Chapter 0658: Unexpected Visitor
However, Yang Jun looked calm, he naturally did not regret it. Cultivating to this level, although Perpetual Moon Pills and Permanent Essence Pills were undoubtedly good stuff, but how could they compare to Time Stones?
“This junior has just arrived at the Eternal Night Domain and hadn’t seen a Void Collapse yet, so I would like to check it out by myself. I hope senior would understand.”
The cultivators in the hall, on hearing Ning Cheng’s words, shook their heads in disdain. Hadn’t seen a Void Collapse before, who was this fellow lying to, aah. Of all the cultivators who managed to come to the Eternal Night Domain, who hasn’t seen a Void Collapse?
Su Youqinghong still had a face filled with smiles, as if he really believed Ning Cheng’s words. He only nodded and said, “If that is the case, then I won’t ask for it. Dao Friend Ning Cheng, please do have a seat and enjoy the rest of the day with us..”
Ning Cheng didn’t sit down and still spoke in a very polite tone, “This junior has been disturbing you all for a long time already, and thinks that it’s already time to leave. Many thanks to all of you for such heart-warming hospitality.”
Su Youqinghong nodded and then spoke to the server standing next to him, “Go, and escort the guest to the door.”
……
Ning Cheng, still in all smiles, allowed the server to lead him away from the Su Clan. When he walked out of the Su Clan’s archway, the server even presented him with a low-grade defensive-type Dao Artefact to show the Su Clan’s satisfaction of him attending their wedding.
However, after Ning Cheng finally left the Su Clan, the smile on his face disappeared. Su Youqinghong definitely was a person who hid his knife under the guise of a smile. Don’t look at the warm words from this fellow’s mouth, Ning Cheng felt sure that this fellow would definitely send someone to track him down the moment he left the Eternal Night Domain.
With Su Clan’s status in the Eternal Night City, no one who obtained this jade strip would reach the place marked in the jade strip in peace. However, Ning Cheng did not worry too much about it. With his current cultivation, he could quickly leave the Eternal Night Domain and then move away using the Starry Sky Wheel. It would truly be a strange thing if the Su Clan could still manage to catch up to him.
Nevertheless, Ning Cheng decided not to immediately leave the Eternal Night City. He believed that with the Su Clan’s status in the Eternal Night Domain, they would not try to do anything outrageous within the Eternal Night City. Even if they coveted his things, they would have to wait until Ning Cheng left the Eternal Night Domain. Either that or Su Clan felt sure that he would not be able to leave the Eternal Night Domain.
In any case, the only reason Ning Cheng did not immediately try to leave the Eternal Night Domain was to meet with Su Baijiao. Su Baijiao had mentioned that she had what he wanted. The only explanation for it was that she must have noticed his desire to obtain the Purple Yin Spring Water. Although Ning Cheng felt that the Purple Yin Spirit Water would not have much effect over Qionghua’s injuries, as long as it had even the slightest effect, Ning Cheng would not mind getting his hands on some.
Also, whether it provided little effect or not, he couldn’t tell without actually trying it.
……
Ning Cheng had initially thought that the Perpetual Sand Rest Stop would be at least a decent place in the Eternal Night City. However, after he inquired about it, he found that it was just a small inconspicuous rest stop. If not for Su Baijiao deliberately mentioning the name, even he would find it difficult to find this rest stop in the Eternal Night City, let alone go in to meet someone.
Su Baijiao had asked him to meet tomorrow night at the Perpetual Sand Rest Stop. However, Ning Cheng decided against taking up a room at the Perpetual Sand Rest Stop after locating it. Whether or not this rest stop had anything to do with the Su Clan, since the meeting was scheduled tomorrow, he would only come here tomorrow.
Deciding on that, Ning Cheng went to another rest stop in the Eternal Night City, called the Perpetual Immortal Rest Stop. He did not have many Starry Sky Essence Crystals on him, but it was more than enough for staying overnight in a regular rest stop. Ning Cheng, however, did not pay for just a night; instead, he paid for five nights.
