Pursuit of the Truth

The ship traveled incredibly quickly, breaking through the clouds. It stirred up a large amount of ripples that reached Su Ming and Nan Gong Hen’s east, and as if the sky was the ocean to it, the ship charged past.

The ship was incredibly luxurious and shone with a multitude of colors. The ripples spreading out from within made Lan Lan and Ahu widen their eyes. They looked envious, though it was without resentment.

As for the boy with the withered right arm, he simply lifted his head to cast that ship a glance. His expression remained aloof, and not many changes in his expression could be found.

”That is the Sky Deck Ship from Divine Cyclone Tribe. Among the great tribes in the land of Shamans, that ship is very famous. It is said that when it travels at full speed, it can compete with a Latter Shaman who has arrived at the peak. Its defensive powers are also incredibly strong, that’s why it’s the best method of transport when going to dangerous places.” Nan Gong Hen looked at the ship leaving into the distance, then smiled at Su Ming.

Su Ming seemed rather preoccupied by his thoughts. When he scanned the ship previously with his divine sense, he had felt a power repelling him, which was why he did not force his divine sense inside to explore. However, when he swept his gaze past the few people standing on the ship, there was a girl in white who gave him a feeling that they had met before.

”Brother Mo, are you interested in the Sky Deck Ship?” Nan Gong Hen saw Su Ming looking at the direction where Divine Cyclone Tribe left and asked with a smile.

”Even if a small Shaman like me is interested in the Sky Deck Ship, I can only be envious of the people who own it.” Su Ming shook his head.

”Brother Mo, you don’t have to belittle yourself. If you truly want to obtain that Sky Deck Ship from Divine Cyclone Tribe, there is a way…” A glint appeared in Nan Gong Hen’s eyes, and he spoke in a hushed tone as he continued traveling with Su Ming.

”Oh? Brother Nan Gong, please enlighten me.” Su Ming looked towards Nan Gong Hen.

”From what I understand, every single time the World of Nine Yin opens up, Divine Cyclone Tribe comes here not just to help their tribe members obtain the cultivation method for Soul Catchers, but for the treasure gambling event as well.

”Brother Mo, don’t tell me that you didn’t come here for the event.” Nan Gong Hen smiled and cast a glance at Su Ming.

”What does this have to do with the Sky Deck Ship?” Su Ming asked calmly without even batting an eyelid.

”Perhaps you don’t know about this, brother Mo, but as long as you have enough luck during the treasure gambling event and manage to find an herb that Divine Cyclone Tribe needs, then they will definitely go to you in attempts to try and exchange for it. At that time, you can just ask for the Sky Deck Ship.” Nan Gong Hen let out a boisterous laugh.

”About that…” Su Ming let out a wry laugh and shook his head. He did not continue speaking. His current look could convey a lot of meanings, and it all depended on how the person who saw it interpreted it.

”Brother Mo, are you worried about your own luck? Indeed, this is truly hard to predict. I once met a Medial Shaman who managed to find a Nine Abyss Flower!

”It might have been just a remaining segment of its leaf and it was not complete, but it was still bought by a person from a big tribe at an exorbitant price. Not only is this item useful to Berserkers, it’s also very useful to the Latter Shamans.” As Nan Gong Hen spoke, his expression was filled with envy.

”Nine Abyss Flower?!” A sharp look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes.

”That’s right. Ah… why don’t I have that sort of luck? That crystal didn’t even look flashy, and no matter what, it didn’t look as if it contained the Nine Abyss Flower. It’s luck, all of it boils down to luck!” Nan Gong Hen smiled wryly.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he suddenly asked, ”But the person who found that Nine Abyss Flower must have had a tragic end, right?”

”That’s true. But he ended up in that state because he was too greedy and made several mistakes. He should have immediately left, but if he didn’t want to leave, it was fine too, as long as he rented the Spirit of Nine Yin from the God of Shamans Temple from the city with half of the items he got in exchange for his Nine Abyss Flower. With the protection of the Spirit of Nine Yin, as long he didn’t go further than one million lis from the city, he would basically be safe.

”After all, the World of Nine Yin is very mysterious. Over the years, only one End Shaman is allowed to be on garrison duty here. If two End Shamans appeared, then within a few days, drastic changes would immediately appear in the area, and it might even affect the entire Shaman City…

”I heard that this matter has been pretty accurate so far. That’s why the God of Shamans Temple will never allow a second End Shaman coming to this place. They can only come here in turn to be garrisons, though their true goal in coming here is to search for treasure.

”Unless… we act like the time we did that year when we just developed this place. We could bring all the End Shamans and Latter Shamans here and forcefully suppress the changes in the area.

”But this is the time of war. It’s just not possible for us to do that. As for Berserkers… Heh heh, even if they do manage to come here, they will at most be at the initial stage of the Berserker Soul Realm. All those who are in the middle stage and beyond cannot avoid being found out by the God of Shamans Temple when they are Relocated.” Nan Gong Hen seemed to have in depth knowledge about this and told Su Ming with a smile.

Su Ming was as calm as ever. Once he nodded his head, his expression suddenly changed and he looked at Nan Gong Hen.

Nan Gong Hen was momentarily stunned. There was something slightly off on Su Ming’s face, and it made Nan Gong Hen puzzled.

”Brother Nan Gong, the forest was originally supposed to be clear of threats, but there was a change recently. Could that be… the change you were talking about?” Su Ming asked.

Nan Gong’s expression changed drastically, and there was a variety of expressions on his face. After some time, he started laughing bitterly.

