Chapter 0452: Called Yan Ji
“Since the price of accommodation is so high, why don’t you go out and pull people in? If we chose to not enter this business establishment, wouldn’t your business get dragged away by others?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
The man smiled, “Friend, you’ve just arrived here, so it’s not a surprise that you do not know about the situation in this place. There are only 12 Rest Stops here belonging to 12 different factions. Every day, two to three people travel through the Heaven’s Way, before those cultivators finally arrive at the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. Today, it is the turn of the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce, the Extinguishing Karma Starry Sky Fleet, and the Black City Pill Union for business.”
“However, there is a rule that if the cultivator, who has just arrived, did not agree to do business with those three factions, then they can enter this place. That way, anyone can choose to take up that business. You can rest assured that as long as you come to our Heaven City Chamber of Commerce’s Rest Stop, they would definitely not come looking for you. This is an ironclad rule in this place.”
Ning Cheng and the others felt a bit surprised, those words were tantamount to saying that this place was an excellent collection point for the cultivator’s Spirit Stones. Since twelve factions could open their Merchant Houses along with Rest Stops in this place, which also meant that these 12 factions should also be the most powerful forces within the Rootless Black City. Otherwise, there would be no chance for them to open a Merchant House in this place.
Ning Cheng had glanced around a few of the other Merchant Houses along the way; however, he found that only a very few of these Merchant Houses sold goods. Most of them turned out to be pawnshops and mortgaging Merchant Houses. Apparently, many cultivators who came to this place did not possess enough Spirit Stones; in other words, they would have no choice but to take out their own things to exchange for money. When it came to cultivators who lived in this place for a long time, apparently they still did not possess enough Spirit Stones to go to the Rootless Black City. For these cultivators without Spirit Stones, Ning Cheng didn’t ask them what were their sources to earn Spirit Stones.
“I intend to stay here for a while; Brother Lan, what about you four?” Ning Cheng quickly decided to stay for some time in the Heaven City Rest Stop. He believed that this man in charge would not intentionally jack up the prices, primarily because of the fierce competition in this place.
“We will also be staying here.” Lan Wenbin spoke up without any hesitation.
The man in charge, on hearing that all six of them wanted to stay here, immediately felt happy. He quickly spoke up, “Do you want to exchange for some Black Coins first? Since you intend to stay here, we also have a Handbook of Survival for the Rootless Black City.”
Ning Cheng redeemed 150,000 Black Coins. Collecting the Handbook of Survival, he then proceeded to the Rest Stop’s room allotted to him along with Ji Luofei.
“Husband…..”
Ning Cheng interrupted Ji Luofei’s words with a smile, “Just call me ‘Darling’ from now on. It feels awkward every time you address me as ‘Husband’.”
[Tl Note: I decided to keep the word as ‘Darling’ to keep the narrative even, but a more colloquial word here would be ‘Hubby’, which feels a little weird in the coming dialogues, between the two.]
“En.” Ji Luofei didn’t know what ‘Darling’ meant at all. However, she agreed to it without any hesitation. “Darling, I don’t think those people would let us go. After going to the Rootless Black City, we have to be careful.”
“There are certainly not going to let us go. However, we should wait until we understand the Rootless Black City a bit better before we make a decision.” Ning Cheng took out the Handbook of Survival and opened it.
Ning Cheng quickly flipped through the Handbook before handing it to Ji Luofei.
The Rootless Black City was in all a dilapidated mainland. Among the other regions floating around in the Void, this broken mainland had only a single city, the Rootless Black City. Outside of the Rootless Black City, there was the dangerous Void all around. If one was not careless, then one might end up swallowed by the empty space.
Precisely because of this, the Rootless Black City had a large population. Although the city itself was huge, every inch within was worth in gold.
All the cultivators that gathered in the Rootless Black City wanted to get out of that place. However, the Void Ship leaving the Rootless Black City would only come once in 10 years. Moreover, it would take a considerable amount of Black Coins to exit the Rootless Black City.