Even if he was sure that he wouldn’t live in this place for more than two nights, he didn’t care much about spending these Starry Sky Crystals for some insurance. With Su Clan’s status in the Eternal Night Domain, they definitely would keep an eye on his every move. Instead of this, he might as well pay extended stay to confuse them a bit. He really did not have any Immortal Crystals or Perpetual Moon Pills; otherwise, he would have definitely paid for at least a month.
If not for the jade strip, Ning Cheng most likely would have wandered around in the Eternal Night City to look for a place to let him set up an Artefact-crafting Store. But now, he can’t go anywhere. He had no choice but to wait until tomorrow to see Su Baijiao.
Therefore, as soon as he entered the room, Ning Cheng began to arrange a variety of defensive arrays. Defensive, shielding, warning…..
At this moment, Ning Cheng fully realised how important was it to master array formations. But to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, Ning Cheng only arranged relatively low-levelled array formations. Most of them were Grade 4 Celestial Arrays or Grade 5 Celestial River Arrays. If he laid out Grade 6 Celestial River Defensive Arrays, it would definitely alarm a lot of people in the Eternal Night Domain.
After arranging the array formations, Ning Cheng then took out the jade strip that he traded with Yang Jun for a closer look. From what he saw from Yang Jun’s jade strip, this maelstrom formed by the spacial collapse was very far from the Eternal Night Domain.
But for Ning Cheng, the farther this place was from the Eternal Night Domain, the better it was for him. He was more afraid of this place being somewhere close enough to be found by others.
The directional indicators marked on the jade strip were marked clearly, which made Ning Cheng doubt if Yang Jun had actually engraved it himself. Maybe Yang Jun had obtained this jade strip from other people, but because he couldn’t get inside, he decided to trade it away.
After sweeping through the jade strip, Ning Cheng finally closed his eyes. Without Perpetual Moon Pills for cultivation, he truly didn’t want to be in this place. The only thing that he could do right now was to continue deducing array formations.
Half a day passed by quickly. Just when Ning Cheng started to go deeper into deducing array formations, his defensive array suddenly shook, and a shadow quickly emerged from him defensive array.
Ning Cheng suddenly opened his eyes and stood up. At the same time, a spear-type Dao Artefact appeared in his hand, while he readied the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds.
Although his array formation was not of a high grade, he had personally arranged it. Therefore, apart from powerhouses on the same level of Zhongli Baichi, only a few people could enter his defensive array formation without breaking it open, much less undetected.
“Why don’t you reveal your distinguished self?” Ning Cheng stared at the cultivator shadow who entered his defensive array and asked with a cold tone. Although not nervous, he still felt a little bit surprised. He could feel that the cultivation of the cultivator who entered his defensive array was not much higher compared to him. This cultivator has definitely not stepped into the Heaven Seated Realm.
A cultivator, whose cultivation was not much higher than his own, had managed to enter his defensive array almost undetected. This was truly a concerning matter. There were only two reasons for such a thing to happen. First was that the opponent’s real strength far exceeded his surface strength, or second, the opponent had much more profound attainments in array formations compared to him.
“You already know me. Have to say, your attainments in array formations are quite good.” With a familiar voice, the cultivator took off the mask covering his face.
“You?” Ning Cheng felt surprised. He didn’t think that the cultivator who came to find him would be Duan Gantai. In his mind, Duan Gantai should be rolling around with Su Baijiao in their private chambers at this time. So how come he came to find him here? Did this fellow finally snap due to his jealousy? No, that should be the case. Even if he felt extremely jealous, he wouldn’t necessarily squeeze out of his chambers at this time to teach him a lesson.
Despite the thoughts going off in Ning Cheng’s mind, Duan Gantai did not show even a shred of killing intent or had any hint of jealousy over her face. Instead, he only looked at Ning Cheng with a calm gaze, “Are you thinking that I should be sleeping with Su Baijiao in my arms right now, right? So why would I particularly take the time to come find trouble with you?”
Ning Cheng had to acquiesce that he was definitely surprised by Duan Gantai’s accurate judgement of his thoughts. Was this fellow really the same jealous person he met before?