”It doesn’t matter whether it is or isn’t. This isn’t something we can control. But if that’s the case, then we will have to be even more careful… Oh well, once we are in Shaman City, I’ll immediately rent a Spirit of Nine Yin, then I’ll have a higher chance of protecting my own life. Once I enter the treasure gambling event and let the boy behind me obtain his cultivation method as a Spirit Medium, then I’ll immediately leave the place.

”Brother Mo, we might have just got to know each other, but we managed to hit it off right from the start. Here’s a piece of advice. Don’t be stingy with your money, go and rent a Spirit of Nine Yin as well.

”After all, while the Spirit of Nine Yin cannot leave the World of Nine Yin, it can bring out a battle power so great that it is equivalent to a Latter Shaman’s. They are also the locals here. They’ve signed an eternal treaty with the God of Shamans Temple many years ago.” Nan Gong Hen’s words were filled with sincerity as he told Su Ming.

Su Ming smiled and nodded.

They continued flying in the air, and several days passed by. Most of the clouds had dispersed on this day, and they could somewhat see the sky. The end could not be seen no matter where they looked, and there was not a single human soul besides theirs that could be spotted.

As the five people continued moving forward, Su Ming suddenly came to a halt, then with a grave look on his face, he spread out his divine sense once he stopped and started checking the area closely.

Nan Gong Hen also came to a stop. He quickly spread out the wandering souls around him and had them search in a wider area, but he did not find any sort of threat in the area, and he could not help but look at Su Ming with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Su Ming’s eyes sparkled as he stared at the empty space before him. When his divine sense had covered that area just now, some of it disappeared, as if it was devoured by some mysterious creature.

It was precisely because of this that he suddenly came to a stop. He sent his divine sense to that area where it had disappeared earlier, and once he scanned through it carefully, that feeling of his divine sense disappearing happened once again. This time, more of his divine sense was devoured.

But strangely, when Nan Gong Hen’s wandering souls went through that area, they did not find anything out of ordinary. Su Ming watched those wandering souls circle it, and they did not show any signs of being devoured.

Su Ming’s pupils shrank and he frowned. He retracted his divine sense, no longer letting it cover that strange space.

”Brother Mo, what’s wrong?” Nan Gong Hen was slightly bewildered as he looked at Su Ming.

”There’s something wrong over there.” Su Ming no longer had that slightly humble tone in his voice which he used when he spoke to Nan Gong Hen earlier. He went straight to the point this time.

When he heard Su Ming’s words, Nan Gong Hen became even more cautious. A dark light shone in his eyes, and immediately, the wandering souls around the area let out piercing screams, then all of them surged towards the space Su Ming was looking at.

No matter how he looked at that space, it looked the same as the sky around the area. There was not a hint of abnormality that could be seen. Even if Nan Gong Hen had sent a large amount of wandering souls over to that place and they were circling around it, nothing different happened.

”There’s… nothing there.” A puzzled look appeared on Nan Gong Hen’s face. If Su Ming’s actions in the forest had not left a deep impression on him and he had seen that Su Ming and his two protégés were completely unharmed, he would definitely think that Su Ming was deliberately putting on an air of mysteriousness.

Among the three youths behind the two of them, the boy with the withered right arm remained as aloof as ever as he was absorbed by his thoughts. Ahu was very nervous as he stared at the area. He completely believed in Su Ming’s words and there was not a hint of doubt within him.

However, Lan Lan frowned and grumbled in her heart.

‘Hmph, he’s just pretending to be mysterious. There’s nothing there, or else it’s impossible that Sir Nan Gong wouldn’t have noticed anything.’

”Brother Mo…” Nan Gong Hen sent his wandering souls circling several times in that area once again, and once he was certain that there was nothing different over there, he looked towards Su Ming.

”Brother Nan Gong, if you want to go there, I won’t stop you. But I suggest that you don’t. I’m steering clear of that place.” As Su Ming spoke, he turned around and waved his arm, immediately bringing the still grumbling Lan Lan and nervous Ahu to fly in another direction. By the looks of it, he truly intended to skirt around that place.

Nan Gong Hen hesitated for a moment, and as he stared at that obviously normal space, he suddenly lifted his right hand, flipped his palm over, and a ray of black light shot out from his sleeve.

That ray of black light sparkled before him and turned into a black python one hundred feet in size. The python hissed, and a cold glare appeared in its eyes. It looked at Nan Gong Hen, and with one point, it let out a hiss and flew towards the empty space Su Ming had avoided.

In an instant, Nan Gong Hen’s pupils shrank as he stared at the black python, and at the same time shock appeared in his eyes. The boy with the withered right arm behind him widened his eyes as well, and for the first time, his expression changed.

Right before their eyes, once that black python entered the area, it suddenly let out a piercing cry, and a large part of its body disappeared into thin air…

It was as if there was an invisible mouth that devoured most of the black python’s body in one bite.

Nan Gong Hen felt his skin crawl. He already knew that if he had went in there rashly, then it would be difficult for him to escape from that sudden danger. At that moment, as his heart beat in lingering fear, he cast his gaze at Su Ming, who was flying in another direction. Wariness appeared in his eyes and he quickly flew towards him.

Lan Lan also saw this. Her eyes popped out and she looked at Su Ming’s back with a dumbfounded expression. At that instant, she suddenly felt that they did not come out of the forest safely due to pure luck…

Ahu’s eyes were shining, and his gaze as he looked at Su Ming was filled with respect.