The Gate Of Good Fortune

Chapter 0436: Scaring to death someone above the Crucible Transformation Realm

The Desiccated Purple Flame Heart’s cocoon encasing the flame gave a “Katcha” sound; the next second, the Desiccated Purple Flame Heart scattered into flying ash, disappearing without even a trace left behind.

Ning Cheng looked at the Star River suspended over his hand in surprise; he knew that Star River had finally levelled-up to a whole level. Initially, when the Desiccated Purple Flame Heart had encased the Star River, the flame still possessed a faint yellow colour; however, currently, the Star River had turned red, showing that the might of this flame had strengthened many times over. Of this, Ning Cheng was the clearest of all.

“Haha, Senior Mu, I have succeeded.” Ning Cheng laughed. For the last 20 years, other than continuously resisting the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, most of his energies were concentrated in helping Star River to level-up.

The Star River’s ability to absorb the Desiccated Purple Flame Heart was far faster than ordinary flame sparks by several folds. Combined with the help provided by Ning Cheng, the absorption of the Desiccated Purple Flame Spark turned even swifter, ultimately leading to completing the level-up in just 20 years.

“Senior Mu?” Only at this moment did Ning Cheng discover that Mu Ziming was not in a position to speak any words. 20 years ago, he already had an almost-bony appearance; however, at this time, Mu Ziming had genuinely turned into a near-bones state. His skin was currently akin to dried parchment hanging onto his skeleton, without any clear indication of him being alive or dead.

Ning Cheng then looked at Jia Shisan and Xiao Bisheng. The two of them were also not in any better condition. In fact, he was also extremely exhausted and sporting an utterly emaciated appearance. It was as if a gust of wind would be more than enough to blow him away. If it were not for the Array Formations protecting him, not allowing the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan to directly absorb his Essence Blood, which was practically the sustenance needed for continuing the level-up of the Star River, he most likely would have already perished a long time ago.

Ning Cheng did not spend much time pondering over it; he directly stretched out his hand and sent out the Star River. Other than the Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique, he did not have any other flame-type cultivation method; as such, he could only use the flame as an incinerator.

A tongue of red flame erupted, akin to the eruption of a volcano; the next moment, Ning Cheng immediately felt an intense burst of the charred stench around him. The inexhaustible and seemingly endless Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, under the effect of the Star River, almost instantly turned into ashes. Ning Cheng gave out a sigh, before finally walking out of the Array Formation.

Trapped for nearly 40 years, before suddenly coming out, Ning Cheng couldn’t help but feel a little weak in his legs.

With the rapid incineration speed of the Star River, in just a dozen breaths of time, all the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan present in the blue hole around them turned into ashes.

The greasy smell that filled the blue hole was disgusting with the potential to make any person sick. Fortunately, trapped in this place for nearly 40 years, Ning Cheng had long since become accustomed to the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan’s disgusting smell.

“Plop...” Three consecutive sounds emerged.

Without the restraints of the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, Mu Ziming, Xiao Bisheng, and Jia Shisan, the three of them immediately fell to the ground.

Ning Cheng quickly took out two pills and threw them into the mouths of Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng. Finally feeling a faint breath of vitality from the two of them, Ning Cheng immediately felt relieved in his heart. Fortunately, the two of them were able to persist until now.

“Careful...” Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng immediately called out at the same time.

At this moment, an incomparably swift and fierce killing intent suddenly shot towards Ning Cheng’s back.

A sneak attack from Jia Shisan, Ning Cheng instantly understood. However, he did not even turn around; extending his hand behind him, Ning Cheng immediately seized a giant seal. This giant seal, in Ning Cheng’s hands, quickly started to shrink, before turning into a somewhat large stamp that rested atop on his outstretched hand.

“You....” The almost-bones Jia Shisan behaved as if he had just seen a ghost while staring at Ning Cheng. He had never encountered such a fear-inducing scene. Just a puny cultivator at the 4th Level of Sea Opening Realm yet this person not only seized his Magical Weapon easily; he even directly severed and erased his Spiritual Consciousness link to his Magical Weapon. What kind of terrifying ability was this?

Even Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng were horrified as they stared at Ning Cheng. Trapped in this place for these many years, Jia Shisan was in the same state as them. Although his strength would have also dropped considerably, his power would still be above that of Crucible Transformation Cultivators. While Ning Cheng was just a Sea Opening Cultivator, yet was able to seize Jia Shisan’s giant seal with ease. What kind of horrifying cultivation was this?

