Pursuit of the Truth

“Sir, what is your intention for coming here?”

The boy grinned in an incredibly exaggerated fashion. The corners of his lips split till they reached his earlobes, revealing a ghastly mouth as well as countless sharp teeth.

When he smiled, the huge meatball beneath him immediately started squirming and letting out a threatening air.

“I have no ill-intentions. I was simply passing by and grew curious about this planet,” Su Ming said faintly, and his field of vision returned to normal.

He had seen an ancient air about the boy, which meant he was a cultivator who had fused with his other self an unknown number of aeons ago to obtain the right to not perish during the disaster.

The boy had reached the middle stage of Avacaniya Realm, which was why he could wake up before the time frame, but Su Ming believed that he could only remain awake in this place and not leave the fourth Expanse Cosmos. If he did, he would most likely fall asleep again.

Su Ming had seen several powerful warriors like him when he sent his will sweeping out. The boy before him was just one of them.

The boy sank into a moment of pensive silence before his smile faded away. “If that is the case, you are a guest, since you came from afar. Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to descend on my planet and have a drink of nectar?

“If you come, I can call some good friends of mine over as well. They must surely be interested in your origins.”

The boy smiled faintly, and he looked incredibly innocent. He stepped on the ground lightly, and the meatball beneath him immediately jolted. When it began contorting, all that Su Ming could see before his naked eyes was the cultivation planet overflowing with life.

Unless he used his will to sweep through the place, it was impossible for him to see the truth about the place. Clearly, the boy did not want anyone to see the ugliness of the meatball, which was why he spared no pains in using his power to cover it up.

Su Ming cast the boy a look. His expression was calm, and no changes of emotion could be seen on his face. Su Ming did not care whether the boy hid any ill intentions. After all, with Su Ming’s current level of cultivation, the number of people who could pose a threat to him in all four of Harmonious Morus Alba’s wings could be counted on one hand.

Arid Triad could be counted as one, but for the time being, he could not attack again. As for Harmonious Morus Alba… with Arid Triad keeping it in check, the butterfly’s will was incredibly timid.

If there was one who could truly pose a threat, it would be Old Man Extermination.

He had hid himself for a long period of time, never letting himself being seen. Clearly, he did not want to immediately determine who would win and live among them, which meant he was aiming for something big. But once Su Ming assumed this much, he could guess that he was already standing supreme in Harmonious Morus Alba’s Expanse Cosmoses.

‘Perhaps this advantage will only last for another four hundred years.’

Su Ming sighed in his heart. He knew full well that if the black-robed young man came, then the moment he arrived, true destruction would descend upon them. Harmonious Morus Alba would cease to exist, and Arid Triad would be destroyed. There would be no disaster, and there would no longer be any new lives born.

Even he… would be unable to survive that destruction. The only path remaining for him would be to act like Old Man Extermination. He could only watch his world disappear, his family as well as his friends return to ashes while he… brought with him hatred, madness, and a darkness that could cover even the darkness of night while he left by himself.

This understanding caused Su Ming to remember the scene he had witnessed from the secrets of the universe…

He could never understand why that version of him would slaughter its way into Dark Dawn and Saint Defier after throwing its head back and crying out in grief once he saw the countless corpses, becoming the so-called Devil once he killed most of the lives in the two camps.

‘What is the Devil?’

Su Ming had thought of this question before, but even right then, he did not have the answer. His only clue… was that Old Man Extermination was connected to Dark Dawn.

But that was only a clue.

After thinking about it, Su Ming looked at the boy and nodded slowly. He took a step forward and descended on the illusory cultivation planet and stepped into its atmosphere. Then, he arrived at the mountainside, right in front of the boy.

The sky was blue. The mountain wind was gentle, bringing with it a faint, cooling air. It blew against the grass, causing it to sway, while the cows and sheep in the distance ate it demurely. The boy was leaning against a mountain rock. There was a smile on his face, and it appeared naive and innocent, but when Su Ming took a closer look, he could see the aloofness coming through the boy’s eyes from the core of his being.

The planet was very big. When Su Ming landed on it, he felt like he could hear the noise from the people on it. He could hear quite a number of cultivators fighting against each other, be it due to verbal arguments or because of disagreements.

He could sense that at that instant, many babies were born, and at the same time, there were also a lot of people who died. Everything worked in perfect tandem to form a cycle.

“This divine ability is quite impressive,” Su Ming said faintly after a while.

“Fellow Daoist, I am not worthy of your praise.”

The boy smiled faintly. He swung his right hand, and the mountain where he was immediately distorted. When it became clear again, it turned into an existence resembling a volcano. The sunken portion was a platform, and they were surrounded by walls. Above them was the blue sky. It was… a cave abode.

