Chapter 133: Qinggu County, Gray’s Ability
When Xu Ning saw Gray rubbing its head against his clothes, he felt an inexplicable sense of warmth.
The way Gray rushed over just now allowed Xu Ning to know that Gray had been thinking about him for the past three months.
“Gray, I’m going on a sect mission, come with me.”
Xu Ning touched its gray head.
Gray climbed out of Xu Ning’s arms and leaned on Xu Ning’s shoulder.
Xu Ning noticed that Gray seemed to have gained weight.
In the past, it could have crawled into his clothes, but now it couldn’t.
‘Looks like the food here is good…’
Xu Ning flicked its gray forehead.
“Let’s go to Qinggu County.”
Xu Ning walked towards the southwest.
This time, Xu Ning decided not to ride a horse.
Xu Ning was already a void realm martial artist, so his speed already was faster than a horse with a demon beast bloodline.
Unless he tamed a void realm flying demon beast, Xu Ning would travel by himself.
It’s easy to capture and kill a void realm flying demon beast. However, if one wanted to tame it or become a demon beast companion, one had to use special methods.
Gray was Xu Ning’s demon beast companion, but such a case was rare.
Xu Ning sped along the way.
With Xu Ning’s current strength, it would only take a few days to reach Qinggu County.
Now that he had advanced to the void realm, he did not need to eat food anymore, as he could use the surrounding aura to satiate his bodily needs.
“What’s wrong, Gray?”
After running for a while, Xu Ning noticed that Gray was sniffing at him with a puzzled expression.
“Are you surprised by the improvement of my strength?”
Soon, Xu Ning realized.
After all, when he parted ways with Gray, he was only in the mortal realm. It was normal for Gray to be curious about him now.
‘By the way, I wonder what realm Gray is in?’
When Gray was in its normal form, Xu Ning couldn’t even sense its strength fluctuations.
‘I’ll see what realm it is when Gray hunts next time.’
…
Soon, six days went by.
Xu Ning arrived right outside of Qinggu County.
The mission this time was to help the Ling family in Qinggu County eliminate a group of thieves outside of Qinggu County.
According to the description of the mission, the group of thieves suddenly appeared a few months ago, and among them, there were void realm experts.
Ever since the thieves appeared, they had been stirring up trouble in Qinggu County.
They led their subordinates to raid the city several times, plundering their resources and slaughtering the people, forcing the Ling family to give up their resources.
The Ling family in Qinggu County was the same as the Feng, Xiao, and Ye families in Chun Rin Canton. They were all subordinates of the Yuelan Sect, and they were responsible for managing the affairs of the mortal world.
However, in Chun Rin Canton, there were three branches of these families, while in Qinggu Canton, the Ling family ruled single-handedly.
The Ling family couldn’t deal with the thieves, so they could only report it.
When the report was made, the Ling family suspected that these people might be forces under opposing sects, or maybe remnants of a fallen sect.
There were wars all the time in State Jifeng, so many small sects could only wander around after losing their homes.
Xu Ning entered Qinggu County.
‘It doesn’t feel like Chun Rin Canton at all.’
Although there were many people and shops on the streets, everyone looked tired and lifeless.
Xu Ning suspected that this was caused by the thieves outside the city repeatedly harassing Qinggu County, causing the residents in the city to live in the shadow of a turbulent environment all day long.
Xu Ning asked for directions on the street before he found the Ling family mansion.
“Who are you? And why are you entering the residence?”
When Xu Ning arrived at the Ling residence, a guard asked.
The guard saw that Xu Ning was carrying two swords, coupled with an extraordinary aura. From his set-up, Xu Ning was obviously not an ordinary warrior, so the guard was very polite.
“I am a disciple of the Yuelan Sect.”
Xu Ning took out his waist plate and showed it to the guard.
When the guard heard this, his spirit was lifted. “Please wait a moment, I will report this to the Family Head.”
After a while, Xu Ning saw a dozen people walking out of the mansion and greeting him.
The head of the group looked to be in his sixties and was wearing a gray robe. He smiled when he saw Xu Ning.
‘True qi realm…’
Xu Ning sensed that the aura on him was in the true qi realm.
True qi realm was nothing in the Yuelan Sect, but it was an extremely rare sight outside of the faction.
“Ling Xuzong, Family Head of the Ling family, greets you.”
Ling Xuzong was very polite.
“I am Xu Ning, inner disciple of the Yuelan Sect.”
Xu Ning showed his waist plate again.
After Ling Xuzong confirmed Xu Ning’s identity, his smile widened.
“Brother Xu, please.”
