Chapter 972: Who entered the 13th gate

Ning Cheng sneered, “These spirit grasses belong to me; if I don’t want to trade them with you, what are you going to do about it? Also, you say that everyone who comes out of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard has to trade the spirit grasses. Can you show me that specific rule among the Illusionary Fruit Garden’s rules?”

Ning Cheng’s boldness was something that Tong Mingzi had realised a long time ago. He dared to push back against someone like Man Huishan and Le Jiesheng, so he, Tong Mingzi, wasn’t worth mentioning. Plus, if Ning Cheng didn’t have the necessary courage, he wouldn’t have killed Man Jiuren, nor would he have dared to kill Guo Haoge.

Moreover, as Ning Cheng mentioned, the Illusionary Fruit Orchard’s rules certainly didn’t have a compulsory trade clause. While Tong Mingzi was still annoyed, Ning Cheng didn’t relent and followed up. “Dao Master Tong Mingzi, let me ask you, did you come here to exchange spirit grasses and dao fruits?”

Facing Ning Cheng’s rhetorical question, Tong Mingzi spoke up without any thought, “I’m naturally here for the spirit grasses and dao fruits. If every alchemist who entered the Illusionary Fruit Orchard was like you, then no one would come here when the orchard opens. At least no one apart from the alchemists qualified to enter.”

Ning Cheng followed up in a calm tone. “Dao Master Tong Mingzi, you also mentioned that the things for exchange should be made public. I wonder what you want to use for the exchange? I guess it should be the treasures in your ring, right? In that case, why don’t you disclose the things in your storage ring first? It’s, in any case, also an item used in the exchange, right? I promise that after you disclose all the items inside, I will also let everyone look at my harvest for exchanging purposes.”

“You….. are twisting words out of context.” Tong Mingzhi angrily chided. Asking him to disclose the contents of his ring was nothing more than a death wish.

Ning Cheng laughed and stared at Tong Mingzhi in disdain. “There is a saying that goes ‘do not ask others to do what you wouldn’t do’. You don’t want to disclose what belongs to you, so why bother chirping around here and asking me to disclose the things that rightfully and lawfully belong to me? Oh right, I hope you’re not deliberately picking on me because I killed your useless disciple, Guo Haoge, are you? The Grand Essence Great Meet has a clear rule that no one is allowed to seek revenge for the deaths in the Great Meet. Hmm, maybe you don’t put the rules of the Grand Essence Domain in your eyes, do you?”

Since he and Tong Mingzi would never become friends anyway, Ning Cheng didn’t bother to care about the other party’s thoughts and spoke without any mercy.

Ning Cheng’s words were reasonable and certainly made a lot of sense. However, most in the guest hall were on Tong Mingzi’s side. They naturally didn’t want Ning Cheng to keep all of the spirit herbs he obtained to himself.

Ning Cheng wasn’t an idiot; he knew very well that he couldn’t provoke the anger of everyone in this place.

Ning Cheng put the storage bag away and turned towards everyone with cupped fists. He said, “Fellow Daoists, I know that everyone has come here to buy dao fruits and spirit grasses. Apart from earning some spirit crystals to spend, I also want to contribute to my Grand Essence Realm. It’s a good thing that I got the opportunity to enter the Illusionary Fruit Orchard and obtained some decent heavenly treasures.”

“I have always stood upright and acted straight and have always taken the rise of the Grand Essence Realm as my mission. Naturally, I wouldn’t take all these spirit grasses myself, and I will put these spirit herbs out here. The good news, my fellow Daoists, is that I have obtained some very precious spirit grasses this time, and I’m sure that they wouldn’t disappoint you. As for why I haven’t opened the restriction, it is mainly to maintain an air of mystery. Maybe even add some fun for the Daoists here. Once other alchemists come out of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, we will sell them together. I will also guarantee to sell these spirit grasses at a lower price than others. ”

The angry Tong Mingzi turned speechless. He naturally knew that no one would support Ning Cheng even if he didn’t have reason on his side. He thought that the only reason Ning Cheng put on so much air was because he must have gained a great harvest and didn’t want to take it out. Unexpectedly, after Ning Cheng schooled him a bit, he then made a show of willingly taking out the spirit herbs. This made his, Tong Mingzi, slight advantage disappear without a trace. People would no longer stand up for him as long as one wasn’t a fool.

