No wonder Shui Wuchang stayed out here while hiding to wait for him. Both the leaders of Ash PaG.o.da Chamber of Commerce died, which meant that she might not have a place to return.
“Which Heavenly Emperors are you talking about?” Ning Cheng suddenly thought of Chuan Xinlou. According to reason, Chuan Xinlou should have finished stabilising his cultivation during these long years in seclusion.
“It’s Chuan Xinlou, Qiao Jierui, Yi Jiufeng and Zhangkang Tianji.” Shui Wuchang replied.
Chuan Xinlou huh; Ning Cheng thought to himself and nodded. “Ok, let’s go. We’ll enter Silent Bubble Starland together.”
Chuan Xinlou had finally come out, but he didn’t come to Stately River Star to find him. It confused Ning Cheng a little. Moreover, rather than coming to his Stately River Star, Chuan Xinlou went to the Devil Domain. It indicated one particular problem; that is, he had more important things to do here. Perhaps Chuan Xinlou also cared about the Wood Origin Bead.
The truth is, no one wouldn’t want the Wood Origin Bead. Unlike the restricted uses of the other Origin Beads, the Wood Origin Bead was a top-grade treasure that everyone could use. From cultivating starry sky spirit gra.s.ses to cultivation to even healing grievous injuries, it was a first-cla.s.s treasure in every aspect.
“Did they all gather in Silent Bubble Starland for the Wood Origin Bead?” Ning Cheng voiced his thoughts as Shui Wuchang stepped onto his Starry Sky Wheel.
Shui Wuchang shook her head, “I don’t think they know about the Wood Origin Bead.”
“They don’t know?” Ning Cheng asked with even more confusion. If not for the Wood Origin Bead, why did all the top Heavenly Emperors of the four starry skies gather in Silent Bubble Starland?
After Shui Wuchang entered the Starry Sky Wheel, she replied, “It’s just my guess. As for whether they know about it or not, I cannot give a guarantee. But Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, I can roughly guess who stole the Wood Origin Bead.”
Ning Cheng looked at Shui Wuchang in amazement. The only reason he hadn’t asked Shui Wuchang about this was that he felt sure that she didn’t know who robbed the Wood Origin Bead. Imagine a powerhouse who could kill both the leaders of Ash PaG.o.da Chamber of Commerce, how could he let anyone know about his origins? Unexpectedly, Shui Wuchang said she had a rough idea about it.
“Who was it?” Ning Cheng subconsciously asked.
Shui Wuchang clenched her fists unconsciously before replying, “It should be the group of outsiders who occupied the Mysterious Yellow Starland. I’m sure they took it.”
Not waiting for Ning Cheng to ask again, Shui Wuchang took the initiative to explain. “The person who came to Devil Domain’s Returning Capital City with the Wood Origin Bead was someone who managed to escape from Mysterious Yellow Starland. I knew him. He was someone from the Tie Clan, from Mysterious Yellow Starland’s Moyi City. Strictly speaking, Tei Clan and my Shui Clan have a lot of hatred and grudges between us. But with Moyi City swept clean, the two of us aren’t exactly enemies anymore. That Tie Clan’s disciple who brought the Wood Origin Bead was someone lucky enough to escape the ma.s.sacre in Mysterious Yellow Starland. He came to the Devil Domain but had nowhere to go, and had no other choice but to come to find me. He wanted me to help him exchange the Wood Origin Bead for cultivation resources.”
While speaking, Shui Wuchang took another look at Ning Cheng. “After I confirmed that it was indeed the Wood Origin Bead, I wanted to crush the jade card immediately. To ask you to come over and discuss the terms directly with him. Unexpectedly, because he opened the jade box without precautions, the Wood Origin Bead’s Origin Aura overflowed. It attracted Yi Cang’s, the master of Ash PaG.o.da Chamber of Commerce, attention.”
“Yi Cang didn’t even glance at me when he barged into my house and grabbed the Wood Origin Bead. At that time, I could only say that he wanted to put this Wood Origin Bead in Ash PaG.o.da Chamber of Commerce’s auction. However, Yi Cang didn’t put the Wood Origin Bead away. Instead, he said it was up to him to decide. After that, he put away the Wood Origin Bead, grabbed that Tie Clan’s disciple and left my residence, and went to the auction house.”
