Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 168: Chapter 165: Earth-Shattering Battle

SPLASH.

The river surged, its roar like that of a thousand-strong army charging into battle, a thunderous, earth-shaking cry.

This was the Qingjiang River, a magnificent sight that split the Cyan Cloud Country into Jiangnan and the lands North of the River.

Now, as far as the eye could see, both banks of the Qingjiang were packed with countless, densely crowded figures.

BOOM.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder heralded the imminent arrival of a great storm.

”It’s already the first of August. I don’t think he’s coming anymore.”

Many had been waiting for over ten days, and their patience had long since worn thin.

The two main challengers, however, were calm and composed, not the least bit hurried.

They had endured a decade of bitter cultivation, bearing loneliness and solitude. What was a mere wait in comparison?

Meng Bubai stood there, his powerful, muscular body exuding the immense pressure of a primordial beast. The howling wind battered him, yet his clothes remained as still as iron, unmoving.

Duan Wuya sat cross-legged on a large boulder by the riverbank. His entire posture was relaxed, making him look like an ordinary old man.

But if one observed him closely, they could perceive the terrifying sharpness in his gaze—an edge that could sever all ties and cleave through anything.

For over ten days, the two Kings had not spoken a single word.

Night gradually fell.

PITTER-PATTER.

A heavy rain began to fall from the sky.

In an instant, the many Martial Artists along the Qingjiang were drenched, save for those at the Innate Realm, who could raise their Innate Gang Qi to repel the raindrops.

At that very moment, the eyes of the two Kings snapped open simultaneously, their gazes fixed upstream on the Qingjiang River.

There, upstream, a white-haired youth was walking toward them through the air.

His hands were clasped behind his back. Dressed in white robes, his full head of white hair was tied up with a simple circlet of grass. His attire was simple, yet he exuded an otherworldly, transcendent air, like an Immortal from the heavens, worlds apart from mortals.

His body was shrouded in a golden light, like a Taiyang God Child, immaculate and unstained.

It was Ning Jiang!

Wherever he passed, the turbulent, surging waters of the Qingjiang instantly grew calm.

Within a ten-zhang radius around him, not a single drop of rain could fall, as if he were immune to all Myriad Techniques.

”What an impressive Young Master Wushuang!”

Meng Bubai’s gaze sharpened, a hint of gravity entering his eyes.

This was because Ning Jiang’s aura was so overwhelmingly powerful that no rain could penetrate the ten-zhang space around him.

Duan Wuya rose to his full height, his gaze as sharp as a blade, piercing through the distance of several hundred zhang. ”You delayed your appearance for so long. Everyone else thought you were afraid, that you didn’t dare accept our challenge. But I’ve studied you. I know you fought your way all the way to Pill King Valley. You are a fearless man who would never back down. As expected, you have not disappointed me!”

At this moment, countless people held their breath reflexively.

They knew that the long-awaited, earth-shattering battle was about to begin!

”Li Liushui, what do you think of him?”

Beside Li Liushui, Meng Bubai’s disciple asked.

Of the two, one was ranked second among the Nine Great Young Masters, and the other was ranked fourth.

A few other young men stood with them—the other Nine Great Young Masters.

”He’s strong. Even from several hundred zhang away, I can feel that suffocating, terrifying presence.”

After a moment of silence, Li Liushui said slowly, ”His strength has already surpassed that of Young Master Soaring Dragon. Unless Young Master Soaring Dragon can achieve Innate Invincibility, he is the one to be revered among the younger generation!”

”The man’s a monster. His rise has been so fast it’s despair-inducing.”

Another of the Young Masters exclaimed in awe.

They, the Nine Great Young Masters, were usually high and mighty, the leaders of their generation. But Ning Jiang’s appearance was like a rising comet, instantly eclipsing them all.

Unrivaled Under the Heavens.

Such a title had actually fallen upon someone even younger than them.

”Hmph. So the boy actually came.”

On the other side, members of the Cheng Family and the Jiang Family were gathered together.

”Old Patriarch, by doing this, we’ve completely offended him. Knowing his personality, I fear he won’t let this go. Is this really a good idea?”

A master from the Jiang Family couldn’t help but ask worriedly.

”We were indeed somewhat wary of him before, but now the Lin Family is backing us. What is there to fear? If he gets angry, the Lin Family will deal with him.”

The Jiang Family’s old Patriarch said indifferently.

Hearing this, the Jiang Family master nodded.

’The Lin Family has always held the title of Cyan Cloud’s First Family. With their strength, even someone as powerful as Ning Jiang would have to be cautious, wouldn’t he?’

”Let’s not talk about that for now. Whether he can even get past the two Kings is still a huge question,” the Cheng Family Patriarch said.

As for the people present, most favored the two Kings.

After all, the two Kings had built up their prestige in the Cyan Cloud Country over many years. Basically any Martial Artist knew their names.

To many, they were legends, figures of faith.

At this very moment, under the watchful eyes of countless people, the two Kings rose into the air, facing Ning Jiang from a distance.

’They’re both close to the level of Innate Invincibility.’

Ning Jiang narrowed his eyes, observing the two Kings.

Meng Bubai’s body was like a solid slab of iron, with no discernible weakness. It was clear his Essence Qi was at Perfection, with only his Spirit being deficient.

As for Duan Wuya, his aura seemed calm on the surface, but it was actually like a blade that would surely draw blood once unsheathed. His Qi and Spirit were at Perfection.

