“Brother Nian, I’m sorry to disturb you.” This man greeted Ning Cheng with a fist first without waiting for him to speak.
Ning Cheng smiled, “So it’s Brother Xiong, please come in, Brother Xiong.”
This person Ning Cheng knew was a casual cultivator who had been selected by the Seven Star Holy Sect together with him, called Xiong Cang. His cultivation level was higher than his, late Eternal. The strength displayed was similar to his, also at the position of nearly reaching seven in Star Element and having broken through to six in Divine Sense.
Xiong Cang’s looks were similar to his name, with a stout body and a large plump face, his whole body almost square.
After Xiong Cang came in and sat down, Ning Cheng then casually slapped on the ban and said with a smile, “Brother Xiong has come to look for me, I think there must be something.”
“Brother Ning, have you ever thought about staying in the Seven Star Sacred Sect and then entering the inner sect?” Hearing Ning Cheng ask about it, Xiong Cang simply asked straightforwardly as well.
“Enter the Seven Star Sacred Sect’s inner sect?” Ning Cheng asked suspiciously, he knew that the Seven Star Sacred Sect was using them as cannon fodder, how could they possibly be allowed to enter the inner sect?
Xiong Cang said in a low tone, “Brother Ning, you are also a casual cultivator, you should know how difficult it is for a casual cultivator to achieve Dao shaping. Even if we obtain the Dao fruit, I’m afraid that the chances of achieving Dao shaping are still not high. There is no Dao field to listen to the Dao, no divine ability pavilion nor gongfa hall. All we can do is to feel our way on our own, lacking a guiding direction. The only way for us casual cultivators to go further is to join a clan ……”
Ning Cheng was silent, he would not join the Seven Star Sacred Sect, and he did not agree with Xiong Cang’s words either. If it was said that a guide was indeed important when one was at a low cultivation level. But when one’s cultivation level reached the realm of eternity, what one relied on was entirely one’s own comprehension of all things and understanding of the rules of heaven and earth, even if one had a strong master to guide one, it would still play a limited role.
However, Ning Cheng was somewhat interested in the Dao Field that Xiong Cang had mentioned. The Dao Field was a place where some powerful Dao-accredited cultivators discussed the Dao, and if one could go and listen to it, it would be beneficial to the understanding of the Dao more. Any sect had its own Dao Field, and there was also the most famous Tai Su Dao Field in the Tai Su Realm. It is just that it is very difficult for a casual practitioner to enter these places to listen to the dao.
Seeing Ning Cheng’s silence, Xiong Cang thought that Ning Cheng agreed with him, and said even more, “The Seven Star Sacred Sect has two Mixed Yuan powerhouses, and there are even more powerful divine abilities in the Divine Abilities Pavilion.”
“Then how can Brother Xiong join the Seven Star Sacred Sect?” Ning Cheng asked.
Xiong Cang nodded, “This is exactly what I came to talk to Brother Ning about, Brother Ning should know that when we enter the Tai Su Secret Realm this time, the chances of falling are very high, but there are also high chances that we will make it to the heavens in one step. If we can collect enough divine Spirit Grasses in the secret realm and rank in the top ten, we will have the chance to represent the Seven Star Sacred Sect in the Great Tai Su Competition ……”
“Wait ……” Ning Cheng interrupted Xiong Cang’s words, “Brother Xiong, you said that in the Tai Su Secret Realm, only the top ten in ranking will have the chance to represent the Seven Star Sacred Sect in the Tai Su Grand Competition? How come I heard that the Great Tai Su Competition is for the top 100 to participate?”
Hearing Ning Cheng’s words Xiong Cang laughed, “Brother Ning, you are too naive, a hundredth place to participate in the Great Tai Su Competition is not bad. But only the top ten who come out of the Tai Su Secret Realm have the chance to participate, the rest of the ninety are allocated by the major sects, Brother Ning wouldn’t even know about this, right? The Tai Su Secret Realm is opened mainly for these clans to scavenge for divine Spirit Grasses, and some top heavenly treasures. To put it bluntly, we are carrying our heads in our hands to serve these great sects.”
