“Bang” With a dull explosion, the Five-coloured Star Splitter Arrow tore through the naked man, while Ning Cheng’s array formations killed off his essence spirit.
The Five-coloured Star Splitter Arrow once again disappeared into Ning Cheng’s wrist, and Ning Cheng immediately caught a ring. Without waiting for Ning Cheng to crack the restrictions on the naked man’s ring, the restrictions shattered inch by inch. Ning Cheng then quickly threw the contents into his ring. Just when he finished transferring the contents of the ring, it collapsed into ashes that drifted into the wind.
Ning Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to the time he killed Hong Lun; he was in a much better condition.
Nalan Ruxue finally reacted at this time, and quickly stepped forward to support the stumbling Ning Cheng, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, are you okay?”
Ning Cheng waved his hand and said with a weak voice, “This is not the place to stay for a long time, hurry into the array…..”
Only then did Nalan Ruxue discover something about the defensive array. It previously required a sacrificial array to break it open. But it now had cracks opening up under the penetrating power of Ning Cheng’s arrow.
As the rich Wood Origin Aura escaped through the cracks, Nalan Ruxue quickly helped Ning Cheng into the defensive array.
Ning Cheng weakly threw out some array flags, sealing any aura from leaking out of the defensive array, which also hid them from outside view temporarily.
“What a dense Wood Origin Aura.” Nalan Ruxue exclaimed. Unfortunately, she did not have a wood-attributed spiritual root. If she had a wood-attributed spiritual root, cultivating in this place would have produced an effect at least dozens of times better than outside.
Ning Cheng also felt surprised by the dense Wood Origin Aura all around him. More accurately, this place was a reef shoal. These reefs all had Wood Origin Crystals embedded in them. Rocks, by themselves, wouldn’t produce such Wood Origin Crystals, which meant that the origin crystals here had evolved over countless years.
The Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King on Ning Cheng’s wrist trembled. Sensing it, Ning Cheng slightly shook his hand and said, “Go and devour those Wood Origin Crystals, and remember to collect all of them for me.”
After speaking, Ning Cheng called out Chasing Bull once again, “You also go and collect those Wood Origin Crystals. I want to heal my wounds.”
Seeing a thick rattan vine stretch out and quickly absorb the Wood Origin Crystals, Nalan Ruxue immediately understood that it was Ning Cheng’s companion beast. Moreover, she knew about this rattan, which resembled an Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, she had once read about it in the past.
As for Chasing Bull, she didn’t care much about it. The value of an Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan far exceeded that of an ordinary demonic bull.
Ning Cheng took his hand down from Nalan Ruxue’s shoulder. “Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, you can also go collect those Wood Origin Crystals. I’m going to heal my wounds.”
With Wood Origin Aura permeating the surrounding, it was the best place to heal one’s wounds.
Feeling that Ning Cheng might have taken some severe injuries, Nalan Ruxue didn’t refuse either. Putting Ning Cheng in a location rich in Wood Origin Crystals, she began to dig out the Wood Origin Crystals from the reef shoal.
……
A month later, Ning Cheng stood up and gave out a long sigh of relief. His injuries had fully healed. Although his hair still looked greyish-white, it would gradually recover as he continued cultivating. For such an inconsequential matter, Ning Cheng naturally wouldn’t use the First Glimmer of Dawn Ice Essence.
“Master, all the Wood Origin Crystals are inside.” As soon as Ning Cheng stood up, Chasing Bull immediately trotted over to Ning Cheng and handed him a ring.
Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept in and found thousands of Wood Origin Crystals inside.
Without waiting for Ning Cheng to ask, Chasing Bull quickly spoke up, “Little Wood Rattan[1] and the little girl’s Wood Origin Crystals are also inside. Little Wood Rattan is currently outside surmounting its tribulation. The little girl said that she would help it as a Dharma Protector, but I guess she just wants to watch the fun. However, as the master’s loyal servant, I dared not take a step outside without permission.”
