Chapter 0541: Flowing Time

Ning Cheng did not head over to snatch the Celestial River Essence Qi King Pill. He knew that even if he managed to grab this King Pill, the cultivators would immediately go crazy and besiege him. Moreover, Ning Cheng knew that the King Pill had no value with his present cultivation. In any case, now that he obtained so many Perpetual Moon Pills, Ning Cheng’s first priority was to escape and find a place to go into seclusion.

“Want to leave? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” Ning Cheng was just about to smash apart the array formation sealing the entrance when a sharp voice passed through his ears. The moment he heard those words, a black light suddenly appeared in front of him without any warning.

Ning Cheng’s Domain immediately stretched out, causing the black light to slow down considerably under Ning Cheng’s Domain. At the same that his Domain erupted and brought some valuable time, Ning Cheng brought out his Nirvana Spear and shot it towards the black light, completely shattering it in an instant.

“What a powerful domain….” The sharp voice exclaimed in surprise, and the raging Celestial Essence stirred up the surrounding space even more.

Ning Cheng had just committed the appearance of the cultivator who sneak-attacked him when he heard a violent explosion erupting all around him. Immediately, everything in front of his eyes turned grey.

The cultivator who sneak-attacked Ning Cheng no longer continued with the attack. Instead, he grabbed an array disc, and his body flashed once before disappearing from Ning Cheng’s sight.

What happened? This fellow actually gave up on the sneak-attack; moreover, not only did he escape, this fellow even took away the array disc. Did that not mean that there was now nothing obstructing the path of the cultivators trapped inside?

Ning Cheng had just thought of it when he felt as if a river of time had surrounded him. His longevity seemed flowing out like a river without a levee, flowing away quickly.

“The Perpetual Moon Fort’s Time Wheel broke. Quickly escape. Or we’ll all have to face death.” Someone shouted, and then a ray of light rushed out from Ning Cheng’s side.

Ning Cheng did not immediately rush out; the moment he felt his longevity flowing out, a vague half-foot long key suddenly appeared within the range of his Spiritual Consciousness.

This key had a dark grey colour and remained suspended over the broken Perpetual Moon Pill Pool’s core, rotating slowly. Even with his formidable Spiritual Consciousness, Ning Cheng could not see the key clearly.

This must be the Perpetual Moon Time Key. Ruan Mingshu had mentioned that the most precious object within the Perpetual Moon Fort was perhaps the Perpetual Moon Time Key. Ning Cheng did not have any time to think over it, and with a flash of Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds, he immediately rushed towards it.

At this moment, every cultivator had his or her energies focussed on rushing out of the Perpetual Moon Fort, and only Ning Cheng was the one rushing deeper inside.

Some of the cultivators who managed to reach the entrance in time found themselves with a head full of white hair. There were even more cultivators who, due to their longevity completely depleting, fell down exhausted and died on the spot.

The moment Ning Cheng grabbed the Perpetual Moon Time Key, his hair started to turn white. Without waiting for him to stimulate the Twin Wings of the Heavenly Clouds once again, a river of flowing time surrounded him. At this moment, Ning Cheng knew that if he continued to rush outside, he would definitely die before he could even reach the entrance.

Ning Cheng did not hesitate and immediately entered the Mysterious Yellow Bead.

Although the river of flowing time still surrounded the area, it could not penetrate into Ning Cheng’s Mysterious Yellow Bead. At the same time, when Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept by his own greying hair, he could not help but feel slightly horrified.

The Lows of Time really had horrifying powers. It had only been a few moments, yet it had consumed this much of his life span. Going to such lengths to obtain this Perpetual Moon Time Key, was it worthwhile in the end?

Ning Cheng had just entered the Mysterious Yellow Bead when the bottom of the Perpetual Moon Lake collapsed, followed by a gigantic explosion erupting from the centre of the Perpetual Moon Lake.

The entire Perpetual Moon Lake, under this explosion, suffered complete obliteration.

The few dozen cultivators that managed to escape from the bottom of the Perpetual Moon Lake in time stood at the edges and looked at the obliterated Perpetual Moon Lake in shock. Everyone knew that the cultivators who could not manage to escape had definitely fallen. Even if they did not die under the horrifying effects of flowing time, they would have turned into ash under the explosion of the Perpetual Moon Lake. This kind of explosion was an explosion containing the Laws of Time; as such, not to mention a Celestial Scryer Cultivator, even if they were cultivators in the Celestial Bridge Realm, would they manage to survive it?

