An hour later, Ning Cheng finally figured out what was going on. The ring brought by this bull-faced Life Essence had a cavernous s.p.a.ce within it, indicating that it was of a much higher grade compared to Ning Cheng’s Miniature World Ring and was almost at the level of a high-grade Dao Artefact, if not higher. Moreover, it could even allow a Life Essence to hole up inside to survive.
However, the things inside did not catch Ning Cheng’s attention at all. Apart from a knife, which was also a high-grade Dao Artefact, the storage ring only contained a few empty jade boxes and some cheap materials.
The bull-faced Life Essence usually hid within the praying mat. As long as any cultivator fell down the well, the bull-faced Life Essence would then devour the other cultivator’s Life Essence for cultivation. As such, it did not have much idea about the things inside the ring.
The bull-faced Life Essence turned out to be a Wind Seeking Longevity Bull; hearing the name, Ning Cheng almost laughed out. No wonder this fellow managed to live this long, its very name contained the words ‘Longevity Bull’. Its owner had already perished in the Sea of Twilight, following which the Life Essence of the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull managed to flee to this dry well with the owner’s ring, and did not choose to come out again.
As for the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull’s way of speaking before Ning Cheng caught it, it was because it wanted to imitate its fallen owner and pretend to be an expert. However, after Ning Cheng trapped it, it completely forgot about differentiating between North and South, East and West and could only beg for mercy.
“How long have I been cultivating in here?” Ning Cheng asked while replacing the ring on his hand with the ring brought by the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull, deciding to use it as his own for now.
The Wind Seeking Longevity Bull did not dare to utter even half a word of discontentment as it carefully replied, “For almost two years. After Master came in and started cultivating, Master did not stop till Master advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm.”
“I’m not your master. Do not mistake me for someone else. As for your Life Essence, I am giving it back to you. You can continue staying in here and devour Life Essences that come your way, but I’m leaving.” Ning Cheng mercilessly pulled out the trace of the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull’s Life Essence and spoke.
This bull had little use to him apart from its longevity. Although it said that it knew a few places, it had not mentioned anything else. It even said that it knew about the Perpetual Moon Lake, but only the general direction pointed out by his previous owner. To save its life, this bull had no bottom line at all. As such, although Ning Cheng did not want to kill this sly Wind Seeking Longevity Bull, he also did not want to take it with him.
“Master, please take me with you. I do not know for how many years I have remained trapped in this dark well. Besides, I cannot devour Life Essences anymore with my present condition. However, I still have many uses. I am a Wind Seeking Longevity Bull; as such, not only do I live a long life, I am also very fast. Once I restore my physical body, I would definitely be able to provide master with even more help.” The Wind Seeking Longevity Bull pitifully spoke up. With Ning Cheng taking away its praying mat, how would it be able to stay in this place?
Ning Cheng hesitated for a long time before speaking, “I can take you with me. However, if you dare to have even a shred of disloyalty, I will help you recover your corporeal body…..”
The Wind Seeing Longevity Bull felt shocked, daring to show even a shred of disloyalty, yet still helping in recovering my corporeal body. However, if it showed disloyalty again, would it have any way to deal with his terrifying Sea of Consciousness?
Ning Cheng looked at the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull and sneered before speaking, “And then I will stew you whole, add some shallots and scallions, and slowly relish a full pot of beef soup.”
The Wind Seeking Longevity Bull shuddered and quickly spoke up, “There will be no disloyalty. There definitely would not be any disloyalty. I am loyal; I’ll always follow you with unparalleled loyalty….”
“Stop” Ning Cheng stopped the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull from speaking anymore, “I will call you Little Chase from now on. If you manage to perform well in the Time Wilderness, I will take you out and restore your corporeal body. As for turning you into beef soup, it will depend on your performance.”
The Wind Seeking Longevity Bull felt an intense shiver run down its spine and did not dare to continue with its wordiness.
Ning Cheng threw the Wind Seeking Longevity Bull’s Life Essence into the Essence Gathering Praying Mat and then put the praying mat into the ring before stimulating the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds.
