Ning Cheng did not choose to cultivate. Although he had obtained many Perpetual Moon Pills, he did not want to expose this fact in front of Shen Qinyu. Moreover, Perpetual Moon Pills contained incomparably pure starry skies’ Essence Qi within them; therefore, once he used even a single Perpetual Moon Pill for cultivation, Ning Cheng felt sure that Shen Qinyu would be able to detect it.
During the two months, Ning Cheng instead studied array formations. He kept arranging the Five Elements Array Formation within the Mysterious Yellow Bead for a single purpose, to store the Time Stones. If Ning Cheng had not encountered the Time Stones before, it would not have mattered. However, after Ning Cheng obtained a few Time Stones, how could he not realise the preciousness of these objects that were even more precious than the Fire Origin Crystals?
Ning Cheng would never give up such a precious thing to Heavenly Emperor Striking Order unless he turned completely stupid. In the future, he hoped to see through some of the mysteries of the Laws of Time using the Time Stones in his possession.
Two months later, after Ning Cheng advanced to become a Grade 3 Celestial Array Master, he temporarily stopped studying array formations. Ning Cheng felt that he should now find a place to go into seclusion and cultivate. With so many Perpetual Moon Pills, he estimated that his cultivation might end up increasing by another level.
“Have you recovered?” Ning Cheng opened the restrictions over his chamber’s entrance within the cave and felt surprised to see Shen Qinyu standing outside quietly. Ruptured meridians was definitely a severe injury, yet Shen Qinyu had recovered quite quickly. From this, Ning Cheng could make out that Shen Qinyu definitely had a few tricks up her sleeve.
Shen Qinyu nodded and spoke, “I have indeed recovered and wanted to discuss a few things with you.”
Ning Cheng invited Shen Qinyu into his own chamber and asked, “What’s the matter? You can tell me. In any case, I was just planning to leave this place too.”
“It looks like you cultivate an extraordinary cultivation method, as you don’t even have a Celestial Wheel.” Shen Qinyu gave an off-handed remark.
Ning Cheng showed a smile and spoke, “I do have a Celestial Wheel; it’s just that I keep it hidden.”
Keeping the Celestial Wheel hidden! Surprise flashed through Shen Qinyu’s eyes before she smiled and spoke up, “Do you know about the Sea of Twilight?”
“I’ve heard of it.” Ning Cheng acknowledged. The idiot bull in his ring had escaped from the Sea of Twilight. Its first owner had also fallen in the Sea of Twilight.
“The Sea of Twilight contains two precious items; one is called the Twilight Sand, and the other is the Time Stone.” Shen Qinyu spoke up.
“I’ve heard of the Time Stones, but what is this Twilight Sand?” Ning Cheng quickly asked. The idiot bull’s former owner had fallen in the Sea of Twilight, was it for this Twilight Sand?
Shen Qinyu calmly looked at Ning Cheng and spoke up, “This is the item for why I came to discuss with you. Twilight Sand is one of the best artefact-crafting materials within the starry skies; moreover, it is the best kind of artefact-crafting material within the Striking Order Starry Skies. Each grain is invaluable. I heard that any weapon crafted using this material would possess a faint trace of the Laws of Time, making it incomparably powerful. Many starry skies within the universe know about the Striking Order Starry Skies only because of this Twilight Sand. Moreover, of all of the cultivators who came in, almost everyone would want to head to the Sea of Twilight to obtain some Twilight Sand.”
Ning Cheng immediately felt his heart move. As his cultivation increased, he obviously could not continue to use his Nirvana Spear, which apart from its toughness, only served as a conventional stick in his hand. As such, Ning Cheng wanted a spear that genuinely belonged to him. Moreover, even Cang Wei could not recognise the material that made up the Nirvana Spear; if he could manage to integrate some Twilight Sand into it, the fully formed spear would definitely turn out extraordinary.
He had already obtained a few Time Stones, which led Ning Cheng to believe that he would definitely touch the Laws of Time sometime in the future. If he could really gain even the slightest understanding of the Laws of Time, he might be able to develop another Spear Technique integrated with the Laws of Time. How powerful would that technique turn out?
Thinking of this, Ning Cheng’s eyes revealed an edgy look.
Ning Cheng felt excited and eager, something that even Shen Qinyu could make out. Seeing this, she immediately spoke up, “Senior Apprentice Brother Wanderer, I know that your attacks are quite extraordinary, perhaps we can work together. I have some understanding of the Sea of Twilight. Why don’t we go to the Sea of Twilight together and look for the Twilight Sands and the Time Stones.”
