Striking Order sighed and said, “Brother Ning, I’ve been trying to contact you for the past few days. Gua Sangan invited more than a dozen Eternal experts, including seven or eight Starry Sky Emperors to Mysterious Yellow Celestial River. Among them, there are not only Chuan Xinlou and Yi Jiufeng, but also Demon Domain’s Zhangkang Tianji and Devil Domain’s Qian Jierui.”
Ning Cheng suddenly stood up, and his expressions turned hard to look at. He didn’t expect that just after establishing and leaving Mysterious Yellow Celestial River, this Gua Sangan would actually make such waves.
No, Gua Sangan would never dare to do this by himself; Ning Cheng instantly understood the problem. Chuan Xinlou definitely was the one pulling strings behind Gua Sangan; otherwise, how could Gua Sangan dare to do this?
“Because Brother Ning stated that Mysterious Yellow Celestial River stands alone and not subject to the laws of Grand Culmination Starry Sky, I couldn’t say anything to stop them. I’m afraid it’s Chuan Xinlou pulling strings behind all of this. Chuan Xinlou most likely is targeting you. Otherwise, he would never invite Qian Jierui and Zhangkang Tianji.” Striking Order could perceive Ning Cheng’s anxiety. Although he had an alliance with Ning Cheng, he truly couldn’t help Ning Cheng in this matter, unless he decided to declare an open war against everyone, especially against his ‘boss’.
“Brother Striking Order, I’m returning to Mysterious Yellow Celestial River immediately.” Ning Cheng quickly sobered up. With a dozen or so Eternal experts in his Mysterious Yellow Celestial River, he can’t remain at ease for even a single moment.
Striking Order also stood up, “I’m coming with you. Brother Ning, don’t worry, as long as you and I remain alive for even a day more, those people would not dare do anything excessive in your Mysterious Yellow Celestial River. Moreover, I already explained things to Brother Tang and asked Brother Tang to inform me immediately if anything happens.”
Ning Cheng spoke up with an ice-cold tone, “If they dare to move even a tree or a blade of grass from my Mysterious Yellow Celestial River, then they better not blame me for cutting off their roots. I, Ning Cheng, will do it.”
Hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Striking Order Heavenly Emperor felt an inexplicable chill pass through his heart for no reason at all. Internally, he decided never to offend Ning Cheng. If he crossed someone like Ning Cheng, he would have to make sure to kill him; otherwise, it would only bring endless suffering.
……
Jiangzhou Star. Covered Snow City’s City Master Mansion. Cang Caihe sat with a group of Eternal experts in a guest hall talking about the Dao of Alchemy and appeared to be in high spirits. As for the Covered Snow City’s Deputy City Master Helian, the one currently responsible for the city, he knew that he wasn’t even qualified to enter such an event.
“Sect Master Cang, we’ve been talking about the boring Dao of Alchemy for quite a few days now. None of us is a Pill Emperor, and it’s truly boring for us to sit here and talk about nothing other than the Dao of Alchemy.” A middle-aged man with a folding fan in his hand, who looked very elegant, spoke up with a strange accent.
“Yes, Brother Fu is right. Although Sect Master Cang is the foremost Pill Emperor, if we continue to talk about the Dao of Alchemy, we really wouldn’t understand much of it. How about letting those who don’t understand the Dao of Alchemy retire from this place. When Sect Master Ning comes back, we can then go together to explore the Ancient Shadow Temple.” Another one spoke up.
Cang Caihe replied with a flat tone, “Sect Master Ning is currently not here, and I don’t know where to put you all for now. I can only ask Brother Fu and Brother Guo to bear it.”
Ning Cheng was currently not in Covered Snow City, so Cang Caihe was the only person here who could handle these people. He knew that he couldn’t let these experts go out of sight even for a moment. Otherwise, if something untoward happened, he would truly feel sorry for the substantial trust Ning Cheng placed in him.
That cultivator surnamed Guo was just about to say something, when everyone heard a chilling voice, “If you can’t listen anymore, then get the fuck out of this place. Don’t chirp around like an insect on this Emperor’s turf.”
The expression of that cultivator surnamed Guo changed immediately. He was about to stand up and retort when Gua Sangan, sitting beside him, quickly pulled him back. Gua Sangan knew that Ning Cheng had returned.
“Sect Master.” Cang Caihe stood up with a delighted expression. In all honesty, managing more than a dozen Eternal experts, including the four grand starry sky emperors, definitely put a lot of stress on him. Now that Ning Cheng has returned, he finally felt relieved.
