Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Ten Steps of Impermanence, Life and Death at My Command

With two Innate Realm Demon Beasts and an Innate Realm Martial Artist all unleashing their killing intent at the same time, the very air seemed to freeze solid.

If he were besieged, even one of the true Ten Great would find themselves in grave danger under such circumstances.

”Arrogant fool, you’re dead for sure this time.”

Li Jie snorted coldly. He refused to believe that Ning Jiang could possibly survive this.

The other Martial Artists nearby all shook their heads.

But there wasn’t the slightest hint of fear on Ning Jiang’s face.

After snatching the Pure Essence Fruit, Ning Jiang didn’t flee as everyone expected.

”Go!”

He drew his arm back in a wide arc and put all his strength into the throw, as if loosing an arrow that could pierce the heavens and fell the sun and moon.

WHOOSH!

The Pure Essence Fruit shot from his hand as he threw it.

With a throw of his full strength, the immense power sent the Pure Essence Fruit flying. In the blink of an eye, it was a hundred yards away. In another blink, it was two hundred, rapidly disappearing into the distance...

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

”ROAR.”

The Iron Claw Demon Wolf and the Strong Barbarian Bear let out furious roars and immediately gave chase.

They abandoned the fruit still on the tree, far more interested in the one that had already ripened.

Chen Wu came to his senses, snorted coldly, and joined the chase.

In an instant, all three Innate Realm experts were gone.

Luring the tiger from its mountain!

It was a straightforward, open-faced gambit, and Ning Jiang had calculated everything perfectly.

After all, an unripe Pure Essence Fruit would never be enough for an Innate Realm expert to achieve a breakthrough.

If he were an Innate Realm expert, he would have made the same choice.

”Such a meticulous mind.”

The crowd gasped in admiration. Ning Jiang’s actions had been completely unexpected, but once they understood his plan, they realized just how brilliant it was.

One must give in order to receive.

To take, one must first give!

”Store.”

Ning Jiang gripped the Pure Essence Fruit Tree. With a gentle pull, the three-foot-tall sapling came out of the earth, and he stored it in his Storage Ring.

”The kid actually has a Storage Ring.”

Li Jie was stunned. Such items were typically only owned by Innate Realm experts; even he didn’t possess one.

A glint of greed flashed in his eyes.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!

At that moment, figures shot out from the surrounding forest, encircling Ning Jiang.

”Kid, your actions just now were admirable. But if you think you can walk away with that Pure Essence Fruit, you’ll have to ask for my permission first.”

A large man with a conspicuous scar on his face grinned. He was a Postnatal Late Stage Martial Artist.

”That’s right. It won’t be so easy to take the Pure Essence Fruit all for yourself,” another Martial Artist added.

Although this Pure Essence Fruit wasn’t ripe, it was still a fatal temptation for these Postnatal Realm Martial Artists. If they could obtain it, they had a high chance of achieving a breakthrough.

”Heh heh, everyone,” Li Jie said, a sneer on his face. ”If you want him to hand over the prize, I don’t think it’ll be that easy. This man is the most arrogant person I have ever seen in my life.”

”What, you know him?”

”Of course. He originally joined our Zhou Family Medicine Collection Team, and we were taking care of him. But he was insolent and looked down on everyone. He even claimed that it wouldn’t be long before he would dominate the entire younger generation of Luoyang. He said that Senior Wenhua City and Sword King Chu Bai were nothing special, and that the Nine Great Young Masters weren’t even worth mentioning. That’s why we kicked him out.”

Li Jie twisted the fact that Ning Jiang had left on his own, making it sound as if they had kicked him out. It was a clever rhetorical trick to make it seem like they were the ones who disdained any association with him.

After hearing what Li Jie said, the other Martial Artists all shook their heads.

”Claiming you’ll surpass the Ten Great could be seen as youthful ambition, but to look down on paramount figures like the Nine Great Young Masters, Wenhua City, and Sword King Chu Bai... that’s just insane.” The scar-faced man curled his lip.

