“Senior, I, I…..” The shop assistant started to stutter even more.
Although Ning Cheng had a smile over his face, even a low-levelled cultivator like him could feel the strong murderous intent oozing from the man in front of him.
“Do you not want to talk?” Ning Cheng’s eyes grew cold.
“No, no……” The shop assistant quickly answered, carefully looking in all directions, he then spoke up with a whisper-like voice, “Senior, I know the place you’re talking about, it’s called the Eroding Life Cliff. This place is as scary as the Desperate Straits Sword Valley. I heard that once someone entered the Eroding Life Valley, they could only watch their longevity disappear, before ultimately falling inside, never to come out.”
“Where is this Eroding Life Cliff? How come the jade strip you gave me last time does not have this location?” Ning Cheng immediately thought back to the Sea of Twilight. In the past, he had entered the Sea of Twilight with another female cultivator and witnessed both of their longevity continuously disappear without control.
The shop assistant quickly explained, “The location is marked on the map as Longevity Valley, and is just like the Sword Valley, a perilous area. However, it has better sceneries. Many cultivators used to head to the Longevity Valley for cultivation because one could cultivate for decades in the Longevity Valley and only one or two years would have passed on the outside. It’s just that something unknown happened a few hundred years ago, the situation suddenly reversed within the Longevity Valley, causing people who entered it to not live for long.”
“Not only would one not be able to live long, but even the longevity of the incoming cultivators would also be consumed at a fast rate. Even the cultivators with long life span, in just a few days inside, would find their longevity draining automatically before finally falling inside. Later, someone decided to erect a stone tablet outside the Longevity Valley’s entrance, renaming it as Eroding Life Cliff. However, because the name ‘Longevity Valley’ had been around for a long time, apart from the stone tablet that re-named it as Eroding Life Cliff, the maps in most of the jade strips still mark the location as Longevity Valley.”
Apparently afraid of Ning Cheng, the shop assistant spoke out everything he knew without holding anything back.
Ning Cheng nodded and kept asking, “Do you know where the woman who carried me went? Or did you hear anything about her?”
The shop assistant whispered, “I heard that the You Clan’s housekeeper You Tingzhi and You Zhenyi had gone out. I don’t know if they chased after this woman or not, but they returned alone after a few days and did not bring anyone back.”
“When did this happen?”
“Around two months ago.”
Ning Cheng immediately realised a lot of things. He took out ten Perpetual Moon Pills and handed them to the shop assistant and spoke, “Many thanks, I will come here again in a few days.”
The shop assistant on seeing the Perpetual Moon Pills in his hand, almost jumped up in shock as his eyes turned red from excitement. These were Perpetual Moon Pills; moreover, ten of them. When he saw Ning Cheng turning around, he seemed to have recalled something and immediately shouted, “Senior…..”
Ning Cheng looked back at the shop assistant, who in his opinion at least had some morals on top of possessing some courage. However, even Ning Cheng did not know why this fellow had called out to him.
The shop assistant put away the Perpetual Moon Pills into his storage ring before speaking, “Senior, the Longevity Valley is not accessible currently. To enter Longevity, you need to wait till tomorrow, today is a Yang Day. Which means, the Longevity Valley is completely closed, only on a Yin Day can one go inside.”
Ning Cheng nodded to the shop assistant as a gesture of thanks before turning around and quickly leaving. Although people still calculated days based on the cycle of the moon, they did not distinguish between consecutive days of the month; instead, they separated the days based on yin and yang[1].
Ning Cheng wanted to head to the Eroding Life Cliff right away, but since the shop assistant said that no one could enter today, he decided to go in tomorrow. However, he would collect some interest first.
……
When it came to the Sword Mountain Path’s You Clan, everyone knew that this was the premier clan of the Sword Mountain Path. This clan was even famous within the Rugged Pillar Star.
With You Clan’s strength, it could settle down in the most prosperous city within the Rugged Pillar Star, even ruling the town would not be impossible for them. However, the You Clan decided to settle in the Sword Mountain Path, and no one had any idea why. The only explanation that one could think of was because of this place’s vast history, which involved gaining enlightenment regarding the Dao of Swords.