Sheng Houtian also felt relieved in his heart. He was afraid that Ning Cheng was too young and didn’t have a sense of proportion in his actions. If Ning Cheng truly didn’t take out the spirit herbs in his bag, it would definitely create a lot of trouble for Ning Cheng. Even he couldn’t help Ning Cheng in such a scenario.

As expected, Ning Cheng’s words drew a burst of praise as soon as they were spoken. No matter how grand Ning Cheng’s words were, no one would feel offended on hearing such words. Talking about ‘grand’, take the case of someone opening the thirteenth gate, which itself had drawn quite a lot of interest.

To those present, all that mattered was that Ning Cheng produced something. Even if Ning Cheng said that his wish was to become the saviour of the Grand Essence Realm, no one would bother with such nonsense.

……

At the entrance leading to the third level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, Jing Han finally met Dou Jiangshi as he prepared to refine pills.

However, when Dou Jiangshi saw Jing Han coming, he didn’t pay any attention to him at all. Instead, he focussed on preparing the piles of spirit grasses near him to make a batch of pills with it.

“Your Immortal Corpse Sect indeed concealed itself quite deep. You got first place in the first two levels, but from the third level onwards, you should follow me.” Jing Han’s gaze swept over the spirit grasses taken out by Dou Jiangshi, but his face and tone both had a chilly tinge to it.

Dou Jiangshi’s zombie-like face showed no expression. Only after Jing Han finished speaking did he let out a voice that sounded as if it came from the depths of hell. “No wonder you can come up with the recipe for the fake Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill. Your Great Spirit Pill Sect’s talking skills are much more powerful than my Immortal Corpse Sect.”

After saying that, he completely ignored Jing Han and fired up his pill furnace to refine the pills.

Jing Han’s expressions turned even more gloomy. Being cheated by Ning Cheng of two 5-Elemental Heavenly Fruits in exchange for a few waste pills had put a significant dent on his pride and face. But even if Dou Jiangshi didn’t ridicule him with it, he wouldn’t let Ning Cheng or Dou Jiangshi go once he went out.

……

At this moment, another alchemist who had entered the Illusionary Fruit Orchard got teleported out. However, everyone in the guest hall was still figuring out who had entered the thirteenth gate and didn’t pay too much attention to this fellow.

Since Ning Cheng had entered the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, people also took the opportunity to come over and actively seek a friendship with Ning Cheng amidst the heated discussions.

“Since Pill Deity Ning could enter the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, his comprehension of Alchemy should be quite outstanding. He definitely would come out on top in the upcoming Alchemy Discourse. He will likely win the valuable spot to enter the Grand Change Realm and represent my Grand Essence Realm in the Alchemy Grand Meet.” Out of Ning Cheng’s expectations, Le Jiesheng spoke out such flowery words. It was as if he hadn’t chided Ning Cheng a few moments ago and wanted to shower his goodwill on Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng only knew that the Alchemy Discourse had something to do with entering the Grand Change Realm. But as for the exact method through which he could enter the Grand Change Realm, he wasn’t too sure about it. No, he didn’t know anything about it.

“Many thanks for your kind words, City Lord Le.” Ning Cheng casually cupped his fists.

A person like Le Jiesheng was connected too deeply with everyone in the city. Therefore, Ning Cheng didn’t want to get into trouble with such a person unless absolutely necessary. But still, one had to know that this fellow didn’t hesitate to come forward to kill him to curry favour with Man Huishan.

Fortunately, Ning Cheng understood Le Jiesheng’s thoughts quite clearly. Le Jiesheng initially wanted to kill him to please Man Huishan but later changed his words to ‘only’ throw him out of this place. Le Jiesheng would have tried capturing him if he couldn’t defend himself. There was even a possibility that he would have locked him up and tortured him after the Illusionary Fruit Orchard incident if he didn’t have Sheng Houtian. All because of the Empyrean Consciousness Transmutation Pill.

Since they were all confident enough to capture and finish me off, why should I act politely to such people?

