Chapter 109: Southern Frontier Tribes
With Ning Qi’s cultivation and strength, if he directly charged out, he could naturally suppress the attacker before him outright. The reason he went through this trouble was merely for greater certainty.
For example, right now.
Under the assailant’s unexpected circumstances, she never imagined that the pitifully weak little white rabbit she thought he was had instantly turned into a man-eating fierce tiger.
Ning Qi gazed at the attacker before him. A strand of gang qi lifted her mask, revealing her true appearance. Unexpectedly, the attacker was a woman with stunningly beautiful features.
But Ning Qi showed no mercy. He grabbed her neck and held her in front of him, his gang qi surging forth like an ocean to suppress her. In an instant, he had sealed off the woman’s ability to move, even suppressing the gang qi within her body.
“Indeed, Core Elixir Realm.”
Ning Qi perceived the woman’s realm, his gaze narrowing slightly.
The charming woman felt gigantic waves surging in her heart. The indifferent gaze of the young daoist opposite her made her tremble, and that irresistibly powerful strength left her feeling utterly incredulous.
“Who is this person? Heavenly Sword True Person? Heavenly Sword True Person’s true appearance is actually so young? Or is this not his true appearance at all?”
She roared madly in her heart, never expecting that she hadn’t even made a sound before being discovered by Heavenly Sword True Person. But immediately, she rejected her own idea:
“No! This person might not be Heavenly Sword True Person!”
“The Heaven Sensing Gu in my heart showed no reaction at all, which means there was no fluctuation of heaven and earth power whatsoever!”
This discovery shocked the charming woman even more.
“Just relying on his own gang qi to strip me of all abilities—even a peerless expert in the top ten of the Heavenly Human Ranking couldn’t do that, right?”
“How could there be such a terrifying person in the world? Who exactly is this? Why didn’t he act during the successive crises at True Martial Mountain earlier? Or perhaps this person isn’t from True Martial Mountain at all?”
Various guesses arose in the woman’s heart.
Then she heard the young daoist opposite her slowly speak:
“Who are you?”
The woman’s body instinctively shuddered. She felt her mouth suddenly able to speak, but only that—able to speak. Strands of gang qi circulated, constantly monitoring her movements.
The woman snorted coldly and turned her head away.
While inwardly cursing Zhao Dong, she was already thinking about how to end her own life.
As for escaping?
She had already given up on that idea.
“Very good.” Ning Qi smiled faintly. “I happen to know a bit about interrogation techniques. You can give it a try.”
The woman’s pupils shrank sharply, her heart trembling.
Though she was a well-trained death warrior, the person before her was somewhat too mysterious and terrifying.
Ning Qi held her neck and walked forward. Suddenly, his eyes met hers, his voice carrying a strange, enchanting quality:
“Look into my eyes.”
Caught off guard, the woman’s eyes instinctively turned to Ning Qi. An ominous premonition surged in her heart, but it was too late. She felt as if she were gazing into an unfathomably deep pool, or like she had encountered an utterly dark abyss. She fell into confusion without any resistance, her eyes losing focus.
Ning Qi’s lips curved slightly.
This was a pupil technique he had created in his leisure time, with a hypnotic effect.
“What is your name?” Ning Qi’s voice maintained that special enchanting quality.
“Shen Yu Bing.” The woman answered instinctively.
Successive tests showed no anomalies.
Ning Qi got straight to the point.
“Why did you sneak into True Martial Sect in the middle of the night?”
“To obtain the innate sword bone.”
Ning Qi’s spirit shook. He had truly drawn out a big snake.
“Why do you need the innate sword bone?”
“The innate sword bone is a major medicinal ingredient for refining the Blood King Gu.”
“What is the Blood King Gu?”
“I… don’t know.”
The woman’s brows furrowed tightly, as if struggling to recall. Ning Qi quickly changed the question. This pupil technique was not omnipotent; if it involved deeply ingrained memories or matters tied to personal crises, it could impact the spirit, causing her to wake up. And once awakened with a damaged spirit, she might turn into an idiot who knew nothing.
“Did you destroy Divine Sword Sect?”
“Yes.”
“What is your organization’s name?”
“Nameless.”
“What is your relationship with Blood Rain Tower?” Ning Qi asked this question of particular interest.
“From the same source.”
“Where do you come from?” Ning Qi gazed intently.
The woman’s brows were now tightly knotted, as if this question touched on the most sensitive and profound part of her inner self.
“Sou… Southern Border.”
“Which part of Southern Border?”
Ning Qi pressed.
But the woman showed signs of breaking free from the pupil technique. She didn’t answer and instead began struggling. This question had triggered fear in her heart.
With a thought, Ning Qi instantly entered the unity of heaven and man state.
He intended to bolster his pupil technique with heaven and earth power, but this method was too brutal. The woman likely wouldn’t last long before her spirit collapsed and she died. This was also why Ning Qi hadn’t directly used heaven and earth power from the start.
But just as the heaven and earth power beside him began to fluctuate.
The woman’s body jolted abruptly, and she awoke. She looked at Ning Qi in horror, realizing she had just said so much. This person was simply demonic!
She sensed the Heaven Sensing Gu in her heart shatter—bitter yet relieved.
Deadly poison erupted from her heart, instantly sweeping through her entire body.
Ning Qi perceived the subtle fluctuation from the woman’s heart. His expression changed, and he extended his gang qi to probe, but it was too late.
