Chapter 256: Chapter 252: Total Annihilation, The Tyranny of the Evil Spirit Sect
"This is bad. They’re from the Five Poison Sect, a Middle Grade Sect from Lei Province." The expressions of the Yanyue Sect members changed.
Besides its three great Upper Grade Sects and one Top Grade Sect, Lei Province had over a dozen other Middle Grade Sects.
While these Middle Grade Sects couldn’t compare to the top-tier ones, they were not to be underestimated. Every single one was helmed by a Young Giant Level expert and was no weaker than sects like the War Elephant Sect or Floating Snow Hall.
"Everyone, my Yanyue Sect discovered this place first. On the principle of first come, first served, I hope you will do us the courtesy of respecting that," Tang Lin said in a clear voice, cupping his hands.
"Do you the courtesy? Who the hell do you think you are?"
The leader of the Five Poison Sect group, a man in green robes, said coldly, "Leave all the Blood Spirit Ginseng behind. Then scram."
"What?"
Hearing his words, the members of the Yanyue Sect were furious.
"Five Poison Sect, don’t take this too far! You’re a Middle Grade Sect, and so are we. If we fight, aren’t you afraid we’ll both suffer for it?" Zi Yunfei’s pretty face was icy as she spoke.
"Suffer for it? What a joke. You think I haven’t heard of the Yanyue Sect? You’re just a Middle Grade Sect that’s already in decline, aren’t you?"
The members of the Five Poison Sect looked on with cold indifference. Before entering, they had already gathered information on the major sects of Qing Province.
One had to know one’s enemy to emerge victorious in this Profound Celestial Ancient Land.
The Yanyue Sect in its prime might have given them some pause, but what did a fallen sect amount to?
Besides, judging from the auras of the Yanyue Sect group, the only first-tier experts were Tang Lin and two others.
On their side, however, they had ten.
In the green-robed man’s eyes, the Yanyue Sect posed no threat to them at all.
"Hand over all the Blood Spirit Ginseng, or die," the green-robed man said menacingly.
"I’ll give you a choice, too. Hand over your Storage Rings, then scram."
Just then, a detached voice rang out. With his sleeves fluttering, Ning Jiang stepped forward.
"What did you say?"
The green-robed man’s gaze hardened as he looked at Ning Jiang.
Huh?
He was slightly startled. He’d overlooked Ning Jiang until now because he couldn’t sense any powerful aura from him. The young man seemed completely ordinary.
’Why do I feel like I can’t quite see through him? It must be my imagination.’
The green-robed man shook his head, a vicious glint in his eyes. "Since you dared to speak to us like that, I’ll make sure death is your only way out."
"Sigh."
Ning Jiang sighed, his voice cold and clear. "To think I’d have to kill someone so soon after arriving. But you brought this upon yourselves, so don’t blame me when you’re dead!"
"You’re courting death."
Looked down upon again and again, the green-robed man flew into a rage. "Five Poison Hand Seal!"
An aura befitting a Young Giant Level expert erupted from his body. As he thrust out a palm, the air boiled and churned. A massive hand appeared in the sky, its five fingers glowing with five different colors.
These were five deadly poisons.
The people of the Five Poison Sect were extremely skilled with poisons, and these five were particularly virulent. The slightest touch was enough to kill a Young Giant.
"HISSS..."
The Five Poison Hand Seal made a crackling sound as it came into contact with the air.
"Senior Brother’s Five Poison Hand Seal is enough to kill or injure more than half of the Yanyue Sect. That kid is a dead man."
"Senior Brother has a short fuse. Anyone who dares to cross him has never met a good end. This kid is just asking for it."
The group sneered, waiting to see Ning Jiang die.
"You dare display such deviant arts in front of me?"
A trace of disdain appeared in Ning Jiang’s eyes. He clenched his fingers into a fist and threw a punch.
BOOM!
