Night fell.
Suddenly, fine snowflakes began to fall again.
At this moment, Jiang Ning walked on the soft snow-covered road, with no one around.
In such harsh weather, even in the inner city, few were willing to venture out.
"This winter, I'm afraid there will be more frozen bodies in the outer city."
Jiang Ning thought of the outer city and couldn't help but sigh.
In his previous life, when he lived in the north, every winter he would see stray cats frozen to death in forgotten corners.
Surviving the winter!
In an era with underdeveloped productivity, it had always been a life-threatening challenge.
So Jiang Ning was well aware that in this era, especially during a year of severe drought, even though the people around Luoshui County could irrigate their fields with water from the Luo River, the harvest would still be poor.
Without a good harvest, surviving the winter would be an extremely difficult task.
And this was for the people of Luoshui County, who lived near the Luo River.
For those further away, encountering such a severe drought without a water source to irrigate their fields would be a true natural disaster, one that could force people to flee their homes.
Along the way, Jiang Ning thought about many things.
After a long while, he shook his head, dispelling the distracting thoughts in his mind.
He knew this matter had nothing to do with him.
And he couldn't do anything about it.
Not even he, not even the person worshipped by hundreds of officials could handle this.
In the face of natural disasters, human power was too insignificant.
He could only be grateful now, grateful that he had some ability and strength, so he didn't have to struggle on the edge of life and death like the ordinary people in the outer city.
At that moment.
Jiang Ning's ears twitched slightly.
"I was a bit careless just now, almost missing the person tailing me in the dark."
His vigilance suddenly skyrocketed.
Jiang Ning was well aware that with his current strength and heightened senses, someone who could get within a hundred meters of him without being detected must be extraordinary, far surpassing any opponent he had faced before.
"Who is it?"
Jiang Ning wondered silently.
Thoughts raced through his mind, and various possibilities kept surfacing.
"Could it be Liu Linman?"
Thinking of this possibility, Jiang Ning's heart tightened.
Liu Linman.
From what he knew, he was a fifth-rank Internal Strength expert.
And he had already condensed his internal energy, though not yet to the level of Internal Energy as Steel.
In Jiang Ning's estimation, his strength might be on par with Hong Minghu.
"Is it him?" Jiang Ning wondered silently, pushing his senses to their limits.
Instantly.
All sounds within a few hundred meters became clear.
His powerful hearing scanned the surroundings like radar.
Then, the outline of the person tailing him appeared in his mind.
It wasn't Liu Linman!
Jiang Ning shook his head slightly, making his judgment.
Based on the outline's height, he realized the person was half a head shorter than Liu Linman.
Their builds were too different for it to be Liu Linman.
"If it's not him, then who is it?" Jiang Ning continued walking forward, silently pondering.
On the other side.
The middle-aged woman had been following Jiang Ning from a distance.
"I need to find a good spot to strike! I can't cause too much commotion! Luoshui County isn't safe right now!" she thought to herself.
At that moment.
She was slightly surprised.
Because she saw Jiang Ning, who had been walking on the main road, suddenly turn into an alley.
"Perfect opportunity!!" She quickly followed.
On the other side.
Jiang Ning entered the alley, blocking the tailer's line of sight. He then flashed, a gust of wind swirling around him as he swiftly disappeared into the snow.
Moments later.
"Not good!" The middle-aged woman entered the alley and her expression changed.
Because Jiang Ning's figure had disappeared from her sight, and the snow-covered ground showed no footprints. Jiang Ning was nowhere to be seen.
"Did Commander Jiang notice I was tailing him?"
"When did he notice?"
Looking at the snow-covered ground with no traces, the middle-aged woman's eyes flickered.
At the same time.
Jiang Ning was already standing on a high pavilion.
The sky was dark, and the quiet Luoshui County was shrouded in darkness, with only the scattered lights of households providing some illumination.
In such poor lighting, even martial artists' vision was greatly limited.
But with his heightened senses, Jiang Ning could still clearly see her face from hundreds of meters away.
"It's her?"
Jiang Ning's eyes narrowed as he recognized the trailer.
It was the person who had been with Liu Linman during the day.
