I Alone Am Immortal

At nine that evening, Jiang Ning arrived at the Dam. As always, the Dam Top was crowded with pedestrians.

He was going to school for Evening Self-Study tomorrow night. That afternoon, he suddenly remembered there was still something he had yet to do.

Jiang Ning went down from the River Dam and into the woods below. The terrain here was low, there were no streetlights, and leaves blocked the sky overhead, making the surroundings extremely dark.

There were also plenty of mosquitoes. Even young couples too broke to rent a hotel would not choose a place like this.

Powerful cultivators feared no insects. From time to time, an exceedingly faint arc of electricity flickered over Jiang Ning's body, numbing any mosquitoes that flew at him.

He spread out his Spiritual Sense and confirmed there were no lovemaking couples nearby.

Then, Jiang Ning formed several hand seals in succession and sent out Spiritual Energy. A mysterious crimson arrow condensed in the air, floating before him and giving off a faint glow in the darkness. Its tip pointed straight toward the city center.

Jiang Ning reached out and grabbed the arrow, pulling it into his palm. Like a slip of paper, it adhered to his hand.

This was Divine Sense Tracking, a profound and unusual mystical art. If a Divine Sense Imprint was planted within someone's body, one could use Spiritual Energy to track their location.

The more Spiritual Energy a Spiritual Sense Seed contained, the longer it could remain. If planted by someone with profound cultivation, it could last for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Jiang Ning's spells were limited. He could only maintain it for three days, and the target could not go beyond a certain distance, or he would lose the connection.

But it was enough. The person he intended to deal with was his classmate, Song Sheng.

Ever since beating Song Sheng, Jiang Ning had noticed something wrong with the way the other boy looked at him. It was the kind of look that wished he could kill him. Though Song Sheng hid it well, Jiang Ning's Six Senses were exceptionally sharp, and he had noticed it long ago.

That person was like a venomous snake. Who knew when he would leap out and bite him?

Perhaps he could not do anything to Jiang Ning, but Jiang Ning had family and friends.

Normally, after being taught a lesson by Jiang Ning, Song Sheng might not dare retaliate. But someone like Song Sheng was purely evil and could not be judged by common sense. If Jiang Ning let down his guard, Song Sheng might truly succeed one day.

Jiang Ning would not underestimate anyone. In modern society, things often did not follow logic. Sometimes, a single rumor or false accusation could socially destroy someone, even drive them to suicide.

In his previous life, Song Sheng had bullied his classmates in high school, wantonly trampled on others' dignity, and forced people to transfer schools in desperation. He had also relied on his grades to throw his weight around. Later, after entering society, he had even beaten a coworker so severely that the man was hospitalized. He was utterly lawless.

To avoid those things, Jiang Ning decided that Song Sheng should not be allowed to attend school for a while.

It could also be considered doing the right thing for those people he would harm in the future.

Of course, the main reason was that he had provoked Jiang Ning.

And Jiang Ning had always liked to eliminate hidden dangers in advance.

The reason he had not dealt with him until now was that he had beaten him only recently. If he acted too boldly, people might suspect that the beating in the classroom had left him with lasting injuries. If the blame fell on him, it would be troublesome.

Jiang Ning had been waiting—for his breakthrough to Qi Refining Layer 1, and for him to completely master the Aura Concealment Art, enough to maintain the spell for a long time.

Before the holiday, he had sensed that he was about to break through, which was why he had planted the Divine Sense Imprint in advance.

And now, ten days had passed since he last beat Song Sheng.

He decided to make his move and remove this trouble.

Jiang Ning snapped off a branch about as thick as a baseball bat and forty centimeters long.

After weighing it in his hand twice, he found it fairly handy.

Then, he activated the Aura Concealment Art. The next instant, his entire body vanished into the woods.

Only the Divine Sense arrow in his palm indicated the target's direction.

Jiang Ning hurried toward the city center in the direction the arrow pointed. He was incredibly fast, and in just five minutes, he arrived near the Divine Sense Imprint.

A gym with flashing neon lights came into view. Its entrance was large and looked quite upscale, with many cars parked outside, including quite a few worth four or five hundred thousand yuan.

Jiang Ning did not enter, nor did he release the Aura Concealment Art. He stood silently at the entrance, waiting while circulating the Star Transformation Art to absorb spiritual energy.

At that moment, several figures came out from inside. Jiang Ning cultivated a Spiritual Sense technique, so his memory was powerful. Though he had not reached the point of never forgetting anything he saw, he could remember most people after seeing them once.

Among the group, Jiang Ning recognized two faces at a glance. Both were students at No.4 Middle School. One was Zhuang Jianhui, who had performed dunks at the Basketball Court that day. The other was the chubby Lin Zida, who had shouted so enthusiastically.

Zhuang Jianhui walked in the middle, clearly the center of the group. Yet it was the girl beside him who drew Jiang Ning's attention.

She was one meter sixty-eight tall, and her white dress outlined her graceful figure. She walked quietly, with dark eyes and an almost perfect face.

Even Jiang Ning could find no fault with her appearance. Compared to the fairy maidens of the cultivation world, she lacked only a touch of ethereal aura. Yet the faint heroic spirit between her brows gave her a style all her own.

In terms of looks, she was slightly better than Xue Yuantong of the future.

Jiang Ning knew who she was. Ding Shuyan, from the provincial capital, An City. In the future, she would transfer to Class One of the Experimental Class at No.4 Middle School. Rumor had it that she came from a powerful family with immense influence.

In his previous life, Jiang Ning had heard from old classmates that Ding Shuyan was admitted to the best university in the country, then recommended to study abroad. There had been no news of her after that.

As Lin Zida walked out of the gym, he said disdainfully, "I heard this gym was supposed to be great—high-end, classy, understated luxury with substance. I came all this way, but this place has honestly left me speechless."

"Not to mention these coaches. What kind of third-rate trash are they? Do they only know how to sell memberships? They're not professional at all, nowhere near as good as the gyms in An City!"

Zhuang Jianhui smiled, revealing a handsome, refined grin. "Of course it can't compare to An City. Using An City's standards to judge Yuzhou City? There's no comparison at all."

They had lived privileged lives in An City. Coming to this small city of Yuzhou City had merely been an impulsive, casual choice one day.

They did not belong here. They were merely passersby staying for three years.

"Don't you think so, Shuyan?" He looked at the girl beside him.

Ding Shuyan frowned slightly. Her eyes were deep, and she vaguely sensed a gaze fixed on her from the darkness, yet she could not find its owner.

"Mm, let's go back." Her voice was like the flowing notes of a clear spring. Ding Shuyan disliked being watched, and instinctively wanted to leave sooner and avoid that gaze.

When Ding Shuyan looked over, Jiang Ning immediately knew that she might have sensed something.

After coming into contact with the path of cultivation, he knew full well that the human body contained endless mysteries. Ding Shuyan's sixth sense at this moment, for instance, was something profoundly mysterious.

Back in the cultivation world, he had once encountered a cultivator capable of foreseeing ominous signs. That person could repeatedly avoid danger in advance and obtain benefits.

Yet that cultivator had ultimately still been slain by him.

Even if Ding Shuyan's sixth sense is sharp, she is still only a mortal. How could she discover me?

It was destined to be futile.

At that thought, Jiang Ning suddenly found it all dull. If he alone was immortal, was that not also a kind of loneliness?