According to the speed of this Wind Thunder Apricot’s growth, Ning Cheng estimated that this Wind Thunder Apricot would reach the desired maturity in just under three days. One could only imagine the number of cultivators flocking to this place within these three days.
At this moment, everyone kept their eyes peeled at the Wind Thunder Apricot while concentrating on the earth-attributed assimilation laws in and around the Yellow Sand Lake. Once these earth-attributed assimilation laws finally dissipated, everyone would immediately rush in to grab the Earth Origin Bead and the Wind Thunder Apricot.
Ning Cheng gradually made his way to the place where he placed the Monitoring Array Disc before putting it away. Nobody paid any mind to his actions.
At this moment, Ning Cheng came up with one of the most straightforward ways, and that was to break this Monitoring Array Formation before going in for the items. During the time that Ning Cheng worked on breaking apart this Monitoring Array Formation, all the people would be concentrating on snatching the Earth Origin Bead, and no one would willingly act as a spectator in such a situation. This would also enable Ning Cheng to do as he pleased.
This Wind Thunder Apricot took precisely three days to mature. And just as Ning Cheng expected, the news of the Wind Thunder Apricot appearing had quickly made its way to more cultivators, causing a large number of cultivators to flock to this place. In the beginning, because of the Yellow Sand Lake’s earth-attributed assimilation laws, no one could compete for the Earth Origin Bead at the centre of the lake. This forced some of the cultivators to leave in dejection. However, now that the Wind Thunder Apricot appeared and even caused the earth-attributed assimilation laws to weaken gradually, it naturally attracted even more cultivators.
Ning Cheng originally stood in the innermost area; however, as more and more cultivators started to pour in, he was quickly squeezed out to the back. Moreover, among these new cultivators, no one knew anything about Ning Cheng.
If Ning Cheng did not want to step back, then naturally, no one could have squeezed him out. However, this time, Ning Cheng voluntarily backed away. In less than half a day, the crowd finally squeezed Ning Cheng out of the range of the Monitoring Array Formation.
Of course, Ning Cheng had already calculated the range of this Monitoring Array Formation. However, even after coming out of the calculated range of the Monitoring Array Formation, Ning Cheng still retreated by another dozen meters. It was better to remain careful with his ways.
After retreating to a relatively safe distance, Ning Cheng once again changed his appearance. This time, he turned into a middle-aged cultivator with a yellowish complexion. Ning Cheng even changed his robes to a different set before letting Chasing Bull into the Miniature World. With all the preparation completed, he then once again pushed inside to the periphery of the Yellow Sand Lake and kept walking around the perimeter, while continually throwing out one concealed Array Flag after another.
At this time, many cultivators like Ning Cheng also roamed a bit farther away from the periphery of the lake. These cultivators wanted to squeeze in, but they felt afraid of offending people and could only stand or roam around on the outside.
……
“It’s no wonder we could not find the Wind Thunder Apricot anywhere. From the looks of it, this Spiritual Object would only appear at a particular time, and would also only appear next to the Earth origin Bead.” On the greyish-black airship outside the Immortal Jade Star, Zhangkang Tianji gave a sigh and spoke up.
Both Yi Jiufeng and Qian Jierui were also staring at the Wind Thunder Apricot, with eyes clouded in desire. Although the Earth Origin Bead was much more precious than the Wind Thunder Apricot, the Wind Thunder Apricot was much more helpful to them now compared to the Origin Bead.
Chuan Xinlou gave out a sigh, “I had once heard that the Wind Thunder Apricot is a type of Dao Fruit, an object belonging to the Dao of Light[1]. I never thought that it would actually appear in the Immortal Jade Star.”
“If that Good Fortune Treasure does not come out, then I’m going for the Wind Thunder Apricot. As for the other things, you can divide it among yourselves, I just need the Wind Thunder Apricot.” Qian Jierui swallowed a mouthful of saliva and spoke with a dry voice.
Chuan Xinlou showed a frown, “It’s still too early to decide. Anyway, we can all see things clearly. Whoever manages to get the Wind Thunder Apricot would also be able to obtain the Earth Origin Bead. There is no need to think about it. No matter who obtained it, those things would still appear in front of us not long from now. Moreover, the four of us have also made a blood oath, so I’m sure that no one here would willingly mess things up.”
“Heavenly Emperor Levelled Heart said it right. With those things under our eyes, who would dare to snatch it?” Yi Jiufeng agreed.
