Chapter 0728: Re-entering the Time Wilderness
“Chuan Xinlou should already know that I had taken away the Earth Origin Bead, so he wants to stir up everyone’s hatred against me. Moreover, I took Jiangzhou Star without the consent from Brother Striking Order. If it were any other Heavenly Emperor, I’m afraid he or she would have definitely fallen out with me. But since Brother Striking Order has been quite magnanimous, this Ning Cheng now owes a big favour to Brother Striking Order.” Ning Cheng spoke with sincerity.
If it were any other Starry Sky Emperor, and if he had taken away a star from under their jurisdiction, it would have definitely resulted in a huge fight. But seeing Striking Order’s attitude, Ning Cheng truly felt grateful. If Striking Order had decided to come at him hard, he wouldn’t have cared at all. But since Striking Order Heavenly Emperor showed such open-mindedness, it made him feel a little sorry towards this fellow.
Striking Order replied, “Brother Ning, I still do mean to give you the Named Descendant Celestial River.”
Ning Cheng smiled, “Brother Striking Order, Jiangzhou Star is more than enough for me. You also know that I have no interest in managing a celestial river. If I had that much time, I would rather use it for cultivation.”
Striking Order shook his head, “Brother Ning, you are a Pill Emperor, and your Deputy Sect Master is also the premier Pill King under this sky. This means that Jiangzhou Star would at least have many Heaven Seated experts in the future. At that point, even a celestial river might not be enough for you. Besides, you don’t have to ‘manage’ the celestial river. You can just leave it to someone in your sect. Moreover, a large sect cannot survive on a single star.”
Ning Cheng felt moved in his heart. Striking Order Heavenly Emperor spoke the truth. He was a Pill Emperor, one with many top-quality Accordance Heavenly Pills, which meant that his Mysterious Yellow Sect would end up with many experts in the Heaven Seated Realm. If that was the case, then owning a celestial river naturally would give him a much better developmental potential compared to just a star.
“Many thanks, Brother Striking Order. If Brother Striking Order needs any help, this Ning will definitely do his best.” Ning Cheng stood up and thanked him.
He knew that Striking Order Heavenly Emperor wanted to make friends with him. However, since he spoke of such ‘generous’ benefits, it meant that he also had another purpose in mind.
Seeing that Ning Cheng understood things clearly, Striking Order Heavenly Emperor felt happy and no longer held back, “Brother Ning, you should be aware that the strength of my Striking Order Starry Sky is the lowest within the entire Grand Culmination Starry Sky. Brother Ning had already experienced it, as even a Dock Master of the Endless Void Docks did not put you or even me in his eyes.”
Ning Cheng nodded to indicate his understanding of the situation. Striking Order Heavenly Emperor was a genuine Starry Sky Emperor; as such, he had a far higher status compared to that of Gua Sangan. However, Gua Sangan didn’t even look at Striking Order Heavenly Emperor as equals. If someone said that Gua Sangan didn’t have support from Chuan Xinlou, Ning Cheng would never believe it.
“I believe Brother Ning should have already guessed that the Endless Void Docks has Levelled Heart Emperor Mountain’s support. Therefore, if Brother Ning plans to go to the Endless Void Docks in the future, you must keep this crucial point in mind.”
“I know.” Even if Striking Order Heavenly Emperor didn’t say it, Ning Cheng wouldn’t head to the Endless Void Docks until he advanced to the Eternal Realm. However, if Gua Sangan dared to find trouble with him on Jiangzhou Star, he can’t blame him for taking action.
Striking Order Heavenly Emperor gave a sigh and said, “My Striking Order Starry Sky is short on resources. The only place famous within this starry sky is the Time Wilderness. But it takes a long time for Time Wilderness to open. Moreover, there is even a strict cultivation restriction to enter, which makes it quite attractive to others. People would simply send others to participate secretly, instead of blatantly entering the Time Wilderness. However, it’s different now…..”
“Did something change?” Ning Cheng asked in mild surprise.
Striking Order spoke up with some resentment, “I don’t know which bastard released the rumours, but it essentially states that the Temple of Time is in the Time Wilderness, and that all three Perpetual Moon Keys have emerged, and that the Temple of Time is about to open. What’s the Temple of Time? That’s where Perpetual Moon Holy Emperor stored his treasures. Where one could perceive and understand the Laws of Time. Who wouldn’t be jealous of such a place?”
