Qilin Snow Sword

In merely the span of a breath, Ning Hai's body shriveled up like a deflated ball, then fluttered lightly to the ground.

It was an exceedingly bizarre sight. Every drop of blood in Ning Hai's body had been drained away, leaving only a layer of withered yellow skin draped over his bones. Even his eyes had sunken dry, making him look like a mummified corpse that had lain for decades.

Everyone present was terrified by the scene. Ning Han's body trembled without cease as he stared at Ning Xiaochuan as if he were looking at a devil. His teeth chattered, making a "clack-clack" sound. "Ning... Sickly Ning, you... you actually cultivated a demonic art."

The other servant was also frightened badly. His legs gave out, and he dropped onto the ground on his backside.

The sickly invalid everyone had always looked down upon was actually such a terrifying figure. With one palm, he had drained someone into a dried corpse. This was a demonic art—this was absolutely a demonic art!

Ning Xiaochuan also stared at his own palm. There had originally been several drops of blood on it, but now they had all seeped into his pores and vanished.

With the slightest exertion of force, the blood within his body began to circulate wildly, and a layer of pale red radiance, an inch thick, emerged from his palm.

Profound Qi released beyond the body—this was the realm of Profound Qi Fourth Level! Absorbing all the blood essence from that servant had actually allowed him to break through an entire realm! Was this the Northern Darkness Divine Art? Or the Star Absorbing Grand Technique? Ning Xiaochuan was deeply shocked as well, unable to understand what change had occurred in his body just now. The blood essence within Ning Xiaochuan surged madly, and he felt strength filling every inch of his body. He fixed his gaze on Ning Han. "We have neither grievance nor grudge between us. Why did you want to kill me?"

Ning Han desperately wanted to curse. Damn it, you were the one who killed people now! He forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart, clenched his teeth, and said, "Sickly Ning, don't think I'm afraid of you just because you cultivated a demonic art. You... you, go kill him for me!"

"H-he cultivated a demonic art, Young Master Han. We should run!" That servant had been scared out of his wits by Ning Xiaochuan. He had never seen such a horrifying way to die.

"What are you afraid of? He's only at Profound Qi Fourth Level. If you kill him, I'll reward you with one hundred thousand coins. If you refuse, I'll slaughter you right now."

Under Ning Han's threats, the other servant still braced himself and attacked Ning Xiaochuan. "Sickly Ning, I'll fight you to the death. Either you die, or I perish!"

That servant was also at Profound Qi Fourth Level. One stomp shattered the turf beneath his foot. He moved like the wind, while a layer of red profound light burst forth from his palm.

Ning Xiaochuan did not dare let down his guard in the slightest. His expression turned solemn as he shifted his legs sideways, sank his waist, planted a firm horse stance, and assumed a posture like a Martial Dao grandmaster. All that was missing were four words: "Wing Chun, Ip Man!"

What an air of a true master! Bang! Bang!

After reaching Profound Qi Fourth Level, Ning Xiaochuan's eyesight and hearing had both improved tremendously, and his reactions had become incomparably swift. After exchanging seven or eight hard blows with the servant, he finally seized the servant's wrist.

Clang!

At that moment, the tiny sword within his heart rang out again. A stream of blood-red energy rushed into his palm and latched onto the servant's wrist.

The servant's face began to twist as he wailed in terror, "Help... ah! Save me..."

Ning Xiaochuan wanted to let go as well, but his hand seemed glued to the servant's. He simply could not shake him off.

Moments later, all the blood in the servant's body had drained away. He turned into a dried corpse and fell lightly to the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan felt the blood within his body undergo another sublimation. It was as though a great river were surging through his veins. The amount of Martial Dao Profound Qi had increased by a great deal. Though he had not yet broken through to Profound Qi Fifth Level, he was much stronger than before.

"Demonic art... demonic art... absolutely a demonic art!"

This time, Ning Han was utterly frightened by Ning Xiaochuan. Seeing Ning Xiaochuan lost in thought, he immediately slipped away. "Sickly Ning has been concealing his Martial Dao cultivation all along. I have to return and tell Father this shocking news."

By the time Ning Xiaochuan came back to his senses, Ning Han had already fled dozens of zhang away. It was too late to pursue him.

Roar!

The roar of a qilin came from the great river.

White snowflakes suddenly drifted down from the sky, and the air grew several degrees colder.

In such scorching weather, how could it suddenly snow?

A wave rose from the river, transforming into an enraged dragon that churned rivers and overturned seas. Within it, droplets of water condensed into dozens of ice swords, flying forth like a rain of swords.

