The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 272 - 167: Moonlight Cup (Extra 1)_2
"Miss Ning is truly astute," Mr. Yan praised her as he saw the surprise on her face, guessing she had figured it out. "You’re absolutely right. The sole use of the Moonlight Cup is to collect the Moon Essence into spiritual dew under the full moon, endowing the drinker with abundant Spiritual Power."
Ning Xiaoxian’s hand, resting by her side, clenched into a fist so tight that her fingernails dug into her flesh without her noticing. Mr. Yan’s mention of the Moonlight Cup condensing spiritual dew, which matched the description seen by Zhang Sheng’s ancestor, where water droplets formed on the cup under the moonlight, made her believe that the likelihood of it being the same cup was at least seventy percent. With such high odds, it was worth gambling everything on.
The biggest question now was whether the cup, after so many years since Zhang Sheng’s ancestor entered and left the secret realm, had been taken by others?
But the Turtle Immortal had told her that her opportunity lay here. Could the Moonlight Cup be that predestined opportunity?
If she could obtain this cup, the issue of the waning Changtian Divine Power would naturally be resolved without effort. This trip was the right decision.
"Abundant Spiritual Power? How abundant? If a demon in the Transformation Stage got hold of it, could they actually ascend to the Refining God Stage after absorbing the spiritual dew for a couple of days? Wouldn’t that be defying the heavens?"
Mr. Yan gave her an understanding glance: "Having this cup in one’s possession is already a stroke of luck; how could there be such a fairy tale? The Moonlight Cup gathers Moonlight based on the cultivator’s level of cultivation. The lower the cultivation, the lesser the dew collected; the higher the cultivation, the more dew gathered."
Considering Changtian’s level of cultivation, how much spiritual dew could he collect? She pondered for a moment, her lips curling into a smile. She was determined to have this item at all costs, ready to exert her utmost effort if necessary, and to give her all without reservation.
More importantly, ’Heavenly Ladder’ is a secret realm only mortals can enter. Facing Cultivators, she might not be very impressive with her little abilities, but if competing against ordinary people, she still had some confidence.
If she waited until Changtian finished his secluded cultivation and then presented the cup to him, perhaps his anger at her for breaking the promise and secretly leaving the Water Mansion would be somewhat alleviated, wouldn’t it?
"Where is this cup now?" She asked this question with her heart pounding, fearing he would say the famed cup had an owner.
"Its whereabouts are unknown."
She let out a quiet sigh of relief. For some reason, she trusted Mr. Yan deeply. Since he answered in such a way, there was at least a fifty percent chance that the cup was in the ’Heavenly Ladder’.
After pondering for a while, she asked her second question: "Does Mr. have an understanding of ’Heavenly Ladder’?"
Mr. Yan revealed a smile: "I know a thing or two."
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In the following two days, Ning Xiaoxian was always on tenterhooks, fearing that Miluo would suddenly descend from the sky and capture her. Fortunately, such a frightening scene never occurred. Perhaps Hu Huoer was right—how could someone of his stature have the time to come after her specifically? Miluo was aware that she carried two secrets, preferring to act on his own rather than entrust others.
She was not idle either; within the limited time, she gathered as much information as possible and even reverted to her old profession for a day. Suddenly stricken with abdominal pain, a kitchen helper in the back of Yunxiao Palace took the day off to rest at home. Just as she knocked on the door seeking work, the kitchen steward assigned her to that position. If a head chef had fallen ill, the steward would never use an unknown cook to make food, but a kitchen helper was different—after all, the help in the back kitchen changed every few days—of course, if he knew how the original kitchen helper fell ill, he probably wouldn’t have thought so.
She earnestly sorted and washed vegetables. Most of what her ears caught were insignificant rumors and household gossip, like the Second Miss Wang being caught meeting a lover by Landlord Wang, and Young Master Li losing hundreds of taels of silver in a gambling house, and so on. However, occasionally, she overheard a few useful rumors, "This year’s ’Heavenly Ladder’ is still overseen by Elder Xing. It is said that he has found even fewer mortals today than in previous years. Alas, after so many years of exploration, no earth-shattering treasures have come out, and anyone would get a bit lazy."
Then someone scoffed, "If a once-in-a-lifetime treasure did emerge, would ’Heavenly Ladder’ still be monopolized by our Yunxiao Palace? It would have been firmly watched by those top Great Sects!"
...
After finishing her work, she changed her clothes and returned to town. One of the most useful pieces of information she got from Mr. Yan was that ’Heavenly Ladder’ not only forbids entry to those with Spiritual Power and demonic power, but Magic Artifacts would also become ineffective inside. Otherwise, if the mortals appointed by Immortal Sects were covered in Magic Artifacts, how could others play with them happily?
This meant that once inside the secret realm, not only would the various talisman papers she purchased be unusable, even the Substitute Jade Talisman given by Tantai Yi would temporarily lose its effect, the storage bag would not open, and Tusk would retain only its characteristic of cutting through iron like mud. Imagine that she couldn’t simply wave her hand to summon them back as before; if she threw her Daggers at the enemy, remember to pick them up...
Of course, the biggest trouble had also arrived. By this logic, she wouldn’t be able to open God Demon Prison in the ’Heavenly Ladder’! After all, it too is a Magic Artifact.
Since finding the miraculous ring, God Demon Prison has always been her biggest support and reliance. Not to mention having Changtian and Qiongqi’s guidance at any time, just the ability to hide in God Demon Prison to evade danger already made her invincibly favored by the heavens. But now the biggest challenge had come; if she wanted to enter this secret realm, she would have to temporarily disconnect from the God Demon Prison.
It’s not just Changtian, she would also be unable to hear even Qiongqi’s voice. Although he’s unreliable, he was still useful at critical times. Now being asked to fight alone in utter darkness, it’s impossible to say her heart wasn’t filled with trepidation. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or Monthly Ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
