Yu Ningsheng

"Hmph! Nothing much."

One of the burly black-armored warriors lunged at Ning Xiaochuan again, raising his saber with both hands. Three feet of black profound qi burst from the blade. Bang! The saber qi sent Ning Xiaochuan stumbling back, even knocking the battle saber from his hand.

That black-armored warrior gripped his saber and sprinted forward, intending to wipe Ning Xiaochuan out completely.

At that moment, Ning Xiaochuan struck the ground with one palm, flipped to his feet, and threw out two punches at once, smashing them into the black-armored warrior's chest.

"Whoosh—"

The Demon Sword flickered, doubling the speed of blood through Ning Xiaochuan's body as it frantically drew the blood from the Profound Qi Seventh Level black-armored warrior into him.

The Profound Qi Seventh Level black-armored warrior's vitality was simply too powerful. Ning Xiaochuan felt as though his body were about to burst, blood beads rolling from every pore in his skin.

"So painful!"

This black-armored warrior's vitality is far stronger than mine. My body simply cannot withstand so much blood energy—my blood vessels are about to rupture.

Once the Demon Sword began drinking blood, even Ning Xiaochuan could not stop it.

Finally, just as Ning Xiaochuan felt his skin was about to split apart, that black-armored warrior was drained into a dried corpse and collapsed to the ground.

Gradually, all that blood was absorbed into the sword itself by the Demon Sword. Ning Xiaochuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had nearly been burst apart just now. It seemed the Demon Sword's speed of absorbing blood energy had its limits; if the blood energy was too immense, it could not transform it in time at all.

If it had been a Profound Qi Eighth Level warrior instead, Ning Xiaochuan's body would certainly have exploded by now.

"My cultivation... my cultivation has reached the Profound Qi Seventh Level!" Ning Xiaochuan was overjoyed. With a sweep of his hand, a stream of profound qi flew from his palm and severed a branch as thick as a bowl ten meters away.

Condensing qi into force—this was the mark of reaching the Profound Qi Seventh Level! Once one reached this realm, it meant one's Martial Dao Profound Qi had achieved minor mastery, allowing one to kill from a distance.

"He actually broke through to the Profound Qi Seventh Level!" The black-armored warrior stood with his saber held across his body, beginning to defend himself. Hei Si and Hei Er had both died too strangely, killed with a single punch to their armor. This meant Ning Xiaochuan surely possessed some hidden method that could kill without leaving a trace.

After breaking through to the Profound Qi Seventh Level, Ning Xiaochuan's strength had swelled tremendously. His eyesight, hearing, and quantity of profound qi had all risen sharply. He was even somewhat stronger than an ordinary Profound Qi Seventh Level warrior, so he did not fear this black-armored warrior at all.

Ning Xiaochuan gripped the battle saber once more, his gaze turning resolute.

The two charged at each other simultaneously, both moving at incredible speed.

Bang!

Bang!

Ning Xiaochuan attacked with astonishing speed, his body wrapped in crimson profound qi. Every slash of his saber cleaved toward the black-armored warrior's neck.

The Martial Dao Profound Qi in Ning Xiaochuan's body was exceedingly abundant. He slashed fourteen times in succession, every stroke like a surging wave, seamless and impenetrable, battering the black-armored warrior until he could scarcely fend them off.

"Pfft!"

In the end, Ning Xiaochuan severed the black-armored warrior's neck with one stroke. The body crashed heavily to the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan dropped to one knee, supporting himself with the broad-backed battle saber as he panted heavily. Though he had slain the black-armored warrior, he had also suffered serious injuries—seven wounds in all. The largest had nearly severed his left arm.

Ning Xiaochuan rested for only three breaths before forcing himself through the pain and running back with his saber.

Of the five black-armored warriors, the largest one was not dead yet.

Though the masked woman's cultivation was high, she might not necessarily be that man's match. Ning Xiaochuan was someone who repaid kindness; since someone had stepped in to save him, he naturally would not flee alone.

When Ning Xiaochuan returned to the main road, the battle had already ended. Many trees around them had been severed by sword qi and saber qi. Frost covered the ground, and countless broken logs had been sealed beneath thick ice.

This was the power of a Martial Dao master, already beyond the scope of ordinary Martial Dao Profound Qi. They could transform profound qi into frost, flame, and lightning—this was known as "Martial Dao Divine Power."

Only existences who had reached the Divine Body Realm could give birth to divine powers within their bodies.

At the center of the road stood a massive ice sculpture. Hei Lin and the Iron Lion Mystic Beast beneath him were both sealed inside the thick ice, their bodies long frozen stiff, like an exquisite work of art.

Ning Xiaochuan lightly struck the ice sculpture with his palm.

Bang!

The ice sculpture instantly shattered into pieces, turning into fragments of ice scattered across the ground. Hei Lin and the Iron Lion Mystic Beast likewise shattered into pieces.

"So formidable!" Ning Xiaochuan exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.

"They are deathsworn raised by the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, known as 'Dark Warriors.' Although they deliberately altered their armor to conceal their identities, they could not alter the Martial Dao Profound Qi they cultivated. Within the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, there are no more than five people capable of mobilizing the Dark Warriors."

The masked woman stood some distance away, still dressed in spotless white. Slender and graceful, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her voice was ethereal and lovely, while dense white mist swirled around her, making her appear hazy and indistinct, like an immortal maiden amid the clouds.

"Many thanks to Miss Yu for saving me. I am deeply grateful," Ning Xiaochuan said.

The masked woman's voice turned cold as she stared at Yu Yan. "You told him my identity?"

