Pursuit of the Truth

When Nan Gong Hen stepped into the vortex, he turned his head back to cast a look behind him. He might have accepted the fact that Mo Su’s battle prowess was equivalent to that of a Latter Shaman and deep down in his heart believed that his own ability would not compare to Mo Su, but he still felt that if he made his offerings and rented a Spirit of Nine Yin, then his power would surpass Mo Su’s by a large margin.

After all, he had come to the World of Nine Yin many times in the past, and since the Calamity of Eastern Wastelands was about to arrive, this would perhaps be his last chance.

That was why it could be said that he had spent an endless amount of energy to prepare the offerings for the Spirits of Nine Yin in the fifth layer based on his understanding towards the Spirits of Nine Yin before he came to this world. He had full confidence that even if it would be difficult for him to rent the Spirits of Nine Yin from the fifth layer, he could still rent those in the fourth layer.

That was why after he entered the first layer, he didn’t stop for even a moment. He walked through three doors in succession and went straight to the Spirits of Nine Yin in the fourth layer.

‘Mo Su might be strong, but once I rent a Spirit of Nine Yin from the fourth or fifth layer, then I might be able to fight on equal ground with him, and perhaps… surpass him!’ Nan Gong Hen was filled with confidence, and looked pleased with what he would gain soon through his preparations.

Moving aside from Nan Gong Hen, once Su Ming disappeared into the vortex outside the palace and reappeared, he swept his gaze around his surroundings, and he was shocked by what he saw.

This was a dimension filled with fog. It was difficult to see its end with the naked eye. It was extremely quiet in the area, and besides the gigantic mountain before him, it was empty ground everywhere else around him.

The mountain shot into the clouds. It looked incredibly lofty, and there was also a wave of mighty pressure that descended on him at the same time. But that was not all. If that was the case, it would not have shocked Su Ming. The one thing that made his breath still for a moment was the multiple statues located on the gigantic mountain.

Each of these statues were the height of an average human being. They were decked in simple armor and their faces were covered by a helmet. Their hair was braided, making them look rough, but at the same time, they exuded a strong, imposing presence.

That was the presence that belonged to powerful warriors!

They all held different weapons in their hands. Some of them had long spears, some scimitars, some battle axes, and there were many other different types of weapons as well. Some of them held large shields in their hands.

There were several hundreds of statues in the mountain, and they stood quiet and still in different locations.

Besides Su Ming, there were several dozens of other Shamans there. Those Shamans were very quiet and did not bother each other. Some of them were pacing around the area as if they were choosing their statues. Some of them stood beside a statue with their right hands pressed on top of it as if they were sensing something.

Su Ming’s arrival did not catch any of their attention. After a moment, a faint glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes and he looked upwards. There was another towering mountain above this mountain. This second mountain floated in the sky and shone with a dark light. It also looked rather indistinct.

However, he could see faintly that there were many such statues on the second mountain as well…

When he looked even higher, Su Ming saw the third mountain, the fourth, the fifth… Until his sight was blocked by emptiness and he could no longer see what was higher clearly.

The height of this place was difficult to describe with words. The sky seemed like it would reach so high it would never end, causing the distance between each of the mountains to be far apart from each other.

‘Nan Gong Hen once mentioned that there are nine layers to this place, and the higher you go, the stronger the Spirits of Nine Yin will be. Then by the looks of it, the nine layers he mentioned are these mountains… Then if that’s the case, there should be nine mountains.’

With his head lifted, Su Ming observed these mountains for some time before he averted his gaze and walked towards the mountain before him.

There was a staircase winding up the mountain right up to the top. There were even some paths branching off along the way. Each of these paths would lead to those statues, and if someone walked up the main staircase and past all these branching paths, then that person would be able to walk past all of the statues in the mountain.

There were two statues right at the bottom of the mountain stairs. These two statues were clearly better than those in the mountain, and they wore less armor. In their hands they held long spears. The tips of the spears were pointed downwards but were still about ten feet off the ground, and these spears were twenty something feet long. All those who wanted to go up the mountain needed to walk past the tips of the spears.

Su Ming walked closer to these two statues, and once he sized them up, he walked past the tips and stepped on the staircase leading up the mountain. He did not continue going up the mountain when he arrived at the first branching path but walked on this path leading to the right, then stood before the first statue standing erect there.

This was a statue whose appearance could not be seen clearly, and who held a battle axe in his hand. He was about Su Ming’s height, and there was a primeval air spreading out it. At the same time, there was also the imposing presence of a powerful warrior surrounding this statue.

After a moment of thought, Su Ming lifted his right hand, and the instant he was about to place it on the statue, just like what the other people did, the entire mountain suddenly shuddered.

A strong ray of light also burst forth from the path, and as that ray of light began shining and the mountain shuddered, most of the people in the mountain looked towards that direction.

Right when Su Ming focused his attention on that spot, he saw a statue from which the light was coming from. That light spread to an area of one hundred thousand feet, and ripples along with distortions also came from his body. Gradually, the statue started giving off a feeling as if he was a melting block of ice, and he was revived!