……
Three days passed by quickly and the Wind Thunder Apricot was almost on the verge of maturity. Seeing that, Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept into the soil, trying to sense the earth-attributed assimilation laws in and around the Yellow Sand Lake. He found that the laws had already almost reached the point of dissipation. Sensing this, many cultivators started preparing to rush inside.
Ning Cheng knew that it was time to act. He could not wait till the earth-attributed assimilation laws dissipated completely.
Ning Cheng kept secretly planting numerous Array Flags. When the last array flag finally fell into place, a subtle cracking sound emerged from somewhere on top of people’s heads. Before anyone could figure out what had gone wrong, Ning Cheng stimulated the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds and rushed over the heads of various cultivators before rushing into the Yellow Sand Lake.
At this moment, the Yellow Sand Lake’s earth-attributed assimilation laws had almost dispersed, but that did not mean that they had disappeared entirely. Therefore, just as Ning Cheng entered the Yellow Sand Lake, the earth-attributed assimilation laws immediately wrapped around Ning Cheng. However, Ning Cheng was ready for this and quickly shot out with his Spiritual Consciousness Blade, while unleashing his Celestial River Domain. The combined effect immediately broke the bindings around him due to the assimilation laws without the need for Ning Cheng to bring out the Everlasting Blue Thunder City.
One could say that Ning Cheng rushed in a bit early; however, he did not intend to grab the Wind Thunder Apricot. His only goal was the Earth Origin Bead. Moreover, the Wind Thunder Apricot had not completely matured yet, so it held no meaning for Ning Cheng.
However, even though Ning Cheng rushed in a bit early, a few cultivators actually rushed in earlier than Ning Cheng did. From their actions, Ning Cheng could obviously make out that these cultivators also explicitly targeted the Earth Origin Bead. Moreover, these cultivators, just like Ning Cheng, sensed the weakening earth-attributed assimilation laws and took advantage of it to rush inside. After bringing out some good defensive weapons, the weakened assimilation laws could not hurt them anymore.
With someone taking the lead, it immediately caused a huge stir within the crowd. The next moment, the ten thousand plus cultivators around the Yellow Sand Lake immediately rushed inside. Everyone wanted to grab the Earth Origin Bead and the Wind Thunder Apricot.
Ning Cheng had already calculated all of this. He used the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds and the Spiritual Consciousness Blade to move forward. As such, Ning Cheng could reach the centre of the Yellow Sand Lake at the fastest speed. However, by the time he arrived next to the Earth Origin Bead, another cultivator had managed to reach it at the same exact moment, with speed slightly faster compared to Ning Cheng. Just as Ning Cheng’s reached out to grab the Earth Origin Bead, a fierce murderous intent blew towards him.
This cultivator did not choose to grab the Origin Bead from Ning Cheng but decided to attack Ning Cheng directly. As long as this cultivator could kill Ning Cheng, he could then take away the Earth Origin Bead in just a blink of an eye. If this cultivator used such tactics to deal with an ordinary cultivator, he would have definitely succeeded. Unfortunately, he was facing off against Ning Cheng. Neither this cultivators’ Celestial Essence nor his Domain could bind Ning Cheng. Even when using Spiritual Consciousness, he could not compare to Ning Cheng.
However, if only the two of them had to fight for the Origin Bead, Ning Cheng would have easily blocked the murderous intent and then killed the other party. But Ning Cheng knew that as long as he paused for even a moment, the thousands of cultivators behind him would immediately swarm him from all sides. However, at this moment, the Wind Thunder Apricot finally finished maturing, causing the earth-attributed assimilation laws around the Yellow Sand Lake to dissipate entirely.
Ning Cheng could only strengthen his Celestial River Domain, and twist his body slightly. He could not wholly avoid the incoming murderous intent. Yet, he still raised his hand and finally managed to latch on to the Earth Origin Bead.
“Pff….” Ning Cheng had just grabbed on to the Earth Origin bead, when something sharp, filled with killing intent, had pierced through the left side of his waist. At the same time, the murderous intent also collided with the wound and caused a bloody fog to emerge. The cultivator who attacked Ning Cheng felt shocked. Ning Cheng showed no reaction under his Domain suppression and killing power. That is to say, if the other party had actually stopped after grabbing the Earth Origin Bead, this fellow would have easily killed him.