“Haha, Brother Ning, I didn’t expect you to return so soon.” Heavenly Emperor Wu Hong laughed in delight before standing up and speaking to Ning Cheng with cupped fists.
Then, one by one, everyone in the room stood up and greeted Ning Cheng. After all, this was Ning Cheng’s territory, and they all wanted to make a fortune from this place.
“You’re Sect Master Ning Cheng?” An old man with a dark face asked Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng knew at a glance that this was an expert on the same level of Chuan Xinlou. Moreover, he had seen this person before.
Cang Caihe quickly stepped forward and introduced him to Ning Cheng, “This is Heavenly Emperor Qian Jierui, the Starry Sky Emperor of Devil Domain, who came here on the invitation of Endless Void Dock’s Gua Sangan.”
Could someone like Gua Sangan really invite Qian Jierui? Ning Cheng sneered. Besides my Covered Snow City’s Ancient Shadow Temple, what else could Gua Sangan use as a lure? But now was not the time to attack. Since Gua Sangan came here looking for death, let him stay here permanently.
“Ning Cheng greets Brother Qian. For Heavenly Emperor Jierui to come to my Covered Snow City, it is the honour of my Mysterious Yellow Sect.” Ning Cheng spoke with a smile on his face.
Qian Jierui hesitated for a moment. He had heard that Ning Cheng was a young and aggressive fellow and that he had no regard for anyone. Moreover, as soon as Ning Cheng came in, he had dismissed Gua Sangan directly. It made him almost think that the rumours were true and would have definitely stepped forward to teach Ning Cheng a lesson if Ning Cheng ever directed his mouth at him. However, he didn’t expect that Ning Cheng would actually talk to him in such a polite manner.
Cang Caihe naturally didn’t want Ning Cheng and Heavenly Emperor Jierui to get into a conflict with each other, and quickly pointed to a strong, bare-chested man and introduced, “This is Heavenly Emperor Zhangkang Tianji …..”
Although Zhangkang Tianji looked like a savage, he was actually much more polite to Ning Cheng compared to Qian Jierui.
With Cang Caihe introducing everyone one by one, Ning Cheng finally familiarised himself with the identities of these people.
The ordinary-looking middle-aged man sitting next to Chuan Xinlou had the name Yang Yu, at the middle-level of Eternal Realm, and one of Chuan Xinlou’s men. The one sitting next to Yi Jiufeng was a very handsome looking male cultivator. Not only was he handsome, but he was also tall, with the name Shi Jinyu, at the early stage Eternal Realm. His face had some points of similarity with Yi Jiufeng.
The middle stage Eternal expert sitting next to the black-robed Qian Jierui had the name Shi Haoyan, and most likely a cultivator from Devil Domain. In addition to those two, there was also Fu Yingkui, the middle-aged man who called Cang Caihe’s Dao of Alchemy boring. Carrying a folding fan in his hand, he was the Starry Sky Emperor of Silver Feather Starry Sky and was at the middle-stage Eternal Realm. Mu Hao, the one without expressions on his face, almost looking like a corpse, was the Starry Sky Emperor from Heaven Seizing Starry Sky, at the late stage Eternal Realm.
Xun Zhihe, the Starry Sky Emperor of Water Immortal[1] Starry Sky, was at the late-stage Eternal Realm. This woman had a smile on her face and seemed very kind. Although not as pretty as Yi Jiufeng, her lengthy hair made her stand out.
As for Heavenly Emperor Wu Hong of Bright Heaven Starry Sky, Heavenly Emperor Shen Mao of Snagging Ascendance Starry Sky, Weapon Emperor Jinming Qianbo, and Tang Yitang, they already knew Ning Cheng.
As for Gua Sangan of Endless Void Docks and that early-stage Eternal Realm cultivator sitting next to Gua Sangan, Cang Caihe didn’t introduce them at all. This made Ning Cheng feel very appreciative of Cang Caihe. Obviously, Cang Caihe heard him tell that Eternal cultivator surnamed Guo to get the fuck out, which was tantamount to completely offending him; as such, there was no need to even bother with trying to mend the relationship between them.
Ning Cheng faced everyone and cupped his fists before speaking, “Today, this Ning invites you all to the Covered Snow City for the Ancient Shadow Temple. Many thanks to all Heavenly Emperors here for giving me some face and accepting the invitation to come to my Jiangzhou Star.”
“Sect Master Ning, I think you might be mistaken here. We came here because of the invitation from the Endless Void Docks. It doesn’t seem to have much of a connection to you, does it?” The Eternal Realm cultivator sitting next to Gua Sangan stood up once again and spoke with an upset tone.
