Chapter 0302: Beauty for a Minister
Ning Cheng was a person with a very keen sense when it came to sensing crisis, allowing him to remain very vigilant and careful during his stay in this martial oriented world. After realising this, he immediately began refining the Hunger Suppressing Pills. Even if he took into account the strength of the pills, with the materials that he possessed, he could only refine the lowest ranks of the Hunger Suppressing Pills, at this level; a single pill would help a person live through three days without food.
After refining around two to three hundred of these pills, Ning Cheng thought that since there was a possibility of starving to death, then what about dying from thirst. Thinking of that, he immediately started refining the Fresh Water Pills.
A Fresh Water Pill, the size of a dragon eyed fruit, would be enough in gathering a large bowl of water. Then embedding them into his belt, and utilising some of the leftover thistles and thorns, Ning Cheng constructed a rudimentary toothbrush, before he suddenly smacked his own head.
Just what was wrong with him, wasn’t his sense of crisis a bit too over the top. Those experiences of old Rui in the form of advices was like a jolt to his nerves, which caused him to act out like a lunatic. For a cultivator like him who had such huge power reserves, because of Rui Baishan’s words, he ended up wasting half a day in doing such boring things.
Ning Cheng shook his head, but did not continue do such boring things, even the care package that he created; he threw it back into his storage ring. The sense of crisis that he had also quickly receded with an even faster speed than it arrived.
“You also know Alchemy?” Xu Yingdei’s voice arrived, Ning Cheng turned around only to see Xu Yingdei coming towards him, followed closely by Yin Kongchan.
The two of them did not need Ning Cheng to invite them, before both of them sat down in front of him.
“Don’t you have to look after your flying shuttle?” Ning Cheng looked at Yin Kongchan and asked.
Yin Kongchan replied, “I have a puppet, it can help me take care of the shuttle. You don’t have to worry about it; we will not have any delays. I would also like to ask the same question Xu Yingdei asked, are you also a Pill Master?”
“I am not a pill master. The pills that I was refining a moment ago were all grade less pills, the two of you already seen it. I am just trying to learn Alchemy. Learning Alchemy. Understand?” Ning Cheng gave a short laugh at the end.
“Everyone here is working towards the same thing, meaning we are cooperating with each other, so I think that we should have some honest discussions about the reasons and how the things would be allocated when the time comes.” Yin Kongchan did not tangle with Ning Cheng with more questions. From the way she saw it, Ning Cheng did not have much interest in chatting with her.
Ning Cheng also spoke up, “That’s right, why don’t you two speak up first.”
Ying Kongchan also did not decline as she spoke up, “My natural soul is not complete, and therefore I need the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence to complete it.”
“My ancestral grandmother suffered a serious injury to her soul, which currently can’t be undone, so I am looking for it for my ancestral grandmother.” Xu Yingdei also calmly replied.
Ning Cheng’s eyes wandered to the pa.s.sing sceneries outside of the shuttle, before he replied in a quiet manner, “I promised a senior that I would help him find the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence, in exchange for a favour. That senior’s cultivation is the highest that I have seen until now. So you could say that I have the most need of the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence. In case we are able to obtain it in its entirety, then I need 60 percent of it, while the 40 percent can be divided between you two.”
Although Ning Cheng had said it upfront without giving any face to them, but if Xu Yingdei and Yin Kongchan did not agree to it, then he would have to slowly negotiate it out with the two of them, but he at least would need 50 percent.
Contrary to Ning Cheng’s expectations, Yin Kongchan immediately replied, “I agree to it, I only want a small amount anyways.”
Xu Yingdei also gave a smile before speaking, “I also agree.”
It seems that these two people were at least easy to talk with; as such, Ning Cheng couldn’t help but feel slightly happier in his heart.
As if feeling that Ning Cheng was now in a slightly better mood, Xu Yingdei suddenly asked, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. Could you tell me if you asked how high the cultivation of that senior is? If you want, once my ancestral grandmother recovers, I can ask her to help you out.”
Ning Cheng looked at the currently incomparably sincere looking Xu Yingdei, but still spoke out in a blunt and direct manner, “Even if your grandmother restores her cultivation to what it was formerly, or even go a level beyond it, I am afraid that there would be no way for her to help me.”
