Chapter 0005 – Yi Xing Mainland
“Are you okay?” Ning Cheng asked, as all of a sudden, Ji Luo Fei staggered, Ning Cheng hurriedly stepped forward to support her. Ji Luo Fei’s body emitted a soft fragrance, however there was also a faint smell of blood mixed with it.
Ji Luo Fei did not wait for Ning Cheng to continue to inquire, shoving Ning Cheng aside, said, “I’m fine, I am going to take rest first. I will come out after a little while to speak with you.”
After she finished speaking, Ji Luo Fei entered into a nearby room.
Ning Cheng looked at his palm. Shockingly, on his palm, there appeared a faint trace of a bloodstain.
Ning Cheng instantly understood that Ji Luo Fei had sustained some serious injuries. A moment ago, when he was supporting Ji Luo Fei’s back, the condition of her injuries could be clearly seen.
He looked towards Ji Luo Fei’s room, Ning Cheng hesitated a bit, but did not go in. Ji Luo Fei was at the Qi Gathering 3rd Level and so her recovery ability was much higher than his. It could be clearly seen that the Cang Qin 2 Star Academy was also not a safe region.
……
Ji Luo Fei was attracted by the fragrance of food, she had also changed into a new set of clothes. Ning Cheng saw that after she rested for a while, her face was not as pale as before.
“This is your doing?” asked Ji Luo Fei in a surprised tone as she looked at the small wooden table which was laid with four dishes and a soup. In her memory, when did Ning Cheng ever cook a meal? Moreover, even the food that he made looked very appetizing?
Ning Cheng smiled, “Of Course, I made it. Come over and have a bite.”
Ji Luo Fei was obviously not a very talkative person. Although she was surprised that Ning Cheng could cook a meal, but she did not ask about it. She did not know whether the food Ning Cheng made was delicious or if she was really hungry. Even after she finished eating several bowls of the food, she still felt like she was not full.
After they finished eating, Ning Cheng hurried to tidy up the dishes.
“Wait.” Ji Luo Fei stopped Ning Cheng by calling out to him and said, “These dishes, I will clean them up, you do not have to do these……”
Ji Luo Fei, did not even finished speaking, when she thought of some issues. Ning Cheng definitely didn’t cook this, how could he prepare such a delicious food?
She promptly corrected herself, “Would you please first sit down, there is something that I have to say to you.”
After waiting for Ning Cheng to sit down, Ji Luo Fei took the initiative and took out two very thin leather books and placed them in Ning Cheng’s hands and said, “This was left by your grandfather, he left it with me to give it to you later. Now that you can successfully gather Qi, I should give this to you.”
Ning Cheng silently took the two thin books, he was very clear on what was going on. This was because his predecessor’s grandfather, although spoiled and pampered Ning Cheng, he also knew what kind of person he was. These leather books must be the Ning family’s heirloom Cultivation Method. These were given to Ji Luo Fei to be passed on to him. But Ji Luo Fei’s reason to give him the leather books, was not because of his success in Qi gathering, but because she felt that the present Ning Cheng and the past Ning Cheng were completely different.
Seeing Ning Cheng receive the leather books, Ji Luo Fei sighed, she seemed to be glad that she had completed this matter. She, once more, took out a small wooden box and handed it to Ning Cheng and said, “Inside this is a Qi Gathering Stone, you can use it to practice your cultivation.”
The present Ning Cheng was already not a beginner; he knew that Qi Gathering Stones were very precious. A single Qi Gathering Stone was equivalent to one hundred gold coins, however this was just a set price and one hundred gold coins were absolutely not enough to actually buy a Qi Gathering Stone. Even the Ning Clan didn’t have much of it but now Ji Luo Fei was giving him one, he immediately refused and said, “Luo Fei, I can already cultivate Qi. You are currently at the Qi Gathering 3rd Level and you will require many Qi Gathering Stones during this period so you need not give it to me.”
