Chapter 0489: Starry Sky Powerhouse

“Where do you live, Brother Jing?” Ning Cheng asked while putting a relatively large quantity of Blue Essence Ores into an empty ring.

Jing Wuming spoke up with a disconsolate voice, “Where would I have a place to live? I just stay wherever I end up in the Ocean Gambling City for the day, slowly waiting for the day I turn into a slave.”

“You don’t need to worry about this anymore. There are some Blue Essence Ores inside this storage ring. As long as what you owe doesn’t exceed one billion Blue Coins, the Blue Essence Ores inside should be enough to cover it.” Ning Cheng spoke while handing the storage ring in his hands to Jing Wuming.

Jing Wuming awkwardly took the storage ring. After a few breaths, he could not help but speak out in surprise, “Brother Ning, you mean I can pay off my debts with this?”

Not waiting for Ning Cheng to answer, his Spiritual Consciousness swept inside and discovered the Blue Essence Ores, before finally shouting in surprise, “Live, I finally can live again......”

Seeing Jing Wuming sobering up and showing intentions to thank him, Ning Cheng raised up his hand to stop him and spoke, “Brother Jing, you don’t have to speak any unnecessary words. Just go and pay off your debts. There is also a jade strip inside the ring, which has my address. Once you pay off your debt, you can come to my place to go into seclusion. My strength is still too low, I must head back and cultivate in seclusion. As for a way to recover our things from this place, I will talk about it later.”

Jing Wuming nodded and did not speak anymore. For a Celestial Novice Cultivator, one billion Blue Coins really was not a significant amount. However, for him, it was a matter of preserving his little life.

Regardless of the preciousness of the Fire Origin Bead, he only had to provide its location and did not actually have to come up with the Fire Origin Bead. Ning Cheng, a Plundering Life Cultivator, coming up with so much Blue Essence Ores at once, it not only provided him with the much-needed help, it also made him determined to help Ning Cheng out as much as possible. Making such a friend must be the luck he accumulated over his entire life.

......

Inside a room within the Ocean Gambling’s Premier Casino, the brown-haired male cultivator, who had initially tried to cause trouble for Ning Cheng and Jing Wuming, stood with his head down in front of a beautiful woman.

“You said that Jing Hao paid off his entire debt, something that is due in just a few months. He doesn’t need to be a slave anymore?” The beautiful woman spoke out in an icy tone, which even contained a trace of killing intent.

“Yes. Jing Hao took out a heap of Blue Essence Ores and used that to pay off his debt. It must have come from that kid named Ning Cheng. For a Plundering Life Realm ant to come up with so much Blue Essence Ore, this kid definitely is not simple. Moreover, that kid also has a scheming mind. Otherwise, I definitely had enough reason to kill Jing Hao at that time.” The brown-haired male cultivator replied in his most respectful tone.

“Forget it. Celestial River King Shang Mou should have already forgotten about this little thing. Chalk it up to that Jing Hao’s luck. Right, where is that Ning Cheng living? Why did he help Jing Hao?” The beautiful woman asked again.

The brown-haired male cultivator had apparently dug out the information of Ning Cheng’s residence; therefore, he quickly replied to the question asked by the beautiful woman. “It was a Celestial Shatterer Cultivator who brought that Plundering Life Realm ant to this place. He is currently staying in an Immortal Cave within the Tyre District. Jing Hao has also started living in that Immortal Cave, which Ning Cheng had rented and has also changed his name to Jing Wuming.”

The beautiful woman showed a frown and spoke up after a little while, “We cannot intervene when it comes to Immortal Caves in the Tyre District. However, keep a close eye on them. They will have to leave the Ocean Gambling City eventually. Although casinos can stretch the gambling laws within their domains, extending our influence outside would not prove advantageous to us. Let us leave it like that. You can go out now.”

“Yes.” After the brown-haired man heard those words, he quickly stepped back, gave a bow and exited the room.

......

“Brother Xiaocheng, I never felt this relaxed, especially now that my debts are paid off. I estimate that as long as I go into seclusion for a few years, I would have no problems in breaking through the Celestial Novice Realm and advancing to the Celestial Shatterer Realm.” Inside Ning Cheng’s Immortal Cave, Jing Wuming sported a face filled with joy and no longer looked dispirited like before.

