Pursuit of the Truth 137 A Difference in Treatmen

Su Ming calmed his breathing and looked at the seemingly normal stone box before him with sparkling eyes. He sat down in the cave abode that once belonged to He Feng, feeling nervous.
He was looking forward to the item inside the stone box. He wanted to know what caused Lake of Colors Tribe, Puqiang Tribe, and Tranquil East Tribe to rebel all those years ago. He wanted to know what was the last of the four great treasures wrested by the tribes.
The four great treasures had made the three tribes massacre a tribe. Now, the last of these treasures was desired by Xuan Lun and wanted by Han Fei Zi.
They did not even dare spread the news out. This made Su Ming even more nervous.
‘This thing originally wouldn’t have fallen into my hands…’ Su Ming thought in his heart.
He only came here due to a strange coincidence. He Feng’s schemes dragged him into this vortex little by little: from avoiding Xuan Lun, to snatching He Feng’s body, to the various face offs he had with He Feng, and finally with the battle against Han Fei Zi.
Up till then, he had not obtained the true location of this place. The place that He Feng had mentioned before was completely different from the location Su Ming discovered now.
Only when He Feng became his slave did Su Ming obtain the true location of the treasure and came to this place.
A complicated look appeared on Su Ming’s face when he looked at the stone box before him. Over the past year, he may have not experienced a lot of things, but the troubles caused by that incident were great. When he thought about it, he would sigh in sadness.
Su Ming took in a deep breath and quelled his emotions. He lifted his right hand and slowly placed it on the box. He was about to pick it up, but when his right hand touched the stone box, a sharp scream came out from within the stone box immediately. That screaming sound contained a powerful penetrating force that caused a layer of invisible ripples to spread outwards the moment it began.
Rumbling sounds echoed around him, and on the walls of the mountain cave, an innumerable amount of cracks appeared in an instant. The cracks ran deep. There were some that even extended right through the mountain stone, and sunlight shone through these cracks.
That was not all. With the stone box acting as the center, the ground around Su Ming also let out rumbling sounds, and cracks also appeared before spreading throughout the entire mountain cave.
The sudden change made Su Ming’s heart shudder. He Feng, too, was shocked. He was slightly baffled and did not know what had happened. When he touched the stone box in the past and even opened it, this had not happened.
"Master, this… this is…"
He was afraid that Su Ming would misunderstand and wanted to explain himself.
However, Su Ming ignored him. He closed his eyes instead and sat down cross-legged on the ground. He kept his right hand on the stone box, and only let out a long sigh after a long while.
"I know," Su Ming said in a low tone.
He believed that He Feng would not have known about this. More importantly, when the scream suddenly rang out and caused the mountain cave to be filled with cracks and ravines, no harm was done to him.
There was a scream coming out of the stone box. That scream was piercing He Feng’s ears, and he looked as if he could not even maintain his Spirit Body, but to Su Ming, for some reason, that voice… was oddly familiar!
That screaming voice seemed as if it was cheering in excitement, as if after the centuries of being sealed in waiting, the person who could finally awaken it had arrived.
This was a strange feeling, but Su Ming could feel it clearly in his heart.
He could feel that the item inside the stone box was calling out to him…
His heart raced against his chest, and with each heartbeat, it would cause the item within the stone box to scream even louder until the stone box eventually started trembling. Banging sounds came from within, as if the treasure inside the box wanted to rush out.
Virescent light shone through the slit connecting the stone box and the lid, causing Su Ming’s face to be illuminated by it. He Feng went slack jawed in disbelief when he saw this. The moment Su Ming touched the box with his hand, the treasure that belonged to Han Mountain Tribe seemed to gain intelligence and acted in this manner. It made his mind blank and threw him into bewilderment.
He even started to feel a little hurt. That feeling was as if the treasure that his people had been worshiping for centuries had chosen to ignore him, but when an outsider suddenly appeared, the treasure became so excited it was like it had found its owner.
That absurd feeling made He Feng completely stunned.
As the virescent light from the box shone, the screams became stronger, as if they were anxiously urging Su Ming to open the box so that whatever was inside could come out.
Su Ming could feel that the sound was calling out to him more and more strongly. He took a deep breath and with his right hand pressed on the stone box, he patted it, transferring the power of the brand with the method He Feng had taught him.
The stone box trembled and immediately opened.
The moment the lid opened, the virescent light spread out abruptly, enveloping the entire cave abode. At the same time, an even stronger virescent light rushed out from within the box with a scream that whistled in the air. It turned into long virescent arcs and started flying around the cave abode.
A strong piercing sensation rushed forward, causing cracks to fill the entire surface of the walls. That piercing presence made Su Ming’s hair stand and his mouth dry up, making him have the misconception that he was facing someone at the Awakening Realm. The blood veins in his body immediately erupted forth as if wanting to resist against the force. In fact, he even had the vague feeling that the presence was growing stronger and had surpassed the power of Awakening!
