The Gate Of Good Fortune

Thinking about the certainty of leaving Stately River Star in the future, Ning Cheng felt enthusiastic about this huge battleship. “Master Kong He, that Fu Si sought death on his own. Since this battleship is now an ownerless object, I want to buy it from you.”

Old man Kong He replied with a calm voice, “It’s your trophy anyways. Even if you took it without asking, you wouldn’t find me complaining.”

Ning Cheng felt happy, “Then, many thanks, Master Kong He. I don’t know what else is left to complete in this battleship. If you want, I can help you with it.”

“Sorry, Fu Si and I had a deal to build this. I do not have one with you. Besides, I won’t agree to help you craft this high-level battleship. You can take it if you want, but it doesn’t mean that I will complete it for you.” Old man Kong He replied with a flat tone. Ning Cheng controlled the Laws of Time, which meant that he wasn’t Ning Cheng’s opponent. It was a fact. However, he was also a top-grade master of technology and an equally high-level artefact-crafting master, which gave him a distinct sense of pride.

Ning Cheng didn’t expect Kong He would reject him. Therefore, he immediately said, “Master Kong He, I still have another Space Crystal with me, as long as…..”

Before Ning Cheng could finish his words, old man Kong He pointed at Lan Yi. “The reason why I called her in is to help her craft a battleship. I only did it because the Immortal Sifting Sulphur she brought was precisely what I needed. If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have called her here even if she brought a Time Crystal.”

Was it the truth? Ning Cheng had initially thought that the reason why Kong He called Lan Yi was due to Lan Yi trading with him. Ning Cheng had initially believed that Kong wanted to teach Lan Yi a lesson. Either that or Fu Si, who he just killed, wanted to teach Lan Yi a lesson. Unexpectedly, Kong He truly took a fancy to Lan Yi’s materials. It also meant that for Kong He to agree to craft battleships, higher-grade materials weren’t necessarily better. Rather, the more suitable the materials, the better.

From the looks of it, cultivators who came to ask Kong He in helping them craft battleships misunderstood his intentions. They all thought that bringing in high-grade materials would give them a better chance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what Kong He wanted.

“Master Kong He, since the materials you need aren’t necessarily the best, why not directly tell the world what you need?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt.

Kong He shook his head, “You don’t understand. Do you have any idea of the hundreds of millions of materials the starry skies contain? What I say might not necessarily be the best, but what I see and use needs to be the best.”

Ning Cheng didn’t quite understand Kong He’s meaning. But he still obtained a vague idea about it. That is, if one needed to craft something, then one would need many materials. Once you put a restriction on materials, the opportunities for receiving other materials that one could use in other things would also diminish considerably. One might even miss out on some of the best things.

“Senior Kong He. Since I obtained the opportunity to craft a battleship, I want to give this opportunity to Brother Ning.” Lan Yi immediately intervened at this time.

“For crafting battleships, his material isn’t qualified.” Kong He put it out with a harsh tone.

Seeing Lan Yi’s turn embarrassed, Ning Cheng quickly said, “Dao Friend Lan Yi. If you don’t have anything else, please visit this place later. I want to discuss a few things with Master Kong He in private.”

Lan Yi already felt anxious to go back into seclusion to advance to the Eternal Realm. Therefore, when Ning Cheng spoke, she quickly took the opportunity to leave.

After Lan Yi left, Ning Cheng waved his hand and piles of materials appeared in front of Kong He. These materials were his harvest from numerous battles. Whether it was Nine Jewel’s Starry Sky Emperor Shangguan Fei, Hong Lun, or the trophies from Traceless Immortal Pond, they all gave him plenty of previous materials.

Although Ning Cheng had already used up a lot of the materials, he still had a lot more.

“Huh, Jade Wave Profound Root, Flying Celestial True Stone, Chopping Iron Stone, Thunder Firmament Crystal, Extreme Flame Silkworm Gold…..” When Kong He saw Ning Cheng’s stuff, his eyes immediately lit up. At the same time, he also identified dozens of materials from Ning Cheng’s collection at the fastest speed.

