The lower chamber complex had a complicated arrangement. For ordinary cultivators, it might take them a long time to figure it out, but it did not pose any problem for Ning Cheng. With his spiritual consciousness deployed without any reservation, in just half an incense stick’s worth of time, he opened the stone chamber behind the big screen and brought Ji Luofei inside with him.

“Is it truly empty?” Ji Luofei looked at the empty stone chamber in front of her and asked in doubt.

“No.” Ning Cheng replied and took out a few array flags before dropping them in specific locations. After another incense stick worth of time, a teleportation array appeared in the middle of the chamber. Four large grooves lined the four corners of the teleportation array, but he saw no one seated over it. At first glance, it looked as if no one had used it in a long time.

Ning Cheng pointed to the teleportation array. “Someone opened this teleportation array not too long ago. I can feel some faint spacial fluctuations around it. Luofei, come with me, we’ll teleport over to the other side and have a look.”

After Ji Luofei entered the teleportation array with him, Ning Cheng waved his hand and filled up the four grooves with Permanent Essence Pills. But what puzzled Ning Cheng was that even after filling up the groves with Permanent Essence Pills, the teleportation array showed no movement. Ning Cheng removed the Permanent Essence Pills and replaced it with a bunch of Starry Sky Crystals. But even then, the teleportation array showed no response.

Ning Cheng frowned and put away the Starry Sky Crystals before speaking, “Luofei, Yan Ji had indeed come here. But she should have already teleported away.”

“Then we….” Ji Luofei understood something before she even finished her words. “Dear, do you think Yan Ji destroyed the teleportation array on the other side?”

Ning Cheng nodded, “It looks like it. If it were me, I would have also done the same.”

“Then, can we fix this teleportation array?” Ji Luofei asked with some concern.

Ning Cheng shook his head. “This is an ancient teleportation array. The cultivator who arranged this array has a much higher understanding of array formations. Moreover, the array this cultivator set up is not a single-directional one. You could use this array to come and go like a two-way street. I have no way to activate this teleportation array for now, at least not until my array formation mastery reaches the level of an Array Dao Master.”

Only Emperor Array Masters who exceeded Starry Sky Grade 9, held the title ‘Dao Masters’. After advancing to the level of an Array Dao Master, Ning Cheng could easily modify the fundamental structure of this teleportation array’s base. With that, he could then teleport to the corresponding coordinates of the other transmission array without the need for uncovering the original position.

Seeing Ji Luofei’s worry, Ning Cheng comforted her. “Yan Ji has a tenacious spirit. Since she could survive on her own for so long in the starry skies, she shouldn’t have any problems in surviving after teleporting away from this place. Just to be sure, I will seal this place completely and not allow anyone to come here.”

Although he spoke those words to comfort Ji Luofei, in reality, it was to calm himself.

……

Five days later, Ning Cheng left the Thorn Tooth Lake with Ji Luofei. He had finished sealing that underground complex and even added a few concealed array formations to guard it. People could still come out from inside, but no one can find it from the outside, let alone enter it. At least not unless their understanding of array formations exceeded him. But even then, they would have to look at it carefully and slowly.

“Sect Master Ning….” Ning Cheng had just walked out of Thorn Tooth Lake with Ji Luofei when a polite voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you looking for me?” Ning Cheng asked, looking at the slightly pale man in front of him. He knew for sure that he had never seen this man before this moment.

This man was a late-stage Life and Death cultivator, and apart from a slightly pale face, this man exuded intelligence.

“This junior is called Luo Sizhe. I lived my who life in Nine Jewels Starry Sky. This junior heard that senior killed that old thief Shangguan Fei and so I specifically came to thank you.” Luo Sizhe gave Ning Cheng a respectful bow.

Ning Cheng didn’t ask any question. Since Luo Sizhe said and did such a thing then presumably, he had a significant grudge against Shangguan Fei.

Luo Sizhe voluntarily spoke up, “Shangguan Fei was a vicious and sinister pervert. This junior had been hiding in Nine Jewels Starry Sky for almost all my life to kill this beast. But now that senior killed Shangguan Fei, the Nine Jewels Starry Sky no longer has any Starry Sky Emperor. If senior so desires, this junior can willingly take control of Nine Jewels Starry Sky in senior’s steed.”

Ning Cheng showed a faint smile. He guessed that this was Luo Sizhe’s primary purpose.

