1341 - 1348

Chapter 1341: A Mistake is Required

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When the three black-robed men called up many clones with Su Ming's appearance and stirred up waves of resentment with their slaughter in Saint Defier's camp, Xuan Jiu, one of the three lords, had already turned into a puddle of black water.

When Fei Hua opened her eyes, anguish appeared on her face. She did not need to touch her face to sense that her life force was about to be extinguished. Even so, she still had one thousand years left to her.

However… her looks could no longer be seen. Her face was old, and her dark locks had turned white. It looked like too much of her life had been extracted from her, and she had withered like an old flower.

Fei Hua sighed softly. There was little reluctance to part with her looks in her heart. The calmness of her personality allowed her to just accept it. Scheming against the powerful warrior from Arid Triad she had never seen before was something she had not agreed to, but the other two had joined their hands, and she then gave silent consent to it.

When she stood up slowly, she saw Xiao Song open his eyes on the other altar. He was no longer as handsome as before, but he did not appear old, like Fei Hua. Instead, he looked like a mummy. So much of his life force had been extracted that it looked like he was rotting away, as if he had just crawled out of a coffin after having been buried for several months.

A foul stench spread out. Then, Xiao Song's incredibly shrill screams filled the area. Every part of him hurt, as if countless insects were tearing into his flesh and squirming inside. Even his soul felt like that. Under the intense pain, his originally rotting cultivation base was heavily damaged, causing his mind to become muddled. It was as if… he had gone mad.

As he screamed in pain, he flew up swiftly, and with his voice echoing shrilly in space, he charged into the distance.

"It hurts… It hurts!"

His voice gradually turned into lingering notes in space. When they slowly disappeared, Fei Hua lowered her head in silence. The three of them had lost completely. Xuan Jiu died, Xiao Song went mad, and as for her… she lost her looks. Even though her level of cultivation had not changed much, she had only one thousand years left to live.

In the end, Fei Hua sighed. She then cast a glance at the area around her and walked into space. She was tired, and she wanted to finish the journey of her life quietly in her hometown.

"Perhaps I will not be able to wait until he arrives… He never cared about me to begin with. He only ever cared about my sister…" Fei Hua shook her head in anguish, then went into the distance.

In the meantime, the bald crane was smugly rebuking Yan Pei in Dark Dawn's camp. It was also boasting about itself, but Yan Pei was distracted. He would occasionally train his eyes on Zi Ruo, who was daydreaming in the distance, while he wondered just what exactly had happened in Old Man Extermination's tomb.

As the bald crane spoke, its heart suddenly clenched in pain for some unknown reason. Its words instantly came to a halt. When it lifted its head, it stared at the galaxy with a blank look on its face. It was looking in the direction of Saint Defier's camp, and confusion appeared in its eyes.

A faint image took shape in its mind. The picture had a woman who was staring at a handsome young man beside her with a smile. The two of them stared into each other's eyes and did not notice a black crane in the distance staring at the young man with jealousy on its face. Standing beside the black crane was a teenage girl. She caressed the black crane's feathers gently, looking innocent and naive.

The scene brought confusion to the bald crane's heart, causing it to instinctively raise its claws to scratch its face fiercely. Once it shook its body, the image disappeared, and the bald crane suddenly decided that it was no longer in the mood to talk to Yan Pei.

It suddenly had an urge to go to Saint Defier's camp. It did not know what it wanted to do there, but it grew stronger with every passing moment. In the end, it chose to leave. Yan Pei looked at it with a stunned expression, but the bald crane ignored him and turned into a long arc that charged through the galaxy.

…..

Harmonious Morus Alba's fourth wing, or what the boy called Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos had a very direct name. Perhaps the people who lived in it did not see a missing part in the heavens, but there were those who knew of the existence of a gap.

If anyone compared the galaxy to the heavens, then that heaven… was indeed lacking.

Su Ming rushed towards the gap in the heavens, which he had seen with his will previously. He did not cast a glance at the unfamiliar galaxy. It might be Harmonious Morus Alba's Expanse Cosmos, but it was not Su Ming's homeland.

Once he found Tian Xie Zi and the others, he would not stay around. He also had the same feeling in regards to Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. He would return to his homeland, to Ninth Summit, and when he was there… he would live through the final few hundred years and prevent what he saw in Heavenly Incense Rune from becoming a reality.

'I need Old Man Extermination to make a fatal mistake. As long as he does it, then no matter what his final plan is, that mistake… will foreshadow his defeat! If he makes no mistakes, then I will make him!'

Su Ming rushed forward calmly. He had already grown used to the loud rumbles around him. He did not seem to move fast, but with his power, before long, he appeared at the spot the boy had mentioned, which was also the place Su Ming had seen with his will—the gap leading to the Vast Expanse.

From the distance, the borders of the tear were not uniform. There was nothing beyond the gap, only the gray of the universe. It had no bounds, and thin fog tumbled about as if hiding some secret within it.

The closer Su Ming got, the thicker the presence of the universe beyond became. If he was a normal cultivator, then at that moment, his cultivation base would get jammed greatly. Only powerful warriors like the boy could persevere and step into the Vast Expanse to see the world outside.

With a calm expression, Su Ming walked near the gap. He stood there and stared at the Vast Expanse in silence.

Based on what the boy had said, the ancient ship was hidden there. Based on that, it was not hard to imagine that perhaps… Old Man Extermination was also looking at him.

"You don't want to meet me, huh?" Su Ming said faintly. "Perhaps you think that it is not time yet."

Su Ming turned around and looked at space with his back turned towards the gap.

Old Man Extermination was sitting on the ancient ship hidden in space and also looking at Su Ming. They seemed to be in different worlds, but their gazes met.

"Since you don't want to show yourself, I won't force you either," Su Ming said slowly. As his voice echoed in the air, it did not drown out the rumbling bangs. Instead, his words seemed to fuse with them, making it hard to hear him clearly.

"But…"

Su Ming lifted his left hand and lowered his head to cast a glance at his palm lines. Slowly, he clenched his left hand before he slowly unfurled his palm towards a spot in space, as if he was pushing at it.

The loud rumbles that seemed like they would echo eternally in space instantly fell into true silence. At that moment, all sounds in the Expanse Cosmos disappeared.

It lasted for about three breaths. After them, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened. Su Ming pulled back his left hand. He did not say anything more and turned around, taking a swift step towards the Vast Expanse.

His target at the gap was Old Man Extermination, but since he hid himself, it was clear that he did not wish to meet Su Ming. With that being the case… Su Ming would have to try achieving his other goal.

And that was… to test just how dangerous and treacherous was the so-called Vast Expanse, where Harmonious Morus Alba flew. Su Ming wanted to personally experience it and… to see Harmonious Morus Alba, in which he lived, from the outside!

With a step forward, Su Ming turned into a long arc. With determination in his heart, he closed in on the gap. In a flash… he rushed out of Harmonious Morus Alba for the first time in his life and stepped into the universe beyond.

During that moment, ripples appeared in his calm heart. He could not describe that feeling. It was a form of transcendence, of ascension, where he stepped into a place that was truly unfamiliar to him!

After all, what he sensed in the Art of Time and what he sensed with his own body was different.

The instant Su Ming stepped into the Vast Expanse, the eyes of Old Man Extermination shone on the ancient ship beside the gap. When he lowered his head, he saw a clear palm print on the wooden plate at the bow of the ship.

That palm print was very distinct, but when he looked at it closely, he felt that he could not see the palm lines clearly. However, Old Man Extermination could sense a wave of murderous aura within the palm print at first glance.

It was so thick that it was almost corporeal. There was a threat in it, and even Old Man Extermination could not overlook it, because Su Ming had gained an epiphany that allowed him to reach a state at which he could pose a threat to him.

It was just a palm print. Even if the meaning contained in was ignored, just its appearance alone spoke volumes. It showed that Su Ming could find the hidden ancient ship!

The threat contained in the palm print and the powerful presence spreading out from it passed over Su Ming's silent words.

He had chosen a signal that could only transfer meaning.

'Don't provoke you, huh?' Old Man Extermination mumbled, and his lips curled up into a cold sneer.

'You are just a life that has lived through half an era of this aeon. As expected, a fool. Even if you have reached a high level of cultivation, your mind is still immature.

'Is this supposed to be effective… If you think I will truly stop provoking you just because of your threat, then besides being ludicrous, you are plain ridiculous.

'And I say you are a fool because of this palm print. Su Ming, you have practically delivered me a sword that can kill you!'.

As Old Man Extermination stared at the palm print, a smile appeared at the corners of his lips. He lifted his right hand, swung his arm, and the indistinctiveness of the palm print was forcefully chased away to reveal Su Ming's palm lines!

'With these palm lines, I will no longer need your blood.'.

A flash of dark light shone in Old Man Extermination's eyes. He naturally had a method to check whether the palm lines were real.

Chapter 1342: The Vast Expanse

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The word vast means something immense and boundless, and the word expanse means all existing matter and space as a whole. When the two words are grouped together, they meant that there is no end to the universe.

