Chapter 0326: Attacking the Soul Essence Realm
“Xu Anzhen is Xu Yingdei’s grandmother, and is also the person with the strongest cultivation in the Severing Emotions Dao Sect. Even if you look at the entire Yi Xing Mainland, I’m afraid you would not find anyone with a cultivation higher than her.” Shi Qionghua’s tone was calm without any hint of hatred in it; however, Ning Cheng was able to perceive an unbridled sadness hidden within the depths of her heart.
However, when the words of Shi Qionghua finally sunk into him, that Xu Anzhen was Xu Yingdei’s grandmother, Ning Cheng suddenly froze. Shi Qionghua was a person from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, and also Xu Yingdei’s master, so why would Xu Yingdei’s grandmother suppress Shi Qionghua’s spiritual soul? Was it because Shi Qionghua did not cultivate the cultivation method of the Severing Emotions Dao Sect?
“My cultivation is not a result of Severing Emotions Dao Sect’s cultivation method; so strictly speaking, I’m not a person from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect. The reason I am considered as a part of Severing Emotions Dao Sect is that a part of my life essence was sealed away by Xu Anzhen; as such, I simply cannot even show half a shred of resistance or revolt against them. Over the years, I ended up helping the Severing Emotions Dao Sect do a lot of things, moreover wherever Xu Yingdei goes, I have to follow and protect her.”
As Shi Qionghua spoke until here, she became a bit distracted, and only continued after a while, “I’m not much of Xu Yingdei’s master rather I’m more like her guardian. However, although Xu Anzhen’s cultivation is very high, but her soul is seriously injured, and even her corporeal body is heavily wounded, as such her influence over me is also affected. However she is aware that my life essence is not only extremely pure but also extremely powerful, as such the reason she suppressed my life essence is because she wants to use it to nourish herself.”
“Once she recovers to a certain extent, she would devour the suppressed part of my life essence, and could then easily control me back to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, only to end up becoming supplements for her, in order to improve the quality of her own life essence. With her ability, presumably within a year or so, she would be strong enough to devour the part of my life essence that she is suppressing. If she could find something like the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence, this recovery period would shrink to six months or even shorter.”
“That old hag.” Even though Ning Cheng’s heart had momentarily settled down, he still could not help himself from cursing aloud. He had initially thought that Shi Qionghua had somehow reached the end of her lifespan, but it turned out that it was because the old hag Xu Anzhen was suppressing her life essence, and even wanted to devour Shi Qionghua’s life essence.
“She does not look old.” Shi Qionghua replied calmly.
“What kind of ancestor is she? Is she even of the same species? I almost found myself falling for Xu Yingdei’s affections, damn it she really deserves to die.” Ning Cheng cursed out angrily, at the same time he also felt an incomparable shame in his heart. Even if his cultivation ended up stuck at the Profound Core Realm, he would definitely take a trip to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect to steal back Shi Qionghua’s suppressed life essence.
Shi Qionghua on hearing Ning Cheng’s words shook her head and spoke, “Xu Yingdei would never enter dual cultivation with you, even if you did not turn emotionally useless. I have been with her for 20 years. No one knows her better than me.”
“But that morning, she stripped herself and voluntarily entered my bed, if it had not been for Yin Kongchan’s interruption, we most likely would have already entered dual cultivation.” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
Shi Qionghua took out a jade strip and put it in front of Ning Cheng and spoke, “If someone from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect wants to sever their emotions, they have to meet a person with a strong and firm heart, before they entangle them in their emotions. You will unknowingly be influenced by them, to the point that even the smallest of acts would leave a deep impression on you. This jade strip contains the Entangling Emotions Cultivation Method, however cultivating this cultivation method is not easy at all.”
“However once they successfully cultivate it, its effects would simply be undetectable; moreover it also does not produce any kind of law fluctuations. All they have to do is to recognize a point that would tug at the opposite party’s heart. It doesn’t matter if it is just some superfluous words, skin contact, or even the aura of their body. Even the fragrance from their body would be able to influence your desires towards them.”
Ning Cheng immediately remembered the two times he ended up in awkward situations with Xu Yingdei. At that time, he had not paid much attention to the fragrance and thought it to be usual for her, then there was also the time when Xu Yingdei had inadvertently exposed herself to him. It turns out that he was unknowingly being emotionally entangled by Xu Yingdei, to the point that he still could not realize it. It was no wonder that even though Yin Kongchan was not even half a point inferior to Xu Yingdei in looks, he still did not feel even the slightest emotion towards her. Why does this woman not go to the brothel?
