Chapter 975: Profound Aquatic Palace fancying Ning Cheng

Ning Cheng wore a cold smile in his heart. Dou Jiangshi should have realised that he had recognised him and no longer decided to hide. As such, he had no qualms about taking out dao fruits and extinct spirit herbs. Besides, this guy, or at least the Dou Jiangshi from before, was from the Immortal Corpse Sect, putting the current Dou Jiangshi on a higher status pedestal than him.

“Elder Shi……” Chun Fei looked at Dou Jiangshi in some disbelief. He already had a hard time believing that Dou Jiangshi had obtained so many dao fruits. But now, he couldn’t comprehend why Dou Jiangshi used so many precious dao fruits and even six Reincarnation Tears in exchange for the useless Cold Void Iron.

Don’t look at his cultivation being a realm higher than Dou Jiangshi. He was still far below Dou Jiangshi’s status in the Immortal Corpse Sect.

Dou Jiangshi simply nodded towards Chun Fei, “Elder Chun, don’t worry, I can manage it.”

Mo Wenshang’s expressions turned even uglier. He thought he had finally won the lottery but never expected that Dou Jiangshi would offer three times the price he quoted to Ning Cheng.

Unfortunately, he agreed to Ning Cheng’s offer a breath earlier. If Dou Jiangshi had made the offer before he agreed, he definitely wouldn’t have let Ning Cheng put away the chunk of Cold Void Iron.

Now that Ning Cheng had already put away the item into his ring, he knew that it would be almost impossible to get it back from Ning Cheng. No wonder even Man Huishan couldn’t do anything to Ning Cheng; this fellow knew how to take perfect advantage of the situation.

The people in the guest hall became even more frenzied. Just how many extinct spirit herbs had appeared in the Illusionary Fruit Orchard this time? Ning Cheng obtained some, but Dou Jiangshi obtained even more.

There were already quite a few amongst the crowd who wondered if Ning Cheng was the alchemist who opened the thirteenth gate. But now, everyone’s suspicions turned towards Dou Jiangshi.

Jing Han also couldn’t help but stare at Dou Jiangshi and started to suspect that Dou Jiangshi hadn’t spoken the truth. Most likely, Dou Jiangshi was the one who had entered the thirteenth gate, all because of the number of extinct Reincarnation Tear Flowers on him. One had to know that he, Jing Han, hadn’t obtained a single extinct spirit grass.

“Pill Deity Ning, someone is now offering three times what you offered.” Mo Wenshang took a deep breath and cupped his fists towards Ning Cheng.

The truth was, he was the one who had asked for it, and Ning Cheng simply didn’t bother to put up a counteroffer and agreed to the price right away. Plus, he had also agreed to the deal publicly and only then did Ning Cheng take the item away. Without Dou Jiangshi today, everyone would have been happy about this deal. Unfortunately, Dou Jiangshi’s offer immediately created an imbalance.

Ning Cheng already understood that Dou Jiangshi wanted to pull the crowd’s hatred onto him. He even knew that Dou Jiangshi wanted to goad Mo Wenshang into starting a fight with him. Therefore, he simply smiled and cupped his fists at Mo Wenshang and said, “Looks like Holy Emperor Mo has an ear planted on the ground. Unfortunately, I do not intend to sell my chunk of Cold Void Iron to that zombie-face.”

Mo Wenshang’s face turned gloomy, but he couldn’t find any words to refute Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng’s words clearly indicated that since he purchased the item, he was the sole person who decided what to do with it. Now, even if Ning Cheng wanted to sell it, only Ning Cheng could do it, and it had nothing to do with him.

Seeing that Mo Wenshang couldn’t put aside his face to make trouble with Ning Cheng, Dou Jiangshi simply raised his hands and collected his things.

“Pill Sage Dou really knows how to carry himself. Not having entered the thirteenth gate, yet still managing to get the Reincarnation Tears that none of us could even see.” Jing Han spoke with a sneer.

“What’s so surprising about it. I also dug up a Reincarnation Tears Flower inside.” A Dao Raising Pill Sage also took out a Reincarnation Tear before looking at Jing Han and speaking lightly.

Jing Han’s face immediately turned grotesque when he saw three people take out Reincarnation Tears. One had to know that he was publicly acclaimed as the most promising pill sage in the Grand Essence Realm. Yet, he couldn’t obtain what everyone else had.

“What’s his name?” Ning Cheng immediately sent a message to Jian Sanshan when he saw that a third person had taken out the extinct spirit herb, Reincarnation Tears.

Jian Sanshan couldn’t help but admire Ning Cheng in his heart. Only now did he understand why Ning Cheng didn’t put up a counteroffer at all. Now that Ning Cheng asked about it, he quickly collected his thoughts and sent Ning Cheng a sound transmission. “That’s Sang Zizhao from Desolate Spirit Palace, and he’s a Dao Raising Pill Sage. I heard that he had entered the fourth level of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard in the past.”

