That was the case. From the looks of it, if one had a sufficient strength despite low cultivation, the audience would find their matches the most appealing. Ning Cheng had already made it clear that he was just a Celestial Novice Cultivator. At the same time, most of his opponents were Celestial Shatterer Cultivators, apart from a few Celestial Gatherer Cultivators. From the looks of it, most of his matches had ended up as level-surpassing challenges, which had invariantly contributed to his newfound fame.
The Arena ranked their champions based on their abilities to take up level-surpassing challenges. Once one decided to take up level-surpassing challenges, as long as they could remain the champion, they would then be able to pick their opponents. If a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator challenged them, they could either refuse or agree. At the same time, of the Celestial Forest Arena’s three most formidable champions, two had a Celestial Gatherer Cultivation while the other had a Celestial Shatterer Cultivation. No wonder the Stage Master wanted him to take the stage.
Using a Celestial Gatherer Champion to fight against someone else’s Celestial Novice Champion, even if they won, there would be no glory it in. Moreover, not many people would come to watch the match.
However, if that Suo Qiaoye really had just a Celestial Novice Cultivation, then he would not have to worry too much, as long as his cultivation remained within the Celestial Novice Realm. Even if he had a late-stage Celestial Novice Cultivation, so what of it?
Thinking of it, Ning Cheng spoke up, “If I can obtain the Wishful Treasure Light Silk and the Sky Treasure Silk, plus the 5 billion Green Coins, I can think of taking up the challenge.”
Ning Cheng did not feel afraid knowing that he had to fight against a strong Celestial Novice Cultivator. Moreover, there were also benefits involved now. As for whether he became famous or not, he did not care about it. Especially since his current appearance was not his actual appearance.
The Arena Master pondered over it slightly before speaking, “The Sky Treasure Silk is too precious, and I won’t be able to obtain it; however, I can help you get the Wishful Treasure Light Silk.”
Ning Cheng spoke up without missing a beat, “Deal; however, if I have to take up the challenge, I would need the Wishful Treasure Light Silk right now.”
The reason Ning Cheng had not wanted to take up the challenge previously, apart from not wanting to fight against strong Celestial Gatherer Cultivators, was to avoid becoming a puppet. It was just plain stupid to risk his small life to help a few unknown people earn money.
If the Celestial Forest Arena could take out the Wishful Treasure Light Silk, everything would change. As long as he could obtain the Wishful Treasure Light Silk, he could use it immediately to upgrade his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Light to four pairs of glittering lights, which would improve his odds of surviving tremendously.
“Ok, you will get the Wishful Treasure Light Silk tomorrow. For now, just rest for the coming two days. In these two days, we will work on promoting this fight to the entire Revolving Jade City. Two days later, you and the Gale Arena’s Suo Qiaoye will duke it out in the Celestial Forest Arena. Dao Friend Wanderer, this time my Celestial Forest Arena will depend on you.” The Arena Master spoke out straightforwardly.
“Stage Master, rest assured that as long as I get what I want, I will definitely go all out.” Ning Cheng expressed his own determination according to the circumstances. With appropriate benefits, one could even work themselves to death willingly.
Ning Cheng decided to stay put for now. Waiting in the Immortal Cave, he began to consolidate and temper his cultivation and Spiritual Consciousness. At the same time, Ning Cheng also prepared to immediately retreat after the fight. If he could kill Suo Qiaoye, it would definitely make him famous. However, having concealed his identity, fame would not bring him any advantages.
……
Ning Cheng had not thought that before the Wishful Treasure Light Silk had arrived, someone else came to his Immortal Cave. Moreover, it was someone he knew, Shi Yulan.
Ning Cheng opened the restriction over his Immortal Cave. Looking at Shi Yulan garbed in robes from top to bottom, he could not help but frown. Even if Shang Mou Celestial River King had temporarily left the Revolving Jade City, he believed that Shi Yulan should not have come out at this time.
Seeing Ning Cheng frown, Shi Yulan quickly spoke up, “Wanderer, you should not know me, my name is Shi Yulan, and I’m a huge fan of your fights. Moreover, you even helped take care of two enemies of my Senior Apprentice Sister and me. Today I just came to ask you about something. It might be a bit presumptuous of me, but…..”
