Chapter 0909: If you want to fight, then figh
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Because of the cultivation method, any cultivator from a prominent sect would experience their strength improve by more than double after finishing their spirit essence transformation. It was the main difference that set apart those from large sects and rogue cultivators. In general, for ordinary rogue cultivators, their strength would only improve to double at max after finishing the transformation process.
Power always begot power. These four words weren’t unreasonable at all. It not only meant that people from big sects had access to better cultivating resources, but they also had the means to speed up and improve the transformation process.
“Since two people selected the same stone door, wouldn’t they have to fight to find the ultimate owner? What do you think I want to do? Let’s fight.” Ning Cheng would have already started if he didn’t care about the rules.
Ji Pingzhong firmly held back the anxiety building up inside him and tried to calm himself down as much as possible before speaking. “Don’t you know it’s just for the first nine stone doors? Choosing the tenth stone door is tantamount to giving up on the fight. If you’re going to challenge my Desolate Spirit Palace, then just say it directly. I will accept your challenge.”
Ning Cheng wasn’t an idiot. Go and challenge the Desolate Spirit Palace. He could use excuses to kill Ji Pingzhong but absolutely cannot challenge the Desolate Spirit Palace with his current strength.
“Forget it. Just give me ten million spirit crystals.” Seeing that he couldn’t come up with an excuse to kill Ji Pingzhong, Ning Cheng decided to settle for the second-best option.
Ten million spirit crystals, for an ordinary rogue cultivator, would be a huge sum. But for Ji Pingzhong, he could easily afford it.
Ji Pingzhong quickly took out a storage bag and threw it towards Ning Cheng. Since he had already lost face, he no longer cared if he lost it again.
Ning Cheng put away the spirit crystals and no longer paid any attention to Ji Pingzhong.
Yan Xishuang and Mu Shuifeng were still locked in a fierce fight. Seeing how Mu Shuifeng fought, Ning Cheng realised that Mu Shuifeng had hidden his power during the great meet just like a few others.
“Boom……” A loud explosion erupted, exposing Lu Yixian and Aiden, who retreated almost instantly. Aiden looked a little fl.u.s.tered at this point. Lu Yixian, on the other hand, seemed relaxed. Even if the two didn’t move back, everyone could tell that Lu Yixian had the upper hand.
As the celestial essence within the attacks dispersed, everyone immediately felt a powerful aftershock. Yet, at this moment, s.p.a.ce around them remained motionless. From this, they understood that s.p.a.ce here had extreme stability. But, that’s not right; rather than stability, everything around them felt as hard as the boulder they were standing on right now.
Even the most potent attacks from Eternal cultivators couldn’t seem to damage even a part of this place.
“You’re very powerful. I guess I will have to try my luck at the second one.” Even if they hadn’t determined the winner, Aiden didn’t intend to continue fighting with Lu Yixian. Instead, he simply looked at the still smiling Lu Yixian. Then, he walked towards the Zhongmeng Yuxiu, who occupied the second stone door.
Lu Yixian understood that Aiden wasn’t afraid of him. However, he felt more fearful of Ji He, who just killed Guo Haoge.
Seeing Aiden come over, Zhongmeng Yuxiu’s beautiful face showed a frown. Then, raising her hand, she brought out her weapon. When it came to beauty, Zhongmeng Yuxiu couldn’t compare to Yan Xishuang, but she wasn’t far off either. At the very least, her beauty outshined Yin Ying. Moreover, as a disciple from Profound Aquatic Palace, her beauty didn’t let down her palace or name[1].
Her weapon of choice was a pair of thunder beads. Even if she didn’t fully stimulate the beads and left them suspended over her head, one could still see violent lightning bolts flickering inside it.
Anyone’s spiritual consciousness that fell onto these two thunder beads could feel the horrifying power of a thunder source contained inside it.
Ning Cheng thought a lot about it. If he paired against Zhongmeng Yuxiu, even if this woman’s thunder beads couldn’t compare to a Good Fortune Bead, the fight would last for a long time. So the threat to him was even higher than Guo Haoge. It made Ning Cheng feel a little fortunate, as he still wasn’t clear about what the Mysterious Yellow Bead did to his spiritual roots.
Having hybrid spiritual roots also equated to a slower cultivation speed. However, it also meant that he could cultivate many different spirit techniques, at least theoretically.
As for Aiden’s black smoke, Ning Cheng still couldn’t figure out what’s going on with it. But he knew that Zhongmeng Yuxiu couldn’t win against Aiden.
