Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Storage Ring, Assassination

A snake’s weak point is at its seventh inch.

Ning Jiang’s step was like stomping right on that seventh inch.

”How is this possible? How could this be?!”

’How is this possible?!’ Liu Feng roared internally. When he was cultivating the Golden Snake Step Technique, he had once heard Liu Yuanlong say this step technique had a vital weakness, just like a snake’s seventh inch.

But if one could cultivate the Golden Snake Step Technique to the Great Success realm, not even Liu Yuanlong would be able to find its weakness in the heat of battle.

Everything changed in an instant during a fight. Who had time to search for weaknesses?

Liu Feng had long since mastered this Technique to the Great Success realm. Yet now, Ning Jiang had seen through its critical flaw in a single glance and stomped right on it!

’Doesn’t that mean Ning Jiang is even stronger than Liu Yuanlong?’

How could Liu Feng possibly know that, to Ning Jiang, even the Golden Snake Step Technique at the Perfection Realm, let alone Great Success, was riddled with flaws and held no secrets?

How could Liu Yuanlong even begin to compare to a Legendary Venerable from a hundred thousand years ago?

The moment Ning Jiang’s foot landed, Liu Feng’s momentum instantly deflated like a balloon pricked by a needle. His Palm Technique was also affected, faltering for a moment.

CHK.

In that brief moment of stiffness, Ning Jiang seized the opportunity. His right hand shot out, his fingers curling like a dragon’s talons striking its prey.

Pipa Hand!

A Mortal Level Upper Grade Martial Technique.

This was a Martial Technique of the Ning Family. The Ning Jiang of this world had only practiced it superficially, never mastering it or even reaching the Entry Level.

The four realms of a Martial Technique were Entry Level, Minor Achievement, Great Success, and Perfection.

But when the current Ning Jiang executed it, it was directly at the Perfection Realm.

Pipa Hand had a pleasant name, but it was actually a vicious Martial Technique. It treated the major tendons in a person’s body like the strings of a pipa, and with a flick of the fingers, it could snap them all.

Ning Jiang’s palm lightly brushed against the major tendons on Liu Feng’s body. His hand was deceptively gentle, soft as cotton, but the instant his fingers began to pluck, they became as hard as iron.

The softer the touch, the fiercer the explosive Power. Only through ultimate softness could one achieve ultimate hardness.

’Not good!’

Liu Feng had sensed the danger, but he had no time to react.

He only felt a numbing sensation in several of his major tendons, and all the strength drained from his body. He collapsed forward, his face hitting the ground with a THUD. He was left bruised and swollen, his nose breaking and bleeding on impact.

Ning Jiang had taken a Qi Locking Pill and couldn’t use his Cultivation, so this Pipa Hand strike didn’t have the Power to actually snap Liu Feng’s tendons. However, making them go numb and draining all of his strength was still an easy feat.

The area fell silent. Everyone stared at Ning Jiang as if they had seen a ghost.

Liu Feng had used the Golden Snake Step Technique along with the Eight Desolates Shattering Iron Palm. His power had been fierce and unrivaled, yet he still lost to Ning Jiang, and so quickly at that!

Liu Yun’s face was ashen. He had confidently sworn that it was impossible to neutralize the Eight Desolates Shattering Iron Palm within three moves, but the result was a merciless slap to his face.

Moreover, he was secretly terrified. ’Even if I were the one to face Ning Jiang, I’d probably lose too.’

That one step Ning Jiang had taken was simply too exquisite.

”Such exquisite skill.”

Liu Shiyi marveled. Her own strength wasn’t weak, so she could grasp some of the nuances. Ning Jiang was like a grandmaster of technique. Before his exquisite skill, all other attacks were mere child’s play.

’And how much combat experience would it take to cultivate such skill?’

She felt that Ning Jiang was becoming more and more mysterious.

”As expected.” Over to the side, Liu Mi’s eyes flickered. She had seen Ning Jiang defeat Ma Hong with a single sword strike, overcoming a gap of three cultivation realms. Because of this, she’d had little confidence in Liu Feng before the fight even began.

The outcome was just as she had predicted: Ning Jiang won with ease!

’He only used one hand. If he had used both, and a sword besides, how terrifying would he be?’ More people were pondering this question.

In the end, the only thing that gave them some comfort was Ning Jiang’s low Cultivation. If Cultivation had been involved, Ning Jiang might not have been Liu Feng’s opponent.

After all, no matter how exquisite one’s technique, it was useless in the face of absolute power.

In a fight between an iron block and a ball of cotton, the iron block would always win.

”You said you were going to knock me flat on my face. A pity the one on the ground isn’t me, but you.”

Ning Jiang’s leisurely voice reached Liu Feng’s ears, making him burn with rage. His eyes turned red.

”I had a lot of fun tonight. If you have this kind of banquet again, please be sure to invite me.”

”Also, thank you all for your generous gifts.”

”The people of the Liu Family are all so generous.”

Ning Jiang was the type of person who was approachable and nonchalant when on good terms, but if provoked, he showed no mercy, his words as sharp and cutting as a knife.

Immediately, fury appeared on the faces of the Liu Family members. They all stared at Ning Jiang with murderous eyes.

They had lost a considerable amount of Primordial Stones combined, lost five consecutive rounds, and what’s more, lost face for the Liu Family.

Liu Yun, in particular, was the most furious. Tonight was supposed to be his banquet, but Ning Jiang had completely crashed it. The key point was that he had been the one to front the fifty thousand Primordial Stones for all five rounds.

Fifty thousand Primordial Stones. Even for someone of his status, the loss made his heart bleed.

”It’s getting late, and I don’t have a habit of staying overnight. I’ll take my leave.” Ning Jiang completely ignored their expressions and turned to leave.