She originally came as a fan, Ning Cheng thought as he spoke up, “Please come in and have a seat.”
“What do you want from me?” Ning Cheng looked at Shi Yulan, who sat opposite to him and asked bluntly while feeling somewhat funny inside.
Shi Yulan looked nervous. She knew that starry skies’ wanderers were an unrestrained and unruly bunch. For these starry skies’ wanderers, women served only a single function, that is, for venting. Because of this, most of the male cultivators wandering the starry skies had no respect for female cultivators.
Only, she worshipped the starry skies’ wanderers a bit too much. From this starry skies’ wanderer in front of her, she understood a lot many things that she could not comprehend while staying in seclusion. After each fight, her cultivation had also advanced a lot. However, whenever Ning Cheng fought, to avoid troubles, she never dared to use her Spiritual Consciousness to sweep outside the battle ring. As such, no one knew that she had come to watch the matches.
However, hearing a relatively polite tone from Ning Cheng stunned her for a few moments. This starry skies’ wanderer seemed a little different from the others.
“I heard that you’re going to fight against Gale Arena’s Suo Qiaoye. I came to tell you specifically not to represent the Celestial Forest Arena. You can’t say yes to this fight.” Shi Yulan felt slightly at peace in front of Ning Cheng for some reason. Even her previously nervous mood had calmed down a bit.
“Oh, why do you say that? I heard that Suo Qiaoye is just a Celestial Novice Cultivator. Why shouldn’t I say yes?” Ning Cheng asked in a calm voice.
Hearing Ning Cheng’s calm voice, the last shred of anxiety within Shi Yulan completely disappeared. “Dao Friend Wanderer, that Suo Qiaoye is too powerful. I heard that he has killed more than one Celestial Gatherer Cultivator. I heard that his Chess Domain has already reached a deep level. Even a Celestial Bridge Cultivator cannot pry into his Chess Domain.”
“His Chess Domain?” Ning Cheng asked in confusion.
Shi Yulan gave an affirmative nod, “Yes, his weapon of choice is a chess board; however, there are only three chess pieces on his chess board. Supposedly, the number of chess pieces increases with every advance in his cultivation. From what people say, he has more than three chess pieces, and only Celestial Gatherer Cultivators can force him to use more pieces. By the way, I brought you a crystal ball with a recording one of his fights against a Celestial Shatterer Powerhouse. It might be of some use to you.”
“Why are you helping me?” Ning Cheng looked at Shi Yulan and asked calmly. He felt confused. Even if he helped avenge Lan Ya, Shi Yulan would not help him. To say that Shi Yulan recognised him, Ning Cheng would also never believe it.
A slightly defective middle-grade Dao Artefact was still a middle-grade Dao Artefact. If a minor Celestial Gatherer Cultivator could see through the essence of this middle-grade Masking Dao Artefact, then this middle-grade Dao Artefact was just worthless.
Shi Yulan’s face turned red before she stood up and spoke, “I don’t know. I need to leave now. If you really want to fight this match, then you should be careful.”
Shi Yulan quickly hurried out of the Immortal Cave and only left behind a gratitude-filled thank you for Ning Cheng. She honestly had no idea as to why she came here to help this person. However, what she did know was that the fights of this starry skies’ wanderer in the battle ring had truly shocked her. Although that bearded starry skies’ wanderer gave off a feeling of vicissitudes, it had an ethereal feel to it.
What she did not know was that her senses were right on the mark. Ning Cheng had disguised himself with an illusion, and the person she saw didn’t exist at all.
After Shi Yulan left, Ning Cheng immediately looked into the crystal ball that she had given.
Seeing Suo Qiaoye’s appearance in the crystal ball caused a bit of surprise to Ning Cheng. He had initially thought that Suo Qiaoye had an appearance similar to him, that is, a rough and unobtrusive look, maybe even a beard. Primarily due to Zeng Chuxiong’s words, which described him as a maniac without any brains.
However, the fact was that Suo Qiaoye had a slightly pale face, thinner than him. He even had a somewhat slim figure and wore his hair shot. However, when he held up his cupped fist to speak before the match, he showed quite a powerful expression.