Aiden and Zhongmeng Yuxiu had just started fighting when a blood fog erupted. Ning Cheng then saw Mu Shuifeng flying out with a b.l.o.o.d.y hole in his chest.
It looks like Yan Xishuang won. However, Yan Xishuang’s aura felt slightly sluggish, which meant it wasn’t an easy win for her.
Yan Xishuang saw Ning Cheng look at her and nodded back. Ning Cheng’s strength had truly come as a surprise to her. In this place, having a strong friend meant an added layer of protection, which also made her feel a bit happy. Even if the other party didn’t help her, just his presence could deter others. At the very least, it would keep her opponents from killing her.
Ning Cheng didn’t look at the fight between Aiden and Zhongmeng Yuxiu. Instead, he went to the first stone door and looked at Lu Yixian and Yin Ying, who still hadn’t started fighting. “Who’s gonna fight me next?”
Yin Ying didn’t answer. She even had a slight hesitation in her eyes. Ning Cheng understood that Yin Ying most likely considered backing away from this fight.
Lu Yixian didn’t seem to have exerted himself much during the fight against Aiden previously. Since Yin Ying still hadn’t come forward at this point, he took a deep breath and took a step forward to stand opposite Ning Cheng. “I take back what I said earlier. You are strong. But to occupy the first spring of the Extraterritorial Spirit Spring, you will have to see if my copper lamp is willing.”
Lu Yixian’s weapon was a copper lamp in the shape of a horn. It was tall but had a slightly weird form. It was Ning Cheng’s first time seeing such a weapon. Moreover, since Ning Cheng was still fighting Guo Haoge while Lu Yixian fought against Aiden, he didn’t know the abilities of this copper lamp.
Ning Cheng had just brought out his long spear when a majestic momentum came crashing down on him, suppressing his every movement. Ning Cheng understood that it wasn’t a cultivator’s domain. Rather, a weapon domain. Like the spear domain, which he hadn’t fully formed yet. It was the other party’s weapon that had created this domain.
Lu Yixian didn’t unleash his domain, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a domain. It’s just that he didn’t bother to stretch it out. It gave him quite a bit of advantage in the fight. Once the two people started fighting, Lu Yixian could stretch out his domain and enhance the constraints at any time.
When Lu Yixian’s horn-shaped copper lamp came out, it just hovered above his head. The weapon domain remained confined around them like a protective coc.o.o.n and did not attack Ning Cheng. However, when Lu Yixian thought back to Ning Cheng’s powerful strike, he took a step forward and blasted out a punch.
“Boom……” The wild celestial essence wrapping Lu Yixian’s fist exploded in contact with Ning Cheng’s long spear, which Ning Cheng had just thrust out. The celestial essence explosion was so powerful that it felt like it could blast open the sky vault itself. The two retreated immediately.
Blood gushed to Ning Cheng’s throat, and Ning Cheng almost spat it out but managed to force it down. Finally, however, a trickle of blood flowed down Lu Yixian’s mouth.
“This Lu Yixian was a tough nut to crack.” Ning Cheng couldn’t help but think to himself. His hand holding the long spear still continued to tremble from the aftershock. However, he didn’t continue using the spear. Ning Cheng knew that he didn’t do his best either or used any spirit techniques. But he also knew that Lu Yixian had also not used his full strength.
“You are strong. But if this is your limit, then you better stand down today.” After he said that, Lu Yixian’s killing intent soared, and he stepped forward. He still hadn’t used the horn-shaped copper lamp but his bloodied fist, still covered in celestial essence, created friction-like sounds as it moved through the air.
Ning Cheng showed a slight smile and also stepped forward to throw a punch. Since Lu Yixian didn’t use his weapon, he also wouldn’t use a weapon. One had to know that a middle-rank spirit artefact long spear wasn’t much better than his fist in raw strength. Besides, the only weapons on him more powerful than the long spear were the Five-coloured Star Splitter Arrow and the Seven Bridges Realm Book.
Since Lu Yixian dared to use his fist against his long spear, didn’t it mean that he was a body-refining cultivator? Wasn’t Ning Cheng also a body-refining cultivator?
As Ning Cheng swept up another gust of violent celestial essence, it felt as if his fist dragged the surrounding s.p.a.ce with it. One got the illusion that this punch travelled faster than the fist itself if one looked closely. One single punch. It was Ning Cheng’s only answer.