Ning Cheng also looked at the giant seal in his hand. When Jia Shisan attacked him, he had perceived it almost instantly. At that same moment, Ning Cheng had unconsciously extended his hand backwards and seized the giant seal bearing down on him. In his heart, he felt strangely sure that he could deal with this giant seal, a kind of self-confidence that came out of experiences from the past.

In the past few decades, although his cultivation level had not risen at all; however, his Spiritual Consciousness had skyrocketed in strength. Moreover, because he was regularly using Array Formations to resist the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, combined with his powerful deduction and self-correcting ability granted by the Mysterious Yellow Formless, his familiarity in utilising his True Essence and Spiritual Consciousness had reached an utterly incredulous level.

In Ning Cheng’s opinion, his True Essence had not increased by much; in fact, his True Essence was in an almost consumed state for the most of the time. Yet, even in that state, Ning Cheng was still able to keep the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan at bay. From this, it was evident that once he restored his True Essence to its full capacity, he would be a lot stronger compared to what he was previously.

Because of the Mysterious Yellow Origin and the Mysterious Yellow Formless Cultivation Method, his 40 years of cultivation were equivalent to someone else’s 400 or even 4000 years.

For 40 years, Ning Cheng did not gain even the slightest bit in his cultivation level; however, he vaguely felt that he had reached the highest realm of cultivation using the Mysterious Yellow Formless. Instead of taking the initiative to cultivate, his subconscious mind drove itself to promote his cultivation at every moment. This was the true Formless Realm of the Mysterious Yellow Formless.

Jia Shisan immediately reacted; with fear completely filling every corner of his being, he screamed out wildly and jumped away from his position to escape. However, the next moment, he felt as if he did not belong to the space around him. Although he felt like he had taken a few steps forward; however, in reality, he remained frozen in place.

“Domain?” Mu Ziming and Xiao Bisheng cried out in an extremely shocked voice. Ning Cheng hadn’t even moved from his spot, yet he could easily stop an expert on the level of Jia Shisan from escaping. Didn’t it mean that he now possessed the ability to control the surrounding space? This kind of control, in the True Cultivation World, had a specific term, ‘Domain’.

“Domain....” Jia Shisan murmured the single word to himself in a low voice, before he directly fell to the ground dead.

He was already extremely close to death and had stimulated that tiny bit of vitality in him to sneak attack Ning Cheng, finally turning him into a dried up oil lamp. Finally, he had no choice but to run away. However, he encountered an extremely horrifying scene that he could never think of as being possible. A Sea Opening Cultivator stretching out their Domain. This concept had itself caused the collapse of his worldview, shattering his mind completely.

In other words, he ended up scared to death by Ning Cheng.

“He’s dead. I can’t believe that you have a Domain. Maybe he was scared to death because of that.” After Xiao Bisheng swallowed the pill from Ning Cheng, he took out a few more pills and ate them, allowing his spirit and vigour to recover significantly. Although he still looked like a skeleton covered in skin, his Essence Blood was slowly replenishing.

Mu Ziming was also in the same situation as Xiao Bisheng. However, since his cultivation turned out higher when compared to Xiao Bisheng, so after listening to Xiao Bisheng’s words, he shook his head and spoke, “That’s not it, although the skill shown by Sect Master Ning in controlling the surrounding space looked like a Domain; however, it definitely is not a Domain. That move is just a kind of skill to take partial control over the surrounding space; it is still incapable of full use. There is still a long distance to actually reach the realm of Domain.”

However, Mu Ziming was a lot clearer in his mind. Even if Ning Cheng had not comprehended the Domain, with this kind of performance, grasping Domain was just a matter of time. If he was not wrong, then the reason for Ning Cheng’s comprehension should definitely have some relations to his battle with Rong Jin at that time. This kind of talent caused Mu Ziming to feel extremely shocked to the core.

As long as Ning Cheng received the right guidance, Ning Cheng would definitely be able to comprehend Domain. Trapped in this place for 40 years, the three of them had reached the edge of death. Moreover, Ning Cheng’s cultivation was the worst among them, but not only did it not turn disadvantageous for them, it actually transformed into a blessing in disguise.

Because of this, he did not continue to address him as Ning Cheng; instead, he directly called him Sect Master Ning, out of genuine respect.