Ji Luo Fei forcefully stuffed the wooden box into the hands of Ning Cheng and said, “I’ll let you take it, you know that I am already at the Qi Gathering 3rd Level. With my qualifications, I suppose I will by leaving the Cang Qin 2 Star Academy soon, at that time you will be on your own……”
Ning Cheng, after listening to Ji Luo Fei’s words, no longer refused to take the wooden box. He received the wooden box and with a sigh he said, “Luo Fei, in the past, I was naive and not quite sensible, please forgive me for having made you angry in any way. You know that my aptitude and qualifications are not good, in the future you are going to leave the Cang Qin Province, we will then no longer have the opportunities to meet. Fortunately, although we were engaged when we young, but we have still not married. When you get promoted to the Qi Gathering 4th Level, we would become people of two different worlds, anyhow, let us give up on this engagement immediately, all these years you suffered great inconveniences in the Ning mansion……”
Now that the Ning mansion was burnt to ashes, Ning Cheng must also give up on his engagement to Ji Luo Fei
Ji Luo Fei stared at Ning Cheng, she did not think that Ning Cheng would say such a thing. But she was very clear that what Ning Cheng told was the truth, once she left the Cang Qin Province, there would be no chance for her and Ning Cheng to meet.
“My life was saved by Grandpa Ning, without Grandpa Ning, there would not have been a Ji Luo Fei. What you said is right, after I leave Cang Qin Province, we probably will not have the opportunity to meet again. Let alone that, I also have a disfigured face, so us being married is also unrealistic, but I also know that I will be faithful till the end of the world. This betrothal was laid down by Grandpa Ning and my Grandfather, without their words, I will not dissolve it. But in the future, after I’m gone, you have to take care of yourself, as I am sure you would have no way to follow me around for the rest of your life.”
Ji Luo Fei finished, stood up, picked up a few dirty dishes and put them in the kitchen. She had clearly stated to Ning Cheng, that when she left Cang Qin Province, she would not have any opportunity to meet Ning Cheng. With her qualifications, if she wanted to forcibly stay to take care of Ning Cheng, then he would just end up dying quickly. Now that Ning Cheng was already at the Qi Gathering 1st Level, regardless of how he advanced, it made Ji Luo Fei a little bit comforted.
Ning Cheng was very smart, how can he not understand the meaning of Ji Luo Fei’s words? He knew that in the future when Ji Luo Fei left the Cang Qin Province, he wouldn’t be able to meet her, because of this, he offered to dissolve the marriage, mostly because Ji Luo Fei did have any fond memories to hang onto in the future. After all, Ji Luo Fei saved his life, he can only help Ji Luo Fei in such a way. Now that Ji Luo Fei did not agree, he was also not willing to say anymore.
Ning Cheng returned to his room, and first took out the Qi Gathering Stone. In his memory there was information about the Qi Gathering Stones, but he had never seen one. Now that Ji Luo Fei brought back a Qi Gathering Stone, Ning Cheng wanted to know what made this stone so valuable, although 100 gold coins can be used to purchase a Qi Gathering Stone, one may not necessarily be able to buy it, as this price was not in any way low.
When the Qi Gathering Stone was taken out by Ning Cheng for the first time, Ji Luo Fei was able to sense it, she peeked at Ning Cheng in his room, as she saw that the corners of Ning Cheng’s mouth revealed a trace of smile. Although Ning Cheng did not have his playboy attitude from before, his face was still somewhat childish. His mouth was slightly open when he saw the Qi Gathering Stone, this was clearly the first time that he saw a Qi Gathering Stone.
Ji Luo Fei was able to sense the Qi Gathering Stone in Ning Cheng’s hands, but Ning Cheng was confused, when he saw that it was just a very ordinary looking dark yellow stone, in his heart he felt a bit disappointed. The Qi contained in the stone seemed to be richer, but Ning Cheng felt that this Qi and the one present inside him, simply couldn’t be compared.
