Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-5

Under Dark Mountain, practically all the tribe members were gathered at the center watching the La Sus partaking in the Awakening.

At that moment, the giant statue floating in midair trembled and there was a roaring sound. The sound came too suddenly, and it stunned all the members of the tribe momentarily.

The elder’s eyes shone and he quickly stepped forward. He did not look at the statue of the God of Berserkers but cast his gaze immediately towards the sky. His gaze turned solemn.

By then, many members of the tribe had noticed the abnormality and lifted their heads towards the sky.

When they did, they saw clouds of black smoke forming in the air at maddening speed. The smoke was gathered from all directions and it quickly formed a whirlwind in the air. The whirlwind covered at least half of the sky and the entirety of the Dark Mountain. Even if the mountain range was huge, they could still see and tell that something abnormal was happening on the land.

Once the whirlwind was formed, it started turning slowly and let out thunderous roars which reverberated throughout the surroundings. Within the whirlwind, there were numerous thunderbolts travelling about in arcs. As they crackled in the whirlwind, the thunder rumbled.

"Have our Berserker Ancestors returned?!" Someone from Dark Mountain Tribe exclaimed. All of them knelt down and their gazes filled with reverence and fear. They turned towards heaven and worshiped.

The only ones who remained standing were the elder and the leaders of the tribe. Besides the elder, the other leaders all looked alarmed.

The speed of the whirlwind became faster. After a while, a typhoon began sweeping through the land. It affected the entire land around Dark Mountain.

The floating statue trembled violently like it could not withstand the pressure that resulted from the whirlwind.

On the other side of Dark Mountain, there was a tribe about the same size. The tribe’s name was Black Mountain. At that moment, all the tribe members were dumbstruck as a statue of the God of Berserkers about the size of 100 feet appeared before them in midair.

The statue’s size was completely black and had no human characteristics. It looked like a lizard and it kept trembling as if it was about to fall apart. Underneath the statue was a wizened and thin old man wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt made of sackcloth. His gaze was dark and his thoughts were unknown to the others around him.

The same thing happened within the other tribes near Dark Mountain and even within some tribes that were located further away.

No one knew what was happening and how the whirlwind came to be, not even the elder of Dark Mountain Tribe. He had neglected to think about Su Ming, who had gone into the statue of the God of Berserkers for worship.

When the dim light appeared within the statue of the God of Berserkers at Dark Mountain Tribe’s settlement, it occupied the entire space within the statue. It bathed the entire area in its strange light, and Su Ming was stupefied for what he saw next. He saw the statue he was supposed to worship shaking, as if it was waking up after a long slumber. It was almost like it had a physical body.

He saw that the statue, which was in itself terrifying to look at, trembling furiously while being bathed in the light, as though it could not withstand the light.

The statue of the God of Berserkers was crafted in the image of a hybrid between a man and a beast, something like a chimera. In its left hand it held a huge dragon, and in its right a spear. As it shook, the savage vibe Su Ming felt earlier changed into fear, and Su Ming was left wondering whether he was imagining it.

Su Ming’s mind was blank. He did not know what was happening and he did not know what to do. He just stood there, stunned.

His entire body was also covered in the light that emitted from the stone on his neck. It made him look like he had fused into the space around him. As the light grew brighter, the world within the statue of the God of Berserkers became completely tainted by the color from the stone.

Su Ming felt something shattering in his head. It was as if a barrier had just been broken by an invisible force. It caused his body to tremble and in his head, he saw an odd image.

It was a huge plain. Su Ming looked down from where he was in midair. What he saw was hundreds upon thousands of people appearing on the land. He could not see the end of the crowd. There just seemed to be no end to it.

"Where… is this?" Su Ming muttered. This scene shocked him so completely it made him incapable of thought.

The people were divided into two crowds. They all knelt on the ground and lifted their hands to worship the heavens. There were also desolate drumming sounds thundering in the air. It formed a melody that seemed to resonate with souls and captivate all those who listened.

All around Su Ming were hundreds of gigantic statues of the God of Berserkers. Each statue was unique on its own and all of them exuded an air of ancient savagery. Their bodies appeared to be made of flesh as if they had life.

They too knelt down on one knee and lifted their hands in worship towards the sky!

Su Ming lifted his head and he saw…

…At the highest point of the sky were two people who could only be described as having reached the pinnacle of humanity. Su Ming could not see their faces, but with only one glance, he thought he was looking at the glory of heaven, and he was just an ant beneath their feet.

They were just like real gods!

One of them had long, purple hair. He raised his right hand and waved it at the sky. Immediately, the world experienced a change. In an instant, day became night and stars shone brightly in the sky. As the person waved his hand, the stars seemed to be attracted by a force and fell from the sky. They gathered by the purple haired person’s side and formed a river of stars.

The man pointed at a direction with his right hand and the river of stars let out a monstrous blast before speeding towards their enemies. The scene was akin to heaven collapsing, and the powers of the entire sky were transferred to one single person.

The man in purple lowered his gaze suddenly during the blast, and as he looked at the crowd, his eyes locked with Su Ming’s.

