The restrictions on the cave entrance suddenly rang, and Yan Ji snapped out of her memories. She slowly stood up and opened the restrictions.
“Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji, what did you do? Did you forcibly try to advance again……”? An anxious yellow-haired young girl rushed in and grabbed Yan Ji’s hand before speaking up in a panic.
Yan Ji showed a weak smile, “Senior Apprentice Sister Shu Lan, thank you for coming to see me. I don’t think I’ll last much longer, but I don’t regret it. If I hadn’t tried hard, I might still be wandering in the void right now and might have ended in the stomach of a starry sky demonic beast a long time ago. Because of my efforts, I came to places I hadn’t thought of before and seen things I never dreamt of.”
“Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji, the path of cultivation is long and boundless. It’s not something that you should rush through. You not only have to learn to walk the path by yourself, but more importantly, learn to be patient with things……”
Yan Ji shook her head, “I’m afraid of loneliness, afraid that I would always have to wait. That’s why I wanted to improve my strength quickly. Sometimes, what’s yours will be yours, but what was never yours would never be yours. If I had learned to wait, perhaps I would have lost my pursuit long ago. But even if my pursuit failed, I at least have experienced it. I have to go now; take care of yourself, Senior Apprentice Sister Shu Lan.”
Shu Lan spoke up in exasperation, “Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji, where can you go in such a condition?”
Yan Ji shook her head, “This place doesn’t belong to me. I’ll go where I should go…..”
She decided to head to the Land of Broken Laws. However, she knew very well that even if she was in peak condition, she wouldn’t reach the Land of Broken Laws.
But this was for her belief, for her hope, for her everything. Ever since she had entered the void, since she came out of the Law’s Way, her faith and trust had never wavered. Even if she had to die, she would die on her own terms and on the path she had chosen.
“You have no way to go anywhere right now. Your condition is just a bit better than critical.” A crisp woman’s voice arrived, interrupting Shu Lan and Yan Ji’s conversation.
Shu Lan hurriedly bowed in greeting the visitor, “Shu Lan greets Senior Apprentice Sister Yishuang.”
The person who interrupted them was a tall woman who simply nodded to the yellow-haired girl’s greeting. Turning to Yan Ji, she said, “Your spiritual roots are considered first-rate. Good enough for some of the big clans and sects in the Grand Essence Domain to take notice and ask for a spiritual root graft. If you’re willing to it, the sect will do anything for you.”
Yan Ji had read about spiritual root grafting. It was only done when the cultivator was on the verge of death. It essentially allowed the cultivator with average qualifications to gain excellent qualifications. Every sect in this domain could move the better spiritual roots from the dying person to someone with average qualifications. However, the prerequisite must be that the dying cultivator is willing to do so. One simply can’t coerce someone to do such a thing under any circumstances. Otherwise, it would wreck the spiritual root grafting process, turning both parties into cripples in the best-case scenario, or even death.
Shu Lan pursed her lips, feeling furious with the sect for even asking such a thing. The sect clearly could repair Yan Ji’s spiritual roots. However, they didn’t want to invest the energy and resources. Instead, they wanted to transfer Yan Ji’s spiritual roots. It was just too much.
Yan Ji’s expression remained calm as she replied, “I agree to graft away my spiritual roots, but I have two requirements. If they cannot be met, I would rather die than transfer them.”
She naturally knew that 9-revolving Sacred Dao Pond could help repair her withering spiritual roots. It’s just that the sect simply didn’t want to use the resources on her. To put it plainly, she was nothing more than a dispensable person for the 9-revolving Sacred Dao Pond. Perhaps when the sect accepted her as a disciple, they had already expected today’s outcome.
Shi Yishuang nodded, “Go ahead. Grafting spiritual roots naturally is the best for you and the sect. But if you don’t feel like it, just pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“First, I will only transfer my spiritual roots to a female cultivator. Second, I hope that the sect can help me find a female cultivator called Nalan Ruxue. I want to hand over my will and other items to her.” Yan Ji bowed and said.
