Pursuit of the Truth

“It’s true! We’re willing to give you five million crystals. Senior, please help us!” One of the cultivators on the continent immediately realized what was going on and shouted their answer loudly.

Upon hearing his words, the other cultivators snapped out of their shock and quickly spoke as well.

With the sagely look, the bald crane acted like it treated crystals like turd. It shook its head and sighed.

“Oh well, I do not care about such worldly possessions. I have practiced cultivation long before Arid Triad himself, so why would I care for these crystals. But since all of you are so sincere, I will help you this once.”

When the bald crane said those words, it was so excited that it wanted to immediately see those five million crystals. However, it did not show even a single bit of it on its face. It silently stared at the powerful warriors from the previous aeons who had fallen silent after the old man’s death.

“Sir, are you the master of True Morning Dao World?” an old man asked slowly. He had a red face, was dressed in a purple robe, and was one of the three leaders of the one hundred powerful warriors from the previous aeons.

“With each question, I will attack once.”

The bald crane swung its arm with an incredibly arrogant expression. Its heart was filled with excitement. It had always been very envious when Su Ming did this, but the time had finally arrived for it to be able to act in such an arrogant manner too.

‘It’s a pity that the Abyss Dragon isn’t around, or else it’d definitely idolize me.’

The bald crane lifted its chin and looked incredibly sagely… While it was intoxicated with its own delusions, it did not forget to swing its right hand. The log immediately flashed and disappeared. When a shrill scream of pain rang out, the log returned to the bald crane’s side, and another powerful warrior from the previous aeons was reduced to a bloody mess. Even his soul was destroyed.

“Ahem, I can only be somewhat considered the master of True Morning Dao World.” The bald crane stroked its beard, trying to make itself look very indifferent.

The near one hundred powerful warriors fell silent while staring at the bald crane. Some of them had already began moving back. Even the three people leading the group fell silent and did not speak again.

The bald crane’s appearance was nothing, but the strength of the log had brought apprehension to their hearts. That treasure might appear to be a normal piece of wood, but when it touched one of them, their bodies and souls were destroyed.

With how observant they were, it was only natural for them to be able to tell at first glance just how extraordinary that item was. Soon, greed took root in some of their hearts.

When the bald crane saw that everyone had fallen silent and did not intend to go along with its flow, it immediately became displeased, but since they did not ask, it would not say anything. However, this made it incredibly dissatisfied. It could not say the words it had prepared in its mind, so it glared at them.

“Oh well, I’m in a pretty good mood today. I’ll tell you this. I have practiced cultivation even before Arid Triad, and that boy once knelt for one hundred years before my cave abode before I was willing to meet him and direct him in his path.

“In fact, when I began practicing cultivation, this universe was still empty. One day, when I was travelling in the void, I felt bored, and so I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I created this world. A long time has passed since then…”

As the bald crane spoke, the form of the old man it had taken began to exude an ancient presence. Nostalgia appeared on the bald crane’s face, as if it was recalling things from a long gone time.

Its voice echoed in space, and the expressions of the cultivators on the continent became strange. Even the powerful warriors of the previous aeons before the bald crane had not expected for the old man to say such things.

“In the past, Arid Triad wanted to have me as his Master. Heh heh, I saw his sincerity, and so I didn’t refuse him. However, I told him that unless he did something shocking, I would refuse taking him in as my disciple.

“In the past, the world was created when I swung my arm, and then, all lives were created…

“In the past…”

When the bald crane started speaking, it began chattering nonstop. As it yammered on, it had a radiant look on its face. In fact, it looked like it was gradually coming to believe in its own words. Its presence became even more ancient, and it became even more excited in its heart.

“Attack together!”

While the bald crane was immersed in its own delusions, the three people leading the powerful warriors of the previous aeons spoke as one. At the instant they did, the one hundred people immediately turned into long arcs. They cast their divine abilities and charged at the bald crane.

They split up and instantly surrounded the area, as if they had formed some Rune, intending to trap the log. The others immediately appeared in front of the bald crane. With endless divine abilities, they attacked together.

The bald crane was so surprised it shuddered in fear. It was still immersed in its own delusions, so when it saw so many people pouncing on it, it instinctively retreated. It began swearing up a storm, forgetting to maintain its sagely air.

“Damn it! Damn it! You’re all just asking for death! Bah! Since you’re all so pitiful, I won’t make things hard for you—”

Before the bald crane could even finish speaking, a monstrous ball of fire charged at it. The bald crane shrieked and pointed at the log.

The sixty powerful warriors from the previous aeons surrounding the log roared simultaneously at that moment. With it, the galaxy howled. Their cultivation bases instantly gathered together to form an ancient Rune in the form of an illusory net that went to suppress the log.