It had not taken too long for Ning Cheng to fall down; however, now that he had to fly upwards, even after advancing to the Celestial Shatterer Realm, it proved extremely challenging. Ning Cheng still could not figure out what this well was, but the powerful suction made Ning Cheng spend at least half a month inside it before he finally managed to come out.
The first thing Ning Cheng wanted to do after coming out of the well’s entrance was to head to Moon Creek. He and Ruan Mingshu had made an appointment to meet at Moon Creek. However, since Ning Cheng had remained trapped for nearly two years, he did not know if Ruan Mingshu would still choose to stay at Moon Creek.
……
The Moon Creek was not a brook or a stream, according to Ruan Mingshu it was just a dried up part of a stream. However, when Ning Cheng arrived at this place, referring it as a dried-up stream did not feel right; it felt more like a dried up basin at best.
After Ning Cheng advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm, although still without a Celestial Wheel, his Spiritual Consciousness had soared in strength and could extend up to two to three hundred miles around him.
However, Ning Cheng could not find any trace of Ruan Mingshu, nor did he see any mark left behind by Ruan Mingshu.
Did Ruan Mingshu not arrive here yet? Ning Cheng felt a bit doubtful. Although Ning Cheng had not come to this place in time, it was not because he decided to renege on the appointment, but because he ended up trapped at the bottom of a well. So what reason did Ruan Mingshu have for not showing up?
The Essence Qi around this dry river was only of an ordinary quality; however, Ning Cheng still decided to wait here. The main reason was that his Celestial Shatterer Cultivation had not consolidated yet. He had just advanced to the Celestial Shatterer Realm when the idiot bull, Little Chase, woke him up. Instead of wasting time and energy to look for a place to consolidate his cultivation, Ning Cheng felt it was better to stay at the Moon Creek and wait for Ruan Mingshu while solidifying his cultivation.
As two months pa.s.sed by, Ning Cheng finally managed to consolidate his cultivation at the early stages of Celestial Shatterer Realm. During this period, Ruan Mingshu had not shown herself. With no indication of her, Ning Cheng started thinking about leaving this place and look for the Perpetual Moon Lake by himself.
Since Ruan Mingshu had not shown up for several months, was he supposed to continue to wait at this place all the time? Maybe Ruan Mingshu had already come here before and had long since left without waiting for him.
Besides, even though the stupid bull bragged a little, Ning Cheng still knew about the general location about the Perpetual Moon Lakes apart from one or two other things.
At this moment, a Taoist shadow quickly rushed towards his direction. Ning Cheng immediately stopped thinking about heading out. In any case, this was the first time he encountered another cultivator since he entered the Time Wilderness.
This Taoist shadow soon arrived at the dry stream’s Moon Creek, allowing Ning Cheng to make out that it was Ruan Mingshu’s silhouette. After more than two years, Ruan Mingshu’s aura had grown much stronger than before. From this, Ning Cheng realised that he was not the only one to obtain a fortune after entering the Time Wilderness.
Without waiting for Ning Cheng to come out, another Taoist shadow quickly arrived. This silhouette was of Zhao Yanxiang, just as Ning Cheng guessed.
“Mingshu, why don’t you listen to me instead of running back to this place again and again?” Zhao Yanxiang descended and stopped right in front of Ruan Mingshu before complaining. His aura had also grown stronger compared to the past. Looks like this fellow also experienced some not-so-small progress within the Time Wilderness.
“I promised Senior Apprentice Brother Ning Cheng to wait for him here.” Ruan Mingshu calmly replied.
Zhao Yanxiang suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Ruan Mingshu’s hand and spoke, “Mingshu, a long time has already pa.s.sed. Who knows if Ning Cheng is still alive or dead? He has already offended Lou Pingchuan, who would never let go of this person. Besides, I don’t believe that the two of us would not get into the Perpetual Moon Lake.”
With that, Zhao Yanxiang pulled in his hand and hugged Ruan Mingshu.
Ruan Mingshu turned her body around and spoke to Zhao Yanxiang, “Senior Apprentice Brother Yanxiang, you know I don’t like this.”
“Ok, if you don’t like it, I won’t do it. Shall we now head to the Perpetual Moon Lake now?”
