Chapter 0455: Rootless Black City
“What I want to say is that we don’t have to stop this person. Why don’t we pretend unawareness to what happened.” Another male cultivator at the Crucible Transformation 9th Level, sitting next to the old woman, spoke up lightly.
The old woman gave a sneer and spoke, “Xian Yingqiu, I didn’t expect you to have such puny courage. It’s just a trivial rookie cultivator, yet you are frightened to the point of not even breathing loudly.”
The Crucible Transformation 9th Level Cultivator, named Xian Yingqiu, replied coldly, “If you knew what this rookie did recently, you would not have said that.”
“What did he do?” The old woman asked subconsciously, at the same time, the rest of the people in the room shifted their focus to this man.
Xing Yingqiu spoke up lightly, “He levelled the Silver Thunder Rest Stop and almost instantly killed Goukang Yeshan. Among the people belonging to the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce’s Silver Thunder Rest Stop, none of them managed to escape alive. All of them met their makers at the hands of this person.”
The people in the room instantly quieted down, looking at Xian Yingqiu with shock plastered all over their faces. The Receiving Heaven’s Stone had seen a few arrogant newcomers occasionally. One could even say that there were several such incidents in their long history. However, someone daring enough to flatten the Silver Thunder Rest Stop, they really had never encountered such an entity. Not to mention a rookie, even a person from the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce would not dare to completely level the Rest Stop belonging to the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce on the Receiving Heaven’s Stone.
“That is not all. After this person eradicated the Silver Thunder Merchant House, he put down the words that the day he stepped foot in the Rootless Black City would be the day the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce met their makers.”
After hearing the words of Xian Yingqiu, the old woman’s mouth remained open. She spoke up only after a good long while, “And the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce has not yet started on him yet?”
“The Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce’s Association Head Pu Leng is not in the Rootless Black City. For fighting such a person, hehe, without the support from two Plundering Life Realm experts, do you think it would be possible? My courage is indeed very small; since Senior Apprentice Sister is more courageous than me, why doesn’t Senior Apprentice Sister Fei go catch that guy called Ning Cheng, what do you say?”
Yingqiu did not let go of the opportunity when the old woman remained speechless and unforgivingly reversed the sentence of her.
The white-haired old man seated in the place of honour waved his hand and spoke, “Enough. This person can instantly kill Goukang Yeshan; it means that he absolutely is not a Crucible Transformation Cultivator. Even if he were a Crucible Transformation Cultivator, he definitely would not be an ordinary Crucible Transformation Cultivator. Cecile has always acted arrogantly on the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. Eventually, it would have definitely brought trouble to my Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce. Since someone took the liberty to eliminate him, then it is only what he deserved.”
“Since the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce must deal with this person, then my Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce would not make a move for the time being. If the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce manages to kill this man, then we can use this incident to poke them with a knife. If the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce wants to look for us to cooperate, then we can also take this opportunity to speak our part.”
This white-haired old man was the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce’s Deputy Association Head Mao Xiuxuan. All the people present in the room quickly realised the intent behind those words. That is, Cecile, although not very good-natured, was in the end still a person from the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce. Since the opposite party killed Cecile, then the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce would surely take its revenge. However, now that this person also offended the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, then the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce can use this opportunity to profit from the side. However, they had to first take a careful look at the actions of the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce.
……
Ning Cheng felt somewhat strange with all the happenings. He ended up staying back and cultivating within the Heaven City Merchant House at the Receiving Heaven’s Stone for almost two months. Moreover, his cultivation had also approached the peak of 7th Level of Sea Opening Realm; however, the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce had still not come to settle accounts with him.
During these two months, Yi Zhuzhu also managed to recover very well. With the aid of various pills and good food, Yi Zhuzhu not only managed to grow a crop of short hair over her head but she also no longer looked like a bag of skin and bones. Moreover, Yi Zhuzhu was still at the early stages of Essence Building Realm, and could technically suppress her hunger; however, Ji Luofei would think of ways to get her to eat some food along with the medicinal tonics.
