Chapter Eighteen: You Dare
Without any agreement except a tacit one, when the Zhou Family gift arrived, the gifts from the other Nanquan Families also arrived.
The gifts sent by these families were all rare and important. They were also like the gift of the Zhou Family’s white dragon fat, things that Ding Ning urgently needed at the moment.
Other than the Xia Family.
The Xia Family’s gift was a box of tea.
This box of tea was the “Heavenly Green Ice Fragrance” from the Chu North. This kind of tea was only produced above the snow line on the three Tianqing peaks in the north, and each year, there would only be a few taels produced. When it was made with fine spring water, it had a calming fragrance, and even in the summer, it would have a cool sweet aftertaste.
There were three taels in this box, separated into two bags, the new tea of this year and the old tea of last year. The two would have different tastes. In reality, the box of tea that the Xia Family had gifted was rare and valuable. Purely in terms of money, its value surpa.s.sed the gifts most other families had gifted. But this kind of tea was only meaningful to the n.o.bility who liked to enjoy. For most cultivators, there was no meaning, and it was of no use to Ding Ning at this time. Such a gift was enough to show the Xia Family’s att.i.tude at this time.
But when Ding Ning saw the Xia Family’s gift, he did not say anything and first went to the Zhou Estate.
The Gongyang Family used a mountain as a fort, and the Zhou Family used water as a prison. A three layer water network, some streets and shops formed three easily defended lines that were hard to break through. Even the people who usually lived in these streets and shops had a hard time detecting it. But today, when the gates of some of the connected bridges fell down, when the levels of some rivers rose, and some of the mechanics hidden in the Rivera peered, even some of the slow residents found that there seemed to be three moats around the Zhou Estate, and some of the ordinary buildings had become formation centers and forts within these streets.
Sometimes, defense meant trapping oneself. It was so with the Zhou Family right now. Large number of cultivators and the private army of the Zhou Family guard many important seal weapons, cutting off the connection between the Zhou Estate and the outside world surrounding the estate.
The leader of the family, Zhou Chenyun, was outside of the three moats at this time, hidden within an ordinary carriage, his face pale and very nervous.
Ding Ning had come so publicly it was no different from the sect master of Ba Mountain Sword Field coming to a place in the past.
While the news had been locked down, and could not have spread into the python mountains deep in the Zhou Estate, Ding Ning expressed the att.i.tude that he and the other families wanted to see immediately upon arrival and came directly to this visitor of the Zhou Family. But the Zhou Family was acting like this, and the visitor could not have not noticed it… if this visitor left the Python Mountain and came out, they would only do one thing, kill the Zhou Family in revenge. If this visitor had room to choose, if he was detected, he would be the first one to be killed.
So when the Gongyang Family led Ding Ning’s carriage here and they started to enter the heavily guarded outer three layers of the Zhou Family, he still hid in the carriage, and did not dare to appear. He had seen the power of that visitor before, and feared the visitor coming out at this time.
All of the Zhou Family cultivators and soldiers were very nervous at this time. Their nervousness came from two sources. One, they knew there was a mysterious visitor inside that the Zhou Family had betrayed. The other was they were seeing the legendary Nine Death Silkworm with their own eyes.
They watched the carriage stop and saw Ding Ning calmly walk out. Looking at the young figure bathing in the sunlight, each of them had the same thought- Was this young person the undefeated w.a.n.g Jingmeng of the past?
The w.a.n.g Jingmeng who had killed almost all the grandmasters of seven dynasties who blocked him from entering Changling and caused the grandmasters to form a mountain of corpses?
They looked at Ding Ning’s face, so clear but they found it illusory, not daring to believe or imagine.
Ding Ning’s caravan was facing the front gate of the Zhou Family. When all of the secret mechanics were activated, in order to reach the front gate from the outside three layers, they had to pa.s.s across three big bridges. When the caravan stopped at the first bridge, other than Ding Ning, no one in the three carriages moved. Ding Ning even just walked out of the cabin, standing at the head of the carriage but did not get off.
For a long time, there were countless gazes gathered on him, and countless speculations forming. But Ding Ning still did not get off the carriage.
A metal light flashed in his hands.
All of the people observing openly or from the shadows felt their pupils contract.
Two First Sword Of The World Tokens appeared in Ding Ning’s hands.
Then everyone saw him hold one of the tokens, using it to inscribe on the other token. Then he handed the token to the Zhou Family cultivator closest to him and said, “Give this to Li Jiaoyue, have her come out to meet me.”
At this time, heavy breathing sounded in waves.
The First Sword Of The World Token had disappeared for many years and only existed in the history books. Now, everyone present saw the token take form. So the token was created like this.
The Zhou Family cultivator was holding a new First Sword Of The World Token. The cultivator holding the token felt that the token was very hot, so hot that a fire even started in his mind. Li Jiaoyue was an unfamiliar term to not just him but all of the cultivators present, but he knew Ding Ning’s meaning.
This Li Jiaoyue could only be the mysterious visitor in the Python Mountain. Any Zhou Family member who appeared in front of the visitor right now might be burned to ash in anger, and why did the master of this token not enter the Zhou Estate?
But under Ding Ning’s calm gaze, in such an atmosphere, this Zhou Family cultivator was numb and did not even form a thread of terror at all. He had no thought of resisting, his mind blank as he turned around, holding this token, and moved towards the estate as fast as he could.
Ding Ning stood at the head of the carriage, facing the main gate of the Zhou Family.
With a few strides, that cultivator disappeared from the sights of him and the surrounding people.
After about ten breaths, the river water under the bridge started to tremble. Everyone sensed the surrounding air start to sway. In the next moment, from deep within the Zhou Estate, from the Python Mountains, came a scream.
This scream was ear piercing, like countless female ghosts screaming and caused people’s hairs to stand on end.
Boom!
The moment the scream reached people’s ears, the gates of the Zhou Family shattered into dust. A wave of air containing terrifying power blew the pieces into the sky. The figure of a woman appeared in the wave of air, on the third bridge in front of Ding Ning.
“It really is you?”
“It really is you?”
“Since it is you, why do you not come, and have this person deliver me the sword token? You do not fear me killing him?”
The woman’s voice exploded in the wave of air, sharp and crazy, reaching people’s eardrums in waves and causing them to feel like they wanted to vomit.
“Then did you kill him?”
Ding Ning’s expression did not change. The corners of his lips rose slightly and he appeared slightly teasing. “Do you dare?”