When Ning Cheng heard about all this, he understood that Nalan Ruxue had truly changed a lot. Before this change, even if someone tried to help her, she would have only thanked them at best but would never agree to team up with others.
Seeing Ning Cheng show a slight frown, and not speaking for a long time, Nalan Ruxue called out with some uneasiness, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning….”
“Yeah.” Ning Cheng thought about it for a while before asking, “Nalan, you only have Heaven’s Mandate cultivation, so why do you want to team up with three Heaven Seated experts?”
Hearing Ning Cheng call out to her by her surname Nalan, Nalan Ruxue felt a little sad. But after listening to Ning Cheng’s words, she suddenly raised her head and asked in confusion. “Senior Apprentice Brother Tao Xing and others have Heaven’s Mandate cultivation, why do you say that they are in the Heaven Seated Realm?”
Were they all in Heaven’s Mandate Realm?
Ning Cheng froze for a moment before realising something. He was an Eternal-level expert, which meant that Tao Xing’s trio naturally couldn’t hide their cultivation from his eyes. But Nalan Ruxue had Heaven’s Mandate cultivation. With those three having cultivation much higher than her, in Heaven Seated Realm, it was just too simple to hide it from her.
It was just like how Tao Xing’s trio couldn’t see his cultivation at all, which was the truth.
Ning Cheng said, “I’m not wrong. Tao Xing, You Cheng, and Li Siyan all have Heaven Seated cultivation. Anyone can kill you in an instant.”
Nalan Ruxue’s expressions changed drastically. It took some time for her to return to senses before she bowed to Ning Cheng and said, “Many thanks, Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. I now understand what’s going on.”
As a team of three Heaven Seated cultivators, why would they try to team up with her, who was just a cultivator in Heaven’s Mandate Realm? When a team goes out to hunt for treasures, it’s usually a dangerous affair. Therefore, people would usually seek out individuals of similar strength to create their teams. Nalan Ruxue was only a cultivator in Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Teaming up with three other Heaven Seated cultivators, what help could she provide them? Since she couldn’t help her teammates, it meant that they had brought her on-board for a different reason.
“Nalan…..” Ning Cheng noticed the lonely look on Nalan Ruxue’s face and wanted to comfort her a bit.
But Nalan Ruxue suddenly interrupted Ning Cheng’s words, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, Nalan sounds a bit awkward, just call me Ruxue. I was born in a big sect and grew up in it. But despite having outstanding qualifications, I developed an arrogant personality and looked down on everyone. But all these years of fighting and struggling on the outside made me understand the bitter truth. Senior Apprentice Brother Ning looks down on me, I understand it too…..”
“Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, do you still have the components you took from the teleportation array?” Ning Cheng could see that Nalan Ruxue had started to venture into an aggrieved and self-loathing state and quickly changed the topic. He truly didn’t look down on Nalan Ruxue. It’s just that he didn’t want to be friends with people like Nalan.
If he didn’t happen to have a talisman back then, Nalan Ruxue’s master would have already killed him. Even when he got stuck in Law’s Way, Nalan Ruxue still used him behind his back. Even if Ning Cheng no longer cared about such things, he didn’t want to have too much involvement with people like Nalan Ruxue.
If Nalan Ruxue’s temperament hadn’t significantly changed from before, then even if Ning Cheng wanted to know about Yan Ji’s whereabouts, he wouldn’t want to talk to her.
“Yes.” Nalan Ruxue quickly took out a storage bag and handed it to Ning Cheng. “It also has a jade strip with directions leading to the teleportation array.”
Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness fell on the storage bag. As an Array Dao Master, he quickly understood with a sweep of his spiritual consciousness that the components inside the storage bag were truly the main parts of the teleportation array. Moreover, after experiencing the array in Thorn Tooth Lake, Ning Cheng understood that without the help of that high-grade array pattern, he couldn’t restore this side’s array with these things.
Seeing Ning Cheng wishing to return these things to her, Nalan Ruxue quickly spoke up, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning. It would be better to keep those components with you. I’m not familiar with array formations anyway.”
“Okay.” Ning Cheng didn’t refuse. With these things on him, it would simplify things a lot when he wants to return in the future. He couldn’t re-integrate these teleportation array components right now, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t install them in the future.
