Chapter 0555: News Arrives
Half an hour later, Ning Cheng left the restaurant. After gathering as much information as he could, he finally decided on a plan to eliminate all Yue Clan cultivators left in Lucky Heaven City before exiting the city.
Since Yue Clan produced a Talisman Emperor, the Grand Culmination Starry Skies ended up extending an invite to them. This allowed the Yue Clan to move from Bright South Celestial River’s Die Yuan Star to Striking Order Star Land’s Lucky Heaven City a few years after. After this, the Yue Clan continued their journey to the Grand Culmination Starry Skies.
Yue Clan only had a few cultivators residing in Lucky Heaven City, a few of them had only recently returned from the Time Wilderness a few months ago, while the rest were those who could not gather in time. Among the Yue Clan cultivators in Lucky Heaven City, this person by the name, Yue Shang, had the highest cultivation, possessing Undead Realm cultivation. As for the rest, they were all Celestial Scryer Cultivators.
Ning Cheng believed that if he could purchase cultivation-boosting medicinal pills, then as long as his cultivation reached the Celestial Bridge Realm by force, then regardless of the consequences, he could kill off all the Yue Clan cultivators in this place.
……
As Striking Order Star Land’s premier chamber of commerce, the Striking Star Chamber of Commerce had branches all across Striking Order Star Land. Even the Archaic Mulberry Region, the gathering place of rogue cultivators, had a branch of Striking Star Merchant House.
Striking Star Merchant House turned out to be the most prominent commercial establishment within the Archaic Mulberry Region. As such, even though they commanded higher prices compared to the other merchant houses, many cultivators still came here to purchase things. Mostly because this place did not deal in fakes and knockoffs. At the same time, it also contained goods of a higher grade compared to other merchant houses. Moreover, they could even procure goods for you, if needed; as such, even if you wanted something of a higher rank not currently available with them, as long as you can take out the required celestial coins, the Striking Star Merchant House would obtain them for you.
At this time, a middle-aged man arrived at the Striking Star Merchant House exuding a flaming aura, with skin looking like the bark of an old and ancient tree.
This was none other than Ning Cheng wearing the Mask-type Dao Artefact, while his current appearance was what he had come up from the flame-covered fellow he encountered in the zone with the Flame Origin Bead. Although Ning Cheng had ended up saving this man with a flaming bark-like skin, he felt it appropriate to borrow this identity for now.
After Ning Cheng walked into the Striking Star Merchant House, he only glanced at the items displayed on the first floor before moving on to the second floor.
Noticing Ning Cheng exuding a powerful flaming aura, it immediately caught the attention of the entire merchant house. A server then quickly took the initiative to approach Ning Cheng and ask, “Excuse me, can I ask about what Senior is looking for?”
Ning Cheng rolled his eyes and spoke, “Do you have good healing pills in this place? And don’t try to show me garbage.”
The server quickly replied, “Of course, we have the Apex-ranked Returning Celestial Jade Scale Pill, which is a Grade 4 Celestial River Healing Pill, refined by our Striking Order Starry Skies’ Celestial River Pill King. Such a pill has a powerful effect even for seniors in the Heaven’s Mandate Realm……”
“Do you have anything better?” Ning Cheng asked without a change in expression.
“This…..” The server hesitated before speaking, “If you want better medicinal pills, then you will not find any even if you visited other pill houses. However, if you really want them, you can purchase them from our Striking Star Merchant House’s branch in Lucky Heaven City. I must warn you though; the price will be quite high. Even we charge 2 million green coins for a single Grade 4 Returning Celestial Jade Scale Pill.”
The server feared that Ning Cheng had aimed too high, so he first mentioned the price. It implied that if the opposite party found the cost of the Grade 4 Celestial River Medicinal Pills too high, then the value of Grade 5 Celestial River Medicinal Pill would only turn out more ridiculous. It was common knowledge to ask for the price first, to judge if one could even afford it.
Ning Cheng secretly cursed that people used medicinal pills as tools for robbing money, especially since they charged two million green coins for a single healing pill. Although he understood what this server meant, he had no intentions to go to Lucky Heaven City to purchase medicinal pills.