A huge table was placed in the middle. The cows and sheep that were previously around them had turned into boys. In their hands they held some fruits and nectar, which they placed on the table.

Su Ming sat down, and the boy went to sit across from him. When their eyes met, the boy continued to smile. He brought out a jade slip and pushed it against the center of his brow. After a moment, the jade slip started burning at the boy’s forehead.

“After a moment, some of my good friends will come. I haven’t introduced myself. I’ve chosen to forget my real name due to the disaster of my aeon. My Daoist monastic name has also changed continuously due to the epiphanies I gained through time. Right now, you may call me… Ban Bu Zi.”

While speaking, the boy lifted his wine cup and looked at Su Ming.

Daoist monastic name was not a not used in Su Ming’s aeon. Clearly, it was a term used many aeons ago, during the time belonging to the boy.

Su Ming picked up his wine cup and said softly, “Su Ming.”

“Fellow Daoist Su, those who have come from afar are my guests. Today, allow me to receive you.”

The boy laughed, then picked up his wine cup and finished its contents in one gulp. He held the cup and tilted it, showing that he had finished everything and not a single drop was left.

Su Ming’s smile was faint. He lifted his wine cup and drank the wine. Once it entered his stomach, it turned into a hot stream that flowed through his entire body. Then, that heat exploded in all parts of his body to charge to his throat, turning into a spiciness that could not be described with words.

But that spiciness only lasted for one breath before it turned into a sweet taste, causing the breath he exhaled when he opened his mouth to smell sweet.

“How is it?” The boy lifted his head and cast a gaze at Su Ming.

“It’s very good.”

Su Ming closed his eyes and savored the taste for a while. When he opened his eyes, praise showed up on his face. Even if he did not drink often, he could tell that the wine could be known as nectar.

“I have always only invited those who share my views to drink my wine. Even in Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos, there are less than a handful of people who have the right to drink this wine.”

There was a smile on the boy’s face. He put down his wine cup with some pride, then lifted his head to look at the sky above.

“Boasting again, huh? If it wasn’t because you added the blood of that strange creature from the Vast Expanse, how could it possibly be so captivating? Come, prepare a pot for me as well.”

Hoarse laughter rang in the air, and a huge face appeared in the sky above. It charged to the ground, but it did not get bigger. Instead, it became smaller, and when it descended, it turned into an old man in a long blue robe. He was tall, and while there might be quite a number of wrinkles on his face, Su Ming could tell that he was definitely a handsome man when he was younger.

At that moment, his body turned into a purple ray of light that appeared beside the boy the next moment. He picked up the wine cup on the table, and once he finished it in one gulp, he let out a long sigh and sat down at the table.

“Fellow Daoist, you must have been the one who sent his divine thought outwards just now.”

The moment the old man in purple robes sat down, he looked over.

Su Ming smiled faintly. He did not speak. Instead, he looked at the sky above them. At that moment, a figure appeared in the sky. It was a young man dressed in a long white robe. He had an aloof look on his face, and on his back he carried a huge sword. He exuded an incredibly fierce presence. When he took a step forward, he walked into the cave abode and sat down beside the boy.

Before the boy could introduce him, a ghastly, untamed laughter came from the sky and turned into a wisp of black smoke. As it spun around the area, Su Ming could see a mummy inside it. The mummy had withered and resembled a skeleton.

Dark light shone in its eyes when it walked out of the black smoke. The man only took three steps forward before he appeared in the cave abode. He cast a cold glance at the crowd, then his gaze stopped on Su Ming.

“That Old Wretch Hei entered isolated training in his coffin. I reckon he won’t be able to come. We’ll all here now. My fellow friends, I invited fellow Daoist Su here today so that we may get to know each other. It can also be considered a serendipity.” The boy swept his gaze over the crowd and laughed.

“Fellow Daoist Su Ming, I will first introduce you to these three people. The old man in purple robes is the strongest person from the Martial Ideal Aeon. I’ve already forgotten his name. Everyone here just calls him Reverend Zi.”

When the boy introduced him, the old man in purple nodded at Su Ming. It might have been the first time they met, but the purple-robed old man was incredibly wary of Su Ming. However, there was also a hint of curiosity in him. If that had not been the case, he would not have come.

“As for this fellow Daoist, he was famous in Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos and was the strongest in his aeon. Sword Immortal Li Han’s sword has been brought out 3,907,891 times, and every single time it was brought out, someone died,” the boy said, continuing his introductions.

“It’s 3,907,892 times. When I came over, I ran into an idiot, so I drew my sword and killed him,” Li Han said faintly. When he looked at Su Ming, a fierce glare appeared in his eyes.

“And this…” The boy cast a glance at the figure who was as thin as a skeleton, but before he could finish speaking, the person cackled strangely and spoke on his own.