With You Clan’s strength, it quickly settled in the Sword Mountain Path; moreover, even their clan hall exuded the highest grandeur of all. Compared to the glory of the surrounding castles, You Clan clearly had the superior edge.
Ning Cheng quickly found the You Clan, and just as he walked up to the entrance of the castle’s outer courtyard, a cultivator immediately stopped him, “Please stop. Who is this friend looking for?”
Ning Cheng spoke up with a soft voice, “I was invited to meet You Zhenyi.”
When the cultivator at the entrance heard that Ning Cheng had come to see You Zhenyi, he immediately became respectful. You Zhenyi was a Celestial Bridge Cultivator who enjoyed a high position within the You Clan. How could he dare to neglect a cultivator who came to meet You Zhenyi?
“This junior will immediately report this to senior!” The cultivator at the entrance quickly bowed and at the same time, changed his tone into a more respectful one.
Ning Cheng’s face sank, “You Zhenyi asked me to come here, and you still want me to wait here while you go inform?”
The cultivator guarding the entrance shivered in horror and spoke, “Senior, Elder You, and the others were in the middle of discussing some official business. I hope Senior could forgive me for this.”
As soon as his words ended, Ning Cheng’s figure flashed, and by the time he realised it, Ning Cheng had long since disappeared.
The cultivator guarding the door spoke the truth, the members of the You Clan truly were in discussion. However, this was not the You Clan’s Family Convention, but a meeting between You Zhenyi, You Fei, You Tingzhi, and Yang Xin, along with a few other cultivators from the You Clan.
“With no history or background to speak of, this female cultivator seemed to have appeared out of thin air. She even used Perpetual Moon Pills at the Sword Mountain Invigorating Spring Pavilion. I took a trip there and found that they were all top-grade Perpetual Moon Pills.” The speaking was a middle-aged female cultivator You Zhenyi, the one who accompanied Yang Xin to the South Sword Rest Stop.
You Fei sighed and did not speak. Ever since he learned that the female cultivator that he had taken a liking to had escaped into the Longevity Valley, his mind and heart had sunk in depression. Compared to Perpetual Moon Pills, he felt more concerned about the woman he had saved at that time.
“Lord Husband, You Clan’s future depends on you. You can find good women anywhere, and this Xin’er will definitely find a better woman for Lord Husband.” Seeing You Fei sigh, Yang Xin immediately tried to comfort him.
Just then, a sudden voice emerged, “You don’t need to look, I think you’re pretty good.”
“Who?” Almost all the people in the room immediately stood up and looked at the entrance. Within the Discourse Hall, which had many restrictions, a cultivator had easily broken through the restrictions and stepped inside. Moreover, none of them had even noticed it at all. It was too incredible.
“Oh, it’s you…..” You Zhenyi and Yang Xin felt even more shocked as they quickly recognised Ning Cheng. Even now, Ning Cheng still kept on the Appearance Changing Mask, so he still had the same appearance as when he stayed in the South Sword Rest Stop.
Ning Cheng’s eyes casually swept across the room and fell on Yang Xin, “I’m here to ask for marriage…..”
Yang Xin subconsciously spoke up, “Are you helping that female cultivator with the marriage? Did she finally figure it out? No, isn’t she in the Longevity Valley? What’s going on?”
Ning Cheng slowly walked towards Yang Xin and spoke, “No, I’m here to help you get married.”
“Help me get married?” Yang Xin repeated the sentence and still could not understand.
Ning Cheng nodded, “Yes, I’m here to help you get married. I think you look okay, so I decided to take you as my 138th concubine. As a sign of good faith, I specifically came to the You Clan to propose for the marriage personally. By the way, you can keep this as the betrothal gift…..”