Seeing Ning Cheng put away the components of the teleportation array, Nalan Ruxue’s mood immediately improved by a bit. “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, Tao Xing and the others want us to go to Scarlet Branch Island. Why don’t we find an excuse to not go with them?”
“Does this Scarlet Branch Island truly have Wood Origin Crystals?” Ning Cheng asked.
Nalan Ruxue nodded, “Many people already know about it. However, only a very few cultivators have managed to find Wood Origin Crystals in Scarlet Branch Island.”
“Then, why wouldn’t we go?” Ning Cheng spoke with certainty. As long as that place had even a single Wood Origin Crystal, he would naturally make a trip to that place. As for those three Heaven Seated cultivators, they were just ants in his eyes.
“Ah….” Nalan Ruxue looked at Ning Cheng suspiciously. Knowing that Tao Xing’s trio were all Heaven Seated experts, why would he still want to team up with them? Did Ning Cheng also advance to the Heaven Seated Realm? But it’s not like it’s an impossible matter either. Ning Cheng’s talent in cultivation didn’t lose out to Yan Ji, and since Yan Ji had reached Heaven Seated Realm why couldn’t Ning Cheng not reach Heaven Seated Realm?
Ning Cheng didn’t explain the reason but instead asked. “Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, I already know that the Grand Essence Realm is a higher grade positional plane than our four grand starry skies. Do you know what the highest level of cultivation is in this place?”
After asking, Ning Cheng looked at Nalan Ruxue with a slightly manic look. After seeing that red-haired powerhouse in the Grand Essence Sea, he understood that his strength wasn’t worth much in this place. But he still wanted to know where he stood.
Nalan Ruxue spoke with some caution, “Previously, I used to think that reaching the full-circle of Eternal Realm was the peak. But after coming here, I understood that even reaching the full-circle of the Eternal Realm didn’t mean anything, not even opening the door to true cultivation.”
Ning Cheng had already prepared himself for it, but after hearing this, he still felt a bit depressed. He had cultivated till now, yet he still hadn’t even opened the door of cultivation.
Nalan Ruxue took a deep breath, “I heard that in the Grand Essence Realm, only cultivators who reached the Dao Confirming Realm could barely count as powerhouses.”
“Dao Confirming? Is it a Dao Sculpting Powerhouse?” Ning Cheng asked with a quiet voice.
Nalan Ruxue shook her head, “No. Dao Sculpting just means that you just entered the first step of Dao Confirming Realm. I heard that Dao Confirming had three steps.”
“What three steps?” Ning Cheng asked with an eager tone.
Standing opposite to him, Nalan Ruxue could feel Ning Cheng’s eagerness. It felt as if she had become invisible, yet the most important thing to him. When she had learned about the Dao Confirming’s three steps, she wasn’t this eager to know about it, was she?
“The first step of Dao Confirming consists of Dao Sculpting, Dao Raising and Dao Transformation….”
Before Nalan Ruxue finished speaking, Ning Cheng interrupted her again, “So, Dao Sculpting is just the initial level in the first step of Dao Confirming?”
Nalan Ruxue made an ‘en’ sound, “Yes, a Dao Raising expert had once visited Boundary Essence Spirit Sea C
ity, and I managed to get a look from a distance.”
“What about the second step?” When Ning Cheng heard about Dao Confirming’s three steps, he felt even more excited in his heart. He had the Mysterious Yellow Bead. But even without it, he believed that one day, he would reach the peak of the third step.
“I heard that only after transforming your dao into essence can you successfully move onto the second step. The second step of Dao Confirming consists of Dao Essence, Dao Fusion and Dao Perfection…..”
Upon hearing this, Ning Cheng suddenly recalled what he had heard in that store before. Something about a Dao Perfection powerhouse who went to the Grand Essence Ruins. If even a Dao Perfection powerhouse was only the second step, just how strong was the third step?
Seeing Ning Cheng’s intense gaze, Nalan Ruxue’s heart trembled, and she quickly sobered up. She understood that Ning Cheng’s look wasn’t for her, but for the third step of Dao Confirming Realm.
[1]
Grade Progression: Grade 1-9 Spiritual Grasses, Grade 1-9 Starry Sky Spirit Grasses, Divine Grasses. Not clear about the sub-classification for divine grasses, so leaving it as it is in the raws.