Desolate Spirit Palace? Ning Cheng immediately recalled Ji Pingzhong, who had died under his hands. Unexpectedly, he had once again met someone from the Desolate Spirit Palace. According to conventional logic, even if this fellow had obtained the Reincarnation Tears Flower, he wouldn’t take it out and present it at this time without reason. Knowing this, Ning Cheng began paying particular attention to Sang Zizhao.

If not for Ning Cheng’s unshakable feeling in Dou Jiangshi being taken over by that spirit soul, he would have suspected Sang Zizhao. But more importantly, both Sang Zizhao and Dou Jiangshi had taken out Reincarnation Tears, unloading quite a bit of pressure from himself.

Upon learning that both Dou Jiangshi and Sang Zizhao had extinct spirit grasses on them, the two people, along with Ning Cheng, became everyone’s targets of flattery. No one followed Jing Han in holding Dou Jiangshi accountable. Not only did no one hold him responsible, but Dou Jiangshi even received a much warmer welcome. With that small stint, everything proceeded relatively more smoothly.

Although not as big as the one between Ning Cheng and Mo Wenshang, the following transactions were still quite lively. Ning Cheng traded out thirty-two dao fruits and 160 rare spirit herbs. Apart from the first batch of Reincarnation Tears, Ning Cheng didn’t take out a second extinct spirit herb.

But it also reduced the pressure on Ning Cheng and started to focus more and more on Dou Jiangshi. Mainly since he traded out 221 dao fruits and even several piles of spirit herbs. Anyone who was anyone and came to the City Lord’s mansion did at least one trade with Dou Jiangshi. One could even say that he had become the most popular Pill Sage and the most sought-after person in the Illusionary Fruit Orchard’s spirit herb exchange.

Unfortunately, apart from the Reincarnation Tears earlier, he had not taken out any other extinct spirit herb.

Ning Cheng also didn’t reveal that Dou Jiangshi might have been taken over, as he couldn’t prove it despite being absolutely sure of it. But regardless of if he could prove it or not, it would still give everyone here an excuse to come to cause trouble with him later. Plus, with Dou Jiangshi’s current popularity, people here wouldn’t hesitate to turn him into mincemeat if he dared to say that Dou Jiangshi had been taken over.

By the time the Illusionary Fruit Orchard’s spirit herb exchange concluded, Ning Cheng had gained an extra 160 million spirit crystals and other materials he needed.

Because so many dao fruits had come out of the Illusionary Fruit Orchard this time, along with even more spirit grasses, almost no one had to return empty-handed.

However, no Bodhisattva Dust Lotus or the Nine Aperture Spirit Glaze appeared from the start of the exchange to its end. As for the incident of someone using these two extinct spirit herbs to refine the Bodhisattva Heavenly Pill and the Nine Aperture Heart Pill. It had become a headless public case that no one admitted.

Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness never left Dou Jiangshi during the entire exchange. However, he couldn’t figure out what this fellow said to the Immortal Corpse Sect’s Elder Chun Fei. At first, Chun Fei showed a clear and very resultant expression. But by the end of the exchange, he actually came forward to help him with the transactions.

Ning Cheng wasn’t afraid of Dou Jiangshi; this fellow was only an early-stage Dao Transformation cultivator. Even if the spirit soul who took over Dou Jiangshi was even stronger, he still had a few ways to deal with it. The only thing Ning Cheng was afraid of was that this fellow wouldn’t come after him and instead hide in the Immortal Corpse Sect. As long as his fellow dared to mess with him alone, he would definitely snatch that wood-attributed origin spirit vein. After all, he’d been coveting this spirit vein since the moment he knew about its existence.

Once the spirit herb exchange ended, the crowd said their farewells and left. Except for some holy emperors close to Le Jiesheng, everyone walked through the exit.

“Brother Ning Cheng, if you don’t have anything to do, make sure to come to look for me at the Pill Union.” Sheng Houtian purposely called out to Ning Cheng in a voice everyone could hear.

Ning Cheng understood Sheng Huotian’s intention. That is, he had Sheng Houtian and the Pill Union to back him up if anything happened. Ning Cheng quickly said his thanks and rushed out of the City Lord’s mansion with Jian Sanshan. He wanted to promptly help Yan Ji wake up.

However, several gazes kept a close eye on Ning Cheng. They knew that even if they wanted to deal with Ning Cheng, they couldn’t do it here. Not to mention that Ning Cheng has Sheng Houtian backing him up; even Ning Cheng himself wasn’t someone easy to deal with. If he was easy to mess with, would Man Huishan be so helpless in front of him?

“Yuxiu, you and Ning Cheng grabbed the stone doors at the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring together. What kind of person do you think he is?” Once her group was far away from the Heaven Essence Sacred City’s City Lord Mansion, a beautiful woman asked.