Even Ning Cheng could feel a massive change in Jing Wuming’s vitality and soul. No wonder he heard people say that a person’s vigour and soul had a close relationship with their cultivation.

“Brother Jing....”

“Xiaocheng, just call me Wuming from now on. Since we are brothers, such politeness only makes one feel unfamiliar.” Jing Wuming immediately raised his hand and stopped Ning Cheng from continuing.

The fact was that Jing Wuming’s qualifications were much better than Ning Cheng’s was. Now that he had gotten rid of the shackles in his heart, he no longer had any stray thoughts. For Jing Wuming, he definitely could advance quickly if he wanted. In the future, even if the distance between Ning Cheng and he grew larger and larger, Jing Wuming sincerely did not wish to lose a friend like Ning Cheng. Lest Ning Cheng grew respectful towards him just because of the enhancement in cultivation.

As for the name ‘Ning Xiaocheng’, he had explicitly asked Ning Cheng about it, out of the brotherly feeling between them.

Ning Cheng did not care about the form of address anyway. Not to mention Jing Wuming being a Celestial Novice Cultivator, even if Jing Wuming turned into a Celestial River King in the future, his name would remain Jing Wuming for Ning Cheng, without any constraint of what Jing Wuming over-thought.

“Ok. I do not quite understand the cultivation system within the starry sky. Can you explain it to me?” Ning Cheng had intended to ask this question to Lan Ya. However, he and Lan Ya were only helping each other out of necessity, and the relationship between them had not reached to the point where they could ask each other about their cultivation methods or even exchange some cultivation experiences.

“Naturally. I would have told you even if you had not asked. You are currently within the Plundering Life Realm, after which comes the Domain Realm if you surmount its tribulation. Cultivating to the Domain Realm marks the start of obtaining a powerful ability. However, after you advance to the Domain Realm, I suggest you head to the Arenas within the Ocean Gambling City. It will help you learn many things that you will never understand through explanations or writings.”

“The strength of a cultivator is not just reliant on his or her cultivation, but also on his or her use of abilities. You can find all sorts of cultivators within the arenas, which gives you access to experience all kinds of abilities. Those experiences are something that will allow you to proliferate, unlike the slow progress you might achieve in seclusion. I would have gone there if I could, but because of my initial dispiritedness, I did not dare to go to such places.”

Jing Wuming’s statements were the complete opposite of Lan Ya’s comments. Lan Ya reminded him repeatedly to not go to the arenas, not go to the brothels and definitely not go to the casinos. However, the first place that he and Jing Wuming went was the casino. Now, Jing Wuming had even advised him to go to the arena.

However, Ning Cheng did not think that what Jing Wuming said was wrong; at the same time, he also did not believe that Lan Ya’s gave him unfounded advice. Lan Ya knew that he was just too weak to participate in arena matches and would only face death. However, Jing Wuming had to fight his way through many life-and-death struggles to reach this part of the starry skies from the Graceful Star Mainland. If one did not face many life and death challenges, one could never transcend life and death.

Thinking to this point, Ning Cheng suddenly felt as if he gained some insights into the thoughts of Shi Yulan. Shi Yulan and Jing Wuming had to face many life and death sufferings along their journey to this place. She, most likely, either felt scared or felt tired of living life always on the edge of death and suffering.

Even if Jing Wuming did a lot for her, this kind of life, maybe, was not something that she wanted. Perhaps she just wanted some sort of stability in her life. However, coming to the starry sky, how could one expect to lead a stable life?

Jing Wuming had no clue about Ning Cheng’s thought process and continued in a dignified manner, “Xiaocheng, if you went to the arena with your present condition, you will, without a doubt, die. However, I would still recommend you to go there. Otherwise, once you leave the Ocean Gambling City in the future, you won’t even know how you might end up dead if you encounter any kind of danger.”

Speaking until here, Jing Wuming stood up and gave out a sigh, “Since we have already chosen this path of cultivation, there is simply no way to go back. When I had not paid off my debts, I did not feel like even mentioning the name ‘Shi Yulan’. However, now that I look back, maybe she just felt tired of having to go through those kinds of precarious days she spent with me. Perhaps she didn’t want to be a drag on me....”

Seeing Jing Wuming speak about Shi Yulan again with a somewhat dejected tone, Ning Cheng walked over to Jing Wuming’s side and pats his shoulder before speaking, “Aren’t there plenty more fish in the sea? Why would a man suffer, if not for a wife?”