“You want me to not go to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect. Is this because you know that I definitely would not be able to come out right?” Ning Cheng finally understood Shi Qionghua’s meaning.
Shi Qionghua had wanted him to not go to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, not because of Xu Yingdei; rather it was for his own sake.
Shi Qionghua on seeing that Ning Cheng understood her meaning also did not continue to conceal it and spoke, “That’s right, you going to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, even if you are blessed with ten lives or even a hundred lives, it would not bring you any luck in there.”
“Fortunately, I did not give the Mirage Tree or the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence to Xu Yingdei, otherwise would it not bring more harm to you?” Ning Cheng spoke out gladly. Xu Yingdei had indeed asked him about these things, but fortunately, he had not given it to her.
“You really have the Mirage Tree?” Shi Qionghua asked, at this time she was already numb to Ning Cheng’s many secrets. Although she also had many secrets, but compared to Ning Cheng’s secrets, her secrets were simply no secrets at all. At best, she only had her inheritance of reincarnation that was comparable.
“Yes, I do have a Nine-Coloured Mirage Tree. If it is useful for you, I can give it to you.” Ning Cheng spoke without hesitation.
Shi Qionghua looked at Ning Cheng’s unconcerned eyes, which caused her heart to slightly jump. Although her cultivation was extremely high, but all along, her cultivation was filled with cracks and hidden threats. Otherwise, with her inheritance and qualifications, she would have reached a much higher peak than the present.
She never had any friends, nor any elder sister or a younger sister; as such, she did not have a particularly happy time growing up. Every time she wanted to retreat, her favourite thing to do was to silently go to some ordinary cities and help those who were poor. However, she had never had the chance of enjoying the feeling of being helped by others; moreover, she simply never wanted to receive help from others.
This time, when she asked Ning Cheng for a Mirage Stone, although it was not planned out in a good way, but with such a matter had really happening, she would still be willing to use her own body to save Ning Cheng in return for it rather than choosing to kill Ning Cheng and rob him. At this time, when Ning Cheng nonchalantly said that he would give her the Mirage Tree, it suddenly caused her to go somewhat absent-minded.
It was only after a good long while did she regain her senses and spoke “No, although a Mirage Tree is very good, however my cultivation is too low to be able to use it, however that Xu Anzhen would actually be able to use the Mirage Tree.”
Ning Cheng, at this moment, was secretly thanking Yin Kongchan for taking his fake ring. If Yin Kongchan had not taken his ring, how could Xu Yingdei let go of his original ring that contained the miniature world?
“Is the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence useful to you?” Ning Cheng took out a jade bottle and spoke.
An ice cold biting aura instantly enveloped the immortal cave, allowing Shi Qionghua to instantly realize that this indeed was the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence.
“Although it is useful to me, but its usefulness is not that great. My life essence is suppressed by Xu Anzhen, and as long as there is even a trace of my life essence still being suppressed by her, I will end up being completely controlled by her one day. Going to the Heaven’s Way is only an action out of my helplessness, even if I don’t die in the Heaven’s Way; I might still be under her suppression.” Shi Qionghua shook her head and pushed the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence back to Ning Cheng.
However, Ning Cheng once again pushed the bottle of Geocentric 9 Yin Essence back to Shi Qionghua and spoke, “Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua, you can keep it, I have two bottles.”
Shi Qionghua hesitated slightly, before she took out a jade bottle. Then filling it with one third of the contents from Ning Cheng’s bottle, she gave the rest two thirds back to Ning Cheng and spoke, “This kind of thing is extremely precious, and also very difficult to obtain. This much is more than enough for me; you can keep the rest for yourself.”
Ning Cheng also no longer pushed it back again, as he put the bottle away. He did not speak again. He kept thinking about how to go to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, and take back the trace of Shi Qionghua’s life essence that was suppressed there.
Seeing Ning Cheng silent, Shi Qionghua removed a white bracelet before handing it to Ning Cheng and spoke, “This is something that my mother left me with please give it to sister Luofei.”
Ning Cheng was completely surprised as he received the bracelet and spoke, “Senior Apprentice Sister Qionghua, you don’t blame me?”
Shi Qionghua gave a slight smile, “I have never blamed you.”
Ning Cheng stared at Shi Qionghua; he had never seen such a beautiful smile in his life.
Shi Qionghua stood up, and once again turned around. After talking to Ning Cheng about these things, she suddenly felt a lot comfortable in her heart.
“I’m leaving now, please don’t think of me.” Shi Qionghua, at this moment, felt a lot more relaxed as she walked out.
