“Flee first! We have to get away from this human immediately!”
“It’s no use! This Sword Qi is blanketing the sky—we can’t escape at all!”
Poetic intent, wine intent, sword intent.
As the Noble Scholar’s Sword vibrated fiercely, even the surrounding space trembled along with it.
One person, one sword, one pot of wine—Chen Ning faced the vast heavens alone.
A lotus bud materialized behind him, poised on the verge of blooming.
The ten pseudo-god statues attempted to flee, only to find they were utterly incapable of escaping the range blanketed by that majestic sword intent.
The black Noble Scholar’s Sword swept upward.
With this strike, the sword soared like a startled swan!
The piercing Sword Qi ripped directly through the void, soaring straight into the firmament.
Following this Sword Qi, that limpid, untainted Blue Lotus finally bloomed in the sky.
Yet contained within the lotus was nothing but sharp, relentless Sword Intent!
Each blossoming petal was like thousands upon thousands of three-foot blades.
Where the sword reached, it shattered the Nine Heavens!
The dark clouds flashing with thunder were torn to shreds in an instant, and the flowing sword radiance outshone even the splendor of the stars and the luminous moon.
No one could see the Sword Qi, but wherever the blooming lotus reached, it was suffused with countless streaks of invisible Sword Intent.
“Damn it! How could my body be pierced?!”
“This Sword Qi is everywhere—it penetrates everything!”
“Nooo!”
The ten pseudo-gods were instantly swallowed whole within this Blue Lotus.
Even the Mountain God’s rock-solid body disintegrated amid the countless strands of Sword Intent.
The Blue Lotus bloomed fully, its emerald brilliance illuminating the sky!
Boom!
The sword radiance flared brilliantly. Across the heavens, it was as if a swimming dragon had passed through; the torn clouds were parted to both sides, and even the earth below was left with a deep, chasm-like sword gouge!
A moment later, lotus petals scattered across the Nine Heavens.
Plummeting along with them were the shattered, withered bodies of the ten pseudo-gods.
A pattering drizzle began to fall from the sky. In this moment, the entire world seemed to fall into complete silence.
The debris of the ten god statues lay scattered all over the ground, as if sliced apart by thousands upon thousands of blades.
Qin Heng stood frozen on the spot. Even as rainwater slid down his cheeks, he could not recover from the shock for a long time.
Slaying ten pseudo-gods with a single sword strike—just how terrifying had that sword been?!
“This pot of wine tasted quite good.”
At this moment, Chen Ning gently patted Qin Heng’s shoulder.
These ten pseudo-gods possessed formidable combat strength, after all. If not for the wine driving the Poem and Wine Sword Art to its utmost peak, he would probably have had to swing his sword several more times at the very least.
Though the outcome would have been roughly the same...
Still, how could that compare to the dashing exhilaration of slaying them in a single strike?
“What does that have to do with me? Brother Chen, please don’t tease me.”
Qin Heng waved his hands repeatedly.
At the thought that he had not contributed any real effort at all, hearing such praise made him feel as if it would shave years off his life.
“Brother Chen, if there is anything you need of me, please don’t hesitate to order me around! No matter what it is, I will definitely give it my all!”
Qin Heng was now practically wishing Chen Ning would work him like a beast of burden; that way, he could at least feel he possessed some value.
Chen Ning: “...”
“Actually, I do happen to have a favor to ask of you. You should have a way to find the temples these ten pseudo-gods belonged to, right?”
Qin Heng immediately nodded. “Yes. As long as I send people to search for which temples have missing statues, we should be able to find them very quickly.”
“Very well. Then I’ll trouble you to locate the corresponding temples and let me know their exact locations.”
Normal god temples did not generate Incense Faith Power.
Only in the temples of these pseudo-gods—who masqueraded as deities and could not properly absorb Incense Faith Power—would Incense Faith Power invisible to ordinary eyes remain behind.
Toward such fine treasures that could not only cleanse the physical body but also directly increase Noble Qi, Chen Ning naturally intended to make full use of them.
As long as he could confirm their exact locations, he would be able to directly absorb large quantities of Incense Faith Power from the corresponding temples.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host, on successfully slaying ten pseudo-gods】
【Obtained system reward: Noble Qi * 1600】
The system notification arrived late, but it did not fail to appear.
This was the first time Chen Ning had ever seen such a massive amount of Noble Qi.
With this vast quantity of Noble Qi, he could not only max out the two newly mastered Divine Abilities, but he could also advance the Divine Phoenix Bloodline to the third tier.
【Chen Ning】
【Noble Qi: 2100】
【Blue Lotus Fire Seal (200/200) (Great Perfection)】
【Pure Breeze in Both Sleeves (800/800) (Great Perfection)】
【All Manifestations: Mountains and Rivers, First Tier (0/300)】
【Demon-Suppressing Pagoda (0/2100)】
【Divine Phoenix Bloodline, Third Tier (300/800)】
【Poem and Wine Sword Art, Blue Lotus Sword Intent (First Tier) (0/500)】
The first tier required 300, and the second tier required 500 Noble Qi. As the tiers increased, the Noble Qi required for each tier of the Divine Phoenix Bloodline also increased by a massive margin.
However, this also proved that the Divine Phoenix Bloodline was indeed an extraordinarily precious asset.
Especially the ultimate bloodline within his body, purified by the system to a purity so high it practically reached total ancestral reversion.
As it advanced tier by tier, the power it unleashed would likely become even more monstrous.
Feeling the surging power within his body now, Chen Ning was even itching to find a martial artist to get into a fistfight with.
After all, only head-to-head combat between martial artists could clearly reveal just how far the regenerative capabilities of his Divine Phoenix Bloodline had reached.
Unfortunately, Qin Heng’s physique—unable to withstand even a few punches—could not satisfy Chen Ning’s needs, so he could only shelve the thought for now.
...
Wutong Street.
When Chen Ning returned, tonight’s Lantern Riddle Festival had not yet ended.
Thus, he took Qing Yan and strolled down the street for another half a shichen, effortlessly solving a full six or seven lantern riddles along the way.
Her arms full of prizes won from guessing the lantern riddles, Qing Yan suddenly asked, “By the way, Young Master, are you actually profoundly knowledgeable?”
“Why ask so suddenly? It couldn’t be just because of the lantern riddles, could it?”
“Of course not! It’s because after Young Master left tonight, a Confucian scholar came to the street looking for you, saying he greatly admired you.
That Confucian scholar looked to be around thirty years old and had a very scholarly, refined air about him.
Though, he wasn’t as handsome as Young Master, of course!
The only strange thing was that he actually plucked a stalk of withered grass from the roadside and said he wanted to give it to Young Master as a meeting gift.”
Saying that, Qing Yan retrieved that stalk of withered grass from her bosom.
Yet in an instant, a look of astonishment crossed her face.
“Strange... it was clearly withered grass before, so how could it now...”
The originally withered, yellow blade of grass had, at some unknown point, actually sprouted tender green shoots and blossomed into a lovely little flower.
“You’re saying this flower was originally just a stalk of withered grass?”
“Yes, without a shadow of a doubt!”
Recalling what Qing Yan had just said, Chen Ning’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Could it be that the person used the Confucian technique... Withered Wood Meets Spring?!”
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