Pursuit of the Truth

Several days later, the longships that belonged to Dao Kong gradually entered Black Ink Planet’s territory. Dao Kong walked out of his room and stood at the bow of the ship with his hands behind his back and his hair over his shoulders. His Sacred Constellation Robe shone with a light that was akin to the one emitted by rotating stars.

Because of it, Dao Kong looked incredibly graceful at that moment. His handsome face filled with determination gave him a masculine beauty, and it had to be said that his current appearance was very fitting to his status.

It was as if a large amount of kismet in the universe had gathered on his body, and he had the fortune to use quite a large portion of it, or else why would he be born as a direct descendant of Morning Dao Sect, obtain a potential that was second to no one beside Ye Wang, and have an appearance that would make all those who saw him want to praise him?

As he stood at the bow of the ship, the nine old men stood behind him like shadows, but they had their eyes shut. However, with the help of starlight, a scene that could not be seen when they were in the room showed up. These nine old men had their eyes shut… because they had been sewn tightly by thin threads!

They looked like dolls whose eyes had been sewn shut.

”Black Ink Planet…”

Dao Kong smiled faintly as he looked at the indistinct planet in the distance. Slight anticipation grew in his heart, since this would be his final stop in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Once the auction ended, he would leave; he would no longer need to stay around here to keep an eye over this place. Instead, he could use the exit and head back to True Morning Dao World.

By his side was the young married woman with pointy ears and a coquettish appearance. She stood there quietly with blank eyes. There was not a hint of emotion in them, and she looked like a puppet as well.

There was a collar around her neck with nineteen runic symbols on it. They were branded into the collar and appeared as bumps. Occasionally, they would shine, spreading out a freezing chill that could cause people’s hearts to freeze.

Longships moved through the galaxy like fish in water, stirring up layers of ripples around them as they got increasingly closer to Black Ink Planet. Once they had traveled through the area that belonged to Black Ink Planet for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a sharp whistle rose in front of them.

Along with that whistling sound came a pride of strange, lion-like beasts with two heads. As they roared, they traveled forward in a group that consisted of hundreds of them.

A cultivator could be found sitting on each of the creature’s backs. These cultivators were dressed similarly and their eyes shone with brilliant light, creating a stark contrast against the thin and pathetic physiques of the other people outside Blank Ink Planet in Sinful Barren Lands.

They were alert and full of energy, but showed not a single hint of respect towards the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds keeping an eye over the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. Instead, they used a calm attitude to greet all those who came to the planet.

”Who goes there? Say your name!”

”How preposterous! We are the forces of power from the four Great True Worlds! How dare you criminals not bow and worship us?!” The arrogance contained in this voice was incredibly great, and a cold snort soon followed from one of the longships.

The cultivators from Black Ink Planet smiled to each other when they heard these words, but their expressions soon became steely cold. Every single time they held Black Ink Auction, these sort of ignorant fools would appear. This was related to their experience in being True Guards. After all, around the Barren Lands of Divine Essence, the cultivators in all planets besides Black Ink Planet and Divine Essence Star Ocean were incredibly respectful when they saw them.

With the system of the True Guards from the four Great True Worlds changing shifts, it was not surprising for those not knowing the rules to appear.

The leader of the cultivators from Black Ink Planet was an old man. He rolled his eyes before he speaking in a cold voice, ”Bring out your invitations. We are in charge of the first inspection. If you do not have an invitation… then we will kill you as we would any invaders!”

”You’re just mere cultivators of Black Ink…” The cultivator who had snorted coldly just then in his longship was about to continue speaking, but his words were swiftly cut short. Immediately after, a gentle voice came from the longships, and an old man with a kindly and gentle face walked out.

”My subordinate has been ignorant. Fellow Daoists from Black Ink Planet, I hope that you will not mind. We are from True Morning Dao World, and in response to the invitation for Black Ink Auction, we have come forth to attend the auction. This is our invitation.” The old man brought out a jade slip from his bosom with a smile before he let go of his grip.

The jade slip immediately charged towards the cultivators from Black Ink Planet. Once the old man who stood at the head caught it, he cast it a few scrutinizing glances before returning it and leading the hundreds of cultivators behind him to separate into two dies so as to make way for the group.

The old man with the kind and gentle face wrapped his fist in his palm as thanks towards the people before he returned to his longship with a smile on his face. Soon, Dao Kong’s vast fleet of longships headed into the distance through the path the cultivators from Black Ink Planet had cleared for them.

”Immediately notify our Progenitor that the people from True Morning Dao World arrived. By the looks of it, Dao Kong should be among them as well, but we don’t know the details.” The old man leading the group of cultivators from Black Ink Planet narrowed his eyes. As a barely noticeable glint appeared in them, he sent a thought to the cultivator standing next to him.

That cultivator immediately moved and turned into a long arc that disappeared without a trace.

After a moment, in Black Ink Planet, Lie Shan Kang Jiu once again arrived in the room in which Su Ming stayed. He stopped before him respectfully and bowed down.

”My Lord, the group from True Morning Dao World has arrived. They are currently beyond Black Ink Planet and are going through all the layers of inspection. We have already verified that Dao Kong is among one of the longships.