A sigh came from space then. Once the bald crane heard it, its spirits immediately lifted, and the panic on its face disappeared, turning into arrogance. The bald crane pointed at the powerful warriors and instantly shouted.

“You’re dead! How dare you attack the mighty bald crane?! Damn it, you’re all well and truly dead!”

The bald crane moved at that moment and turned into its original form. When it put on a fierce face, it looked like it would definitely achieve what it had set out to do.

When the sigh echoed in space, it also reached the ears of the one hundred people, and their hearts roared. Their expressions changed simultaneously.

Su Ming walked out from the distance. When he took his first step, he appeared beside the bald crane, and when he took his second step, he had already stepped into the Rune formed by the sixty people and landed next to the log.

“Get bigger,” Su Ming said flatly and lifted his right hand to seize the log. It immediately grew to become dozens of feet tall.

“Get bigger.” When he declared it the second time, the log grew to nearly one thousand feet, and it gradually revealed its original form.

“Get bigger.” When he said it the third time, the log grew to ten thousand feet. Everyone saw at that moment that it… was not a log, but the Sacred Wood of the fourth Expanse Cosmos!

“This is…”

“The Sacred Wood! This is the Sacred Wood!”

“He… He’s the person who took the Sacred Wood!”

Some of the hundred cultivators had come from the fourth Expanse Cosmos, and there were even a few who had personally seen Su Ming in the past. At that moment, shock which had never appeared on their faces before showed up. To them, this was no longer a game. The scene of Su Ming taking away the Sacred Wood all those years ago had long since become the most shocking they had ever seen.

Su Ming’s expression was calm. He lifted his right hand and seized space. An illusory hand instantly appeared in front of him. It seized the ten thousand foot long Sacred Wood, then with it in its grasp, swung it across the area.

With that swing, the galaxy roared. Just the howl that stirred up caused the hundred powerful warriors to cough up blood. When they retreated swiftly in fear, Su Ming spoke faintly.

“Get bigger.”

It was the fourth declaration. When Su Ming made it, the ten thousand feet long Sacred Wood grew to one hundred thousand feet. It swept sideways and drew an arc that formed half of a circle!

Booming sounds had rang out, but they were immediately deafened by the astonishing howl. Not one of the hundred people managed to flee. Their bodies turned into a bloody mess and exploded, when the Sacred Wood touched them, and their souls were destroyed.

Even the three old men in the lead could not survive it. When the Sacred Wood swept past the area, the galaxy fell into dead silence. None of the near one hundred cultivators from the previous aeons survived!

This scene shocked all the cultivators on the continent, and their faces turned pale. No one knew who was the first to kneel, but soon, all the cultivators on the continent who had been watching the fight knelt down and shivered while worshiping Su Ming.

The bald crane quickly flew next to Su Ming with a smug face, then stared at the Sacred Wood in envy before it quickly spoke.

“Master, you have endless strength and are the epithet of heroism and wisdom. There is none before you, and none after you. You are like the prideful sun in the sky whose light reaches endless distances, the bright moon in the night sky that causes the stars to be dim, that is truly…”

Su Ming smiled and looked at the bald crane. His gentle gaze caused the bald crane to scratch its bald head awkwardly. It did not continue speaking.

Su Ming turned his head around to cast a glance at the continent. His gaze swept past all the cultivators on it before eventually landing on a little girl. He smiled gently. The girl seemed to have been unable to see him before, but right then, she saw him, and she opened her tiny mouth with surprise in her eyes.

“During these fifty years, let Arid Triad be slightly peaceful.”

Su Ming turned his head around and looked towards space. As he mumbled, he took a step forward, and the bald crane immediately followed after him. It had even noticed that it lived a better life when it followed Su Ming, because when he was beside it, it could be even more arrogant and willful.

There was a man and a woman among the many cultivators worshiping Su Ming on the continent. A nine year old girl was by their side. She grabbed her mother’s sleeve and whispered, “Mama, it’s that man. He’s the one who chased away that bad man before.”

***

In the world where Di Tian lay in Yin Death Vortex was his coffin. There was no longer any lid on it, and the figure originally sleeping in it was no longer around.

There was a mountain in that world, and Di Tian, in an emperor’s robe and crown, stood there. Behind him were seven figures caught between a state of illusion and reality.

“It’s almost time, my seven fellow Daoists. Have you made up your mind?”

After a long while, Di Tian turned around and looked at the seven with an aloof expression. His gaze contained the galaxy, and when he looked over, it looked like there was cold-blooded soul contained in his body.