Chapter 0992: Burial Shadow Fiend

“Haha.....” A hearty laugh followed, “Pill Sage Ning unexpectedly came to my Grand Essence Ruins; forgive me for being negligent with the welcome.”

The laughter came from a distance, but when the words ‘forgive me for being negligent with the welcome’ ended, a blue-robed man suddenly appeared in front of Ning Cheng. This blue-robed man then cupped his fists and said, “Grand Essence Ruins’ Gong Yangdi greets Pill Sage Ning.”

“Senior Gong is a Grand Deacon in the Grand Essence Ruins’ Mission Hall.” Yan Ji was afraid that Ning Cheng didn’t know about Gong Yangdi and hurried whispered.

The Grand Essence Ruins’ Mission Hall was established jointly by the major forces of the Grand Essence Domain. Since Gong Yangdi was a Grand Deacon here, it’s only natural that he knew about Ning Cheng being a Dao Essence Pill Sage. That was most likely why he was acting so politely right now.

After all, in terms of cultivation, Gong Yangdi’s cultivation far surpassed Ning Cheng’s, being a Dao Essence expert. However, everyone that lived in the Grand Essence Realm knew that a Dao Essence Pill Sage’s status was far higher than a Dao Essence Holy Emperor.

Ning Cheng hastily clasped his fists, “Ning Cheng greets Senior Gong. Previously, Daoist Gutless acted disrespectfully towards my Junior Apprentice Sister, and I killed him in a fit of anger, defiling the Great Hall. I feel quite sorry and upset with my behaviour, so I’m willing to compensate the Great Hall for the loss.”

Ning Cheng had different views and experiences from the others. His experience taught him that only the strongest experts commanded the most respect. Thus, even if one was a Dao Essence Pill Sage, if one didn’t have the cultivation to back it up, one would still be nothing more than an ant in front of a Dao Essence Holy Emperor.

Moreover, the only reason this Dao Essence cultivator acted so politely right now wasn’t due to his status, but mainly because this was still a public area. Who would care if a Dao Essence Pill Sage violated the laws if no one was around? In this world, alchemy accomplishments only mattered in public, not away from public eyes; only with strength could one deter others from taking action, whether in public or private. It was a point Ning Cheng had learned a long time ago.

Gong Yangdi smiled, “For Pill Sage Ning to take down scum like Daoist Gutless is quite a good deed for my Grand Essence Ruins. If Pill Sage Ning feels willing, why not become friends with this Gong, and drop this ‘senior’ tag? Besides, it would truly be a blessing for me to become friends with someone like Pill Sage Ning.”

Ning Cheng understood what Gong Yangdi wanted. It was only natural for Gong Yangdi to want to befriend him. After all, Ning Cheng was an officially recognised Dao Essence Pill Sage.

“Then, permit me to address you as Brother Gong from now; Brother Gong can also call me by my name if you feel willing enough.” Since Gong Yangdi wanted to befriend Ning Cheng, Ning Cheng naturally wouldn’t refuse. Having another ‘friend’ meant another resource. It also implied that he could ask for Gong Yangdi’s help. Besides, Gong Yangdi was also a Dao Essence Holy Emperor who held quite a bit of influence. One could even think of him as the Grand Essence Ruins’ ruler and administrator in a certain sense.

Having gained the friendship of Ning Cheng, a Dao Essence Pill Sage, Gong Yangdi felt even more comfortable in his heart. “Brother Ning, if you don’t mind, why not come to my place and try out a new spirit tea that I just acquired?”

Ning Cheng clasped his fists again, “Brother Gong, I have a few urgent matters to attend to. So, I will have to decline the offer. Maybe some other time.”

After saying that, Ning Cheng seemed to have remembered something. “Oh right, Brother Gong, I wanted to inquire about Burial Shadow Blue Sands in the Grand Essence Ruins. Does Brother Gong have a map of this place?”

“Burial Shadow Blue Sands?” Gong Yangdi looked at Ning Cheng suspiciously. That place is nothing more than a dead land.

“Pill Sage Ning, Daoist Gutless and Heartless Monk were once chased by a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor.” The Dao Transformation cultivator, who stopped Ning Cheng, suddenly pointed to Daoist Gutless’ body on the ground. “The two of them somehow escaped to Burial Shadow Blue Sands and killed that Dao Transformation expert inside.”

