Chapter 16

Standing at the door were a male and female cultivator. Ning Cheng was already at the third level of Qi Gathering, and with just one glance, he could tell that the male cultivator was at the fourth level of Qi Gathering, while the female was at the third level. The male cultivator was tall and well-built, with a decent appearance, but his narrow eyes made his imposing figure seem somewhat redundant.

"Are you the laborer who cleans the cultivation rooms here?" The woman, seeing that Ning Cheng was only at the first level of Qi Gathering, flashed a look of disdain in her eyes.

Ning Cheng was planning to leave here anyway, and whatever Mu Lao wanted to do was none of his business. However, he did not expect that just as he was about to leave, someone kicked his door.

"On what grounds did you two kick my door?" Ning Cheng did not answer the female cultivator's question but asked directly.

The man with narrow eyes, seeing that Ning Cheng dared to question them, immediately stepped forward: "What, I kicked your door, and you're not happy? Today, I will not only kick your door but also hit your face. What can you do about it..."

Before the man could finish his sentence, his palm was already raised.

"Such arrogance." An icy voice came, and the hand of the man with narrow eyes froze in the air.

Ning Cheng, seeing that the male cultivator was about to attack, had already prepared to act, but he did not expect someone to speak up. At this moment, he also saw the person who spoke, a woman who had just come out of the cultivation room. This woman not only spoke coldly but also had a completely expressionless face.

If it were just about appearance, she was no less than Jian Suojie. What surprised Ning Cheng was not her appearance but her cultivation level, which was already at the sixth level of Qi Gathering.

"Sister Zhuang." The male cultivator with narrow eyes recognized the woman and quickly clasped his hands to greet her. The female cultivator at the third level of Qi Gathering beside him also hurriedly stepped forward to greet her.

The woman called Sister Zhuang coldly snorted and turned to leave, but in the instant she turned, she saw Ning Cheng. She stopped again, frowned, and said, "Are you Ning Cheng? Ji Luofei's fiancé?"

Ning Cheng respectfully clasped his hands and said, "I am indeed Ning Cheng. Greetings, Sister Zhuang."

Seeing that Sister Zhuang actually knew Ning Cheng, the male cultivator with narrow eyes quickly said again, "Sister Zhuang, one of my sound guis fell in the cultivation room. I didn't leave for long and came back to look for it, but I couldn't find it. In the seventh floor, besides this laborer..."

Before the male cultivator with narrow eyes could finish his sentence, Sister Zhuang interrupted, "Lu Pengyun, do you know Ning Cheng's identity? The Five-Star Meteor College of Huazhou is about to recruit ten disciples from our Cangqin College. The selection is about to begin, and Gu Yiming will definitely return. Gu Fei thought Ji Luofei was easy to bully, but instead, he was injured by Ji Luofei. When Gu Yiming returns, Ji Luofei will surely not escape. So you came here to teach Ning Cheng a lesson and then take him away to humiliate Ji Luofei."

Lu Pengyun's face turned pale, and he then said frankly, "Sister Zhuang, you and Senior Brother Gu are both people I respect. Senior Brother Gu has already returned, and Gu Fei was severely injured by Ji Luofei. Senior Brother Gu will definitely not let this go."

"So you want me not to interfere and let you take Ning Cheng away?" Sister Zhuang said coolly.

The male cultivator clasped his hands and did not speak, clearly indicating that Sister Zhuang had guessed their intentions.

"Get out. Don't let me see you in the Da'an Forest or the Mango Sea, or I will kill you." Sister Zhuang's words were icy cold. The male and female cultivators' faces changed. They seemed to have not expected Sister Zhuang to show no respect for Gu Yiming.

However, the two did not dare to argue further and quickly turned to leave, descending the stairs in a hurry.

"Take care of yourself." After seeing the two leave, Sister Zhuang stared at Ning Cheng and said expressionlessly.

Ning Cheng was truly a bit depressed. He had already felt awkward being saved by two women. Now, both Jian Suojie and Sister Zhuang had said the same four words: "Take care of yourself."

Seeing Sister Zhuang about to leave, Ning Cheng quickly called out, "Thank you, Sister Zhuang, for your help. I also want to ask Sister, what exactly happened between Luofei and that Gu Fei?"

Sister Zhuang turned and stared at Ning Cheng, then said, "You are not worthy of Ji Luofei."

After saying this, she ignored Ning Cheng and turned to leave.

Thinking of how Ji Luofei had not come to see him for over ten days, Ning Cheng felt a bit worried. He sped up and took a few steps, earnestly asking, "Sister Zhuang, please tell me how Luofei was injured by Gu Fei. Ning Cheng will be forever grateful."

Sister Zhuang stopped, glanced at Ning Cheng, and then said, "Ji Luofei fought ten consecutive battles in the arena and won a Qi Gathering Stone. After ten battles, her true qi was depleted, and she had no friends to accompany her. Gu Fei challenged her, betting a Qi Gathering Stone. Under the threat of the arena, Ji Luofei had to fight one more battle. Due to her lack of true qi, she was severely injured by Gu Fei. However, Gu Fei also underestimated Ji Luofei and suffered even more severe injuries..."