”Everyone, let me offer a piece of advice. Mr. Ning is Grandfather’s esteemed guest. You’d best not do anything out of line.” Liu Xianyu knew that many people here were harboring killing intent, so she felt it was necessary to warn them.

After saying her piece, she followed after Ning Jiang.

”Hmph, Grandfather’s esteemed guest? What has this brat done to deserve that? I think Liu Xianyu is just afraid we’ll retaliate against him, so she’s using Grandfather to scare us,” someone said with a cold gaze.

”That’s right! I can’t swallow this humiliation!” The crowd was agitated.

”Liu Xianyu wasn’t lying to us. What she said is true.” Suddenly, a soft, elegant voice echoed through the area.

”Shiyi, do you know something? Who exactly is he?”

Liu Yun frowned. Most of them disliked Liu Xianyu, so they were skeptical of her words.

But now that even Liu Shiyi was saying the same thing, even a fool would understand that Ning Jiang’s identity was anything but ordinary.

”Grandfather... told me to get closer to him.”

Liu Shiyi hesitated for a moment before finally speaking the words.

Instantly, everyone was plunged into a deathly silence.

Who was Liu Shiyi? She was one of the Two Pearls of the Liu Family, one of the four great beauties of Luoyang City. Her Zither Skill was famous throughout Luoyang. In the past, the Clan Leader of a second-tier family had personally come to propose a marriage for his descendant, only to be rejected by Liu Yuanlong.

Liu Yuanlong had once said that even a genius on the level of the Ten Great was not good enough. He would only nod in agreement for someone who could suppress the Ten Great and dominate the younger generation of Luoyang.

But now, Liu Yuanlong actually wanted Liu Shiyi to get close to Ning Jiang. Just how highly did that show he valued Ning Jiang?

How could they not understand what Liu Yuanlong meant by this? It was obvious he wanted to set up Liu Shiyi and Ning Jiang!

’Just who is this brat?!’

Everyone’s eyes filled with horror. The killing intent they previously held for Ning Jiang had vanished without a trace.

Ning Jiang was someone they could not afford to provoke.

’Could it be... that what Liu Xianyu said back then was true?’

The person with the most complicated feelings in the crowd was undoubtedly Liu Mi. She had met Ning Jiang a few days ago, but they’d had an unpleasant encounter.

At that time, Liu Xianyu had told her she had missed an opportunity. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but now, after hearing Liu Shiyi’s words, her heart was finally starting to waver.

’Did I really miss a chance to surpass Liu Xianyu?’ Liu Mi’s face turned pale as a seed of regret slowly began to sprout in her heart.

”Liu Mi, what’s wrong with you?” Someone beside her was startled to see her unusually pale face, but Liu Mi seemed not to hear.

”Liu Ying, why do you think Grandfather values this person so much?” another person asked, confused.

Liu Ying’s expression was complicated. She had initially been very curious about Ning Jiang, but after meeting him, her curiosity had turned to disappointment. And now, she felt a pang of regret for looking down on him earlier.

Of everyone present, only Liu Feng said nothing. He kept his head down, a deep and intense killing intent flashing in his eyes.

He had been knocked to the ground by Ning Jiang, his nose broken. He had never suffered such a humiliation in his entire life. How could he possibly swallow this?

He had specifically tricked Ning Jiang into coming here to humiliate and get revenge for the incident at the Drunken Moon Pavilion. This alone showed he was the type of person who would avenge any perceived slight.

...

「It was late at night.」

In the Sky-rank room of the Drunken Moon Pavilion, Ning Jiang was toying with a ring in his hand. It was a Storage Ring.

A single Storage Ring was worth as much as thirty thousand Primordial Stones, equivalent to an Upper Grade Treasure Artifact. Even an ordinary Innate Realm expert couldn’t afford one.

Ning Jiang had bought the Storage Ring from Liu Xianyu. She was quite savvy and had wanted to give it to him for free, but Ning Jiang didn’t like to owe favors. Debts of gratitude were harder to repay than anything else, so he had insisted on buying it at the market price of thirty thousand Primordial Stones.

Thirty thousand Primordial Stones was nothing to him now.

This very evening, Ning Jiang had won fifty thousand Primordial Stones, on top of the 114,000 Primordial Stones from the five wagers. After splitting the wager winnings with Liu Xianyu, he took home fifty-seven thousand.

Adding the ten thousand Primordial Stones he earned from teaching Liu Xianyu for a day, his total came to 117,000. After spending thirty thousand, he still had 87,000 Primordial Stones left.

Such a fortune was more than what even a mid-tier Innate Realm Martial Artist possessed.

’If I had enough materials, I could refine a much better one. The space in this one is still too small.’

This Storage Ring only had a space of one zhang in diameter. After putting in the over eighty thousand Primordial Stones, more than half the space was already taken up.

Whether it was Alchemy or Artifact Refining, there was nothing Ning Jiang didn’t know. However, such things required materials and time, and Time was what Ning Jiang valued most. Therefore, he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about it at the moment.

Putting away the Storage Ring, Ning Jiang tucked it into his clothes. His current strength was insufficient; even with a Storage Ring, he couldn’t wear it openly.

One shouldn’t flaunt their wealth.

If he were to swagger around wearing a Storage Ring at his current level of strength, it would surely bring a fatal disaster upon him. Although he wasn’t afraid, there was no need to attract unnecessary trouble.

”Hm?”

Suddenly, Ning Jiang’s gaze hardened, and he looked toward the door.

WHUMP.

The door was blown open, flying inward like a single leaf, yet it was utterly silent.

It was an assassin, cloaked in black with their face concealed.

In their hand was a long, jet-black sword that didn’t reflect any light. The blade was barely visible in the darkness.

The aura of the Peak of Postnatal burst forth without reservation!