A scream rang out!

Dozens of zhang away, Ning Han was pierced by the ice swords, which left dozens of bloody holes in his body. He fell straight to the ground, utterly silent.

Ning Xiaochuan stared in shock at the scene before him. Snow in the sixth month, water condensed into ice, swords controlled to kill—these were methods only a legendary Sword Immortal could possess! The river's waves gradually calmed.

A woman in white stood upon the water. The river beneath her feet had condensed into the shape of a qilin, its head formed from flowing ripples and its scales from water patterns.

The woman wore a veil over her face. Her dark hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her skin was white as snow. Only a pair of black, spirited eyes was revealed. Any man who saw those eyes would likely never forget them for the rest of his life.

She stood in the middle of the river like a Divine Maiden or immortal fairy. Frost flowed around her delicate body, and the snowflakes in the sky had gathered because she had cast a sword-art divine ability.

This divine ability was known as the "Qilin Snow Sword."

Once the sword formula emerged, flying snow descended from the heavens.

"Y-you killed someone!" Ning Xiaochuan stared at the woman upon the water. He had never seen a beauty with such a bearing, like a white immortal lotus standing upon the river's surface.

The veiled woman's voice was exquisitely beautiful, ethereal as a clear spring dripping onto stone. "Didn't you kill people too?"

"I..." Ning Xiaochuan looked at his palm, then ultimately nodded.

It was not that Ning Xiaochuan had never seen dead people before. He might even have seen ten times more corpses than the veiled woman, so he did not feel the fear that came after killing. All he felt was deep confusion.

Draining someone into a dried corpse with one palm was simply too sinister and bizarre, too difficult to accept. Could it be because of the Demon Sword in his heart? The veiled woman smiled. "Who could have expected that the sickly invalid of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion was actually a disciple of the Blood Devouring Demon Sect? It is only a pity that your cultivation is still far too low. Compared to Ning Xiaojian, the strongest among the fourth-generation descendants of your Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, you are ten thousand miles apart."

Because Ning Hai had died so strangely, the veiled woman mistakenly believed that Ning Xiaochuan cultivated an evil art and took him for a disciple of the Demon Sect. That was precisely why she had saved Ning Xiaochuan's life. Otherwise, that veiled woman would certainly have killed him to silence him.

"Yu Yan, let's go."

The veiled woman pointed toward the shore. White profound qi overflowed from her fingertip and condensed into a white spirit chain dozens of zhang long. The chain was as thick as a bowl's rim, like a steel dragon. It wrapped around Yu Yan, and they stepped upon the waves and departed, quickly vanishing across the water.

Yu Yan's gaze remained fixed tightly on the shore. The youth on the bank grew farther and farther away until he finally disappeared completely from her sight.

The veiled woman said, "The Demon Sect's people are ruthless in their methods. They often sacrifice living people alive and drink blood from cauldrons. In the future, you should not get too close to him."

"I will remember Miss's instruction." Yu Yan looked toward the shore again, but there was now only a mist of water before her. She could no longer see anything.

"So Martial Dao Profound Qi can be used like that!" Ning Xiaochuan had just watched the veiled woman condense her Martial Dao Profound Qi into an iron chain and wield it with consummate precision. Now that was a true master! His eyes had been opened once again. She was the most formidable person Ning Xiaochuan had seen so far.

Since the veiled woman knew Yu Yan and had come specifically to save her, could she also be a woman from Jade Viewing Pavilion? As Ning Xiaochuan pondered this, his nose caught a strong scent of blood. Looking at the three corpses on the ground, two of whom he had killed himself, he naturally still felt nervous. This was his first time killing someone.

But his mental fortitude was strong, and he suppressed all those negative emotions.

"First, I need to leave this place!"

Ning Xiaochuan immediately left the riverbank and drove the Azure Deer Carriage back to the inner city. After returning the carriage to the Western Plains Merchant Guild, he went to a shop that sold spiritual-root herbs.

Ning Xiaochuan had completely emerged from the tension of killing. If he had not killed them, he would certainly have died at their hands. Even in a world where the weak were meat and the strong devoured them, he had to be the one who ate meat, not meat upon someone else's chopping block.

What happened today strengthened Ning Xiaochuan's resolve to cultivate martial arts. If his strength had not been sufficient, perhaps the corpse lying by the river now would have been his.

After understanding this, Ning Xiaochuan's mood became relaxed and natural once more, and he walked through the doors of the shop.