Chapter 0420: Not addressing the root of the problem
“Good, Ning Cheng you really did a good job. With you becoming the Sect Master of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect is bound to ascend higher once again.” After returning to the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak, the long eyebrowed Grand Elder Taoist Zhong Liping was the first to praise Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng quickly spoke up, “I think that Elder Tantai should take the post of the Sect Master, I need to spend time cultivating, so I might not have the energy to spare to manage the matters relating to the sect. Another thing to take note is that we have to be on guard against the Red Star Sword Faction from stabbing us in the dark.”
Tantai Fei waved his hand and spoke, “Sect Master Ning, you do not have to worry about such matters. You should continue with being the Sect Master of my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. That way you can go into a cultivation retreat at the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak, let me handle the trivial matters relating to the sect. As for the Red Star Sword Faction, they would absolutely not dare to launch an attack; at the same time, the destitute disciples of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect wandering outside should also be slowly coming back in a steady stream.”
Ning Cheng was also more or less satisfied with those words; the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak was the most prominent peak within the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. Not only was the Spiritual Qi the densest there, but even the surrounding environment was also the best. Combined with the verdant and beautiful scenery, it was the ideal place for cultivation. Moreover, his own people would also be able to stay and cultivate in the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak.
“Sect Master Ning, Sect Master Tantai, the Heavenly Dao Public Square’s officials just conducted the latest disciple recruitment in the Yi Xing Mainland. Because my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect met with an accident, Elder Ying took charge of others to return, but there have been no traces of them until now. This time, we not only were not able to recruit any disciples, but we even lost all contact with Elder Ying and the others……” Zhang Qian spoke up from the side.
Zhang Qian possessed the cultivation of Soul Essence 1st Level because the current Rainbow Fall Sword Sect underwent a fierce battle, coupled with most of the people that ended up separated from the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, Ning Cheng chose to entrust most of the heavy responsibilities on to Zhang Qian’s shoulders.
“I guess that they might have encountered the Red Star Sword Faction on the way, the Red Star Sword Faction and my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect have a long history of enmity; it looks like this incident was also long premeditated by them.” Ye Heyang, one of the two Grand Elder Taoists who just returned spoke out in a hate-filled voice. He was someone who devoted himself to cultivation, so when he was stuck inside the Array Formation, it caused his heart to be in a nasty mood. If it were not for Tantai Fei and that the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s present strength being inferior to the Red Star Sword Faction, he would have gone all out to attack that faction.
Tantai Fei immediately understood the meaning of Ye Heyang, he hesitated for a moment before speaking, “During the attack on the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, the Red Star Sword Faction definitely was the main force. However, if it were only a single Red Star Sword Faction, it would not dare to attack the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. Therefore, when Sect Master Ning spoke about seeing Xu Anzhen in the Yi Xing Ocean, then it is sure that the Severing Emotions Dao Sect aided them in secret in attacking us. In addition to the traitor inside the academy, there are definitely a few other uncertainties, but for now, our Rainbow Fall Sword Sect should recuperate temporarily to regain back our strength.”
He implied that the Red Star Sword Faction would definitely not dare continue to look for trouble with the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. At the same time, the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect also did not have the strength to seek revenge from the Red Star Sword Faction.
Grand Elder Taoist Zhong Liping also agreed to his words: “The current Rainbow Fall Sword Sect is currently not an easy pie to attack, but at the same time, we also do not pose the strength to retaliate. No matter how many forces had collaborated to attack the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, those people would not dare to strike back; at most, it would only be the Red Star Sword Faction. Moreover, I agree with Tantai Fei’s view, at least in the short term, the Red Star Sword Faction would not dare to show their faces here.”
Ning Cheng did not understand such inside matters, but hearing Zhong Liping’s words, he immediately asked, “What does Elder Taoist Zhong mean?”
Tantai Fei knew that Ning Cheng had only joined the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect for a short while, so he quickly explained. “The reason why those forces outside collaborated should be because of the two treasures of my Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, the first is the Yonder Immortal Rainbow Fall Sword and the second is the Small Spiritual Domain. When it comes to the Small Spiritual Domain, as long as we come back, those people would not openly dare to snatch it. However, the Yonder Immortal Rainbow Fall Sword ended up taken away, even if the opposite party seamlessly cooperated with each other, they were all mutually vying for this sword.”
