Chapter 0429: The Strange Sword Skill

“When did this happen?” Ning Cheng somewhat suspected that Liang Kexin might have been implicated because of him.

“Three months ago, when Kexin and I were outside. We had just received the news of the sneak attack on the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. Just at that moment, when we were about to rush back, a group blocked us and forcibly carried off Kexin. Moreover, they clearly stated that they were from the Mirage Gazing Island.” Xun Hanrui spoke with a voice full of worry.

Ning Cheng was now sure that the Mirage Gazing Island most likely was the one that took away Liang Kexin, due to a matter involving him; otherwise, it was utterly impossible for them to spare Xun Hanrui. For them to spare Xun Hanrui should be because they knew that he shared a good relationship with the two of them. Taking one away while not touching the other was to make sure the message reached him.

He’s been missing for quite a long time; however, the Mirage Gazing Island did not stop looking for him. It should have been when he passed through the Mirage Gazing Island recently, that someone recognised him. However, Ning Cheng also believed that when the Mirage Gazing Island made a move to grab Liang Kexin, it must have been before his display of Spiritual Might at the Rainbow Fall Sword Sect. Otherwise, it was impossible for the Mirage Gazing Island to be so unscrupulous.

“Let’s go. We’re going to the Sect Surpassing Censure. Maybe that Rong Jin might have turned anxious due to the wait.” Ning Cheng spoke as he stood up.

“Senior Apprentice Brother, what about Junior Apprentice Sister Kexin….” Xun Hanrui asked with some worry.

Ning Cheng smirked, “Since the Mirage Gazing Island invited me over with such kind intentions; so how can I let them down? After taking care of this matter, I will go visit the Mirage Gazing Island.”

……

When Ning Cheng and Xun Hanrui arrived at the Sect Surpassing Censure, cultivators had already filled the area. The Sect Surpassing Censure was actually a challenge stage. However, unlike other challenge stages, this challenging stage only had a single entrance. This entrance was a hinged door, which was probably why people called it ‘Sect Surpassing Censure’.

[TL Note: ‘Sect Surpassing (胜门 – sheng men)’ and ‘Hinged Door (扇门 – shan men)’ almost has the same pronunciation, which probably led to such a comparison.]

“Sect Master Ning arrived….”

Just as Ning Cheng arrived, the surroundings immediately erupted with discussions.

Seeing Rong Jin already standing on the Battle Ring, Ning Cheng realised that this fellow had been standing there for a while.

“I thought that Sect Master Ning would have sent an excuse. I did not expect that you would actually possess some courage to your name. It seems that it is barely worth my time.” Ning Cheng had just arrived when Rong Jin immediately started ridiculing him from the Battle Ring.

Although his voice was not loud, the entire Heavenly Dao Public Square could hear his voice clearly.

Ning Cheng did not bother to speak any nonsense with Rong Jin this time. When he was still in the early stages of Sea Opening Realm, he did not put Rong Jin in his eyes. Therefore, now that he was in the Intermediate Stages of Sea Opening Realm, how could he fear a mere Rong Jin?

“Sect Master Ning truly advances quite quickly. Three months ago, I heard that he was at the Sea Opening 3rd Level; never would I have imagined, three months later, he would break through to the intermediate stages of the Sea Opening Realm.” A faint sound arrived. Ning Cheng turned his head only lock gazes with a long-bearded cultivator, the one he encountered before.

It looks like the opposite party had indeed put him on their suspicion list. Glancing at the long-bearded cultivator, he casually gave a reply, “Regardless of who you are, don’t try to influence my mood right now. Otherwise, after I kill this Rong Jin or whatever, you will be the next one whom I challenge.”

“Humph….” The long-bearded cultivator just gave a cold hump, before he stopped paying any attention to Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng had to fight it out with Rong Jin; it was something that he came to know after returning from the Shattered Canopy Mountains. This made him feel very helpless. Even if Ning Cheng turned out to be even more powerful, going up against Rong Jin, there was not even half a chance for him to leave alive. Once Rong Jin killed Ning Cheng, then his things would also belong to Rong Jin. Although he worked hard for many days, it looks like in the end he was doomed to suffer an empty hand.

However, what made Ning Cheng a bit puzzled was that he could not see that Array Formation Grand Master, Wu Mao, anywhere in sight.

Ning Cheng did not overthink it, as he descended onto the Battle Ring of the Sect Surpassing Censure. As soon as Ning Cheng stepped on to the Battle Ring, the Array Formation at the Battle Ring’s entrance of the Sect Surpassing Censure automatically closed up.

