t

  These two could suppress anyone standing in front of them with just their aura alone. Just what were their cultivations?

  However, Ning Cheng quickly felt a difference. That man and woman looked somewhat illusory, even less real than An Yi’s statue.

  However, Ning Cheng suddenly found himself caught up in an incomparably profound and mysterious trance. The moment his mind descended into this strange trance, an extremely mournful aura started to seep into his mind.

  He saw petals falling one after another. Standing in front of this blood river and under the suppressive aura, these sadness-filled petals induced more and more mournful thoughts within Ning Cheng’s mind. He unconsciously started counting the petals: one, two……

  There were nine petals in total. By the time Ning Cheng counted them all, tears subconsciously dripped down his eyes. A mournful sentiment filled his entire mind. He finally realised that the blood river was not surging because of the confrontation of killing forces, but because of the sadness that permeated the surroundings.

  The nine petals looked like drifting snowflakes, but their colour gradually changed from white to blood red. It quietly blended in with the blood river, giving the feeling that it had no one to rely on.

  The blossoms fade and fill the sky, of fragrance and soft hues bereft and bare……

  Ning Cheng felt a slight pain in his heart. Before his eyes, Qionghua fell unconscious under the Everlasting Sacred Tree, while Luofei held Qionghua helplessly in her arms. He wanted to rush forward and take away Luofei and Qionghua immediately.

  The nine petals initially hovered above the blood river; however, because of Ning Cheng’s growing sorrow, they seemed to fuse into a vague shadow of a lotus platform with nine petals with Luofei and Qionghua over it as it slowly inched towards the blood river. Ning Cheng wanted to rush onto the lotus platform, not wanting Qionghua and Luofei to drown.

  Just at this moment, Mysterious Yellow Origin Aura filled up his entire Sea of Consciousness and forcibly woke up Ning Cheng. He immediately understood that this nine-petal lotus platform was a manifestation of a spirit technique, the spirit technique of the woman standing above the blood river. Moreover, the reason why such a mournful sentiment had emerged in his mind was because of this nine-petal lotus platform manifested by the spirit technique.

  Sensing that his Sunset’s Twilight had a few similar points to this spirit technique, the moment Ning Cheng woke up, he immediately stabbed out with the Nirvana Spear in his hand in pure reflexive action, casting Sunset’s Twilight.

  Unlike the previous instances of casting Sunset’s Twilight, after Ning Cheng stabbed out with the spear, everything around him turned incomparably poignant yet beautiful. During the moment of stagnation, everything seemed to turn illusory yet real.

  Ning Cheng hadn’t used Sunset’s Twilight once or twice, but it never looked as beautiful as it seemed today. At this moment, he was like a god who dominated dusk, calling for dusk to come out and letting the sunset appear. There was a special kind of beauty within this stillness, and no one who laid eyes on it would want to miss it. Rather, one would do everything to stop the things at hand to appreciate this beauty quietly, even if it was for just a moment.

  Akin to those gorgeous and mesmerising petals from before, this dusk also looked extremely beautiful, picturesque even, but it gave off a feeling of grief, just like a broken heart.

  “Pop……” Ning Cheng’s spear slammed into something in the middle of the two people, making a muffled sound like a bubble popping open.

  Under the impact of Ning Cheng’s spear, the man and woman standing opposite to each other over the blood river vanished like smoke. These were not real people, but a cohesive image left behind during their confrontation. Maybe they were just too quick in their clash that they had already finished their fight and left, only leaving behind the projection of their spirit techniques in mid-confrontation.

  As the projection of the two confronting cultivators disappeared, the blood river below their feet also calmed down; a huge black hole materialised in the distance, seemingly on the other end of the blood river. It seemed to be eating away at the blood river from afar.

  But all of this had nothing to do with Ning Cheng, he even closed his eyes and sat down. Although the projection of the two confronting cultivators had disappeared, Ning Cheng wanted to re-experience the effects from the Sunset’s Twilight and did not open his eyes. He could feel the spirit technique’s Dao Trace rapidly disappear.

