Chapter 0651: Eternal Night Domain
The Perpetual Moon Pills turned into a Celestial Essence storm, which completely covered Ning Cheng’s body without even Ning Cheng taking control of it. Ning Cheng’s cultivation had already reached the peak of the Undead Realm, and the congealed Celestial Essence within his body had also reached such high levels of enrichment that it automatically tried to look for a weak point to lessen the pressure.
At this moment, Ning Cheng stood up on the broken meteorite and could only hear the buzzing of Celestial Essence within his body. In the past, every time Ning Cheng had to break through to a new realm, he needed to break down the barrier to that realm by himself while controlling his Celestial Essence to grow stronger. But at this moment, he didn’t even try to break open that barrier at all; rather, the Celestial Essence pent up inside of him managed to break the shackles restricting his path of cultivation by itself. Once the cultivation barrier blew open, it immediately increased the speed with which Ning Cheng absorbed the pile of Perpetual Moon Pills outside. The pills quickly turned into Celestial Essence, allowing his cultivation climb at a rapid pace.
“Boom-Boom….” His Celestial Essence had not risen to its peak yet when lightning arcs started to rain down one after another.
Ning Cheng didn’t even prepare any defences. It would have been a different matter if those lightning arcs descended before breaking through. But this time, he had already broken through before the tribulation fell; therefore, he felt confident that this tribulation would not pose many challenges.
This phenomenon once again highlighted the heaven defying nature of the Mysterious Yellow Bead. He had continuously cultivated for a long time within the Mysterious Yellow Bead, and it was also because of the Mysterious Yellow Bead’s heaven defying characteristic that he could advance first before facing the thunder tribulation.
As those dense lightning arcs landed on Ning Cheng, it only managed to disintegrate Ning Cheng’s robes, before Ning Cheng completely absorbed the thunder source contained within the lightning bolts. The first wave, which consisted of a dozen lightning arcs, only managed to leave behind a few bloody scratches on his body along with some slightly burnt hair. As Ning Cheng’s Celestial Essence circulated once, those bloodstains also disappeared without a trace.
It felt as if the thunder tribulation had absolutely no effect on Ning Cheng. The second wave of the thunder tribulation was also not a lot stronger compared to the first wave of the thunder tribulation; rather, the only difference was that it contained a dozen more lightning arcs. As for Thunder Pearls and Thunder Waterfalls, which Ning Cheng had encountered in the past tribulations, he didn’t see them at all.
Ning Cheng felt a little disappointed seeing this situation. He could only absorb the thunder source from these lightning bolts to try to condense his own lightning arc-based attack. As for using this thunder tribulation’s lightning arcs to quench his body, Ning Cheng did think about it but quickly gave up on that idea.
Although this thunder tribulation might be immensely powerful for ordinary people, it really could not satisfy his body forging needs at all.
The thunderous booms continued as lightning arcs fell down one after another. Apart from using these lightning arcs to consolidate the cultivation improvement, Ning Cheng also used it to try to condense his own thunder-based technique. It was just that this thunder-based technique was not something that came from an inheritance, but something that he came up on his own.
Although Ning Cheng did not feel much pressure in surmounting this thunder tribulation, within this empty void, the dense lightning arcs still looked very conspicuous.
“Katcha….” The same moment that Ning Cheng finished consolidating his cultivation, the meteorite under Ning Cheng’s feet finally crumbled to dust under the continuous onslaught of the lightning arcs.
Moments later, the thunder tribulation over his head finally disappeared. It felt as if this thunder tribulation had only appeared to help him consolidate his cultivation.
Ning Cheng had just cleaned himself and changed into a fresh set of robes when his Spiritual Consciousness detected a shadow flying towards him.
A moment later, the shadow finally stopped beside Ning Cheng, revealing it to be a high-grade airship-type Dao Artefact.
On the deck of the airship stood three cultivators: one man and two women. Of them, a young woman stood in front, while the other woman and the man stood behind her on either side. Apparently, those two served under this young woman.
Ning Cheng’s pupils contracted slightly on seeing those three people. He noticed that although the two female cultivators were Heaven’s Mandate Cultivators, the male cultivator with them already had reached the Heaven Seated Realm.
