Chapter 219: The Pinnacle of a Blade

Chapter 219: The Pinnacle of a Blade

As night fell, snowflakes began to gently descend once more. Jiang Ning walked on the soft, snow-covered road, alone in the empty streets.

In such harsh weather, even within the inner city, few would venture out.

"This winter, the people in the outer city will surely freeze to death!" Jiang Ning thought of the outer city, and a sigh escaped his lips.

In his previous life, when he lived in the north, he often saw stray cats frozen to death in the corners of the streets during winter.

Surviving the winter!

In an era with underdeveloped productivity, it was always a life-threatening affair.

Therefore, Jiang Ning was well aware that in this era, especially during a severe drought like this year, even the people around Luo Shui County, who could use the Luo River for irrigation, would struggle with poor harvests.

Without a good harvest, surviving the winter would be an extremely challenging task.

And this was the situation for the people of Luo Shui County, located right next to the Luo River.

If they were farther away and faced a drought without a water source for irrigation, it would be a genuine natural disaster, one that could displace the entire population.

As he walked, Jiang Ning's thoughts wandered.

After a while, he shook his head, dispelling the random thoughts from his mind.

He knew this matter had nothing to do with him.

He couldn't do anything about it either.

Not just him, but even the person worshipped by the officials couldn't do anything about this.

In the face of natural disasters, human power was too insignificant.

At this moment, he could only feel grateful for his own abilities and strength, which allowed him to avoid struggling for survival like the common people in the outer city.

Just then, Jiang Ning's ears twitched slightly.

"I was a bit careless just now, almost failing to notice someone secretly tailing me."

His vigilance suddenly spiked.

Jiang Ning was well aware that with his current strength and heightened senses, anyone following him within a hundred meters without being noticed would have to possess extraordinary abilities.

This person's strength was far beyond any opponent he had encountered before.

"Who is it?" Jiang Ning wondered silently.

Thoughts raced through his mind, and various possibilities flashed before his eyes.

"Could it be Liu Linmen?"

At this possibility, Jiang Ning's heart tightened.

Liu Linmen, a Fifth Rank Inner Fortitude Realm expert, had already cultivated his Inner Breath, but it hadn't reached the level of Inner Breath Like Gale.

In Jiang Ning's estimation, Liu Linmen's strength was comparable to Hong Minghu's.

"Is it him?" Jiang Ning wondered, focusing his senses to their maximum.

Instantly, he could hear sounds, big and small, from hundreds of meters around him.

His powerful hearing scanned the surroundings like a radar, and the figure of the tailing person appeared in Jiang Ning's mind.

It wasn't Liu Linmen!

Jiang Ning shook his head inwardly, making a judgment based on the figure's height.

The tailing person was half a head shorter than Liu Linmen, so it couldn't be him.

"If it's not him, then who is it?" Jiang Ning continued walking forward, wondering silently.

On the other side.

The middle-aged woman had been following Jiang Ning from a distance.

"I need to find a good spot to make my move! I can't attract too much attention in this unsafe Luo Shui County!" she thought to herself.

Just then, she was slightly taken aback.

Jiang Ning, who had been walking on the main road, suddenly turned and entered an alley.

"What a great opportunity!" She quickly followed him into the alley.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ning entered the alley, blocking the tailing person's line of sight. He swiftly dodged, and a whirlwind surrounded him, carrying him away in the midst of the wind and snow.

A moment later.

"Not good!" The middle-aged woman entered the alley, her expression changing as she realized she had lost sight of Jiang Ning. The snow-covered ground showed no traces of his footsteps, and Jiang Ning's whereabouts were unknown.

"Did Jiang Ning discover that I was following him?"

"When did he find out?"

Looking at the snow-covered ground without any footprints, the middle-aged woman's eyes shifted.

At the same time.

Jiang Ning had already reached a tall pavilion.

As night fell, the quiet Luo Shui County was enveloped in darkness, illuminated only by the countless lights from the houses, like stars in the sky.

In the dim lighting, even a warrior's vision would be greatly limited.

However, with his heightened senses, Jiang Ning could still clearly see her face from hundreds of meters away.

"Is it her?"

Jiang Ning's gaze sharpened, and he identified the tailing person.

It was the same woman who had been with Liu Linmen earlier that day.

"This person is not Liu Linmen, and they should not be of the Inner Fortitude Realm's Fifth Rank."

"In that case, I'll test my arrow on him!"

Jiang Ning gazed at the person in the distant alleyway, murmuring to himself.

