[V5C152 – A Distance Within Reach]
Song Zining suddenly stood up and, without hesitation, burst forth with origin power. The study was immediately filled with a rain of falling leaves. Nangong Zhen’s Origin’s End Domain didn’t affect him much. Moreover, there was no violent scene during the collision of the two domains.
While Nangong Zhen was in doubt, he suddenly realized that Song Zining’s flexible, vine-like origin power had wrapped around his own, causing it to increase uncontrollably!
The rotation of the Iron Curtain above accelerated all of a sudden as the indescribably enormous will of Sky Demon paced back and forth therein. It seemed he would cast his gaze toward Blackflow City at any moment.
Nangong Zhen shouted loudly, “You’re mad!”
Song Zining said word by word, “If you don’t withdraw, then we shall perish together, and you’ll be the first to die!”
Nangong Zhen’s expression changed several times before he finally withdrew his origin power. Only then did he feel a layer of moisture on his back and realized he was unknowingly drenched in cold sweat.
He had just arrived on Evernight and had yet to experience Sky Demon’s power. Although Nangong Yuanwang and the others had given him quite a bit of information on the death of certain unfortunate experts, the conceited Nangong Zhen felt those rumors to be somewhat exaggerated. Only now after coming into contact with Sky Demon’s aura did he realize the terror involved.
Despite his usual calmness, Nangong Zhen couldn’t help but lose his composure after sensing Sky Demon’s aura just now. Under such formidable pressure, Sky Demon didn’t even need to send his avatar—a mere gaze could make Nangong Zhen explode.
As Nangong Zhen withdrew his origin power, the circulation on the Iron Curtain slowed down and eventually came to a stop. Sky Demon’s aura which encompassed hundreds of kilometers also receded gradually, returning Blackflow to its normal state.
Within the isolated room, Qianye was circulating the Combatant Formula. He had lost count of how many times he had charged at the barrier.
The formless firmament was extremely sturdy. Even the impact from forty-nine waves of the Combatant Formula could hardly produce a crack upon it. But Qianye refused to back down because he had sensed that the barrier was no longer invulnerable like before and was starting to waver.
This added to Qianye’s confidence. He threw away all distracting thoughts and repeatedly activated the Combatant Formula, all the while paying rapt attention to every little change. Judging from how the firmament barrier was wavering, he surmised that three isolated cultivations, each lasting seven days, would be enough to blast this barrier apart and push the Combatant Formula into a new realm.
However, at the critical juncture, Qianye sudden felt the entire world start shaking as if there were a major upheaval. In a faraway place that seemed more like another world, an indescribably massive aura descended from the sky, arriving almost instantly and filling the entire world with its presence.
Qianye’s blood core and heart were agitated and started to pulse madly seemingly in an attempt to prevent his will from shattering under the terrifying aura.
Fortunately, that terrifying aura only swept past for an instant and vanished toward the other end of the world.
This aura gave Qianye a feeling of familiarity. Was that Sky Demon? He didn’t have time to ponder from whence the extremely dangerous change had stemmed from when he saw that the previously indomitable barrier was now filled with cracks due to the impact from Sky Demon’s aura.
This was a true, unexpected surprise! However, Qianye immediately discovered that the cracks there were gradually starting to heal as the terrifying aura receded.
Qianye was alarmed! How could he let such a good opportunity to slip away? He immediately activated the Combatant Formula and began throwing the tides at the firmament one after another, regardless of the cost. The barrier was already wavering before this, and now, the series of repeated shocks suddenly brought about a sharp “crack!”
The sound felt like a heavenly note as it resonated in Qianye’s ear.
He saw a small piece of the barrier fall from the firmament and disappear into the void. This small defect was almost negligible compared to the vast dome, but it was, in fact, the herald of the Combatant Formula’s rebirth.
It was at this moment that Sky Demon’s aura rose once again from afar and swept through all obstructions with a merciless chill like a majestic river suspended from the nine heavens.
Qianye’s will was like a small fish swimming in the long river—even a small spray was enough to fling him into the sky, to speak nothing of resisting the great billows.
Nangong Zhen’s idea wasn’t wrong. Before the Sky Demon’s aura, even a cultivating Divine Champion would be strained if he was caught off-guard.
However, the dark golden blood energy scuttled out from the blood core at the critical moment. The little Wings of Inception fluttered as it blocked most of Sky Demon’s aura with the accompanying barrier of light. Meanwhile, the Book of Darkness also appeared at this moment and produced a black light barrier with which to deter the remainder.
As expected of Andruil’s core inheritances, the Wings of Inception and the Book of Darkness were actually able to stand up to Sky Demon’s aura. Although the two of them were contending against an extremely small portion of Sky Demon’s will, it was already an astonishing feat.
With the protection afforded to him by the Wings of Inception and the Book of Darkness, Qianye clenched his teeth and decided to grasp this wonderful opportunity. He activated the Combatant Formula to strike at the barrier which was already cracking under the pressure of Sky Demon’s aura. Fragments fell like rain as the once indomitable barrier was filled with holes in the blink of an eye and teetering on the brink of collapse.