This woman was none other than Cen Ruoxuan, who had asked Ning Cheng about the Bodhisattva Dust Lotus in the guest hall of the City Master’s mansion. She was someone from one of the ten great forces, the Grand Essence Sea’s Profound Aquatic Palace.

Standing beside her was an equally beautiful young woman with an extremely fair complexion, a woman Ning Cheng knew, Zhongming Yuxiu. But although she held her head high and had a heart full of arrogance, her strength was just slightly above average among her peers.

When she first fought for one of the ten stone gates at the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring, she ended up swept away from the second stone gate and all the way to the eighth stone gate. One could say that it was because of her arrogance and overestimating her abilities. But it was mainly due to Ning Cheng killing Guo Haoge and suppressing Ji Pingzhong into submission. Otherwise, she most likely would have been the one to occupy the tenth stone gate.

“He is strong. Strong enough to sweep through anyone in the same realm. But he isn’t civilised enough to be even called a human being. His eyes are always on his head.” Zhongmeng Yuxiu spoke up with a calm tone.

“Yan Xishuang is my friend, and if you dare make a move to grab her door, you better not blame me for not showing mercy.”[1] She clearly ‘remembered’ what Ning Cheng had said to her when she was about to snatch Yan Xishuang’s stone door. Because of this incident, she felt no kindness towards Ning Cheng.

“If I were to promise you to Ning Cheng, would you be willing?” Cen Ruoxuan suddenly asked.

“Ah…..” Zhongmeng Yuxiu’s heart thumped wildly when she heard Cen Ruoxuan’s words.

It was true that she didn’t have any good feelings towards Ning Cheng. But it was because Ning Cheng didn’t give her any face and directly swept her from the fourth stone gate to the eighth stone gate. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t care about a strong person like Ning Cheng, an equally exceptional pill deity.

Previously, she never even thought she could become Ning Cheng’s dao partner. But now that Aunt Xuan mentioned it, she suddenly became fascinated by that thought. If she became the dao partner of an expert like Ning Cheng, what would happen then? In any case, Ning Cheng looked much more pleasing to the eye than Ji He. But what was even more important was that he was also an alchemist and brother to the Pill Union’s Sheng Houtian.

Once this thought appeared, she no longer cared about her last impression of Ning Cheng. Instead, this thought was like wild grass seeds that quickly sprouted and filled up her heart. But then she thought of Yan Xishuang, who even she admitted was much more pretty than her and friends with Ning Cheng. Therefore, if Ning Cheng was to find a dao partner, he would definitely choose Yan Xishuang over her.

“It wouldn’t work……” Without waiting for Yuxiu to answer, Cen Ruoxuan spoke up while shaking her head. “That Ning Cheng might look reckless on the surface, but he is, in fact, very calculating and knows how to play all sides. I don’t know what kind of a deal he made with Man Huishan, but it’s a fact that he could pick on Man Huishan publicly. He doesn’t even care about City Lord Le, and even became brothers with Pill Union’s Dao Transformation Pill Sage Sheng Houtian……”

Speaking till here, Cen Ruxuan paused, frowned slightly as if contemplating something and finally continued. “Maybe Yue Shu can make him stay in my Profound Aquatic Palace……”

What she meant was that Zhongmeng Yuxiu’s womanly charm wasn’t enough to captivate Ning Cheng. Let alone make him stay back at the Profound Aquatic Palace.

“Aunt Xuan, Senior Apprentice Sister Yue Shu is our Profound Aquatic Palace’s number one……” Even though Zhongmeng Yuxiu had a heart filled with arrogance, she knew very well that she couldn’t match Yue Shu.

Cen Ruxuan reached out and stopped Zhongmeng Yuxiu’s following words. After another pause, she spoke up in a whisper. “It’s not that we need him to help us refine a Bodhisattva Heavenly Pill. But more importantly, my Profound Aquatic Palace needs an alchemist like him. If I’m not wrong, he’s at least a Dao Raising Pill Sage. Ever since the Grand Essence Realm shattered, there has never been any peace or quiet. It will get chaotic once again, especially since the major powers of the Grand Essence Domain are starting to move. Our Profound Aquatic Palace is simply too weak.”

“How’s that possible? How could he be a Dao Raising Pill Sage?” Zhongmeng Yuxiu’s eyes widened in surprise. She simply couldn’t believe Cen Ruoxuan’s words.

Cen Ruxuan sighed, “I don’t believe my guess either. But my intuition tells me that I’m not wrong. He should be staying in Jian Sanshan’s abode, but it’s inappropriate to see him today. We’ll pay him a visit tomorrow.”

[1] Those are not the exact words Ning Cheng had said to her. Instead, they’re her interpretation of Ning Cheng’s words.

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