Chapter 0791: Battling the Devil Emperor
Ning Cheng had just walked out of Returning Capital Starry Sky City when he saw two acquaintances, Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao. Xun Zhihe was the Starry Sky Emperor of Water Immortal Starry Sky and someone who received Ning Cheng’s help a few times in the Ancient Shadow Temple.
Ning Cheng had already heard from Yi Jiufeng that Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao managed to escape from the Ancient Shadow Temple with them. But he didn’t expect to meet both of them here in Returning Capital Starry Sky City. Since Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao came to Returning Capital, they most likely had come here to participate in the auction.
Beside Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao, he saw two more people, both Eternal-level powerhouses. Since they stood together with Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao, Ning Cheng speculated that these two must also be Starry Sky Emperors.
“Sect Master Ning, I never expected to meet you here….” Xun Zhihe spoke up with genuine delight on seeing Ning Cheng. She had visited the rest stop Ning Cheng had taken up residence in, but she could not find Ning Cheng. She had never forgotten the kindness Ning Cheng had shown her when he helped her out in the Ancient Shadow Temple.
With the same expressionless face, Mu Hao, who didn’t like to speak, also cupped his fists in respect on seeing Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng returned the gesture, “I didn’t expect to see Senior Apprentice Sister Xin and Brother Mu here.”
Realising that the person in front of him was Ning Cheng, the man with an eagle-like nose standing next to Xun Zhihe hurriedly came forward to introduce himself. Cupping his fists, he spoke with a respectful voice, “Nine Jewel Starry Sky’s Shangguan Fei greets Sect Master Ning. Please forgive me for the neglect when Sect Master Ning visited my Nine Jewels Starry Sky previously. This Shangguan Fei hopes for forgiveness.”
Shangguan Fei referred to when Ning Cheng had gone to the Everlasting Sacred Shrine. Ning Cheng had killed Seeking Intelligence within Everlasting Sacred Shrine’s territory and even destroyed the Everlasting Sacred Tree. Naturally, Shangguan Fei couldn’t have feigned ignorance in this matter as the Everlasting Sacred Shrine was one of the top-ranked forces in Nine Jewel Starry Sky. If an ordinary person had come to his starry sky and provoked such a sect under one’s command, any Starry Sky Emperor would have turned angry. But Shangguan Fei knew that he wasn’t even qualified to be furious with Ning Cheng.
Of the four Starry Sky Emperors here, three of them greeted Ning Cheng with politeness. But the fourth person seemed to have not seen Ning Cheng at all. He even had an expression of extreme arrogance. This man had already reached the late-stage Eternal Realm and had an eternal baleful look over his face. Even his body oozed with thick celestial essence, and even his celestial wheel seemed to have taken a physical disc form. Ning Cheng could tell with a glance that this person was a top-grade powerhouse.
In any case, Ning Cheng would never take the initiative to greet such people.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Mysterious Yellow Celestial River again to thank Sect Master Ning. But since we met in Returning Capital today, I hope Sect Master Ning will have some free time to accompany me.” Xun Zhihe warmly invited him.
Ning Cheng truly wanted to sit down and have a discussion with Xun Zhihe. The things he heard about the Ancient Shadow Temple, all of it came from Yi Jiufeng. So, Ning Cheng had already made a few plans back then to ask Xun Zhihe and Mu Hao about their experiences inside that place. But right now, he wanted to advance to the Eternal Realm quickly, so he didn’t care much about these matters right now.
At that point, the arrogant person who ignored Ning Cheng spoke to Shangguan Fei, “Brother Shangguan, we need to hurry.”
Shangguan Fei nodded, then cupped his fists towards Ning Cheng and others. “Sect Master Ning, Fairy Zhihe, Brother Mu, I have something to take care of personally, so I will be taking my leave first.”
Mu Hao only grumbled, but Xun Zhihe spoke with a smile, “Since Brother Shangguan has something to do, then please naturally take care of it.”
Only after Shangguan Fei and the man with the baleful look left did Xun Zhihe speak to Ning Cheng. “The man with Shangguan Fei is Devil Domain’s Starry Sky Emperor Teng Shao. Although he’s a very arrogant and prideful person, Sect Master Ning doesn’t have to worry about it.”
Ning Cheng only showed a slight smile. He would never care about the attitude of such people and only mentioned a few things casually. “This Teng Shao must have struck a deal with Shangguan Fei. Extenuating circumstances maybe.”
