Chapter 0437: Destroying the Ghost Rattan King
“Brother Mu, haven’t these Ghost Rattans already entered the Tian Continent? Is this place not within the range of the Tian Continent?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
Mu Ziming shook his head and spoke, “No, it’s not. If I did not guess incorrectly, this is the Yi Xing Mainland’s Domain Boundary Abyss. This Domain Boundary Abyss has a partial connection to the Void, making it very difficult to discover the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan growing in this place. Even I don’t know how Jia Shisan discovered that this place contained the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan.”
Ning Cheng also frowned, if these Underworld Crow Ghost Rattans chose to completely shrink into the walls of the blue hole and not come out, even he would be helpless in dealing with it. The walls of this blue hole were tough; moreover, even if he could manage to break it apart, it would not mean that he could also find the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan hiding inside.
“This won’t do, let me go all the way in with my flames, find the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King, and burn it down.” Ning Cheng had lived in the Yi Xing Mainland for many years, allowing him to gather a few friends. He also did not want the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King to sweep through the entire Yi Xing Mainland.
Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng both shook their heads simultaneously, “Your flames can only burn the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan around the edges. This Underworld Ghost Rattan King should be quite weak since it did not continue to pester us after suffering burns and allowed us to out. If you are really determined to deal with the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King, then it would truly be difficult to determine as to who the final winner would be.”
“If I do not take the initiative, then the suction force at the entrance of that hole would not dissipate, and we will also remain stranded in this place. Although our situation is slightly better than before, once the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King grows up, we will still end up dying.” As Ning Cheng thought about it, he decided to throw everything away on a gamble to destroy the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King.
The blue hole was ice cold. Considering that Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng were currently too weak, Ning Cheng arranged a Rank 8 Defensive Array Formation, allowing the two of them inside the Array Formation to help them recover faster. He then started to explore the depths of the blue hole to search for the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King. If after he left the area, if these rattan vines once again tried to entangle the Mu Ziming duo, the two of them would still be able to hang on for 2 or 3 days with the help of the Rank 8 Defensive Array Formation.
Maybe the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King sensed the presence of the Star River, which it dreaded very much, on Ning Cheng’s body, so once Ning Cheng started moving towards the depths of the blue hole, no rattan vines came erupted to entangle him. In the entire blue hole, in addition to the sounds of his footsteps, there was only a misty blue dim light, as well as the omnipresent freezing cold that cut to the bone.
This blue hole was just like a bottomless pit. As Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept forwards, he could only perceive a faint blue film in front of him. It was as if something blocked the path forward for his Spiritual Consciousness, keeping him from seeing into the depths of this place.
An hour later, Ning Cheng finally understood something. For decades, trapped at the outermost layer of this blue hole, none of them knew about the mysteriousness of this place.
Another half an hour later, Ning Cheng finally came to a stop. There were two entrances adjacent to each other in front of him, again in the form of holes. He did not know whether to enter the left hole or the right hole.
However, Ning Cheng suddenly felt something wrong. If this Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King lived this deep, how was Jia Shisan planning to use the 9-Colored Mirage Tree to capture the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan? He apparently did not have any unique flames on him; as such, it was almost impossible for him to reach this far into this place.
Thinking of this, Ning Cheng did not move forwards; instead, he took out a 9-Colored Mirage Stone and started to refine it into an Array Flag.
After an incense stick worth of time, Ning Cheng refined the 9-Colored Mirage Stone into an Array Flag for a Cloth Array. As a top-class Tier 8 Array Formation Grandmaster, after refining a 9-Colored Mirage Stone into an Array Flag, Ning Cheng then laid out an Illusion Array in a short time.
Even Ning Cheng himself did not know what would happen after he arranged the Illusion Array, or about the next steps. He only knew that Jia Shisan wanted to capture the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King with the help of the 9-Colored Mirage Tree. This showed that this Ghost Rattan King should show some form of resistance towards illusions.
What surprised Ning Cheng was that just as he finished arranging his Illusion Array, the two holes in front of him immediately started to disappear. At the same time, a third entrance appeared right in the middle of the previous two holes. After another moment, the left and right holes disappeared.
This Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan really had some relations to illusions; Ning Cheng thought as he grabbed the Array Flag and immediately rushed into the hole that had just appeared. Just as he went in, many rattan vines shot into the air towards him, accompanied by bouts of thunderous roaring noises.
Ning Cheng did not feel any surprise in regards to this; on the contrary, he knew that he did not go astray on the path. This place here indeed was the lair of the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King.
The Star River, just like a burst of fireworks, immediately spread and proliferated around Ning Cheng’s surroundings. Explosion sounds immediately erupted from all around him when Ning Cheng once again sniffed the familiar burning stench.
From this, Ning Cheng estimated that he was reasonably close to the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King. Especially since these rattan vines still pounced towards Ning Cheng location, despite suffering intense burns. It’s as if these vines simply did not care about the raging flames in the surroundings.
As he went further in, these rattan vines started attacking Ning Cheng in an even crazier manner, not giving Ning Cheng’s Star River enough time to burn them away. These Ghost Rattan Vines only had a single purpose. That is, to block Ning Cheng, to not let Ning Cheng close to the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King.
Maybe the reason why the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King had gotten this angry was that it sensed Ning Cheng’s intent of destroying its foundation.
Although the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King might have turned angry because of his behaviour, Ning Cheng was also similarly feeling a peculiar rage build up inside of him. Sealed for decades by this Ghost Rattan, he had not even made a move, when this Ghost Rattan actually gained a head start over him.
During the decades of entrapment, Ning Cheng had not chosen to use the remaining Essence Birthing Bamboo Pith with him. However, at this time, Ning Cheng did not hesitate to take out what little Essence Birthing Bamboo Pith that he possessed and emptied it into his mouth. As his True Essence quickly recovered, Ning Cheng immediately started crazily stimulating the Star River.
The Star River’s flame, with the help of Ning Cheng’s stimulation and his True Essence, immediately exploded out.
An even more intense charcoal-like smell emerged; no one knew how many rattan vines were attacking Ning Cheng, nor could anyone guess as to how many rattan vines turned to ashes by Ning Cheng. At this time, Ning Cheng did not think of anything else, just desperately catalysing the Star River’s flames. In the same way, the rattan vines crazily and repeatedly pounced onto Ning Cheng.
The originally ice-cold blue hole, because of Ning Cheng’s deadly catalysation of the Star River’s flames, turned scorching hot in almost an instant. The ice-cold atmosphere completely vanished as if it never existed.
The feeling of once again being able to control the surrounding space welled up inside his mind again. At the same time, Ning Cheng immediately caught each of the rattan vines trying to attack him. These flocked over rattan vines seemed frozen in space.
This definitely was similar to what the Mu Ziming trio had thought of previously, about it having some relations to a Domain. It was also the same feeling that Ning Cheng felt when he went up against Rong Jin. However, compared to the last time, where Ning Cheng ended up trapped in Rong Jin’s Domain-like space, this time, it was the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan that was caught in his Domain-like area.
Ning Cheng, instead, closed his eyes, while a clear picture of his Star River crazily burning away the rattan vines appeared inside his consciousness. However, these rattan vines honestly gave the feeling of being inexhaustible, causing Ning Cheng to give out a sigh while calming himself down from his previous angry mood. At this moment, he already prepared himself for a long and drawn out battle, he did not believe that he would not be able to burn away these rattan vines.
Once Ning Cheng converged his anxious and angry feelings, the situation of the rattan vines surrounding him became even more apparent. He could perceive a round altar. In the middle of this altar, there was a green, shiny looking vine growing. The countless rattan vines that were rushing over to block his path forward were all spreading out from this green vine.
This definitely was the Ghost Rattan King, Ning Cheng’s heart immediately started to overflow with even more powerful killing intent. Although the number of rattan vines attacking him increased, as long as he killed the Ghost Rattan King, everything would disappear.
