Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23: One Corroded by an Anomaly
After arriving on the twenty-third floor, Ning Ri was guided into a classically elegant hall, one that looked very much like the council chamber of a great household estate.
When Ning Ri entered, he discovered that four people were already seated inside.
The moment he saw them, a thought sprang into his mind—
Senior Luo was right. It seemed this mission truly was held every year, and every sect could send people to take part.
Only...
Ning Ri did not understand. Why was this mission held year after year?
Could it be that Master Chen Xingfeng was hosting it to take on disciples? Or was it that no one had ever managed to complete it, which was why it kept coming back every year?
If the difficulty was truly that high, then would he still have any chance of obtaining the 【Defying Heaven Foundation Establishment Art】?
And just as Ning Ri saw those four people, the four of them noticed him as well. The young man and woman who looked about his age merely glanced at him before withdrawing their gazes with indifferent expressions.
The other two were a pair of men who looked extremely alike, almost as though they were twins. The only difference between them was that one wore blue, while the other wore green.
The man in the green robe let out a sneer the instant he saw Ning Ri. “Heh. Which sect has fallen so low this year that even a third-level Qi Refining cultivator has come to participate?”
“Everyone seated here is at Foundation Establishment!”
“And you think you’re worthy of joining us?!”
As soon as those words fell, Ning Ri’s expression remained calm, but something stirred in his heart—
He’s mocking me?!
After all this time seeking immortality, finding a master, and entering a sect... this was the first time he had ever run into someone mocking him.
Looks like today is the day I break through on the spot, reveal my skill, dazzle everyone in public, leave the entire room stunned, and plunge the hall into dead silence!
Just as Ning Ri’s mind finished playing through an entire short drama at lightning speed, the man in blue suddenly clapped a hand hard over the green-robed man’s mouth and snarled, “I told you to shut up!”
After saying that, he pulled his hand away, and Ning Ri saw that at some point, a talisman had appeared over the green-robed man’s mouth.
The green-robed man immediately began fumbling at his mouth in panic. “Mmph! Mmph! Mmph...”
The blue-robed man ignored him and quickly strode over to Ning Ri, forcing out a smile uglier than tears. “My apologies, Daoist friend. This is my younger brother.”
“We just came back from an ‘anomaly,’ and my younger brother had his mind eroded by it. He is half-brained and foolish right now. I had originally placed a Silence talisman on him, but it just happened to wear off. I truly apologize. Please forgive him!”
As he spoke, the blue-robed man also offered him a softly gleaming spirit stone.
While he was speaking, the green-robed man behind him was still angrily making muffled noises, but not a single word came out.
Ning Ri, who had already opened his panel: “...”
Oh, you...
So you’re interrupting my casting, are you?
Without changing expression, he quietly accepted the spirit stone into his own hand and said in a deep voice, “This Daoist friend, I am Ning Ri of the Defying Heaven Sect. Is there anything Ning can help with?”
The moment Ning Ri mentioned that he came from the Defying Heaven Sect, the young man and woman who had withdrawn their gazes earlier immediately looked up and cast him surprised glances...
And the blue-robed man had clearly not expected Ning Ri to be from the Defying Heaven Sect either. He froze for a moment, then smiled and said, “So Brother Ning comes from the Defying Heaven Sect. I am Jiang Wen, and that is my younger brother, Jiang Wu. We come from the Mingtai Sword Sect.”
Hearing that, Ning Ri paused, only then noticing the sword ring on Jiang Wen’s hand.
Some people who did not like carrying swords on them would refine their flying swords into “stowable swords.”
With a thought, the flying sword could turn into a ring. With another turn of thought, the ring could suddenly become a sword again, catching others completely off guard.
After finishing the introductions, Jiang Wen then said, “Thank you for your kindness, Brother Ning. But my foolish younger brother will recover in a little while, so there is no need for Brother Ning to spend any more effort on him.”
Ning Ri nodded with a smile. “Very well.”