Ning Cheng had already discovered that the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan and Nalan Ruxue weren’t here. As for the Wood Origin Crystals around him, they were almost entirely depleted, with barely anything left.
Ning Cheng ignored the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan for now. Hearing bursts of thunder coming from the outside, Ning Cheng had already understood that the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan truly was surmounting its tribulation.
He didn’t go out immediately. Instead, he used this opportunity to sort through all the rings. Excluding the low-grade and middle-grade spirit crystals, Ning Cheng had raked in more than 10 million high-grade spirit crystals. But most of these high-grade spirit crystals came from that black-skinned naked male cultivator.
By the time Ning Cheng walked out of the reef crevice with Chasing Bull, the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King had successfully surmounted its tribulation. It had now become a Starry Sky Grade 8 Demonic Vine. As long as the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King had enough Wood Origin Crystals, it would only be a matter of time before it advanced to Grade 9.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, have you finished healing?” Nalan Ruxue saw Ning Cheng coming out and walked over with a hint of excitement. She naturally knew about the value of Wood Origin Crystals, and she had obtained more than a hundred of them from below. Although she gave most of them to Chasing Bull, she still kept around forty to fifty of them.
Ning Cheng took out a ring and handed it to Nalan Ruxue, “There are some Wood Origin Crystals inside, you should keep some.”
Nalan Ruxue hurriedly declined, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, I still have a few dozens of these crystals with me. Even if you give me more of them, it would be of little use to me.”
Ning Cheng, hearing that Nalan Ruxue had already kept some Wood Origin Crystals, didn’t remain polite anymore. Wood Origin Crystals were something essential for him, not just for alchemy, but also for the promotion of Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King.
After taking out the Wood Origin Crystals from the ring, he handed the ring to Nalan Ruxue. “There are 3 million spirit crystals in it, along with some weapons and medicinal pills. I’ve already received a bountiful harvest; I will leave these to you.”
Upon hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Nalan Ruxue didn’t continue to refuse and put away the ring.
After the advancement, the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King turned into a black light and disappeared on Ning Cheng’s wrist. Since the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan King had just advanced, it needed some more time to stabilise its cultivation.
Seeing Ning Cheng bringing out a flight-type weapon, Chasing Bull pitifully cried out, “Master, let me help you drive this weapon.”
Ning Cheng understood that this bull didn’t want to stay in the True Spirit World at all, and simply handed the control of the airship to Chasing Bull.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, did you know about the person hiding on the side since the beginning?” Nalan Ruxue finally couldn’t help but ask after the airship took off.
Ning Cheng shook his head. “No, but I saw that the map Tao Xing had was the same as the map with Gu Hui. So, I guessed that someone had laid out a deliberate trap. The person who made such arrangements wasn’t looking for cultivators like Tao Xing. Rather, a virgin female cultivator with a water-attributed spiritual root.”
“This person released the map and indirectly looked for female cultivators for the sacrificial arrays. It meant that he had to pay particular attention to that fire-attributed defensive array at all times. Staying here and keeping a look-out over the status of the defensive array would make it much more difficult to be discovered by others and also easier than using spiritual consciousness to keep an eye on everything. Moreover, it would also make things easier for him in controlling temporary and unexpected situations.”
“My spiritual consciousness swept through everything in the area but didn’t find anything suspicious. From this, I understood that someone had concealed himself or herself here. Moreover, this person’s cultivation also should have exceeded mine. Therefore, I had to take action through surprise, which is why I asked you to enter the sacrificial array. It was to let that fellow shift focus to you and also to help me arrange an Entrapment and Killing Array. I’m sorry.”
“No, Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, I should be the one apologising here. I thought that you truly wanted to use me for the sacrificial array, and felt very disappointed. But, Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, how did you figure out that person’s hiding spot?” Nalan Ruxue felt truly excited after going through this experience. She also thought that the misunderstanding between Ning Cheng and her had also dissipated by a lot.