  If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have never known about a spirit technique’s Dao Trace. He also wouldn’t realise that a spirit technique could be implemented in such a unique way. The techniques that he had comprehended previously: Traceless, Nothingness Flame-patterned Spear, the three variations of the Angry Axe, they looked utterly trivial and ridiculous, even laughable, in front of this spirit technique’s Dao Trace.

  The real strength of a spirit technique did not come through how one executed it. Instead, it originated from one’s Dao laws……

  What were Dao laws? Although his Sunset’s Twilight approached the level of Dao Laws, it was still not a spirit technique derived from real Dao Laws. Just as Song Chengbo said, maybe only when he found his own Dao, would he then be able to understand more about Dao Laws.

  Suddenly, Ning Cheng stood up and stabbed out again with the Nirvana Spear in his hand. The space in front of his Nirvana Spear quickly transformed into a whirlpool, which seemed to tie everything in the area together. Even if the target were a few tens of feet away from Ning Cheng, as long as he stabbed the spear into this whirlpool, the spear tip would instantly appear on target in a flash.

  What Flame-patterned Spear, what Angry Axe’s Three Forms, what Traceless……

  Those were just illusory parlour tricks. In front of this one spear, those techniques were all merely illusions. By this time, Ning Cheng also gained some clarity about the scene he witnessed in the Everlasting Blue Thunder City.

  As long as his intent fused with the spear, he could freely use the power of Traceless, Angry Axe’s Three Types, Nothingness Flame-patterned Spear or even the power of Sunset’s Twilight. Although it wasn’t his intention to do that, this skill invoked such an advantage upon casting.

  This was similar to the spirit techniques of those powerhouses; although it looked like a random blow, this move combined one’s powerful cultivation with the different abilities of one’s spirit techniques. If he grew strong, it would also improve; even if he remained weak, it would still be his most reliable support.

  “Boom……” Indescribable enlightenment bloomed within his mind. It was clear that he had already reached the peak of Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Yet, at this moment, Ning Cheng still felt his strength rising rapidly. It had nothing to do with cultivation. This surge in power was due to an epiphany. Moreover, this epiphany brought in significant benefits comparable to years of hard work.

  When Ning Cheng opened his eyes once again, one would be able to see his eyes flash with joy and delight. At this moment, he finally touched the cultivation barrier in Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Perhaps with the right opportunity, he could successfully break out from Heaven’s Mandate Realm and become a real powerhouse.

  As for the blood river in front of him, it had already calmed down, but the black hole down the blood river seemed to have grown slightly larger as if it wanted to devour the river entirely.

  Ning Cheng felt shocked on sensing this black hole. He had a hunch that this black hole was an entrance to another interface, or perhaps another positional plane. The two cultivators fighting had most likely entered the black hole and gone to another world or positional plane.

  Would it not mean that he could also rush into that black hole, enter the Mysterious Yellow Bead, and then enter another positional plane? Ning Cheng kept looking at the black hole in the distance and hesitated for a long time. However, thinking back to the two cultivators in mid-confrontation, it made him feel even more uneasy.

  The aura from just the projection of that female cultivator could completely suppress him. Yet the same aura had also allowed him to achieve deeper integration with his spirit techniques while helping him gain a more thorough understanding of Returning to One. It had even allowed him to catch the edge of the Heaven Seated Realm. However, if he really encountered this powerhouse, he might not even have a chance to escape even after advancing. This powerhouse was definitely much stronger than the pale-faced Eternal Realm expert that had chased him into the Ancient Desolace Abandoned Land before.

  If he had to go inside, he would have to wait until advancing to the Heaven seated Realm. Besides, when he saw Qionghua over that nine-petal lotus platform of that female cultivator, it made him even more worried about Qionghua. Therefore, he decided that once he advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm, he would find a way to return to the Ancient Desolace Abandoned Land.

