Chapter Eight-Five: Wound
writer:
无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
A cold and piercing feeling came from the skin above his energy sea. Before the sword touched him, the Master of Fire knew that he was on the last line before death. Due to his previous experiences, he forcibly pulled all his vital energy into his energy sea and did not let them get released. He grunted, the bones in his body making strange sounds. For a cultivator, forcibly restraining one’s reactions was like hitting oneself.
With a pop, the cold and piercing feeling kept penetrating his flesh and blood. This sword did not touch and leave like before, but kept on going deeper, piercing through his flesh and into his energy sea!
“Crown Prince Yugou!” The Master of Fire screamed like a wounded wild beast.
A hole had appeared in his energy sea. Precious vital energy seeped out of the hole, out of his control. If he had encountered an ambush from any other low level cultivator, even if he was unable to use the vital energy in his energy sea, he could use sword moves to block the other’s coming killing moves. But he was facing a person who could confidently defeat the sword moves of all sects in the world. He knew that only Crown Prince Yugou could save him now.
When Ding Ning’s sword tip pierced into the energy sea of the Master of Fire, and the other started to scream, the Donghu monk who had been sitting with his eyes closed sensed danger and suddenly opened his eyes.
His wounds meant that his body was at the border of breaking apart, and he was unable to use any power at all. But he was the second true realm eight in the world. When his thoughts moved, it pulled a thread of the primal energies of the universe. While there was no true power, it made the other cultivator hiding in the formation and prepared to act sense an unusual presence.
This cultivator who was hiding in the formation was naturally Crown Prince Yugou. His hair stood on end like a startled cat. His presence, enclosed in his body, was slightly exposed, and a layer of cold wind appeared.
Qian Mu made a low sound. He sensed the familiarity of this energy.
Then it was Qing Yaoyin.
When he suddenly sensed this, his gaze and perception left behind Jiaodong Commandery’s Zheng An in the sky. In the next instant, when the scream of the Master of Fire reached everyone’s ears, his figure had disappeared from its spot and he appeared to the left side of Ding Ning. There was a pop, the same sound like when the Master of Fire’s energy sea was pieced. He stood with his back to Ding Ning. A short black sword appeared in his left hand, and he stabbed towards the air in front of him.
A light appeared where his sword pointed in the air. Dressed like a white skeleton, Crown Prince Yugou appeared at that spot. His cold eyes rippled with a strange emotion, a bit like admiration, but more like sympathy and pity.
A spark of blue flake appeared where Qing Yaoyin’s short sword was pointing. It was the shadow of a little skeleton, but carried a cold power that did not belong to this mortal realm.
Qing Yaoyin’s thrust seemed to stab into an unknown world. The seal scripts on the blade were restrained and attacked by the energies of countless ghostly beings, like there were millions of souls charging at the seal scripts.
Crown Prince Yugou’s body did not release much of a presence. That little skeleton seemed to be his stand-in, and attracted all perception and attention for him. Just as Qing Yaoyin’s sword was trapped, his palm hit Qing Yaoyin.
There were many harsh cracking sounds coming from Qing Yaoyin’s body. Even though the vital energy surged out of his energy sea, and moved an ocean of energy from the world into a energy membrane in front of his chest, the bones in his body seemed to be crushed with a mountain and could not endure. His chest bones were shattered. Then even his spine could not endure the power and cracked. Qing Yaoyin sprayed blood out of his mouth. His body flew backwards like a kite with its string cut.
The fight in this moment did not escape Ding Ning’s perception. His body was close to the border of where the two’s power had met. His body swayed in the wild wind, but his steps and attacks did not slow at all, and even his mind was absolutely calm.
Qing Yaoyin had spent more than a decade on the Nether dragon, and the Crown Prince Yugou was one of the strongest people in the world, an expert that had been hard to predict to have come. Yet even so, Ding Ning did not feel that Qing Yaoyin would be so easily thrown back by Crown Prince Yugou’s palm strike or be killed so easily.
The Great Punishment Sword in his hand was touched with the fire from the Master of Fire’s energy sea. So at this time, he easily released the sword hilt and grabbed the other sword from his waist. A patch of blinding white flowers sprayed in front of the Master of Fire’s face. These white flowers looked soft but made the eyes of the Master of Fire hurt, and even obstructed his perception, so he was unable to see Ding Ning’s figure or his sword. The fine white flowers bloomed as they pleased in the air, colliding and creating more flowers.
Seeing Ding Ning and the Manufacture of Fire quickly move through the air, and the fine white flowers spraying in front of the Master of Fire, Fu Su suddenly realized something, and his body stiffened.
At the same time, Crown Prince Yugou froze as well. He had thrown Qing Yaoyin away with a strike, and raised the white bone staff in his hand, about to attack Ding Ning’s back through the air.
But at this time, half of his body went numb. He was not even able to feel anything strange. He did not even feel any presence which made him uncomfortable. Half of his body felt like it did not belong to him. Even the vital energy flowing through his body seemed to go to a place that did not belong to him.
