Deep within the Thorn Tooth Lake, countless cultivators directed their attacks at the same target. The sounds of ‘clicks’ and ‘roars’ from time to time made people feel that this place would crack open at any time.
Ji Luofei stood within the crowd and saw everyone attacking the concealed array. She understood that the defensive array wouldn’t hold for long before crumbling, which made her anxious. Since so many people have yet to find Yan Ji, she felt almost sure that Yan Ji was behind this concealed array formation.
Hearing another ‘click’, Ji Luofei could no longer tolerate the situation where she could only stand aside and watch. With things progressing to such a point, she suddenly burst out of the crowd.
The crowd attacking the defensive formation felt startled on seeing Ji Luofei rush out. Soon, some people noticed Ji Luofei’s cultivation and appearance, finding her to be a stunning female cultivator. One had to know that amongst rogue cultivators, pretty women like Ji Luofei were a rare, almost impossible, sight.
“Senior, this junior suggests not to attack the defensive formation for now….” Ji Luofei approached the middle-aged man who led the attack on the array formation and bowed.
This middle-aged man with a sinister-looking face was none other than the Celestial River King of Night Essence Celestial River, Shangguan Xiang.
Shangguan Xiang stared at Ji Luofei and scrutinised her carefully from top to bottom before asking with a quiet voice, “Why?”
Ji Luofei replied, “This defensive formation looks pretty tough. Maybe an ancient treasure trove lies behind this defensive array. This junior recommends dismissing everyone for now and drawing up some plans again.”
Shangguan Xiang nodded seemingly in appreciation, “That’s good, you’re worried about Yan Ji, right?”
“Yes.” Ji Luofei gave a subconscious reply, but her face immediately turned pale. She understood that she had messed up.
She, with her qualifications, wasn’t in a position to even stand in front of a Celestial River King. But because she spoke those words, people immediately understood that she wanted to help Yan Ji.
“Slap……” Ji Luofei didn’t even have any room to fight when Shangguan Xiang slapped her away.
Before Ji Luofei could even fall to the ground, Shangguan Xiang’s cold voice echoed, “Go, strip all of her clothes and nail her to this place. Once I catch that bitch Yan Ji, everyone can enjoy their fill of both of them.”
“Poof……” Ji Luofei opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, while her body flew back to the original spot against her will. She wanted to commit suicide, but a powerful force had sealed her body, preventing her from doing anything.
“That woman is useful to me.” A male cultivator standing behind Shangguan Xiang with a dark face and a baleful expression suddenly spoke up after seeing Ji Luofei.
The eagle-nosed man next to the dark-faced cultivator immediately replied, “Little Brother Xiang, leave that woman to Brother Teng.”
“Yes. Elder Brother.” The man who just slapped Ji Luofei replied immediately.
Standing behind him were his elder brother Shangguan Fei and Teng Shao, both Starry Sky Emperors of the Devil Domain. Shangguan Fei and Teng Shao, as Eternal powerhouses, naturally wouldn’t take any action personally when it came to grabbing a worthless Heaven’s Mandate cultivator.
The cultivator with the baleful expression nodded and raised his hand. But just when he was about to catch Ji Luofei, a buzzing sound suddenly erupted. Immediately after that, a sharp killing intent drowned everyone, forcing him to bring out a defensive weapon subconsciously.
Suddenly sounds of screaming erupted followed by mists of blood as countless cultivators started falling from the sky without even the slightest hint of life.
“There’s a killing formation here; someone must have activated the killing formation……” As more screams emerged, everyone immediately started to retreat.
The killing formation had only activated for a while, but the attack had killed thousands of cultivators. It acutely highlighted the power within it.
“Haha, this woman truly hadn’t said anything wrong. It’s an ancient array formation. This woman, I like her.” The man with the baleful expression smiled and once again reached out to grab Ji Luofei.
Ji Luofei’s face filled with despair. She couldn’t even resist right now.
Seeing the almost-invisible Celestial Essence Hand about to grab her, Ji Luofei suddenly felt another pair of arms around her.
Getting hugged like that, Ji Luofei almost went crazy in trying to break free. But she immediately stopped and muttered, “Ning Cheng, is that you….”
“It’s me, Luofei. I’m back.” A soft voice came, and a gentle palm stroked her face.
Ji Luofei only felt a kind of coolness on her face. Shangguan Xiang’s slap had formed a deep purple bruise, but it quickly faded, restoring her face to its original hue.
Ji Luofei, sensing the restoration of freedom, finally looked up and saw Ning Cheng. Although Ning Cheng’s face now looked a little older with more mutability, it still was the face she yearned to see in her dreams. She immediately hugged Ning Cheng and started to cry silently.
She had never thought that she could cry so hard as a Heaven’s Mandate cultivator. She never thought that she could be so vulnerable. From leaving the Everlasting Sacred Shrine with Sister Qionghua to entering the Ice Immortal Ridge alone to look for opportunities and nearly dying. From the lone and long secluded cultivation sessions to coming to Thorn Tooth Lake alone to save Yan Ji……
Everything indicated that she, Ji Luofei, wasn’t a fragile woman. Rather, a head-strong woman, but at this moment, she couldn’t stay strong at all.
“You?” The man with the baleful look saw Ning Cheng and immediately frowned. At the same time, he withdrew his imposing manner that had bound Ji Luofei.
“Teng Shao, I’ll settle my accounts with you later.” Ning Cheng stared at Teng Shao with a cold face before shifting his gaze to Shangguan Xiang.
At this moment, a flying sword fell into Shangguan Xiang’s hand. Shangguan Xiang’s spiritual consciousness swept into the flying sword, and he suddenly turned furious. “Elder Brother, someone went to my Thousand Cry Star and smashed the trade union’s screen in Tipping Rainbow……”
“Were you the one who slapped my wife just now?” Ning Cheng interrupted Shangguan Xiang’s words. His tone, however, didn’t even contain a shred of anger, as if just confirming a fact.
