Flender shielded Lu Ning behind him.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin slowly raised the Seven Kill Sword, while Ning Fengzhi's face showed not a trace of pity.
It seemed they would strike the next instant and kill Lu Ning outright.
Lu Ning held the Azure Lotus Sword.
The "anger" option had long since been ready at that moment.
Four Soul Rings floated out around him.
Purple, purple, purple, black.
He, too, was ready to fight.
A shrill voice rang out through the silent night, breaking the suffocating tension at the village entrance.
"Dad!"
"Grandpa Sword!"
Ning Rongrong stood not far away.
She shouted up at the two men in the sky.
"What are you doing?! Don't hurt my friend!"
Ning Rongrong hurried over at a run and actually planted herself directly in front of Lu Ning.
Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at the two men in the sky.
Her soft body almost rested against Lu Ning's chest.
"Rongrong."
"This friend of yours is hardly anything good."
Sword Douluo withdrew all his Sword Intent, afraid of hurting Ning Rongrong below. His gaze softened considerably at that moment, too; at least he could see that Rongrong was in no mortal danger.
Leaning on his cane, Ning Fengzhi spoke without a change in expression.
"Rongrong."
"Go back to your room."
Ning Fengzhi spoke while suppressing the anger in his heart.
Lu Ning and Ning Rongrong were too close.
If Lu Ning used Ning Rongrong to threaten them, he would have no time to save her!
"No!"
Ning Rongrong spread her fair, pink-tinged arms, as smooth as lotus roots, and barred Lu Ning's way. Her small frame sheltered the boy behind her as much as possible, refusing to retreat even half a step.
"I know!"
"As soon as I move aside, knowing you and Grandpa Sword, you'll definitely cut Lu Ning down!"
"But I already explained everything clearly in my letter!"
"What happened really wasn't what you imagined!"
"Lu Ning did nothing wrong!"
Watching Ning Rongrong protect the boy behind her, Ning Fengzhi felt a tangle of emotions.
The anger in Sword Douluo Chen Xin's eyes began to fade. There were some questions Ning Fengzhi could not easily press as her father, but he, her Grandpa Sword, could ask them.
"Rongrong."
"Why are you protecting this brat?"
"You only left the sect recently. It's natural that you can't distinguish good from evil yet, but this brat deserves to die for doing something like that to you!"
Chen Xin shifted his gaze away from Ning Rongrong's face.
He looked at Lu Ning behind her and beckoned with a finger.
"Brat, hiding behind a woman hardly makes you a man."
"If you want me to hear your explanation."
"Show me your strength."
"I think you understand that much, at least."
"No matter how loudly an ant shouts, it has no right to speak with a dragon."
At those words, Lu Ning gently pushed aside Ning Rongrong, who stood as resolute as a mountain, and met Sword Douluo Chen Xin's gaze.
"Your Eminence Sword Douluo."
"Please instruct me."
Lu Ning pushed Ning Rongrong's rigidly upright figure aside, and her heart lurched as she heard those words.
Others might not know how strong Sword Douluo Chen Xin was.
But she had grown up with her two grandpas by her side. How could she not know?!
Even without her father's support.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's strength still ranked among the very best on the Douluo Continent.
Even the Worship Hall.
He was qualified to enter it!
With strength like his, even ordinary Titled Douluos dared not raise their voices before her Grandpa Sword.
Lu Ning was only a Soul Ancestor.
Even if he had some talent, how could he possibly make the Seven Kill Sword lower its gaze to him?!
"No!"
"Lu Ning! Let me explain things to them."
"Just hide behind me!"
"If they dare attack, I'll die right here today!"
Ning Rongrong caught hold of Lu Ning with her fair, pink-tinged arms, utterly unwilling to let him face a Titled Douluo head-on. This was absolutely not something he could withstand.
Flender looked into Sword Douluo Chen Xin's eyes. At that moment, his Cat Owl eyes, which could see into people's hearts, discerned a sliver of hope for survival. He raised his aged hand and tugged at Ning Rongrong's sleeve.
"Rongrong."
"Let him go."
"Only if your elders see his strength will he have a chance to survive."
"Even if you threaten them with your death, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect won't choose a weak son-in-law."
Flender saw things clearly.
Considering what Lu Ning had done.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's willingness to give him a chance to strike.
Was already extraordinarily generous.
Had it been him... Lu Ning would already have been minced meat.
"But..." Ning Rongrong wanted to say more, but Sword Douluo Chen Xin's gaze settled on her again. He nodded gently, his tone turning calm, making no attempt to deny Flender's words.
"He's right."
"If this brat can show me strength worth nurturing."
"I'll bring him into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and train him."
"If not, I'll cut that thing of his off first and hang him at the sect entrance as a mascot."
Ning Fengzhi's expression still did not soften at those words.
But Sword Douluo Chen Xin had said them, after all.
Chen Xin held an extremely high position within the sect.
Even he had to address him as Uncle Jian, so it would be inappropriate to keep arguing with him.
Besides.
Just how astonishing would this brat have to be for a Titled Douluo who had roamed unrivaled across the continent for years to consider him worth nurturing?
"Begin, brat."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's words bore down like a mountain.
The Azure Lotus Sword in Lu Ning's hand trembled without stopping.
But the moment he activated his Sword Bone.
The Azure Lotus Sword fell completely still.
It no longer trembled.
Only an intense will to fight burst from its tip.
Sword Bone, second Soul Skill-
A blade of grass can cleave the sun, moon, and stars!
A domain capable of suppressing all sword-type Soul Masters spread out from Lu Ning.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin felt it most keenly.
He faintly sensed that, at that moment, his Seven Kill Sword had encountered an equivalent opponent-not a Soul Master of the same rank, but an opponent in the way of the sword!
Although that suppression became negligible because of the difference in Soul Power.
He could still clearly feel it.
This domain...
Was trying to suppress him!
"A domain?!"
Sword Douluo cried out involuntarily.
His loss of composure was a far cry from his earlier air of looking down upon the world.
Ning Fengzhi felt none of that suppression.
But he could likewise sense the aura of the domain emanating from Lu Ning.
More than half the anger in his heart vanished in that same instant.
For a Soul Master, having a special ability like a domain appear in even their eighth or ninth Soul Ring would count as blue smoke rising from their ancestors' graves.
Yet Lu Ning already possessed a domain at the Soul Ancestor level.
Even someone as proud as Ning Fengzhi had to admit.
The brat before him truly had the potential to cross the threshold of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!
And he even had Twin Martial Souls.
The three purple Soul Rings and one black Soul Ring around him were dazzling in the darkness.
Earlier, he had deliberately pretended not to see them.
But now, he had to acknowledge that these, too, counted in Lu Ning's favor.
"Well done, brat!"
"Come! Use your strongest Soul Skill!"
Curiosity now outweighed the anger in Sword Douluo Chen Xin's eyes as he spoke to Lu Ning again.
But Lu Ning did not rush to strike.
He tightened his grip on the Azure Lotus Sword.
The "anger" option activated again at that moment.
He truly was furious!
Even facing a senior in the way of the sword, he still dared to swing his sword in anger!
[Ding!] [The host is enraged by the enormous misunderstanding of two Titled Douluos and the continent's number one support-type Soul Master. All attributes increased by three hundred percent!]
As anger rose in Lu Ning's eyes.
His aura climbed toward its peak once again.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's pupils abruptly contracted at that moment. The contempt on his face suddenly vanished, replaced by the respect he would show a powerful expert of the same type.
"This brat..."
"Is still getting stronger?!"
Before you continue