“Look, that guy came out. It was him who messed with me, and even hurt Jing Wuming.” Without waiting for Shi Yulan to speak up, Lan Ya replied in an angry whisper.
“But we don’t even have any weapons. What are you going to use to fight against that fellow?” Shi Yulan spoke with a bitter face.
Lan Ya also clenched her teeth before replying, “Let’s just observe this bastard for today, and see what he is capable of. After purchasing a weapon, we can come back to kill this garbage. That bastard set me up; I will not rest until I kill him. If it weren’t for Ning Cheng, I would currently be a slave to someone.”
“Me too.” Shi Yulan replied in a whisper, “Senior Apprentice Sister Lan, many thanks to you and Ning Cheng. This is the happiest I’ve ever been since the day my mother passed away.”
Lan Ya held Shi Yulan’s hand and spoke, “Junior Apprentice Sister Yulan, I know that you can’t continue with Wuming, and I also know that you can’t follow Ning Cheng. Therefore, once this Man Lun Starry Skies’ Try-outs end, come with me to wander the starry skies. Moreover, you are someone with beauty; as such, you have a much more difficult destiny than me, and it definitely would prove hard for you if you remain by yourself.”
At this moment, Lan Ya completely forgot her own purpose and tried to comfort Shi Yulan wholeheartedly.
Ning Cheng remained silent. Shi Yulan had turned into an orphan at the age of seven and had lived alone since then. Although Ning Cheng had a younger sister, they did not have any parents since early childhood. However, on account of their genuine blood relationship, Ning Cheng could still live together with her, even during the days in the orphanages. It was not until the age of twelve did Ning Cheng take the initiative to ask her little sister to leave the orphanage with him. Although he and his younger sister Ruolan had repeatedly tried to look for their parents, they could not find any news of them.
Shi Yulan not only had lost her parents by the age of seven, but she also had no place like an orphanage to live in; if she did not remain careful, it would have only resulted in her death. Even without considering these factors, Shi Yulan still bore an enormous hatred within her heart. Compared to such a situation, he felt that his Little Sister Ruolan was much luckier than Shi Yulan was. At the very least, Ruolan still had a big brother.
Shi Yulan said that today was the happiest she ever felt to Lan Ya; whether or not it came from her heart was a different matter, it was at least not wholly false. Perhaps the reason why Shi Yulan had such vicious character might be the result of the environment around her as she grew up. Comparatively, Jing Wuming was a lot kinder than Shi Yulan was.
“Senior Apprentice Sister Lan, why do you say that I can’t follow Ning Cheng? Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, he definitely is a good person at heart. Moreover, all of us are also indebted to him in some way or the other.” Shi Yulan asked a question.
Lan Ya looked at Shi Yulan and spoke, “I don’t know much about Ning Cheng; however, I do know that he has a wife. With you and Wuming’s past, he won’t have anything to do with you.”
Shi Yulan finally showed a slight smile as she spoke, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning is a good person and is the only one who not only saved me but also had no other thoughts towards me. I will always treat him as my close friend. Moreover, as for any other relationship between us, there will not be any, and it certainly would not relate to Jing Wuming. Moreover, I do not hate Jing Wuming as I already knew that the two of us were destined to be strangers to each other in the future.”
“Let’s not talk about this anymore; I don’t want to hear more about any of this. Senior Apprentice Sister Lan, you said that Ning Cheng has a wife. Why is his wife not around?”
Lan Ya gave a sigh before replying, “It’s my fault. I was the one chasing him at that time and forced him into the Bright Void Gorge. I do not even dare to think about that matter. Rather, when I try to think about it, it only makes me feel even more depressed.”
Ning Cheng could not help but look at the two women speechlessly; they were just gnashing teeth while talking about revenge a few moments ago, and when they turned to gossip, the two of them immediately put aside their deep hatred.
Without continuing to hear the two women talk, Ning Cheng immediately focussed his attention towards the battle ring.
