Chapter 1020
But after Su Xiqian returned this time, she immediately announced her decision to go into secluded cultivation. At the same time, she also handed over the businesses of Su’s Corner to her elder brother, Su Gui.
“Brother Gui, do you know why grandfather wanted your sister to go into secluded cultivation and hand over the business to you?” After the family meeting, Yan Jinqing asked Su Gui with a dark face.
Yan Jinqing was Su Gui’s wife, and her talent and qualifications were only second to Su Xiqian. However, because she mostly remained in secluded cultivation and didn’t run around like Su Xiqian to run the family business, her cultivation was no weaker than Su Xiqian. After all, she had also succeeded in reaching the Dao Sculpting Realm.
As for Su Gui, by all accounts, he was born as a handsome fellow. But his long face and thin eyebrows destroyed his heroic appearance and made him appear more like a scheming villain than a hero.
Hearing his wife’s words, Su Gui frowned slightly and said in a gruff tone, “Xiqian has been running around outside all these years to take care of the family business while we were all cultivating at home. Now that Xiqian decided to go into secluded cultivation, it’s only natural that I, as her elder brother, take over the family business. Or do you think I should hand the business over to outsiders?”
Yan Jinqing sneered, “I have no problems with you taking over the family business. It’s just that I feel grandfather is doing things very unfairly this time.”
“How is it unfair?” Su Gui stared at Yan Jinqing and asked.
Yan Jinqing took a deep breath, “Do you know what that Ning Cheng, brought back by Xiqian, gave to grandfather?”
“What?” Yan Jinqing’s words immediately piqued Su Gui’s thoughts and subconsciously asked.
Yan Jinqing carefully stretched out her spiritual consciousness before sending Su Gui a voice transmission, “Two dao pills; a Purple Heaven Pill and a Mysterious Crossing Dao Pill.....”
“What?” Su Gui looked at Yan Jinqing in disbelief and repeated, “You said a Purple Heaven Pill and a Mysterious Crossing Dao Pill?”
Yan Jinqing glowered at Su Gui and said, “Keep your voice down. That’s right, it was those two dao pills. When grandfather and little sister sent Ning Cheng away, I happened to overhear their conversation.”
Su Gui calmed down and coldly stared at Yan Jinqing. “Grandpa is a late-stage Dao Raising Holy Emperor, could you have even heard grandfather’s words if you stood at his side? Even if we disregard grandfather, my little sister has been running around outside for all these years; she wouldn’t be so ignorant about such things, right? How would she have spoken those words to be heard by you? Besides, that Ning Cheng is just a Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor, why would he take out a Purple Heaven Pill? What the hell are you implying?”
Yan Jinqing bit her lips, and only after a while did she speak up, “I don’t know how Ning Cheng obtained those pills, but I had left a monitoring array outside. I just wanted to make our Su’s Corner a little safer; I never expected that I would accidentally hear this.”
Su Gui spoke in an even colder tone, “Jinqing, what you left outside wasn’t just a monitoring array disk, right? You better put away all those ‘monitoring’ array discs.”
Yan Jinqing replied in an aggrieved tone, “Okay, Brother Gui. I only did it because I feel sorry for you. After all, you’re the next patriarch of Su’s Corner. Yet, grandfather actually gave the Mysterious Crossing Dao Pill to Xiqian, completely forgetting about you.”
As she said those words, Yan Jinqing didn’t even think about where her cultivation resources and time had come from over the years.
Su Gui’s face turned slightly gloomy, but he didn’t respond to Yan Jinqing’s obvious provocation.
......
After Ning Cheng sent Ruo Xi away, he disguised himself as a middle-aged cultivator with a face full of vicissitudes and made his way to Broken Spear Spirit City. There were numerous middle-aged rogue cultivators with weary faces like him, covered in the aura of the void, everywhere in the Broken Spear Spirit City. Therefore, Ning Cheng mixed in without causing ripples.
