“5 billion Blue Coins, Apex Rank Celestial Grade Battleship.” The shop assistant enthusiastically brought out a black warship and presented it to Ning Cheng and Ruan Mingshu.
To be honest, this battleship looked much more advanced compared to the one Ning Cheng obtained from the Scarlet Robed Young Noble. Moreover, since Ning Cheng now had access to a considerable amount of money, spending 5 billion Blue Coins did not mean much.
“Even a true Apex Rank Celestial Grade Warship would not necessarily come in 10 million Blue Coins. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait until we reach the Orchid Borough Star before buying it. There you can even buy a Celestial River Grade Warship.”
Ning Cheng took out a Blue Card and passed it to the shop assistant, who looked somewhat worried, “I’ll take this battleship. You can deduct the 5 billion Blue Coins from this.”
Regardless of whether Ruan Mingshu made sense with her words or not, Ning Cheng did not hesitate to pay for the battleship. When he reached the Orchid Borough Star, of course, he would buy a better battleship them. A proper warship meant a higher chance of keeping his life intact, while a poorer quality battleship only served for meagre options. As such, there was no need for him to save Blue Coins.
……
Ruan Mingshu did not have even a half-point view in regards to Ning Cheng’s actions, especially since Ning Cheng showed no inclinations to heed her advice. After returning to the rest stop, she still behaved like a well-behaved woman, without even mentioning anything about what happened previously. As for whether Ning Cheng wanted to heed her advice or not, she did not seem to care about it.
Ning Cheng also did not want to have a deeper connection with the Ruan Clan. As such, on reaching the rest stop, he immediately headed to his room and put down several restrictions. Years of experience told him that Ruan Mingshu had no reason to live with him in the rest stop, which made him reluctant to talk nonsense with this woman.
As for what Ruan Mingshu had in mind, Ning Cheng also did not want to know about it. His deal with the Ruan Clan would end the moment he obtained the Perpetual Moon Pill.
As Ning Cheng sat in his room, his Spiritual Consciousness scoured every inch of his body from the inside to outside several times; however, he could find even a shred of a Spiritual Consciousness Tag. According to Lan Ya, after he killed that Scarlet Robed Young Noble, he should have some sort of a mark on him; however, how could he not find it?
Even if the Scarlet-robed Young Noble’s father was a Celestial Lord, he could not be a lot stronger than his Starry Skies’ Sea of Consciousness.
Just as Ning Cheng started heading towards paranoia, someone touched the restrictions he placed on the door, followed by the soft voice of Ruan Mingshu, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, can I come in?”
What does she want? Just living in a double room with a lone man would already give rise to many suspicions; did this woman now wanted to stay in his place?
“Come in.” Ning Cheng opened the restrictions over his room; he, anyway, was not afraid of Ruan Mingshu.
“Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, do you want something from me?” Ning Cheng asked while standing up.
Ruan Mingshu gave an apologetic bow to Ning Cheng before smiling and speaking, “I’m sorry Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. I did not want to disturb you. However, the Time Wilderness is a huge deal. So I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss it with Senior Apprentice Brother Ning.”
Ruan Mingshu wore a pale red top, with her hair flowing casually over her back, completely different from how she looked outside. Her robes also no longer covered her body completely, and at the very least, her robes now exposed a deep valley under her white neck.
A faint aroma reached Ning Cheng’s nose, making Ning Cheng suspect that this aroma originated from the deep valley beneath her neck. A small silvery necklace wrapped around just below her neck further enhanced her elegance and demure beauty.
“Oh, Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, please have a seat.” Ning Cheng showed a smile and offered Ruan Mingshu a seat.
Ruan Mingshu kept staring at Ning Cheng for a long while, before she finally opened her mouth and spoke, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, although the Time Wilderness is filled with treasure, danger also lurks inside almost everywhere. This is not a Mystical Place for experience and training, one can fall at any time and at anywhere inside. Although Senior Apprentice Brother Ruan might have mentioned that entering the Time Wilderness is a voluntary affair for you, it is, however, a completely different affair for my Ruan Clan. At the same time, there are also a few things that I can’t hide from Senior Apprentice Brother Ning.”