He was shocked. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that his hand, which had hit Qing Yaoyin, had turned a terrible green color, and there were dots of dark green constantly coming out of his skin, like strange fireflies breeding in his body.
His breathing suddenly stopped. Both were wounded!
At this moment, he completely understood. Qing Yaoyin deliberately fought so both sides were wounded!
Qing Yaoyin fell to the ground heavily with a bang. Once again, blood sprayed out of his body and he looked to be in a sorry state.
But looking at the other’s sorry appearance, there was no more pride and pity in Crown Prince Yugou’s eyes, just great terror. His sight had blurred in this instant. The world, in his eyes, turned a terrible green.
What kind of poison was this that even his vital energy could not stop it from spreading!
At this time, the Master of Fire gave a shrill scream. Ding Ning’s Last Flower stabbed again into his body.
This time, it was his back, the back of the energy sea.
Volume 3 85 - Who
Zhang Yi looked at the black-robed man’s back. His restless emotions could not calm down.
The old nobility were a very special group of people to the entire Qin Dynasty. On one hand, they were not allowed to appear in the present Changling, but on the other, they had many properties, and even business with enemy countries. They had the pulse of some things in their hands, and the mistress of Changling could not easily tear them away from Changling.
This was the classic “whether to keep or remove” but in the end, it was that they were strong enough.
Right now, what should he choose?
The sun was on the horizon, the air had started to turn cold. Because of his emotions, he did not even notice the deliberate wind that the green robed Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator created behind him.
This Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator grew displeased and frowned.
“Your performance now is very far from during the sword trials. As a swordsman, you have to be alert at all times, especially outside of Changling. The people who want to kill you will not have to worry whether they can walk out of Changling, and have no constraints at all.”
Hearing this voice, a stunned Zhang Yi turned around.
Seeing the special green jade uniform the other wore and the unique piercing presence, he immediately realized the other’s identity. But his mind was in more chaos- What was going on today?
“Count intervals, five and sevens.”
The Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator was used to seeing all kinds of top geniuses and was even more displeased when he saw Zhang Yi’s confusion. He took out a cold metal box from his sleeve and held it towards Zhang Yi.
Zhang Yi instinctively took the seemingly ordinary metal box. His heart involuntarily jumped and he could not help but ask, “What is this? What is counting intervals, five and sevens?”
“Think about it yourself. If you cannot understand……” This Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator raised his eyebrows. He originally wanted to say: if even this could not be stood, Zhang Yi would not qualify to call himself a student of Min Mountain Sword Sect but at this time, he felt it was inappropriate. He paused and changed his words. “Destroy what is inside the box.”
Seeing the other’s displeasure, Zhang Yi thought of how Ding Ning said he was too sentimental and seemed to wake up. His gaze moved from the Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator to the metal box in his hand.
Then he opened the box.
There was only a thin sheepskin paper in the box, folded simple, so he saw many ink lines at first glance. From the scattered and broken lines, he felt endless terrifying sword essence.
His eyes immediately teared up.
In the next moment, the sword essences pressed on his body, stopping his energies and blood from flowing properly and even momentarily gave him a feeling he was injured and bleeding.
Zhang Yi’s body shuddered and then he raised his head in shock.
“This is……”
He looked with amazement at the green-robed cultivator. He thought of the presence of Jin Liuli and even Yantai Guanjian. He felt they could not possess such sharpness and immediately understood. “This is Sect Master Baili’s own……”
The Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator felt there was no need for an answer.
He turned and left.
“In your view, you are an insignificant person, yet three of the top people of Changling came to see you in person or gave you a letter in their own hand. So you are not an insignificant person. The disciples of Min Mountain Sword Sect are the same as those true disciples of Ba Mountain Sword Field, we are not insignificant.”
Hearing the words of the other as he disappeared, Zhang Yi’s body trembled involuntarily.
Borrowing the last light of the sunset, he struggled to unfold the sheepskin paper from the box. His eyes felt piercing pain as tears streamed down. He only saw the first few words when his breathing stopped momentarily and then sped up.
This was a sword manual.
Count in intervals, every five and seven was a reading method. Only those characters, multiples of five and seven, were the true contents of the sword manual for him to comprehend the true meaning.
For Baili Suxue to write in person and use this method to hide the true contents meant there was only one possibility. This sword manual was very important to Min Mountain Sword Sect, and in Min Mountain Sword Sect, only Baili Suxue knew of it. This meant it was a direct teaching of the sect master.
After understanding all this, Zhang Yi finally understood the meaning of the Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator’s last words.
How could the direct disciple of Baili Suxue, the master of Min Mountain Sword Sect, be an insignificant person?
The last light faded from the sky. The wilderness around him fell into darkness.
If you do, then do it thoroughly.
Ding Ning’s voice sounded in his mind again.
He thought of many past events, thought of Xue Wangxu’s death, thought of the scenes of the trials, and of the letter the mistress of the palace had written with her own hand after the trials. He thought of the glory he had traded, and felt that Ding Ning’s words were correct.
