Chapter 108: Got You
True Martial Mountain.
Seeker’s Courtyard.
Zhuang Chen had already woken up two days ago. After these two days of recuperation, the external injuries on his body had mostly healed, but the most troublesome issue was the shattered sword bone inside his body.
“Ninth Senior Brother, is there really a way to restore my sword bone?”
There was a look of hope on Zhuang Chen’s face.
If possible, he certainly did not want to become a cripple just like that. He still wanted to personally seek justice for his master and ask Dong He face-to-face why he had done such a thing.
Ning Qi nodded slightly.
After several days of research, he had successfully advanced the Innate Sword Body Secret Technique further and had also deduced a method to restore the sword bone.
However, this process would not be pleasant.
Ning Qi asked solemnly:
“It will be very painful. Are you sure you don’t want to wait until your injuries have fully healed?”
Seeing Zhuang Chen unmoved, he added:
“It will be dozens of times more painful than when exploring your sword bone during the Heavenly Human Ceremony.”
A trace of fear involuntarily surged in Zhuang Chen’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.
“Ninth Senior Brother, I’m not afraid! The sooner my sword bone is restored, the sooner I can start cultivating!”
He was afraid of pain, but he was even more afraid of becoming a cripple forever.
“Good. It’s not difficult to recombine your sword bone. The key lies in the Innate Sword Body Secret Technique I taught you before. In these two days, you have already relearned the reverse operation method, but you currently have no inner strength left and can only rely on mine.”
“Secret technique resonance can guide your sword bone to revive, but the process is extremely painful, more terrifying than death by a thousand cuts. Moreover, since the power comes from me, you will also be rejected by my power and suffer double the pain. Throughout the entire process, you need to keep your will clear and not succumb, or you will suffer even more severe damage.”
Ning Qi warned seriously.
Zhuang Chen took a long breath and finally nodded fiercely:
“Come on, Ninth Senior Brother. I can do it!”
“Good.”
Ning Qi did not waste any time.
The two sat facing each other, palms pressed together, while the White Ape stood guard for them.
In an instant.
Ning Qi moved. He circulated his gang qi, diluting its power as much as possible, precisely controlling it within the limit that Zhuang Chen could both bear and that would be effective, then surging it into Zhuang Chen’s body.
Zhuang Chen’s entire body trembled, remembering Ning Qi’s warning.
He operated this external power, reversing the Innate Sword Body technique.
In an instant.
Fluctuations formed, resonating with the shattered sword bone in his body.
He only felt his body jolt, an indescribable pain assaulting his soul, like countless steel needles piercing through his body. Even the feeling of ten thousand ants gnawing at the heart was insufficient to describe the agony at this moment. Zhuang Chen’s eyes bulged instantly. He gritted his teeth furiously, blood overflowing from his mouth, his low roar forcibly swallowed back…
Ning Qi constantly monitored Zhuang Chen’s condition.
He had described the situation so seriously before, but if Zhuang Chen really could not endure, he could stop instantly and not make Zhuang Chen’s situation worse.
At this moment.
Seeing Zhuang Chen persisting, Ning Qi could not help but look at him with new eyes. Originally, he thought Zhuang Chen might need several attempts to adapt, but unexpectedly, he endured it in one go.
Looking at the chubby little guy in front of him gritting his teeth with bloodshot eyes, Ning Qi sighed lightly in his heart.
He recalled that during the Heavenly Human Ceremony before, Zhuang Chen had cried and wailed just from exploring the sword bone. Now, enduring dozens of times that intense pain, he gritted his teeth and bore it. The upheaval in Divine Sword Sect had indeed greatly affected Zhuang Chen.
But fortune and misfortune were interdependent.
After this ordeal, if the sword bone was broken and then reestablished, forging such tenacious will, Zhuang Chen’s future would truly be immeasurable.
After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn.
Ning Qi slowly withdrew his palms. Zhuang Chen collapsed to the ground like a pile of soft mud, gasping for breath, his body constantly spasming. But there was an indescribable excitement in his eyes:
“Ninth… Ninth Senior Brother, I… I should… have succeeded, right?”
Ning Qi smiled approvingly:
“This time it went very smoothly, but restoring the sword bone is not that easy. I will guide you a few more times. Once your internal sword bone has initially reformed, you can then operate the secret technique on your own to recover it. In one month’s time, there might be hope for complete restoration.”
Zhuang Chen clenched his fists, extremely excited.
“Thank you, Ninth Senior Brother!”
He looked at Ning Qi, filled with gratitude. At the same time, he marveled. Back when they first met, he had felt Ning Qi’s sword was extraordinary. Now, he had glimpsed just the tip of the iceberg. He only felt that this Ninth Senior Brother of his was unfathomably deep.
Ning Qi just smiled and waved his hand:
“There’s no need to be so polite between us senior and junior brothers. Rest well. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
He had a special feeling in his heart.
Although Zhuang Chen was strictly speaking three years older than him, a junior brother was a junior brother. This gave Ning Qi, who had always been accustomed to the role of junior brother, the feeling of being a senior brother for the first time.
…
Late at night.
Outside True Martial Mountain, a figure in black clothes quietly approached. Looking closely, it was actually a charming woman with stunning beauty, one of the Core Elixir Realm experts from the previous gathering.
The charming woman’s face was somewhat gloomy. She never expected to draw the lot herself.