Although he managed to kill Shang Mouliang back then, it was only because of the favourable conditions of both time and place, while also exhausting all his means. Even before that, when he battled with Mi Jin, Mi Jin had already suffered severe injuries due to the backlash from recalling her strength; as such, she did not dare to fight him with her full power. At most, she only used 30% to 40% of her cultivation against him. Even so, he still had to suffer some serious injuries.
Although he had grown stronger by a few notches compared to the past, Ning Cheng still didn’t think that he could beat an actual Heaven Seated Cultivator head-on. The Heaven’s Mandate Realm and the Heaven Seated Realm had an almost unfathomable ravine between them, this ravine was not something that could be made up with something else.
“A few moments ago, we observed some thunder rays lingering around this place, was it because of you?” Ning Cheng had guessed it right. The first one to ask a question was the female cultivator with the Heaven’s Mandate Cultivation standing in the front.
Ning Cheng cupped his fists and spoke with neither humble nor aloof tone, “Yes, I was trying out my thunder-based technique. Looks like it ended up creating a bit of noise.”
“Are you a cultivator with a primary Thunder Spiritual Root?” The female cultivator asked again in surprise.
Ning Cheng hesitated a little before replying, “No, but I have a thunder-attributed technique that I can cultivate using a secret method.”
The female cultivator nodded but did not ask any further questions. Ning Cheng had already shown enough politeness in answering her questions. Generally speaking, it was not something proper for her to ask someone about their Spiritual Roots and techniques.
Ning Cheng was just about to ask where this place was when the female cultivator once again asked, “Are you from the Eternal Night Domain?”
“Eternal Night Domain?” Ning Cheng repeated the words in surprise, before he finally responded, “I’m a starry sky wanderer. Although I wandered around in the starry skies for many years, I still ended up losing my bearings somewhere down the road inside a spacial collapse, but I’m pretty adaptable and flexible with things. Later, when I finally managed to gain control of my own starry skies battleship, I flew around for hundreds of years before reaching this place. To be honest, before meeting you all, I was planning to find someone to ask for directions.”
“You used a Starry Sky Battleship to fly for several hundred years to circumvent the interface? Which interface did you come from?” The female cultivator asked in amazement, apparently startled by the implications of Ning Cheng’s words. She also held no doubt about Ning Cheng’s statement about flying for hundreds of years. Moreover, since Ning Cheng could cultivate to this extent, then didn’t it mean that he has also lived for more than a thousand years?
Ning Cheng laughed with a rueful tone while grabbing onto his hair before replying with a somewhat helpless expression, “I don’t know. I only know that my planet is called Earth.”
“You’re saying that you’re from Earth?” The female cultivator asked again in surprise, mixed with shock.
This time, it was Ning Cheng’s turn to feel shocked. The only reason he said that he was from Earth was that he did not want to answer any more questions. Moreover, no one knew about Earth. He didn’t expect this female cultivator to react in surprise and shock on hearing this word. Did she know about Earth?
“Do you know about Earth?” Ning Cheng quickly asked. His words even contained a hint of intimacy. Only after experiencing the boundless universe could one understand the insignificance of Earth within the vast expanse.
The female cultivator shook her head before replying, “I don’t know about Earth, but I’ve heard someone talk about this place.”
“Who was it?” Ning Cheng quickly asked. He felt a kind of inexplicable happiness gushing within his heart on the understanding that he might not be alone. Was there someone else who left the Earth for the sake of cultivation besides himself?
The female cultivator showed a smile, “The only reason I can talk to you like this is due to our cultivations not being too far apart. However, when it comes to the senior who talked about Earth, I did not dare to inquire into it. Moreover, I also don’t know the identity of that senior. But I do know that this senior occasionally passes through the Eternal Night Domain.”
Ning Cheng took in a deep breath and cupped his fists before asking, “Can I ask the three Dao Friends about the directions to the Eternal Night Domain?”
The female cultivator explained with a few quips, “The Eternal Night Domain is a void area between several interfaces and even positional planes, and a place from where you can travel to other interfaces or positional planes. The cultivators who come to Eternal Night Domain, although they would eventually leave to their respective destinations, some of them do end up lost without bearings like you. Some of them would also go there with some specific purpose. In any case, there are often cultivators leaving and cultivators coming in through that place.”