“I’ll take twenty of them.” Ning Cheng said as he took out a 100-million Green Coin Card.
This server immediately understood that this cultivator with a flaming bark-like skin was a big customer. He quickly took out the medicinal pills and carefully handed them to Ning Cheng, before he asked with an even politer tone, “Is there anything else that Senior needs?”
“Do you have a Grade 5 Celestial River Trap and Kill Formation?” Ning Cheng carefully asked after collecting and putting away the medicinal pills.
The server shook his head silently before replying, “This Senior, we do not have any Entrapment Formation of such a high-level. If you want to purchase a Grade 5 Celestial River Trap and Kill Formation, you would need to head to Lucky Heaven City.”
Hearing that this place did not have a single Grand 5 Trap and Kill Formation, Ning Cheng felt disappointed inside. He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Then I need a lot of Extreme Yin Stones, Treasure Light Crystals, Soliciting Heart Demon Twigs, Green Feathered Poison Silk, Heaven Terminating Sand…..”
Ning Cheng spoke out dozens of materials in one breath.
“We do have these items in stock, how much does senior need?” Only after Ning Cheng finished did the server give out a sigh. The materials Ning Cheng requested were not something particularly precious.
Ning Cheng pondered for a moment, “I need 200 sets at least.”
“What?” The server felt shocked; at least 200 sets did this fellow want to buy them in wholesale?
Ning Cheng gave out a cold snort, and the aura of flames exuding from his body became even stronger.
The server shuddered; he knew that these fellows, although were the best customers to receive patronage from, they were also the hardest to serve. They could provide an excellent service to such fellows because they tended to spend a large amount of money; however, these same fellows were the hardest to serve due to their eccentric personalities. The server did not wait for Ning Cheng to ask again and took the initiative to speak up, “Senior, please wait for a moment. I will immediately help senior prepare the material. Right, 200 sets of these materials would cost a total of 110 million green coins……”
Ning Cheng also did not have to wait for long; the server quickly went around and gathered all the materials that he needed and handed them to him in a storage bag.
“Please excuse me, Senior, is there anything else you need?” Ning Cheng had brought him nearly 200 million green coins in business; moreover, without wasting too much time. This almost caused the server to worship Ning Cheng as a god.
“Nothing else.” Ning Cheng replied before turning around and proceeding to leave. However, he had only taken two steps, when he suddenly stopped and asked a question, “Oh right, do you have any pills that could temporarily boost one’s cultivation, something similar to the Burning Life Pills?”
Burning Life Pills stimulated the True Essence within the cultivator’s body, which allowed the cultivator’s strength to soar for a short period, enhancing their cultivation by a few levels. Speaking of Burning Life Pill, Ning Cheng immediately recalled Xu Yingdei. Although this woman had wanted to kill him, by using him to sever her emotions, he also recalled that this woman had invariantly saved his life with the Burning Life Pill.
Without this woman’s help, he would have definitely died in the Hidden Mist Cemetery. However, this woman had a calculating personality, burning her longevity to save him, and scheming throughout the way, leading up to trying to use his life to sever her emotions. If not for Shi Qionghua, who later became his wife, he would have most likely died.
Thinking of Shi Qionghua, Ning Cheng once again felt a stab of pain in his heart. If anything life threatening happened to Qionghua, he would never forgive himself.
“Yes, of course, we have the Grade 5 Violent Celestial Pill. This medicinal pill can increase the strength of a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator by two realms. Arguably, this pill has the best boosting abilities in the market.” The server replied immediately.
Ning Cheng felt his heart move, “Improve strength by two realms, does it not mean that it promotes a cultivator in the Celestial Gatherer Realm to the Undead Realm?”
The server gave an awkward answer, “This is only a theoretical possibility. It ordinarily can promote a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator to the Celestial Bridge Realm. Moreover, the price is only 3 million green coins….”
Ning Cheng spoke with a sneer, “Isn’t this medicinal pill a Grade 5 Celestial River Medicinal Pill? How come it costs only 3 million green coins, what are its side effects?”