“Haha, that’s not bad.” Jing Wuming laughed and did not continue speaking about things relating to Shi Yulan. “Although I asked you to go to the arena, there is also another benefit to it. That is, it could actually help perfect your ‘Domain’. It would bring you great benefits when you attempt to surpass the Nirvana Tribulation. After surpassing the Nirvana Tribulation comes the Celestial Scryer’s three realms, also called as the three realms of Nirvana.”

“The first of three realms is the Celestial Novice Realm; that is, someone who has just begun to understand a part of the laws within the starry sky. They cultivate by absorbing the starry skies’ Essence Qi and is my current realm. With your Plundering Life Realm cultivation, you will not gain any understanding of the laws within the starry skies; moreover, you can only absorb Spirit Qi.”

Jing Wuming clearly had no idea that Ning Cheng could actually absorb the starry skies’ Essence Qi to aid in cultivation and Ning Cheng also choose not to explain it. It is not that Ning Cheng did not know how to tell it; he just did not want to describe it.

“After Celestial Novice, comes the Celestial Shatterer. Celestial Shatterer implies that just by relying on one’s own ability, one can destroy a common planet. Of course, I am talking about a relatively weak planet, a planet even weaker than our Graceful Star Mainland. Generally, as a rule, small planets without any life are considered as low-levelled planets.”

Jing Wuming thought that Ning Cheng might not understand such concepts and began explaining things in an even detailed manner. “After Celestial Shatterer comes the Celestial Gatherer. However, reaching the Celestial Gatherer Realm is innumerable times harder compared to reaching the Celestial Shatterer Realm. A Celestial Gatherer can rely on his or her own powerful cultivation to pull together debris or something else and use it to coalescence a small planet. According to the ability of each individual, the coalesced planet can be strong or weak. However, no matter how formidable a Celestial Gatherer Cultivator is, they cannot coalesce a planet with life.”

Ning Cheng felt very much interested in planet coalescing as he spoke out, “Wuming, whether in the Celestial River’s three realms or the Destiny’s three realms, is it possible to coalesce a planet of life?”

Jing Wuming shook his head, “Not possible. Even the Starry Sky Emperor cannot coalesce a planet of life.”

“Starry Sky Emperor? Do they have even powerful cultivation compared to Celestial River Kings?” Ning Cheng had only heard about Celestial River Kings as the most formidable powers within the path of cultivation. Starry Sky Emperor was a term that he heard for the first time.

Jing Wuming nodded and replied, “That is correct. However, whether the Starry Sky Emperor, the Celestial River Kings, or the Celestial Lords, they are not cultivation realms, rather a certain status people earn because of their cultivation. As for Destiny’s three realms, they are the Heaven Seated Realm, the Life and Death Realm and the Eternal Realm. As long as one cultivated to the Heaven Seated Realm, one can become a Celestial River King. As for becoming a Starry Sky Emperor, they are existences at least at the Eternal Realm. They control an entire starry sky, can cause a collapse of a Celestial River with a casual wave of their hand and can cause stars to flow backwards. Each one of them is extremely mighty and are terrifying existences.”

“So many powerhouses.....” Ning Cheng gave out a sigh. At the same time, he also came to understand that a Celestial River was equivalent to a small sized galaxy.

historical

[TL Note: Size comparisons: Planets/Mainlands < Stars/Celestials < Celestial Systems (Star clusters within a galaxy) < Celestial Rivers (small sized galaxy) < Starry Skies (Galaxy clusters)]

As Jing Wuming spoke until here, his tone once again showed signs of turning disconsolate. “In the vast universe, I don’t know how many stars exist. Even if I cultivated all the way to the top and became a Starry Sky Emperor, within this vast universe, what could it amount to?”

“Haha, Wuming, the most essential thing for a human is fighting spirit. If a person did not possess even a shred of fighting spirit, wishing for things will only bring pain and sadness. Who can affirm that we might not end up as Starry Sky Emperors in the future? Can we not break through heavens in the future?” Ning Cheng did not feel frustrated because of too many powerhouses within the starry sky; instead, he longed for surmounting the highest peak within the heavens.

Jing Wuming shook his head and laughed before speaking, “That’s right. Who can affirm if we brothers cannot surpass the limits of the Starry Sky Emperors in the future?”