In truth, he knew perfectly well that, as a mere third-level Qi Refining cultivator, he could not help with anything at all. The other party was simply giving him a tactful reply.
What he was even more curious about, however, was—
What kind of anomaly had they gone to?
But that question was a bit sensitive, so Ning Ri did not ask it.
He simply chose a seat and sat down.
After apologizing to Ning Ri, Jiang Wen returned to his younger brother’s side.
As far as Jiang Wen was concerned, he did not regard Ning Ri as an opponent in this artifact-refining assessment.
It was not that he thought Ning Ri lacked talent in artifact refining, but rather that Ning Ri’s cultivation was too low.
Before coming here, Jiang Wen had asked the senior brothers and senior sisters in his sect. He knew that although the task Master Chen Xingfeng gave was to refine a complete set of Qi Refining dharmic treasures, the refining process actually had a time limit as well.
Ning Ri was only a third-level Qi Refining cultivator. No matter how great his talent in artifact refining was, at most he could probably refine one or two pieces before running out of spiritual power. There was simply no way he could finish refining the dharmic treasures within the allotted time.
And precisely because Jiang Wen did not view Ning Ri as a rival, his attitude toward Ning Ri was actually better. Forming a good connection was fine; they could simply treat it as making a friend.
Besides, he also believed that a third-level Qi Refining cultivator chosen by the Defying Heaven Sect to participate in the trial must surely be some kind of eccentric prodigy worth befriending.
That, too, could be counted as part of the reputation of the demonic cultivator sect, the Defying Heaven Sect!
At that moment, Jiang Wu also recovered to normal. He exchanged a glance with his elder brother, then put on a pleading expression.
Only then did his brother remove the Silence talisman from his mouth with a helpless look.
After standing up, Jiang Wu bowed deeply to Ning Ri with a face full of shame and said, “My apologies, Brother Ning. Jiang was too weak, which allowed the anomaly to take advantage of the gap and invade me. Please forgive me.”
Ning Ri waved a hand. “It is nothing. Brother Wu need not take it to heart.”
His brother had already paid up, so Ning Ri was not going to argue over it.
“Many thanks, Brother Ning!”
After saying that, Jiang Wu shrank back into his high-backed chair, covered his face, and went still...
Just then—
An excited child’s voice suddenly rang out from outside the door:
“Eh!!!”
“Aren’t you the big brother who was practicing his blade?!”
Ning Ri turned his head and saw that two people were standing outside the door. He immediately broke into a smile and stood up. “Xi Yuan, why are you here too?!”
Of the two standing at the entrance, one was a middle-aged man dressed in fine robes. His aura was ordinary and unremarkable, just like that of a normal person.
The other was a little boy who only reached the middle-aged man’s chest in height.
That little boy was an eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator.
Ning Ri remembered him. His name was Xi Yuan, and he was only ten years old.
This child was precisely that disciple of the Spirit Creek Immortal Sect whom Ning Ri had met before!
He was also the very one who had circled around Ning Ri insisting on taking him as his master!
As for the middle-aged man beside Xi Yuan, his name was Yang Xingming.
Ning Ri did not know how strong the man was, but he had an extremely favorable impression of him—
because it had been Yang Xingming who had praised his blade art highly and even given him a sum of spirit stones.
Xi Yuan ran over to Ning Ri and said with a miserable face, “Big Brother, please stop talking about it. My father made me come here to refine artifacts!”
Ning Ri had just been about to speak...
when, at that very moment, the Jiang Wen and Jiang Wu brothers, along with the silent young man and woman, suddenly rose to their feet in unison. Reverence appeared on their faces, and as though by prior agreement, they all spoke together toward Yang Xingming outside the door:
“Greetings, Elder Xingming!”
But Yang Xingming merely smiled and nodded at them. Instead, he walked over to Ning Ri, looked him up and down, and then asked curiously,
“Ning Ri, which sect did you end up joining in the end? Did you ever come to visit Spirit Creek?”
His tone was full of familiarity, like that of an elder in the family.
And that tone instantly caused the expressions of the others present to turn rather subtle...