Ning Cheng then finally looked down at the headless body of Daoist Gutless on the ground. If this fellow was this good, he wouldn’t have died this quickly in the mission hall.

Then, Ning Cheng remembered something, raised his hand, and grabbed Daoist Gutless’ ring. His spiritual consciousness quickly grabbed a dozen jade slips engraved with various maps from inside.

Ning Cheng took out the jade slips, swept them with his spiritual consciousness, and found the maps specifically for the Burial Shadow Blue Sands. He couldn’t help but feel overjoyed at the discovery. Did this fellow specifically come here to deliver these maps to him?

However, Ning Cheng quickly noticed that these maps were only for tiny corners nearing the border region. It wasn’t much use to him, but it was still better than nothing.

He also found several women’s items inside, showing how many female cultivators had perished under Daoist Gutless’ hands.

Ning Cheng simply put away the maps he required and put the rest back into the ring before handing it to Gong Yangdi. “Brother Gong, treat this ring as my compensation for your loss.”

The ring also contained many spirit crystals and other items, which should be enough compensation.

This place was a public place. Therefore, even if Gong Yangdi wanted to deepen his friendship with Ning Cheng, he still had to oversee law and order. After all, Ning Cheng had publicly fought and killed someone here, which also caused the destruction of property.

Gong Yangdi understood Ning Cheng’s meaning and guessed that Ning Cheng had found what he needed from the ring. Therefore, he simply accepted the ring and said, “Good, then I will wait for you to finish your work and talk.”

Watching Ning Cheng kill Daoist Gutless in the mission hall and leave the Grand Essence Ruins’ Mission hall without any incident, the crowd immediately started speculating. Just what background did Ning Cheng have? How could he turn the situation around in such a magnificent manner? Moreover, Ning Cheng even got an invitation from Gong Yandi.

......

Deep within the Grand Essence Ruins, Ning Cheng put away the Starry Sky Wheel and let Yan Ji enter the True Spirit World.

Even with Yan Ji’s cultivation fully restored, it wouldn’t help either of them in this place.

Burial Shadow Blue Sands was one of the five most dangerous locations in the Grand Essence Ruins. Primarily because, no matter how high your cultivation, the likelihood of leaving alive was dismal once you enter. Out of one hundred people entering, barely ten might get to leave this place alive, and this was the best-case scenario.

In fact, since Daoist Gutless and Heartless Monk could enter this place, successfully kill their pursuers, and even leave, they were the luckiest of the lucky.

Ning Cheng stood outside Burial Shadow Blue Sands and observed it carefully. Even though he hadn’t entered it, he could still see the azure colour that looked like an ocean of tumbling waves from afar. Not only did it look mesmerising, but it also felt majestic.

Unfortunately, despite the penetrative strength of his spiritual consciousness, Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness couldn’t see anything past the tumbling sand shadows. In fact, it couldn’t go in at all. This reminded Ning Cheng of the Grand Essence Mystic Realm’s Lost Stone Forest, which could suppress one’s spiritual consciousness, making it almost impossible to stretch out.

All the maps he found from Daoist Gutless’ ring were of a few tiny corners of the Burial Shadow Blue Sands. In fact, these corners weren’t even enough to be called entrances to the Burial Shadow Blue Sands. Truth be told, relying on luck would be more beneficial than relying on these maps. They weren’t helpful for Ning Cheng at all right now.

Just when Ning Cheng was about to enter the Burial Shadow Blue Sands, a white figure landed not far away from Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng’s gaze unconsciously slid over and saw that the white figure was actually a woman dressed in white robes. The white robes perfectly outlined her curvaceous body. The plump chest to her waist created a perfect curve, followed by another curve stretching out from her waist to her ample bottom and ending at the calves just half-hidden by her billowing robes.

A mature and seductive womanly scent made Ning Cheng’s lower abdomen slightly hot. Ning Cheng felt taken aback by what he felt. He was a Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor; how could he be taken in by a seductive womanly scent?

