Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-297

The auction would be held five days later. It was a large auction that would not just be attended by those within Freezing Sky Clan, but even the wealthy people from the Great Tribe of Freezing Sky would also send representatives to take part.

The people from nearby tribes and even some tribes located further away also knew about large auctions that would only be held once a century like this one. These people would usually leave before the date of the auction itself, and they were most probably on the way to the auction at the moment.

Most of the people who were going to the auction were going as buyers, but there were also quite a number who were coming from all over the place to sell their personal belongings to the auction committee.

With the invitation card in hand, Su Ming’s gaze swept past that cauldron. He quelled the excitement racing in his heart, closed his eyes, and pondered over it for a moment before handing the invitation card back to Zi Che.

"We’ll depart three days later."

Zi Che quickly agreed to it and took back the invitation card respectfully before placing it away in his bosom. His injuries were already healed, and he had also learned of what the ninth summit had done for him after he was injured from Hu Zi. He was deeply moved by their actions, especially since he was excommunicated from the second summit.

The ninth summit’s actions made Zi Che feel warmth in his heart, and he no longer cared about his status of a servant. To him, the ninth summit was already a place he could settle in.

Besides, the seals on his body had also been removed ever since he was cured. Zi Che could be said to have been freed, but by his own free will, he still continued staying in the ninth summit and by Su Ming’s side.

He was already used to this sort of life, and he did not feel uncomfortable with it.

He had a deep understanding of Su Ming’s strength. The little bits of contact they had with each other made Zi Che harbor a deep respect towards Su Ming. Once he put away the invitation card, Zi Che hesitated for a moment.

"Uncle master… you already have sixteen ice hoops on yourself… I believe that if you put too much external weight on yourself and it becomes difficult for your body to handle it, it won’t be good for you."

Su Ming cast Zi Che a glance before a smile appeared on his face.

"It’s fine."

Zi Che nodded. He was not in a position to say it in a straightforward manner, but since he saw that Su Ming understood what he was trying to convey, he bowed and moved back.

Su Ming was sitting on the platform outside his cave and had already been sitting for a long time without getting up; the sun had risen and set multiple times. It was not that he did not want to get up, but because the weight of those sixteen ice hoops added together on his legs were like that of a mountain added to Su Ming’s body.

In the beginning, he had felt as if his legs and upper body were about to be torn apart, and he was only starting to get used to it during these past few days, but standing up was still a gargantuan task to him.

Still sitting, Su Ming lifted his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, a black fork of only three inches appeared on his palm.

That fork was like a three-pronged trident. It was entirely black, and at the top of the fork, a faint, ghastly glow could be seen. If he looked at it for a prolonged period of time, he could hear faint screams of ghosts.

Su Ming stared at the thing and mumbled under his breath, "Phantom Fork…"

This item was one of the things he had ‘lost’ in Phantom Dais Tribe that second senior brother had reminded him of. As of now, he had ‘gotten’ it back. Originally, if Su Ming had gone on to examine it himself, he would have needed quite some time to do so.

Yet with second senior brother’s help, this fork had become connected with Su Ming as if they had fused together. He could use his thoughts alone to control it, and with Su Ming adding another layer on it with his divine sense in the form of a Brand, his skills with the Phantom Fork became as good as of those from Phantom Dais Tribe.

"Di, Ta, Che!"

A glint appeared in Su Ming’s eyes as he uttered those three strange sounds. The moment those three syllables left his mouth, the Phantom Fork in his hand started letting off black smoke.

In an instant, that black smoke grew incredibly thick and gathered on Su Ming’s palm. That ball of smoke grew in size and eventually spread to an area of a few hundred feet. As it floated in midair, the black smoke tumbled about and gradually merged together to form a gigantic figure of a person.

That person seemed to contain an immeasurable amount of power. His face was blurred out and could not be seen. His entire body was formed by that black smoke and he looked like a malicious spirit, but in truth, that thing was not a ghost. In fact, it did not even have life.

It was just a puppet, a Phantom Puppet that was made with a spirit using a unique method created by Phantom Dais Tribe! That puppet could transform into all sorts of things and there were no limits to it. Anything it imitated, it could do so down to every detail, and it could even imitate the particular object’s presence.

Right then, that gigantic puppet landed on the platform. It lifted its muscular arms and grabbed Su Ming, then tensing up the muscles in its arms, it lifted Su Ming’s body, which he himself could not move, before placing him on its shoulder.

Since the start, Su Ming did not say anything. That thing was under his control, and he only needed to focus his divine sense on it for him to be able to move it like he was moving his own body.

The giant puppet carried Su Ming over its shoulder and walked forward with huge steps. Every single time it took a step, the ice on the platform would let out low rumbling sounds, a clear sign that Su Ming’s weight at the moment was abnormal.

The puppet moved forward and gradually brought Su Ming back into his cave abode. That puppet could change its form as much as it wanted, and as it moved forward, its body gradually shrank, causing it to be able to enter the house door even though it was carrying Su Ming.

The puppet carried Su Ming until he was in the room specially made for He Feng. When he was there, Su Ming’s eyes flashed. He Feng’s fusion with the Wings of the Moon had reached its final stage. If he succeeded this time, then when He Feng reappeared before him, he would be of a great help when Su Ming ventured into the land of the Shamans.