He took the sheepskin paper out of the box, and placed it next to his skin. He put away the box, looked up at the brightest star in the direction of the Yan and started to walk.
##
Hooves beat loudly on the riverside and startled many birds resting for the night. Torches lit up the entire rivershore. A general in black armor leapt off the galloping horse and landed on the ground as though he was weightless. But as he landed, he pulled and stopped the horse behind him.
“It’s here?”
This black-armored general looked around his surroundings and asked two children around seven or so sitting in front of a soldier.
They were a girl and boy, looking like siblings. From their clothes, they should be the children of the nearby fishermen.
Hearing the interrogatory tone of this general and the shining tiger and wolf insignia of the other’s black armor, the children were terrified. They opened their mouths, not answering, and started to wail.
This black-armoured general took a deep breath and felt even more irritated. But when he crouched down to look, his expression changed dramatically. Great coldness and murderousness unconsciously shone out of his eyes.
He saw white satin threads soaked through on the winding willow roots.
Almost instinctively, he was sure that this was where Bai Shanshui had hidden before.
There were an unknown number of ships and Qin cultivators on the Wei River looking for Bai Shanshui’s tracks. Who would have thought that Bai Shanshui would float under these old willow tree roots like a true corpse?
This was a place that all the ships passing on the river could see. Yet, in the end, only these two children coincidentally saw her.
Leaving it up to the heavens was the best escape method?
The Holy One had flattened a mountain with one blow at Deer Mountain Conference. If there was the heavenly fate, it should belong to Changling. How had this rebel managed to escape again!
This general thought of the Qin people who had died by Bai Shanshui’s hand in these years, and his anger burned higher. But when he saw the floating white threads, he knew he had missed the best opportunity to capture Bai Shanshui. He did not know what price it would take to defeat this great rebel again. Because he could not vent his anger, his powerful presence advanced forward, causing the river water in front of him to ripple outwards.
In the deepest part of the Great Floating Water Prison, Lin Zhujiu floated quietly in the water and sensed the ripples coming from the neighboring cell.
This was completely meaningless to other people, but the only chance in his dull and captive life.
“Young Person, you are extraordinary. Ever since this water prison was built, you are the second person that Shen Xuan is powerless against.”
He looked down at the ripples and praised sincerely.
The sound passed clearly and far along the flow of water but there was no response.
Lin Zhujiu looked at the still-moving water and knew the young person was not unconscious. He said, “I know you do not trust me, but I know you are different from the other people sent in to gain my trust. I have experienced what Shen Xuan has done to you…… I know what kind of people manage to survive them. So you can not trust me, but I can trust you.”
A long time later.
A weak but clear voice came from the neighbouring cell. “Who are you?”
Lin Zhujiu said, “Ba Mountain Sword Field, Lin Zhujiu.”
The cell was silent for a moment. Then, “Impossible.”
Lin Zhujiu laughed and said, “Everyone feels that I am dead, but I am still alive.”
The other cell was silent again.
Lin Zhujiu said with a smile, “You have doubts. If I am Lin Zhujiu, why would I tell a person I have never known before.”
The other side did not refute it. “Yes.”
Lin Zhujiu said calmly. “Because no one feels that we are able to leave after entering this place. Just like Shen Xuan took you here so you can learn, even I, after more than a decade, cannot leave. He wants you to despair. Despair is the best way he can open the mouths of people like you and me.”
Lin Zhujiu raised his head and looked at the other cell. He said coolly, “But I think he will still fail. Also, I will give you hope. If you can last long enough, believe me that I will definitely take you away.”
The cell had no response, only an imperceptible grunt.
The water rippled even more strongly.
Lin Zhujiu knew that another round of torture had started.
Many punishments that even he felt terrifying to think off were being performed on that young person.
He had given that young person a promise and hope, but was there really hope?
Lin Zhujiu looked down at the rippling dark waters. He grew silent again.
Volume 5 85 - True Sword Essence
Yin Mountain was very tall. Even standing on the slopes, the stars above were many times larger than in Changling. They looked like pearls that were within reach.
Many of the parts of the Yin Mountain were natural borders between the Qin and Chu dynasties. This slope was closer to the Chu side, and belonged to the Chu Dynasty. But at this time, it was the Qin army stationed on the slopes. The black tents were crowded on the slopes and formed a camp.
Below the slope was twenty miles of river valleys and desert. The bonfires were more closely packed together than stars in the sky. The black tents and the red bonfires merged together and stretched out of sight like a hell river of legend.
In the central tent of the Qin army, felt made from the hair of black yaks formed an enormous tent with a black ceiling. There were dozens of thick can candles used to illuminate a sand table.
The sand table was something that was used by almost all generals starting many dynasties ago. It could be used to directly see the geography where the army was, the movements of each army, and to judge the details even better.
Two enormous dynasties were fighting at close distance with an unprecedented military power. As a result, the sand table in the tent was enormous, and the small flags that represented the armies were packed among the mountains and rivers.
They had finished discussing the deployment of the units. When the sun rose tomorrow, some of the small flags on here would move to new positions, or disappear.