Sucking in a deep breath, Ning Cheng noticed a white mourning flower on her head, showing that this woman’s partner had died quite recently. This woman’s face wasn’t that stunning, yet she had such an alluring figure; in other words, she cultivated some type of charming technique. Otherwise, even if she was a kingdom-toppling beauty, it wouldn’t have evoked such a reaction, considering his own strength.

Ning Cheng withdrew his gaze and no longer looked at this woman again. He understood that this woman hadn’t intentionally tried to seduce him.

Seeing Ning Cheng staring at her as if sizing her up, the woman showed a slight frown but didn’t continue to stay there. Instead, she quickly rushed into the Burial Shadow Blue Sand and promptly disappeared from view.

Ning Cheng didn’t stay outside and slowly walked into the Burial Shadow Blue Sands. He had come here to search for the Exquisite Star Golden Hidden Leaf and would immediately leave once he found it. Even if this place contained more good things, he wouldn’t stay here to dig them up.

As soon as he entered Burial Shadow Blue Sands, Ning Cheng found himself in a vast desert-like area. However, instead of the usual yellow sand common to deserts, he saw an endless ocean of blue sand. This blue sand swirled around in the air with so much force that it almost swept Ning Cheng away.

At this moment, Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness could no longer come out of his body. Only when he cast the Spiritual Consciousness Chop or the Spiritual Consciousness Storm could he stretch out his spiritual consciousness a few metres around him. However, using this method consumed too much of his spiritual consciousness. He had just entered Burial Shadow Blue Sands, so he didn’t want to overexert himself from the start. Therefore, he directly brought out the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort.

Ning Cheng had almost entirely refined the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort. It was now not too different from an actual thunder fort, except for the absent weapon spirit.

Once the Blue Thunder Fort came out, it immediately separated him from the surrounding rolling blue sands. Seeing this, Ning Cheng relaxed and stretched out his hand to grab a handful of that blue sand to examine it closely.

The blue sand looked no different from ordinary sand, except for its blue colour. At least Ning Cheng couldn’t see any difference. But as Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept into the blue sand particles, the blue sand in his hand suddenly started to fade into nothingness. In just a few breaths, the blue sand in his hand disappeared without a trace, as if it never existed.

Ning Cheng felt surprised at this sight and grabbed a handful of blue sand once again. But it again faded into nothingness when he tried to probe it with his spiritual consciousness.

What kind of a strange place was this Burial Shadow Blue Sands? Ning Cheng secretly marvelled in his heart. This was really the first time he had observed such a spectacle.

Moreover, he didn’t see anything else around him in this place except for the tumbling and whistling blue sand. Even the ground was nothing more than a carpet of blue sand for as far as his eyes could see.

Ning Cheng carefully walked in deeper while placing some spiritual consciousness imprints deep underground along the way. However, as ten days passed by, Ning Cheng didn’t see even a single weed, not to mention the Exquisite Star Golden Concealed Leaf.

On the eleventh day, however, as Ning Cheng was trying to calculate his bearings, a faint crying voice emerged from the depths of the tumbling blue sands. Ning Cheng could only hear four words, ‘Ji Ang Mu Lu..... Ji Ang Mu Lu[1].....’

These four words kept repeating over and over again, endlessly. Ning Cheng couldn’t understand it at all. But before he could investigate it, he saw a cultivator, with half of his body missing, fleeing in the opposite direction. He had an extreme look of panic on his face as if he had met something terrifying.

“Run, the Burial Shadow Fiend is here.......” A hoarse voice rang out in Ning Cheng’s ear, followed by a dishevelled woman with a veiled face brushing past him.

It was the same mourning woman he had seen before entering this place. From what he saw back then, this woman was already a Dao Transformation cultivator. Yet, she was reduced to such a mess. What kind of terrifying beast was this Burial Shadow Fiend? Was it the one that cried the words ‘Ji Ang Mu Lu’?

Even though Ning Cheng wanted to know what this thing really was, at this moment, he could only follow others’ lead and flee. He wasn’t confident enough to defend against something that could frighten a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor.

[1] Ji= Thorns, Ang = Lift/Raise, /Soar, Mu = female tutor/woman who looks after small children, Lu = Surname Lu/Crass/Stupid/Rude. Possible Translation: ‘Thorny Anguish’. I’m not sure if it’s just a mish-mash of random words, but I decided to leave it as it is until the author provides more context.

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