Chapter Nineteen: Ceremony
Ding Ning’s voice was not loud, but when his vows sounded, all of the ringing and piercing screaming stopped.
The woman who was standing a bridge away from him did not give any verbal response, but her face twisted.
“You do not dare.”
Ding Ning slowly looked up. He stood on the carriage and appeared taller than the woman. When he lifted his head, everyone felt an unspeakable dignity spread from his body.
“Otherwise, you would not have lost your composure like this when you saw the sword token, and then come to see me like this.”
Ding Ning looked into the woman’s eyes, saying steadily and calmly, “Senior Sect Sister, you are still so cowardly, and have never changed. But do you still qualify for me to call you senior sect sister?”
When his words spread, sharp inhales sounded all around. The shock came from Ding Ning’s ident.i.ty.
If he really was w.a.n.g Jingmeng of the past, then the mysterious visitor hiding in the Zhou Family was w.a.n.g Jingmeng’s senior sect sister?
Everyone knew that when w.a.n.g Jingmeng entered realm seven back then, he had become the true leader of Ba Mountain Sword Field, but there hadn’t been much detail on w.a.n.g Jingmeng’s teacher. People rarely knew which teacher he first started under when he started to cultivate, or if he had gained some inheritance of the You Dynasty, and had possessed terrifying knowledge and foresight when he entered Ba Mountain Sword Field.
“It really is you.” The woman was momentarily dazed, her pupils expanding as she repeated.
Ding Ning raised his head even higher. He looked towards the sky. The Last Flower remnant sword had been hanging from his waist all this time. Then he gripped the sword and slashed into the sky.
A sword energy appeared in the air, like an indigo flame. This indigo name seemed to possess life, and stretched in the sky. Then he swung his sword again.
A clean white moon appeared high in the sky. The moon slowly waned. A profound sword essence started to swirl in the world like killing intent could descend on each person at any moment. Then he swung for the third time. Many sword lights, like swimming threads, danced around him, seeming to form a millstone.
At this time, Li Jiaoyue completely understood the meaning that Ding Ning expressed with these three sword essences.
The first was ” Indigo Wildfire,” the ultimate art of her and w.a.n.g Jingmeng’s teacher. She could not comprehend it, but w.a.n.g Jingmeng had mastered it.
The second was “Dark Incompleteness,” one of her hardest sword moves.
The third was the “Stone Grinding Sword,” a sword move only w.a.n.g Jingmeng knew.
There was no better proof than this. She did not dare to doubt this person’s ident.i.ty any longer. Even if the appearance and figure had completely changed, she was sure Ding Ning was this person.
But at this time, Ding Ning put his sword away. His fingers moved slightly. He did not attack but flicked out two faint sword essences.
These two sword essences completely broke through her mental defenses, and caused her to lose strength in her body. They were the sword moves she and w.a.n.g Jingmeng had used in their last battle. One of them was the sword essence that had left behind the malicious wounds in her body so she had to rely on the energy of the Python Scale Mountain in order to live. It had trapped her here in the Chu for many years.
Even if someone in the world could learn her and w.a.n.g Jingmeng’s sword essences, no one could cleverly use mere sword essence to mimic the last battle between the two of them. So she knew that this was true. That person who had died was “alive” again, appearing in front of her in a different appearance.
She trembled all over.
“You are too cowardly, so when you were threatened back then, you stood on Zheng Xiu’s side, betraying all of Ba Mountain Sword Field, and selling out many people’s secrets. Kneel with your sword, you will no longer be my senior sect sister, but I can forgive you.” Ding Ning looked down, his voice growing cold. “You know this is the rule of the Ba Mountain Sword Field.”
Kneeling down with the sword… In Ba Mountain Sword Field, this represented submission. It meant that this sword and this cultivator submitted to the other, and in the future, would not be an equal, turning into a loyal servant who could not betray.
When Ding Ning’s cold voice sounded, Li Jiaoyue’s knees weakened. She knew Ba Mountain Sword Field’s rule in the past. But back then in Ba Mountain Sword Field, almost no one could endure such a humiliation.
“Based on Ba Mountain Sword Field’s rules, if you are forgiving, I can eliminate your hidden sword wounds. Because I have obtained the Heaven Replenishing Divine Art of Min Mountain Sword Sect,” Ding Ning looked at her and said.
Bang!
Li Jiaoyue knelt down. A cloud of smoke exploded from where her knees made contact with the ground. Then her body came into contact with the ground. She was almost prostrated on the ground, her forehead rubbing against the dirt. No one knew her complicated emotions at this time, but they could see that she was crying.
No one found it absurd, and no one found this laughable. Looking at Ding Ning’s figure in the sunlight, looking at the powerful cultivator kneeling in front of him, everyone started to understand that he had done this because it was a holy ceremony. He brought back Ba Mountain Sword Field’s rules. This was his way of announcing to the world and he and the Ba Mountain Sword Field were back. From now on, no one would doubt his ident.i.ty.
This was the true reason he did not kill Li Jiaoyue, and let this powerful cultivator who had betrayed Ba Mountain Sword Field kneel in front of him.
The surrounding went silent. Many cultivators looked at Ding Ning’s figure. They knew that this was not his strongest and most glorious moment, but even so, many people had the thought that a cultivator should be like this.
Such presence and conduct No wonder so many cultivators in the past followed him.
In the dark carriage, Zhou Chenyun’s breathing finally smoothed out. He was no longer as nervous as before, but his robes were soaked. He finally understood why the Gongyang Family showed submission from the start. The other was on a far higher level than families such as his.
A carriage quickly left before Li Jiaoyue rose. Many people knew that it was the Xia Family’s carriage. The Zhou Family’s resistance was resolved without any bloodshed. Then who was behind the Xia Family, the only one left? What att.i.tude would this be?
Ding Ning was not in a hurry. He waited at the Zhou Estate for the Xia Family’s response.