Chapter 0394: The Immortal Mansion Recognising Its Master
Ning Cheng thought that he should not mention this matter to Ruolan for now, in the future, when she sees Qionghua, Ruolan might not object to it.
……
In the past, Ning Cheng would have required 1-2 months to travel from Le Continent to the Jia Continent, that too, taking the route through the Yi Xing Ocean. However, currently, Ning Cheng did not choose the Yi Xing Ocean’s path but directly passed over the continents. With the speed of the flight type Low-Grade True Artefact, it took only half a month to reach the entrance of the Angry Axe Valley in the Jia Continent.
Although he had to pass through the vast deserts and marshes along the way, with Ning Cheng’s flight type Low-Grade True Artefact, ordinary monstrous beasts capable of flight were not able to catch up to them. Occasionally, they would encounter a few faster creatures, but Ning Cheng could easily massacre them.
As soon as Ning Cheng reached the Angry Axe Valley, he knew that the Array Formation and Restrictions, placed down by the powerhouses from the past, around the Angry Axe Valley were now useless. At this time, the entrance still appeared shrouded by a white fog, but it did not give out any thundering sounds like before. There was even a building right next to it from where cultivators were coming and going.
After Ning Ruolan entered the Miniature World Ring, Ning Cheng then arrived at the entrance. He had not yet reached the building when a not-too-big Transmission Array appeared in his Spiritual Consciousness. A yellow-robed cultivator in the Essence Building Realm stood right next to Transmission Array.
“Is this Transmission Array leading to the Angry Axe Valley?” Ning Cheng arrived in front of the cultivator and asked.
“There is a circular on that side; you can look at it by yourself.” In the face of Ning Cheng’s query, the cultivator responsible for the Transmission Array pointed towards a circular posted at a distance.
Ning Cheng looked at the circular, which stated ‘Any cultivator that wishes to enter the Angry Axe Valley need to pay 50,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones. To be sent out would also require 50,000 High-Grade Spirit Stones.’ Moreover, Ning Cheng also noted that at this time, the Angry Axe Valley did not have any cultivation limit, in other words, anyone can go in as long as one could afford it.
“Excuse me; is this the only Transmission Array, in the Jia Continent, leading to the Angry Axe Valley?” Ning Cheng asked after reading through the circular.
The male cultivator managing the Transmission Array looked at Ning Cheng as if he had lost his mind. However, he still restrained his temper and spoke, “Of course not, there are a total of two. However, other than this one, the other one is located in the Nan Continent.”
“So, if one wants to go from the Jia Continent to the Nan Continent, can they transfer from here to the Angry Axe Valley, and then chose to transfer from inside the Angry Axe Valley to the other Transmission Array on the outside?” Ning Cheng knew that travelling to an Intermediate Level Continent from an Advance Level Continent, although might be very difficult for others, was very easy for him. That was because not only did he currently have high cultivation, but at the same time, he also possessed a flight type Low-Grade True Artefact.
The male cultivator responsible for the Transmission Array was finally unable to reign in his patience as he sneered and spoke, “You can give it a try if you want to go to the Nan Continent.”
Not to mention that the distance between the Transmission Arrays of the Jia Continent and the Nan Continent inside longer compared to outside, the monstrous beasts in the Angry Axe Valley were also a lot stronger than the outside. Let alone that, it even was tough to use flight type magical weapons inside the Angry Axe Valley.
Ning Cheng did not ask any more questions, and just handed over 50,000 Spirit Stones and entered the Angry Axe Valley.
Coming out from the Transmission Array on the inside of the Angry Axe Valley, Ning Cheng finally realised that the interior was much livelier than the outside. A few people even had established some simple shops on the edges of the Transmission Array. Many cultivators could be seen coming and going every moment. By the looks of it, the Angry Axe Valley seemed to have transformed into a mystical place open for public.
However, most of the cultivators here did not have high cultivation. Therefore, Ning Cheng, with his cultivation of 5th Level of Soul Sculpting Realm, seemed to be a top-level expert in this place.
Using a flight type Magical Weapon to move around in the Angry Axe Valley was truly difficult, but to Ning Cheng, he did not need to rely on any flight type Magical Weapons. Not only were his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds extremely fast, at the same time, it also provided him with a higher level of flexibility compared to other flight type Magical Weapons. Moreover, the map Meng Jingxiu had given him was very detailed; coupled with the speed of the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds; Ning Cheng only had to spend around three days of time before he directly reached the location marked on Meng Jingxiu’s map.