Ning Cheng gave out a sigh, “I truly didn’t know about it. I was betting on my hunch. I thought about the location where I would have hidden if I was in that person’s place. This position should not only have the best visual coverage of the area but also should be a place from where he could control everything at any time. Based on those things, only one location stood out. I guessed that if someone truly concealed themselves here, this person would have also chosen the same place as me. It’s just that I didn’t expect that fellow would be so powerful. If it weren’t for my trump card, he would have almost killed me instantly.”
When Nalan Ruxue heard this, she immediately felt a little afraid. In case Ning Cheng made a mistake in his judgement, then she wouldn’t have escaped her fate of being used for the sacrificial array.
Thinking of this, Nalan Ruxue suddenly felt startled. When Ning Cheng wanted to use her as a part of the sacrificial array, she only felt disappointment and sadness at that time, but not fear. But thinking back to how that fellow wanted to use her as a part of a sacrificial array, she truly felt scared.
Ning Cheng didn’t say anything more. The only thing he wondered was why that naked male cultivator had sealed himself up in this place. Was it for cultivating a cultivation method, or was it for some other reasons?
……
After the airship returned to Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City, Ning Cheng and Nalan Ruxue didn’t go to the residential area. Instead, they directly went and paid 20,000 spirit crystals on the public square, and waited for the airship to take them to the teleportation point.
As for Chasing Bull, Ning Cheng sent into the True Spirit World again. According to the rules set for the airships plying to and from the city and the teleportation array, one didn’t need to pay spirit crystals for companion beasts. But only as long as one doesn’t bring them out.
However, you can’t put people into special spaces and carry them with you. Once found, not only would they force you to bring them out and scatter their cultivations, but the authorities would even confiscate everything. In any case, once someone erased one’s cultivation, it was equivalent to losing one’s life. At that point, it didn’t matter if you had anything to offer or not.
Ning Cheng and Nalan Ruxue had just sat down when two people came over. The one in front was a middle-aged male cultivator, and the one behind him was a handsome-looking tall young man. However, the young man in the back had higher cultivation compared to the middle-aged male cultivator in the front. This person was already at the late-stage Eternal Realm.
Seeing the middle-aged male cultivator walking in front, Ning Cheng frowned slightly. He vaguely understood why this person came to him. This middle-aged male cultivator was the owner of the Essence Sea Restaurant. Ning Cheng had sold him a pot of None-to-depend-on Wine at the Essence Sea Restaurant, and now this person came to him.
“Hello, my friend, we meet again.” The middle-aged restaurant owner bowed to Ning Cheng and spoke with enthusiasm.
“Brother Hong, is this the friend you talked about?” The young man walking behind the middle-aged restaurant owner asked with a smile.
The middle-aged restaurant owner quickly spoke up, “That’s right, Little Min, this friend sold it to me.”
The young man nodded and said, “Many thanks, Brother Hong.”
The middle-aged restaurant owner spoke up, “Little Min, I still have a few things to attend to at the restaurant. I’ll be taking my leave first.” After speaking, he nodded to Ning Cheng before turning around and leaving quickly.
The young man gave Ning Cheng a courtesy bow and said with a graceful voice, “My name is Chi Zimin, and I come from the Grand Essence Domain.”
“Ning Cheng, rogue cultivator. If Brother Chi came to me to ask about the wine, then I’m afraid that I would have to disappoint Brother Chi. It was given to me by a friend of mine, and I only had one pot.” Ning Cheng blocked Chi Zimin’s words as soon as he introduced himself.
“It’s not just about the wine. I happen to be heading to the Grand Essence Domain, which happens to be on the same road as Brother Ning.” Chi Zimin finished speaking and took the initiative to pay 10,000 spirit crystals and bought a jade talisman for the airship.
[1] I’m currently debating whether to keep it as ‘Little Wood Rattan’ as in the raws or shorten it to ‘Little Rattan’. Might change it later.
