Chapter 219: The Pinnacle of a Single Strike

Chapter 219: The Pinnacle of a Single Strike

As night fell, the sky began to sprinkle down fine snowflakes once more.

At this moment, Jiang Ning walked on the road, treading softly on the accumulated snow, and all around him was devoid of people.

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

"This winter, the outer city will surely see people freezing to death again!"

Jiang Ning's thoughts turned to the outer city, and he couldn't help but sigh.

In his past life, when he was in the north, he would always see stray cats frozen to death in secluded corners during the winter.

Surviving the winter!

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

Therefore, Jiang Ning was well aware that in this era, and especially this year, which was a year of severe drought, even the people around Luoshui County who could use the Luoshui River to irrigate their fields would not have a good harvest.

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

And this was still the case for the people of Luoshui County, which was adjacent to the Luoshui River.

If it were a little further away, encountering such a severe drought year without a water source to irrigate the fields, it would be a true disaster, a calamity that could displace the people.

Along the way, Jiang Ning thought a lot.

After a while, he shook his head, dispelling the stray thoughts in his mind.

He knew that this matter had nothing to do with him.

He couldn't manage this matter either.

Not to mention him, even the person who was worshipped by hundreds of officials couldn't handle this matter.

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

At this moment, he could only be grateful, grateful that he had gained some ability and strength, so he didn't have to struggle at the edge of life and death like the ordinary people in the outer city, worrying about their basic needs.

Just then, Jiang Ning's ears twitched slightly.

"I was a little careless just now, almost failing to notice the person secretly tailing me."

At this moment, his vigilance suddenly soared.

Jiang Ning was well aware that with his current strength and heightened senses, someone had managed to get within a hundred meters of him without being detected.

Such strength was certainly not to be underestimated, far surpassing any opponent he had encountered before.

"Who is it?"

Jiang Ning's mind raced.

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and various possibilities kept surfacing in his thoughts.

"Could it be Liu Lintang?"

As this possibility crossed his mind, Jiang Ning's heart suddenly froze.

Liu Lintang.

According to his understanding, he was a Fifth Rank Inner Fortitude Realm expert.

He had already refined his inner breath, but it was not yet at the level of Inner Breath Like Gale.

This person's strength, in his estimation, was perhaps on par with Hong Minghu.

"Is it really him?" Jiang Ning wondered, maximizing his senses.

Instantly,

Within a few hundred meters around him, all sounds, big and small, were clearly audible.

His powerful hearing scanned the surroundings like a radar, detecting every movement.

Subsequently, the figure of the person secretly tailing him appeared in Jiang Ning's mind.

It wasn't Liu Lintang!

Jiang Ning shook his head inwardly, and in his mind, he identified the person.

Based on the height of the figure, he realized that the person secretly following him was half a head shorter than Liu Lintang.

With such a significant difference in their builds, it couldn't be Liu Lintang.

"If it's not him, then who could it be?" Jiang Ning continued walking forward, pondering silently.

On the other side,

The middle-aged woman had been hanging back, keeping a safe distance behind Jiang Ning.

"I need to find a good place to make my move! I can't attract too much attention! Luoshui County isn't safe these days!" she thought to herself.

Just then,

Her expression changed slightly.

She saw Jiang Ning, who had been walking on the main road, suddenly change direction and enter an alley.

"Good opportunity!" she exclaimed, quickly following him.

On the other side,

Jiang Ning entered the alley, obstructing the line of sight of the person secretly tailing him. He instantly vanished, rising into the air, surrounded by swirling snow and wind, and swiftly escaped.

A moment later,

"Not good!" The middle-aged woman entered the alley, and her expression changed.

In front of her, the ground covered in snow showed no traces of Jiang Ning's presence, and there were no footprints. Jiang Ning had disappeared without a trace.

"Could Commander Jiang have discovered that I was following him?"

"How is this possible?"

Looking at the snow-covered ground before her, devoid of any signs of Jiang Ning, the middle-aged woman's eyes shifted.

At the same time,

Jiang Ning stood atop a tall pavilion.

The night had grown dark, and the peaceful Luoshui County was enveloped in darkness, illuminated only by the twinkling lights of countless households like stars in the night sky.

