Chapter 949
Chapter 0949: Alchemy Discourse
Ning Cheng’s spear had pinned a Dao Raising Holy Emperor through his glabella, with blood still dripping down the spear’s tip. However, Ning Cheng had his eyes closed and didn’t move, seemingly contemplating something.
Nobody spoke. People even seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. More so for the Dao Raising Holy Emperor who had withdrawn earlier. He couldn’t help but look at Ning Cheng in disbelief. It was true that he had retreated from the struggle because of his intuition about Ning Cheng’s power. However, he also felt that Ning Cheng couldn’t fight against the two Dao Raising Holy Emperors working together. But at the same time, he also knew that these two Dao Raising Holy Emperors couldn’t prevent Ning Cheng from escaping.
Since they couldn’t prevent Ning Cheng from escaping, why would he come forward to make a move? It wasn’t his style to offend a promising Dao Sculpting expert for no reason at all. What’s more, no one knew that he had already made quite a bit of harvest from the pill furnace’s inside.
His intuition told him that Ning Cheng was a powerful person, but not this outrageously powerful. Ning Cheng had taken out an early-stage Dao Raising Emperor with a single move.
The white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor sensed something wrong when Ning Cheng cast the Law Break Spirit Technique. But when Ning Cheng’s Sunset’s Twilight came out and time began to stagnate, he knew that this Dao Raising Holy Emperor fighting against Ning Cheng was finished.
He didn’t step in to help. Rather, even if he did, he couldn’t have reversed the outcome.
While this white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor hesitated to move against Ning Cheng, Ning Cheng opened his eyes. Then, slightly shaking the spear in his hand, the Dao Raising Holy Emperor hanging on the opposite end fell to the ground. The next moment, this Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s black bridge and storage ring disappeared into Ning Cheng’s palm.
Ning Cheng didn’t put away the spear and instead pointed the spear tip diagonally at the ground. He then took a step towards the white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor and spoke up in a calm tone, “It’s your turn now. Don’t worry, I’ll let you make the first strike.”
After advancing to the Dao Sculpting Realm, Ning Cheng used the Seven Bridges Spirit Technique to kill dozens of people. There was even a Dao Raising Holy Emperor among them.
Now Ning Cheng once again took out a Dao Raising Holy Emperor, allowing his Returning-to-one Dao to fuse even more. From these two experiences, Ning Cheng understood that the more battles he fought, the deeper his dao would merge and come together. But, at the same time, it would also help him improve his strength rapidly.
The white-faced Dao Raising cultivator gave a cold snort and replied with a faint voice, “This emperor does not care to fight you.”
After saying that, this Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s body started flashing, and his body started to quickly disappear. Perhaps he would have managed to make the escape if given another half a breath.
However, the spear in Ning Cheng’s hand shot out a spear trace containing the Law Break Spirit Technique. It immediately disrupted the laws in the surrounding space.
The white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor, who was about to teleport, suddenly solidified. His facial expressions changed slightly as he understood that the escaping technique he used had failed.
Ning Cheng’s body flickered, and with the help of his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Cloud, arrived right in front of this white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor. “What? Don’t want to leave a little something for this father before leaving?”
This white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s face turned even more ugly. He opened his hand, and a white silhouette appeared in front of him. It was a blade wheel, and before the blade wheel even powered up, the harsh tearing and killing aura from the white light created a sharp noise. It felt as if it could tear the space around it at any moment.
“What do you want?” The white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s tone was cold, and his two eyes stared at Ning Cheng with a fierce glare.
He was at the middle-stage Dao Raising Realm and much more powerful than the early-stage Dao Raising cultivator Ning Cheng had just killed. However, he still didn’t dare take the initiative to move against Ning Cheng. Especially when Ning Cheng could use that weird spirit technique. The spirit technique that Ning Cheng used seemed to disrupt and weaken the surrounding laws of heaven and earth. Once the laws weakened, or even if they got disrupted for a moment, his spirit techniques would immediately weaken.
He couldn’t understand why Ning Cheng, a mere Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor, could influence the laws of heaven and earth. But he didn’t dare to try. He didn’t want to die at the hands of a Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor.
The spear in Ning Cheng’s hand shook slightly, and a few spear traces emerged. Seeing the few spear traces spilling out, the white-faced Dao Raising Holy Emperor’s domain immediately unfolded to block Ning Cheng’s spear traces. At the same time, his body also tensed up, afraid that Ning Cheng would suddenly make a move.