The woman only had time for one hatred-filled glance at Ning Qi before she perished.
Ning Qi silently looked at the woman’s corpse for a moment before letting out a long breath.
“These Southern Border people… their methods are truly bizarre.”
When he had first grabbed her, he had already probed her entire body with gang qi and confirmed nothing unusual. Yet he never expected her to still take her own life.
“Is this a special gu worm? Fused into the heart without any anomaly, undetectable even by gang qi, and once it senses fluctuations of heaven and earth power, it shatters instantly and releases deadly poison?”
With a thought, Ning Qi guessed the woman’s suicide method with near-perfect accuracy.
“This person was likely just a pawn. In coming up the mountain this time, she was prepared to encounter Heavenly Human Realm experts. If a Heavenly Human Realm expert acted, she would self-destruct and leave no trace. If no Heavenly Human Realm expert acted, she could smoothly take away Tenth Junior Brother, obtain the innate sword bone as a medicinal ingredient, and intimidate Master into acting cautiously—a perfect two birds with one stone.”
No need to search; he knew this woman’s body would be empty of anything, with no traces revealing her identity.
It had to be said.
This mysterious force from Southern Border, though acting adventurously, had everything under control. They just never imagined there would be an anomaly like Ning Qi, beyond all reason.
Even so, it still caught Ning Qi somewhat off guard.
At this moment.
Ning Qi could only be glad he hadn’t used heaven and earth power right away, or he wouldn’t have gotten even this much information.
Ning Qi took a deep breath, pondering the few questions the woman had answered.
“This Nameless organization and Blood Rain Tower both come from Southern Border. Southern Border has the Hundred Thousand Mountains, filled with countless powerful exotic beasts—even, as Fifth Senior Brother said, possibly beast emperors comparable to Martial Saints. Besides that, there are also some mysterious tribes.”
“Those tribes have mysterious methods, dabbling in divination, gu worms, and beast taming. Originally, these tribes in Southern Border had little contact with the outside world. Who would have thought they were secretly controlling forces to commit such vile acts within Great Yan!”
A chill rose in Ning Qi’s eyes.
Back then, his parents might have discovered some clues, leading to their slaughter and extermination.
“For the Blood King Gu? What exactly is this Blood King Gu?”
Even that woman only knew the name of the Blood King Gu, not its specific use, which showed just how highly confidential it was.
Ning Qi guessed it might be some kind of promotion item.
But that wasn’t important. What mattered was he now knew who was behind Blood Rain Tower.
Knowing that both Blood Rain Tower and the Nameless force that destroyed Divine Sword Sect came from Southern Border made things easier. Since they nurtured the Blood King Gu with blood pools, they must be secretly abducting people or engaging in trafficking. With a direction, tracking them down would be much simpler; there would always be some clues.
“I must immediately send a message to Master, have him return.”
It was easy for a letter to leak information; if intercepted by this Nameless force, it would be disastrous. Dragon Mountain Daoist returning in person wouldn’t take much time, and it was more secure.
…
Nameless town.
Secret chamber.
Several black-clothed people gathered together. Some were meditating and regulating their breathing, some were lost in thought, and others stared at a gu worm on the table.
Heaven Sensing Gu, a pair of parent and child worms—this was the parent worm.
If the mission succeeded, the parent worm could later lure out the child worm for safety. If the mission failed and the child worm shattered, the parent worm would die as well.
And at the instant the Heaven Sensing Gu in the charming woman’s body shattered.
This parent worm let out a mournful cry. The ethereal connection severed, and its vitality instantly cut off.
The congregation perceived this fluctuation and all looked over first thing, a trace of shock appearing in their expressions, followed by silence.
“Looks like Heavenly Sword True Person acted. Jade Lady is dead.” Someone sighed faintly.
This mission was a gamble, betting that Heavenly Sword True Person wasn’t at True Martial Mountain or wouldn’t act over such a trifle.
But now, it seemed they had lost the bet.
Still, the cost was bearable. Losing one Jade Lady wouldn’t leak any important information.
The leader, Zhao Dong, let out a long breath and said:
“Since that’s the case, cancel the operation targeting the innate sword bone. I’ll explain the situation to those above. We’ll try again later when there’s a chance. For now, go dormant, wait out this storm, then act. Jade Lady dying at True Martial Mountain isn’t entirely without benefit.”
“At least it’s a warning to Dragon Mountain True Person.”
This was their only psychological consolation.
Throwing out a Core Elixir Realm expert like this was enough to make Dragon Mountain True Person weigh the gains and losses of pursuing further.
The congregation all nodded.
Not one felt regret or sorrow over Jade Lady’s death. They were merely glad it hadn’t been themselves on this mission. Though unafraid of death, they wanted to live longer.
Someone else asked:
“What about the quotas from above?”
Zhao Dong’s eyes flickered slightly:
“I’ll request instructions. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll disperse into smaller groups. Better to be troublesome than conspicuous. Let Blood Rain Tower take on more. If they hadn’t refused to join the Divine Sword Sect operation this time, how could there be all this nonsense.”
He snorted coldly, his words laced with dissatisfaction toward Blood Rain Tower.
If a few more Core Elixir Realm experts had come then, even if Divine Sword Elder used a secret technique to erupt, he wouldn’t have escaped, avoiding this current trouble.
The congregation merely nodded.
Then they departed.
In an instant, the secret chamber was empty.
