Some of the cultivators who had left the main hall quickly ran back and carefully took their seats in the corners. Although the main room in the lowest level had sufficient space, no one dared to make the slightest noise.
Ning Cheng and Shen Xunyu sat in one of the remote corners of the main hall, and although Shen Xunyu admired Ning Cheng, at this moment, he did not dare to make the slightest noise. Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness fell on to his own storage ring and deliberately wiped away many of the restrictions that he had initially placed on it.
After half-an-incense-stick worth of time, a middle-aged yet beautiful looking woman appeared at the entrance of the main hall. This middle-aged woman glanced at the cultivators sitting in the cabin before slowly walking inside.
Although this beautiful woman had not yet released her Spiritual Consciousness, Ning Cheng could make out that this woman definitely possessed a Heaven Seated Cultivation.
As the beautiful woman’s Spiritual Consciousness finally swept past the cultivators one by one, Ning Cheng noticed that the cultivators subjected to the woman’s Spiritual Consciousness had turned pale. Some of the weak-willed cultivators even broke out in cold sweats.
Ning Cheng himself was no stranger to the formidable strength of a cultivator in the Heaven Seated Realm. Previously, his Spiritual Consciousness had only brushed past the killing intent contained within Tang Jiu’s attack, when he found himself almost wholly suppressed to the ground under the powerful aura.
When the beautiful woman’s Spiritual Consciousness finally reached Ning Cheng, Ning Cheng felt as if someone had ripped off the layer of robes covering him. At this moment, it felt as if he did not have even a shred of privacy. Fortunately, this woman still knew some shame and did not undertake any extreme measures.
The next moment, Ning Cheng felt something seep into his storage ring. Fortunately, this storage ring was only an ordinary one in which Ning Cheng had deliberately put some artefact-crafting materials, a few conventional weapons and a low-grade spear-type Dao Artefact.
It was not until Ning Cheng’s face started turning pale did the beautiful woman recall her Spiritual Consciousness.
After an incense-stick worth of time, the beautiful woman’s gaze fell on Ning Cheng once again, “What is your name? Where are you from?”
Ning Cheng took in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Standing up, he then spoke with a respectful tone, “This junior is Cheng Nianqiong, from Striking Order Starland.”
At this moment, Ning Cheng truly felt uneasy and did not know why this person had singled him out. Moreover, it also felt a bit comical that he, with white hair like an old man, addressed this beautiful woman as ‘senior’.
“Why don’t you have a celestial wheel?” The beautiful woman asked again in a calm voice.
Ning Cheng then spoke up with a fearful tone, “This junior had always been a rogue cultivator; however, because of my ordinary qualifications, although I managed to advance to the Celestial Novice Realm, I could not condense a celestial wheel. This junior already knows that there is something wrong with the cultivation method that I cultivate. However, because of not finding a good master, this junior decided to use all my savings to head to Grand Culmination Starry Skies to try my luck.”
The beautiful woman showed neither approval nor disapproval towards Ning Cheng’s answer before looking at Ning Cheng and speaking once again, “You come with me.”
“Yes.” Ning Cheng knew that at this point he had no choice at all.
The beautiful woman took Ning Cheng to a luxury cabin on the top floor of the merchant ship. On seeing Ning Cheng nervous, she casually spoke up, “You don’t have to be so nervous. I just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Senior, please go ahead. This junior will answer everything.” Ning Cheng spoke up with an even more fear-filled expression.
“What is your current cultivation level? Why do you think that you have poor qualifications?” The beautiful woman did not let Ning Cheng sit down but sat down herself.
Ning Cheng did not dare to hesitate and quickly replied, “This junior does not have a master, and has always felt something wrong about my cultivation. Some time ago, I felt like I advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm; however, compared to other Celestial Shatterer Cultivators, I seem to be almost nothing.”
Ning Cheng did not dare to say that he was already a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator. He chose to keep his words ambiguous by mentioning that he could not gauge his own cultivation. Even if this beautiful woman could see his current cultivation, so what? He had already made it clear that he did not have a master nor did he have a proper education, which meant that he also could not explain it even if he wanted to.
“What if I said that you just lied to me, what if I said that I haven’t seen any other cultivator with better qualifications than yours?” The beautiful woman spoke with a casual tone while pouring herself a cup of some Spirit Tea.
“Ah…” Ning Cheng stared blankly at the beautiful woman in front of her, behaving as if he did not understand what the other person meant with their words. Only he knew in his own heart that the look of confusion on his face was fake. At this moment, he felt nothing but anxiety within his heart. No wonder this woman wanted to single him out and thought that I had deceived her.
The beautiful woman took a sip of spirit tea and spoke, “If I am not mistaken, although you look very old with white hair, you are actually quite young. As to how young, I cannot say; if you are not a possessed body, then you definitely have some remarkable qualifications. When I looked at it before, I could see that your spiritual soul shows perfect harmony with your body, which immediately rules out body possession.”
After the beautiful woman finished talking, she kept staring at Ning Cheng.
In this momentary pause, Ning Cheng’s mind flashed with many thoughts, but he quickly found the words he was supposed to say, “This senior, junior is really not that old. This head full of white-hair is only because of an accident within the Sea of Twilight.”
“Oh, in that case, why did you say that you only had ordinary qualifications?” Although this beautiful woman spoke with a very calm tone, the killing intent within her words had already penetrated into Ning Cheng’s mind, something that ordinary cultivators would have found unbearable. Fortunately, Ning Cheng was not an ordinary cultivator. He was the owner of the starry skies’ Sea of Consciousness. Not only was his Life Essence potent, but even his spiritual soul showed incomparable tenacity.
“I hope this senior could forgive me.” Ning Cheng quickly bowed while feeling helpless in his heart. Strength meant everything in the world. In this place, he felt inferior to even an ant.
