Chapter 0268: What kind of an onion root are you
“Many thanks for this Senior Apprentice Sister for choosing me, however although I was able to secure the first place on the 9th battle arena, but the price for achieving that was too huge for me. Even my entire body is badly bruised and injured from the inside, and am completely exhausted. The only thing that I want to do now is rather not to go to Great Liang True Country and Northern Shang True Country, and just look for a place to sleep straight for a full three days and three nights.” Ning Cheng did not hesitate to come forward to take the initiative to voluntarily step down.
His tone was obviously full of vigour, how does he even look half a bit exhausted?
This affair was completely opposite to taking any sort of risk, for what reason was he not willing to go. If he did not have any animosity against the Soul Essence Cultivator that he was paired up with, then the only thing that they could think of was that he was insane.
All the cultivators standing in the hall were looking at Ning Cheng in a puzzling manner, just where in the world did such a bold cultivator even come from? Although Seniormost Apprentice Brother Que Hongshui had indeed spoken that participation was voluntary, however those were simply modest words spoken for the sake of being spoken. Besides, for a Core Disciple to not only pick an Inner Sect Disciple but also at the same time allow them to follow them, it should only because they have great kindness in their hearts, how could even one refuse such an offer?
Fu Shengnan’s eyes were at this moment overflowing with anger, but she was somehow able to hold back the anger and spoke, “I can see your entire body flowing with vigorous true essence, and are even talking with full of vigour, without even half an injury to be seen, doesn’t it mean that you do not want to show even half a shred of respect for me? Besides, even if you are a little injured, I will also help you with the cure, since we are all people who cultivate then we must all avoid being lazy. Sleeping for three full days, hmm, just how do you think you would be able to make up for it? For such a lazy disciple like you to join my academy is simply not something good.”
At this time, most people listening into the conversation were able to find out that there were some contradictions in the words spoken between Ning Cheng and Fu Shengnan. Some of the newly joined Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Inner Sect Disciples were in praises for Ning Cheng’s boldness while at the same time, there were also a few who were worried for Ning Cheng, simultaneously there were also a few people who were gloating on Ning Cheng’s misfortune.
“A newly joined Inner Sect Disciple of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect and yet is lacking in manners, someone who is regardless of the laws and of natural morality, these kinds of disciples must not…..” After Fu Shengnan’s voice faded, another angry voice emerged.
Ning Cheng immediately recognized that the one behind the voice was a male cultivator; it was the same male cultivator who he had seen together with Xun Hanrui on that day.
In response to those words, Ning Cheng put on a terrified expression and spoke with his fists cupped, “Pardon me for asking but which elder is it?”
“Open your ears and listen carefully, I am Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Core Disciple Wen Han.” The male cultivator spoke with a disdain filled voice.
Ning Cheng thought back to what Wu Zhuo had said on the battle arena, from which he already understood that Wen Han was a friend of Fu Shengnan, and was possibly one of her pursuers too.
Ning Cheng put down his cupped fists and spoke with a sneer, “So it originally was not an elder, phew that really scared me back then. Listening to your arrogant tone, I had really thought that it was an elder who arrived amidst us, but it turns out it that the one who spoke is just a disciple. I really did not think that Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Core Disciple would also be allowed to wield such enormous power, to be able to casually dismiss an Inner Sect Disciple, formidable, formidable indeed. In case you turned out to be an elder, then wouldn’t it be equivalent to you saying ‘submit to me and prosper, or oppose me and perish’?”
Finished saying that, Ning Cheng then turned to the middle aged cultivator as he cupped his fists and spoke, “Deacon Hong, I have just become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, as such I still do not understand many of the rules and regulation here. May I ask Deacon Hong, if this plague or whatever has the power to dismiss me who is an Inner Sect Disciple?”
[TL Note – Here the phrase ‘Plague or whatever (瘟什么的)’ is a reference to the name of that Senior Apprentice Disciple, Wen Han (温翰). It is a play of words here as the first character of his name is his surname ‘Wen温’ meaning ‘Warm’, while the first character of the phrase is also ‘Wen 瘟’ meaning ‘Plague’]
Deacon Hong was now suddenly at a loss of words, if this Wen Han had secretly tried to get rid of Ning Cheng, even if he were an Inner Sect Disciple, then it would have been a small trivial thing. But to blatantly try to dismiss someone, it was absolutely not within his power.
“You…..” Wen Han finally was at a point that he could not hold back Ning Cheng’s ridicule, and was suddenly overflowing with a murderous aura.