Yin Kongchan actually had doubts as she glanced at Ning Cheng and added a line from the side, “If I have not guessed it wrong, then Xu Yingdei’s ancestral grandmother’s cultivation is far higher than the Heavenly Dao Academy’s Dao Master Xiao Bisheng. If even advancing a level in their cultivation would not be able to help you, then what in the world do you want to accomplish?”
Ning Cheng did not want to talk anymore with these two women, but on thinking of going back home, he couldn’t help but feel a bit excited in his heart, as such he couldn’t help but reply to them, “I want to go back to my home and look at it, other than that senior, no one else in this world would be able to help me.”
……
Looking at the hopeful yet resolute look on Ning Cheng’s face, coupled with his firm words, made Xu Yingdei to close up her mouth, she did not continue to speak anything. She actually very much wanted to say, that in this world if even her ancestral grandmother at her full power were not in a position to help Ning Cheng, then no one else would be able to help him. That is say; the senior that asked Ning Cheng to help look for the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence might just be a liar. However, thinking that Ning Cheng was absolutely not someone who would be swindled easily, she swallowed back the words that she was about to speak.
Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei were not able to find a common topic, while Ning Cheng in his heart was looking forward to finding the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence, so that he would then be able to concentrate his efforts on finding the Heavenly Cusp Flower, perhaps he would then be able to go back.
Xu Yingdei once again broke the silence after a long time, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, it seems that you are going to condense your Soul Essence soon. I have a jade strip with me that might be some use to you. Currently, you have truly offended a lot of people, I suggest you start condensing your Soul Essence ahead of time, which would also help you change your appearance slightly, this would save you a lot of trouble.”
“Condensing one’s Soul Essence can change your appearance?” Ning Cheng received the jade strip, as he asked in surprise.
Yin Kongchan interjected from the side, “Of course, however the change is something subtle, however you must have a specific cultivation mnemonic for it. I have them here with me.”
It seems that she was not willing to lag behind Xu Yingdei, which caused Yin Kongchan to also take out a jade strip before she handed it to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng was also not one to refuse such gifts, as he put away the two jade strips, and only asked, “According to what you said, wouldn’t it mean that there would not be any ugly looking people anymore? No wonder the two of you look so beautiful, so it was because you already have been operated upon aah.”
Xu Yingdei shook her head and spoke, “My looks are something that I was born with, and I never wanted to change anything about it.”
“I also don’t have any ideas either. I have this jade strip, but it doesn’t represent that I’ve used it.” Yin Kongchan explained without hesitation.
Xu Yingdei ignored Yin Kongchan as she spoke, “Actually the change in appearance as mentioned in the jade strip is something that is not easily achievable, moreover one’s appearance is something that is birthed from the heart, in other words your appearance will already be fixed the moment you are born, even if you forced yourself to change it, once you cultivate for a long time, it would slowly change back to what it was originally, however this process of change is very subtle. Condensing one’s Soul Essence, is a process similar to the birth of a heart. As such it is at this time, when it is the most easiest to change one’s appearance, that’s why I suggested that you change your appearance a little bit when you start condensing your Soul Essence.”
Ning Cheng was surprised in his heart on hearing this; no wonder after cultivating for all these years, his appearance had changed only slightly, rather it was getting more and more close to his initial original appearance. It looks like Xu Yingdei stating that appearance was something born from the heart was not nonsense, if one can change it again, then if had to come back in the future, then it would also not be too abrupt.
“Many thanks; these two jade strips are definitely very useful for me.” Ning Cheng already put away the jade strip, and for the first time sincerely thanked the two of them.
Ning Cheng originally did not want to talk to them anymore, and although these two people looked as if they were trying to court him, it actually seemed a bit cute to him. Xu Yingdei’s goal over Ning Cheng was very clear from the start, that she wanted to experience the emotion of love for herself, however she did not actually dream about it. As for Yin Kongchan’s case, Ning Cheng was somewhat puzzled with it.
Whether or not he was able to understand the meaning of these two people’s actions, Ning Cheng was at least clear on the fact that he would not have anything to do with these two once each of their respective goals were achieved, as such he stood up and started boasting wildly about this and that from the place he came.
