Chapter 679: Jiang Ding Says: No Pardon

Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun's tiny Nascent Soul merged into the void, moving at a terrifying speed, covering a hundred li in an instant, with no sign of any deceleration whatsoever.

This was its normal speed.

The integrated wisdom of countless human geniuses across myriad realms, an immortal miracle forged over countless ages.

Nascent Soul!

The Nine Yuan Spirit Ginseng can burrow through the earth; a mere third-grade spirit beast, most Nascent Soul cultivators cannot catch it, while human Nascent Souls use the void as earth, performing a void escape!

In terms of grade, it surpasses by more than a single notch.

The natural is inferior to the artificial; this is a masterpiece of human wisdom.

Shoo!

The Taqing Flying Sword flashed once, plunging into the void and vanishing.

Not cleaving, not piercing, but drilling into the interlayer of space, merging as one, traveling at extreme speed within the void.

At this moment, the void was not an obstacle but an aid, like a human paddling and diving, using it to cross mountains and rivers that were originally unreachable.

Part of Jiang Ding's divine soul resided within the Taqing Flying Sword.

Looking outward now, the surroundings were a bright, white world, infinitely vast, infinitely deep, with no concept of boundaries.

Ahead, a palm-sized little figure frantically traversed it, ripples of transparent distortion spreading wherever it passed; it glanced back occasionally, clearly uneasy, obviously having some understanding of its opponent.

In the next instant, without any surprise, a blue-gold flying sword appeared in its pupil, rushing at extreme speed.

Spatial ripples receded behind her; a fierce, shrieking aura shot skyward, firmly locking onto Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun's divine soul core, the distance between the two closing rapidly.

Even in this divine soul state, where all things in heaven and earth moved incredibly slowly and time had only passed an instant, that blue-gold flying sword had already closed a large gap, arriving behind, its icy sword intent soul-shattering.

"Sword Disciple!"

"Spare me! I am willing to submit to the sect, reform and turn over a new leaf, and allow you to leave a life-and-death prohibition within my divine soul core!"

Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun cried out in panic, and it was sincere, with not a shred of deceitful intent.

"Spare my life!"

This was the Great Sun Sword Disciple of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion!

An ancient and terrifying power; the Great Sun Sword Cultivators were meant to be commanded by him, fighting at his orders with death as the only outcome, with him there being no enemy.

This was not humiliation but rather glory, a great opportunity, greatly increasing the chances of future advancement to Soul Transformation.

"No pardon."

Jiang Ding spoke concisely.

He was not a rigid cultivator.

If using tactics or persuading surrender could achieve a better victory, he would not refuse to use them; everything was for the ultimate victory.

Only the victor can define what a Sword Cultivator is.

If the person before him was strong enough, for instance, if he rendered him helpless, or if, taking a step back, Jiang Ding believed that killing him would require paying a heavy price.

Then, the conditions would be acceptable.

Even if the conditions could be made more generous, everything could be discussed.

But now, it was not possible.

Whether he surrendered or resisted, neither could change the final outcome.

Then, now, he must pay the price for the crimes he committed.

"You deserve to die!"

"You truly deserve to die!"

Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun was desperate, yet not entirely surprised.

All Great Sun Sword Disciples were like this: greedy, bloodthirsty, uncompromising; he roared, "You are still too weak now! Only Jin Dan Zhong Qi!"

"Spare me!"

"Otherwise, I will immediately send messages to the Liu Dao Sect, the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong, the Zhengmo Alliance, the Dari Sect, and even the Ten Thousand Demon Valley of the Western Desert, sending messages to human Soul Transformation powers; apart from some cultivators of the Great Sun Qingse Jianzong, the rest will never let you go!"

"A Great Sun Sword Disciple in the growth stage; all powers will go mad, and even if they exhaust the nine heavens and the blue skies down to the yellow springs, they will hunt you down and kill you to the last!"

Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun threatened in a harsh voice.

"Now, spare me immediately!"

"I guarantee I will not leak a single word; I can guarantee it with a divine sense prohibition or a Dao contract!"

This was the truth.

A grown Great Sun Sword Disciple; the entire world belongs to him.

Any power, any cultivator, if he dislikes them, with a single thought he can annihilate them completely; not even a fragment of their divine soul can escape.

If cultivators are unwilling to become de facto slaves, with their lives and deaths in another's hands, they must go mad, they must fight desperately.

"Do as you please."

"As long as you can do it."

Jiang Ding said indifferently.

He paid it no mind; his divine soul power surged into the Taqing Flying Sword, increasing its speed by a large margin, covering a great distance in an instant.

At such a close distance, the sword edge was icy, and the annihilating sword intent became even more terrifying.

Clang!

Accompanied by a cold sword cry, amidst the booming thunder of sword qi, the Taqing Flying Sword struck straight down!

"No!"

With death at hand, Yin Jiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun roared, burning his essence and vitality, pouring it all into the remaining fragments of the Jiuyi Sword; body and sword merged, rushing to meet the Taqing Flying Sword.

Clang!

The two flying swords crossed, and the void fell silent.

Yinjiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun and his innate flying sword stiffened, like puppets.

Gradually,

a sword mark appeared on Yinjiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun's Nascent Soul and the fragments of the Jiuyi Sword; life force slowly faded into silence.

Yet in the end, it did not completely cease.

The sword intent that destroys all things and annihilates all beings did not erupt, turning his soul and spirit to ash; instead, it temporarily constructed a channel for life force, sustaining the final wisp of vitality.

The sword light of the Taqing Flying Sword flashed, swept up the stiffened Yinjiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun and his innate flying sword, and departed from this spatial interlayer.

Outside,

Jiang Ding, who had seemed to be meditating with eyes closed, opened his eyes, his gaze calm: "The methods of sending messages are quite varied—three hundred and seventy-two secret arts, tens of thousands of transmission frequencies, involving factions from all sides."

Whoosh!

The Taqing Flying Sword broke through the spatial interlayer, like a fish leaping from water, arriving before him.

A dazed, crow-faced little figure floated in the air, all soul and spirit sealed, unable to resist even the slightest bit.

"It seems,"

Jiang Ding suddenly felt an instinct: "I do not need any Soul-Search Talismans to access the soul memories within his body; I do not even need to learn the Soul-Search spell. As long as I grasp him, I can do it."

Fifth-Rank Soul-Search Talismans are rare; only Soul Transformation cultivators can draw them. Not only is the price exorbitant, but a Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun may not even have the time.

Their sense of time differs from ordinary cultivators; a single seclusion can last decades.

As for throwing money to make a Soul Transformation Master Canghai Canghai Tianjun work overtime and become more diligent?

We cannot afford that yet.

Therefore, over these years, Jiang Ding had only managed to save up one Fifth-Rank Soul-Search Talisman.

"No rush for now."

Jiang Ding took out a Fourth-Rank Sealing Jade Box, placed the collapsing Yinjiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun and his innate flying sword inside, and manipulated the hand seals to cast a sealing secret art.

One after another, mysterious black sealing runes fell upon the jade box. Gradually, the box emitted no aura whatsoever; the internal space tended toward a solidified state, where living beings and matter within could hardly change, could not break free, and could not communicate with the outside world.

Immediately after came the cleanup of the battlefield.

The Spirit-Destroying and Law-Destroying spells were unleashed; the collapsed mountain peaks, the dried-up rivers, the scorched earth... all were restored to their original state. Then, he gathered all the corpses of the dead animals, collected Yinjiu Master Dinghai Zhenjun's storage bag, and erased all traces of alien species.

A few minutes later, everything was finished.

Jiang Ding vanished.

(End of this chapter)