Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-73

When Lei Chen left, there was only the elder and Su Ming left in the room. When he saw the elder entering the room, Su Ming quickly stood up. He was feeling very nervous. He did not know whether his actions during the first stage of the test were right in the elder’s eyes.

While he was feeling nervous, a smile appeared on the elder’s face. He sat in front of Su Ming and looked at the frail looking youth before him. There was a hint of nostalgia within his eyes as he looked at the traces of youthfulness still left on that clean and handsome face.

"You’ve grown up… Come, sit by my side," the elder said softly after a long while.

"Elder." Su Ming sat down. The wrinkles on the elder’s face seemed to have increased. The traces left behind by time seemed to reveal a person that had experienced a lot in life.

"You did well during the first stage of the test." The elder patted Su Ming’s head before he took out a small bottle and handed it to Su Ming.

"There are three drops of Berserker Blood belonging to a Berserker of the Transcendence Realm in the bottle. Keep it close to you. When the time is right, it will be of great help to you. That is about as much as I can help…" The elder looked at Su Ming, and there was a look in his eyes that Su Ming could not understand due to his young age.

"The method to absorb the Berserker Blood of the Transcended Realm is easy. Cast the Dark Blood Dust and change the Berserker Blood into blood mist, surrounding your body while you slowly absorb it. Use it to nurture your blood veins. You can only absorb one drop each time, however, don’t be greedy. You have to do this slowly, or else you’ll harm your own body," the elder warned him seriously.

Su Ming looked at the elder. He did not know why, but he had a hunch that something he would not like was about to happen. The look on the elder’s face and his words only made him further not understand the meaning behind the elder’s words.

"Elder… you…" Su Ming took the bottle the Berserker Blood instinctively. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the elder smiling and shaking his head. He looked at Su Ming kindly.

"Don’t worry. It’s not impossible to solve the danger the tribe faces. I’ve already spoke with the Elder from Wind Stream Tribe. There shouldn’t be anything going wrong at this point.

"What you need to do now is to train properly. If the day comes and you reach Transcendence Realm… If you can leave this place and go explore the world outside… You have to remember to go to Berserker’s Realm Mountain," the elder said slowly.

"What is… Berserker’s Realm Mountain?" Su Ming was stunned. He had a feeling that this was connected to his birth. Yet when the elder suddenly spoke of it, the bad feeling in his heart grew stronger until it turned into a wave of uneasiness and anxiety so strong it replaced the shock and uncertainty that he should be feeling.

"It’s in your heart…" the elder said, looking at Su Ming.

He was stunned for a moment, and there was a questioning look on his face.

"Alright. Just remember that. Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ve already spoken with the Elder of Wind Stream Tribe. You’ll be staying in Wind Stream Tribe as Mo Su from now on. The Elder of Wind Stream Tribe will be helping and guiding you together with Ye Wang. This will be a great help to you, and his help will far exceed the amount of help I can give you. The chances of you transcending will also increase." The elder’s face was serious as he looked at Su Ming. When he saw hesitation on Su Ming’s face and that he was about to speak, he became stern.

"But… elder, I don’t want to stay in Wind Stream Tribe. I…" The elder’s words were too sudden, causing Su Ming to be completely unprepared for it. He did not expect it. If he knew from the start that such a change would happen due to the results of the first stage of the test, then he would have definitely not gotten such a high ranking. Yet before he could even finish speaking in his alarm, the elder’s eyes became fierce.

"Su Ming! I’ve already decided on this. You must stay here from now on!" the elder spoke sternly.

Su Ming fell silent, but the unyielding look in his eyes was clear.

When he saw the stubborn look in Su Ming’s eyes, the elder sighed and his expression softened. He looked at Su Ming and spoke slowly, "Su Ming, Dark Mountain Tribe is not far from Wind Stream. You can come back anytime you want."

Su Ming bit into his lip. He did not know what to say.

"Besides, I’ve already decided. Dark Mountain Tribe will join Wind Stream Tribe and leave Dark Mountain. We will build a new tribe outside the mudstone city. Truth be told, you’ll be really close to the tribe," the elder continued saying.

"But elder, I don’t want to become part of Wind Stream Tribe, I’m a member of Dark Mountain Tribe!" Su Ming said in a low voice after hesitating for a moment.

The elder looked quietly at Su Ming. After a long while, he spoke again, "Su Ming, besides doing it for your own good, I’m asking you to join Wind Stream Tribe for another reason. Your status will rise just as your powers will rise. Once you’re at the same level as Ye Wang, then you can protect Dark Mountain Tribe from your side. Don’t you want to take care of Dark Mountain Tribe?"

"I…" Su Ming was stunned.

