“Whether I can use that place for experiencing nirvana for forging my body or not, I want to see it.” Ning Cheng answered with a soft voice.
In fact, Shi Qionghua had already guessed why Ning Cheng wanted to head to the Sword Valley. To achieve nirvana when it came to body forging, one had to go through destruction before construction. Only after the complete breakdown of the corporeal body, could one actually build upon its ashes before finally standing up. Since Ning Cheng wanted to enter the Desperate Straits Sword Valley, it should most likely be because he felt that his body had not broken down enough. Therefore, he had no choice but to head to the Sword Valley.
For Ning Cheng to think of entering the Sword Valley to experience nirvana, it also showed that he now had a clear direction about achieving body-forging nirvana.
Shi Qionghua did not ask another question. Ning Cheng’s breath tickled the base of her ear as he spoke while still slumped on her back, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
The Sword Valley was quite a distance away from the Sword Mountain Path; however, because of the fear that its master would make a stew out of him, Chasing Bull not only kept pushing its speed to the limits, it even tightly shut its mouth and kept its habit of talking in check. Ning Cheng silently pondered and tried to derive a body refining cultivation method that could help him achieve nirvana while still slumped on Shi Qionghua’s bank and naturally did not talk much.
As for Shi Qionghua, she let her imagination run wild. Suddenly she seemed to have remembered something and turned her head around in shock.
Four warm lips touched for a short moment, almost stopping Shi Qionghua’s breathing. Just a moment later, she responded and quickly turned her head sideways. However, the shock was still too much.
Ning Cheng only looked at Shi Qionghua and smiled. Although the current Shi Qionghua saw him as at most a friend in her heart and mind, in Ning Cheng’s heart and soul, Shi Qionghua would always remain as his wife.
“Did you want to ask something?” Ning Cheng’s words immediately interrupted Shi Qionghua’s embarrassment.
Shi Qionghua took a while to remember what she wanted to ask before finally speaking up with an eager voice, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, when you mentioned ‘Ning Cheng from Jiangzhou’, I suddenly thought of Wanderer from Jiangzhou, the one who managed to climb to the 81st floor of the Celestial Scryer Tower in Culmination Public Square.”
Ning Cheng did not choose to hide it from Shi Qionghua; he nodded and spoke up, “Yes, I am that Wanderer from Jiangzhou.”
Shi Qionghua immediately sucked in a breath of cold air. If Ning Cheng had not confirmed it, she would never have thought that Ning Cheng was that Wanderer from Jiangzhou. Not only she and her Senior Apprentice Sister Yiyi, even all the people at the Culmination Public Square, no, rather no one within the entire Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City knew about this cultivator. He was the cultivator who even her master wanted to meet. Not only her, but even Heavenly Emperor Levelled Heart also want to know more about this cultivator.
And such a person actually rested on her back. Who could have foreseen such a situation? It suddenly occurred to her that if her master knew that Ning Cheng was that Wanderer from Jiangzhou and if Senior Apprentice Brother Ning had said that he liked her, would her master still tell Ning Cheng to get lost.
Regardless, her master would never allow her to marry Ning Cheng anyway. She was the Everlasting Sacred Shrine’s Sacred Lady, something that had been established long ago, and would remain unchanged.
……
Shi Qionghua had just left the Sword Mountain Path with Ning Cheng when the You Clan received a message.`
You Fei on realising that Shi Qionghua escaped from the Sword Mountain Path, felt his mood plummeting at once. What he had imagined never happened. The female cultivator he saw had not come to the You Clan’s castle as Yang Xin had planned, but had actually escaped this quickly.
“That bitch, she just fails to appreciate our kindness.” Yang Xin’s face no longer had that warm smile from before. At this time, only anger covered her face apart from the frosty expression. She felt insulted, she had gone to talk to Shi Qionghua as the principal wife of You Clan’s You Fei. It was more than enough face for that woman. What’s more, even You Fei’s aunt, a cultivator in the Celestial Bridge Realm, had accompanied her. How could she, or anyone, have the gall to cause them to lose so much face?
Unexpectedly, this woman not only did not agree to it but also managed to escape. Moreover, the speed of her escape was also quite fast, indicating that this woman had used her own grand plan to drive the woman out of the South Sword Rest Stop against her. Maybe she had already planned to leave, and the rest stop forcing her out gave her the best opportunity.
