Chapter 0340: Going To Sifting Orchid Star
An hour later, Ning Cheng and Shi Qionghua appeared outside a mountain range surrounded by faint spiritual qi fluctuations, in the far north of the Tian Continent. Not only was the spiritual qi sparse in this place, but there was also an array of tornadoes whirling around it without any origin or end. If the cultivation of a person was worse, then it was highly likely that they would be whisked away by these tornados.
“We are a bit off from the location of the Transmission Array aah.” Ning Cheng gave out a sigh.
Shi Qionghua was also aware of it and spoke, “I heard that there was originally a not-so-small academy here, but after cultivators foreign to this place settled here, they felt that arranging a Transmission Array in this place would be quite beneficial. So they ended up setting up a one-way Transmission Array to the Sifting Orchid Star in this place.”
“Let’s go and check it out.” Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness had already swept towards the distant mountain range. He was aware that the location of the Transmission Array to the Sifting Orchid Star was in the deepest parts of the mountain range.
“Would you be able to advance once I enter the miniature world?” Shi Qionghua quickly spoke.
Ning Cheng only gave the nod, “Now is the only chance we have. With so many Crucible Transformation Cultivators pressing for an answer, Li Lingfan would certainly not be able to hold on for long. I can only hope that Li Lingfan was able to hide our whereabouts till now.”
……
At the same time, in the North Light Town, Li Lingfan was bowing out of courtesy towards the several Crucible Transformation Cultivators in front of him.
“Virtuous nephew Lingfan, I will not beat around the bush, it’s about the cultivator that you met just now. Do you know where he went?” Tang Gongxi thought that his words alone would be more than enough to give Li Lingfan some face. At the very least, he was very vague with his words and did not directly ask Li Lingfan about where Ning Cheng went.
Li Lingfan frowned as if he was thinking of something before asking a question, “Who is Senior Tang referring? Since the moment I arrived here, I have met quite a few of my friends; moreover, I talked heartily with at least a dozen of them…”
Tang Gongxi impatiently interrupted Li Lingfan’s words and spoke, “I did not want to beat around the bush with you. Very well, just tell me where exactly did Ning Cheng go?”
“Ning Cheng?” Li Lingfan suddenly laughed, “Senior Tang, how would I know where Ning Cheng went? Moreover, I am a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Academy. Could it be that Senior Tang here thinks that the Red Star Sword Faction can gobble up my Heavenly Dao Academy? Doesn’t your words imply that you are trying to threaten me?”
As Li Lingfan finished, he merely raised his hand to take out a messenger flying sword, posing as if he was about to shoot out a distress signal with it. Tang Gongxi’s complexion immediately turned ugly. He did not know if he should step in or not to stop him. If he did not step in, then it would mean that he feared the Heavenly Dao Academy. At the same time, he also wanted to step in. The Heavenly Dao Academy’s strength was obviously far above the Red Star Sword Faction. This time, when they chose to make their move, they deliberately did not include the Heavenly Dao Academy. Once the Heavenly Dao Academy decided to act, then the things on Ning Cheng’s body, there would be the lion’s share less of it for them.
Moreover, the Heavenly Dao Academy was extremely two-faced. Previously, when they all had intercepted the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, almost all the academies suffered repercussions. Only the Heavenly Dao Academy did not experience anything, not even a minor injury. It was more than evident that the Heavenly Dao Academy chose not to go all out along with them. Therefore, this time, when they planned to intercept Ning Cheng, they decided not to involve the Heavenly Dao Academy.
The reason why Tang Gongxi had spoken to Li Lingfan in such a dull tone was that Li Lingfan had always been very polite in his behaviour towards the elders. In this regard, his reputation was quite good and even seen as a good role model of how an obedient disciple should be. He had initially wanted to use his cultivation to suppress Li Lingfan so that Li Lingfan would give him an honest account of things, but he had never thought that he would end up encountering such a sturdy nail.
A white-faced man from the Yin Yang Dao Sect quickly stepped forward and spoke up, “Virtuous Nephew Lingfan, you misunderstood the words just spoke. Elder Brother Tang did not mean what you heard; he is just simply inquiring about the whereabouts of Ning Cheng.”
“So it was originally like this aah, I get it now.” Li Lingfan chuckled as he put away the signalling flying sword in his hand.