In the dim light, even a warrior's vision was significantly limited.

However, with his heightened senses, Jiang Ning could still clearly see her face, even from a distance of several hundred meters.

"Is it her?"

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

It was the same person who had been with Liu Lintang during the day.

"If it's not Liu Lintang, then this person shouldn't be at the Fifth Rank Inner Fortitude Realm level!"

"In that case, I'll use you as my test subject!"

Jiang Ning stared at the person in the alleyway in the distance, muttering to himself.

A

During the previous operation to eradicate the Black Mountain Army in Beinan Mountain, he had only tested the normal Gale Thunder Arrow Art.

As for the Thunderbolt Arrow, which he had only mastered after breaking through three limits, he hadn't tested it yet.

Firstly, there were many people present, including two teams from the Inspection Bureau, so it wasn't appropriate to reveal too much.

Secondly, the strength of those Black Mountain Army soldiers was insufficient, with the strongest among them being merely at the same Sixth Rank Martial Artist level as him.

At the same Sixth Rank, they were no match for him at all.

He had only tested the Water and Fire True Essence on the leader of the Black Mountain Army, easily killing him.

Then, Jiang Ning slowly drew his bow and released the arrow.

In an instant, a fierce gale blew around him, and the falling snowflakes swirled around his body.

At this moment, Jiang Ning seemed to be enveloped by an invisible whirlwind, and the spot where he stood was the center of this invisible vortex.

On the other side.

The middle-aged woman's heart suddenly trembled.

"No!"

She was shocked, and immediately looked up at the sky.

In her line of sight, that spot was shrouded in endless darkness.

But her subconscious perception told her that a great crisis had arrived.

The endless darkness contained a presence that could bring her death.

Just then, a thunderous sound rang out.

Jiang Ning released the arrow in his hand.

The arrow, with a flash of electricity, pierced through the night sky, transforming into a blue electric arc that shot towards the middle-aged woman.

After breaking through three limits, Jiang Ning's Gale Thunder Arrow Art had long surpassed the ordinary.

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

And now, Jiang Ning was only two to three hundred meters away from the middle-aged woman.

Such a short distance.

In just a moment.

When the middle-aged woman saw the lightning light in the void.

She didn't have time to react, and her body was pierced by the arrow.

The arrow pierced through her body, shattered the stone bricks, and penetrated the soil.

A loud rumble echoed from beneath the ground.

At this moment, the ground seemed to shake as if a dragon was turning over, and the stone bricks shot out in all directions, causing the walls on both sides to collapse, and the soil flew into the air.

The middle-aged woman looked down at the wound that went straight through her chest and back, her pupils widening in shock.

"This... this is impossible!"

"Impossible!"

She muttered to herself.

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

"Jiang Ning, I'll make you pay with your life!"

This voice was piercing, tearing through the void and clearly reaching Jiang Ning's ears.

Hearing such a powerful voice, Jiang Ning's eyebrows twitched, and he was surprised.

The wound went straight through her chest and back, and it was as big as a fist.

Not to mention that the lightning power contained in the arrow had completely merged with the middle-aged woman's body.

In this situation, the middle-aged woman could still speak with such a powerful voice, which surprised Jiang Ning.

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

Then her body also began to deform, similar to the deformation that Shi Xiaoyuan had undergone when he sank to the bottom of the lake.

Her body continued to swell, and her clothes soon tore, turning into strips of cloth hanging on her body.

The exposed flesh was covered in large, iron-like black muscles.

Veins and tendons, as thick as fingers, spread like earthworms across her entire body.

Jiang Ning watched the scene in the distance and suddenly understood.

Shi Xiaoyuan had also transformed into this state, like a monster, and with only the Eighth Rank Martial Dao strength, he possessed 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 deformed creature made of flesh and blood.

"I'll make you pay with your life!"

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

The deformed flesh and blood monster charged towards Jiang Ning.

At this moment, her speed was extremely fast, and her large body did not affect her agility.

"I've found you!"

Jiang Ning saw her leap into the air.

Despite her massive body, her agility remained unaffected.

A loud rumble echoed as her foot landed on a building, and as she leaped into the air, the building beneath her feet collapsed.

