Chapter 0406: Tit For Tat
“Na Xinlan? I know this person. She advanced to the Sea Opening 1st Level recently. What relation does she have with this?” Gui Ba asked doubtfully.
Gui Kuang spoke out calmly, “A few months ago, when Elder Taoist Ba was still in seclusion, someone took a few boxes of undergarments to Dragon and Phoenix Academy to look for Na Xinlan, saying that these undergarments came from someone of the Gui Clan. The bearer claimed that this person from the Gui Clan killed virgin female cultivators, because of this matter, we wanted to ask Elder Taoist Ba to come out.”
“But afterwards, the Dragon and Phoenix Academy ended up suppressing this matter internally, while there was also no further news about Na Xinlan. Our Gui Clan carefully investigated it afterwards but was still not able to uncover the identity of the person who delivered those undergarments to Na Xinlan. Because Elder Taoist Ba was still in seclusion, this matter ended up getting postponed to a later date.”
“Humph, it’s just a few dead women, yet wanting to use them to deal with my Gui Yuan City.” Gui Ba’s complexion immediately turned cold.
For him, as long as one had lower cultivation compared to him, he would consider all of them like ants, not to mention about female cultivators without any status. Even if all the female cultivators of a continent ended up massacred, he would not even bat an eye.
Gui Kuang was aware of Gui Ba’s temperament and knew that this matter might prove to be difficult in explaining to him. For Gui Ba, the fist was the truth. For him, anybody who dared to tarnish the Gui Yuan City deserved to be damned to oblivion. However, he and Gui Ba were different. He knew that if the Dragon and Phoenix Academy really wanted to bring this matter to light, even if they did not choose to physically attack the Gui Yuan City, it would still cause the prestige of Gui Yuan City to drop by a considerable margin.
Although it might be a minor matter in the grand scheme of things, it could still end up with the loss of their 9-Star Faction status, if not already extinguished by the others. In the Le Continent’s past, didn’t that behemoth, the Kun Yun Academy, also ended up destroyed entirely because of a trivial matter.
As such, Gui Kuang did not have any choice but to try to explain the situation, “I heard that an undergarment of Na Xinlan’s missing disciple was also among those other undergarments. Perhaps she suspected that her disciple had fallen under the hands of someone from the Gui Clan, which only…..”
Gui Ba nodded, “Such being the case, you go and ask that Na Xinlan, about who gave her those undergarments. If that woman is not tactful, then…..”
Seeing Gui Ba reveal a grim glint in his eyes, Gui Kuang suddenly discovered that he had underestimated the Elder Taoist, who looked like a Buddhist monk.
……
“My master is in seclusion for the moment, may I ask what important matter it is that you want to convey to her, senior?” Jia Lingwei’s face revealed a smile as she faced Gui Kuang. Although she returned the courtesy with a smiling face, she remained very vigilant while speaking.
There was always a divide between the Gui Clan and the Dragon and Phoenix Academy. Moreover, Gui Kuang of the Gui Clan was also not someone simple. Logically speaking, the status of her master in the Dragon and Phoenix Academy was not as high as Gui Kuang’s status in the Gui Clan. So, how could such a person like Gui Kuang come to personally visit her master?
“It does not matter. I will come back in a few days.” Gui Kuang spoke without care.
After Gui Kuang walked away, Na Xinlan came out with an unfriendly expression on her face.
“Master. A moment ago, Gui Kuang from the Gui Yuan City came. I saw him once before allowing me to recognise him.” Seeing her master come out, Jia Lingwei quickly reported.
Na Xinlan nodded, “I know, this man is a tiger disguised as a sheep, with a kindly face but a cruel heart. Vicious and extremely cunning. For him to come here, it must be because of those undergarments that Ning Cheng had brought back. The Dean had asked me where I got them at that time, but I did not state it. I honestly do not know why the Gui Clan came only now to ask about it. Logically speaking, they should have obtained this news a long time back.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Jia Lingwei asked, somewhat worried.
After a long silence, Na Xinlan finally spoke out, “Although Ning Cheng might be powerful; however, I guess that he should at most be at the intermediate stages of the Soul Sculpting Realm. Initially, when Ning Cheng killed that Duan Zhang, he must have used some special means to achieve that result, but if the people from the Gui Clan came to know about him, then it would become tough for him to escape by just relying on luck. The Gui Clan does not even need to send out their Crucible Transformation Cultivators, yet would be able to easily massacre Ning Cheng.”
