“Sect Master Cang, you don’t need to enter the Ancient Shadow Temple for now. Please stay here and take care of the sect. I’m afraid some thief would take advantage of Jiangzhou Star not having any Heavenly Emperors and steal it from under our noses.” Ning Cheng knew that the real Ancient Shadow Temple would contain many dangers. Moreover, once he secretly played everyone against each other, people would definitely be at odds with one another. Therefore, he didn’t want Cang Caihe to go in and take risks.
Ning Cheng felt very confident in provoking these people and knew that he cannot let Chuan Xinlou and the other Heavenly Emperors join forces at any cost. Therefore, he definitely would have to unhinge or at least unsettle Chuan Xinlou; otherwise, he wouldn’t even know how he died.
In fact, Ning Cheng thought a bit too deeply about this situation. Even if he didn’t openly make provocations, Chuan Xinlou would never piss together with Zhangkang Tianji and Qiao Jierui.
“Yes, Sect Master, I will keep Jiangzhou Star and Mysterious Yellow Sect safe.” Cang Caihe gave a quick reply.
Ning Cheng only showed a smile before turning around and walking out of the guest hall. He felt too lazy to talk back anymore. Ning Cheng knew about his current limits. Once he advanced to the Eternal Realm without dying, these fellows would have to behave obediently in front of him.
The rest of the cultivators, on seeing Ning Cheng walk away, quickly followed Ning Cheng out of the guest hall.
Chuan Xinlou’s anger flared for a short time before he calmed down, and didn’t even bother to provide any explanation. He quite admired this fellow named Ning Cheng. If replaced with him in this situation, he would have recused himself. Looks like this fellow’s mind had yet to develop to the level of those like Chuan Xinlou.
……
After Ning Cheng closed the entrance to the Ancient Shadow Temple, he had enforced a strict control over all entry points to Jiangzhou Star. This restriction, coupled with the lack of people and activity, invariantly caused snow to once again return and cover up the area around the Ancient Shadow Temple’s ruins. The excitement from a few months ago seemed to have disappeared and turned cold.
“Sect Master Ning’s attainments in the Dao of Arrays seems to have reached a very profound level. Even when standing here, I can only feel a faint presence of some array formations, I can’t detect where the array base is.” Xun Zhihe, the one with a perpetual smile on her face, suddenly spoke up.
Fu Yingkui immediately spoke up, “That’s right if we all enter the Ancient Shadow Temple and Sect Master Ning suddenly blocks the entrance to the Ancient Shadow Temple, hehe……”
Ning Cheng didn’t bother with Fu Yingkui at all and raised his hands to send out several array flags. A moment later, a dark entrance appeared in front of everyone.
In fact, not only Ning Cheng, but the other Eternal-level experts also didn’t take Fu Yingkui’s words seriously. Therefore, as soon as the entrance to the Ancient Shadow Temple appeared, Zhangkang Tianji quickly rushed in. Immediately following him, the other Eternal-level experts also promptly rushed into the Ancient Shadow Temple.
Ning Cheng remained unmoving, watching Fu Yingkui still hesitating on staying outside or not. A few moments later, Ning Cheng gave a cold snort and said, “If you don’t want to go in then just get the fuck out of this emperor’s Jiangzhou Star. Don’t make a fool of yourself by standing here.”
“You…..” Fu Yingkui heard Ning Cheng’s words and immediately felt his anger rising.
Ning Cheng raised his hand and brought out his Nirvana Spear before giving a calm reply, “I’ll give you three breaths, either go in or get out of Jiangzhou Star; otherwise…..”
Ning Cheng purposefully didn’t speak the rest of the words, but Fu Yingkui could clearly feel the murderous intent seeping out from Ning Cheng’s Celestial River Domain.
After knowing that Ning Cheng’s hadn’t grasped the real Laws of Time, Fu Yingkui’s assessment of Ning Cheng’s strength had dropped by a full level. However, now that everyone had already stepped inside the Ancient Shadow Temple, he would have to face Ning Cheng alone, which formed an inexplicable sense of fear within his heart. For a moment, he truly wanted to leave Jiangzhou Star.