However, Ning Cheng had another sentence that he did not say. Shangguan Fei was at the middle-stage Eternal Realm. Therefore, even if he made a deal with Teng Shao willingly or otherwise, he most likely wouldn’t get to eat any leftover soup.
Xun Zhihe spoke up, “The two have no doubt made some sort of a deal, but Shangguan Fei also isn’t in his right mind. A minor cultivator named Yan Ji had killed his niece Shangguan Man’er, which made him quite anxious to return. His brother, Shangguan Xiang, is the Celestial River King of the Night Essence Celestial River. But even on deputising everyone within the Night Essence Celestial River, he still couldn’t capture her. From the looks of it, something must have gone wrong, forcing Shangguan Fei to return with help….”
“Did you just say that the cultivator was called Yan Ji?” Ning Cheng interrupted Xun Zhihe’s words in shock.
Xun Zhihe looked at Ning Cheng in doubt and replied, “Yes, Shangguan Fei’s younger brother is Shangguan Xiang. He went back before the auction started, but he did mention the name ‘Yan Ji’ quite clearly.”
“Senior Apprentice Sister Xun, Brother Mu, I have an urgent matter to attend. When I’m free, we’ll sit down and talk.” After Ning Cheng finished, he didn’t even wait for Xun Zhihe to answer and brought out the Starry Sky Wheel before immediately rushing out.
Xun Zhihe looked at Ning Cheng’s disappearing figure and felt even more puzzled as she murmured to herself, “Sect Master Ning, just who is Yan Ji to you?”
But then, she suddenly remembered that the Devil Domain had a hidden transfer array that led directly to Culmination Starland. Wouldn’t it be faster for Ning Cheng to use that teleportation array? But then she immediately thought about the feud between Ning Cheng and Devil Domain’s Heavenly Emperor Qiao Jierui and dispelled the idea. Shangguan Xiang could use the teleportation array using his connections and relationship. But Ning Cheng might not be able to do such a thing.
Ning Cheng indeed felt anxious. He knew that the vast starry skies had countless people with the same names and surnames, but what if this Yan Ji was the Yan Ji from Graceful Star Mainland? If it were her, and if Ning Cheng arrived late, that Shangguan Xiang might succeed in killing her. At that point, even if he murdered Shangguan Xiang, it wouldn’t be of any help.
……
Ning Cheng had just rushed out of the Silent Bubble Star and hadn’t even fully activated the Starry Sky Wheel when he immediately stopped.
Someone had arranged a Trap Formation in the direction of his return. Although this Trap Formation couldn’t restrain him completely, it could prevent him from leaving immediately.
“Qiao Jierui, get out of my way while I still have some patience. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not giving you any face.” Ning Cheng looked at Qiao Jierui, who appeared in front of him. He no longer feigned even a little bit of civility. Regardless of words or actions, even his eyes burned with anger.
Qiao Jierui didn’t care about Ning Cheng’s anger and only looked at Ning Cheng dismissively. “Ning Cheng, others might fear you, but this Qiao Jierui is not afraid of you. Hand over the Earth Origin Bead and the Starry Sky Wheel, as well as the gourd you obtained in the Ancient Shadow Temple, and I can then consider letting you go. Otherwise, this is where you’ll be burying your body today.” As the premier Heavenly Emperor of Devil Domain, how could he fear Ning Cheng who hasn’t reached Dao Confirming?
Ning Cheng didn’t even bother to talk half-a-word of nonsense. He took out a pseudo-top ranked long spear and burst forward.
Unfortunately, he had not yet refined the Celestial Rainbow Purgatory Spear. Otherwise, his strength would have risen by another level.
When Ning Cheng and Chuan Xinlou had fought, Qiao Jierui had paid close attention from the side. Therefore, he knew about Ning Cheng’s methods. What if this fellow touched the Laws of Time?
Almost at the same time that Ning Cheng started, Qiao Jierui also prepared himself. He immediately brought out his 5-coloured Myriad Connecting Banner, which unfurled into a five-sided banner with five different colours. These five colours then quickly covered the starry sky around them.
The starry sky in front of Ning Cheng disappeared, even Qiao Jierui vanished. Not only that, but even the 5-coloured Myriad Connecting Banner also faded out of existence at this moment. Only the five colours remained, and when they closed up, they gave off the sensation of utter incompatibility with the world around it.