Ling Xuzong was dozens of years older than Xu Ning, but he still called him “brother”. “I have already instructed the servants to prepare a feast for lunch.”
“No need, Family Head Ling.”
Xu Ning declined. “I just want to know about the thieves outside.”
Seeing Xu Ning so concerned, Ling Xuzong was also full of joy.
The sooner he dealt with the troubles outside the city, the better.
“Brother Xu, please follow me to the study.”
Ling Xuzong’s relatives led the way for Xu Ning.
After arriving at the study, Ling Xuzong told Xu Ning everything that happened after that group of thieves started appearing outside the city.
After understanding everything, Xu Ning speculated that the thieves were more likely to be from a poor sect.
“Brother Xu, our Ling family has been destroyed by that group of thieves. Not only did we lose our resources, but two void realm martial artists of the family were also injured by them. If you hadn’t come today, maybe in a few days, that group of thieves would have already completely looted our Ling family.”
Ling Xuzong’s tone was full of bitterness.
“Family Head Ling, how many void realm martial artists are there in the Ling family, and how strong are they?”
Xu Ning asked.
“I don’t mind you laughing at me, Brother Xu. There are three void realm martial artists in my family. I am a true qi realm martial artist, while the other two are mold body realm martial artists. But apart from me, the two mold body realm martial artists are seriously injured, one of them even temporarily lost their ability to move, while the other is unconscious, leaving only me to fight against the thieves.”
Ling Xuzong answered truthfully.
“Is that so…”
Xu Ning asked again, “Since your family’s void realm martial artists are injured, does this mean that you have previously fought against them?”
“Yes.”
Ling Xuzong said, “We fought against that group of thieves a few times. At first, it was just a test. But last month, we fought with our lives on the line, which resulted in the two void realm martial artists from our Ling family being severely injured.”
“There are at least five void realm martial artists in that gang of thieves, and the strongest of them may be in the genus realm.”
Ling Xuzong’s tone was a little hesitant.
“I see…”
Xu Ning nodded.
If Ling Xuzong’s information was true, then the enemy was not strong in Xu Ning’s opinion.
After seeing that Xu Ning’s expression did not change after hearing the realm of the thieves, Ling Xuzong felt relieved.
This showed that this inner disciple named Xu Ning was confident in his own strength.
“Family Head Ling, do you know the exact location of these thieves?”
Xu Ning asked again.
“I have a rough idea.”
Ling Xuzong replied.
“In this case, I will rest for the night, then I will go and destroy them tomorrow.”
Xu Ning’s words shocked Ling Xuzong.
He would eliminate them tomorrow. In Ling Xuzong’s opinion, Xu Ning was a decisive person.
“Thank you, Brother Xu!”
Ling Xuzong was quite excited.
Ling Xuzong stood up, took out an exquisite wooden box from under the desk, and gave it to Xu Ning.
“This is…”
Xu Ning opened the wooden box and found ten Pure Source Pills lying inside.
“Brother Xu, you came all the way here to help the Ling family, so please accept my small gift.”
Ling Xuzong said with a smile.
“Thank you.”
Xu Ning accepted it.
…
Outside the city.
On a desolate mountain.
A village was built there.
There were people working in the village.
But if one looked carefully, they would find that they were two different groups of people in the village.
The members of one of the groups were dressed casually, with a bandit aura surrounding them. They were in charge of chores in the village.
The members of the other group were wearing the same clothes, but they were disciplined and were commanding the other group.
“Deacon Ding.”
A middle-aged man walked in.
He said respectfully to the bald old man sitting in the tall seat. “There is news from the county that a disciple of the Yuelan Sect has arrived at the Ling family compound.”
“A disciple of the Yuelan Sect is here?”
The bald old man called Deacon Ding frowned. “So the Ling family did ask for help from the Yuelan Sect…”
“Deacon Ding, a disciple of the Yuelan Sect is here now, what should we do?”
The middle-aged man asked.
“How many people from the Yuelan Sect came?”
Deacon Ding asked.
“Just one, a young man.”
The middle-aged man replied.
“Just one? And he is a young man?”
Deacon Ding seemed to heave a sigh of relief. “He’s probably a young disciple of the Yuelan Sect. This is easy, if we encounter him in the future, we can just deal with him properly.”
“Kill a disciple of the Yuelan Sect?”
There was a hint of fear in the middle-aged man’s eyes. He was obviously afraid of the Yuelan Sect.
“The Yuelan Sect is a giant, but we are going to leave here soon, so let’s just rob the Ling family and leave this place, escaping from the Yuelan Sect’s influence.”
Deacon Ding said, “When we meet up with Young Sect Master later, we will rebuild the sect elsewhere and completely end our suffering of being homeless.”
