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Chapter Eighty-Eight: Clean Up
writer:无罪      update:2022-07-21 15:26
  Zheng An incessantly screamed in pain. The smaller half of her body completely left the rest of her, but her figure kept on moving backwards to the dust mountains. The splash of blood was still in the air, but her figure was hidden.

  Seeing such a scene, the Master of Fire almost knelt down.

  This sword was like the peak of Wang Jingmeng in the past. While most of it came from his power, when he thought of Wang Jingmeng’s accumulated power back then…… If Wang Jingmeng had not died after slaughtering a sea of corpses and appeared in front of the cultivators who had seen him fight back then, all those cultivators would likely feel the same as him.

  “Our grievances have ended. But you must wait for this formation to disappear before he can leave.”


  Ding Ning did not look at him. He looked to where Zheng An had hidden, and his brows unconsciously furrowed.

  Half of the body had been cut off, and the organs and meridians were fatally wounded. But he still felt that Zheng An was trying to use vital energy to gather primal energies to seal her own wounds.

  Zheng An would die. But in the world of cultivators, there were people who could still manage to fight for a while after their bodies were cut up until their vital energy was used up. Right now, Zheng An did not just have to suppress her vital energy and blood from flowing out of her body, she also had to suppress the terror of her body being cut apart.

  “If she appears again and attacks, no one among us can stop her,” Zhangsun Qianxue drew close to his side and said softly.

  “If one has to die, a person like her would not be willing to die like this. It is just a matter of time before she conquers the terror in her mind. She will appear and attack again.” At Zhangsun Qianxue’s words, Ding Ning thought to himself, there was just a little bit lacking, the Master of Fire’s vital energy was not his own. Then he took a deep breath and slowly said, “There is one person missing, there is one person who should appear who has not appeared.”


  His words stilled all those present, including the Master of Fire.

  “The Crown Prince Yugou is someone that we did not expect.”


  Ding Ning turned to look at Crown Prince Yugou.

  At this time, Crown Prince Yugou was poisoned to the point that he had lost his senses, and was unable to make a sound. He was running and stumbling in the dust mountains, his skin and flesh starting to rot and fall apart.

  When a cultivator was unable to suppress the poison from spreading, and even their vital energy was being corroded, then the final result would be death.

  He had hidden for a long time, and come a thousand miles to die.

  Everyone found this ironic, but they could not understand who the missing person Ding Ning spoke of was.

  “Crown Prince Yugou was named the Crown Prince, but he was not even a crown prince for a day. Now, it appears that he hates me and the Ba Mountain Sword Field far more than Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu. But now, even if there was not me and the Ba Mountain Sword Field, could a person like him fight Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu? Changling and the people in the other commanderies of the Qin Dynasty needed a glorious and bright emperor like Yuanwu and not a dark demon king. Back then, when he chose his method, he did not understand this. How could he have gotten the support of the important people of Changling back then?”


  Ding Ning looked away, and said directly, “I thought that the person who would have come in with the people of Jiaodong Commandery would be Meng Fangying, and not this Crown Prince Yugou.”


  The Master of Fire’s heart jumped, and even he immediately reacted. Especially Fu Su, who had complicated feelings right now, changed expressions dramatically.

  Meng Fangying was Meng Qihai’s father, Marquis Meng. Zheng Xiu’s only younger female cousin Zheng Feiye had married Marquis Meng. So everyone knew, among the thirteen marquises of the Qin, Marquis Meng and Zheng Xiu were the closest. From a certain point of view, Marquis Meng was someone that Zheng Xiu had recruited, the price she paid was a marriage alliance and some of Jiaodong Commandery’s interests.

  Killing the Nine Death Silkworm was Zheng Xiu’s biggest goal in the war against the Chu. At this time, there were several marquises who had died on the Yin Mountain and Yangshan Commandery battlefields. Military intelligence stated that Marquis Meng had arrived at Yin Mountain, but he had not appeared on the battlefield. So where did he go?

  “Meng Fangying is similar in personality to Zheng Xiu. If it is not the last moment when he is sure, he will not appear. So he is deeply trusted by Zheng Xiu,” Ding Ning looked down and said coldly.