Xu Yingdei and Yin Kongchan were originally people who were not friendly with each other, if not for Ning Cheng taking the initiative to speak then the three of them simply would not even talk let alone hold a conversation amongst them. Now that they saw Ning Cheng speak with both confidence and eloquence, with the two of them occasionally asking him questions, the atmosphere also started to become a bit warm between them.
Although cultivation was not something possible on Earth, but news and other information was still able to travel over extremely long distances. Even if it was the North Pole of the Arctic region, in just a minute, it was possible to exchange news both ways with the South Pole in the Antarctic.
In the Tian Continent, although there were Sound Jade Tablets, there were even Sound Transmission Array Formations and Huge Display Array Formations, but compared to the electronic information explosion era from Earth, it all seemed to be miles apart. Yin Kongchan and Xu Yingdei both wanted to earn a favourable impression from Ning Cheng, as such they had initially deliberately came over to talk to him, but after they heard Ning Cheng’s words, the two of them were actually left stunned. The two of them had always spent their time in cultivation, as such, they simply had never heard of such kinds of strange things, let alone see them.
“You said that the flight type magical weapons really do not use any kind of spiritual power?” Xu Yingdei asked in amazement.
“What I feel strange is that why that thing called ‘bikini’ can only be worn on the beach, what if I wore it at some other place?” Yin Kongchan was obviously more concerned about the ‘bikini’ that was obviously described to them by Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng actually sized up Yin Kongchan, before he suddenly gave a nod and spoke, “With your body, you definitely can wear it at other places, when I have the free time; I will definitely help you craft a set. When you walk down the streets in a bikini, please don’t forget that I was the one who helped you craft it.”
“Then many thanks to you in advance.” Yin Kongchan gave a genuine smile for the first time, she did not laugh at this outstandingly beautiful world that was just described to her. Now that he saw her give a genuine smile, Ning Cheng couldn’t help but remember a poem, looking back at it, it was a smile that gave birth to innumerable charms. Even if one did not look back at it, it would still cause one to choke up.
Ning Cheng shook his head; suddenly he did not want to continue with those thoughts.
“Why did you shake your head?” Yin Kongchan on seeing Ning Cheng seemed to be introspecting, then shake his head, she also couldn’t help but ask.
Ning Cheng showed a faint smile, before speaking, “I just remembered eight words.”
Hearing that, Yin Kongchan’s smile immediately converged, before she spoke lightly, “I am a female cultivator; your eight words are of no use for me.”
Xu Yingdei suddenly spoke, “I think that Senior Apprentice Brother Ning was not thinking of those eight words.”
Ning Cheng also did not continue to explain his words, he truly had not thought of the eight words that he had spoken on the battle ring, but rather the eight words ‘A beauty for a minister, yet dealing in evil?’ Don’t look at the nice words coming from the mouth of Yin Kongchan; Ning Cheng could feel that she was trying to get close to him because she coveted his Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds in her heart. Although these words were quite boring to say, as whether for good or for evil, the three of them still were working in cooperation to each other.
[TL Note – The eight words that he spoke of are ‘卿本佳人、奈何做贼？’. That is the best translation that I can come up with currently. Will change it when I find something better.]
The three of them also turned silent, for almost half an incense stick worth of time, no one spoke up. However, at this moment the shuttle actually entered a dense fog, even one’s spiritual consciousness was not able to stretch out far, seeing this Ning Cheng suddenly stood up, “What happened?”
“Don’t need to be worried about it, this place is the Hidden Mist Cemetery, only by going to the Hidden Mist Cemetery would we be able to reach the place where the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence might possibly appear. In other words, the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence would appear somewhere inside the Hidden Mist Cemetery.” Yin Kongchan spoke in a soft voice.
Xu Yingdei also stood up, as he looked at Yin Kongchan and spoke, “The Hidden Mist Cemetery is one of the most evil and forbidden area, why did you not mention this before we came in.”
Yin Kongchan was still calm as she spoke, “Guiding the way was my thing, as to how to locate the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence, as well as excavating the Geocentric 9 Yin Essence and what you do with it after we obtain it, it is all up to you, and I’m also not going to ask you about it.”