Love.

It is the pillar of support for people as they live their lives. It can be love between friends, love between lovers, familial love, and love born out of kindness. When they are shown to the world, they reveal uniform joy and grief.

Dark Mountain allowed Su Ming to feel the love for home. His elder gave him the love born out of kindness. His companions gave him the love between friends, and the women in his life allowed him to feel affection but not romantic love. All of these were Su Ming"s precious memories.

His love for the ninth summit was one between familial love and love born out of kindness. It had dissolved into his blood and was branded into his memories, turning into a form of warmth that was different from his mother"s murmurs when he was swathed in darkness.

This love and warmth was the thing that allowed him to continue down his path when he closed his eyes in the darkness. In the end… he was still human. A person with flesh and blood.

Even if he had a limitless amount of divine abilities at his disposal, even if he had lived for many years and was now an ancient existence, even if he had already grown numb to killing, and even if his hands were stained with blood… when he closed his eyes, the things that came up the most often were still those carefree peals of laughter in Dark Mountain as well as the warmth he experienced in the ninth summit when he was protected by his senior brothers and Master.

But reality was harsh. It was as if it had reduced all of his longing into fragments filled with all sorts of twists and turns, and they were stranded in the depths of the swamp known as memories… He could stretch a hand into that swamp, but he would never be able to fish out all of them. He would only be able to drag out bits and pieces of those memories.

He truly wanted to use his divine abilities to freeze those scenes that were gone from his sight in the blink of an eye, but even if he could not freeze them, there would always be one small little stone that would fall into the swamp, causing faint ripples and giving a light tap so that he would remember.

There were so many things that happened in the past, which had now turned into a sigh that echoed in the air as he looked at his Master in this silent wasteland. Su Ming stared at the statue before him and sensed the ancient air about the statue… How could he forget this person?

Su Ming knelt beside the statue, and tears fell from his eyes.

Dijiu Mo Sha"s voice entered his ears, then left. Su Ming seemed to not have heard him. He looked at his Master"s statue quietly, as if time had stopped because of his stare.

When an unknown amount of time had pa.s.sed, Su Ming lowered his head and saw five stones the size of his palm by his Master"s feet. They were placed there and were connected to the stone statue of the giant. It was as if… they had existed since the statue was created.

Su Ming looked at those stones, and his gaze fell on the fourth stone. That stone had a slight, purple tinge, and it was slightly different from the other four. When Su Ming"s gaze fell on it, he had a faint feeling that his soul was being led to it.

"Our patriarch left behind these five stones. He said… that if his disciples arrived someday, they would be able to find their stone among the five. If they can make those stones melt, then there would be no need to suspect them. They are his disciples," Dijiu Mo Sha said in a low voice.

Su Ming stared at the fourth stone. He raised his right hand and slowly placed it on the stone. At the instant he did this, Dijiu Mo Sha focused his eyes on the stone and watched it attentively.

He saw a flash of purple. That purple light instantly surged into the sky and illuminated the entire sky. Su Ming"s figure was fused into that purple light. When Dijiu Mo Sha looked over, he found that Su Ming"s figure was only barely discernible.

Su Ming s.h.i.+vered. At the instant the purple light spread out, he sensed Tian Xie Zi"s presence incredibly clearly. That presence seemed to be just around him, as if it had always existed in this place, just waiting for his disciple to arrive.

After a long while, the purple light dissipated. Su Ming stood beside Tian Xie Zi"s statue, and the five stones on the ground had now turned into four.

"I, Dijiu Mo Sha, greet my fourth senior brother!" Once Dijiu Mo Sha witnessed this scene, he wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed to Su Ming without any hesitation.

Su Ming did not speak. His gaze fell on the fifth stone beside the statue before he turned his gaze towards Dijiu Mo Sha.

"What did you call me?" A fierce look appeared in Su Ming"s eyes.

"After the patriarch arrived in Divine Essence Star Ocean, I became his disciple in name when he provided enlightenment for the Ninth Tribe. My patriarch told me about the divine abilities his four disciples have. Since you could awaken the fourth stone, then based on what the patriarch said before he left… you must be Su Ming!" Dijiu Mo Sha raised his head to stare at Su Ming.

"Of the four disciples my Master took in, I am the most ordinary of them all. My eldest senior brother is the Lord of Nine Li, my second senior brother is the King of All Phantoms, my third senior brother is above all runes and seals… what right do you have to become our junior brother?" Su Ming"s expression was calm, but the fierce tone in his words had a faint, freezing quality to them.

He was no longer the teenager who was immature and who did not have enough experience behind his back. He had gone through far too many things and also had a deep understanding towards the cruelty of the world. He no longer trusted in someone easily.

Even if a person called him his fourth senior brother and was truly Master"s fifth disciple, some sort of change might occur.

Besides, this was not something that concerned Su Ming alone. This was something he would have to share with his senior brothers. Acknowledging another junior brother into their mid was no child"s play.

Dijiu Mo Sha remained silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I am very ordinary. Even when I was in my tribe, I was ordinary. I don"t know why patriarch took me in as his disciple in name. Before he left, he told me his four disciples" names and told me to come to this place often so that I could wait for his disciples, who might come to this place someday."

Su Ming looked into the distance. If the cultivation planet had not shattered, he would have been able to see the ninth summit that was built on the planet from this spot.

"Why did this place fall to desolation?" Su Ming asked calmly after some time.