“Is the Temple of Time in Time Wilderness?” Ning Cheng felt truly surprised. Although Duan Gantai had given him a jade strip that supposedly contained the temple’s location, he had not opened the restriction over it. In any case, even if he did unlock it, Duan Gantai would need to cooperate with him to open the Temple of Time. It would be useless for either of them to go there alone. However, now that he heard Striking Order’s words, he did feel somewhat strange about it.
Ning Cheng, however, quickly understood that these rumours most likely came from Duan Gantai. This means that it’s not a rumour, but a fact. Duan Gantai most likely released it as rumours because he felt dissatisfied with him for not making contact in a long time. Therefore, he decided to reveal the actual location of the Temple of Time, to remind Ning Cheng to get to the Temple of Time early and work together with him.
Striking Order nodded before giving a serious reply, “The rumours are indeed true.”
“So, Brother Striking Order is worried that Chuan Xinlou would want you to hand over the Temple of Time to Grand Culmination Starry Sky, and not let it stay in Striking Order Starry Sky?” Ning Cheng asked.
Striking Order spoke with a definite tone, “It’s already a given. With Chuan Xinlou’s nature, how could he let the Temple of Time fall under my control? But he can’t do it openly; instead, he most likely would try to find other methods to provoke me. For example, through the Dock Master of Endless Void Docks or some other Eternal-level powerhouses. Once he successfully provoked me into retaliation and then killed me, the new Starry Sky Emperor of Striking Order Starry Sky would be someone directly under his control.”
Ning Cheng remained silent. In any case, he believed Striking Order Heavenly Emperor’s speculation had a well-founded belief. Chuan Xinlou truly had a scheming nature.
Striking Order’s tone turned even more exasperated, “But that’s not even the real problem, what really threatens my Striking Order Starry Sky is a different rumour. About the ‘Four Heavens’ Three Temples’ being in my Striking Order Starry Sky.”
“Four Heavens’ Three Temples?”
“That’s right; these are the three most mysterious temples within the four grand starry skies. These three temples are the Temple of Time, the Guardian Temple, and the Ancient Shadow Temple…..”
Ning Cheng immediately interrupted Striking Order’s words, “The Ancient Shadow Temple?”
Striking Order nodded, “That’s right, the Ancient Shadow Temple. You should already know about it. More importantly, this rumour is most likely true. The Ancient Shadow Temple has already appeared outside the Covered Snow City. From this, one can easily infer that the Guardian Temple will also come out eventually. Chuan Xinlou wants me to completely submit to him and give him complete control of Striking Order Starry Sky. He must have thought that all the three temples are in Striking Order Starry Sky, which puts my Striking Order Starry Sky in a very unusual spot. I guess that after taking complete control over Striking Order Starry Sky, he wants to search it inch-by-inch to find all the secrets. I’m sure that he didn’t expect me not to submit to him but cooperate with you, which is most likely why he didn’t mention anything about the Ancient Shadow Temple today. However, he is bound to stir up something later.”
Ning Cheng took in a deep breath, and he finally understood why Striking Order Heavenly Emperor showed such generosity to him. However, Ning Cheng didn’t criticise his actions. If it were he, he might have also tried pulling in an ally, especially if there was such a big difference in strength.
“Brother Striking Order, rest assured, even if Chuan Xinlou is strong enough, he can’t forcibly get rid of you and me. Moreover, within Striking Order Starry Sky, combined with my Named Descendant Celestial River, we have four Starry Sky Emperors, so I don’t think we need to fear him, or do we?” Ning Cheng spoke without hesitation. He anyways didn’t have a favourable impression of Chuan Xinlou since the time they first met.
Striking Order spoke up with a happy tone, “Okay, then I’ll stall things for as much as I can for Brother Ning. But I’m afraid that if Chuan Xinlou and Yi Jiufeng joined forces, we might be at a disadvantage. Thankfully, Cang Caihe decided to join us as the Deputy Sect Master, which definitely is a good thing for us.”
Ning Cheng showed a slight smile, “Chuan Xinlou most likely will not dare to openly join forces with Yi Jiufeng, as we could potentially use that opportunity to join forces with the Grand Demon Starry Sky or the Grand Devil Starry Sky or both. Since this is an internal matter of his grand starry sky, then he most likely would try to resolve it without involving other grand starry skies. But still, thank you, Brother Striking Order, for sharing these concerns with me. I will change Named Descendant Celestial River’s name to Mysterious Yellow Celestial River from this point on.”
