#189 - New Thunder
Chapter 187 New Thunder
If Wang Qian had hesitated even a little with that final palm strike, Wei Changtian would not have allowed him to leave alive.
It was precisely because he genuinely had the resolve to die at that moment that Wei Changtian instead let him go.
The reason was simple.
Unwillingness to die meant there were still attachments, willingness to die meant true release.
Since that was the case, whether Wang Qian ultimately lived or died was no longer important.
Sigh, what are all these things...
Sitting at the table, Wei Changtian sighed repeatedly.
Although life is impermanent and the world is unpredictable, why are such twisted coincidences happening to him and around him?
If it were Xiao Feng...
Hmm? Why did he think of him again?
It's been two months since he died. The Child of Destiny is now Ning Yongnian and that East Sea fish demon named Yun Lian.
Speaking of which, what is the standard for the Heavenly Dao in choosing the Child of Destiny?
Normally, shouldn't it be those unknown people who are poor and without parents?
How did Ning Yongnian get chosen?
Damn it...
“Rumble!!”
A flash of lightning, followed by a thunderclap that suddenly exploded in the sky.
One roar shook the heavens, startling the Milky Way; new thunder rolled across the distant mountains.
Before the first month was over, the first rain of the new year in Shu Province arrived so unexpectedly.
“Hahaha!!”
“Hahahahaha!!!”
Surrounded by golden light, Ning Yongnian looked up and opened his eyes, an unprecedented aura of an emperor erupting from his body.
This was a powerful pressure that could almost be solidified.
Even if Ning Yongnian took off his dragon robe and dressed like a beggar, as long as he released this aura in front of people, it would be enough to make the other party have an irresistible sense of submission from the bottom of their hearts.
Second Rank!
Even Ning Yongnian himself probably didn't expect that his realm, which had stagnated for nearly ten years, would finally break through the bottleneck at this moment, and step into the supreme Second Rank like a monstrous wave!
Ning Yongnian slowly stood up from the golden silk cushion, the power in his body becoming more and more turbulent, but his expression gradually returned to calm.
He looked up at the front, at a huge map that occupied the entire wall.
Rivers and mountains, forests and oceans, dynasties and sects...
The golden outline representing Da Ning was located in the lower left of the map, occupying only about ten percent of the entire map's area.
And a large area of blank space was left around the entire map, obviously waiting for subsequent filling.
“Tap, tap, tap...”
Step by step, he walked to the wall, his fingers sliding from right to left across the thirty-six states of Da Ning.
Qing Province, Tan Province, Lu Province, Pei Province... When his fingertip circled around and landed on Shu Province in the southwest corner, Ning Yongnian paused slightly.
Then, he continued to the left.
Crossing the national border of Da Ning, crossing the vast expanse of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, crossing a winding Black River, and finally landing on a city...
The capital of Da Li—Baiping.
“Baiping...”
Ning Yongnian muttered to himself, then gently pointed a finger down.
Under the vast sky, there is no land that is not the king's; within the borders of the land, there is no subject that is not the king's. This should be the ultimate pursuit of all emperors.
But Da Ning has not expanded its territory in nearly five hundred years.
However, he, Ning Yongnian, the third ruler of the Da Ning Dynasty to enter the Second Rank, will take this step again.
But before that, he must first bring all the power within Da Ning into his own hands.
Liu, Wei, Xu, and a Buddhist sect that considers itself higher than “Heaven”...
Who should he start with first?
“Sister Xu, run!”
A hundred miles outside of Shu Province, Wangjia Village.
A delicate shout exploded in the night sky, along with painful wails and panicked footsteps.
“The monsters are here! The monsters are here!”
“Ah! Don't eat me! Don't eat me!”
“Save me! Someone save me!”
“My lord! Help!”
Villagers with disheveled hair fled in all directions amidst the soaring flames, while a red-scaled snake demon, seven or eight zhang long, was entangled in a fight with two graceful figures.
Judging from the current battle situation, the snake demon was clearly gaining the upper hand despite fighting two opponents at once, occasionally flicking its tail to sweep up some unlucky villagers, and then provocatively biting them in half.
“Swish!”
Watching a peasant woman being torn in two in front of her eyes, Xu Qingwan bit her lip tightly, flashed forward, and slashed down with another Returning Dust.
“Ding!”
The sparrow's cry and the red scales crossed paths, splashing a burst of sparks and leaving only a shallow white mark on the snake's body.
A slash that could cut through gold had almost no lethality against this snake demon.
This was not a problem with the Returning Dust Blade, nor was it a problem with the Sparrow Cry, but rather the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.
Eighty years of cultivation, equivalent to the Fourth Rank of humans.
This was definitely not something that Xu Qingwan and You Jia, two Sixth Ranks, could deal with.
If it weren't for the fact that snakes don't have hands and feet, and fighting is a bit disadvantageous, the two women would probably have already died.
“Whoosh!”
A snake tail as thick as a water tank counterattacked fiercely, as if to cut Xu Qingwan in half.
However, the latter had anticipated this, and immediately retreated after swinging the knife, narrowly avoiding the sweeping snake tail.
“Sister Xu, let's go!”
You Jia, holding a small short sword next to her, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly persuaded again: “While this snake demon is eating people, we still have time to escape!”
“But these villagers...”
Xu Qingwan's eyes showed some struggle.
If it were Liang Qin at this moment, she would definitely desperately try to stop the snake demon, so as to buy the villagers more time to escape.
Although Xu Qingwan was also kind-hearted, she did not grow up in Liang Qin's privileged family, so she understood the principle of “doing what you can” even more.
There are many things in this world that one is powerless to change.
Knowing that something is impossible and still doing it... that's not called bravery, it's called stupidity.
“Okay! Let's go!”
Except when facing Wei Changtian, Comrade Xu's IQ is still online at other times, so she made a decision after only a moment's hesitation.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
The graceful figures flickered, and the two women immediately escaped the snake demon's attack range, preparing to run back to Shu Province to get reinforcements.
And the snake demon did not seem to intend to chase after them, its scarlet strange pupils constantly scanning the fleeing villagers, seemingly more interested in these defenseless foods.
The snake's body behind them was getting farther and farther away, and the two women would be able to completely disengage from the battle in a few breaths relying on their speed advantage.
But at this moment.
“Wah!!”
The cry of a baby on the side of the road made Xu Qingwan's figure pause.
She glanced at the position of the snake demon, then her footsteps swayed, and she reached out and hugged the small swaddling clothes in her arms.
The baby's parents had long since disappeared, and it was unknown whether they had fled for their lives or had already died in the demon's mouth.
But Xu Qingwan simply didn't have time to think about these things.
Although carrying a baby did not affect her speed, picking up the swaddling clothes wasted a little time.
Holding the swaddling clothes tightly, she exerted force under her feet, and her figure was about to leap up.
But...
“Pa!”
A man who had just been slumped on the side of the road suddenly crawled over on all fours, and actually hugged Xu Qingwan's leg tightly at the last moment, trembling and wailing loudly: “Lord, save me! I don't want to die!”
“Swish!”
Without any hesitation, the Sparrow Cry, which had never been sheathed, was placed against the man's neck in the next second.
“Let go! You still have time to escape now!”
“I, I...”
The man was startled by the bright blade, but his arms still did not loosen, and even tightened.
“Lord, my legs are weak, I really can't move!”
“You are an official! How can you stand by and watch people die!”
“I won't let go! Otherwise, you can just kill me with one knife, it's better than dying in the demon's mouth!”