Putting the Qi Gathering Stone away, Ning Cheng took out the two leather books. One book introduced the history of the Ning Clan, and the other was the Cultivation Method of the Ning Clan that was passed down from generation to generation.
After reading the first book, Ning Cheng came to know a bit more of this world. Cang Qin Province was just a tiny province of the Ping Continent, and was just in the corner of the Yi Xing Mainland.
There were nine great continents on the Yi Xing mainland, but the Qi in the Ping Continent was the scarcest, this province in which he resided, the Cang Qin Province, was regarded as a mortal country as it was mostly occupied by ordinary humans. It belonged to the lowest class in the mainland.
In the Yi Xing Mainland, the power distribution was complex. As the Ning Clan, since the beginning of their history, only had one member who was able to advance to the Essence Building Realm, as such they did not have a very thorough understanding of the Yi Xing Mainland. Ning Cheng, from this thin book could only make out the main forces of Yi Xing Mainland, the various countries, vassal states, Academies, family clans and some low levelled sects.
The Academies were among the strongest powers of a continent and every continent possessed many vassal states or provinces under it. Vassal states also were divided according to their strength; the highest position was held by a 3 Star Vassal State. A 1 Star Vassal State was basically classified as a mortal country, at most having only some ordinary military cultivation.
The Cang Qin Province was only a 1 Star Vassal State. If not for the Cang Qin 2 Star Academy, the Cang Qin Province would be the same as a mortal country.
Also, Academies were different, at a low level continent, the highest rank of the Academy was only a 5 Star. In a low level continent, a 3 Star Academy was equivalent to a 3 Star Vassal State. If a vassal state had a 5 Star Academy, then that Academy would be the one who ran that Vassal State.
On the thin book, there was an after-note which said of a legend of a 9 Star Academy in the Yi Xing Mainland, but the Ning Clan did not have any experts that could go out to verify its authenticity.
Closing the thin book, Ning Cheng heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how big the Yi Xing Mainland was, but from this book, he could guess how incomparably vast it was. Even the Cang Qin Province was estimated to be equivalent to only a grain of dust on the Yi Xing Mainland.
Even though the Ning Clan had a cultivator at the Essence Building Realm, but they were still unable to move away from the Yi Xing Mainland’s low level Ping Continent. It could clearly be seen that the idea of Ning Cheng, who thought that he could return to Earth just by reaching the Essence Building Realm, was simply childish.
The reason why the Ning Clan had been able to gain a foothold in the Cang Qin Province was because they had served the Cang Qin Province’s Royal Family for generations. Even so, the Cang Qin Province’s Royal Family didn’t even say a word when the Ning Clan was wiped out.
Even if Ning Cheng came from Earth, his heart was very uncomfortable. The cold nature of Cang Qin Province’s Royal Family wasn’t worth anything for him to die for.
Opening the second leather book, Ning Cheng thought it was Ning Clan’s Cultivation Method. Reading the introductory sentence, it said that this Cultivation Method was at the top tier among the ordinary rank Cultivation Methods. When Ning Cheng saw this, he was a bit disappointed, top tier but merely of the ordinary rank Cultivation Methods. The 9 Levels of Qi Gathering were written in a very detailed manner in the thin leather book, also there were some comments and illustrations too.
Ning Cheng looked ahead, he recalled that the 1st Level described in the Cultivation Method was more or less the same. He attempted to circulate his Qi according to the Qi pattern and in a while, a stream of lukewarm water like Qi flowed out from his Dantian. Ning Cheng was shocked, he wanted to stop his cultivation but in his mind, suddenly a new Meridian had emerged and his Qi started circulating through it.
This new Qi flow was clearly different from the description on the Ning Clan’s Cultivation Method’s Mnemonic Chant. Not only that, Ning Cheng felt that if he cultivated his Qi according to the Cultivation Method which his mind produced, the effects could be even better.