“The Heavenly Emperor doesn’t help people build battleships. Please go back.” A cultivator with a statue-like face stopped Ning Cheng. He didn’t even ask why Ning Cheng came here.
Ning Cheng hadn’t even spoken yet. He just stood outside Kong He’s residence, watching the defensive array around it, as well as the four compelling characters ‘Kong He Emperor Mountain’. From the defensive arrays, he could tell that old man Kong He was not only an Artefact-crafting expert but also a master in the Dao of Arrays. Moreover, the cultivator that stopped him addressed old man Kong He as ‘Heavenly Emperor’. Combined with the four words ‘Kong He Emperor Mountain’, Ning Cheng understood that this old man Kong He was a titled Eternal Starry Sky Emperor.
“How do you know that I’m here to craft battleships? I’m not here to craft battleships.” Ning Cheng said with a wry smile. He can’t leave till he at least met that old man Kong He.
The tone of that cultivator with the statue-like face still contained no emotions, “Whether you came here for artefact-crafting or not, you can’t stay here. Please leave.”
Ning Cheng was about to reply when a woman wearing a servant’s black robe landed not far away from him.
“Blue River Mountain’s Lan Yi requests to see Senior Kong He……” As soon as the woman in black servants’ robe landed, she took out a jade box and handed it to the cultivator with a statue-like face and spoke with cupped fists and a respectful voice.
The cultivator took the jade box and opened it before nodding and said, “Go in.”
Ning Cheng then watched the woman in black servant’s robe enter the defensive array and then asked, “Why can’t I go in if she can go in? It’s because she brought gifts, isn’t it? Since you want to collect things, then you should have said it earlier.”
While talking, Ning Cheng also took out a jade box, “Stately River Star’s Ning Cheng also asks to see Master Kong He.”
The cultivator still replied with an expressionless face, “Your stuff is too low-grade, I can’t accept it. Please go back.”
It seemed as if he liked Ning Cheng’s attitude. Therefore, the clay-faced cultivator spoke a little politely. He even added the word ‘please’.
Ning Cheng sneered, “That woman just gave a Refining Heart Fantasy Stone. I wouldn’t even bother to pick up that thing even if it was on the side of the road.”
After hearing Ning Cheng’s words, the woman in black servants’ robe walking ahead immediately stopped. She wanted to know who said such a big thing and if this person had any shame? Refining Heart Fantasy Stone was a Starry Sky Grade 9 raw material, and a rare one to boot. If this battleship weren’t so important to her, she would have never taken out this material.
But she also knew that even after taking out this material, there was a nine out of ten chance that she would have to return empty-handed. However, as long as there was even a slight chance, she didn’t want to miss out on it.
The statue-faced man frowned slightly before opening Ning Cheng’s jade box. When he saw the contents of the jade box, he finally nodded, “The materials are okay. Please go in.”
He wanted to send Ning Cheng back, but Ning Cheng had delivered a Starry Sky Grade 9 Artefact-crafting raw material. Therefore, even if Ning Cheng did not go inside, he would have to invite Ning Cheng.
From the looks of it, Kong He set some rules for entry, with the lowest requirement being Starry Sky Grade 9 raw materials. Moreover, it seemed to be a widely accepted rule. Since Ning Cheng didn’t come up with the materials, then it meant that he didn’t understand the law. As such, Ning Cheng would have had to leave. After all, not everyone could casually take out Starry Sky Grade 9 raw materials.
As Ning Cheng walked into the defensive array, the female cultivator wearing black servants’ robe suddenly smiled at him. “Dao Friend Ning, you gave a Purple Light Treasure Eye, that’s quite bold of you. You should know that even if you give a Purple Light Treasure Eye, you might not get to ask Master Kong He to help you refine a battleship, right?”
In her opinion, it wasn’t necessary to send a Purple Light Treasure Eye at all. Compared to Refining Heart Fantasy Stone, Purple Light Treasure Eye had much more value.
