Chapter 37

Ning Chang'an was confident, but the Brocade Blind Man seemed even more confident. With a sudden low roar, he charged again, twice as fast as before.

Ning Chang'an's pupils contracted as his longsword thrust forward without hesitation. This strike was incomparably tragic, like a counterattack from the brink of death—like the final roar and last bite of a tiger king at the moment before its demise. In that instant, glory and status, ambition and schemes, all became utterly meaningless. There was only a cruel, ferocious final blow, heedless of success or failure, regardless of consequences, all for the sake of wounding the enemy.

This was a move that feared not death, a desperate ultimate technique—Netherworld Strike. Its essence was to face death as though returning home: though the body remained in the mortal world, the heart had already turned toward the netherworld. With the fortune of one's entire life and one's final strength, it pushed both oneself and one's enemy together into the ninefold depths of the underworld.

"Ah, break for me!"

Ning Chang'an shouted, but louder than his cry was the sword's keening. Its cry was like a tragic howl—tyrannical and cruel, yet carrying a desperate anguish, as though there was no other choice.

With Netherworld Strike, Ning Chang'an's sword stabbed straight at the Brocade Blind Man's protective Qi barrier. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword did not bend. The blade remained straight as its sharp point drove forward. The Brocade Blind Man's protective Qi caved deeply inward, making his entire chest seem to collapse into a hollow.

But in the next moment, something happened that Ning Chang'an could never have imagined.

The Brocade Blind Man suddenly thrust out his chest. As the Qi barrier around his body flexed and expanded, it generated an overwhelmingly powerful rebounding force that sent Ning Chang'an flying away.

The sheer force of that move made Ning Chang'an spit out blood even as he staggered backward. Yet after such a fierce resistance, the Brocade Blind Man did not fare well either. After landing, his purplish-red face turned pale, then greenish-white. He abruptly opened his eyes and stared fixedly at Ning Chang'an with an incomparably grave gaze. "Is this your strongest move?" His voice already trembled slightly. Perhaps Ning Chang'an did not know how great a threat that sword had posed, but the Brocade Blind Man knew all too well. At that moment, the difference had been no more than a hair's breadth—his protective Qi barrier had nearly shattered and been pierced through by that strike.

A wave of lingering fear surged through the Brocade Blind Man's heart.

Ning Chang'an wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His expression was equally grave as he stared directly at the Brocade Blind Man. Only after catching his breath did he shake his head and ask, "What kind of Qi Gong is this?"

The Brocade Blind Man said, "You are qualified to know! This Qi Gong is called Innate Golden Toad Qi—peerless Qi Gong." Cultivation methods and martial arts had their usual classifications to distinguish superiority: inferior, mediocre, superior, and peerless. So-called peerless meant unmatched through the ages. Any peerless martial art or cultivation method possessed unfathomable, god-and-ghost-defying mysteries, far surpassing the superior ranks. It was a transformation and sublimation beyond superior arts, already reaching another realm. If superior martial arts stood upon the earth, then peerless martial arts stood in the heavens; the difference between them was that of clouds and mud.

Ning Chang'an said bitterly, "Peerless Qi Gong?" At last, he understood why he had been unable to break the Brocade Blind Man's protective Qi barrier. This was the wonder of a peerless art. The marvel of Innate Golden Toad Qi likely lay in this protective Qi barrier. With it, nearly all the flaws in the Brocade Blind Man's martial arts were concealed, allowing him to act as he pleased without concern. His combat strength had increased tenfold, a hundredfold.

Yang Qingling and Yang Taiyi had once said that the Great Wheel Swordplay was actually a quasi-peerless martial art, surpassing superior martial arts. Divided by outer, inner, Qi, and spirit, it ranked among quasi-peerless Qi Gong martial arts. Unfortunately, it was incomplete and had become unknown after Ning Shengdao's death. When its incomplete moves were used, their power was not even one-tenth of the original.