  It doesn’t matter if he did not obtain any Purple Yin Spirit Spring, but he could at least bring Qionghua and Luofei to the Eternal Night Domain. Even Eternal-level experts would not be able to chase him to this place. Plus, once he advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm, he would not have to fear those in the Eternal Realm, at least not without giving it a try.

  At this point, Ning Cheng retreated from behind the statue. When he once again returned to the front of the statue, the blood river disappeared from both his view and even from the range of his Spiritual Consciousness. Not only did the blood river vanish, but even the black hole devouring the blood river had also gone.

  Ning Cheng took in a deep breath. Instead of going back to check what had happened, he simply gazed at the statue that looked like An Yi. Although the statue had the exact same appearance as An Yi, he still did not know how it got here. Despite that, Ning Cheng could feel An Yi’s exhaustion coming from it. It seemed that something was suppressing her, causing her to feel indescribably tired.

  After seeing that tired look of An Yi, Ning Cheng decided to take the statue away with him. This place was at the edge of the blood river; therefore, there was a good chance that this statue might disappear into the blood river sometime in the future.

  Although he could instinctively tell that this statue was not precisely of the An Yi he knew, it still had aural trace that felt identical to An Yi. He had lived for some time with An Yi, making him very familiar with An Yi’s aura. Back then, An Yi was still a little girl who knew nothing about the world. Therefore, whether this statue really was of An Yi or not, those tired eyes really stabbed into his heart.

  At the foot of An Yi’s statue was a simple praying mat. Ning Cheng carefully put down some array flags and covered the area around the statue. Then, with the help of the array formation, started moving the statue and the praying mat under statue into the True Spirit World……

  Graceful Star Mainland’s Feng Continent. The second-largest continent after the Le Continent on the mainland, except for the Tian Continent across the Graceful Star Ocean.

  Celestial Moon Pill Sect was an 8-star Academy in the Feng Continent. However, as a Pill Sect, its status in the nine continents was no worse than those 9-star Academies.

  Every disciple of the Celestial Moon Pill Sect was hailed throughout the mainland as a first-class expert. Moreover, if one became a core disciple, he or she would instantly turn into a celebrity that everyone else would faun head over heels.

  However, one of the core disciples did not enjoy such treatment. No one ever fawned over this core disciple, at least not anymore. People had even turned this disciple into an object of ridicule for others. The truth was that if it weren’t for this core disciple’s master, who was a powerhouse that could refine Level 7 Medicinal Pills, this female disciple would have turned into something akin to a maidservant a long time ago, or maybe even worse.

  As for a reason, despite her being the core disciple of the Celestial Moon Pill Sect, her cultivation couldn’t move even a single step forward after reaching the Profound Core Realm. For decades, despite wasting a lot of cultivation resources, this disciple’s cultivation showed no progress at all. If it weren’t for her master’s strength and influence, how could a female cultivator like her find the right to speak for herself?

  But now, this female cultivator’s only backing had disappeared. Her all-powerful master had suddenly died five months ago, leaving no words behind.

  For five months, this female cultivator stayed in front of her master’s coffin, without even taking a step away from this place. She had no idea about her future, nor did she knew about how to cope with the miserable future ahead of her. But she knew that as long as she left her master’s cave, she would never be able to speak a word for herself ever again.

  She also knew that even if she did not leave her master’s cave, the academy would take back the cave in a year after her master’s death. At that point, she would have no choice but to leave this place.

  “Junior Apprentice Sister An Yi, Uncle Master has already passed away. It would not be good for you to remain cooped up in the cave all by yourself. Let’s go out for a walk together……” A crisp female voice came from the outside, causing An Yi to suddenly wake up from her daze.

  However, she did not answer the call. She knew very well that she had no friends in this place, and no one would really be kind enough to ask her to come out just to relax. She only had a single friend in her life till now, and that was Big Brother Ning. However, Big Brother Ning can’t come here. Elder Brother Ning Cheng had once told her that everyone had a choice of hurting or not hurting others. But if one wanted to live, then one had to guard against people trying to hurt you. She had always kept this sentence close to her heart ever since.