“Who the hell are you? Didn’t Senior Apprentice Brother Que already made it clear that going to the Great Liang True Country was voluntary? I am physically ill, so even if I were willing to come, would it be any good to you? Fellow disciples, Senior Apprentice Brother Que of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect also said that no matter what status a disciple holds, all of us are brothers and sisters of the same sect. There is no such thing as being of a low or a noble stature. I had originally thought that you being called as Junior Apprentice Brother Wen would mean that you would at least be pleasing to one’s eye, but looking at you, you really are not something pleasing to the eye, you just what kind of an onion root are you?” Ning Cheng ruthlessly spewed out words as he thought, this person did not even know him as such there was no reason for him to hate him, this person just for pleasing a woman would secretly try to harm him, causing him to feel extremely unhappy in his heart.
[TL Note – There is again a play of words here, the Wen of his name means warm, but Ning Cheng intentionally used the ‘Wen (Plague)’ version of the character, creating an insult yet not an insult. ‘Onion Root’ in here means someone dirty and loves living underground and like to play underhanded tricks, it is also a reference as to how an onion grows below the surface away from one’s eyes.]
He did not believe that inside the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, how could these kinds of tricks of the other party could even work on him? At worst, he would simply leave the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect if he could not maintain his position of an Inner Sect Disciple. Moreover, before it came to such a step, that Seniormost Apprentice Brother Quo Hongshui also spoke that going with them was only voluntary. If Que Hongshui remembered what he spoke before, then it was almost about time that he took the initiative to stand up and speak.
As Ning Cheng’s words came out, not to mention about those Inner Sect Disciples, even those True Inheriting and Core Disciples looked at Ning Cheng with astonishment. Just where in the world was this person from aah, since he had already become the Inner Sect Disciple of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, as such how could he disregard the consequences of offending a Core Disciple?
“Deacon Hong, you can see it clear as day, this is what the Inner Sect Disciples of today have turned out to be, just look at him.” If there were not a big crowd gathered here already, then Wen Han would have already long since made a move to kill Ning Cheng.
Deacon Hong was also somewhat embarrassed, although what Ning Cheng spoke of was not nice to the ears, but the fact was that he really did not speak anything wrong. But for an Inner Sect Disciple to be so arrogant, it really was a bit too much.
As Deacon Hong was having a bit of a difficult time, Que Hongshui suddenly came forward and quietly spoke up in a light voice, “What Junior Apprentice Brother Ning said is definitely right, whether or not he is physically ill, if he does not want to go to the Great Liang True Country and the Northern Shang True Country, that is his own freedom. That being the case, Junior Apprentice Sister Shengnan, please choose another disciple.”
“Many thanks Senior Apprentice Brother Que. Listening to your words, my illness has suddenly made a full recovery, however I still do not want to take such risks.” Ning Cheng also quit while he was ahead, as he held up his cupped fists towards Que Hongshui as a gesture of thanks.
Que Hongshui looked at Ning Cheng with a hint of smile on his face, as he gave a nod and retreated.
Wen Han’s face at the moment was livid with anger, however he knew that there was no other alternative at this moment.
“Yes, Seniormost Apprentice Brother. Then I will chose Mao Hongkuo.” Fu Shengnan on hearing Que Hongshui call her Junior Apprentice Sister Shengnan caused the huge cavity of anger formed in her chest to disappear without a trace, she did not even hear Ning Cheng’s sarcasm, and rather there was even a few traces of shyness in her. At this time, Ning Cheng was someone who she just vaguely recalled.
Deacon Hong on seeing that things have resolved itself quite quickly, stepped forward in a hurry, and spoke, “The eight chosen Inner Sect Disciples please stay behind, while the rest of the newly joined disciples, follow me immediately to the Affairs Office to receive your identity jade card, and also apply for your immortal cave…..”
Ning Cheng nodded to Liang Kexin and Xun Hanrui, a few moments ago, Xun Hanrui was just about to stand up and help him out from the pinch, when Que Hongshui had taken the initiative to speak up. After seeing that the things were resolved with the words of the Seniormost Apprentice Disciple, she also decided to not come out to speak.
“Senior Apprentice Sister Ziyan, Ning Cheng’s fighting style is simply ordinary, but his temper is rather uncommon. Just a puny Inner Sect Disciple, but even dares to ridicule a Core Disciple.” After Ning Cheng and the others left, Zuo Xiangsu sent a sound transmission to Luo Ziyan.
