Pursuit of the Truth

Ao Chen Tai took a few steps back and bowed respectfully towards the purple-robed man who was walking over.

”Greetings, Clan Elder.”

His two companions standing by his side put on respectful expressions on their faces and bowed towards the purple-robed man as a greeting.

A smile appeared on the purple-robed man’s face as he walked in the air and came up to the puppet beast. He did not look at Zi Che or Bai Su, but instead kept his gaze trained on Su Ming as he smiled at him and nodded his head.

”You’re senior Tian Xie Zi’s new disciple?”

Su Ming looked calm as his gaze fell on the purple-robed man. With just one glance, he could tell that this person was not in the Awakening Realm but was a powerful Berserker in the Bone Sacrifice Realm.

Su Ming had always acted as such - if the other party was courteous towards him, then he would rarely act in an overbearing manner. Even if he could not move as of then, he still made the puppet beast under him shrink rapidly with one thought before it turned into a ball of black mist that surrounded the area under Su Ming’s waist. That black mist rapidly merged together, and in the span of a few breaths, thepuppet beast disappeared.

Su Ming stood in the sky, and nothing out of ordinary could be seen, but in truth, he was still sitting down cross-legged. The legs that the others saw were formed by the Phantom Fork, which meant that the Phantom Fork Puppet had turned into Su Ming’s legs and was supporting him so that he could walk around like a normal person.

”My Master is indeed Tian Xie Zi.” Su Ming wrapped his fist in his palm and greeted the purple-robed man.

A look of curiosity appeared in the purple-robed man’s eyes once he saw the puppet beast shrinking under Su Ming.

”Looks like the rumors I heard lately about the ninth summit and Northern Frontier Tribe are true. The Phantom Fork Puppet is unique only to Phantom Dais Tribe. Outsiders can seldom get their hands on it.”

Su Ming smiled faintly and did not speak.

”Brother Su, since you’re under Tian Xie Zi, you must be of the same seniority as me. Brother Su, I am Chang Yi. This way, please!” the purple-robed man said with a smile, then turned his body to the side in an invitation.

”Brother Chang, please lead the way!” Su Ming smiled and wrapped his fist in his palm.

The both of them moved at the same time. With just one step, the purple-robed man traveled approximately 400 feet away. He did not need to turn his head back to know that Su Ming was about 200 feet behind him. Chang Yi’s expression was calm, but he had already formulated a guess, which he believed was accurate, within his heart regarding Su Ming’s power.

With his power, he could tell that Su Ming was not hiding his speed but was truly slower than him. He could also tell that the black mist formed by Phantom Dais Tribe’s puppet surrounding Su Ming’s legs had the purpose of increasing his speed.

‘He sure is arrogant to turn the puppet into his legs while he continues sitting down.’

The purple-robed man smiled, not too bothered by it. Instead, he slowed down and waited for Su Ming for a while. Once Su Ming came up to his side, he started walking once again.

”Brother Su, your hobby is rather unique. I haven’t even experienced such a luxurious act before.” As they moved forward, the purple-robed man smiled towards Su Ming and his gaze swept past Su Ming’s legs.

”It seems like I have made a fool of myself before you, brother Chang. I can’t stand up. I hope you will forgive me for this,” Su Ming said with a smile, shaking his head.

Zi Che calmly followed beside Su Ming. Bai Su was originally the same, and she had been looking around the area curiously, but the moment she heard the purple-robed man’s words, she frowned. Yet when she saw that Su Ming did not mind his words, she remained silent.

”Oh? You can’t get up? Could it be that your cultivation method has caused your legs to be impaired?” The purple-robed man put on a surprised face.

”You can say that.” Su Ming nodded his head.

”A pity, such a pity. But Western Sea Clan’s sacred medicine is among the list of items to be auctioned off this time. It might be able to help you.” As he spoke, the purple-robed man descended from the sky to the snow in the tribe. Before him was a small tent, and it was clearly the temporary lodgings prepared for Su Ming and the others.

”This is your…”

He was still smiling as he spoke, but before he could finish his sentence, a sudden loud boom rang from beside him. That booming sound was so loud that it even caused the earth to tremble and the snow on the ground to fly at least ten feet into the air. It was as if there was a force that just impacted the ground, and that force was sweeping outwards with this area acting as its center.

The tents in the area were torn off the ground. Almost all the people in the tribe swiftly turned their gazes toward them.

The purple-robed man’s expression drastically changed and disbelief shone in his eyes. As he looked at Su Ming, he was momentarily stunned.

He saw the loud rumbling sound start the instant the legs formed by Su Ming’s puppet landed on the ground. It was as if a tall mountain fell from the sky and crashed on the ground, causing the earth to tremble and huge gusts of wind to spread out.

The instant the legs landed on the ground, he also saw the legs being unable to withstand that strong force and turning into a thick layer of black mist. As the mist spread outwards, Su Ming, who had been sitting within, was also exposed, and it caused him to fall down with another bang on the ground.

The purple-robed man took a deep breath. He had clearly felt the earth’s tremors and sensed that the source of it all was Su Ming!

‘Just… just what did this person bring with him?! How could it be so heavy?!’

