Chapter 97 - 25 Slaughter! Xu Yunfeng Dies!

Chapter 97: Chapter 25 Slaughter! Xu Yunfeng Dies!

In the mountain forests outside Luoshui County town.

Jiang Ning suddenly appeared from behind a large tree.

“It’s you!” Xu Yunfeng was suddenly startled.

“Correct?” Jiang Ning nodded.

“You’ve noticed us from the beginning?” Xu Yunfeng’s expression was a bit grave.

Before Jiang Ning could respond, the dark-skinned man spoke impatiently.

...

“Why babble so much with him?”

“It’s not too late yet! Kill him quickly and go back to hold your wife!”

After saying that, he looked at Jiang Ning with a fierce smile on his face.

“There is a path to heaven yet you choose not to take it, hell has no gate yet you insist on coming here!”

“Blame yourself for provoking those who shouldn’t be provoked, coming to places where you shouldn’t.”

Then, his gaze slightly lowered to Jiang Ning’s right hand.

“Oh! You actually want to draw your sword? Do you think you can still resist?”

Hong Chengtao walked and laughed, continually approaching Jiang Ning.

“Master Hong, be careful!” Xu Yunfeng, watching this scene from behind, spoke with a rather heavy tone to warn.

Hearing Xu Yunfeng’s words, the woman in leopard skin beside him couldn’t help but speak.

“Isn’t Hall Master Xu being a bit too timid? Master Hong’s Iron Sand Palm has reached perfection, a single strike can break monuments and iron; why be so cautious against this young lad?”

On the other side,

Hong Chengtao heard Xu Yunfeng’s words and still had a cruel smile on his face, intending to oppress Jiang Ning.

However, inside he was not as reckless as he appeared. He had already been secretly gathering his strength, pushing his Iron Sand Palm to the extreme, fully prepared.

If he made a move, it would be with the intent for full power.

As an old hand who had been mixing in the martial world for so many years, how could he not understand the saying, “A small mistake can cause a great disaster”?

He could scorn his opponent, but he never dared to underestimate them.

If he underestimated his opponent, he wouldn’t know how many times he could have died over the years.

Thus, even though he didn’t think Jiang Ning could pose a threat, he did not dare to take it lightly.

After all, this situation seemed to him filled with many oddities.

As Jiang Ning had just said, noticing their tailing early on.

Why did he still leave the city, why come to these deserted mountain forests?

Anyone but a fool wouldn’t make such a suicidal choice.

How could anyone valued so highly by Shen Congyun be a fool?

Thus, there could only be one explanation. In his view, Jiang Ning must have something to rely on.

Confident enough to handle a few people tailing them.

Though at this moment Hong Chengtao also did not understand what Jiang Ning could rely on.

But not understanding didn’t matter, whether he understood or not, it wasn’t going to delay his action.

And at this time.

Jiang Ning’s fingers were also tightly gripping the long sword.

Qi Blood Power surged through his body, his strength was ready to burst.

A moment later.

Hong Chengtao moved within a few feet of Jiang Ning.

Whoosh—

Jiang Ning drew his sword, and the Cold Light flashed.

“Good timing!”

As Hong Chengtao saw Jiang Ning unsheathe his sword, he immediately shouted out.

Immediately after, his right palm thrust forward, his already somewhat dark palm instantly shone with a blackish-red luster.

Jiang Ning had also drawn his sword at this moment, and the long sword suddenly chopped down.

Buzz—

A vast, powerful force erupted, surging into the sword, causing it to emit a series of vibrating sounds.

Then.

The long sword slashed down with an unstoppable momentum.

This strike unleashed all of Jiang Ning’s strength.

And it still added the First Layer of the Nine Layers of Strength.

Further boosted by the Break Limit second level Chopping Wood Blade Skill.

This strike was Jiang Ning’s peak strike under his normal state.

…

“Not good!!”

Seeing the speed of the descending long sword and the carried momentum, Hong Chengtao’s pupils suddenly shrank, feeling a bad premonition.

The edge hadn’t even fallen yet, but he felt a strong oppressive force.

“Something’s wrong!” He thought again in his mind, “But I can’t retreat, nor do I have the time!”

At this thought, Hong Chengtao clenched his teeth tightly and pushed his Iron Sand Palm to the extreme.

At the same time, not far away.

Seeing the suddenly falling long sword, whether it was Xu Yunfeng or the other two deputy hall masters, their pupils suddenly contracted.

“Such a fast sword!”

“This sword is too fast!!”

The next moment.

Clang—

The sword blade met Hong Chengtao’s palm, producing a sound of metal striking metal.

Immediately after, Hong Chengtao’s eyes were filled with shock.

The long sword chopped down on his palm, and only then did he truly feel the terror of Jiang Ning’s strike.

Even though his Iron Sand Palm could crush metal and iron, as Jiang Ning’s fierce sword fall continued, his entire palm was also sliced open.

The tremendous explosive power even flung his entire body.

“How can he be so strong!” Dismay filled Hong Chengtao’s mind.

As he flew through the air, he turned to glance at his right hand again.

He saw the palm split apart, his once proud Iron Sand Palm, combined with his small success in Refining Skin, which was enough to break weapons, directly destroyed to reveal the fragmented stark white bones.

Severe pain transmitted from the bones of his right arm, which was already twisted and deformed under this force.

“How can he be this strong?” Hong Chengtao again unbelievably questioned in his mind.

“He has only practiced martial arts for a little over a month, how can he be so strong?”

“A single strike has disabled my right arm. If he could strike again, I would only have to sacrifice my left arm to block it.”

“But how am I supposed to receive the third strike?”

“Doesn’t this mean he could kill me with three strikes?”

At this thought, Hong Chengtao became extremely frightened.