Gazing at the blood and flesh monster leaping towards her, Jiang Ning already had a blade in her hand.

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

Instantly, the blade began to tremble, emitting a series of vibrating sounds.

The spirit weapon had a spirit, and at this moment, it was the spirit's response within the blade.

After months of blood-feeding, Jiang Ning felt a sense of fusion between herself and the long blade in her hand, as if her flesh and blood extended into the weapon.

Holding the long blade, it was what made it beautiful.

The next moment, Jiang Ning looked at the blood and flesh monster rapidly approaching from below and leaped into the air.

Buzz—

The long blade in her hand trembled slightly.

In the void, it stirred up waves of vibrating sounds.

In an instant, the monster's pupils reflected a dazzling blade light, bright as daylight.

This blade light completely occupied her entire field of vision.

In her eyes, only this blade light remained, flashing in the darkness.

Sizzle—

Blood and flesh separated! Jiang Ning landed on the ground, and behind her, a large amount of black blood splattered.

Hiss—

The black blood fell on the snow, like scorching lava on the snow.

"Blade Intent!!"

"Drawing upon the power of heaven and earth!!"

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

"Not bad at all!" Jiang Ning nodded slightly.

This strike was the most powerful one she had executed so far.

This strike concentrated her essence, energy, and spirit.

With just one swing of the blade, Jiang Ning felt her essence, energy, and spirit wane significantly.

Both the inner breath in her dantian and the energy and blood in her body had been depleted by nearly thirty percent from this single strike.

However, the result of this strike also satisfied Jiang Ning greatly.

She had witnessed Shi Xiaoyuan's transformation and power.

After Shi Xiaoyuan transformed into a monster, his strength increased by more than ten percent, far surpassing his usual might.

As for the monster before her, although Jiang Ning couldn't determine its martial rank, there was no doubt that it was much stronger than Shi Xiaoyuan.

In Jiang Ning's opinion, if it wasn't a seventh-rank or above, then it must be a seventh-rank expert highly skilled in hiding his tracks.

If not, how could it have concealed its tracks so well during their journey?

In its untransformed state, this monster already possessed such strength, and now, with its transformed state and near-immortal body, its power must have increased manifold.

However, in this situation, it was Jiang Ning who unleashed the Blade Intent and severed it with a single strike.

"Who exactly are you?" The blood and flesh monster looked at Jiang Ning with fear in its eyes.

At this moment, its body, severed by the Blade Intent, bled profusely, with blood gushing into its body. The so-called immortal body was completely ineffective at this moment.

The wound on its body still had the Blade Intent lingering, preventing its self-healing.

This was the first time it had encountered such a situation.

Previously, it had never seen anyone capable of drawing upon the power of heaven and earth with Blade Intent.

According to its understanding, even ordinary grandmasters could barely achieve this level of Blade Intent.

The most terrifying opponent it had faced before was a fifth-rank Inner Fortitude Realm expert.

During that encounter, although it wasn't a match for its opponent in terms of strength, it managed to hold its ground for a long time and successfully escape.

At the same time, hearing its question, Jiang Ning calmly replied, "I'm the one who sends you off!"

"I have no ill intentions!" The middle-aged woman quickly spoke up.

"I do!" Jiang Ning said indifferently.

As her words fell, Jiang Ning raised the long blade in her hand.

Blade light appeared.

Sizzle—

With a single strike, the blade severed the basketball-sized head, sending it flying.

Hiss, sizzle—

Black blood spurted from its neck, landing on the snow and quickly melting it.

"I wonder what rank she is?"

"If she's a seventh-rank, with her identity from the Worship Evil Gods Sect, I'll have five thousand contribution points added to my account!"

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

"Not only is she a seventh-rank, but she's also a sixth-rank above the seventh!"

Jiang Ning looked at the slowly falling corpse in front of her and muttered.

At the same time, the surroundings were deathly silent.

The commoners who heard the commotion outside, the resounding booms that had echoed earlier, knew that it was a battle between gods, something they couldn't interfere with.

As the commotion subsided, Jiang Ning faintly heard footsteps approaching from a distance.

A moment later, a black-robed constable appeared before Jiang Ning's eyes.

"It's Commander Jiang!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end