Chapter 30

This tiny flaw exposed his tracks.

Indeed, a blacksmith accustomed to wielding a great hammer could not use an embroidery needle well. Unable to control the force needed for such a needle, his stitches were bound to be irregular.

This was a terrifying enemy. Ning Chang'an no longer believed he was merely extraordinary.

Ning Chang'an narrowed his eyes and said, "Who are you?"

Fierce Wolf said, "Fierce Wolf!"

"Wolf..." Ning Chang'an murmured. The scene of Fierce Jackal killing someone and tearing out their heart surfaced in his mind.

Fierce Wolf's body sprang forward as he lunged viciously.

With a flick of the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword in his hand, Ning Chang'an sent a flash of cold light stabbing forth. In midair, Fierce Wolf's body suddenly twisted in an eerie fashion, forcibly evading the sword's edge. One hand suddenly slapped the blade, his entire arm twisting like a monstrous snake as it slithered along the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword toward Ning Chang'an's chest.

Ning Chang'an abruptly exerted force. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword trembled, letting out a sound like a tiger's roar as chilling coldness spread forth. Fierce Wolf's hand, pressed against the blade, was immediately knocked aside. Ning Chang'an swept his longsword sideways and sent Fierce Wolf flying. Fierce Wolf curled up and rolled across the ground, then rose unharmed. At that instant, Ning Chang'an had already leaped down from the great rock, the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword slashing down like thunderbolts and lightning.

The howling wind sounded like the low roar of a fierce tiger.

Fierce Wolf rolled across the ground, and the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword's tip scraped over the black stone behind him, leaving a groove more than an inch deep. Ning Chang'an's assault did not pause. Like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey, he thrust his sword forward, aiming straight for Fierce Wolf. Fierce Wolf tapped both feet against the ground, leaning his body backward to the limit as he retreated again and again. Ning Chang'an's longsword plowed through the earth, leaving a deep trench as dirt and stones flew everywhere.

In the end, both men's strength was exhausted at once, yet Ning Chang'an's follow-up move was not finished. Cold stars flickered wildly at the sword tip as the longsword stabbed out repeatedly like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, thrusting eighteen times in a single breath.

Eighteen strikes—three times the number he could achieve at his former peak.

He had completely surpassed his past self. This was an incomparably fierce and cruel move among the Tiger Aspect Nine Moves, one with enormous room for improvement. This move, Fierce Tiger Rending Feast, displayed the savage violence of a fierce tiger tearing apart its food. Once practiced to perfection, wherever its cold gleam passed, a tiger's aspect would appear, as though a fierce tiger were pouncing straight at one's face. Anyone struck by it would be torn to pieces, their death too ghastly to behold.

Within one breath, the longsword would violently tremble and stab again and again. The more strikes it delivered, the greater this move's power became. Of course, this was only the most superficial foundation, the crudest portion of it.

At this moment, Ning Chang'an was already immensely satisfied, feeling utterly exhilarated.

He believed Fierce Wolf's legs had to be ruined.

Yet reality exceeded his expectations. When the sword edge struck Fierce Wolf's legs, Ning Chang'an immediately felt as though he had stabbed an incomparably smooth steel plate. The longsword kept slipping, leaving only line after line of cracks on Fierce Wolf's legs.

What kind of body-protecting art was this?

When external martial arts were practiced to perfection, even steel sinews and iron bones could not compare!

In Ning Chang'an's moment of hesitation, Fierce Wolf had already sprung up from the ground. One hand became a claw and grabbed for Ning Chang'an's wide-open chest.

A chilling sensation surged into Ning Chang'an's heart. He could even feel the flesh at the spot where that claw was about to land twitching involuntarily.

That feeling was terrifying beyond measure!

Ning Chang'an shouted and abruptly twisted sideways, gathering strength in his elbow as he brutally smashed it toward Fierce Wolf's claw.

Crack! Fierce Wolf's claw came down and fiercely seized Ning Chang'an's arm. His five fingers closed, instantly digging into flesh.

