Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 256: Crack…

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

I do. I do not.

These two phrases had two completely different meanings. They were like two extremes, like the sky and the earth, and they made Su Ming feel as if his thoughts froze up in that instant. It was not as if he had not been prepared for this, even now, his second senior brother’s words and advice were still ringing in his ears.

"You must say… you don’t know!"

This was what his second senior brother had said with a grave expression.

Su Ming was silent. The two different answers were like two different doors standing before him. He did not know what lay behind those doors, and neither did he know which door he should choose to open to see the world that lay behind it.

Tian Xie Zi did not press him for an answer. He simply looked at him and waited for his decision.

Su Ming had a feeling that he should listen to his second senior brother’s advice. After all, the grave expression on his face when he recounted that he had given the wrong answer was an expression that was rarely seen on his face.

However…

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and he lifted his head to look at the purple robed Tian Xie Zi, who was watching him, and slowly said, "Master, I’d like to witness a battle of Arts."

This was Su Ming’s answer. He went around the question of whether he knew or did not know and stepped out of that circle by voicing out his own thoughts. He did not bother about what would happen if he chose to answer yes or no. Instead, he spoke words that were clearly different from what his second senior brother had told him.

The very instant Tian Xie Zi heard those words, a brilliant glare appeared within his eyes. That glare instantly illuminated the entire cave and caused Su Ming to be unable to meet his gaze. There was also a sharp stab of pain in his eyes, and he took a few steps back instinctively.

"Looks like my fourth disciple… is quite ambitious!"

Tian Xie Zi’s voice was hoarse and filled with a hint of ghastliness. As his voice echoed in the cave, a hint of brutality could be felt from within it.

"Your eldest senior brother answered with a ‘no’, and your second senior brother answered with a ‘yes’. As for your third senior brother, he did not give me an answer, he simply pretended to be asleep.

"You’re the only one who did not answer the question as it is and gave me another answer… I will fulfill your desire and let you see exactly what is called a battle of Arts!"

Tian Xie Zi waved his arm and a layer of purple fog instantly appeared out of nowhere. It charged towards Su Ming, and in the blink of an eye it enveloped him, and with an abrupt shrinking, the fog stuck to Su Ming’s robes and body, turning his clothes purple. At the same time, all of his hair turned purple as well.

With that, the Master and disciple within the cave were dressed completely in purple!

That purple tint exuded a feeling of bloodiness that seemed to have gathered and sunk into the body. It was a feeling that made Su Ming’s heart race and his body explode with an urge to kill that was difficult to suppress.

There was already a murderous aura within him to begin with. That murderous aura came from the blood moon from his Berserker Mark. Right then, under the impact of the purple tint, that murderous aura exploded forth with a much stronger intensity and filled the entire cave.

A surprised glint appeared in Tian Xie Zi eyes before he laughed boisterously and closed his right hand around the air in the direction towards Su Ming. Instantly, Su Ming was taken away and they disappeared from the cave.

Although the murderous aura coming from within them was shocking, Zi Che, who was sitting outside, did not notice anything. In fact, even Hu Zi and Su Ming’s second senior brother did not notice anything.

Only Su Ming’s eldest senior brother who had isolated himself under the ice river opened his eyes to small slits, but he soon closed them once again.

The air in the sky above the Land of South Morning distorted, and Tian Xie Zi and Su Ming appeared from within. Su Ming’s right wrist was in Tian Xie Zi’s hand and he was forcefully being dragged.

His entire body was in severe pain. Su Ming’s face was slightly pale. When he appeared, he instantly turned his head around, and he saw that there was nothing behind him. The land seemed endless. It might be night, but he could still somewhat see that the land was covered in green grass. This place… was not Freezing Sky Clan!

Su Ming widened his eyes and shock could be seen within them.

"The Relocation Rune may be good, but before there were any Relocation Runes within the Berserker Tribe, how exactly did the powerful Berserkers move around..? Only those who respect those from the other realms will imitate, learn, and research foreign objects.

"It is an act where they discard their roots and place their attention on something not essential to them!"

Tian Xie Zi let out a cold snort.

"If a Berserker reaches the peak of the Berserker Soul Realm, then with just one step, they can relocate anywhere they want and travel through the world. As long as their bodies are not destroyed, they will never breathe their last!"

Su Ming felt shaken. He looked at Tian Xie Zi and found himself incapable of saying anything even after a long while.

"I cannot do it either, but with the Creation Arts, as long as the distance is not too far, I can travel to all the places I went to before if I take an item from the place!

"However, I must be dressed in purple to use this Art."

Tian Xie Zi spoke hoarsely and let go of his grip on Su Ming’s wrist. A fierce and cruel look appeared within his eyes and he looked towards the land.

"Seventh junior brother, do you know how to battle with Arts?!"

With Tian Xie Zi’s sudden words, Su Ming lowered his head and cast his gaze towards where Tian Xie Zi was looking.

That place was a grassy plains. There was wind blowing through it at the moment, causing rustling sounds to rise from the grass. Apart from that sound, everything else was silent.

After a long while, a sigh came from the depths of the land.

