Cang River.
Jiang Ning landed on the bank and could not help glancing back at the three-story boat heading downstream behind him.
As he crossed the river, he had heard the conversation aboard.
"Desert Flying Eagle. Yang Lake," he murmured.
He now knew where the boat's owner was headed: Yang Lake.
"No need to rush. Zeshan Prefecture is crisscrossed with rivers. With my water escape technique, it won't take long to reach Yang Lake!"
After a moment's thought, he put the brief encounter out of his mind and sped toward Sunset Valley like the wind.
Only after he had covered more than a hundred yards and entered the woods did he stop holding back his speed.
That night.
Above Sunset Valley.
Silver moonlight spilled over the earth, and the valley lay silent.
Anyone with a keen nose above the valley could have caught the faint scent of blood lingering in the air.
And anyone with sharp eyes could have seen shapes shifting in the valley's shadows, as though countless figures lay hidden there.
Just then.
A figure dropped from above the valley like a ghost.
In the shadows, Zhao Yulong's gaze sharpened. Once he made out the face, he breathed a sigh of relief.
It was Jiang Ning, arriving as promised.
Jiang Ning swept his gaze across Sunset Valley.
Every person concealed there stood out clearly to him.
Including himself, there were five hundred and seventy-eight people.
Those five hundred and seventy-eight represented nearly ninety percent of the Dongling City Inspection Office's current fighting strength.
To deal with Divine Sword Manor, they had all but emptied their ranks.
Even the weakest among them was an eighth-rank Martial Dao practitioner.
Seeing that all these people had come because of him, Jiang Ning could not help feeling a stir of emotion.
A