In the enormous tent, only Sima Cuo and Fu Su were left.
Standing amid the flickering shadows, these small flags had some marks. These little flags that looked so insignificant on the sand table represented many lives. Thinking of how these small flags would disappear, and the corpses piled up on the true battlefield, Fu Su could not calm down, and his breathing was heavy.
Sima Cuo looked at him like this, and a slightly scornful smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
“What is this?” he pointed at a part of the enormous sand table in front of him and asked.
Fu Su shook slightly, and instinctively responded, “This is the life and death of countless people.”
Sima Cuo’s scorn grew. He shook his head, and said, “This is the entire world, all of the Qin Dynasty.”
Fu Su was stunned, and could not understand the meaning in Sima Cuo’s words.
“Most generals may be powerful cultivators, but powerful cultivators may not become generals.” Sima Cuo looked at him and said coldly and slowly. “What is different between a general and powerful cultivators is that they look at things from different heights. You are the imperial son that the Holy One and the empress value the most. If you do not make great mistakes, the throne of the Qin Dynasty will naturally be given into your hands. So you must look at things from the position of a general, from the position of the country.”
“What this sand table shows now is war, but this great war is with the power of the entire dynasty. The result of the war will decide the fate of the country. Compared to the country, each of the flags here, while representing the deaths of tens of thousands of people, blood in rivers, and piles of bones, they are nothing.”
Sima Cuo’s gaze moved from Fu Su’s face and the sand table to the night sky outside the tent. He stopped for a long moment before he slowly said, “From a certain point of view, Zhao Mu is the opponent that I am most worried about. Because only he cares about winning and losing, and not the process. Tang Mei is similar to you in personality, he cares too much about the life and death of these people.”
“Each dynasty will have numerous powerful cultivators, and fierce generals skilled in battle. As the commander-in-chief, and in the position that you are in, what you have to grasp is the state of the general situation. These people will fight the battles.”
Sima Cuo laughed. “Like right now. You just have to confirm what problems the Chu Dynasty armies will have with Tang Mei leading them, are you able to see with him leading the army, in the overall situation, the Chu armies already have a fatal weakness? If you cannot see, then there is no meaning in being the commander-in-chief, and your orders have no meaning. Maybe armies represented by these flags will win most of their battles, but in the end, you will find that you have inexplicably lost.”
“Weakness?”
Listening to Sima Cuo’s lecture, Fu Su looked dazedly at the sand table. He could not see where the fatal weakness that Sima Cuo said the Chu armies had.
“The more complex the front line, the more time it takes, and the more variables there are. As the Yan, Qi, and Ba Mountain Sword Field join in, the more disadvantageous it will become for us. Zhao Mu stayed behind in Chu to steady the rear, and recommended Tang Mei as the commander. Tang Mei’s fighting style will naturally achieve this.”
Sima Cuo’s smile faded. He said darkly, “But when he leads the armies like this, their fatal weakness is food. The Chu army has prepared an entire winter, but they will still not have enough food. The finer the battle, the more routes to transport grain and equipment, and the more places where problems can occur. If you find this, all your orders just have to be targeted at this.”
Fu Su stopped breathing. He finally understood some.
Sima Cuo said coldly, “Grain and grass, both are needed. Of all of the orders sent tonight, the fifty thousand Bright Tiger Army that Lian Bo is leading seems to have moved the most. But in reality, this is just to contain the main Chu army. The key is those small flags. Much of the fodder that the Chu has prepared will be burned. Even Wei Wu Jiu leading the army to advance to the Green River Meadow is just a lure. The use of many powerful cultivators in a war is mostly to contain and protect some generals. Sometimes, what decides victory is not the battles between these people, but the victories gained by some inconspicuous armies.”
Xuegu Pass.
An inconspicuous part of the sand table.
A mountain valley of the Yin Mountain reached this place. Because sunlight never reached here, even at the start of the summer, this valley was covered in white snow. This pass was in the north of Daliang Commandery. Because it was so remote, it only guarded against bandits from outside the passes. So there had been a stone city built at the entrance of the pass, and there were only four hundred soldiers stationed here. Yet many days ago, some of the nobility of the Chu Dynasty and their entourage arrived here. Adding on the soldiers that came, there were seven hundred people.
These nobilities came from the Chu capital and surrounding areas, and belonged to powerful families. But they were not strong enough for Consort Zhao Xiang to have mercy. All the people among them who could fight were reorganized into the army. Only the old and weak that could not follow the army were left in the capital and “cared for”.
Before they were sent to the front lines, the armies made from these nobilities were split up and sent to different places. In the end, the combat power of the group sent to Xuegu Pass was very weak, much weaker than the four hundred soldiers stationed here.
The soldiers stationed here did not have good feelings towards the nobility, and feared that they would desert. So when these people arrived, they were grouped into five person teams and led by veterans. Many of the ordinary soldiers here immediately became “captains”.
The “captain” in charge of the sentry tonight, Song Wei, was such a veteran.