Ning Cheng didn’t use any spirit technique, but he did touch upon the Laws of Time and the Laws of s.p.a.ce. Therefore, this punch also contained hints of the two laws.
“You have guts, but don’t regret it later……” Lu Yixian saw Ning Cheng daring to use his fist like him and couldn’t help but speak up. Did he want to die so badly?
Seeing Ning Cheng’s fist coming towards him, Lu Yixian’s killing intent didn’t diminish at all. Instead, he continued with the same momentum, using that same single punch.
The killing intent in Lu Yixian’s punch wasn’t any weaker than Ning Cheng; however, his fist felt much more potent as it tore through the air.
The two fists had not made contact yet, but they still managed to stir up the surrounding s.p.a.ce. It immediately shocked everyone, and they all focussed on Ning Cheng and Lu Yixian’s fists. But it only made them even more horrified. The strength displayed by these two told them that they were much stronger than any of them.
When Ning Cheng put away the long spear and used his fist, Lu Yixian had already started to consider him as a dead man. However, that didn’t mean he would pull himself back from a fight. He was a body-refining expert; plus, the punch he used was, in fact, a spirit technique.
“Boom-boom-boom….”
As the two fists finally made contact, the horrifying celestial essence within them finally exploded out, causing several powerful explosions to rip through the air. The explosions contained so much power that they forced everyone to retreat as far as possible. Two people even had to bring out their defensive weapons to protect themselves against the killing intent. If not for the unusual stability of s.p.a.ce in this location, this level of celestial essence explosion would have already ripped open a crack in s.p.a.ce.
Yin Ying, who watched the battle from the side, found her expressions changing rapidly. She had always thought that her strength wasn’t that far off from Lu Yixian’s cultivation. Even if it weren’t as good as Lu Yixian, the difference wouldn’t have been too huge. But looking at Lu Yixian and Ning Cheng’s punch, she understood that she didn’t stand the slightest chance against either of them.
“Crack……” The sound of bones breaking emerged, and Lu Yixian spewed out a mouthful of blood as he flew back uncontrollably.
Ning Cheng also had to back up a few steps but remained standing. From this one exchange, everyone understood that Ning Cheng had the upper hand. However, Ning Cheng also felt shocked in his heart as he felt the sharp pain radiating from the bones in his fist. Lu Yixian’s punch was the strongest one he had experienced till now. Moreover, the killing desire in his punch had almost taken a physical form.
At this moment, Lu Yixian couldn’t help but look at his hand in a daze, which lay broken at a weird angle. A moment later, he shot a horrified look at Ning Cheng. He understood that Ning Cheng’s punch contained only raw power without any hint of a spirit technique. Yet, not only did Ning Cheng’s fist break through his Domain Splitting Fist Spirit Technique, but it also broke his fist.
It was the first time his fist had broken in a fight against someone within the same cultivation level. Although it was just a single punch, he understood how powerful Ning Cheng was. Ning Cheng’s punch didn’t use any spirit techniques. However, he was a body refining cultivator who combined his body’s strength with the Laws of s.p.a.ce and Time. It was this combination that defeated him in a full-frontal clash. More specifically, he lost because of the lack of understanding of the Laws of Time.
When his opponent’s fist was just about to make contact with his fist, his fist had suddenly and inexplicably slowed down. No, it was the ‘time’ around his fist that had slowed down. It only happened because Lu Yixian hadn’t touched upon the Laws of Time yet.
Lu Yixian took in a deep breath and looked at Ning Cheng. “You hid your strength too well. Not only could you instantly kill Guo Haoge with your cultivation, but you’re also a top-grade body refining expert. You even touched upon the Laws of Time.”
“If you want to fight, then fight; if you don’t want to, then stop talking nonsense and step aside.” Ning Cheng remained indifferent.
“I can step aside, but I will tell you one thing. If I had used the copper lamp, even if you’re a body refining expert, you would have died today even if you touched upon the Laws of Time. Do you believe it?” Lu Yixian’s tone was not only bland, but it also had a slight chillness to it.
Ning Cheng flicked his hand, and a long spear spirit artefact suddenly materialised in front of him. This time, his tone felt even more indifferent, “No, I don’t believe it. Also, I hate people who just like to blabber on. Go on, use your weirdly-shaped kerosene lamp. Don’t let me down.”
[1] ‘Zhongmeng’ is her surname, and ‘Yuxiu’ is her name, which translates to ‘Rain Jade’