Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 258: Chapter 254: Graveyard, Zombies

A Martial Artist must know what to do and what not to do.

But some Martial Artists, relying on their immense strength, do as they please, with no moral compass whatsoever.

Hu Hao was such a person—unscrupulous and infamous, there was no telling how many people he had harmed.

In the entire Great Thousand Realms, people like Hu Hao were innumerable. Ning Jiang alone could not kill them all.

But when he encountered one, he would not hesitate to kill!

To enact justice on behalf of the heavens—this is how a true man should live!

”Young Master Ning, thank you.”

Liu Bingxue said gratefully, her gaze toward Ning Jiang filled with a hint of awe. This was a man who cared nothing for the Evil Spirit Sect, a man who did not fear a Top Grade Sect!

At that moment, she couldn’t help but feel fortunate that she had chosen to ally with Ning Jiang when they were outside.

If it had been the Star Sword Sect, they would have never risked offending the Evil Spirit Sect to help her.

Half an hour later, a group of people hurried over.

”Are you all right? We were too far away and couldn’t get here in time.”

These people were Li Kuangba and the others from the War Elephant Sect.

But as soon as he asked, Li Kuangba felt it was a pointless question. With Ning Jiang here, it meant everything was already fine.

”It was nothing, just a small bit of trouble.”

Liu Bingxue glanced at Ning Jiang and said no more. ’The fewer people who know that Hu Hao and his group from the Evil Spirit Sect have been wiped out, the better.’

”Since we’ve grouped up, I happen to have something to mention.”

Li Kuangba said, ”We found a strange place to the southeast. It’s a bit eerie, though—even I felt a little uneasy. So I’d like to invite you all to explore it with us.”

”Alright. We don’t have anything else to do anyway.”

Ning Jiang nodded, his interest piqued.

The whole point of entering the Profound Celestial Ancient Land was to explore all sorts of opportunities and seek out fortunes.

In his eyes, those Blood Spirit Ginsengs were merely an appetizer.

The southeast was also where Tang Lin and Zi Yunfei were.

「An hour later.」

The members of the three major Sects gathered together.

”Huh? Brother Tang Lin, you’ve broken through to become a young titan?” Li Kuangba and Liu Bingxue were shocked.

”It’s all thanks to the Ninth Elder.” Tang Lin clasped his hands in a salute toward Ning Jiang.

”The Yanyue Sect is truly on the rise.” The disciples of the other two Sects looked at the members of the Yanyue Sect with envy.

The Yanyue Sect was so lucky to have someone like Ning Jiang.

”Let’s set out.”

After gathering, the large group headed southeast.

Along the way, the members of the Yanyue Sect noticed that the War Elephant Sect was short two people. Upon asking, they learned that the two had fallen in the Profound Celestial Ancient Land due to some unforeseen circumstances.

Hearing this, the Yanyue Sect disciples exchanged relieved glances. If it hadn’t been for Ning Jiang on this journey, some of them would have surely fallen as well.

The Profound Celestial Ancient Land was filled with towering trees. Now that their group was large, flying through the air was no longer an option.

They traveled over mountains and through valleys, encountering several unexpected dangers along the way, but Ning Jiang resolved them all.

「Three hours later.」

They had already traveled over a hundred li.

”We’re here. It’s just ahead.”

Li Kuangba quickened his pace and walked forward.

After following him for a little while longer, the scene before them suddenly changed.

This was a Stone Forest, with pillars of stone rising from the ground, each a hundred zhang tall.

A faint white mist drifted through the Stone Forest, blurring the view and making it indistinct.

”It’s so quiet.”

Everyone’s expression grew heavy, sensing a strange eeriness.

Back in the woods, they could hear the roars of Demon Beasts everywhere, but here in the Stone Forest, all sound had vanished. It was deathly silent.

”How strange. There aren’t any Iron-Bone Birds above the Stone Forest.”

Looking up, the sky above the Stone Forest was completely empty. There were Iron-Bone Birds flying nearby, but as soon as they approached the Stone Forest, they would immediately turn and fly away.

At this point, even a fool could tell that this place was anything but simple.

”Do we really have to go in?”

Just then, a disciple from the War Elephant Sect started to have second thoughts.

”What’s there to be afraid of? If you dare to come to the Profound Celestial Ancient Land, you should be prepared to die at any moment. The greater the risk, the greater the reward,” Li Kuangba shot him a glare.

”We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let’s go in and take a look.”

Confident in his profound skills, Ning Jiang was bold enough to be the first to step inside.

Seeing this, the others quickly followed, walking behind Ning Jiang.

The moment they stepped inside, the first thing they felt was a silence that seemed cut off from the rest of the world. All outside sounds vanished, unable to penetrate.

It was unsettling.

”Everyone, be careful,” Li Kuangba warned. Even he felt a sense of unease.

The mist was thick, and visibility was limited to only a few zhang.

WHOOO—

The wind blew with a shrill, cold sound, like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves.

The less courageous Martial Artists instantly broke out in goosebumps.

”AH!”

Suddenly, a piercing scream rang out.

”What is it?”

In a place like this, everyone was already on high alert. The scream gave most of them a huge scare, and they quickly turned their gazes toward the source.