The sentry was just a hidden tent on the side of the slope that just allowed six people to sit together. In order to fend against the cold, the six people were squeezed together, relying on body warmth. But Song Wei could clearly sense the hostility of the five people he was leading.
“If we are quiet, the wind in the valley can cover our voices, and powerful cultivators cannot hear us. How about we talk about something, it is easy to fall asleep, so why not talk?” the old soldier whose skin was leather like due to the wind and sunlight of the mountains rubbed his hands and said.
No one answered.
Song Wei did not care and said, “I know that you are discontent. Everyone wants to live good days. Who wants to come here to suffer? Not just you think this, so do I. I am not a cultivator, I do not have the assets to get military merit.”
“Then why did you join the army?” Many moments later, a voice sounded.
“No choice, ” Song Wei laughed self-mockingly. “My father had two sons. I am the older one. My younger brother was of a weak body from birth and learned better at school than me. My family is poor, we do not have any farmland. Based on the Chu laws, if you cannot pay the military tax, you must have someone join the army. If I do not come, then who?”
“You are not the same as me, but you also do not have a choice.” Song Wei turned to look at the people squeezed in with him. He said seriously. “I mean, since you came here, then settle. If there is no choice, the only way is to think of ways to survive. Living is better than dying here. Anger is not of much use. Here, everyone is at peace. We will be fine after this war.”
The tent grew silent.
Seeing that his words were accepted, Song Wei smiled, and said, “Luckily, we are remote here, not some important place to be fought over. The Qin army should not make an ambush here. Our chances of surviving~”
He wanted to say that their chances of surviving would be higher, but then he stopped. His throat choked up, expression froze, and his pupils contracted.
Some different colored white appeared on the white snow. Many white figures silently appeared in the mountain valley like ghosts.
Then more white figures spread towards the back of the valley.
Volume 7 86
The wound in the back was not deep, and did not actually penetrate his energy sea. But even the Master of Fire himself did not know, or rather, he only knew now, that this place was an important meridian point in his system.
At this time, the Master of Fire pressed one hand on his energy sea, wanting to stop the flow of vital energy coming out. Just some light pressure, and with a pop, like the Master of Fire used his hand to break an egg, the wound on his back exploded outwards at this moment.
The wounds connected from the front to the back. Crimson red vital energy did not just charge out of the wound from his back, but also moved through the meridians of his body. The vital energy was usually tame in his body, and nurtured his body like medicine, but at this time, he felt great pain and a scorching feeling. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that fire was coming out of every vessel beneath his skin.
He was full of terror and on the verge of crying. He knew that he was about to die, his entire body burned to ash by the fire created through his vital energy. At this time, he was absolutely certain that the young person holding the Last Flower sword in front of him was the person from back then. The other seemed to be deliberately using such methods so he would experience the feeling of being burned to death. This was truly punishing a person with their own methods. A person who played with fire would be burned.
In the next moment, he was full of regret, and felt that he was an idiot. Back then, while he had burned that person to ash with fire, it had been in a situation when that person had no power left, and could not even deal with an ordinary person. He still remembered, when that person sat down on the pile of cultivator corpses, unable to charge any longer, many people were afraid, not daring to go up, including him. When one low level cultivator’s flying sword finally pierced through that person’s body, he finally got the courage to attack and released his fire.
But after more than a decade, he had forgotten those scenes, became an idiot, and in a situation when this person could still wield a sword, he came full of confidence to clean up. He was so stupid he was hopeless.
He knew that he was about to die. His mouth was filled with bitterness. But at this time, Ding Ning’s voice reached his ears, “Do you want to live?”
Without any hesitation, completely due to his body and mind, he used all his energy to nod his head. The more powerful the cultivator, the harder it was for them to get their cultivation. No one knew how much hardship had been suffered, how many difficult choices they had made and how many things they had given up.
So usually, the stronger the cultivator, the more they feared death. This was like the wealthy people in the world who had countless wealth. Before death, even if they had to use countless spirit medicines to keep breathing, they were not willing to leave this world even if they were in great pain.
His response was not unexpected to Ding Ning. The life path of a cultivator, from the moment they confirmed their cultivation method and went deep, was set.
The fire that the Master of Fire cultivated was a method of burning their own vital energy to wear down the other. This meant that some cultivators who were stronger than him were not willing to use up their cultivation to kill him. As a result, he became unusually hard to kill, but from another point of view, this was a method that was very afraid of death. Especially when no one was willing to kill him. He had experienced less moments of life and death than most grandmasters on his level. Many years ago in Changling, he had already seen through this fire monster.
Ding Ning did not say anything. He moved his sword again. The threads of the Last Flower remnant sword split apart, becoming many thin needles and piercing into the Master of Fire’s body.
The Master of Fire immediately felt his body cool down, and then he found to his shock and terror, all of the meridians that Ding Ning had sealed up with his sword moves in the past were all opened. But they were flowing in paths that he was not familiar with.
In other words, Ding Ning’s sword seemed to have reorganized his meridians, and added many pathways and circulations that he did not understand. The vital energy in his energy sea stopped moving in chaos. The power of a realm seven returned to his body.
