When sunlight shone through the window into Su Ming’s room, he opened his eyes for the first time since he isolated himself half a month ago in meditation. A sharp glint appeared in his eyes. He had already reached the peak of his condition.
As sunlight brightened up the entire room, and Su Ming brought out a small blue bottle from his storage bag at a moderate pace. Once he uncorked the bottle, he took a sniff from it.
‘Sea Marrow… This thing can allow me to recover rapidly, perhaps I will be able to use it here.’ Su Ming put away the small blue bottle and stood up. Once he smoothed out his robes, he pushed open the door and walked out.
When he walked out, a door nearby also flew open, and Nan Gong Hen walked out of his room full of confidence and spirit. Once he saw Su Ming, he let out a boisterous laugh and wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming.
"Brother Mo, it’s been a month since we last met, and you look even more refined than before!"
Su Ming smiled faintly, and when he cast a glance at Nan Gong Hen, he was slightly shocked.
"Brother Nan Gong, your power seems to have become considerably greater. Looks like you didn’t just fuse with the Spirit of Nine Yin, you also had a serendipitous event happen to you."
"Haha, this improvement is nothing. But my communication with Sir Han was quite successful," Nan Gong Hen said with a smile and walked down the stairs with Su Ming.
When the both of them walked down, Lan Lan, Ahu, and Qi Dong also walked out of their rooms and bowed respectfully to greet them.
Su Ming looked at Ahu and Lan Lan. The boy and girl were filled with excitement and eagerness. Clearly, they also knew that this was the day of the Shaman Tribe’s great treasure gambling event.
Su Ming fell into a moment of pensive silence before he looked towards Nan Gong Hen.
"Brother Nan Gong, I have a request."
Nan Gong Hen swept his gaze past Lan Lan and Ahu, smiled, and asked, "Is it related to these two children?"
"That’s right. By the looks of it, they really want to see this treasure gambling event. Once we go there, I hope that you would be willing to take care of them in my place and let them return safely. There might be some changes on my side, and I might be stalled." Su Ming gathered his thoughts for a while, then wrapped his fist in his palm to Nan Gong Hen.
"That’s easy. Brother Mo, you don’t have to worry. If I can’t even protect a pair of children, then I would be too embarra.s.sed to face you." Nan Gong Hen spoke solemnly, with a stern expression on his face.
"Thank you very much!" Su Ming nodded.
"Brother Mo, let’s not talk anymore. We should be heading to the treasure gambling event. Whether or not we can reap any rewards will entirely depend on our luck!" Nan Gong Hen said quickly, and once Su Ming agreed, the two of them brought the three youths and left the inn. Nan Gong Hen led the way with familiar ease, and the group moved further into the distance as they charged down the streets.
Almost all the people in Shaman City had left their own lodgings and were rus.h.i.+ng at full speed towards the center of the city - the spot where the treasure gambling event was hosted.
At that moment, there were a thousand something Crimson Stones of various sizes floating in the sky above the center of Shaman City. The larger ones were about one hundred feet tall, and the small ones were about the size of a human head. They were densely packed, and while there were only one thousand something of those stones, when people looked over, these stones looked as if they had covered the entire sky.
When the crowd looked over, the sight was a shock to their eyes, and it made them feel as if there was a strong pressure on them.
Those stones shone with a crimson light that looked as if it had dyed half of the sky red. It made people’s breathing quicken. The area under those Crimson Stones in the sky was divided into eight part, and there was a platform elevated off the ground. At that moment, there were countless people on that platform.
There was a densely packed crowd around this platform. They did not have the right to be on the platform, but they still had the right to buy Crimson Stones. That was why even though they were standing on the ground, they were still very excited.
There were eight halls floating in the sky right at the center of the floating Crimson Stones, and the platform on the ground. Each of these halls were s.h.i.+ning brilliantly, and the people inside were clearly of incredibly high status.
There were nearly a hundred strange Enchanted Vessels floating around the eight big halls. These Enchanted Vessels sparkled and were shaped in the form of a ring, and it looked as if there were numerous rays of light criss-crossing against each other. As they shone, they also let off a sharp feeling.
These Enchanted Vessels were all slowly spinning around. Each time two of these light rings crossed paths, there would be a sizzling sound. These sounds were incredibly piercing to the ears, and they spread in all directions.
Further down, more people were rus.h.i.+ng towards the place from all around Shaman City. Su Ming was among them. If they did not have Nan Gong Hen around, they would only be able to join the treasure gambling event with the crowd standing at the outer ring around the platform. However, with Nan Gong Hen’s status, he could bring Su Ming and the others through the crowd and charge straight towards the platform, and they actually found reserved spots near the front.
The people around them were talking to each other animatedly, and their voices rose into a clamor of noise. Almost all of the people’s gazes were focused on the floating Crimson Stones in the sky. Those gazes were filled with eagerness, yearning, excitement, and hope...
"It’s about to start. Brother Mo, this is the first batch of Crimson Stones that will be sold. Once we start, everyone will fly into midair and examine those Crimson Stones. The stones have numbers right before them, and if you like any of them, remember the number, for there will be held an auction for these Crimson Stones after that.
"The one who offers the highest bid gets the stone!" Eagerness appeared in Nan Gong Hen’s eyes, and he began providing explanations to Su Ming.
