Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming's voice had a strong domineering tone to it. His will was filled with madness and destruction, and there was not a hint of rationality in it. There was only… a madness that screamed, "If you go against me, then I will kill you!"     

His voice reverberated in space. The four masked people in the fifth ocean did not move at first, then turned around slowly, their gazes falling on the red-haired Su Ming.     

"As you wish."     

After a moment, the person with the Mask of Happiness spoke hoarsely. He raised his right hand and swung his arm. The three people beside him immediately acted the same.     

Wind stirred and clouds surged over the fifth ocean. As the world rumbled, it looked as if a wave was rushing to the heavens. It instantly devoured the four people, and a piercing, brilliant light appeared above the tumbling fifth ocean.     

At first sight, that light was a glowing spot. Almost the instant it appeared, from the end of the pillar of light that shot out from the depths of the fifth ocean came another pillar of light,. It charged towards the glowing spot above it and swiftly connected with it. The light there grew stronger, and the third pillar of light shot out from within, and its direction… was the fifth stone beside Su Ming!     

If that pillar of light was connected to the fifth stone, there would be three pillars of light that existed in the fifth stone. They were connected together, forming a triangle!     

It was like a Rune which would open the path to the fifth True World and send the person in possession of the fifth stone.     

The flow of time seemed to have become faster at that instant. A day later, the pillar of light in the sky let out a bang and shot through the endless space before it finally descended at the edge of the fifth ocean. It landed beside Su Ming, on the fifth stone that was shining with the same light.     

At the instant the pillar of light crashed into the fifth stone, the Rune which took the form of a triangle on the fifth ocean manifested. As it did so, booming sounds echoed in all directions. The loud bangs were deafening to the ears and stirred up the water, creating a gigantic whirlpool.     

As it rotated, the originally vertical triangle formed by the pillars of light slowly inclined, as if it was about to be laid flat in space. Once that happened, a power of Relocation erupted from the fifth stone beside Su Ming. The appearance of it instantly caused the universe to tremble, as if it was about to be torn apart.     

During that moment, if anyone looked from the highest spot in the universe, the first thing they would notice would be the whirlpool formed by the fifth ocean. The shape of the whirlpool was round, but within that circle was a triangle!     

It was… the complete Rune that was formed once the three pillars of light were laid flat, and it looked as if it was set in the circular whirlpool!     

And the spot where Su Ming stood was one of the corners of the triangle.     

The galaxy was covered by a powerful light at that moment. Under it, booming sounds surged into the heavens… and the power of Relocation was swiftly activated.     

The path to the fifth True World was opened once the Relocation Rune was activated!     

Bang!     

A power that was great enough to make even the Almighties in Life Realm apprehensive erupted from the Rune. When it rushed into the heavens, it could be seen that the light that rushed out was also in the shape of a triangle as it charged towards the void in the galaxy.     

Su Ming was contained in one of the corners of that triangle. When the power of Relocation rushed out, his body was instantly swept into the Rune and pushed into the endless void with the pillars of light.     

Booming sounds shook the sky and earth. The pillars of light continued pushing forward and looked as if they were pushing the galaxy above them and supporting it once it was torn apart.     

At the instant the three pillars of light forming the triangle appeared, almost all of the living beings in Divine Source Star Ocean could see it.     

The statue of the first God of Berserkers, Lie Shan Xiu, had its head raised to stare at the sky while it stood on a cliff in a mountain within Black Ink Planet. No one knew whether it was just a coincidence, but the spot where it was staring at was coincidentally where were the pillars of light that surged into the heavens.     

Lie Shan Xiu's statue looked as if it was deep in thought. The meaning Su Ming had deciphered previously was the second message he wished to convey. But if he could stand at that spot to look at it at that moment, he would discover to his shock that the understanding he gained in the past… was not wrong… but he missed the deepest message Lie Shan Xiu had hid!     

Within Divine Source Star Ocean was the spot where Ninth Tribe was previously located. It was also the place where Tian Xie Zi had lived for a long time. By then, it was already a wasteland. But the statue of Tian Xie Zi built in that wasteland was… also coincidentally staring in the direction of the pillars of light.     

His gaze… also contained a message that Su Ming had deciphered incorrectly in the past. However, if he saw it at that moment, his heart would definitely tremble.     

The pillars of light lasted for about three months. During them, they attracted many people's gazes. Some of them did not understand what they meant, but some of them did.     

Time passed. One year… and another year…     

Flame Fiends' Progenitor waited and stared with eager eyes at the fifth ocean, which had long become calm once more. He stared at the space where the pillars of light had disappeared, and vaguely, he seemed to still be able to see… Su Ming's figure.     

When the tenth year went by, Flame Fiends' Progenitor sighed and chose to leave. Even if Su Ming had yet to release the seal in his body, it was no longer important to Flame Fiends' Progenitor.     

