Chapter 71: The Burning Scroll, the Horizontal River
A thread of blood seeped out from Jing Liuli’s lips. She had bitten through her lip but had not detected it. She was very nervous.
When managing the Min Mountain Sword Trials, the students, including Ding Ning, had been in danger, but she had not felt nervous. But now, it was different.
This was a true battle of life and death. Both sides only had one goal, killing each other. No one would stop them.
Corresponding to Ding Ning and Palace Attendant Rong’s cultivation realm, if Ding Ning were exposed under Palace Attendant Rong’s sight and perception, this meant death.
“Hide and seek with me?”
Palace Attendant Rong had expended a lot of vital energy, and blood started to bead out of some wounds. But a mad smile appeared on her face. “Now you cannot hide, can you?”
She was an old person of Changling, and had been one of the closest to the group from Ba Mountain Sword Field.
One would only think if one saw. If one thought, one could learn.
Many of the strongest cultivators in Changling later on were usually the closest people to the top experts from Ba Mountain Sword Field. So Palace Attendant Rong’s sword manual was not ordinary, and also a secret sword that ordinary cultivation places could not imagine.
As the mad smile spread across her face, wild sword essences came out of her mouth with strong vitality.
Ding Ning started to cough up blood.
Dust was still billowing around him. The sword essence that Palace Attendant Rong spat out had not yet landed, yet the pressure of the energy was something he already could not withstand. His feet were on the ground as he uncontrollably slid backwards, his soles felt like they were burning.
The strong killing intent in the air even stunned the realm seven cultivators in the crowd watching who were stronger in cultivation than Palace Attendant Rong.
So a person’s killing intent could be so strong and powerful.
This was the sword essence in the “Heavenly Hatred Sword Manual”. It acc.u.mulated hate from many months and years, creating this unimaginable murderousness.
Shining porcelain sword energy fell towards Ding Ning’s body. The air in front of these sword essences turned black. The rubble around him constantly exploded, turning into dust, and then was gathered by the powerful pressure to form some terrifying black ribbons.
This was the difference of power. Ding Ning could not withstand this sword.
Even Jing Liuli felt that he could not block this blow.
Everyone felt that Ding Ning could not stop Palace Attendant Rong’s blow. Just like how, since the start of the battle, everyone felt a realm five could defeat a realm six. Nonetheless, they all still hoped to see a miracle.
Then Ding Ning did let them see a miracle.
He was coughing blood but his expression was extremely calm. A presence in his body, pressured by great power, accurately managed to permeate the metal box behind him.
The surface of the metal box was covered in scorch marks from the hot smoke and burning sand. But in this moment, the scorch marks suddenly blackened like ink was going to flow out.
The metal box gave off a faint and distant presence. The moment the presence erupted, Ding Ning stopped coughing blood and his breathing calmed.
The great pressure from the sword energies were all eliminated. Pure white lines of light shot out of the metal box. Even the sword energies paused.
A white scroll seemed to unroll around Ding Ning and capture everything within.
Everyone was shocked speechless.
Even Huang Zhenwei, on the nearest turret, looked with wide eyes, unable to fathom how the metal box could possess such a powerful presence.
Palace Attendant Rong stopped breathing. Not because of shock, but because the air in front of her had almost solidified.
Under everyone’s disbelieving gaze, the scorch marks on the metal box faded away. An ink scroll flew out of the metal box behind Ding Ning.
Boom!
Thunder roared in the sky. The entire sky turned the color of an ink painting, black and white.
Palace Attendant Rong’s body suddenly shook. Her ears started bleeding.
A sword light appeared in the black and white sky like a bolt of lightning.
That was Ding Ning’s hidden flying sword.
A burst of rain descended.
The rain containing sharp sword essence exploded several feet around Palace Attendant Rong, creating numerous splashes. It could not create true damage to her, but caused her sword energy to stop in the air.
The burning sun in the sky was covered by black clouds creating a crescent moon.
All of the rain started to turn into ice. The white rain became blue-black ice.
Everyone outside the battlefield felt the cold.
The ice started to explode. Then many cold sword energies appeared, flying as they pleased and cut up Palace Attendant Rong’s sword energy.
Palace Attendant Rong’s body started to tremble violently. The porcelain energy around her started to sway. Then she started to cough blood up lightly.
“It’s the remnant scroll from the Zhou Family Ink Garden!”
Many people started to react and exclaimed in shock.
Jing Liuli finally started to breath again, and sensed pain from the wound on her lip.
The remnant scroll of the Zhou Family Ink Garden was famous in Changling. No one had ever thought a cultivator could use this to fight.
Yet Ding Ning’s miracles did not stop here.
He looked up. The flying sword in the sky was suddenly covered in blue-black ice and drew a crescent in the air.
The crescent seemed to be the missing part of the crescent moon and filled it.
Boom!
All the energy around Palace Attendant Rong started to explode.
The remnant scroll that had flown out of Ding Ning’s metal box started to fragment along the ink strokes. There was no flame, but as the sc.r.a.ps flew away along the seal essence, they seemed to burn.
In the middle of the explosion, Palace Attendant Rong gave off a shrill and terrifying scream. Blood sprayed out of her mouth. Her body was blown off the ground by an unstoppable force, and she fell hard to the ground.
Another loud explosion.
A deep pit appeared on the ground like the crater formed by a meteorite. Terrifying flame shot out of the deep pit mixed with scarlet blood.
The surrounding streets were deathly silent.
Palace Attendant Rong rose slowly from the deep pit. Her porcelain light had disappeared, and her skin was covered in shocking wounds. A part of her face was swollen. Blood seeped through her lips.
After a pause, she screamed again in anger. Not just because of pain and her wounds, but because she had lost Ding Ning’s tracks again.
The ashes of the Ink Garden remnant scroll were still floating through the air. The black ashes covered the sky like black snow. But the reflected light shone like white paper, causing s.p.a.ce to be fragmented until it was impossible to see through.
Ding Ning was no longer at that spot. Even his metal box had disappeared from the ruins there.
He did not take the opportunity to attack, and chose instead to disappear and keep playing hide and seek.
**
While Palace Attendant Rong was howling furiously due to being actually injured, an old man with a white beard and hair was slowly walking towards the tea garden. He was the person Huang Zhenwei was worried about, Mo Shoucheng.
Changling had no walls, but he himself was one of the unseen walls of Changling.
Today, the entire city had come out. All of the attention was directed towards Palace Attendant Rong and Ding Ning’s battle. Then other places would naturally be neglected and it would be easy for unusual things to occur.
He was truly wise, and naturally had prepared in advance.
At this time, he could sense the killing intent of the Cloud Water Palace woman. He chose to come close to Bai Shanshui rather than be high up in the turret because he did not want any more accidents. He did not want the woman to escape.
The black sword light was still spinning like a top, easily flinging out all the primal energies of the universe that landed on it.
Just like a true top, strong force would make the top move faster.
This was an invulnerable defense move. A realm seven could not break through.
Yet from Xu Fenqin’s sword move, Bai Shanshui smiled brightly, despite knowing that her battle had already been sensed by some top experts of Changling.
A glowing water droplet fell from high up in the sky.
When it neared the ground, the glowing water droplet turned into a long river, a horizontal river.
This river seemed to be like the slap from an enormous hand. The black top-like power turned on its bottom.
As the force came down from up high, Xu Fenqin’s sword move was pressed downwards. The two enormous powers tore up the ground below and drilled an enormous hole.
There was the sound of water surging deep below.
Bai Shanshui and Xu Fenqin fell down.
Xu Fenqin gave a furious howl accompanied by Bai Shanshui’s rebellious bell-like laughter.