The Gate Of Good Fortune

“You want my ring?” Ning Cheng’s tone also turned cold. When he stretched out his hand, the Celestial Rainbow Purgatory Spear suddenly appeared in it.

“Wait a moment.” The beautiful woman in the middle suddenly said.

The male cultivator, who was about to attack, immediately curbed his murderous aura after hearing the words of this beautiful woman. It seemed that he was very concerned about this female cultivator’s words.

Ning Cheng wouldn’t start if the opponent would attack, but he didn’t put his Celestial Purgatory Spear away.

The beautiful female cultivator gave Ning Cheng a starry sky curtesy before speaking. “This Dao Friend, we came here first. You’re the one in the wrong for digging up the starry sky spiritual grasses.”

Ning Cheng also felt a little embarrassed. Even though he knew that these starry sky spirit grasses had no owners, they had come here before him after all. Moreover, this female cultivator’s demeanour had a noble air to it, and the aura of pure innocence from her made people unable to get angry at her.

The woman didn’t wait for Ning Cheng’s answer and said to the handsome male cultivator. “Senior Apprentice Brother Zhuo, these starry sky spirit grasses indeed have no owners. Although we came here first, we didn’t claim or raise any of them. This dao friend came here and only dug out his part and nothing else. From this, I can tell that this dao friend is a reasonable person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have only dug out a quarter of it.”

The beautiful woman’s words weren’t wrong. Switched with a different cultivator, one would rarely follow principles like Ning Cheng. Not to mention that these starry sky spirit grasses had no master, even if they had one, the intruder would have dug out all the starry sky spirit grasses.

Ning Cheng made up his mind. If the other party insisted on wanting these starry sky spirit grasses, he would leave behind some Permanent Essence Pills. With an established sect, the sect disciples naturally would need some top-grade medicinal pills. If he wanted to head to the five grand realms in the future, he can’t leave the sect alone. At the very least, he wanted to leave something behind for the disciples before leaving.

Seeing the beautiful woman looking at him again, Ning Cheng didn’t wait for her to speak. He cupped his fists and said, “If this is the case, then I’m willing to come up with something to compensate for it.”

The beautiful woman spoke up with a soft voice. “These starry sky spirit grasses indeed are precious; however, it wouldn’t be useful for this dao friend even if you take it away. Few in the starry sky can refine them into Starry Sky Grade 9 Medicinal Pills. Moreover, even if a Pill Emperor could refine Starry Sky Grade 9 Medicinal Pills, dao friend might not even get to meet them.”

The female cultivator spoke using very tactful words. Using phrases like ‘get to meet’, that indirectly implied ‘you’re not good enough to take away these high-grade spiritual grasses’. Not to mention finding someone to help you refine pills, even if you found one, they might just kill you on sight. As for Ning Cheng’s claim to take out some other things for compensation, she didn’t even care about it. With Ning Cheng’s cultivation, what good thing could he take out?

The two people beside the beautiful woman didn’t speak. They obviously could see that Ning Cheng only had average cultivation. At most, this person in front of him was at the Life and Death Realm. Moreover, the celestial wheel behind Ning Cheng looked messy. Lacking any majesty of a powerhouse, how could this person have any proper cultivation?

Ning Cheng showed a faint smile. He was a Starry Sky Grade 9 Pill Emperor, so why would he want someone to help him with alchemy? Besides, even the Premier Pill Emperor of Culmination Grand Starry Sky, Cang Caihe, was also a part of his sect.

“If this dao friend doesn’t dislike the idea, you can stay here with us for now. Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi is a Starry Sky Grade 8 Pill Emperor. It probably wouldn’t take long for him to reach Starry Sky Grade 9. After Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi advanced to Grade 9 Pill Emperor, he could then help this dao friend convert your spirit grasses into medicinal pills.”

In all honesty, even Ning Cheng had to appreciate the demeanour of this beautiful woman. This Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi mentioned by this beautiful woman should be the middle-stage Eternal male cultivator who came together with her. However, even if this male cultivator were a Starry Sky Grade 8 Pill Emperor, Ning Cheng wouldn’t take him seriously.

Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness had already swept over a large empty area a little farther away. From the initial scans, he also noticed that there should have been a lot more spirit grasses in this vacant plot. From the looks of it, this Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi had already dug out the starry sky spirit grasses in that plot of land and used it for alchemy. This fellow had dug out so many starry sky spirit grasses for practice and yet barely reached the rank of a Starry Sky Grade 8 Pill Emperor. It was something too much to take in even for Ning Cheng.

As a Starry Sky Grade 9 Pill Emperor, Ning Cheng quickly understood this Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi’s qualifications. From this, he also felt sure that even if he used up all the starry sky spirit grasses here for practice, he would never reach the rank of a Starry Sky Grade 9 Pill Emperor.

“Thank you, Senior Apprentice Sister, but I have something urgent that needs my attention. Therefore, I will not be staying here.” Ning Cheng refused without hesitation.

The beautiful woman frowned slightly, but that Senior Apprentice Brother Wuzhi next to her, the one who could refine pills, spoke up with a somewhat hoarse voice. “As far as I know, it’s challenging to reach this spacial pocket filled with life force. Could this dao friend tell us how you came here?”

Ning Cheng also noticed that the beautiful woman’s ears perked on hearing this sentence. From this, he understood that this sentence was the focus of the three people here.

Ning Cheng gave a calm reply, “I have a direction-aiding artefact that can help me find the exit of Traceless Gate. This spacial pocket was one of the pockets along the way, so I had to go through this place.”

Ning Cheng naturally didn’t have any sort of direction-aiding artefact, but he could tear through space.

After listening to Ning Cheng’s words, the three immediately glanced at each other. A moment later, the beautiful woman spoke up with a little surprise. “Do you truly have a direction-aiding artefact that can help you walk out of the Traceless Gate?”

Ning Cheng nodded, “Yes, I can walk out of this place.”

The female cultivator’s tone immediately softened. “Let me introduce us. My name is Zhai Chuman, and these two Senior Apprentice Brothers are Bian Zhuo and Xiong Wuzhi. I wonder if this friend could take us out with you?”

“Naturally.” Ning Cheng said without hesitation. Even if he didn’t tear through space, he could easily find a way out after he reached this place.

Bian Zhuo was the handsome cultivator, while Xiong Wuzhi was the one with a dark complexion and a contoured face. Ning Cheng noticed that when Zhai Chuman spoke about taking them out, Xiong Wuzhi’s eyes lit up with a bit of joy. In contrast, Bian Zhuo’s eyes showed some reluctance. From the looks of it, he might not get the chance to contact Zhai Chuman after coming out.

“Thank you.” Zhai Chuman quickly thanked him and then added, “In that case, consider those starry sky spirit grasses as a payment for this friend’s services.”

Ning Cheng naturally would agree. Moreover, the three did not ask Ning Cheng’s name, nor did Ning Cheng divulge it by himself. He knew that these three people probably didn’t even put him in their eyes; therefore, they didn’t even bother asking him for his name.

After the four reached an agreement, Zhai Chuman’s trio quickly collected the rest of the starry sky spirit grasses in this place.

Seeing that the several people had collected everything in the vicinity, Ning Cheng walked ahead and rushed out of this life force-filled spacial pocket. Zhai Chuman’s trio also quickly followed Ning Cheng.

Seeing Ning Cheng switching between spacial pockets at breakneck speed, Zhai Chuman’s trio couldn’t help but admire him. Even if Ning Cheng had a top-grade direction-aiding artefact, it wasn’t that simple to switch between spacial pockets within the Traceless Gate.

Half a day later, Ning Cheng finally stopped. According to the information from the Traceless Immortal Pond’s jade strip, this spacial pocket was one of the ‘escape’ points.

“What’s stopping you from leaving?” Bian Zhu stared at Ning Cheng and said with a frown.

Before Ning Cheng could speak, two daoist shadows rushed over quickly. They were two Life and Death cultivators. After seeing Zhai Chuman, the two cried out in shock, “Sacred Lady Man…”

Sacred Lady Man? Seeing Zhai Chuman’s reaction, Ning Cheng nodded and walked up. Only now did he understand that Zhai Chuman was Traceless Immortal Pond’s Sacred Lady.

