Chapter 1033: Grand Essence Sea’s Secret City
The male cultivator was at the late-stage Dao Raising Realm, while the female cultivator was at the middle-stage Dao Raising Realm. Ning Cheng believed that, under normal circumstances, he could easily kill them even if these two besieged him. Moreover, how could those two deal with them if he couldn’t kill off these damned sea demons?
The truth, however, soon made Ning Cheng believe these two people could take care of these sea demons. The two didn’t even take out any artefacts. Instead, the male cultivator cast a fire dragon-shaped spirit technique, and the sea demons immediately scattered. Some sea demons who couldn’t get out of the way immediately turned to ashes under this fire dragon. As for the female cultivator, she didn’t do anything; she just followed behind the male cultivator.
Were these sea demons afraid of fire? Ning Cheng felt puzzled. When it came to fire-type spirit techniques, he also had one, the Maximal Flame Spirit Technique. It originally was a spirit technique that simulated the Laws of Space, but now he had completely transformed it into a fire-type spirit technique. Moreover, his Celestial River Flame was much more powerful than this male cultivator’s flame. But was it better to use a fire dragon instead of a Time Wheel?
Ning Cheng decided not to use his Celestial River Flame. His spiritual consciousness had noticed a peculiar aura from this male cultivator’s fire dragon-shaped spirit technique. From this, he understood that it wasn’t the fire dragon spirit technique that forced these sea demons back, but the aura of the flames was what had forced them away.
“This dao friend, please follow us if you don’t mind.” The male cultivator moved quickly. In less than half an incense stick’s time, he reached a spot a few miles away from Ning Cheng. Not only that, but even the passage opened by his fire dragon was almost free of sea demons, except for some random demons of a different species.
Ning Cheng wasn’t polite; he didn’t use the First Bridge of Coping but instead used a Time Wheel to clear a path and landed at a fair distance from the two. He cupped his fists and said, “Many thanks for the help.”
The male cultivator smiled and said, “Even if I hadn’t taken action, I’m sure this dao friend has a way to get out. Unfortunately, this isn’t a place to sit and chat; let’s find one.”
As he spoke, the male cultivator took out an airship, boarded it, and went through the passage that the sea demons had not yet closed up.
Ning Cheng also took out his Starry Sky Wheel and followed the male cultivator. An incense stick’s worth of time later, no sea demons were around them. They couldn’t even see a single sea demon within their line of sight.
“My name is Jiang Mann, and this is my dao companion, Mu Yueping. This dao friend, if you don’t mind, you can come aboard my airship.” After rushing out of the sea demon encirclement, the male cultivator stopped his airship to invite Ning Cheng from his Starry Sky Wheel with cupped fists.
Ning Cheng put away the Starry Sky Wheel without hesitation and boarded Jiang Mann’s airship with a step. He cupped his fists again and said, “Rogue cultivator Ning Cheng, many thanks for the two dao friend’s help.”
Seeing Ning Cheng board his airship without any sign of caution made Jiang Mann a little puzzled. Was Ning Cheng really this careless? A Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor, yet dare to casually set foot on the airship of two Dao Raising Holy Emperors?
Ning Cheng could see Jiang Mann’s doubts, but he didn’t care. Jiang Mann and Mu Yueping were only Dao Raising cultivators, and the restrictions on this airship were nothing more than ordinary in his eyes. Even if Jiang Mann and Mu Yueping immediately attacked him, Ning Cheng could easily kill them.
Mu Yueping was also slightly surprised, but she immediately composed herself and smiled, “It’s just as Brother Mann said. Regardless of us taking action, I’m sure Dao Friend Ning could easily escape quickly.”
“Dao Friend Ning must be wondering how we broke through the siege of those sea demons so easily, right? In truth, in the Grand Essence Sea, those sea demons are the most difficult and also the easiest kind of sea demons to deal with. Difficult because those sea demons always move in droves, and once they find a target, they will swarm the target endlessly. Plus, they’re also not afraid of death. In fact, the more they die, the more they add to their numbers.” Jiang Mann smiled while gesturing for Ning Cheng to sit down.
As Ning Cheng sat down, Mu Yueping poured a cup of spiritual tea for Ning Cheng.
