Nine Nether Dragon Emperor-Chapter 15: The Long Saber Shatters the Mountain, Shattered by a Single Sword!
Wuling Square was a sea of people.
On the high platform, eighteen Death Warriors stood in black, their expressions solemn, each with a hand resting on the hilt of their blade.
Before them, a bruised and swollen Chen Tai was forced to his knees, his hands bound behind his back.
"I thought they were just bluffing! I never expected Ning Xuan to actually go through with it!"
"The head of a family, being humiliated like this! He must have the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard!"
"It’s more than that! He’s killing the chicken to scare the monkeys! His real goal is to make an example of all the major families! After all, six years ago..."
"Are you insane? You dare speak of that matter!"
On the high platform, Chen Tai suddenly looked up toward a specific direction, his eyes filled with hope. "Brother Zhao, save me!"
Below the platform, someone followed his gaze and whispered, "The Zhao Family’s Great Elder is here!"
"Not just him! Look over there, the elder-level figures from the Wang and Zhou families have arrived too!"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhao Qian strode forward like a dragon and declared, "Just a bunch of you lackeys? Where is Ning Xuan? Don’t tell me he got scared and doesn’t dare to show his face!"
From another direction, the Zhou Family elder, Zhou Cheng, chuckled. "He’s merely in the Dark Realm. How would he dare appear on an occasion like this?"
The Wang Family elder, Wang Lin, appeared from yet another side. "No matter. I’ve already sent someone to invite him."
On the high platform, the expressions of the eighteen Death Warriors changed in unison.
Zhou Cheng glanced at them and shook his head. "Old Wang, I’m afraid you’ve made a trip in vain. His entire retinue is right here on this stage. If I were him, I’d have found a place to hide long ago."
"Be that as it may, there’s no harm in checking," Wang Lin replied.
On the platform, Chen Tai pleaded desperately, "Honorable elders, we have always advanced and retreated as one. As long as you save me this time, I am willing to offer up all the profits from the Chen Family’s ore mines with both hands!"
Wang Lin retorted, "It’s not that we don’t want to help you, but you’ve brought such shame upon Wuling City that none of us can hold our heads high! To think your clan was annihilated by this rabble... it’s utterly disgraceful!"
Zhou Cheng sighed. "Old Chen, your family’s ore mines are a thing of the past. A terrifying entity, suspected to be a Yuan Zun, has appeared, and all our ore mines have been devoured!"
"What?!" Chen Tai cried out in shock.
Zhao Qian suddenly spoke. "But rest assured. As members of Wuling City, how can we allow an outsider to run wild!"
An immense aura erupted from Zhao Qian, sweeping over the eighteen Death Warriors as he commanded, "Release him, and we’ll leave your bodies intact!"
"This aura... Old Zhao, you’ve advanced to the Third Layer Heavens of the Profound Realm!" Zhou Cheng’s expression shifted.
Zhao Qian gave a proud smile. "And haven’t you reached the Second Layer Heavens yourself?"
Nearby, Wang Lin sighed. "As for me, at the First Layer Heavens of the Profound Realm... I’d rather not say anything."
The three of them joked amongst themselves as if no one else was present, completely disregarding the eighteen Death Warriors.
Number One remained silent and expressionless, his gaze fixed on the position of the sun. The Young Master had ordered Chen Tai’s execution at noon, and he would carry it out precisely at noon. Nothing else mattered.
"Are you deaf?!" Zhao Qian roared in fury.
Wang Lin chuckled. "Brother Zhao, calm yourself. Once my men capture Ning Xuan and bring him here, they’ll have no choice but to release the prisoner."
Chen Tai thanked them profusely.
「What they didn’t know was this.」
At the Ning Family estate, Ning Xuan was refining the Spirit Essence Jade Marrow, completely unscathed. Surrounding him lay corpse after corpse. A single, clean bloodline was slit across each of their throats—a fatal blow.
In front of Ning Xuan, the Medicinal Cauldron suddenly trembled. A Dharma Seal shot forth. A crystal-clear, translucent mass of Spirit Essence Jade Marrow, as dense as mercury, leaped out and was snatched by Ning Xuan.
He murmured to himself, "It quietly gathers the Element Qi of all things between heaven and earth and brilliantly fuses the essence of Spiritual Medicines and Strange Herbs. What a fine piece of Spirit Essence Jade Marrow! The energy in this piece alone is equivalent to a small, Fifth Grade ore vein!"