He was slightly reluctant to part with Su Ming just like that. That thought had risen in him while they were acquainted with each other through the series of events that happened between them. His animosity towards Su Ming had turned into wariness before it changed into a strange form of trust, and by then, it had changed into a form of nostalgia.     

With it, he left the fifth ocean and moved through the galaxy to return to his homeland, and in that burning planet, he continued… to be the Progenitor his people worshipped.     

However, when it was night and it was quiet, he would lift his head to look at the dazzling, starry sky, and all the things that happened during the period of time when he was in the fifth kiln and the edge of the fifth ocean would appear in his head.     

'He will come back.' Flame Fiends' Progenitor closed his eyes. His body blended with the lava before he turned back into a statue and fell into deep sleep, remaining still and unmoving.     

On the 72nd year after Flame Fiends' Progenitor left, Zhu You Cai also chose to leave the edge of the fifth ocean. Even though Su Ming still had yet to tell him how to resurrect his wife, his declaration that he was an Abyss Builder had already given Zhu You Cai endless hope.     

Even though… during the past seventy-something years, he had fallen into deep thought, pondering over his Master's Dao of Longevity and the Dao of Life Inequity he had declared for himself in his confusion and wondered about their similarities and differences. Even though those thoughts caused his heart to ache with new pain and agitated him, he still persistently believed… that Su Ming would return!     

When he returned, he would tell Zhu You Cai… how to resurrect his wife.     

With that though, Zhu You Cai left quietly and returned to the mountain to rest in his cave. Beside his ears were the woman's faint hums coming indistinctly from the summit. He closed his eyes as tears fell from them, and in his hand he always held… a medicinal core.     

One hundred years passed in Divine Source Star Ocean. Everything had long since regained their original peace. Many people no longer paid any heed to the scene one hundred years ago. The eternity in the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the change in the state of affairs for all things was always a continuous dream. After one thing happened, another would arrive.     

However, there were some people who would always remember that one hundred years ago, a cultivator stirred up… a storm that caused Divine Source Star Ocean to tremble.     

Xu Hui had long since reunited with the nine old Frail Darknesses. She sat on the warship, and with the three thousand fearless warriors and all the people from Morning Dao Sect who belonged to Dao Kong, she left Divine Source Star Ocean and returned to the region in the Barren Lands of Divine Source where the forces of power from True Morning Dao World were stationed. Over there, she waited quietly for the day of Su Ming's return.     

Xuan Shang was still struggling in the fifth kiln, not finding a way out.     

Dijiu Mo Sha was still expanding his tribe and continuously fighting against the other races, all for the sake of finding a place for his tribe where they would stay permanently.     

Everything went on its course. Without Su Ming, Divine Source Star Ocean continued as it did in the past. The gigantic galaxy would never tilt because of a single person's will, and neither would anything change because a person was missing.     

The past glories, the rise to power that seemed to go against the laws of heavens, the endless disasters were like fleeting clouds. Perhaps they would be remembered, but perhaps they would also be forgotten. Compared to the eternal galaxy, the tiny, insignificant lives were as tiny and as insignificant as ever…     

However, the legends regarding Su Ming were remembered by plenty of people, since he did not leave behind his life. They remembered that there was once a period of time when a person with talent that shone brilliantly in Divine Source Star Ocean had showed up, but had appeared only briefly, like a queen of the night.     

From the barren lands to Western Ring Nebula, from the foreign lands to Black Ink Planet, and from Divine Source Star Ocean to the fifth kiln… Wherever Su Ming had gone to, he had brought his shadow and left behind… his legend.     

…..     

When Su Ming woke up, he saw a dazzling universe. It was incredibly unfamiliar to him, and it did not belong to Divine Source Star Ocean.     

The place was filled with dead silence. There was not a single sound, and it was so quiet that there was a sense of terror to it. When Su Ming looked into the distance, he saw that the galaxy was not empty. There were plenty of shattered stones floating around. It looked a dishevelled mess, as though a war had wreaked havoc in this place for an eternity and left behind only wreckage.     

All of it was exactly as the image of the fifth kiln Su Ming had created in his mind based on the analysis he made from other people's words.     

All of it was also… exactly as the appearance he believed the Fifth True World should take based on his speculations.     

There were no discrepancies, no differences. It was as if Su Ming had come here before. At first glance, it was unfamiliar, but when he looked at it again, it was familiar.     

That familiarity came from the image of the Fifth True World in his mind. It was like someone imagining their future lover, and upon meeting… realizing that the image and reality were exactly the same.     

Su Ming fell silent. As he stared at the Fifth True World before him, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he charged into the distance. When he lifted his right hand, a jade slip appeared on his palm.