“Lord Husband, that woman simply does not appreciate your kindness. A rogue cultivator daring to look down on our You Clan, you can rest assured that I will make her kneel here and beg to enter through the You Clan’s doors.” Yang Xin finally stood up and spoke with a hate-filled voice. Apparently, she decided to deal with this matter personally.
You Fei hesitated before speaking, “That woman looks very gentle and quiet. Don’t scare her. If possible, try using mild means.”
If You Fei felt hung up on Shi Qionghua before, then now that Shi Qionghua escaped, that hung-up feeling towards Shi Qionghua had transformed into an irrepressible yearning. As time passed, this yearning for her only grew stronger and more substantial. He even started regretting about being too soft at that time. He should have asked that female cultivator, with a veil covering her face, to come with him to the You Clan directly.
There was a saying that went ‘one craves for the things out of one’s reach’, which aptly described You Fei’s current situation. If Shi Qionghua had quickly married him and entered the You Clan, he would have liked it too, but he definitely would not have craved for her as much as he did now.
……
Sword Valley, it did not become famous because of the Sword Mountain Path but became famous because of its despair-inducing Sword Aura that ravaged through the area. Over the many years, too many Sword Cultivators had come to the Sword Valley and the Sword Mountain Path to understand the Dao of Swords. However, among the Sword Cultivators who went to the Sword Mountain Path, those who managed to gain any enlightenment regarding the Dao of Swords simply were too rare. As for the Sword Cultivators who came to the Sword Valley, they rarely managed to come out alive.
In this area, there was a saying that if one had grown tired of living, then one should head to the Sword Valley to understand the Dao of Swords. Nowhere else would satisfy this requirement. If one had an enemy, then lead the enemy into the Sword Valley, because then one could quickly obtain the revenge one desired.
At this moment, Chasing Bull finally stopped outside a grey-coloured valley. No matter where one stood in front of the valley, one could easily sense bursts of Sword Aura seeping into them. This caused people to shudder unconsciously.
Even Ning Cheng’s starry sky Sea of Consciousness could not help him peep into the Sword Valley. Once entered, one might not even manage to move half an inch inside. Sensing the aura of death spilling over from the inside of the Sword Valley, even the thick-skinned and stupid Chasing Bull shivered unconsciously.
“Master, we reached the Sword Valley, but I dare not head inside.” Chasing Bull finally mustered some courage and spoke up.
“I know.” Ning Cheng responded then spoke to Shi Qionghua, “Qionghua, take Chasing Bull and find a safe place around here to open up a cave. Remember to arrange the Array Discs, the ones that I gave you, at the entrance of the cave. If I can’t find anything to help me, I will immediately come out to find you. If something happens to me inside or something else happens to you, let Chasing Bull take you away.”
While speaking, Ning Cheng brought out a storage ring for Shi Qionghua and spoke, “There are some cultivation resources inside. You can use them.”
Ning Cheng even gave the starry sky-grade battleship to Shi Qionghua.
Shi Qionghua hesitated for a moment before nodding and speaking up, “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”
She understood that since Ning Cheng came to this place, then he had already steeled his heart to achieve nirvana. Even if she tried to dissuade him, it would have been useless. Therefore, she decided not to speak about this anymore.
Watching Ning Cheng slowly enter the Sword Valley while sitting on a middle-grade spear-type Dao Artefact, Shi Qionghua’s mood immediately plummeted. Ever since she ripped through the interface with the Boundary Breaking Talisman with Ning Cheng on her back, she had gotten used to having Ning Cheng around. Now that Ning Cheng suddenly entered the Desperate Straits Sword Valley, it made her feel very uncomfortable. It felt as if her heart and mind had emptied entirely as if it missed too many things.
Chasing Bull was not in the mood to understand Shi Qionghua’s complicated feelings and said, “Mistress, as master put it, let’s find a place to hide. Since master has already gone in, you’d only be wasting your time here.”
Shi Qionghua did not argue with this stupid bull; instead, she quickly found a concealed area and dug out a cave.
