Chapter 0662: Wandering the void
Ning Cheng pushed the Starry Sky Wheel to its full speed without any scruples. By this time, he was also fully aware of the power of the Starry Sky Wheel. Therefore, he knew that even if the Su Clan had an Eternal Starry Sky Emperor, they most likely would not be able to catch up to him with such a significant head start.
After flying the Starry Sky Wheel at full speed for half a month, Ning Cheng finally stopped and put away the Starry Sky Wheel and took out a standard flight-type weapon. This area lay in the void area between Positional Planes and Interfaces; therefore, although it had only a few cultivators, that didn’t mean that there were none. Moreover, any of the cultivators who managed to come here without dying would usually be an expert or a powerhouse. Ning Cheng didn’t want to needlessly expose his Starry Sky Wheel and end up with a target on his back because of it.
Although he did not see the method Duan Gantai used for escape, Ning Cheng felt sure that Duan Gantai had managed to escape. It was more of an intuition.
At this time, he not only felt a little fear, but he also felt slightly depressed. He had always been groping around to push his cultivation forward. Although the Mysterious Yellow Formless was indeed incomparable, he still had no idea on how the Mysterious Yellow Formless compared to the other systematically derived cultivation methods that others used for cultivation.
But it also highlighted the fact that he lacked some of the more practical secret methods. Although Sunset’s Twilight might be considered as one, he had risked death in the Time Wilderness to understand it. Even then, he had to rely heavily on the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds to escape many times in the past. If the Eternal Night Public Square was even a few feet larger, even if he pushed the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds to its breaking point, he might not have managed to escape in one try. By that time, he would have definitely died or would have come infinitely close to death. The only way he could have survived in that situation would be if he had previously managed to let his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds experience nirvana or at least upgraded it to the next level.
However, the best raw material for letting his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds experience nirvana was the Wind Thunder Apricot Tree. Of course, there were other materials, but none of them was as good as the Wind Thunder Apricot Tree. But he had only obtained two Wind Thunder Apricots. As for who got the Wind Thunder Apricot Tree back then, Ning Cheng simply had no idea.
Regardless of whether the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds could advance or not, Ning Cheng felt that he would have to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm first. If he were a Heaven Seated Cultivator, then even if the Su Clan managed to trap him in the Eternal Night Domain, he would not be completely helpless.
……
A few days later, Ning Cheng once again found a broken star within the void. This time, he didn’t dig a cave, like the last time and go inside to cultivate slowly. Instead, he arranged several high-level concealment and aura-shielding array formations before directly going inside the Mysterious Yellow Bead for cultivation.
Ning Cheng wasn’t willing to use the ten thousand Permanent Essence Pills, but a million Perpetual Moon Pills were more than sufficient for now.
Cultivating within the Mysterious Yellow Bead, the Origin Aura continuously scoured his body, which not only helped him absorb the Celestial Essence Gas faster but also improved his perception to even deeper levels. Ning Cheng originally was at the late-stages of the Heaven’s Mandate Realm, but in just one month, the Celestial Essence accumulating in his body reached its peak. This allowed his cultivation to reach the full-circle of Heaven’s Mandate Realm.
Of the million Perpetual Moon Pills, he was only left with around ten thousand. However, after reaching the full-circle of the Heaven’s Mandate Realm, Ning Cheng could not absorb even a shred of Celestial Essence Gas. Rather, no matter how much Celestial Essence Gas he tried to consume, it did not increase his cultivation even by the slightest amount.
This situation was completely different compared to his previous advancements from the Celestial Bridge Realm to the Undead Realm and from the Undead Realm to the Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Earlier, whenever his cultivation reached the extreme end of a realm and on the verge of advancement, as long as he absorbed more Celestial Essence Gas, he could feel and even strike the cultivation barrier. Hitting it once or twice, he could then break through the shackles of cultivation and advance to a higher cultivation realm.
But this time, Ning Cheng couldn’t advance even a small distance. Which also meant that it would be impossible for him to advance from the Heaven’s Mandate Realm to the Heaven Seated Realm using the same way as in the past.
It’s not that he hadn’t touched the cultivation barrier or encountered any other obstacles in cultivation, it was because of his insights. Simply put, his insights could not keep up with his perception.