Ruan Mingshu stood by the edge of what remained of the Perpetual Moon Lake silently. She did not expect that Ning Cheng would still follow her and end up sacrificing his life in the Perpetual Moon Lake, even after what she said.

“Junior Apprentice Sister Mingshu, let’s go.” Zhao Yanxiang came over and interrupted Ruan Mingshu’s contemplation.

Ruan Mingshu looked at Zhao Yanxiang and spoke out in a faint voice, “Senior Apprentice Brother Zhao, our cooperation has come to an end. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other, and we will walk our respective paths, not together.”

“That Ning Cheng was too greedy, and ended up trapped within the river of flowing time. It is an unfortunate thing, but you do not have to continue thinking about it. After all, you don’t owe him anymore.” Zhao Yanxiang felt very happy that Ning Cheng died in the Perpetual Moon Fort. Although he lost some lifespan, he still managed to get his hands on some Perpetual Moon Pills that could help him restore his lost cultivation.

Ruan Mingshu calmly replied, “Senior Apprentice Brother Ning has not fallen, and it has nothing to do with us leaving together. Senior Apprentice Brother Zhao, there are some things that you should not have done if you did not want others to know. You egged Lou Shou to start a fight with Ning Cheng, it is not something solely known to me.”

Once Ruan Mingshu said those words, she immediately changed her direction and left the Perpetual Moon Lake, leaving Zhou Yanxiang behind.

Seeing that the explosion at the Perpetual Moon Lake’s centre had finally subsided, some of the reluctant cultivators slowly made their way back. However, they had not even reached the lake’s centre when streams of flowing time once again appeared, sweeping away a part of their longevity.

It immediately scared the already-scared cultivators and in just a short period, the area around the Perpetual Moon Lake no longer contained even a shadow of a living creature.

……

Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept out and realised that something significant must have happened to the Perpetual Moon Fort. Moreover, because of the violent explosions raging around, he no longer could get out. What’s more, even without these violent explosions, he still could not get out, as the rivers of flowing time would instantly shave away his longevity.

Ning Cheng then looked at the Perpetual Moon Time Key in his hand, which was half-a-foot long and engraved with all kinds of restrictions from top to bottom. Despite observing it closely for almost half a day, Ning Cheng could not make out anything.

Putting the key into the ring, Ning Cheng then started to arrange a Five Elements Array Formation around him. His Mysterious Yellow Bead still had its Origins missing; as such, anything that entered the Mysterious Yellow Bead would end up refined into nothingness in due time. Even the Five Elements Array Formation would end up refined into oblivion if it remained inside for too long; however, he could still use the Five Elements Array Formation to store a few things for some extended periods inside the bead.

Initially, Ning Cheng thought that the rivers of flowing time that raged the world outside would soon dissipate; however, after observing the outside for days, Ning Cheng concluded that the streams of flowing time would not disappear as quickly as he had thought. Although the explosion outside had subsided entirely, the flow of time remained unchanged. Moreover, as soon as his Spiritual Consciousness swept out, it would disappear without a trace.

Under the terrifying effects of the flow of time, not to mention people, even Spiritual Consciousness could not escape complete obliteration. It was also because of this flow of time that Ning Cheng did not dare to come out. He felt afraid that the moment he came out, he would immediately perish under the effects of flowing time.

At this moment, Ning Cheng could only stay inside the Mysterious Yellow Bead, regularly arrange, and rearrange the Five Elements Array Formation to survive. Ten days passed by, one month passed by, three months passed by…….

Ning Cheng’s initial anxiety had also started to calm down. Instead of waiting around anxiously, he decided that it was better to take advantage of the situation to improve his Five Elements Array Formation while studying Tang Yu’s jade strip that contained the fundamentals of the Dao of Arrays.

Another three months passed by, and Ning Cheng’s Dao of Arrays finally achieved a breakthrough, and he advanced from being a Grade 1 Celestial Array Master to a Grade 2 Celestial Array Master; however, the time flowing outside still showed no signs of slowing down.