As he spoke, Jiang Ning drew a longbow and an arrow from the Infinite Ring.

During the previous mission to eradicate the Black Mountain Army in Beinan Mountain, he had only tested the Gale Thunder Archery in his normal state.

The Thunderstorm Arrow, which he had only mastered after breaking his limits three times, remained untested.

Firstly, there were many people present, including two teams from the Inspection Mansion, so it was not appropriate to reveal too much.

Secondly, the Black Mountain Army's strength was insufficient, with the strongest among them being of the same Seventh Rank as Jiang Ning.

Being of the same Seventh Rank, they were not even close to being his match.

Jiang Ning had merely tested the Waterfire Essence Technique on the leader of the Black Mountain Army and easily killed him.

At that moment, Jiang Ning slowly drew his bow and shot an arrow.

In an instant, a raging gale surrounded him, and the falling snowflakes seemed to dance around his body.

Jiang Ning felt as if he were enveloped by an invisible whirlwind, and the spot he stood in was the very center of this unseen vortex.

On the other side, the middle-aged woman suddenly felt her heart tremble.

"Not good!" she exclaimed.

Her face was filled with shock, and she immediately looked up at the sky.

In her line of sight, that direction was shrouded in endless night.

However, her intuition told her that a great crisis had arrived.

In the boundless darkness, something had locked onto her, a presence that posed a life-threatening danger.

Just then, Jiang Ning released the arrow in his hand.

A flash of lightning accompanied the arrow as it pierced the night sky, transforming into a blue electric arc that shot towards the middle-aged woman.

After breaking his limits three times, Jiang Ning's Gale Thunder Archery had reached a profound and unfathomable level.

With his ability to shoot arrows that could break sound barriers, Jiang Ning's arrows now traveled at a speed of several kilometers in an instant.

And at that moment, Jiang Ning and the middle-aged woman were only two to three hundred meters apart.

In such a short distance, it took only a moment.

When the middle-aged woman saw the lightning in the void, she didn't even have time to react before her body was pierced by the arrow.

The arrow then penetrated her body, shattering the stone bricks and shooting into the ground.

A rumbling sound echoed from beneath the ground.

In that instant, the surrounding area seemed to shake as if a dragon was turning over, the stone bricks shot out in all directions, and the walls on both sides collapsed as the ground flew into the air.

At that moment, the middle-aged woman looked down at the wound on her chest, which went straight through her front and back, and her pupils dilated in shock.

"This... this is impossible!" she muttered.

"Impossible!" she exclaimed again.

She murmured to herself.

Then, she raised her head and looked towards the direction from which the arrow had come, her eyes flashing with resentment.

"Jiang Ning, I want you dead!" her voice pierced the void, clearly reaching Jiang Ning's ears.

Hearing such a powerful voice, Jiang Ning's eyebrows furrowed in surprise.

The wound had pierced through her front and back, and it was as large as a fist.

Not to mention that the lightning energy from the arrow had completely merged into the middle-aged woman's body.

In such a situation, for the middle-aged woman to still be able to speak with such a powerful voice surprised Jiang Ning.

The next moment, Jiang Ning saw the woman's chest begin to grow flesh, like earthworms rapidly filling the fist-sized wound on her chest.

Then, her body also began to mutate, similar to Shi Xiaoyuan's transformation in the sunken ship.

Her body kept expanding, and her clothes soon tore, turning into strips of fabric hanging on her.

Her exposed skin was covered in large, dark muscles resembling iron.

Her veins and sinews were as thick as fingers, spreading like earthworms across her entire body.

"So that's how it is!" Jiang Ning exclaimed as he watched the scene in the distance, suddenly understanding.

Initially, Shi Xiaoyuan had also transformed into such a state, becoming a monster-like existence, and with his Eighth Rank Martial Dao, he had an almost immortal body.

In an instant, in Jiang Ning's eyes, the dying middle-aged woman had transformed into a three-meter-tall monster, a monster formed from her mutated flesh.

"I'll kill you!"

A deep, beast-like roar reached Jiang Ning's ears.

At the same time, the mutated flesh monster moved its legs and charged towards Jiang Ning.

At that moment, her speed was extremely fast, covering several zhang with each step.

"I've found you!" the deep roar echoed.

Jiang Ning saw her leap into the air.

Even with her massive body, her agility remained unaffected.

A rumbling sound echoed as she landed on a building, and as she leaped again, the building beneath her collapsed.

(End of Chapter)

As the blood-flesh monster leaped towards him, a blade materialized in Jiang Ning's hand.