At this time, the people outside could clearly see the battle proceedings between Ning Cheng and Rong Jin; however, they would not be able to meddle. As soon as the Sect Surpassing Censure Battle Ring’s entrance closed off, it meant that only one person could get out of the Sect Surpassing Battle Ring alive.

As Ning Cheng entered the Battle Ring, the sarcasm on Rong Jin’s face also disappeared instantly. He stretched out his hand causing a silver longsword to materialise right above it. However, he did not make a move to grab it.

“My weapon of choice is a sword. This sword is named Buried Soul.” As Rong Jin’s voice fell, the silver sword hovering above his hand disappeared.

The moment that the silver sword vanished, Ning Cheng felt as if he had left the Battle Ring, transported to a space in which he did not belong. In fact, it was not a space that would cause True Essence to turn sluggish if used; yet, it caused Ning Cheng to feel as if he lost any sensation of his body. At this moment, Ning Cheng unexpectedly felt sluggish, not knowing whether to block this kind of feeling or not. It felt as if, if he moved in any direction, arrived at any location, there would always be a knife hovering above him just like a fish on the chopping block. It was as if Rong Jin controlled the entirety of this world.

As a shadow death crept over him, Ning Cheng felt utterly shocked in his heart. He quickly brought out his Nirvana Spear and formed several Ice-cold Spear Lights using it surrounding himself on all sides.

“Ka-Ka…..” Continuous sounds of True Essence explosions rang out, causing Ning Cheng to feel a constant sinking feeling in his heart. The support provided by his Nirvana Spear was almost negligible.

“Puff…..” A spray of blood shot out, causing a cold feeling to rise in the pit of Ning Cheng’s stomach.

It was not until Rong Jin’s Silver Sword pierced through Ning Cheng flesh and drew his blood, injuring his sternum in the process, did Ning Cheng finally saw a shadow of the opposite party’s silver sword. He immediately shot out his Nirvana Spear. “Boom” An explosion sounded out. This time, Ning Cheng indeed had found the trace of Rong Jin’s Buried Soul Sword.

However, Ning Cheng ended up forced backwards tumbling, with his blood spilling onto the ground. Pushed back by almost a few dozen feet in the sky, he finally crashed into the Battle Ring’s Restriction before falling to the ground.

The surrounding stagnated space also disappeared. Even that feeling of being a fish on the chopping block with a knife over his head also vanished.

Ning Cheng sucked in a mouthful of cold air. He knew that this was not because his cultivation was inferior to Rong Jin; instead, it was because he had never encountered this strange kind of fighting method before.

“Humph….” Rong Jin’s face remained calm; however, he did not continue to chase down Ning Cheng. In his eyes, the moment Ning Cheng stepped onto the Battle Ring meant that Ning Cheng was already a dead man.

“It’s no wonder that you accepted my challenge, it turns out that you managed to obtain a Rank 5 Imperial Body by undergoing Body Forging in the Sifting Orchid Star. However, even if that is the case, you are still going to die.” Rong Jin stepped forward, and the silver Buried Soul Sword disappeared once again.

His sword had the potential to directly split Ning Cheng into two. Unfortunately, because Ning Cheng’s attainment in Body-Forging was not low, it caused Rong Jin to lose such an opportunity.

Ning Cheng did not even have the time to catch his breath when the space around him once again turned stagnant. He once again felt as if he was in an area in which he did not belong.

It was not just this single feeling. Ning Cheng also felt that apart from the surrounding space stagnating, it was also beginning to show signs of collapse.

Spiritual Technique? Ning Cheng’s first thought was about his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique. The Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique also induced a feeling of Spacial Collapse of the surrounding space with the help of the Star River; however, it was a false collapse.

Rong Jin was just a mere Crucible Transformation Cultivator; as such, he most likely could not grasp Spiritual Techniques. Ning Cheng instantly came to understand what was going on at this moment; that is, something was forcibly compressing his Spiritual Consciousness to a range of three meters around him. During that breath of time, Ning Cheng was able to figure out the reason. It was not because Rong Jin’s cultivation had suppressed his ability to move, but his opponent possessed a Magical Skill with a similar effect to his Maximal Flame Spiritual Technique, which was able to induce such a false feeling.

This Magical Skill made him unable to seize any flaws in the trajectory; it was not until Rong Jin’s Buried Soul Sword pierced his body a moment ago, that he finally was able to trace it.

