Chapter 0685: Murdering With A Borrowed Knife

Ning Cheng had just put away the storage ring when he felt something wrong. Fortunately, he managed to quickly locate the problem; turns out Duan Gantai’s aura from the Connecting Spirit Silk had disappeared.

In other words, he now had no idea about Duan Gantai’s current location.

Looks like he did not make a mistake in reading Duan Gantai; Duan Gantai does have a method to disconnect from the Connecting Spirit Silk without letting him know. Realising this, Ning Cheng did not hesitate to make a few Spiritual Consciousness Seals and sealed his Connecting Spirit Silk Token. Since he did not know the whereabouts of Duan Gantai, he naturally did not want Duan Gantai to know about his location.

Violent celestial essence explosions sounded out in the distance, from this Ning Cheng understood that the blue-robed female cultivator could not manage to open the Moyi City’s Shielding Array Formation in time before others intercepted her.

Ning Cheng was just about to go out and see when he found, through his spiritual consciousness, that many of the cultivators who had chased after the blue-robed female cultivator had already fallen. Nearly 34 cultivators had gone out to besiege the blue-robed female cultivator. Of those cultivators, there were at least seven or eight in the Eternal Realm, with the worst cultivation at the peak of the Heaven Seated Realm.

Only then did Ning Cheng truly began to understand the power wielded by that blue-robed female cultivator. When those cultivators clashed with her, the resulting battle turned Shui Clan’s territory into a huge mess. The explosions turned many of the cultivation chambers and spiritual medicine gardens to dust, while many of the previously gorgeous buildings now lay shattered. As for the cultivators who died to the explosion, there were simply too many.

Ning Cheng also understood a few things about this blue-robed female cultivator from this. This woman clearly knew how to exact vengeance; knowing that she would not be able to leave peacefully, she decided to use the entire Shui Clan’s territory as her battlefield.

Unfortunately, even if Shui Clan did manage to grab something from that female cultivator, it would severely injure their foundations. With powerhouses filling the Mysterious Yellow Starland like the clouds in the sky, Ning Cheng felt that Shui Clan would not go all out without thinking things through. In his mind, even if Shui Clan wanted to scheme against the blue-robed female cultivator, they could have easily waited for at least one night.

……

In a room, deep within the Shui Clan’s mansion, Shui Guangxi sat at the seat of honour with a livid face. The chamber also contained more than a dozen or so cultivators, apart from Shui Guangxi, all at or above the Heaven Seated Realm, with equally livid expressions.

“Tie Clan is too much of a bully. If this continues, could our Shui Clan survive?” A long-haired male cultivator in the Life and Death Realm suddenly stood up and spoke, with murderous aura and anger oozing out of him.

Shui Guangxi took a deep breath and waved his hand at the long-haired man, “Guangtang, although that is still up for debate, getting angry would not be of any use to any of us at this moment. From the looks of it, Tie Clan had roped in the others to sneak attack that woman surnamed Ye in the name of my Shui Clan. It clear that they want to scheme against my Shui Clan, murdering us with a borrowed knife. Regardless, the most important thing right now is to win the throne while preserving our strength. That woman surnamed Ye is powerful enough that even if Tie Clan manages to take her down, she would definitely inflict them a heavy blow.”

“But how can we continue to let our Shui Clan’s territory become the battlefield? If this goes on, we wouldn’t be able to keep our Shui Clan’s Starry Sky Spiritual Vein.” Another Shui Clan elder stood up and said.

Instead of answering the elder’s words, Shui Guangxi turned to Shui Wuchang sitting on the side and said, “Wuchang, immediately leave the Mysterious Yellow Starland. Just remember what I said and what you need to do.”

After that, Shui Guangxi stood up, “The remaining Life and Death Cultivators from my Shui Clan will follow me to besiege her. Remember, although we are besieging that female cultivator surnamed Ye, you must not explicitly target her.”

Everyone understood the patriarch’s words; that is, they had to preserve their strength and act at the right moment.