A bolt of Purple Thunder crashed forward, unstoppable, and shattered the Five Poison Hand Seal.
With a muffled groan, the green-robed man stumbled back several steps.
"How is that possible? Who in the world are you? How could a declining sect like the Yanyue Sect produce an expert like you? Don’t tell me you’re Jian Xinghe!"
The green-robed man stared at Ning Jiang in shock.
He was familiar with the name Jian Xinghe. After all, this was the number one expert of Qing Province’s younger generation, someone who could rival the top experts of the other three Upper Grade Sects. Perhaps only Madman Tu could be considered his superior.
"Jian Xinghe? It seems your information is out of date."
At this moment, Zi Yunfei said coldly, "You only know that my Yanyue Sect was in decline. You don’t know that we’ve recently restored our former glory, and now no one in Qing Province dares to provoke us."
"You only know of Jian Xinghe, but what does he amount to? He was defeated by our Ninth Elder at the Qing Province Tournament long ago. The title of number one in Qing Province’s younger generation now belongs to our Ninth Elder!"
Her words were like a thunderclap.
"What? He defeated Jian Xinghe and is now the number one of Qing Province’s younger generation?!"
The faces of everyone from the Five Poison Sect turned pale. They stared at Ning Jiang in shock. An expert of his caliber was far beyond what they could handle.
"Apologies. That was a small misunderstanding. We’ll leave right now."
The green-robed man was pragmatic. Realizing he was no match for Ning Jiang, he knew retreating was the best choice.
"Trying to leave? It’s too late. I never give second chances. You didn’t leave when you had the chance, so now you can all stay behind."
Ning Jiang took a step forward, Purple Thunder surging around his body with unparalleled might.
"Kid, don’t push it!" the green-robed man roared.
But what answered him was a Thunder Seal, like the Celestial Emperor holding His Jade Seal to stabilize the realm and divide the cosmos.
The Nine Tribulations Celestial Thunder Seal.
"BANG."
Before everyone’s shocked eyes, the green-robed man’s body shattered like porcelain, blasted to dust by the thunderbolt.
Although this man was a Young Giant, his strength was still a notch below the likes of Li Kuangba. After all, the Five Poison Sect specialized in poison, which made them somewhat weaker in direct combat.
"Kill them."
A dozen breaths later, more than ten corpses lay on the ground.
"The experts of a Middle Grade Sect... all wiped out just like that?"
The members of the Yanyue Sect swallowed hard, secretly marveling at Ning Jiang’s ruthless decisiveness.
"What’s wrong? Do you think that was cruel? If it weren’t for the Ninth Elder, we would be the ones lying on the ground right now!" Zi Yunfei said sternly, taking a deep breath.
Without Ning Jiang, the Five Poison Sect would not have spared them.
"The Great Thousand Realms is a world where might makes right, where the weak are prey for the strong. It’s just that here in the Profound Celestial Ancient Land, everything becomes even more brutal because we have to fight for every resource. Alright, let’s go."
Ning Jiang waved his hand and led the group away.
This time, they had a great harvest. They had found fifteen stalks of Thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Ginseng alone, which meant the Yanyue Sect would gain fifteen new Spirit Realm experts.
On top of that, their greatest prize was a two-thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Ginseng, which was potent enough to help the Yanyue Sect produce another Young Giant.
"Senior Brother Tang Lin is only half a step away from becoming a Young Giant. Let’s give this Blood Spirit Ginseng to him."
Neither Zi Yunfei nor Xiang Yinghao contested this, willingly offering it to Tang Lin.
"Excellent. Tang Lin, don’t refuse. Increasing your strength is what’s most important right now. Take this Blood Spirit Ginseng tonight and break through to the Young Giant Level," Ning Jiang said, making the final decision.
"Yes, Ninth Elder."
Although Ning Jiang was young, he already had an imposing air, and Tang Lin did not dare to disobey him.
As night fell, they found a cave residence and set up a temporary camp.
