Feeling the soft, delicate body in his arms, Ning Wangshu was momentarily stunned. He then looked down at Lin Qingzhu, who was excitedly hugging him tightly. After hesitating for a moment, he gently embraced her in return.
He smiled and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I'm fine. How could the power of a mere self-detonate Golden Core possibly harm me?"
Seeing this, Bai Jingchuan, Song Guowei, and Acheng coughed lightly and tactfully shifted their gaze elsewhere.
However, after exchanging a secret glance, they both smiled simultaneously...
After hearing Ning Wangshu's words of comfort, Lin Qingzhu calmed down a bit, nodded slightly, and replied, "Yes, it's good that you're alright!"
After a pause, she couldn't help but add, "But you were taking too much of a risk! That was Great Grandmaster in the mid-stage Golden Core self-detonate Golden Core!"
"I was so worried when I saw you being devoured by the power of that Real Person Pingyang's self-detonate Golden Core! I was terrified something might happen to you..."
Ning Wangshu chuckled, patted her shoulder lightly, and said, "Don't worry, the power in this world that can harm me is practically nonexistent!"
"If that guy hadn't threatened to self-detonate Golden Core, and I was thinking it would be nice to have a 'big firework' to watch, I would have killed him long ago."
Hearing Ning Wangshu mention "big fireworks" again, Lin Qingzhu couldn't help but laugh through her tears. She couldn't resist giving Ning Wangshu a light punch and scolding, "You rascal, 'big fireworks,' you really scared me to death!"
As she spoke, Lin Qingzhu seemed to finally realize that she was still in Ning Wangshu's arms, hugging him tightly. She quickly let go like a startled rabbit, took two steps back, and her cheeks were flushed like an apple.
"Ahem, um... I was just too excited, please... please don't mind!"
Lin Qingzhu blushed, secretly glanced at Ning Wangshu, then quickly lowered her head, staring at her toes, and said shyly.
Ning Wangshu smiled slightly and said, "Yes, I know!"
Seeing that Ning Wangshu seemed to be doing nothing wrong, Lin Qingzhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but thinking about her previous actions, her cheeks still felt slightly hot.
However, Lin Qingzhu quickly came to her senses. Thinking of Ning Wangshu's words and what she had just witnessed, she couldn't help but look up at Ning Wangshu and ask, "By the way, Ning Wangshu, how... how did you do that?"
"That Real Person Pingyang is Great Grandmaster at the mid-stage Golden Core! Yet just now, he was no match for you at all, and you didn't even seem to care when he self-detonate Golden Core!"
"This... this is too exaggerated! What is your cultivation level? Even a late-stage Golden Core cultivator couldn't possibly do this so easily, could they?"
Faced with Lin Qingzhu's question, Bai Jingchuan, Song Guowei, and Acheng, who were overhearing the conversation, also looked curiously at Ning Wangshu.
Leaving aside Song Guowei and Acheng, they are not practitioners.
But Bai Jingchuan was, after all, a master at the Forming Yuan Stage Sixth Layer, and he was equally Ning Wangshu managed to completely overwhelm that Real Person Pingyang.
In fact, judging from the whole situation, it really is just as Ning Wangshu said before: killing Real Person Pingyang is as easy as killing a chicken for him!
But that Real Person Pingyang was Great Grandmaster at the mid-stage Golden Core!
He had already entered the Golden Core Realm more than eighty years ago and become Great Grandmaster. One can imagine how profound his accumulated knowledge was!
Looking across the entire Cultivation World, there are very few who can reliably defeat Real Person Pingyang, and those who can kill him are probably only three or five at most.
Even those who are capable of killing Real Person Pingyang will likely have to pay a considerable price themselves if they actually try to kill Real Person Pingyang.
As for someone like Ning Wangshu, who could completely crush Real Person Pingyang from beginning to end, leaving him no chance to escape... Bai Jingchuan didn't think there was anyone else in the Cultivation World who could do that!
Therefore, Bai Jingchuan was equally curious.
Upon hearing Lin Qingzhu's question, Ning Wangshu smiled slightly, but couldn't answer directly, so he could only vaguely reply, "Well... actually, that Real Person Pingyang isn't as strong as you think."
"My cultivation level is already higher than his, and I also possess many powerful magical techniques and supernatural abilities. With his meager skills, he is naturally no match for me."
Simply put, it's not that I'm too strong, it's just that he's too weak.
After saying that, Ning Wangshu quickly changed the subject, looking at Bai Jingchuan beside her, and said, "By the way, Patriarch Bai, now that Real Person Pingyang, who was in charge of hosting this Seven Provinces Martial Alliance Competition, is dead, will this Seven Provinces Martial Alliance Competition still continue?"
"Or rather, what should we do next?"
Although Lin Qingzhu knew that Ning Wangshu was deliberately changing the subject, she glanced at him and knew that he didn't want to go into details, so she didn't press him further.
Bai Jingchuan replied, "Well... I don't know either, since we've never had a meeting like this before."
"However, this Seven Provinces Martial Alliance Competition is a grand event that all cultivation forces in the Southeast Seven Provinces only hold once every ten years, influencing the power structure of each force over the next decade."
"I estimate that the Seven Provinces Martial Alliance Competition will still continue, but perhaps some discussion is needed..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Wangshu nodded slightly.
While they were talking, the other cultivators also came to their senses.
At this moment, they were still shocked by the terrifying scene caused by Master Real Person Pingyang's self-detonate Golden Core, and almost everyone was gasping for breath.
But soon, some people realized what was happening and couldn't help but excitedly start discussing it.
"Great! Haha, that Real Person Pingyang dead!"
"Good riddance! This is truly great news! With Real Person Pingyang dead, let's see how arrogant the Taiyi Sect will be from now on!"
"That's right. Without Real Person Pingyang, we no longer need to fear the Taiyi Sect. From now on, we no longer need to 'pay tribute' to the Taiyi Sect every year!"
"Speaking of which, we really have to thank that Great Grandmaster who fought for the Bai family this time. If it weren't for him, how could Real Person Pingyang have perished here? All the forces in our Southeast Seven Provinces, regardless of their relationship with the Bai family, at least owe this favor!"
"Yes, that's true! It's just a pity that I just saw that Great Grandmaster being devoured by the power of Real Person Pingyang's self-detonate Golden Core. Now it seems that he's probably in grave danger too!"
"To be honest, this Real Person Pingyang is ruthless enough to actually self-detonate Golden Core!"
These people spoke with great excitement, each of them looking extremely relieved.
They naturally hadn't heard the conversation between Ning Wangshu and Real Person Pingyang in the air, and were unaware that Real Person Pingyang's ability to self-detonate Golden Core was entirely the result of Ning Wangshu's deliberate indulgence.
Otherwise, given Ning Wangshu's strength, even if Real Person Pingyang wanted to self-detonate Golden Core, he wouldn't have had the chance!