Speaking of this, Xiong Cang smiled mockingly, “It’s the same as us casual cultivators competing to the death for the big clans inside the secret realm for the divine Spirit Grass, while those big clans watch us compete to the death while waiting for us to give them the divine Spirit Grass we risked our lives to obtain.”
Ning Cheng’s heart sank and his face turned a little ugly. He had entered inside the secret realm to search for divine Spirit Grass because he needed a large amount of divine Spirit Grass, and more importantly, he wanted to participate in the Great Tai Su Competition. Although there were many cultivators entering the secret realm, Ning Cheng asked himself if he could still make it to the top 100. However, he was a little unsure about the top ten. It looked like the loose cultivator from before wasn’t very clear either.
Finding a genius treasure was not a matter of being stronger, it was also a matter of chance.
Xiong Cang did not know what was in Ning Cheng’s mind and continued, “We can join forces, as long as we can win the top ten, then we can get two places to participate in the Great Tai Su Competition. When the time comes, we will dedicate the spots to the sect, and we can definitely join the sect.”
Ning Cheng calmed down and asked, “Brother Xiong, how many cultivators enter the secret realm in search of genius treasures, I believe Brother Xiong also knows, on what basis can Brother Xiong get us into the top ten?”
Xiong Cang smiled heatedly, “If Brother Ning is willing to join forces with me, I will naturally tell you my methods.”
Ning Cheng suddenly smiled, “Please do so, Brother Xiong, I like to keep to myself, I just want to go in and find a Dao fruit, and I don’t have much hope of joining the Sacred Sect.”
As soon as Ning Cheng heard Xiong Cang’s words, he understood what Xiong Cang meant. Xiong Cang must have a set of stealthy and sneaky methods, and he should be trying to achieve the top ten by killing other cultivators in the secret realm like this and taking other people’s divine spirit grass. This kind of robbery practice was against Ning Cheng’s heart, so he naturally would not join hands with Xiong Cang.
Hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Xiong Cang’s eyes showed disappointment and after a moment he stood up and cupped his fist to Ning Cheng and said, “In that case, then I will take my leave.”
Ning Cheng waited for Xiong Cang to leave and once again put the ban on the room. Xiong Cang’s proposal had reminded him that since Xiong Cang could think of obtaining the Divine Spirit Grass through robbery, then there must be the rest of the people who thought of robbing the Divine Spirit Grass through robbery.
It looked like he had to guard not only against Barbarian Jiu Ren, but also against these loose cultivators.
……
In the months that followed, Ning didn’t go anywhere. In addition to refining a few divine weapon magic treasures for himself, he also refined a five-coloured Star Splitting Arrow. The power of this arrow could not be compared to a real five-coloured Star Splitting Arrow, and Ning Cheng had caused the power to drop in order to make this arrow shoot out similar to the five-coloured Star Splitting Arrow scenario. It could be said that when this arrow was shot out, it could not even be compared to an ordinary mid-grade divine weapon bow and arrow.
Ning Cheng did not refine this arrow for its might, this was entirely refined to deal with Barbarian Nine Ren.
Apart from that, Ning Cheng had also refined a large number of trapping and killing array disks. His formation dao level was much higher than his cultivation level, so if he didn’t make use of it, it would be a shame that he had studied formation dao for so long. The influence of the array discs was certainly not as powerful as that of the formations, but when strong people faced each other, as long as they had that little advantage, they could sway the winner.
Five months passed quickly, and on this day when Ning Cheng finished refining a trapping and killing formation again, the jade plate received a message of assembly.
When Ning Cheng collected his things and arrived at the square, Xiong Cang had long since arrived. When Ning Cheng saw him standing with another loose cultivator, he knew that he had found a companion.