Inside the cave, Tang Lin consumed the two-thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Ginseng.
"The Profound Celestial Ancient Land is open for seven days at a time. Our haul from just this first day is already more than what our Yanyue Sect used to get in an entire seven-day trip."
Zi Yunfei said happily. In the past, whenever the Profound Celestial Ancient Land had opened, the disciples of the Yanyue Sect had only reaped limited benefits.
This was mainly because they weren’t strong enough to compete for the best resources.
But now that they had Ning Jiang, things were completely different. They could crush any Middle Grade Sect that stood in their way.
"But all of this is just an appetizer. The main event is on the seventh day, when the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall at the center opens. That’s where the greatest opportunities lie," said Zi Yunfei.
"What do you know about the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall?" Ning Jiang had heard about it before entering the Ancient Land.
"I’m not clear on the specifics, but I’ve heard that inside the Profound Celestial Ancient Hall, there are not only all sorts of Cultivation Techniques, Martial Techniques, and Elixirs, but there might even be a Divine Spirit Flower."
Hearing the three words "Divine Spirit Flower," Ning Jiang’s heart skipped a beat.
It was an incredibly rare and wondrous flower with an astonishing effect: it could help a person condense a Primordial Spirit with a nearly one-hundred-percent success rate.
’The difficulty of breaking through to the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm is too high. A single Divine Spirit Flower won’t be enough; I’ll need at least ten!’ Ning Jiang thought to himself. ’Regardless, I have to go to that Profound Celestial Ancient Hall.’
「The night passed quickly.」
BOOM!
A powerful aura erupted from Tang Lin’s body, startling the others.
"Senior Brother Tang Lin has become a Young Giant!"
"This is great! Now the Yanyue Sect not only has the Ninth Elder, but we also have another Young Giant. Who would dare to disrespect us now?"
...
「In a mountain ravine.」
"Everyone, hurry up. Take as many of these Spirit Medicines as you can before someone else finds us."
A coolly beautiful woman was giving the order. It was Liu Bingxue.
At this moment, the disciples of the Floating Snow Hall were frantically harvesting the Spirit Medicines here.
Individually, these Spirit Medicines might not be as valuable as a Thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Ginseng, but there were hundreds of them. All together, their value could easily rival the Yanyue Sect’s haul.
"Not bad. To think there’d be so many Spirit Medicines here."
Suddenly, a voice spoke, and a group of people emerged.
Upon seeing them, the color drained from the faces of Liu Bingxue and her companions. This group wore blood-red robes, marking them as members of the Evil Spirit Sect!
"I don’t want to waste my breath. Leave all the Spirit Medicines."
The Evil Spirit Sect had split into three teams, each led by a Young Giant. The Young Giant leading this team was named Hu Hao.
"Leave the Spirit Medicines. We’re going."
Although Liu Bingxue was unwilling to yield, she knew that clashing with the Evil Spirit Sect was unwise. Their group was also stronger than hers.
"Wait. The others can go, but you’re staying," Hu Hao suddenly snorted.
"What do you mean?" Liu Bingxue’s elegant brows furrowed.
"It’s simple. I’ve taken a liking to you, and now I’m going to make you my woman." Hu Hao clasped his hands behind his back and licked his lips, his greedy gaze sweeping over Liu Bingxue’s body.
Liu Bingxue was the top expert of the Floating Snow Hall. In terms of both her aura and her looks, she was a first-class beauty in Qing Province.
And Hu Hao was from the Evil Spirit Sect, a sect that lived by the law of the jungle, where plunder was the norm. If they saw a woman they wanted, they simply took her.
"You can kill me, but you cannot humiliate me!" Liu Bingxue’s eyes blazed with fury.
"Hahaha! Then let’s see if you can escape from my grasp!" Hu Hao’s gaze suddenly turned sharp.
"CRACK."
Without hesitation, Liu Bingxue took out a Jade Scroll and crushed it in her hand.