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“What do you mean by complete laws? What does it have to do with cultivation in positional planes?” Ning Cheng stared at the blue-robed female cultivator and asked. Not to mention her current predicament, even if she did have the ability to take him away, he would not go. However, Ning Cheng also understood that she had a much deeper understanding of cultivation compared to him.
The blue-robed female cultivator looked at his face for a long time before replying with a smile, “As far as I know, cultivators would find it extremely challenging to confirm their Dao in this place. The people here consider cultivating to the Eternal Realm as the pinnacle. But if they want to step beyond the Eternal Realm, they would have to come out of this place. I also know that this place lacks Thunder Tribulations for the three sub-realms of the Celestial Scryer and Celestial River Realm. That’s enough evidence to indicate that this plane does not have complete laws. If it had complete laws, there would be no lack of Thunder Tribulations.”
“Besides, I heard that one would find it impossible to ascend in this positional plane. Even in True Cultivation Worlds, if one wants to break through the cultivation shackles, he or she would have no choice but to find that world’s Heaven’s Way and leave the low-level interface.”
Ning Cheng remained silent. He knew she spoke the truth. Going from the Graceful Star Mainland to the Starry Sky, Ning Cheng had to pass through Heaven’s Way. However, unlike other cultivators, he had to face thunder tribulations when passing through each of the sub-realms in the Celestial Scryer and Celestial River Realm.
“If I agree to come with you, how do you intend to take me out of this place?” Ning Cheng looked at this blue-robed female cultivator. The storage ring on her hand looked ordinary. Even if the blue-robed female cultivator’s cultivation surpassed the Eternal Realm, he did not believe that she could take him away, unless she had an Opening Heaven Talisman.
The blue-robed female cultivator showed a proud smile as she replied, “As long as I can repair my Sea of Consciousness, I could use countless worlds[1] that could help me take you away. Of course, the prerequisite would be that you enter my world. You don’t have to look at my storage ring, it’s just something that I crafted out of necessity. As for leaving this positional plane, I have my own ways, you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Let’s talk about it after getting out of this place. You can wait here for me, I’ll go out to see if I can find any Sifting Ferry Grass but don’t keep your hopes up.” Ning Cheng stood up.
He did want to find the Sifting Ferry Grass to help the blue-robed female cultivator, but not because he took a liking to her. It was also not for getting out of his place, but for Tian Muwan. Despite the past between him and Tian Muwan, he cannot ignore Tian Muwan dying in this place.
He also had no choice. With Tian Muwan and the blue-robed female cultivator’s current situation, it would be impossible for them to find the Sifting Ferry Grass. If they could not find that grass, it would definitely result in their deaths.
Of course, he also wanted the Sifting Ferry Grass for personal uses. Sifting Ferry Grass could repair any damage to the Sea of Consciousness. In case he ended up in a situation with a damaged Sea of Consciousness, having at least a strand of Sifting Ferry Grass and not having any Sifting Ferry Grass could mean the difference between life and death.
“Xiaocheng…..” Seeing Ning Cheng standing up, Tian Muwan also stood up with worry.
Just when Ning Cheng was about to speak, a loud ‘thump’ resounded throughout the area. The shockwaves produced by the sound almost instantly obliterated the several defensive arrays he had arranged previously. The resulting force from the shockwaves blew away Tian Muwan and the blue-robed female cultivator and smashed them on to the canyon’s wall, forcing each of them to spit out a mouthful of blood.
What the hell was that sound? Ning Cheng’s expressions turned ugly. If he was alone, he could barely resist this sound. But if that blue-robed female cultivator, who had almost completely lost her cultivation and Tian Muwan with her low cultivation, wanted to follow him, what should he do?
Ning Cheng looked at the blue-robed female cultivator. She slowly stood up while leaning on the wall and wiped off the blood from the corner of her mouth. She knew what Ning Cheng wanted to ask and shook her head. “I don’t know what this sound is, but I know that it will come again. Forget about Sifting Ferry Grass. If you can take us out, then you need to do it quickly. If not, then leave quickly.”