Under this scenario, even if he took out another ten billion Perpetual Moon Pills or even Permanent Essence Pills and put them in front of him, he still would not be able to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm. At this time, he simply couldn’t even touch the barrier to the Heaven Seated Realm. Even when standing right on edge, he still didn’t know where this barrier stood. This difference was not just a difference of one or two levels, rather a difference between heaven and earth.
Ning Cheng sighed and came out of the Mysterious Yellow Bead and did not continue with cultivation. The gap between Destiny’s three realms and Celestial River’s Three Realm was not only the accumulation of cultivation but also the accumulation of insights and perception. At this moment, he understood that he lacked both an opportunity and an insight into the right direction.
At this moment, Ning Cheng knew that if he wanted to break through the Heaven’s Mandate Realm and advance to the Heaven Seated Realm, there were only two ways to do so. One was to search for the Severing Filth Heavenly Pill, the pill that he heard of in the Time Wilderness. An essential medicinal pill that could help a cultivator to break through to the Heaven Seated Realm. Or look for the Great Heaven Essence Fruit to refine the Accordance Heavenly Pill. The Accordance Heavenly Pill could also help a cultivator in the Heaven’s Mandate Realm to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm.
The second way was to look for opportunities to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm, meaning gaining enough experience. He simply had not experienced many things; as such, he had no idea about what kind of opportunity would he have to look for. However, because he cultivated the Mysterious Yellow Formless, he vaguely understood that the second way was much stronger and had more potential compared to the first method of advancing to the Heaven Seated Realm using medicinal pills.
“Maybe I should look for the Great Heaven Essence Fruit, and get ready to refine the Accordance Heavenly Pill while looking for opportunities to qualify for the Heaven Seated Realm.” Ning Cheng mumbled to himself.
After making a decision, Ning Cheng simply put away his array flags, brought out a middle-grade flight-type Dao Artefact, and left the shattered star that he had used for secluded cultivation for almost a month.
A few days later, a man in a grey robe arrived at Ning Cheng’s secluded cultivation location. He carefully observed the place where Ning Cheng had arranged the array formation. Then, he showed a frown and spoke to himself, “What’s going on? This place contains the Mysterious Yellow Origin Aura.”
……
Ning Cheng had made his debut as a starry sky wanderer a long time ago. However, it should be noted that since the start of his starry sky wandering days, he never felt so lost. There simply was no starry sky within the cracks of the positional planes, and even some of the planets that he encountered were in a state of ruin. Simply put, this place only contained meteorite flows, spacial maelstroms, void collapses……
Only in the stable lands of the Eternal Night Domain can one cultivate in relative peace. Unfortunately, Ning Cheng could not head back to the Eternal Night Domain, for now.
One would often lose track of time while wandering within the void. After a year of travelling, Ning Cheng didn’t even need to put up an artificial appearance, as his presence had naturally transformed into a young man with a thick beard that overflowed with vicissitudes of life.
Not in secluded cultivation, travelling alone within the boundless vastness of the void, it created a unique kind of loneliness within one’s heart. Rather, it was more of a test of one’s heart. Fortunately, Ning Cheng still had Chasing Bull. If he had nothing to do, he could at least chat with Chasing Bull.
During the year, Ning Cheng’s cultivation did not increase by even a slight bit, but his foundation kept accumulating. Although he was still technically in the Heaven’s Mandate Realm, his view of the Heaven’s Mandate Realm had now radically changed from what it was in the past.
Besides that, his greatest reward was that he successfully let one of the Scarlet Crow Flames with him experience nirvana.
On this day, Ning Cheng was searching for artefact-crafting raw materials over a broken starland, when a shadow of an airship passed by near to him and within the range of his Spiritual Consciousness.
Chasing Bull also saw the shadow and immediately called out, “Master, I just saw someone fly past us.”
Over the past year, Chasing Bull also wandered through the void following Ning Cheng. Apart from searching for raw materials and looking for Perpetual Moon Pills, they had never seen anyone else. At this point, on seeing an airship flying by, even Chasing Bull felt a little excited.
“You don’t have to point to it. That fellow is already flying towards us.” Ning Cheng spoke as he stopped extracting artefact-crafting raw materials and put away the Scarlet Crow Flame.
A void airship, which had just passed through the range of his Spiritual Consciousness, flew back towards them. Obviously, the other party had also noticed Ning Cheng and Chasing Bull and returned explicitly for them.