After saying those words, Na Xinlan gave out a heavy sigh. She knew that she, by herself, could not help Ning Cheng. All she can do for now was to do everything possible to delay the Gui Clan from realising that the person they were looking for was Ning Cheng. Even if the undergarment incident was not there, Ning Cheng had already killed Gui Yuhai, ending up with creating a death grudge between him and the Gui Clan.
……
As the coming months passed by quickly, Gui Kuang’s frequency of visiting the Dragon and Phoenix Academy increased. However, at this time, he did not directly come seek out Na Xinlan; instead, he sought out Si Qishui of the Dragon and Phoenix Academy.
“Brother Kuang, it really is quite strange, I was just thinking about visiting Brother Kuang. I did not think that Brother Kuang would personally come grace someone like me with a visit. Please sit down, please sit down……” Si Qishui gave a broad smile as he ushered Gui Kuang into the living room of his residence, while simultaneously pouring Gui Kuang a cup of Spiritual Tea.
He had his own doubts as to why Gui Kuang wanted to see him. Although he and Gui Kuang knew each other, they did not share even a good friendship between them. As such, it felt quite far-fetched for him to earn such a personal visit.
“Hearing that brother Qishui is close to advancing to the late stages of Sea Opening Realm, I specifically came to wish you with success.” Gui Kuang laughed before speaking in an enthusiastic manner.
At this moment, Si Qishui had even more doubts in his heart. Stranded at the 6th Level of Sea Opening Realm for over a hundred years, he was unable to break through to the late stages of the Sea Opening Realm. Moreover, Gui Kuang would also not be this kind to personally grace him with a visit. Did he deliberately come here to ridicule me?
However, Si Qishui also had spent a considerable amount of time inside and outside the Dragon and Phoenix Academy. As such, what kind of scenes had he not experienced? Even if Gui Kuang wanted to ridicule him, he did not care much about it. At least, his cultivation was still higher by a full level when compared to Gui Kuang.
“Haha, Brother Kuang likes to joke around. I’ve been stuck at the 6th Level of Sea Opening Realm for over a hundred years, something already well known to everyone. There is nothing to conceal about it.” Si Qishui spoke with a chuckle.
Gui Kuang took a sip from the cup of Spiritual Tea in his hands, he did not mind the jibe directed at him, before he spoke up, “It looks like Brother Qishui misunderstood the meaning of my words. I think that if Brother Qishui wants to advance to the late stages of Sea Opening Realm, then it would definitely be possible at this time.”
Si Qishui finally understood that Gui Kuang was not really ridiculing him. However, his words created even more doubt in his heart, and he couldn’t help but ask about it, “What does Brother Kuang want to say?”
“Brother Qishui should know that my Gui Yuan City has a nice treasure with us, it is the 7-Coloured Mirage Stone. If I lend the 7-Coloured Mirage Stone to Brother Qishui, then presumably Brother Qishui would no longer have to worry about a little bottleneck, right?” Gui Kuang gave a smile, before speaking out calmly.
Although Gui Kuang remained calm, Si Qishui could no longer stay calm as he stood up in shock. Even his tone trembled as he tried to voice his words, “You mean to say that Brother Kuang is actually willing to let me use the 7-Coloured Mirage Stone?”
Using a 7-Coloured Mirage Stone to breakthrough a bottleneck, most of the cultivators above the Soul Essence Realm knew about it. For the Sea Opening Realm and above cultivators, if they met a bottleneck along their cultivation, then they could choose to refine a Mirage Realm Pill from the 7-Coloured or above Mirage Stones. They could then use it to breakthrough their bottlenecks using confusing falsehood with the truth.
Of course, it would mean that they would have to waste a Mirage Stone. To not lose the precious Mirage Stones, a Mirage Realm Array can also be set up using the Mirage Stones. Although this method is inferior to the Mirage Realm Pill, it still was one of the ways to continually break through the Realms. It was especially useful for cultivators who were not able to breakthrough for a long time.
Gui Kuang gave a smile once again before speaking, “Brother Qishui misspoke a while ago. The 7-Coloured Mirage Stone is not mine to give but belongs to the Gui Clan. I have no right to lend it to you.”
Si Qishui immediately understood what was going on, hiding his happy expression, his tone also turned gentle before he spoke up, “Don’t know what Brother Gui needs from me? If it’s within the scope of my abilities, and also does not bring any kind of harm to the Dragon and Phoenix Academy, then I, Si Qishui, would absolutely not decline it.”
He was aware that Gui Clan wanted something from him; otherwise, it was impossible for them to lend him, the Vice-Dean of the Dragon and Phoenix Academy, a 7-Coloured Mirage Stone.