This time, the person leading the group had changed, to an old man with white hair. Ning Cheng could not tell the cultivation level of this old man, but he could sense that this old man was very strong, most likely a strong person of the second step of the Dao of enlightenment.
Ning Cheng also noticed that apart from the twenty of them, who were casual cultivators, there were also many disciples of the Seven Star Saint Sect in the square. Among these disciples, Ning Cheng saw Yan Xishuang, and he still did not see Ying Yongxuan.
A huge black airship landed in the middle of the square, and the white-haired old man landed on the bow of the airship and said to the cultivators in the square, “This time, there are a total of seventy disciples from our Seven Star Sacred Sect entering the Tai Su Secret Realm, and all of you have heard clearly. It turns out that disciples belonging to the Seven Star Sacred Sect can exchange the divine spirit herbs and foreign treasures they find in the secret realm for sect mission points, as well as divine pills and even divine powers. If you contributed a lot, even if you exchanged for Dao Pills and Dao Fruits, it was all possible.
For those disciples who join my Seven Star Holy Sect afterwards, you can likewise exchange the divine spirit herbs you obtain in the secret realm for divine pills, divine powers or gong methods. Those who contribute a lot can likewise exchange for Dao fruits or Dao pills. If you achieve the top ten, you will have the opportunity to join the Seven Stars Sacred Sect Inner Sect. Enter and exit the Seven Stars Sacred Sect Dao Field and Divine Pill Pavilion at will ……”
No wonder they weren’t afraid of cultivators hiding their personal belongings, even if a casual cultivator collected a large amount of Divine Spirit Grass and hid it, what was the use? At most, it will be exchanged to some merchant buildings. Could a casual cultivator still hire the help of someone who refines divine pills to refine pills? As for those who refine Dao pills, it would be even more impossible to think about it.
When it came to exchanging for Dao Fruits, Ning Cheng only had to think of the fact that it took Empty Ning over 400,000 points to exchange for a Falling Scar Fruit, and he knew that Dao Fruits were not that easy to exchange for. Not every cultivator, like him, was a Dao-shaping Dan God.
Perhaps for these scattered cultivators, it was best to obtain a large amount of divine Spirit Grass and hand it over to the clan in exchange for cultivation resources that could be used directly.
“Of course, there is one thing I have to remind the twenty disciples who join my Seven Star Holy Sect afterwards. The divine Spirit Grass you obtain must be handed over to the clan in one-fifth after your ranking is assessed, and then you can exchange it for the rest. If you obtain less than one hundred divine Spirit Grasses, you must hand over half of them to the sect ……”
When Ning Cheng heard this, he thought to himself that indeed, the Seven Star Sacred Sect’s own disciples did not have to turn in one-fifth. And they, the scattered cultivators who joined later, had to hand in a portion of the divine Spirit Grasses in order to enjoy the same treatment as the disciples of the Seven Star Saint Sect.
Ning Cheng did not find it surprising, it would be strange if the Seven Star Sacred Sect did not do so. The Seven Star Sacred Sect provided access to the secret realm, so naturally they had to collect some taxes and fees.
“If there are no problems, everyone will board the ship and head to the Tai Su Secret Realm.” After the white-haired old man finished speaking, the cultivators waiting in the square flew onto the boat one after another.
The scattered cultivators had even lowered their stance to ask for some things in order to draw a relationship with the disciples of the Seven Star Sacred Sect. Ning Cheng did not go forward to say more, too many words would be lost. He was being watched by a Dragon Emperor, so it was best not to talk nonsense if he could. From the chatter of these cultivators, Ning Cheng also learned that the white-haired old man leading the group this time was called Fan Mu, a Dao Yuan powerhouse of the second step of the Dao of Enlightenment.
……
A day later, the Seven Star Holy Sect’s airship stopped, and Ning Cheng saw from the deck that the place where the airship had stopped was not in the starry sky, but in a very empty wasteland. At this moment, many temporary cave buildings had long been set up around the wasteland, which should have been some of the sects that had come first.