"You’re early… fourth senior brother…"

The moment the sigh came, Su Ming saw the grass in the plains wither away and scatter into the wind in the form of dust. The land trembled, and with a boom, a giant crack opened up in the land as if it was ripped open by two invisible hands. The crack was deep, its end nowhere to be seen. It was dark within, but a brilliant gaze appeared within the crack and it looked towards the sky. That gaze fell on Tian Xie Zi and Su Ming.

When that gaze landed on him, Su Ming’s entire body instantly fell cold, but soon, a bloody-red light shone from his right eye, and it fused together with the purple robes covering his body, turning into a murderous aura that seemed to be facing off with the gaze.

"Fourth senior brother, is that your new disciple..?" an ancient voice asked from the crack on the ground.

The moment his murderous aura met the gaze, a bang went off in Su Ming’s head. His murderous aura seemed to be unable to withstand the pressure. However, that gaze did not harbor any ill will. It only swept through his body once before turning away. Su Ming’s breathing immediately quickened and he wrapped his fist in his palm before bowing to the land.

"I am Su Ming. Greetings, seventh uncle master."

Tian Xie Zi let out a cold harrumph before he took a step forward and, in the blink of an eye, he appeared right outside the crack on the ground. He stomped there.

Immediately, an illusionary sea of blood appeared behind Tian Xie Zi. A brilliant glare formed in the eyes of the stone statue within the sea of blood. It slowly unfolded its arms, which had been wrapped around its chest.

At the same time, Su Ming saw the gaze within the crack on the ground disappearing. In its place, a frail looking person walked out of the crack. His footsteps were not quick, but with each step he took, Su Ming’s vision would distort.

The man took five steps and arrived right under Tian Xie Zi’s foot. He suddenly lifted his right hand, clenched his fist, and rammed it against Tian Xie Zi’s right foot.

At the same time, a gigantic illusion appeared behind the man. Within that illusion were a countless number of people: men and women, the old and the young, and they were all kneeling on the ground worshipping this person.

"The Ghosts of the Land’s power is not what we Berserkers practice. Seventh junior brother, you’re still practicing the Arts of the other worlds. This is not Creation!"

The moment Tian Xie Zi’s hoarse voice appeared, his right foot crashed into that frail person’s fist with a bang.

As the bang reverberated in the air and shook the skies, Tian Xie Zi shuddered and staggered back a hundred something feet. However, the frail person within the crack staggered back a few hundred feet before he managed to stop.

"You were also chased out by our Master. The Creation you seek… has already left the ways of the Berserker Tribe. You are… the same as me!"

"What do you mean by the same?!"

Tian Xie Zi did not act again, but his eyes were filled with a piercing light.

"I practiced the skills from the other worlds and used them to create my own path. This is my Creation. What you practice is something that appeared after combining the skills from the Shaman Tribe, what difference is there between us?!"

"Our minds are different, our spirits are different, our realms are different, everything of us from inside out is different. We are completely different! Fifteen years ago, you could fight me to a draw while I was in my purple robed self. Now, fifteen years later, you can no longer win against the me in this state!

"Since we cannot differentiate clearly who is right or wrong, and what constitutes as Creation and what is not through words, then we will just see… who is stronger!"

"You… are wrong!"

Tian Xie Zi swung his arm out and turned to walk towards Su Ming.

Su Ming was breathing rapidly. This was the first time he saw Tian Xie Zi attack. The power from that one stomp just now gave him an indescribable feeling. It was as if the mysteriousness within that stomp had exceeded the limits of his understanding. He wanted to remember it, but the memory of the stomp in his head and when the frail person hurled his fist forward was slowly disappearing, and he could not control it.

When Tian Xie Zi went over to Su Ming’s side and brought him away from the place, he was still caught in a daze.

When Tian Xie Zi and Su Ming left, peace returned to the plains, and the frail looking man lowered his head. He slowly floated back into the crack and sat down within its depths.

"Fourth senior brother… when you were excommunicated, Master once said that… you were wrong."

That ancient voice turned into a sigh and the crack gradually closed up. Once the earth returned to its original state, an endless sea of grass covered the entire plains again within an instant and began rustling in the wind.

Dark clouds covered the entire sky and rain fell as thunder rumbled. The sky twisted and Su Ming and Tian Xie Zi’s bodies gradually appeared.

The instant the two of them appeared, lightning cracked in the sky viciously and thunder roared.

Tian Xie Zi had his back turned towards Su Ming and he looked at a fenced up tribe before him through the rain as he asked Su Ming languidly, "Do you understand now?"

Su Ming was silent and his expression baffled. He seemed to have understood it somewhat, but there was still a great cloud of confusion within him.

"Let’s go."

Tian Xie Zi walked forward and then landed on the ground. He stepped on the puddles of water on the ground. With the rain falling on his body, he walked towards the quiet fenced up village in the rain.

Su Ming followed behind him silently. At that moment, the figure of Tian Xie Zi stomping on the ground had become very faint in his mind. He couldn’t remember it, and neither could he retain it.

As they got closer to the village, Su Ming heard a faint sound.

"Crack…"

"Crack… Crack…"

It was as a sound that seemed to be made from bones rubbing against each other. That sound traveled forth through the rain and thunder from the ordinary village.