The expanse encompasses the galaxy, the heavens, space itself, and hence… it was the Vast Expanse beyond the gap.

Su Ming had no idea just how big it was. He believed that even the black-robed young man on the Feng Shui compass did not know just how far the Vase Expanse extended.

It was different from the galaxy. The instant Su Ming stepped out of Harmonious Morus Alba's universe, he felt a weight suddenly press down on him. It was as if a mountain had landed on his shoulders. That mountain was heavy, making it hard for him to breathe. He felt a slight discomfort.

In fact, he felt as if there were invisible shackles on his limbs, which made his movements slightly jerky when he lifted his feet.

There was also a thin fog around him. Su Ming sensed a certain degree of danger from it. It seemed like the fog could devour life and destroy all signs of it.

In silence, Su Ming lifted his right hand and touched the thin fog. His hand began to rot. In fact, gray also appeared at his fingertips, as if he was about to turn to ash. But soon, as Su Ming circulated his cultivation base, his finger reached a state of balance with the world around him.

'If this is what happened even at my level of cultivation, then people in the middle stage of Avanicaya Realm can stay here for dozens of years while those in the initial stage of Avacaniya Realm… would die in half a year. As for those below Avacaniya Realm… once they stepped into the Vast Expanse, they would instantly be destroyed.

'And…'

Su Ming frowned. He did not sense any signs of will or power that could allow him to restore his cultivation base in the Vast Expanse, which would mean that… he could not restore his cultivation base in the Vast Expanse. The amount he used up would be the amount he was not getting back.

Most cultivator could not bear it. But to Su Ming, this was not something unfamiliar. After all, be it when he was in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence or the world in All Spirits Hall, he had experienced something similar there.

Su Ming knew well how to use his power in places where he only had a limited supply of his cultivation base. He could do it to an ingenious level… but besides that, while Su Ming did not spread his will through the Vast Expanse, he could still sense it constantly fading.

Based on the rate it flowed away from him, in about a hundred years, his will would completely disappear, as if devoured by the Vast Expanse.

Su Ming let out a soft sigh. Most of his thoughts of avoiding the disaster in the Vast Expanse disappeared. It was not a place where cultivators could exist.

Besides, the thin fog around him was the most common thing. There were also quite a number of existences that even he would need to be wary of, such as vortices and the strange lives that lived in the Vast Expanse.

Perhaps others would not quite understand it, but Su Ming had survived an encounter with the black-robed man in the past. He had seen the mysteries and the terrifying aspects of the Vast Expanse.

When he experienced them with his body, that feeling became even deeper in his heart.

Su Ming remained in pensive silence for a moment before a glint appeared in his eyes that shone with resolution. With a single move, he turned into a long arc and charged into the distance. He was not a person who would easily give up on his choices. He had three paths to take under the threat of the destructive disaster, and he would not give up on any one of them due to a rash assessment.

If the Vast Expanse was inhabitable and people could live in it, it would mean that Su Ming had found a way for his friends and family to live through the disaster.

But he was not certain as to whether Cang Lan and the others could leave Harmonious Morus Alba Expanse Cosmos. After all, their levels of cultivation were not high. Over the years, their experiences and the serendipities they received were different, so their levels of cultivation had grown far apart.

Su Ming had no way of dealing with this. Forcefully increasing their levels of cultivation was only a temporary solution, and he could not make it so that everyone arrived in Avacaniya Realm.

Yet no matter what, the Vast Expanse… was one of the three paths. If he found proof that this plan was executable, then he could think of ways to solve other problems.

With a resolute gaze, Su Ming charged forward and disappeared into the seemingly thin fog that was actually very thick.

As Su Ming left into the distance, the thin fog formed gray marks on his body. They expanded until they practically covered every single part of his body, but once he made his cultivation base reach an equilibrium with the fog, he was perfectly fine even though he looked as if he had died.

If the boy was in his place right then, he would not dare to leave too far into the distance even though he had stepped into the Vast Expanse several times. Instead, he would only move around the area near the gap. Even so, every single time he headed out, he made lots of preparations, and the fog still damaged him greatly. Practically every one hundred breaths, he would need to swallow medicinal cores and forcefully circulate his cultivation base to regulate his breathing.

He was not like Su Ming, who did not stop at all while he charged forward.

Su Ming continued until a glint shone in his eyes. He brought his right hand up and seized the fog to his right. With it, the fog in that region immediately shrank, and a face with three eyes showed up. That face was an illusion which shone with a dark light. It had a ferocious expression, but it gave off a feeling that it possessed no intelligence.

It let out a piercing roar and charged towards Su Ming. He did not hesitate and grabbed it swiftly. With a bang, the face was torn to pieces, but it did not dissipate. Instead, it turned into a dozen portions that charged back at him.

Su Ming frowned. He might not have used his full strength in the attack just then, but he could have killed a cultivator in the initial stage of Avacaniya Realm with it. Yet in the Vast Expanse, he could not even kill the strange life form.

He snorted coldly, then in the face of the dozen faces charging towards him, he swung his arm. This time, he used his will, and as his sleeve fluttered in space, booming sounds rang out in the Vast Expanse. The dozen faces let out shrill screams of pain and disappeared into the wind.

But Su Ming's expression grew darker. Even though he had noticed that his will was dissipating, he did not expect that the instant he used it, the speed at which it dissipated would become one hundred times faster.

Based on that, in one year… his great will would wither away.

And Su Ming had to use the peak of the power of those in the initial stage of Avacaniya Realm to kill the strange life form. It was also clear that its kind was not rare in the fog…

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he sighed in his heart. There was no longer any need for him to check around. The Vast Expanse… was completely unsuitable for cultivators, because even he could only stay in it for some time. If he was forced to stay for a longer period of time, he would die.

In silence, Su Ming turned around to go back to the butterfly. From the distance, he could only see a wing that was slanted diagonally upwards. It exuded a presence that was completely different from the Vast Expanse.

The wing was so big that Su Ming could not see the end of it.

Looking at something from a different angle would cause the size of something to be different as well. When Su Ming had seen the butterfly through the Art of Time, it hadn't seemed too big. When he saw Harmonious Morus Alba's ancient memories under its guidance, it was the same. Back then, the butterflies looked to be only the size of a baby's palm.

Yet what he saw right then was so huge that it could not be described with words.

Su Ming stood frozen in a daze and stared at the huge butterfly before him. He could not see how it looked like, just its fourth wing. In fact, he could not even fully see the fourth wing.

It was difficult for him to put what he felt into words. It was an incredibly complicated feeling, and there was a strange sentimentality in him. He could see the aura of death on the butterfly, and it was so thick that he would probably feel it even if he was very far away.

He wondered if that thick aura of death had attracted the strange life forms in the Vast Expanse around him, causing a distorted dark shadow that looked like a soul to appear once the fog gathered together.

A determined look suddenly appeared in Su Ming's eyes. He still did not want to give up on the path of trying to survive in the Vast Expanse. Even if his efforts would end in vain and he would even have to pay a certain price for his perseverance, he still… wanted to see just how big the Vast Expanse was, how many strange life forms it had… and see Harmonious Morus Alba in its entirety from another angle!

His determination at that moment was similar to when he had willingly swallowed a large amount of medicinal herbs so that he could rush out of the house sealed by his elder to help Dark Mountain Tribe, when he persisted to use the grass dolls to record the faces he did not want to forget even though his emotions had been sealed in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, and when he had picked himself up after falling into depression once he learned that Su Xuan Yi was not his family and wanted him dead.

That was all his determination. If he was not determined, it would have been impossible for him to survive for that long. If he was not determined, Su Ming… would no longer be Su Ming. He would not have reached his level of cultivation and would have been an average person in a sea of people in the universe.

With determination, Su Ming chose to do something that he should perhaps not do in the Vase Expanse… He spread out his will completely.

It was just like what he had declared in his mind: He wanted to take a look at the butterfly!

It was similar to what the Elder of the Berserkers had said—that he could see a world no one else could see when he predicted the Berserker Day!

Su Ming longed to see a world no one else could see when he lifted his head to look at the galaxy!

At that instant, when he spread his will outwards, countless shrill roars suddenly rang out in the Vast Expanse. At the same time, the fog tumbled swiftly, as if Su Ming's will was a lamp in the dark. When it shone brilliantly, it was deemed as something that should not exist in it!

Su Ming… saw it!

He saw thousands of strange life forms in the Vase Expanse and… that the universe truly had no end, extending beyond the area his will could cover. Su Ming also saw… Harmonious Morus Alba's complete body!

It was a beautiful butterfly with all four of its wings standing erect. At that moment… they were only a sliver away from overlapping. At first glance, it was even difficult to see the crack between them!

Chapter 1343: The World of Specters

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

While starting at the huge butterfly that was Harmonious Morus Alba through his will, Su Ming fell silent. The life forms resembling specters beside him felt like it was their chance, and they instantly charged at him.

But the instant one of them drew close, Su Ming seized that specter's neck with his left hand, which he had brought up at some unknown point of time. No matter how the specter struggled, it could not free itself. It could only let out faint shrieks.

