Saving a Life

"Young Master Ning, then... what should we do now?" Yu Yan was so anxious she was nearly in tears.

Yu Ningsheng naturally did not expect Ning Xiaochuan to save her. Even a Martial Venerable like the previous Sword Pavilion Marquis had died from Evil Dragon Poison; perhaps not even a Grand Heart Nourisher could save her! Perhaps this was fate!

Ning Xiaochuan wrapped the Evil Dragon Scale in cloth and said, "The poison has not yet invaded her heart meridians. She can still be saved. We'll change her blood!"

"She can be saved?"

"Change her blood?"

Yu Ningsheng found it bizarre. She had never heard that a person's blood could be changed.

A blood transfusion was considered a high-risk operation. Ning Xiaochuan knew it would be difficult to explain to them, and there was no time to explain so much right now.

Ning Xiaochuan carried Yu Ningsheng into the Azure Deer Carriage, then drove it swiftly away.

Not long after they left, a shadowy figure arrived. He looked at Hei Lin, who had died frozen in ice, then found the corpses of two other black-armored warriors in the forest.

"They're all dead. I must immediately return and report this to Fourth Master." A chill ran through the shadow's heart. After clearing away the five corpses on the ground, he immediately returned to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

Bang!

Ning Qianwu smashed the black table before him with one palm. Profound Qi around his hand formed rings of rippling airflow, scattering wood fragments all over the floor. "Trash! All of you are trash! Five deathsworn assassins went to kill a sickly weakling with no strength to truss a chicken, yet the entire force was wiped out."

Ning Qianwu trembled with fury, as though flames were about to burst from his eyes.

A deathsworn assassin in black armor knelt below. Struck by Ning Qianwu's powerful Martial Dao Profound Qi, he slid backward nearly thirty feet. Deeply wary and respectful toward the Fourth Master of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, he said, "Hei Lin was killed when sword qi pierced his body, then he was frozen by cold qi. The other four died under the Blood Devouring Demon Art and became dried corpses." After a pause, he added, "Their manner of death was very similar to that of Young Master Han and the two servants."

Ning Qianwu took a deep breath and calmed his anger. "The old man said this was not the work of the Blood Devouring Demon Sect, so it certainly was not the Blood Devouring Demon Sect."

After a pause, his eyes narrowed. "Could there be someone else who knows this demonic art and is deliberately opposing me?"

Ning Qianwu pondered for a long while without finding an answer. He said coldly, "Where has that sickly weakling gone now?"

"Judging from the carriage tracks, he should have gone to Begonia Manor. Should this subordinate lead people there to reclaim the Gold Thread Purple Wood and kill that useless sickly weakling?" The black-armored deathsworn kneeling below spoke grimly, gray killing intent in his eyes.

Ning Qianwu shook his head. "Too late! Once Sickly Ning reaches Begonia Manor, we cannot touch him. He is merely a sickly weakling with only half a year left to live; he can no longer stir up any great waves. If we forcibly move against him, the old man certainly will not let the matter rest. Instead, investigate the identity of that mysterious expert who has cultivated the Blood Devouring Demon Art and repeatedly ruined my plans! I leave this matter to you!"

"This subordinate accepts the order!" The black-armored deathsworn withdrew.

Ning Xiaochuan lashed the whip, driving the Azure Deer Carriage at full speed toward Begonia Manor!

"Young Master, someone in the Marquis Mansion wants to kill you. Why are we still going to Begonia Manor?" Yu Yan asked in confusion.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Going to Begonia Manor is our only way to live. The people in the Marquis Mansion want to kill me, but why did they not wait until I arrived at Begonia Manor before making their move? Why did they conceal their identities and ambush me halfway there?"

"Why is that?"

Ning Xiaochuan said, "Because everyone knows Begonia Manor is property of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion. Within the Imperial City, other than people from the Marquis Mansion, who would dare break into Begonia Manor to kill someone? So, once I die inside Begonia Manor, the Old Marquis will immediately know that someone from the Marquis Mansion did it. When he investigates thoroughly, many people will suffer. My opponents are not that foolish!"

Yu Ningsheng sat in the carriage, reclining against its wall as she used her deep Martial Dao Profound Qi to suppress her injuries. Her eyes, more beautiful than the stars and moon, lifted slightly. She could not help but think more highly of Ning Xiaochuan. "I never expected your thoughts to be so meticulous. It seems everyone underestimated you, the sickly weakling of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion. Your mind truly does not resemble that of a mere sixteen-year-old youth. Cough, cough!"

One of Yu Ningsheng's snow-white hands pressed against her chest, but blood continued to flow without stopping. It dripped onto the wooden floorboards of the carriage, and the poisonous blood even corroded through the wood! Ning Xiaochuan cracked the whip more urgently. Before long, they arrived at Begonia Manor, and he drove the carriage inside.

Many servants came out to receive them—stewards, maidservants, guards, and more. There were several hundred people in total.

"Get me a quiet room, a jar of wine, a needle, Silk Thread—quickly! Wait, bring a basin of hot water too." Ning Xiaochuan carried Yu Ningsheng down from the Azure Deer Carriage. Led by the old steward, he entered a spacious room and placed her upon the Purple Jade Bed.

Begonia Manor descended into chaos. Some people went to carry wine, some searched for a needle, some fetched Silk Thread, and others heated water.

No one knew why Ning Xiaochuan wanted these things.

