Chapter 0871: Cave Under Attack

The cave worth 30,000 points a year looked surprisingly good. Not only did it have dense and powerful Spiritual Qi within it, but even the environment in and around the cave also looked quite beautiful and artistic.

Ning Cheng, however, didn’t have the mind to observe the scenery here. After activating the cave’s restrictions with the jade card, he immediately entered the cave and took out the Dao Fruit Tree’s ring.

Although it had only been less than a day since he obtained it, the branches of this Dao Fruit Tree had already started to yellow. Even the life force within this Dao Fruit Tree had grown thinner. One could hardly sense any life from it at this moment.

Ning Cheng didn’t immediately transplant the Dao Fruit Tree into the True Spirit World and cultivate it with Law Soil. Instead, he placed his hands on the Dao Fruit Tree and immersed his consciousness into it.

Ning Cheng’s cultivation truly was at the middle-stage Eternal Realm. However, his spiritual consciousness was already so strong that even an ordinary Dao Sculpting cultivator couldn’t stand against it. As for his Sea of Consciousness’s strength, even peak Dao Sculpting cultivators might not compare to it. How many people had a Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness? Even with a top-grade cultivation method, hardly a handful of people could form a Starry Sky Sea of Consciousness.

Ning Cheng continuously poured in his spiritual consciousness and carefully searched every inch of the Dao Fruit Tree. But even if Ning Cheng had a strong Sea of Consciousness, his face had already started to turn pale and sweaty after doing this for a relatively long period.

After another hour, Ning Cheng finally breathed in a sigh of relief. His spiritual consciousness finally locked onto a spot right under the core of this Dao Fruit Tree.

In that spot, he not only found an extremely well-hidden Spiritual Consciousness Imprint, but the Spiritual Consciousness Imprint even had an exquisite concealment restriction surrounding it. Under such layers of concealment around it, even Dao Sculpting cultivators wouldn’t manage to find it. At least, not until they were proficient in the Dao of Arrays.

Ning Cheng might have weak cultivation than others in this place, but he had his advantages, like having a strong spiritual consciousness and being an Array Dao Master. Translated into the Grand Essence Realm’s language, Ning Cheng’s proficiency in array formation had reached low-level Spirit Array Master.

At Ning Cheng’s level, it was only a matter of time till he found the Spiritual Consciousness Imprint concealed by the Heartless Monk.

Ning Cheng could burn away this Spiritual Consciousness Imprint with his Celestial River Flame. However, Ning Cheng didn’t do this. Instead, he stripped the Spiritual Consciousness Imprint left by the Heartless Monk from the Dao Fruit Tree, then took out an ordinary tree and placed the imprint on it.

After doing this, Ning Cheng didn’t stop. Instead, he began to refine a few array flags.

After another two hours, and after setting up everything, Ning Cheng put on an Appearance Changing Mask and quietly left the cave he had rented. He then quickly made his way to the Quest Hall and got himself a new black Quest Card.

……

The cultivator-in-charge of renting caves felt quite satisfied today. Although Ning Cheng’s abrupt appearance had frightened him, he also received 5,000 spirit crystals in compensation. One had to know that 5,000 spirit crystals weren’t a small amount for him.

“Is there any cave for rent?” A hoarse voice alarmed the cultivator-in-charge of cave rentals. But when he looked up, he realised that he didn’t even notice when a man wearing brocade robes appeared in front of him.

Before he could say that there weren’t any caves for rental, the brocade-robed man gasped a few times before taking out a storage bag and throwing it at him. He then spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, “Hurry up and help me find a cave. These are yours. I just need to rest.”

Anyone could tell with a glance that there was something wrong with the cultivation method used by this brocade-robed man.

He immediately wanted to chase this person away, but his spiritual consciousness immediately swept out after seeing the storage bag. When he saw the ten thousand spirit crystals in the storage bag, he immediately put them away without hesitation and said, “We indeed have caves available. What kind of cave does this dao friend need?”

The brocade-robed man spoke up with a cold voice, “The last time I rented a cave worth 12,000 points per year. I want to rent it again.”

After talking, the brocade-robed man handed out a black Quest Card.

The cultivator-in-charge, seeing the man take out 10,000 spirit crystals as a tip, and wanted to rent a cave worth 12,000 points a year, felt that this person had a significant background. However, he never expected that this person would only have a black card. But since he already pocketed the ten thousand spirit crystals, he didn’t think about anything.

The cultivator then helped the brocade-robe man go through the formalities as quickly as possible and then sent him away with a number plate.

……

When it came to cultivation caves in Grand Essence Public Square, they all usually came with warning array formation and restrictions. As long as one wasn’t an idiot, everyone would activate those array formations to issue a warning when someone tried to invade.

It’s one of the reasons why people regarded the cultivation caves here as a safe area. Of course, this security was nothing more than fundamental. If you met a cultivator whose cultivation exceeded yours, even if you received a warning, that cultivator could rush into the cave and still kill you. Even if your warning attracted the patrolling cultivators, the person who killed you most likely would have already escaped by the time they reached your cave.

If the person killed was someone important, only then would the people in charge of the Grand Essence Ruins send someone to investigate and intercept. But if the person killed was nothing significant, they would only investigate it for a few minutes before closing the books on it.

Although not uncommon, this kind of thing happened quite a few times in the Grand Essence Ruins’ public square caves.

The cave leased by Ning Cheng cost 30,000 points a year. However, it was still a mid-ranged cave in Class B. The safety facilities naturally were much higher than ordinary caves. Moreover, the cultivators who lived here would usually arrange additional defensive and warning restrictions to secure them.

