The Gate Of Good Fortune

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s countenance changed, compete on behalf of her master? She could not even craft low-grade Dao Artefacts properly.

Seeing this Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s countenance change slightly, the petite female cultivator showed a sneer and spoke with disdain, “This match will take place in front of the various grand starry skies’ powerhouses. We just came here to issue the challenge. If you’re afraid of some competition then just say it.”

The female cultivator then turned to her companion and spoke, “Senior Apprentice Brother Bing, looks like you can go outside and erect a sign saying that Zhongli Baichi is afraid to accept our challenge. The famous Baichi Artefact-craft Store will cease to exist and will never get involved in Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City……..”

Hearing those words, Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s professional-like smile finally disappeared without a trace, and she replied with a chilling tone, “Although your master is not qualified to challenge my master, challenging me is barely enough for you I guess. As you wish, this challenge, I Cen Yan will accept it.”

The petite female cultivator on hearing the words of Junior Apprentice Sister Yan did not refute; instead, she smiled and left a jade card with the words, “The venue of the challenge, ten days from now at the Eternal Heaven Artefact-crafting Pond, don’t forget. Let’s go, Senior Apprentice Brother Bing.”

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan grabbed the jade card with a slight tremble in her hands. She knew that she could not go. However, she also knew that if she did not go, it would also ruin Zhongli Baichi’s name. Just like Jinming Qianbo, who master had kicked out of Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City, if their reputation took a dive, then leaving the Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City would be a minor matter. Things would get a lot worse than what happened to Jinming Qianbo. However, if she went, it would most likely result in a loss. But, no matter what, it was better to lose by going there and participating than to not go at all.

The restriction on the door rippled, and a young man with a slight beard hurried through the entrance.

“What kind of weapon do you want to refine, please…..” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan immediately put away the jade card and once again showed the same professional-looking smile over her face.

The young man waved and spoke, “Junior Apprentice Sister Yan, I’m your Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. Because I offended someone, I can only use the mask to change my appearance.”

After saying that, Ning Cheng took off his mask to let Junior Apprentice Sister look at him before he once again put it on.

Seeing Ning Cheng’s pale face, Junior Apprentice Sister Yan immediately realised that Ning Cheng had suffered some injuries. However, Ning Cheng’s return definitely brought her a pleasant surprise.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. I have been looking for you everywhere. Since you returned, we need to hurry…..” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan really looked surprised. She worried about whether or not could she participate in the challenge; however, all her worries disappeared once she saw that Senior Apprentice Brother Ning had returned.

However, she still felt that Senior Apprentice Brother Ning might find it hard to defeat Jinming Qianbo’s disciple. Moreover, she had not seen him craft anything better than middle-grade Dao Artefacts. It was a trivial matter to enter the competition and lose if she went by herself, but losing without showing up as master’s disciple would be a huge deal.

Ning Cheng did not ask Junior Apprentice Sister Yan about anything; instead, he directly refused whatever she wanted to tell him and spoke, “I’m injured right now, so I’m going upstairs to heal. Don’t bother me for now.”

“Wait-wat.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan eagerly reached out and grabbed Ning Cheng’s arm. Not waiting for Ning Cheng to speak, she immediately blurted out everything that happened a few moments ago. Even talking about what she knew about the hatred between Zhongli Baichi and Jinming Qianbo,

Ning Cheng spoke out with helplessness, “Junior Apprentice Sister Yan, even if I accompany you, it would be the same. Do you think that crafting middle-grade Dao Artefacts could help us win the challenge? Needless to say, I can already make out that this Jinming Qianbo is at least as strong as master, if not stronger.

Moreover, his disciples have also studied the art of crafting artefacts under him for a lot longer than I have. At the very least, that disciple could craft top-ranked high-grade Dao Artefacts. I have only learned about crafting artefact from our master a few days ago; how do you expect me to compete in crafting artefacts against experts who had studied this art for many years?”

With that, Ning Cheng stepped away and walked to the second floor of the store. After entering the second floor, he immediately activated the restrictions and sealed it up.

