Chapter 0448: Nalan Ruxue’s Apology
“Sect Master Ning…..” Seeing Ning Cheng come in, the quietly seated Nalan Ruxue and Lian’e immediately stood up.
Lian’e, standing on the side, on seeing Ning Cheng come in, greeted him, and immediately left the waiting room. The matters relating to Ning Cheng and Nalan Ruxue, she had already heard it from Meng Jingxiu. Speaking of which, this was Nalan Ruxue’s second visit to the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect, the first time was when she came to visit Meng Jingxiu.
“What matter did you come here looking for me?” Ning Cheng asked after motioning Nalan Ruxue to sit down.
If it were Yan Ji, he would have felt happy. Even if it was not Yan Ji, and instead was Cheng Yixiao, he would feel a lot more comfortable compared to seeing this woman.
When Nalan Ruxue came here, he really did not feel even half a bit happy. Comparing appearances, Nalan Ruxue might not be worse when compared to Yan Ji, and not worse than the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s first beauty Luo Ziyan. However, Nalan Ruxue possessed a genuinely reviling character. It was no surprise that Ning Cheng felt a slight hatred towards this woman.
However, there was also no denying the remarkable qualifications of this Nalan Ruxue. It hadn’t been long since she arrived at the Tian Continent, yet she had already advanced to the 5th Level of Sea Opening Realm in her cultivation. Cultivation level wise, she was slightly higher than he was.
“I joined the Battle Devil Hall. After coming out of seclusion, I learned of your grand wedding, which made me specifically come here to congratulate you.” Nalan Ruxue seemed to already know that Ning Cheng did not have even the slightest bit of good impression of her, causing her to speak up in a slightly cautious tone.
Towards the congratulations offered by Nalan Ruxue, Ning Cheng didn’t take it to heart. Even if Nalan Ruxue came with genuine intentions to congratulate him, he and Nalan Ruxue could never become friends. However, he genuinely felt surprised when he heard that Nalan Ruxue had joined the Battle Devil Hall. Moreover, the Battle Devil hall remained ranked second among the ten top factions of the Tian Continent. Second only to the Thousand Buddhist Hall and even stronger than the Heavenly Dao Academy.
Moreover, the Battle Devil Hall actually was a faction that specially nurtured Devil Cultivators. Although Tian Continent did not differentiate between Devil Cultivators and Dao Cultivators, when it came to the Le Continent, Devil Cultivators always remained mortal enemies to the locals. Because of his use of the embryonic form of the Cosmic True Devil Axe, resulting in Devil Qi spill over, it resulted in the issuance of a warrant for his death. Nalan Ruxue herself was someone from the Le Continent; properly speaking, she should feel repugnant towards Devil Cultivators, so how could she join a Devil Cultivator faction?
Le Continent’s Thoughtless Academy also had extreme prejudice against the Devil Cultivators. Nevertheless, the premier disciple of the Thoughtless Academy joining the Battle Devil Hall. It could not be any more ironic.
“Oh, I never thought that you would join the Battle Devil Hall… Congratulations, congratulations.” Initially thinking about the time when the Thoughtless Academy had issued a warrant for his arrest, Ning Cheng would have wanted to retort with a sarcastic remark. However, thinking that the other party had come congratulating him for his grand wedding, he immediately swallowed the words that had just arrived at the tip of his tongue. Saying that it was also unlikely to forever hold back his tongue.
Nalan Ruxue lowered her head. No one but she knew as to why she joined the Battle Devil Hall. With her qualifications, she could have entered any of the major factions within the Tian Continent easily; however, she chose to enter the Battle Devil Hall.
“This is a small gift for you and Big Sister Luofei.” Nalan Ruxue handed Ning Cheng a jade box.
Ning Cheng silently took the jade box but did not open it. Just worded a thank you.
Seeing Ning Cheng accept the jade box, Nalan Ruxue gave a sigh. She stood up again, before giving a respectful bow, “Sect Master Ning, this time apart from coming here to congratulate you for your wedding, I came here to apologise and also thank you for saving my life. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid that that Sikong Kai would have already swallowed me completely without even leaving behind any dregs. I used to be ignorant before, not only did I not thank you, I even doubted you.”