Zhang Yao couldn’t help but speak up. ”Did you really say all that? I was impressed by the series of moves you made to get the Pure Essence Fruit, but now it seems I overestimated you. A person must know humility. Those who lack humility and respect will never achieve greatness.”

”Hand over the Pure Essence Fruit,” Li Jie said, his eyes cold. ”For Zheng Zhiyuan’s sake, I can spare your life.”

”The world of Martial Artists has always been this way. The weak are prey for the strong, and treasures belong to whoever is powerful enough to take them. All this talk of benevolence, morality, and favors is meaningless.”

Ning Jiang glanced at the dozen or so people present. The calm expression on his face gradually faded, replaced by a suffocating intensity. ”If you want the Pure Essence Fruit, come and get it. Just don’t regret it when you’re dying!”

He was calm. The current scene didn’t anger him in the slightest.

A hundred thousand years ago, he had experienced scenes like this more times than he could count.

The world of Martial Artists had always been this cruel.

But one thing had never changed: no one had ever succeeded in taking anything from him!

”You’re courting death!”

A ferocious aura erupted from the scar-faced man. The scar on his face seemed to writhe, making him look even more terrifying. He gripped a large black saber, leaped forward, and attacked with explosive force.

As the man arrived, so did his blade. The force of the saber descended upon Ning Jiang’s head. As he swung down, the air itself seemed to tear like paper. The attack was so fierce it was as if he intended to split Ning Jiang in two like a piece of firewood.

At the same time, a fierce Vigorous Force erupted behind Ning Jiang as the air crackled. Another Postnatal Late Stage Martial Artist was attacking with his full strength.

He was tall and powerfully built, like a human bear, and he exuded an immense sense of pressure.

This was a Body Refining Martial Artist.

His fist whistled through the air. The force of the blow compressed the air before it into a visible arc that shot toward Ning Jiang’s spine.

If that punch landed, there was no way Ning Jiang could survive.

A saber from the front, a fist from the back—both struck at the same time.

But it was even more deadly than that!

From his left and right, two more sharp, whistling sounds cut through the air.

From front, back, left, and right—four Martial Artists attacked in unison.

These four Martial Artists were all regulars in the Demon Mist Mountain Range. They had blood on their hands and were accustomed to being ruthless, so their attacks were decisive and utterly merciless.

It was a pincer attack from all four sides, a guaranteed kill.

’I don’t even need to do anything.’

Zhang Yao didn’t join the attack. As a candidate for the Ten Great, she had her pride.

She believed that in such a situation, even she would either be killed or gravely injured if she faced four such sudden and explosive attacks.

Only an Innate Realm expert, protected by their body of Innate Gang Qi and impervious to weapons, could face such a pincer attack without fear.

’I won’t be able to get the Pure Essence Fruit,’ he thought, ’but I can try to fight for the Storage Ring.’

Li Jie didn’t make a move either. In fact, even he hadn’t expected these four to strike so abruptly.

He knew his own limits. With his strength, his chances of getting the Pure Essence Fruit were less than ten percent. He had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and try for the Storage Ring.

”You are courting death.”

Ning Jiang slowly spat out four words, his expression unchanging.

His spine swayed, and his body flickered.

He activated a Body Technique—it was neither the Cloud Traveling Step nor the Eight-Step Chasing Cicada.

The Cloud Traveling Step and Eight-Step Chasing Cicada both belonged to the Ning Family and were Mortal Level Martial Techniques.

This Body Technique, however, was one Ning Jiang had obtained a hundred thousand years ago.

Its name was ”Ten Steps of Impermanence.”

A Profound Level Top Grade Martial Technique.

Profound Level Martial Techniques normally couldn’t be activated by someone at the Qi Cultivation Realm. However, after borrowing the Ape King’s Demon Power, Ning Jiang’s strength was comparable to a Postnatal Late Stage Martial Artist’s, allowing him to unleash the might of a Profound Level Martial Technique.