Not to mention that he felt sure of his loss, even if he had a chance to win, he did not want to take up the challenge. Ning Cheng knew that the only reason Zhongli Baichi had taken him in as his personal disciple because of his usefulness. Even if there was no such thing, Ning Cheng also did not want to take his life as a joke.

Going to such a competition would mean that there would be a lot many powerhouses, even stronger compared to Zhongli Baichi, observing the proceedings. What if someone found out about his Mysterious Yellow Bead? Did Cang Wei not discover his Mysterious Yellow Bead with just a glance? Who can be sure that powerhouses stronger than Cang Wei would not appear in this place? This place was the Grand Culmination Starry Skies, the supposed centre of the plane. Again, if that Daoist Priestess from Everlasting Sacred Shrine showed up and recognised him as Ning Cheng, what would happen then?

Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if people did not discover his Mysterious Yellow Bead, and no one recognised him as Ning Cheng. His Celestial River Flame was still a very tempting treasure. If someone felt jealous about it, could he keep it? Zhongli Baichi obviously had a better flame compared to him, which meant that he did not care much about his fire. However, could he guarantee that others would not turn jealous?

Three days passed by, Ning Cheng checked every inch of his body, convinced that he had fully recovered from the injuries inflicted by Fu Wumie, and felt a lot of relief. He stood up and was about to head out to find Ziche Jun. Once he obtained the entry jade card for Immortal Jade Star, he could then seclude himself until the Immortal Jade Star opened.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning…..” Seeing Ning Cheng coming out, Junior Apprentice Sister Yan once again greeted him.

Ning Cheng spoke with sincerity, “Junior Apprentice Sister Yan, I really have no way to help you. I do not even have a high-grade flame, while my attainments in crafting artefacts remain quite normal. Besides, even if Jinming Qianbo’s disciple won, that does not mean that he had won the challenge.”

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan spoke with an even more sincere voice compared to Ning Cheng, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, as long as you can help me in participation, I can give you 500 million purple coins. That’s all of my savings.”

Ning Cheng had no intention to reveal this, but now that Junior Apprentice Sister Yan talked about offering purple coins to him in compensation, he immediately sneered and spoke, “Junior Apprentice Sister, are you really sure that 500 million purple coins are all of your savings? The hundreds of middle-grade Dao Artefacts should be worth more than 500 million purple coins, right?”

“How do you know about this? Did you follow me?” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s countenance immediately changed. If Ning Cheng had not followed her, then how did he know that she had sold those Dao Artefacts?

Ning Cheng spoke in a calm voice, “You do not have to worry about it that much. I only saw you head to the Transcending Dao Artefacts Store. In any case, those were all refined from your materials, I do not have any opinion about it.”

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s countenance finally recovered slightly, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, although what I did was not the right thing, you also did not suffer any loss, did you? The materials that I provided you were more than enough to craft thousands of Dao Artefacts. Even if you wasted some materials, I don’t believe that you did not make any money out of it.”

Ning Cheng showed a smile, “Yes, everyone earned a share. In any case, I do not have any opinion on it. However, you really should not lie to me that 500 million purple coins are all you got. It makes me quite upset.”

“I really have only 500 million to my name. The hundreds of Dao Artefact brought in a little over a billion purple coins. However, my cultivation also needs a lot of resources, and I need to pay for it by myself.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan spoke with full sincerity.

Ning Cheng showed a frown, “How is this possible? How could hundreds of Dao Artefacts bring in only ‘a little over a billion purple coins’? If I remember correctly, a middle-grade Dao Artefact can fetch a minimum of ten billion green coins, which translates to more than a hundred million purple coins.”

“You come from a small place, right? In Eternal Heaven Starry Sky City, only starry sky-grade battleships, high-grade Dao Artefacts, and best quality Dao Artefacts can command such prices. Low-grade and middle-grade Dao Artefacts do not fetch much income. The only reason why I managed to get such a price for those middle-grade Dao Artefacts is only due to people knowing that I am from the Baichi Artefact-crafting Store. Otherwise, even in a smaller place, obtaining a hundred million purple coins for a middle-grade Dao Artefact would not be possible, even if someone pitied you.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan gave an unceremonious retort.