Surrounded by the five colours, Ning Cheng felt no connection to the five-coloured space. Rather, he sensed that the area belonged entirely to Qiao Jierui. In someone else’s space, Ning Cheng couldn’t do anything. Maybe he could only wait, wait for this five-coloured space to sweep him away.
But no matter what happened, Ning Cheng was never the kind of person who just sat around and waited for his death. He wouldn’t do so either in this kind of life and death battle. Ning Cheng gathered every bit of spiritual consciousness in his Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness. Then, he transformed them into a series of Spiritual Consciousness Blades and Spiritual Consciousness Thorns and shot them out. At the same time, a part of his Spiritual Consciousness blade lights also fused with the long spear trapped within the five-coloured space.
Suddenly, one more colour appeared within the five-coloured space, a shimmering light. More specifically, the bright rays belonging to a sunset.
The five-coloured space surrounding Ning Cheng suddenly started shaking violently, as if it would tear apart the next moment. At the same time, the colour of the starry sky outside the five-coloured space also turned vivid. It felt as if the ‘time’ inside and outside didn’t match, causing a misalignment of space and time.
Qiao Jierui’s expressions changed when he saw Ning Cheng showing enough capability of freeing himself from his spirit technique. He knew that Ning Cheng had only recently started learning the Laws of Time, but his Laws of Space could already take form as the 5-coloured Space Spirit Technique. When it came to the understanding of laws, Qiao Jierui should have a much deeper understanding of the Laws of Space compared to Ning Cheng’s Laws of Time. Moreover, within his five-coloured space, he was the master. Yet, Ning Cheng’s Laws of Time still managed to shake up his five-coloured space, to the point that it was about to tear.
“Boom….” Qiao Jierui’s Sea of Consciousness shook violently, and his five-coloured space began to split. Even his Five-coloured Myriad Connection Banner gradually returned into existence.
Ning Cheng, who broke free from his shackles, waved his hand again, causing a massive seal to emerge.
“Crack” the next moment, the five-coloured space formed by the Five-coloured Myriad Connection Banner collapsed entirely under Ning Cheng’s Hope-powered Jade Seal.
Before Qiao Jierui could even react, a setting sun appeared in front of his eyes. It felt as if everything had stopped except for a long spear passing through the sunset’s glow. It looked like a viper streaking through sand that quickly approached his brow.
Qiao Jierui wanted to immerse himself in this beautiful sunset, but just when he sensed this burst of beauty, his heart jumped a little. The next moment, his spiritual soul turned cold. It was not a beautiful sunset. It’s Ning Cheng’s manifestation of the Laws of Time, his Dusk Spirit Technique.
At this moment, Qiao Jierui no longer cared about anything else and crazily encouraged his celestial essence. Ning Cheng’s long spear had not penetrated Qiao Jierui’s brow yet. But his forehead opened suddenly, and a ray of black light burst out. Ning Cheng’s long spear suddenly slowed down for no reason. During that pause, Qiao Jierui gathered the Five-coloured Myriad Connecting Banner and turned it into a space shield.
“Boom….” The long spear struck the five-coloured space shield, causing a huge explosion along with a massive burst of celestial essence. However, it didn’t break.
Ning Cheng sighed inwardly. He knew that Sunset’s Dusk wouldn’t work on Qiao Jierui. It’s not that the Laws of Time didn’t work on Qiao Jierui, but Qiao Jierui’s strength exceeded his expectations. Moreover, before advancing to the Eternal Realm, his Laws of Time would always lack the worldly dao charm.
Qiao Jierui, on the other hand, felt utterly shocked. When Ning Cheng and Levelled Heart Heavenly Emperor fought against each other, Ning Cheng’s strength couldn’t compare to his opponent. But he also knew that Levelled Heart Heavenly Emperor didn’t fight until the end or at full power. However, Qiao Jierui understood that it wasn’t entirely due to the fear of Ning Cheng. Instead, it was because he feared the others.
Unexpectedly, in just a short time, Ning Cheng had already reached his level. In the future, could he still fight against Ning Cheng? Qiao Jierui felt a chill within his heart. Today, he had to kill Ning Cheng no matter what. Otherwise, the gap between him and Ning Cheng would keep increasing, unless he succeeded in reaching Dao Confirming Realm before Ning Cheng.