The Gate Of Good Fortune
chapter-484

Lan Ya shot a sympathetic look at Ning Cheng before continuing, “From what I heard about the Orchid Borough Celestial River, this area is quite weak within its starry sky. There are only a few strong people in this place; however, it definitely is many times stronger than the neighbouring Kun Zhuo Celestial River. With the Blue Coins on you, wanting to cross the Celestial River is simply impossible.”

“Even if you have enough Blue Coins, your cultivation will not allow you to cross through the Celestial River. If you want to go back to the Void where we originally came from, then there is only a single way. That is, find a place for yourself within the Orchid Borough Celestial River and slowly cultivate until the day you become a Celestial Lord. Only at that time, will you be able to return.”

“At what general realm does one become a Celestial Lord? What comes after the Celestial Gatherer Realm?” Ning Cheng’s fists clenched tightly, to the point that his nails were practically digging into his palms. He absolutely did not want to stay in this place.

Lan Ya glanced at Ning Cheng’s clenched fists, before giving out a sigh and speaking up, “After the Celestial Gatherer Realm comes the Celestial River’s three realms – the Celestial Bridge Realm, the Undead Realm and the Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Only after the fusion with the Celestial Wheel to form the Celestial Bridge can you step into the Celestial Bridge Realm. Cultivators in the Celestial Bridge Realm can then proceed to cultivate spiritual powers, all because of the steady stream of the Starry Skies’ Essence Force at their command.”

“After fully fusing with the Celestial Bridge, they can then use those spiritual powers to completely remould their body. This process would not require any help from Spirit Objects at all. As long as one’s cultivation reaches this level, one’s Life Essence will transform into something almost inextinguishable. It is also because of this reason that this realm goes by the name ‘Celestial River’s Undead Realm’. People who reached the full circle of the Undead Realm can then obtain the ability to glimpse into their own destiny, which is also the reason why next realm is known as the Celestial River’s Heaven’s Mandate Realm and is also the highest realm within the Celestial River’s three realms.”

Ning Cheng gave a sigh before speaking, “Being a cultivator in the Heaven’s Mandate Realm does not make you a Celestial River King, does it?”

Lan Ya looked into the endless Void in front of her before shaking her head and speaking, “No. Even if one possesses an undead body, that does not mean one can control their own destiny. Therefore, after Heaven’s Mandate Realm, there are still the Destiny’s three realms. Destiny is not something that one can control; rather, it is under the control of the Heavenly Dao. Only when you step into one of the three realms above Heaven’s Mandate Realm will you be eligible to hold the title of ‘Celestial River King’.”

Ning Cheng turned utterly silent. He knew that he encountered a few powerful opportunities when compared to others; however, he also had his own disadvantages. That is, every time it came to an advancement, Ning Cheng had to face many almost-impossible difficulties compared to others. This remained true even in the condition that he had sufficient cultivation resources available.

He was not a Celestial Lord’s son, nor did he have a Celestial River King as his relative; he could only rely on himself to trudge forward.

“You have relatively good qualifications. The nearest star to us is the Lesser Thunder Star. If you cultivate in a proper Starry Skies’ planet, you will find it much easier and faster in regards to cultivation when compared to a True Cultivation Mainland. Perhaps in another hundred or two hundred years, you might successfully pass through the Nirvana Tribulation and condense a Celestial Wheel to become a Celestial Novice Cultivator. Moreover, there is something that might prove advantageous to you; that is, if you stay within the Orchid Borough Celestial River to cultivate, no one will know about your identity.” Lan Ya had a good heart, and could not help but try to comfort Ning Cheng.

Ning Cheng understood Lan Ya’s intentions. It would prove beneficial for him to remain within the Orchid Borough Celestial River since he killed the scarlet-robed young noble. The scarlet-robed young noble’s father back in the Kun Zhuo Celestial River might not even manage to locate him.

This was just a consolation prize for him, however. As for the second time that Lan Ya mentioned about his qualifications, Ning Cheng simply did not care about it. He just did not want to find out about it. The Mysterious Yellow Bead possessed the property to improve his Spirit Roots automatically, something Ning Cheng had known for a long time. After so many years, even he did not know how far his qualifications had improved. He could not describe it, despite wanting to. As for Lan Ya’s consoling words of becoming a Celestial Novice Cultivator within a hundred or two hundred years, Ning Cheng did not even think about it.