At this moment, he felt that he had the power to kill Ding Ning, but this feeling of facing a cultivator weaker than him only appeared for an instant.
In the next moment, a kind of horror caused by this thought caused him to break out in a cold sweat. His mind cleared. He felt that this power in his body had a certain connection to Ding Ning, like Ding Ning could give as he wished and also take as he wished.
He froze on the spot, and did not know what to do.
**
At this time, Crown Prince Yugou screamed. He went completely blind, even the terrible green color having disappeared from his world. His sight was pitch black. He could not stop the invasion of the poison. Even more importantly, the poison disrupted his perception, and caused him to feel illusions. He could not sense the existence of Ding Ning, Qing Yaoyin and the others. He only saw countless strange shapes, and even many enemies who had died by his hands move around him.
“How are you?”
Qian Mu sprinted to Qing Yaoyin’s side. Looking at Qing Yaoyin whose body was twisted, he froze on the spot.
“I will not die quickly, I used medicine already, but you must straighten my bones for me now. Otherwise, even if I do not die, I fear that my bones will be messy, and I will not be human.” Qing Yaoyin wanted to smile, but could not. The bone pieces in his body caused him to think of the thatch on grass plains.
Before fighting Crown Prince Yugou, he had no hope of winning. He could only use such a method. So before the fight, he had used medicine. Lucky, Crown Prince Yugou had underestimated him, and his plan succeeded in the end.
Qian Mu crouched down, no longer thinking about other matters, and starting to search for the shattered bones in Qing Yaoyin’s body and piecing them together. He was very young, but he was very focused on what he did.
**
Tantai Guanjian kept on coughing up blood. His situation was slightly better than Qing Yaoyin. This swordsman, the fastest in the world, was not even able to stand up.
Qing Yaoyin used this method to defeat the most difficult among the enemies, Crown Prince Yugou. The other’s devious and ghostly methods did not even have a chance to be used. But now, the danger had not passed, and the greatest danger came from the sky.
Ding Ning looked up.
There was a shadow falling like a mountain. These soaring snakes could not stop the old Jiaodong Commandery woman in the sky. Another soaring snake was killed.
What truly slowed her footsteps was still Qing Yaoyin’s power, his Six Winged cicada.
Right now, Zheng An’s figure was floating down along with the corpse of the serpent. She had left behind her crane steed, and ignored the fight between the crane and the cicada.
She fell towards Ding Ning.
Volume 3 86 - Bramble Sea
From when the Min Mountain Sword Trials started, to White Goat Cave’s Ding Ning winning, to Liang Lian, the army hunting Bai Shanshui at night, and the tremors in Changling, many astounding things had happened during this period of time yet, it really was not a long time to the Qin Dynasty.
Before the Min Mountain Sword Trials started, two cultivators dressed in ordinary Qin clothing set up two tents near a small hill. The two of them arrived together, but they did not talk among themselves. Even their tents were separated by dozens of meters.
This small hill was right between Changling and Min Mountain Sword Sect.
This morning, these two cultivators who arrived at the same time but never spoke to each other saw the thread of smoke rising from the distant mountain. Then they started to prepare in unison.
The slightly thinner, short-haired man carefully rolled up his sleeves before breathing methodically. After constant inhales and exhales, his appearance grew more solemn and calmer, he appeared to shine with jade light like he had been renewed.
The other middle-aged cultivator used a wooden hoop to hold up his hair. He wore plain cloth robes and had a delicate face. He looked like a teacher from a Changling school.
However, his preparations were not that of a teacher.
He used a white satin cloth to repeatedly clean a small golden sword.
The calmly breathing short-haired man first sensed something. He raised his head and looked coldly in the direction of the path to Min Mountain Sword Sect.
Many breaths later, at the edge of his sight, a carriage slowly appeared.
As his gaze moved, his sleeves rippled slightly. Two weak sword lights flew out, not flying swords, but two odd silver winged insects the size of a thumb.
The two airborne insects flew along the ground, passing through the grasses and fallen leaves. their bodies flickered in and out of view as they silently flew towards the moving carriage.
The teacher-like middle-aged cultivator looked up calmly at the sky. His gaze was clear as he watched the rising sun, fearless of the blinding light. His eyes seemed to burn, the light that fell into his eyes absorbed deep into his eyes. Golden threads started to appear in his pupils.
The two odd silver flying insects had natural seal-like patterns on their wings. Inside, they had a thin layer of light yellow crystal, the condensate of primal energies of the universe the short-haired man poured in through daily cultivation.
Under his mental control, the two silver insects folded their wings and then dove into the mud under the fallen leaves, waiting for the arrival of the carriage.
As the carriage came closer, the two cultivators unconsciously frowned.
The cultivator in the carriage had a weak presence compared to them that could be dismissed. But the presence of the green robed Min Mountain Sword Sect cultivator sitting at the front was terrifying. Even far away, their energy seas uncontrollably rippled until they felt numb.