Ning Cheng had disguised himself as Ji He and escaped into the Land of Broken Laws. Amongst the people she and Ning Cheng knew in this world, Nalan was the only one who knew about this matter. However, Yan Ji also understood that there was no hope left for her now. As such, she only hoped that in the future, Nalan Ruxue could reach a cultivation level strong enough to go to the Land of Broken Laws and help Ning Cheng.
“Okay.” Shi Yishuang agreed to Yan Ji’s requests immediately and without any hesitation.
Back then, when 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond had recruited Yan Ji, they already had a similar intent. Besides, these two requests made by Yan Ji were also nothing complicated for them; as such, they naturally would agree to it.
……
Half-cliff Sacred City.
This sacred city wasn’t as big as Heaven Essence Sacred City, but it wasn’t small either. The Half-cliff Sacred City was the home to two of the ten major sects and dozens of smaller sects. The two major sects being the 9-Revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and the Profound Moon Spirit Gate. These two sects sat at opposite ends of the city, slightly outside its borders, and were the main reasons for the prosperity of Half-cliff Sacred City.
Ning Cheng stood in front of Half-cliff Sacred City’s entrance with a refreshed mind. Looking at the equally majestic, immortal-like atmosphere of Half-cliff Sacred City, it somehow made his heart feel pleasant beyond comparison.
The moment he had stepped out of the Land of Broken Laws, a strong feeling of relief, beyond compare, emerged in his heart. He even felt more grateful towards A’Li in his heart. Without A’Li’s map, he couldn’t have gotten out of the Land of Broken Laws, at least not within half a year.
And not only had he walked out, he still had half of the Bestowing Lawless Fruit. Moreover, he now had some exposure to the lawless spirit technique, which he called ‘Law Break’. Ning Cheng did not dare say that he could completely restrict or suppress the laws of heaven and earth around him when he fought against someone. But he could make his opponent’s law-related spirit techniques weaker and his law-related spirit techniques stronger in a localised space.
In a fight between cultivators, even the slightest advantage can turn the tide of the battle, whether in one’s strength or weakness.
Ning Cheng came to Half-cliff Sacred City because he didn’t want to return to Heaven Essence Sacred City. Primarily because of the Star Stepping Tower’s master.
Plus, even though Man Huishan had sworn to not bring harm to him, directly or indirectly, Ning Cheng had still chosen to carefully change his appearance. This time, he didn’t use Ji He’s identity nor his original appearance. Instead, Ning Cheng changed his looks to that of a rough-looking bearded rogue cultivator. The same one he had used back in the Time Wilderness.
Half-cliff Sacred City was also close to the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and the Profound Moon Spirit Gate. Therefore, Ning Cheng had come here with two other purposes. One was to see what was going on with Qi Shisanxing. According to Qi Shisanxing’s nature, even if he had to stay in the sect for healing, he would have sent someone to Heaven Essence Sacred City to meet him. However, Ning Cheng had not received any news from Qi Shisanxing after arriving at the Heaven Essence Sacred City.
The second was to visit the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond. He had seen a woman who looked like Shi Qionghua in the Grand Essence Mystic Realm. Even if she wasn’t Shi Qionghua, he still wanted to go there and confirm.
Shi Qionghua was his wife, and Luofei said that Shi Qionghua had been taken away by her sister. Based on Luofei’s description, the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond was very likely to be the sect of Shi Qionghua’s sister. Therefore, regardless of what Shi Qionghua’s sister felt about him, he truly couldn’t rest without figuring out what happened to her.
As soon as Ning Cheng entered Half-cliff Sacred City, he saw a lively and crowded atmosphere. In his heart, he couldn’t help but feel even more amazed. He had heard that Heaven Essence Sacred City was the number one sacred city in the Grand Essence Domain. How come Half-cliff Sacred City looked even livelier than Heaven Essence City? In fact, it looked even more crowded than when he was in Heaven Essence Sacred City during the Grand Essence Great Meet.
