Chapter 239: Gold Medal Assassin
The Black-robed Assassin's martial arts cultivation was terrifying, and his killing methods were even more chilling. Even the Guard Captain of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House, a Transcendent Realm Seventh Level warrior, had been slain, his blood splattering five steps away, sending shivers down everyone's spine.
The guards of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House were all well-trained Martial Artists, tempered on the battlefield with strong mental dignity. Though thoroughly frightened, none dared to flee.
"Truly worthy of the guards trained by the Jian Pavilion Marquis House. They’re different from the rest," Old Two grinned.
If a Gold Medal Assassin from Dark Emperor City appeared in any other sect or martial house, their mere presence would send many Martial Artists trembling and fleeing in panic. Though the guards of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House were also terrified, they did not run, proving the Marquis House’s strict discipline.
"No matter how lawless Dark Emperor City may be, daring to barge into the Jian Pavilion Marquis House is nothing but suicide." A hoarse, angry voice echoed from the depths of the Marquis House, followed by a massive Great Palm Strike launched from afar.
Old Two and Old Seven tensed, gripping their short swords tightly as Martial Arts Profound Qi condensed around their bodies, forming a layer of Profound Qi Armor.
A master of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House had made their move.
Though Dark Emperor City’s influence intimidated the world, the Jian Pavilion Marquis House was no pushover.
Dark Emperor City had dispatched six Gold Medal Assassins to the Jian Pavilion Marquis House to assassinate Ning Xiaochuan precisely because they knew the Marquis House was powerful, with experts as numerous as clouds. To kill Ning Xiaochuan alone, one Gold Medal Assassin would have sufficed.
Old Two and Old Seven tore through the Great Palm Strike, their Sword Qi slashing wildly as they activated their swift movement techniques. They avoided direct confrontation with the Marquis House’s high-ranking figure, focusing instead on blocking them from rescuing Ning Xiaochuan.
Boom!
Ji Bo, the old servant of the Jian Pavilion Marquis, emerged from the shadows.
His hair was white, his body hunched, yet his eyes burned with vigor. A single finger pointed forward, releasing a beam of light that struck Old Two’s back.
Old Two’s Profound Qi Armor shattered instantly, his heart seizing with shock as he stared at Ji Bo. "The Jian Pavilion Marquis House actually hides such an expert?"
Ji Bo brought his palm down, smashing Old Two’s short sword into scrap metal.
Old Two was sent flying, blood spraying from his mouth as he landed on one knee. His eyes glinted coldly at Ji Bo’s approaching figure.
Pressing a hand to the ground, Old Two summoned Thorny Vines—hard as iron rods, bristling with sharp spikes.
"Do you think the Jian Pavilion Marquis House is a place you can just barge into?"
Ji Bo’s gaze was icy as he stomped the ground, shattering Old Two’s martial technique. The Thorny Vines snapped apart, and Old Two was blasted away once more, his body riddled with wounds and several broken bones.
Though merely an old servant by the Jian Pavilion Marquis’ side, Ji Bo’s strength was horrifying.
While Old Two and Old Seven struggled to hold Ji Bo off, the battle in the courtyard began.
"Old Three, Old Thirteen, go and block the experts of the Jian Pavilion Marquis House. Leave Ning Xiaochuan to me."
The two Black-robed Assassins with mystic beast battle pets also charged at Ji Bo.
With the combined strength of four Gold Medal Assassins, they launched a coordinated assault, aiming to crush the old servant by the Jian Pavilion Marquis’ side.
The Black-robed Assassin standing on the green cloud suddenly exploded, transforming into green smoke and vanishing from his original position. In the next moment, he appeared behind Ning Xiaochuan, his speed as fast as lightning.
"Swish!"
Gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands, he swung down, cleaving Ning Xiaochuan's body in half.
No— That wasn't Ning Xiaochuan's body.
It was the afterimage he left behind.
Ning Xiaochuan activated Rainbow Teleportation, evading the Sword Qi, while simultaneously flicking a finger to unleash a wave of Annihilation Sword energy.
The Black-robed Assassin slashed through the Annihilation Sword wave and sneered, "Heh, interesting. Your escape speed is quite fast."
"Whoosh!"
The Black-robed Assassin's speed reached an extreme. Once he activated his movement technique, his body turned into a streak of green mist, barely slower than Ning Xiaochuan's Rainbow Teleportation.
In an instant, he caught up and delivered a horizontal slash, releasing nine streams of Sword Qi that sealed off Ning Xiaochuan's space in all four directions—up, down, left, and right.
This wasn't ordinary Sword Qi. It resembled nine winding rivers, forming an impenetrable Blade Net.
This was a killing technique—one that could slice apart nine warriors of the Transcendent Realm Fourth Layer.
The Black-robed Assassin was a top assassin of Dark Emperor City, proficient in hundreds of assassination methods and well-versed in a warrior's weaknesses.
Thus, every slash he delivered was meticulously calculated, designed for a single lethal strike.
Ning Xiaochuan retreated three steps in succession, avoiding the peak momentum of the Sword Qi. As its force weakened, Yin-Yang energy surged from his heart, converging into his palm as he struck toward the Black-robed Assassin's incoming blade.
A trace of surprise flashed in the Black-robed Warrior's eyes. Ning Xiaochuan's combat experience seemed remarkably high—he actually knew how to seize the perfect moment to strike.
But was he really going to clash his palm against a blade?
"Boom!"
Just as Ning Xiaochuan's palm was about to collide with the blade, a surge of Sword Qi erupted from his fingertips, carrying an overwhelming demonic and malevolent aura.
"Annihilation Sword Soul!"