Although a pair of big eyes on a somewhat emaciated face might make other people feel a bit distressed, at least her vitality had risen to new heights compared to when they found her.
She also no longer looked like she was seven or eight years old, and appeared slightly older.
Ning Cheng didn’t continue with his cultivation. His cultivation anyway costed too many Spirit Stones. He had an inkling that Spirit Stones would prove vital to them in the Rootless Black City. Without any Spirit Stones, they would not accomplish anything. Moreover, even after the discounted price, living in the Heaven City’s Rest Stop was also proving to be too expensive. Although Mu Cunjian had already pushed the price down to the bare minimum, even if Yi Zhuzhu was exempt from the accommodation fees, he knew that he would not be able to go on like this.
He originally wanted to wait until the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce came to the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. After he killed off that group, he could then head off to the Rootless Black City to kill off the other group. However, now that the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce chose not to come here, he also did not need to wait any longer. In any case, once he reached the Rootless Black City, he had already decided to wipe off the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce.
“Luofei, we’re leaving. We need to head to the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce.” Two months later, Ning Cheng finally made a decision.
Hearing that Ning Cheng decided to leave, Steward Mu Cunjian of the Heaven City Rest Stop specifically came to see off Ning Cheng at the Void Ship departing for the Rootless Black City. He also passed along the message that the reason why the people of the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce had not come was that Association Head Pu Leng had left the Rootless Black City along with many experts from the Chamber of Commerce due to an urgent matter.
There were also people from the Black City Pill Union and the City Master’s Mansion with him; even Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi went together with them. They’ve been gone for over half a year.
This news made Ning Cheng feel much relieved. Since there were no experts from the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce remaining behind, then it would be the best opportunity for him. As for the Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi, he felt even more determined to kill him. However, he knew that a meal cannot be eaten in one go, one had to take one bite after another before eventually cleaning the plate.
……
When Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei boarded along with Yi Zhuzhu, some of the cultivators took the initiative to say hello. Ning Cheng was a famous person within the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, and no one who stayed there did not know him. Although they might not have seen Ning Cheng fight personally; however, Ning Cheng’s battle crystal ball sold everywhere.
Even the Steward responsible for the Void Ship arranged the most comfortable room for Ning Cheng and company. As for the many other cultivators, they could only stay in the big cabin.
Ning Cheng’s heart remained silent in such a matter. This world was just like this. He levelled the Silver Thunder Rest Stop, all because the people of this Rest Stop were beyond shameless. However, now these people seemed to regard him as an unreasonably ruthless person. Wasn’t it similar to the saying ‘others take advantage of a good person, but a ruthless person only receives blessings from others’?
[TL Note: This saying ‘人善被人欺’ originated from the phrase, ‘人善被人欺 马善被人骑。 ’ whose closest English equivalent I found was ‘If you make yourself an ass, don’t complain if people ride you’]
The Rootless Black City was not very far from the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. However, the Void Ship had to travel on a predetermined route for three days. Even if the Void Ship was massive, in this place, it must follow a predetermined path. Otherwise, it would risk disintegration within the Void.
The Void Ships also had a specific grading system. It helped Ning Cheng in determining that this Void Ship from the Receiving Heaven’s Stone to the Rootless Black City was of the lowest grade.
Three days later, the Void Ship stopped outside of a sprawling yet bleak city. A white road about two or three feet wide materialised from the position where the Void Ship came to a halt, stretching all the way towards the far edge of the distant city walls.
Ning Cheng guessed that this sprawling city should be the Rootless Black City. Moreover, the Rootless Black City was not black like its name, but a dull greyish colour. Endless Restrictions and Array Formations crowded the outside walls of the city. Some of these restrictions were artificial while most of them were natural. With such dense Restrictions covering up the place, one’s Spiritual Consciousness could not sweep in.
Outside of this Rootless Black City, there was the endless Void surrounding it on all sides. Even if one could sweep out with their Spiritual Consciousness, it would only give them a feeling of uneasiness. Ning Cheng knew about this because of his own experiences in the Void. Apart from the periphery of the Rootless Black City, Ning Cheng simply could not sweep around with his Spiritual Consciousness.