“I’m Ku Mu, and I love eating flesh, but there’s only two chances for me to devour other people’s flesh and blood as I please each aeon. Still, based on my calculations, that day is no longer far away.”

When Ku Mu said that, the boy scowled.

When Ku Mu finished speaking, the boy scowled. Su Ming was his guest, and since he invited him over, he did not intend for things to go sour between them. Instead, he had his own plans. But whatever they were, most of them had the intention of befriending Su Ming.

People at the boy’s level of cultivation had few things they cared about, but for some reason, he felt uneasy about the latest aeon. It was as if something bad was about to happen, and as time passed and the disaster came closer, that feeling grew stronger. When he saw Su Ming, he could tell at first glance that Su Ming was not from his Expanse Cosmos, and for some unknown reason, he wanted to befriend him.

The boy could not see through Su Ming’s level of cultivation, but he could sense that the newcomer was not weaker than him.

When the boy scowled, the old man in purple beside him narrowed his eyes slightly. He did not speak. As for the young man in white, brilliant light shone in his eyes, but no one could really tell what he was thinking.

Su Ming’s gaze landed on Ku Mu’s skeletal figure. The people around the table were silent and watchful, but all of them had given silent consent to the test. Only the owner of the place, the boy, seemed to be rather displeased. Judging by the looks of it, he was not pretending either.

Su Ming naturally knew that Ku Mu would not do this out of nowhere. It was clearly a test. In other words, he was trying to gauge Su Ming’s level of cultivation.

“Try saying that one more time,” Su Ming said flatly.

There was not a hint of anger in his voice, as if he was having a casual conversation with friends. In fact, even the purple-robed old man and the young man in white could not detect any sort of frightening might in his words.

Even the boy, who had intended to speak up, continued scowling when he heard Su Ming’s words, but he did not say anything.

A faint glint shone in Ku Mu’s eyes at that moment, and he spoke while cackling in his strange manner. “Didn’t you hear? I like eating flesh…”

When he spoke, Su Ming suddenly lifted his head and seized the air with his right hand at a speed of lightning.

Since the skeletal man dared to try to gauge his strength, he was naturally confident in his own power, and since he still dared to repeat himself, he had to have made preparations for it. He might not have seemed like he was about to attack, but the instant Su Ming brought up his right hand to seize the air, a chill ran through Ku Mu’s entire body. All his divine abilities… seemed to have vanished from his body at that instant.

All of that happened in the blink of an eye, and a shrill scream of pain tumbled out of the skeletal man’s lips. His head and his body were instantly separated. Once Su Ming grabbed his head, he squeezed it lightly with a calm expression. A trickle of blood immediately flowed down from the spot where he had separated the body from the head. That blood flowed into the cup in front of Su Ming.

Not a lot of blood fell, and it only filled half a cup, but this scene managed to shock all the people around the table. Neither of them dared to say a word…

‘This person… might seem gentle, but his ruthlessness is in complete opposite to his outer appearance!’ The purple-robed old man’s pupils shrank. Su Ming’s actions were ruthless enough to shock him.

Su Ming’s attack brought a storm to the purple-robed old man’s heart. He realized that even he would have been unable to avoid it!

But more importantly, Ku Mu’s reaction was incredibly strange. He had showed no resistance at all, but the purple-robed old man did not believe that he had not wanted to fight back. It was clear that Ku Mu’s cultivation base had been suppressed some unknown method.

The brilliant light in the eyes of the young man in white instantly disappeared, replaced by a hint of shock. What he paid attention to was not Ku Mu’s power, and neither was it Su Ming’s ruthlessness, but Su Ming’s lifted hand.

Other people might not care about how quickly he brought it up, but since the young man was a Sword Immortal, his strength lay in his speed. Yet when Su Ming brought his hand up, acting as if nothing had occurred, the young man had seen ninety-seven seals.

‘I could only see ninety-seven seals, but during that instant, he had made hundreds of seals. This sort of person…’ The young man in white’s expression changed swiftly. The wariness in his heart instantly reached its peak.

As the owner of the place, the boy was shocked even more than the others. The cave abode was formed by his original form. The boy everyone saw was fake. His real self… was the huge meatball Su Ming had seen before.

He was a powerful life form that was as strong as the Five-Faced Beast Deity, but he was smarter than it. He hid himself and transformed his body. He did not act arrogantly, did not kill, and lived through the disaster of his aeon while keeping a low profile.

That was why he could clearly see why Ku Mu could not fight back just then. It was because the power of time had gathered on his body. In an instant, countless years had flowed back around him, until he was reduced to the time when he was still a mortal. It had happened extremely quickly, which was why the others did not notice it. Even Ku Mu himself had not understood it.