To survive in the Rootless Black City, the only thing to do was to cultivate and go out to find ways to earn Black Coins. As to collecting Black Coins, many people would form teams to leave the Rootless Black City and head into the Void to search for Black Essence Stones. These Black Essence Stones were the only materials used for the manufacture of Black Coins. Only by earning Black Coins would one have the opportunity to leave the Rootless Black City on a Void Ship.
As for the dangers within the Void, Ning Cheng can only imagine it. Venturing out in this kind of place to earn a certain amount of Black Coins, and then leave the Rootless Black City, the difficulty was something unimaginable. Also, according to the introduction that he read, to live in the Rootless Black City, one must even pay a certain amount of Black Coins every day. In other words, if one did not possess a fixed source for Black Coins, then one cannot even grab onto a foothold in the Rootless Black City.
Although the Handbook of Survival stated that if one had a top-grade treasure, then you can choose to sell it at the Rootless Black City in exchange for Black Coins. No matter what method you use to earn them, you can leave the Rootless Black City as long as you made a certain amount of Black Coins. However, Ning Cheng could also imagine that the Black Coins needed to leave the Rootless Black City would undoubtedly be immense. Trivial treasures would not help in gathering the necessary Black Coins.
He had some treasures with him, like the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence and the 9-Colored Mirage Tree; however, he absolutely did not dare to take it out in this place. As for the Underworld Soul Flower, he had already placed it over Xu Hanrui’s body. He also wanted to help Xun Hanrui recover; until her Life Essence recovered, he would not move it from its place.
As for the Heavenly Cusp Flower, he still had one more; however, he still had a few uses for it. As for the Essence of Wood, he definitely cannot take it out.
Ning Cheng took out a Black Coin and looked at it. The coin in his hand looked similar to a penny in size and was as thick as paper money but grey in colour. Ning Cheng tried to crush it; unexpectedly, not even a vague trace appeared. This showed that the Black Coin was tough. There was also a black palace imprinted on top of the Black Coin. However, the strangest thing that Ning Cheng found was that this Black Coin only contained a single denomination; in other words, one Black Coin was one unit.
Ji Luofei also finished reading the Handbook by this time. A faint trace of fear lingered on her face.
“Don’t worry; since people can live in the Rootless Black City, then we can also survive there.” Ning Cheng comforted Ji Luofei. Perhaps, the Spirit Stones he possessed would be enough for them to leave the Rootless Black City.
……
During these three days, Ning Cheng did not go out of the Rest Stop. It was better than getting into trouble all around. The local forces in this place were staggered and complex. Moreover, he even ended up offending the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce before entering the Rootless Black City.
What’s more, Ning Cheng discovered that although this place was just a stone within the Void, he felt that cultivating in this place was a lot better than in Tian Continent. This showed that even in this kind of place in the middle of the Void, the Laws of the Heavens were still a lot stronger compared to the ones in the Tian Continent.
On the third day, the man in charge from the Heaven City Chamber of Commerce took the initiative to come knocking at their doors. “The two guests, the ship leaving to the Rootless Black City is about to open its doors. The two of you, please follow me to the Void Ship.”
Ning Cheng took out a stack of 100 Black Coins and handed it to the man, “You’ve worked quite hard these days.”
This was tantamount to tipping. Although Ning Cheng might have been in cultivation seclusion these past three days, however, Ning Cheng had deployed his powerful Spiritual Consciousness to look at the situation when somebody came to inquire about them. However, this man in charge seemed to be quite the kind-hearted fellow, he just swung and waved around his hands a bit, and spoke up that he did not know about anything they wanted to ask.
This person honestly had not expected Ning Cheng to be so generous. He quickly received it and spoke, “Many thanks, friend….”
Maybe because of receiving money from Ning Cheng, after the man gave his thanks, he hesitated a bit before speaking up, “Friend, I have some words that might offend you; however, I really do not have any malicious intentions, nor do I want to ….”