For this battle to have reached this point was already nothing short of a miracle.

The Brocade Blind Man sneered coldly. Streaks of gold surfaced across his protective Qi barrier as he drove Innate Golden Toad Qi to its utmost limit, forming an impregnable defense, solid as a golden fortress and unbreakable by a myriad arts. The Brocade Blind Man closed his eyes again, his aura locking onto Ning Chang'an. "You know everything you need to know. Now you can die!"

The Brocade Blind Man curled into a ball and slammed toward Ning Chang'an like a golden meteor.

Ning Chang'an's expression was resolute. Golden rays seemed to burst from his eyes. Facing the Brocade Blind Man's lethal ultimate art and fatal assault, he advanced rather than retreating. If he did not wish to leave, then he would never shrink back. If he had not fallen, then he would never know fear.

Ever since he had seen the Tiger Sniffing Orchid Fragrance painting drawn by Liu Ruyan, he had suddenly attained enlightenment and grasped the essence of the Tiger Aspect Nine Moves. He had come to understand the majesty of the tiger.

The vigor of dragon and horse, the might and virtue of tiger and elephant.

The tiger's majesty was not the savage tyranny of slaughter. It was the spirit of perching atop the mountain peak and looking down upon all beneath heaven. It could watch the sun rise and set, watch the night moon wax and wane, watch rain overturn and clouds churn, watch clouds part and mist clear. It could lower its body to cow the beasts, or delicately sniff fragrance beside a ravine.

The tiger's dominance came only from its refusal to yield, from its pride.

Ning Chang'an had always possessed a proud desire to win. If someone wanted him dead, he would never grant that person's wish. He fought back because he wanted to win. He killed because others wanted to kill him. He merely returned tooth for tooth.

Ning Chang'an drew his sword.

A tragic move, a momentum that faced death as though returning home, tyrannical and fierce.

Clang, clang, clang...

Sparks flew. The Brocade Blind Man's protective Qi barrier caved in again, but this time it did not seem close to shattering. When Ning Chang'an's sword force had spent itself, the Brocade Blind Man thrust out his chest again, intending to send Ning Chang'an flying once more. He believed that few people could withstand such immense rebounding force twice. The first blow might be endured with difficulty, but the second would surely shake the five viscera and six bowels, causing internal injuries. Besides, he had already noticed that Ning Chang'an's old injuries were far from light.

The Brocade Blind Man judged that after this blow, Ning Chang'an was undoubtedly doomed.

But he did not know what Ning Chang'an excelled at, nor did he understand that proud and unyielding heart.

When the rebounding force reached its peak, Ning Chang'an suddenly roared and spat out a cloud of blood mist. Yet the longsword in his hand forcibly stabbed forward. In an instant, two violent forces collided again, causing both men's faces to change drastically as they vomited blood.

Ning Chang'an crashed into the wall once more, while the Brocade Blind Man was hurled backward. He cursed loudly, "Madman..." and vomited several mouthfuls of blood in succession. Though the Brocade Blind Man had killed countless people, Ning Chang'an's death-defying ferocity at that moment still gave him a fright. Before his panic had subsided, he saw a pitch-black longsword shoot toward him with a shrill whistle like an arrow-dragon.

Behind the sword came a mad figure.

The Brocade Blind Man shouted and leapt aside. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword plunged diagonally into the ground beside him. The next moment, Ning Chang'an had already reached him. He gripped the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword in a reverse hold, spun around, and turned to leave. The Brocade Blind Man shouted, "Where do you think you're running?!" He lunged after him. He already knew Ning Chang'an was an arrow at the end of its flight. His final thrown-sword strike had missed, and he had clearly begun to think of retreating. There was only one thing the Brocade Blind Man did not understand: why did this man care so much about this sword that he still wanted to take it away even between life and death? It did not matter if he could not understand. He only knew that this fat man would die in the next moment.