She paused for a moment and then looked at Ning Cheng again, "If I am not mistaken, that Qi Gathering Stone Ji Luofei won should have been used by you, which is why you can advance to the first level of Qi Gathering."

Ning Cheng did not refute this. The Qi Gathering Stone Ji Luofei won was indeed given to him, but he had not used it and kept it with him. His advancement to the first level of Qi Gathering had nothing to do with Ji Luofei's Qi Gathering Stone.

"Sister Zhuang, you said Gu Yiming is Gu Fei's brother and will seek revenge on Luofei when he returns?" Ning Cheng asked again.

Sister Zhuang did not directly answer Ning Cheng but continued, "After defeating Gu Fei, Ji Luofei won another Qi Gathering Stone but did not kill Gu Fei. Because she was severely injured and had no one to accompany her, an official of the arena forcibly required Ji Luofei to leave one of the two Qi Gathering Stones."

"Why?" Ning Cheng's voice suddenly became loud.

Sister Zhuang slowly said, "After Ji Luofei finished her ten battles, the challenge from Gu Fei was an unexpected fight. The official of the arena required a venue fee."

"Is the venue fee for one fight a Qi Gathering Stone? And the arena even forced Luofei to fight an extra match?" Ning Cheng felt a burning anger in his heart. This was simply too much. He could even imagine Ji Luofei's helplessness at the time.

Sister Zhuang's tone was even more calm, "When Gu Yiming returns, he will definitely find an excuse to kill Ji Luofei. If you want to live, it's best to leave here as soon as possible."

After saying this, Sister Zhuang quickened her pace and quickly disappeared at the stairwell.

Ning Cheng calmed his anger and did not leave through the side door this time. He was about to leave Cangqin College, and he did not care if he offended anyone.

When Ning Cheng first followed Ji Luofei to the third floor of the cultivation tower, there were many people. Today, when he returned to the third floor, he found only a few people, and they were all hurrying down the stairs.

"Why are you not staying on the seventh floor to clean the cultivation rooms? What are you doing down here?" Just as Ning Cheng was about to go down from the third floor, Mu Lao's voice suddenly appeared in his ear. Ning Cheng was startled. He had clearly seen Mu Lao's stone house door closed, so how did it open so quickly?

Ning Cheng quickly reacted, stopped, and bowed, "I wanted to see what's happening."

He did not know what was going on, but since everyone in the cultivation tower had left, and no one was coming in, he assumed something had happened.

"You have some nerve." Mu Lao said coldly and then did not say anything more, returning to his stone house and closing the door.

Ning Cheng was scared cold. He did not know what Mu Lao meant by saying he had some nerve. Was it because he left his post or because he used the main stairs? Regardless, Mu Lao only said one sentence and did not further blame him, which made Ning Cheng feel both scared and puzzled.

Fortunately, Ning Cheng immediately thought that he would not stay here any longer, which calmed him down. Once he found Ji Luofei, he would leave.

Leaving the cultivation tower, Ning Cheng realized that there was indeed something to see. Many students from Cangqin College were rushing to the same place. Ning Cheng stopped a first-level Qi Gathering male student and asked, "Excuse me, where are so many people going?"

The first-level Qi Gathering male student looked at Ning Cheng in confusion and asked, "Aren't you from Cangqin College?"

"Of course, I am. I just came out of seclusion, so I'm not very clear about what's happening," Ning Cheng said confidently.

The first-level Qi Gathering male student looked at Ning Cheng with some disbelief. A first-level Qi Gathering person saying he was in seclusion was hard to believe. However, he still answered, "The Five-Star Meteor College of Huazhou is coming to our college to select ten disciples. Today is the start of the selection, so it's bound to be lively."

"Isn't the competition very intense?" Ning Cheng knew about this. When he and Ji Luofei first entered Cangqin College, he had heard about it on the broadcast, and Sister Zhuang had mentioned it recently.

"Not just intense. Our Cangqin College has many talented students, and the Five-Star Meteor College of Huazhou is only selecting ten. Isn't that intense? Senior Brother Qiu Yingguang, Sister Jian Suojie, Senior Brother Hou Chuan, Sister Zhuang Tianya... Just mentioning a few, there are more than ten already," another first-level Qi Gathering student who overheard the conversation immediately chimed in.

Ning Cheng, pretending to be a student, shook his head and sighed, "If only the Five-Star Meteor College could recruit a few more from our college."

The student Ning Cheng had stopped looked at him in disbelief, "Don't you know where these ten spots come from? In the past, even if our Cangqin College students wanted to go to the Five-Star Meteor College, they had to go on their own, and only one or two would be selected. This time, the Five-Star Meteor College is actively selecting because our first expert in Pingzhou, Lian Huoyan, has made great contributions to the three-province war, which is why we have this treatment."

"Of course. Lian Huoyan's cultivation is unparalleled, and it's said he is already at the Xuan Dan stage. After his contributions, his first request was for the Five-Star Meteor College of Huazhou to recruit ten students from all the two-star and above colleges in Pingzhou. Otherwise, it would be impossible for our Cangqin College to get ten spots, let alone have teachers from the Five-Star Meteor College personally select students," the other first-level Qi Gathering student added.

(First update, please friends, take a moment to collect the book. New books need your support and recommendations!)

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