Immediately afterwards, Ning Cheng saw someone erecting a huge banner on the street, with clearly written words, “Congratulations on the happy marriage between 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and 7-star Sacred Shrine. All items in the pill pavilions and weapon halls in Half-cliff Sacred City belonging to 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and 7-star Sacred Shrine will be discounted by 20% for the next three days.”
No wonder there were such massive crowds in the city. For three days, everything was 20% off. It saved a lot of spirit crystals for many cultivators who wanted to purchase pills and weapons.
But it was also a big move for the two big sects. Don’t look at the 20% discount; it would still bring in higher revenues and profits with so many people flocking here.
Ning Cheng only interacted with Yan Xishuang of the 7-star Sacred Sect out of all its known disciples. But he didn’t think that Yan Xishuang would be interested in marriage. At the same time, most of the cultivators of the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Sect were women. Therefore, the female party in this marriage most likely should be from the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond…..
Ning Cheng’s heart jumped when he thought about the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond as the female party. He suddenly thought of the woman who looked like Qionghua. It couldn’t be her, right?
Ning Cheng suddenly felt a little anxious in his heart and quickly walked into a not-so-small inn.
But before Ning Cheng could even enter, an attendant immediately stopped him. “This friend, the inn is full. Please try elsewhere.”
Which inn wasn’t full at this time? Ning Cheng directly took out a handful of spirit crystals and shoved them into the attendant’s hand. “I don’t want to drink spirit tea. I just want to ask, who are the two parties involved in the marriage between 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and 7-star Sacred Shine?”
Hearing that Ning Cheng just wanted to ask about such a simple matter, the attendant quickly put away the spirit crystals and whispered. “It’s Shui Yueke of the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond and Ying Yongxuan from the 7-star Sacred Shrine. It’s truly a match made in heaven.”
When Ning Cheng heard that it was Shui Yueke, he sighed with relief for no reason. He was no stranger to Shui Yueke. This woman had entered the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring and ended up occupying the sixth stone door because of him.
Ning Cheng also knew about Ying Yongxuan. This fellow had initially chased after Shan Yaocen the last time they met. Therefore, when he heard that this guy wanted to marry Shui Yueke, Ning Cheng secretly laughed. He didn’t know if this fellow had given up on Shan Yaocen. Or saw that Shui Yueke had entered the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring and purposely proposed to come close to her.
The attendant could see that Ning Cheng wasn’t someone who lacked spirit crystals. Therefore, when he saw that Ning Cheng was about to leave, he suddenly spoke up with a mysterious air. “This time, the marriage ceremony is being held at the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond. If this friend wants to see the ceremony in person, there is actually a way to do so.”
“You mean, you have a way for me to enter the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond?” Ning Cheng looked at this attendant with surprise. He naturally wanted to go to the 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond. But Ning Cheng knew that it was merely a delusion at this point. With his status and origin, he most likely wouldn’t even be able to enter through the front gate of 9-revolutions Sacred Dao Pond.
The attendant showed a smug grin, “I naturally can’t do such a thing. But I can point you in the right direction. If you go there, you might have a chance at obtaining an invitation.”
At this point, the attendant stopped speaking. He believed that Ning Cheng would understand what he meant.
Ning Cheng naturally understood this attendant’s underlying meaning. He casually took out a storage bag and placed it in the attendant’s hand, “Speak up, and this will be yours.”
The attendant’s spiritual consciousness swept through the storage bag and put it away with great satisfaction. He then took out a jade strip and handed it to Ning Cheng with a mysterious-looking smirk, “This place has invitations for sale. Go there before it’s too late. Don’t blame me if you can’t get one though, it’s my exclusive secret.”
One look at this fellow’s actions, and Ning Cheng understood that this attendant had done this many times. What exclusive secret? Ning Cheng didn’t bother to prod him. Instead, he simply nodded, grabbed the jade strip and turned around to leave.