“Damn Zhao Dong. I’ve performed so many acts in bed with you, and now you’re making me carry out such a dangerous mission. Pull up your pants and deny it all—serves you right for being impotent!”
She cursed the leader in her heart.
It was said to be drawing lots, but who knew if there was any trickery involved.
Looking at True Martial Mountain in the distance, she felt a twinge of fear in her heart.
She naturally feared Heavenly Sword True Person’s reputation.
Although Zhao Dong’s analysis made some sense, everyone knew that the Core Elixir Realm expert sent on this mission was prepared to be sacrificed. Otherwise, they would not have prepared the Heaven Sensing Gu. Once it sensed fluctuations of heaven and earth power, it would immediately shatter, spreading deadly poison inside, leading to certain death.
No one would think otherwise. Even a Core Elixir Realm expert was no match for a Heavenly Human Realm, the gap too great.
But she did not dare refuse the mission either; the consequences of refusal would be even more severe.
The charming woman’s only hope now was that Heavenly Sword True Person was not on the mountain, or that, as Zhao Dong speculated, he truly would not act over such a minor matter. In that case, she might have a slim chance of survival, even a hope of completing the mission.
If she could really bring back the Innate Sword Bone, it would be great merit. Then she could slowly settle accounts with Zhao Dong later.
“I must make as little noise as possible, ideally taking that little fatty away silently.”
The charming woman had already covered her face with black cloth soundlessly, her entire person concealed in the night, slithering out like a snake, her movement technique somewhat eerie.
Bypassing waves of defensive patrols, she headed toward the Seeker’s Courtyard. Through scouting, they already knew Zhuang Chen was now staying at the residence of True Martial Sect’s Ninth True Disciple.
…
Ning Qi was cultivating in the Scripture Depository using the Heaven and Earth Millstone Gang Tempering Method.
Although without the Golden Jade Pill’s enhancement now, his cultivation speed was not as fast, he still had to accumulate it step by step.
Suddenly.
He frowned and stopped cultivating, looking toward a certain direction in the distance.
“Someone sneaked in?” Various thoughts arose in Ning Qi’s mind. “It seems to be heading this way. Is it a coincidence, or targeting Little Ten?”
His first reaction was that Dragon Mountain Daoist’s plan had succeeded, and a snake had truly been drawn out.
But he could not be completely certain.
Without any hesitation.
Ning Qi stepped out of the Scripture Depository. His entire body type and appearance changed. In a breath, he had become an ordinary-looking young daoist. The intruder’s origins were unknown, and Ning Qi planned to capture her alive. Changing to a younger appearance might make the intruder underestimate him.
Soon.
Ning Qi saw a black-clothed figure shuttling through the shadows, extremely fast, eyes constantly scanning, sneaking toward the Scripture Depository and Seeker’s Courtyard.
“It seems not Heavenly Human Realm? Core Elixir Realm?”
Ning Qi planned to make his move. He needed the opponent to relax vigilance and not appear too powerful, lest the opponent commit suicide directly. He wanted to catch her off guard and capture her directly.
The charming woman was moving through True Martial Sect. She avoided several waves of patrols and was secretly mocking in her heart that True Martial Sect had only a few people besides Dragon Mountain True Person. In her complacency, her heart suddenly jolted. Instinctively, she slapped a palm toward the side. Her core elixir surged with gang qi, the power ferocious.
A muffled sound.
The attacker was struck in the chest by her palm, rolling toward the distance, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood in mid-air. The charming woman had excellent eyesight and immediately saw the attacker’s face clearly: an ordinary-looking young daoist with low cultivation, merely White Mist Realm.
She relaxed slightly in her heart but did not lower her guard. Instead, surging killing intent rose in her eyes.
She had not forgotten that she was currently in True Martial Sect. If she made too much noise and attracted others, it would be bad.
“Quick battle, quick resolution!”
In an instant, the charming woman had decided on her strategy: to quickly suppress this sneaking young daoist before he could react, lest he call out and alert others.
The woman’s feet tapped successively. Her core elixir vibrated, gang qi spurted out, her speed unbelievably fast, like black lightning in the night.
She held nothing back. Everything happened in a flash. Even as the young daoist was still spitting blood in mid-air, she had already caught up, aiming to kill him with one strike.
Killing intent appeared fiercely in the charming woman’s eyes.
But immediately.
This killing intent turned to astonishment.
She saw a pair of eyes. The young daoist looked at her, indifference laced with faint mockery.
An ominous premonition rose in the charming woman’s heart, but it was already too late to react. The astonishment in her eyes almost instantly turned to thick horror.
She only saw those hands gently swat, dispersing her ferocious gang qi, like swatting a fly—no, like swatting dust—unbelievably effortless.
Immense power suppressed her. She had almost no ability to resist and stiffened in place, unable to even move a finger, her internal gang qi suppressed as well.
“How is this possible?? Why has the Heaven Sensing Gu shown no reaction at all? Could this person in front of me not be Heavenly Human Realm?”
The reason Heavenly Human Realm was far stronger than Core Elixir Realm was the empowerment of heaven and earth power. If not using heaven and earth power, a Heavenly Human Realm would not be able to prevent a Core Elixir Realm expert from even committing suicide.
A terrified thought emerged in her mind, but she could no longer move.
A hand gripped her neck.
Ning Qi’s faint voice sounded:
“Got you.”
