t
Without waiting for Ning Cheng to ask, Qi Shisanxing said, “He’s Pill Sage Min Kong….”
“You’re talking about the Pill Sage Min Kong who keeps Human-faced Poison Centipedes to guard his divine grass medicinal gardens?” Ning Cheng asked in surprise.
Qi Shisanxing nodded, “Yes, that’s him. He is, or rather, was the number one Pill Sage in the Grand Essence Realm. Moreover, even his robe also confirms him as the number one Pill Sage. Plus, people always said that he never wore any rings, only a storage bracelet. I honestly never thought that Pill Sage Min Kong would fall here. From the looks of it, he must have come here for the Divine Chalcedony.”
Sure enough, Ning Cheng only found a bracelet on the skeleton’s wrist and no rings at all.
“Pill Sage Min Kong’s ring must contain a lot of good things. Since Brother Ning discovered it, you can take it all. The Pill Sage’s robe is also quite a high-grade treasure. At the very least, it’s tens of thousands of times better than mine. It’s practically priceless. Brother Ning, you can take it too, if you want it.” Qi Shisanxing came from the Profound Moon Spirit Gate. Although he also wanted Pill Sage Min Kong’s bracelet, he wasn’t like other cultivators and lived by his principles.
Ning Cheng put away Pill Sage Min Kong’s bracelet but didn’t remove his robe. Instead, he dug out a grave right next to the body, refined a jade coffin, and put Pill Sage Min Kong’s body carefully into the freshly made grave.
After finishing this, Ning Cheng crafted a tombstone and engraved it with the words ‘Grand Essence Realm’s Number 1 Pill Sage, Pill Sage Min Kong. Made by his beneficiary, Ning Cheng.’ After that, he erected it in front of the grave and bowed three times to give his respects.
Seeing Qi Shisanxing’s puzzled look, Ning Cheng sighed and said, “Although I got chased around by the Human-faced Poison Centipede and almost died. I obtained a lot of divine grasses from his medicine garden. Plus, I also walk the path of Alchemy just like him. So, even if I wanted to, I will not take anything other than his bracelet. No matter what happened in the past, I still owe Pill Sage Min Kong a huge favour. It’s only right to gather his remains and give him the proper respect and burial that he deserves.”
Qi Shisanxing only thought about the pills and alchemic materials left behind on Pill Sage Min Kong’s body and immediately felt ashamed of his actions. Quickly composing himself, he stood in front of Pill Sage Min Kong’s grave and gave it a few respectful bows.
Ning Cheng pointed to a stone peak beside the tomb and said, “There should be a piece of Divine Chalcedony in that stone peak. But since this is the grave of Pill Sage Min Kong, let’s move to the next place.”
“Okay.” Qi Shisanxing agreed to Ning Cheng’s words without hesitation.
Following the previous patterns, the two of them had only taken three steps each before their eyes suddenly lit up. The misty stone forest had disappeared without a trace. What appeared in front of the two was an endless wilderness. Moreover, they could even sense some spiritual fluctuations in the distance.
“Did we come out?” Qi Shisanxing quickly asked. However, his first thought wasn’t to leave but to look back. He had probed the inside of that forest with his repressed spiritual consciousness for tens of thousands of years. However, the illusion array couldn’t affect Ning Cheng at all. With such an advantage, only a fool would willingly come out so early.
“Looks like we can’t get in.” Ning Cheng frowned and also looked at the endless wasteland behind them. Where did the Lost Stone Forest go? Where were the stone peaks?
Qi Shisanxing finally reacted and marvelled. “What a great illusion array. Brother Ning, if it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to get out of it even with an additional 60,000 years. Alas, it’s a pity that Pill Sage Min Kong was only three steps away from the exit but fell inside. Sometimes, three steps are all that separates life and death.”
Ning Cheng remained silent. If not for the Seven Bridges Spirit Technique, he would have most likely also fallen in the Lost Stone Forest. Even the Mysterious Yellow Bead’s Origin Aura would have stopped working after a while. Under that kind of illusion array that combined illusions with yin spirits, his Sea of Consciousness would have eventually faded out of existence.