At the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, Ning Xiaochuan was a useless, sickly weakling.

Yet at Begonia Manor, he was the manor lord. These servants who had sold themselves to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion naturally had to obey his orders.

A person's status naturally differed from place to place.

Ning Xiaochuan sterilized the needle with alcohol, threaded it with Silk Thread, and skillfully untied Yu Ningsheng's gauze robe once more.

"What are you doing?"

Yu Ningsheng naturally would not allow Ning Xiaochuan to casually undo her clothes again. Yet she was already extremely weak, and the poison of the Evil Dragon Scale was steadily invading her Martial Heart Palace.

If Ning Xiaochuan intended to use force, she could not resist him at all now.

However, Ning Xiaochuan withdrew his hand and patiently said, "Your wound has already been infected by Evil Dragon Poison. Your Martial Dao Profound Qi can no longer heal the wound or stop the loss of blood. The only thing we can do now is stitch the wound closed. Otherwise, you will soon die from excessive blood loss."

Yu Ningsheng had already lost a great deal of blood. Her white gauze robe had turned blood-red, making her appear haggard, like a white orchid battered by wind and rain.

For martial artists, a small wound only needed slight bandaging to stop the bleeding.

Even large saber or sword wounds could be sealed with Martial Dao Profound Qi. Then, by nourishing them with Martial Dao Profound Qi, the wounds could heal.

Ordinary poison posed no threat at all to a Martial Dao expert in the Divine Body Realm. The blood within their body could refine away the toxins.

But Yu Ningsheng had been poisoned by the Evil Dragon Scale. The evil dragon's venom was simply too potent, suppressing her so thoroughly that she could not even circulate Martial Dao Profound Qi. Naturally, she could not seal her own blood vessels and could only watch helplessly as her blood drained away until she died.

Yu Yan stood to one side, clenching her fingers tightly. She asked nervously, "Stitching the wound closed with needle and thread... can that really work?"

Yu Ningsheng had never seen anyone stitch wounds with needle and thread either. Yet when she saw Ning Xiaochuan's ever-calm eyes, she somehow felt a sense of trust toward him. Her pearly teeth lightly bit her red lips as she slowly closed her eyes. "I'll trust you once!"

Ning Xiaochuan walked over and lifted away her close-fitting undergarment.

Ning Xiaochuan glanced faintly toward her cheek. Although she wore a veil, he could still guess that she was absolutely a peerless beauty capable of toppling kingdoms and cities.

If that veil were removed, that incomparably beautiful face would likely drive every man beneath heaven mad for her.

He paused for only an instant before gathering his thoughts and quickly beginning to stitch the wound.

He did not use anesthetic. The Evil Dragon Poison had long since numbed her chest.

Very soon, Ning Xiaochuan finished stitching the wound, and the bleeding finally stopped.

"Is it all right now?" Yu Yan also let out a long breath. Sweat had formed between her fingers, and she felt even more nervous than Ning Xiaochuan and Yu Ningsheng.

Ning Xiaochuan shook his head. "The evil dragon's poison has already invaded her blood. With her cultivation, she cannot refine this toxin at all. Once the poison enters her Martial Heart Palace, all her martial cultivation will be lost, and her body will turn into a pool of Purulent Blood."

"Young Master Ning, you must save Miss! Please, I beg you, I beg you!" Yu Yan directly knelt before Ning Xiaochuan.

Yu Ningsheng slowly opened her eyes and said faintly, "Didn't you say that blood can be changed?"

Ning Xiaochuan nodded. "Changing blood is extremely risky. The human body also strongly rejects foreign blood. Without certain special medicines, you may very well die from the rejection between different blood. Do you dare try it?"

"Do I have any other choice?" Yu Ningsheng smiled faintly. Her beautiful dark eyes were like stars in the heavens, and there was not the slightest fear of death within them.

Ning Xiaochuan stared into her eyes and felt that the eyes of every woman he had ever seen put together were not as beautiful as hers. "Then let's begin!"

Yu Ningsheng's bloodline possessed a Yin Attribute. Only those with Yin Attribute bloodlines or Primal Chaos Attribute bloodlines could transfuse blood to her, and Ning Xiaochuan happened to possess a Primal Chaos Attribute bloodline.

Although changing blood was dangerous, the physical constitutions of martial artists in this world were extraordinarily powerful. Especially for martial artists whose cultivation had reached the Divine Body Realm—their flesh had practically transcended the ordinary, enough to withstand the risks of changing blood.

Half the blood within Ning Xiaochuan's body flowed into Yu Ningsheng's body, while the poisonous blood in Yu Ningsheng's body was released outside. The entire process took a full six hours.

When the last trace of poisonous blood flowed from her body, she immediately circulated her Martial Dao Profound Qi and sealed the blood vessels around her wound, then cut off Ning Xiaochuan's continued transfusion.

Ning Xiaochuan had also weakened to the extreme. Giving half his blood to another person was something he had never dared imagine in the past, yet today he had miraculously accomplished it.

It must be related to the Demon Sword inside my Blood Aperture. Whenever my blood is heavily depleted, the Demon Sword releases more blood to replenish my body's consumption. What kind of sword is this?

Ning Xiaochuan had Yu Yan take care of Yu Ningsheng, then left. Entering his own room, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began studying this Demon Sword.

This was not the first time this Demon Sword had saved his life. It could consume human blood and seize Blood Accumulation Elixir, as though it possessed a soul of its own.