……
As soon as Ning Cheng entered the Sword Valley, the sharp Sword Aura inside tore apart all his robes in just an instant. The wounds that Shi Qionghua had previously cleaned and bandaged, and had just begun to heal, also opened once again in the same moment. This caused blood to spray out and dye Ning Cheng’s body in a dark shade of red.
“Plop.” Ning Cheng fell from the spear and on to the ground, crushing several bones and creating a cloud filled with bone powder around him.
Ning Cheng took out the Rootless Green Bamboo and tried to use it to induce the Body Forging Nirvana following the method he deduced to initiate nirvana. However, with the grey Sword Aura of the Sword Valley grinding away at Ning Cheng’s flesh and blood, even his bones had started to crack and fragment. Because of this, the Rootless Green Bamboo could not even fuse with half of his flesh and blood.
According to the direction of body forging that Ning Cheng deduced, his Body Forging Cultivation Method should have kicked in once the Sword Aura shaved away at his flesh and blood and even started cracking his bones. That way, the Rootless Green Bamboo could have easily blended into his flesh and blood, which would then initiate nirvana, allowing his flesh and blood to undergo a sort of rebirth, allowing it to glow with vitality.
However, the facts could not corroborate with Ning Cheng’s deduction. The Rootless Green Bamboo simply could not blend into Ning Cheng’s flesh and blood, let alone help Ning Cheng in forging his body.
At this point, there were two paths in front of Ning Cheng. The first was to continue trying to induce nirvana using other treasure materials. Without trying, he would not get any results anyway. The second path was to modify the Body Forging Cultivation Method and re-derive a nirvana-inducing cultivation method.
Ning Cheng gave out a sigh. No matter which path he chose, his chances of falling still remained above 90%. It was simply unrealistic to reinvent a body forging cultivation method that could induce nirvana. Not to mention about deriving a new body forging cultivation method, if he continued to stay inside for longer than necessary periods, this place surely would claim his life. At that moment, how could he continue deriving?
If he picked the path of continuing to experiment with various treasures for forge his body, it still entailed a considerably fatal risk. Moreover, if he failed, even if he did not immediately die, Ning Cheng would have to suffer severe, if not fatal, injuries, which he most likely could not bear at this moment. Even with the Essence of Wood, it would not be enough to save his corporeal body.
Ning Cheng did not overthink about the choices. Instead, he took out the almost-withered 9-coloured Mirage Tree. Grabbing the Mirage Tree, he then immediately started to operate the body refining cultivation method that he had derived, trying to force the Mirage Tree to help in forging his body.
The raging grey-coloured Sword Aura soon drowned Ning Cheng. From time to time, flashes of thunder and tongues of flame could be seen erupting around Ning Cheng, one could even see shades of water and even ice and snow glistening around him. Soon after these different glimmers emerged, both the Mirage Tree and Ning Cheng disappeared from view.
……
Time passed by quickly, and two months later, the scenery around Ning Cheng’s location regularly changed. From the looks of it, Ning Cheng had started to move into the depths of the Sword Valley unconsciously. However, Ning Cheng’s figure never appeared again, and even the Mirage Tree that he pulled out moved with him into the depths of the Sword Valley.
Two months later, Shi Qionghua, who carefully immersed herself in cultivation, finally could not sit still anymore. Four months had already passed since Ning Cheng entered the Sword Valley, without any news. Was he ok inside? She had already advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm with the help of the massive quantity of Perpetual Moon Pills and various other medicinal pills for cultivation provided by Ning Cheng.
“Chasing Bull, I want to go to the entrance of the Sword Valley and look for Senior Apprentice Brother Ning.” Shi Qionghua carefully asked Chasing Bull, who currently was in a slumber.
Chasing Bull muttered, “What’s the use of going there? Even if my master decided to remain inside the Sword Valley, would you be able to bring my master out with your cultivation? Just listen to my master’s words and quietly wait here. My master is much more capable than you, how could he face any major problems inside that place?”
Shi Qionghua was just about to speak when a loud explosion came from outside the cave. Shi Qionghua’s expression immediately changed as Chasing Bull suddenly stood up and spoke up nervously, “Mistress, someone is attacking our cave.”
Don’t look at the majesty and the grandeur with which it spoke in front of Ning Cheng, once someone really attacked them without Ning Cheng around, this stupid bull would be the first to cower in fear.