Gui Kuang gave a laugh before speaking, “My Gui Yuan City and the Dragon and Phoenix Academy are brothers. How can I possibly think to bring any harm to the Dragon and Phoenix Academy? A few months ago, someone took a few boxes of undergarments to find Junior Apprentice Sister Na Xinlan, saying that it was something belonging to the Gui Yuan City. That person deliberately wants to frame my Gui Yuan City using these things. Although my Gui Yuan City is magnanimous, it is still not generous enough to let other people frame us. All we want is to ask Junior Apprentice Sister Na Xinlan as to who was the person who had handed over those things to her to frame my Gui Yuan City.”
“Brother Kuang, although I am the Vice-Dean of the Dragon and Phoenix Academy, I cannot command…..”
Si Qishui was not able to complete his words, when he was interrupted by Gui Kuang, “I apologise for not speaking clearly a moment ago, causing Brother Qishui to misunderstand things. I only want Junior Apprentice Sister Na Xinlan to just point us in the right direction of that person. Initially, I wanted to ask this in person to Junior Apprentice Sister Na Xinlan, but it is unfortunate that Junior Apprentice Sister is in seclusion. I did not have any other choice and can only request that Brother Qishui lend a helping hand to each other.”
Hearing that he only wanted to ask a few questions to Na Xinlan, Si Qishui immediately laughed and spoke, “Brother Kuang, I certainly would be able to take care of this matter, what use is there for waiting, let’s go. I will take Brother Kuang to seek out Junior Apprentice Sister Xinlan…..”
……
“Is this the Le Continent?” Yang Honghou stood at the prow of the airship and asked excitedly. He had been yearning to come to the Le Continent for over many years. He had heard that the Le Continent was full of Spirit Stones, full of Magical Weapons, and even cultivating in this place was as natural as breathing.
At this time, it was not only Yang Honghou; even Nan Yuefang had stopped cultivating, filled with a desire to look around. However, Ning Ruolan was the only one who did not care about it. She had just recently gone to the Le Continent along with her Big Brother.
However, she certainly did not know that if there were no Ning Cheng, then ordinary people would not even be capable of leaving the Ping Continent, let alone come to the Le Continent.
“Going to the Le Continent, of course, would certainly be good, but not now. Yuefang, you, and Yang Honghou take control of the airship. If anything unfavourable happens, I will immediately send you a message. At that time, immediately fly into the Yi Xing Ocean. This is a low-grade True Artefact; as such, there is hardly anyone capable enough to catch up to it. Even around the periphery of the Yi Xing Ocean, there are practically no Monstrous Beasts that would be able to overtake this low-grade True Artefact.” Ning Cheng stood up and spoke.
“Big Brother, what about you?” Ning Ruolan immediately asked. Ji Luofei was also anxiously looking at Ning Cheng. Hearing his words, didn’t it mean that Ning Cheng was not planning to walk together with them? If Ruolan had not already asked that question, she would have definitely questioned him.
Ning Cheng spoke out slowly, “The Le Continent is not our final destination. I’m going to the Tian Continent. I don’t know when the next time I would be able to come back to this place. However, since I came here today, then I must go to the Gui Clan to settle some accounts. They dared to lay their hands on Luofei; it looks like their dog eyes have turned blind.”
Ji Luofei quickly held onto Ning Cheng as she promptly spoke out, “I don’t care about it. Let’s not go there.”
Although she was not clear about the strength of the Gui Clan and the other top-level existences, she heard from Senior Gongsun that it was a 9-Star Faction. How can a single person like Ning Cheng deal with such a behemoth?
Ning Cheng gently held onto Ji Luofei’s hands, and motioned that she did not need to be worried about it, “Other than the matter relating to Luofei, there are two other reasons. I already killed that Gui Feng; as such, the Gui Clan would never ever give up on pursuing me. If they decided to investigate matters to the end, then they would definitely come knocking on Senior Na Xinlan’s door to at least ask questions.”
“Sooner or later, news about me resurfacing would come out, whether it is Senior Na Xinlan or the Ping Continent, none of them would be able to withstand the Gui Clan’s anger. Since I already have thoroughly offended that clan, then there is no reason or way for me to back down. What’s more, this Gui Clan is even an obnoxious clan, if I had the strength previously, then I would have already obliterated it.”
Ning Cheng had already decided. Although he might have to temporarily move away from the people with him, he was clear that there was no other way. Ning Cheng knew that if he brought them along, then it would only add more chaos to the trouble he intended to stir up.