Ning Cheng had nothing to say in return as he never bought any weapon from this city. As such, he naturally had no idea about the exact price. From the conversation, he also realised the considerable loss when he purchased that defective middle-grade mask-type Dao Artefact.

Seeing Ning Cheng silent, Junior Apprentice Sister Yan hesitated for a while before continuing, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, the last time you asked me about Nirvana Flames, are you sure that you do not have a flame that has experienced Nirvana or at least close to it? Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to even start the process of crafting middle-grade Dao Artefacts.”

“Did I not tell you that I don’t have it?” Ning Cheng asked casually.

“Then I have a way to let your flame reach nirvana.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan stared at Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng’s eyes flashed with sizzling heat. He knew that his flame not evolving was a huge weakness. Now that this Junior Apprentice Sister Yan said that she had a way, Ning Cheng suddenly felt quite enthusiastic.

“Junior Apprentice Sister Yan, as you said, if you really have a method, then I would have to thank you.”

Seeing Ning Cheng still not speaking about participating in the competition, Junior Apprentice Sister Yan’s eyes flashed with disappointment. However, she again replied, “I don’t want you to thank me, as long as you participate in the competition. At tomorrow’s auction, there will be an item put on sale. That kind of item can help your flame reach nirvana. One could even argue that it would be the best choice. If you participate in the competition, then I have a way to help you buy it.”

“What is it?” Ning Cheng asked eagerly.

“Fire Origin Crystal.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan stared at Ning Cheng and replied. “This thing is not something affordable by anyone. However, our Master left me something. If I take it out, then I should be able to buy the Fire Origin Crystal.”

Ning Cheng stood there in stunned silence. Fire Origin Crystal could help evolve his Celestial River Flame. Why did he not think of it? He had a bunch of Fire Origin Crystals, if he knew about this, he would have used it all up for evolving his flame.

“Did you say that Fire Origin Crystals could allow a flame to reach nirvana?” Ning Cheng asked another question to quell his disbelief and for confirmation.

“That’s right.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan replied with affirmation.

Ning Cheng asked another question, “Is Fire Origin Crystal the best material for flames to reach nirvana?”

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan remained silent for a short while before speaking, “Theoretically, Fire Origin Crystals are the best materials for achieving nirvana. However, you would require at least ten pieces. If you have only one piece of Fire Origin Crystal, then you can only say that it is just a top-grade Nirvana material. At least it is better than no material. However, you can only find more than ten pieces of Fire Origin Crystals near the edges of where you would find Fire Origin Beads. People say that it is a treasure that even Eternal-level powerhouses would not be able to obtain.”

“Are Fire Origin Beads precious?” Ning Cheng casually asked, while thinking about finding a place to let his flame undergo nirvana.

Junior Apprentice Sister Yan gave a snort, “I heard that a planar interface will contain only one Fire Origin Bead, decide for yourself if such a thing is precious or not? You should have already heard about an Origin appearing within Immortal Jade Star, right?”

“I did hear about it, but I am still wondering if I can even get a spot to enter.” Ning Cheng replied with honesty.

“You will surely die with such thinking.” Junior Apprentice Sister Yan shook her head, “Whether it contains an Origin Bead or not, and regardless of who obtains it, it would definitely come out in the end. Do you know why the major powerhouses have not snatched it already? It is because the Immortal Jade Star is very fragile. The Immortal Jade Star would most likely collapse once the four grand starry skies clean it all up. Once its planet-protecting membrane collapses, everything inside will also disappear into the void. Because of this, all the powerhouses decided to join forces to seal Immortal Jade Star, only letting cultivators in the Celestial Scryer Realm to ‘discuss’ it among themselves and help the powerhouses grab the items from inside.”