Ji Luofei rarely expressed her opinion, and now that Ning Cheng asked, she hesitated for a moment and said, “There are many guards in Rootless Black City, and there was someone following us just now, I’m afraid it’s someone from the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce. I think it would be better if we first find a place to stay in North City and then figure out the details of the situation here. It would be best if we can find a landing place outside Rootless Black City, otherwise there will be nowhere to go in case we miss.”
“Good, we will go and see if there are any caves in North City first.” Ning Cheng immediately agreed to Ji Luofei’s words, just now someone was following them, Ning Cheng had noticed it long ago. He was sure that this person following him was either from the Silver Thunder Chamber of Commerce or from the Jia Xing Chamber of Commerce.
……
Rootless Black City Guild, this was the largest gathering place for cultivators in Rootless Black City. Any cultivator who lived in Rootless Black City had come here.
This guild could be said to be the largest public place in the entire Rootless Black City, and although it was not a square, the area was not much smaller than a normal square. Such a large area would of course not be built in the centre of the city, but on the fringes of the Midtown area.
After Ning Cheng and his trio entered the guild, they were greeted by an immense hall, and on the ground floor of this hall were various array displays. Countless information slowly scrolled through these displays, all of which were information on the rental, sale and transfer of cave mansions.
At the entrance to the staircase on this floor there was also a sign that said that the first floor was for quests and groupings.
All sorts of information could be found here, and with a little questioning, Ning Cheng knew the only way to leave the Rootless Black City. That Gary really hadn’t lied to him earlier, to leave Rootless Black City, he would have to use some of the Rootless Black City’s forces.
Every ten years, a Void Ship from the Starry Sky Continent came to Rootless Black City, and these ships were here to acquire all kinds of ore materials. The void around Rootless Black City was rich in black yuan stones, and every time these void ships came they could return with a full load.
Because these void ships were acquiring black yuan stones and other materials, they were inextricably linked to the major powers in Rootless Black City. If one wanted to leave Rootless Black City on such ships and travel to the real Starry Sky Continent, one had to contact these forces. Giving a huge amount of black coins, this was the only way to have a chance to walk away. Otherwise, even if there were many empty seats when these void ships left, they would not let you take a ride.
The last time the ships came over was two years ago, which showed that even if Ning Cheng and his trio were to leave this place, they would need to wait for at least another eight years.
Ning Cheng knew that now was not the time for him to consider leaving, he had to find a place to stay, eight years not eight days. Cave houses in the Rootless Black City were rare, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. This was because in this place, there were far too few cultivators who could have a large amount of black coins to purchase a decent cave house.
Ning Cheng quickly found the information he needed, and on a huge array display was all the information about cave houses for sale and rent in the Northern City of Rootless Black City.
A small quadrangle cave house also cost a million black coins. A million black coins was 100 million spirit stones, and it was really difficult for an average cultivator to afford it. This was still the cave houses in the North City, the cave houses in the East and South Cities could cost millions, or even ten million black coins. As for the cave houses in the West City, the price was the cheapest. However, that place was very confusing, and generally people with some price tags would not go to the West City.
“We’ll purchase a cave house in North City.” Ning Cheng selected a one million and eighty thousand black coin cave mansion in North City, one hundred million black coins was not that much for him.
Ning Cheng did not exchange all the spirit stones into black coins, he only exchanged 200 million spirit stones for black coins, a total of two million black coins. To Ning Cheng, spirit stones also had uses for cultivating and driving magic weapons, setting up spirit gathering formations, and various other uses. Black coins were merely a unit of currency that could be used in Rootless Black City, who knew if they could still be used after leaving Rootless Black City?
The people of the guild did not find it strange for Ning Cheng, a cultivator who had just arrived, to spend one million black coins to purchase a cave house. Many cultivators who had just arrived here could afford to buy such cave mansions. Some wealthy cultivators even bought cave mansions in South and East Cities as soon as they arrived. It was only after a while that these cultivators would sell the cave houses they had purchased again. The sale is not for a good one, but for a poor one.
Private flights were not allowed within Rootless Black City, and after Ning Cheng purchased his cave mansion, he could take a small kind of airship under the guidance of the seller. This kind of airship flew along a certain route in Rootless Black City, and in just an hour, he arrived at the Northern City where he had purchased the cave mansion.
During this journey, Ning Cheng felt the distinct hierarchy of Rootless Black City. In the Central City, various merchant buildings were lined up, and as they approached the Northern City, the streets were clearly decaying. Even if there were some merchant buildings, they looked very simple and there were not very many people. After reaching the residential cave area, there were even no merchant buildings to be seen.
The cultivator from the cave house for sale party sent Ning Cheng to the location and left the place immediately after helping Ning Cheng open the cave house’s formation. The location of the cave party that Ning Cheng purchased was not very good, near the edge of the Rootless Black City. Generally speaking, the closer to the edge a cave mansion was, the less safe it was.
Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei had just stood at the entrance of the cave residence when dozens of divine senses swept over. A few of the divine senses circled around Ning Cheng for a long time, without withdrawing. It was obvious that they had sensed that Ning Cheng’s cultivation level was too low, only at the late stage of the Sea Breaking Realm. On the contrary, not many divine senses fell on Ji Luofei, who was, after all, a Tripod Transformation Cultivator.
Yi Zhu Zhu was even more oppressed by these powerful divine senses, Ning Cheng reckoned that even if the few of them just stayed in today and disappeared from this place tomorrow, no one would come to ask about it.
When he arrived at this place, Ning Cheng finally felt another difference between the Central City and the Northern City. That was that in the North City District, one could only occasionally see a few patrolling guards, while in the Mid-City District, there were patrolling guards everywhere.
If this was the case in the North City, it was evident that the West City was even more chaotic, and there might not be anyone patrolling the guards at all.
Ning Cheng was not half polite, and his powerful divine sense and killing intent instantly blasted out. Several divine senses that were circling around him were immediately suppressed by him, and a cultivator who was also at the Sea Pioneer Realm was blasted by this powerful aura and spurted out a mouthful of blood on the spot, scaring the cultivator who no longer dared to casually sweep out his divine sense. The few cultivators around him who were using their divine sense to investigate also understood that this cultivator who had just moved to the Sea Breaking Realm was not a simple person.
……
After these ill-intentioned divine senses were blasted away by Ning Cheng, Yi Zhu Zhu settled down.
Ning Cheng did not have the intention to look for trouble with these people, surviving in this place, struggling between living and dying every moment, asking these cultivators to follow any rules, was simply nonsense. In this place, there was only one saying, if you had the ability, you lived, if you didn’t, you died.
The law of survival of the weak and the strong is embodied in this place.
After Ning Cheng and his trio entered the courtyard, they were somewhat satisfied, this courtyard had four rooms, and in the middle there was a spiritual medicine garden and a light combination formation.
The Rootless Black City was devoid of any sunlight, and all light came through the formation. Even the sun over Rootless Black City is arranged by the formation, only the materials need to be provided by everyone who lives in Rootless Black City.
Never mind that Ning Cheng had purchased a cave in the Northern City District, the three of them living in this place had to provide a certain amount of black coins every day.
Apart from the slightly lesser amount of black coins provided by some cultivators who couldn’t survive in the West Urban District, the remaining four major urban districts provided exactly the same amount of black coins. It was definitely not the case that the Central and East and South urban areas, where life was better and security was better, had to pay more black coins.
Ning Cheng let Luo Fei and Yi Zhuzhu go in and find a place to rest, and the first thing he did was to remove all the formations outside the Quadrangle Cave. Some of the divine senses that were still peeping saw Ning Cheng remove all of the cave’s prohibitions, and they were all greatly shocked.
To survive in this place, cave formation prohibitions were one of the most important things. If a cave mansion had no formation prohibitions, no one would dare to live in it even if it was given to others. And to hire an array master to rearrange one’s cave, it would require a bunch of black coins.
Unless one was foolish, only someone would remove the protective formation from their own dwelling.
But these people soon understood what was going on, it turned out that the person himself was a formation master, and this quadrangle cave house was soon enveloped by a formation once again. Moreover, this formation was definitely a level six formation, seeing that Ning Cheng was a formation master who could set up a level six formation, the prying divine senses around this instantly disappeared without a trace.
If it wasn’t for a deep hatred, no one would be stupid enough to go looking for trouble with a level six formation master. The cultivators who knew that Ning Cheng was a level six formation master all despised Ning Cheng in their hearts, since he was a level six formation master, why did he still need to live in this place?
Of course Ning Cheng was not a rank six formation master, he was a rank eight formation master. The materials in his hands were enough for him to set up one or two level eight formations, but he did not set up the level eight formations outside. He had quietly arranged a concealed level seven trapping formation and a level seven defensive formation inside the level six protective formation.
Then he arranged another level eight concealing killing formation at the three people’s residence, and finally linked these formations together to form a chain of trapping and killing formations.
With Ning Cheng’s tactics like this, even if a Life Robbing Realm cultivator came here, he would not be able to get away.
After completing all these formations, Ning Cheng finally set up a Spirit Gathering Formation.
“Luo Fei, you and Zhu Zhu cultivate first, I will go to the guild to look for news of the Ruo Lan few.” Ning Cheng handed the control formation flag to Luo Fei and Yi Zhu Zhu. With the formations here, even if a Life Robbing Realm came, Luo Fei would be able to block it. What’s more, he wasn’t going to leave much further.
“You go ahead, it will be fine here.” Ji Luofei knew that if she didn’t find news of Ruo Lan sooner, Ning Cheng would always be worried.