The Traceless Immortal Pond was a black shop[1], yet it even had a Sacred Lady. It was a big joke. At the same time, his impression of Zhai Chuman turned a little worse. Traceless Immortal Pond’s Sacred Lady, how could she be any better?

“Let’s head back to the sect.” Seeing that the two Life and Death cultivators wanted to say something, Zhai Chuman waved her hand and gave a calm reply.

Her every gesture oozed a noble majesty. From this, one could tell that even though she had lost her way within the Traceless Gate, she did not lose her Sacred Lady’s attitude.

“Okay.” The two life and death cultivators quickly led Zhai Chuman, while Ning Cheng also followed them out.

Xiong Wuzhi patted Ning Cheng on the shoulder then pointed to the directional jade slip in Ning Cheng’s hand. He then showed a smile, “My friend, the direction-aiding artefact you just mentioned, it should be this directional jade strip, right?”

Ning Cheng had an inkling feeling that this Xiong Wuzhi had a good heart. Therefore, he smiled and said, “That’s right. It’s my direction-aiding artefact.”

“You’re amazing!” Xiong Wuzhi gave Ning Cheng a thumbs-up and praised Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng naturally knew that he spoke with sarcasm, but didn’t care.

Bian Zhuo gave a cold snort but didn’t speak. If they had known that Ning Cheng’s direction-aiding artefact was this jade strip, the three of them would never have come out with Ning Cheng. The odds of using this thing to come out were pitifully low, and who in their right minds would even rely on this thing.

Even Zhai Chuman, who walked in front, shook her head when she heard the conversation between Ning Cheng and Xiong Wuzhi. She had truly believed that Ning Cheng had a direction-aiding artefact and could enter and exit the Traceless Gate at will.

Fortunately, this ignorant cultivator had luck on his side and truly managed to come out.

The several people quickly came outside of a huge building and after walking inside, saw a huge teleportation array inside of it.

After respectfully leading Zhai Chuman into the formation, the two Life and Death cultivators immediately withdrew. Bian Zhuo and Xiong Wuzhi also entered the teleportation formation without hesitation.

Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept through the teleportation array for a while and confirmed that it didn’t have any problems. Only then did he enter the teleportation array under Zhao Chuman’s puzzling gaze. In any case, he could easily arrange this kind of teleportation array whenever he wanted.

The teleportation formation activated, and the four people standing over it suddenly disappeared and appeared over the platform from where they had entered the Traceless Gate.

There were already four cultivators waiting on the platform, one at early-stage Eternal Realm, one middle-stage Eternal Realm, and two late-stage Eternal Realm. The Traceless Immortal Pond had already received news about the return of Traceless Immortal Pond’s Sacred Lady, so they came here to greet her in advance. Ning Cheng already knew the early-stage Eternal cultivator; the middle-aged woman who had brought him to the Traceless Gate.

Ning Cheng sighed in silence as he looked at the Traceless Immortal Pond’s background. This level of strength might even be enough to threaten Demon Domain’s Heavenly Emperor Zhangkang Tianji.

“Welcome, Sacred Lady Man, back to the Immortal Pond!” The four Eternal cultivators spoke up in unison. Even the two late-stage Eternal cultivators showed respectful expressions towards Zhai Chuman.

“Huh, it’s you?” The middle-aged female cultivator immediately recognised Ning Cheng and her eyes filled with shock. Ning Cheng was the only person to have exited the Traceless Gate in less than a year[2] since entering. Even when looking through the whole history of Traceless Gate, such a thing had never happened before.

Ning Cheng only showed a slight smile, “It’s me. I thought that it’s too wasteful to spend time inside so I came out first. Everyone, I’ll be leaving now.”

According to the words of Traceless Immortal Pond, he had brought back the Traceless Immortal Pond’s Sacred Lady. Therefore, he should have asked for a reward. However, Ning Cheng was in a hurry to go back. He didn’t want to waste time on other things. Moreover, he never even paid any attention to this so-called reward.

Seeing Ning Cheng about to step onto the chain linked to the stone platform, the middle-aged female cultivator shouted without hesitation, “This dao friend, you have to wait.”

[1] Black shop means ‘an establishment that kills and robs its guests’

[2] Not sure if this is a typo or something related to time dilation. But the raws do mention it as ‘one year’.