Chapter 21

"Stop..." Ji Luofei was terrified; she had seen her aunt raise her hand and turn two Qi Gathering Sixth Layer cultivators into withered bones. If her aunt continued, wouldn’t Ning Cheng also turn into withered bones?

Ji Yaohe had never intended to kill Ning Cheng. She felt that the relationship between Luofei and Ning Cheng wasn’t that simple. Now that Luofei was blocking her, she simply put her hand down and looked at Ji Luofei with some dissatisfaction, saying, "Luofei, this boy bullied you so much, and you’re actually pleading for him?"

Ji Luofei said urgently, "No, Ning Cheng is different now. He didn’t bully me..."

Ning Cheng secretly sighed, thinking Ji Luofei was too honest. Couldn’t she just say that Yong Changyan was lying? Would Yong Changyan dare to argue with Ji Yaohe? By saying this, wasn’t Luofei implying that Ning Cheng had bullied her before?

"Indeed, you were bullied before." Although Ji Yaohe didn’t plan to kill Ning Cheng, she now despised him immensely.

Ji Luofei, in a panic, said, "Aunt, please help Ning Cheng. If Ning Cheng can’t leave, he will definitely die if he stays here alone. Even if I leave, I won’t be at ease."

The man with a stern face suddenly said, "Junior Sister Yaohe, why don’t you let Ning Cheng test his spiritual roots? If they’re good, taking him along won’t be a big deal."

"Go test your spiritual roots," Ji Yaohe said coldly to Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng knew his spiritual roots were very poor, and the current situation was far beyond his and Ji Luofei’s control. He could only walk to the spiritual root testing device, place his hand inside, and channel some true qi.

Three faint yellow beams stopped at three feet, and there was no particularly thick beam in the middle of the crystal column.

No main spiritual root, only three secondary spiritual roots, and these secondary roots were only slightly better than turbid yellow.

Ning Cheng didn’t mind; he knew his spiritual roots were extremely poor. However, he had heard from Ji Luofei that he had three turbid yellow secondary spiritual roots. Now, although he still had three secondary spiritual roots, they were yellow, not turbid yellow. He wasn’t sure if his previous test was wrong or if Ji Luofei had remembered incorrectly.

Ji Luofei also looked at Ning Cheng’s spiritual root test results in surprise. She knew Ning Cheng’s spiritual roots were three turbid yellow secondary roots, but how did turbid yellow turn into yellow? She had never heard of spiritual roots changing. Although in some legends, there were supreme spiritual items that could change spiritual roots, those were supreme spiritual items and mere legends. Even in the Yixing Continent, such an item might not exist.

"Luofei, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. If I take him with me, even on the ship, the steward will make him leave, and it might even implicate me. Even I can’t travel through Pingzhou and Yuanzhou to the Yixing Continent’s Falling Star Academy alone," Ji Yaohe sighed, looking at the somewhat dazed Ji Luofei.

She wasn’t lying. As a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, the possibility of her falling while traveling alone through two continents to the Yixing Continent was very high.

Ji Yaohe, regaining her composure, quickly put Ning Cheng’s spiritual roots aside and said anxiously, "Aunt, if Ning Cheng can’t leave, I can’t leave either. Why don’t you take Ning Cheng first, and I’ll stay here..."

"Nonsense." Ji Yaohe frowned and scolded, then turned to glare coldly at the several deans of the Cangqin Academy and the King of Cangqin, saying slowly, "If Ning Cheng is harmed in the slightest in Cangqin, I will return and destroy Cangqin."

Ji Yaohe’s threat to destroy Cangqin was clearly exaggerated, but the King of Cangqin, who was warned, still stood up and respectfully clasped his hands, saying, "Please rest assured, Senior. Ning Cheng is a citizen of our Cangqin, and no one will harm him unjustly. If anyone does, I won’t stand idly by."

Ning Cheng’s heart sank again. He had seen this kind of wordplay too many times. Ji Yaohe had used it before, and now the King of Cangqin was using it. Saying no one would harm him unjustly meant that anyone could harm him if they had a valid reason. Moreover, the king only said he wouldn’t stand idly by, who knew what that meant?

Ji Yaohe, however, nodded in satisfaction and then turned to Ji Luofei, saying, "Luofei, everything is fine now. No one will harm Ning Cheng."

Ji Luofei’s worry for Ning Cheng was clearly not alleviated by Ji Yaohe’s light threat. Hearing Ji Yaohe speak like this, she said even more anxiously, "Aunt, they will definitely make things difficult for Ning Cheng. Please help Ning Cheng..."

Ji Yaohe frowned even more at Ji Luofei’s words. In fact, she could sense that her niece seemed to have some feelings for Ning Cheng that went beyond the ordinary. Ning Cheng, with his three secondary spiritual roots and yellow color, had no future. Letting Luofei be with Ning Cheng would ruin Luofei. Luofei’s talent hadn’t been tested, but she was already at Qi Gathering Third Layer at under 20 years old, so her talent couldn’t be too bad.