Meaning, sooner or later, he would have also fallen into insanity within the Lost Stone Forest like Qi Shisanxing. Perhaps, he might have also turned into a skeleton, like Pill Sage Min Kong.
“Let’s go. Let’s split up the Divine Chalcedony and the stuff from Pill Sage Min Kong’s bracelet.” Ning Cheng patted Qi Shisanxing’s shoulder.
“Brother Ning, you saved my life. You’re also an Alchemy Master. I don’t want that bracelet. As for Divine Chalcedony, I just need ten of them. It would be no use if I had too many.” Qi Shisanxing spoke with a sincere tone.
He was fully aware that Ning Cheng was the one who saved his life. Plus, without Ning Cheng, he couldn’t have come out of the Lost Stone Forest. Moreover, the only reason they found so many pieces of Divine Chalcedony was also due to Ning Cheng. As such, everything rightfully belonged to Ning Cheng in his opinion, including his life.
Ning Cheng only showed a faint smile. He and Qi Shisanxing had spent almost two months together. As such, he now had a relatively good understanding of Qi Shisanxing’s temperament and personality. Qi Shisanxing wasn’t a cunning person. If you treated him with sincerity, he would also treat you with equal seriousness. As for Divine Chalcedony, not being of much use, Ning Cheng didn’t believe it.
The more such stuff one had, the more valuable it would be to them. How could it be useless?
Ning Cheng took out thirty pieces of Divine Chalcedony and handed them to Qi Shisanxing. “Brother Qi, I’m going to refine the Spirit Essence Pill. Therefore, I’ll need a bit more of it.”
Hearing that Ning Cheng wanted to refine the Spirit Essence Pill, Qi Shisanxing’s eyes lit up and only took five Divine Chalcedony. “Brother Ning, I only needed ten. You can keep the other five with you. If you manage to refine the Spirit Essence Pill, remember to give me five. If it fails, just forget about it.”
Since Qi Shisanxing said that, Ning Cheng also didn’t decline it. He believed that he could successfully refine the Spirit Essence Pill. He put away the rest of the pieces of Divine Chalcedony and said, “Okay, then I will give them to you if I successfully refine it.”
“You’ve probably been in the Grand Essence Mystic Realm for more than six months, right? Since we have to go back all the way, do you want to look for divine grasses? If I’m guessing correctly, we’ll be able to reach the exit point just in time.” Qi Shisanxing was in an excellent mood. He guessed that the reason Ning Cheng entered Grand Essence Mystic Realm was to find divine grasses. In any case, Ning Cheng had also mentioned that he walked the path of Alchemy.
Ning Cheng hesitated a bit before speaking, “Brother Qi, I may need your help. See if you can be of any help; if not, then I’ll try to find another way.”
Qi Shisanxing heard Ning Cheng’s words and immediately reprimanded Ning Cheng with a harsh tone. “Ning Cheng, I won’t call you Brother Ning anymore. The two of us have passed through a life and death friendship in the Grand Essence Lost Stone Forest. Hearing the wariness in your tone doesn’t sit well with me.”
Ning Cheng smiled, “Well, then I’ll not remain polite about it. I won’t continue calling you Brother Qi. I guess Shisanxing is a good name to go by.”
Qi Shisanxing heard Ning Cheng’s words and felt even better. “Say it quickly; if you want me to help fight for you, it would be for the best. It’s been quite lonely for the past tens of thousands of years, and I haven’t exercised properly. Hehe, I can’t wait…..”
While talking, Qi Shisanxing even kept rubbing his hands. With his weak and frail body, it felt pretty out of place and funny at the same time.
“Well, it’s not a fight. But I did offend someone. If my guess is correct, this person will be waiting for me outside the Grand Essence Mystic Realm as it closed.” Ning Cheng shook his head and said.
Qi Shisanxing laughed, “That’s even simpler. When this Shisanxing comes out, let me see who would dare find trouble with my brother. No matter who it is, I will slap him to death.”
He had the confidence to say this. Even if the other party were a disciple of one of the top ten sects, he would still dare to do it.
“I’m afraid it wouldn’t work because that person is called Man Huishan, and I heard that he’s called the Dragon Emperor or something….” Ning Cheng spoke up with some bitterness.