Ning Cheng only showed a slight smile, “What do I want? Wasn’t it you who wanted to stop me just now? Wasn’t it you who spoke about me leaving behind the pill furnace and the pill flame?”
The white-faced cultivator’s face paled. He very much didn’t want to fight Ning Cheng. But he also didn’t know how he should deal with Ning Cheng.
“I just lost ten million spirit crystals from the spirit technique I used. Take out the spirit crystals, or I won’t stop.” As Ning Cheng spoke, the spear traces around him started to double.
It was true that Ning Cheng currently lacked spirit crystals. But he had two reasons for wanting those ten million spirit crystals. First, Ning Cheng understood that the more he fought, the stronger it would make him. But more importantly, so many people here knew that he had taken away the pill furnace and the pill flame. If he didn’t intimidate them enough, someone among the crowd would once again step forward to block his way.
The white-faced cultivator stared at Ning Cheng with hatred. But after hesitating for a while, he still took out a ring and threw it to Ning Cheng. Then, with a flash, his body disappeared from in front of Ning Cheng without a trace.
Ning Cheng grabbed the ring and swept it with his spiritual consciousness before throwing it into the True Spirit World. Having reached the Dao Sculpting Realm, he now felt that he had gained some control over his life and death. At the very least, Ning Cheng now had the strength to protect himself. Plus, he had just killed a Dao Raising expert and forced another Dao Raising expert to flee. So there should be no one else here who would be foolish enough to come to trouble him.
“This Senior, please wait for a moment……” Suddenly, a tall, young-looking man called out to Ning Cheng.
As soon as Ning Cheng saw this young man, he recognised him. He nodded and spoke with a smile, “So it’s Brother Chi, and it’s been a long time.”
This man’s name was Chi Zimin, and Ning Cheng had interacted with him before. He had met Chi Zimin when he had just entered the Boundary Essence Sea after arriving in Grand Essence Realm because of the None-to-depend-on Wine.
Chi Zimin was a pretty lively character. Moreover, Ning Cheng had learned many things about the Grand Essence Realm from his conversations with other people. Later, Chi Ximin even invited him to his Grand Essence Domain’s Chi Clan. It’s just that Ning Cheng didn’t take Chi Ximin’s offer and instead went to the Grand Essence Ruins with Nalan Ruxue.
“It’s really Brother Ning…… No, Senior Ning…..” Chi Ximin called out in surprise. He had already recognised Ning Cheng a long time ago, but he still couldn’t believe it. Compared to when he first arrived at the Grand Essence Sea, the Ning Cheng now had gained an even more unique aura. Chi Ximin came from a large clan, so he understood that this was the dao rhythm aura of a Dao Confirming expert.
When he first met Ning Cheng, his cultivation level was much higher than Ning Cheng. But now, Ning Cheng had already shaped his Dao while he still hovered at the full circle of the Eternal Realm. Thinking about it, nameless awe rose in Chi Zimin’s heart.
Ning Cheng took a step forward and patted Chi Zimin’s shoulder. “Brother Chi, you can still address me as before. Just call me Ning Cheng or Brother Ning.”
Chi Zimin had been roaming the outside world for many years, which meant that his experiences in interacting with people weren’t comparable to others coming from big clans. He could tell that Ning Cheng didn’t speak those words out of feigned politeness. Besides, addressing Ning Cheng with a more personal touch might even be a good thing for him.
“Then, I’ll take you up on the offer, Brother Ning.” Chi Zimin hurriedly clasped his fists and paused for a bit after finishing his sentence before continuing with a smile. “The spirit aura in this place is just too poor. If Brother Ning doesn’t have any urgent matters to attend to, please do consider coming to Thunder River as a guest.”
Ning Cheng spoke up apologetically. “My senior apprentice sister suffered some severe injuries, so I have to take her to find a place to heal. Once I take care of it, this Ning will definitely come to visit Brother Chi at Thunder River.”
Chi Zimin had also noticed Yan Ji and that she was severely injured and unconscious. It was another reason why he wanted to invite Ning Cheng to Thunder River. That way, he could ask his Chi Clan’s alchemy masters to help Ning Cheng in this matter. With Ning Cheng’s cultivation speed, he understood that he most likely was a genius that was hard to come by even in ten thousand years. So if his Chi Clan could rope in such a person, it would definitely be a valuable investment.