For Nalan Ruxue, this was perhaps the first time for her to solemnly apologise to another person. If she were like before, then even if she had done something wrong, she would have at most felt upset. Although she might have felt somewhat apologetic, she definitely would never apologise to others.
Instead, she felt influenced by Meng Jingxiu’s words. In the beginning, she did not know much about Meng Jingxiu’s qualifications. Even though Ning Cheng had asked Meng Jingxiu to join the Thoughtless Academy; however, Nalan Ruxue had ultimately rejected her admission. However, when she met Meng Jingxiu again in the Tian Continent, Meng Jingxiu was already a late stage Crucible Transformation Cultivator, while she had only recently stepped into the early stages of the Sea Opening Realm.
Similarly, she had once looked down upon Ning Cheng and had disdained the thought of him joining the Thoughtless Academy. However, Ning Cheng was now a Sect Master of one of the ten most highly rated factions of the Tian Continent. Even the heads of the Battle Devil Hall had to personally come out and congratulate Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng, whom she had thought as someone who could never catch up to her, had now transformed into someone that she could never hope to even catch up to.
Sometimes, what the eyes perceive might not be the truth. Meng Jingxiu and Ning Cheng, both of whom she had deemed inferior to her, were both now far beyond her reach. This allowed her to understand a painful truth. That at any time, one must not look at how great one currently is, maybe many years later, in the eyes of those whom you once looked down upon, you might turn equally insignificant.
She recalled the words Meng Jingxiu said to her when she met her last time. Meng Jingxiu had said to her, “Nalan Ruxue, the fact is, in my eyes, you are just someone who holds a golden key; there would always be someone or the other to pave the road for you. I’m not mocking you; it’s just stating a fact.”
“For an ungrateful person, even if there were more golden keys in your possession, your achievements will always remain limited. To save you, Ning Cheng had secretly snuck into a Profound Congealing Cultivator’s Immortal Cave along with me. I can vouch that the Profound Congealing Nefarious Cultivator indeed was quite evil. At first sight of you, he tore off all your clothes. As for what he wanted to do to you, I believe that you should already understand by now.”
“At that time, Ning Cheng was only at the early stages of the Essence Building Realm, while that tomb contained not just a single Profound Congealing Cultivator. Other than Sikong Kai, there was even that Hang Jiaojiao. Ning Cheng was playing with his own life to save yours. Yet, how did you pay Ning Cheng back? I do not want to say any ungrateful words, but this is indeed the case. To be honest, I have never met anyone like Ning Cheng. He indeed possesses a compa.s.sionate and kind heart. That is the only reason why I am willing to be his friend and why I chose to come to the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect.”
Although Nalan Ruxue knew that what Meng Jingxiu had spoken might not entirely be right, at least the part about possessing a golden key and about hiding behind her background to cultivate. However, she also did not refute Meng Jingxiu’s words, as she genuinely mistreated Ning Cheng. Unfortunately, the words in her heart, she honestly could not tell them to anyone at all.
That time, when she left the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect after meeting her, she at least understood one truth. That is, one’s faction or master might not always be in the right, there would still be some things that one would have to judge for themselves. From the Law’s Way, she knew that Ning Cheng had saved her, but under her master’s preaching, she could not turn herself into someone like Yan Ji.
Yan Ji, a woman much more independent, when compared to her; after she acknowledged Ning Cheng, no matter who it was, whether her academy or even her own clan, none of them could affect her beliefs.
Once Yue Ying had also said to her, that Ning Cheng had once conveyed to her that sometimes what we see is not necessarily the truth. Yue Ying had understood this reason much earlier compared to her, while she, Nalan Ruxue, had only come to realise it recently.
However, regarding Nalan Ruxue’s apology or her grat.i.tude, Ning Cheng did not feel too touched about it. Imagine if he perished under the hands of Nalan Ruxue’s master, the Daoist Priestess, all those years ago. Would someone like Nalan Ruxue even recall who Ning Cheng was if that had honestly happened? On the other hand, maybe she would have already forgotten him, tossed to one side, a mere speck in her memory.
Initially, Nalan Ruxue might not have doubted him; however, she had used him. Nevertheless, Ning Cheng did not want to care about such things.
“I’ve already forgotten about those things.” Ning Cheng spoke up plainly.