Yet the moment Su Ming’s Qi was about to spread out, that virescent light that seemed to be gushing out of the box flashed and charged towards Su Ming. It was so quick that even Su Ming, who was usually fast enough, could not dodge. The moment he was taken aback, the virescent light appeared before the center of his brows as if it had just pierced through space.
Sweat beaded on Su Ming’s forehead as he looked at the virescent light. This time, he could distinctly see what the great treasure was!
It was a sword!
It was a sword that could fly on its own!
It was a completely virescent sword that had a complex picture engraved on it that Su Ming had never seen before!
The sword was only about seven inches long and could be held in his hand. It looked cold and frightening, and a piercing presence came from it. The blade was incredibly sharp and looked as if it could pierce through the center of Su Ming’s brows like a leaf, with just one small move.
Su Ming was not the only one nervous. He Feng, too, was anxious. If Su Ming died, he would also die, and more importantly, his fear towards the sword far exceeded Su Ming’s fear towards it. In fact, when the sword got closer, he had a feeling as if his Spirit Body was about to crumble, as if he could not withstand the frightening presence of the sword coming closer to him.
It was quiet inside the mountain cave. The only signs of movement came from the virescent light as it flickered. Su Ming sat cross-legged, unmoving. The seven inch small sword floated before the center of his brows. It, too, remained still.
He Feng’s body and soul were overwhelmed with terror. This was a terror that he had never experienced before. It was even stronger than when he had faced death. It was as if he was facing his natural predator. The pressure that came from the sword made He Feng tremble.
Time trickled by. After about the time spent to burn an incense stick later, Su Ming quelled his nervousness. He looked at the small sword before him and was able to tell that there was no ill will coming from it. As he observed it, he had a feeling that it, too, was observing him, as if there was something about him that made it uncertain.
After a long while, as He Feng was strung high with nerves, Su Ming slowly raised his right hand and put his outstretched palm before himself.
The small virescent sword seemed to be hesitating. Suddenly, it let out a flash and left the center of Su Ming’s brows. It circled around a few times before charging towards Su Ming’s right hand and slowly landing with a whistle!
Only then did Su Ming let out a breath of relief. Excitement appeared in his eyes, and he held up the sword. Yet the moment he did so, he felt a sting of pain in his palm. The sword had broken the skin of his hand with one swift motion, and with a flash of virescent light, it slipped into Su Ming’ body through this wound.
A shudder ran through Su Ming’s body. When the small virescent sword entered his body, the virescent light scattered and turned into a force that swiftly spread through Su Ming’s body.
The moment the force spread out, the souls of the Wings of the Moon that had been hiding inside him crawled out simultaneously. Even He Feng flew out with a scream. He did not dare to get closer to Su Ming.
In He Feng’s eyes, Su Ming’s hair was moving without wind. His robes were floating on his body while he remained sitting. His expression may have been still, but there was a terrifying presence that seemed to be awakening within him.
It was as if that presence should have belonged to Su Ming right from the start but had been lying dormant. Now, when the small sword crawled into his body, the presence… woke up from its slumber!
Su Ming trembled, but there was no pain on his face. There was only a frown, as if he was not used to the feeling. He could clearly feel that the sword was weaving through his body as if searching for something.
Virescent light shone out from his body, causing Su Ming to look as if he was enveloped in green.
Yet at that very moment, violent shudders suddenly shook his body. An indescribable pain suddenly rose up inside him like a tidal wave, possibly due to the little sword having found its place. It let out a sword aura as if ready to pierce through Su Ming’s body. That sword aura traveled through him and forcefully opened a path of blood and flesh inside him!
A course seemed to originally have existed for that path, but it was blocked in Su Ming’s body. Perhaps it would have never been cleared, but now, as the sword aura moved through the path, it also forcefully broke past the originally sealed path inside him.
A bang resounded through Su Ming’s head. As he trembled, blood flowed out of his skin. A line of blood veins that should not exist in the body of a Berserker appeared on him. The line surrounded his entire body, starting from his abdomen and ending on his head.
The small virescent sword swam through the line several times before it finally appeared on Su Ming’s head. Su Ming could feel its presence, but there was no pain. Instead, as the line was cleared, a warm, comfortable feeling spread through his entire body. It also seemed to be largely different from before. Even if he had his eyes closed and did not make the sign to maintain the Branding Art, in his heart, he could feel an entire area… of a circumference of 2,000 feet clearly!
The mark of a sword gradually appeared on his forehead. A mighty presence came out from it as it shone.
He Feng watched Su Ming by the side with a dumbfounded expression. He still could not understand why his own treasure would treat him and Su Ming so differently when they opened the stone box.
Thankfully, he was now a Spirit Body, or else he might have possibly coughed out a mouthful of blood under a fit of distress caused by incomprehension and disgruntlement.