  When his expression changed, a cold and majestic voice sounded. “As expected, you understand me well.”


  Just as this cold voice sounded, Crown Prince Yugou’s stumbling and rotting body was crushed by a great force. Terrible green pieces fell on the dust mountains like sharp arrows.

  “While Crown Prince Yugou is just in name, stealing his title and ignorance, he is of imperial blood. At least, he should die cleanly, and with some respect.”


  A middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a marquis appeared among the dust mountains. His temples were dusted with white, but his face was still handsome. His exposed arms appeared to give only a feeling of being as hard as iron. There were some scars on his skin, like they had been cut by blades, but the healed scars seemed to be covered by metal pieces and shone with a dark light.

  He had originally been an eagle breeder of the border army. The eagles were just to send military intelligence, but he had spent over two decades, climbing from the bottom of the border army to the highest part of Changling, becoming a marquis of the Qin Dynasty, and also married the other famous beauty of Jiaodong Commandery, Zheng Feiye.

  “You are Wang Jingmeng.”


  Meng Fangying looked deeply at Ding Ning, and then said, “The Holy One was right. You are not the heir to the Nine Death Silkworm, but him reborn.”


  Ding Ning looked at this familiar man and did not respond. At this time, there was no meaning in thinking and responding. The key was, inside and outside the dust mountains, who was able to stop Zheng Xiu’s pawn, and be the one to clean up in the end.

  Lin Zhujiu and Zhang Shiwu were too late. They had been in the Chu capital, and their focus was to stop Chu from falling into chaos and making sure that Consort Zhao Xiang did not die.

  “Do you have any last words?”


  Meng Fangying had a faint smile on his lips. He glanced at Zhangsun Qianxue, and then looked seriously at Ding Ning, suggesting, “Or rather, you can speak of the secret of the Nine Death Silkworm? That way, maybe I will let the people here die a bit easier.”


  “Even if I speak of the secret of the Nine Death Silkworm, do you dare to listen?”


  Ding Ning suddenly smiled and said with slight scorn, “Even if you heard from me, and you told Zheng Xiu, will she allow another person in the world to know of the secret of the Nine Death Silkworm other than herself?”


  Meng Fangying stilled, and felt a cold rise.

  Volume 3 88 - Incredible Progression

  Wang Taixu left this small courtyard.

  Ding Ning laid down on the soft couch in the bedroom. The feeling of aging inside and the tiredness due to using up energy in healing should have made him sleepy. Yet, in this quiet room, he felt no drowsiness, and became increasingly anxious.

  This was really his problem.

  He knew that the source of the feeling stemmed from the fact his revenge had truly begun. Like an arrow leaving a bow, there was no way back. This feeling came from the fact that he was waiting for Zhangsun Qianxue right now.

  Zhangsun Qianxue was used to only focusing on cultivation and having him to think on other matters over the years they spent quietly cultivating in the Changling alley and waiting for the time for revenge. He was used to Zhangsun Qianxue waiting in Falling Parasol’s wineshop for him. Here coldness seemed to be the origin for his calmness and quietness in these years.

  When one had a habit, they would have a weakness.

  He was anxious, and could not calm himself. This easily led him to think of many other things. He thought of the people who had died long ago, and also of Xue Wangxu who had recently died. In this quiet room, Ding Ning felt increasingly alone. Yet, the sorrow and anger in his chest burned like a wildfire.

  Cold and familiar footsteps reached his ears.

  “Who is the Min Mountain Sword Sect person out there?”


  Seeing Zhangsun Qianxue push open the door and enter, Ding Ning’s gaze stopped on her beautiful face, he did not immediately answer the question he heard.

  Zhangsun Qianxue was slightly displeased and frowned slightly.

  Ding Ning took a deep breath and said, “Shao Sharen. I remember mentioning him to you. A disciple that the old Min Mountain Sword Sect master picked and brought back to the mountain. He is the best at killing people. If it really is a fight to the death, everyone in Min Mountain Sword Trials, except for Baili Suxue, will die at his hand, including Yantai Guanjian.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue frowned. She thought back for a moment and said coldly, “Why do I not remember you mentioning Shao Sharen to me?”