Yu Yan immediately knelt on the ground and said timidly, "Thank you, Miss, for saving Yu Yan for the third time. Yu Yan will never be able to repay the kindness she owes Miss in this lifetime, but Yu Yan begs Miss to spare Young Master Ning. I guarantee that he will never reveal Miss's identity."

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Miss Yu has shown me kindness as weighty as a mountain. Naturally, I will not reveal this matter. On the contrary, I owe Miss Yu a tremendous debt of gratitude."

The masked woman gave a faint sigh and pursued the matter no further. "This time, I did not come specifically to save you. I merely happened to be passing by."

Ning Xiaochuan sensed that the masked woman's aura was somewhat weak, and the profound qi fluctuations around her body were slightly chaotic. For a Martial Dao master, that should have been impossible.

Ning Xiaochuan asked curiously, "Miss Yu, are you injured?"

Yu Ningsheng had not expected Ning Xiaochuan's senses to be so sharp. This boy was simply an anomaly. In merely a few days, he had broken through from the Profound Qi Fourth Level to the Profound Qi Seventh Level. Even she had never heard or seen such a cultivation speed—it was monstrous! Yu Ningsheng had indeed been injured in her battle with Hei Lin. An Evil Dragon Scale he had launched struck her heart, leaving a three-inch wound. The wound carried poison, and even her Martial Dao Profound Qi could not stop the bleeding.

She knew that Ning Xiaochuan cultivated the Blood Devouring Demon Art and was very likely a member of the Demon Sect. Those of the Demon Sect were unpredictable in temperament, so she naturally would not tell him that she was injured.

"I'm not injured. Mind your own business." Yu Ningsheng intended to return to the city first, then find a way to treat her wound.

But she had still underestimated the toxicity of the Evil Dragon Scale. She had only taken three steps when, as the blood circulated through her body, the poison immediately began spreading throughout her entire body, even threatening to invade her Martial Heart Palace.

She stopped at once, not daring to take another step.

Ning Xiaochuan noticed something amiss. He walked before her and saw blood staining her chest, dark-red poisonous liquid flowing from the wound. Fine beads of sweat emerged across her fair forehead. Her body went limp, and she was about to collapse.

Ning Xiaochuan hurried forward and caught her, skillfully unfastening the clothing over her chest. Beneath her outer robe was a moon-white undergarment embroidered with a blue orchid.

After hesitating for a moment, Ning Xiaochuan still tore open that layer of close-fitting clothing, revealing a horrifying wound.

"You... what are you doing?" Yu Ningsheng hurriedly gathered her Martial Dao Profound Qi, but the moment it began circulating through her blood vessels, she spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Evil Dragon Scale's poison had already invaded her bloodline. Circulating her profound qi would only hasten the poisonous liquid's flow toward her heart.

Ning Xiaochuan had once been a top cardiovascular physician. Whenever he encountered female patients, he would often undo their clothing before performing surgery.

That was perfectly normal! One could say Ning Xiaochuan had seen the upper bodies of many women, even their private parts. In his eyes, there was not the slightest impure thought. The person lying on the ground was merely an injured patient.

Ning Xiaochuan wrapped his fingers in Martial Dao Profound Qi and lightly pressed his index and middle fingers against her wound. A small section of a black, iron-like foreign object was exposed from within it.

"Ah!"

Yu Ningsheng was both ashamed and furious, a flush rising beneath her veil! Yet when her eyes met Ning Xiaochuan's, she discovered that his gaze was exceptionally clear and grave, without the slightest trace of lust.

That look...

She had never seen it before! A man could see a woman's body and still remain so calm—could it be that, in his eyes, she held so little attraction, so little allure?

Could it be that my body isn't beautiful enough?

Yu Ningsheng believed that while her beauty might not be peerless beneath heaven, it was at least capable of toppling cities and kingdoms. Countless talented young men would spend a fortune merely to see her once. Yet the look in this youth's eyes made her doubt whether she was truly that beautiful. It was an extraordinarily suggestive scene; even Yu Yan, standing in the distance, was dumbfounded. "Young... Master Ning... actually tore open Miss's clothes..."

If the gifted heroes of the Imperial City saw this scene, they would surely chop Ning Xiaochuan into eight pieces.

Using profound qi, Ning Xiaochuan removed the black iron-sheet-like foreign object from the wound, then carefully closed Yu Ningsheng's clothing.

He no longer looked at Yu Ningsheng and instead examined the black "iron sheet" in his hand.

This "iron sheet" resembled the scale of some creature and carried an intense chill. A drop of poisonous blood fell from it, immediately corroding the soil with a sizzling sound.

"This should be an Evil Dragon Scale." Ning Xiaochuan's expression darkened deeply.

"What is an Evil Dragon Scale?" Yu Yan was helping Yu Ningsheng bandage her wound.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "I once read records concerning evil dragons in the Marquis Mansion's archives. According to legend, sixty years ago, the previous Sword Pavilion Marquis led twelve supreme experts from the Marquis Mansion to join forces and slay an evil dragon. They then brought the evil dragon's corpse back to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, where it became the mansion's greatest treasure."

"However, during the dragon-slaying battle, the previous Sword Pavilion Marquis had half his body scorched by the poisonous fire breathed by the evil dragon. After returning to the Marquis Mansion, he tried every possible method but could not remove the Evil Dragon Poison from his body. In the end, he survived only ten years before dying."

"Evil Dragon Scales are weapons refined from an evil dragon's scales, carrying intense toxicity. Although they are not as poisonous as an evil dragon's poisonous fire, they are still not something ordinary warriors can withstand."

Yu Yan and Yu Ningsheng's expressions both changed drastically. The previous Sword Pavilion Marquis had been an existence whose might shook the world, an absolute Martial Venerable. Even a Martial Venerable could not withstand an evil dragon's poison?