"If it's not Liu Linman, then this person shouldn't be at the fifth rank of Internal Strength."
"In that case, I'll use you to test my arrows!!"
Jiang Ning looked at the figure in the distant alley and muttered to himself.
As he spoke, Jiang Ning took out a bow and an arrow from his spatial ring.
When he entered Beimang Mountain to exterminate the Black Mountain Army, he had only tested the normal state of his Wind and Thunder Archery.
As for the Wind and Thunder Arrow, which he had mastered after three breakthroughs, he hadn't tested it.
Firstly, there were too many people present, including two teams from the Patrol Bureau, so it wasn't appropriate to reveal too much.
Secondly, the strength of the Black Mountain Army wasn't sufficient, with the strongest being only at the seventh rank of martial arts, the same as him.
At the same rank, they were no match for him now.
He had only tested the effects of the Water-Fire True Force on the Black Mountain Army's leader and easily killed him.
Then.
Jiang Ning slowly drew his bow.
In an instant.
A strong wind rose around him, and the falling snowflakes swirled around his body.
At this moment, Jiang Ning seemed to be enveloped by an invisible whirlwind, with him at its center.
On the other side.
The middle-aged woman's heart suddenly trembled.
"Not good!!"
Her expression changed drastically, and she immediately looked up into the sky.
In her line of sight, the area was shrouded in endless nights.
But an instinctive sense told her that a great danger had arrived.
In the endless night, something had locked onto her, something that could bring her death.
At that moment.
Twang
Jiang Ning released the arrow.
The arrow, with a flash of lightning, pierced through the night sky, turning into a blue arc of electricity as it shot toward the middle-aged woman.
After three breakthroughs, Jiang Ning's Wind and Thunder Archery had reached an unfathomable level.
Having long been able to shoot arrows that broke the sound barrier, Jiang Ning's arrows now traveled at a speed of a thousand meters in an instant.
And now, Jiang Ning was only two to three hundred meters away from the middle-aged woman.
At such a short distance.
In just a moment.
By the time the middle-aged woman saw the lightning in the void.
She had no time to react before the arrow pierced through her body.
Then, the arrow passed through her body, shattered the brick, and buried itself in the soil.
Boom
A loud explosion came from beneath the soil.
The ground shook as if a dragon had turned over, bricks flying in all directions, walls collapsing on both sides, and soil being thrown into the air.
At this moment.
The middle-aged woman looked down at the gaping hole in her chest, her pupils dilating.
"This... this is impossible!"
"Impossible!!"
She muttered to herself.
Then.
She looked up in the direction the arrow had come from, her eyes filled with resentment.
"Jiang Ning, I will kill you!!!"
Her voice was sharp, piercing through the void and reaching Jiang Ning's ears.
Hearing such a vigorous statement, Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, surprised.
A wound that pierced through her chest, with a hole the size of a fist.
Not to mention the lightning energy contained in the arrow had all entered her body.
In such a condition, the middle-aged woman could still speak with such vigor, which greatly surprised Jiang Ning.
The next moment.
Jiang Ning saw flesh buds growing on the middle-aged woman's chest, rapidly filling the fist-sized hole.
Then, her body began to mutate, much like Shi Xiaoyuan's transformation in the sunken ship at the bottom of the lake.
Her body swelled, her clothes soon tearing into shreds hanging on her body.
Her exposed muscles were like iron-cast black blocks.
Blood vessels and veins as thick as fingers spread across her entire body.
"So that's how it is!!" Jiang Ning understood as he watched the scene from afar.
Back then, Shi Xiaoyuan had also transformed into this state, a monstrous form that, despite being only at the eighth rank of martial arts, possessed a nearly indestructible body.
In the blink of an eye.
In Jiang Ning's eyes, the middle-aged woman, who had been on the verge of death, had turned into a three-meter-tall monster, a mass of mutated flesh.
"I will kill you!!"
A low, beast-like roar reached Jiang Ning's ears.
At the same time.
The mutated flesh monster charged toward Jiang Ning.
Her speed was astonishing, covering several meters with each step.
"I've found you!!" The low roar sounded.
Jiang Ning saw her leap into the air.