[2]
I usually translated ‘
’ as ‘Spiritual Grass’ depending on the location (Spiritual Grasses for those found in ‘mainlands’ and Starry Sky Spiritual Grasses for those found in the starry skies). But the word here is ‘
’, which would translate to ‘Spirit/Divine Spiritual Grass’ according to the way I translate, which feels a bit off. So, I decided to shorten the word ‘
’ to ‘divine grass’.
Chapter 0847 – Nalan’s Advancement
Translated By – DemonKiller
Checked and Edited By – Livewidsmile
Proofread By – DemonKiller
Please do not host our works anywhere else without our permission.
Seeing that Nalan Ruxue hadn’t spoken in a long time, Ning Cheng couldn’t help but ask again. “Junior Apprentice Sister Ruxue, what is the third step in Dao Confirming?”
Nalan Ruxue tried to calm him down and even eased her tone before speaking, “I have heard of two sayings. First, there is no third step. Second, the laws of Grand Essence Realm are incomplete. As such, the highest level of cultivation here is Dao Perfection, which also means that no one knows about the specific level within the third step of Dao Confirming Realm.”
Ning Cheng stood up, “I see, thank you for telling me all this. It looks like we truly are ants.”
Ning Cheng didn’t know what step of Dao Confirming’s three steps that red-haired cultivator had reached. However, Ning Cheng felt sure that he couldn’t survive a single move from that guy even if he went all out.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning those Dao Confirming powerhouses wouldn’t usually come out. Moreover, they all live in the most stable parts of Grand Essence Realm, where the laws are more complete. In a remote corner like Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City, you would rarely, if ever, find such people. Moreover, the Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City prohibits fighting within its borders. Therefore, as long as we stay here in seclusion, we would remain safe. Even Tao Xing wouldn’t dare find trouble with us inside the city.” Nalan Ruxue saw Ning Cheng standing up and immediately thought that Ning Cheng wanted to leave. Therefore, she quickly explained a few more things.
Stay here in seclusion?
Even if Tao Xing didn’t come, the Spiritual Qi in this place was just too thin.
What would be the point of it?
“How long have you been in Heaven’s Mandate Realm?” Ning Cheng suddenly asked.
Hearing Ning Cheng asking about her cultivation, Nalan Ruxue’s face turned a bit red. But thinking about how she was just a hair away from the Heaven Seated Realm, it immediately made her more excited. “It’s been more than a year. But I’ve been saving up spirit crystals. As long as I accumulate roughly 100,000 spirit crystals, I can then purchase medicinal pills to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm. Once I advance to the Heaven Seated Realm, I would then have access to more places to explore in the sea, and would be able to gather 100,000 spirit crystals even faster.”
“Is it so easy to advance to Heaven Seated Realm here?” Ning Cheng asked suspiciously. One had to know that in Culmination Grand Starry Sky, an Accordance Heavenly Pill wasn’t something cheap. However, it was also not something impossible to buy.
Nalan Ruxue gave an ‘en’ sound, “This place is a lot better than where we come from, you can buy any type of medicinal pills, as long as you have enough spirit crystals. Last time, Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji and I found an Asura Heavenly Ginseng and sold it for 160,000 spirit crystals. It allowed us to purchase an Accordance Heavenly Pill for Senior Apprentice Sister Yan Ji.”
“I see. You’re coming with me now.” Ning Cheng decided to help Nalan Ruxue advance to the Heaven Seated Realm out of gratitude.
“Where are we going?” Nalan Ruxue, for some reason, held absolute trust in Ning Cheng. However, she also knew that Ning Cheng should have just arrived here, and wasn’t too familiar with the place yet.
“To find a place for you to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm.”
“Ah….”
……
After Ning Cheng left Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City with Nalan Ruxue, they immediately headed deep into the Grand Essence Sea. It wasn’t before they were at least ten thousand miles away from the Boundary Essence Spirit Sea City that they finally stopped on a reef.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, is this place suitable to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm?” Nalan Ruxue looked at Ning Cheng in doubt. She still felt a bit dazed from the time Ning Cheng spoke about her advancement to the Heaven Seated Realm.
Ning Cheng took out a jade bottle and handed it to Nalan Ruxue. “That’s right. There are two Accordance Heavenly Pills in it. I will arrange a Spiritual Gathering Array for you now, and then you can attempt to advance to the Heaven Seated Realm.”