He had painstakingly climbed from the lowest strata of society to this point and had not enjoyed it for long.

He didn’t want to die at all!

“I don’t want to die!!”

Hong Chengtao chanted in his heart again.

Such thoughts rapidly flashed through his mind.

In that split second, he solidified his resolve, and his gaze became extremely firm.

At this moment,

Xu Yunfeng’s expression suddenly turned very solemn.

He merely glanced at Hong Chengtao and then instantly turned and left, bursting forth with his full speed.

“Something’s off!”

“Even Hong Chengtao was severely injured by Jiang Ning’s single strike, rushing forward would only be a senseless sacrifice. I must escape!”

“Hurry and flee! The further the better for a chance to survive!”

Just then, before Hong Chengtao had even hit the ground, he shouted loudly.

“Master Xu, Xiao Yuan, Shangguan Yu, you three act quickly. This lad has used a forbidden technique to squeeze out his body’s potential—after one strike, he will be exhausted!”

“Yes, Gang Leader!” The woman in leopard skin and the somewhat sinister-looking man immediately responded.

Then they exchanged glances and turned to leave.

Xu Yunfeng reacted even faster than them, rushing towards the mountains first.

“You!!!” Seeing this, Hong Chengtao was overwhelmed, and a stream of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

All this happened in just a moment.

Jiang Ning glanced at the airborne Hong Chengtao.

“My strength is truly incomparable to before!”

He secretly thought and gripped the long knife in his hand even tighter.

Then he glanced at the two fleeing figures and Xu Yunfeng, who had turned to escape.

“Perfect, time to test the new technique I’ve just mastered!”

“At this point, I can’t let Xu Yunfeng escape!”

…

Jiang Ning’s mind shifted.

Thump—

His heart suddenly began to throb heavily, and a powerful force surged from within his body.

Under these circumstances, Jiang Ning’s skin also began to redden slightly, his pupils dilated, and his body entered a state of excitement.

In this state, the various negative emotions in his mind, like nervousness and slight fear, were swept away in an instant.

“Kill!” Jiang Ning uttered softly.

Carrying his knife, he moved at extreme speed, taking a step that covered a great distance.

Like a gust of fierce wind, he rushed towards Hong Chengtao!

As the saying goes, hit them when they’re down.

Especially since Hong Chengtao was the strongest among them, already having reached the Martial Arts Ninth Grade.

“Don’t force me!!” Watching Jiang Ning rapidly closing in, madness flashed in Hong Chengtao’s eyes.

At this moment, Jiang Ning held his long knife, his gaze icy cold.

In less than a breath’s time, he was in front of Hong Chengtao.

“Die!”

Jiang Ning let out a loud shout, suddenly unleashing his full strength, and chose to explode with one layer of Nine Layers of Strength.

Seeing this, Hong Chengtao’s left hand had already been pushed to its limit.

This palm strike accumulated over ten years of his training.

But even so, despair flickered in his eyes.

Even if he could block this strike, could he withstand the next?

Cling—

The knife struck Hong Chengtao’s left hand, immediately emitting a metallic clang.

Then…

Thwack—

The blade carved through flesh.

Hong Chengtao’s eyes instantly filled with profound despair and shock.

Blood splattered, spurting forth.

Jiang Ning also brushed past Hong Chengtao!

At this moment, under Jiang Ning’s blade, Hong Chengtao’s body was split in two, directly cleaved into halves.

Normally, if it were his first time killing someone, Jiang Ning would be nervous, even fearful.

But in this moment, after breaking the body’s limit, these negative emotions were swept away, with hardly any fluctuation in his heart due to this strike.

After passing Hong Chengtao’s corpse, Jiang Ning’s gaze firmly locked onto Xu Yunfeng.

Since he had already chosen to act, Xu Yunfeng was already marked for death in his mind.

At this time, Xu Yunfeng sensed the commotion behind him. In the midst of running, he turned back.

Seeing the scene behind him, his soul nearly fled his body.

“How is this possible!”

“How could Master Hong die so easily!!”

Then, seeing Jiang Ning’s rapidly approaching figure, deep despair flashed through his eyes.

Hong Chengtao was slain by Jiang Ning in just one exchange.

How could he himself survive?

At this moment, Xu Yunfeng thought of the blind mother waiting for him at home.

A deep sense of guilt flashed in his eyes.

“Mother, I’m sorry! Your son failed to keep his promise, failed to stand out and bring glory to our family!”

The next moment,

Jiang Ning rapidly closed in on Xu Yunfeng.

Drawing his blade and slashing directly, this strike emitted just his regular strength and did not unleash another layer of the Nine Layers of Strength.

Because just now, consecutively unleashing one layer of strength had caused his right arm to ache.

Considering Xu Yunfeng’s strength now that Jiang Ning had broken his body’s limits, there was no need to add another layer of strength from the Nine Layers of Strength.

Clang—

Xu Yunfeng blocked with his sword horizontally, and upon the collision of the blades, a spark flew.

Instantly, Xu Yunfeng’s long knife was suddenly knocked out of his hand and thrown away.

“This power!!!” Xu Yunfeng felt numbness in his tiger’s mouth and was immensely shocked.

Having personally fought against Jiang Ning, he now understood why Hong Chengtao, despite having perfected the Iron Sand Palm and achieved small success in Refining Skin, reaching a layer as hard as stone, was still slain by Jiang Ning with just two strikes.

Because the force Jiang Ning unleashed was too strong, too terrifying.

Even though he had reached the Martial Arts Ninth Grade, he had no power to fight back.

The next moment,

Jiang Ning’s blade struck down Xu Yunfeng’s long knife, then delivered another strike.

Swoosh—

The long knife sliced through the air, and a human head was flung high.