NOVPUBNever rest until death?
Jiang Ding smiled from behind the boulder.
When in power, he led troops from miles away to capture people, to use them as materials for refining Blood Pills at Fierce Tiger Village. But now, fallen out of favor, he had the nerve to ask if they really wanted to pursue a fight to the death with Zhendonghou Mansion.
What kind of logic was that?
"I do not wish to create needless slaughter; only those above the Great Achievement of Inner Qi must die, all others may leave of their own accord."
Jiang Ding activated his Inner Energy; his voice reached the ears of everyone within a few hundred meters.
A thread of golden-red light, barely visible among the earth, stones, and plants, reached the army formation in an instant, the dense volley of arrows hardly slowing it down.
’Mixed Gold Dagger’ Zheng Ye, ’Dotting Evil Brush’ Yao Xiu, and others had drastic changes in their expressions, showing stark fear.
"Spreading fallacies to deceive the crowd!"
Chen Chen scolded sharply, leading the troop toward the rugged boulders, "Have you forgotten the hundreds of heads of our comrades from Fierce Tiger Village? How can the words of a thief be trusted? We can only live and die together!"
"Live and die together!"
It had to be said that Chen Chen indeed had some skill in training and leading troops. Even in such a situation, the officers and soldiers were scared yet charged forward while shouting.
Whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh!
The Talisman Sword, with no Great Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi to guard it, cut into a corner of the army formation, skewering a squad leader’s throat with one strike, and another’s with the next. The surrounding soldiers immediately collapsed.
Amidst the scramble of the golden-red Sword-light, several more officers fell powerlessly, blood spilled, soldiers crumbled, even some of the nearby fully-intact squads seeing this had many officers and soldiers blend into the fleeing crowd, running away.
A flash of gold streaked past, and Zheng Ye, racing back and forth to the rescue, finally caught a glimpse of an opportunity.
"Fall for me—fall!"
He bellowed, his Inner Energy surging, as he abruptly cleaved down with a long, narrow, gold-threaded, silver-backed knife, a gold and silver blade light flashing by.
Mixed Gold Primary Slash!
This was the esoteric skill he acquired from the mansion, undefeated amongst his equals since he mastered it. He had even once cleaved a Martial Artist of Internal Qi Perfection cleanly in two.
Unleashing his full power, the move was even more formidable.
The Talisman Sword, killing indiscriminately amongst the crowd, lost the initiative and couldn’t continue to dodge. It adjusted its point and shot straight forward with a gold streak!
Ding!
The grating sound of metal tremors echoed as the Talisman Sword was knocked back a dozen steps, its Spiritual Light dimming slightly.
Jiang Ding’s complexion behind the boulder turned slightly pale, as waves of piercing pain transmitted clearly from the Talisman Sword—its internal Array Patterns were indeed damaged.
The tempering and refining were not sufficient; facing the full-force strike of a Martial Artist of Internal Qi Perfection was still a stretch.
"Brother Zheng is mighty!"
Chen Chen roared. The collapsing army formation was somewhat invigorated. In just a short time, they had reached the rugged boulders and were about to complete the encirclement.
Clang!
The sound of a Longsword being unsheathed.
"Very well,"
Jiang Ding stepped into the midst of a protruding squad of soldiers, a bright, regular arc flashing by. Ten men, including squad and platoon leaders, stiffened, with Sword Qi leaving its trace on them.
A gust of wind blew by, and the iron spears in their hands, forged from refined iron, snapped in two and fell, their bodies softly collapsing to the ground with fresh blood oozing from their throats.
All around was silence.
It seemed only at this moment did they remember that this was an entity that had slain the twelfth-ranked ’Black Flame Blade’ Hei Jin on the Dragon and Phoenix List within a few moves—not a fruit they could easily harvest upon closing in.
"Kill!"
Chen Chen and Zheng Ye exchanged glances and charged forward with fierce shouts.
Jiang Ding didn’t retreat either, moving forward with a horizontal slash of his sword, with Sword Qi spreading a meter or so along the blade, drawing a semi-circle in front of him, met by the knife, a sword, and about a dozen iron spears.