Ning Cheng also noticed the gleam in old man Kong He’s eyes and understood that things had already reached a critical point. It was time to hit the iron while it was still hot. “Master Kong He, are these things enough for you? I still have a flame, and maybe it could be of some help to you.”

Kong He glanced at Ning Cheng, “Do you have a spirit-grade[1] flame?”

“What’s a spirit-grade flame?” Ning Cheng asked in doubt. His Celestial River Flame was only a Starry Sky Grade 5 Flame, and he hasn’t upgraded it yet. Could it be…..

“Since you don’t have any spirit-grade flames, don’t talk about helping. Moreover, the Void Returning Sifting Metal has already been melted and refined, so I don’t need your help.” Old man Kong He gave a calm reply. If it weren’t for Ning Cheng’s strength far exceeding his, he wouldn’t even let Ning Cheng stay in the place he worked.

Ning Cheng didn’t ask again. He had already guessed a few things in his heart. This spirit-grade flame Kong He mentioned should be the classification of flames above Grade 6 Starry Sky Flames. He had the Void Shimmering Light Crystal and Nirvana Heart. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before his Celestial River Flame became a spirit-grade flame.

“Since you came to me, you need me for something, right?” Since Ning Cheng didn’t know anything about the attitude of old man Kong He, old man Kong He took the initiative to speak up.

Ning Cheng felt happy on hearing those words and quickly took out the dilapidated battle disc Sifting Orchid. “Master Kong He, I want you to help me repair this battle disc.”

Old man Kong He’s words implied that he should have no problems in agreeing to help him repair this starry sky battleship. Therefore, Ning Cheng immediately took out Sifting Orchid and stated his request.

Kong He looked at Sifting Orchid in front of him and said with a slightly depressed voice, “You want me to fix this low-level thing?”

Since Ning Cheng came here specifically for repairing it, he couldn’t help but speak up with a weak voice, “That’s right. Sifting Orchid is something important to me. Therefore, no matter the cost, I have to fix it.”

Old man Kong He glanced at the pile of materials and said, “You have a lot of materials. But it’s far from enough to complete that top-grade battleship. As for repairing this low-level battle disc, it’s a lost cause. Even if you kill me, I won’t stoop so low as to repair such a low-level thing.”

Ning Cheng felt very upset about it. Since you disagree, then why did you pick out my materials? If you want my materials for nothing, even if it’s you Kong He, don’t even think about it.

“If that’s the case, then forget it.” It wasn’t in Ning Cheng’s character to beg Kong He for such a thing. He’d rather go anywhere else in Pill Rice Celestial River to repair this technological battle disc, but not Kong He.

After saying this, Ning Cheng raised his hand to put away the materials on the ground. However, Kong He spoke up at this moment, “Whatever little experience I have, I stored it in the cabin across the public square. If you study inside for a few days, you might be able to repair your Sifting Orchid by yourself. You can even try your hand at this top-grade starry sky battleship. The only condition is your materials. Of course, if you disagree, you can go ahead and leave. One more thing, my jade strips aren’t something that people can copy; otherwise, they all will self-destruct.”

Ning Cheng felt his heart move. He came from a planet with a very low-level technological civilisation. However, he had managed to cultivate to the Eternal Realm, and also had a starry sky Sea of Consciousness. Even if one took away these things from him, few people in the world could compare to his learning and comprehension abilities. Otherwise, it would have been an impossible thing to have such an achievement in the highly complicated Dao of Arrays.

In Ning Cheng’s view, pills, array formations, artefacts, talismans or anything else he had learned so far. They were all countless times more complicated than learning technology. Since Kong He agreed to let him study his research, why would he still care about asking his old fellow’s help? Kong He also said that he could look it for a few days, which also meant that Kong He had no plans to disturb him during those few days.

“I agree.” As soon as Ning Cheng’s words fell, old man Kong He raised his hand and took away the materials he had selected.