Ning Xuan roughly estimated that the energy within was about one-fifth of the Fifth Grade ore vein he had previously absorbed. This was astonishing, for as long as he had the necessary herbs, he could refine the Spirit Essence Jade Marrow indefinitely. More importantly, the materials he had obtained this time were not of high quality. If he had top-grade materials, Ning Xuan was absolutely confident he could increase the energy output.
Storing it in his Storage Ring, Ning Xuan glanced at the sky and muttered, "I’ve been gone for six years, and they truly see me as a pushover. Today, I will show all of you that the Ning Xuan of six years ago has returned!"
「Thirty minutes later.」
Ning Xuan, clad in a white robe, arrived once more at the Wang Family estate.
"Halt!"
"Who are you?!"
The guards before the vermilion gates shouted at him to stop.
A cold glint flashed. "Ning Xuan." As he stepped inside, two heads rolled onto the ground behind him.
"Such audacity! You dare to trespass into the Wang Family estate all alone!"
After passing through two gates, Ning Xuan found himself surrounded by a growing number of opponents.
"Third Elder, should we send someone to notify the Great Elder and the Family Head?" someone asked.
"For a mere little whelp in the Dark Realm? Why bother them? Go, shut the gates!"
"Yes, sir!"
「Fifteen minutes later.」
Ning Xuan emerged, his white robe unstained by blood.
Around him lay over a hundred corpses. Only two people remained standing before him.
"I’ll give you a chance. Give me a set of bones suitable for inscribing Spirit Tablets, and you can live," Ning Xuan’s voice was as cold as if it had come from the Nine Nether Hell.
The Third Elder scoffed, "Pah! In your dreams! So what if you’ve entered the Spiritual Realm? If it weren’t for that sword in your hand... Fourth Brother, you..."
The Fourth Elder of the Wang Family held up a set of bones with blood-drenched hands and said respectfully, "Young Master Ning, this is for you..."
PFFT!
A flash of Sword Light, and both he and the bones he held were cleaved in two.
"You brat, Ning Xuan, you’ve pushed things too far!" The old man holding a saber with both hands radiated a chilling killing intent.
Ning Xuan smirked. "Finally, someone decent shows up. Not bad swordsmanship. A gift from Ning Yang?"
"Profound Level, low-grade Cultivation Technique—Breach Mountain! It is your honor to die by it!" the old man declared, his killing intent boiling with supreme confidence. One must understand that before Ning Yang left Wuling City, the strongest Cultivation Technique in the city was merely Yellow Level High Grade. The old man was the Second Elder of the Wang Family, his cultivation at the Tenth Heavens of the Spiritual Realm. Combined with the Breach Mountain Blade Technique, he feared no one below the Profound Realm. It was only natural that he looked down on others.
"Are you sure it can kill me?"
"Just yesterday, you were merely in the Dark Realm, yet today you’ve stepped into the Spiritual Realm. Your cultivation has advanced at a terrifying pace! Unfortunately for you, you don’t understand the meaning of patience. Today, I need only one move to extinguish a budding genius! Young Master Ning, prepare to die!"
BUZZ!
The elder twisted his wrists, and a blinding white light flared. The long saber sliced through the air at an unnatural angle, cleaving the very space before it. An unstoppable and tyrannical power surged forth.
Behind Ning Xuan, the dreadful Sword Light tore through the wall and the tightly shut gates beyond.
BANG!
The two heavy gate doors, along with the gatehouse above that had been sliced apart, crashed to the ground. The Breach Mountain Blade lived up to its reputation.
But the old man couldn’t manage a smile.
CLANG!
The extended saber snapped in half, the break as smooth as a mirror. As the front half of the blade clattered to the ground, a head tumbled down with it.
A broken voice escaped his lips, "This... is... not... poss...ible..."
By then, Ning Xuan, in his snow-white robes, had already reached the main gate.
Muttering, "One move? You think you’re worthy?" Ning Xuan strode out.
He quickly searched the area, transferring anything useful into his Storage Ring.
With a flick of his finger, flames instantly soared into the sky behind him.
The Wang Family of Wuling City, annihilated.
Ning Xuan’s robes fluttered in the wind as he looked up at the sky.
It was almost noon.