”He has nine old men beside him, and they all have outstanding power. They should be at the peak of the middle stage of World Plane Realm, and judging by their looks, they seem to be skilled in coordinating their attacks. They should have a Rune with them.

”Besides these nine people, Dao Kong also brought three thousand other cultivators. Each of them has outstanding power… and they should all be warriors who do not fear death.

”Also, according to our investigations, Dao Kong has run into two incredibly perilous situations over the one thousand something years he was in the Barren Lands of Divine Essence. These dangers should have come from other True Worlds, and one of them was something that would be impossible to survive through if he was not in the later stage of World Plane Realm, while the other would have surely brought death to all who were not above Lunar Kalpa Realm.

”However, during both times, he managed to survive without getting injured, hence we suspect that there is a cultivator who is at the very least in Lunar Kalpa Realm hidden by his side.

”As for Ye Wang, who you have asked us to pay attention to, he came alone to Black Ink Planet yesterday and is staying in Worldly Star City at the moment. All his actions are monitored by us,” Lie Shan Kang Jiu reported in a low voice. Once he finished speaking, he hesitated for moment, as if he wanted to say something else, but then decided not to continue.

Su Ming was meditating with his eyes closed. Once he finished listening to Lie Shan Kang Jiu’s words, he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was profound, preventing others from telling what he felt at the moment.

”Continue,” he said flatly.

Lie Shan Kang Jiu smiled awkwardly and lowered his head, then quickly said, ”Um… My Lord, those two pets of yours… the black and yellow dogs? I’ve also investigated them. They are currently also in Worldly Star City, and they got themselves an illustrated book from some place. There are plenty of weird… things… drawn in there. Also, the yellow dog is skilled in transformation. He has turned himself into an old man.

”He took that illustrated book and has been proclaiming all over the place that the items in the book are the items that will be put on auction. Quite a large number of these have been sold off during the past half a year.” Lie Shan Kang Jiu smiled wryly and brought out an illustrated book from his bosom and placed it before Su Ming respectfully.

Su Ming picked up the book and flipped through it. As he did so, a frown gradually appeared between his brows. Once he finished flipping through the book, he let out a cold harrumph and placed the book by his side. Those pictures were not the items that were going to be put on auction, since some of them… were Su Ming’s own Enchanted Treasures!

However, the information and descriptions in the book were mostly of no relevance to the items themselves. In fact, there were even some illustrations of Enchanted Treasures that once belonged to the enemies Su Ming had fought against.

”That was half a year ago. What did they do before that?” Su Ming lifted his head and cast a glance at Lie Shan Kang Jiu.

”This is… Ahem. I have never seen such intelligent pets in my life. Half a year ago… they became Hua Family’s guests in Worldly Star City.

”A year ago, they built an auction hall in Ink Kirin City.

”Eighteen months ago, they… became friends with Li Long… which is the dragon in Black Water City’s swamp, and took away with them some of its scales.

”Two years ago, several small families in Black Ink Planet... worked together to kill them…

”Thirty months ago, they organized a formal marriage interview. The yellow dog turned into… an incredibly beautiful woman… and then they blended themselves into several small families, and with all sorts of… despicable methods, they looted an endless amount of crystals…

”Three years ago, when they had just left your side, they found… a small crystal mine that belonged to a small family.”

Su Ming was stunned as he listened to all the exploits. As Lie Shan Kang Jiu continued recounting the tale, he could not help but have the non-malicious envy and admiration in his heart seep into his words.

”In fact, once Elder Feng learned about this, he let out a long sigh and said that if they had been in Black Ink Planet before us, then they might have become Black Ink Planet’s true masters by now.” When Lie Shan Kang Jiu said these words, he cast Su Ming an odd look.

Su Ming remained silent.

After some time, he let out a dry cough and said, ”Make arrangements for Dao Kong to enter Black Water City, and we will act according to plan.”

”Understood!” Lie Shan Kang Jiu immediately bowed to him, then got up and left.

Once Lie Shan Kang Jiu left, Su Ming’s room immediately fell silent, and his expression instantly turned dark. He picked up the illustration book and looked at it carefully. When he thought of Lie Shan Kang Jiu talking about the things that the bald crane and the Abyss Dragon had caused during the past three years, he could not help but smile wryly in resignation.

Yu Rou was by his side. For the first time since she followed Su Ming, her elegant expression changed. She covered her mouth as if she was trying to hold back her laughter, but in the end, her body started quivering uncontrollably and her laughter echoed in the air.

”Young master, it is said that pets are like their masters. I wonder if this is true for you.” Yu Rou chuckled softly and cast Su Ming a glance. This was the first time she saw him smiling wryly in resignation.

”That big yellow dog of mine should have the figures of a number of women in its memories, but based on what I understand of it, those figures from the distant past should have already become faded images in its head. Then whose form do you think it would have taken for that marriage interview?” Su Ming asked faintly.

Once those words left his mouth, Yu Rou’s expression changed, and a murderous aura instantly appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Su Ming stood up and swung his arm to adjust his sleeves before he walked towards the door. The auction was just around the corner, and the plan was going to be set in motion at any moment. Before that, he would go and check on the bald crane and the Abyss Dragon, then would go to Worldly Star Planet… to see an old friend of his.

’Ye Wang…’