The middle-aged man quickly stopped Chang Manyin and spoke, “Manyin, this time it has nothing to do with him. I was besieged by someone else, not him.”
The man called Song Tong sneered, “It looks like I was too kind with you. You clearly took a Grade 3 Celestial Pill, and yet you still try to deceive me by saying that you did not take anything. If you don’t hand over those things that rightfully belong to me, I will have no choice but to report this to Steward Miao. At that time, Yi Jin would not just receive a few injuries; even if I want to defend the two of you, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to help you. Don’t give me that bullshit that you bought that Grade 3 Celestial Pill from somewhere, or that someone else gave it to you. How could someone like you have the ability to get someone to send you a Grade 3 Celestial Pill?”
In Song Tong’s opinion, how could someone just send a Grade 3 Celestial Pill to this couple, unless there was a problem with that fellow’s brain? What was the price of a Grade 3 Celestial Pill? Not to mention that one couldn’t even buy such a medicinal pill within the Border City, if a Grade 3 Celestial Pill even managed to show up in an auction, it would fetch a sky-high price.
He felt worried that since Yi Jin has a Grade 3 Celestial Pill then maybe he had other medicinal pills. Once Yi Jin obtained enough cultivation resources, he could soon become a Celestial Novice Cultivator like him. He would never let Yi Jin advance to the Celestial Novice Realm.
Of course, although Grade 3 Celestial Pills fetched a high price in the market, it was only for ordinary cultivators like Song Tong. For someone like Ning Cheng, Grade 3 Celestial Pills simply were worthless.
“Even if I have more medicinal pills, why would I give them to you? Who are you anyway?” Ning Cheng’s sudden voice interrupted Song Tong’s sneer.
“Who are you?” Subconsciously asking this sentence, Song Tong immediately felt shocked to discover that he had not even noticed Ning Cheng. Arguably, Ning Cheng had two vague Celestial Wheels behind Ning Cheng, so he should have seen Ning Cheng a long time ago.
Then he saw a girl holding Ning Cheng’s hand and immediately felt amazed at seeing such a beautiful and quiet girl. Even though he had spent many years in the Border City, he had never seen a more attractive and modest girl compared to this young girl in front of him. This girl definitely was not simple, Song Tong immediately thought. Then his thoughts quickly shifted to Steward Miao. Maybe he could use this girl to earn some extra favour with Steward Miao.
Ning Cheng had already taken away the veil covering Shi Qionghua’s face. Ning Cheng did not wish for Shi Qionghua to revert to her previous Sacred Lady status once again; as such, he felt that there was no need for her to wear a veil anymore.
Ning Cheng ignored Song Tong. Raising his hand and taking out a healing pill, Ning Cheng then put it into Chang Manyin’s hand and spoke, “You should heal yourself first.”
“Were you the one to give them that medicinal pill?” Song Tong immediately realised this. Some people really were too generous, taking out Grade 3 Celestial Pills to heal others. Moreover, this medicinal pill even looked like a very high-quality pill.
Ning Cheng swept a glance towards Song Tong, and Song Tong immediately felt a cold chill run down his spine, which made him feel even more shocked. He was already in the Celestial Novice Realm, and the other side at best was a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator. So how come he felt such enormous pressure?
“Yes, I was the one who gave them the medicinal pills. Why can’t I give medicinal pills to my friends when greeting them?” Ning Cheng spoke without hesitation.
Song Tong immediately stopped talking and started calculating. As a Celestial Novice Cultivator, he truly was not an opponent against a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator, especially against someone who seemingly had many Grade 3 Celestial Pills at their disposal. Moreover, when this fellow took out that Grade 3 Celestial Pill, it was done in a very smooth and casual manner, which definitely indicated that this cultivator most likely had a lot of wealth. Maybe he might even have something even more precious than Grade 3 Medicinal Pills. Although this fellow did not put Song Tong in his eyes, a few other cultivators in this place also did not put a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator in their eyes.