Su Ming did not look at the specter he captured. He only stared at Harmonious Morus Alba, and after a long while, he sighed softly. He swiftly recalled his will. During that short period of time, some of his great will had dissipated, but Su Ming did not pay any heed to it. With the specter in hand, he walked forward with a calm expression, and perhaps it was due to his will filling the area just then, or perhaps it was because of the specter he captured in his hand, but wherever he went, the strange life forms gradually surrounded him.

They kept close, but did not dare to pounce on him. Instead, when Su Ming stepped forward, they immediately moved backwards. From the distance, even though Su Ming did not release any sort of killing intent, once those hundreds of strange life forms surrounded him, he gained an air of looking down on the entire world. When he stepped forward, all lives moved back.

When Su Ming approached the gap in Harmonious Morus Alba's wing, he stopped for a moment and turned around slowly to cast a cold glance at the strange life forms staring at him from behind.

He did not speak, and he still did not harbor any killing intent. However, under his aloof gaze, the hundreds of strange life forms shuddered. They had long since noticed that this life that had walked out of the butterfly was completely different from all the others they remembered. The person before them… was stronger, and he was so strong that he reminded them of the more ferocious existences further in the universe.

The specter in Su Ming's hand struggled even more furiously at that moment. It might not have a lot of intelligence, but its survival instincts told it that if it was brought into the gap, it would definitely die.

Because of that, the specter screamed shrilly. His voice made the hundreds of strange life forms restless, but under Su Ming's gaze, they did not dare approach. Instead, they started screaming shrilly with the specter.

The sound formed by hundreds of strange life forms screaming together immediately echoed in the universe. It was something that had never happened before. The sound traveled forth in a method Su Ming could not understand, and spread through an unknown distance, causing the thin fog in the area to tumble… as if their cries were some sort of summon, a plea for help!

A barely discernible glint shone in Su Ming's eyes. He had his back turned to the gap and was no longer in a hurry to step inside. He wanted to see what sort of existence would be called over by the screams.

The voice of the specter in Su Ming's hand grew shriller. In fact, Su Ming made it scream harder by relaxing his grip slightly before he squeezed down. After doing it, the specter's screams instantly turned several times shriller. At the same time, the hundreds of strange life forms also seemed to have sensed it and let out screams that even Su Ming found piercing to the ears.

It made Su Ming narrow his eyes slightly.

'Could it be that the strange life forms in the universe have some form of connection between them that makes them feel what the other is feeling?'

As Su Ming observed them, he suddenly raised his head and looked into the distance.

When he did so, the strange life forms shuddered and spread out to reveal a path. Immediately after, the thin fog disappeared, allowing Su Ming to see … a huge object in the distance.

It was big compared to Su Ming, but if it was compared to Harmonious Morus Alba, it would be insignificant. It was simply a huge specter that was thousands of feet tall!

A terrifying presence spread out from it. Its eyes were red, but it did not possess much intelligence either. However, its madness and its instincts to murder spread out along with its presence, forming a mighty pressure that made even Su Ming's pupils shrink.

The specter was an existence that had reached the peak of the middle stage of Avacaniya Realm. With just one more step, it could step into the later stage of Avacaniya Realm, but the difficulty of taking that step was the same as crossing a huge ravine in one step. During the countless aeons in Harmonious Morus Alba, besides Su Ming, only Arid Triad had found a method to reach that stage. From that, the difficulty of reaching that stage could be seen.

As the huge specter drew close, the strange life forms around Su Ming all moved back as if they did not dare to be close to it. There seemed to be a rigid order in which they had to conduct themselves based on the differences of their levels of cultivation.

When the huge specter stopped, it stared at Su Ming with its red eyes, then let out a roar that shook the universe around them. Su Ming let out a cold harrumph, but he did not move back. Instead, he headed forward. With the specter in hand, he turned into a long arc and charged towards the huge specter.

It might not be weak, but it was still in the middle stage of Avacaniya Realm. Even if it had reached the peak… it was still not in the later stage!

When it saw that Su Ming was about to close in, the huge specter roared and opened its mouth wide. The universe around it immediately froze for a moment, and signs of it about to collapse swiftly appeared. A huge vortex instantly appeared, and with a huge force that could suck in everything, it enveloped Su Ming.

At the same time, the specter lifted its right hand, and with a swing, it gained sharp claws that charged towards Su Ming. The aura they stirred up could destroy a cultivator in the initial stage of Avacaniya Realm.

Su Ming's expression remained calm. When the space collapsed and the vortex appeared, he lifted his foot and took a light step forward. With it, rumbling sounds immediately rang out, and the huge vortex disintegrated. Then, Su Ming lifted his left hand, and, in a very casual manner, struck the incoming specter's claws through space.

Even though Su Ming's body was very small compared to that of the specter, his strike made a small region of the universe let out a loud bang. The specter's huge claws came to a pause, then crumbled right before his eyes.

"You overestimated yourself."

When Su Ming spoke flatly, he lifted his foot. When it landed, he stood on top of the huge specter's head. He brought his right hand up again, then quickly pushed against the top of the huge specter's head!

The specter let out a roar that shook the sky and earth. In an instant, it started disintegrating on its own, causing Su Ming's strike to miss, and hundreds of specters appeared around him.

They let out a shrill scream together. The piercing sound instantly turned into invisible arrows that struck towards Su Ming. If they landed on him, then no matter how strong Su Ming's physical body was, he would still be affected rather badly, but a hint of scorn appeared in Su Ming's eyes at that moment.

When the arrows closed in on him, he spread his will through the area. It crashed against the incoming arrows, and an incredibly loud sound erupted in space. It formed a wave of impact that swept outwards and made the hundreds of specters instantly tumble backwards.

"Time reversal!"

Su Ming's attack was smooth and clean. He did not hesitate. The moment the hundreds of specters tumbled backwards, he brought his left hand up and drew a circle before he pushed it forward.

The hundreds of specters immediately shuddered and stopped falling backwards. Instead, they swiftly drew closer to one another before they merged into the huge specter again, and Su Ming… stood on top of the specter's head. He brought his left hand up and pushed down once more.

The specter jolted. At the same time, Su Ming's great will surged into the huge specter's body through his palm. He wanted to investigate how the strange life forms born in the Vast Expanse could survive.

What were their body structures?

The huge specter was without a doubt much more fitting specimen for Su Ming to find the answer he wanted compared to the weak life forms. It would give him a better understanding of their structure.

Su Ming's will swept through the huge specter's body inch by inch. What he sensed was a vast expanse of emptiness, and it was not that much different from the world outside. However, he could not see just how strong the huge specter was or how it managed to survive in the Vast Expanse.

As he continued researching, Su Ming scowled.

He had already scanned the specter several times, but he did not discover anything. This was clearly not normal. Su Ming snorted coldly, and a blinding light shone in his eyes. The power of his will instantly increased. The wills of the four Great True Worlds descended on him simultaneously, making Su Ming's investigations of the huge specter's body much more detailed.

This might have seemed to have taken a long time, but in truth, the entire process was over in several blinks.

When Su Ming sent all his will over and began searching through the huge specter… he narrowed his eyes, and in fact, there was even a hint of shock in them.

He saw… a universe that had almost been formed in the huge specter's body!

It was an almost complete universe. It had a galaxy, cultivation planets… so the only thing lacking were lives!

If there were lives, that universe would be complete. Even though it was not big, it formed a self-sustaining cycle.

The instant Su Ming's will descended in the huge specter's universe, it shuddered, and began showing signs of crumbling. Then, it fell apart. At that instant, the huge specter let out a shrill scream of pain. Its huge body contorted under Su Ming's palm… and in the blink of an eye, it was reduced to ash.

Su Ming lifted his head. His expression was slightly grim. The hundreds of life forms in the area were stunned. In a moment, all of them fell back and no longer dared to approach.

In fact, even the specter in Su Ming's hand no longer screamed. It just shuddered.

Chapter 1344: With an Epiphany, the Universe is Shocked!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming was silent for a moment before he swept his gaze over the area. When he looked away, his expression turned calm. He took a step forward and walked towards the fourth wing's gap with the specter in his hand.

He drew closer to the gap, but even up to the moment he stepped into the gap, no other strange life form appeared behind him. The battle seemed to have turned Su Ming into that area's master in the hearts of the strange life forms.

Only when Su Ming stepped into the gap did the specter in his hand struggle weakly. When he entered Harmonious Morus Alba's universe, the specter started shuddering, and its body distorted as if it was about to wiped off. A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes, and he pushed outwards with his right hand. Immediately, the specter was sent out of the gap and appeared in the Vast Expanse.

The specter who escaped death by luck was stunned beyond the gap. It might not have much intelligence, but it knew that it had been about to die just then. It then looked at Su Ming, who was still in the gap.

As it watched him, a hint of respect appeared in the specter's eyes. Then, it turned around and disappeared without a trace.

Su Ming watched the specter disappear while deep in thought. The lives in the Vast Expanse did not possess much intelligence, but they had the most basic instincts, and while Su Ming had noticed the respect, he was still a little uncertain. Based on how all lives with intelligence acted, hatred was always much easier to come by compared to gratitude.