The Sword Qi condensed into the phantom of a female demon, towering behind Ning Xiaochuan like a supreme devil god overlooking heaven and earth. Her eyes shone like the sun, moon, and stars, and a single strand of her hair resembled the Milky Way. With just one glance, she forced the Black-robed Assassin to stagger back a step.
This was the majesty of the Annihilation Path Founder. Not just the Black-robed Assassin—even a Martial Venerable would be suppressed by a mere wisp of her aura.
"Boom!"
The power of the Annihilation Sword Soul erupting from Ning Xiaochuan's palm shattered the Black-robed Warrior's blade into fragments of iron, which shot back and embedded themselves into the assassin's body.
The blade fragments pierced through, leaving over a dozen bloody holes from which crimson blood flowed.
"Such formidable Martial Arts Divine Abilities... Many have claimed that Ning Xiaochuan is the first in the Yulan Empire to cultivate the ninth innate Divine Ability. I didn’t believe it before—but now I do."
The Black-robed Assassin seemed utterly unfazed by the pain. He circulated Profound Qi, expelling the blade fragments from his body, reducing them to iron dust.
They were trained as assassins from childhood, consuming various profound medicines, their bodies refined into the Undying Martial Body. Even if an arm was severed, it could reattach itself. Their physical recovery abilities far surpassed warriors of the same cultivation realm.
He thought Ning Xiaochuan had just unleashed the Ninth Innate Divine Ability, which explained such formidable offensive power. But he didn’t know—this was actually the Annihilation Sword Dao cultivated by Ning Xiaochuan.
His body recovered at an astonishing speed, wounds healing in an instant, restoring him to full vigor.
"Kill Word Seal!"
Within the Black-robed Warrior’s Martial Arts Heart Palace, Martial Arts Profound Qi gathered, emitting a bloody crimson glow. It surged toward his throat and erupted from his mouth.
He opened his mouth and spat out a single word—"Kill."
This was his killing Divine Ability, designed specifically to shatter a warrior’s Martial Arts Heart Palace. If struck by the Kill Word Seal, a warrior’s Martial Arts Heart Palace would instantly collapse.
Ning Xiaochuan countered by exhaling a Soundwave Bell, clashing against the Kill Word Seal.
He charged forward with unstoppable momentum, one hand lifting the blazing sun, the other hoisting the cold moon, transforming them into a Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Diagram. With overwhelming force, he struck.
The Black-robed Warrior sensed the pressure and disassembled his body into six streams of azure mist, evading the Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Diagram. The mist converged before Ning Xiaochuan, reforming into human shape as he thrust a finger forward.
His finger, wrapped in golden radiance, gleamed like forged gold, scraping sparks through the air, nearly tearing space itself.
"Annihilation Sword Soul!"
Ning Xiaochuan also pointed a finger, the phantom of the Annihilation Path Founder manifesting behind him. A battle sword materialized before his fingertip, piercing through the golden finger and shattering its bones.
The Black-robed Warrior felt a bone-chilling force surge from the sword’s edge, invading his body, freezing his blood solid.
Ning Xiaochuan drove the sword forward, thrusting toward the Black-robed Warrior’s body, giving him no chance to recover.
Even if he were a Gold Medal Assassin of Dark Emperor City, attempting to kill Ning Xiaochuan meant only one outcome—death.
The phantom of the Annihilation Path Founder behind Ning Xiaochuan pressed down, striking with a palm imprint that blasted toward the Black-robed Warrior.
The Black-robed Warrior spat out another Kill Word Seal, forming a crimson "Kill" character a meter in diameter, hurtling toward the Annihilation Path Founder’s phantom.
But before the "Kill" character could even approach, an invisible force in the heavens and earth shredded it to nothingness.
"Boom!"
The palm imprint from the Annihilation Path Founder smashed into the Black-robed Warrior, annihilating his spirit and body, reducing him to scattered flesh and blood.
Ning Xiaochuan retracted his Sword Qi, and the Annihilation Path Founder withdrew her hand, standing behind him like a deity—domineering, overlooking all living beings.
Though Ning Xiaochuan had cultivated the Annihilation Sword Soul, he could only summon a sliver of the Annihilation Path Founder’s power—a mere billionth, or even trillionth, of her true might.
Yet even this minuscule fraction was terrifyingly powerful, capable of sweeping away all enemies in the world.
Ning Xiaochuan landed in the center of the courtyard, his gaze fixed on the leader of the Gold Medal Assassins standing atop the roof. He said indifferently, "The Gold Medal Assassins of Dark Emperor City are nothing special."
In the distance, atop a pavilion in the Jian Pavilion Marquis House, stood two middle-aged men.
Ning Qianwen and Ning Qianwu stood at the top of the pavilion, observing the ongoing battle in the courtyard where Ning Xiaochuan resided.
"Ji Bo's martial arts cultivation is unexpectedly formidable. Even four Gold Medal Assassins from Dark Emperor City are no match for him. That old man has hidden his strength deeply all this time," Ning Qianwu said grimly.
The two of them had hired all six Gold Medal Assassins from Dark Emperor City to kill Ning Xiaochuan, so they were naturally deeply invested in the outcome of this assassination attempt.
To ensure nothing went wrong, they had even personally warned the elders of their faction not to interfere.
Yet, despite all their calculations, they had never anticipated that a mere servant by the Old Marquis's side could be so powerful. With him protecting Ning Xiaochuan, killing the young man today would be extremely difficult.
"How is this possible… Ning Xiaochuan actually killed a Gold Medal Assassin…" Ning Qianwu's face turned deathly pale, as if he had witnessed the most terrifying sight in the world, unable to believe his own eyes.
Ning Qianwen was equally shocked beyond words, having personally seen Ning Xiaochuan unleash his Martial Arts Divine Abilities, utterly annihilating a Gold Medal Assassin and reducing him to scattered fragments.
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