“Luo Sizhe, Nine Jewels Starry Sky belongs to Culmination Grand Starry Sky, and it has a close relationship with Chuan Xinlou. Are you sure you want to take control of Nine Jewels Starry Sky?” Ning Cheng spoke with a calm tone while looking at Luo Sizhe.

Nine Jewels Starry Sky and Striking Order Starry Sky sat next to each other. But Ning Cheng had no intention of taking over Nine Jewels Starry Sky. He didn’t like being in control of territories or becoming a starry sky emperor. Just having Stately River Star was more than enough for him. In truth, Ning Cheng liked having the freedom that came with not having to manage a territory.

Luo Sizhe spoke up with utmost sincerity, “This junior wanted to kill Shangguan Fei for revenge all his life, so he hadn’t taken anything else seriously. Now that senior killed Shangguan Fei and thereby liberating me from my revenge, this junior just wants to repay the favour to senior.”

Ning Cheng could feel Luo Sizhe’s sincerity. Whether he took control of Nine Jewels Starry Sky or not, it didn’t matter to him. But now that someone took the initiative to help him, Ning Cheng at least didn’t need to push it away immediately. So, he just gave a casual consent to it.

Even if Chuan Xinlou knew that Nine Jewels Starry Sky switched allegiances, he would have to find Ning Cheng first to create any trouble. Moreover, Luo Sizhe did not feel any fear, so why would he show any concern?

“Alright, since that’s the case, you can have control of Nine Jewels Starry Sky. If Chuan Xinlou comes here, you can push the blame to me. I can’t help you much, so look out and take care of things by yourself. I will, however, give you a suggestion of referring to the rules of my Mysterious Yellow Celestial River to run things here. If there’s something urgent that you can’t deal with, just send me a message.” Ning Cheng finished and took out a communication pearl before handing it to Luo Sizhe.

Luo Sizhe took the communication pearl and said with excitement, “Sect Master can rest assured. I will not let Sect Master down.”

With Nine Jewels Starry Sky, Luo Sizhe would one day reach heights comparable to the other starry sky emperors. Luo Sizhe, of course, knew that he had to pay the price for it. But surrendering to Ning Cheng was a much better option than Chuan Xinlou. Moreover, no matter what he did or would do, he would never reach Chuan Xinlou’s eyes and wouldn’t have any chance to speak to him at all. As a latecomer in the cultivation world, he had no choice but to turn to Ning Cheng. Besides, Ning Cheng had even helped him, Luo Sizhe, achieve his revenge.

……

A little farewell is better than a new marriage. Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei had remained apart for so long. Therefore, on the way back to Stately River Star[1], Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei did not separate for even the slightest bit. The two stayed together till they reached Stately River Star. Ning Cheng cultivated the Mysterious Yellow Formless, which incorporated all kinds of Origin Auras. Therefore, during the time Ji Luofei and Ning Cheng stayed together, her cultivation made rapid progress. At the same time, it even improved her qualifications.

After Ning Cheng returned to Stately River Star with Ji Luofei, Ruolan and Ruoqing had still not come out of secluded cultivation. Therefore, Ning Cheng introduced Ji Luofei to everyone else before establishing an independent cultivation cave for Ji Luofei within the Mysterious Yellow Sect.

Even though Ning Cheng didn’t come out to speak, or even show up, everyone in Stately River Star understood that Sect Master Ning had returned. Primarily because every time Sect Master Ning returned, the concentration of Starry Sky Essence Qi within Stately River Star would increase sharply. This time was also no exception.

Ning Cheng had obtained so many Starry Sky Spirit Veins, no he naturally wouldn’t show any reluctance to make use of it. His sister Ning Ruolan, his wife Ji Luofei, and his many friends and acquaintances had made this place their home for cultivation. So why would he care about spending a few Starry Sky Essence Qi Spirit Veins for them?

Therefore, this time, he planted more than a dozen Starry Sky Essence Qi Veins within Stately River Star. With so many Star Veins implanted, Covered Snow City almost overflowed with Starry Sky Essence Qi. Even the rest of Stately River Star experienced a significant rise in the concentration of Spiritual Qi.

Under such a dense concentration of Starry Sky Essence Qi, even a cultivator with poor qualifications could experience significant and visible progress every day. The influx also helped the Starry Sky Spiritual Grasses growing on the star, and they started to mature at a much more rapid pace. It caused all the cultivators who had stayed back in Stately River Star to feel glad and even blessed that they didn’t leave this place like the others.