The crystal ball could not record Celestial Wheels; as such, Ning Cheng could also not make out Suo Qiaoye’s cultivation from the crystal ball. Presumably, the Celestial Forest Arena’s Arena Master will not lie to him, and this person should have only a Celestial Novice Cultivation.
Suo Qiaoye’s opponent was not tall, and a seemingly young cultivator. After the two people cupped their fists and spoke a sentence, Suo Qiaoye began.
Ning Cheng saw Suo Qiaoye take out a weapon, which indeed turned out to be a chessboard. Moreover, the board indeed had three pieces over it.
Suo Qiaoye’s opponent wielded a pair of cross-swords. The moment this pair of cross-swords appeared, many cross-sword shadows filled the sky. The moment these cross-shadows came out, these cross-sword shadows immediately submerged Suo Qiaoye.
However, Suo Qiaoye’s hand flicked twice, and two of the pieces on the board flew out. The two pieces swirled around the cross-sword shadows and quickly formed a huge vortex. The vortex started turning faster and faster. In just a few breaths, it completely swallowed these cross-sword shadows.
The cultivator, the one controlling the cross-sword, seemed to have felt a suppressive force and quickly started retreating in panic. However, he ended up stopped by a massive iron wall, which was Suo Qiaoye’s chessboard. In the next moment, the only remaining piece transformed into a giant peak. This peak then fell down and directly smashed the cultivator wielding the cross-swords into a meat paste.
The entire battle was clean and neat without any shred of lag.
“What a powerful fellow.” Ning Cheng thought as he put away the crystal ball. Taking a deep breath, he realised that this Suo Qiaoye turned out more powerful than his imagination. Moreover, Ning Cheng also felt sure that Suo Qiaoye had not even used half of his abilities.
However, there was one point that struck out; Ning Cheng did not see any indication of an Intent Field within Suo Qiaoye’s chessboard or the chess pieces.
……
Inside Bright Gist Resting Pen, Lan Ya stared at Shi Yulan for a long time before speaking, “Yulan, you are crazy. You have been sneaking out to the arena for the past few days regularly to watch the matches. Now you even went to the point of purchasing Suo Qiaoye’s crystal ball and even trying to gather information about him from the people. Do you know how dangerous it is to do such things? In case that Shang Mou Celestial River King came to know about this, you would die. Not only would you die, but even Ning Cheng who helped you would also die.”
Shi Yulan, somewhat embarrassed, grabbed Lan Ya’s hand and spoke, “I’m sorry Senior Apprentice Sister Lan. I have been watching that Wanderer’s matches for the last few days, and it helped me deepen my understandings about Intent Fields. Also, Shang Mou Celestial River King already left the Revolving Jade City a long time ago, why would he care about such a small matter?”
“Small matter, you were the woman that he had taken away, do you think it is a small matter?” Lan Ya spoke quietly.
Shi Yulan’s face turned slightly ugly, “Senior Apprentice Sister Lan, you don’t have to speak such harsh words. Although I went with him, I, however, am not his woman. I am me, and he is he.”
“You are beautiful and attractive, if even I cannot help but admit it, do you think that someone like that Shang Mou Celestial River King would let you go? Don’t try to deceive me.” Lan Ya spoke without any ill intentions.
Shi Yulan’s face turned even harder to look at, “Although that Shang Mou Celestial River King is despicable, he definitely has a Celestial River King’s pride. As such, he does not lack beautiful women. Even if he did not desire it, countless beautiful women would willingly throw themselves at him. Do you think that he would take the initiative to ask a woman to sleep with him?”
“Ok, I’m in the wrong here. Let’s talk about things after a good night’s rest.” Lan Ya on seeing Shi Yulan turn angrier by the word quickly comforted her.
“You go and sleep with Senior Apprentice Brother Ning for the night; I’m just a ‘nobody’.” Shi Yulan spat out words in anger before quickly turning to leave.
Lan Ya did not feel angry, instead smiled and spoke out in a calm tone, “He and I are just passers-by in each other’s lives, but it’s better for you if you match with him.”
Shi Yulan gazed in the direction of the arena for a while before she spoke with a hint of sadness in her eyes, “He and I are not even passers-by, Senior Apprentice Sister Lan, after these tryouts end, let’s head into the starry skies to wander. Maybe, it might not turn out bad to become a starry skies’ wanderer.”