The location marked on Meng Jingxiu’s map was in the middle of a seemingly endless forest. According to the annotations on the map, there were many lakes within the woods, and he just had to find a cross-shaped lake among them. To reach this cross-shaped lake, he would have to move according to the natural wind directions. Sometime during the day, the trees would start swaying in a particular direction, as long as he followed this direction, he would undoubtedly be able to find that cross-shaped lake.
After Ning Cheng entered the woods, he waited and observed the surrounding for one full day. As the day passed by, not to mention sensing the direction of the swaying of the trees, he was not able to perceive even the slightest wind.
Ning Cheng did not continue to wait in that location stupidly; his Spiritual Consciousness was already extremely powerful compared to ordinary cultivators. As such, in this place, he did not have to depend on the trees to find the direction, as he could search for the cross-shaped lake by himself.
This stretch of woods was indeed very huge, with a radius of nearly ten thousand miles. Even if that was the case, on the fourth day, Ning Cheng was finally able to find the cross-shaped lake.
The cross-shaped lake was much larger than what Ning Cheng had imagined, and was made of two intersecting oblong lakes; moreover, the centre of this criss-crossing lake itself was nearly twenty or thirty miles wide.
According to what the map mentioned, the Immortal Mansion was located right in the centre of the lake at its bottom. In that place, there would be a ten feet large protruding boulder, once you stood atop this boulder, you would then be able to sense the Immortal Mansion. As to how to enter the Immortal Mansion, or how to obtain the Immortal Mansion for one’s self, the map did not mention it.
Up until arriving at the bottom of the lake, Meng Jingxiu had noted down everything correctly on the map, which caused Ning Cheng to become slightly excited in his heart.
However, when Ning Cheng finally stood at the bottom of the lake, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of disappointment. He just was not able to see the ten feet high boulder as mentioned on the map. This lake only had sand on its lakebed. As for sensing the Immortal Mansion by standing on top of the rock, how could he do that if he could not even find the stone?
Ning Cheng carefully observed the surroundings with his Spiritual Consciousness and was quickly able to discover a Concealment Array Formation. Moreover, the level of the Array Formation was also not low; it was actually a Rank 7 Array Formation. If his proficiency in Array Formations had not already reached that degree, then even if he came here and searched carefully, he would not be able to find this at all.
As Ning Cheng threw out a few Array Flags, the Concealment Array Formation quickly revealed itself. At this point, Ning Cheng was able to make it out clearly, that this was definitely not a carefully arranged Array Formation, but something deployed from an Array Disc. This Concealment Array Disc can instantly conceal something within it, once used. If one were not proficient in Array Formations, they would not be able to even locate it.
Once opened, Ning Cheng found a storage bag placed at the centre of the Concealment Array Disc, allowing Ning Cheng to understand at a glance that someone had left this behind intentionally. Moreover, from the looks of it, it also had been quite long since the deployment of the Array Disc. It also caused Ning Cheng to realise that even if he came here before, someone had already arrived before him to take away the Immortal Mansion.
Ning Cheng used his Spiritual Consciousness to carefully open the storage bag and found that there was a not-so-small jade box inside it, which was overspilling with Spiritual Qi. It was so dense that even the jade box was not able to contain. Ning Cheng then quickly opened the storage bag and found three glittering and crystal-clear stones appear in front of him.
This… Ning Cheng almost screamed out in excitement, he was already too familiar with this kind of object. That old fogey had given him a small broken piece of this same object; it was definitely the same crystal stone and three complete ones at that. He was just too familiar with that fractured crystal stone that had helped him increase his cultivation rapidly, but now he actually obtained three such Crystal Stones, this naturally made him ecstatic.
Ning Cheng quickly stored the jade box. Then, he took out the jade strip from inside the bag and poured his Spiritual Consciousness into it.
“Big Brother Ning, I have already taken the thing from this place. When I came back inside this place to search for it, I had no intention to bind it to me. However, I had not thought that after I came here, this thing would immediately recognise me as its master. It truly is a pity that my cultivation is still limited, and can only obtain six of those crystal stones. Even if I want more, I would have to wait until my cultivation improves before I get the chance to obtain anything else from it. Originally, I wanted to leave everything inside this place to Big Brother Ning; however, I must take revenge for my parent’s blood feud.”