But in the next moment, he learned why.

Ning Chang'an had actually retreated in order to advance. At such a dangerous juncture, he deliberately exposed a huge opening to the Brocade Blind Man. As the Brocade Blind Man lunged at him, Ning Chang'an suddenly turned and slashed with his sword.

Returning Horse Sword Strike, one of the Nine Horse Aspect Moves.

Pfft! The Brocade Blind Man's already tottering protective Qi barrier was instantly pierced through, and the powerful sword strike plunged straight into his chest.

Ning Chang'an had fallen into a frenzy, entering a state of madness. The Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword in his hand suddenly shook and lifted, tearing open the wound in the Brocade Blind Man's chest and flinging him into the air.

Drops of blood fell like rain.

Ning Chang'an's eyes had turned blood-red as he grabbed the Brocade Blind Man's massive falling body.

His hand plunged directly through the wound in the Brocade Blind Man's chest. Like driving straight for the Yellow Dragon, it seized his heart. The Brocade Blind Man let out a tragic howl. With his heart grasped, he already had one foot in the underworld, yet he was not dead. Filled with resentment, he demanded, "This is your strongest move, isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it..."

Ning Chang'an shook his head.

Still unwilling to accept it, the Brocade Blind Man asked, "Isn't it? Isn't it..."

A bloody gleam flashed through Ning Chang'an's eyes. "You don't understand. My strongest move is called risking my life!" Streams of Innate Golden Toad Qi were swallowed by the gray Lotus Pattern on Ning Chang'an's palm. His hand kept tightening as the Brocade Blind Man's heart was crushed bit by bit.

The bloody gleam in Ning Chang'an's eyes grew stronger. With a roar, he violently swung the Brocade Blind Man's corpse and smashed it down onto the stone-paved ground before him.

With a dull explosive boom, the back entrance of Master's Tower became a patch of blood and mangled flesh.

Ning Chang'an abruptly turned his head. His pair of scarlet eyes looked toward Linglong, and he forced two words from his throat with difficulty. "Run..."

Linglong did not understand. Anxiously, she said, "You're hurt so badly. I can't leave you behind..."

Ning Chang'an's hand, drenched in fresh blood, had already raised the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword.

Linglong suddenly felt a grim, brutal killing intent. She shuddered, and a trace of fear appeared in the way she looked at Ning Chang'an. Ning Chang'an let out a strange laugh and, like a demon lord, charged at Linglong with the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword in hand.

At that moment, his mind was filled with nothing but the desire to kill. His eyes saw only a world dyed red with blood, while his nostrils smelled nothing but the pungent stench of blood.

The entire world seemed filled with bloodshed, dripping crimson and echoing with the sounds of slaughter.

Evil thoughts had taken control of his mind, making him lose himself. He began to fall into the abyss of slaughter, down the wicked road toward Demonic Possession.

The "demon" within Ning Chang'an's heart began to awaken.

The Brocade Blind Man's lifelong Innate Golden Toad Qi was transformed by the Three Pure Nine Nether Wondrous Dharma Lotus Heart Sutra into a vast torrent of heat that flowed throughout Ning Chang'an's body. That powerful, violent strength fed the demonic might now rising within Ning Chang'an.

"Ah, y-you've... you've fallen into Demonic Possession?!"

Linglong screamed involuntarily. Her pupils widened, and her fair little hand trembled as it covered her mouth. She was too shocked to say another word. At that moment, she even forgot to flee. She was like a little girl facing a primordial beast—frail and utterly defenseless, powerless to struggle against her fated destiny, waiting in despair and helplessness for cruel fate to descend.

That fate was death!

Linglong knew she could not escape, yet she did not know why she could not summon even the slightest thought of running away. Endless sorrow rose in her heart. One memory after another flashed before her eyes like streaming light and flying fire. Legend said that when a person was about to die, every scene from their life would flash through their mind once.