Fan Lingyue's technique was in fact able to deplete the True Qi of those she touched, whether it was a sword or a part of a body. Furthermore, the longer this contact was maintained, the faster that depletion rate grew.

This Lady Strategist was truly the most terrifying person in the world.

Whether it was her intelligence or martial accomplishments, there was no fault to be found anywhere and those who faced her couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.

Once more, the frost gathered around Ning Chen's sword and immediately a gust of snowflakes blew across the battlefield. His figure flickered and a moment later the air itself was sliced apart in a flash of steel.

At the same time, Fan Lingyue struck out, palms stretched out and white light swirling about as they reached for the Ink Sword.

*bang*

The instant sword and palm met, the Ink Sword immediately pulled away, not tarrying for a single second longer than needed. Atop the sword edge, a patch of frost was noticeably absent for a second before it was promptly filled up once more.

Ning Chen decisively chose to drag out this battle, to use the least amount of True Qi to expend his opponent's own. He knew that Fan Lingyue's sickly const.i.tution didn't allow her to battle for long and that was his only out in this situation.

As time wore on, the battle on both sides intensified. Back at Xueyi's side, the clash of quick versus strong reached feverish heights. Dyed in blood, Xueyi activated his cultivation base even further, boosting his strikes by a third and bathing them in a radiant, crimson glow. All around him, the air twisted and tore at the seams as if s.p.a.ce itself was going to collapse.

Mu Chengxue's sword, on the other hand, was quick to the point where even its shadow disappeared. All one could see was a flash of blinding white light before she disappeared.

"Sanguine Stelelight, Condense."

Amidst a resplendent eruption of light, a heavenly stele covered in blood appeared out of thin air. Roughly a hundred zhang wide, the colossal stele pierced the heavens and shockingly, albeit for only the briefest of moments, radiated the oppressive aura of a Xiantian.

As if she was stuck in a quagmire, her speed instantly decreased by a third.

b.l.o.o.d.y stele raised high into the air, he rotated his palms and the Qi around him surged forth like an oppressive, rapid tsunami.

Seeing the tides turn against her, Mu Chengxue immediately retreated backwards a hundred zhang and leaped into the sky. Oath's Shadow spinning, she swiftly turned her sword towards the marquis. Immediately, the raging winds around her transformed into a concentration of Sword Qi that coalesced into a pair of coruscating snow wings.

"Sword Brand!"

Yet that radiant display merely lasted an instant before the airborne figure disappeared and in a flash of steel, reappeared right before Xueyi.

*slash*

A b.l.o.o.d.y flower bloomed and Xueyi gained a new shade of red.

It was the same display of overwhelming speed but Marquis Xueyi had no intention of backing down whatsoever. Retracting his palm for a second, he struck out once more.

*bang*

Her snowy wings were forcefully shoved back by the force of his palm strike and lost a little under half its feathers. Raising her sword, she hurriedly blocked the strike but was still thrown back ten zhang away.

Ten swords for a palm, while he came out short in numbers, each palm of his had the force of a thousand jin. Even Mu Chengxue had times when she couldn't dodge a blow and when that happened, her innards would reel in shock from the powerful blow. Though they didn't managed to injure her, the acc.u.mulation of palm strikes were beginning to take a toll on her as well.

Just as the both of them reached a precarious stalemate, Ning Chen started to have some troubles of his own as well.

With each pa.s.sing moment, Fan Lingyue's cultivation base grew stronger and even her body began to glow a radiant white. Each step she took shone with a divine radiance and each strike she threw out was stronger than the last. It was as if a G.o.ddess descended onto Fan Lingyue and drove him into a corner.

Amidst her divine glow, the frost atop the Ink Sword began to weaken while the True Qi rapidly dissipated.

Step after step he retreated and each time his heart sunk even more. This was the first time he was pushed to such a state since he started practicing the martial path.

Not intending to show any mercy, she continuously pushed forward without allowing him a single breath of respite. Each strike she threw out was aimed at a lethal spot; today, this giant thorn at her side was finally going to be removed.