With that, Ning Cheng waved his hand, and a pile of Perpetual Moon Pills suddenly appeared in front of him. This pile contained at least a hundred thousand Perpetual Moon Pills. As the terrifyingly dense Pill Gas from the Perpetual Moon Pills started to fill the room, the people in the room immediately shifted their anger and stared at the pile of Perpetual Moon Pills in the middle of the room with red eyes.
Ning Cheng slapped his forehead and spoke with some regret, “Look at me, since this is just a betrothal gift for the bride-to-be, I should actually take out something smaller…….”
As he spoke, Ning Cheng waved his hands once again, and the pile of Perpetual Moon Pills that had just appeared disappeared entirely without a trace. No, it would be more accurate to say that except for one Perpetual Moon Pill, the other pills had vanished without a trace.
Ning Cheng raised his hand and gently caressed the Perpetual Moon Pill in his hand and spoke, “Consider this Perpetual Moon Pill as my betrothal gift. Don’t let it bother you.”
With that, Ning Cheng put the Perpetual Moon Pill in front of Yang Xin.
A cold humph resounded and You Zhenyi, who felt too lazy even to speak anything, immediately pounced on Ning Cheng. At the same time, she brought out a weapon that shot out countless rays of lights, causing a violent storm to erupt within the room. From this, one could make out that in front of Perpetual Moon Pills, even a room filled with other things would be of little value.
The intense murderous intent completely shrouded Ning Cheng. It felt as if this terrifying murderous intent would easily tear apart Ning Cheng if he showed even the slightest movement.
Ning Cheng didn’t move, not because he felt afraid of this murderous intent tearing him apart, but because he simply did not even care about it. He didn’t even bring out a weapon, and casually sent out a backhanded slap.
An even more terrifying Domain and Axe Intent filled with horrific levels of murderous intent instantly covered all the cultivators within the room.
In the face of Ning Cheng’s powerful killing intent, You Zhenyi’s murderous intent instantly deflated as if someone popped a balloon filled with air. As for her Domain, not to mention deflating, it was utterly suppressed into her body by Ning Cheng’s Domain.
“Boom……” Ning Cheng’s slap completely ripped apart You Zhenyi’s killing lights and directly struck You Zhenyi. You Zhenyi immediately sprayed out several mouthfuls of blood as every meridian within her body collapsed. Even her Life Essence that managed to escape in time got caught up in Ning Cheng’s Celestial River Domain and disappeared without a trace.
“Pata……” A body without any vitality finally fell to the ground, leaving everyone holding their breaths and staring blankly at You Zhenyi’s dead body growing cold on the floor.
Who the hell was this fellow? With just one backhanded slap, this fellow killed You Zhenyi, a powerhouse in the Celestial Bridge Realm. Moreover, it was also when You Zhenyi struck first, what kind of cultivation was this?
Ning Cheng patted his hands together and spoke, “Really now! If you don’t like my betrothal gift, you shouldn’t make a move to kill me.”
“Ah…..” Yang Xin screamed, amplifying Ning Cheng’s horrifying might and toughness. And just at this moment, Ning Cheng’s eyes focused on her, and she immediately stopped.
She subconsciously shuddered, then put away the single Perpetual Moon Pill in front of her. Hesitating for a moment, she then looked at Ning Cheng with a sweet smile and spoke, “Lord Husband, I agree to your proposal. This Xin’er now belongs to you.”
She spoke with a soft and charming tone as if pairing up with Ning Cheng was only natural.
Ning Cheng felt slightly surprised at such a reversal. How could there be such a woman? How could she accept a proposal with her husband right behind her?
On seeing Ning Cheng quickly dispatching You Zhenyi, You Fei felt both panic and anger rising inside of him. But when he saw Yang Xin behaving in such a manner, he immediately turned furious to such an extent that it caused a mouthful of blood to spray out. You Fei had always felt proud to have someone like Yang Xin, a kind and considerate woman, as his wife. Unexpectedly, the wife whom he felt pride in agreed to another man’s courtship right in front of him.
[1] For those confused, Yin and Yang here refers to the Waning and Waxing cycle of the moon.