Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 299: Chapter 295: Triple Boost, Thunder Dragon Fist

In the arena, Lady Blood Crow was being beaten into a steady retreat by Ning Jiang. Finally, truly enraged, she let out a long, sharp cry.

"Blood Crow Technique."

As she spoke, she sliced open her own wrist with her fingers. Instantly, a beam of crimson light shot out from the wound.

"What is that?"

The pupils of countless onlookers contracted, their faces filled with shock.

From within the red light emerged an enormous, blood-colored crow. It threw its head back and shrieked at the sky, its eyes a deep scarlet, filled with malevolence and bloodlust.

The blood crow didn’t attack Ning Jiang, however. It spread its massive wings and slowly began to merge with Lady Blood Crow’s body.

As they merged, Lady Blood Crow’s aura began to surge.

Her appearance was also changing. Her previously old and sallow skin became smooth at a visible rate. Her stooped figure, as if revitalized with boundless energy, slowly straightened.

Strands of long, blood-red hair even began to sprout from her balding scalp.

In less than ten breaths, Lady Blood Crow had undergone a drastic transformation.

She seemed to have regained her youth, instantly becoming decades younger. The hideous old crone had transformed into a beautiful woman.

"Could the rumors be true? Is this Lady Blood Crow’s real face?"

Countless people stared at her current form in horror.

Rumor had it that Lady Blood Crow was once a great beauty who had infatuated many a man. But because of a certain Cultivation Technique she practiced, she had become the hag she was today.

"To make such a great sacrifice just to cultivate the Blood Crow Technique... is it really worth it?"

The Sect Leader of the Withered Blade Sect sighed. As an expert of the Earth Martial Realm, he knew some of the inside story.

The price for cultivating this Blood Crow Technique was enormous. It required raising a blood crow within one’s own body. This blood crow was not a physical creature but an Evil Spirit—an existence akin to a Primordial Spirit.

It was tantamount to cultivating a second Blood Crow Primordial Spirit within oneself.

This Blood Crow Primordial Spirit would continuously absorb its host’s blood to strengthen itself. In the beginning, when the blood crow was still weak, the host wouldn’t notice any changes.

But as the blood crow grew stronger, it demanded more blood. At that point, the host would begin to age rapidly. Even their temperament would change, turning them cruel and bloodthirsty.

However, the return for such a steep price was also significant.

Right now, Lady Blood Crow’s aura was more than three times stronger than it had been before.

This was a Secret Technique that boosted one’s strength!

Secret Techniques for boosting one’s strength were always precious, with perhaps one in ten thousand people ever mastering one. Though this Secret Technique that could triple one’s power came at a great cost, if word of it ever got out, countless people would surely fight to learn it.

This was, after all, a world where strength reigned supreme.

"Boy, the last Earth Martial Realm expert to witness my Blood Crow Technique had his skull become a part of my scepter. Once I capture you, I will tear you to shreds piece by piece and give you a true taste of terror."

Lady Blood Crow was beautiful now, but her appearance only made her more terrifying.

BOOM!

She struck with her palm, and in an instant, a massive, blood-red palm print bore down on him.

"Break!"

Ning Jiang roared, unleashing his Thunderbolt Fist to its absolute limit. He drew down bolts of lightning, causing his fist to glow with brilliant light. When he punched, it left a radiant streak in the air hundreds of feet long, like the tail of a comet.

BANG!

The resulting shockwave was several times stronger than before. Many of the Martial Artists clapped their hands over their ears, nearly deafened by the sound.

"Ning Jiang is on the losing end."

Astonished eyes turned to see that the once-unstoppable Ning Jiang had actually been forced back several steps by the blow.

Everyone could see that after activating her Secret Technique, Lady Blood Crow’s strength had increased so much that she was on a completely different level.

"Lady Blood Crow will win for sure!"

Over on the Evil Spirit Sect’s side, tens of thousands of disciples erupted in cheers that shook the heavens.

"Our Sect Leader is going to win!"

Yue Wenfu and the others broke out in a cold sweat for Ning Jiang, silently praying that he would be victorious.

The two fought as they moved across the sky, their battle fierce. Ning Jiang’s Fist Force was like a raging tide as he continuously drew upon Thunder Power to clash head-on with Lady Blood Crow. Every single one of their moves seemed to shake the very heavens and earth.

BANG!

After another collision, Ning Jiang was sent flying backward through the air, his feet scraping against the very air itself and leaving a long trail in his wake.

Although he was at a disadvantage, Lady Blood Crow still couldn’t manage to kill him. To do that, she would need truly overwhelming power.

"Lady Blood Crow, is this all the power you have, even after activating your Secret Technique?"

Ning Jiang stood proudly in the air, a divine light churning in his eyes.

"You’re courting death." Lady Blood Crow’s expression turned cold. "Let’s see you handle this! Blood Crow’s Nine Transformations!"

With a sharp cry, she stomped her foot, and, wreathed in a hurricane, shot into the sky.

Her body, like that of a blood crow, left a crimson streak across the sky as she shot directly above Ning Jiang and swiped down with her claws.

This strike harnessed her Domain Power. The trajectory of her claws shifted nine times in mid-air, with each transformation pushing the technique to its absolute peak. After the ninth change, the attack could transform no further; now imbued with immense power, it tore toward Ning Jiang from an impossible angle.

’Nine transformations, with the power stacking each time. Interesting.’

Ning Jiang saw through it instantly. An attack like this would be enough to severely wound or even kill any other Earth Martial Realm expert.

But to him, it wasn’t much of a threat.

"Then you can take a punch from me. Thunder Dragon Fist!"

Ning Jiang’s white hair streamed behind him and his long robes billowed as he threw a seemingly simple, unadorned punch.

Thunder Dragon Fist was the advanced form of Thunderbolt Fist, and its power was several times greater.

Countless bolts of lightning were drawn in by his Fist Force, converging into the attack. With an earth-shattering roar, a ferocious, baring Thunder Dragon took shape around his fist.

A punch like this perfectly embodied the tyrannical and overwhelming nature of the Fist Technique.

The expressions of the three Upper Grade Sect Leaders all changed at once. They knew they could never take such a Fist Technique head-on.

BANG!

Fist and claw slammed into each other.

A terrifying aftershock swept outward, causing the ground to tremble and split apart. The faces of the Primordial Spirit Realm experts paled.

The aftershock alone was enough to annihilate them, turning them to dust and ash.

At the epicenter of the collision, both fighters were thrown back.

"What a domineering Fist Technique! To think he could fight Lady Blood Crow to a standstill."

"But the toll of that punch must have been enormous. Look, of the three flowers above his head, only one remains."

The crowd looked toward the top of Ning Jiang’s head. The battle had already cost him two of the flowers.

’I can’t let this drag on,’ Ning Jiang thought. ’The power from the Three Flowers Dao is finite, not endless. Once it runs out, I’m dead.’

Similarly, Lady Blood Crow was also growing anxious.

Her strength-boosting Secret Technique also had a time limit. When it expired, she would even enter a Weakness Stage.

’There’s only one move left to use,’ Lady Blood Crow thought.