Chapter 0931: Restoring the child talisman.
Ning Cheng didn’t say anything at all. He just calmly looked at this Dao Transformation expert in front of him. Ruo Xi didn’t have any spirit crystals, nor did she have anything to exchange with the other party. Not to mention that she knew that Ning Cheng should be much better than her in negotiations. As such, she decided to not speak.
The Dao Transformation cultivator naturally understood Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi’s attitude. He took the initiative to clasp his fist and said, “Let’s get re-acquainted. I’m An Zhihan, with the title: Shattering Rain Demon Saint…..”
When it came to the title ‘Shattered Rain Demon Saint’, there weren’t many people in the Grand Essence Domain who hadn’t heard of it. Although he was a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor, he was definitely an expert among experts. Moreover, he was also a devil cultivator with a ruthless and slippery personality. As such, even the large sects didn’t want to make enemies out of him.
An Zhihan thought Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi would show some fluctuations in expression after mentioning his title. However, he didn’t expect that they not only didn’t show a shocked or surprised face, Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi didn’t even show any fluctuation at all. With An Zhihan’s eyesight and experience, he could naturally tell that these two weren’t pretending to be calm.
An Zhihan, who originally wanted to use his fame to gain a slight advantage, could only take a deep breath and continue. “If I’m not mistaken, what you took out just now, friend, was a Spirit Essence Pill, right? But not even the Spirit Essence Pill is as powerful as that pill in the bottle.”
Ning Cheng showed a faint smile, “The pill I took out isn’t a Spirit Essence Pill, but it’s similar to a Spirit Essence Pill. I call it the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill. It’s useful for expanding the Sea of Consciousness, strengthening the spiritual consciousness, cutting off the impurities in the spiritual consciousness, and healing injuries. As for a comparison, I believe that even five Spirit Essence Pills may not be as powerful as this one pill of mine. It’s not too much to say that such an item has a market without a price ceiling.”
Not to mention An Zhihan, even Ruo Xi’s face next to him changed slightly when they heard those words. Such a pill would even be helpful for her as well.
“Please state your price, friend. I’m willing to buy this pill from you.” An Zhihan said in a deep voice. He no longer viewed Ning Cheng as a simple Eternal cultivator anymore.
Even if one was an Eternal cultivator, it wouldn’t matter as long as one possessed such a heaven-defying spirit pill. As long as he could take out a few such pills, there would be no lack of Dao Confirming cultivators following him. This stunningly beautiful Dao Essence woman opposite him was the best example of this.
According to An Zhihan’s speculations, not only did Ning Cheng possess these kinds of pills, he could even refine them. Otherwise, this Dao Essence woman beside him would have already finished off this Eternal ant and snatched what he had.
An Zhihan had already assumed that Ruo Xi was another ruthless person like him.
“The reason I came to find you is that you have a bottle of Extreme Heaven Rain Trace on you.” Ning Cheng said with a smile.
An Zhihan’s expressions changed, and his tone also turned a little lost. “You want the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace? If that is so, then I’m truly sorry. Although I want the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill, I can’t exchange it for the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have purchased an Extreme Heaven Rain Trace bottle for more than ten million spirit crystals. It is something essential to me.”
After saying this, An Zhihan slowly stood up. His tone and movements showed that although he wanted the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill very much, the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace was even more critical.
Ruo Xi’s expressions also changed as much as his. If she couldn’t obtain the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, how could she go back?
Ning Cheng frowned slightly. He didn’t expect the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace to be so crucial to An Zhihan. Just when he was about to take a loss, and up the ante for Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, a strange feeling arose in his heart.
An Zhihan had definitely lied. The Extreme Heaven Rain Trace wasn’t that important to him. If the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace was truly that important to him, he wouldn’t have deliberately misrepresented its price. From the brief exchange of words with that store assistant, Ning Cheng understood that the value of Extreme Heaven Rain Trace was just around seven million spirit crystals. Yet, he insisted that it was over ten million. What’s more, if such a thing was crucial to him, he wouldn’t state the price.
As she watched An Zhihan walk away, Ning Cheng didn’t even move from his seat. However, Ruo Xi became anxious. The item for exchange belonged to Ning Cheng. As such, if Ning Cheng didn’t say anything at this moment, she can’t forcibly make the decision for him.
