boundless Dao Realm!

“But because the will of the world lied to us, all the lives in the world believe that we will live and eventually die. We believe that we have destinies and that when our lives are formed, we walk down the path of pursuing the truth our entire lives.

“Looks at Han Yu. She is an example. She is one of the tens of thousands of examples I’ve created. I brought him up since he was young and gave him everything belonging to a girl. Hence, he is a girl! If all the women around him have the same physical structure as him… then who can say that he is not a woman?

“If all the women were also transformed in this manner… then in terms of body structure, we would be able to overturn our gender identities and change them!

“All of that has already been proven by my Dao!”

The white-robed man’s voice echoed in the air. When his words landed in Su Ming’s ears, his heart trembled. The difference in Dao and a particular person’s persistence in it was something he saw on the old man before, and… he experienced it from Tian Xiu Luo as well.

“That’s why once I come to a complete understanding, I will cut the will of the world that has been bestowed upon me, telling me that a person will live and die, that all lives have destinies, that I am weak and can only become strong after walking down the path of cultivation step by step.

“When I cut it away, I will reach Boundless Dao Realm… and in fact, I will surpass Boundless Dao Realm!”

The man in white swung his arm with great confidence on his face. That confidence was like his Dao, filled with an extreme domineering air. It was clear that he was not just aiming to cut the will that deceived him, but also to use his will to control all manner of lives.

“Your Dao is one of seeking the truth and falsehood in the world, Gu Di’s Dao is one of kismet, and my Dao is one of wills lying to us. The three of us, the three ninth level Dao Gods in Ancient Zang, have three different Daos!

“It’s impossible for three Daos be Great Daos. Only one exists, and it… belongs to me. Since you took in the third prince as your disciple, he should have some sort of connection with your Dao. Oh well, I will then take in the second prince as my disciple and have him inherit my Dao!

“Surely, the eldest prince, who Gu Di values the most, chose One Dao Sect because it is connected to Gu Di’s Dao of kismet!

“When I return to Asura Clan, I will enter a thousand-year period of isolated training. One thousand years later, when I egress, if you still remain in this state, you will die. If Gu Di still hesitates, he will die as well. Ancient Zang will then… perhaps no longer need a royal family.

“Ancient Zang Sect or Ancient Zang Clan, which do you think is better?”

The man in white smiled faintly. He walked forward, moved past Su Ming, and went to the door. Han Yu followed behind him with her head lowered. Her expression was still one of elegance and calm. After the two of them walked out of the courtyard and disappeared, the courtyard returned to silence.

Su Ming did not speak while the old man stared at the night sky in a daze. He did not speak even after a long time had passed.

The silence lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the old man shook his head.

“It’s easy to cut Dao, but if we cut it in the wrong manner… we will live a wrong life. The process of hesitating isn’t really hesitation, but the searching and questioning of our Dao. Why should we be in a hurry to cut our Dao? Why should we force the other two to cut their Daos as well just because we insist on cutting our own Dao?”

Exhaustion appeared on the old man’s face. He then turned around and walked into the house.

Su Ming moved to the stump with a contemplative look in his eyes. Be it the old man or the white-robed man, they were people who stood at the peak of Ancient Zang.

After Su Ming thought about their Daos, he could not help but think of his own Dao.

“What… is my Dao?” he mumbled softly. “Speaking of which, my Dao is rather similar to Tian Xiu Luo’s, and it’s also similar to the old man’s. As for the Dao of kismet, since I sensed it before in Harmonious Morus Alba, that is why I acknowledge it too.”

Su Ming closed his eyes and recalled his whole life. Then, he found that he could not figure out what his Dao was.

‘Perhaps I don’t have a Dao. The only path before me… is a path of wanting to resurrect the familiar faces and let them smile!

‘For this, I can fling all caution to the wind!’

His eyes flew swiftly open, revealing the resolve in them.