“I have my own skills, so even though I came here, no one knows about it. Another ‘me’ lies in bed with Su Baijiao right now. Of course, I also know that Su Baijiao would never sleep with someone like me. I do have some self-awareness, you know.” Duan Gantai spoke and without waiting for Ning Cheng’s invitation, took the initiative to step inside and sit down.
Ning Cheng also sat down and poured Duan Gantai a cup of Spiritual Tea, “So, tell me why you came looking for me this late. In any case, you must already know that I have no interest in Su Baijiao and your relationship.”
Duan Gantai smiled before speaking, “I know that you have no interest in Su Baijiao. Moreover, I believe that I have not judged wrong about you, people like Su Baijiao anyway are not worthy of you. Anyway, I came here today to ask for a favour from you. Of course, I will not mistreat you.”
Ning Cheng fully understood at this moment that this Duan Gantai definitely was a very cunning fellow. Such people would never let jealousy and discontentment lead their actions. Looks like the Duan Gantai he saw with Su Baijiao was not the real one.
He then thought back to Duan Gantai’s performance in that wooden hall. After Su Baijiao had intentionally brushed her fingers across his hand, Duan Gantai had remained calm without any waves. That calm facade was all an act to show his pretentiousness in front of Su Clan’s people. But after Su Baijiao started walking past Ning Cheng, he behaved as if he could no longer suppress his murderous intent towards Ning Cheng, reverting to his previous jealous self. This showed to others that although he wanted to pretend to be generous, he couldn’t readily erase his insecure nature. In any case, even if it was just a pretence, one cannot act for eternity.
As for the people back in the Su Clan’s hall, they naturally would not put a superficial cultivator like Duan Gantai in their minds.
However, this fellow truly had a devious mind. This fellow ‘pretended’ to endure his jealousy in front of the elders from the Su Clan but ultimately could not entirely ‘pretend’. This kind of acting was much more realistic compared to acting out on his jealousy directly. It was truly an act within an act.
Ning Cheng replied using a calm voice, “What could I help you with? I’ve only arrived at the Eternal Night Domain and have limited ability. It’s already questionable if I can help you.”
“Just as I know that the Su Clan is eyeing my stuff, I also know that Su Clan also wants your stuff. You don’t have to refuse to work with me immediately. I won’t ask what you want nor would I tell you what you want. I’ll only tell you this, we will have to work together; if not, then we would never escape the Eternal Night Domain.”
Hearing Duan Gantai’s words, Ning Cheng sneered, “Whether I can escape the Eternal Night Domain or not, that’s my own thing. It does not need you to worry about it. Besides, I’m already planning to spend some time in the Eternal Night Domain.”
Duan Gantai laughed, “Brother Ning, we both are of the same type. I can already guess one or two things about what you’re thinking. If the two of us were to work with each other, then it would be better if we didn’t rely on individual guesses. Maybe you’re relying on an Escape Talisman or a strong flight-type weapon. You may have also thought that by using those items to leave the Eternal Night Domain, no one could do anything to you. But let me tell you, you’re looking down on the capabilities of Su Clan too much. Not to mention whether you can use an Escape Talisman or a flight-type weapon for escape, I am certain that you will remain inseparable from the Eternal Night Domain.”
Ning Cheng’s expressions changed slightly. This was precisely what he felt worried about the most. Ning Cheng knew that he could use the Starry Sky Wheel to escape; as such, he did not feel any fear even in the face of Duan Gantai’s threat. What stuck fear the most was his inability to separate from the Eternal Night Domain.
“We have no choice but to work together. Moreover, I also want to leave the Eternal Night Domain. You already saw my means, I can easily pass through your array formation. However, I can only trick the Su Clan with my methods for a short time, it’s not enough to plan a successful escape from the Eternal Night Domain. Therefore, just as much as I need your help, you also need my help.” Duan Gantai spoke with a frank tone.
“Conditions.” Ning Cheng spoke without hesitation. Since Duan Gantai came to find him at this time, then it definitely indicated that Duan Gantai was in a much more dangerous situation compared to him. Therefore, he decided to put in some conditions.