The server hesitated for a moment before speaking, “This pill indeed has some side effects; in sporadic cases, it might result in one’s Sea of Consciousness collapsing. Moreover, because of this medicinal pill’s concentrated explosive power, if the Sea of Consciousness cannot withstand it, it might result in a direct collapse before the effects could manifest. At the same time, the effective time is only half an hour, after this half an hour passes, the effect it provided would quickly dissipate. As long the Sea of Consciousness could withstand taking it, you could then recover from it after a period of weakness.”
Ning Cheng immediately understood no wonder this medicinal pill came at such a low price. This server most likely had not spoken the whole truth. This fellow mentioned that there was a small chance of the Sea of Consciousness collapsing after consuming it; instead of a ‘small’ chance, it most likely had a high probability. After all, advancing from the Celestial Scryer Realm to the Celestial River Realm involved a significant expansion in one’s Sea of Consciousness.
However, Ning Cheng did not have to fear this; it was a confidence that stemmed from his starry skies’ Sea of Consciousness.
With a slight hesitation, Ning Cheng spoke up, “In that case, give me two of those pills.”
The server immediately felt joy bubbling in his heart. This Violent Celestial Pill was not something from the Striking Star Merchant House, but something from his own collection. Unfortunately, he only had one of it.
“I only have one pill right now, if…..”
Ning Cheng impatiently interrupted the server, “If there is only one then one I’ll buy. Go get it for me.”
Even after Ning Cheng walked out the door, the server still could not believe that someone actually bought his junk medicinal pill.
No one had ever dared to buy this Violent Celestial Pill. Just as Ning Cheng guessed it, there was almost a 70-80% chance that consuming this medicinal pill would result in the collapse of their Sea of Consciousness.
Whether or not Ning Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness collapsed, the server did not care about it at all. The only thing he felt concerned about was the number of celestial coins he made today.
……
After leaving the Archaic Mulberry Region, Ning Cheng dug out an immortal cave in a remote deserted location. While healing himself, he also started working on refining an array disc.
Although he could not purchase a Grade 5 Celestial River Array Disc, and neither could he refine one, he could at least refine Grade 3 Celestial Array Discs. A single Grade 3 Celestial Array Disc would not have much of an effect on an expert in the Undead Realm, but what if it were ten discs, or maybe a hundred discs?
Entrapment Formations, Killing Formations, Trap and Kill Formations…
Three days later, Ning Cheng unexpectedly received a message from the middle-aged Celestial Novice Cultivator he had met in the city. This Celestial Novice Cultivator’s news mentioned that there was a way to secure a ticket to the Grand Culmination Starry Skies; however, the price would be higher than usual. Ning Cheng quickly rushed back after hearing this Celestial Novice Cultivator’s message. The price did not pose much of a problem; at the same time, they decided to meet after around 6 days at the entrance to the trade union.
……
Regardless of how much craze the death of Yue Huangfu caused within Lucky Heaven City, it would never result in a complete lock-down of the Striking Order Star Land. Although Yue Clan’s Yue Shang had good connections, the respect he commanded was still a little too shallow. Although Heavenly Emperor Striking Order issued an arrest warrant, it was not due to him giving Yue Shang some face, but because of Yue Huangfu’s father, Yue Changtai.
Within the Yue Clan’s residence in Lucky Heaven City, more than twenty Yue Clan cultivator sat in a vast hall with ugly expressions. Yue Huangfu died; as such, even if they reached the Grand Culmination Starry Skies, they could never bear the Yue Clan’s Talisman Emperor Yue Changtai’s anger. Even if they could not help getting revenge for Yue Huangfu, they at least had to find out who killed Yue Huangfu, which was as good as obtaining a confession.
However, six days have already passed since the death of Yue Huangfu, yet they could not obtain even a shred of information.
At this time, a Yue Clan Cultivator with a Celestial Novice Cultivation quickly rushed in, and even forgot to salute Yue Shang before speaking out, “Uncle Shang, there is a young Celestial Novice Cultivator outside who says that he has some news about Senior Apprentice Brother Huangfu’s death.”
“What?” Yue Shang suddenly stood up and anxiously replied, “Quickly, quickly call that cultivator in.”