The bright green shiny-looking vine growing on the round altar seemed to have also noticed Ning Cheng’s killing intent. The green rattan vine suddenly rose up, the entire vine transforming into a stout and thick vine, several dozen times larger than its previous state, which then turned into an incomparably and terrifyingly large rattan vine in the next instant as it rumbled towards Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng felt his heart shiver; however, he knew that it was too late to call back his Spiritual Consciousness. Without even thinking of anything else, he immediately activated the Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique.
As the incomparably thick green vine came crashing down, he knew that the Star River’s flame would not be able to burn away the vine in time by itself. If the Star River were unable to resolve the deadlock with this gigantic Ghost Rattan King, then this Ghost Rattan King would definitely stab into Ning Cheng’s body, killing him instantly. Looking at this thick and sturdy looking Ghost Rattan King, Ning Cheng estimated that his own flesh and blood would not be enough to even engulf it.
At this moment, a feeling of space collapsing emerged, followed by the seemingly inexhaustible flames in the surrounding to disappear almost instantaneously. The rattan vine on sensing that the Star River’s fire had suddenly vanished, it felt itself at a loss.
Even the massive Ghost Rattan King rushing towards Ning Cheng stilled for a moment; however, a moment later, the endless rattan vines recovered and accelerated towards Ning Cheng.
A few of the rattan vine, in just a twinkling of an eye, tore through Ning Cheng’s robes. A few rattan vines even whipped across Ning Cheng’s body. However, at this moment, the surrounding space disappeared. In this vanishing space, even the Ghost Rattan King couldn’t help itself from stopping.
“Boom….” A violent and tearing explosion rang out at the periphery. At the same time, everything within the range of the blast disappeared. Everything turned to nihility.
Terrifying flames emerged but also vanished a moment later after clearing away everything into nihility.
These flames emerged quickly, vanishing even quicker. After the explosion disappeared, all the rattan vines in the surroundings also disappeared. Even the green coloured Ghost Rattan King on the round altar had also vanished. Only a fist-sized green glowing object remained suspended over the platform in the air. Just now, the Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique had eradicated everything around; however, it failed to destroy this fist-sized green object.
Ning Cheng felt extremely shocked in his heart as he could feel that his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique turned out to be countless times more powerful when compared to the past. However, he quickly suppressed this feeling as he raised his hand and grabbed onto the fist-sized green ball.
A powerful wooden attributed aura transmitted from the ball, allowing Ning Cheng to instantly understand what this object was. This object was none other than the Essence of Wood.
As an Earth Pill Grandmaster, who would soon advance to Tier 8, he undoubtedly had heard about the Essence of Wood. However, he had never seen the Essence of Wood, let alone obtaining such a large clump of it. Essences and Origins were not the same; compared to Origins, Essences were definitely inferior. However, Essences had a direct effect on a cultivator.
Ning Cheng quickly took out a jade box, before carefully placing the Essence of Wood into it from his hands before sealing it and putting it away. In his heart, he felt genuinely overjoyed, as he thought that his unexpected trip here did not end up in vain.
After the level-up of his Star River, his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique’s power also had risen considerably, causing it to display a horrendous might when unleashed. Ning Cheng estimated that the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King, under his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique, should have turned into nihility.
The thought of hurrying back to where Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng were waiting had just popped up in Ning Cheng’s mind when bursts of thunderous roars started echoing all around as the surrounding walls of the blue hole began to collapse. As the walls of this blue hole collapsed, one could make out this place indeed had connections to the Void.
Ning Cheng once again turned significantly anxious in his heart as he swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness to find an escape route. However, before he could find an escape route, he discovered a section of greyish-black rattan vine.
Didn’t he destroy the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan? Ning Cheng felt greatly surprised in his heart. Rather than choosing to leave, he immediately came forward and grabbed the greyish-black piece of rattan vine with his hand.
Holding the section of rattan vine in his hands, Ning Cheng instantly understood that this object was a part left behind from the burned Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan. It turned out to be a section that managed to survive his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique. Since even his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique could not destroy this thing, then it definitely was not a simple object.
Ning Cheng swiftly started to retreat from this place while simultaneously took out a jade box and put the section of the rattan vine in it before sealing it and storing it away.
