Chapter 455: Xiang Ning vs. White Jade Battalion

The White Jade Battalion was filled with wails from top to bottom.

Xiang Ning had displayed an overwhelmingly powerful offensive stance; the moment he struck, he shattered their battle formation's manifestation.

Because this was a dynamic formation, every cultivator was a component within it. Thus, when the manifestation was broken, every member participating in the formation suffered a backlash.

Xiang Ning stood tall like a mountain, looking around proudly before lowering his head to rub his fingers. He commented indifferently, "Insufficient training; the manifestation is all show and no substance."

"Whatever else you have, bring it out and let me see."

This arrogant posture did not crush the spirit of the White Jade Battalion's cultivators; instead, it infuriated them.

"Hey! This old geezer, he's quite full of himself."

"Brothers, let's take him together!"

"A mere Nascent Soul level, daring to fall into our military formation—he doesn't know what death is!"

Without waiting for their commander, Shuang Jing, to give the order, his vice-commanders swarmed out, launching a siege on Xiang Ning.

There were seven vice-commanders in total, all at the Jin Dan level.

Shuang Jing remained slightly to the rear, riding his mount and shouting, "Change formation! Change formation!"

Holding his commander's seal, he used his spiritual sense to transmit the details of the next formation change to the entire army.

However, most of the White Jade Battalion's soldiers had yet to recover; many were screaming and groaning in agony, and some had even fainted on the spot.

Seeing this, Shuang Jing immediately pulled a stack of command tokens from his robes.

These tokens were implements of military strategy, red with gold lettering, looking majestic. The top of each token was triangular, tapering downward like a thick, precious sword.

Shuang Jing threw these tokens out one after another, shouting, "Military intelligence is like fire; form the formation at once!"

"Military intelligence is like fire; form the formation at once!"

"Military intelligence is like fire; form the formation at once!"

The next moment, the soldiers who had been unable to rise were lifted by an invisible force and forcibly dragged toward their respective positions in the battle formation.

Some could barely walk, while others were dragged directly along the ground.

Others, even more unfortunate, cried out, "Don't drag me, don't drag me! Ah, I'm going to split my legs!"

Through such forced formation, Shuang Jing quickly established a second battle formation—the Seven-Star Power Gathering Formation.

This formation slowly activated, immediately filling with starlight, appearing like thousands of fireflies dancing. This starlight converged above the seven Jin Dan vice-commanders, pouring into their bodies like seven pillars of light.

The vice-commanders roared, their physiques growing by two or three inches, their auras surging and magic power erupting, their combat strength instantly skyrocketing several times over!

"This is the feeling! I'm ridiculously strong!" one Jin Dan vice-commander roared, charging at Xiang Ning first.

Xiang Ning sidestepped, dodging the attack, then pushed with a giant palm, striking the Jin Dan vice-commander squarely in the ribs.

Awoo!

The dragon's roar sounded again.

The Jin Dan vice-commander was sent flying like a ball, landing far away on the ground.

He nearly crashed into his comrades, but Shuang Jing timely used his commander's power to pull the cultivators in that area away.

The Jin Dan vice-commander spat out a mouthful of blood and sat cross-legged, urgently healing his wounds.

Because his ribs had broken and pierced his lungs, such an injury forced him to temporarily cease fighting.

Xiang Ning's Dragon-Roar Palm struck continuously; with every swing of his palm, a dragon's roar accompanied the blow.

Roar, roar, roar...

The dragon's roars rose and fell, and the Jin Dan vice-commanders were knocked flying one after another, crashing into the ground like sandbags.

But soon, they would stand up, spit out blood or knocked-out teeth, and charge again.

Their armor and equipment, though standard issue, were still exquisite and of high quality.

Even if their cultivation techniques differed, the identical equipment allowed them to better exert the formation's power. Do not forget the added bonuses of national and military strength, which allowed them to confront a terrifying Nascent Soul combatant like Xiang Ning for a round or two.

Xiang Ning was experienced; in his long life, this was not the first time he had charged a battle formation.

But this time, he clearly felt that the White Jade Battalion's formation had great stamina and resilience. Although the seven Jin Dan vice-commanders were not his match in a single exchange, they kept bouncing back like balls against a wall, which annoyed him to no end.

Xiang Ning's anger erupted, and he suddenly changed his offensive.

Divine Spirit Bestowed Technique—Dead Wood Meets Spring!

Martial Art—Withered Dragon Claw!

With the divine technique and martial art superimposed, Xiang Ning changed his palm into a claw, grabbing a Jin Dan vice-commander in one motion.

His five fingertips were incredibly sharp, piercing the Jin Dan vice-commander's arm, embedding deep into the muscle and reaching the bone.

The Jin Dan vice-commander groaned, attacking frantically.

"Let him go!!!"

The remaining vice-commanders rushed over, launching fierce attacks from all directions.

Xiang Ning did not dodge or evade, holding his head high and chest out.

Divine Spirit Bestowed Technique—Divine Dragon Precious Body!

In an instant, his entire body shimmered, forming semi-transparent dragon-scale armor that covered him from head to toe.

The Jin Dan vice-commanders' attacks struck the dragon-scale armor, only causing the scales to ripple and emit clanging sounds, unable to harm Xiang Ning's inner body.

Conversely, the Jin Dan vice-commander whose arm was gripped began to wail.

His voice was incredibly shrill; he seemed to shrink, rapidly fading from a burly man into a sickly invalid. His cheekbones protruded, his eye sockets sank, his life force turned from flourishing to decaying, and his black hair turned snow-white in just a few breaths.

"His life force is being drained!"

"What a vicious method."

"What do we do?"

"I'll handle it!"

A Jin Dan vice-commander made a decisive move, wielding his precious saber and hacking down fiercely.

The saber light was incredibly sharp, directly severing the arm of the screaming Jin Dan vice-commander.

The Jin Dan vice-commander regained his freedom and retreated frantically.

The other vice-commanders coordinated perfectly, surrounding them to cover his retreat.

Xiang Ning sneered; the arm in his hand was instantly drained into a dried corpse and discarded casually.

"What's the rush?"

"Your life force is all my sustenance!"

The Jin Dan vice-commanders were locked in a bitter struggle.

They only had Jin Dan cultivation; according to logic, with the support of the battle formation, they should be able to resist head-on and entangle a Nascent Soul-level enemy.

But Xiang Ning himself was at the peak of Nascent Soul cultivation, and with the terrifying support of the Dragon King's divine power, his combat strength was already nearing the level of a quasi-Soul Transformation—it would not be wrong to call him that!

"This old man is truly formidable; only by taking the field myself can I deal with him." Shuang Jing observed the battle situation keenly.

He was a disciple of a high-ranking family and was not cowardly.

Facing a strong enemy now, he felt fear, but even more so, a surging fighting spirit—if he could take down Xiang Ning, how much military merit would that be!

"With this military merit, returning to the Royal Capital, I will surely be ennobled."

"If this battle is won, even if I retire to the second line on the grounds of heavy injuries, no one will be able to criticize me."

The more Shuang Jing thought, the more excited he became, pulling a medicine bottle from his robes.

He opened the stopper and swallowed a Nascent Soul-level elixir.

Whoosh.

His aura surged by thirty percent.

He opened another medicine bottle and tilted his head back, pouring all the medicinal powder inside into his mouth.

Whoosh!

His aura surged by another thirty percent.