A powerhouse named Ning Cheng killed the Celestial River King of Named Descendant Celestial River, the Celestial Lord of Second Revenant Star, and scared away Orchid Borough Celestial River King. Then, this person changed the name of Second Revenant Star to Jiangzhou Star and committed wanton slaughter in Jiangzhou Star’s Covered Snow City. The news of the massacre of countless cultivators spread like a wild wind.
In just a short while, every corner of Jiangzhou Star received this news. At the end of the day, everybody understood that the new Celestial Lord of Jiangzhou Star not only was a starry sky powerhouse but also extremely brutal with his ways. He not only killed Named Descendant Celestial River King and Second Revenant Star’s Celestial Lord but also Fu Yinghe, the leader of Named River Chamber of Commerce. This person even painted Covered Snow City in blood by killing all the remaining cultivators in Covered Snow City.
At this time, there was no need for Ning Cheng to do anything. Whether or not from Jiangzhou Star, cultivators quickly fled one after other.
Although Jiangzhou Star was the first star of Named Descendant Celestial River, only about 100 million people now remained on it after most of the cultivators decided to flee. Jiangzhou Star’s major cities almost emptied overnight. Even the remaining four of the five Named Descendant Celestial River’s chambers of commerce, including the larger sects, forces and families, they all also quickly decided to evacuate.
Those who stayed in Jiangzhou Star were those who had nowhere to go, those with low cultivation, and those cultivators without any backing. For them, leaving Jiangzhou Star was the same as ensuring death. It would be better for them to stay in Jiangzhou Star.
When Ning Cheng heard the news, he felt a little speechless. No matter where, if three men kept talking, they could make a tiger out of thin air[1]. However, Ning Cheng didn’t take it to heart. For him, it would be better for these forces to go away on their own, lest he had to do it himself.
A few days later, Ning Cheng implanted the only remaining starry sky Essence Qi Spiritual Vein under Covered Snow City, arranged, and re-arranged various array formations and restrictions outside the city. He then handed over the management of Covered Snow City to Helian Mingzhe. Helian Mingzhe never dreamed that he, who a few months ago was just an ant anyone could slap around, would become a deputy city master a few months later.
As for Gongxiu Zhu and Bei Junyi, with Ning Cheng’s aid, went into seclusion to attack the barrier to the Heaven Seated Realm.
Realising that Ning Ruolan, Helian Dai, and others had inadequate cultivation, Ning Cheng gave them each a bunch of Perpetual Moon Pills. After helping to set up the basic rules and regulations of Jiangzhou Star, they then prepared to go into secluded cultivation.
As to handle the re-issuing the identity cards to the remaining cultivators of Jiangzhou Star, along with taking control of other major cities within Jiangzhou Star, those matters would have to wait till Gongxiu Zhu and Bei Junyi advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm. Ning Cheng wouldn’t do these things by himself, as he wanted to focus on arranging the Star Protecting Grand Array.
Ning Cheng was now an Array Emperor who could arrange Grade 8 Starry Sky Array Formations, but it would take some time to set up the Star Protecting Grand Array around Second Revenant Star alone. As for going to Grand Culmination Starry Sky and bringing back Jian Jiao, it would have to wait for some time.
Jian Jiao would definitely realise that he had visited the store, so he probably wouldn’t run around for some time. If Ou Zhentian took Warren to Baichi Artefact-crafting Store and couldn’t find him, he would definitely ask others. He could just ask around and reach Cheng Ruolan Artefact-crafting Store.
Therefore, Ning Cheng focussed all his thoughts on laying the Star Protecting Grand Array. Jiangzhou Star did not have many masters right now, which meant that setting up a powerful Star Protecting Grand Array was a critical step to complete.
But a Star Protecting Grand Array required not only many high-grade materials but also a strong foundation in constructing artefacts. Therefore, to set up a suitable Star Protecting Grand Array, he decided to set up the array base with different weapons.
Three months later, Ning Cheng finally managed to set up a rudimentary Star Protecting Grand Array around Jiangzhou Star that isolated it from everything else outside. By this time, Gongxiu Zhu and Bei Junyi also advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm with the support of Ning Cheng’s medicinal pills.
Ning Cheng asked Gongxiu Zhu to select talents and promulgate the new rules and regulations to various major cities across Jiangzhou Star. At the same time, he also tasked him with issuing directives for renewing identification systems across the star. As for Bei Junyi, Ning Cheng tasked him to choose some people to guard the temporarily sealed Jiangzhou Star.