The beautiful woman gave a snort and spoke, “If you think you speak the truth, asking for forgiveness would be unnecessary. In any case, killing a puny Celestial Scryer Cultivator like you is like crushing an ant for me.”
Ning Cheng shuddered; he understood the intent behind this beautiful woman’s words. If this person really wanted to kill him, could he even match an ant when it came to survival?
Ning Cheng knew very well that in the face of a Heaven Seated Expert, he could not simply resist. Suddenly he gave a sigh and spoke, “This senior, junior comes from a very low-level planet. In that low-level planet, junior did have a master. My master told me that a person with qualifications similar to mine might not appear once in hundreds of thousands of years; therefore, I must not let others know about my qualifications. Otherwise, others might try to take possession of my body.”
“Junior stuck to master’s teaching. After entering the starry skies, this junior did not dare to enter any academy or sect. As a result, even with my present cultivation, I could not condense a celestial wheel. This time, this junior fought with everything I had to get a chance to head to Grand Culmination Starry Skies and join an academy or sect there. I heard that Grand Culmination Starry Skies has a lot of talented geniuses; therefore, although this junior might have some good qualifications, it should not be too special in that place.”
“Is that the only reason?” The beautiful woman had never thought that Ning Cheng felt afraid of someone taking possession of his body because of which he decided not to seek out a master. Still, cultivating to the present level without succumbing to the devilish flames under such circumstances, this kid definitely possessed some luck.
“Junior dares not conceal this from senior. It really is the reason why I am like this.” Ning Cheng spoke with a dejected calmness.
“Do you not feel any fear now?”
“Senior already has qualifications countless times better than this junior. Besides, this junior has already lost a significant portion of longevity within the Sea of Twilight, even if someone wanted to take possession of such a body, they would not settle on this junior.”
The beautiful woman shook her head in speechlessness before speaking, “Although you have some decent qualifications, in Grand Culmination Starry Skies, it is not worth much. You do not need to be so cautious about it. You can go now.”
Feeling that Ning Cheng might have a broken jar like mentality, the beautiful woman waved off Ning Cheng. Previously, she felt something wrong about Ning Cheng. As for what, she could not point her finger at it. Now, after listening to Ning Cheng’s explanation, she finally felt relieved. Just a genius from a low-levelled planet that had no idea about the outside world, thinking that others would take possession of him because of his qualifications. What this fellow did not know, however, was that although this fellow had some decent qualifications, in Grand Culmination Starry Skies, it still could not compare to real geniuses.
Ning Cheng felt immensely relieved in his heart and carefully retired from the room. After this incident, he decided never to come out for the remainder of the time. His cultivation still did not mean anything; if not for his Mysterious Yellow Bead that no one could notice, he did not know how many times he would have ended up dead already.
Coming down to the third floor, Ning Cheng immediately saw a hustling and bustling scene up and down the street-like corridor. Numerous cultivators from the lower levels had brought up the materials they obtained, either for an exchange or for sale.
‘Drifting Starland Auction’ several huge words remained suspended high in the air in front of Ning Cheng, with a huge display just below it containing a long list of treasures. Although Ning Cheng had no interest in attending this auction, his Spiritual Consciousness still swept through the list as he passed by.
However, when Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept through the list, his footsteps slowed down. He actually saw the listing ‘Sky Treasure Silk’. This auction actually put up a Sky Treasure Silk, something that he truly needed.
Ning Cheng felt surprised and almost turned towards the auction. However, a moment later, something clicked in his mind, and he immediately stopped before continuing down to the second floor.
How could there be such a coincidence? He urgently needed the Sky Treasure Silk for his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds, yet a Sky Treasure Silk had suddenly popped up in an auction as he passed by.
Moreover, people who saw him using the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds were not a minority. From what he observed, every airship had the Sky Treasure Silk on their auction list. Once he participated in this matter, it most likely would end up implicating him. For these people to take out the Sky Treasure Silk, it also indicated that they were on a lookout for cultivators with Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds.
Instead of heading back to the main hall, Ning Cheng returned to the small wine cellar on the lowest floor. He did not go meet Steward Lu, and even if Steward Lu showed up later, he could say that people had already inspected him.
Back in the small wine cellar, Ning Cheng immediately set up various array formations to cover up his tracks. Just as Ning Cheng thought, Steward Lu did not show up. That fellow did not even come to the main hall to ask about Ning Cheng’s whereabouts. For that fellow, whether Ning Cheng died or not, it did not concern him.
Because of passing through a drifting starland, many auctions had sprung up within each of the merchant ships, while the street-like corridors had also turned extremely lively. Only Ning Cheng continued to seclude himself within the small wine cellar to solidify his cultivation.
……
Time quickly passed by while Ning Cheng remained in seclusion. Even when Ning Cheng felt the merchant ships stopping a few times along the way, he only swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness to check if they had encountered any starry skies’ beast hordes. At the same time, since Steward Lu did not come to check on him, Ning Cheng also did not come out of his room.
Even after six years, no one came to Ning Cheng’s room, while Ning Cheng’s cultivation had also stabilised at the late-stage Celestial Gatherer Realm. By this time, he had already used up a significant portion of the Perpetual Moon Pills obtained from the Time Wilderness, leaving only ten thousand pieces. Ning Cheng could not help but sigh at the sight of this, his cultivation really consumed a significant amount of resources.
Ning Cheng did not intend to continue with his seclusion any more. Just as his Spiritual Consciousness swept out, he found the large cabin hall abuzz with activity, with numerous cultivators flocking to the lower deck. Ning Cheng suddenly had a thought and quickly packed up everything and rushed out with the other cultivators. Looking at the bustling activity, he guessed that they should have already reached Grand Culmination Starry Skies.
