Methods of Response!

National Preceptor's Residence.

Sensing something amiss within himself, Jiang Ning immediately closed his eyes.

In an instant.

He became transparent within and without, every movement and stillness falling within his perception.

He saw wisps of purple energy emerging around his heart.

That energy was obscure and frigid, like maggots clinging to bone.

He saw his body erupting around his heart as though in response to a stimulus, colliding and wearing away at that dark energy that clung to him like bone maggots.

Yet that murky energy continued to erupt without end, wave after wave, never sleeping.

Again and again, it wore away at his vitality and blood.

That was why he had only just begun to feel discomfort in his body.

The initial eruption of this power in particular had injured him.

"This is..." As he watched the scene around his heart, realization flashed through his mind.

"The power of a curse!" He had seen relevant descriptions in ancient texts.

It was so similar to what was happening to him now.

The image of the man seated upon the dragon throne immediately surfaced in his mind.

Emperor Changning, the supreme ruler of Great Xia.

Yet he was now trapped by a curse, growing ever more frail with each passing day.

Thinking of all this, Jiang Ning quietly drew in a sharp breath, and his heart grew several degrees heavier.

It was a power even the ruler of a nation could not resist.

That power had brought even Emperor Changning to the brink of life's end.

"Someone is making a move against me, trying to take my life through a killing curse!" The thought suddenly surfaced in his heart.

He also understood why this had happened.

That Great Xia Martial Saint had made two consecutive moves recently.

Both had been nominally