Pursuit of the Truth

Su Ming did not immediately speak. Instead, a pensive look appeared on his face.

After some time, he asked unhurriedly, ”Brother Zhong, what method do you have to be able to obtain a large amount of Crimson Stones from under the noses of numerous Latter Shamans during the second part of the treasure gambling event?”

”This is…” Wu Duo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. He continued, ”Please forgive me for this, brother Mo. If you’re willing to work with me, then I will tell you in detail. The only thing I can say is that for this to work, I’ve already enlisted three of my Shaman friends for help. Our likeliness to succeed is six out of ten, but if you join us, then we will have seven or even eight!” Once he finished speaking, Wu Duo looked at Su Ming with eyes filled with sincerity.

After a moment, Su Ming shook his head and replied in a hushed voice, ”I need to think about this. I can’t give you an answer at the moment.”

He could understand why Wu Duo could not tell him in detail. After all, if Su Ming was the one making the deal, he would react like this most of the time as well. However, this was too much of a risk, and if he was just to place his judgment based on the rewards itself, then unless the rewards were truly great, he was otherwise not the type to take risks for something unknown, which in this case, were the Crimson Stones, whose existences were already a gamble on their own.

”All right, I hope you’ll think about it carefully. I hope to be able to work with you again, brother Mo.” Wu Duo was not expecting that Su Ming would immediately agree to this either. After all, trying to fight over the Crimson Stones against Latter Shamans would end in their deaths if they were even the slightest bit careless. The fact that Su Ming did not reject him right from the get go was already a good thing in Wu Duo’s books.

He knew that Su Ming was a cautious person. It was something he had learned when they had met and worked together before. He also knew that if Su Ming said that he would think about it, then he would definitely do so instead of using it as an excuse. That was why he did not continue trying to persuade him. After all, even if he truly wanted Su Ming to join him, if he said too much, it would just end up backfiring on him.

Wu Duo talked to Su Ming a little more about the legends in the World of Nine Yin, and when dusk was about to arrive, the two of them left the place.

Su Ming did not immediately return to the inn, but started taking a stroll around Shaman City. There were quite a large number of shops there, and they were selling a lot of items Su Ming had never seen or heard of before. In fact, there were also some herbs that were usually rare in the world outside being sold in large quantities here.

In Shaman City itself, Su Ming could already find about seven to eight of the herbs drawn on the bamboo slip he had, which had a large amount of medicinal herbs listed on it. This made him incredibly excited. After all, while Su Ming was still reluctant to use the Spirit Plunders he had to open the next door in that strange dimension, but as time passed by, there would come a day where he would still need to create the medicinal pills that came after Spirit Plunder.

Even if he did not know what the next medicinal pill was called, and neither did he know what sort of herbs he needed, but if he bought some of every type of herb he could find, he would still be able to get some that were useful to him.

In his excitement, Su Ming spent almost all of his time the next few days in search of herbs in Shaman City. Not only did he manage to find a large number of medicinal herbs listed on the bamboo slip, he also found all the materials required to make Scattering Dust, South Asunder, Mountain Spirit, and even Spirit Plunder!

All of these materials were sold separately and in small amounts. In fact, there were quite a number of these herbs that were used in other manners, but in Su Ming’s eyes, these herbs were all treasures.

However, the number of Shaman Crystals Su Ming had was incredibly limited. While the price for these herbs was not high, if Su Ming wanted to buy all of them, then he would still need to spend quite a lot of Shaman Crystals. Besides, Wu Duo had also mentioned that if he wanted to try his luck during the treasure gambling event, he would need to prepare a large amount of Shaman Crystals.

Nonetheless, Su Ming did not have too much of an interest towards this treasure gambling event. To him, the percentage of being able to win was simply too low in this sort of treasure gambles. He did not have too many Shaman Crystals for him to gamble anyway. The disparity between the effort and reward was simply too great.

‘I can choose not to enter the treasure gambling event, but I’m almost running out of Shaman Crystals to buy these herbs. This is a little troublesome…’

Half a month later, Su Ming stood by the window in his room at the inn, caught in a mix of joy and gloom. He was happy because he had browsed through almost all of the shops in Shaman City and bought a large amount of medicinal herbs, causing him to be confident in being able to create more medicinal pills. He could even create about ten Spirit Plunders from the herbs he had at hand, though it was still a problem for him to get living dead people.

But he was feeling dejected because he was running low on Shaman Crystals. When he saw that there were some medicinal herbs that he could not buy, he was worried that once he missed this chance, there would be required an unknown amount of time before he could come to the World of Nine Yin again.

‘Oh well, I’ll have to sell medicinal pills. Thank goodness I’ve been asking around in secret when I was buying herbs, so I know quite a bit about this. While the selling and trading of medicinal herbs is incredibly rare here, but there are still people who do it.’

A glint flashed through Su Ming’s eyes, and he made his decision. He had been asking about by beating around the bush during the past few days to know whether medicinal pills such as Scattering Dust could be sold.

Once he walked almost the entire Shaman City, he had actually managed to find a shop with two Scattering Dusts, though there were barely any medicinal properties left in them. However, the smell of the pill allowed Su Ming to recognize that it’s method of creation should be identical to his own Scattering Dust, even though there were still some details that were different about them.

Su Ming lifted his right hand, then once he turned it over, three Scattering Dusts immediately appeared on his palm. The color of the three Scattering Dusts was radiant, and they were letting off wisps of refreshing medicinal fragrance, making them incredibly exceptional.