Ning Cheng had no previous contact with Domain; hearing those words, he quickly cupped his fists and spoke: “Hope Senior Mu can point me in the right direction.”

Mu Ziming waved his hand and spoke, “Don’t call me Senior. If we talk about real strength, then both Xiao Bisheng and I are inferior to you. Just call me Brother Mu from now on.”

“Yes, hereafter, we are friends from the same generation.” Ning Cheng saved Xiao Bisheng’s life. Combined with his extraordinary strength, it was already a long written fact that they would become friends. Moreover, he also heard that Ning Cheng shared a good relationship with his Heavenly Dao Academy’s Li Lingfan. As such, this friendship would also cement the relationship between them.

“Then I will also not remain polite about it. I hope Brother Mu can provide me with some guidance about what Domain entails.” Ning Cheng, after quickly recovering his True Essence and Spiritual Consciousness, perceived that his own personal strength had become many times stronger. As such, he also chose to no longer remain as polite as before.

Mu Ziming sighed and spoke, “Actually, not to mention me, even if it were the entire Yi Xing Mainland, I estimate that there are only a very few individuals who understand the concept of Domain. If Xu Anzhen had not suffered injuries before, then she might have understood something about it; however, even if she fully recovered from her injuries, she would not be able to gain any sort of understanding about Domain. Truthfully, I won’t be able to give you any explanation as to what a Domain is. However, if you really want to understand what a Domain entails, then the only way to do so would be to enter Heaven’s Way.”

“I’ve decided, after going out and arranging a few matters of my academy, I will enter Heaven’s Way.” Xiao Bisheng spoke out without any hesitation.

Mu Ziming and nodded, “Yes, I’m also going to enter the Heaven’s Way this time. What does Sect Master Ning think about it?”

“Although I do want to enter, I will still wait for a bit.” Ning Cheng knew that it was impossible for Ning Ruolan and Ji Luofei to advance to the Crucible Transformation Realm during these years. Therefore, he can only wait for the two of them to enter the Crucible Transformation Realm before thinking of going to Heaven’s Way. After going out of this place, he first had to find a way to search for cultivation resources that would help them.

Mu Ziming did not know much about the things related to Domains, causing Ning Cheng to feel a little bit disappointed. He could take control of the surrounding space; however, it was a just vague comprehension gained from the battle with Rong Jin.

Lifting his hand and picking up Jia Shisan’s ring from the ground, Ning Cheng once again spoke up, “After I completely burn away the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan, we can then find a way to leave this place.”

“Sect Master Ning, burning away the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan does not mean it is finished. Although it may look like you completely burned away the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan in this blue hole. However, the fact is, these rattan vines have only retreated in fear of your flames.” Xiao Bisheng explained.

Without waiting for Ning Cheng to answer, Mu Ziming looked at the red coloured Star River floating in front of Ning Cheng in the puzzle and asked, “Sect Master Ning, I have seen a lot many kinds of flames; however, I have never seen any flame like yours. Supposedly, the level of your flame is not high, so how was it able to burn away the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan?”

Mu Ziming also wanted to ask another question but chose not to ask it; that is, even if Ning Cheng’s flames underwent consecutive level-ups, it should still face a few difficulties in burning away the Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan. Initially, the only reason he had decided to take out the Desiccated Purple Flame Heart was due to the faint hope in his mind. He never expected that Ning Cheng’s flame would completely absorb his Desiccated Purple Flame Heart in just twenty years. If he was to come up with another Desiccated Purple Flame Heart, he suspected that Ning Cheng’s flame would once again undergo another level-up, but this time in less than a year.

The higher the grade of the flame, the faster the absorption of the ore.

“I am not too familiar with this flame. This flame is something that I received from a senior.” Ning Cheng did not mention that his flame actually came from an Immortal Mansion. Moreover, saying that the fire was something that he received from a senior was also not false. If not for the white-haired old woman leading him to look for the Immortal Mansion, he would not have obtained the Star River.

Mu Ziming didn’t continue to cross-examine Ning Cheng about his flames. He looked into the deepest area of the blue hole and spoke up with anxiety, “These Underworld Crow Ghost Rattan truly is a menace. Even if we can escape from this place today, these Ghost Rattan would still be able to enter the Tian Continent in the future, which will only end in a disaster. What’s more, we also can’t get out of this place without completely extinguishing this Ghost Rattan.”