“We currently cannot make a move against the Red Star Sword Faction; Sect Master Tantai, you will have to work hard to bring together the disjointed disciples of the sect outside. Zhang Qian, although your cultivation is low, you have quite a good working ability so you will be helping out Sect Master Tantai to settle the matters of the academy.” Ning Cheng was very clear about a few matters. Do not look at how quickly he killed Tang Guangxi. That was because Ning Cheng fought at his home ground, if Ning Cheng went to provoke the Red Star Sword Faction on their turf, Ning Cheng definitely would find his strength quite lacking. Even if Tantai Fei did not remind him, he also knew that he had to continue cultivating.
Zhang Qian stood up and spoke, “Yes Sect Master; however, this time the Heavenly Dao Public Square had some cultivators that came from the Le Continent. They seemed to know Sect Master…..”
“Who were those people?” Ning Cheng immediately cut short Zhang Qian’s words.
Zhang Qian replied with to the point names, “I only remember a few, Yan Ji, Nalan Ruxue, Zhangsun Yan, Bei Xingjin, Cheng Yixiao, Luo Banyun……”
“Anyone who makes a move on him, I will kill them.” In Ning Cheng’s mind once again appeared the scene of Yan Ji defending him. Compared to the fickle natured Nalan Ruxue, Yan Ji’s impression on Ning Cheng was even more profound. Suddenly, he wanted to go out and see Yan Ji.
……
After handing over the sect related matters to Zhang Qian and Tantai Fei, Ning Cheng led Ning Ruolan, Ji Luofei and the others and arrived at the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak.
He introduced Lian’e and Taishu Pinghao and requested Ye Heyang to take them in as his disciples. Although Lian’e did not have excellent qualifications, Ning Cheng, whether for good or for evil, was the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Sect Master and also the person who saved the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. With that point, Ye Heyang did not find it in him to refuse such a request; moreover, after experiencing this kind of incident, he felt that he should really think of leaving behind a successor.
The Rainbow Fall Sword Peak was the most prominent peak of the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect; combined with its open surroundings, it was both beautiful and exquisite. Ning Cheng not only re-established a new Immortal Cave for himself but at the same time also spent a lot of time in arranging new Array Formations around it.
Ning Ruolan, Ji Luofei, Nan Yuefang, and Yang Honghou were the people who arrived with him. Since they did not have high cultivation, they could stay here and continue with their cultivation. Not to mention that the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak contained an extremely rich Spiritual Qi, Ning Cheng himself was a Pill Grand Master. As such, he set aside many cultivation resources for them in the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak.
Ji Luofei also realised that she and Ning Cheng were quite far apart from each other, so she also did not choose to delay any further and strived to upgrade her cultivation. From Ning Cheng, she already realised that Big Sister Shi Qionghua already possessed a Crucible Transformation Cultivation, while she was still wallowing in the Essence Building Realm. It made her secretly determined to catch up to her as soon as possible.
Ning Cheng did not choose to immediately go into seclusion, he wanted to first go and meet the cultivators that arrived from the Le Continent; truth be told, he mainly wanted to meet Yan Ji. He also wanted to consult the long eyebrowed Grand Elder Taoist Zhong Liping about how he could speed up his cultivation speed.
Ning Cheng could feel that his cultivation speed using Spirit Stones was quite slow, to the point that he felt stagnated. Others would consider the rate of advancing one level in a year as already fast; however, for someone like Ning Cheng, he thought that this kind of speed was still too slow. Although it was his internal feeling, it felt as if he reached some sort of a bottleneck. This feeling, in turn, made him aware that his cultivation, which involved absorbing Spiritual Qi, reached a bottleneck inside of him. He could naturally cultivate faster; unfortunately, there was no better grade of Spiritual Qi for him to absorb.
If replaced by the kind of crystal stone given to him by that old fogey or Meng Jingxiu, his cultivation speed would indeed be able to reach hurricane-like speeds once again. It was also because of this kind of a ‘bottleneck’ that Ning Cheng planned to look for the cultivators from the Le Continent first; but before that, he wanted to consult Zhong Liping about this matter. After all, they were not only older than he was but also possessed a higher strength compared to him.
……
“You say that you can even go faster, but the Spiritual Qi you absorb always feels inadequate?” Zhong Liping asked Ning Cheng in doubt.
It was the first time that he heard such a thing. Ordinarily, during cultivation, one could fundamentally not absorb too much Spiritual Qi, since it would all end up transmuted into True Essence, so there would never actually be a feeling of Spiritual Qi being inadequate during absorption.