‘What a powerful cultivator’, that was the only thought in his heart.
Ning Cheng did not feel surprised, what did such an injury amount to him? After obtaining the Earth Origin Bead, the first thing to do was not to fight back but to escape from this place quickly. Otherwise, with so many cultivators here, everyone would immediately target him. At that moment, death would be the best result.
Sure enough, the moment Ning Cheng grabbed the Earth Origin Bead, countless attacks filled with murderous intents rushed towards Ning Cheng at the same time.
Ning Cheng’s body twisted again and grabbed two fruits from the Wind Thunder Apricot in front him in a backhanded motion. At the same time, a giant axe shot out which induced multiple axe lines as it swept out.
“Boom-Boom….” With a Celestial Essence Explosion, Ning Cheng’s giant axe blew away many of the incoming attacks. But even then, his axe line could not wholly fend off the incoming killing lights.
“Pff….” He had just grabbed two fruits, when dozens of attacked slipped past Ning Cheng’s Axe Line, tore through Ning Cheng’s Celestial River Domain and bombarded Ning Cheng’s body.
Ning Cheng almost felt like his body was on the verge of collapse. Even his Celestial Essence quickly disappeared at this moment while his Spiritual Consciousness also rapidly withered.
At this moment, Ning Cheng did not bother to take care of his own injuries and wildly stimulated the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds before rushing out of the crowd in just a blink of an eye, while spilling blood all the way.
However, despite the substantial injuries, Ning Cheng felt delighted. Although he could not grab the Wind Thunder Apricot, he obtained the Earth Origin Bead and two of its fruits. Most of all, he did not need to bring out the Everlasting Blue Thunder City nor his spear, let alone using the Dusk Spirit Technique.
A group of cultivators on seeing Ning Cheng grab the Earth Origin Bead and flee immediately gave chase. However, another group of cultivator decided to give up and concentrate on the Wind Thunder Apricot.
If one was in a hurry, what was the fastest mode of transport in this place? If someone claimed that Ning Cheng’s Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds took the second spot in this category, then nothing else could take the first place.
In just a breath, Ning Cheng’s figure grew more and more distant. As for the cultivator who came in at the same time as Ning Cheng for the Origin Bead, on seeing Ning Cheng’s escape speed, immediately changed targets to the Wind Thunder Apricot. Presumably, he realised that even if he could catch up with that fellow, the other party could quickly kill him.
After Ning Cheng escaped from the cultivators chasing him, he immediately swallowed a few medicinal pills and frantically gathered every scrap of power before diving into the ground, deciding to escape through the earth.
Choosing to escape via earth was an instantaneous decision. The moment Ning Cheng grabbed the Earth Origin Bead, he immediately felt the strong Laws of Earth it contained. This allowed his understanding about the Earth Escape Technique to grow twice as deep as before in almost an instant. Moreover, as Ning Cheng continued to use the Earth Escape Technique, his understanding of the Laws of Earth also started to grow deeper.
Another reason that Ning Cheng decided to escape via ground right now was that he felt that apart from this method, nothing else could keep him safe within the Immortal Jade Star.
……
Ning Cheng had not guessed wrong. The moment he destroyed the Monitoring Array Formation, the four powerhouses watching the Array Formation Display within the cabin immediately stood up.
“Someone noticed our Monitoring Array Formation and even destroyed it.” Qian Jierui’s expressions twisted so severely that it felt like water would start dripping out from his dark face.
Yi Jiufeng gave a snort, “Just a little ant and dares to snatch the Earth Origin Bead and the Wind Thunder Apricot……”
While speaking, she could not stay still anymore. With a flash of light, she immediately rushed out. The next moment, she pounced towards the Immortal Jade Star.
With Yi Jiufeng rushing towards the Immortal Jade Star, the other three naturally did not hesitate. One by one, they all rushed to the Immortal jade Star. The Earth Origin Bead was only a lure. If the fish ate the bait and even managed to escape, it would turn into a huge joke for them.
[1] 明道 here can have different meanings, it can be taken as a name of a person ‘Ming Dao’, or as the path of the fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors that descended from Shennong, the Farmer God, or in a more literal sense as the Dao of Light or ‘Bright Dao’. The context could refer to any of the four but to be on the safer side, I decided to put down as Dao of Light. I’ll correct it once I find more context regarding it in the future chapters.
