“Hmph! But that’s it.”

One of the burly black-armored warriors rushed towards Ning Xiaochuan once again. When the warrior raised the sabers grasped in both his hands, black Qi as high as three feet appeared from the blades. With a loud bang, the Saber Qi knocked Ning Xiaochuan back and sent the saber in his grasp flying as well.

The black-armored warrior’s grip tightened around his swords as he rushed towards Ning Xiaochuan, determined to wipe him out.

At this moment, Ning Xiaochuan slammed an open palm upon the ground and pushed himself up from the ground. He followed this with two punches, which slammed into the black-armored warrior’s chest.

“Wha—”

The Devil Sword flickered and the blood flowing through Ning Xiaochuan doubled in speed, which allowed him to rapidly absorb the blood flowing through the black-armored warrior with Stage Seven Qi.

However, the black-armored warrior with Stage Seven Qi’s Blood Qi was much too strong. Ning Xiaochuan felt like his body was going to explode as blood seeped out of his pores.

‘This is terrible!

‘This black-armored warrior’s Blood Qi is much stronger than mine’s. My body won’t be able to take so much Blood Qi, my blood vessels are going to explode.’

Once the Devil Sword started absorbing blood, even Ning Xiaochuan could not stop it.

Finally, just as Ning Xiaochuan felt that his skin was about to rip apart, the black-armored warrior had been sucked as dry as a corpse and promptly fell to the ground.

Gradually, the Devil Sword absorbed all the blood into itself and Ning Xiaochuan heaved a sigh of relief; his body was close to exploding just now. It seemed that the Devil Sword’s absorption rate had a limit; if the Blood Qi was too strong, it would not be able to transform the blood in time.

If it were a martial artist with Stage Eight Qi, Ning Xiaochuan’s body definitely would have exploded.

“My Cultivation…My Cultivation’s at Stage Seven Qi now!” Ning Xiaochuan was over the moon with joy. With a wave of his hand, a beam of Qi flew out his palm before it cut a branch about ten meters away.

Qi condensing into Fortified Qi was a symbol of achieving Stage Seven Qi!

Once this realm was achieved, it meant that one’s Combat Qi was now a Lesser Achievement¹ and thus gained the ability to kill someone from a distance.

‘I actually broke through to Stage Seven Qi!’ The black-armored warrior raised his sabers in defense as he got back onto his feet. The ways that both Hei Si and Hei Er died was too suspicious; they were killed by a single punch to their armor. This showed that Ning Xiaochuan had a hidden technique that could kill people without showing it.

Ning Xiaochuan had suddenly achieved Stage Seven Qi so his strength had increased greatly. His eyesight, hearing, and the capacity of his Qi had improved as well. He had even grown stronger than most Stage Seven Qi martial artists so he was not afraid of this black-armored warrior at all now.

Ning Xiaochuan once again held his saber in his hand and his gaze steadied.

Both men rushed forward at the same time, almost too fast for the eye to see.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

…

Ning Xiaochuan was extremely quick. He had wrapped his entire body in bright red Qi as he struck the black-armored warrior’s neck repeatedly with his saber.

The Combat Qi within Ning Xiaochuan was extremely solid so he could cut into the warrior’s neck fourteen times in a single breath. Every cut felt like a completely impenetrable wave, which made it hard for the warrior to hold his own against them.

“Pfft!”

In the end, the black-armored warrior’s neck was chopped clean by Ning Xiaochuan before his body fell heavily to the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan knelt onto the ground with one knee and used the back of his saber to support his body as he panted heavily. Although he had just beheaded the black-armored warrior, Ning Xiaochuan had also suffered minor injuries. He had seven wounds in total and the largest was when he almost lost his left arm.

Ning Xiaochuan merely rested for three breaths before he quickly returned, enduring the great pain he was in as he did so.

The largest of the five black-armored warriors was not dead yet.

Although the veiled woman’s Cultivation was very high, she might not be an equal match for that person. Ning Xiaochuan was a forthright and honest person; if another person had tried to save him, naturally, he would not abandon that person when making a run for it.