“Haha….” Song Tong laughed and suddenly spoke to Chang Manyin, “Congratulations. Looks like you found some good backing. Well, guess we’ll meet later.”
After saying that Song Tong turned around and quickly rushed through the entrance of the Border City.
Ning Cheng had wandered the starry skies for many years. Therefore, just a glance at Song Tong’s actions was more than enough for him to realise what this fellow wanted to do. However, Ning Cheng simply did not care about such activities. He could kill all the Celestial Bridge Cultivators within the Border City without even warming up. If he still decided to hide, then consuming all those cultivation resources over the years and going through many hardships to cultivate to this level would all be for nought.
“Brother Jin, this senior is Ning Cheng, Yan Ji…..” Chang Manyin didn’t know who Ning Cheng was to Yan Ji. Now that Ning Cheng had a stunning girl holding on to his hand, she really could not give much of an introduction. Therefore, when her words reached this point, she hesitated before continuing, “It was Senior Ning who saved our daughter Zhuzhu. Currently, Zhuzhu lives with Senior Ning’s wife, Ji Luofei……”
Ning Cheng nodded before speaking up with a smile, “Yes, Zhuzhu and Luofei are staying together. You don’t have to worry, I anyway am returning to the Rootless Black City to see them. If you want, you can also come with me.”
Hearing that Ning Cheng had saved his daughter and that he could go see his daughter again, Yi Jin immediately turned equally excited as Chang Manyin. Just like Chang Manyin, he immediately knelt down on the ground and tried to kowtow, “Yi Jin thanks, Senior Ning.”
Ning Cheng had already given the couple quality medicinal pills to heal, that itself made them feel very grateful towards this fellow. However, they now no longer felt only thankful, this Ning Cheng had actually bestowed them a life-saving grace by saving their daughter.
Ning Cheng asked Yi Jin to stand up and say, “Since you’re already friends with Yan Ji, and I‘m also a friend of Yan Ji, then it means that we are also friends with each other. Just call me Ning Cheng from now on.”
“Yes, Senior Apprentice Brother Ning.” Chang Manyin and Yi Jin did not directly address the senior in front of them as Ning Cheng; rather, they did not dare to call out Ning Cheng’s name directly. Starry sky cultivators did not distinguish each other by age but by cultivation.
Seeing a few cultivators talking in the distance, Yi Jin immediately turned anxious and spoke, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, you should immediately leave the Border City.”
Chang Manyin, who previously hung on to her husband to keep him up, did not think about it but then suddenly reacted and spoke up, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning, although that Song Tong is only a Celestial Novice Cultivator, he has an unusual relationship with one of the Celestial Lord’s stewards. That steward is already a late-stage Celestial Gatherer Cultivator and commands great strength. Over the years, countless people died because they ended up offending Song Tong.”
“How did you two offend this Song Tong?” Ning Cheng asked.
Yi Jing spoke with some anger, “When we first arrived at the Border City, Song Tong was just like us at that time, only a rogue cultivator within the Border City. We had teamed up to head into the starry sky to search for cultivation resources a few times. One day we found a fallen Celestial Bridge Cultivator’s cave, which contained a lot of cultivation resources.”
“However, because Song Tong had higher cultivation compared to us, and also was the most dominant fellow in our group, he immediately grabbed most of the cultivation resources inside. Among the things inside the cave, there was a Celestial River-grade Battleship, which Song Tong had also taken away and later ‘gifted’ it to Steward Miao.”
Ning Cheng asked again, “Song Tong said that you took away something, was it something cave or something else?”
Yi Jin clenched his fists and spoke, “Although he talked about that, he knows the score very well from that time. We husband and wife only got less than 20% of the total shares combined, while he alone took away 70%. As for the remaining, it went to the other companion with us, Song Tong’s Dao Companion. Over the years, he managed to advance to the Celestial Novice Realm and started to create more trouble for us husband and wife. To be honest, if given a chance, this husband and wife would have already left the Border City a long time ago. It’s just that Manyin’s injuries have not yet healed, while I only managed to reach the Domain Realm recently. If we rushed into the starry sky, it would be tough for us to even keep our lives intact in such a situation.”
