Pursuit of the Truth

The sandstorm’s howls turned into moans by their ears, and they sounded like a song from a xun. It echoed in the air in a desolate manner in the sea of sand.

It had been nearly one thousand years since Su Ming had entered the formerly glorious world. With Hao Hao in hand, he came to a desert, a place that was formerly the sea at the center of the world. They walked on the sand that was once the bottom of the sea towards the very center of the world.

Su Ming’s footsteps were not quick. He walked for a long time, until he forgot about the passage of time. Then, on one day, a world appeared in the sandstorm before him and Hao Hao.

That world contained an oasis, and it stood out very clearly in the sandstorm, causing all those who saw it to feel their spirits lift without their notice. This was the first time… Su Ming saw green in the world.

The oasis had a lake, and around it was green grass that gave off a nice scent. There seemed to be a barrier between them; the oasis could be seen, but not touched.

“We’re home…” Hao Hao said while holding Su Ming’s hand. The two of them had already walked through the sandstorm into the oasis.

The pleasant scent of grass filled the air, causing people to value the only color in the colorless world. Su Ming stood quietly in the oasis while looking at the lake.

“Is this your final decision?”

Su Ming closed his eyes. After a long while, when he opened his eyes, he looked at the boy beside him.

The boy nodded seriously. There was not a hint of hesitation or indecisiveness in him.

“This is my home. I will stay here and change everything,” Hao Hao said softly. His voice was rather weak, but there was a firm tone to his words, and his determination could also be heard.

“Big brother, could you stay with me for a few more years? I’m… afraid of being lonely.”

The boy held Su Ming’s hand while staring up at him. The clarity in his eyes reflected the dependency he had on Su Ming as he waited for his answer.

Su Ming lifted his right hand and patted Hao Hao’s head. After a long while, he softly said, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t leave so soon.”

The boy smiled happily and with satisfaction. He cast Su Ming a deep glance, then slowly let go of his hand to walk to the lake. With each step he took, he would turn his head around, and when the lake reached his knees, he turned his head around again and stared at Su Ming.

“Big brother, thank you for helping me. Thank you for sending me to this place… I told you before that if you help me, I will definitely help you… In the future, I will help you gain an epiphany… of my world.”

The boy smiled happily and slowly walked into the lake. When he was completely submerged, the lake let out a bang, and a whirlpool showed up at the spot where Hao Hao had disappeared. The vortex rotated swiftly outwards and reveal Hao Hao, who had his eyes shut tightly while sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the lake.

Right before Su Ming’s eyes, branches grew out of the bottom of the lake around Hao Hao. In an instant, they surrounded him, and once they completely enveloped him, they formed a seed.

It was the seed of the Tree of Dao Verification. Soon, an indescribably abundant life force come out of it at the bottom of the lake—in Hao Hao’s former homeland. That life force could only cover the oasis at that moment, but Su Ming could already see that as the Tree of Dao Verification grew, that life force would spread through the whole world and all of the nine continents.

The desert would become a sea, and mountains as well as rivers would appear on the nine continents again. The monochrome world would gain dashes of brilliant colors, and in time, it would return to its former glory.

At that time, with the overflowing life force, lives may appear once more, and with them, human societies would be born, new worlds would appear, and people would start cultivating again…

After all, if they were to get to the bottom of things, the world had not been reduced to a wasteland because all the strongest people had died or because all the lives in it had returned to dust, but because… the Tree of Dao Verification that provided the means for the world to thrive was taken away by the Emperor of Ancient Zang.

It had taken away the world’s roots… but right then, Hao Hao’s choice to return caused everything to change once.

It was Hao Hao’s decision.

Su Ming quietly watched the whirlpool in the lake slowly disappear. Gradually, the lake water covered the seed of the Tree of Dao Verification that had formed at the bottom of the lake, and in silence, Su Ming sighed softly.

He respected the boy’s decision and also understood his wishes. Hao Hao did not want his homeland to continue to be in the state it was. He hoped… that with his return, he could change everything, and perhaps a long time later, when the Tree of Dao Verification reached the skie, the boy would sit on the tree crown and stare at his homeland with a truly happy smile.

Su Ming closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged by the lake. He had promised Hao Hao that he would keep him company for a few years, and so, he meditated nearby. He stayed for a number of years that were equivalent to the number of palm lines he had on his palm. Each line symbolized one year, and in the blink of an eye, one hundred years passed.

During that period of time, Su Ming did not open his eyes. He just sat there and did not even practice his cultivation. Instead, he immersed himself in a state of spiritual quietness.