A dozen breaths later, an airship landed on the shattered starland near Ning Cheng. A male cultivator then walked out of the airship, a head shorter compared to Ning Cheng. However, his cultivation exceeded that of Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng could see at a glance that this fellow was already a Heaven Seated Cultivator.
Similarly, Ning Cheng also noticed the aura of the void coming from this cultivator, indicating that this cultivator had wandered through the void much longer than he had.
“I really didn’t expect to see someone here. I’m Song Chengbo, a void wanderer for more than three hundred years.” The short male cultivator spoke up with a smile over his face. It made people feel that this person had never encountered any dangers.
However, Ning Cheng knew that anyone who could roam the void for hundreds of years definitely had encountered enough dangers. No cultivator would be able to wander through the void without experiencing at least a few life-threatening risks.
“I’m called Ning Cheng. I’ve also been wandering the void for quite a long time.” Ning Cheng cupped his fists and gave a polite reply. Even if he couldn’t beat this Heaven Seated Cultivator, he didn’t show any fear, let alone address this person as a senior.
Seeing Ning Cheng address him as peers, Song Chengbo’s eyes revealed a trace of surprise. However, they quickly restored to their previous calm as he spoke up, “Oh, you clearly are a cultivator who hasn’t stepped into the Heaven Seated Realm and yet can still wander around here. It shows that you definitely are not simple. Did you also come here for the Temple of Falling Stars?”
He did not ask how long Ning Cheng had been wandering the void. With Ning Cheng’s cultivation, combined with the fact that he was here, it meant that this fellow had definitely wandered through the void for at least a few decades.
Is the Temple of Falling Stars nearby? Ning Cheng felt slightly shocked. He had never truly planned to come to the Temple of Falling Stars. It’s not that he did not want to, but because his cultivation still was not up to the mark.
Although surprised, Ning Cheng remained calm and spoke, “I do intend to head to the Temple of Falling Stars, but I’m not too confident. Therefore, I came here to gain some experience before going there. Is Brother Song going to the Temple of Falling Stars too? The truth is, even though I also want to go there, I don’t know anything about it.”
Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness skimmed through the jade strip given to him by Duan Gantai during the conversation. Sure enough, he could tell from the Positional Diagram in the jade strip that he was not far from the Temple of Falling Stars.
Song Chengbo laughed, “That’s right, this Song Chengbo does have some understanding about the Temple of Falling Stars. I’ve gone there a few times since I was in Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Although I didn’t manage to reach the entrance of the temple, I still managed to obtain a decent harvest. I even managed to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm because of the Temple of Falling Stars. Let me guess, you want to go to the Temple of Falling Stars for the Great Heaven Essence Fruit, right? Well, it doesn’t matter why you want to go there. But if you really want to go there, then you should be ready to fall at any time. Hehe.”
“The Temple of Falling Stars has the Great Heaven Essence Fruit?” Ning Cheng asked in surprise, before explaining, “Brother Song, I was heading to the Temple of Falling Stars just for gaining more experience. But, does the Temple of Falling Stars really contain Great Heaven Essence Fruits?”
Song Chengbo on seeing that Ning Cheng truly didn’t know about the Great Heaven Essence Fruits in the Temple of Falling Stars, felt his face burning up a little out of embarrassment, “Yeah, Great Heaven Essence Fruits do exist in the Temple of Falling Stars. But the Great Heaven Essence Fruits are not the only things inside. You’d find things even more precious than the Great Heaven Essence Fruits. However, if you’re not heading there for the Great Heaven Essence Fruits, then I would strongly advise you not to go there.”
Ning Cheng cupped his fists and thanked him with the sentence, “Many thanks, Brother Song. The reason I wanted to go there before was just to gain some experience. Now that I know that the Temple of Falling Stars contains Great Heaven Essence Fruits, I must take a trip there.”
Song Chengbo felt slightly shocked at this reply before he laughed and spoke up, “Alright. It would not be good for someone to head to the Temple of Falling Stars alone. Looks like we’re predestined to meet each other. Let’s head to the Temple of Falling Stars together, that way the two of us would have someone to talk to, at least.”
Although Song Chengbo’s cultivation was a big step ahead of Ning Cheng, he didn’t show or even speak with the same attitude that experts and powerhouses used when talking to the weak.