“What can I do to help?” Ning Cheng asked.
Shen Qinyu gave out a sigh and spoke, “Originally, I had found a perfect partner; he even had a one-of-a-kind worldly exotic flame. If we can reach him, our success rate would increase by at least 20%. However, I have repeatedly been trying to contact him since the moment I came in. However, I did not hear about or from him for almost over two years. Later, due to some mishaps, I ended up losing my communications pearl, and now I cannot contact this fellow anymore even if I wanted to. The Time Wilderness has many dangers all around; besides the unique flame, he only has ordinary cultivation. I’m afraid that he might have encountered something unfortunate.”
Ning Cheng only came to know now that Shen Qinyu had tried to contact him more than once. Should he reveal his identity to Shen Qinyu? Ning Cheng quickly abandoned the idea. Once he revealed his identity to Shen Qinyu, it would also indicate that he had not perished in the Perpetual Moon Lake. Moreover, Ning Cheng and Shen Qinyu were still not on such familiar terms. However, what made Ning Cheng wonder was how did Shen Qinyu know that he had a unique flame?
Could it be that Shen Qinyu saw the concealed Celestial River Flame in his Domain? If that really was the case, then it also proved that Shen Qinyu had a tenacious Spiritual Consciousness.
Thinking of this, Ning Cheng asked, “I heard that any of the exotic flames found within heaven and earth are very difficult to obtain. Are you sure that your friend has such a flame? Moreover, why would we require such a flame within the Sea of Twilight?”
“I’m sure he has one, and I have seen it before. Both of us came from the Orchid Borough Celestial River. The Orchid Borough Celestial River’s battleship had encountered the starry skies’ Spirit Devouring Rat Tide. It was when I was about to escape that I saw him open up a path with a flame. As for why we would need this kind of flame for the Sea of Twilight, it is still something that I am not very clear. I only know about it from the information that I had once obtained, which mentioned that the probability of success would increase if we had such a flame.” Shen Qinyu answered Ning Cheng’s questions truthfully. From this, Ning Cheng could make out that she genuinely had thought things out to cooperate with ‘Ning Cheng’ over a long time.
Ning Cheng also understood that when he made his escape with his flame, Shen Qinyu had also seen him. Moreover, from Shen Qinyu’s words, Ning Cheng also realised that Shen Qinyu had only seen him burning the Spirit Devouring Rats with his flame, and had not seen him use his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds, which made him slightly relieved.
“Okay. I agree to work with you. However, you have to tell me some basic information about the Sea of Twilight, and… By the way, I’d also like to ask you a question or two about other matters.” Ning Cheng seemed to have thought of something and immediately asked.
Shen Qinyu, on hearing that Ning Cheng would cooperate, felt her heart loosen up. Since she could not reach Ning Cheng, it would have been an uncertain endeavour to head to the Sea of Twilight alone.
“Certainly. As long as I know about it, I will definitely answer your questions.” Shen Qinyu replied with a bright tone. Even if Ning Cheng did not choose to cooperate with her, Ning Cheng still saved her life once. As such, as long as she knew the answer to the questions, she would honestly answer everything that Ning Cheng asked.
Ning Cheng then hesitated for a bit before speaking up in an awkward tone, “I am a rogue cultivator, and I don’t have a master to learn from. I’ve been wandering the starry skies for a long time; therefore, there are some issues about cultivation that I do not understand.”
Shen Qinyu, on hearing that Ning Cheng wanted to ask about the issues with his cultivation, smiled before speaking, “It doesn’t matter. Although I do not possess a high enough cultivation, I still had enough contact with different cultivation systems since I was a child. Therefore, although I might not be able to answer any of the deeper questions, I can still talk and explore any of the other questions that you have.”
“Okay.” Ning Cheng no longer remained polite and immediately asked, “After I advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm a few years ago, I did not attract any Thunder Tribulation. Do you know what might have happened or gone wrong?”
Ning Cheng did not mention that he had advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm inside the Time Wilderness. He believed that even if someone experienced an advancement in the Time Wilderness, it definitely would trigger the Thunder Tribulation.
Shen Qinyu, on hearing Ning Cheng’s question, stared at Ning Cheng for a long time and did not speak.
Ning Cheng could see Shen Qinyu’s eyes flash with some pity and spoke up with some embarrassment, “If you don’t know the answer, then forget I ever asked this question. It’s not a big deal anyway.”