Luo Ziyan pondered for a while before answering, “That Ning Cheng sure is a bit odd, if he was an ordinary person, he should never have this kind of a character. In most of the cases, a person’s character is something that is determined by the cultivation method that they are cultivating. This Ning Cheng’s character is not one to exercise patience in front of his contemporaries, however once he sets about to accomplish a task he is someone who would exercise patience in all respects, it is why I say there is something odd……”
“Oh, I see.” Luo Ziyan did not continue on. She had a vague feeling that Ning Cheng had really shown patience in all respects in all his battles till now, moreover looking at Fu Shengnan and Wen Han act, she had also come to understand that these two people also had some sort of grudge against Ning Cheng. This Ning Cheng seems to be well aware as to when to advance and when to retreat, since he already had a feud with two Core Disciples, as such he was not someone to let others succeed in taking a lead on him.
However, Fu Shengnan and Wen Han simply had pushed too far with their act, allowing Ning Cheng the benefit of completely pissing them off. As Luo Ziyan understood all these things, the corners of her mouth showed a faint smile, this was quite a personality for a Profound Congealing Cultivator. With this kind of temperament and this low of a strength, wanting to mix in with even the ordinary members of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect would not be easy, if not somewhat challenging.
There will always be someone already occupying the rivers and lakes, and Rainbow Fall Sword Sect was no exception to this. Do not look at the nice words spoken by Que Hongshui, the fact is, there were different factions everywhere in the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. Ning Cheng was just a man with a small to no foundation at all with just a Profound Congealing Cultivation, he had already offended two Core Disciples of a single academy, and even his impression with Deacon Hong was not very good, as such, it can be seen that there definitely would be some tough times for him ahead.
……
Ning Cheng knew that he was someone not in control in this place, no matter whether he was in the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect or not, at least till Fu Shengnan and Wen Han returns, there would no one coming looking for trouble with him. As for going to the Great Liang True Country and Northern Shang True Country to make a fortune, wouldn’t it be easily guessed that it would take them a minimum of half a year to return?
Still he was a bit apprehensive that Fu Shengnan and Wen Han would come find trouble for him, as such he immediately set out to look for his immortal cave, trying to find the mountain peak where the Inner Sect Disciples gathered, the Developing Sword Mountain Peak.
After being given his identity jade card, along with some of the necessary items required for an Inner Sect Disciple and a few other jade strips, Ning Cheng immediately came back to the Developing Sword Mountain Peak to look for his immortal cave.
The Developing Sword Mountain Peak was the most concentrated place for the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Inner Sect Disciples, in this place the spiritual qi was also quite rich, it was even richer than some of the mountain peaks belonging to the Core Disciples. However because there were many disciples here cultivating, the spiritual qi was also equally shared among all.
Ning Cheng found his immortal cave near to the leaning slope nearing the top of the mountain. Because the spiritual veins ran from the bottom of the mountain to the top, combined with the various Spiritual Gathering Arrays from the bottom to the top, almost all of the spiritual qi was used up half way to the top of the mountain.
But even if that was the case, Ning Cheng did not care about it, he was still very satisfied with his current immortal cave. Even if the spiritual qi was almost used up half way to the top, for him, the spiritual qi was still very rich. Just from this point, it could be seen that the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect was one of the influential and long standing academies that was full of imposing attitude. If he disregarded the others, and Ning Cheng arranged his own huge Spiritual Gathering Array here, and used it for his own cultivation, then his speed would definitely not be as slow as it was in the past.
Not to mention that there was even a lake filled with spiritual qi near to the opening of his immortal cave. This spiritual qi lake must have been left behind by the seniors before him, although it could not be used for cultivation, but there were some Spiritual Bamboos and spiritual grasses planted around it, which at least made the surroundings pleasing to the eyes and also relaxing to the people looking at it.
Ning Cheng had been wandering all around from the time he had come to the Yi Xing Mainland, it was only until today that he could say that he finally had his own place to live in.
Ning Cheng secretly let out a sigh; it was only until today, that he finally was able to have his own residence. Although there were many people living together in this mountain, but at least it was better than continuously wandering on the outside.
After bringing out Grey Toottoot, Ning Cheng began to arrange a variety of array formations around his cave. At the same time, he was also waiting for Liang Kexin to come over; he believed that before Liang Kexin left the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, she would definitely come visit him once.
Sure enough, Ning Cheng had not yet set down the defensive array flags when Liang Kexin arrived in front of Ning Cheng’s immortal cave together with Xun Hanrui.
Ning Cheng had really not thought that Xun Hanrui would also be the one visiting him, and had only thought that Liang Kexin would be the one to come visit him, moreover he also did not expect that she would come together with Xun Hanrui. Seeing the demeanour between Liang Kexin and Xun Hanrui it seems that the relationship between the two has turned out to be quite good.