Despite her massive size, her agility was unaffected.
Boom
Her foot landed on a building, and as she leaped, the building collapsed beneath her.
Watching the flesh monster leaping toward him, Jiang Ning's hand already held a blade.
"Old friend, it's been a while since I've used you!" Jiang Ning gently stroked the blade.
The blade trembled, emitting a series of vibrations.
The spirit weapon had a spirit, and now the spirit within the blade responded.
After months of blood nourishment, Jiang Ning felt a deep connection with the blade, as if it were an extension of his own body.
Holding the blade felt like an extension of his flesh and blood.
The next moment.
Jiang Ning looked at the rapidly approaching mutated flesh monster and leaped into the air.
Hum
The blade in his hand vibrated.
Creating a series of tremors in the air.
In an instant.
The flesh monster's pupils reflected a blindingly bright blade light.
This blade light filled her entire vision.
Her eyes saw nothing but this blade light, shining in the darkness.
Sss
Flesh separated!
Jiang Ning landed on the ground, and behind him, a large amount of black blood spilled.
Sizzle
The black blood fell on the snow, like molten lava on ice.
"Blade Intent!!"
"Blade Intent that moves the heavens and earth!!"
Looking at Jiang Ning's gaze, the flesh monster's eyes flickered with fear.
"Good eye!" Jiang Ning nodded.
This strike was the pinnacle of his abilities so far.
This strike concentrated his essence, energy, and spirit.
With just one strike, Jiang Ning felt a significant drain on his essence, energy, and spirit.
Both the internal energy in his dantian and the blood energy in his body had been depleted by nearly thirty percent.
However, the result of this strike satisfied Jiang Ning.
He had witnessed the strength of Shi Xiaoyuan's transformation.
At that time, after transforming into a monster, Shi Xiaoyuan's strength had increased by more than just a bit.
Far surpassing his normal state.
And this monster in front of him, though Jiang Ning hadn't seen her martial rank earlier.
There was no doubt she was much stronger than Shi Xiaoyuan had been.
In Jiang Ning's view, if she wasn't above the seventh rank, she was at least a seventh-rank expert skilled in stealth.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to hide her presence so well along the way.
With such strength before her transformation, and now in this monstrous state with a nearly indestructible body, her strength must have multiplied.
Yet, even in this state, she had been nearly bisected by Jiang Ning's blade intent.
"Who are you?" The flesh monster looked at Jiang Ning, her eyes filled with fear.
The wound on her body, severed by the blade intent, continued to bleed profusely, and her so-called indestructible body was completely ineffective.
Because the blade intent lingering on her wound prevented her body from regenerating.
This was the first time she had encountered such a situation.
Because she had never before seen someone who could wield a blade intent capable of moving the heavens and earth.
With such blade intent, from what she knew, even grandmasters were only at this level.
The most terrifying opponent she had faced before was only a fifth-rank Internal Strength expert.
And back then, even in her transformed state, though she was no match for the fifth-rank expert, she had managed to hold her own and escape.
At the same time.
Hearing her question, Jiang Ning said calmly, "The person who will send you on your way."
"I mean no harm!!" The middle-aged woman quickly said.
"But I do," Jiang Ning said indifferently.
As he spoke.
Jiang Ning raised the blade in his hand.
The blade light flashed.
Sss
With one strike, the basketball-sized head was sent flying.
Sizzle
Black blood sprayed from her neck, melting the snow where it landed.
"I still don't know her rank."
"If she's seventh rank, given her identity as a member of the Worship God Sect, I could gain five thousand contribution points."
"If she's sixth rank, I could gain fifty thousand contribution points."
"I wonder if she's seventh rank or above, at sixth rank."
Jiang Ning looked at the headless body slowly collapsing in front of him and muttered to himself.
At the same time.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
Any civilians who had heard the commotion were trembling in their homes, hiding under their beds or tables.
Just hearing the commotion outside, the loud explosions, they knew it was a battle between immortals, something they couldn't get involved in.
As the commotion subsided.
Jiang Ning faintly heard footsteps approaching from afar.
Moments later.
The dark blue uniforms of constables came into Jiang Ning's view.
"It's Commander Jiang!!"
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