With absolutely no chance of victory, this battle was about to end.

Yet right at the very of edge of the cliff, a change happened. Her body suddenly shuddered followed by a violent heaving from her chest. With that, the blinding white glow began to rapidly dissipate as well.

Sickness wrecking her body, she finally couldn't keep up with the rigors of battle and started to falter.

"A Sword to Part the Infinite Waves."

Finally, this was the chance he was waiting for! Eyes narrowing, his swords threw up a hundred zhang tsunami that reached to the heavens and then with a one slash, parted it!

Amidst a deafening explosion, the heavens and earth were torn asunder and the winds threw up a dusty storm around the two, blocking them off from sight.

*urghh*

Within the shroud of dust, the white glow rose and sword met with palm once more. Grunting audibly in pain, Fan Lingyue staggered backwards and yet just as she did so, her slender arms shot out once more and fired off a parting palm strike.

*bang*

Ning Chen was sent flying backwards, blood spraying all over before he finally landed a few steps away. With a stab, he barely managed to pull himself together.

*cough cough*

She violently coughed, blood pouring from the seams of her fingers as she did so. Around her, the white glow began to destabilize and flicker.

Seeing that, Mu Chengxue frowned before rus.h.i.+ng over in a flash. Arriving on site with a deadly slash, she forced the teen back and immediately swept away Fan Lingyue.

At that same time, Marquis Xueyi rushed on site as well and blocked the sword Qi with his own strike. Looking at the two retreating figures, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Answered Ning Chen while he wiped off the blood from his mouth corners and shook his head.

That battle was a truly hard fought one for him. Had it not been for Fan Lingyue's abysmal stamina, he would have undoubtedly lost.

However, the heavens were fair. In giving her that terrifying intelligence and martial talent, it gave her a sickly const.i.tution to match as well.

With the battle over, the Mongolian grand army left, armor clanking and horses galloping just like before. Seeing that, the soldiers within the city finally heaved a heavy sigh of relief. The oppressive feeling those 10 000 heavy cavalry gave off were truly too heavy for an ordinary solder. To them, it was as if tsunami of steel was rus.h.i.+ng towards them and threatened to swallow them whole.

Now that the impending threat had retreated, Marquis Xueyi took the opportunity to return to the governor's manor with Ning Chen in tow. The two of them had suffered injuries and needed to recover. This was especially so for Ning Chen who had suffered two palm strikes from Fan Lingyue and couldn't stop coughing up blood after returning.

Seated by his bedside, little Ming Yue solemnly fed the injured teen some soup and medicine, her worried little face never smiling for even a second.

Within the Mongolian army base, Fan Lingyue was in an equally terrible state. Her blue dress was half red and clung to her pale skin with grisly determination.

"Retreat!"

Half a day later, the command was sent and the army broke camp in response while retreating two hundred li as agreed upon.

"Sir Marquis, the Mongols have retreated."

Outside of the room, a soldier arrived shortly thereafter and reported the matter.

"Mhm, I got it." Answered Ning Chen in a tired voice as he laid on the bed.

Regarding this, he wasn't the least bit surprised that Fan Lingyue kept to her word. She was a proud woman and once she made a promise, she would definitely keep to it.

Schemes were one thing but promises were another. Like her, while he had uttered countless lies in his life, he had never reneged on a promise.

The both of them were basically identical people except for their outer appearance; both had their own pride engraved deep within their bones.

In the grand scheme of things, 200 li wasn't much but it was enough to give the soldiers and civilians some respite.

Given that the war wasn't going to be over any time soon, living under such high tensions would cause them a mental collapse long before the war ends.

However, little Ming Yue wasn't happy about that. She didn't even react in the least bit after hearing that report.

"Ming Yue, she's fine, don't worry."

Ning Chen gently ruffled the little girl's hair while consoling her. Without a doubt, this little girl was the one who had it toughest during these tense few days. Being stuck in the middle of the two of them was difficult for her.

"Any chance you guys can stop fighting?"

She asked, eyes downcast and voice slightly quivering. Today she saw both of her loved ones, Big Sister Lingyue and the bad man get hurt and her heart ached at that sight. In this world, both of them were the ones who treated her the best so why did they have to fight to the death.