He stared at the three Scattering Dusts in his hand, then put them away. Once he did so, he sat down cross-legged on the bed in his room and started meditating with his eyes closed. During the past half a month, he did not have time to bother with Lan Lan and Ahu, but he had left the Brand of his divine sense on them. If the two of them got into any sort of danger, then Su Ming would rush over just like he did half a month ago.

Su Ming had made a promise. If he had not agreed to the Patriarch’s request from White Bull Tribe, he could have ignored them, but since he made a promise, then he would fulfill his promise to the best of his abilities. Outsiders would only be able to see and think about the rewards he would gain based on the importance he placed on fulfilling promises, but in truth, in his heart, he did not want to break any more promises to anyone else...

That was why even though it did not seem like Su Ming was placing a lot of attention towards Lan Lan and Ahu, that was not the case in reality.

Night went by. When the next morning arrived, Su Ming opened his eyes, and a glint appeared within them. He got up and left the room. Nan Gong Hen was still in isolation, having not left his room during the past half a month. Su Ming swept his gaze past Nan Gong Hen’s room, then looked away and left the inn.

After a brief stroll through Shaman City, he changed his appearance without anyone noticing him. His mask was no longer on his face, and he wore a straw hat on his head. He looked a little more built than he originally was. Outsiders would not be able to see the details on the extra mass he gained, but in truth, Ji Yun Hai’s black beetles had already stuck themselves on Su Ming’s body under his clone’s will, causing his body to become taller and buffer by one whole size.

Once he was done changing his appearance, Su Ming appeared outside a large shop in a rather lively street. It was a six story shop, and there were only about ten of such shops in Shaman City.

There was a stone monument stuck right in front of the shop, and there were three huge words carved with a flourish on it - Nine Shaman Pavilion!

Su Ming came to this Nine Shaman Pavilion twice during the past half a month, purchasing a large amount of herbs each time. He knew that this was a place with nearly all types of herbs, and besides herbs, this pavilion sold almost everything else. It did not matter whether it was Enchanted Vessels, weapons, unique items belonging to the World of Nine Yin, or even some information not privy to others. The things they sold were quite all-rounded.

Su Ming averted his gaze. He was wearing a bamboo hat at the moment and had his divine sense enveloping his entire body, which also had the power of his Nascent Soul fused within, causing his aura to be incredibly mixed up, but also looking quite balanced. He walked into Nine Shaman Pavilion.

The ground floor of the pavilion was huge and looked incredibly spacious. There were three big, broad stone walls that were several dozens of feet tall right at the center of the building. On these stone walls there were some glowing words, and there were some Shamans who were reading them at the moment.

Occasionally, they would walk hastily towards the shop attendants dressed in uniforms waiting on both sides of the stone walls. Usually, after a brief, hushed exchange, the attendants would guide them to enter one of the dozens of closed off chambers located around the hall on the ground floor.

Su Ming had come to this place twice before, so this was his third time here. He was already familiar with the place. He knew that the glowing words on the three stone walls were the items that were for sale, and if people were interested, they could go to the shop attendants to make a deal.

Right at the back of the hall on the ground floor was a Relocation Rune that was several dozens of feet big. This Rune would only relocate a person to one place, and it was the first floor, and besides this Relocation Rune, there was no other way to enter the first floor.

Su Ming swept his gaze across the hall. No one was able to see his appearance, since it was covered by the straw hat, but that messy but balanced aura had captured the shop attendants’ attention. One of them, a middle-aged man, immediately took a few steps forward to stand in front of Su Ming and wrapped his fist in his palm before bowing towards him.

”My friend, how may I serve you?” The middle-aged man was a Medial Shaman, and he did not seem too weak. He looked at Su Ming with a smile on his face.

”I’m here to sell things,” Su Ming said flatly, and his words were few.

”Oh? Sir, what are you selling? Nine Shaman Pavilion will offer a satisfactory price for any and all sorts of treasures in the world based on the price they should have.” As the man smiled, he sent his perception [1] outward, and when it gathered on Su Ming, a great wave of power immediately bounced off him, causing the man’s expression to change, and he instinctively took a few steps back.

”Since when did Nine Shaman Pavilion started being so oblivious to the rules?!” Su Ming’s raspy voice came from underneath the bamboo hate. His voice was incredibly ghastly and sounded as if it was a terrifyingly biting, cold chill.

When the middle-aged man was bounced off by Su Ming’s divine sense, he felt as if there was thunder booming in his head. The strength of that divine sense was so great that even Latter Shamans would feel fear towards it, much less this male Medial Shaman. The man’s face immediately turned pale, and just as he was about to speak, Su Ming let out a cold harrumph and flung his right hand outward, immediately tossing out a small white bottle.

”Bring this to your manager. I will only wait for the time of the burning of an incense stick on whether you will accept this or not!” Su Ming’s voice echoed in the air in an aloof manner.

The middle-aged man instinctively caught the small white bottle, and while he was shocked and terrified by Su Ming’s power, he opened the bottle and sniffed it after lowering his head. He frowned. There was a medicinal fragrance within that small bottle that smelled rather extraordinary, but the bottle was empty. There was only some of that fragrance lingering inside.

Out of caution, once the man wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming and bowed, he walked towards the Relocation Rune, then disappeared with a flash.

Su Ming stood in the hall and his expression remained as calm as ever under the straw hat. However, before half the time required for an incense stick to burn after the man disappeared, the Relocation Rune shone once again, and the man walked out with a look of shock on his face. Behind him was an old man.

Translator’s Notes

I realize that I should make an explanation about this. You lot are familiar with divine sense, which is 神识 (shenshi). The Shamans use 感知 (ganzhi), which is perception. Why not senses? Because from what I understand, 感知 isn’t used to sense something but to perceive something, hence perception.