The defects on the firmament revealed a corner of another world—an unfathomable emptiness.
Qianye’s world didn’t calm down even as Sky Demon’s aura vanished once again. The lacerations in the sky seemed to have lost the ability to self-repair, allowing strands of suffocating auras to descend from the void and into the origin sea below.
These auras were inexplicably large, cold, and unsympathetic—somewhat similar to Sky Demon’s, but were even more ancient and majestic. It seemed as though they were born together with the universe and have always existed alongside it.
The boundless perpetuity shook Qianye’s heart and almost caused it to stop beating. His will suddenly became a minute speck of dust in the vast expanse of this world, but it was also incomparably sturdy and bright.
The radiance from the Wings of Inception and the Book of Darkness converged around him to form a mixture of dark and light. Meanwhile, the Combatant Formula tide he had just used to assail the barrier had gradually receded, and a giant vortex was revolving slowly down below. Countless runes were flickering on and off upon the inner walls—upon closer inspection, one could see that they belonged to the Song Clan Ancient Scroll’s Mystery and Glory chapters.
A greatly astonished Qianye watched the scene before him unfold, a certain thought appearing in his mind out of nowhere. “Could it be the aura of the great dao?”
At the same time, both Nangong Zhen and Song Zining felt something as they glanced toward the direction of Qianye’s location.
Nangong Zhen’s expression changed rapidly, his heart wracked with bewilderment. Sky Demon’s will had clearly retreated, but he could still feel a certain aura that filled him with trepidation. It was as though a beast hidden within the depths of Blackflow City was about to awaken.
Song Zining retracted his gaze and said coldly, “Did Sir Nangong come to Blackflow City alone just to establish your might? Do you really think you can leave this city alive?”
Nangong Zhen was stoppered up and only managed to emit a heavy snort because Song Zining’s strength had far surpassed his expectations. Had he known that the latter was actually capable of resisting his Origin’s End to this degree, he most certainly wouldn’t have come into Blackflow City alone.
Before this, Nangong Zhen believed that the Song clan’s secret arts were only so-so. Song Zining was also quite young and had just entered the champion rank—how strong could he be? At his level, a battle between experts could no longer be won by stacking human lives against him. He was confident in escaping even if he were surrounded.
But now, Song Zining’s odd secret art alone made it impossible for him to charge out of Blackflow without alarming Sky Demon.
Nangong Zhen sighed in his heart as he recalled the aim of this trip. He forced a smile and said, “I was only joking just now. There’s no need to keep it on your mind. This seat came to deliver a joyous business for Seventh Young Noble. Now, we can discuss things properly.”
“A joyous matter? Sir Nangong’s negotiation methods are truly new. Fine, let’s hear it.” Song Zining’s expression was unfathomable as he raised his hand to stop the Dark Flame soldiers who were about to charge in. He gestured Duan Hao to enter and had Song Hu remain outside to obstruct Nangong Zhen’s aide.
Nangong Zhen ignored the mockery in Song Zining’s words and said, “The conflict between us has caused no small amount of losses to both sides. If this goes on, the matter will definitely become a joke to the other clans. Moreover, we had no idea that Seventh Young Noble’s interests were involved when this conflict began.”
Nangong Zhen paused momentarily at this point. To be precise, they hadn’t expected Song Zining’s reaction would be so intense, and neither had they realized that this person was so difficult to push around.
Song Zining lowered his gaze without replying.
Nangong Zhen continued, “In truth, not everyone in our Nangong family agrees with Nangong Yuanbo’s methods. It’s indeed unwise to initiate such a dispute for a woman. His clan lord position might be shaken before long.”
Song Zining only reacted at this point and nodded in response to the reasonable words. But he still suspected that Nangong Xiaoniao had other secrets on her. Otherwise, Nangong Yuanbo wasn’t lacking in women—why would he offend giant entities like Red Scorpion and the Zhao clan just for her?
Nangong Zhen continued, “I come representing our elder assembly to negotiate a ceasefire with Seventh Young Noble. At the same time, we’ll also stop our attempts to hunt down Qianye.”
A chill flashed through Song Zining’s eyes at this point. “Sir Nangong’s actions just don’t seem so sincere!”
Nangong Zhen remained composed. “Does Seventh Young Master know how many of our family’s scions died in Qianye’s hands? Those are all ranked core descendants. Moreover, I wasn’t looking to take his life. It’s just a small joke, and the results will be as the heavens will it. What will Seventh Young Noble have done if you were in my shoes?”
Song Zining lapsed into silence once again. His right hand behind his back relaxed slightly but clasped tightly once again.
“Moreover, to show our sincerity, we’ll also give you the name of an important character in the Song clan. He paid us a large sum of money to have you remain in Blackflow City forever. He also divulged a lot of information about you. I’m sure such a person would interest you, right?”
Song Zining replied indifferently, “This person must be extremely important to you. Are you going to sell him to me just like that?”