Ning Cheng didn’t care about it either. After putting away the rest of the materials, he immediately walked to a small wooden cabin on the opposite side of the public square.

Kong He chuckled and mumbled to himself, “Study for a few days? It would be a miracle if you could even come out after a thousand years. No, you will have no choice but to come out in two years. Because in two years, my things will naturally follow me into the void.”

After talking to himself, Kong He immediately went inside one of the battleships and continued to perfect it. The reason he said that was not because he looked down on Ning Cheng, but that what he kept in that cabin wasn’t the same as average technological research. Those were all his self-contained understandings that combined technology with starry sky artefact-refining methods. In a sense, one could even regard it as a brand new path.

It didn’t matter how heaven-defying of a genius Ning Cheng was. Without spending at least a thousand years studying his research, Ning Cheng wouldn’t grasp even a bit of his understanding. Just think about how long it took for one to become an accomplished Weapon Emperor? Even if one had access to sufficient materials, it would still take many thousands if not tens of thousands of years, right? Moreover, when it came to his understandings, if one wasn’t a Weapon Emperor, one couldn’t even think about learning it.

He did it only because he had taken a fancy to Ning Cheng’s materials. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed Ning Cheng to enter his wooden house even if he knew that Ning Cheng couldn’t learn his things.

……

After Ning Cheng entered the house, only then did he understand how many things were inside of it. This wooden house was nothing but a space-shrinking artefact that stored hundreds of millions of jade strips.

Fortunately, Kong He classified everything in an orderly manner. From low-levelled things to high-levelled information, one level after another level.

Ning Cheng didn’t take out any of the jade strips to read. He knew that if he took out and viewed them one after another, he might not finish them within a hundred years. Instead, his spiritual consciousness fell onto the first jade strip. Absorbing all the information quickly without reading any of it, he then moved from the first jade strip to the second jade strip, then the third, fourth…..

In just half a day, Ning Cheng had already immersed himself in all the knowledge he absorbed from the jade strips into his Sea of Consciousness. It was just like Kong He’s prediction. Sometimes knowledge was also a kind of poison. Once one got immersed inside of it, one would find it impossible to come out of it until one understood it all. Kong He had already predicted that as long as Ning Cheng fell into this state, he wouldn’t give up on it casually.

All of Kong He’s entry-level jade strips contained only simple information. As long as one read through it, one could then follow the instructions to combine it with the methods of artefact-crafting. However, for ordinary people to understand all of his information and experience, it would only be a foolish and idiotic dream.

Unfortunately, Ning Cheng wasn’t an ordinary person. He was a top-grade Weapon Emperor himself, and his artefact-crafting method didn’t lose out to Kong He. It’s just that Kong He didn’t know about it. If Kong He knew that Ning Cheng was also a top-grade Weapon Emperor, he would have never let Ning Cheng in here. This wooden cabin was Kong He’s countless years of accumulation and effort. Even if he helped Ning Cheng complete that battleship for free, he wouldn’t agree to let Ning Cheng learn his things.

Ning Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness and comprehension ability was just too strong. The information within the millions of jade strips within the room transformed into flowing streams and flowed into his Sea of Consciousness. In the beginning, Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness had to sweep through one jade strip after another. But now, Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness could quickly sweep through thousands of jade strips at a time.

In just over a year, Ning Cheng had swept through all the jade strips, leaving none behind. Not only that, because of his cultivation method, he also found a few problems in Kong He’s jade strips. Therefore, to understand these things better, Ning Cheng didn’t leave the cabin and instead used it to seclude himself and organise his understandings. He also carved these observations into some blank jade strips.

Ning Cheng decided to give these jade strips to old man Kong He. Since Ning Cheng had learned and gained so much from Kong He, he wanted to carve his understanding into new jade strips and give it to Kong He as a reward.

[1] The flame grading goes like this: Ordinary, Spiritual, True, Celestial, Celestial River, Starry Sky, Spirit….