“Since things are already obvious, and he also knows that you haven’t hidden anything from him, why would he willingly come to create trouble for you again and again, instead of killing you outright? In any case, you all were once a team before?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.
The competitions and calculations between the starry sky cultivators always had an origin in personal interests. If there were no interests involved, then no one would scheme against anyone without any sufficient reason; unless someone was not right in the head. One more enemy, after all, was not a good thing.
“Because he feels afraid that we made arrangements to divulge his ugly secret.” Chang Manyin spoke with a hoarse voice from the side.
“What ugly secret?” Ning Cheng asked.
“We initially had four people in our team, and one of which was a very pretty-looking female cultivator. Called Zang Lianrong. Because Brother Jin and I mostly depended and helped each other, this female cultivator ultimately decided to become Song Tong’s Dao Companion. After we found the fallen Celestial Bridge Cultivator’s cave, Song Tong obtained the Celestial River Battleship. However, instead of leaving with the Celestial River battleship, he gave it to Miao Clan’s Steward Miao Wuqian.” Chang Manyin explained.
Ning Cheng nodded. Looks like this Song Tong knew how to do business. Although the Celestial River Battleship might have been necessary to Song Tong, he might not have managed to keep it for long with his cultivation at that time. Instead, he decided to give it to Miao Wuqian to seek better support.
Chang Manyin spoke till here before giving out a sigh and continuing with some a regretful voice, “However, no one expected that Miao Wuqian was a hungry wolf in disguise. He just looked at Zang Lianrong, who was beside Song Tong, and blatantly asked Song Tong for the female cultivator. Unexpectedly, Song Tong actually gave his Dao Companion, Zang Lianrong, to Miao Wuqian without any hesitation.”
“From then on, he got whatever he desired. Not only did he find a good backing, but he also no longer had to head into the starry skies to search for cultivation resources. His cultivation was only slightly higher compared to Brother Jin back then, but now he already advanced to the Celestial Novice Realm while we still can’t get anywhere even near to the Celestial Novice Realm. It’s a pity that Zang Lianrong actually took a fancy to such an animal.”
Yi Jin followed, “This matter is only known to a very few people, and us husband and wife just happen to know it too. Because of this, Song Tong tried everything possible to kill us in secret. When I went out this time, he hired someone else to create trouble for us. I managed to escape just in time. When he saw that I obtained some cultivation resources outside, he most likely felt afraid that I would eventually advance to the Celestial Novice Realm. Because he still keeps scheming against us husband and wife time and time again, Manyin and I can only live within a crowd, unable to leave.”
Only then did Ning Cheng understand that why Yi Jin duo could not advance with their qualifications. Even knowing that Song Tong used someone else to secretly plot against him, this fellow could only say that the other party that had attacked him had nothing to do with Song Tong.
“I’m heading to the Rootless Black City this time. If you do not have anything else to do, you can come along with me to the Rootless Black City.” Ning Cheng said.
Yi Jin and Chang Manyin were Yi Zhuzhu’s parents, so at least he could help them with such a matter.
“Senior Ning, can we leave right away if you have a flight-type weapon?” Yi Jin could vaguely make out that Ning Cheng did not want to leave immediately, and asked with a worried voice. While talking, he also kept glancing at the city gates in the distance.
Ning Cheng showed a faint smile, “You don’t have to look. That fellow is already returning and is also not alone.”
Yi Jin and Chang Manyin then saw Song Tong and a female cultivator coming over, right in their direction.
“What should we do?” Chang Manyin and Yi Jin looked at each other. Although Ning Cheng’s cultivation seemed very high in their eyes, a Celestial Shatterer Cultivation would not be enough to go against someone like Steward Miao.