Ning Cheng who still had kept himself hidden in a corner out of caution, saw Shui Guangxi rush out with seven or eight Shui Clan cultivators in the Life and Death Realm a few moments later. Seeing that Shui Guangxi had not come out until now, Ning Cheng immediately realised that someone else also wanted to scheme against Shui Clan. As he guessed, Shui Clan clearly planned to delay things, so they would not launch such a hastily executed plan. Although he didn’t know who schemed against them, Ning Cheng clearly understood that they not only knew how to murder someone with a borrowed knife but had also brought it to the point of cauldron fire turning bright green[1].

However, it was still a borrowed knife. The Shui Clan already had plans to deal with the blue-robed female cultivator, but someone else had beaten them to it and had started earlier.

With the light from various weapons exploding in the sky above the Shui Clan, cultivators continued to fall one after another. Ning Cheng retracted his spiritual consciousness after realising that his current strength still could not match up to an Eternal Cultivator. Once someone discovered him peeping from the side, they could easily send an Eternal Cultivator to deal with him.

The blue-robed female cultivator already had a few severe injuries before the fight; therefore, with so many powerhouses besieging her, Ning Cheng didn’t need to guess that it would end up costing some significant losses for her, even if she managed to make her escape.

Ning Cheng hesitated for a moment and decided to leave this place. But before leaving, he decided to help the blue-robed female cultivator. Whether it was to get back the Perpetual Moon Time Key or because of Tian Muwan, he should at least put in a little bit of effort.

Thinking till here, Ning Cheng quietly left the Shui Clan.

……

“Muwan, we may not be able to leave today. I really underestimated them.” The blue-robed female cultivator shot out several thunder rays which quickly killed off a cultivator in the Life and Death Realm before speaking in a decadent tone.

“I’m sorry, Big Sister. I caused a lot of troubles for you. If it weren’t for me, your True Spirit World would not have cracked while passing through positional planes, and it wouldn’t have caused any damage to the stuff inside. We wouldn’t have had to come here to search for the Sifting Ferry Grass….” Tuan Muwan felt a sense of guilt filling her heart. All of this happened because she had stayed inside Big Sister’s True Spirit World.

The blue-robed female cultivator shot out several more thunder rays before laughing, “My True Spirit World will continue to exist as long as the True Cultivation World. Although it might not be of a high grade, a little bit of cracking would not be much of a big deal. A pity though, those injuries suppressed my spiritual consciousness quite a bit; otherwise, I could have taken out my weapon. At that moment, these ants wouldn’t even be enough to get in my eyes.”

“Don’t let go. She’s already a spent force. As long as we hit her with our most powerful attacks and try our best….” A cultivator in the Eternal Realm suddenly shouted. However, his voice had just spread out when a thunder ray pierced through his chest.

Although the cultivator in the Eternal Realm suffered some severe injuries after shouting those words, all the people were also aware that the blue-robed female cultivator was losing strength with each attack.

Just then, an explosion suddenly erupted that rattled the entire Moyi City, shocking everyone.

The blue-robed female cultivator’s face also showed a surprised look. She did not hesitate to grab Tian Muwan and with a flash of blue light disappeared instantly.

A red-haired male cultivator with only an arm remaining, roared in anger, “Who was it? Who was it that blasted open Moyi City’s Entrapment Array Formation?”

“What’s the use of shouting now? Hurry up and activate the Mysterious Yellow Starland’s Guardian Grand Array.” Another cultivator roared.

“It’s too late. With her speed, she would have already left the Mysterious Yellow Starland.” An old man at the early-stage of Eternal Realm shook his head and spoke. He now felt that he shouldn’t have come here to meddle in such muddy waters. He was only at the early stages of the Eternal Realm, a long way from the full-circle of Eternal Realm. Even if this female cultivator were a Dao Confirming Cultivator, an existence above the Eternal Realm, he wouldn’t get many benefits with his strength. Why did he listen to others and rush here in desperation? They not only could not stop the fish, but the fish even managed to slip away from within their grasp.

Moreover, someone helped the female cultivator by blowing open Moyi City’s array formation, which means that she was not alone here.

“Brother Guangxi, we all came here at your invitation. Since your Shui Clan had already arranged so much, why not take it a step further and activate the Star Sealing Grand Array?” A scarlet-robed woman spoke with a somewhat crisp tone. Because she was alone and was still a powerhouse in the Eternal Realm, she did not fear the Shui Clan’s power.