“Tian Muwan, you stay with me. Make sure you don’t stray more than three meters away from me. I’ll carry Senior Apprentice Sister Ye over my back. Even if I wanted to go out, I wouldn’t be able to find a way out in time anyway.” After Ning Cheng finished, he directly brought out the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort[2].
“You have good weapons….” Seeing the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort, the blue-robed female cultivator’s eyes flashed with surprise and spoke up in amazement. She still could use some scraps of her spiritual consciousness, which allowed her to understand that this blue thunder fort was an extraordinary item.
Unfortunately, this place severely restricted Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness; otherwise, with his current cultivation, his blue thunder fort’s projection would have been a lot clearer.
“Thump…..” Another sound erupted, which Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort managed to block with its overflowing thunder rays.
Ning Cheng felt slightly relieved at this. Looks like the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort could help in blocking that terrifying sound.
“Hurry up, if you don’t want to move then just wait for me here.” Ning Cheng started to feel a little impatient. This canyon made him feel really uneasy.
Tian Muwan, on Ning Cheng’s urging, quickly supported the blue-robed female cultivator onto Ning Cheng’s back. The blue-robed female cultivator did not squirm around but smiled, “Thank you, Junior Apprentice Brother Ning Cheng. By the way, why did you address Sister Muwan as Tian Muwan? Wouldn’t it be better to call her as Muwan?”
Feeling the softness and the fragrant scent from behind, Ning Cheng took in a deep breath. Then taking out a chain-type True Artefact, he quickly bound the blue-robed female cultivator tightly to his back. However, he did not answer the blue-robed female cultivator’s question.
Tian Muwan gave out a sigh and also did not respond.
Seeing Ning Cheng and Tian Muwan act in such a manner, the blue-robed female cultivator did not ask anything else.
Ning Cheng then tightly grabbed on to Tian Muwan and rushed out. However, when he had only covered a distance of about ten meters, a roar erupted from somewhere up ahead. Tian Muwan couldn’t bring out her spiritual consciousness in this place, but Ning Cheng saw it clearly. The canyon in front of him had started to collapse and extend towards him.
If it were an ordinary canyon, even with a mountain pressing down, Ning Cheng could have easily opened a path for himself with a punch. But in this place, Ning Cheng knew he could not do such a thing. This place had already suppressed his spiritual consciousness by a large extent, which meant escaping from this collapsed canyon would prove impossible.
When he had first come inside, then canyon still looked ordinary. It hadn’t been long since he came in, but the gorge that had stood for seemingly unknown years had now started to collapse on a large scale. If someone said that it had nothing to do with him coming in, Ning Cheng would never believe it.
Since the front of the canyon had already begun to collapse, Ning Cheng could only stop. He tried to determine if he should push forward and try rushing out of the collapsing canyon or retreat. Ning Cheng knew that if he did take a step back, chances were that he wouldn’t be able to come out.
The blue-robed female cultivator’s soft voice rang out in Ning Cheng’s ear, “Quickly go back, you can’t rush out.”
“Why?” Ning Cheng subconsciously asked.
Taking a deep breath, the blue-robed female cultivator spoke with a solemn voice, “Did you think that this was just a simple canyon collapse? This collapse is the result of sandwiching devouring spaces. If you dare to go through those devouring spaces, it will devour you without a trace left behind.”
Ning Cheng took in a deep breath and did not hesitate to quickly retreat. If he truly had no place to go, he could enter the Mysterious Yellow Bead, but he did not want to be swallowed by space. But the same cannot be said for the other two.
He didn’t doubt the blue-robed female cultivator’s words. In any case, the reason he hadn’t noticed the devouring space was that he hadn’t seen it before.
“This place is strange. From what I see, this collapse happened only because we came in. There should be something in here controlling it.” The blue-robed female cultivator spoke once again.
Ning Cheng did not answer; instead, he kept retreating. Tian Muwan also did not say anything. Caught in Ning Cheng’s arms, she held tightly onto Ning Cheng’s waist, seemingly immersed in memories.
Initially, Ning Cheng felt worries that the canyon would quickly come to an end, but the canyon now seemed like an unending and bottomless pit. No matter how deep Ning Cheng ran, the path still kept extending out ahead of him.