The one who had screamed was a female disciple from Floating Snow Hall. Her face was deathly pale as she stared at a stone pillar.

Nailed to that stone pillar was a corpse. Its flesh had long since rotted away, leaving only a skeleton. There was no telling how long it had been there.

”There’s another one here.”

”And there.”

”My heavens, what kind of cursed place is this? There must be at least several hundred corpses here!”

The sight made everyone’s scalp tingle. As far as the eye could see, corpses were nailed high up on each of the stone pillars.

”What crimes did these people commit in life to be treated this way?” Liu Bingxue gasped, a chill running down her spine.

Such methods were too cruel and too bizarre.

”Why don’t we leave this place?” said the female disciple who had screamed earlier.

”What are you afraid of? It’s just a bunch of corpses. It’s not like they’re going to come back to life, are they?” Li Kuangba snorted. As a Body Refiner, his Blood Qi was vigorous, and such things couldn’t scare him.

’Interesting.’

Ning Jiang’s eyes narrowed.

”Hm? Young Master Ning, could it be that you know what’s going on?” Liu Bingxue asked in surprise.

”I have a few guesses, but I can’t be sure yet. We’ll know the answer once we go deeper inside,” Ning Jiang said without elaborating.

After that, they continued onward.

The deeper they went, the more corpses they found nailed to the pillars, numbering in the thousands.

”There are several tombs!”

Finally, when they reached the center of the Stone Forest, they saw five tombs.

’Just as I thought.’

A cold, disdainful sneer played on Ning Jiang’s lips.

”Young Master Ning, what in the world is going on?” Liu Bingxue felt her blood run cold.

”This entire Stone Forest is actually a cemetery. Some people who were destined to die wanted to defy the heavens, change their fate, and live again,” Ning Jiang explained.

This place was both a graveyard and the site of a ritual.

The Life Essence Qi of the people nailed to the pillars was actually being absorbed by the stone and then channeled toward these five tombs.

”So you’re saying the people in these five tombs wanted to use the Life Essence Qi of the dead to resurrect themselves? They... they won’t succeed, will they?”

”Defying the heavens to change fate, to return from death to life—how could it be so simple? Not even a Venerable could achieve that.”

Ning Jiang shook his head, but then his tone shifted. ”However...”

”However what?”

Just as Liu Bingxue was about to press for more, one of the five tombs suddenly trembled.

Hm?

Everyone’s gaze fixed on it, but after staring for a long time, there was no further movement from the tomb.

”Was it just my imagination?” The crowd breathed a sigh of relief and was about to relax.

CRACK.

Suddenly, the tomb shook again. This time, a crack split open, and a deathly pale, bloodless hand reached out from within.

Everyone gasped, their pupils contracting violently as a chill ran through their bodies.

”My heavens, are the dead coming back to life?” someone screamed, their scalp tingling with fear.

”Just as I expected,” Ning Jiang said.

”Young Master Ning, what is happening? Didn’t you say they couldn’t be resurrected?” Liu Bingxue asked hurriedly. She had never encountered anything so bizarre.

”Don’t worry. This isn’t resurrection. What’s waking up now can only be considered a jiangshi,” Ning Jiang said calmly.

”A jiangshi?”

”A so-called jiangshi has no Spiritual Wisdom, no heartbeat, and no breath. It possesses only a single instinct: to slaughter and drink blood.”

Ning Jiang could remain calm because he had encountered this situation in his previous life.

Compared to what he had seen in his past life, this was merely child’s play.

In his past life, he had seen a massive tomb, a burial ground larger than the entire Qing Province, where countless beings had died.

And the creature that emerged from that tomb was no ordinary jiangshi, but one with Spiritual Wisdom. The moment it appeared, it possessed the power of a Venerable and was known as the Celestial Corpse Venerable—incomparably tyrannical.

CRACK.

As Ning Jiang spoke, the other four tombs also cracked open one by one, and a figure crawled out of each.

”Five jiangshi!”

Looking at the five jiangshi before them, many of the disciples’ legs went weak.

The skin on the five jiangshi was shriveled, blackened, and dry. Their eyes glowed green, giving off an extremely evil feeling, filled with bloodlust and ferocity.

But in Ning Jiang’s eyes, these five jiangshi were treasures.

’With these jiangshi, I could refine them into Magical Treasures!’

ROAR.

With a sharp howl, one of the jiangshi bent its knees and sprang forward like a lightning bolt. Its hands had mutated, its nails long and sharp.

”Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Seal!”

Ning Jiang’s expression was grave as he threw a punch, unleashing a Martial Technique from his Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Body right from the start.

BANG!

With a loud bang, the jiangshi stumbled back a few steps.

”It’s that strong?”

Li Kuangba was astounded. He knew firsthand how powerful Ning Jiang’s Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Seal was; it was the very move that had defeated him at the Qing Province convention.

Yet after trading a blow with Ning Jiang, this jiangshi had only been pushed back a few steps and was completely unharmed.

”Don’t be surprised. The five of them together could even kill an expert at the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm. But it doesn’t matter. The Thunder Power I cultivate happens to be the perfect counter to this kind of evil power.”

RUMBLE!

The next moment, violet Thunderbolt erupted from Ning Jiang’s body.