Ning Cheng then thought of trying to control the movements of the Mysterious Yellow Bead. He believed that under this horrifying flow of time, it was impossible for a cultivator to come to this place. Moreover, one could not even sweep around with their Spiritual Consciousness. Therefore, as long as no cultivator came over, the Mysterious Yellow Bead would remain a secret.

However, to control the Mysterious Yellow Bead, Ning Cheng had to send out his Spiritual Consciousness regularly. However, within this flow of time, the moment that Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness came out, it disappeared completely.

Initially, to protect himself, Ning Cheng had carefully sent out his Spiritual Consciousness and instantly recalled it the moment it came out. However, despite the losses, Ning Cheng started to ignore it as time passed by and began to unleash his Spiritual Consciousness relentlessly. At this time, he no longer paid any attention to controlling the Mysterious Yellow Bead, as within this flow of time, Ning Cheng felt as if he had managed to touch a law that words just could not describe.

Ning Cheng actively suppressed the ecstasy brimming within his heart and felt sure that it was a feeling brought about by the flow of time itself. Ning Cheng knew that even an expert in the Eternal Realm might not necessarily understand the Laws of Time, especially since the Laws of Time were on a much higher level compared to ordinary laws. Ning Cheng had never expected that he would end up sensing the Laws of Time. Despite it not even being equivalent to scratching the surface of this law, Ning Cheng still felt extremely satisfied.

Even if his Spiritual Consciousness ended up consumed, if it resulted in a loss of his longevity, the benefits that would come with just a superficial knowledge of this law were incalculable.

Not knowing for how long, Ning Cheng’s enlightenment suddenly ended. As his Spiritual Consciousness emerged once again from the Mysterious Yellow Bead, it no longer encountered the flow of time like before. Sensing the change, Ning Cheng felt extremely disappointed. He knew that it was definitely not due to him gaining some enlightenment of the Laws of Time, but because the flow of time outside had finally stopped, either that or he moved out of the range of flowing time.

Ning Cheng came out from the Mysterious Yellow Bead and swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness into the surrounding ruins. From the looks of it, the surrounding area only had an ordinary appearance, while he appeared as if buried underground in this place.

The Perpetual Moon Fort had already disappeared, and the Perpetual Moon Lake was nowhere in sight. As for the Celestial River Essence Qi King Pill, Ning Cheng had no idea where it had escaped to or if someone managed to snatch it.

In any case, it was not a place to stay for a long time and had to leave this place as soon as possible. Ning Cheng had just thought of it when his Spiritual Consciousness detected something. As his Spiritual Consciousness spread out, it swept over an object that made him feel as if he touched time itself. It was something similar to flowing time but in the form of a stone.

In just a short while, three dark grey-coloured stones appeared within the range of his Spiritual Consciousness, not far away from him. Ning Cheng immediately rushed over and grabbed the three rocks in his hands. Feeling the time flowing within them, it allowed him to once again to expose himself to a change induced by time itself.

These must be the Time Stones, Ning Cheng thought as his heart pounded. He quickly took out three empty jade boxes and placed the three Time Stones separately within them.

Time Stones were extremely precious objects. Moreover, it was also the first time that Ning Cheng had encountered a Time Stone after entering the Time Wilderness for over three years. After Ning Cheng collected and put away the Time Stones, he once again deployed his Spiritual Consciousness and tried to search for more. To his regret, it looked like his luck had finally run out, as he could not find another Time Stone in the area.

Even the sense of flowing time had disappeared from this place; as such, someone would definitely find this place eventually. Ning Cheng pulled himself out of the ground and quickly rushed out and vanished from the area somewhere outside the Perpetual Moon Lake.

Half a month later, Ning Cheng stopped near a barren gravel laden field. He then took out the Middle-grade Dao Artefact Mask and once again turned into the bearded starry skies’ Wanderer. By this time people would have already believed that Ning Cheng perished in the Perpetual Moon Fort; as such, even if he had to appear once again, he needed to change his identity; otherwise, he would have to face many troubles.

After disguising himself, Ning Cheng was about to dig out an immortal cave for himself before experiencing the effects of the Perpetual Moon Pills, when Shen Qinyu’s figure appeared within the range of his Spiritual Consciousness. However, looking at the situation, Shen Qinyu really looked in bad shape, gasping for breath while leaning against a boulder. At the same time, he could also see many blood splashes covering her entire body.