After doing all that, he then temporarily left Jiangzhou Star to evolve his Celestial River Flame. His Celestial River Flame’s rating was just too low, which severely hampered the speed and quality of the array formations he wanted to arrange. If he wanted to construct better weapons and incorporate them into the array formation, he must evolve his Celestial River Flames. As for Scarlet Crow Flames, even though it had reached Nirvana Grade 3, it couldn’t help him in this endeavour.
……
Grand Culmination Starry Sky; Levelled Heart Emperor Mountain.
Chuan Xinlou looked at the report in his hand and frowned slightly. Sitting opposite to each other and next to him were Grand Spirit Heaven Starry Sky’s premier expert Yi Jiufeng along with one of the top three rogue cultivators, Pill Emperor Cang Caihe.
“Brother Levelled Heart, what’s the problem?” Cang Caihe saw Chuan Xinlou frown and asked with some doubts.
Chuan Xinlou sighed, “It’s the guy we were just talking about.”
“Ning Cheng? What about him?” Yi Jiufeng asked in doubt. She didn’t have any wrong impression of Ning Cheng. On the contrary, she actually had a good feeling about Ning Cheng. She could tell that Ning Cheng treated her well when they met the last time, even better than Chuan Xinlou did.
Cang Caihe felt his heart tighten. In his heart, he truly felt scared of Ning Cheng. After watching Ning Cheng overcome that insane thunder tribulation, he always felt Ning Cheng’s shadow looming over in his heart. Therefore, despite Levelled Heart Heavenly Emperor asking him repeatedly for more information about Ning Cheng, he maintained that he only met Ning Cheng once in the past.
“After Ning Cheng left this place, he went to Everlasting Sacred Shrine and killed Seeking Intelligence and also destroyed Everlasting Sacred Shrine’s Everlasting Sacred Tree. But that’s not the end of it; he then went to Named Descendant Celestial River and killed Named Descendant Celestial River King Ji Yangyao and Second Revenant Star’s Celestial Lord Ji Yaozhi. At the same time, he also announced that Second Revenant Star’s name would change to Jiangzhou Star. He also declared that Jiangzhou Star has become independent and will no longer be under the control of anyone….”
Chuan Xinlou spoke with a tone filled with helplessness; these acts were an apparent provocation to Chuan Xinlou’s authority. Besides, even if he didn’t care about it, Striking Order Heavenly Emperor would not allow a star under his management to gain independence.
At this moment, another report that just arrived, “Striking Order Starry Sky’s Striking Order Heavenly Emperor and Bright Heaven Starry Sky’s Heavenly Emperor Wu Hong requests for an audience.”
Chuan Xinlou shook his head; he guessed that Striking Order Heavenly Emperor must have come for this matter. So, he spoke up, “Send Striking Order Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Emperor Wu Hong in.”
Yi Jiufeng smiled, glanced at Cang Caihe, but didn’t speak.
Chuan Xinlou noticed it and showed a smile, “Dao Friend Caihe is not an outsider. Besides, it looks like Junior Apprentice Sister Jiufeng has something to say.”
Yi Jiufeng smiled again, “I have to say that this fellow is quite brave. This fellow owns a Wind Seeking Heavenly Bull; he had also taken away the Earth Origin Bead and the Starry Sky Wheel. At the same time, he also owns a Mysterious Yellow Origin Stone. But from what I see, Brother Levelled Heart doesn’t have an excuse to deal with him directly, so you want me to give you that excuse, isn’t that right?”
Chuan Xinlou did not expect that Yi Jiufeng would actually voice his thoughts. If he knew that Yi Jiufeng would talk about this, he would definitely not let Yi Jiufeng speak. In fact, he truly was thinking about ways to extract some benefits from Ning Cheng. Although he invited Yi Jiufeng over, it was not for this matter. In the same way, he had invited Cang Caihe to come here to help him refine a vital medicinal pill.
But now that Yi Jiufeng spoke what was on his mind, Chuan Xinlou could only give an awkward smile. He was about to speak when he suddenly remembered something and stood up while mumbling to himself, “It’s him, I understand….”
“Who is it, Brother Levelled Heart?” Yi Jiufeng felt a little curious and wondered who could actually surprise Chuan Xinlou to such an extent.
“Striking Order Heavenly Emperor took the liberty to visit unannounced. I hope the Heavenly Emperors here forgive me.” Heavenly Emperors Striking Order and Wu Hong came over, interrupting Yi Jiufeng’s questioning.