Su Ming could feel his mind being attacked. There was a great force pushing him out, and he was expelled from the seemingly illusionary world.

Su Ming trembled, his sight was covered by darkness. After a long while, he snapped out of his daze and found himself still inside the statue of the God of Berserkers. There was no light around him and it seemed like it was all in his imagination.

Su Ming’s breathing was quick and shallow. His entire body was drenched in sweat. He looked at the stone hanging from his neck. It was still black and it emitted the tiniest bit of warmth, but there was nothing else unusual about it.

"Was it an illusion… or was it the statue’s memories…? Just now… it was just like the writings in the scroll. That was the power to control the stars and the skies…" After a long while, Su Ming got out from his shock. His gaze was filled with uncertainty and his thoughts were in a mess. He fell silent for a while. Then he got up and bowed once more towards the statue, getting ready to leave.

Yet just as he was about to bow down, he heard a chipping sound before him. He saw a small crack on the statue’s face which seemed to grow as Su Ming lowered his back further.

The statue gave the impression that it could not bear having Su Ming bowing down to it. It was like if Su Ming bowed down and worshiped it, the statue would break apart. Su Ming took in a sharp breath at this strange sight. He had no doubt about it. What he saw was not an illusion!

At the very moment the statue cracked apart, there were low mumbling sounds reverberating in his head. Those low murmurs made Su Ming’s eyes light up in ecstasy. This sound was what he had been hoping for; the ways to train in Berserker Arts for those who had reached the Blood Solidification Realm!

It was impossible to pass down the ways through oral tradition. The only way was by obtaining it from the statue of the God of Berserkers. Hence, the presence of such a statue was of extreme importance in a tribe, as it was connected to the tribe’s survival.

When the low murmurs disappeared, Su Ming’s body also disappeared from within the statue and reappeared amid Dark Mountain Tribe. When he appeared, he saw all his tribesmen, including the elder, with their heads lifted towards the sky. He felt his heart pounding against his chest and he followed their gazes upward.

The giant whirlwind was still swirling about, letting out low rumbling sounds.

"Su Ming, come to my side." Su Ming heard the elder’s voice nearby. He was afraid. He could feel the abnormality in the air and he knew it had something to do with the stone hanging from his neck. However, he did not dare say it out loud. He walked towards the elder in trepidation and stood behind him.

Before long, the scene in the sky gradually disappeared and returned to normal. No one asked whether Su Ming was successful as there was no light from the statue when it was his turn, and that could only mean failure.

The remaining La Sus entered the statue to worship once more as soon as the sky returned to normal. When they were all done, two children were known to possess the Berserker Body at the age of 16 during that Awakening ritual.

The two children were taken away by the elder as they were going to be important members of the tribe. They would learn about various experiences when training in the Ways of the Berserkers.

The other La Sus left in disappointment. Su Ming went back in silence but his heart was beating increasingly faster. He wanted to tell the elder everything, but somewhere in his mind he knew that this was too serious a matter to be discussed, especially since the statue of the God of Berserkers had cracked because of this.

Su Ming walked into his house while he thought about it.

The elder looked at Su Ming’s back from afar, puzzled.

Su Ming went back into his house hurriedly and sat on his wooden bed. He looked at the black and uneven stone on his chest with an uncertain gaze. After a while, he reached out to take off the necklace, but he hesitated. He got up and barred the door with a wooden block. If anyone decided to come in, he would know and have time to prepare for it.

After that, he sat down and held the stone in his hand, observing it carefully.

‘Just what is this stone? Xiao Hong found it, so it might have been because the wind was too strong and it was revealed after all the leaves were blown away. Then Xiao Hong picked it up…’

Su Ming’s heart pounded furiously against his chest. He had a feeling he just got his hands on a piece of treasure.

‘Even the statue of the God of Berserkers cracked before it… I wonder where Xiao Hong got this. Are there more of these?’

Su Ming licked his lips. His eyes were filled with excitement.

‘I did not possess the Berserker Body and could not inherit the ways to train in Berserker Arts, but this thing allowed me to obtain it!’

Su Ming took a deep breath and quelled his excitement. Then, he focused all his energy on the stone.

Time passed, and Su Ming grew tired. He held the stone in his hand and fell asleep on his bed.

The stone began emitting a very dim glow once again.

Translator’s Note:

An explanation on some measurements in the story:

1. Let’s begin with a simple one. 1 时辰 is equivalent to 2 hours. Since时辰is a time measuring system used only during the dynasties and the translation is still hours, I’ve decided to convert it to our hour based system, which means that every single time you see 2 hours or anything related to hours in this novel, it is 2 hours of our time, not 4 hours.

2. 丈is also a measurement system used during the dynasties. 1 丈 is equal to 10 尺, and 1尺 is equal to 1 foot,which is 30.3cm. So, 1 丈is 3.3m. Since丈 does not exist in the western world and I want to try avoiding the use of pinyin as much as possible (unless they are proper nouns for proper places and things), I decided to convert all measurements of 丈 to feet, hence when you see 3丈 in the original text, it means 30 feet. 1,000丈 is 10,000 feet.