Pursuit of the Truth

At the instant Su Ming got up, the illusory dimension immediately cracked. As the sound echoed in the air, the world shattered around Su Ming like a mirror.

His body shattered along with it until he turned into powder and disappeared in the vast space.

Almost at the instant this happened, Su Ming, who had his right hand pressed against the gigantic stone door in the cave of the second mountain, suddenly shuddered violently.

His eyes flew open, and he sucked in a deep breath, as if his soul had returned to its body.

His expression changed swiftly, and his right hand on the stone door started trembling uncontrollably. He felt that his soul and body were very out of sync with each other at that moment, causing him to feel incredibly unfamiliar with himself.

A small part of this feeling came from his body, but a larger part of it… was the sense of time flowing around him once again.

The illusory dimension was very different from this place, and Su Ming had been a locus that acted as an intersection point between the two. He had returned from the still dimension after a long time, so it was only natural that he had a strong sense of not being comfortable with his surroundings.

Su Ming lowered his head and looked at his right hand. He saw that it was trembling. In silence, his heart gradually calmed down, and a brilliant light shone in his eyes.

‘I wonder how many years I’ve been in that illusory dimension. Time might not have moved there, but the amount that was supposed to pass had still gathered around me, giving me an ancient air… Among the eighty thousand something formulas of medicinal pills aimed to target Waves of Tears, I’ve finally managed to create the Core of Waves of Tears!’

Su Ming sucked in a deep breath, and his gaze fell on the stone door. With a glint in his eyes, he took a step forward, lifted his right hand, and pushed his hand against the stone door once more.

Almost at the instant he did so, the stone door let out a loud bang, and the light threads spreading outwards from the light blue glow that resembled a cobweb shrank back. When they collected into a single dot, it turned into a light blue vortex.

At the same time, medicinal pills flew out of the vortex and floated in front of Su Ming. The pills before him were the ones that he had offered a long time ago as a child. They were also the same ones that he had used for his experiments in the illusory dimension.

Yet the medicinal pills that appeared this time were no longer limitless in quantity. These were the only ones around.

However, to Su Ming, even if there was no longer an infinite supply, it did not matter. He had already found the perfect formula, and he could successfully create the medicinal core in one go.

He swept his gaze across the medicinal pills and lifted his right hand in a swing to immediately bring one closer Once he crushed it, he only took the skin. Then, he took another medicinal pill, crushed it, and took a third of its contents. Complex procedures such as these continued until Su Ming skillfully created a Core of Waves of Tears an hour later over the ball of flames he had summoned out of thin air on his right hand.

The core was as red as blood, and it looked quite terrifying. It was as if this was not a medicinal core, but a ball of blood. Waves of malicious aura spread out from that Core of Waves of Tears, along with a thick, sweet scent.

If anyone caught a whiff of it, they would definitely be intoxicated, but if they sniffed it several more times, the person would want to hurl ceaselessly in a manner as if they wanted to even throw up their organs.

“Waves of Tears, I’m returning.”

Killing intent appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and he turned into a long arc that swiftly left the cave, the second mountain, and… the stone fragment’s dimension.

…..

Beyond the periphery of Divine Essence Star Ocean was a galaxy that would occasionally have dazzling stellar streams appear in it. Roars that sounded like infants crying rose and fell there, reverberating in all directions. If anyone looked from above, they would be able to see that there were a hundred thousand something Waves of Tears in that place. These creatures were of various sizes—some were one hundred feet in size, others one thousand feet, and some even ten thousand feet—and they all had expressions of madness, bloodthirstiness, and greed.

There were thirteen warships that were surrounded by the one hundred thousand something Waves of Tears. In the mid of their roars and madness, Waves of Tears were launching wave after wave of attacks on their targets.

Holding out against them were thousands of cultivators. They were exhausted and had injuries of various degrees on their bodies, but they did not retreat even a single bit. Instead, they gritted their teeth and persevered, even if their cultivation bases were almost completely used up, even if their Enchanted Treasures had shattered, and even if they no longer had any hope.

But they still did not turn around.

The nine Frail Darknesses, who were the nine old men with closed eyes, had their eyes open. White light spread out from them, and the nine old men revealed their cultivation of later stage World Plane Realm. They surrounded the thirteen warships from nine directions and were resisting the Waves of Tears’ attacks at full strength.

If these nine people were not around, then the Waves of Tears would have pounced on the thirteen warships a long time ago and submerged them as well as all the cultivators inside.

Yet even so, as the Waves of Tears continued attacking, there were cultivators who died. Their bodies were torn apart by Waves of Tears, and right before the other cultivators, they would be crushed, would have their corpses torn limb from limb, and would be eaten.

These bloody scenes were shocking, and brought a hint of despair to the defenders.

The catwoman had already reached her maximum speed. With it, she circled the thirteen warships, resolving one crisis after another, lessening the pressure on the cultivators with her kills.

They used the warships’ power repeatedly, having them burst forth with the pillars of light that could destroy everything… but every single time those pillars of light blasted forth, they could only destroy the fog. They could not harm the bodies of the creatures.