"How about this? This isn’t a matter of urgency. You don’t have to think too much about it. Once all this ends and Dark Mountain Tribe migrates here, you can make your decision. When that time comes, I’ll send you here. You don’t even have to stay in the city, you can continue staying in Dark Mountain Tribe. How does that sound?" The elder smiled and ruffled Su Ming’s hair.

Su Ming let out a sigh of relief. After a moment of thought, he nodded his head obediently. If that was the case, he could accept it. Within Su Ming’s heart, he only belonged to one tribe, and that was Dark Mountain Tribe.

"Alright. Since you’re not taking part in the next two tests, stay in Wind Stream Tribe for the next few days and get yourself familiar with the place. Once Bei Ling and the others are done with the tests, we’ll be returning to the tribe." The elder smiled and stood up. He did not ask how Su Ming managed to obtain his rank, neither did he ask Su Ming to explain his understanding towards the six numbers. He only smiled and looked deeply at Su Ming before he turned and left.

Su Ming looked at the elder’s back as he left. It was burdened by his experiences in life, and as Su Ming watched, his heart twisted for an unknown reason.

Right up till the moment the elder left and Su Ming was the only one left in the room, he sat in his spot quietly and thought of each and every one of the elder’s words. Worry gnawed at his heart.

‘I don’t have enough power… I have to become stronger!’

After a long while, Su Ming clenched his teeth tightly. He might not fully understand the look in the elder’s eyes, but he could tell that things were not as the elder said. The danger looming over the tribe might not be as easily resolved as he said.

‘I won’t be able to perform any more burning of blood within this short period of time. If I want to become stronger, then I can only create more pills… Then I’ll need a lot of stone coins…’

Su Ming frowned. What he lacked right now was money.

‘What should I do..? I’ve already sold Scattering Dust once. I wonder if it attracted any attention… But if I don’t sell it again, then I won’t get any money… but if someone had already caught wind of this, then I can’t sell the pills again.’

Su Ming was cracking his head for all possible methods, but he could not find a solution.

‘Looks like I’ll have to ask the elder for some stone coins…’

Su Ming sighed. He absolutely did not want to add to the elder’s burdens. According to his plans, he would require a large amount of stone coins this time.

Su Ming stood up straight and was just about to find the elder when he stopped as a thought appeared in his head.

He stood by the door with bright eyes while the thought became increasingly clearer in his head. After a while, Su Ming decided to sit down and think. He then took out a bottle from his bosom.

There were traces of light surrounding it. Within the bottle was the green blood he had snatched from Wu Sen some time ago. He had enveloped it in moonlight so that its presence could be hidden.

Right now, he took out the bottle, and his eyes became increasingly brighter. He had been working on that thought in his head multiple times and gradually an idea formed.

‘This thing must be incredibly important to Wu Sen! And… I heard Bei Ling mention that Wu Sen was on par with Chen Chong in Wind Stream Tribe, and they’re only slightly below Ye Wang!

‘This person has always ranked within the top three in the previous tests, but this time… he was only in the twelfth place… Even if it was due to Bi Su’s appearance that he fell out of the top 3, he should not have dropped out of the top 10.

‘As for this change… There can only be one explanation. He has become weaker! Only when his body has weakened and problems arose for him, would he have shown such a poor performance. There would definitely be no need for him to hide his power during the test. There is no need for him to do so with his status!’ Su Ming mumbled in his head as he analyzed the situation.

‘If that’s the case, then there’s at least half a chance that his performance is due to him losing… this thing!’

Su Ming’s eyes flashed. He looked at the bottle in his hands and a smile appeared on his lips.

‘Wu Sen is a prodigy within Wind Stream Tribe. Then surely, he must be pretty rich…’

The smile on Su Ming’s lips grew wider and brighter.

‘But just what is this? Why is it so important to him?’

Su Ming fell silent for a moment. He did not act immediately, but chose to sit down cross-legged and quietly adjusted his breathing to recover his Qi. When the moon hung high in the sky, Su Ming opened his eyes abruptly.

‘Now I can examine this.’

Su Ming no longer hesitated. He took the small bottle and waved his left hand above it. The moonlight on top of the bottle immediately scattered away. Su Ming brought the bottle closer and took off the cork before looking at it carefully.

The green blood within the bottle seemed a bit dull. It was as if because it had been away from Wu Sen’s body for a long time, it had lost its color and spirit.

‘I have to see whether this thing is useful to me. If it isn’t, only then will I be able to move to the next step.’

Su Ming did not hesitate, pouring out the liquid from the bottle. The fresh blood floated before him. There was no stench of blood coming from it, as if it was not blood.

Su Ming stared at it, then grabbed the blood and placed it in the center between his brows.