After all, the former was only useful if an artefact-crafting expert integrated it into a weapon. At the same time, the latter was a treasure that could help upgrade nirvana flames. But then again, even if one took out the Purple Light Treasure Eye to ask old man Kong He to craft a battleship, old man Kong He might not even bother to take a look at it.
The reason why she waited for Ning Cheng was that the thing she was about to deliver was also a treasure related to flame advancement. Moreover, it was a few grades better than Purple Light Treasure Eye.
Ning Cheng asked in doubt, “He already accepted my gift, so why wouldn’t he help me with artefact-crafting? Don’t tell me he wants an ‘overlord’s gift’[1]?”
“That offering was just to get your foot in the door. It would only allow you to enter. If you don’t have Starry Sky Grade 9 raw materials, then you can’t even enter the door. Even if you manage to enter, you would have very few chances to see Senior Kong He. It’s truly a very difficult matter to ask Senior Kong He to refine battleships for you.”
The black servants’ robe-wearing woman, called Lan Yi, smiled and understood that Ning Cheng should have come here for the first time, which was why he didn’t understand the rules.
If old man Kong He had such a kind heart, then this place would have always remained crowded. How could it remain so empty otherwise?
“Then, how can I get to meet this old man Kong He?” Ning Cheng quickly asked.
Lan Yi pointed to a guest room not far from them and said, “We will have to go in and wait, and also take out the best materials to hand them in. Only if Senior Kong He favours your materials would he help you craft the starry sky battleship. By the way, Senior Kong He only accepts raw materials, not Permanent Essence Pills. Moreover, those people whose materials didn’t catch Senior Kong He’s eyes would have to go back the same way. At the same time, they would also not get their things back.”
Looks like this Kong He truly had an overbearing nature. Fortunately, Ning Cheng didn’t lack materials. He had taken out the Purple Light Treasure Eye before because Purple Light Treasure Eye no longer had any use for him. Although he still has piles of other top-grade artefact-crafting raw materials in his ring, he truly didn’t want to take them out just yet.
Ning Cheng and Lan Yi walked into the guest room and found two fairly powerful cultivators guarding the entrance of the room.
Nearly ten people also sat in the guest room quietly. The room also contained a teleportation stone platform at the front of the guest room, along with a display screen right next to it.
It was Ning Cheng’s first time here, and even if Lan Yi explained the rules to him, he still couldn’t fully grasp how things worked here right away. But since everyone else waited patiently in the room, he naturally didn’t have any other opinions. The one lording over this place was a Starry Sky Emperor. He was also an expert that could combine technology and top-grade artefact-crafting methods. It would be a strange thing if he didn’t have some quirky and stinky rules.
If it weren’t for Sifting Orchid, Ning Cheng wouldn’t have wasted time here, let alone wasting resources.
Fortunately, Ning Cheng didn’t have to wait long, and a line appeared on the screen directly in front of everyone in the guest room. “Materials sent by Zheng Liyan aren’t up to standard, please exit Kong He Emperor Mountain….”
When a man in yellow robes sitting at the front of Ning Cheng read those words, his expressions immediately changed. But after a while, he still bowed his head and walked out of the guest room.
After the man in yellow robes walked out, a bald man sitting behind him walked to the front of the guest room and placed a jade box on the stone platform.
Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness broke into the bald man’s jade box and saw a bottle of Breaking Void Water inside. In all honesty, even Ning Cheng felt a bit of longing for this material. It was a top-grade starry sky material useful for array formations, especially for its space-isolating properties.
The jade box containing Breaking Void Water disappeared the next instant. Ning Cheng internally smiled when seeing the bald man looking a little anxious. If that old man Kong He truly liked artefact-crafting, this Breaking Void Water should get his attention.
But after just a dozen breaths, a line of words appeared on the screen in the guest room, “Xiang Wenyao’s materials aren’t up to standard. Please exit Kong He Emperor Mountain….”
The bald man’s expression turned even uglier than Zheng Liyan from before. From this, one could tell that this bottle of Breaking Void Water was quite an essential resource for him.