Ning Cheng gave a smile, “Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu. You think a bit too much. Since I volunteered, it has nothing to do with the Ruan Clan. As to whether I can use the selections for the Orchid Borough Celestial River to enter the Time Wilderness, it is an entirely separate matter.”
Ruan Mingshu still sported a light smile over her face, “My father might have mentioned that I had taken a liking to a cultivator named Zhao Yanxing and that one of your tasks is to keep an eye on me. However, the fact is that my father misunderstood the situation, as it was the other way round. Zhao Yanxing was the one who has taken a fancy to me. I have no relationship with this person, nor do I feel anything towards him.”
Seeing Ning Cheng just listening without showing any inclination to reply, Ruan Mingshu had to continue on, “Although I wanted to have a talk with you, I will follow my father’s instructions and cooperate with you fully.”
Ning Cheng replied with slightly hurried politeness, “Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, although I address you as Junior Apprentice Sister, I know that your cultivation is far better than me. I have only just advanced to the Celestial Novice Realm and do not even have a Celestial Wheel yet. The only merit to my name is that I possess a slightly stronger Spiritual Consciousness. Therefore, it should be me who has to fully cooperate with Junior Apprentice Sister, not the other way round.”
“Are you really in the Celestial Novice Realm?” Since the time that Ning Cheng saw Ruan Mingshu, this was the first instance that Ning Cheng saw a slightly surprised expression over Ruan Mingshu’s face.
“Yes, I really am a Celestial Novice.” Ning Cheng smiled and spoke with a positive tone. “Truth be told, even I have no idea why Brother Ruan Zhuo chose me; as such, I can’t guarantee if I am competent enough.”
Ruan Mingshu did not show much of awkwardness after learning that Ning Cheng indeed was a Celestial Novice; at the same time, she also did not care too much about Ning Cheng’s modesty. After discussing a few important things relating to their cooperation, including the problems about cultivation deference, she finally decided to say her goodbyes. Only, after she left Ning Cheng’s room, her face sported a soft smile.
……
Three days passed by in a flash and during these three days, Ning Cheng did not leave the resting pen. Ruan Mingshu would occasionally come to exchange a few words with him but also did not move from the resting pen. Ruan Cheng seemed to have acquiesced to her daughter’s way of doing things and did not come to look for Ning Cheng.
On the third day, Ning Cheng and Ruan Mingshu entered the Celestial River Class Battleship of the Ruan Clan.
After entering the Celestial River Class Battleship, Ning Cheng suffered a rude awakening as he compared the battleships he used previously, the one just purchased to the one where he currently stood.
Ning Cheng did not know anything about the combat methods or the capability of the Celestial River Class Battleships, nor had Ning Cheng encountered any of the various equipment and decorations inside the Celestial River Class Battleship. However, there was only one word that Ning Cheng could use to describe the current scene in front of his eyes, and that was ‘luxurious’.
After the Celestial River Class Battleship entered the starry skies, it sailed so smoothly to the point that it felt stationary. Only facing some significant turbulence within the starry skies, which caused the Celestial River Class Battleship to sway slightly, could one sense it moving; giving one the feeling that the Celestial River Class Battleship was actually in flight.
Ning Cheng secretly made up his mind to purchase a better battleship in the future.
The Ruan Clan also treated him with sincerity. The room allocated to Ning Cheng not only had a variety of Spirit Fruits unique to the starry skies but also contained a range of fine wines. During this period, Ruan Mingshu only came to see Ning Cheng just once; later if Ning Cheng had any need individual personnel from the battleship came forward to serve.
On the ninth day of the flight, the battleship ended up surrounded by a flock of Three-winged Flying Bears native to the starry skies’ region they were in, which allowed Ning Cheng to witness the combat capabilities of this true technological battleship.
These Starry Skies Three-winged Flying Bears were unlike the other ordinary demonic beasts found within the starry skies, as their wings did not appear in pairs, but as a trio.
At the same time, these flying bears liked to feast on the corporeal bodies of cultivators. If a Starry Skies Battleship without sufficient combat capabilities ended up encountering a swarm of these beasts, only a tragic end awaited it.
However, Ruan Clan’s Celestial River Class Battleship clearly was not an ordinary Celestial River Class Battleship. As Ning Cheng stood on the deck, he witnessed the Starry Skies’ Battleship spray out a dense silvery glow. The next instant, countless Starry Skies’ Three-winged Flying Bears, dropped dead, pierced through by the silvery glow.