Ning Cheng smiled and spoke, “It doesn’t matter. Even if the words are offensive, you can speak freely with me.”
“Ok. After you and your friends arrive at the Rootless Black City, you must pay attention to any news regarding the Rootless Black City’s Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi. This person cultivates an Extreme Yang oriented cultivation method, which resulted in his sexual appetite growing unmatched. He even harmed numerous foreign female cultivators……”
As the man in charge spoke until here, he subconsciously looked at Ji Luofei standing just behind Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng on seeing his actions immediately understood what he meant. That is, since his wife was so beautiful, if he went to the Rootless Black City, and ended up encountering Xu Liangzhi, it would turn hazardous for them.
“Thank you for reminding me. I understand.” Ning Cheng nodded and replied. He felt grateful to this person.
The man in charge continued on, “The person this friend killed at the front was Cecile from the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce. Therefore, you must also have a way to protect yourself from the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce. However, you must be careful about Gary from the Extinguishing Karma Starry Sky Fleet. This person is the epitome of maliciousness. Although he might not dare to fight with you, he, however, would most likely leak some information to the Rootless Black City’s Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi…..”
The following words, this man in charge did not speak out. Ning Cheng, however, already understood the rest. That is, Gary might just send information about Ji Luofei’s arrival at the Rootless Black City to Xu Liangzhi.
Ning Cheng frowned; he knew that the waiter had not spoken out pointlessly. In any case, the matter from before had indeed happened. If it really were the case, then it would prove troublesome for him.
“Something similar to this also happened a few years ago. At that time, a stunning female cultivator arrived at the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, with an appearance comparable to senior’s Dao Companion. However, this person came alone. At that time, the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, the Void Gale Alliance, and the people from the City Master’s Mansion were in charge. Goukang Yishan of the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce had only taken a glimpse of this female cultivator when he couldn’t help but want to take away that female cultivator on the spot. But at that time Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi also had come here, and also had taken a fancy to this female cultivator……”
The waiter sighed, “The strength of the Rootless Black City’s Junior City Master turned out a lot higher compared to the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce’s Goukang Yishan. According to the normal circumstances, this female cultivator should have gone to the Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi. However, no one expected that this female cultivator would turn out to be extremely fierce, and even resorted to a frenzied style of combat, refusing capture. At that time, three more people arrived at the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. This was a couple with a seven or eight-year-old little girl. This couple felt very dissatisfied with the practices of Xu Liangzhi and Goukang Yishan and immediately joined the fray against them.”
“What happened next?” Ning Cheng asked.
“If not for the presence of Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi, Goukang Yishan definitely was not an opponent against the couple. Even if the couple killed Goukang Yishan, no one would have come looking for them to find trouble for a period, just as this friend killed Cecile. However, that Xu Liangzhi also had a few strong people by his side. The couple and the female cultivator trio were not a match against them. In the end, they were forced out of the Receiving Heaven’s Stone…..”
After the waiter spoke until here, he shook his head. Apparently, according to him, forced out of the Receiving Heaven’s Stone was synonymous for death. The Receiving Heaven’s Stone had natural restrictions protecting it, these restrictions kept the innumerable Spacial Wind Edges and Spacial Cracks from approaching the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. Moreover, going out of the Receiving Heaven’s Stone was extremely easy, without costing much effort. Which led to the forcing of the couple and the stunning beauty out of the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. It also echoed a sentiment that in the endless Void, having a compassionate heart was synonymous with death.
“Did you happen to catch the name of this female cultivator?” Ning Cheng thought back to the time several years ago when many cultivators from the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect had come over to this place. It caused an unexpected worry to fill up his heart. Moreover, he also knew that thirty Crucible Transformation Cultivators had come in from the Tian Continent around that time. From this, it stood for the reason that it was impossible for a just a single person from that group appearing here by themselves.
The waiter immediately replied, “I know, her name was Yan Ji.”
