Chapter 0469: Shaking the Black City
“I ran out of Black Coins, I truly do not have the 10,000 Black Coins. Can’t we stretch the rules a bit, let us live in the Rootless Black City for some time, we’ll definitely pay you back after we earn some Black Coins?” A male cultivator with a somewhat embarrassed expression stood at the entrance of the city, trying to plead to the two cultivators who were in charge of issuing the Identity Jade Cards.
Behind this male cultivator stood a female cultivator. However, this woman stood there with a closed mouth, not uttering even a single word.
“Don’t you see the other people standing here? Or is your ass whiter than the others?” The male cultivator standing at the city gates, handling the proceedings for the Identity Jade Card, spoke out in a cold voice, “Without Black Coins, better roll to the side and let the others pass. You can choose to go into the Void to dig up some Black Essence Stones while the others go in. Come to us after you obtain enough Black Coins.”
The male cultivator’s expression slightly changed, “This friend, we just arrived at the Rootless Black City and practically have no experience at all. If we head into the Void to dig out ores, wouldn’t it only result in our deaths?”
“Does it matter to me if you live or die?” The cultivator guarding the city entrance spoke up with an even more disdain-filled tone.
The male cultivator was just about to continue to speak a few more words, when he suddenly called out in surprise, “Sect Master Ning…..”
When Ning Cheng saw the long line of cultivators queued up outside the Rootless Black City, he instantly realised that these people should have just arrived from Heaven’s Way.
Suddenly hearing someone calling out to him, he quickly honed in on a cultivator he did not know, someone at the Crucible Transformation 2nd Level. A female cultivator stood behind this cultivator at the Crucible Transformation 2nd Level; Ning Cheng, however, knew her. This female cultivator went by the name, Bu Mei. When he went to the Great Liang True Country and the Northern Shang True Country’s battlefield during a Sect Mission, this female cultivator and Xin Hai from the Star Gathering Mansion had to team up with him.
“Sect Master Ning.” Bu Mei on seeing Ning Cheng quickly came forward and greeted him with a respectful bow. Today’s meeting was completely different from when they met for the first time. The first time that Bu Mei and Ning Cheng met, she had not deemed it necessary to even glance at him.
Moreover, Ning Cheng had an open hatred towards the Severing Emotions Dao Sect and vice-versa; what she didn’t know, however, was that Ning Cheng’s hatred mainly focussed over Xu Anzhen. He honestly did not care much about Bu Mei even if she came from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect.
“Lord Ning….” The Crucible Transformation Cultivators who stood guard at the entrance to the Rootless Black City on seeing Ning Cheng also arriving quickly came forward and gave him their most respectful greetings.
What kind of person was Ning Cheng; they were much clearer of it than anyone else in this place was. This person had demolished the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce and had even killed Junior City Master Xu Liangzhi. The Rootless Black City’s City Master Xu Kai had pursued him because of this, yet unexpectedly, Xu Kai had never returned, while Ning Cheng actually took the initiative to come back. Although they had never imagined such a result, the facts were still in front of them. Moreover, none of them dared to offend this Ning Cheng with their strength.
“You are?” Ning Cheng looked at the Crucible Transformation 2nd Level Male Cultivator, the one who had initially called out to him as ‘Sect Master Ning’. As for the two Crucible Transformation Guards at the entrance, Ning Cheng just did not pay any attention to them.
“Sect Master Ning, I am Shu Xing from the Star Gathering Mansion. Because of the advantage provided by Sect Master Ning in arranging the array formation at the entrance of Heaven’s Way, I finally managed to pass through Heaven’s Way with my Dao Companion Bu Mei.” The male cultivator quickly replied with a respectful tone.
Ning Cheng had transformed into a legend within the Tian Continent. Not a single faction could afford to look down on this person by the name of Ning Cheng. He was someone who had single-handedly destroyed the Red Star Sword Faction. Because he returned in time, the Yin Yang Dao Sect who wanted to once again launch a strike at the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect had to take the initiative to come to his sect to make a public apology. What the two of them had never thought of was that Sect Master Ning would also become a formidable character within the Rootless Black City. Did they not see the two Crucible Transformation Guards address Sect Master Ning with their most respectful tone?
Looking at everything, Shu Xing had no choice but to behave respectfully and prudently in this particular situation; primarily because of his worry that Ning Cheng would hold Bu Mei accountable. After all, Bu Mei was from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect. At the same time, who in the Tian Continent did not know about the enmity between Ning Cheng and the Severing Emotions Dao Sect?