Ning Cheng vaguely guessed at what might have happened afterwards. Most likely, by the time Yi Cang returned to the auction house, the cultivators chasing after the Wood Origin Bead also arrived at Silent Bubble Starland. As a result, this cultivator rushed into the auction house and killed Yi Cang and the vice-head before s.n.a.t.c.hing the Wood Origin Bead.
Sure enough, Shui Wuchang continued. “I didn’t know if Lord Yi Cang wanted to put down the Wood Origin Bead as an auction item or not. So, I immediately decided to leave the Silent Bubble Starland and send you the message. But I hadn’t yet left the Silent Bubble Starland when I heard waves of celestial essence explosions. Hearing those sounds, I knew that both Lord Yi Cang and the deputy lord had most likely perished and that the Wood Origin Bead also should have disappeared. If I guessed it correctly, the Wood Origin Bead shouldn’t have been taken away by any of those Heavenly Emperors.”
“So those Heavenly Emperors didn’t fight with the person who came to s.n.a.t.c.h the Wood Origin Bead?” Ning Cheng asked again.
Shui Wuchang nodded, “Levelled Heart Heavenly Emperor and the others had just arrived in Returning Capital Starry Sky City. But by the time they got here, that person had already taken away everything. Maybe that person felt afraid of facing those Heavenly Emperors together and ran away without wanting to stay in Returning Capital.”
Ning Cheng finally understood the cause and effect of the incident. Chuan Xinlou had already arrived at the Devil Domain, which meant he most likely came here to discuss a collaboration with Qiao Jierui to deal with him. But that didn’t seem right either. Even if these two wanted to plot against him, there was no guarantee that Zhangkang Tianji and Yi Jiufeng would agree to deal with him.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, there’s one more thing that I want to tell you. I had taken a look at the Wood Origin Bead, but it looked like a broken bead.” Shui Wuchang carefully spoke up.
“You said that the Wood Origin Bead was a broken one?” Ning Cheng felt a sinking feeling in his heart. Could he use a broken bead to complete his Mysterious Yellow Bead? Was it possible?
Shui Wuchang nodded with affirmation, “Yes, I’m sure that it was a broken bead.”
Ning Cheng remained silent for a while. But he quickly decided to put this matter aside for now and focus on obtaining that Wood Origin Bead. As he thought about it, he turned to Shui Wuchang and said, “Fairy Wuchang, if you don’t want to stay in Devil Domain, you can go to my Stately River Star.”
Regardless of whether the bead was a broken one or not, Ning Cheng felt grateful towards Shui Wuchang for sending him the message. Therefore, he pro-actively decided to invite Shui Wuchang to his Stately River Star.
Shui Wuchang quickly spoke up, “Many thanks, Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. But I want to save my father first before going to Stately River Star together with him. My father is still in Mysterious Yellow Starland. If Senior Apprentice Brother Ning plans to head back to Mysterious Yellow Starland, could you please take me with you?”
“Sect Master Ning, some of us were about to visit your Stately River Star. We didn’t expect you to come to Silent Bubble Starland.” Ning Cheng hadn’t answered Shui Wuchang’s request when Zhangkang Tianji’s voice came from afar.
Ning Cheng then saw four people, Chuan Xinlou, Qiao Jierui, Zhangkang Tianji and Yi Jiufeng standing near the entrance of Returning Capital Starry Sky City. Most likely, Qiao Jierui received the news about his arrival the moment he came to Silent Bubble Starland.
Ning Cheng felt even more confused. He knew that at least Yi Jiufeng and Chuan Xinlou did not get along well with each other.
“Brother Qian, I’m relieved to see you in good health.” Ning Cheng ridiculed Qiao Jierui and immediately greeted Yi Jiufeng and Zhangkang Tianji with enthusiasm. As for Chuan Xinlou, whether he said anything or not it wouldn’t change anything between them.
Qiao Jierui’s face remained calm, to the point that no one could make out anything from it. It’s as if he didn’t care about Ning Cheng’s sarcasm.
“Sect Master Ning, Brother Tianji speaks the truth. If Sect Master Ning had not come here, we would have gone to Stately River Star.” Chuan Xinlou seemed to have forgotten the unpleasantness between him and Ning Cheng. One could even regard his tone as that of politeness.
Yi Jiufeng, on seeing Ning Cheng frown, quickly spoke up, “Let’s go inside and discuss it.”
……
After half-an-incense stick worth of time, the four Heavenly Emperor plus Ning Cheng and Shui Wuchang sat down in the largest meeting hall within Returning Capital Starry Sky City. This site belonged to the Returning Capital City’s City Master; however, Qiao Jierui wasn’t the City Master of Returning Capital Starry Sky City. Yet, if he wanted to use this place, then there naturally wouldn’t be any problems.