After understanding this reason, Ning Cheng shot out with his spear without hesitation. Not being able to sense the trajectory of the sword did not mean that he did not possess any powerful means. Once his methods were as flexible as the opposite party’s tricks, the opposing party’s Magical Skill would undoubtedly reveal a trace. As long as there was a trace, his 36 Cosmic True Devil Axes would be able to trap the opposite party.

The surrounding space was still stagnant, causing the speed of Ning Cheng’s Nirvana Spear to slow down. Even his mysterious Spear Intent’s path also remained hindered.

However, even if the trajectory of Ning Cheng’s Spear Intent ended up hindered, forcing it to slow down, Rong Jin still couldn’t completely wipe out the path of Ning Cheng’s spear.

This allowed the traces of the Buried Soul Sword to reveal itself. At the same time, a faint hint of air finally started to circulate in the space surrounding Ning Cheng. Ning Cheng finally felt, at this moment, that this mouthful of air truly belonged to him; at the same time, he also felt the Buried Soul Sword vanish once again.

The next moment, the Buried Soul Sword reached his waist, and even cut open his clothes.

“Puff….” Another spray of blood erupted; however, this time Ning Cheng’s injuries were much lighter when compared to the previous exchange. Just as the Buried Soul Sword was about to slide across his waist to chop it apart, it imperceptibly turned around as if it found the situation unfavourable, causing Rong Jin’s whereabouts to also emerge.

Rong Jin’s Magical Skill was able to control the space around him, giving others the illusion that he could massacre the opposite party at any time.

However, Ning Cheng managed to escape twice consecutively; seeing this, Rong Jin frowned. He also discovered that Ning Cheng’s long spear had disappeared. The trajectory of the spear was always under his control; however, the powerful Spear Intent made him unable to fully capture it.

Rong Jin’s face changed dramatically, and his Buried Soul Sword turned into many silver lights. These silver lights almost entirely filled the Battle Ring. To the cultivators watching from below the Battle Ring, they could only see a massive clump of silver light.

In a distant corner of the Heavenly Dao Public Square, a blue-robed figure, on seeing this scene in the Battle Ring, exclaimed in surprise, “Did Rong Jin gain insights into a Domain?”

“It’s not a domain, but a Sword Skill that imitates a domain. Although this Sword Skill sure is quite powerful, with Rong Jin’s cultivation, it is still impossible for him to gain insights into a Domain. Not to mention him, even if one took into consideration the entire Yi Xing Mainland, there would be no one who would be able to gain an insight into such a kind of thing.” Besides him, an old black-robed man spoke while shaking his head.

“Brother Mu, this Ning Cheng can block such a powerful Sword Skill; moreover, is also a Body Forging Cultivator. If he did not end up dying in this fight, then there would come a time when there would be nobody that could compare to him.” The blue-robed man stared at Ning Cheng with a bright look in his eyes.

The old man in black robes spoke up in a dignified tone, “It looks like Brother Xiao made a mistake in his estimation. I’m sure that Rong Jin would be the one to lose this time. Rong Jin already lost the best chance to kill Ning Cheng. Now, he can only wait for this Ning Cheng to kill him. Ning Cheng has already adapted to his Imitating Domain Sword Skill, which means that it would also provide Ning Cheng with an enormous help in the future.”

The man in blue robes gave a sigh: “It looks like Brother Mu is right once again. Ning Cheng’s terrifying Spear Intent is even frightening to us, who are located this far. If Ning Cheng truly advanced to the Crucible Transformation Realm, could we even put up a fight against him?”

The blue-robed man and the black-robed old man could feel fear in each other’s hearts even when they were watching Ning Cheng’s Spear Intent from this far away. However, for the ordinary cultivators standing at the front of the Battle Ring spectating the fight, they actually could not even feel the slightest bit of fear or apprehensiveness at all.

Contrary to what they were feeling, the disciples from the Yin Yang Dao Sect were even gloating, while a significant number of cultivators felt joy filling their hearts. Looking at Ning Cheng’s two consecutive blood filled injuries, they all thought that they were not light at all. In their opinion, since the shadows of Rong Jin’s Buried Soul Sword filled the Battle Ring, it was equivalent to saying that Ning Cheng now had no chance to survive at all.

However, contrary to what others felt, Rong Jin only felt an icy-coldness in his heart. Even though his silver Sword Light covered the entire Battle Ring, he still could not block the fear that was starting to rise in his heart. In the eyes of others, silver Sword Light permeated the entire Battle Ring; however, in his eyes, there was only that Spear Intent that his silver Sword Lights could no longer block.

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