“We seem to have entered the Thousand Mound Forest’s subterranean area.” The blue-robed female cultivator spoke up again.
Ning Cheng finally stopped, feeling something wrong. If it was a canyon before, it could no longer be called a canyon now. The walls on both sides of the canyon had disappeared at some unknown time. Instead, they seemed to have entered a world filled with a fishy smell. Moreover, the collapse catching up to them also seemed to have disappeared.
“Thump” The sound echoed once again. This time it felt much bigger and more threatening than before. Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort started to crack. However, as long as the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort did not break apart in one blow, it would repair itself in an instant.
The blue-robed female cultivator did not speak anymore. She could tell that Ning Cheng had run for quite long, but it seemed as if they were moving closer and closer to the origin of that thumping sound.
“Thump ….”
“Thump-Thump….”
……
In the dark space, Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort kept defending against those thunder-like ‘thump’ sounds.
Ning Cheng hesitated for a moment before choosing a direction and quickly rushing over.
Although the blue-robed female cultivator’s cultivation had now completely disappeared, she still could use a small portion of her spiritual consciousness. She could feel that the direction Ning Cheng choose was the direction from where those thumping sounds originated. She didn’t say anything as at this point Ning Cheng was in charge. She knew that she can’t let Ning Cheng hesitate.
Although Ning Cheng ran fast, the thumping sounds grew more and more oppressive, which gradually increased the pressure on Ning Cheng.
More and more cracks started to appear over the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort, while its recovering ability started to slow down as it could not keep up. Ning Cheng felt truly anxious now. Once the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort’s shadow disintegrated, even if he could re-condense the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort’s shadow, the blue-robed female cultivator and Tian Muwan would definitely suffer fatal injuries if they did not fall already.
A dim red light suddenly materialised in front of Ning Cheng. After a slight pause, Ning Cheng speeded up towards the dim red light. As Ning Cheng gradually came closer to the source of the red light, he finally saw what it was.
It was a lake filled with blood. In the middle of the blood-filled lake was a huge heart crisscrossing with meridians.
“Thump….” The thumping sound emerged again. When Ning Cheng felt the surging waves of sound reaching over, he quickly urged his celestial essence and spiritual consciousness to stabilise the already-cracking Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort’s shadow.
By this time, he could clearly see that those thumping sounds actually originated from the giant heart within the blood-filled lake.
Ning Cheng trio looked at each other. None of them had seen such a strange thing. Within this heaven and earth, there not only was such a large heart, but it could also unleash such destruction with just a beat. Just who did this heart belong to?
“Those are Sifting Ferry Grasses.” The blue-robed female cultivator looked across the lake with spoke up with a slightly excited tone.
The same moment the blue-robed female cultivator saw the Sifting Ferry Grass, Ning Cheng also locked in on strands of Sifting Ferry Grassed on the opposite side.
“Thump….” The huge heart made another beat. This time, the shadow of Ning Cheng’s Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort could not keep up and completely cracked open, forcing Ning Cheng to spit out a mouthful of blood. As the pressure increased sharply, it disoriented Ning Cheng for a moment and he could not re-condense the shadow of the Blue Thunder Fort.
The blue-robed female cultivator quickly took out a talisman and threw it out; the next moment, a weak-looking membrane covered the three of them.
The blue-robed female cultivator showed a weak smile and said to Ning Cheng, “That was the last defensive talisman I had. Unfortunately, when my True Spirit World cracked, I could only take out a very few things.”
[1] The raws so mention it as ‘Countless/Myriad Worlds’, I have no idea if it is a typo or is used as intended, so I decided to leave it as it is.
[2] Our team had been contemplating whether to use ‘Fort’ or ‘City’ as the character ‘Cheng’ (城) used can mean both (in a more literal sense, it means ‘wall’). After long deliberation, we decided to change ‘Everlasting Blue Thunder City’ to ‘Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort’, since it feels much more accurate based on the context of it. Fun fact, 城 is also the same ‘Cheng’ from Ning Cheng’s name.