Eventually, self-esteem overcame fear, and he gave a cold grunt before rushing into the Ancient Shadow Temple.
Ning Cheng entered the Ancient Shadow Temple at the end and sealed up the entrance while going in.
When Ning Cheng came in, the group had already gathered in the innermost part of the temple. The things outside the Ancient Shadow Temple were far less attractive to these Eternal-level experts. Moreover, none of these Eternal-level powerhouses wanted to stay at the outer edges; instead, they all chose to rush to the depths.
As for worrying about Ning Cheng’s array formations trapping them, they all considered it a joke. Even if Ning Cheng’s array formations grew more powerful, it couldn’t hold more than a dozen Eternal-level cultivators for a long time.
The poison mist from before had disappeared, so Ning Cheng even did not linger around the periphery. He quickly rushed towards the real entrance of the Ancient Shadow Temple.
……
By the time Ning Cheng reached the edge of the Ancient Shadow Temple, the origin point of that poison mist, he finally saw all of the Eternal-level experts once again. However, no one rushed inside. Apparently, everyone could sense that this mist contained some terrifying properties.
This place looked no different from the last time he came in, still covered in poison mist, and one’s spiritual consciousness could only extend to a little more than ten feet in range.
“Spiritual Consciousness cannot spread out in this place, and this mist also seems to carry a trace of killing aura, which is quite strange.” Fu Yingkui stood behind Gua Sangan and spoke up with a worried tone.
Yi Jiufeng sneered, “If your Spiritual Consciousness cannot spread out, that doesn’t mean others’ can’t spread out.”
Ning Cheng glanced at Yi Jiufeng in doubt. Yi Jiufeng seemed to have a close relationship with Chuan Xinlou. So it didn’t make much sense for her to mock Chuan Xinlou’s underling Fu Yingkui.
“Sect Master Ning, you’ve been here once. Do you have any good ideas?” After Yi Jiufeng finished satirizing Fu Yingkui, she then asked Ning Cheng with a smile.
Ning Cheng quickly waved his hand and said, “My cultivation is still low, so it’s already a blessing that I can stand in this place. How could I come up with a method? I’ll let the several Starry Sky Heavenly Emperor’s ponder over it. But fret not; I’ll be cheering for you with all my heart from the back.”
Qiao Jierui snorted, “It’s useless to shout and cheer. Since we came here together, we need to work together. If you don’t have the skills, then walk away from this place. If you want a share of things inside Ancient Shadow Temple, better work together to get inside or stay outside if you don’t think you’re eligible.”
With that, Qiao Jierui rushed in headfirst.
Ning Cheng thought that Zhangkang Tianji of the Demon Domain would be the first to rush in; he didn’t expect Qiao Jierui to take the lead here.
After Qiao Jierui rushed in, the rest of the Eternal cultivators naturally would not prefer to show weakness. Since they came here, no one wanted to give up obtaining treasures.
After entering the poison mist, one could easily distinguish the cultivations of each person passing through the fog. Among the people rushing through, except for the four grand starry sky’s Starry Sky Emperors, everyone else had to use different weapons to protect himself or herself.
Chuan Xinlou, Qiao Jierui, Zhangkang Tianji, and Yi Jiufeng didn’t bring out any defensive weapons. But when the mist touched them, it did not affect them at all.
As for those with worse cultivation, especially Guo Jingtian who ‘earned’ a lesson from Ning Cheng, he not only brought out a weapon but also donned a set of defensive armour over his body.
Ning Cheng followed them closely. He was already a body-forging powerhouse with a Starry Sky Body, which meant that he naturally didn’t need to bring out any weapons. However, Ning Cheng still brought out a defensive shield for the act. He could also tell that Chuan Xinlou and Zhangkang Tianji were both body-forging experts, which meant that they also didn’t need to fear this poison mist. As for Yi Jiufeng and Qiao Jierui, they should have cultivated in a particularly powerful defensive cultivation method.