At this time, even if Stately River Star did not have strict laws, no one dared to go about doing anything even remotely against the rules. If expelled from Stately River Star, they would truly regret it for the rest of their lives.

Ning Cheng left a stack of cultivation resources to Luofei and also gave the glaze scroll to her.

Ning Cheng hadn’t refined the glaze scroll since the time he obtained it. Even when he returned to Graceful Star Mainland last time, he did not give it back to Rainbowfall Sword Sect. Initially, Ning Cheng wanted to give this scroll to his sister Ruolan as her cultivation still lagged behind others. But since she had yet to exit her secluded cultivation session, he decided to give it to Luofei. In the future, when his sister came out, he would find another top-grade weapon suitable for her.

Despite Ning Cheng not refining the glaze scroll, he did study it. From what he saw, the glaze scroll truly wasn’t an ordinary True Cultivation World’s treasure. Rather, Ning Cheng put this treasure on the same level as the Five-elements Treasure Fall Copper Coin. Since he had given the Five-elements Treasure Fall Copper Coin to Qionghua, he decided to leave this glaze scroll to Luofei.

After making sure that Luofei started her secluded cultivation session, Ning Cheng left Stately River Star once again. He wanted to look for a suitable place to surmount the incoming tribulation. With the strength of his past ordeals, Ning Cheng understood that he couldn’t use Stately River Star to overcome it.

……

Nine Jewel Starry Sky’s Emperor Shangguan Fei died at Mysterious Yellow Sect’s Sect Master Ning’s hands. At the same time, Luo Sizhe took over the Nine Jewels Starry Sky as its new Starry Sky Emperor. Luo Sizhe was the only Starry Sky Emperor who received this title without advancing to the Eternal Realm. Moreover, this incident didn’t seem to have caused any fallout. Even Chuan Xinlou didn’t send out a single word, seemingly consenting to it.

Since Chuan Xinlou didn’t care about this matter, then naturally all the celestial rivers in Nine Jewels Starry Sky also did not dare resist this change. Ning Cheng could kill Shangguan Fei, wouldn’t they too die if they did anything against his wishes? What’s more, why would the celestial rivers care as to who became the Starry Sky Emperor? It wouldn’t impact them too much. At best, Luo Sizhe might promulgate some new rules after taking over the Nine Jewels Starry Sky.

For most of them, rules and regulations were just words on a piece of paper. As for the implementation and execution of them, it was in the hands of the Celestial River Kings and the other powerhouses within the celestial rivers.

……

At this time, on an uninhabited and broken planet within Striking Order Starry Sky, Ning Cheng frantically absorbed the starry sky Spirit Qi for cultivation. Under him lay quite a few Starry Sky Essence Qi Veins crisscrossing each other along with a huge pile of Permanent Essence Pills.

The endless Starry Sky Essence Qi coming from it had already wrapped itself around Ning Cheng, forming a huge starry sky Spiritual Qi Vortex above his head. Ning Cheng had sealed the broken planet with array formations. Otherwise, this concentration of Starry Sky Essence Qi would have dissipated into the starry sky, letting others sense his location.

Time flew by as Ning Cheng continued cultivating. The Starry Sky Essence Qi interlacing around Ning Cheng not only did not decrease but became more and more concentrated with each passing moment.

Although Ning Cheng’s cultivation had already reached the full-circle of Life and Death Realm, Ning Cheng still kept absorbing the Starry Sky Essence Qi like a bottomless pit.

Half a month later, this rate of absorption didn’t slow down at all. Ning Cheng took in a deep breath and kept trying to reach the barrier to the Eternal Realm and strike it down. However, Ning Cheng gradually felt disappointed. Even when he gathered every scrap of cultivation and pushed his cultivation method to its limits, he couldn’t find the barrier to the Eternal Realm.

If he can’t even sense the barrier to the Eternal Realm, how could he attack it? It was like trying to learn a Laws of Time-related spirit technique when you can’t even touch the edge of the Laws of Time.

[1] I decided to change ‘Jiangzhou’ to ‘Stately River’ to keep it in line with the naming convention I used for the rest of the places. The characters for ‘Jiangzhou’ roughly translates to ‘River State’ in English, so I used that as a basis to rename it as ‘Stately River’. I’ll change the previous chapters later when I have the time.

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