  Ding Ning felt cold all over. He felt that there was something gravely wrong with his condition today, and he had accidentally said something majorly mistaken.

  But Zhangsun Qianxue was slightly irritated today and did not think more or linger on the topic. Her expression grew colder. She said, “Bai Shanshui came to find me that night in Falling Parasol.”


  Ding Ning’s body felt even colder. He struggled to lift his head and looked at Zhangsun Qianxue. “Wang Taixu told me people from the Astrology Bureau have been appearing around Falling Parasol in the last few days. I did not understand before. Now, it must be that Bai Shanshui travelled by Falling Parasol that night…… Other than me, there is no one else worthy of Bai Shanshui’s attention in Falling Parasol. So the Astrology Bureau must be investigating what relationship Bai Shanshui has with us.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue’s face turned frosty. “Ye Celeng would connect this to Fan Zhuo’s death so…… she will quickly realize my true identity?”


  Ding Ning was silent for a moment. “You must leave Changling.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue said after a long pause. “I will not leave Changling.”


  Ding Ning’s face turned blood red. But due to his strong emotions, he could not speak when he opened his mouth. Instead, he coughed violently.

  “Leave Changling, and then continue to flee endlessly?” Zhangsun Qianxue calmed down and said coldly, “I want to gamble.”


  Ding Ning finally regained his breath and said furiously. “How will you gamble?”


  “Everyone wants to see Ye Celeng’s true attitude.” Zhangsun Qianxue sneered. “Everyone wants to see if Ye Celeng is really one of Emperor Yuanwu’s or, will still hold towards that person who taught her the sword.”


  “And then? If she really is one of Emperor Yuanwu, you will wait to be attacked by an army like Bai Shanshui? Not every person has the same luck as Bai Shanshui. Not everyone has a sword-wielding expert to block death for her!” Ding Ning roared, extremely furious.

  “This is my business. If you feel it hopeless, you can leave Changling.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue glanced coldly at Ding Ning and said with slight disdain, “Have you not been thinking of seeing who Ye Celeng sides with all this time?”


  Ding Ning could not speak. He knew he could not change what she had decided.

  “This is yours.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue took out a copper green box from her sleeve and handed it to Ding Ning.

  Ding Ning looked at the copper box containing the Human Sovereign Jade Annulus silently.

  “You were in such a hurry to return to Changling, but do not want to speak when you see me?” Zhangsun Qianxue rarely saw Ding Ning in such low spirits. She said in her usual cold tone, “If you do not want to leave Changling and want to stay and gamble with me, then at least, tell me what I need to do next.”


  Ding Ning took a deep breath and slowly said, “Since the Astrology Bureau has sensed something, if you are unwilling to leave Changling, then we can only wait for the result here…… Also, help me heal.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue glanced at Ding Ning. She did not speak. She indicated for Ding Ning to move to the side, and then pulled down the silk curtain and laid down by Ding Ning’s side.

  She, like many other cold female cultivators. had a strong compulsion for cleanliness. Ding Ning was not clean today, and the salves for his wounds had seeped through the gauze to touch the bed. Yet, this time, she did not try to refuse. But as she laid down, her tightly pressed lips trembled.

  Just like usual, she laid sideways. Ding Ning could not see her face. His entire mind was focused on his own wounds and cultivation problems.

  He had Zhangsun Qianxue wait, but he himself had to make some preparations.

  Countless small sounds came from inside his body. The yellow mark in the pure white jade annulus started to pulse in his hand. Surges of hot energy seemed to race through his meridians. The heat caused the meridians to feel like they were about to burn. Yet, each time when a fire was going to start, the cold presence coming off Zhangsun Qianxue would subdue the heat, and then the two would merge together perfectly.

  These energies flowed through his body along the paths of Min Mountain Sword Sect’s cultivation method. The damaged parts of his body seemed to receive rain like dried earth, and started to heal at an unimaginable speed to ordinary cultivators.

  The first step to his revenge had always been to join Min Mountain Sword Sect. This was because the vital energy cultivation method of Min Mountain Sword Sect and the Nine Death Silkworm he cultivated were astoundingly complementary. Adding on the Human Sovereign Jade Annulus, and Zhangsun Qianxue’s paired cultivation, his healing and cultivation speed reached an unimaginable and unprecedented level to him……

  Even he did not know but the Last Flower remnant sword beside him lit up as though it had met someone from its past. Fine white flowers started to bloom and wither along the blade.