Pain shot through Ning Chang'an as he swept the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword toward Fierce Wolf's waist.

Fierce Wolf wore a savage grin, paying no heed to Feng Kuishou's counterattack. His cold voice rang out. "Leave this arm behind!"

Ning Chang'an only felt that the strength in Fierce Wolf's hand was so immense it defied belief. The joint of his elbow was nearly being crushed to pieces.

Ning Chang'an roared, twisting his body backward as his other hand suddenly grasped the middle of the longsword. As his waist bent back, Ning Chang'an's body formed an arc stretched to its absolute limit, brimming with terrifying tension.

The sword cried like a dragon.

The sole move of the Dragon Aspect Nine Moves, Azure Dragon Emerging from Lair, finally emerged amidst this extreme danger.

The succession of movements had been completed almost in one fluid motion, like drifting clouds and flowing water.

The sword cry rang loudly.

Fierce Wolf had already sensed the extreme danger, but the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword in Ning Chang'an's hand had already howled forth like an azure dragon.

The dragon was divine; like an antelope hanging its horns, it left no trace to follow.

What did emerging from the lair mean? It was the instant the longsword darted out and pierced through an enemy's body, like an enraged dragon charging from its dragon lair.

Crack!

A piercing sound rang out. The longsword broke through Fierce Wolf's defenses and pierced his body, entering through the center of his chest and exiting through his back. Yet the sword became lodged within Fierce Wolf's body.

Ning Chang'an's use of Azure Dragon Emerging from Lair was still quite crude.

Fierce Wolf's stiff face, which had shown little expression from beginning to end, twisted. He staggered three steps back, the savage light in his eyes blazing all the brighter. Then he suddenly leaped forward and slammed into Ning Chang'an. While still in the air, he bared a mouthful of teeth in a ferocious grimace and actually bit at him like a wolf.

Fearless of death, ferocious to the extreme.

Ning Chang'an sighed. "Stop struggling. Your spine is already broken!" As he spoke, he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword. Driven by inertia, Fierce Wolf's body slid forward along the sword and abruptly arrived before Ning Chang'an. Fierce Wolf was actually not fully dead yet, and he bit toward the great blood vessel in Ning Chang'an's neck. Startled, Ning Chang'an tilted his head. That bite immediately sank into his shoulder, tearing away a piece of flesh. Ning Chang'an cried out in pain and suddenly exerted force with his hand. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword passed through Fierce Wolf's body and nailed him to the ground.

Only then did Fierce Wolf finally perish completely.

Ning Chang'an looked at Fierce Wolf's corpse on the ground. The pungent stench of blood drilled into his nose and lungs, cold sweat streaming down his face.

This man had been too savage, too ruthless.

From beginning to end, Fierce Wolf had not made the slightest sound of pain. It was as if he could not feel pain at all. The more injured he became, the more vicious he grew, and even at death's door, he had still bitten back.

The more Ning Chang'an thought about it, the more terrified he became. If not for the flash of inspiration that had come to him at that critical moment, allowing him to accidentally use Azure Dragon Emerging from Lair from the Dragon Aspect Nine Moves, he would undoubtedly have died here today.

At this moment, a stream of mystic qi was dissipating from Fierce Wolf's body. With his life gone, all his cultivation was dispersing and returning to nature.

Ning Chang'an's pupils contracted as he cried out, "Essence qi?!"