Lives who only had instincts could hate, but if they wanted to learn how to be grateful, they needed intelligence for that. When Su Ming fell into pensive silence over that, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind. He suddenly remembered seeing distortions that seemed to resemble death when the specter was brought into Harmonious Morus Alba's universe.

'Could it be that the reason they gathered around the near-dead Harmonious Morus Alba is because this place can help them gain intelligence?

'And that huge specter had a universe in its body! It might not have any lives in it, but I can tell that if it reached the later stage of Avacaniya, life forms might appear in it.

'But there's also a possibility that it would still be impossible even after it reached the later stage. It might only be able to do so once it attained great completion! No matter what sort of level of cultivation it needs before it could make lives appear in its universe… the lives born in the Vast Expanse are the same as Harmonious Morus Alba. They can create their own universes!

'If this guess holds true, then could it be that the black-robed young man also has a universe in him? And by the looks of it, his universe would be much larger than Harmonious Morus Alba's!'

A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes when the bold assumption took shape in his mind.

'A universe… Countless mortals look at the blue skies and white clouds on their planets. They watch the sun and moon take each other's places and live through their short lives. It's impossible for them to know that perhaps the universe where they live… is within a strange life form's body in the Vast Expanse.

'All schemes and ploys against each other and all entanglements are truly insignificant compared to the will of the entire universe and the Vast Expanse…'

Su Ming sighed softly. It was only a guess, but he was sure that it was infinitesimally close to the truth.

'What is the point of practicing cultivation? Is it for eternal life? That is too narrow of a goal.'

Su Ming turned around to cast a glance at the galaxy in Harmonious Moros Alba's universe. He did not care about the hidden Old Man Extermination and his ancient ship. With his questions and epiphany, he walked towards the galaxy.

'How many people would know just what is eternal life? Even Arid Triad cannot live forever. Would the black-robed young man dare say he can live eternally?

'Everything in the world ends. Eternal life… is just something that comes along. The true goal of cultivation is to pursue the truth!' A glint appeared in Su Ming's eyes, and his footsteps became firmer.

'To search for the truth, to search for an answer to a question. This… is the goal of the cultivators of my generation and why we practice cultivation. Getting stronger and having longevity are just affiliations in the path of pursuing the truth.

'When we search for the truth, we also cultivate the truth!

'When we seek understanding, we also cultivate understanding. I, Su Ming, practiced cultivation because I wanted to understand what is happening around me. I wanted answers to my questions. It is just like what they say, Dao is the truth. Even though life is ephemeral… we can leave the world with a smile.'

As he gained his epiphany, Su Ming gradually gained an unfathomable presence. It was faint, and there was only a hint of it, but its appearance made it look like Su Ming was about to become transparent. It was as if at that moment, he surpassed Harmonious Morus Alba!

'But even if I pursue the truth, even if I pursue understanding, it is only for an answer. But the phrase "to seek the answer" means that the path of cultivating Dao… is destined to be boundless.

'You will never know where the end is… because the path of cultivation is only differentiated by how far different individuals can go. The end can never be seen.'

Su Ming smiled. He looked like he had just been freed from something. With his epiphany, he laughed, and his laughter gradually grew louder.

'I live in Harmonious Morus Alba's wings, but in whose body does Harmonious Morus Alba live? Even that life hosting Harmonious Morus Alba will only live for a short moment. When it lifts its head, would it not see that it is living in another life that will only live for a short moment? And when that life hosting these two is laughing, would it in the future understand that perhaps it is just a short brushstroke for a writer?

'When that writer looks at the sky… I wonder, who will be the writer?

'There is no end… just like how Dao is boundless.'

Su Ming stopped for a moment. When he lifted his head, a resolute light shone in his eyes. Slowly, he murmured, "I do not wish for much, only for those eyes to be mine!"

When Su Ming said that, his body became even more indistinct. The aura of one who surpassed Harmonious Morus Alba in terms of Realm became even stronger around him.

Su Ming lifted his head, and his aura spread out in an unseen manner. It enveloped his body, and Su Ming no longer had any semblance of sentience in his eyes, only empty eyes…

He was still moving forward, but he did not know where he was headed, or what his destination was, because his soul, his consciousness, and his will were completely immersed in his epiphany. It bloomed about him as the invisible aura roared.

He had no idea how long the epiphany would last. Perhaps for several days, perhaps for several years, or perhaps for several decades, centuries, or even more… Even Su Ming himself did not know how long it would last. He did not know what the epiphany would signify for him either.

He also did not know that since ancient times, over the countless aeons in Harmonious Morus Alba's universe, there had never been anyone… who had obtained an epiphany that would lead them to Boundless Dao's Realm!

Forget others, even Arid Triad had never had such an epiphany. In fact, even the once complete Harmonious Morus Alba had only longed for it. However… Su Ming had gained it at that moment!

It was the first time, and perhaps…the last for that universe!

The moment Su Ming gained his unprecedented epiphany, he lost his consciousness. With a dazed expression, he continued walking through the empty galaxy.

At that moment, Harmonious Morus Alba's will shuddered while hiding in its Expanse Cosmos—the place connected to the end of Yin Death Vortex's tunnel.

Its will turned into a butterfly and stared at the distant galaxy. Its body trembled. It sensed a presence that shocked it.

It was Boundless Dao's presence. Someone was trying to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao!

To Harmonious Morus Alba, this was something unbelievable. As it shuddered, it showed signs of scattering, but it soon gathered together, but it was a telling sign of how shocked it was at that moment.

'Is it him? Is the person trying to gain the epiphany him?'

Complicated emotions appeared in Harmonious Morus Alba. The epiphany was something that it longed for, but it had never gained it. And right then, it had appeared in its universe.

In the capital planet of the Emperor of Abyss' True World within Arid Triad Expanse Cosmos was a tree that looked incredibly lush, but was in truth dead. The young man formed by Arid Triad stood underneath it silently and stared at the tree. No one knew what he was thinking about.

When Su Ming gained his epiphany, the young man's expression changed drastically. He turned around swiftly and lifted his head, staring at the galaxy. Disbelief gradually appeared on his face, and it was an expression that he wore incredibly rarely. He took a step forward, intending to investigate what was going on.

'Boundless Dao's presence… This is Boundless Dao's presence. Someone is trying to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao. It's impossible. There is no life here who has gained great completion of Avacaniya Realm, and for anyone not in that Realm, it's impossible to gain an epiphany of Boundless Dao!

'This is… It's Su Ming!'

The young man's footsteps stopped. There was still disbelief on his face, but he no longer moved forward.

Within Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos, Old Man Extermination was sitting on an ancient ship hidden by the gap with a cold sneer on his lips while staring at Su Ming's palm print on the wooden plate before him. However, the cold sneer suddenly froze on his lips. He swiftly lifted his head, and his expression changed drastically.

'He's gaining an epiphany of Boundless Dao? This… This is…'

Old Man Extermination's pupils shrank. His disbelief even surpassed that of Arid Triad and Harmonious Morus Alba. In fact, he did not dare to think more and moved swiftly. While it looked like he was still sitting, a shadow overlapped itself on his body before it flew out swiftly. It instantly appeared in the Expanse Cosmos like an afterimage, then brought up its right hand to push against Su Ming who was moving forward in a daze.

But the moment his palm touched Su Ming, a hint of an aura that could shake the heavens spread out from Su Ming's body without a sound, and it… belonged to Boundless Dao!

At the instant that aura appeared, the afterimage let out a shrill scream of pain and disintegrated, but Su Ming did not seem to be aware of it. He continued moving forward in a daze.

He was indeed not aware of anything. At that moment, while in the state of gaining an epiphany, he forgot everything. His mind was blank.

When the shadow disintegrated, Old Man Extermination's body jolted while he was sitting on the ancient ship, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

It was… the second time he saw his blood since he stepped through the gap in Harmonious Morus Alba's wing. The first was due to his injuries when he just arrived.

Chapter 1345: Dao Divinity

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Harmonious Morus Alba had never come into contact with Boundless Dao before, but it had reached a Realm where it could sense it.

That was why at the instant it sensed that presence, Boundless Dao were the only words that rose in its mind. The presence might be faint and it might just be an epiphany, but to the butterfly, it was something it could only dream of.

It was the same for Arid Triad. Compared to Harmonious Morus Alba, who once attained great completion in Avacaniya Realm, he had lost his chance for it when he failed to completely Possess Harmonious Morus Alba

He could only do it if he finished his Possession… and he had been trying to do it over countless aeons, but he had never managed to succeed. He could only encroach upon it bit by bit. Perhaps if he had enough time, he would succeed someday, but even so, he could only reach the strongest state that Harmonious Morus Alba had once had. He could only attain great completion in Avacaniya Realm.

However, once he Possessed most of Harmonious Morus Alba, Arid Triad also obtained quite a lot of memories and legacies. Among them was Harmonious Morus Alba's desire to reach Boundless Dao, and it naturally allowed Arid Triad to be able to see Boundless Dao as well… He also could understand that Su Ming was trying to gain a complete epiphany of the Realm.