It’s just that Ning Cheng clearly stated that he didn’t want to go to his Chi Clan. So he couldn’t explicitly talk about helping Yan Ji to heal her injuries. If Yan Ji came with them, his Chi Clan’s alchemy masters could at least take a look. But on the flip side, if Ning Cheng went with him, and if they couldn’t come up with a solution, it would not only delay her healing, it might even end up offending Ning Cheng.
“Although my Chi Clan has a Dao Sculpting Pill Deity, I’m not sure if we can help in your senior apprentice sister’s case. But there’s another reason why I wanted to invite Brother Ning, and that is for the Grand Essence Realm’s Alchemy Discourse.” Chi Ziming gave out a vague response.
“Alchemy Discourse?” Ning Cheng asked in confusion.
Chi Zimin nodded, “The Alchemy Discourse is famous throughout the Grand Essence Realm and only held once every two hundred years. Brother Ning must know about the five Grand Realms, right? Although the Grand Essence Realm is one of the five Grand Realms, it’s still broken despite being one of the five. If you want to reach higher, you will have to go to the Grand Change Realm. But there are extremely few means to get to it. I only know that there is one such connection between the Alchemy Discourse and travelling to the Grand Change Realm. However, I’m not very clear as to how.”
Chi Zimin knew that Ning Cheng had obtained a pill furnace and a pill flame, and his Chi Clan had a Dao Sculpting Pill Deity. In other words, he wanted to invite Ning Cheng because he wanted to ask him about borrowing the pill flame.
When Ning Cheng heard Chi Zimin’s words, he really felt a bit moved. However, he quickly refused, “Many thanks, Brother Xi, but I still can’t go to your Chi Clan. I only say this because I killed Man Huishan’s son, Man Jiuren, and if Man Huishan found that I’m related to your Chi Clan, it will only drag you all down with it.”
“Ah…..” Chi Zimin looked at Ning Cheng in a daze; Ning Cheng’s words had utterly shocked him.
He had obviously heard about the death of Man Jiuren, but he hadn’t paid much attention to this matter. Now that Ning Cheng said it, he quickly realised Ning Cheng’s courage. If Ning Cheng truly killed Man Jiuren, he couldn’t invite Ning Cheng to his Chi Clan. It would bring an untold disaster to his Chi Clan, and he would become an eternal sinner for his clan.
Seeing the shocked and somewhat embarrassed look on Chi Zimin’s face, Ning Cheng only smiled. “Brother Chi, I’m leaving; we’ll meet again later if fate decides.”
“Fellow Daoist Ning Cheng, please wait for a moment.” The previous Dao Raising Holy Emperor, who had withdrawn from the fight earlier, suddenly called out to Ning Cheng. He listened to the conversation between Ning Cheng and Chi Zimin from the side but didn’t interrupt.
Ning Cheng stopped once again, cupped his fists towards this Dao Raising Holy Emperor and asked, “What does this fellow daoist want from me?”
After he had collected the pill furnace and the pill flame, three Dao Raising Holy Emperors had surrounded him. Of them, only this person didn’t do anything to him, and in fact, was the one who had retreated earlier. So Ning Cheng had a bit of a good impression towards this Dao Raising Holy Emperor.
This Dao Raising Holy Emperor showed a smile and cupped his fists towards Ning Cheng. “My name is Jian Sanshan[1]. Brother Ning’s amazing strength has taken my breath away.”
“Ah… you’re the Dao Transformation Pill Deity, Three……”
The Dao Raising Holy Emperor showed a faint smile, “That’s right, I’m who people refer to as Three Mountains[2]. But I barely qualify as a Dao Transformation Pill Deity.”
A Dao Transformation Pill Deity? Ning Cheng looked at Jian Sanshan in confusion. If the other party truly was a Dao Transformation Pill Deity, why had he not found the central refining location of No Furnace?
[1] Jian Sanshan = Sword Three Mountains
[2] Old Five often uses names as titles. Like Chuan Xinlou’s title: Emperor Levelled Heart, which essentially is his name ‘Xinlou’. Because of this, it’s often hard to differentiate a ‘name’ from a ‘title’ unless the titles and the names are different.