Reaching the Broken Spear Spirit City, Ning Cheng finally understood why this city was called the ‘Broken Spear’ Spirit City.
Half of a broken spear pierced the ground obliquely right outside the Broken Spear Spirit City’s entrance, giving the entrance an ominous look. The exposed part of the half spear was more than ten feet long, with a mottled body, showing that it had been here for an immeasurable amount of time. But more importantly, when Ning Cheng saw this spear, he felt a faint hostile aura reaching out from it.
Ning Cheng quickly withdrew his spiritual consciousness. Such an aura was absolutely not good for cultivation. Once it invaded one’s Sea of Consciousness, it was highly likely that it would cause one to succumb to their devilish desires.
Outside the Broken Spear Spirit City, people came and went, but very few were like Ning Cheng, who used their spiritual consciousness to check the city’s situation from the outside. But because of this, just as Ruo Xi mentioned, Ning Cheng noticed several strong people in the city; some hiding their auras and some not so much.
Not to mention the many Dao Raising and Dao Transformation Holy Emperors, Ning Cheng even noticed a few Dao Confirmation Second Step’s Dao Essence Holy Emperors.
Ning Cheng decided not to stay in an inn, but he didn’t go towards the docked void ships that would take him to the Grand Essence Sea. Instead, he went directly to a merchant house.
He had the Starry Sky Wheel, something definitely not slower than those void ships. It’s just that the Broken Spear Spirit City didn’t have a long-distance teleportation array, so he had to go to a merchant house to buy a route map before heading to the Grand Essence Sea alone.
“You said you want a route map to the Grand Essence Domain or the Grand Essence Sea? Are you planning to go to the Grand Essence Domain alone?” the store assistant looked at Ning Cheng in disbelief.
Although the Broken Spear Spirit City technically came under the Grand Essence Domain as it had no defined borders, very few people considered it a part of the Grand Essence Domain. In fact, when people talked about the Grand Essence Domain, they referred to the central areas of the Grand Essence Domain, not the edge of the Grand Essence Realm.
Ning Cheng felt puzzled and asked, “Yes, why?”
The store assistant was quite honest and decided to explain it to Ning Cheng. “This friend, I don’t have a detailed route to the Grand Essence Doman; rather, I just have a simple orientation map. But even so, I suggest you don’t go alone, but take one of those void ships.”
“Again, why?” Ning Cheng felt even more puzzled. After all, going alone would be much faster than taking those void ships.
The store assistant sighed, “If that wasn’t the case, then Broken Spear Spirit City’s void ships would have no business. From Broken Spear Spirit City to the Grand Essence Domain, one must pass through the Grand Essence Demon Vein and the Grand Essence Sea. Not to mention the Grand Essence Sea, but just the Grand Essence Demon Vein stretches out for billions of miles and is home to countless powerful spirit beasts.”
“Just this part of the journey would take several months. Moreover, after crossing the Grand Essence Demon Vein, there is still the Grand Essence Sea. But more importantly, the intersection of the Grand Essence Demon Vein and the Grand Essence Sea is even more dangerous than the two areas, despite being deserted. And even if you manage to cross them, the Grand Essence Sea is also full of many dangers. An average person wanting to pass through this place would be no different than sending himself to death.”
Ning Cheng took a deep breath. He had initially thought the road was just a long one at most. He never expected that it would involve a dangerous journey. Then, how did Ruo Xi come here in the first place? Why didn’t she say anything about the dangers involved?
Ning Cheng understood that Ruo Xi should have thought he knew about these matters. Otherwise, she wouldn’t advise him to change his appearance before entering the Broken Spear Spirit City. After all, he did mention going to the Broken Spear Spirit City to return to the Grand Essence Domain. She must have thought that he came to Su’s Corner from there.