  **

  Thunder rang through the sky and then the rumbling fell down.

  The bright summer day was driven away by thick clouds and rain. A storm poured down, caught many people off guard.

  The rain flowed down like a curtain from the eaves. Ye Celeng sat on a bamboo chair, barefoot and hugging her knees like an innocent young girl. She looked into the distant black sky. She looked at the flashes of lightning. She looked in the direction of Ink Garden.

  The coldness Zhangsun Qianxue gave off stayed a few feet around her. Even Shao Sharen, who was in a carriage outside Ink Garden’s gates, could not sense it. Yet, Ye Celeng seemed to feel the coldness coming from deep within Ink Garden. Her face had an unusual flush, but her body trembled uncontrollably like she was cold.

  No one knew her true thoughts.

  In these years, even Bureau Chief Chen who was closest to her, and the old servant who always followed her did not know what she truly thought.

  She lived in Changling, with great glory but also great hardship.

  In the storm last year, she came back from overseas due to orders. Someone from the Sword Furnace, who had never entered Changling, had entered. She sensed that the unchanging Changling with its white walls and black tiles seemed to be indescribably changing.

  Now, her feelings were proven correct.

  The change started in the storm last year. What changes would occur in the storm this year?

  The heavy courtyard gates were pushed open slowly from the outside.

  Ye Celeng suddenly looked up.

  A crystal light appeared in the curtain of rain ahead. The falling rain droplets suddenly halted as though they were going to fly horizontally towards the person entering through the gates.

  As she frowned, the rain droplets broke through the restrain and fell towards the ground again.

  Someone pushed open the door to open and then closed it behind them.

  This was a tall woman in indigo robes. Her indigo robes appeared too large and stuck to her body. But what made her appear disheveled was her knotted and messy hair. Her skin was white and smooth, but there was no blood.

  She looked like an ordinary traveller who had been rained on for a long time and did not give off any powerful presence.

  Yet Ye Celeng knew who she was. She knew it was not her distraction that caused her to not detect the other until the gates were opened, but because the other could merge into one with the rain.

  Ye Celeng stood up, her expression cold. She sneered. “This rain suddenly falls and suddenly stops. Bai Shanshui, you really do not want to live, or is there too much water in your head that you dare come to seek me here?”


  Volume 5 88 - Close and Distant

  Ding Ning looked approvingly at this Qin general and then his gaze fell to the other’s sword.

  This was a thin and small indigo sword with gold and yellow seal scripts. It looked like a large dragonfly wing. It was very suited to be a flying sword. It was one of the multiple flying swords Zhangsun Qianxue had hit into the mud.

  This was the only flying sword among the many that had been able to fly back into its owner’s hand after falling.

  The Qin troops moved as a whole, and made a pathway in the middle. This Qin general walked out towards Ding Ning.

  At this time, at a close distance, using the starlight from the sky, even Song Wei, not a cultivator, was able to clearly see this Qin general’s face from the slope. This was a man in his thirties. His face was not very weathered, but cold and scholarly.

  Ding Ning nodded at this Qin general and said, “From your sword, you are a cultivator of Clear River Sword School?”


  This Qin general also nodded as greeting and said, “Clear River Sword School, Yu Yan Shan.”


  Ding Ning did not report his name and just said, “Since you are a cultivator of Clear River Sword School, you must have come to the battlefield just a while ago.”


  This Yu Yan Shan heard the meaning of the words, and said honestly in a deep voice, “While I was forced to move out of the imperial city like many of Changling’s cultivators, when I came to the front lines, I experienced how rare cultivators are to the army.”


  “So you actually care about the army, and especially the lives of the people with you,” Ding Ning said calmly. A sharp ring sounded in the air next to him.

  A deep green piece of metal flew from the ground at his side and floated next to him.