It was no wonder that Ning Cheng was so powerful, being able to quickly kill Crucible Transformation Cultivators with just the cultivation of Sea Opening Realm. It turned out that he arrived at a point where Spirit Stones were not enough to sustain his cultivation needs, from this, it allowed him to extrapolate that the Laws were starting to have an effect on Ning Cheng. Simply put, the Laws here were not enough for Ning Cheng to comprehend the higher levels. He realised that Ning Cheng certainly had a secret, but he chose not to ask about Ning Cheng’s mystery.
“I can understand your situation a bit, and I have two possible solutions for it. You can take your own inferences from it.” After Zhong Liping finished ruminating over Ning Cheng’s words, he spoke out with a positive tone.
Ning Cheng was pleasantly surprised and spoke after giving a respectful salute, “This humble one asks for guidance from Grand Elder Taoist.”
Although he had only mentioned his condition out of convenience, he had never thought that there would actually be a way to resolve it. These old seniors indeed were different from others; from this, it showed that being older also had its own advantages.
Zhong Liping nodded, accepting Ning Cheng’s salutations and spoke, “The first is to seek a Spiritual Source that is at a higher level compared to Spirit Stones…..”
Ning Cheng on hearing those words felt a little disappointed in his heart; he already knew about this, but how could he seek out something as good as the Crystal Stones that he used previously? The reason why Meng Jingxiu was able to obtain those stones was that she managed to gain the recognition of the Immortal Mansion. Who knows when he could enjoy such good luck of managing to win the attention of an Immortal Mansion?
Zhong Liping was already a ‘worldly-wise figure’ so he could make out the disappointment in Ning Cheng’s heart with but a glance. He showed a faint smile before continuing, “For example, there is that Crystal Stone that is beyond the scope of this world. One can only wish for such things, as they are scarce. The second method is to seek out Spiritual Veins; however, Spiritual Veins are also quite scarce in the Yi Xing Mainland, but that does not mean that there are none……”
“Is cultivation with Spiritual Veins better than with Spirit Stones?” Ning Cheng asked in surprise. He knew about Spiritual Veins, but the number of high-grade Spirit Stones in his possession was already numbering in several billion, so Spiritual Veins were at best mediocre for him.
Zhong Liping shook his head slightly, “You are mistaken; Spiritual Veins and Spirit Stones are two entirely different concepts. You can dig out Spirit Stones as long as you find a Spirit Stone Mine, and based on the quality and the amount of Spiritual Qi present in it, it ends up classified into Low, Middle, High, and Best Quality. However, Spiritual Vein is actually a complete whole; it not only contains Spiritual Qi but also Worldly Laws. Cultivating amidst these Laws would bring you a much better effect than just relying purely on the Spiritual Qi of the Spirit Stones. It not only benefits your perception towards cultivation but also is conducive towards absorption. That is why, when it comes to the usage of Spiritual Veins, most of the factions chose to use them in their Spiritual Gathering Arrays.”
“Generally speaking, the Worldly Laws in a relatively whole world would definitely give birth to a lot many Spiritual Veins; however, the Worldly Laws in a broken world, like our Yi Xing Mainland, the formation of Spiritual Veins is extremely rare. Even if there were a few Spiritual Veins, they would be ordinary quality Spiritual Veins, while most of them might even be incomplete Spiritual Veins.”
Ning Cheng suddenly came around. Although he had heard about Spiritual Veins before, he had a bit of confusion between Spiritual Veins and Spirit Stone Mines. From what little Ning Cheng initially understood it had something to do with a faction’s Array Formations. Only at this moment did he realise that there were many differences between what he knew compared to the facts. No wonder the few Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Grand Elders ended up duped using the lure of Spiritual Veins. If the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect managed to obtain a Spiritual Vein, it would mean an overall increase in the cultivation speeds of all the disciples.
Zhong Liping continued on, “Spiritual Veins are also divided into different grades. In your present situation, low-grade Spiritual Veins would not have much effect on you; you would need a minimum of a medium grade Spiritual Vein or a high-grade Spiritual Vein. If you can find a best quality Spiritual Vein… Of course, that is something impossible.”
Ning Cheng forced a smile; there was still the condition of if he could find a Spiritual Vein by himself. Didn’t the sect’s Grand Elder Taoists end up led away and trapped because of the news of a Spiritual Vein appearing in the Shattered Canopy Mountains? In other words, this matter, to him, was akin to trying to extract water from within the full moon.
Looking at Ning Cheng’s somewhat disappointed look, Zhong Liping still continued with his words, “Even if you were to find high-grade Spiritual Veins, for someone like you, it would still not be enough to address the root of the problems.”