When Ning Xiaochuan returned to the main street, the battle was already over. Many of the surrounding trees had been chopped down by Sword Qi and Saber Qi as frost covered the ground, sealing the felled wood with thick ice.

This was the strength of a martial art expert as everything done here was well past the scope of general Combat Qi. The ability to convert Qi into frost, flame as well as thunder and lightning was called a Divine Martial Art.

Only people that have achieved the Divine Body Realm were able to produce Divine Martial Arts from within their bodies.

In the middle of the main street stood a huge ice sculpture; Hei Lin and the Mystical Iron Lion he was riding had been turned into an ice sculpture. Their bodies were completely frozen solid and they looked just like an exquisite piece of art.

Ning Xiaochuan gently placed his open palm upon the ice sculpture.

“Boom!”

The ice sculpture immediately cracked and shattered to the floor. Hei Lin and his Mystical Iron Lion had been shattered into pieces.

‘That’s amazing!’ Ning Xiaochuan exclaimed excitedly in his heart.

“They’re men of sacrifice fostered by Marquis Jiange’s Residence called ‘Dark Warriors’. Although they’ve deliberately changed their armors to hide their identities, they can’t change the Combat Qi they’ve cultivated. Within the Marquis Jiange’s Residence, there are not more than five people that can mobilize the Dark Warriors.”

The veiled woman stood a short distance away, still dressed in her clean white clothes. She stood gracefully, her beauty almost ethereal, and the thick white mist around her body made her look a little hazy, like a goddess standing in the clouds.

“Thank you so much for your help, Maiden Yu, this humble servant cannot thank you enough,” said Ning Xiaochuan.

The veiled woman’s voice was cold as she stared at Yu Yan to say, “You told him who I was?”

Yu Yan immediately fell kneeling to the ground as she meekly replied, “Thank you for saving Yu Yan for the third time, Young Miss. Yu Yan will never be able to repay the debt she owes to Young Miss even if she took forever. However, Yu Yan begs for Young Miss to have mercy on Master Ning since I can guarantee that he won’t reveal Young Miss’ identity.”

Ning Xiaochuan said, “This humble servant owes Maiden Yu a great debt of gratitude so I’ll never reveal this matter to anyone. After all, I owe Maiden Yu such a huge favor.”

The veiled woman sighed and no longer pursued the topic. Instead, she said, “I didn’t mean to save you both this time, I was merely passing by.”

Ning Xiaochuan felt that the veiled woman seemed to be slightly out of breath because her Qi fluctuations seemed to be slightly volatile. Something like this happening to a martial arts expert was practically impossible.

Ning Xiaochuan asked curiously, “Are you hurt, Maiden Yu?”

Yu Ningsheng never expected Ning Xiaochuan to have such keen perception. Ning Xiaochuan was truly strange as he was able to achieve Stage Seven Qi from Stage Four Qi in a matter of days. She had never seen or heard of such cultivation speed before; he was practically a monster!

Yu Ningsheng had been hurt in the battle with Hei Lin. Hei Lin’s attack had left an “Evil Dragon Scale” that had punctured the pit of her chest, leaving a three-inch wound in its wake. Her wound seeped with poison, which meant that even her Combat Qi could not stop the blood.

She knew Ning Xiaochuan cultivated the Bloodthirsty Devil Technique, which meant it was highly possible he belonged to the Devil Sect. People of the Devil Sect were subjected to changing moods so she did not want to tell him about her wound.

“I’m not hurt and it’s none of your business.” Yu Ningsheng had already planned to return to the city before trying to heal her injuries.

However, she had underestimated the toxicity of the Evil Dragon Scale. After taking only three steps, the poison from the wound had spread throughout her body due to the flow of her blood. It had even invaded her Combat Atrium.

She quickly stopped in her tracks, no longer daring to take another step.

