Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming had never seen a woman with such a personality before.

She was usually elegant with a hint of aloofness in her, as if she was a noble, solitary presence. Once she learned that Su Ming had changed her clothes, her expression had only changed momentarily before she quickly regained her composure. The lack of concern about the matter from her had made even Su Ming think about it carefully for a moment before he could tell whether it was genuine.

This was still nothing, though. Once she drank, the change of personality in her was so great that it stunned him.

Xu Hui’s voice was incredibly loud. Her words echoed in the area, and when most of the members of Ninth Tribe heard it, they raised their heads and looked over. Dijiu Mo Sha sucked in a breath and felt fortunate that he had left beforehand. He did not expect that this woman would become so unreasonable once she started drinking.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, good job!” a woman’s voice said from Ninth Tribe. There was a merry lilt to it, and once it was heard by many, other voices immediately started echoing in the air as well.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, you’re a warrior among women to be able to drink three pots of our tribe’s wine!”

“Savior, your wife has already drunk three pots, how can you not drink?!”

“That’s right, drink it! Drink three pots!”

“Three pots won’t do! She drank three pots and she’s a woman. Savior, you’ll have to drink nine pots!”

“That’s right, savior! We can’t lose to women! Drink nine pots for her! Savior, drink it!”

Most of the members of Ninth Tribe had learned from Dijiu Mo Sha that Xu Hui was a cultivator from beyond Divine Essence Star Ocean. Su Ming did not bother hiding it, since there was no need for him to lie about it.

The gratitude Ninth Tribe felt towards him could be seen from the respect they had showed him during the past few days. They had also showed great concern for Xu Hui. Based on Dijiu Mo Sha’s words, they had also deduced that Xu Hui and their savior were a couple; otherwise, why would they stay together?

Su Ming laughed wryly.

A smug look appeared on Xu Hui’s face, and she placed a pot of wine in Su Ming’s bosom. Once she did so, she turned around and wrapped her fist in her palm towards the members of Ninth Tribe at the foot of the mountain. She was beautiful to begin with, and once she became drunk, her act of wrapping her fist in her palm gained a heroic air. It was a bearing that could not be seen on her on normal occasions.

“Thank you, my friends from Ninth Tribe. I’ve drunk a little too much today, but I can still continue drinking. Still, I am unhappy, because even though I’ve already drunk three pots as a woman, your savior has stopped drinking after only half a pot,” she said loudly.

“It’s one and a half…” Su Ming was just about to explain himself when his voice was drowned out merry cheers from Ninth Tribe.

Su Ming shook his head. As he watched Xu Hui’s heroic bearing as well as the smug look on her face, a smile gradually appeared on his face. The sadness that had previously lingered in his heart disappeared without his knowledge, and the wound left in him due to seeing Bai Ling with his Malicious Eye slowly closed up.

“If only life is as beautiful as it seems at first sight…”

With a faint smile, Su Ming stood up and moved to stand at the foot of the mountain rock. Amid the merry cheers from the members of Ninth Tribe, he picked up the pot of wine, placed it beside his mouth, and started drinking.

The sounds of him gulping down wine echoed in the air. Soon, when he emptied an entire pot of wine, he wiped the corners of his lips with his sleeve, then raised his head and let out a long roar towards the sky.

His roar echoed in all directions. At that moment, in the morning sun, Su Ming seemed like a great dragon looking down at the world from the mountain while roaring at the sky.

When Xu Hui saw his figure, she started laughing as well. Her laughter echoed along with that of the other members of the Ninth Tribe.

“Another!” Su Ming shouted loudly.

Someone from the Ninth Tribe swiftly brought out more pots of wine and placed them around Su Ming, who picked up one of them, patted off the soil crust, and placed the mouth of the pot to his lips.

The wine was spicy and seemed to have turned into a ball of raging fire in his stomach. Some of the wine trickled down the corners of Su Ming’s lips and drenched his hair, giving him a domineering air.

“Another!” Su Ming put down the pot of wine and picked up another.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth… and once Su Ming downed nine pots, his body swayed. As he laughed with his head thrown back, he fell to the ground with a thump.

He was drunk.

Xu Hui was also drunk, and her eyes gradually fell shut.

Su Ming could become drunk without worry, because he had the Duke of Crimson Flame’s totem on his arm. Besides, while his cultivation base clone was drunk, he still had his clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole in him as well as his Ecang clone protecting everything and the Malicious Eye keeping an eye on the area.

Which was why he could become drunk, and he needed to be drunk. If anything dangerous happened in the meantime, he could have his clone hold the threat back until he bought enough time.

Dijiu Mo Sha watched Su Ming and Xu Hui fall to the ground and shook his head with a smile. He personally carried Su Ming, then arranged another woman from the tribe to carry Xu Hui and sent the both of them into the house before placing them… on a bed.

Time trickled by. Su Ming and Xu Hui slept deeply in the house on the mountain that belonged to the Ninth Tribe. During that time, Su Ming felt that he had another dream.

In his dream, he felt that he saw his physical body, Di Tian, and also Bai Ling, whose hood was lifted, revealing her face.

He also saw the battle between the Immortals and those from Morning Dao Sect in True Morning Dao World. During it, he heard shrill roars as well as the booms from the execution of divine abilities, but those sounds seemed to be very far away from him.

Gradually, those pictures faded away. However, there was a woman who seemed to be in his bosom. She was very warm and delicate, and subconsciously, he wrapped his arms around her.