"Old buddy, it's been a while since you last saw action!" Jiang Ning gently caressed the blade.

Instantly, the blade began to vibrate, emitting a series of resonant sounds.

The spiritual armament had a spirit, and this was its response to Jiang Ning's touch.

After several months of blood-nourishment, Jiang Ning felt a sense of blood-flesh fusion with the long blade in his hand.

Holding the long blade was like an extension of his own flesh and blood.

In the next moment,

Jiang Ning looked down at the rapidly approaching blood-flesh monster and leaped forward.

Buzz—

The long blade in his hand trembled slightly.

In the air, it produced a series of resonant sounds.

In an instant,

The blood-flesh monster’s pupils reflected a blade of light as bright as daylight, blindingly intense.

This blade of light dominated her entire vision.

All she could see was the blinding blade of light, shimmering in the darkness.

Sss—

Flesh and blood parted!

Jiang Ning landed on the ground, and a large amount of black blood and flesh splashed behind him.

Sizz—

The black blood splashed onto the snow, as if scalding lava was hitting the snow.

"Blade Aura!!"

"Bladeaura that stirs the heaven and earth!!"

Seeing Jiang Ning’s gaze, the blood-flesh monster's eyes flickered with fear.

"Your perception is impressive!" Jiang Ning nodded.

That blade just now was the peak of his life so far.

In that blade, he had condensed his essence, energy, and spirit.

With just one swing, Jiang Ning felt his essence, energy, and spirit diminish slightly.

Whether it was the inner breath in his dantian or the blood and qi in his body, both had been depleted by nearly thirty percent because of that single blade.

However, the results of that blade were highly satisfactory to Jiang Ning.

He had witnessed Shi Xiaoyuan’s transformation and its power.

At that time, after transforming into a monster, shi Xiaoyuan’s strength had increased by more than ten percent.

Far surpassing his usual strength.

And the monster in front of him, although Jiang Ning had not seen her martial dao rank just now,

There was no doubt that she was much stronger than shi Xiaoyuan at that time.

In Jiang Ning’s view, if she was not above the seventh rank, then she must be a seventh rank highly skilled in concealment.

Otherwise, her presence would not have been hidden so well during his journey.

Given her strength even before transforming, now that she had transformed, she possessed a nearly immortal body, and her strength had undoubtedly multiplied.

Yet, under such circumstances, she was still cut in half by his blade with the blade aura.

"Who are you?" The blood-flesh monster looked at Jiang Ning, her eyes filled with fear.

At this moment, the part of her body cut by the blade aura continued to bleed profusely, and the so-called immortal body was completely ineffective.

Because at the wound on her body, the blade aura remained condensed, preventing the body from self-repairing.

This was a situation she had never encountered before.

Because she had never seen anyone who could wield a blade aura that could stir the heaven and earth.

To her knowledge, even a typical grandmaster would be about this level at most.

The most terrifying opponent she had previously faced was a fifth rank inner fortitude realm strong.

And even then, despite her transformation, she was not a match for a fifth rank inner fortitude realm, but she managed to hold out for a long time and eventually escape.

At the same time,

Hearing her question, Jiang Ning remained calm and said, "The one sending you on your way!"

"I didn't mean any harm!!" The middle-aged woman hurriedly spoke.

"I do," Jiang Ning replied coolly.

As he spoke,

Jiang Ning raised the long blade in his hand.

The blade of light appeared.

Sss—

With one swing, the basketball-sized head was cut off by Jiang Ning.

Sizz—

Black blood spurted from her neck, splashing onto the snow, which quickly melted.

"I still don't know what rank she is?"

"If she's a seventh rank, then with her idolatry sect status, I’ll have five thousand contribution points to my account!"

"If she’s a sixth rank, I’ll have fifty thousand contribution points to my account!"

"Whether she’s a seventh rank or a sixth rank above the seventh rank, it doesn’t matter!"

Jiang Ning looked at the headless body slowly collapsing before him, muttering to himself.

At the same time,

Silence enveloped the surroundings.

Anyone who heard the commotion trembled and hid in their homes, under their beds, or under their tables.

Just by hearing the commotion from outside, the series of thunderous sounds earlier, they knew it was a battle among immortals, something they could not get involved in.

As the commotion gradually subsided,

Jiang Ning faintly heard footsteps approaching from a distance.

A moment later,

A black-robed patrol officer came into Jiang Ning’s view.

"It’s Commander Jiang!!"

(The chapter ends here)

Chapter end