Green light shone on his armor, and he lifted his helmet-clad head slowly. The green light was also shining in his eyes.

Standing right before the statue was a female Shaman. The woman looked really excited, and once she wrapped her fist in her palm and bowed towards the statue, the warrior lifted his right leg and stomped on the ground, shooting straight up into the sky, and he pointed the scimitar in his hand towards the woman.

She flew up swiftly and floated in midair to stand beside the revived statue. The statue shone a few times, and his body shrank abruptly, turning into a green ray of light that charged towards the woman. Eventually, he landed on the back of her right hand and turned into a golden mark.

The woman did not stay any longer. With an excited look on her face, she turned around and charged towards the vortex at the bottom of the mountain.

When the woman left, the mountain stilled. The gazes filled with complicated feelings and envy were gone, and the mountain slowly regained its silence.

Su Ming looked in the direction the woman had left, took a deep breath, then turned his head around to look at the statue beside him. Anticipation appeared in his eyes. During that instant, he had clearly felt a presence that was equivalent to Tie Mu’s from the revived statue, and judging by the presence, the statue was definitely a Latter Shaman, and in terms of the Berserker Tribe, that would be saying that the statue was as powerful as someone in the Berserker Soul Realm!

‘So… This is the Spirit of Nine Yin… But Nan Gong Hen mentioned before that the Spirits of Nine Yin cannot leave this world. If that wasn’t the case, then with the amount of Spirits here… It doesn’t matter whether it’s Shamans or Berserkers, no one could fight against them!’ Su Ming sucked in a sharp breath, shocked.

‘Just what sort of secret is contained in the World of Nine Yin? It has the Candle Dragon’s carcass, the burial ground of Spirit Mediums, and the altar for Thought Soothsayers…

‘And this is just within one million lis of this area. As for the area beyond that distance… there must an endless amount of mysteries there… Just what sort of existence is the World of Nine Yin? An ancient ruin, huh..?’

Su Ming remained silent for a while, then looked at the statue before him and placed his right hand on it. The instant he did so, he immediately felt waves stirring in his head, and it was soon followed by a serene voice echoing inside his mind.

”There are two types of offerings I receive. One, I want a thousand Nascent Stones per day, which are also known as Shaman Crystals, Berserker Stones, and also spirit stones. I only want high quality stones, not subpar ones.

”Two, I want a Scattering Dust pill once every seven days.”

The voice echoed in Su Ming’s head, eventually turning into a lingering echo and gradually disappeared. Su Ming lifted his right hand. His eyes might look calm, but there was already a huge storm raging in his heart.

‘Scattering Dust?!’ Su Ming’s breathing quickened, and he only recovered after a long while. He lifted his head and looked at the statue. Slowly, his eyes were filled with confusion.

Scattering Dust was the first medicinal pill he had created in that strange dimension. He had never heard of that pill from anyone else before, and only when he created Spirit Plunder did he understand that his herb quenching methods were somewhat related to the Shamans’...

In fact, his Spirit Plunder was also known as Soul Catcher Stone, and could only be created after much effort from End Soul Catchers. Su Ming also believed that the method these End Soul Catchers used to create this Spirit Plunder was completely different from his.

‘Soul Catchers originate from the World of Nine Yin, then is it possible… that the End Soul Catchers also obtained the method to create their Spirit Plunder here..? Then, could it be… that my herb quenching methods also come from this place?!’

Su Ming was shocked. He had never been able to puzzle through the origins of the black stone fragment. In fact, he had even theorized before that this item was a part of Di Tian’s plan.

He stared at the statue for a long time, then moved to the next statue. Once he placed his hand on it, a voice spoke in his head. Besides a different request for its first offering, the voice still requested Scattering Dust for its second offering.

After Su Ming tested several dozens of statues, he noticed that all of the statues in the first mountain should be the same. They all requested different things for their first offering, but the second offering was always the same.

‘Most of the requests for the first offering are different for each statue, and some of them are really weird. By the looks of it, Nan Gong is right. The Spirits of Nine Yin here are all the natives of this world, and they once helped the Shaman Tribe gain footing in this place…

‘Then, if that’s the case, these statues are the same as me. They are all alive and not dead. They are… all alive! As long as I fulfill their requests, they will become my guards… If that’s the case, then perhaps they only helped the Shamans gain footing here after the Shamans paid a huge price for them!

‘But… just what are they..?’ Su Ming took a few steps back. When he was observing these statues, two more were revived and rose into the air then left with someone.

There was a variety of emotions on Su Ming’s face. After a moment, he suddenly lifted his head, and his gaze fell on the second mountain, the third, the fourth, and right up to the indistinct end at the sky.

‘If that is the case, I won’t bother about the origins of the Spirits of Nine Yin first. Perhaps I can… rent… the strongest guard here!’ A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes, and they shone brilliantly.