“…..” Qi Shisanxing looked at Ning Cheng with an unbelievable look on this face. Only after a long time did he finally sit down in helplessness and said, “You said you offended Man Huishan? How could you have anything to do with him? He’s a Dao Essence Holy Emperor.”
Slap Man Huishan to death? Even his father wouldn’t dare say such a thing. Rather, Man Huishan was the one who could slap him to death.
Ning Cheng tugged at his hair out of helplessness before sighing. “If I could, I wouldn’t have messed with this kind of person. Even I know that it would be unreasonable for me to get involved with this guy.”
Without Man Jiuren not showing up to destroy the Mysterious Yellow Starland, how could there possibly be a link of revenge between him and Man Huishan?
Qi Shisanxing calmed down and tried to comfort Ning Cheng. “Don’t worry. I will ask my father to go to the Grand Essence Sea to talk about it. It’s going to be okay.”
“It probably wouldn’t work either. I killed Man Huishan’s son, Man Jiuren. I’m afraid it would be difficult for anyone to intercede….”
“You….” Qi Shisanxing shot an angry glare at Ning Cheng. He had seen bold people before, but he had never seen someone as bold and outrageous as Ning Cheng. Who would even dare to kill Man Huishan’s son? Just what did Ning Cheng eat to gain so much courage?
After a few moments, Qi Shisanxing spoke up with a quiet voice. “Tell me everything that happened, and we’ll figure it out together.”
Ning Cheng could feel that Qi Shisanxing truly wanted to help him. Therefore, he fully confessed the hatred that existed between him and Man Jiuren. He only concealed the part about the Five-coloured Star Splitter Arrow.
If Qi Shisanxing had shown even a bit of intention of not helping, Ning Cheng would have dropped it altogether and see if he could find another way.
After hearing Ning Cheng’s story, Qi Shisanxing had already put away the issue of Man Huishan’s power. “This kid dared to calculate against you in the mystic realm. He deserved death at your hands. Besides, Man Huishan doesn’t know that it was you who killed him. So, I don’t think you have too much to worry about it. I can certainly help with it. Well, if Brother Ning stayed in my Miniature World….”
Ning Cheng interrupted Qi Shisanxing’s words. “It’s useless. Not to mention a Miniature World, even inside a True Spirit World, I’m afraid we can’t avoid Man Huishan…”
Ning Cheng suddenly stopped. If there were people in the True Spirit World, they indeed wouldn’t be able to avoid the probing of a Dao Essence expert. But what if he used the 3000 Weak Water Drop to cover the True Spirit World?
Thinking of it, Ning Cheng immediately spoke up without any hesitation. “Shisanxing, I have a True Spirit World, and I also have a drop of 3000 Weak Water. When we go out, I can enter the True Spirit World and then use the drop of 3000 Weak Water to cover up the aura of the True Spirit World. If you can take this True Spirit World out, we might be able to avoid any problems.”
“Wonderful.” Qi Shisanxing clapped his hand and spoke up with a joyful voice. “Since we agreed to it, let’s quickly head out to find divine grasses. When it’s time to go out, I will take you with me.”
“Okay. It’s a pity, though. I wouldn’t be able to participate in the Grand Essence Great Meet through this method.” Ning Cheng hesitated for a while but agreed to Qi Shisanxing’s words. Ning Cheng clearly understood that not participating in the Great Meet was still a better option than not having a life. For others, entering the True Spirit World might put their lives in the hands of others, but it might not be so for Ning Cheng.
He believed that he did not read Qi Shisanxing wrong. But even if something happened, and he was wrong about Qi Shisanxing, he could blow up the True Spirit World. With the Mysterious Yellow Bead, he could easily survive the explosion of the True Spirit World. The only flaw would be that it would end up exposing the Mysterious Yellow Bead.
“Do you want to go to the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring for the Spirit Essence Transformation?” When Qi Shisanxing heard Ning Cheng’s words, he immediately understood what Ning Cheng wanted.
Ning Cheng nodded and said, “Yes, I came to the Grand Essence Mystic Realm, not for divine grasses, but to secure a spot to enter the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring. I want to start the Spirit Essence Transformation process.”