At this moment, He Feng’s entire body was surrounded by a layer of blood mist, preventing it from being seen clearly. That blood mist would occasionally tumble about, making it seem exceptionally bizarre.

Su Ming looked at it for a moment before the puppet under him took a few steps back while still carrying him. They went into another room within the cave. The moment they arrived, a medicinal scent wafted into Su Ming’s nose. This particular room was huge, and the floor in the room was not made of ice, but was instead covered in a layer of dirt.

That dirt was brought back by Zi Che from a faraway place under Su Ming’s orders. Once they placed it inside, it allowed Su Ming to be able to plant most of the herbs he had ‘lost’ in Phantom Dais Tribe.

Originally, these herbs could not survive in this place, but with second senior brother’s help, who had used a mysterious method, he had managed to make those herbs grow on this patch of dirt.

However, there was a condition to it. He had to bury a large amount of golden stone coins filled with spirit power under the soil.

‘I’ll need to make ample preparations for the trip to the land of the Shamans, because this is definitely not going to be a short venture…’

A contemplative look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He had gone to the land of the Shamans before. While it had only lasted for a few days, the hardships he faced during those few days was something that would be very difficult for him to forget.

Once he went into the land of the Shamans and got himself in a dangerous situation like that one before, the preparations he made now would become the source for him to protect his life.

As he continued thinking in silence, the puppet under him took one huge step forward. With rumbling sounds echoing in the air, he moved to another room. Within that room were seven different beast bones, and an incredible might could be sensed from each of those bones. These bones came from ferocious beasts that were at the level of Berserkers in the Awakening Realm when they were still alive.

Right then, their bones were covered in herbs that Su Ming had planted on them quite some time ago.

There were seven bodies right beside those bones, and there were no signs of decay to be found on them. Even if they looked like dead people, if anyone took a closer look, they would be able to sense a faint life force coming from their bodies.

These seven people did not have Berserker Marks!

There were numerous rather complex looking Totems carved on their faces. If Su Ming had not seen the Shamans before, he would have thought that these seven people belonged to some unique tribe in the land of Berserkers.

Yet when Su Ming brought these seven bodies away from Phantom Dais Tribe, he could tell with just one glance that they were Shamans, though he had no idea how they were captured by Phantom Dais Tribe.

‘I just need one more month and then I’ll be able to create Spirit Plunder again… If I can create three Spirit Plunders in a go, then I’ll be able to open another door in that strange dimension and gain a new recipe for another medicinal pill.

‘It’s a pity that I still don’t have enough materials to create the Welcoming of Deities. From what I understand of that dimension, opening the doors is akin to me offering sacrifices. The more of a type of pill I have to offer, the quality and usefulness for that type of pill will be lower, but if I have to offer less of something, the quality will be higher.

‘The numbers of all the offerings required were different, but only the Welcoming of Deities required no offerings.’

The memory of him entering the mysterious dimension when he was in Dark Mountain and obtaining the method to create the Welcoming of Deities surfaced in Su Ming’s head.

‘The spider’s ninth leg, the tail fin of the deviant snake, the small black figure… Right now, I only have one of them.’

Su Ming frowned. The puppet under him walked out of the cave and returned to the platform. Once it placed him down, Su Ming returned to sitting cross-legged.

With a glint in his eyes, he lifted his right hand, and a purple bug appeared on his palm. That bug’s name was Purple Harmony, and it was the same thing Phantom Dais’ Phantom Equal had given him.

‘I wonder what will happen once my snake swallows this Purple Harmony…’

Su Ming hesitated for a moment but did not try it. He remembered the Phantom Equal mentioning that if he failed, then the creature that swallowed Purple Harmony will die.

Unless it was completely necessary, then Su Ming was not willing to try something as risky as this, and it also was that he did not have too much confidence in succeeding.

Three days passed by quickly as Su Ming continued observing He Feng’s condition and preparing the materials to make Spirit Plunder.

The auction that was about to be held had garnered a lot of attention from all the nine summits in Freezing Sky Clan’s Great Frozen Plains. Quite a lot of people had already left for the auction in teams, though some had also chosen to leave alone.

As for the ninth summit, Hu Zi was still living his life, happily getting drunk, and did not pay the slightest attention to the auction. Second senior brother continued planting his flowers and occasionally going to bother Zi Yan during the day.

Eldest senior brother was still in isolation. Su Ming only learned that the black man was one of eldest senior brother’s slaves later. From that one clue, he formed a guess regarding his eldest senior brother’s identity.

Tian Xie Zi was rarely seen. Even if Su Ming spotted him, he would be flying off in different directions in the morning after letting out a loud roar while wearing different colored robes.

On the fourth morning, the puppet from the Phantom Fork turned into a gigantic black beast with Su Ming sitting on its back. Zi Che followed beside him respectfully. They were just about to leave the ninth summit when Bai Su came.

With Bai Su’s appearance, their trip this time became a trip in a party of three instead of two.

The three of them sat on the puppet’s body and turned into a black long arc that shot out of the ninth summit. They flew towards the place where the auction would be held.

As they traveled forward, they met many other Freezing Sky Clan disciples who were also going to the place. All of them turned to look at the black beast that was about 300 feet in size, but when they saw Zi Che and Su Ming sitting on the puppet, they quickly moved out of the way.