Shangguan Xiang put away the matter about the trade union’s screen and stared at Ning Cheng. “Your wife? Yeah, I slapped her. If not for Heavenly Emperor Teng Shao wanting this woman, I would have stripped her down and nailed her right here. Then……”
He felt agitated already. Not only did someone kill his daughter, but he couldn’t catch even her killer. But now, someone dared to come to his nest and stir trouble. Therefore, when he heard Ning Cheng say something about Ji Luofei being his wife, the killing intent in his heart started to surge out finally. He was a Life and Death powerhouse, while his elder brother Shangguan Fei was a middle-stage Eternal Emperor. As for Heavenly Emperor Teng Shao who came with his elder brother, this person was a late-stage Eternal expert. No matter who Ning Cheng was, he wouldn’t take him seriously.
Ji Luofei quickly sobered up on hearing Shangguan Xiang’s voice. She quickly released her hand holding Ning Cheng and said in a panic, “Dear, you should quickly leave….”
She had lived and wandered this place for quite a long time, and naturally knew about Shangguan Xiang’s elder brother Shangguan Fei. Shangguan Fei was a legendary Eternal powerhouse. So, Ning Cheng, even if he grew more powerful, would never manage to live facing an Eternal expert if he didn’t escape in time.
“Shut up……” Shangguan Fei anxiously called out to Shangguan Xiang. But by the time he said ‘shut up’, Ning Cheng’s hand already extended towards Shangguan Xiang.
Shangguan Fei, seeing Ning Cheng making a move, didn’t care about anything else and unleashed the full force of his domain at Ning Cheng. At the same time, he also brought out his weapon.
However, Shangguan Fei quickly discovered that his domain did not affect Ning Cheng at all. Not only did it not do anything, but it started disintegrating inch-by-inch the moment it came in contact with Ning Cheng’s imposing manner.
“Brother Teng, help me……” Shangguan Fei had just said those words when Ning Cheng’s Celestial Essence Hand grabbed Shangguan Xiang’s neck and lifted him in the air.
Shangguan Xiang turned cold. He had never expected to find himself in such a situation as a Life and Death cultivator. Someone had picked him up by the neck and disabled him completely. Even his elder brother couldn’t stop such a thing from happening. Who the hell was this person, how did he have such terrifying cultivation?
Seeing Ning Cheng pick up Shangguan Xiang like a rubber chicken, Shangguan Fei had to stop his attack forcibly. He then cupped his fists towards Ning Cheng and said, “Sect Master Ning, my younger brother spoke wrongly. Let me apologise to Sect Master Ning for this mistake. My younger brother didn’t know that he stood in front of a venerated senior. Sect Master Ning, I hope Sect Master Ning can show some leniency……”
Sect Master Ning? Shangguan Xiang felt shocked. He finally recalled who ‘Sect Master Ning’ was. Some years ago, Ning Cheng came to his Nine Jewels Starry Sky alone and killed the Eternal expert of Everlasting Sacred Shrine, Seeking Intelligence. Compared to Seeking Intelligence, a powerhouse in the Eternal Realm, why would this person care about the life or death of a Celestial River King like him?
Knowing this, Shangguan Xiang started sweating profusely. Moreover, the more he thought about it, the colder he felt. After many years of suffering and torment, Shangguan Xiang finally reached his current status. But this status would soon disappear, and even his life most likely would cease to exist. How could he not feel afraid?
As for this Sect Master Ning, he would never believe that this person feared his elder brother. This Sect Master Ning even dared to go against Chuan Xinlou, how could he show any fear towards his elder brother?
Ning Cheng seemed to have never heard Shangguan Fei’s words. Instead, he kept staring at Shangguan Xiang and spoke with a cold tone, “Do you know why I didn’t kill you immediately? That’s because I have two things to tell you…. First, I’m the one who smashed the screen in Tipping Rainbow City’s trade union… And second, not only Tipping Rainbow City, even Night Essence Celestial River will have nothing to do with you anymore.”
After finishing that sentence, Ning Cheng threw out Shangguan Xiang with a flick of his hand. But before Shangguan Xiang and Shangguan Fei could feel any relief, Ning Cheng threw a punch.
With a ‘bang’ sound, Shangguan Xiang who still hadn’t fallen to the ground, blew up like an exploding balloon the moment Ning Cheng’s punch hit him. Only blood and gore remained to mark his existence.
Shangguan Xiang never had a chance to ask for mercy from the beginning to the end.
Only silence remained within the crowd. A person had blown Shangguan Xiang, a Celestial River King, into a pool of blood and gore with just a punch, and even his essence spirit couldn’t survive. Moreover, the Celestial River King couldn’t even resist the slightest bit. Who was this person? How was he so powerful?
Ji Luofei also saw Ning Cheng killing Shangguan Xiang with a punch and let out a startled ‘ah’ sound. Even with her eyes wide open, she couldn’t believe what she just saw.
“Ning Cheng, I’ll kill you……” Seeing Ning Cheng killing his brother right in front of him, Shangguan Fei no longer could contain his anger. Suddenly ten flying umbrellas appeared suspended over his head, which then spread out and merged with his domain.
The angrier he felt, the calmer he became. As a Starry Sky Heavenly Emperor, Shangguan Fei knew too well that if he didn’t kill Ning Cheng today, he would never have the chance again.
Not because of anything else, but because he currently had Teng Shao of the Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky with him today. Teng Shao had already regarded Ning Cheng as an eyesore since the last time they met, which meant that he would help him. But after today, if he wanted to hire a helper as powerful as Teng Shao, it would only remain a dream.