Chapter 0536: The Wilderness Opens
Although Ruan Mingshu did not explain things, Ning Cheng managed to understand what she meant. That is, if one did not hand over the Time Stones, the inspectors had the means to detect them. Unfortunately, Ning Cheng could not put things into his Mysterious Yellow Bead for a long time; otherwise, he could have housed the Time Stones in the Mysterious Yellow Bead. The Mysterious Yellow Bead was a Good Fortune Treasure; as such, if he could store the Time Stones inside the Mysterious Yellow Bead, absolutely no one would have the ability to locate it.
Why did he have to wait for completing the five origins of the Mysterious Yellow Bead to store things? As Ning Cheng thought of things until here, he felt, even more, surer that there was a way to put things inside the Mysterious Yellow Bead; at least store items temporarily within the Mysterious Yellow Bead.
In addition to the Mysterious Yellow Origin, his Mysterious Yellow Bead already contained the two origins, fire and water. Was it possible for him to arrange an array formation with the remaining three origin objects and then store things within that array formation? Looking at the options available at hand, the best origin object naturally was the Origin Crystals.
However, Ning Cheng already knew about the preciousness of a Fire Origin Crystal, so from where could he put up the money to purchase the three remaining Origin Crystals? Besides, even if he had the money, would he be able to buy it? Maybe there was another method instead of using the Origin Crystals? Could arranging a Five-element Array Formation provide the temporary yet necessary help?
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning objects like Time Stones, it’s better to forget about them. The Time Wilderness anyway does not contain a lot of it. It is normal for not finding a single Time Stone during the entire ten years inside. Besides, you only stayed at the Dao Discussion Hall for just a day. If you feel willing, we can discuss a few things as I feel like I heard a lot.” Ruan Mingshu took the initiative to change the topic. She did not think that Ning Cheng’s thoughts currently dwelled on finding ways to hide the Time Stones.
“All right.” Ning Cheng happily replied. In any case, Ruan Mingshu might have learned much more than what he had learned until now.
……
Ning Cheng had amazing insights, while Ruan Mingshu had a solid foundation. The two of them ended up discussing things throughout the night, with each of them obtaining significant benefits.
Early the next morning, someone touched the restrictions over Ruan Mingshu’s room. Ruan Mingshu opened the restriction and found Zhao Yanxiang standing at the doorway to her room. “Mingshu, the Time Wilderness opens today. Let’s head to the Man Lun Public Square…..”
Zhao Yanxiang’s words suddenly came to a stop, as he saw Ning Cheng coming out of Ruan Mingshu’s room.
“Did you stay inside the entire night?” Zhao Yanxiang immediately showed a frown and asked while staring at Ning Cheng.
Ruan Mingshu was someone that he had taken a fancy to, and someone Zhao Yanxiang regarded as his future Dao Companion. Moreover, the two of them even had plans to head into the universe’s starry skies. Now that another man had come out of his favourite woman’s room, regardless of anything happening, such a matter made it difficult for him to calm down.
Ning Cheng completely ignored Zhao Yanxiang. Regardless of whether the fellow who tried to kill him was Zhao Yanxiang or not, he would definitely settle the scores between them eventually. Since Ruan Mingshu looked like she had something to do with this Zhao Yanxiang, he decided not to talk any nonsense for now. What’s more, Ruan Mingshu had not also cleared things about what she wanted from him or her goals.
Ruan Mingshu replied with a calm face, “Yes, Senior Apprentice Brother Yanxiang, I spent the night with Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, and benefited a lot.”
Zhao Yanxiang’s slightly fluctuating emotions suddenly calmed down before he showed a slight smile and spoke up, “In that case, let’s go to the public square together.”
……
As the most important public square within the Man Lun Star Land, Man Lun Public Square required more than just a word to describe it. It contained a variety of starry skies’ Transfer Arrays along with a range of facilities that catered to the needs of the cultivators.
Although the Ning Cheng trio arrived a bit early, many more cultivators had reached before them. When the three of them entered the square, the cultivators within the Man Lun Public Square had already formed a sea of black, filled with slight noise but many experts. However, every cultivator in this place knew that Heavenly Emperor Man Lun paid close attention to this place. Once someone tried to make any sort of trouble, the only thing that awaited was death.