Seeing the bald man walking out, and the materials not returned, it made Ning Cheng a bit upset.
This old man Kong He truly was shameless. The offerings given by others aren’t qualified, and you don’t even help others craft their starry sky battleships. If that was the case, you should at least return the things to their owners. It was just too much to say that other people’s offerings couldn’t qualify, and instead of helping them with their requests, you just confiscate their things. It was equivalent to receiving offerings twice only not to do anything. One could even say that it was a form of robbery.
If it were just ordinary materials, Ning Cheng wouldn’t have felt so much anger. But this Breaking Void was truly not a regular material. Yet, despite receiving this material and deeming it unqualified, he didn’t return it, nor did he help craft the battleship. It just didn’t make any sense to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng stood up. No matter how skilled this old man Kong He was, he didn’t want such a person to help him repair Sifting Orchid.
“Stop. After entering here, you must send out the materials to the Heavenly Emperor first before you can leave this place.” What Ning Cheng didn’t expect was that when he was just about to leave the guest hall, someone would immediately stop him.
Ning Cheng showed a smirk, “Well, I wouldn’t regret leaving this place anyway.”
Lan Yi and Ning Cheng had already exchanged a few words. As such, people could misconstrue it as her knowing Ning Cheng. Therefore, hearing Ning Cheng’s words, she immediately sent a voice transmission to Ning Cheng. “Dao Friend Ning, in this place, even you don’t need battleships, you shouldn’t create conflicts with Kong He Emperor Mountain. Please keep that in mind!”
Ning Cheng nodded and sat back in his seat. At this time, the words on the screen changed once again “Sa Ma’s materials aren’t up to standard. Please exit Kong He Emperor Mountain….”
Another disgruntled man walked out in disappointment. When he walked out, two more people came into the room. From this, one could see that people always came in and out of the guest room at all times.
It also confused Ning Cheng a little. It stood to reason that old man Kong He was an expert when it came to technology and artefact-crafting. It would make a bit of sense if such people didn’t refine battleships for everyone that came in as it would potentially consume a lot of time. But if you just sat there and gathered materials every day, even if you obtained a lot of precious materials, aren’t you still wasting time?
Ning Cheng hadn’t figured out the whole problem yet; therefore, he decided to stay back. To confirm whether this old man Kong He wanted to con people out of materials or not, Ning Cheng chose to use a space crystal with a trace of his spiritual consciousness.
Space crystals contained the Laws of Space. If even this couldn’t move this person into crafting battleships, then Ning Cheng felt 100% sure that this fellow was just a conman trying to gather high-grade materials.
Seeing Ning Cheng’s jade box teleported away, the cultivator who stood at the door blocking Ning Cheng’s path outside, showed a trace of disdain. Don’t regret leaving, yet didn’t you still send out the materials?
This time, the characters on the screen didn’t change for a long time. Only after half an incense stick worth of time, the screen showed a row of characters. “Ning Cheng’s materials are not qualified. Please leave Kong He Emperor Mountain…..”
Ning Cheng sneered. Just when he was about to speak, Lan Yi quickly came over and said, “Dao Friend Ning, don’t do it. It is not a place to cause trouble.”
Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness then fell into the jade box in Lan Yi’s hands, and his face immediately showed an expression of surprise. He didn’t expect that what he was looking for would end up in Lan Yi’s hands.
He immediately forgot the unpleasantness of Kong He Emperor Mountain and smiled before speaking to Lan Yi. “Dao Friend Lan Yi, I wonder if you can show me the materials you’re about to send?”
Lan Yi looked at Ning Cheng blankly; this sort of change was a bit too fast for her. Ning Cheng, who was still angry a moment ago, had suddenly turned his attention to her materials in just a blink of an eye. Did he want her materials as compensation for the materials he just lost? But this was Kong He Emperor Mountain, robbing things equalled death in this place.
[1] An ‘Overlord’s Gift’ refers to offerings given to a tyrant overlord to appease the said tyrant. It usually involves an outrageous amount of wealth.