“After my parents were murdered, I went to look for Elder Brother, but Elder Brother had already left. My identity and status were no longer the same as those people from big academies. Therefore, I had no choice but to find my own way here. Thank you for sending me that Magical Weapon to me. Without that Magical Weapon, I would not have been able to come to this place. If my things were not obtained by my Big Brother Ning, in that case, beware of these things, it can bring disaster for the uninformed!”
Ning Cheng put away the jade strip. He felt happy for Meng Jingxiu in his heart, at the same time, also felt slightly sad. He had seen Meng Jingxiu’s mother once before, at that time, Meng Jingxiu’s father was still serving in the Jia Continent’s Cultivator Army. How many years has it been since then? It looks like Meng Jingxiu’s parents somehow met with a mishap. As for what Meng Jingxiu spoke about the ‘big academies’, it should be referring to Nalan Ruxue.
Ning Cheng also knew that even if Meng Jingxiu had the qualifications to talk to Nalan Ruxue, she was not capable of going to the Le Continent. Fortunately, Meng Jingxiu was able to obtain the recognition of the Immortal Mansion. Ning Cheng believed that with her intelligence and qualifications, her cultivation would progress much faster compared to others.
……
After leaving the Angry Axe Valley, Ning Cheng did not immediately return to the Ping Continent. He first made his way to the Pu Bu Island in the Yi Xing Ocean. Since Ning Cheng had arrived here, then Ning Cheng had to inquire about the ones responsible for bringing harm to Meng Jingxiu’s parents; moreover, Ning Cheng also wanted to meet Kong Pengpeng. In the past, when he was on the run, Kong Pengpeng had provided him with significant help. What’s more, he was still the Yi Zheng Battalion’s 5-Star Junior Commander.
Ning Cheng chose not to be too aggressive in his arrival, he merely used a regular airship type Spiritual Artefact; however, this airship was stopped at the periphery of the Pu Bu Island.
Ning Cheng did not know if his status as a 5-Star Junior Commander would still be valid after leaving the Yi Zheng Battalion for these many years. Therefore, when enquired by the cultivator army personnel, he directly took out his 5-Star Junior Commander Shoulder Card and spoke, “I am Yi Zheng Battalion’s Five Star Junior Commander Ning Cheng….”
“Yi Zheng Battalion?” The two cultivators who stopped Ning Cheng were somewhat surprised.
“What’s the problem? I was delayed for a few years inside the Law’s Way and have just returned from the inside the Law’s Way.” Ning Cheng explained.
The two cultivators blocking Ning Cheng’s path, after verifying that the shoulder card was indeed genuine, showed a sympathetic look, before allowing Ning Cheng to enter the Pu Bu Island.
Ning Cheng then first arrived at his Junior Commander’s Mansion, but could not see his most familiar subordinate, Yang Honghou. Not only that, even the black silver warship that he had gifted to Nan Yuefang was missing. There were only a few guards that he did not know standing at the gates of his Junior Commander’s Mansion.
After Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept into the Junior Commander’s Mansion, he found that the Array Formations and Restrictions that he arranged in the past had all disappeared. Not only were they gone, but there were new Restrictions that took their place.
Ning Cheng was not angry because of this; after all, Kong Pengpeng was the one who initially loaned this Junior Commander’s Mansion to him. Once Kong Pengpeng came to know that he had to escape, it was only reasonable for him to collect the Junior Commander’s Mansion and give it to someone else. In any case, Ning Cheng was not going to stay in this place. He had only come to this place to have a look, even if there were no Junior Commander’s Mansion in this place, it would not matter much to him.
Since the Junior Commander’s Mansion was no longer his, Ning Cheng also did not choose to enter the Junior Commander’s Mansion. He directly went to Kong Pengpeng’s Mansion. However, what made Ning Cheng even more puzzled was that Kong Pengpeng’s Mansion was sealed shut. Moreover, from what he observed from the traces, it was not long since it was sealed.
Ning Cheng was starting to have a bad premonition, it looks like Kong Pengpeng seemed to have involved himself in some significant matter; otherwise, with Kong Pengpeng’s status, it would have never come to this.
“Are you Junior Commander Ning?” A somewhat astonished yet unsure voice sounded out from behind him.
Ning Cheng turned around and saw a soldier, an early stage True Condensation Cultivator. Ning Cheng quickly replied, “That’s right, I’m the 5-Star Junior Commander Ning Cheng, from the Yi Zheng Battalion.”