Ning Cheng then took a glance at Bu Mei, while questions appeared in his mind. Treating a person from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect as their Dao Companion, were these two people like Chao He and Ban Miaolei? Alternatively, was this Bu Mei trying to use Shu Xing to sever her emotions?
However, Ning Cheng did not choose to inquire about this matter. Instead, he said, “I am acquainted with the Star Gathering Mansion’s Xin Hai, is he all right?”
“Junior Apprentice Brother Xin chose to go into seclusion. When I decided to enter Heaven’s Way, he had not yet come out.” Shu Xing quickly replied.
“Oh, ok. So, why are you not going in?” Ning Cheng asked again.
Shu Xing quickly asked, “Because of the heavy expenses incurred during the trip here from the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, I’m left with not enough Spirit Stones. Therefore, I do not have any way of entering the Rootless Black City.”
“Since this is the case, you two can come along with me.”
Ning Cheng arbitrarily spoke out and then looked at the two guards at the entrance to the city, “These two will be coming with me. Help them obtain their Identity Jade Cards.”
“But….” The two Crucible Transformation Guards showed some hesitation.
Identity Jade Cards were 10,000 Black Coins each; however, Ning Cheng did not speak anything about the Black Coins. How were they supposed to take care of it? This was one of the sources of earning Black Coins for the 12 factions. Despite Ning Cheng exterminating one of them, there were still 11 more factions.
Ning Cheng gave a sneer and said, “If anyone has any questions, then let them come to the City Master’s Prefecture to find me. From now, I will be staying at the City Master’s Mansion.”
After saying that, Ning Cheng simply ignored the two guards and spoke to Shu Xing, “You can come in with me now.”
“Yes, yes …” Shu Xing was not the one to answer. Instead, the two Crucible Transformation Guards, who had initially stopped the Shu Xing duo, were the ones who responded.
The meaning of Ning Cheng’s words was too obvious; that is, Ning Cheng has already taken care of City Master Xu Kai of the Rootless Black City. In front of this kind of powerhouse, if anyone dared to speak any sort of nonsense, Ning Cheng could just exterminate him or her with a casual wave of a hand. For them, right now, the most important thing was to quickly provide positive feedback and reassurance in light of this.
Ning Cheng’s blatant assertion with such arrogant words was obviously premeditated. His primary purpose of returning to the Rootless Black City was to take care of these forces for the last time.
Of course, it didn’t mean that he wanted to completely eradicate all the forces; such a move would not make any sense anyway. What he wanted was to eliminate the nauseous Black Coin extortion system on the Receiving Heaven’s Stone, while also scrapping the policy of needing 1 million Spirit Stones for an Identity Jade Card. Both of these practices were tantamount to robbery anyway.
Apart from those who could rely on their own strength and connections, the other cultivators simply had extremely little ability to travel between the Receiving Heaven’s Stone and the Rootless Black City. In light of this, he decided to destroy this absurd practice.
Whether it was the Array Formation set up at the entrance of Heaven’s Way in the Tian Continent, or the path that led all the way to the Receiving Heaven’s Stone. He wanted to create something so that, once anyone in the Tian Continent reached a certain level in their cultivation, they could then safely reach the Rootless Black City after reaching the Receiving Heaven’s Stone right after passing through Heaven’s Way.
He had a few acquaintances and friends within the Tian Continent. In the future, when he no longer stayed in the Rootless Black City, wouldn’t it only result in the death of those people after they arrived in this place? Because of this, Ning Cheng decided to overhaul the main problems prevailing within the Rootless Black City and the Receiving Heaven’s Stone.
……
“Sect Master Ning, do you live in the City Master’s Mansion?” Shu Xing carefully asked. He had only arrived here recently and hadn’t heard about Ning Cheng’s exploits in this place. However, he did know that the City Master’s Mansion in the Rootless Black City represented the most powerful faction. Did it mean that Sect Master Ning was currently serving the City Master’s Mansion?
“That’s right; however, things are not what you think. I killed the previous City Master, so I now live in the City Master’s Mansion.” Ning Cheng knew what Shu Xing was thinking and stated it out directly.