Ruan Mingshu remained low-key; accompanied by Ning Cheng and Zhao Yanxiang she stood on the public square in a not very conspicuous location.
This time, the Celestial Scryer Genius Tryouts was a big event for the Man Lun Starry Skies, and something personally hosted by Heavenly Emperor Man Lun. Since Heavenly Emperor Man Lun had not arrived yet, some of the cultivators had started to gather and whispered among themselves. However, no one dared to speak in a loud voice.
Ruan Mingshu and Zhao Yanxiang seemed to be arguing about something, while Ning Cheng felt reluctant to take part in the conversation and took the initiative to stand on the other side.
“This friend, if I remember correctly, you are also from the Orchid Borough Celestial River. You should be called Ning Cheng, right?” Ning Cheng had just walked to the side when a cheerful voice resounded in his ears.
Ning Cheng looked back and saw a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator, with a thin body and three very conspicuous Celestial Wheels behind him, showing that this fellow definitely had a strong Celestial Gatherer Cultivation.
“Yes.” Ning Cheng gave a simple reply.
This Celestial Gatherer Cultivator clapped his hands and spoke, “Let me introduce myself, I am called Fu Shougeng, and also from the Orchid Borough Celestial River. Seriously, for you to manage to escape from the rat tide, it truly is amazing. Congratulations. I was also on the battleship at that time. If I didn’t have a starry skies’ Escape Talisman, I might have not survived the influx of that many starry skies’ Spirit Devouring Rats.”
Ning Cheng showed a faint smile and spoke, “Then, congratulations to you too.”
“Right, when I was in the Revolving Jade City, there was an auction that had a Time Wilderness Map as one of the auction pieces. Do you know about that auction?” Fu Shougeng seemed like a very talkative person, and instantly switched topics like a gossipmonger.
Ning Cheng immediately turned vigilant. He quickly recalled what Ruan Mingshu had told him previously, that someone was looking for cultivators from Orchid Borough Celestial River, asking about a map. Was it this fellow? Moreover, was he looking for the same one that Ning Cheng had obtained from the auction?
Ning Cheng replied without hesitation, “I don’t know. I heard that the auctions in the Revolving Jade City would often bring out a Time Wilderness Map for sale, so I don’t know which auction you are talking about.”
Fu Shougeng explained, “I know that maps were often put in the auctions there; however, this one always had a price tag of several million Green Coins. Moreover, because everyone knows that it is a fake, very few people would choose to waste money on buying it. I am not talking about those ones though, but about the auction where a map sold for 110 million. Do you know about it?”
“I don’t know.” Ning Cheng replied without hesitation.
“You really don’t know?” Sharp killing intent accompanied these four words, apparently not from Fu Shougeng, but from someone behind Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng turned around in an instant and saw a cultivator with five Celestial Wheels staring at him. This cultivator gave off a sharp killing intent; at the same time, this killing intent had wholly locked down the area around Ning Cheng. Those previous four words came from this fellow. Looking at the Celestial Wheels behind this fellow, Ning Cheng knew that this man was at least a cultivator in the Undead Realm.
Ning Cheng’s eyes immediately flashed with chillness before he suddenly spoke out in a loud voice, “I’m a cultivator taking part in the Celestial Scryer Genius Tryouts of the Man Lun Starry Skies, and am quietly standing on the sacred Man Lun Public Square. Why do you want to kill me? Why did you lock me in with such a powerful killing intent?”
The cultivator brimming with killing intent had never expected that Ning Cheng would dare to speak so loud in the Man Lun Public Square; moreover, even mention that someone wanted to kill him. The cultivator’s eyes instantly filled with panic. If he knew Ning Cheng would react in such a way, even if Ning Cheng slapped him a hundred times, he would not dare to indulge in such a matter.
“You…..” The cultivator could not say more than a word in anger.
Ning Cheng stared at this cultivator and spoke up, “Just an Undead ant and yet dare to threaten this father in this place.”