Seeing Ning Cheng bring out a defensive shield, Gua Sangan felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
After the crowd entered the mist, all of them eventually reached the gate with the words ‘Ancient Shadow Temple’. Bursts of whining-like sounds came from behind the gate, which sounded weird. But in this place, the early stage of the Eternal Realm was the worst cultivation level. As such, no one felt any fear about the whining-like noises coming from behind the gate.
“Sure enough, this is the real Ancient Shadow Temple.” Qiao Jierui’s eyes glowed with heat. “Let’s attack this gate together. With more than a dozen Eternals attacking together, this gate shouldn’t last for long.”
“I agree. We’ll attack it directly. I will start first.” Zhangkang Tianji immediately stepped up. A moment later, the others also quickly agreed on attacking together.
But then Ning Cheng suddenly spoke up, “I also agree with all the Dao Friends here attacking together. However, before we commence with the attacks, I hope that the Dao Friends here would allow me to place a Shielding Array Formation in this place. No one knows what’s inside this Ancient Shadow Temple. In case something terrible comes out, everyone can just pat his or her asses and leave. It’s my Jiangzhou Star outside, and I‘m responsible for the countless lives of my Jiangzhou Star.”
“Humph, just a group of ants. If they die, then they die, don’t need to waste so many words on them.” Qiao Jierui gave a cold snort. He felt too lazy to pay any attention to Ning Cheng, especially since it had nothing to do with his interests. Right now, it was paramount for them to enter the Ancient Shadow Temple. So when Ning Cheng spoke about wasting time to lay out an array formation for some ants, it naturally made him unhappy.
Ning Cheng’s tone suddenly turned cold, “Qiao Jierui, you might have the right to say that, but if anything on the inside caused the destruction of my Jiangzhou Star, I would make sure to go to the Grand Devil Domain Starry Sky and refine every single planet one after another, and use them as ordinary stones for my back garden.”
“You dare…..” Qiao Jierui felt anger rising within him. He didn’t pay much attention to Ning Cheng before because Ning Cheng didn’t provoke him, Qiao Jierui, head-on. Did he think that he was the same as that underling Guo Jingtian? This was simply courting death.
Ning Cheng didn’t fear Qiao Jierui’s power at all and spoke with an even colder voice, “So all life on my Jiangzhou Star are ants, and all life in your Devil Domain is noble, is that right? Qiao Jierui, do you really think that I wouldn’t dare.”
Qiao Jierui suddenly shuddered when he sensed that his domain couldn’t even dent, let alone tear apart, Ning Cheng’s domain. He never expected that apart from the three Heavenly Emperors, other people could compete with him when it came to domains. If such a person couldn’t be killed swiftly and in one go, it would truly bring forth a disaster.
Yi Jiufeng smiled and came forward before saying, “Sect Master Ning doesn’t need much time to arrange an array formation. We can at least wait till he finishes.”
Qiao Jierui didn’t speak anymore. After his domain clashed with Ning Cheng, he felt unwilling to butt heads with Ning Cheng right now. No one here thought that Qiao Jierui acquiesced to Yi Jiufeng’s words; rather, everyone understood that Qiao Jierui sensed something in Ning Cheng that made him stop. Seeing this, Chuan Xinlou showed a slight frown. Did Ning Cheng really have the power to let Qiao Jierui feel fear?
In any case, Yi Jiufeng said at least one thing correct. Ning Cheng managed to arrange the array formation quickly. In only half an hour, Ning Cheng placed a Shielding Array Formation outside the Ancient Shadow Temple’s gate. Although this array formation would also block cultivators from coming out, no one particularly cared about it. Everyone here was an Eternal Realm powerhouse, so why would fear a Rank 8 Sealing Array Formation arranged by Ning Cheng?
“Now that the array formation is laid out let’s start the attack.” Zhangkang Tianji finished. Without waiting for others to start, he brought out an iron rod. As he lifted it over his head, the iron rod instantly turned into a huge cylinder.
The cylinder then violently slammed down on the Ancient Shadow Temple’s gate, causing a dull rumble to erupt. Although it was just a single strike, everyone could feel the ground beneath his or her feet vibrating.