As for Old Man Extermination, for a person who had a grand plan and who managed to survive the deaths of many Harmonious Morus Albas, it was impossible for him to not know about Boundless Dao. Just his multiple run-ins with Xuan Zang were enough for him to never be able to forget the presence of Boundless Dao. He also knew just how terrifying it was.

'No matter how much potential they have, no one in the entire universe can reach Boundless Dao Realm with just one epiphany!

'I have managed to barely come in contact with it after devouring the power of life before three Harmonious Morus Albas died… So what right do you have to succeed?!

'Su Ming… will not be able to reach that Realm!'

Old Man Extermination glared at the galaxy. With a sullen expression, he lifted his right hand and seized the air in the direction of Su Ming's palm print on the wooden plate. The palm print immediately became indistinct.

'Everything will still go according to plan. He will still be a sacrifice. It's impossible for him to escape from my hands.'

Those might have been Old Man Extermination's thoughts, but his gaze when he occasionally lifted his head to stare at the galaxy showed a rarely seen nervousness. It never appeared on his face unless he was facing Xuan Zang.

"There still isn't enough resentment. Apostles of Anger, Grief, and Resentment, I will give you full power to gather resentment from this universe!"

Old Man Extermination clenched his right fist, and when he unfurled his hand, three balls of souls appeared in it. His words traveled directly into the souls, and the three black-robed men in Saint Defier's camp instantly sensed it.

The three people in three different regions fell silent for a moment before they immediately sent out more clones. Each clone took on Su Ming's appearance, and when they spread out, they stirred up a bloody storm in all of Saint Defier's Expanse Cosmoses.

All the lives there suffered miserably. Each clone that took on Su Ming's appearance looked seemed to have its own will. As they killed mercilessly and brutally, they left behind Su Ming's name.

His name became a curse. Gradually, it was dipped in a sea of blood formed by great hatred of countless cultivators in Saint Defier's camp.

When the slaughter spread to Dark Dawn's camp, the wisps of resentment gathered together, causing the resentment in all of Dark Dawn and Saint Defier's Expanse Cosmoses to become incredibly thick.

This lasted for ten years while Su Ming continued walking in a daze in the fourth Expanse Cosmos. He went past many places during that time and the entire fourth wind. Many people saw Su Ming in the galaxy by pure coincidence during that period of time.

No life form could get close to him, however. At the instant anyone who harbored hostility attacked, they would receive varying degrees of backlash based on their different levels of cultivation, just like what Old Man Extermination had suffered.

Time passed, and soon, another ten years went by. A total of twenty years were gone. To mortals, that period of time would be equivalent to a child turning into a young adult. To cultivators, twenty years were only the blink of an eye, and it was especially so for the old monsters who lived through countless ages. To them, twenty years were equivalent to an instant.

Be it the boy, the purple-robed old man, or the young man in white, all three of them had long since completed their preparations for their legacies. In fact, quite a number of their Daoist friends had understood everything from their advice and persuasion. They gathered together and tried to leave behind their legacies.

They, too, saw Su Ming wandering about the galaxy during the twenty years. They could not get close to him, but they could vaguely sense a presence around him that shook them, and it felt like it was slowly rising in power… They watched, quietly waiting for the day Su Ming would wake up.

When the first cycle of sixty years was over, it could be said that all the old monsters who woke up in Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos had seen Su Ming, wandering about with a dazed expression and the increasingly more powerful presence. It caused the galaxy to distort wherever he went, and… the eternal rumbles in the Expanse Cosmos would stop when he arrived near them.

Right then, there was no way the cultivators in the Expanse Cosmos did not know that Su Ming had sunk into a state of an epiphany. No one was to interfere with him trying to gain it. If he continued on, he would either succeed and step into a Realm that would shock all under heaven… or fail to do so, but no matter what, this sort of epiphany was something that would only come on its own and not something they could gain by seeking it, no matter what Realm they were in.

Su Ming was completely unaware of the passing time, because at that moment, he no longer had any thoughts. He forgot everything. If no one came to bother him, he would continue in that state of gaining his epiphany until the day the entire universe was destroyed.

He did not know how many years had passed or just what deep grudge his name had gathered in Dark Dawn and Saint Defier. Those things were completely unknown to him at that moment.

He could only sense that he wanted to seek the truth and an answer while searching for an epiphany. There seemed to be an empty path before him, and he wanted to continue down that path. Even if there was no end to it, he would never turn his head back.

During the sixty years, Harmonious Morus Alba and Arid Triad both silently felt Su Ming's existence within their perception. They did not know whether he would succeed, but the severity of the matter would determine the universe's structure of power.

Old Man Extermination watched Su Ming as well. He had spent nearly nine-tenths of the sixty years on Su Ming… and then, another cycle of sixty years went by.

When 120 years passed, Su Ming still did not show any signs of waking up, but the presence of Boundless Dao Realm around him became stronger. At that moment, the anxiety in Old Man Extermination's heart grew to a state where it had to explode. He could not allow Su Ming to continue gaining his epiphany. Even though he was very certain that Su Ming would not succeed… he could not sit by and watch it.

He was afraid… of something unforeseen happening!

He could not allow even the slightest accident happen when there was only three hundred something years left until Harmonious Morus Alba was destroyed. His expression contorted, and resolve slowly appeared in his eyes. He swiftly raised his right hand, and his gaze fell on the three balls of souls.

"Step into Arid Triad and behead all the people in Ninth Summit. Then send their heads here… Use their blood to force him to wake up!"

Old Man Extermination's voice had a dark undertone. It was the only method he could think of to break Su Ming's epiphany.

The moment his words reached the three balls of souls, the three black-robed men, who had stirred up a bloody storm in Dark Dawn and Saint Defier's camps and formed an endless amount of resentment towards Su Ming, fell silent. They chose obedience. They retrieved their clones, and the three of them turned into three long black arcs that charged towards the gap leading to Arid Triad.

A sigh came from the space beside Old Man Extermination at that moment.

"Must you do this?"

The sigh came incredibly abruptly, causing Old Man Extermination's expression to change, and he lifted his head. A figure walked out of the space before him, and it… belonged to Su Ming.

But Old Man Extermination could sense clearly that Su Ming was still wandering about in a daze while trying to gain his epiphany.

"Dao Divinity!"

Old Man Extermination's pupils shrank. At the instant he opened his mouth, Su Ming's figure, who had walked out of the space before him, lifted his right hand and pushed forward slowly.

He looked real, but in truth, he was just an illusion. When he brought up his hand and pushed forward, Old Man Extermination's eyes shone. He moved, and an indistinct figure appeared in front of him as well. It seemed to have appeared in the exact same manner as Su Ming's!

The two figures clashed against each other.

From one strike, the fourth Expanse Cosmos cracked. The crack penetrated through space and looked like a dividing line that didn't allow light and darkness to fuse together.

At the instant the crack appeared, the ancient ship Old Man Extermination had hidden revealed itself after a series of distortions. Old Man Extermination's hair flew up, and the illusory body before him turned into crystalline glows that scattered away.

Su Ming's illusory body disintegrated on the other side of the crack as well. When it did so, Old Man Extermination shook his head, and there was a hint of regret as well as determination on his face.

"In just 120 years, you managed to form a Dao Divinity. Su Ming… I underestimated you, but it does not matter. You cannot hurt me, and neither can I hurt you. Then… three hundred years later, we will end things between us.

"That moment is no longer far away!"

Old Man Extermination's lips curled into a smile. His body and the ancient ship gradually disappeared into space. Only a crack that divided the Expanse Cosmos remained to bear witness of what had just happened.

In the galaxy in the distance, Su Ming's footsteps suddenly came to a halt. His presence slowly gathered together, and his expression was no longer dazed. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

He was silent for a long while before he said faintly, "When we meet again three hundred years later… will you still be you?"

Chapter 1346: Sacred Wood

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Ming���s expression was much more indifferent than before. His gaze was even more profound, and he seemed to have no temper, like a pool of clear water.

He was calm and indifferent. It seemed like even if the world was destroyed before him, his expression would not change… unless someone stepped on his tail.

'Boundless Dao… I didn't expect that with this epiphany, I would be able to come into contact with Boundless Dao Realm for the first time. It's a pity that I don't have enough time… If I could remain immersed in the epiphany for ten thousand years or even longer, then perhaps I would be able to step into Boundless Dao in one go.'

Su Ming might feel slight pity that he could not do so, but he understood that he did not have enough time. The destruction was around the corner. If he continued with the epiphany, then when he woke up and everything was no longer around, the sadness and grief he was supposed to feel might be buried in the passage of time, and he would never be able to find them.

After all, the Art of Time was not an Art did not allow him to work wonders…

'I might not be able to truly step into Boundless Dao Realm, but I now have a wisp of Boundless Dao Realm's presence, and I managed to manifest… the Dao Divinity Old Man Extermination spoke of…'

Su Ming's third eye shone at the center of his brow. He could vaguely see an illusory figure sitting cross-legged within it.