He did not do it to think or to gain an epiphany. Instead, he had become connected to the seed Hao Hao formed and was sensing its growth…

The lake behind him had also experienced a change during the one hundred years. A small tree had appeared at the center of it. It stood tall, and its roots filled every single corner of the lake. They stretched deep into the soil at the bottom of the lake.

When Su Ming opened his eyes for the first time, he saw the small tree at the center of the lake, and he felt as if he saw Hao Hao. Su Ming did not stand up, but continued sitting in front of the lake before closing his eyes again.

He continued immersing himself in the spiritual quietness. His cultivation base did not experience any sort of increase or decrease, but at some point in time, his seventh overlapping Dao Paragon gained complete form in his third eye.

Su Ming might have put aside his training, but it was precisely because he had been putting it aside that his seventh overlapping Dao Paragon had gained clearer form, and then… the shadow of his eighth overlapping Dao Paragon appeared.

It might just be a shadow, but once it gained complete form, it would mean that Su Ming’s level of cultivation would increase by leaps and bounds, and he would become a Great Dao Paragon!

There were less than thirty Great Dao Paragons in all of Ancient Zang, and there was a ravine that could not be described with words existing between Great Dao Paragons and ninth level Dao Gods. The ravine was so wide and deep that even Great Dao Paragons found it hard to cross, or else it would have been impossible for there to only be three ninth level Dao Gods throughout the many years of history in Ancient Zang.

Su Ming did not bother about practicing his cultivation. He only sat there and remained in the state of spiritual quietness while sensing Hao Hao’s growth and the world’s transformation because of it. He simply allowed time to pass by him until another hundred years went by.

At first glance, his face did not change too much, but a hint of age appeared on him. His black robes pooled on the ground around him while his purple hair spilled over his shoulders. Su Ming had his head lowered while he quietly meditated.

The small tree in the lake behind him had already started growing healthily. It was now a tree of one thousand feet. Its trunk occupied half of the lake, and even though it was not tall enough to reach the sky yet, its astonishing presence could already be felt.

The oasis was still around. The wind howling in the central sea in the past but the world of sand right then had already diminished greatly. Humidity could already be sensed in the world, causing a lot of greenery slowly appear in the desert.

Perhaps, before long, the desert would disappear, and the central sea would return.

When another hundred years passed, Su Ming had already lived through a total of one thousand two hundred years from the moment he woke up in the new world. The Tree of Dao Verification behind him already covered the entire lake, and was nearly ten thousand feet tall. This height allowed the Tree of Dao Verification to show the beginnings of its future splendor. Even from a distance, its will to reach the sky could be seen.

At that point in time, the sand and wind of the desert had already completely disappeared. A layer of faint blue seawater submerged the sand… The abundant amount of life force caused the desert that had been submerged by seawater to welcome its first rays of light after years since it lost its former glory.

When the third century of the second millennium arrive while Su Ming continued sitting, the area around him filled with a large amount of seawater. The desert… turned into an ocean!

The former central sea, the huge ocean that completely covered the basin of sand returned. Standing tall at the center of that sea was a tree which was one hundred thousand feet tall and showed a desire to reach the skies!

The roots of the tree covered the entire oasis, but they automatically circumnavigated Su Ming to reveal an exit that would lead to the area outside. The seawater in the tunnel forming the exit also seemed very gentle, as if it was affected by some powerful will that did not want to bother Su Ming while he was meditating.

As time passed, the seawater grew in amount until it completely covered the desert When a true ocean was formed, half of the second millennium since Su Ming had arrived passed.

Su Ming opened his eyes for the second time then. He looked at the seawater around him, the oasis that was once surrounding him, and the majestic roots before a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Su Ming knew that Hao Hao had succeeded. Perhaps he would not need much longer before the world regained its former colors, and then, the tree would show its true glory.

Su Ming could sense the success. Since he was connected to the Tree of Dao Verification, he felt as if he could experience that success and witness everything that happened in the world.

“When I stand in the sky, I should be able to see a Tree of Dao Verification that wants to compete against the sky!

“Or rather, even the sky will have to bow its head before this tree, because the Tree of Dao Verification will have become the world,” Su Ming murmured softly before closing his eyes again.

‘Then, it will be the time for me to leave… to fulfill the promise I made three thousand years ago to meet outside the city gate of Ancient Zang’s capital…

‘The time has also come for the battle of Possession to finally end… But when I open my eyes, will the path belong to me, or will it belong to him? I… am not confident,’ Su Ming murmured in his heart.