The pupils of the purple-robed man shrank. He just remembered Su Ming’s speed just now and his previous assumptions. Yet by the looks of it now, his assumptions were like a joke. This person was only slightly behind him when he was carrying a weight akin to a mountain on him. If he took that weight away, then his speed…

When the purple-robed man reached that particular train of thought, he could not help but be stunned.

”Su Ming! He’s Su Ming!”

The people around them had gathered their gazes on them due to the two booming sounds and the earth’s tremors just now. When they saw Su Ming sitting on the ground, someone instantly recognized him.

”That’s Su Ming? The fourth disciple of the ninth summit?”

”That’s right. I saw him fighting against Si Ma Xin before. Look, there’s Zi Che standing beside him as well.”

”He actually came here..? Interesting. I heard that eldest senior sister Tian Lan Meng, senior brother Si Ma Xin, and a lot of other powerful Berserkers who have a spot on Great Frozen Plain’s ranking board have also come. The auction this time is definitely going to be interesting.”

”It’s the auction hosted by Western Sea Clan that is only held once a century, of course it’ll attract these sorts of people. I heard that this is only a normal auction too. Once this auction is over, they will be hosting another, smaller auction. But to attend that, the person must at least have attained great completion for the Bone Sacrifice realm, and most of them will be those old men in the Berserker Soul Realm.”

Within the temporary tribe built by Western Sea Clan for the auction was another tent located not too far away from Su Ming. Inside that tent was a handsome man sitting cross-legged.Right then, that man opened his eyes, and he looked as if he could see through the tent and look at the world outside.

”Su Ming…” the man said calmly, and a murderous glint appeared briefly in his eyes. That man was Si Ma Xin! There were quite a number of temporarily set up tents surrounding Si Ma Xin’s own. These tents were all filled with Freezing Sky Clan disciples, and they all treated him as their leader. They would only listen to his orders.

In another direction of the tribe was a rather remote area with only eight tents. Right in the center of that area was a white tent, and within that tent was a woman. There was a white wooden chip placed before her. She brushed her index finger across that piece of wood with a frown on her face.

Behind her was a pretty girl who was combing the woman’s dark locks. Occasionally, she would peek over the woman’s shoulders to look at the wooden chip.

”Eldest senior sister, you’ve been drawing for a long time. What exactly are you drawing?”

The woman sitting in the tent was incredibly beautiful. When she heard the question, she lifted her head and was just about to speak, but she suddenly frowned, then turned her head towards the direction where Su Ming was at the moment in the tribe.

”He’s also here…” That woman was, naturally, Tian Lan Meng.

At the same time, the people sitting within the eighteen sword-ship like objects sticking out of the ground opened their eyes and looked towards the spot where Su Ming was.

Most of the people sitting inside the eighteen sword-ship hybrids were old men. When they looked over to that spot, shock appeared on their faces.

The two bangs had attracted the entire tribe’s attention. Su Ming frowned, then using his divine sense, he had the black mist that was formed from the puppet gather once again to cover the area below his waist. Then, slowly, he had those legs stand up, making it seem as if he was the one standing up from a seated position.

”Pardon me, there is something wrong with my body, so it’s a little hard for me to control myself right now. I suppose this is my lodging?” Su Ming put on an apologetic look to the purple-robed man staring at him with a dumbfounded expression not too far away.

The purple-robed man sucked in a deep breath, and his gaze, as he looked towards Su Ming, immediately became different. He wrapped his fist in his palm towards him.

”Brother Su, you are mistaken. This is definitely not a place for someone like you to stay. Not only is this place shabby, it’s also noisy. Brother Su, this way. There is an empty spot to the north. It’s much quieter there, and it’s definitely a suitable spot for you to train.

”After all, this auction will last for several days. Brother Su, this way, please!”

A warm look of welcome appeared on the purple-robed man’s face. That was an attitude used only when giving respect to the strong and when treating someone else as an equal. It might seem similar, but anyone with a discerning eye could see the small differences in his actions.

”Then… I will have to trouble you, brother Chang.” Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he smiled and nodded.

Under the purple-robed man’s lead, they weaved their way through the tribe. On the way, all the Freezing Sky Clan members, who saw them, would mostly smile and nod towards him, though they still looked quite uncertain about him.

This lasted until they reached the northern section of the tribe. The place was indeed much quieter. There were not many tents around the place, and the few that were around were spaced out far in-between.

”This place will be suitable for you as a training place, brother Su. If you have anything you need, you can tell me now. If you don’t have any now but think of something later, you can search for a patrolling Western Sea Clan disciple. We’ll try our best to fulfil your request up to your satisfaction.” The purple-robed man smiled and wrapped his fist around his palm to Su Ming.

”Thank you, brother Chang. I’m fine with everything as of now,” Su Ming said with a smile.

”If that is the case, then I will take my leave for now. I’ll have someone send you the pictures of the items that will be auctioned this time. You can take a look at them beforehand.

”Of course, the items listed here are just a part of the items we will auction off later. There are some that were only recently added to the list by other people, and we haven’t found the time to update the list.” The purple-robed man smiled and nodded towards Su Ming before he wrapped his fist in his palm to bid farewell.

As of then, Zi Che had already brought out some skin tents from his storage bag and set them up in an empty spot. There were two tents, and they were for Su Ming and Bai Su. He had not felt the need to prepare one for himself. The entrance to Su Ming’s tent would be the spot where he would meditate and stand guard.