That figure exuded an incredibly terrifying presence, and it was so strong that even the complete Harmonious Morus Alba would instinctively avoid it. After all, it was… the Dao Divinity Su Ming had obtained when he took the first step in understanding the Boundless Dao Realm.

It was the divinity of Boundless Dao!

It was like a seed and also like a qualification. Only those who had manifested a Dao Divinity could step into Boundless Dao Realm. This was also why Old Man Extermination had been so confident previously that Su Ming would not be able to be successful in gaining an epiphany.

Before trying to gain his epiphany, Su Ming had not gained the right to manifest his Dao Divinity, but right then, it was different. With a Dao Divinity, he had ascended to a higher state of being. At that moment, there was practically no difference between him and Arid Triad. In fact, in certain aspects, Su Ming was even stronger.

Even though he had not reached the peak of the later stage of Avacaniya Realm, he could already sense his limits, and he had gained a direction.

"Cultivation base as well as power are just complements in the path to search for answers. I don't have to pay too much attention to them."

As Su Ming mumbled to himself, he flung his arm and looked at the space around him. The process of trying to gain his epiphany for over one hundred years had lasted for about the blink of an eye to Su Ming. His memories were of the moment all that time ago. However, he had a feeling as if they had been covered in dust. It was due to an insignificant discomfort naturally formed due to the change of time.

While walking through the galaxy, Su Ming gradually stopped bothering about the insignificant discomfort. When he looked around himself, he felt as if he could vaguely see the planet formed by the boy's original form.

He could also see the huge Sacred Wood floating in the galaxy!

Before he left the Expanse Cosmos formed by the fourth wing, Su Ming had to go to the Sacred Wood and meet the boy and the others again so that he could deliver their legacies into the world that may or may not exist.

Once he finished doing that, he would leave the fourth Expanse Cosmos as well as Dark Dawn and Saint Defier's camps. He would return to Arid Triad, since the three black-robed men, be it Tian Xie Zi or Lie Shan Xiu, had already headed there.

Su Ming's Morning Dao's will was observing all of it. In fact, once Su Ming obtained his Dao Divinity, he had a feeling that if he wanted, he just needed to close his eyes, and when he opened them again, True Morning Dao World's will would manifest another version of him.

He was omnipresent. This was what Su Ming understood once he gained his Dao Divinity.

With an indifferent expression, he walked through the galaxy until a huge Sacred Wood appeared before him. It was hundreds of feet long. At that moment, it had a great presence that could shock people.

Su Ming stopped moving. When he looked into the distance, he spread his will and had it descend on the Sacred Wood. The strange power from the Sacred Wood which had once blocked Su Ming's will from investigating it appeared again, making it difficult for him to proceed. He could not send his will into all of the Sacred Wood.

Su Ming's expression remained as calm as ever. He instantly opened his third eye, where his Dao Divinity sat and meditated. At that moment, he opened his eyes as well, and at the instant he did so, the Dao Divinity's third eye at the center of its brow opened as well… and within it was another figure who was also sitting and meditating. That figure too opened its eyes.

There was no end to it… Su Ming did not know just how many figures there were. It was the mysterious aspect of Dao Divinities.

The moment they opened their third eyes, Su Ming's will gained a hint of Boundless Dao Realm's presence. It was like a general leading an army of soldiers. Once it appeared, it immediately surged into the Sacred Wood, and all forms of power blocking its path were instantly dissolved upon touch. This allowed Su Ming to see into the Sacred Wood's world.

There were countless cave abodes in the Sacred Wood. Most of them were occupied by sleeping cultivators, but when Su Ming's will entered, the hearts of all the cultivators who were sleeping or had long since woken up trembled, and they instantly opened their eyes. Shock appeared on their faces.

The old monsters who had lived there for an unknown number of aeons instantly felt their hearts thump in fear. At the same time, they heard a calm voice in their ears.

The voice was not loud. It only echoed faintly in space. It did not sound at all majestic, and neither did it sound overbearing, but the meaning behind its words was filled with a domineering air that was not at all hidden. It was laid bare to the world, showing off an air of superiority!

"I'll be taking this wood. You have ten breaths to leave."

Su Ming spoke calmly, and once he finished, he did not add anything more. Instead, he waited calmly for the ten breaths to pass.

The Sacred Wood was silent.

When the fifth breath arrived, some of the powerful warriors flew out. Upon rushing out, they saw Su Ming in the distance, and their hearts trembled. They immediately recognized him as the person who had been walking in the galaxy in a daze for over one hundred years.

After all, while most of the powerful warriors in the Sacred Wood were asleep, there were some who were awake. They did not stay for long periods of time in the Sacred Wood either. They would occasionally venture out, and they had either personally seen or heard from the others about Su Ming. They were not unfamiliar with him.

During the eighth breath… only two-tenths of the cultivators in the Sacred Wood chose to leave the place, but they did not go far. Instead, they stared at Su Ming coldly. They wanted to see just how conceited this person was that he would think he could stand against nearly ten thousand powerful warriors in the Sacred Wood with just his own strength.

After all, they were all powerful warriors from their own aeons, and they had the right to not be destroyed by the disaster. Each of them had the power that could cause the galaxy to tremble when they stomped down.

At the instant ten breaths went by, Su Ming lifted his head. His expression was as indifferent as ever. He only lifted his right hand to point at the huge Sacred Wood.

"With my will and my Dao Divinity, become smaller…"

Once he declared that he wanted the Sacred Wood to become smaller, the huge log let out a loud bang that shook the entire Expanse Cosmos. The log trembled viciously, and the cultivators in the area who were watching with cold sneers on their faces were dumbfounded. They personally saw the Sacred Wood shrink to nearly a size smaller.

At that moment, a huge storm rose up in their hearts. They were all shocked, and disbelief showed up on their faces. In their minds, the Sacred Wood was indestructible, could not transform, and in fact, was something that could not be slighted.

There were some people who tried to turn the Sacred Wood into their treasure before, but none of them had succeeded. No matter how strong they were, they could not do so. In fact, those who tried to refine the log would suffer great backlash and would die miserable deaths.

However, right before their eyes, the Sacred Wood shrank when Su Ming pointed at it. The shock delivered to all the people watching was no different from one million lightning bolts roaring in their minds.

If that was the case for those outside, then it was even more so for the countless powerful warriors who had chosen to ignore Su Ming and remain in the Sacred Wood. Their expressions changed drastically. They could clearly sense the Sacred Wood becoming smaller, but the size of their own bodies did not change. All of their cave abodes became much smaller.

In fact, those cave abodes—which were not big to begin with—even became too narrow for anyone to sit within them!

At that moment, almost all the cultivators who had remained in the Sacred Wood chose to get out of the log as their expressions changed. Their bodies instantly appeared outside the Sacred Wood. Some of them might have lived for a very long time, but were still very hot-tempered people, and when they rushed out, they immediately started shouting loudly.

But their shouts only lasted for an instant. They went silent when Su Ming made his second declaration that he wanted the Sacred Wood to become smaller. Their shouts turned into the thumping of their hearts.

"Become smaller…"

The still huge Sacred Wood shuddered again and shrank by one size once more. At that moment, it no longer looked like it was one million feet long. Instead, it was only hundreds of thousands of feet long!

The change in its size did not cause any cultivators to die. After all, Su Ming gave them enough time to leave. Because of it, all the cultivators from the Sacred Wood were levitating in the galaxy around the area. They watched the Sacred Wood, now only hundreds of thousands of feet long after shrinking twice, and the apprehension they felt turned into terror in their hearts.

They could imagine… how their bodies would have been squashed by their cave abodes if they had insisted on staying inside.

When Su Ming declared that he wanted the Sacred Wood to become smaller the third time, the Sacred Wood shuddered again, and as all the people's pupils shrank, it became smaller again. This time, it did not become a size smaller, but was reduced to… only thousands of feet long!

Su Ming seized the space in the direction of the Sacred Wood with his right hand, and it immediately charged towards him. While doing so, it shrank again. When it landed in Su Ming's palm, it had already shrunk to the size of a palm!

Chapter 1347: Ceaseless Greed

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The hundreds of thousands of cultivators who saw the event were rendered speechless, and a chill ran down their backs. The hot-tempered ones from before also felt their hearts tremble, and they did not dare to say a single word.

To them, power was everything, and Su Ming showed his by controlling the Sacred Wood that no one had been able to refine for countless years.

The hundreds of thousands of cultivators in the area knew just how powerful Su Ming was for having been able to do such a thing. His strength had already surpassed theirs by far.

No one could say who was the first to wrap their fist in their palm to bow to Su Ming, but soon, the others followed suit and wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed to Su Ming. Respect coming from the bottom of their hearts appeared on their faces.

This was power, and to them, everything in the world was decided by power.

Before he gained his epiphany, Su Ming had the same belief, but right theen, he understood that power was just a complement in the path of seeking the truth, an auxiliary that made the path smoother. It was just something additional that would never become the foundation of the path. Once anyone reversed the positions of the addition and the foundation, they would forever walk on the wrong path while searching for the truth.