“Mysterious Yellow Celestial River, Mysterious Yellow Sect, good, good.” Striking Order Heavenly Emperor truly felt delighted to draw in a powerful alley like Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng took out a jade strip, gave it to Striking Order Heavenly Emperor, and said, “Brother Striking Order, this contains my body-forging cultivation method. Since I received a celestial river from Brother Striking Order, I hope you can accept this body-forging cultivation method. In the future, when I decide to enter the Ancient Shadow Temple, I will definitely invite Brother Striking Order to team up and explore it together.”
Striking Order Heavenly Emperor was also looking for suitable cultivation methods, and now that Ning Cheng suddenly sent him one, he felt quite surprised and happy about it. Moreover, Ning Cheng even said that he would team up with him to enter the Ancient Shadow Temple. Both of these things made him even happier.
He put away the body-forging cultivation method given to him by Ning Cheng, and took out several Time Stones before handing them to Ning Cheng with the words, “Brother Ning, these Time Stones are for you. Regardless of if the Temple of Time opens up sometime later, these Time Stones can at least help you get a glimpse at the Laws of Time.”
Ning Cheng already had many similar Time Stones; as such, he had no need of these Time Stones. He was just about to refuse when his gaze suddenly stopped and intently focussed on one of the Time Stones.
Just when Striking Order Heavenly Emperor felt puzzled, Ning Cheng took a dragon fruit-sized Time Stone from the collection of Time Stones brought out by Striking Order Heavenly Emperor and looked at it for a long time, before asking, “Brother Striking Order, who gave you this Time Stone?”
Ning Cheng had recognised this Time Stone the moment he saw it. He had deliberately taken the Time Stone into his hand to confirm that he had guessed it correctly. Although most of the Time Stones were dark-grey in colour, the appearance of each Time Stone differed slightly.
When Ning Cheng’s gaze had landed on this Time Stone, it looked similar to the first Time Stone he had let Shen Qinyu pick up. When he finally held the Time Stone in his hand, he confirmed his guess. This Time Stone truly was the first Time Stone that Shen Qinyu had picked when they travelled together. Shen Qinyu definitely would not hand over her Time Stones to Striking Order Heavenly Emperor. So, why did it appear in the hands of Striking Order Heavenly Emperor?
At this moment, Striking Order did not want any cracks to appear between him and Ning Cheng. Therefore, when he felt the seriousness in Ning Cheng’s tone, he immediately explained, “This was handed in by a female cultivator named Shen Qinyu. After returning from Culmination Starland, she specifically came to find me and handed over ten Time Stones. She wanted to take another trip to the Time Wilderness. She said that the most important person to her had not managed to come out from the Time Wilderness, so she wanted to go in and look for him.”
“But isn’t the Time Wilderness closed? Even if you want to go in, wouldn’t you have to wait for the next time it opened?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
Shen Qinyu clearly came out, so why did she want to go in again?
How could a person like Striking Order not understand that there existed a relationship between Ning Cheng and Shen Qinyu? Therefore, he quickly replied, “Shen Qinyu had taken out ten Time Stones by herself, which forced me to sit up and listen to her request. You already know that Cen Fei, the one who took the first spot back then, only obtained four during his time in Time Wilderness. Moreover, she also said that she was from Culmination Starland’s Yu Clan Corner City. So, I practically had no choice but to listen to her and ended up helping her enter the Time Wilderness once again.”
Striking Order still felt some regret about it. The Yu Clan Corner City was not really a prominent force at all. However, he still gave in, because the Yu Clan Corner City was in Culmination Starland and had some powerful connections.
“Brother Striking Order, can you let people enter Time Wilderness again?” Ning Cheng felt surprised.
Striking Order Heavenly Emperor spoke with some regrets, “I only have ten Transfer Talismans, which one can use to enter Time Wilderness after it closes up. However, I have almost used up all ten Transfer Talismans. Besides, even if I gave them to you, you might not be able to get in.”
Ning Cheng cupped his fists and said, “Brother Striking Order, I really have to enter the Time Wilderness right now. Shen Qinyu went inside to find me, so I cannot give up.”
“Brother Ning, this….” Striking Order spoke after hesitating for a long while, “You must know that if you go inside, you most likely would never be able to come out again.”