Ning Xiaochuan had noticed her odd behavior. He quickly moved to face her and saw the blood blooming across her chest as dark-red poison seeped out of the wound. Sweat beaded across her pale forehead before her body crumpled to the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan immediately rushed forward to cradle her in his arms. He skillfully undid the clothes that clung to her chest. Beneath her lapels was moonlight-white innerwear with an embroidered cyan orchid.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ning Xiaochuan quickly ripped away Yu Ningsheng’s innerwear, exposing a shocking wound.

“What…what are you doing?” Yu Ningsheng quickly condensed her Combat Qi but since it was flowing through her blood a moment ago, she spat out blood instead.

The poison from the Evil Dragon Scale had entered her blood so circulating Qi was only going to push the poison faster towards her heart.

Ning Xiaochuan was a top doctor of the General Cardiovascular Department in his previous life. Any time he had a female patient, he always had to remove her clothes before the surgery.

This was nothing out of the ordinary!

After all, Ning Xiaochuan had seen not only the upper bodies but also the private parts of many women before. He harbored no ill thoughts towards them despite so since to him, they were nothing more than his patients.

Ning Xiaochuan wrapped his fingers in Combat Qi before he pressed his forefinger and middle finger lightly against her wound. From within her wound, a small black foreign object shaped like an iron shard revealed itself.

“Ugh!”

Yu Ningsheng was flustered and angry and, beneath the veil, a furious red blush appeared on her face!

However, when she met Ning Xiaochuan’s eyes, she saw the clarity and solemnity in them. It was completely clear of evil ideas.

These eyes…

Yu Ningsheng had never seen them before!

How could a man like Ning Xiaochuan maintain such composure before her exposed body; could it be she was unattractive and unappealing to him?

Was her body not beautiful enough?

Yu Ningsheng admitted that although she did not think of her beauty as unparalleled in this world, she did think that her beauty was enough to cause the downfall of a city or a state. She did not know just how many young handsome men had staked their everything just to see her. However, the eyes of this young man in front of her led Yu Ningsheng to question if she was truly so beautiful.

This was truly an inexplicable scene since even Yu Yan, who was standing a distance away, was in awe. “Master…Ning…actually tore off Young Miss’ clothes…”

If the wise men and geniuses of the Imperial City were to witness this scene unfold before their eyes, they would not hesitate to tear Ning Xiaochuan to pieces.

Ning Xiaochuan used Qi to remove the black foreign object from the wound before he carefully closed Yu Ningsheng’s clothes.

He then looked away from Yu Ningsheng to study the piece of black “iron hide” in his hand.

The piece of “iron hide” resembled the scales of some animal and seemed to permeate cold air. Just then, a single drop of poisonous blood fell from the “iron hide” onto the ground, instantly corroding the soil with audible hisses.

‘This should be that piece of Evil Dragon Scale.’ Ning Xiaochuan’s expression was heavy.

“What’s an Evil Dragon Scale?” Yu Yan was wrapping Yu Ningsheng’s wound.

Ning Xiaochuan replied, “I’ve seen records of Evil Dragons in some ancient books back at the Residence. It’s rumored that sixty years ago, the previous Marquis Jiange led twelve of the top powerhouses of Marquis Jiange’s Residence to slaughter an Evil Dragon together. They brought the corpse of the Evil Dragon back to the Residence and it became a treasure of the Residence ever since.

“However, in the battle against the Evil Dragon, the previous Marquis Jiange had his upper body burned by the poisonous fire of the Evil Dragon. When they returned to the Residence, they tried various ways to expel the Evil Dragon’s poison from his body but failed. Eventually, he lived only ten more years before passing away.

“The Evil Dragon Scale is a weapon made from the sacrifice of a scale belonging to the Evil Dragon so it is extremely toxic. Although it isn’t as poisonous as the Evil Dragon’s poisonous fire, it still isn’t something that ordinary warriors can resist.”

Yu Yan and Yu Ningsheng’s expressions fell dramatically. The previous Marquis Jiange was a person that inspired awe throughout the world. He was a Martial Supreme yet even he could not resist the poison of an Evil Dragon?