Shen Qinyu, on hearing Ning Cheng’s following words, felt even sadder in her heart. Compared to the cultivation knowledge of the starry skies’ wanderers, one could say that her cultivation knowledge was something lavish and luxurious.
“Do you have very few friends or do you rarely go out for gatherings?” Shen Qinyu’s words turned even softer and gentle.
Ning Cheng immediately felt the change in Shen Qinyu’s tone, which initially had a friendly overtone that then changed to a softer and gentler tone like that of an elder sister.
Although Ning Cheng did not know what she meant by that, he gave out a sigh and spoke, “You can put it that way; I am a starry skies’ wanderer, who moves forward by grasping at anything that comes my way. As for friends, I don’t have many.”
Shen Qinyu looked at Ning Cheng, her gaze and voice turning even gentler and speaking up, “The fact is that there is no thunder tribulation when it comes to advancing from the Celestial Novice Realm to the Celestial Shatterer Realm or the Celestial Shatterer Realm to the Celestial Gatherer Realm. Only when someone at the Celestial Gatherer Realm tries to advance to the Celestial Bridge Realm would it invoke the thunder tribulation. It is the same within the three realms of the Celestial River Realm; in other words, the thunder tribulation would descend only when one tries to advance from the Heaven’s Mandate Realm to the Heaven Seated Realm. Moreover, this is an extremely terrifying thunder tribulation, and there is always a very high chance of falling. However, after advancing to the Heaven Seated Realm, every realm advancement would be accompanied by a formidable thunder tribulation.”
Ning Cheng felt as if countless alpacas were running around in his heart. He finally understood why Shen Qinyu looked at him with those sensitive and soft eyes. Turns out, even a three-year-old child knew such basic knowledge, yet Ning Cheng actually asked such a fundamental and essential question to Shen Qinyu. Ning Cheng felt embarrassed that he did not even know about Thunder Tribulations even after becoming a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator.
“Actually, I think that you are truly amazing. Even without any master to guide you, you still reached the Celestial Shatterer Realm all by yourself. Even geniuses from well-established powers might not compare to you.” Apparently, Shen Qinyu saw Ning Cheng’s deeply embarrassed expression and took the initiative to comfort him.
Similarly, she also understood why Ning Cheng did not have a Celestial Wheel. It absolutely had nothing to do with Ning Cheng mentioning that he had concealed his Celestial Wheel. Instead, it most likely had something to do with the cultivation method that Ning Cheng had figured out by himself. Using a self-created cultivation method and cultivating all the way to the Celestial Shatterer Realm without succumbing to the devilish flames was already an unimaginable fortune, and yet he managed to accomplish this without even condensing a Celestial Wheel, what kind of luck was this?
She felt no doubt about Ning Cheng’s combat prowess. The starry skies’ wanderers anyway possessed a reputation for fearsome combat styles. Moreover, Ning Cheng had also proved his combat effectiveness in the Celestial Forest Arena.
“Then can you tell me more about the Celestial River Realm?” Ning Cheng’s words interrupted Shen Qinyu’s thoughts. Since he anyway had asked a ridiculous question before, it would not matter if he asked a few more.
Shen Qinyu tried to explain these basic concepts very carefully to Ning Cheng, “In the Celestial Scryer Realm, after a cultivator crosses the Nirvana Tribulation, they would experience all of their True Essence converting into Celestial Essence, which one would then condense into a Celestial Wheel. According to the strength and quality of one’s Celestial Essence, this realm separates into three sub-realms, or realms, depending on how you call it. I won’t need to explain this to you since I think you already understood some of the principles.”
“The first major realm of the Celestial River Realm’s three realms is the Celestial Bridge Realm. It is when the Celestial Wheel starts to liquefy and transform into a Celestial Bridge. At this point, a Celestial Bridge Cultivator’s comprehension ability and other skills experience a qualitative enhancement. The more powerful one’s Celestial Bridge is, the more formidable support would it provide in the form of Celestial Essence. Within this cultivation ‘realm’, if the body suffers severe damage and can regenerate by itself without any need of external objects, it would mean that one reached the Undead Realm. Cultivators in the Undead Realm also have their strengths and weaknesses; however, even for peak-level Undead Cultivators, they can only regenerate their bodies if a relatively significant chunk of their corporeal body still exists.”
“As for Heaven’s Mandate Cultivators, they might even get the chance to get a short glimpse into their destiny. At the same time, Heaven’s Mandate Cultivators are the highest level of existences within the Celestial River’s Three Realms.”