But this was a situation of two against one. In the many days they had stayed here, these two cultivators had a clear understanding of each other’s strength and special tactics even though they had not conversed. So these two cultivators had great confidence. Especially when they were certain this cultivator was not Yantai Guanjian.
As long as they were not Yantai Guanjian, in their view they had a high possibility of success even if it was Geng Ren.
The carriage was far from where the two silver insects were hiding. However, the two cultivators changed expression as without any forewarning, they sensed a cold deathly threat surrounding their bodies.
The teacher-like middle-aged cultivator bellowed, his small golden sword burning with golden flame. Gold flames also burned around him like it would form a unique cage covering him and the cultivator next to him.
But he was still too slow. When these golden flames lit up, a terrifying and murderous grey sword light landed on the short-haired cultivator’s neck.
The short-hair cultivator displayed his great strength. An ocean of primal energies of the universe fell down like a mountain into his body. At the same time, the vital energy and primal energies of the universe accumulated in his body was starting to move.
There was a soft sound.
The short-haired cultivator whose cultivation was clearly Mountain Moving Realm had no time to move before his head was cut off. Powerful energy flooded out, his head was thrown high into the air, and even his blood sprayed high into the sky, turning into countless droplets that dyed the mist above red.
There was no tang of blood nearby. The headless corpse lost all of its blood and turned into a withered corpse that fell forward like a hunk of wood. The scene looked terrifying and almost disgusting.
The golden fire finally formed and came to surround the teacher-like middle-aged cultivator. Yet, even under the illumination of the golden fire, the cultivator looked extremely pale.
“A cultivator from Nanyue?”
A demon-like flat voice sounded from the woods on the side. Then a man, only in his undergarments, appeared in his sight.
“You are a Yelang cultivator?”
The two uncertain murmurs hammered on this middle-aged cultivator’s heart. His golden fire started to tremble minutely.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the carriage was still moving ahead but the terrifying presence at the front had disappeared. The green figure had disappeared with only an empty green jade robe on the seat.
“Who are you?”
The teacher-like middle-aged cultivator struggled to say.
He had understood how the other had silently gotten near him but he could not understand how there could be such a terrifying cultivator from Min Mountain Sword Sect other than Baili Suxue and Yantai Guanjian. How could this person use a ball of primal energies of the universe to support that robe, and conceal himself from the senses of himself and the master from Nanyue.
“Who ordered you here?”
Instead, Shao Sharen looked at the middle-aged cultivator’s pale face and demanded.
The middle-aged cultivator pressed his lips together tightly and did not answer.
Shao Sharen’s expression did not change. He was not skilled in interrogation nor had any interest. He was only skilled in one thing in life, killing.
He attacked.
A straight thrust without any finesse. His grey crystal-like longsword collided onto the golden curtain of fire at unimaginable speed!
The middle-aged cultivator gave a howl in shock. His vital energy poured out without restraint. His golden sword was so bright it was about to melt and managed to hit the grey longsword hard as the tip pierced the golden fire. The flames seemed to flow along the grey blade like liquid fire to touch Shao Sharen’s fingers.
Shao Sharen frowned slightly. He did not change his movement and sprayed with his mouth.
A thin green sword that was like a bamboo leaf shot from his mouth, pierced through the cracked golden fire towards the middle-aged cultivator’s forehead.
The middle-aged cultivator was shocked, his fingers flicking for multiple sword energies to hit this small green sword and deflect it.
Shao Sharen’s left hand shook slightly. A transparent and extremely small sword energy shot from his index fingernail.
The middle-aged cultivator twisted his body, wanting to dodge this small sword energy. But with a hiss, his eyes went wide as he looked down at his body. He saw blood burst out of his abdomen.
Shao Sharen calmly retreated.
The golden flames burned the skin of his finger but could not enter.
His energy sea pierced, the middle-aged cultivator fell dispiritedly to the ground.
Looking at the tip of Shaoxing’s shoe, the middle-aged cultivator finally realised that the sharp blade had come from underneath Shao Sharen’s foot. He was filled with disbelief and a feeling of absurdity.
Why would a powerful cultivator like this use such lowly tactics and have so many of them!
Shao Sharen had no interest in the middle-aged man’s thoughts. To him, for a long period of time, killing just meant survival.
His left hand swung without hesitation. A sharp presence flew out along his palm and cut the middle-aged cultivator’s neck.
The middle-aged cultivator’s head fell from his neck and rolled down the slope.
Shao Sharen turned around assuredly.
The carriage was already below the hill.
Sensing this shocking but not scary battle, Ding Ning gave a small smile in the carriage.
No matter who had set up these two assassins, they would feel great irritation and pain at this moment.
Volume 5 86 - Die Together
These white figures were all wearing white robes. The cotton robes were rough, and there was gray mixed within the white. However, this was very close to the color of the snowy valley. Even more importantly, the white robes contrasted against the black sword scabbards. These figures move neatly through, that calm presence causing Song Wei to immediately judge they were the Qin soldiers.
The duty of the night watch was to warn as quickly as possible when they found the enemy. But when Song Wei looked at the advancing white figures, the first thought in his mind was, even if he warned, would it be of use?