“Then, why did you say that those sea demons were the easiest to deal with?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
Jiang Mann chuckled, “That’s because those sea demons are most afraid of the Thousand Colour Stone’s aura. As long as a cultivator incorporates the Thousand Colour Stone’s aura into their spirit techniques when attacking those sea demons, they will immediately flee. My previous attack was just a simple fire dragon infused with the Thousand Colour Stone’s aura, and as a result, it forced those sea demons to flee.”
Ning Cheng suddenly understood a few things. No wonder when Jiang Mann attacked, only those species of sea demons had tried to escape. It didn’t have much effect on the other species of sea demons.
“This is a Thousand Colour Stone.” As Jiang Mann spoke, he put a multi-coloured stone on the tea table.
Ning Cheng picked up the stone and looked at it carefully. He found the stone quite ordinary to touch, like roadside gravel, only slightly bigger. However, it had a multi-coloured hue. In fact, if one concentrated hard enough, one could count exactly a thousand colours within the hue.
“If I’m not mistaken, Dao Friend Ning should have been to the Five-elements Star and must have come in contact with the Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura. After all, that particular sea demon species is the most sensitive to innate origins and the primal chaos aura. These aurae are not something a cultivator can sense, but those sea demons can.” Jiang Mann said with a smile.
Ning Cheng suddenly put two and two together. No wonder those sea demons kept swarming him. However, Ning Cheng knew that it wasn’t the residual Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura on his body that attracted them but the residual aura from the Starry Sky Wheel. Ning Cheng had complete confidence in his concealment technique and senses and knew that no one could sense the residual Five-elemental Primal Chaos Aura from his body after such a long time. If the Mysterious Yellow Formless couldn’t do such a basic thing, it wouldn’t be a heaven-defying cultivation method.
However, because he had been continuously on the run, he didn’t pay much attention to the residual aura on the Starry Sky Wheel. In other words, as he rushed out of the Five-elements Star, the Starry Sky Wheel had come in direct contact with the Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura, which left residual traces on it.
“Many thanks, Dao Friend Jiang, for reminding me. Yes, I have indeed been to the Five-elements Star. Because of this, I was chased into the Grand Essence Sea. If not for the two dao friends, I might still be trapped by those sea demons.” After understanding the reason, Ning Cheng felt greatly relieved.
Jiang Mann heard Ning Cheng’s words, and his eyes lit up. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated before deciding not to say anything.
Ning Cheng could naturally see Jiang Mann’s hesitation. Therefore, before Jiang Mann could speak, he took the initiative to say, “Dao Friend Jiang, I heard that the Grand Essence Sea is extremely dangerous, and the northernmost part of the Grand Essence Sea is full of sea demons who haven’t opened their spiritual wisdom. So how come you two appeared here?”
Jiang Mann laughed after hearing Ning Cheng’s question. Then, smiling, he said, “Dao Friend Ning must not be a frequent visitor to this place, right? The truth is that the northernmost part of the Grand Essence Sea is barren; however, there is a Secret City here, and we were on our way to this city.”
“Secret City?” Ning Cheng looked at Jiang Mann in confusion.
Jiang Mann patiently explained, “This Secret City on the northernmost side of the Grand Essence Sea is about a month away from Soul Sea Territorial City. It’s more appropriate to call it a hidden market rather than a city as it mainly deals in goods of questionable origins…..”
Ning Cheng instantly understood and said, “So, it’s a place similar to where stolen goods are sold?”
Jiang Mann nodded and continued smiling, “If someone finds a treasure at the edge of the Grand Essence Sea, then more often than not, they will choose to dispose of it in the Secret City. Rarely would people dare to sell those items in large cities. Moreover, unseen bounties and rewards are also released in the Secret City. As such, even though it has ‘hidden’ in its name, many people at the edge of the Grand Essence Sea choose to do most of their business there. In fact, you’d also find cultivators from the larger sects of Grand Essence Sea and Grand Essence Domain roaming around in the city.”
Ning Cheng understood Jiang Mann’s meaning. The treasures belonging to disciples of big sects would be too eye-catching. Once they die, it would be problematic to sell their valuable treasure openly.
But Ning Cheng also caught onto an important point in Jiang Mann’s words. “Dao Friend Jiang, you mentioned something about people from Grand Essence Sea’s big sects roaming the Secret City. But how far away is the Grand Essence Domain from here? How could someone from there come to the Secret City? Do they use a teleportation array to Soul Sea Territorial City first and then fly to the Secret City?”