She did not care about Ning Cheng’s tone; after Nalan Ruxue heard those words, it seemed that she relaxed a little. It was her own master who had released the rumour that she and Ning Cheng had already done the deed between a husband and wife; however, she deliberately did not stop those words from spreading. This matter, only she understood that she was not the one to use Ning Cheng; however, she also did not feel it necessary to go and find Ning Cheng to explain it.
“Yue Ying and Yue Yuanhua, after getting to know that the Thoughtless Academy issued an arrest warrant for you, felt very discontented with me and the Thoughtless Academy, which led to them leaving the academy. As to where they are right now, even I do not know.” Nalan Ruxue continued.
Ning Cheng, only at this moment, recalled this pair of gifted siblings, and An Yi, which suddenly caused him to feel apologetic. When he was in the Le Continent, he didn’t even have a single thought of going to look for the three of them.
“After saying these words, I feel much more at ease. I will be taking my leave now.” Nalan Ruxue did not continue to linger around, before turning around and leaving quickly.
Ning Cheng also did not stop Nalan Ruxue. He estimated that there should not be any more chances for them to meet in the future. Opening the jade box, Ning Cheng only found an Escape Talisman. In the past, when forced by Nalan Ruxue’s master, he had used this same Escaping Talisman to make his escape.
Closing the jade box again, Ning Cheng sat there for a long time. Only after Luofei came in, did he stand up and speak, “Luofei, I’m going to hand over the position of the Sect Master to Sect Master Tantai. We’ll then depart for Heaven’s Way; in any case, the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect cannot be without a Sect Master.”
After consulting with Tantai Fei and the two other Grand Elder Taoists, they also did not refuse Ning Cheng pa.s.sing on the position of the Sect Master. With the approval of the several people, they decided that after Ning Cheng officially entered the Heaven’s Way, the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect would once again host another Sect Master Ascension Ceremony.
……
Although the Spiritual Vein was in Ning Cheng’s possession, after coming back to the sect, he couldn’t spend even a single productive day in cultivation. After completing the procedure of pa.s.sing on the Sect Master position to Tantai Fei, Ning Cheng and Ji Luofei then prepared themselves to go into seclusion.
Whether or not were there any dangers within the Heaven’s Way, n.o.body could say for sure. However, there is a point that everyone knew, that is, many have managed to enter Heaven’s Way; yet, no one had ever returned from there.
After taking out the Spiritual Vein from his Miniature World, Ning Cheng placed it under his Immortal Cave. The Miniature World did not contain any laws at all. As such, to obtain more power, going into seclusion in the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak would undoubtedly produce more powerful results than in his Miniature World.
Ji Luofei did not need to use the Spiritual Vein to cultivate like Ning Cheng; for her, as long as she had the Spirit Stones, it would be ok for her. Moreover, the Spirit Stones on Ning Cheng’s body added up were at least a few hundred billion; as such, Ji Luofei could continue cultivating smoothly without any kind of pressure.
Three months later, Ning Cheng advanced to the 5th Level of Sea Opening Realm. Seven months later, Ning Cheng stormed through to the 6th Level of Sea Opening Realm. A year from then, when Ning Cheng almost consumed the entire Spiritual Vein, he narrowly advanced to the 7th Level of the Sea Opening Realm.
Ning Cheng clearly felt that even when cultivating with Spiritual Veins, his cultivation speed continued to drop. Tan Yun, with just a small piece of this Spiritual Vein, could already cultivate all the way up to the Crucible Transformation Realm, she even shared the remaining with Ning Ruolan and the others to cultivate. He had more than twice the size of Spiritual Vein compared to Tan Yun, yet he could only advance to the 7th Level of Sea Opening Realm, an advancement of only three minor levels. Although he still possessed the small clump of Essence of Wood, Ning Cheng was not willing to use it.
In any case, Ning Cheng knew that remaining behind in the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect did not have any meaning. So on this day, Ning Cheng first refined the Flame Beacon Diagram obtained from the Red Star Sword Faction, then called out Luofei. They then proceeded to say their goodbyes to the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect’s Tantai Fei, Zhong Liping, and other Crucible Transformation Cultivators, before moving onto the Rainbow Fall Sword Peak’s Nan Yuefang, Lian’e, Yang Honghou, and the others before finally leaving.