“Striking Order Heavenly Emperor, Heavenly Emperor Wu Hong, please do come in….” Chuan Xinlou quickly sobered up and politely let them in.
Striking Order Heavenly Emperor came in and sat down before speaking, “Presumably Heavenly Emperor should already know what I came here for today.”
Chuan Xinlou nodded, “Well, I just received news that Ning Cheng killed Named Descendant Celestial River King, renamed Second Revenant Star to Jiangzhou Star, and announced Jiangzhou Star independence from Grand Culmination Starry Sky. Since Named Descendant Celestial River and Second Revenant Star both belong to Striking Order Starry Sky, what do you propose we should do about this?”
Chuan Xinlou quickly kicked the ball in Striking Order Heavenly Emperor’s court. He did not just want to shift responsibility; he also wanted to make Striking Order accept his favour. What’s more, after knowing Ning Cheng’s real identity, he underwent some significant psychological changes.
How could Striking Order Heavenly Emperor not know what Chuan Xinlou meant? After pretending to ponder over the matter for a long time, he said, “In any case, Striking Order Starry Sky is also a part of Grand Culmination Starry Sky. I’d like to hear from Heavenly Emperor first to make my decision.”
Chuan Xinlou gave a satisfied nod. In fact, although the Grand Culmination Starry Sky directly oversaw Striking Order Starry Sky, he could not manage many details by himself. Moreover, Striking Order Starland also had responsibilities towards Grand Culmination Starry Sky in the form of cultivation resources and mystic realms in exchange for protection.
That’s why Chuan Xinlou felt satisfied with the interest shown by Striking Order Heavenly Emperor.
Chuan Xinlou also pondered over the matter for a while before speaking, “Striking Order, you are the Heavenly Emperor of Striking Order Starry Sky, you should decide this on this matter on your own. But no matter what decision you make, I Chuan Xinlou will support you.”
Chuan Xinlou once again handed the decision back to Striking Order. After thinking over about the word ‘Jiangzhou’, he finally understood Ning Cheng’s identity. A few years ago, Ning Cheng had entered the Nine-by-nine Celestial Scryer Tower and even opened the 81st floor, leaving behind the words ‘Jiangzhou’s Wanderer’.
A cultivator with the ability to step onto the 81st floor of the Celestial Scryer Tower, it definitely pointed to someone with means that transcended the bounds of this starry sky plane. He took this as an ironclad fact.
Looking at the reports on how Ning Cheng quickly killed an Eternal-level expert today, it almost confirmed his speculations. All facts pointed to Ning Cheng having a big secret. If he can’t kill this person in one fell swoop, then it was better never to offend such a person. It’s only been a few years, but a cultivator who hadn’t even reached the Celestial Bridge Realm back then had now advanced to the Eternal Realm. This was just too scary.
If he failed to kill Ning Cheng in one go, then in a few years, there was a good chance that this person would massacre his way into his Levelled Heart Emperor Mountain. But Ning Cheng owned the Starry Sky Wheel, which meant that it would truly be hard to kill him in one swoop without completely sealing away all escape routes. A risk that he Chuan Xinlou did not dare to take unless he felt fully confident about it.
But if Striking Order remained angry, he could definitely rake some benefit out of it. Even if Ning Cheng escaped, the main culprit would be Striking Order and not Chuan Xinlou.
“Many thanks, Heavenly Emperor.” Striking Order Heavenly Emperor quickly stood up and thanked him before speaking, “Ji Yangyao has already done too much harm in Named Descendant Celestial River, which I didn’t like. Since Brother Ning killed Ji Yangyao, it’s only natural for him to take over. Besides, Brother Ning only took Second Revenant Star out of consideration of me. Plus, since Brother Ning comes from my own Striking Order Starry Sky, I had already planned to bestow Second Revenant Star upon Brother Ning long before this happened. The reason I came here today, was first, to report this matter to the Heavenly Emperors, and second, to inform you about the acceptance of that star’s withdrawal from under the care of this Heavenly Emperor and go back to lend Brother Ning a helping hand.”
Chuan Xinlou suddenly froze. What was going on? How did this Ning Cheng pull off snatching a primary star from Striking Order Starry Sky and even making Striking Order happy about it? One had to know that this Ning Cheng spoke of completely taking over it, and not just becoming a Celestial Lord.
[1] Rumours repeated overtime turn into facts.