Even taking ten years to become a Celestial Novice Cultivator felt too slow for Ning Cheng.

“Senior Apprentice Sister Lan. Are you not going to stay at the Lesser Thunder Star?” Ning Cheng temporarily decided to stay at the Lesser Thunder Star and cultivate. He hoped that Lan Ya could temporarily stay somewhere nearby. After all, unlike Lan Ya who knew a lot about the Starry Skies, he did not understand many of the things in this place.

Lan Ya nodded, “I have better qualifications than you; therefore, I will not stay at the Lesser Thunder Star for long. Besides, I have heard a bit about the Celestial Lord of the Lesser Thunder Star, who goes by the title ‘Lesser Thunder’. He is an ordinary fellow, and only became the Celestial Lord of the Lesser Thunder Star out of sheer luck. Someone will eventually snatch the Lesser Thunder Star from him; however, it would not have anything to do with ordinary cultivators.”

“Let me remind you of two things. First, upon reaching the Lesser Thunder Star, you must immediately obtain a Lesser Thunder Star’s residential status. Second, even if you run out of money, never sell yourself to others. Once you end up a slave to others, you will never be able to stand up. Also, do not try to leave the Lesser Thunder Star if you do not possess the required strength; otherwise, you will only become prey for others. Turning into a slave would be the lighter of the options at that moment. Right, there is another thing you need to keep in mind. Do not meddle in or even wander into other people’s business.”

Ning Cheng thanked her with a sentence and went silent again. Lan Ya also did not interrupt his thoughts anymore. He already knew that Lan Ya could not take him with her, his cultivation simply was too weak. Following Lan Yan with his cultivation would only drag her down.

“Let’s go.” Lan Ya spoke while pressing the button to close the door of the battleship. The moment the black battleship’s door closed, it immediately rushed out leaving behind only an afterimage. She did not warn Ning Cheng about being careful of his secrets. This kind of matter anyway did not require a warning from her. From the moment she met Ning Cheng to the present, Ning Cheng had never revealed how he survived the passage through the Spacial Collapse. She realised just from that point that Ning Cheng definitely had better coping mechanisms compared to her.

……

As Lan Ya said, the Lesser Thunder Star was not far from their location. With Lan Ya’s control over the Void Battleship, it only took a few days for them to arrive at the Lesser Thunder Star.

As they approached the Lesser Thunder Star, Ning Cheng also found that the starry skies around it did not have any Spacial Wind Edges or any meteorite streams. Looking at it from the air, the Lesser Thunder Star seemed like a grey cotton ball suspended in the vastness of the sky.

Lan Ya controlled the battleship and came to a stop outside the periphery of the Lesser Thunder Star’s atmosphere, right next to a row of luxurious looking buildings suspended in space. There was also a large public square outside these buildings; however, besides a few grotesque looking black ships which somewhat resembled flying saucers, there was nothing else over it.

Lan Ya did not park the battleship over the public square. After she let out Ning Cheng from the battleship, she just collected and stored the battleship away.

After that, the two of them then entered one of the buildings. In the main hall of the building they just came inside, Ning Cheng finally managed to see some people again. This main hall was vast, but there were just as many people inside. Many people here had a similar Celestial Wheel like Lan Ya, while some of them even had more than a single Celestial Wheel.

A variety of Array Formation Displays filled the central hall’s quartet; some people drank excellent Spirit Tea, some drank fine Spirit Wine while resting, while a few were intently watching the information flashing over the Array Formation Displays in front of them.

Ning Cheng did not speak; he instinctively knew what Lan Ya had come to do in this place. Lan Ya had told him that to enter the planet; one must obtain a Lesser Thunder Star’s residential permit, something fundamental if it was someone’s first time at the Lesser Thunder Star. This place most likely issued those IDs before entering the Lesser Thunder Star.

This was the first time that Ning Cheng had seen such an identity document outside of Earth. Previously, whether he was in the Graceful Star Mainland or the Rootless Black City, Identity Jade Cards was the norm in establishing identity.

