t [V5C155 – A Distance Within Reach]
Blackmoon was still firing aggressively, and the patrol gunship was on the verge of collapse despite its best efforts to evade. Flames were spurting out in many places accompanied by dense smoke. Eventually, the vessel lost control and started spinning in the air as a large piece of steel fell off.
Nanhua stood up urgently and started strafing when she saw that the airship was about to crash without her managing to land a single hit. It was just that no one knew where her bullets went across such a long distance.
Finally, the flaming patrol gunship could no longer hold on and fell crashing into the ground. A violent explosion ensued, sending dense rolling smoke into the air.
The two airships behind had only flown halfway when they witnessed this scene. The vessels were so shocked that they turned around immediately without bothering to ascend—if Blackmoon could finish off a patrol gunship a thousand meters away, she could just as easily destroy one a thousand meters in the air.
“Looks like the fun is over,” Song Zining shrugged and shouted while raising his spear, “we’ll deal with the remaining two according to the plan!”
The six Primordial Beasts behind them started up once again and drove toward the county capital. The three cannons weren’t retracted, and their muzzles only turned toward each side, seemingly waiting for the next victim.
Dust clouds rose above the distant military camp as their gates opened after a period of chaos. Out drove dozens of combat vehicles and hundreds of armored military transports which surged toward the Dark Flame convoy like a flood of steel.
Ignoring the Nangong army, Qianye circulated his origin power and shouted at the top of his voice, “Nangong Yuanwang, Nangong Zhen, get out here! Don’t just send your subordinates to their deaths!”
This shout rumbled like rolling thunder which, despite the distance, reverberated in all of the Nangong men’s ears.
Nangong Zhen, who was resting silently within the command vehicle, opened his eyes ever so slightly. A flash of imperceivable graveness flashed through his eyes—that distant shout actually made him feel a faint sense of peril.
But with his identity, Nangong Zhen had no choice but to respond to such an open challenge. He immediately sneered, “There’s no need to trouble the Second Elder to deal with a group of juniors. With this seat taking action, it’s more than enough to deal with you lot!” He didn’t raise his voice, but his voice traveled toward Qianye with incomparable clarity.
Qianye and Song Zining exchanged glances after hearing this. They had come to a tacit understanding.
Song Zining glanced back at Nanhua and said, “You stall those two champions in a while. Duan Hao’s unit will provide support.”
Nanhua wanted to complain at first, but for some reason, she nodded in agreement.
Song Zining then gestured toward Blackmoon and pointed toward the incoming sea of Nangong soldiers. Blackmoon nodded seriously and rubbed her fingers in a money-counting gesture.
Money was Song Zining’s forte, yet he couldn’t help but become startled after seeing this Highbeard lass’s skilled gesture and solemn expression. But the Seventh Young Master was rich and his style was carefree—he only feared women wouldn’t speak money with him. Everything was negotiable as long as they were willing to name a price.
Song Zining immediately agreed without any hesitation. His forthright attitude caused Blackmoon’s eyes to light up.
Nangong Zhen flew up into the sky when the armies were a couple hundred meters apart and looked down at the speeding Dark Flame convoy. His eyes swept over Qianye and Song Zining like lightning.
Qianye immediately felt as though he had been seen through once he came in touch with that gaze. He was shaken as he realized that these celebrated old veterans possessed true skill.
However, Nangong Zhen’s shock far surpassed Qianye’s own. This was the first time he had personally laid eyes on the much spoken of Blackflow City Lord. The other party’s nine origin nodes were clearly visible as he activated his origin power—this proved that the young man who had inflicted so many casualties on their family’s combat unit was actually not a champion.
This was even more astonishing than failing to see through his rank or discovering a secret art!
While not yet a champion, he was able to penetrate the central army and kill the First-Rank Viscount Luther. While not yet a champion, he was able to survive a blow from Nangong Yuanwang and then swagger off. Such a person would, without a doubt, rise meteorically after stepping into the champion realm.
Now that Qianye and the Nangong family had formed a deep enmity, they had no intention to let Qianye go unharmed despite their original terms. The most lenient they could be was crippling his cultivation.
However, Nangong Zhen narrowed his eyes as a killing intent rose in his heart. Qianye had risen to power on his own in a desolate land like Evernight and possessed no family background. The Nangong family would never sleep soundly again if he were to throw away everything and fight them to the death.
His eyes turned toward Song Zining with growing frostiness. He secretly speculated that this kid wasn’t easy to deal with either, and they had already offended him to the utmost with the battle of Blackflow City. Although killing him would bring trouble, it should be fine to cripple him in one blow and prevent future troubles.
Nangong Zhen was entertaining malicious thoughts when Song Zining called out from afar, “Sir Nangong, we meet again so soon. How can such a major character like you have so much time to enjoy our remote countryside sceneries?”
Nangong Zhen pointed toward the ruined sentry post and said coldly, “What’s the meaning of this? Can Seventh Young Noble explain a bit?”
Song Zining chuckled lightly and said frivolously, “Nothing much, these fellows don’t understand the rules and actually fired at my ride. How can I allow such insensible people to work under Sir Nangong? That’ll be a humiliation to you. That’s why I took charge and reprimanded them a bit.”
Qianye was prepared to start a massacre. However, he couldn’t help but fall between laughter and tears after hearing Song Zining’s shameless words.