A Celestial Novice Cultivator had called the other party as an ‘Undead ant’, yet this Undead-level cultivator unexpectedly could not dare to refute.
“Who’s so daring here?” Without waiting for this Undead-level cultivator to speak up, a grey-robed cultivator suddenly appeared in front of Ning Cheng.
“Senior, this is the fellow. Just now, he revealed a strong killing intent from behind me and even locked me down with his murderous intent. He even threatened me.” Ning Cheng pointed to the Undead-level cultivator who had locked him down with killing intent and spoke out to the crowd like a tattletale.
This grey-robed cultivator had already reached the Heaven Seated Realm. Even if Ning Cheng had not spoken about it, he could feel the killing intent that had not dissipated yet. He raised his hand and sent out a slap. The Undead-level cultivator did not even have the time to form a sentence when the grey-robed cultivator’s slap turned him into a bloody meat paste.
“Whoever dares to pick a fight within the Man Lun Public Square, even revealing killing intent, would face death.” After the grey-robed cultivator killed the Undead-level cultivator who had threatened Ning Cheng, he gave a cold snort and then disappeared without a trace, leaving behind those cold words.
Fu Shougeng shot a vicious stare at Ning Cheng. He had never thought that Ning Cheng simply defied common sense and ended up directly calling out a powerhouse in the Heaven Seated Realm.
Ning Cheng just ignored Fu Shougeng and gave Ruan Mingshu a greeting, who had come rushing to him. He would soon enter the Time Wilderness and would spend ten years inside the Time Wilderness. Ning Cheng did not even know this fellow, and this fellow dared to reveal his murderous intent towards him. It would have genuinely been strange if he remained polite while also not taking advantage of the situation.
“What happened?” Ruan Mingshu whispered into Ning Cheng’s ear.
“Nothing, the Heavenly Emperor is here.” Ning Cheng replied.
Heavenly Emperor Man Lun did arrive; however, no one knew when he came. His entry this time was completely different from when he entered the Dao Discussion Hall previously, lacking even the slightest trace of travel. It was as if this fellow was always here and had just decided to reveal himself.
“Long live the Heavenly Emperor!” A deafening sound erupted throughout the public square. Although no one had orchestrated it, it exploded in a wholly ordered fashion.
Heavenly Emperor Man Lun stood over the high altar in the middle of the public square and spoke with a slight bow, “I feel pleased today. Not only because today is the day when the Time Wilderness opens, but also because of the gathering of my Man Lun Starry Skies’ best Celestial Scryer Realm experts.”
“Perhaps, there might even be a future Heavenly Emperor among you, as well as a few Eternal-level powerhouses. I hope that you do not forget about the honour of our Man Lun Starry Skies. Regardless, staying indoors does not make you an expert. If one wants to grow strong, one would need to travel out of their homes, journey out of their planets, move out of their Celestial Rivers, wander out of their starry skies’ and explore the universe…….”
“Long live Heavenly Emperor!” A more ardent call erupted.
Ning Cheng suddenly felt a strange feeling within his heart. He thought that the sound of worship from the public square made the Heavenly Emperor Man Lun appear even taller. Although it felt like an illusion, it created a substantial impact over his mind.
At this moment, Ning Cheng recalled the Power of Hope, which he had seen and even witnessed before. Was this phenomenon something similar to the Power of Hope?
Heavenly Emperor Man Lun gave a hearty laugh and then spoke up loudly, “Today, I am here to announce that this day marks the day where you come out of the Man Lun Starry Skies, starting with the Time Wilderness. Although there might not be many geniuses who can enter the universe on behalf of our Man Lun Starry Skies, I still believe that our Man Lin Starry Skies would achieve the honour it deserves.”
“You will remain inside the Time Wilderness for about 10 years, and the final results will be based cumulatively on the size and the amount of Time Stones you obtain from the inside. The ten years starts from this very moment. I will personally lead all the geniuses participating in the Time Wilderness Tryouts and help you all enter the Time Wilderness. I hope we get to see you all again after ten years!”
“Long live the Heavenly Emperor!” This time the public square instantaneously erupted in violent cheers and admiration. It felt as if every cultivator present over the public square had gone crazy.