Shui Guangxi’s face turned ugly to look at. He knew that he couldn’t publicly reveal that it all due to Tie Clan’s schemes and had nothing to do with the Shui Clan. But he also knew that if he truly said that, it would be tantamount to slinging mud and turning their back to Tie Clan, their supposed ally. Not to mention that Shui Clan was already in shambles right now, even if it was not in shambles, they were not Tie Clan’s opponents, only equal at best.

Tie Clan can’t activate the Mysterious Yellow Starland’s Guardian Grand Array by themselves. As to activate the Guarding Grand Array, it was necessary to go through his Shui Clan. Why would the Tie Clan do such a thing, which would potentially announce to everyone that they had set up a plot against his Shui Clan?

……

In a valley millions of miles away from the Moyi City, the blue-robed female cultivator finally stopped; however, her face had almost turned completely pale and looked a little scary.

“Big Sister, are you alright?” Tian Muwan anxiously held up the blue-robed female cultivator.

The blue-robed female cultivator shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. Muwan, quickly refine this mask and put it on. It will help you change your aura; otherwise, it would be perilous for you.”

Once the blue-robed female cultivator finished, she immediately put on a mask. In just a matter of a few moments, she transformed from a teenage-looking girl into a middle-aged female cultivator with ordinary looks.

Tian Muwan also put on the mask offered to her, but hesitated a little before asking, “Big Sister, although we escaped from Moyi City, why didn’t we leave the starland?”

“There is still a possibility of staying alive here, but if we leave the Mysterious Yellow Starland….” The blue-robed female cultivator didn’t go on. Tian Muwan, although smart, was still too weak. Moreover, because they had just come from Earth, she hadn’t gone through any sharpening. If she took Tian Muwan away from the Mysterious Yellow Starland and went into the void, it would be perilous to both with their current situation.

Although the blue-robed female cultivator did not go on, Tian Muwan somewhat understood what the blue-robed female cultivator meant. It was that her strength and experience were too low to survive alone in the void.

Seeing Tian Muwan understand what she meant, the female cultivator said, “Someone helped us open Moyi City’s grand array blocking us, but who was it?”

“We don’t know anyone here, could it be….” Tian Muwan hesitated after speaking half a sentence.

The blue-robed female cultivator knew who Tian Muwan was talking about, but she shook her head, “The celestial wheels behind Ning Xiaocheng looked messy; therefore, he should not have cultivation strong enough to achieve that. Besides, opening Moyi City’s grand array with just pure force would be impossible, one would also need a certain level of understanding for array formations. He is too young to be an array formation expert. Besides, we’ve been to his room before, and the level of array formations he set up……”

The blue-robed female cultivator did not go on, but Tian Muwan understood what she meant.

……

After Ning Cheng broke open Moyi City’s array formation, he immediately rushed out of the Mysterious Yellow Starland. He did not go too far but stayed near the periphery of the Mysterious Yellow Star, waiting for the blue-robed female cultivator and Tian Muwan to come out.

As one incense stick of time passed by, only the cultivators chasing the blue-robed female cultivator came out, but Ning Cheng did not see the blue-robed female cultivator or Tian Muwan amongst them. From this, Ning Cheng understood that the blue-robed female cultivator had not left the Mysterious Yellow Starland.

Despite the frustration, Ning Cheng could only change his appearance into a ferocious-looking starry sky wanderer and once again head back to Moyi City.

Apart from having some concerns about Tian Muwan, he also cared about the key. Previously, when he had explored the Sea of Twilight, he had not only comprehended Sunset’s Twilight, but had also obtained Time Stones, Twilight Sand, and the Glimmers of Dawn Ice Essence. But since Temple of Time was where the Perpetual Moon Holy Emperor supposedly stored his treasures, wouldn’t one find many more inside?

[1] There are two phrases used here in combination ‘to murder someone with a borrowed knife’ which means ‘getting someone else to do one’s dirty work’ and ‘stove fire turning bright green’, which is an allusion to Daoist alchemy which means ‘brought to the point of perfection’. A more common saying which you might feel familiar with would be “the mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind.”