Ning Chen sighed in his heart but said nothing in response, rather he wasn't able to respond at all. There was no longer any chance of peace between the two of them. She had her persistence while he had people of his own to protect. Their standpoints were completely opposite of each other and had no chance of a compromise whatsoever.

The duel to the death today was merely the start of their battles. In the days to come, the fighting would only get worse till one side collapsed.

Before this, her unparalleled intelligence was already enough of an annoyance for him to handle. Now that she had an equally unparalleled martial strength to back it up, she just got a whole lot more annoying.

Beneath the realm of Xiantian, that woman was basically invincible now. In fact, even a Xiantian would have difficulty killing her.

That white light was just too strange. It was able to deplete an opponent's energy and prevent him from attacking at all. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that her opponents lost a third of the battle before it even started.

Prior to this, he had encountered multiple experts but none of them left him feeling so suppressed as if he was a helpless child.

Furthermore, now that Mu Chengxue was here, that woman gained another powerful helper. Even though Marquis Xueyi was able to stall her, the Mongolian side still had the Fourth Sword, Jian Liuyang. Once they recovered, the situation would get a lot worse for Ning Chen.

As of now, even Sword City had begun to openly aid the Mongolian Horde. Looks like Grand Xia's days were truly numbered.

Grand Xia's situation could be said to be at its lowest point ever. The north has Fan Lingyue, the West has the Eternal Night Cult, the west has the Western Doya Temple, the southeast has the country of Manyang and the east has the Sword City. Of Grand Xia's frontiers, only the Man Dynasty of the south and Zhenji of the northeast didn't partic.i.p.ate in this war.

To make matters worse, Grand Xia was in the midst of a succession period. If it's not handled well, there might even be a coup and that would tie down the surrounding troops of the Imperial City.

For the next three days, Ning Chen and Fan Lingyue spent the most of their time recuperating. There were basically no actions from either sides as they patiently waited for their next orders.

And yet it was in such a situation that another piece of bad news arrived on the doorstep of Grand Xia and left the empire reeling in shock once more.

Marquis w.a.n.gchuan was dead and the Headmaster had been seriously injured!

This sudden bad new pieces caused his injuries, which he had barely managed to suppress, to open up once more. Blood spraying all over, he fainted.

Grand Xia was finished!

That was the last thought he had before the world darkened.

Who would have ever expected that on the southeastern front, the person who was least expected to show up there, the Golden Staff Grand Preceptor, would actually turn up there.

In this world, those of the Xiantian had their own sense of pride. However, this saying seemed so laughable when used on this Grand Preceptor.

As a Xiantian master of the Third Calamity, he actually abandoned whatever bit of wrinkled face he had left and a.s.sa.s.sinated Marquis w.a.n.gchuan. Not only that, he even teamed up with the head abbot of the Western Doya Temple to launch a sneak attack on the Headmaster.

Very soon, his predictions came true. A few days later, Grand Xia's situation took a nosedive with the invasion of tens of thousands of buddhist disciples led by the head abbot of the Western Doya Temple.

With a Third Calamity master leading them, this buddhist army marched into Grand Xia basically unopposed, all the while waving the righteous flag of fiend slaying. After crossing the border, they promptly marched northwards.

Once more, the world was reminded of how terrifying the Xiantian were. With just a single wave of his hand, the heavens trembled and the earth shattered. Such unimaginable strength wasn't something mere mortals could stand up to.

A day pa.s.sed and Ning Chen finally woke up. Dragging his injured body out of bed, he penned a letter for Zhang Sun.

Its contents were simple, abandon the Eldest Prince and choose a successor from the two remaining princes.

As for the remaining prince, confine him if it was possible, otherwise, Zhang Sun would have to make the decision herself.

The troops of the Imperial City mustn't stay silent anymore. Even if it causes a coup or a b.l.o.o.d.y purge of the Imperial City, it couldn't be helped.

If the troops remained tied down any longer, Grand Xia would be finished.

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