Su Ming, sitting in his seat, lifted his head to look at the Crimson Stones in the sky. His eyes were sparkling. There were far too many people here, and there were quite a lot of powerful warriors among them as well. It was not convenient for Su Ming to spread his divine sense outward, so he could not locate Wu Duo for the time being.
However, based on his own judgment, even if he did not go and find Wu Duo, Wu Duo would think of a way to find him.
He listened to the commotion in the place. The voices had now fused together to turn into a buzzing that reverberated through the area, causing the treasure gambling event to already be incredibly lively, even though it had not even started.
"This time, I’ll definitely find a medicinal herb. I already prepared a large amount of Shaman Crystals for this treasure event before I came here!"
"This treasure gambling event is a mere gamble for us to reach extreme ecstasy for one instant and for that instant of excitement when we place everything on the line. There’s no way I won’t get it this time! I’ll buy ten stones this round!"
"Heh heh. Compared to buying Crimson Stones, I’m more interested in others opening the stones once they buy them. Their expressions when they find that the Crimson Stones they bought are completely worthless after they spent a large amount of Shaman Crystals to buy them are so very exciting!"
The buzzing filled the air and time trickled by. Once another incense stick finished burning, the one thousand something Crimson Stones floating in the sky suddenly started s.h.i.+ning brilliantly. Once that light dyed the entire sky crimson, a hoa.r.s.e and ancient voice traveled towards the crowd slowly.
"Everyone, most of you came here to gamble for treasure!" As that ancient voice reverberated in the air, the people gradually fell silent, and right before their gazes, the sky distorted, and a person walked out slowly from within.
That person appeared indistinct and his face could not be seen clearly. The crowd could only see that he had a head full of white hair. He looked like an old man, but when he stood there, the pressure he exuded was almost comparable to the pressure of the one thousand something Crimson Stones gathered together, causing the people’s gazes to be attracted towards him.
"He’s the Great Elder of the G.o.d of Shamans Temple. It’s said that he’s already halfway through to becoming an End Shaman!" Nan Gong Hen said in a hushed voice. Su Ming already had his eyes opened, and at that moment, he looked at the indistinct person in the sky, nodding his head.
"Since most of you came to gamble for treasure, then I won’t waste my breath here. The G.o.d of Shamans Temple prepared ten batches of Crimson Stones for the treasure gambling event this time! Each batch contains one thousand Crimson Stones. We have already numbered each of these Crimson Stones based on the rules. You may all now go and choose!
"We have also prepared Enchanted Vessels that are specifically used to open these Crimson Stones. If you use these Enchanted Vessels to crack open your stones, you can let everyone see what is inside your stone even more clearly!" The indistinct old man lifted his hand and pointed at the ring shaped Enchanted Vessels floating in midair.
"However, I will have to remind all of you once again. I don’t care about the Crimson Stones you gained through other means, but all the Crimson Stones you bought during the treasure gambling event must be cracked opened on the spot, and you can’t just cut it slightly. You must use this Enchanted Vessel to completely shatter it!
"Once we are certain that there are truly no medicinal herbs or anything else inside, we will consider the process of cracking that particular stone open finished. If there are any of you who refuse to follow the rules, then don’t blame me for turning against you!" When the old man said the final few sentences, his voice became incredibly sullen.
"Now, the treasure gambling event starts!" Once the old man finished speaking, he waved his arm forward and flew towards one of the floating halls to sit down cross-legged within it. Then, with brightly flas.h.i.+ng eyes, he looked downwards.
When Su Ming heard the old man’s words, he frowned, but quickly stopped doing so. It was clear that this G.o.d of Shamans Temple was worried about some people managing to find treasures without their knowledge, which was why they decided to enforce these kind of rules. By doing so, they could practically control everything in their hands.
By the looks of it, while the people around him might be displeased with this, but most of them had already accepted it, so it was obvious that this rule did not just appear in this event for the first time but had always been around.
‘No wonder Nan Gong Hen knew about the number of rare medicinal herbs that were found during the treasure gambling event. This sort of treasure gambling event then can’t really be considered as such anymore.’
As Su Ming sank into his thoughts, some people flew up into the sky, straight towards the one thousand Crimson Stones in the sky. Soon after, more people flew up. Long arcs charged into the sky with loud howls, and in an instant, those Crimson Stones in the sky were surrounded by a large number of people.
The buzzing of discussions rose up once again, breaking the silence just now, causing the atmosphere to become lively as well.
Nan Gong Hen wrapped his fist in his palm towards Su Ming and got up, then charged towards the sky. Su Ming remained on his seat for a while in silence before he stood up and walked towards the sky as well. As for the youths who could not fly up, they could only watch from the ground in the midst of their excitement.
There were far too many stones in the sky, and most of them were surrounded by a large number of people. These people would either be staring at the stones with sparkling eyes, discussing amongst themselves in hushed tones, or examining the stones while circling around. However, there were seals placed around these Crimson Stones, so people could only look at them but not touch. Else there would be quite a large number of those who would touch them personally to test whether there were truly treasures contained within.
Su Ming walked over slowly and moved past the crowd. He swept his gaze past every single one of these Crimson Stones and kept a close eye on the small black humanoid in his storage bag with his divine sense.