After all, there were too many Waves of Tears. A number of around one hundred thousand something might not sound like a lot, but when someone truly saw it, they would find that there was no end to the creatures.

In the distance were two eighty thousand Waves of Tears. They were roaring, and there was monstrous fog surging from their bodies. That fog was like a corporeal wave that struck in all directions, and before it… were seventeen Xu Huis.

Her face was pale. It was very difficult for her to fight against two powerful existences who were at the equivalent of those in Lunar Kalpa Realm with her power. Even if these Waves of Tears were ferocious beasts and their divine abilities could not compare to those of cultivators, the pressure brought by them was still incredibly great.

She was at a complete disadvantage. In fact, there were even a few times when the situation had become incredibly dangerous for her. Even if she was holding on for the moment she would not be able to continue for much longer. More importantly… the one hundred thousand feet Wave of Tears was still sitting in a lackadaisical fashion on the gigantic meteor floating in the galaxy. Its eyes were cold, and with a contemptuous and mocking gaze, it swept its gaze past Xu Hui and all the other cultivators.

There were two Waves of Tears that were eighty thousand feet tall by its side as well. If they decided to attack, it would become impossible for Xu Hui to fight against them.

There was anger in her heart. This anger was not directed towards the Waves of Tears… but towards Su Ming, who was currently Dao Kong.

Her impression of Dao Kong had unknowingly changed when Su Ming chose to stay and even took the initiative to charge in, but she had not expected that all of this would be fake. Dao Kong’s personality had not changed in the slightest. He was still that unkind, unrighteous, hypocritical, and treacherous person she knew. He might have spewed out impressive and dignified words on the surface, but in truth… when he rushed out, he had used some unknown method to disappear.

She might not have noticed any ripple of power that belonged to Relocation, but there was no other explanation for Dao Kong’s disappearance.

Besides anger, Xu Hui also felt a sense of grief and disappointment. She knew that her fate was tied to Dao Kong’s, and that she could not break that tie; she was fated to become his wife for dual cultivation. She had attempted to change everything, but could never succeed. She had also tried to change Dao Kong, but failed in that as well.

When she saw Dao Kong having escaped alone, the disappointment in her heart brought anguish and desolation to her pale face.

The cultivators on the thirteen warships were silent. They did not roar or laugh bitterly. Instead, in silence, they used all they had to fight against the Waves of Tears.

As for the nine old Frail Darknesses, no one could know what they thought. However, they occasionally glanced towards the spot in which Su Ming had disappeared and looked somewhat disappointed as well as indecisive.

They were already very tired. While they were not injured in the continuous fights, the usage of their cultivation bases, the torment of their wills, the intimidation from the one hundred thousand feet Wave of Tears in the distance, and most importantly, the despair from no hope were a poison that could kill anyone’s willpower.

About an hour had passed since Su Ming had disappeared. During this time, the intensity of the battle had surpassed what happened before and reached a new height.

If no outside force joined in, then perhaps… they could continue fighting and persevering, but the one hundred thousand feet Wave of Tears in the distance seemed to have mocked them enough. It lifted its right hand and swung it. Immediately, the two eighty thousand feet Wave of Tears beside it lifted their heads, and while laughing ferociously, they let out shocking roars and turned into two long arcs… that charged towards the thirteen warships.

Their arrival would mark the end of this hunt.

A hint of calmness appeared in the white eyes of the nine old Frail Darknesses. It was the calmness that would appear in a person who had seen through everything and was about to die. The catwoman trembled. As she laughed bitterly, she prepared herself to die. Instead of living like this, it was better to die, but she would no longer have the chance to make up the regret in her heart.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, we will burn our souls and self-destruct. We will use it to open a path for you to escape. At that time, you must leave quickly…” The voices of the nine old Frail Darknesses echoed in Xu Hui’s heart.

“We aren’t the only ones who will do it. All the cultivators from Morning Dao Sect and the thirteen warships will also self-destruct to drag them down with us. This should be enough for you to leave this place.

“When you find the young master, don’t blame him. He is still a child. He needs experience and time to grow. The nine of us… wish the best for you… Now, we will leave the young master in your hands. He is a little willful, but we hope that you will be more tolerant of him. When you find him, bring him… back to Morning Dao Sect.”

Xu Hui’s heart trembled. The nine old Frail Darknesses usually ignored her, and she too looked down on these nine cultivators who acted like old slaves. They had practically never communicated with each other, but at that moment, these nine people were determined to use their deaths in exchange for a chance for her to escape.

The two eighty thousand feet Waves of Tears closed in on them swiftly. Mighty pressure descended on the ships with a bang, but at the instant the nine old men prepared to self-destruct, the thirteen warships were about to be destroyed and crumble, and all the cultivators were ready to kill numerous Waves of Tears with their own deaths…

In the spot where Su Ming had disappeared, a ray of piercing white light began to shine. It rose into the heavens out of nowhere, and instantly attracted the attention of all cultivators and Waves of Tears.

It made Xu Hui look over, made then nine old men cast their gazes on it, and also made the four eighty thousand feet tall Waves of Tears peer over with surprise. It even made the one hundred thousand feet tall Wave of Tears focus its gaze on it.