The two Kings had different areas of focus, but their strength was far greater than that of the White Eyebrow Sword Sect, who had achieved Sword Qi Thunder Sound.

”I’ve heard your physical body is peerless. Today, I’ll trade a few fists with you.”

Meng Bubai’s voice was vast, like rolling thunder.

As he spoke, he advanced with the gait of a dragon and the stride of a tiger. With each step he took in the void, the rain within a hundred-zhang radius trembled. And with every step, his aura grew stronger.

Eventually, the blood in his veins began to surge, creating a tremendous sound as if someone were beating a War Drum, making the ears of countless Martial Artists ring.

BOOM!

When he was still a hundred zhang from Ning Jiang, Meng Bubai threw a punch.

A terrifying Fist Force erupted, unstoppable. It punched a vacuum through the downpour, a clear channel extending all the way to Ning Jiang.

”What a powerful physical body.”

A Body Refining Grandmaster exclaimed in amazement. Many could project their Fist Force over a hundred zhang.

But once it reached that distance, most of its power would be gone, just like a fired arrow that loses momentum until it loses all force and falls to the ground.

Yet Meng Bubai’s punch had not lost a single iota of its power. A punch like that alone could heavily injure a Body Refining Grandmaster.

”As you wish!”

Ning Jiang clenched his slender hand into a fist as pristine as White Jade and punched out.

When it came to a contest of physical bodies, he had never feared anyone.

After his Great Sun Glazed Golden Body reached the Great Success stage, there were very few in the Innate Realm who could compete with his physical body.

BOOM!

An earth-shattering sound exploded, and countless Martial Artists covered their ears, their minds reeling from the shockwave.

”Take another one of my fists!”

Meng Bubai laughed heartily and threw a second punch.

Ning Jiang did not retreat an inch, meeting hard with hard.

The two of them, a hundred zhang apart, slammed their Fist Forces into each other. Everyone felt as if they were watching two giant pythons colliding in a cataclysmic battle.

After exchanging several blows, the two were no longer satisfied with this.

SWISH.

Their figures blurred as they stepped upon the air and charged forward simultaneously.

Fist to fist!

DOOOM—

A visible sound wave swept out from between their fists like a massive storm, more than ten times fiercer than before.

This was the purest form of physical combat, a contest of bodily strength.

Within a radius of several dozen zhang, not a single drop of rain fell; a vacuum had formed. The surface of the river around them sank, as if an invisible, immense force had pressed it down several zhang deep, creating a giant bowl.

”Who won?”

People stared with wide eyes, unwilling to miss a single detail.

The two were seen retreating backward at the same time.

”How satisfying! If my Vajra Unbreakable Body hadn’t broken through to the Perfection stage, I would have been no match for you.”

A strange light flashed in Meng Bubai’s eyes. The Vajra Unbreakable Body was the Body Refining Technique he had relied upon to dominate Cyan Cloud. With this technique, he had earned the title of Vajra King back in the day.

After ten years of arduous cultivation in the Arctic Icefield, he had advanced his Vajra Unbreakable Body even further, bringing it to full Perfection. He had thought that with such a physique, no one in the Cyan Cloud Country could contend with him in terms of physical body.

Who would have thought that today he would encounter a freak like Ning Jiang.

Even he was secretly amazed, wondering just how Ning Jiang had cultivated to such a level.

”I’ve heard that your Sword Dao is peerless, that not even the White Eyebrow Sword Sect could block a single one of your strikes. Let me see if you are truly worthy of the title ’Unrivaled Under the Heavens’!”

At this moment, Duan Wuya, who had been standing to the side, suddenly snapped his eyes open.

SHIIING.

He brought his five fingers together, drew his arm back, and swung it down in a powerful chop, like an ancient god wielding a divine axe to split the heavens and the earth.

Using his hand as a blade.

He used no weapon, yet when he made that chopping motion, the distinctive hum of a Treasure Blade vibrated through the air, as if his entire arm had become a blade itself.

This move alone made countless blade-wielding experts present feel ashamed of their own inferiority.

In the Cyan Cloud Country, the number of people who used blades and swords had always been high, and Duan Wuya was a king among them, revered as the Blade King of his generation!

The heavy rain was split apart.

Condensed Innate Gang Yuan surged forth, forming a hundred-zhang-long blade-light that sliced across the sky.

What was even more terrifying was that this strike actually produced a thunderous sound!

The Sword Dao has its Sword Qi Thunder Sound, and so does the Blade Dao.

The White Eyebrow Sword Sect needed a weapon to execute Sword Qi Thunder Sound, but Duan Wuya displayed this level of mastery bare-handed. It was simply godlike.

This one move was enough to show that his realm was far above that of the White Eyebrow Sword Sect.

”Is this the power of a King? To be able to kill figures from the Innate List with just their bare hands and feet, without needing a weapon.”

A chill ran down the spines of some experts on the Innate List. This level of power was too terrifying. They felt fragile and vulnerable, certain they couldn’t even take a single blow.

”A petty trick.”

Ning Jiang used his hand as a sword and slashed out powerfully.

RUMBLE—

A thunderous sound rolled out!

Before his breakthrough, he would not have been able to do this. But more than ten days of seclusion had raised his cultivation from the Innate Late Stage to the Innate Peak.

The clash ended in a stalemate.

”Good. You are worthy of forcing me to draw my blade.”

Duan Wuya’s hand closed around the hilt of the blade on his back!