Su Ming lowered his head and cast a glance at the Sacred Wood on his palm. The log was not completely unrefinable, as believed by the others due to what they had tried over countless years. It was because… the item belonged to Old Man Extermination.

Unless they had the same power as him, it was impossible to obtain it. As for why Old Man Extermination had placed it in the middle of the galaxy instead of taking it away, Su Ming did not want to form too many assumptions about it. He only felt that this item was pretty good and could be used as a stepping stone if he wanted to walk into the Vast Expanse some day in the future.

That was why he took it with him.

In fact, when he looked at the Sacred Wood, Su Ming guessed that perhaps… the gap on the butterfly's fourth wing had come from the huge log of wood crashing into it from the universe beyond.

Su Ming clenched his fist and put away the Sacred Wood, then cast a glance at the cultivators wrapping their fists in their palms and bowing to him. He sighed softly. Those people were happy because they did not know that the disaster three hundred something years later would bring them unavoidable destruction.

Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.

Su Ming shook his head, then turned around to leave. He wanted to settle one last matter in Heaven Lacking Expanse Cosmos before he left.

While walking, his footsteps were not quick, but when his feet landed in the galaxy, it seemed to become smaller. With two steps, he saw the planet manifested by the boy.

He saw the boy, the purple-robed old man, the young man in white, and four other strangers he had never seen on the planet.

The seven people had manifested their legacy items and waited on the planet that symbolized beauty, never leaving it. It seemed like they wanted to live through the last few hundred years in that place to look at the final brilliance of their universe.

They were also waiting for Su Ming—their only hope as of then.

Beyond the prosperous cities on the planet, there was a sycamore tree with red leaves. Su Ming stood there with the setting sun behind him. The sun was red, and it served as a background for the leaves. They did not compete with each other in terms of beauty. The only thing that could be felt when they appeared together… was a hint of melancholy that had drifted over from some unknown area.

When the autumn wind blew, when the leaves fell, when a person turned their head around… perhaps they would no longer see that figure standing under the sycamore tree nor the setting sun behind it.

Su Ming watched the setting sun illuminating the cities with its final rays of light and the scattered lamps lit in the houses, feeling as if he was watching the whole universe's rise and fall. He continued watching until the boy walked over from the distance beside him. Then, the purple-robed old man and the young man in white also showed up. They did not bother Su Ming, but instead stood by the side quietly with respectful gazes.

Their four other friends also stood nearby. They waited respectfully while watching him.

Su Ming was their hope. Even if they were going to die the next day, it was fine as long as their Daos and their epiphanies could be passed down.

As long as… their bloodline would not disappear!

This was a mindset low-ranked cultivators would not understand, but they were not the only ones. Some high-ranked cultivators could not understand it either.

But the few who did would leave behind countless legends and hopes in the world of cultivation so that there would constantly be people who could practice cultivation in the universe. They… had decided to offer their whole life's worth of hard work to the path of cultivation!

The sun gradually set as if symbolizing Harmonious Morus Alba's world. After coming down, it might no longer appear the next morning. It was just like the red sycamore leaves. Once they fell, they would never be able to return to the sycamore tree and dye it red. They could only direct their resentment at the wind for having arrived too soon, at the season for changing too soon, and… themselves for falling.

Su Ming sighed softly and looked at the houses in the cities gradually lighting up. He watched the sky slowly turn dark. He might like night, but during that moment, he would rather have had everything remain the same for all eternity.

"You're here," he said softly.

The seven beside Su Ming raised their heads and looked at him before they wrapped their fists in their palms and bowed to him.

No one spoke. At that moment, no one wanted to speak. Everything they wanted to convey was in their bows. They could not say it, and they did not need to say it.

Su Ming shifted his gaze away from the cities in the distance and looked at the boy. The boy was also staring at Su Ming. Their gazes met, and Su Ming saw the sadness as well as the hint of hope on the boy's face.

"Your Dao is very unique. It also touched me very deeply. It's just like your Daoist monastic name. Ban Bu Zi… perhaps while you walk through your Dao and open your eyes, everything in existence will serve to be a complement to you, and when you close your eyes, you will serve as a complement to everything in existence.

"Ban Bu Zi, it means half a step, but Bu also sounds similar to complement, making it seem as if you and everything in existence are two halves complementing each other…"

The boy shuddered, and a bright light lit up in his eyes. He stood stunned for some time, before he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed deeply to Su Ming.

"Your disciple has learned his lesson."

It was the first time since he had become the strongest of his aeon and learned that he could survive the disaster of his aeon that he… referred to himself as a disciple and performed the actions of one.

He referred to himself as a disciple, but that did not mean that he was a student under Su Ming's tutelage, neither was it a title referring to differences in seniority. Instead, it was a form of gratitude to a person who bestowed knowledge upon him, and there was no point in caring about seniority, because there was no difference in seniority when it came to the path of cultivation. There was no doubt Su Ming had moved further than all of them in the pursuit of truth, and when he turned his head around, he gave them an epiphany, and hence, he obtained their respect.

"Your Dao is disheveled and jumbled up. You have only fused everything together and understood it after you gathered all of your power to perceive it. It is like how all things will return to their roots. To fulfill the ambitions of those who seek to perform great feats, your Dao became the ocean, but it will never be able to drown your thoughts," Su Ming said slowly while looking at the purple-robed old man.

The purple-robed old man was silent. After a long while, he smiled. He did not speak, but neither did he bow.

"As for you… you are the peak of all sword cultivators. When you draw your sword, your will to kill is firm and not gentle. These are my words for you… There is nothing in the sky that cannot be cut and nothing on the ground that cannot shatter. They will not be cut and not shatter only because the sword has not been drawn!"

Once the young man in white heard his words, he took a few steps back, lifted his head to look at Su Ming, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to him.

"Your disciple has learned his lesson.��

"I have never met the four of you before, but since you have made your decision, I will not destroy your hopes, but I do not know whether that world exists."

Su Ming cast his gaze on the other four people. All of them had unique features.

One of them was incredibly big and built. When he stood there, the air around him distorted slightly. Su Ming could tell at first glance that he had suppressed his body. If he released his full power, his body would definitely become even larger.

In fact, there were indistinct stars at the center of that person's brow. Clearly, he had a bloodline that was similar to that of the Ancient Gods. In truth, there were similarities that could be found in all the races between each aeon, and that person belonged to the bloodline of the Ancient Gods in a certain aeon within Harmonious Morus Alba.

The person next to him was a woman. She had a dignified look, and Su Ming could see a vague shadow behind her. It was an existence that was green from head to toe, had a single horn, and resembled a monster.

The third person did not bother to hide his true form. Black fog spread from his whole body. It was thick and had great corrosive properties.

His face could not be seen. Only a pair of red eyes could be detected from within the fog, but nonetheless, Su Ming could see the person's true form. It was a huge creature with two horns on its head.

The last person was a middle-aged man dressed in green robes. He looked like a sage and was filled with an ethereal air. Su Ming was not unfamiliar with his presence. It belonged to those in the world of Immortals, which he had seen before.

Su Ming only cast a glance at those people and did not speak. Instead, the moment the sky turned dark, he lifted his right hand. When he was about to swing his arm, a glint suddenly shone in his eyes.

"They arrived so soon?"

As Su Ming mumbled under his breath, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze returned to normal. He swung his right hand, and the entire sky roared, turning into a huge vortex. That vortex spun swiftly, and Su Ming opened his third eye. Within it, his Dao Divinity opened its eyes as well.

Su Ming used his Dao Divinity to guide his will so that he could open a crack leading to the world that may or may not exist!

"Send your legacies in there."

When Su Ming spoke faintly, the boy opened his mouth resolutely, and a black statue flew out from his mouth into the vortex in the sky.

The eyes of the young man in white sparkled. What he delivered was the sword he always carried behind his back. Once it was sent out, even the vortex in the sky shuddered, as if it was about to stop rotating. It was a testament to how great the will in his sword was.

The purple-robed old man swung his arm, and as the center of his brow squirmed, a crack opened up. A crystal the size of a fist flew out from it. The crystal shone with black light and charged into the sky.

As for the other four, they sent out their legacy items as well. A total of seven items were sucked into the vortex, but the next moment, the crystal sent by the purple-robed old man looked as if it could not withstand the force of the vortex, and cracks appeared on it. As cracking sounds shot into the air, the number of cracks increased, but the purple-robed old man did not show any changes on his expression. However, if anyone took a closer look, they would find… that he was only an empty shell!

At the instant the other people's expressions changed, the black crystal that was about to disappear into the vortex shattered, and a small humanoid flew out from within. The humanoid figure resembled the purple-robed man. He let out a shrill scream, voicing his unwillingness to admit defeat, and tried to rush back into the vortex, but in the end… as the vortex rotated, he was crushed to powder.

The purple-robed old man's body was reduced to ash during that moment as well, and he disappeared from the world.

Chapter 1348: Su Ming, I Want to Cry…

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The tunnel formed by the vortex in the sky was a path Su Ming had opened so that the boy and others could send out their legacy items. Besides them, they could not send in anything else, like their Nascent Divinities.