However, this identity document was only half the size of the various identity documents familiar to him on Earth. At the same time, it recorded a variety of information in it, even including a trace of the cultivator’s aura. He could not also identify the materials that made up this paper but found that it was several times harder than the materials used for making Black Coins.

Learning that a long-term residence in Lesser Thunder City required 100 million Blue Coins, Ning Cheng and Lan Ya drew back and asked for the next best thing. This led them to buy a temporary residence permit for the Lesser Thunder Star. This kind of document only needed 100 million Black Coins; however, one could not enjoy many benefits, and it only lasted for a limited time.

……

After entering the Lesser Thunder Star, Lan Yan then brought Ning Cheng to the Ocean Gambling City. Ocean Gambling City was just a medium-sized city in the Lesser Thunder Star. One could find countless such ‘cities’ within the Lesser Thunder Star. The individual City Masters managed these cities as the norm. At the same time, these City Masters reported to an Area Lord, and the Area Lords then communicated their reports to the Celestial Lord. An Area Lord typically oversaw several to a few dozen of such ordinary cities.

The Ocean Gambling City’s City Master had the name Evelyn, but that had nothing to do with Ning Cheng and Lan Ya. They had just arrived in the Ocean Gambling City and needed to find a place to settle down.

After Lan Ya entered the Ocean Gambling City, she once again put on a very calm facade, as if nothing in the world could affect her calmness.

However, Ning Cheng felt shocked in his heart. He could feel that the Spirit Source in this place was more than a few times richer than the Graceful Star Mainland and nearly equivalent to that from a Spirit Vein. What made Ning Cheng tremble even more was that the Spirit Source he felt from this place was the same that he felt coming from Lan Ya, utterly different from Spirit Veins and Spirit Stones that he had used previously.

Ning Cheng immediately recalled what Lan Ya said to him, “You cultivation is just at the Crucible Transformation 7th Level, you’ll find it easier to buy Spirit Stones in the Lesser Thunder Star. Cultivate using Spirit Stones until you reach the level of touching the Nirvana Tribulation. Even if you just used Spirit Stones to cultivate, in a world with Laws much more powerful compared to even the True Cultivation Planets, you should find it much easier to advance. When your Domain reaches grand completion, and you cross the Nirvana Tribulation, turning your True Essence into Starry Skies’ Essence Force, you can then directly absorb the Essence Qi from the starry skies.”

However, Ning Cheng had a vague feeling that he did not need to go through the Nirvana Tribulation to convert his True Essence. He felt that he could just absorb directly from the starry skies’ Spirit Source for his cultivation.

The starry skies’ Spirit Source also had the name starry skies’ Essence Qi; most people, however, addressed it as Celestial Essence in the most direct manner.

Ning Cheng estimated that it might have some relations to his Mysterious Yellow Formless; however, he did not mention it to Lan Ya. When it came to the Mysterious Yellow Bead, he had not spoken about it to anyone apart from the people closest to him.

In addition to the shock Ning Cheng experienced in sensing the starry skies’ Spirit Source, Ning Cheng also suffered another blow due to the surroundings around him. If it were not for him consciously knowing that he was many billion miles away from Earth, he would have even doubted if he had returned to a city on Earth.

On both sides of the broad street, there were only high-rise buildings. A variety of streamlined energy-powered vehicles roamed the streets. Even many of the advertisement displays did not show fluctuations of an Array Formation. Instead, they gave out a feeling that they ran on something similar to electricity.

Occasionally, one could see smaller flying vessels in the air; however, the number of flying ships were too few compared to the vehicles he saw running over the ground. Not only that, but there were also all kinds of billboards on both sides of the street. Brothels, casinos, merchant houses, arenas and so on, all with bright, eye-catching designs.

In any case, he had to admit that the technological civilisation here was a lot stronger compared to Earth.

Seeing Ning Cheng closely watching the flying vessels over the city and the billboards on both sides of the street, Lan Ya explained, “Those who can fly in this place are people with both high status and a distinct identity. Those means of transport are something that only the rich can afford to splurge. Moreover, if not particularly necessary, I suggest that you do not go to the Dual Cultivation Courtyards or to the casinos or the arenas in this area, for the matter.”