Seeing Li Lingfan showing such an understanding expression, the several Crucible Transformation Cultivators present there felt relieved. They all thought that they should have used this method from the start. Tang Gongxi acted like a senior bullying a junior, but as a result, ended up biting a hard nail.
“Yes, do you know where Ning Cheng went?” The Crucible Transformation Cultivator from the Yin Yang Dao Sect anxiously asked.
Li Lingfan gave a smile, as he unhurriedly spoke up, “I don’t know.”
It immediately caused the several Crucible Transformation Cultivators to look at each other helplessly, as they knew that they could not persecute Li Lingfan. After all, harassing Li Lingfan would mean that they would have to face the wrath of the behemoth that was the Heavenly Dao Academy. None of them wanted to stick their heads in this kind of endeavour.
Just as these Crucible Transformation Cultivators were discussing among themselves, Li Lingfan also received a messenger flying sword. Li Lingfan immediately realised from this that a Crucible Transformation Elder from his Heavenly Dao Academy was about to arrive. At this moment, he could only hope that Ning Cheng had not gone to the Transmission Array. Once his Heavenly Dao Academy’s Crucible Transformation Elder arrived, then Lingfan would have no choice but to divulge the whereabouts of Ning Cheng. At that moment, he honestly would not be able to hide it for long.
……
Going through the rolling mountain range, Ning Cheng finally saw a grey building surrounded by restrictions. Ning Cheng had just entered this grey building when a cultivator in the Soul Sculpting Realm stopped him.
“I want to go to the Sifting Orchid Star, here is my identification.” Ning Cheng unemotionally handed out the black jade card.
He was ready, once the person in front of him recognised him, he would immediately call out Shi Qionghua, and the two of them would kill their way out.
Ning Cheng had just taken out the black jade card when a few intrepid spiritual consciousnesses swept at his body. There were a few Crucible Transformation Cultivators here; Ning Cheng was immediately surprised, as he tried to maintain his calm.
These intrepid spiritual consciousnesses swept his body but did not leave. Instead, they surrounded Ning Cheng before one of the spiritual consciousnesses fell onto Ning Cheng’s miniature world ring.
Ning Cheng felt somewhat nervous in his heart, at this moment he was reasonably sure that Li Lingfan had not divulged the news of him wanting to go to the Sifting Orchid Star. However, such a thing would not remain hidden for long, once the people here received the news, it would become challenging for him to walk out of this situation, and moreover, he was also not able to do anything to the spiritual consciousness probing him.
What’s more, Ning Cheng was more worried about the miniature world right now. There were two rings on his hand; one was public, while the other one had a concealment restriction engraved on it, the one that contained the miniature world.
Ordinary people would not be able to see his concealed ring, but now that a strand of spiritual consciousness had paused on his miniature world ring, it showed that this person was an expert in the field of arrays. It looks like this person sensed that his concealed ring was somewhat different.
However, Ning Cheng believed that even if the opposite party were an expert in the field of arrays, if they wanted to use their spiritual consciousness to decipher the concealment on his miniature world ring, then it would be impossible. His attainments in the field of arrays were vastly superior to his actual cultivation.
The cultivator in the Soul Sculpting Realm took Ning Cheng’s jade card and entered inside. After a while, he once again came out and spoke to Ning Cheng, “The identity has been verified, however even with your status, if you want to go to the Sifting Orchid Star, then you need to pay three million spirit stones and two best quality spirit stones.”
Ning Cheng guessed that Li Lingfan had not enquired about these things; moreover, he also had no objections to taking out the three million spirit stones. Although there was some hesitation as he took out the two best quality spirit stones, it was still within his tolerance limit. He initially had five best quality spirit stones on him, so bringing out two of them did not affect him in a big way.
Seeing Ning Cheng take out the three million high-grade spirit stones without hesitation, along with two best quality spirit stones, the Soul Sculpting Cultivator couldn’t help but glance at Ning Cheng a few more times. Even if Ning Cheng came from the Heavenly Dao Academy, for a cultivator in the Soul Essence Realm to fork out this much wealth, it was indeed something quite rare.
Fortunately, the cultivator chose not to ask anything, as he directly brought Ning Cheng to the transmission altar. Even the intrepid spiritual consciousnesses surrounding Ning Cheng had been recalled back, causing Ning Cheng to sigh secretly.