Since greed could never be satiated, cultivators like the purple-robed old man, who took the risk, were always present. Since they were all bound to die hundreds of years later, then he might as well step into the world that may or may not exist.

But he was worried that Su Ming would not allow this, which was why he had decided to risk trying to deceive him. In truth, Su Ming had long since noticed it, which was why he had said his words earlier, but he had not done anything to bring about the death of the purple-robed old man's Nascent Divinity. The man had been destroyed simply because he could not withstand the mighty pressure in the tunnel.

When the vortex vanished and the sky returned to normal, the boy turned his head around with a complicated expression and cast a glance at the spot where the purple-robed old man had stood. At that moment, there was no one there. The purple-robed old man had long since disappeared into the wind as ashes.

The sycamore tree glowed in a shade of red despite being in the dark, but no one took any interest in it.

The boy was silent. The young man in white also had a slightly complicated expression on his face. The other four people beside them did not speak either. A hint of sadness rose in their hearts. They knew that the purple-robed old man's death was not related to Su Ming. He had just gone seeking his own end.

However, they could understand what the purple-robed old man had felt when he made his decision. In truth, all of them had thought about it at least once…

"If that world truly exists, then your legacies… will continue in that world, and they will have my blessing."

Su Ming swung his arm and cast a final glance at the cultivators before him. Then, he turned around and stepped into the air.

The boy and the others bowed deeply to him as one. There was no need for them to voice their gratitude, and neither did Su Ming need it. He had just done it because he respected their conviction to pass down their legacies.

When Su Ming left, the boy continued to stand beside the sycamore tree under the night sky. A smile slowly appeared on his face. There was no calculativeness to it. He stared at the sky with a peaceful look. His legacy held his blessings and hopes, wishing that his children might be able to grow to surpass him in that world which may or may not exist.

The young man in white touched his now swordless scabbard with an expression on his face as if he was free. He had turned his own sword into his legacy. Even if it shattered in that world which may or may not exist, it would still turn into numerous sharp swords. Anyone who became their masters would accomplish many great feats.

He did not need a scion. What he needed was just to deliver his will of a sword cultivator into that world, into the hands of those who could obtain his sword!

The other four stared at the sky quietly. There were different hopes in their hearts, but they were all similar in a way too… They would never know how their legacies would shine in that world which may or may not exist.

The answer was not important, however. What was important was that they no longer had any regrets.

"My fellow Daoists, I wish to sleep during the final three hundred something years. I do not want to think about anything else, and will wait for that day to arrive," the boy said while looking at the people beside him.

"I'm going to wander about. I'm going to create another sword for myself during these three hundred something years."

The young man in white smiled faintly. It was slightly cold, but it still contained the air of him being free of his burdens. As he spoke, he wrapped his fist in his palm to the others and took a step into the air.

The other four were silent for a moment before they wrapped their fists in their palms towards the boy. They turned into four long arcs that shot into the air and disappeared into the starry sky as well.

When the group left, the boy sat down cross-legged under the sycamore tree and leaned against it. He watched the lights of the houses in the city, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips. He slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The autumn breeze blew past and lifted his hair. The autumn leaves fell and turned into a blanket that covered his body. Once he closed his eyes, the entire world gradually turned indistinct. In the end, it turned into nothingness.

When an unknown amount of time passed and he opened his eyes again, he was no longer under the sycamore tree, but was at the mountainside. The sky was no longer dark. The sun hung high above, showing that it was noon. The mountainside was covered in green grass. Cows and sheep formed herds. He… was still a shepherd boy, but he had already forgotten his true identity at that moment.

"I had a dream…" The boy patted his head with an enraptured expression on his face.

Once Su Ming took a step into the galaxy, the space around him was lifted without a sound, as if a page in a book had been turned. When it fell again, the fourth wing had already been changed and turned into the Heavenly Foxes' Expanse Cosmos, located in Dark Dawn's camp.

Su Ming looked at the somewhat familiar galaxy and found that he could not find the bald crane. He could not help but laugh at that. A long time had passed, and with how the bald crane was, it had to have left to fool around somewhere

When Su Ming turned around, he spread his will and noticed that the woman called Zi Ruo was beside Yan Pei. Su Ming was silent for a moment before he chose to take a step towards them.

Zi Ruo stood on a mountain in a planet at the center of the Heavenly Foxes' Expanse Cosmos. One hundred something years might only be an instant for her, but right then… there was a miserable look on her face.

Beside her was Yan Pei. His face was filled with anguish, and he looked as if he wanted to open his mouth to say something, but when he looked at Zi Ruo's side profile, he found that he could not say anything.

After a long while, Yan Pei sighed in his heart and said slowly, "You should know that the person who appeared in Dark Dawn and Saint Defier earlier was not him…"

"Of course I know it's not him… but I personally saw my people die in his hands. It was his face, his presence, and I saw my people's madness and resentment… What am I supposed to do?!" Zi Ruo shuddered, and hatred appeared in her eyes.

Yan Pei was silent. He did not know what he should say. Even though he knew that person was not Su Ming and even though he was a Sovereign of Dawn, it was impossible for him to make the cultivators filled with intense resentment believe in his words.

If he had not been familiar with Su Ming, then even he would have been in disbelief when he saw what happened…

At that moment, neither he nor the miserable Zi Ruo noticed Su Ming standing behind them. When he heard their conversation, he frowned.

As he did so, he spread his will quietly through the area, making it fill the Heavenly Foxes' Expanse Cosmos, and by extension, all the Expanse Cosmoses in Dark Dawn. He also spread it into Saint Defier's camp so that he could see all the 180 Expanse Cosmoses there.

The things happening in the two Expanse Cosmoses appeared like pictures in Su Ming's mind. He saw that nearly half of the Heavenly Foxes had died, and it was it was practically the same for all the races in Dark Dawn's camp as well as the 180 Expanse Cosmoses in Saint Defier's camp.

There were many people who hated him. During the one hundred something years, they watched the brutality of the person named Su Ming as he slaughtered their people, and the depth of their resentment as well as the intensity of their killing intent towards him caused Su Ming to fall silent once he saw everything.

It was clearly Old Man Extermination's doing, but Su Ming could not think of why he would do so. It did not matter how many people died in the one hundred something years since the moment the disaster descended, they would all be wiped off. Besides gathering resentment, there was no other gain in performing such an act.

'Resentment…'

Su Ming frowned. After a long while, the crease between his eyebrows disappeared. Since he could not understand what was going on, it would be better if he chose not to think about it. The event had already happened, so even if he tried to resolve it, it would be useless, just like crying over spilled milk.

Su Ming's expression was calm, and his heart was at ease. He only needed to know that it was not of his doing. As for the rest… Su Ming did not want to care.

In fact, he could already imagine that since it was related to Old Man Extermination, there was a high possibility that it was connected to the three black-robed men Old Man Extermination had sent to Arid Triad.

When he thought of them, Su Ming sighed softly, then turned around and left. He did not show up and interrupt Yan Pei and Zi Ruo.

He turned around and stepped into space. When his foot landed, he had already left Dark Dawn's camp and stepped into the galaxy belonging to Saint Defier's camp.

He went to the place where the bald crane was located.

Saint Defier's camp had an Expanse Cosmos known as Small Falling Dust Cosmos. It was a small Expanse Cosmos located at the borders, near the Expanse Cosmos belonging to the Sky Buriers. Falling Dust had a sacred position in Saint Defier's camp… because one of the three Lords of Saint Defier stayed there—Fei Hua.

There was only one cultivation planet in Falling Dust Cosmos. It was covered in lush greenery, which was surrounded by rivers and seas, making the planet look like a land of water. It was filled with a graceful and gentle air, but it also had a mighty presence, giving off a feeling that was no weaker than that of tall and gigantic mountains.

There was a lake on the planet, and a wooden house beside it. Countless plants and flowers grew around it, and a nice fragrance filled the air, making the place overflow with vitality. There was an old woman sitting outside the wooden house. She watched the lake by herself with a gentle smile on her face as if she was going through her memories and was immersed in the past.

Not too far away from her was the bald crane. It had turned into a stone and lay on the ground in a daze. Over the one hundred something years, it had stared at the wooden house and the old woman just like that. It felt like it could continue staring at her until the world was destroyed and the universe was no longer around.

It did not know why it stared at her, and it also did not know why it came there. Every single time the bald crane thought of that question, its heart would throb in pain, and it would feel as if it was about to be ripped apart.

Once it stopped trying to figure it out, the bald crane found another form of peace in the one hundred something years, one that was different from when it stayed beside Su Ming. It was no longer obsessed with crystals, no longer thought about the past it could not remember, and in fact, it decided to stay beside the old woman and accompany her for the rest of its life.

Then one day, when Su Ming appeared quietly beside it and sat down silently, the stone that was the bald crane slowly transformed. Once it gained its original form, it looked over at him.

Su Ming was also looking at the bald crane. He saw the tears in the bald crane's eyes. For an illusory body with no physical form… tears were a luxury. It was impossible for them to fall, so those tears were the manifestation of sadness.

"Su Ming… I want to cry…" the bald crane murmured.