At this time, two cultivators stood over the battle ring. One of them was a young male cultivator wearing brown robes with a hint of murder on his face; combined with a Celestial Shatterer Cultivation, Ning Cheng instantly realised that this person was Gongxi Kui. With two indistinct Celestial Wheels behind Gongxi Kui and a highly cohesive Celestial Essence that surged around his body unceasingly, one could immediately make out that this person was a master.
With Ning Cheng’s vision, if Lan Ya fought against him fully equipped, she could kill this person by exerting herself. However, now that Lan Ya did not have any weapon, she definitely was not an opponent against this person.
The other person wore a grey robe and a head taller compared to Gongxi Kui. This person also sported two Celestial Wheels behind him, along with a Celestial Shatterer Cultivation.
“Thank you for coming to the 19th Battle Ring. I welcome everyone on behalf of the other two champions. I hope that someone can beat the three of us and then become the new champion. However, the battle ring has no eyes, as long as one in on the battle ring, life and death are only separated by a thin line.”
Gongxi Kui spoke to everyone while still standing on the battle ring. However, his last sentence remained directed at his opponent, apparently mocking his opponent.
Ning Cheng obtained a vague understanding that as long as one defeated one of the long-standing champions, one could then also become a champion. The winner could then claim a percentage of the admission tickets. This method of earning money was not only simple it also helped in honing one’s cultivation. Facing continuous and repeated battles with all sorts of challenges, having ordinary cultivation would just prove detrimental.
Of course, such kind of tempering also came with its associated risk. If a formidable person decided to enter, it would only result in death. Gongxi Kui’s words also implied that this 19th Battle Ring had three champions. In other words, apart from him, there were two others. Ning Cheng guessed that one of them must be Kirk.
“Lupe, from the Red Heaven Star. Since Brother Gongxi is so powerful, please do instruct me.” The cultivator wearing grey robes coldly spoke out while bringing out his weapon. His weapon flashed with white light that seemed full of misery, before unexpectedly turning into a Myriad Bone Pestle.
A sinister aura of a forest full of bones gradually dissipated from it. Ning Cheng could not help but secretly shake his head, whoever created this Myriad Bone Pestle, reaped many lives for it. This Lupe definitely was a devil who indulged in killing; otherwise, one could not refine a weapon with such a dense ghastly spirit.
Gongxi Kui did not care about Lupe’s Myriad Bone Pestle as he unhurriedly brought out his own weapon. His weapon turned to be a globe-like ball, which Ning Cheng could not recognise at all.
“Give this battle ring to me.” As Lupe spoke, the Myriad Bones Pestle in his hand erupted with endless bone shadows. Even the audience around the 19th Battle Ring could feel the brutality that encompassed this sinister-like attack. It gave people the sensation that hell had suddenly materialised around them, with skeletons all over the place; the enormous quantity of Yin Qi simply made everyone feel suffocated.
Gongxi Kui just gave a snort before smashing out with the ball.
The moment that Gongxi Kui shot the ball out, the two people immediately disappeared from the battle ring. A burst of vast and bellowing yellow sands suddenly emerged in front of the crowd’s eyes. At the same time, one also heard the screams of countless skeletons coming from within the yellow sands.
At this point, the battle ring no longer resembled a battle ring, only a yellow desert filled with white bones. It gave a feeling of a vast desert, where people trying to traverse it had turned into white bones. Yet, these white bones still struggled in the yellow expanse, calling for help.
Others could not see the situation within the battle ring clearly; however, Ning Cheng could easily make out everything. Gongxi Kui had the upper hand; the ball, his weapon, spewed out a desert-like aura complete with yellow sands as far as the eye could see. In fact, those yellow sands were real yellow sands and not something illusionary. These yellow sands caused Lupe to feel stagnated and tormented; even the movements of his Myriad Bone Pestle had slowed down.