At this moment, she would rather that the people of Cangqin killed Ning Cheng as soon as she left.

What Ji Yaohe could think of, the cunning Wen Qilue could also think of, but since it didn’t concern him, he didn’t want to say more.

Seeing that Ji Luofei was about to speak again, Ji Yaohe waved her hand over Ji Luofei, and Ji Luofei immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Holding Ji Luofei in her arms, Ji Yaohe looked at Ning Cheng coldly and said, "Whatever your relationship with Luofei was, it’s in the past. From now on, you are not allowed to think about Luofei. She has nothing to do with you."

After saying this, she turned to Wen Qilue and the other male cultivator and said, "Senior Brothers, I’ll go first. I’ll wait for you on the ship."

Then Ji Yaohe took out a green lotus-shaped magical tool and instantly disappeared with Ji Luofei.

Wen Qilue had long been tired of wasting time selecting students. This time, he had already found a genius disciple, so as soon as Ji Yaohe left, he said, "The selection of disciples for Cangqin Academy is over. The nine students selected here have one hour to handle their affairs. After that, come back here to gather. You won’t know when you can return from the Falling Star Academy, even I can’t be sure."

The selected students were all extremely excited and quickly left the arena. They needed to prepare and then leave Cangqin to go to the Yixing Continent. The Yixing Continent was a legendary place adjacent to the intermediate continent, with the richest spiritual energy and the most heavenly treasures. Moreover, they were going to a five-star academy in the Yixing Continent.

This selection conference, which was more of a farce, ended without any real selection. It was more like the Falling Star Academy taking a few students that Cangqin Academy had already chosen. Although the tens of thousands of students at Cangqin Academy were helpless, they could only disperse.

Ning Cheng knew that he could only rely on himself now. Fortunately, it was the time for the crowd to disperse, and Ning Cheng, mingling with the many students, hurriedly walked out of the academy. He had to leave as soon as possible. The King of Cangqin’s promise was like a fart; he wouldn’t believe it.

"Ning Cheng, where’s that ugly girl Ji who was protecting you? Why do you look so anxious, like a dog that’s lost its home?" As Ning Cheng stepped out of the Cangqin Academy gate, a harsh and mocking voice came.

"Gu Fei, what do you want? Have you forgotten what Aunt Luofei said? The two teachers from the Falling Star Academy haven’t left yet," a female voice said. Ning Cheng recognized that this was Senior Sister Zhuang, who was speaking up for him. He also knew that the person mocking him was Gu Fei. Thinking about the grudge between Gu Fei and Ji Luofei, and Gu Yiming, Ning Cheng knew it would be hard to resolve peacefully. He could already see Gu Yiming, who was staring at him with a sinister look, walking towards him.

Gu Fei was not tall, reaching only Ning Cheng’s chin, but his expression was extremely aggressive and ferocious, clearly determined to kill Ning Cheng.

"Senior Sister Zhuang, this might be a grudge between Gu Fei and Ning Cheng. They might want to settle it on the arena. Should we get involved?" Gu Yiming had already walked over. After being eliminated, he had been watching Ning Cheng closely.

Hearing his brother’s words, Gu Fei’s eyebrows raised even higher, saying, "That’s right. Ji is so ugly, and she dared to trick my Qi Gathering Stone. I gave her a Qi Gathering Stone to have her accompany me in bed, but she went back on her word. Now that Ji isn’t here, I can only find this Ning."

"Oh, Gu Fei, that Ji is so ugly, and you still wanted her?" A woman’s voice, full of sarcasm, came. Ning Cheng recognized this woman; she was the Qi Gathering Third Layer woman who had caused trouble with Lu Pengyun and was driven away by Senior Sister Zhuang.

"I was hoping that even in the dark, she would be the same..." Gu Fei’s words were cut off by a slap. Ning Cheng had slapped him, and then quickly retreated several steps.

Gu Fei’s teeth and a mouthful of blood were spat out from the corner of his mouth.

At that moment, almost everyone was stunned. Ning Cheng, who was supposed to be a dead man, actually dared to hit Gu Fei? And with a slap?

Gu Yiming’s face was extremely dark, but he didn’t step forward. He knew Ning Cheng had only succeeded by surprise. In a real fight, his brother Gu Fei could easily kill Ning Cheng.

Gu Fei instantly reacted, his face full of murderous intent as he rushed at Ning Cheng, "You dared to sneak attack me? I’ll kill you, you bastard."

Ning Cheng looked at Gu Fei with disdain and said, "You dare to kill me? Come on. The King of Cangqin just gave an order that anyone who kills me unjustly will not be spared. Don’t you care about the King’s words? If everyone in Cangqin is like you, what’s the point of respect and hierarchy? How can we talk about defending against external enemies?"

Gu Fei stopped abruptly, enlightened by Ning Cheng’s words. He had to kill Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng was right; the King had promised in front of many people not to kill Ning Cheng unjustly. But what if he had a valid reason?