“Has Sect Master Ning heard about the Mysterious Yellow Starland? Did you also come to Returning Capital City because of it?” Chuan Xinlou immediately asked after everyone sat down.
Ning Cheng replied with a calm voice, “I was pa.s.sing through this place and happened to meet Fairy Wuchang. Since Fairy Wuchang invited me, I decided to stay in the Returning Capital City for some time.”
Chuan Xinlou didn’t care about Ning Cheng’s indifference and off-topic answer and spoke up with a calm tone. “Sect Master Ning, I specifically invited Junior Apprentice Sister Nine Phoenix and Heavenly Emperor Tianji to Silent Bubble Starland. It concerns the life and death of our four grand starry skies.”
Seeing Ning Cheng frown again, Chuan Xinlou explained, “Sect Master Ning must be thinking that I’m exaggerating. But I believe that since Sect Master Ning and Fairy Wuchang came in together, you should have learned about what happened to Mysterious Yellow Starland. Although the Mysterious Yellow Starland does not belong to our four grand starry skies, we’re still part of the same plane. A few years ago, a group of unidentified people suddenly appeared and occupied the Mysterious Yellow Starland.”
“Arguably, contention over starlands and even large-scale fights are somewhat of a normal matter. But this group is different. This particular group established a huge starry sky city within the Mysterious Yellow Starland. At the same time, they also committed a ma.s.s slaughter of cultivators native to Mysterious Yellow Starland. The cultivators of Mysterious Yellow Starland only served one role for them; that is, to build the starry sky city. Once done, their role would end, and those outsiders would kill them. Since such a group took over Mysterious Yellow Starland, who can be sure that they would not target the four grand starry skies in the future?”
“Moreover, some of them have already come to the Devil Domain. The two leaders of the Ash PaG.o.da Chamber of Commerce died at their hands. They should have taken away something, but I’m not sure what. If I guessed it correctly, they haven’t attacked my Devil Domain on a large scale yet because they don’t think that the timing is right.” Qiao Jierui continued when Chuan Xinlou stopped.
Leaving aside personal grudges with Chuan Xinlou and Qiao Jierui, Ning Cheng felt that their concerns weren’t misplaced.
Seeing Ning Cheng remain silent, Chuan Xinlou spoke up once again. “Sect Master Ning, you and your sister both are powerful experts. So, we were about to go to your Stately River Star to invite you two before heading over to the Mysterious Yellow Starland together.”
Ning Cheng pondered over it for a moment before speaking up directly. “I agree to go to Mysterious Yellow Starland. But you guys will have to wait for some time. I need to go back and prepare.”
Whether or not Chuan Xinlou and the others wanted to go to the Mysterious Yellow Starland, it didn’t matter. But Ning Cheng must go there. He had promised that giant. Now that he advanced to the Eternal Realm and also retrieved the giant’s eye, he had to go and return the favour. Ning Cheng can’t delay such a life-saving grace, as a delay of even a day meant a day more of suffering for the giant.
As for letting Ning Ruoqing go to the Mysterious Yellow Starland with them, Chuan Xinlou could just forget about it. Since Ning Ruoqing decided to stay in Stately River Star, he would never take Ning Ruoqing to Mysterious Yellow Starland.
The reason why he mentioned returning to prepare for the trip was not to bring Ning Ruoqing but to explain to Luofei and his sister Ruolan. At the same time, he also had to bring Shen Mengyan to Mysterious Yellow Starland as promised.
Chuan Xinlou immediately agreed and said, “Okay, we’ll meet here again in two months and go to the Mysterious Yellow Starland together.”
Devil Domain was the closest to the Mysterious Yellow Starland, so choosing to meet at Silent Bubble Starland was simply according to the principle of proximity.
Besides, among the several people here, only Ning Cheng wanted to go back and prepare. Cultivating for so many years, they all had become accustomed to being away from their places all year round. Therefore, they didn’t have anything particular to prepare.
But just as Ning Cheng stood up, he felt the area around him shaking. Apart from Shui Wuchang, everyone here was a powerhouse who had gone through countless life and death struggles. Since Ning Cheng felt the s.p.a.ce around him shake, the rest of them also naturally sensed it.
Ning Cheng immediately grabbed Shui Wuchang and pulled her close before bringing out the Everlasting Blue Thunder Fort and flying out.