Numerous cultivators took the white road to the Rootless Black City. Ji Luofei held onto Yi Zhuzhu and along with Ning Cheng, followed the rest of the cultivators to enter the Rootless Black City.
The restriction on the entrance of the Rootless Black City was currently open, and two early-stage Crucible Transformation Cultivators stood at the gate. Every cultivator who entered the Rootless Black City had to purchase an Identity Jade Care from this place. It contained a description of your appearance and your name; without these, one would never gain entry into the Rootless Black City.
Each Identity Jade Card was worth 10,000 Black Coins; Ning Cheng purchased three of those Identity Jade Cards, along with three small handbooks.
These handbooks were similar to the Handbook of Survival given to him at the Heaven City’s Rest Stop. However, it had slightly more content, along with the area divisions within the Rootless Black City. He also found that the Rootless Black City had five different city districts altogether.
The East City District and South City District was the place of residence for rich cultivators; generally, some powerful cultivators also had a choice to live in these regions. In these regions, the rent or purchase of land for land and Immortal Caves was also the second highest. Ordinary cultivators simply would not be able to afford to live in these regions.
North City District was a place where the middle-class cultivators lived, along with some of the rogue cultivators who managed to form their own Void Adventure Squads, who would regularly enter the Void to search for Black Essence Stones. While the West City District was where the most impoverished cultivators lived, and where the Spiritual Qi was the weakest. In general, if the Rootless Black City ended up besieged by Void Beasts, the attacks would always originate from the side of West City District.
At the same time, the Central City District was the centre of the entire Rootless Black City, where the real rulers of the Rootless Black City lived, along with some large-scale Chambers of Commerce, Starry Sky Fleets and others. In this place, the land and Immortal Caves’ pricing were even higher; in fact, it was the highest in the entire Rootless Black City. Moreover, just possessing the required Black Coins would not entitle you to buy property in this place, you also had to maintain a particular status.
The handbooks were quite straightforward. There was nothing concealed within the books that Ning Cheng felt surprised about. Moreover, the guide also contained some introductions to some of the major Chambers of Commerce and the street distributions of the Rootless Black City.
Ning Cheng easily found the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce from it. The Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce had its headquarters within the Central City District of the Rootless Black City. In the handbook, it also showed a prominent area that dealt with the sale and leasing of Immortal Caves.
A large number of cultivators who entered the Rootless Black City had already dispersed towards this area. These people either wanted to purchase Immortal Caves by themselves or wanted to rent one. There were also many Rest Stops in the Rootless Black City; however, rarely would anyone choose to stay in there. If one wanted to live in the Rootless Black City for a long time, then you just wouldn’t be able to afford a staying in a Rest Stop.
Ji Luofei always followed Ning Cheng, and whatever Ning Cheng chose to do, she would always follow it. Yi Zhuzhu was even less likely to make any decisions by herself and carefully held onto Ji Luofei’s hand. At the same time, a pair of bright eyes took in everything going around her. From time to time, she also touched the ring on her finger. Ning Cheng had bestowed it upon her. There were not only various Pills and Spirit Stones inside it for her cultivation; it also contained many Talismans and Magical Weapons for her personal use.
“I want to completely level the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce first; do you have any good ideas?” When it came to destroying the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, Ning Cheng had not given up on it. In any case, he and the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce were already akin to fire and water. Even if Ning Cheng did not go to it, the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce would definitely send people after him. At that time, he would have no choice but to fight against them.
What’s more, if he did not extinguish the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, he would always feel uncomfortable.
However, Ning Cheng was also very clear about a few facts. He had only just arrived in this place; if he immediately began his hunt to completely eradicate the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce, it would definitely turn into a dangerous thing for him. It would be best to first find a path of retreat before commencing the eradication. Otherwise, even the guards of the Rootless Black City would not let him go. Unless his strength reached a level that induced fear in others, only at that time would no one dare to stand out and utter nonsense to his face.