This Body Technique was governed by an eight-character principle.

Within ten steps, I control all life and death!

Within this ten-step range, he was the Wuchang Ghost come to claim lives, the sovereign of life and death.

Compared to the Eight-Step Chasing Cicada, the Ten Steps of Impermanence was a hundred times more profound.

His form swayed left and right like a phantom. His feet seemed to vanish as he transformed into a Wuchang Ghost from the Underworld.

At that moment, a chill ran through the four Martial Artists. The air grew cold, and the space around them turned grim and sinister, as if the gates of the Underworld had been thrown open to the mortal realm.

The four attacks struck Ning Jiang’s body.

But there was no sensation of impact, as if they had struck nothing but empty air.

It was an afterimage, a product of incredible speed. Ning Jiang’s real body was already long gone.

First step.

Ning Jiang broke out of the encirclement. The Wind Chasing Sword left its sheath as he thrust, unbelievably fast.

Instant Sword Technique!

Another Profound Level Top Grade Martial Technique.

This Martial Technique was all about one word: fast.

In all the world’s Martial Arts, only speed is absolute.

When one’s speed reaches a certain level, a single thrust can kill an opponent before they even have time to react.

A single strike in a single instant—that was the essence of this Martial Technique.

And how fast is an instant?

Twenty ”thoughts” make up one ”instant,” and twenty ”instants” make up the time it takes to snap one’s fingers.

In other words, in the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, one could deliver twenty consecutive thrusts.

That was the terror of the Instant Sword Technique.

The sword strike was so fast it left no trace. It was impossible for the naked eye to follow, making it seem as if the blade had vanished completely.

PFFT.

The sword pierced the scar-faced man’s throat. Blood sprayed like scattered petals and shattered jade, a display of heart-stopping beauty.

Second step.

Third step.

Fourth step!

With every step, Ning Jiang delivered a strike. Four steps, four strikes.

Four strikes, all through the throat.

”Guh... guh... guh...”

The scar-faced man’s eyes filled with disbelief. He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out as blood gushed from his throat like a fountain. The light of life in his eyes quickly faded.

At that moment, deep regret finally appeared in the eyes of all four men.

Who could have possibly guessed that this unremarkable-looking young man would become such a terrifying God of Slaughter the moment he unleashed his power?

”How is this possible?”

The surrounding Martial Artists who hadn’t joined the attack now wore expressions of utter terror.

Four Martial Artists ganging up on Ning Jiang—in their eyes, it should have been a surefire victory. Yet, in less time than it takes to snap a finger, he had killed them all on the spot.

Such an outcome was beyond anyone’s expectations.

”That Body Technique... Isn’t it on par with even Xu Tengfei’s?”

Also shocked was Zhang Yao, the candidate for the Ten Great.

Xu Tengfei was one of the Ten Great. His strength might not have been the highest, but his Body Technique was widely acknowledged as the best of them all!

The Body Technique Ning Jiang had just displayed was so phantom-like that Zhang Yao believed it was no longer inferior to Xu Tengfei’s.

Nearby, Li Jie was trembling from head to toe. A chill shot straight up his spine.

He had never imagined that Ning Jiang, the one he had always looked down upon, was so terrifying!

’If I had been one of them, I’d be a corpse right now!’ Li Jie was horrified beyond belief. Just what kind of monster had he provoked?

Recalling all his previous disdain for Ning Jiang, he suddenly felt like a foolish monkey who had been provoking a tiger, utterly oblivious to the danger.

A tiger that could swat him dead with a single swipe of its paw.

”Like ants.”

After killing four people, Ning Jiang’s expression remained perfectly calm, as if he hadn’t killed men, but merely crushed a few ants.

He raised his gaze, his eyes slowly sweeping over the crowd. His stare felt like a blade grazing their throats, leaving them breathless.

Finally.

His gaze landed on Li Jie!