In just half-an-incense stick worth of time, Ning Cheng estimated that this one attack resulted in the deaths of at least tens of thousands of Starry Skies’ Three-winged Flying Bears. Seeing such an outcome, the rest of the Starry Skies’ Three-winged Flying Bears finally tasted fear and started to retreat. In just a few moments, the rest of the Starry Skies’ Three-winged Flying Bears retreated without even a trace left behind.
“Quite fierce.” Ning Cheng thought to himself. These bright lights were so powerful even without any infusion of laws. Once an ordinary cultivator ended up trapped by these bright lights, it would prove extremely difficult for them to escape unscathed.
“That was this Celestial River Class Battleship’s Radium Light Arrow Rain. Do not look at how powerful that attack is, in fact, it is costly. Just one volley will use up many Green Coins. Moreover, these flying bears actually are not that powerful and lack independent courage. If there were even a single decisive flying bear leading the swarm, we would not have had such an easy time.” Ruan Mingshu’s voice promptly sounded next to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng asked with a doubt-tinged voice, “I felt this Radium Light Arrow Rain as a mighty move wait, doesn’t it mean that these Starry Skies’ flying bears are also mighty?”
“Mighty?” Ruan Mingshu shook her head, “They are just a group of low-level flying bears and are not really powerful. As for this Celestial River Class Warship’s Radium Light Arrows, they are just a low-level configuration. In the more advanced Celestial River Class Battleships, Starry Skies Class Battleships, all of them are equipped with Flowing Sky Cannons, Sky Locking Lights……”
After a slight pause, Ruan Mingshu continued, “The Radium Light Arrows would only show a limited suppression over these Starry Skies flying bears if they did not retreat and ended up concentrating together. In the end, it would not be impossible for them to break through the defensive line of this Celestial River Class Battleship.”
Ning Cheng did not know much about the starry skies’ anyway; as such, he could only listen to Ruan Mingshu.
……
One month later, the Ruan Clan’s Celestial River Battleship stopped outside a huge blue planet. This planet was the Orchid Borough Celestial River’s Premier Planet, the Orchid Borough Star. As the people of the Ruan Clan lead the way, Ning Cheng simply had nothing to do and easily entered the Orchid Borough Star’s Main City.
The central city of the Orchid Borough Star did not have the name Orchid Borough City but went by the name of Revolving Jade City, named after the Orchid Borough King’s most beloved concubine.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, the Orchid Borough Celestial River’s selection round is about a month from now. During this month, you can freely roam around the Revolving Jade City; however, do not cross others in this place. The people here are not simple at all, as they either have close relationships to a Celestial Lord or have a significant backer behind them.” After entering the Orchid Borough Star, Ruan Mingshu deliberately warned Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng gave Ruan Mingshu a strange look and asked, “Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, do you not have intentions of continuing to live with me?”
Ruan Mingshu showed a slight smile before replying, “Whether or not Senior Apprentice Brother Ning genuinely feels like living with me, I would still want to live together with Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. However, I feel that Senior Apprentice Brother Ning does not seem to like sharing a living space with me; moreover, since my father is not here now, we can differ to what Senior Apprentice Brother Ning wanted initially. I will be temporarily taking up residence in the Bright Gist Resting Pen. If Senior Apprentice Brother Ning wants, then you can come to the Bright Gist Resting Pen to find me.”
Ning Cheng naturally did not want to stay in the same place as Ruan Mingshu, as he always felt that this woman was a little eccentric and quickly left. What’s more, he now had a few things to accomplish, like finding Jing Wuming and Lan Ya.
“Brother Xiaocheng, why are you here?” Ning Cheng had just walked to the door of a merchant house when a surprised voice passed over.
Ning Cheng immediately recognised the speaker the moment he heard the voice. He quickly looked back and spoke out in surprise, “Wuming, I’ve been looking for you. Never thought that I would find you this easily…..”
Ning Cheng’s words came to abrupt halt, he frowned and looked at Jing Wuming’s pale face before he asked, “Why do you look so pale; no, that’s not right, why are you still hurt?”
Jing Wuming quickly drew away Ning Cheng, “This is not a place to talk, let’s find a place first.”