However, what surprised Ning Cheng was that five alchemists had managed to enter the third level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard. It was a relatively high number considering what he had heard from Shenf Houtian. One had to know that the third level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard could only allow a maximum of six people, if not counting the thirteenth door.

The third level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard only required top-quality Dao Transformation Spirit Pills to enter and had a few rather valuable dao fruits. In fact, a large portion of the dao fruits that appeared in this event over the ages came from the third level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard.

Another hour passed, and just as another alchemist got teleported out, someone opened the door to the fourth level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard.

“The alchemists entering the Illusionary Fruit Orchard this time are quite accomplished. All three doors to the Illusionary Fruit Orchard’s fourth level have opened.” Seeing all three doors leading to the fourth level being opened, someone exclaimed in awe.

“If I’m not wrong, the ones who entered the fourth level should be Pill Sage Jing Han and Pill Sage Lei Shamu. I wonder who the third person is?”

The crowd in the guest hall grew even more eager as all three doors leading to the fourth level had opened. This time, not only did someone open the legendary thirteenth gate of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, but three people had even entered the fourth level.

Entering the fourth level meant higher grade dao fruits, which meant their trip here would be worth the effort.

At this time, the discussing voices in the hall turned quieter. However, the crowd grew more excited with each moment. They all wanted to see if someone could open the fifth level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard.

Shortly after the three alchemists entered the fourth level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, three alchemists got teleported out. Seeing the three alchemists being teleported, all eyes immediately turned towards the Immortal Corpse Sect.

It was already apparent which three people were still inside the Illusionary Fruit Orchard. Apart from Jing Han and Lei Shamu, the only person left was Immortal Corpse Sect’s Dao Sculpting Pill Sage Dou Jiangshi.

Ning Cheng’s gaze didn’t move towards the Immortal Corpse Sect. Instead, he carefully observed the alchemists who came out after him and were now sitting at the same table as him. Everyone was preparing to sell their spirit grasses and dao fruits they obtained, but Ning Cheng wanted to see if any of them had been taken over. The spirit soul from before couldn’t take his body, so there was a good chance that he chose one of the other alchemists.

He guessed that if that spirit soul decided to stay in the depths of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, it wouldn’t last for long without the support from the spirit grasses and dao fruits. The reason for this guess was that after he had entered the core of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard, he had wiped off most of the treasured spirit herbs.

Moreover, even if the spirit herbs did not affect him, that spirit soul would definitely not eat such a huge loss. Ning Cheng doubted if anyone would willingly take such a loss, let alone the spirit soul. Even the person who took away all the spirit herbs it had collected for so many years wouldn’t be willing to do so either.

But more importantly, that previous experience had dialled Ning Cheng’s caution to a whole new level. The experience also let him know that the spirit soul was definitely a mighty existence before its fall. It was also the reason why the spirit soul had managed to suppress him and catch him off guard the moment it barged into his Sea of Consciousness to seize his body.

If it were someone more powerful than that fellow, entering his Sea of Consciousness to seize his body would have meant a death sentence. Fortunately or unfortunately, this spirit soul failed to take over his body but also didn’t die in the process. Instead, it managed to escape from his Sea of Consciousness.

The alchemists who came out after Ning Cheng behaved like usual, or at least Ning Cheng didn’t see anything wrong with them.

“No wonder Dao Friend Jun spoke up for the alchemist who entered the thirteenth gate earlier. It turns out that that person might actually be an alchemist from your Immortal Corpse Sect. The Immortal Corpse Sect really likes to hide deeply, to even conceal a Dao Transformation Pill Sage without anyone else knowing.” Fei Feng sneered.

Earlier, he couldn’t help but wonder why the Immortal Corpse Sect wanted to defend the Great Spirit Pill Sect. He now got the answer.

The holy emperor from the Great Spirit Pill Sect had a slightly uncomfortable expression. Initially, he felt sure that Jing Han of his Great Spirit Pill Sect had opened the thirteenth gate of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard. But with Immortal Corpse Sect’s Dou Jiangshi appearing out of thin air, he could no longer disregard what the Immortal Corpse Sect’s Chun Fei had said.

Amid everyone’s speculation, two figures landed next to the crystal screen in the main hall, one after the other. Everyone understood that these two alchemists had failed to break into the fifth level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard and got teleported out.

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