“Are you a spring onion?” Ning Cheng looked at the early-stage Eternal Realm cultivator and asked in doubt.
The cultivator sneered, “I’m Emperor Guo Jingtian, this emperor had sent out each invitation personally. As an Eternal expert, it seems like you like to run your mouth off quite frequently.”
“Is the Ancient Shadow Temple at the Endless Void Docks?” Ning Cheng asked another question with a frown.
Guo Jingtian spoke up with disdain, “The Ancient Shadow Temple is in your Covered Snow City, so what? This ancient relic…..”
Ning Cheng didn’t wait for Guo Jingtian to finish speaking, and without hesitation, he immediately interrupted him, “So you do know that the Ancient Shadow Temple is within my Jiangzhou Star’s Covered Snow city, right? So what about the ancient relic? Don’t tell me that your Endless Void Docks doesn’t have any ancient relics? If so, would you make that ancient relic available for everyone to grab?”
“If not, then shut that beak of yours. My Covered Snow City’s Ancient Shadow Temple doesn’t have a shred of relationship with your Endless Void Docks. You’re not this emperor’s dog, so what gave you the right to help this emperor invite people here? This emperor did invite guests but did not invite anyone from your Endless Void Docks. So, let me ask you, what are you doing here? You better get the fuck out of this place; my Jiangzhou Star doesn’t welcome the likes of you.”
Chuan Xinlou’s expressions had also turned ugly to look at. He knew that Ning Cheng calling Guo Jingtian as a ‘dog’ was an indirect method of calling out to him.
“You’re looking for death…..” Guo Jingtian’s killing intent exploded, and his domain crashed down towards Ning Cheng.
Gua Sangan didn’t move. He knew that he couldn’t stand out at this time. Only if others came forward to help, only then could he stand up.
But to the disappointment of Guo Jingtian, no one came forward to respond to his sentiments. Although his Endless Void Docks invited these people, they came here not because of the respect they felt towards the Endless Void Docks, but because of the Ancient Shadow Temple. Without the Ancient Shadow Temple, no one would bother to give Endless Void Docks this much face. All of them came for their own benefit. Moreover, if they actually stood up to help his Endless Void Docks, it would also mean that the Endless Void Docks was using them for its own benefit. Invited by the Endless Void Docks and even want to take advantage of it, hehe, Gua Sangan, you thought too highly of yourself.
Ning Cheng didn’t care about Guo Jingtian’s killing intent, but looked at Cang Caihe and asked, “Sect Master Cang, didn’t we send out the invitations long ago?”
Cang Caihe was a veteran rogue cultivator of the starry skies, so he instantly understood what Ning Cheng wanted to do after listening to his words. Why would Ning Cheng, in his right mind, invite people to the Ancient Shadow Temple? Understanding that Ning Cheng was just using this as a pretext to establish prestige, he quickly spoke up, “That’s right, we had already sent out all our invitations. I’m afraid that someone might have robbed our invitations on their way, as the person who we sent it out with never send back a message.”
Ning Cheng then coldly looked at Guo Jingtian, “From the looks of it, you already knew about all the guests that I invited, which means you killed the messenger I sent out the invitations with, and then sent out invitation under your Endless Void Docks’ name. Isn’t that right? You not only harmed my men but also bared your killing intent against me; did you really think that someone like you could bully my Mysterious Yellow Celestial River? Did you think that you could bully my Mysterious Yellow Sect and me, Ning Cheng? If so, then you really are a blind dog…..”
Ning Cheng didn’t finish his words when his Celestial River Domain erupted with a violent explosion while punching out at the same time. If he didn’t stand up today, then no one would look at his Mysterious Yellow Sect with any respect. Besides, he also couldn’t bear the tone of this person’s voice.
This was Ning Cheng’s nearly full-powered attack, and he didn’t hold back at all.
“Kaka…..” The moment the two domains collided, Guo Jingtian’s domain instantly shattered.
Guo Jingtian felt truly murderous in his heart and believed that Ning Cheng wouldn’t dare to attack him, which was the reason why he acted in such an unbridled manner. Unexpectedly, Ning Cheng seemed to have enough courage that could blot out the skies. Not only did he not hesitate to attack him, he even used such a powerful move.
Sensing that, he immediately brought out a weapon. However, he suddenly felt everything stagnating around him; not to mention time, even the space around him seemed to have stopped flowing.
[1] The characters ‘水仙’ could translate to ‘narcissus/daffodil/legendary aquatic immortal/to those buried at sea/person who wanders abroad and does not return’ but I decided to translate it according to the individual characters as ‘Water Immortal’. It also follows one of five translations/meanings described above.