  This green metal piece had come from the metal balls that Xuegu Pass had thrown out previously. This kind of seal weapon had a proper name in the Chu army, Green Metal Kill Balls. Just the name was murderous. Relying on the seal scripts carved on the surface, once their flight speed reached a certain level, the energy balance on the seal weapon would be destroyed and an enormous explosion would result.

  The metal pieces were hard but immensely different from a sword, especially since the seal scripts on it were not made for flight. Yet clearly, Ding Ning was using one of the pieces as a flying sword.

  “You wish to use this as a sword?”


  Yu Yan Shan frowned deeply. Even being able to communicate with the seal script pieces on the shard was a fearsome ability. A cultivator who had never touched an unfamiliar flying sword, even a normal one, could not avoid being unaccustomed.

  The fight between flying swords occurred in instants, much less this kind of metal that was so fragile it could not tolerate even one collison. Even more simply, this metal piece would completely shatter the moment it collided with his flying sword.

  “The simpler the seal scripts, when used with some direct sword forms, will have unexpected effects.” Ding Ning looked at this Changling cultivator who did not want to take advantage of him before the duel and said honestly, “I also do not want people to see my sword.”


  Yu Yan Shan took a deep breath. In a situation like this, no one had the desire to waste words

  “Please.”


  Accompanied by his solemn word, a crisp sword hum sounded next to him. Then his sword, light and thin as a dragonfly’s wing, came in front of him with a sharp crescent light.

  This was a greeting according to Changling’s duels. Ding Ning did not speak more, nodding, and then pointing at Yu Ya Shan with his right index and middle fingers.

  A flow of vital energy came from his fingers and disappeared into the surrounding air. That irregular piece of metal that looked like an arrow head suddenly sped up, and with a bang, it created five afterimages.

  “Chaos Duckweed Trail?” Yu Yan Shan’s breathing stopped, his eyes filled with disbelief.

  This was a sword form of his Clear River Sword School. but when this person used it, not many in the school could rival him, and there was a nimbleness and perfection even he did not have.

  The shock in this moment caused his reaction to be slightly slower than usual. This metal piece was only a few feet from him when he reacted. The flying sword in front of him suddenly shook, and the thin and light sword gave off a roar.

  This flying sword smashed over viciously!

  This was the “Great Shore Wave” of the Clear River Sword Manual. It took the essence of the great waves slamming towards the shore, regardless of whether they would break.

  Fairness only existed before the battle. For swordsmen like him, once the battle started, he would do his best to find the other’s weakness. The difference between a sword and the other’s metal piece meant he only needed one fierce collision.

  Ding Ning’s expression did not change at all. He pointed, and the sword form changed!

  The metal piece shooting at Yu Yan Shan suddenly jumped upwards, the viciousness suddenly turning into a breezy lightness. It slid by Yu Yan Shan’s sword like a floating piece of wood moving with the wave, and used the wave to jump up.

  “Floating Light Sweep!”


  Seeing this nimble sword, Yu Yan Shan could not control his emotions and shouted the name of the move.

  As he exclaimed, there was a vibration by his waist. He pulled out an ordinary iron sword with his right hand. The moment it left the scabbard, along with dozens of slender indigo energies, it attacked the metal piece just a few feet away from his forehead.

  Many Changling cultivators skilled in flying swords had two swords, but the one they kept with him was like a decoration. Usually, after a flying sword was defeated, without the help of an attendant nearby, it was very hard to keep up with the enemy’s flying sword even if they had another sword. So Yu Yan Shan’s sword was only an ordinary military longsword. He probably got equipped with this one after he came to the army and found many seal weapons targeted by swordsmen after they sent out their flying swords.

  But due to the chance in the sword form, he was forced to use his backup sword. And the other was still using the sword forms of the Clear River Sword School!

  With a soft hiss, many energy flows around the piece of metal seemed to explode, going out of control. But the piece of metal bounced out, and perfectly avoided the sword energies coming from his backup sword.

  Yu Yan Shan howled. The sword in front of him shot out and broke through the air, chasing towards that metal piece like a meteor.

  At the same time, Yu Yan Shan stepped heavily on the ground. As the ground sank down, his body flew towards Ding Ning like a shooting star.

  In just this momentary fight, he was certain the other was much higher than him in swordsmanship. If so, he had to get close in order to have any chance.