‘This person… is this powerful?!’ This was the only thought that rose in the boy’s head once his breathing started to quicken.

If that was the shock the onlookers felt, then the headless Ku Mu’s shock was even greater. He staggered a few steps backwards before his body shrank. Then, he turned into fog and reassembled himself there. When he manifested his form again, his body had shrunk slightly, but a new head had appeared on top of his neck. Shock and disbelief could be seen on his face.

He watched Su Ming hold his head while his precious origin blood fell into the wine cup.

As everything in the area stayed silent, the head in Su Ming’s head became even more withered until it turned into fog. Then, it vanished while Ku Mu’s heart twisted in pain.

Su Ming stayed as calm as ever. No anger could be detected on his face. He picked up the pot of wine beside him and poured wine into his cup so that it would fuse with the blood. When the cup was full, he put the pot of wine, picked up the wine cup, and as everyone as everyone stared at him with fear, he drank the blood.

“As expected of a life that loves devouring flesh and blood. When its blood fuses with the wine, the taste becomes even better… It’s a pity that there is only one cup. I still haven’t had my fill of it.”

Su Ming smiled faintly. When he put down his wine cup, he lifted his right hand, then with an indifferent expression, he seized the air in the direction of the corpse again.

As the skeletal man screamed in fear, his body… shuddered. His head was torn off his body for the second time, and it charged to Su Ming. Once Su Ming caught it, he let the blood fall into the cup again. This time, it only filled up three-tenths of it.

‘A tyrant!’ This was the only word the old man in purple had to describe Su Ming. His domineering attitude made the old man feel apprehensive.

‘Ruthless!’ This was the most direct word the white-robed young man had for Su Ming. The stranger was a person who would definitely seek revenge for every grievance committed against him while also having a temperamental personality.

The boy hesitated for a moment before he sighed in his heart. Ku Mu’s body had turned into fog again, and when it formed once more, his pallor was worse than before. He was even trembling. There was great terror and despair in his eyes.

The boy, thus, had to speak. No matter what, Ku Mu was a friend he had invited to the table.

“Fellow Daoist Su…”

Ku Mu’s second head disintegrated in Su Ming’s hand, and Su Ming poured wine for himself again. Once he drank it, he savored the taste for a while before shifting his gaze to the boy.

“Since fellow Daoist Ban Bu Zi has spoken, while the taste of the blood wine is good, and I originally intended to take it with me so that my friends and family could enjoy it when I return home… Oh well. Fill up that cup, and I will forgive you for your rudeness today.”

Su Ming flicked his fingers, and the wine cup immediately flew before Ku Mu.

Be it the boy, the purple-robed old man, or even the white-robed young man, all three of them were outstanding cultivators in this Expanse Cosmos. However, neither of them would have guessed that Su Ming would think of taking Ku Mu with him so that he could constantly use him to drink blood wine.

It could be said that at that moment, Su Ming was like a murderous fiend who donned a human skin. A malicious air that the four people could not see but could sense spread out from him in incredibly thick waves. It had come from Su Ming’s words, actions, and his indifferent expression.

Sometimes, what was seen was not the most terrifying. The malicious air that could not be seen created an even greater cause for wariness. It was the same principle as to how only an evil person could be the cause of other people’s terror.

Ku Mu fell silent. His expression contorted, but he could not hide the terror in his eyes. He could sense the threat of death from Su Ming, which was something that he rarely felt. He had not come across it in a very long time. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he saw the powerful while being weak during the time before his aeon was destroyed.

He gritted his teeth and lifted his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, drops of blood immediately fell down. Each drop caused his heart to ache in pain, because they were the essence of his life he had accumulated after devouring a large amount of flesh and blood through the countless disasters of each aeon.

The drops of blood fell into the cup one by one, and the trio witnessing this scene did not dare to open their mouths. When the cup was completely filled, Ku Mu laughed brokenly and took a few steps back before wrapping his fist in his palm to the group.

“Today, I have been rash. I will leave first. My fellow Daoists, I bid farewell to all of you.”

Once he finished speaking, he intended to leave, but Su Ming spoke up faintly at that moment. “Did I say you could leave?”

“You!” Madness appeared in Ku Mu’s eyes, but it was immediately pushed down.

“You can leave now.”

No resentment could be seen on Ku Mu’s face, but those who knew him understood that it had definitely grown to an incredibly great degree, and the more he hid his emotions, the stronger they were. They would then grow in him until the day they could erupt.

Ku Mu turned into a long arc that charged out of the cave abode and into the sky. In an instant, he stepped into the galaxy. His expression contorted with ferociousness, and he turned his head around to glare at the planet behind him.

“I, Ku Mu, hereby swear that one day, I will eat all of your family and friends to wash away the humiliation I suffered today!”