Ning Cheng could also feel that Shi Qionghua had already made up her mind, so he also did not ask her to stay back. Rather he just silently watched Shi Qionghua walk away. In any case, he had to go to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, to retrieve Shi Qionghua’s suppressed life essence. This kind of thing, even if he perfectly knew that he was walking to his own death, he had to do it.
He did not speak out his intentions to Shi Qionghua, he knew that if he as much as even hinted on it, Shi Qionghua would never let him go, and would only make her worry about him even more. If he dies, then Shi Qionghua would also not know about it, and would be able to carry on as if nothing happened. Luofei was also under the care of that white haired old woman, and had also deliberately requested Elder Sister Shu for her help; Elder Sister Shu would definitely be able to find Luofei. With Elder Sister Shu’s abilities, Luofei would not have to endure hardships. Other than Luofei, he simply did not have anything as a person to be worth being remembered.
This time, Ning Cheng decided to not leave this place. He rearranged the array formation outside and went ahead and directly arranged a Spiritual Gathering Array, before he started cultivating.
……
Ning Cheng’s cultivation was already on the brink of advancement, so now that he once again started cultivating, in just half a month, he reached the Great Circle of the Profound Core Realm.
In order to prevent the Thunder Tribulation from blasting apart his and Shi Qionghua’s residence to bits and pieces, Ning Cheng once again tidied and put away all the things here, before he once again concealed the immortal cave and walked away.
He was going to find a place suitable to cross the tribulation and advance to the Soul Essence Realm.
Three days later, Ning Cheng stopped in the middle of empty wilderness. After making sure that there was nobody around, Ning Cheng began setting up a huge Spiritual Gathering Array. Bringing out tens of millions of spirit stones, Ning Cheng stacked them on each node of the Spiritual Gathering Array, in the form of a small hill.
Ning Cheng was at the Great Circle of Profound Core Realm currently, although his foundation was not shallow, however he could not directly advance like Xu Yingdei by severing his emotions. In other words, he simply did not have the ability to call down the Thunder Tribulation at a whim.
After cultivating there for a week, Ning Cheng directly swallowed a Soul Condensing Pill. The extremely pure and powerful spiritual qi contained in the pill mixed together with the rich spiritual qi gathered by the Spiritual Gathering Array. The extremely volatile mixture then immediately rushed into the meridians of Ning Cheng’s body in just a twinkling of an eye, before it finally came to an abrupt stop in front of a barrier, the cultivation barrier to the 1st Level of Soul Essence Realm.
This situation was a lot different from his previous advancements, because this was the first time for Ning Cheng to consciously feel a cultivation barrier. This barrier was like a huge door in general. Usually he would never be able to even feel such barrier let alone encountering it. But because of the union of the energy from the Soul Condensing Pill and the extremely rich spiritual qi, the potent mixture had ended up directly slamming against it.
“Boom…..”
A huge boom echoed out in his Sea of Consciousness, as if an iron awl had punctured through Ning Cheng’s heart, which made Ning Cheng feel extremely uncomfortable, to the point that he even sprayed out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
This one explosion truly was something that originated from the impact on the front face of door that acted as his cultivation barrier. However, it only caused a slight tremor over the front face of the gate that acted as his cultivation barrier, before it once again returned to what it was originally. It made Ning Cheng think of a phrase ‘striking a stone with an egg’, wasn’t his current situation similar to striking a stone with an egg.
Ning Cheng’s heart immediately sank, if he had to rely on such kinds of impacts for his cultivation, then relying on just a single Soul Condensation Pill, he would never be able to advance to the Soul Essence Realm. He also knew that once he advanced to the Soul Essence Realm, it would immediately cause the descent of the Thunder Tribulation, it was also for this specific purpose that he had even put on a set of armour.
But from this one impact, which could not even visibly shake the gate that acted as his cultivation barrier, it truly would have been a strange event if it were able to call down the Thunder Tribulation.
No, he absolutely had to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Soul Essence Realm, only then would he be able to go to the Severing Emotions Dao Sect; otherwise, his chances of survival would be almost negligible.
Understanding this point, Ning Cheng immediately started acting like he had gone crazy, allowing unquantifiable quantities of spiritual qi to seep into him, while at the same time he frantically transformed the spiritual qi into true essence, then combining it with the medicinal nature of the Soul Essence Pill, he once again repeatedly bombarded the cultivation barrier.
Just a single explosion caused by a bombardment, although was not able to produce any visible effect, but it still caused Ning Cheng to feel extreme pain to the point of vomiting a mouthful of blood. So it could only be imagined the amount of torment he was currently going through one explosion after another.