Just in case, Ning Cheng had specifically given two Accordance Heavenly Pills to Nalan Ruxue. To him, things like Accordance Heavenly Pills simply had no use at all. Meaning, even if Nalan Ruxue didn’t need it, he would have still taken out the bottles with Accordance Heavenly Pills to sell. That way, he could raise enough spirit crystals required to go to the Grand Essence Ruins and then go to the Grand Essence Ruins.
Nalan Ruxue took the jade bottle with trembling hands. As her spiritual consciousness swept into it, she saw two Accordance Heavenly Pills. Not only were they Accordance Heavenly Pills, but both of those pills were of top-quality.
Seeing Ning Cheng starting to set up the Spiritual Gathering Array, Nalan Ruxue didn’t question Ning Cheng. She now began to have a better understanding of Ning Cheng. Regardless of the place or time, Ning Cheng seemed to be an expert in every field.
When she and a group of geniuses first arrived at Tian Continent, they had heard of how Ning Cheng had already set up his prestige in the Tian Continent. Moreover, he later even became the Sect Master of Rainbowfall Sword Sect, one of the top ten forces of the Tian Continent. Now Ning Cheng had given her two top-quality Accordance Heavenly Pills. Feats that appeared incredible and extraordinary for the general populace now felt quite ordinary when it came to Ning Cheng.
Nalan Ruxue had already reached the full-circle of Heaven’s Mandate Realm a long time ago. It’s just that the lack of resources had held her back. Now, with the help of Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Gathering Array and the Permanent Essence Pills and Accordance Heavenly Pills, she quickly attracted the thunder tribulation.
Ning Cheng noticed that Nalan Ruxue’s Heaven Seated Thunder Tribulation was a lot weaker than his Heaven Seated Thunder Tribulation. But even so, after facing five waves of thunder tribulation arcs, Nalan Ruxue’s robes had already disintegrated.
Ning Cheng didn’t continue to watch Nalan Ruxue surmount her tribulation. In any case, Nalan Ruxue should be able to pass the Heaven Seated Thunder Tribulation safely.
……
Nalan Ruxue had never had such fun during cultivation. Even when she was at Thoughtless Academy, she had never experienced such joy. Endless Essence Qi from the Permanent Essence Pills in front gathered around her continuously before pouring into her.
She suddenly felt the crazy influx of celestial essence in her body and also the near-infinite expansion of her spiritual consciousness. From this, Nalan Ruxue understood that she had successfully advanced to the Heaven Seated Realm.
When the thunder tribulation finally dissipated, Nalan Ruxue quickly washed her body and put on a set of clean clothes. Only then did she have the chance to see what Ning Cheng was doing.
Seeing that Ning Cheng had gone into a secluded retreat in a temporary cave at one side, Nalan Ruxue didn’t bother him and continued to stabilise her cultivation. She still had too many Permanent Essence Pills here, which meant that stabilising her cultivation was the most suitable choice right now.
Ning Cheng already knew about Nalan Ruxue successfully surmounting the thunder tribulation and reaching the Heaven Seated Realm. However, Ning Cheng didn’t come out. Before coming here, he already was at the full-circle of the early-stage Eternal Realm. But after eating that meal in Essence Sea Restaurant, Ning Cheng had reached the tipping point of a breakthrough to the middle-stage Eternal Realm. Plus, he also had 10,000 spirit crystals with him, along with the Spiritual Gathering Array he arranged along with a vast stash of Permanent Essence Pills. Therefore, advancing to the middle-stage Eternal Realm was just a matter of time.
Feeling the surging celestial essence and his Sea of Consciousness expanding to another level, Ning Cheng felt delighted. The higher his cultivation rose, even a minor advancement would make a big difference to him. Moreover, his celestial essence has not yet transformed into spirit essence. Once converted, his cultivation would become twice as powerful as now.
However, Ning Cheng didn’t intend to force the transformation right now. He currently had only a few thousand spirit crystals, which most likely weren’t enough. Moreover, his cultivation required an insane amount of resources. Therefore, if he wanted to transform his celestial essence into spirit essence fully, he would need a large supply of spirit crystals. Moreover, it would best if he prepared all the resources beforehand, then initiate and complete the transformation in one go.
The Gate Of Good Fortune c1-905 Page 672