Ning Cheng knew that this was Gongxi Kui’s domain. For this person to have become the champion of the 19th Battle Ring, he really had to ability to back it up. Ning Cheng glanced at Lan Ya sitting in the front; at this moment, Lan Ya did not continue gossiping with Shi Yulan but was intently staring at the battle ring. From the looks of it, she felt quite the shock from Gongxi Kui’s attack. Gongxi Kui, a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator, had such an authoritative domain.
Sounds of violent explosions and screams kept blasting out from the battle ring. Although one could see the yellow sands flying all over the sky, it did not leave the scope of control of the ball. These yellow sands surrounded Lupe when the ball arrived at a certain distance near to him. At this time, Lupe already had his hands full in trying to extract himself from the predicament; from the looks of it, he had never encountered such an opponent.
Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness had already noted that Gongxi Kui’s yellow sands had formed many human-like figures; however, Gongxi Kui’s figure had utterly disappeared from the range of yellow sands that seemed to cover everything.
However, Ning Cheng’s Starry Skies Sea of Consciousness was so mighty that it could clearly make out Gongxi Kui’s real body hiding within the yellow sands. Gongxi Kui had brought out a short bow and pulled the string back hard. However, this short bow did not have any arrows.
“Whoosh!” The sound of a string snapping quickly passed through Ning Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness immediately allowing Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness to perceive an arrow rush forward, one with the same aura and colour of the yellow sands around it.
Just before the arrow struck its mark, Lupe finally noticed the danger he was in. His figure quickly twisted like a streamer from a rotating spiral ribbon, trying to shake himself out of the bindings. Even so, he still had no way to avoid the shadowless arrow made out of the yellow sands that Gongxi Kui had shot out.
The moment the arrow shadow pierced Lupe’s body, it did not create even the smallest sound; at the same time, Lupe also stopped dead in his tracks. However, Gongxi Kui did not stay there; a short blade suddenly came up and directly lopped off Lupe’s head, issuing a spurt of blood from the exposed stump.
The moment Lupe’s head came off with a spurt of blood; the yellow sands covering the sky also disappeared along with the sombre white skeletons. A huge ball remained suspended over Gongxi Kui’s head; as for the Myriad Bone Pestle, since it lost its owner, it fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Apart from Lupe’s headless body on the floor, where was there even a speck of yellow sand around?
Even Lupe’s Life Essence could not escape; Ning Cheng had already seen it clearly that Gongxi Kui’s arrow had extinguished Lupe’s Life Essence.
Waves of cheers erupted, apparently the audience felt very satisfied with such a tragic slaughter.
Lan Ya and Shi Yulan remained silent; the cultivation of both of them was a full level higher compared to Gongxi Kui; however, they understood that if they had to go up on stage against him, they most likely would not escape from the clutches of those sky-covering yellow sands.
Gongxi Kui unhurriedly picked up Lupe’s ring, then burned Lupe’s body to ashes before cupping his fists and speaking, “Many thanks for all the support, I believe that no one will rechallenge me. However, to not let everyone’s Blue Coins go to waste, Kirk will definitely give you a more exciting fight.”
“Don’t worry too much. Who said that no one wanted to challenge you, didn’t I come?” A passive voice passed by people’s ears, followed by a young man with a beard suddenly appearing over the battle ring.
This young man carried an aura filled with vicissitudes of wandering through the starry skies, the atmosphere from this person felt like no different from the starry sky outside.
This was a true wanderer among the starry skies; everyone immediately thought as they glanced at this person.
Gongxi Kui had killed Lupe brutally just a moment ago; however, although splendid, it was short-lived, making others want for more. As such, when someone wanted to take the stage and challenge Gongxi Kui, another burst of thunder-like applause burst all around the 19th Battle Ring. Since people paid money, they naturally wanted to see the most exciting of fights. The previous battle scene filled with yellow sands already looked splendid to the people who came to watch a good show, so why would they willingly miss a second display of that magnificence?