Seeing Ning Cheng not speaking, the store assistant once again tried to dissuade him, “Those void ships all have fixed routes and have negotiated safe passages with the experts of the Grand Essence Demon Vein, which allows them to pass through the area safely. However, I also have to mention that even with that, some void ships still get taken out by the demon vein’s spirit beasts for various reasons. Therefore, the price for travelling to the Grand Essence Sea or the Grand Essence Domain is so staggering that ordinary people simply cannot afford it.”
Ning Cheng finally understood why no one in Su’s Corner knew about his huge name.
“Many thanks; since you don’t have a detailed route map, just give me an orientational map.” Ning Cheng said with a smile.
Too many people wanted to purchase the orientational maps, so the store assistant didn’t speak any further and took out a jade strip before handing it to Ning Cheng.
After receiving the jade strip, Ning Cheng was about to walk out of the store when he suddenly remembered something and turned back, “Excuse me, but is Broken Spear Spirit City always this crowded?”
Ning Cheng had no idea if Broken Spear Spirit City was usually like this, so he decided to ask about it. Especially after Ruo Xi’s warning.
The store assistant smiled and took out another jade slip. “It’s still half a month away, but the Broken Spear Spirit City will be holding an auction. The jade slip contains the name of some of the auction items, so if this friend wants to attend it, you can purchase it from me.”
Ning Cheng had not participated in the auctions of the Grand Essence Domain, but he had participated in a few exchange fairs.
It’s just that Ning Cheng didn’t care much about such auctions, as too many were going around the Grand Essence Domain at any given time. But considering the recent crowd, he asked, “Doesn’t Broken Spear Spirit City hold such auctions quite regularly? Why would so many people rush here on purpose for every auction?”
The store assistant shook his head, “Of course, such a thing rarely happens. This time, it’s because a strand of Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura will appear at this auction.”
“I’ll take that jade slip of auction item names. By the way, what is this Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura?” When Ning Cheng heard about the Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura, he immediately decided to purchase the jade slip.
He had never heard of the Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura, but his Mysterious Yellow Bead was closely related to the five elemental origins. Therefore, as long as it had something to do with the five elements, he would inquire about it.
Seeing Ning Cheng as an agreeable fellow, the store assistant gave an even eloquent introduction. “The Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura is a precious treasure comparable to that of origin aura. However, it’s much harder for any cultivator to collect it. If you can gather all five Primal Chaos’s five elements, I heard that it could allow a cultivator’s miniature world to evolve into a True Spirit World with high-level laws. If you have enough, it can even further evolve into a Five-element World, second only to the Primal Chaos World.”
Seeing Ning Cheng hang onto his every word, the store assistant became energetic. “The Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura isn’t only used for evolving a world; it’s more prominently used for alchemy and artificing. Even if one doesn’t use it for those purposes and instead uses it for one’s cultivation, it would still be counted among the best cultivation resources. In fact, its effect would be much stronger than many elemental-type dao fruits.”
The more Ning Cheng heard, the more excited he felt. His Mysterious Yellow Bead currently lacks a complete Wood Origin. Although he was using Wood Origin Crystals to fill the missing part, it was nothing more than a stop-gap. If he could obtain enough wood-attributed primal chaos aura, could he use it to make up for the missing half of the Wood Origin Bead?
The Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition was just around the corner. And Ning Cheng had initially planned to send Yan Ji back to Stately River Star before heading over. However, he couldn’t repair the teleportation array. Moreover, the Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition would be held in the Grand Change Realm, and according to Ruo Xi, the worldly laws of the Grand Change Realm were still intact. What would he do if people found out he brought Yan Ji to the Grand Change Realm with him?
“May I ask which of the Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura is being auctioned this time?” Ning Cheng eagerly asked.
The store assistant could see that Ning Cheng was interested and spoke up with a smile, “It’s a strand of earth-attributed Five-elements Primal Chaos Aura.”
Although the store assistant was sure that Ning Cheng couldn’t afford to buy it even if he went, since he could evoke so much eagerness in Ning Cheng, the store assistant counted it as a success.