Jiang Mann shook his head, “From the Grand Essence Domain, you don’t necessarily have to pass through the Soul Sea Territorial City. And they can also take the route through the Grand Essence Sea, but it’s longer and more troublesome.”
“Please enlighten me,” Ning Cheng stood up and said with cupped fists.
“Dao Friend Ning, please sit down. It’s not a secret or anything. If someone wants to travel to the Secret City from the Grand Essence Domain, they must go through several teleportation points. The Thousand Leaf Sacred City in the Grand Essence Domain has a direct teleportation formation to the Grand Essence Sea’s Profound Aquatic Palace. From there, you must take the direct teleportation formation to the Silver Dragon Clan, followed by another to the Sea Dragon Sacred City. Then, just take the sole ultra-long distance teleportation formation from Sea Dragon Sacred City. It leads directly to the Secret City.” Jiang Mann replied in a very detailed manner.
Ning Cheng felt elated when he heard Jiang Mann’s words. He could go to the Grand Essence Domain without going through the Soul Sea Territorial City’s teleportation array. After all, Profound Aquatic Palace and Silver Dragon Clan had good relations with him. Meaning that people wouldn’t stop him from taking the formation.
“May I ask Dao Friend Jiang about the Sea Dragon Sacred City?” Ning Cheng asked gratefully.
Jiang Mann remained patient and explained, “When the Grand Essence Realm was still intact, there were ten great dragon clans in the Grand Essence Sea. Sea Dragon Sacred City was the largest sea city established by the ten great dragon clans. The city was so prosperous that there was nothing that you couldn’t buy. Your imagination would be the only thing limiting you…..”
“Quite a big tone.” Ning Cheng sighed. According to such words, wouldn’t the Sea Dragon Sacred City also have good fortune treasures for sale?
Jiang Mann smiled and continued, “Of course, this is just something from long ago. With the laws of the Grand Essence Realm currently in shambles, the ten great dragon clans of the Grand Essence Sea have withered considerably, leaving only the Barbarian Dragon Clan and the Silver Dragon Clan. Even the Five-clawed Sacred Dragon Clan, which once reigned over the entire Grand Essenṣce Sea, has also disappeared. Although the current Sea Dragon Sacred City is still prosperous, it’s far less prosperous than before.”
After saying that, Jiang Mann smiled at Ning Cheng, “Does Brother Ning want to travel to the Grand Essence Domain through the Grand Essence Sea?”
Ning Cheng didn’t hide it and said, “Yes, an expert chased me into the Grand Essence Sea, so I can only head to the Grand Essence Domain through this route.”
“The two of us happen to be heading to the Secret City. Why don’t we all go there together?” Jiang Mann extended an invitation.
Ning Cheng needed a way to reach this Secret City. Therefore, when Jiang Mann invited him, how could he refuse? “Then, many thanks, Dao Friend Jiang. I also plan to go to the Secret City. If it wasn’t for the virtuous couple, I wouldn’t have known about the existence of this Secret City.”
“The Secret City is full of strong people and hidden experts, but more importantly, it’s a place without any rules or codes of conduct. If Dao Friend Ning wants to go there, you must be careful.” Jiang Mann heard Ning Cheng’s words and immediately advised him.
Even without Jiang Mannṣ’s advice, Ning Cheng knew he had to keep a low profile. He was afraid that Deacon Xia would also guess he would head to the Secret City and wait for him there.
“Dao Friend Ning, I have an unpleasant request.” After answering Ning Cheng’s words, Jiang Mann hesitated before speaking out.
“Dao Friend Jiang, please speak freely,” Ning Cheng was in a good mood after receiving all that information from Jiang Mann. He also had a vague idea about what Jiang Mann wanted but didn’t know how to refuse. After all, Jiang Mann hadn’t exchanged the information; rather, he told it to him honestly. It made Ning Cheng embarrassed about how to repay him for it.
“I don’t know if Dao Friend Ning has any Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura, but if you have some, I wish to purchase some Fire-attributed Primal Chaos Aura from you.” Jiang Mann stood up and asked; he even bowed to Ning Cheng.