After half-an-incense worth of time passed, a blinding white light flashed throughout the transmission altar. Then Ning Cheng, who was standing in the centre of this transmission altar, disappeared in an instant along with the white light.
Just a few moments after Ning Cheng’s departure, a red coloured flying sword rushed into the grey building, before falling into the hands of a long-haired man.
“An arch-enemy of the Heaven Alliance wants to go to the Sifting Orchid Star, be sure to stop…..” There were only a few words on the messaging flying sword, but the long-haired man immediately realised that the flying sword had come in a few moments late.
The arch-enemy mentioned on the flying sword must surely have been the Soul Essence Cultivator with the concealed ring from a few moment ago. It indeed was a pity that he managed to escape.
……
The instant that Ning Cheng was transported elsewhere by the transmission array, he felt a wave of searing pain throughout his body. At this time, not to mention bringing out his spiritual consciousness, even staying conscious was not easy. However, Ning Cheng forcefully kept himself alert. He knew that once he fainted, then even if he reached the Sifting Orchid Star successfully, he would not be aware of what would happen.
Time and space, for Ning Cheng’s consciousness, was shattered to nihility, he was not even aware of the passage of time, nor was he aware of any spacial distortions. He just stubbornly kept his mind awake, while at the same time also admired the person who had set up this Transmission Array. This person’s skill was simply heaven-defying. Even if it were a Tier 9 Array Formation Grand Master, they absolutely would not be able to construct this kind of terrifying Transmission Array.
“Bang…..” Not knowing for how long, Ning Cheng felt himself flung over a rocky surface. The pain flowing through his entire body immediately sobered him up.
It was not until this moment he realised that even though he had forced himself to stay awake; he had unknowingly lost consciousness at some point. Fortunately, he had ended up falling on something solid, causing him to sober up immediately.
Ning Cheng had just opened his eyes when a fishy smelling wind arrived. Ning Cheng did not have the time to carefully examine what was going on before he immediately blasted out with a punch.
“Boom…..” Ning Cheng felt as if his fist had struck a hard plate of steel to the point that the strength of the backlash even caused a slight ache in his fist.
Ning Cheng hurriedly took out a long shiny spear, while simultaneously told Shi Qionghua to come up.
Shi Qionghua had just come out from the miniature world when that same fishy smelling wind once again pounced on them. But Shi Qionghua only raised her hand and sent out a sword light, causing a painful cry to emerge from the fishy smelling wind, followed by a spurt of blood, before it escaped in the twinkling of an eye. From the beginning to the end, Ning Cheng could not even clearly make out what kind of monstrous beast had attacked them.
“This is a Fishy Wind Beast and is known for being able to come and go without a trace. The level of this Fishy Wind Beast is still shallow; as such there is not much to worry about.” Shi Qionghua explained.
All kinds if terrifying howling sounds reached Ning Cheng’s ears, as he looked at the endless wilderness in front of him, he couldn’t help but speak up, “Qionghua, fortunately, you were accompanying me here. Otherwise, even that low levelled Fishy Wind Beast was capable enough almost to kill me. If I ended up encountering an advanced level monstrous beast, other than trying to run away, what else would I be able to do?”
Shi Qionghua knew that Ning Cheng had intentionally spoken in such a manner. She gave a smile and talked, “Actually, the monstrous beasts here have their own characteristics. As long as you know these characteristics, you would be able to kill them easily.”
Pausing for a while, Shi Qionghua continued speaking, “At the Sifting Orchid Star, although it might not be suitable for cultivation, but it is the most suitable place for body forging. Using your Embracing Yang God Tactic to quench your corporeal body in this place would also bring you the best benefit.”
Ning Cheng spoke with a bitter face, “The Embracing Yang God Tactic has already been modified by me and is now called the Formless God Tactic. Although using it to quench the corporeal body would be good, but I simply do not understand anything about body forging. Moreover, I have also never been in contact with any body forging cultivation method.”
Shi Qionghua showed a mysterious smile and spoke, “Then let me take you to a place.”
When Ning Cheng saw Shi Qionghua’s smile, he was almost left stunned. It was the first time that he had seen Shi Qionghua show such a smart-alecky smile. Even so, at this moment, he felt that this playfully smiling Shi Qionghua was the most beautiful piece of scenery bequeathed to him by God himself.