Shu Xing’s mouth remained opened wide in shock, he could not even say a single character. He honestly felt shaken to the core. How long ago did Ning Cheng arrive at the Rootless Black City, yet he killed the City Master? Just how strong was he? It was no wonder that the Crucible Transformation Cultivators guarding the city entrance trembled in fear and could not utter even a half word of nonsense in front of him.
“Shu Xing, I will be taking control of the Rootless Black City in a while. Do you want to help me?” Ning Cheng knew that to accomplish his plan, he would have to take control of the entire Rootless Black City. For that, he would have to put his full strength on display.
“Sect Master Ning, I definitely would like to follow you… No, I will follow Lord Ning Cheng…..” Since Shu Xing could cultivate to the Crucible Transformation 2nd Level, it showed that he apparently was not an idiot. Therefore, when Ning Cheng spoke those words, he immediately understood what it entailed.
……
Ning Cheng had not yet reached the entrance to the City Master’s Mansion of the Rootless Black City when the news of his return as well as the part about him moving into the City Master’s Mansion quickly spread throughout the Rootless Black City like wildfire.
The streets leading to the City Master’s Mansion in the Central District of the Rootless Black City quickly filled up with cultivators pouring in from all corners of the Rootless Black City. If the Rootless Black City were to experience a change in leadership, it would inadvertently affect all of them. As such, there was nobody who did not care about such a matter.
“Bang….” An explosion resounded. Ning Cheng stood in the sky over the City Master’s Mansion of the Rootless Black City. Just a single strike from his spear was enough to break apart the Defensive Array protecting the City Master’s Mansion of the Rootless Black City.
The cultivators residing within the City Master’s Mansion already knew about the demise of the previous City Master for a long time and had already chosen to flee secretly. No cultivator felt willing enough to stay and fight against Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng also did not decide to pursue those cultivators who escaped and were still escaping from the City Master’s Mansion. He knew that these cultivators were just like him, people who had arrived at this location from different Planar Locations. Moreover, if he killed every person from the City Master’s Mansion, who would dare to revolt against him at that time?
However, there were still a handful of cultivators associated with the City Master’s Mansion. The Junior City Master died, while the City Master Xu Kai did not return for many months. The cultivators with even the slightest of mind had already long guessed that the City Master should have met with an accident.
However, these cultivators did not abandon the City Master’s Mansion on an excuse; instead, they deliberately took up assignments beforehand and quickly left. Now that Ning Cheng returned the already not-many cultivators staying behind in the City Master’s Mansion immediately choose to flee.
……
At the same time, dozens of powerful cultivators sat in an emergency meeting in another luxurious building within the Rootless Black City.
This building belonged to the Rootless Black City’s Extinguishing Karma Starry Sky Fleet. The Extinguishing Karma Starry Sky Fleet had a place among the Rootless Black City’s 12 significant powers. In fact, it was a faction ranked 2nd, just after the City Master’s Mansion.
The Rootless Black City’s City Master Xu Kai had supposedly perished at the hands of Ning Cheng, while they also found out that Ning Cheng had strong-armed his way into occupying the City Master’s Mansion. At the same time, he blatantly broke the first rule of entry into the Rootless Black City, that is, the law of purchasing the Identity Jade Card. It had touched the bottom-line of everyone’s interests, causing public outrage among many of the factions.
The Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce faced complete destruction at his hands, and even if the City Master of the City Master’s Mansion met annihilation at Ning Cheng’s hands, no one would have cared much about it. However, now that Ning Cheng touched upon their organisations’ income source of Black Coins, nobody felt willing enough to come to a compromise over it.
“Initially, I had proposed that we should join up to kill this person. Now, this person shows clear intentions to expand his reach; he even advanced to the Crucible Transformation Realm this quickly. It must be because of a few good things he obtained from that old ghost, Xu Kai.” The speaker was a white-haired old man. He was Mao Xiuxuan of the Auspicious Star Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, everyone also understood what he meant.
“What you said before has no meaning now. Ning Cheng is daring enough to take over the City Master’s Mansion. It would just be a matter of time before he extends his hand towards our heads. However, my thoughts are similar to that of Brother Xiuxuan, which is to take advantage of this moment when he has not yet established his foothold and eliminate him; otherwise, with his cultivation speed……” This time it was a middle-aged man who spoke. His meaning clearly understood by everyone present there.
Although this man looked very mild tempered and gentle; however, no one dared to underestimate him even in the slightest. He was Bu Yuanmao from the Gale Void Coalition and a cultivator in the Plundering Life Realm.