Zhao Yanxiang spoke up and immediately let go of Ruan Mingshu.
“I said I want to wait for Senior Apprentice Brother Ning.” Ruan Mingshu spoke with a frown.
“Don’t you just need a cultivator with a powerful Spiritual Consciousness for the blood sacrifice? Why can’t we just grab a cultivator at random and drag them to the Perpetual Moon Lake for the blood sacrifice?” Zhao Yanxiang suddenly spoke with a dissatisfied tone.
Ruan Mingshu stared at Zhao Yanxiang and spoke in surprise, “You know about the blood sacrifice?”
“Of course, I know about it.” Zhao Yanxiang replied while sneering in his heart. If he did not know that she wanted Ning Cheng for the blood sacrifice, would he tolerate Ruan Mingshu and Ning Cheng staying together for the night?
Seeing Ruan Mingshu’s change of expression, Zhao Yanxiang once again stepped forward and lifted up her face before kissing her on the lips.
Ruan Mingshu’s face suddenly erupted in anger and pushed Zhao Yanxiang away, “Senior Apprentice Brother Yanxiang, I said that I didn’t like it, and you spoke of not doing it.”
Zhao Yanxiang suddenly felt Ning Cheng’s image flash through his head and finally spoke out in anger, “Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, you can sleep with Ning Cheng, yet I can’t even kiss you. Just who is your Dao Companion?”
Ruan Mingshu’s angry expression suddenly turned calm as she looked at Zhao Yanxiang and spoke up, “Senior Apprentice Brother Zhao, you are not my Dao Companion. Please do not ever make that mistake. We are just cooperating with each other for mutual benefits. I spent the night with Ning Cheng because I desired to spend the night with him. You have no right to control me or my behaviour.”
Zhao Yanxiang’s complexion turned stiff and could only speak after a while, “Mingshu, I’m sorry. I spoke too harshly. However, you know I care too much about you. Although I spoke a bit harshly, you don’t have to worry about it……”
“Haha, Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, I did not expect that I would arrive at just the right time. Aah, did I keep you waiting?” Ning Cheng’s laughing voice interrupted Zhao Yanxiang’s words.
Ruan Mingshu, on seeing Ning Cheng, immediately showed a surprised expression. As if recalling something, her face suddenly changed once again before replying, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, I just arrived, did you also just reach?”
“That’s right, I just reached this place. Oh, Junior Apprentice Brother Zhao is also here too. This is for the best, let’s go together.” Ning Cheng behaved as if he had just seen Zhao Yanxiang and added a sentence in surprise while acting utterly oblivious to Zhao Yanxiang’s cultivation or his age.
Zhao Yanxiang also gave out a hearty laugh before replying, “Good, let us travel together.”
With Ruan Mingshu leading the way, the three of them immediately headed in the direction of the Perpetual Moon Lake. However, none of the three spoke, as if all of them had their own thoughts they pondered over in their minds.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, did you wait for a long time at the Moon Creek?” After a few days of travelling, Ruan Mingshu finally could not help but take the initiative to ask a question.
Ning Cheng replied with a puzzled expression, “No, did you wait there for a long time?”
“No, what happened though? After I came in, I found a Celestial Essence Spring and ended up cultivating for more than a year. I was afraid that you might have ended up waiting for a long time, turning a little anxious. By the way, did Senior Apprentice Brother Ning encounter anything good during these two years in the Time Wilderness?” Ruan Mingshu gave a dry reply.
“I always had good luck with things, so I also found a few Celestial Essence Springs along the way, and ended up cultivating for a greater part of the two years. Although I still haven’t managed to condense a Celestial Wheel, I feel that I managed to make some good progress.” Ning Cheng replied with a smile.
Zhao Yanxiang, on seeing Ruan Mingshu and Ning Cheng talk, felt like a complete outsider and quickly spoke up, “Mingshu, how far is the Perpetual Moon Lake?”
“Not very far” Ruan Mingshu returned a brief answer before turning silent once again.
“Boom…..” A loud explosion suddenly broke the silence.
Ruan Mingshu stopped and looked in the direction from where the explosion had erupted before she frowned and spoke, “It came from the direction of the Perpetual Moon Lake.”