But seeing An Zhihan about to leave, even if she couldn’t make the decision, she couldn’t care less. Therefore, she suddenly stood up and was about to go after him.
Ning Cheng raised his hand and was about to grab Ruo Xi’s wrist. But Ruo Xi’s cultivation was much higher than his. Therefore, she avoided Ning Cheng’s hand with a slight shake. But it also invariantly led to Ning Cheng grabbing on to her dress.
“Let go.” Ruo Xi frowned slightly. She still needed Ning Cheng’s help, which meant that she couldn’t snap back at him.
Ning Cheng didn’t panic and spoke up in a rather loud voice. “This isn’t the only bottle of Extreme Heaven Rain Trace. Since the other party needs it more urgently than us, then let him keep it. Besides, I do have another way to get the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace; it’s just slightly more troublesome…”
“Ah, you can get….”
Ning Cheng didn’t wait for Ruo Xi to finish her sentence before waving his hand, signalling her not to continue. Instead, he slowly stood up and said, “Let’s go. We can talk about it on the way back.”
Ruo Xi quickly realised that Ning Cheng was just spewing lies. In other words, it was all a psychological tactic. If Ning Cheng could truly get the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, he wouldn’t have come here with her. Nor would he have asked her how to reinvigorate the Opening Heaven Child Talisman.
When An Zhihan walked out of the booth and saw that Ning Cheng didn’t call out to him, he understood his strategy had failed. As for Ning Cheng’s comment that he knew of other ways to obtain Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, An Zhihan didn’t take it to heart. He didn’t truly need the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, but he also knew that it wasn’t something one could obtain casually.
But even if Ning Cheng had lied to him, so what? He didn’t desperately need the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace, but he truly needed the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill, right?
Knowing that this was the other party’s psychological tactic, he had no choice but to return. It was already clear that the other party’s ability to find Extreme Heaven Rain Trace was a lie, but that pill was truly something he couldn’t say no to.
An Zhihan sighed. He understood that his dao heart still lacked a little. Unable to control himself in the face of an external object.
Without waiting for Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi to walk out of the booth, An Zhihan returned. Then, without even a trace of embarrassment, he solemnly said to both Ning Cheng and Ruo Xi, “I pondered over it a bit while walking out. I’m truly in dire need of the Extreme Heaven Rain Train. However, if there are enough Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pills, I will concede to it.”
Ning Cheng smiled. It was just like he expected. Ruo Xi also returned to her previous calm expression. She had already realised something wrong with An Zhihan’s words earlier when she understood that Ning Cheng was using psychological tactics.
“Let me put it this way, Holy Emperor Shattered Rain has a bottle of Extreme Heaven Rain Trace. I’m willing to pay two million high-grade spirit crystals, plus five Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pills. The one I gave you earlier, consider it as a sample, a gift from me.” Ning Cheng didn’t even sit down and stated his offer.
Seeing An Zhihan about to speak, Ning Cheng immediately continued, “I only have this much. If Holy Emperor Shattered Rain is willing to exchange it, then let’s finish the exchange. If you’re not willing to exchange, it’s alright as well; we’ll think of another way. Besides, I should be able to afford a bottle of Extreme Heaven Rain Trace for near about seven million spirit crystals.”
When An Zhihan saw Ning Cheng saying those words without even sitting down, he understood that this was the only offer he would get. If he disagreed, he would have no chance to obtain even one Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill.
When Ruo Xi saw that Ning Cheng and An Zhihan had successfully finished the exchange, she breathed in a sigh of relief.
……
“I’m indebted to you today. I will definitely return the spirit crystals I owe you.” Ruo Xi took the initiative to speak up as soon as they returned to their inn.
Ning Cheng waved his hand, “No one owes anyone anything. I have an Opening Heaven Child Talisman, as do you. I’ll only hand the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace to you if you help me reinvigorate my child talisman as well.”
Ning Cheng had no idea on how to reinvigorate a child talisman at all. Even if he had the materials, he didn’t have the means to do so.
Ruo Xi nodded. Even if Ning Cheng didn’t mention it, she intended to do so. After telling Ning Cheng earlier that the child talisman required two materials, she understood that Ning Cheng also had one.