In just these short moments, there were over two thousand white figures that appeared in his sight. This was many times the number of soldiers in Xuegu Valley, and there were more white figures appearing in the valley.
Song Wei could not understand why there was such a number of Qin soldiers breaking through here, but he was certain that these troops had an even greater mission. Their target was not to take Xuegu Pass in the night.
The thought of uselessness spun in his mind for many breaths. In the next moment, he used all his power, and threw the porcelain bottle he had been gripping in his hands outside of the tent.
The mouth of this porcelain bottle was sealed with wax, and inside was red phosphrous made with special means. If the bottle broke, and the contents came into contact with the air, no matter how cold the place, bright fire would appear.
But Song Wei only made this hard throwing motion, and the porcelain bottle did not actually leave his hand.
A cold wind came through the tent, blowing in, and following Song Wei’s hand into his body. Song Wei’s mouth opened in shock but he could not speak. He was not the only one. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other five people with him were also “frozen” by this cold wind.
He watched as the Qin army silently passed on the road below like ghosts until there were no more new white figures appearing at the end. There were over five thousand in the army. To his shock, the other sentries after him also did not make any sounds. This Qin troop smoothly pressed towards Xuegu Pass that was sleeping.
“No need to warn, the people in the pass already know.”
When the last soldier of the troop had been gone for a dozen breaths, an unfamiliar but young voice suddenly sounded by Song Wei’s ear.
Greater shock spread in the tent. Many feet away from the tent, a young person had appeared at an unknown time.
This young person wore ordinary black cotton robes, and his face was covered with black cloth. He stood there calmly, completely different in presence from the depressing air of the Qin soldiers heading to Xuegu Pass. This felt very strange.
“What does this mean?”
“Who are you?”
Song Wei found that he could speak for some reason. He lowered his voice, and suppressed his shock as he shouted. Just from the other’s accent, he was certain that this person was not from Chu.
“Do not be nervous, if I am on the side of the Qin army below, you would have all died already.” The young person slowly turned around and looked at Song Wei.
This was not a question of his own life and death. Song Wei sucked in a breath hard, and said in a trembling voice, “The people inside already know?”
“Before I came here, I already notified them.” The young person did not speak in riddles and said, “The more the Qin troops feel that Xuegu Pass is not on their guard, the more they will be confident in their attack, and the more likely that the pass will hold on.”
The enemy had five times the number. No matter the way used, how could they hold this?
This was the first thought in Song Wei’s mind. But for some reason, the young person’s calm gaze stopped him from immediately saying this. He unconsciously asked, “So many Qin soldiers are passing by here, and such a number has reached this place. What do they want to do with a night sneak attack?”
“Dayong Pass,” the young person said, and then knowing that Song Wei could not understand, he quickly explained. “This Qin troop wants to attack Dayong Pass as fast as possible. If they can burn the grass fields of Dayong Pass, after a dozen days, it will be very bad for the forty thousand troops in this area.”
Song Wei was not a general, but an old soldier who had served here for a long time. He immediately reacted.
The grass fields of Dayong Pass, during times of war, would provide fodder for Juyong and Zhushan, two border cities. These two border cities were very important transit hubs for food and fodder for the Chu border armies. If the armies at these two border cities did not have enough fodder, even if the two cities were not lost, and they had enough food, they could not transport effectively.
In this moment, even Song Wei realized if Xuegu Pass were to be taken, and the Qin troops successfully ambushed Dayong Pass, then the many seemingly inconspicuous passes along the way would be lost and this would greatly affect the entire state of the war.
This was a terrifying flaw. Before this, the superiors and generals of the Chu army should not have detected the movements of this Qin troop, and did not have the time to plug this hole.
Thinking of this, Song Wei broke out in a cold sweat.
“You can burn the cinnabar now,” the young person turned to look at him, and said calmly.
Song Wei was stunned. Then he understood the young person wanted him to throw the porcelain bottle in his hand.
“Quick!” The young person urged with mind-shocking power.
Song Wei looked and saw the Qin troops were just a hundred feet from the walls of the pass, and threw the porcelain bottle.
With a boom, a tongue of flame shot up on the slopes. The fire was purple, and like a long candle flame. The wind blue, and it flew up like many purple-red fireflies. The dots of purple flame reflected beautifully on the white snow underneath. Usually, this would be romantic, but at this time, it was suffocating and deathly.
On the walls of the pass, dozens of Chu generals stood like statues, very nervous. There was a female cultivator standing in front of them.
The female cultivator looked coldly at the surging Qin army. When the fire rose from the rear slopes, she did not even look over there. All her senses and attention was on the Qin troops below.
Among the ghostly Qin troops, many people turned their heads at this moment. But she caught this momentary difference. She found the person among them who reacted the fastest, the first to sense the abnormality on the slopes, the first to turn their heads.
Her senses fell on this person. Even if this person was not the commander of this troop, he was at least the strongest in cultivation in the troop.
Volume 7 87
Novels belong to writers, we only provide reading services。