Deacon Ding sighed.
Ever since the sect was destroyed, their members split off into different groups and searched in different directions. Their members had been occupying the territory of horse bandits and robbing resources.
“By the way, when will Young Sect Master and the others reach Qinggu County?”
Deacon Ding asked.
“Probably tomorrow or the day after.”
The middle-aged man said.
“So fast?”
Deacon Ding looked thoughtful.
He tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair. After a moment, his eyes showed a trace of ruthlessness.
“If that is the case, let’s rob the Ling family tonight.”
Deacon Ding made the final decision. “After obtaining their resources, when Young Sect Master arrives tomorrow, we will leave this place.”
“Go and make the arrangements.”
Deacon Ding waved his hand.
The middle-aged man obviously wanted to dissuade him, but after seeing Deacon Ding’s firm attitude, he finally chose to obey.
…
Late at night.
Xu Ning sat cross-legged in the room.
Xu Ning had just absorbed the ten Pure Source Dans given to him by Ling Xuzong.
With that, he received another 1000 units of energy.
Xu Ning’s energy reserves now totaled up to 1250 units.
Before leaving the sect, Xu Ning consumed a total of 600 units of energy to advance his Water Cross Sword and his Bright Fire Sword to the second level simultaneously. After factoring that, he still had 200 units of energy left from the Pure Source Pills he borrowed from Gu Qinghe.
Over the past ten days, the Thousand Source Bug expelled five Aura Crystals, contributing 50 units of energy.
Coupled with the latest 1000 units, his energy reserves were at 1250 units.
‘1,250 units of energy is just enough for me to upgrade my Water Cross Sword and my Bright Fire Sword to the third level at the same time.’
Xu Ning did not hesitate anymore. He directly opened the Martial Arts Panel.
…
Name: Xu Ning
Martial Arts:
Cold Flame Dual Source Scroll (Void realm third stage: genus realm) +
Tidal Fist (Fourth level) +
Flame Breath Bone Sutra (Fourth level) +
Water cross sword (Second level) +
Ei Fire Sword (Second level) +
Available energy: 1250 units
…
Afterwards, Xu Ning clicked on the “+” sign next to the Water Cross Sword and the Bright Fire Sword.
After consuming 1,200 units of energy, the Water Cross Sword and the Bright Fire Sword were advanced to the third level.
‘Although the Water Cross Sword and the Bright Fire Sword are both in the third level, the combination of the two techniques should be no less lethal than my fourth level Tidal Fist.’
‘Moreover, once the two sword techniques advance to the fourth level, I can even integrate my understanding and application of Tidal Fist into them. By then, the power of these two sword techniques will be even greater!’
Xu Ning thought to himself.
Gray leaned forward.
Under the moonlight, its gray hair was shining.
“Gray, you may not be my opponent anymore.”
Xu Ning smiled.
Now that Xu Ning could figure out Gray’s strength, he speculated that it should be a mid level void realm demon beast.
However, Xu Ning still didn’t understand what Gray’s species was, nor did he know the upper limit of Gray or what it would look like in the future.
‘Gray should be a demon beast in its infancy stage. If it is a mid level void realm demon beast in its infancy stage, then how strong will it be once it grows up? Above the void realm?’
Xu Ning was looking forward to Gray’s growth.
But it might take decades or even longer to witness Gray mature.
That was because the growth period of demon beasts was much longer than humans.
Just when Xu Ning was fantasizing about an adult Gray, the eyes of both Xu Ning and Gray turned cold at the same time.
They all sensed danger incoming.
‘A void realm martial artist is approaching the Ling family!’
Xu Ning grabbed the two swords on the table.
Gray was lying on Xu Ning’s shoulder, its eyes cold.
“If I’m not wrong, it should be those thieves from outside the city.”
Xu Ning went out to find Ling Xuzong.
“Sounds of fighting!”
Outside Ling Xuzong’s courtyard, Xu Ning could already sense that there was a thief fighting against Ling Xuzong there.
Xu Ning leaped over the courtyard wall and saw a black-clothed void realm martial artist fighting agasinst Ling Xuzong.
Both of them were true qi realm martial artists, and the entire courtyard was in a mess.
Xu Ning was about to draw his sword and help.
But the next moment, Xu Ning heard a soft whimper from Gray’s throat.
Xu Ning turned his head and saw a hint of silver in Gray’s eyes.
Then, with a bang, the head of the true qi realm void realm martial artist who was fighting aginst Ling Xuzong suddenly shattered like a watermelon.
‘This is Gray’s ability?’
Xu Ning looked surprised.