Ning Cheng gained some understanding through those words. Looks like he still hadn’t crossed-over to another interface. Specifically, he was somewhere in the middle of interfaces. Even though this was a middle zone, it was possible to head over to other positional planes from here.
Obviously, anyone who can manage to come to the Eternal Night Domain was not ordinary. Even him, if it weren’t for the Mysterious Yellow Bead, he would have never reached this place. It seems that he better not go to the Eternal Night Domain, at least not for now.
“Are there a lot of powerhouses in the Eternal Night Domain, Senior Apprentice Sister? Are there any powerhouses in the Eternal Realm or above there?” Ning Cheng had no intention of going to the Eternal Night Domain. It definitely would be a dangerous place for him. Although he might be able to escape from the powerhouses in the Life and Death Realm, in front of the powerhouses in the Eternal or above realms, it would prove near impossible to escape from them without sufficient preparation.
The female cultivator nodded before speaking, “Yes, there naturally are powerhouses in the Eternal Realm in that place, but they usually don’t stay for long and would leave the Eternal Night Domain eventually. Because this is the intersection point of several positional planes, the powerhouses from the other positional planes don’t refer to this realm as ‘Eternal’ Realm. However, their cultivation definitely would not be any weaker than those powerhouses in the Eternal Realm.”
On hearing this, Ning Cheng once again affirmed not to head towards the Eternal Night Domain and thanked her, “Many thanks to Senior Apprentice Sister. I wonder if Senior Apprentice Sister has any jade strip charts containing the location of the Eternal Night Domain. Or maybe a jade strip that introduces the Eternal Night Domain?”
Although he didn’t want to go to the Eternal Night Domain right now, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to visit that place in the future. Once his cultivation grew to a sufficient level, he would anyways have to head to the Eternal Night Domain to find a way to return to the Grand Culmination Starry Skies.
“I naturally have such jade strips. But it would be perilous for you to go to the Eternal Night Domain alone. How about this, my Su Clan has taken up residence in the Eternal Night Domain for countless years, which means we also have a certain foundation in that place. Seeing this friend’s courage, it would be better to join my Su Clan, that way, we can lend a helping hand to each other when in need.” The female cultivator finished with a smile before locking her gaze on to Ning Cheng.
Although she said those words about lending a helping hand to each other, it was only to give Ning Cheng some face. To be more precise, joining the Su Clan meant him depending on them; otherwise, it would prove extremely difficult to do anything in the Eternal Night Domain alone.
Ning Cheng also understood why this female cultivator talked so much with him with a smiling face and genial tone. It was his apparent courage of his to wander alone in the void for hundreds of years which had caught her fancy. In other words, she wanted to recruit him to become her Su Clan’s hired thug.
Ning Cheng didn’t want to offend the three, especially since he didn’t even know them, and quickly cupped his fists before speaking, “I’m used to wandering the starry skies by myself. Besides, I don’t have any plans to visit the Eternal Night Domain for the time being. Many thanks for the offer though, Senior Apprentice Sister.”
The female cultivator stared at Ning Cheng for a while before giving out a sigh. She then took out two jade strips and threw them towards Ning Cheng with the words, “In that case, I will also not insist on it. When you get tired of wandering around in this area, you can come to look for our Su Clan.”
The female cultivator didn’t mention the way to find her Su Clan, just saying to come to her Su Clan. From this, Ning Cheng speculated that this Su Clan should definitely have some significant status; at the very least, people within the Eternal Night Domain knew about this Su Clan.
Ning Cheng took the two jade strips before bowing towards them with cupped fists and saying, “Many thanks to Senior Apprentice Sister, many thanks to the rest of the friends here. This Ning will now take his leave.”
With that, Ning Cheng’s figure flickered slightly before turning into a shadow and slipping away.
The other woman behind that female cultivator snorted, “That man definitely has a secret because of which he does not dare to go to the Eternal Night Domain.”
The man in the Heaven Seated Realm whispered, “Of all the people who come here, who doesn’t have a secret of their own?”