This was a windfall, and even more, a reward for escaping death by a hair's breadth. The lingering fear from that battle where life and death had hung in the balance had yet to fade when Ning Chang'an caught sight of the mysterious aura constantly dissipating from Fierce Wolf's freshly dead corpse. Having seen Essence Qi of Gangsha before, Ning Chang'an was no stranger to it, though his understanding of its mysteries remained as hazy as viewing flowers through fog or gazing at the moon in water. He already knew that essence qi could be released outward to wound people from afar, completely ignoring armor, easily shattering protective true qi and internal-force defenses, and possessing astonishing specialized properties. For instance, the Essence Qi of Gangsha released by that eerie assassin specifically destroyed others' heart meridians and qi seas. To resist essence qi attacks, one method was to rely on nimble movement techniques to evade them and prevent them from striking. This was difficult and far from reliable, as the disparity in strength and experience between enemies played a decisive role. The other was to rely on essence qi, or even Divine Cultivation, to resist essence qi head-on. Yet how many Essence Cultivations existed under heaven, no one knew; nor had there ever been a settled conclusion or detailed treatise on how they mutually restrained and transformed one another. To most people of the martial world, Essence Cultivation—whether martial art or mental method—was something they craved their entire lives, deeply embodying the sense that it could be encountered but not sought.

Yet one of King Mao's dogs, a dependent fit only to carry chairs, had actually cultivated an Essence Cultivation mental method and forged a body of essence qi, bringing his physical defenses to the realm where real blades and swords could not penetrate. That was utterly horrifying, impossible to believe!

If even a minor character was like this, then what about King Mao himself?!

Ning Chang'an felt his scalp go numb.

He suddenly felt that Mao Dongyue's death had been far too suspicious. He even suspected Mao Dongyue had not died at all. With a father like that, and provided he himself was not pig-like trash, dying was truly very difficult. Besides, Mao Dongyue possessed tremendous talent for martial arts and did not wish to die. How could he have simply died like this?!

Ning Chang'an slowly extended his hand and secretly circulated his heart method, absorbing all the essence qi that Fierce Wolf had released.

The essence qi in Fierce Wolf's body was more than one tier below that of the eerie assassin in quality. It seemed this Essence Cultivation mental method was not particularly impressive. Of course, this lack of impressiveness was only in comparison to Essence Cultivation mental methods.

Ning Chang'an gained no small benefit from it, no less than the benefit he had received from being ambushed by those four portions of Essence Qi of Gangsha.

When he spread open his palm, he saw a gray lotus pattern in its center, like a totem tattoo, displaying the posture of a bud about to bloom as a faint gleam flowed over it.

Ning Chang'an clenched both fists, his joints letting out a series of cracking sounds as powerful strength coursed through his palms.

After glancing at Fierce Wolf's savage face and the chunk of flesh still clenched between his teeth, Ning Chang'an pulled up the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword and darted into the depths of the cypress forest like a shadow. After several leaps, he vanished from sight.

He did not know how many people from Green Willow Manor had managed to escape, but there was no doubt that Green Willow Manor was now a river of blood, corpses strewn everywhere.

After this battle, Green Willow Manor's reputation would be utterly ruined. No one knew how much vengeance it would face afterward. Perhaps few in the martial world dared to strike at King Mao, but there would certainly be no shortage of people seeking revenge against Lu Family Manor, whose experts had suffered massive casualties and whose foremost expert, Lu Feixin, had been crippled.

Ning Chang'an had not expected that a mere challenge and duel between wanderers of the martial world would trigger such a bloody, earth-shaking upheaval.

He continued thinking deeper, following his own speculations further and further, becoming increasingly alarmed and increasingly confused.

Setting aside which faction that mysterious assassin belonged to and what his purpose was, merely assuming Mao Dongyue had faked his death made the entire incident incomparably strange. King Mao and Lu Family Manor had never possessed the slightest connection; well water did not mix with river water. Yet once Ning Chang'an made that assumption, he discovered that King Mao actually had a motive to destroy Lu Family Manor.

Taking the speculation one step further, if the mysterious assassin himself was one of King Mao's subordinates, then that motive became even clearer.

With King Mao's abilities, how could he have failed to notice the assassin's aura lurking in the shadows? Furthermore, when King Mao first appeared, the assassin's killing intent had still lingered around Ning Chang'an without dispersing. With the depth of King Mao's cultivation and the keenness of his senses, it was absolutely impossible for him not to have detected some trace. Yet he had failed to notice it. Not only had he failed to notice, he had even allowed the assassin to retreat soundlessly.