"The races surrounded and attacked us!" Dijiu Mo Sha"s eyes shone with great killing intent and hate as he spat these words through gritted teeth.

"Why did they surround and attack you?" Su Ming asked faintly.

"Because the fifth stone appeared, and because our patriarch obtained it." Dijiu Mo Sha clenched his fists, and his voice echoed in the air.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "Is Master… still around?"

"Around a thousand years ago, our patriarch took the fifth stone and led the four races away for us. We don"t… know whether he is alive or dead… However, over the course of years I"ve spent conducting investigations in secret, I"ve found some hints. The four races have not obtained the fifth stone, and I believe that the patriarch did not die in the past," Dijiu Mo Sha told everything he knew while looking straight into Su Ming"s eyes.

"What is the fifth stone?"

"Once you have that stone, when you are in the fifth ocean located at the core of Divine Essence Star Ocean, you can use it to point you in the direction… of the Fifth True World"s key, which has been lost in the pa.s.sage of time. With it, you can even step into the Fifth True World."

Su Ming fell silent again.

"How do you gain possession of the fifth stone, and how did it appear?" he asked while looking at Dijiu Mo Sha.

"There are two ways to obtain the fifth stone. One of them is to s.n.a.t.c.h it from the person with it. The other… is to wait for the activation of the fifth kiln.

"It is unknown when the fifth kiln will be activated. Sometimes, it will be activated once a decade. Sometimes, it will be activated once a century. Sometimes, it will need a thousand or ten thousand years or even longer to activate.

"Once the fifth kiln is activated, flames that will spread through the entire Divine Essence Star Ocean will burst forth. This is something that even the galaxies beyond Divine Essence Star Ocean will be able to see.

"The flames will burn continuously for a period of time. During that time, it will be a form of torture and trial for all living beings. We need to avoid the fire, or our bodies and spirits will be destroyed.

"But there are some powerful warriors who can head towards the fire and step right into the fifth kiln. In it, they might be able to obtain a great serendipity. Their bodies will become sanctified, as if they had been refined. They might also be able to obtain Enchanted Treasures. The hardest to obtain among them is the fifth stone.

"However, the possibility of death in there is extremely high.

"It is said that the fifth kiln is not a product of Divine Essence Star Ocean, but an Enchanted Kiln. When it burns, it can create supreme treasures possessing endless spiritual energy for the Fifth True World. It was in the Fifth True World, but once that disappeared, the kiln appeared in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

"No one can use it as their personal Enchanted Treasure. They can only watch it erupt time and again in the pa.s.sage of time, and there are always people who step into it to search for serendipities.

"By now, this fifth kiln has become one of the four great mysteries in Divine Essence Star Ocean!" Dijiu Mo Sha explained.

"As for the other three mysteries, one of them is the vortices in s.p.a.ce that occasionally appear in Divine Essence Star and have been in the galaxy since its birth. Once someone falls in there, there"s no way to get out. We call these vortices Divine Essence Star Ocean"s swamps. They might lead to another world that is not known to us.

"The second mystery is the endlessness of Divine Essence Star Ocean. Even if you manage to find the core, it doesn"t matter for how many years you move away from it, you will never be able to get out of Divine Essence Star Ocean. It"s as if this galaxy is the epitome of the word boundless.

"The third mystery is the place where all Ancestral Spirits were born. It is also known as All Spirits Hall. It is said that the secrets of Divine Essence Star Ocean"s origins are kept there, but when All Spirits Hall appears, those who are not Masters of Fate, Lives, and Death cannot enter the place, which is why it is very difficult for people to know just what is inside." Dijiu Mo Sha"s voice"s reverberated in s.p.a.ce as he spoke about the secrets in Divine Essence Star Ocean.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he asked again, "Do you know where Master has gone?"

"The entrance to the Fifth True World. In fact, there"s a high possibility that Master is already in the Fifth True World," Dijiu Mo Sha said without any hesitation.

Su Ming sank into a contemplative silence for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, a piercing whistle suddenly came from within Dijiu Mo Sha"s body. This sound contained two long whistles and three short whistles, giving off a very urgent feeling.

At the instant the sound came, Dijiu Mo Sha"s expression changed drastically. He turned around and looked into the distance. As anxiety appeared in his eyes, he also let out a bunch of sounds.

They were three short whistles and one long whistle, as if this was some form of language, and he was replying to whoever it was that made the initial whistle.

Once he made this sound, another sound came faintly from his body. This time, it was four long whistles and three short whistles.

Dijiu Mo Sha"s expression changed. Without hesitation, he moved forward, but after he took a few steps, he turned around to look at Su Ming. His usually aloof eyes now held a hint of complicated emotions and nostalgia.

"I finished what the patriarch instructed me to do—to come to this place once in a while to wait for his disciples. It doesn"t matter to me whether you acknowledge my status or not. I… Dijiu Mo Sha, am the patriarch"s disciple, and even if I die… my soul will be the patriarch"s disciple!" Once he finished saying this, a determined and resolute look flashed in Dijiu Mo Sha"s eyes. He turned his head around, turned into a long arc, and instantly charged into the distance.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment. Then, he looked at his Master"s statue before letting out a light sigh. With a swing of his arm, he swept up Xu Hui and took a step forward. His body instantly disappeared. As he had the Duke of Crimson Flame s.h.i.+ft, he appeared right next to Dijiu Mo Sha, who was in the distance and was charging forward in a hurry.

"You…" Dijiu Mo Sha was taken aback.