Of course, if one rented a Class A cave, it basically would have everything. Even if the cultivator didn’t activate or put any restrictions, the Strangulation Grand Array around the cave would still protect him from all invaders. Once someone tried to enter, even mistakenly, it would immediately trigger the Strangulation Grand Array.

At this time, a bird landed on the tree right outside Ning Cheng’s cave’s restrictions. After a while, a black-robed cultivator suddenly appeared beside the bird. This black-robed cultivator had fully converged his aura, so much so that one couldn’t even feel the slightest fluctuation of life from him. If the cultivator in charge of renting caves were here, he would have positively identified this black-robed cultivator as the person who asked about Ning Cheng’s cave.

After about a half-an-incense stick worth of time, the black-robed cultivator’s spiritual consciousness slowly swept out. After a while, the corner of his mouth turned into a sneer. Sure enough, it was just as he expected. This person truly was an idiot. The cave he rented wasn’t a cheap one, but this person hadn’t even activated the defensive restrictions around it. In other words, he could quickly kill this ant before the cave’s warning system triggered and then take that ant’s ring before calmly walking away.

After confirming that he had indeed guessed correctly, the black-robed cultivator carefully walked out and threw out some array flags once after another. After a while, his figure disappeared right in front of the cave’s restriction. It felt like this person’s very being had integrated into space around here. One couldn’t feel even the slightest fluctuation, let alone any indication of restrictions activating.

After the black-robed cultivator entered the cave’s restrictions, he immediately felt a feeling of extreme danger. He felt shocked. Could someone have already discovered him? Just when he was about to force his way out, a low voice sounded out, “Ou Yandu, this monk expected you to come. And you truly came, hehe.”

“You? Heartless Monk…..” The black-robed cultivator instantly recognised the owner of this deep voice.

Sure enough, after he spoke those words, a fat-faced monk suddenly appeared in front of him. It was none other than the Heartless Monk, Ju Mei. The monk had sneaked into Ning Cheng’s cave silently, without even changing his outfit.

“What do you want to do?” The black-robed Ou Yandu spoke with a hoarse voice. However, he quickly realised that it didn’t matter.

Sure enough, the Heartless Monk showed an honest smile, “Dao Friend Lifeless, what can I do? This kid’s vigilance is so poor that we deserve his fortune. Isn’t that right? We can share things equally. However, the Dao Fruit Tree is mine, so I have to take it back.”

“Then, the spiritual consciousness cultivation method belongs to me.” Ou Yandu spoke with a deep voice.

The Heartless Monk made a ‘no problem’ gesture and whispered, “In that case, let’s sign a contract.”

The contract he talked about was an Essence Spirit Binding Contract. Generally, only a few people would go back on this kind of thing. But since Heartless Monk mentioned signing this contract, Ou Yandu naturally didn’t have any problems with it. However, he still spoke with a low voice, “It felt a bit too easy to come in. Do you think he’s a fraud?”

The Heartless Monk sneered, “Fraud, bah. Didn’t you see how stupid this kid was? He even tried to put a Spiritual Consciousness Imprint on me. Have you ever seen such an idiot ant?”

Hearing that Ning Cheng tried to put an imprint on Heartless Monk, Ou Yandu felt fully relieved. He nodded and said to the Heartless Monk, “You’re good at sneaking around. Why don’t you go ahead? I will prevent him from escaping.”

After the two quickly reached an agreement, they hastily made their way to Ning Cheng’s cave entrance. A faint shadow of Ning Cheng appeared in the range of the two’s spiritual consciousness. They even felt some slight aura fluctuations from this figure.

“Looks like this kid is quite daring, immersing himself so deep. I’ll break open the cave, but we’ll act together on him before converging in the Grand Essence Ruins.” The Heartless Monk felt his Spiritual Consciousness Imprint and the aura fluctuations from Ning Cheng’s body. Sensing all that, he couldn’t help sticking out his tongue and licking the corner of his lips in anticipation.

The two of them broke through Ning Cheng’s cave entrance without much effort.

Ou Yandu reached out and grabbed Ning Cheng immediately. But then, he suddenly shouted, “Not good. It’s not him….”

It truly wasn’t Ning Cheng but a weapon substitute who gave out fluctuations of deep cultivation. Ning Cheng had somehow integrated his aura fluctuations into this substitute, which truly fooled Lifeless Poisonhand and Heartless Monk’s preconceived notions.

Not to mention Ou Yandu, even Heartless Monk, had realised that he got cheated the moment he stepped into Ning Cheng’s cave. He instantly turned around and started to leave without any moment of stagnation.

Unfortunately, everything had fallen within Ning Cheng’s calculations. Just when Heartless Monk turned, explosions erupted within the cave. In just an instant, the entire cave filled up with killing lights.

The cave’s original restrictions, which Lifeless Poisonhand and Heartless Monk could easily breakthrough, suddenly turned ten times more complicated. Trap Formations and Strangling Formations suddenly appeared, and the whimpering sounds of the blade lights grew to such intensity that one could hear them throughout the Grand Essence Public Square.

Even an idiot would have realised that someone tried to sneak into one of the cultivation caves of the Grand Essence Public Squared. Moreover, judging from the point of origination, it looked like a Class B cultivation cave.

A powerful probing light quickly swept towards their location, which turned the Heartless Monk and Lifeless Poisonhand even more anxious. The cave’s simple restrictions had suddenly transformed into various Trap Formations and Strangulation Arrays. But no matter how worried, they couldn’t escape in the shortest possible time.

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