Nangong Zhen’s expression turned ashen as he said repeatedly, “Good, good! Song Zining, I shall discipline you in your elders’ stead today. You truly do not know the immensity of heaven and earth!”
“Why is Sir Nangong so perturbed over a few dead dogs? Moreover, you must have forgotten that the land beneath your feet belongs to Blackflow City. Who can say anything about me killing some people on my own land? In fact, it’s your Nangong family who blocked my lines of communication and hunted down my brother. How come no one’s speaking out about that?”
At this point in the conversation, Song Zining’s smile suddenly disappeared as he said coldly, “Discipline me for my elders? Are you worthy of it?”
The words were spoken with great clarity and spread far and wide like the chime of metal and stone. The thousands of Nangong soldiers heard them very clearly.
Nangong Zhen could no longer keep calm at this point. He shouted furiously, “Wild junior! I shall destroy you today!”
He donned a finger-sleeve seemingly made of gold or bronze and charged over like a bolt of lightning. The man threw out a fist from a hundred meters away, the force from which completely enveloped Qianye, Song Zining, and Nanhua.
The fist was quite loud, but Qianye sneered secretly after scanning it with his True Sight. Nangong Zhen was really too arrogant in dispersing his force so thin at such a distance. Qianye and Song Zining were well-coordinated. Qianye immediately understood after seeing Song Zining’s glance and quickly held back his attack.
Song Zining shouted loudly. The runes on his spear flickered as he drew a stream of flaming specks through the air and flicked the point toward Nangong Zhen’s fist—it was as though fire beacons had lit up in all directions amidst the charge of myriad cavalry.
The spear possessed great might. Not only did it destroy the incoming fist intent, but also reduced the force going toward Qianye significantly. The latter stood behind and only blocked horizontally with a still-sheathed East Peak to neutralize all of the remaining force.
It took Nanhua much more effort. She was pushed back repeatedly as her twin blades collided with the fist-force and her small face turned much paler. She was originally fearless and was even blaming Song Zining and Qianye for not bringing her along for the confrontation against the Nangong family elders. Only after the clash did she realize that this wasn’t a battle she could take part in.
Song Zining was an exception—Nanhua knew that this seemingly hedonistic aristocrat was actually quite unfathomable. However, Qianye’s strength had far surpassed her expectations, and she couldn’t help but shoot him a glance. Despite having seen him behead Luther, she was subconsciously unconvinced and believed that most of the work was done by Song Zining’s spear. Only after the present comparison did she understand that Qianye’s victory was no cheap trick.
Nangong Zhen felt humiliated after his fist strike failed to produce results, but he also became much calmer at heart. With their current performance, Nangong Zhen was confident that he could take them down within a hundred moves without alarming Sky Demon.
He let out a low growl and pounced toward Song Zining at lightning speed. Among the three, Nangong Zhen was the most apprehensive of this Song clan seventh young master. It was just that a wisp of doubt flashed through Nangong Zhen’s heart. Just how did Qianye escape from Nangong Yuanwang’s hands with such mediocre combat strength?
Nangong Zhen was so fast that he had already arrived before Song Zining and thrown a fist toward the latter’s chest just as that thought flashed past—his glimmering fist intent condensed like a pillar and blasted out like an origin cannon shell.
Fallen leaves danced around Song Zining as his spear thrice shot forth at lightning speed. Flame streaks weaved through the air and just barely blocked the force behind Nangong Zhen’s fist.
Murderous intent suffused Nangong Zhen’s countenance upon seeing Song Zining capable of defending head-on against the momentum of his fist. He withdrew the Origin’s End with a snort. This familial secret art was apparently ineffective against Song Zining, but he had more than one domain.
Nangong Zhen stepped forward with green mist flashing around his body, and a lush forest suddenly emerged in a hundred-meter radius around him. Within moments, Song Zining’s domain was dispersed and suppressed. The man took another step forward and punched out once more.
The force within these fist-strikes was as condensed as a pillar, and the radiance produced was almost tangible. He held back no longer as the clear intention to kill rose deep within his heart.
Song Zining quickly withdrew dozens of meters while firing off a flurry of countless spear afterimages. But no matter how far he retreated, Nangong Zhen would follow, his fists like a torrent of raging waves.
Qianye had also entered the fray. East Peak slashed repeatedly at Nangong Zhen with the momentum of a mountain-splitting axe. His footwork matched the man’s own and wasn’t even half a step late. Nangong Zhen had long since reached a state of complete harmony in his cultivation—slashing on his origin power barrier was akin to weakening his fist-power.
Within moments, Nangong Zhen, Qianye, and Song Zining had taken their battle hundreds of meters away. Nanhua remained in place and moved to intercept the two Nangong family champions who were about to follow suit. Twin blades dancing, she swept the both of them into her own domain.
The two champions opened up their own domains, but Nanhua’s was exceptionally powerful and didn’t lose out at all despite fighting two against one. She was exceptionally fast, nimble, and able to handle the two enemies with ease. But it was also quite difficult for her to inflict any meaningful damage.
Immediately afterward, the timber of origin guns rang out—the remaining experts of the Nangong clan wanted to rush over but were pinned down by Duan Hao’s unit. They began firing at range since both sides were quite distant, and it would require at least three or four sprints to reach melee range.
At this moment, the continuous rumble of an abnormally loud cannon drowned out all the sounds on the battlefield. Blackmoon had finally found the chance to start sweeping with the autocannon that had been modified by Nangong Xiaoniao.