A moment later, Ruo Xi sat in front of two dull child talismans. As soon as Ruo Xi raised her hand, the child talismans started to levitate in front of her. She then started to lay down various forbidden restrictions and then placed the child talismans into the restrictions. She then took out two dark jade bottles.
Ning Cheng, who sat on the opposite side, guessed that these two jade bottles that Ruo Xi took out should be the Dark Void Milk.
After half an incense stick’s worth of time, Ruo Xi emptied the two bottles of Dark Void Milk into the restrictions she had previously laid down. In the same motion, she opened the Extreme Heaven Rain Trace’s jade bottle and poured it into the formation.
A mysterious but extremely powerful fluctuation comprising of Laws of Space suddenly emerged in front of Ning Cheng. It made Ning Cheng feel as if he was at the edge of a dark void abyss. Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness couldn’t even see the changes clearly. However, he could feel the Laws of Space and a tearing aura clash with each other repeatedly.
Ruo Xi suddenly increased the speed of forming hand seals. A moment later, even with Ning Cheng’s powerful spiritual consciousness, he could only barely make out some traces.
However, Ning Cheng couldn’t help but feel elated in his heart that he had given those things to this woman. Otherwise, he couldn’t have finished this kind of thing on his own.
Another two hours passed before two golden rays shot out from the forbidden restriction below Ruo Xi’s hand.
With that, the restrictions around them completely disappeared, and two palm-sized pale golden talismans fell to the ground.
It was indeed a child talisman of the Opening Heaven Talisman. The same as the child talisman that Cang Wei had given him back then. Ning Cheng was about to grab one of the child talismans when he noticed Ruo Xi still sitting with an incomparably pale face. Her body continued to tremble as a powerful aura of spirit essence kept overflowing from her, forming a faint vortex around her. It felt as if she wanted to devour and destroy everything around her.
It looks like she consumed a lot. Ning Cheng couldn’t help but feel a little more grateful towards this woman. He took out two jade boxes and carefully put the two Opening Heaven Child Talismans in them. Putting away the one that belonged to him, he placed the other next to Ruo Xi.
It wasn’t until an incense stick worth of time did Ruo Xi finally open her eyes. She glanced at Ning Cheng and said, “Thank you.”
“I should be the one to thank you. I’ve already put away my child talisman.” Ning Cheng raised the jade box next to her.
“Cheng Nianqiong should be a fake name, right? What’s your real name?” Ruo Xi smiled faintly and put away the child talisman that belonged to her. Despite Ning Cheng’s cultivation being worlds apart from Ruo Xi, the caution between the two had lessened considerably after this collaboration.
Ning Cheng also didn’t hide it and replied, “My name is Ning Cheng. There are very few Dao Confirming powerhouses that I have seen who would willingly talk to an Eternal cultivator. You’re one of those exceptions.”
Ordinarily, Dao Confirming experts would never talk so much with an Eternal cultivator. Ning Cheng wasn’t wrong in stating that Ruo Xi was an exception.
Ruo Xi smiled. Once upon a time, when she was still in the Dao Sculpting Realm, she also wouldn’t have bothered talking to an Eternal cultivator either. It had nothing to do with looking down on them but rather the difference in realms. That was until she met that one man who defied the heavens.
When she first met that man, he was just a tiny Immortal Emperor, an Eternal Realm-equivalent cultivator in terms of Grand Essence Realm’s classification. But in just a few years, she could only look up to him when in front of him.
Back then, he had called her Divine Maiden Sacred Sect[1] a bunch of inhumane fake daoist priestesses in front of her master and even spat at her feet. But even as the Divine Maiden’s Sacred Princess, she had to hold herself back and admit it. Even her master couldn’t do anything. After that incident, she never looked down on any Eternal-level cultivators. Moreover, she saw in Ning Cheng, a strong aura similar to that man.
[1] I’m not sure if this is her sect, as the author used a different name a few chapters earlier. Plus, it does not have the ‘‘s’ character between ‘Divine Maiden’ and ‘Sacred Sect’. It might not be a type considering the next sentence, so I will leave it as it is until I get clarification on this matter.