Ding!
Countless sparks scattered, dissipating the massive Power, causing no casualties.
"Such inner energy!"
Chen Chen and his companion felt the same shock as Hei Jin had.
If it weren’t for the dozen or so well-coordinated Inner Energy Realm guards sharing the force, that single sword strike would have severely injured both of them!
"Kill! Surround him!"
He said fiercely, roaring.
Whoosh!
The sound of slicing through the air came like a bolt from the blue, falling amid the crowded army formation. A golden streak meandered through, and over a dozen officers and soldiers clutched their throats and fell.
This scene deeply shook many of the ordinary soldiers.
Before this moment, the Golden Red Flying Sword had been targeting only the squad and platoon leaders, sparing every ordinary soldier, which allowed them to maintain their morale and follow their officers into battle, until their leaders were completely wiped out, leading to their collapse.
However, the reality showed them that the Hundred Step Flying Sword was not incapable of slaughtering ordinary soldiers.
On the contrary, it had that ability, and the efficiency was even more terrifying.
Whoosh!
The Talisman Sword that could annihilate an entire squad in one fell swoop circled back. Without any Martial Artist of Internal Qi Perfection to block its path, it was invincible. In the blink of an eye, another dozen heavily armored soldiers had their throats pierced and fell powerless.
They were utterly helpless, watching the people around them die in groups with their eyes wide open.
"Run!"
"If we don’t, do we just wait to die?"
Several veteran soldiers decisively fled and while walking away, they shouted loudly, mixing themselves with the masses of retreating troops.
"Escape!"
With a loud boom, the dense army formation exploded in an instant. A vast number of soldiers and officers scattered to escape in all directions. The Talisman Sword did not pursue but instead sniped any officers attempting to reorganize their troops, accelerating their disintegration.
By the end, even among the personal guards surrounding Jiang Ding, several fled, blending into the crowd of deserting soldiers and disappearing.
Whoosh!
A sword strike from the heavens came, in an instant killing the five Inner Qi Realm personal guards still besieging him.
For a time, only Chen Chen and Zheng Ye were left on the battlefield, their complexions ashen, their hands gripping their weapons rigidly in midair.
"Can I live? It would be useful."
Chen Chen asked.
"You cannot."
A sword came down, smashing through the inner energy within his blade, then slicing past his throat, the inner energy surged in, shattering all tangible matter inside his skull.
Another sword turn took Zheng Ye, who sought to escape in the confusion. The blade pierced his back and returned to its sheath.
Jiang Ding stood amidst the jungle of corpses, closing his eyes to regulate his breath.
After a long time, he opened his eyes and glanced at the Talisman Sword on his shoulder. The blade still gleamed brightly, except for an almost imperceptible twist at the tip.
It seemed minor, but the formation patterns within were already slightly disordered, something not even the Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi from the Yiqi Gang, ’Dotting Evil Brush’ Yao Xiu, had pursued.
"It’s okay, it can be repaired."
Jiang Ding showed a pained expression, grabbing the Talisman Sword and channeling his inner energy into it, fully activating the First-Order Great Sun Gathering Spirit Formation and the First-Order Special Sharp Gold Array within.
Humming!
The Talisman Sword vibrated, streaks of sunlight were drawn in, converging to this spot. Simultaneously, through the sensation from the essence blood within the sword, he could feel wisps of faint spiritual energy also gathering, the efficiency slightly higher than when he was in the courtyard and home in Dongling City.
’The concentration of spiritual energy here is a bit higher.’
Jiang Ding realized internally.
As the Great Sun Light and spiritual energy gathered more and more, the Talisman Sword became scorching hot, its color shifting from golden red to a searing orange-red. Eventually, even strands of white-hot color appeared, sizzling the hands Jiang Ding had wrapped with his inner energy.
"It’s time."
Jiang Ding steadied his mind, his consciousness delved deep, and he began to straighten out the array patterns at the tip of the sword with his inner energy bit by bit.