He forgot everything after that.

When the morning sun of the next day shone in the house, Su Ming opened his eyes.

He was first stunned, then when he moved his head to the side to look over, he found that he was the only person on the bed, but he did see a long strand of hair by his side. It did not belong to him. It was Xu Hui’s.

Su Ming rubbed the center of his brows. Once he circulated his cultivation base, his mind instantly gained full wakefulness. He saw Xu Hui with her back turned towards him, and she was sitting on the mountain rock where he had previously sat outside the house while looking into the distance.

He could not see her face. The only thing he could see was the refreshing breeze lifting up her hair, making it dance and curve, drawing beautiful arcs in the air, just like the graceful lines of Xu Hui’s back.

All of this was an incredibly beautiful sight under the sun.

Su Ming got up and walked out of the house. The tranquility during the past few days was a period of serenity that was rare in his life. There were no dangers, no killings, no deaths, no shrill screams of pain. All of this made Su Ming feel as if he had found the life he wanted to live the most.

In fact, a desire to live in this peace and quiet permanently rose in the depths of his heart. However, this desire could not stay in the wind. It did not matter whether that desire was willing or unwilling, the mountain breeze that blew towards it took it away without stopping for even a single moment.

This was something he had no control over. There were still plenty of things he had to do, plenty of regrets he still had not resolved, plenty of people, plenty of things… that Su Ming worried over, preventing him from finding a place in which he could… live in permanent peace.

“May I see your true face?” Xu Hui did not turn her head. She had her back facing Su Ming when she said those words softly.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his face had changed. His clone that practiced the Art of Swallowing Hollow Shadows Whole had replaced his cultivation base clone, allowing him to transform into a face that was completely different from Dao Kong’s. It was… Su Ming’s face.

Xu Hui seemed to have noticed it. She turned her head around slowly and looked at him in a daze. Then, a faint smile appeared on the corners of her lips. The=at smile was incredibly beautiful in the refreshing breeze.

“I know you. You are Su Ming and also Mo Su. One thousand years ago, you were a wanted criminal by the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds. When you appeared again, you caused a huge ruckus in the area where True Sacred Yin World was stationed and caused a Progenitor who is a Master of Fate, Lives, and Death to personally go after your life.

“But in the end… even he did not manage to kill you. Instead, he canceled the bounty over your head and tacitly acknowledged your existence.

“Su Ming, your name rings far and wide in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, and you are the person who gathered the most attention over the past thousand years. You are also the one person who Dao Kong wanted to bring to his side more than Ye Wang.

“I didn’t expect…” Xu Hui shook her head and smiled.

“I didn’t expect that you would have such influence in Black Ink Planet and turn something that is decaying into something amazing. You flipped the universe over its head and Possessed Dao Kong… the main organizer behind-the-scenes for Black Ink Auction was you, am I right?!

“You are the master of Black Ink Planet. You control everything within Black Ink Planet, along with the auction, so you had them put that Sacred Constellation Robe on auction to lure Dao Kong into your trap!

“I’m curious. How is it that not only the nine old Frail Darknesses didn’t notice that you Possesssed Dao Kong, but there wasn’t even a single change in behavior among the fearless warriors Dao Kong controls with his soul?

“In fact, nothing changed within the soul link formed by Morning Dao’s Progenitor between Dao Kong and me. If it was not because there are simply too many things that are different between you and Dao Kong, and if it was not because of us having this chance to be alone, I would have only been able to suspect but not obtain even a single proof to serve as evidence that you are not Dao Kong,” she said while looking at him.

“I still remember that there is a seal on Dao Kong that prevents the direct descendants of the Dao Family in Morning Dao Sect from being Possessed. This mark would attract the attention of the powerful warriors in Morning Dao Sect, since they want to be sure that none of their family gets Possessed.

“But you… How did you avoid being detected? In fact, that seal… is still in you. How… did you do it?” There was disbelief on Xu Hui’s face. This was a question that she could not find an answer for in the depths of her heart.

“You will not want to know,” Su Ming said flatly as he sat down on the mountain rock.

“Are you afraid that I will expose you after I learn of it?” Xu Hui suddenly asked.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Su Ming smiled faintly.

Xu Hui fell silent. She knew that Su Ming truly did not care about it, because it did not matter whether it was his blood or his soul, everything about him showed that he was indeed Dao Kong. In this situation, no matter what she said, she would not be able to bring about an effect, and there were no benefits for her in this either.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he asked calmly, “What happened yesterday night?”

“You won’t want to know!” Xu Hui glared at Su Ming and turned her head around.

Su Ming frowned before his expression suddenly changed. He lowered his head swiftly. The sackcloth on his body changed instantly and returned to the appearance of the Sacred Constellation Robe. Once it did so, a great ripple of power spread out.

Xu Hui turned around swiftly. There was surprise on her face, along with a solemn expression.

“This is the interworld voice transmission for the direct descendants of the Dao Family in Morning Dao Sect!”

Right when Xu Hui finished saying this, a loud bang immediately came from Su Ming’s body, and a powerful ray of light that surged into the sky erupted from him. This powerful light spread out from his Sacred Constellation Robe. As it did so, an ancient voice began speaking.

“Dao Kong… the Immortals have revolted and broken ties with Morning Dao Sect… Make haste and hurry back from the Barren Lands of Divine Essence!”