Chapter 548: Uprooting the Grass, Eliminating the Roots |
"Just you lot? Come at me then."
Ning Qi looked at the few men and couldn't help but smile.
"Master, even if you combined them all, they wouldn't be enough for you to play with!"
"I have no idea where they got their courage from!"
Pill Spirit could also see that the strength of these three was only at the True Immortal level.
Ning Qi, however, had long since reached the Celestial Immortal level.
Compared to him, the three of them weren't even worth a glance.
"Playing with them might be fun!"
Ning Qi smiled again, then added, "You only get one chance."
"Kill him!"
...
Zhao Qianfeng and Wang Xiaoshan charged forward one after another.
Liu Xi, behind them, also rushed forward.
The three men formed a triangular formation, already treating Ning Qi as prey caught in a bag.
"Hah!"
Ning Qi took a deep breath, then charged towards the three men as well.
The first to clash with him was Zhao Qianfeng.
He raised his long saber and chopped down.
Ning Qi didn't dodge or evade, relying solely on the strength of his hands.
He caught the long saber head-on.
Immediately after, a fist shot out, directly piercing through Zhao Qianfeng's chest.
Wang Xiaoshan and the other man simply hadn't expected Ning Qi to be this formidable.
With just one strike, he had already killed one person.
By the time Wang Xiaoshan reacted, it was already too late.
Ning Qi's iron-like hand had already reached out, directly grasping his neck.
A forceful twist.
"Crunch."
His head was directly wrenched off.
It rolled on the ground, his face still wearing an expression of unwillingness.
Even in death, he didn't understand how he had died so quickly.
An expert with True Immortal strength was this fragile?
Then, what level of strength did *he* possess?
Liu Xi, at the very back, watched Ning Qi make his move.
His eyes were wide with shock.
Fortunately, he was the last one charging forward and managed to stop.
"What, not going to avenge your brothers?"
Ning Qi looked coldly at Liu Xi, saying mockingly, "Weren't you all so arrogant just now? Why aren't you moving now?"
"You... who are you!"
Liu Xi swallowed hard, his face filled with terror as he stared at Ning Qi.
In their circles, those who reached the Celestial Immortal level were all esteemed guests of major powers.
Either they were elder-level figures of certain families or sects.
They absolutely could not be rogue cultivators.
Because, here, rogue cultivators had no opportunity to cultivate to the Celestial Immortal stage.
"Who sent you!"
Ning Qi merely glanced at Liu Xi and asked indifferently.
"It... it was the young city lord of Cloud City, Xue Haoran!"
Liu Xi didn't dare lie at all, directly explaining the situation to Ning Qi.
He was terrified that a moment's delay would get him killed.
"As expected, that trash."
Hearing this, Ning Qi couldn't help but smile. "So, is he waiting for you to return and report success?"
"Yes..."
Liu Xi no longer dared to speak recklessly.
He could only honestly admit it.
"Kill all of them."
Ning Qi glanced at the remaining assassins in the courtyard and ordered Liu Xi to kill them.
"Spare us, sir!"
"We were just hired hands!"
The few men were instantly terrified, each dropping to their knees one after another, pleading for mercy repeatedly.
"What? Can't bear to do it? Or don't dare?"
Ning Qi paid no heed to their words.
Seeing Liu Xi hesitate to act, he urged, "If you don't kill them, I'll kill you!"
"Gentlemen, my apologies!"
Liu Xi knew there was no escape.
After hearing Ning Qi's words, he stepped forward, looking at the men before him.
He was already prepared to act.
"Liu Xi, you'll die a horrible death!"
"You were the one who hired us, and now you want to kill us?"
"Liu Xi, we won't let you off even as ghosts!"
...
Seeing Liu Xi approach, the men began to threaten him one after another.
However, the look of utter despair on their faces betrayed them.
Their strength was far below the True Immortal level, while Liu Xi was a True Immortal expert.
Killing them would be as effortless for him as Ning Qi killing their leaders had been.
"Oh? Then go to hell!"
Liu Xi was provoked by their words.
With a cold snort, he directly took action.
"Ah!"
...
In a few moves, he killed the men one by one.
He gave them no further opportunity to cry out.
"Not bad."
Seeing this, Ning Qi smiled with satisfaction.
"Now, can you let me go?"
"I was forced into this! I can't afford to offend Xue Haoran!"
Liu Xi looked at Ning Qi, clasped his fists, and said, "Spare this junior's life, and I will be eternally grateful."
"Hmph, sparing you is possible!"
Ning Qi snorted coldly, then continued, "However, you must take me to see Xue Haoran."
Since he had started, he might as well finish. The killing intent had already stirred within him.
This Xue Haoran was a stumbling block on his path to the Myriad Swords Sect.
Originally, he had planned to avoid him.
But he never expected the man to be so vicious and ruthless,
wanting to kill him overnight.
In that case, he couldn't be allowed to live any longer.
If the King of Hell decrees your death at the third watch, he won't keep you alive until dawn.
"Ah? Senior, although this Xue Haoran isn't particularly formidable...
his father is very powerful, and above his father is a grandfather who is even more formidable!"
"That man is the Second Elder of the Myriad Swords Sect. His strength is unfathomable. Even though you are a Celestial Immortal, if you encounter him, you would still be no match!"
"He reached the Celestial Immortal level hundreds of years ago!"
Hearing Ning Qi's words, Liu Xi hurriedly tried to persuade him. "You should hide and prepare to leave tomorrow."
"I'll go back and accept my punishment. I absolutely will not betray you."
"Oh? You don't want to lead the way?"
Hearing this string of words from him, Ning Qi couldn't help but reveal a ruthless expression.
If he didn't lead the way, then Ning Qi wouldn't show any mercy either.
Killing one was killing, killing two was the same.
What did it matter if he killed them all?
"Senior, you..."
Seeing Ning Qi's determination, Liu Xi still wanted to say something.
However, he was stopped by a single look from Ning Qi.
"If you don't lead, I'll kill you right now!"
Ning Qi's voice was icy, like ten-thousand-year-old frost.
It made Liu Xi shiver uncontrollably.
"Alright, alright, I'll lead the way!"
Liu Xi agreed repeatedly, not even having the courage to negotiate terms.
He had just witnessed with his own eyes how two True Immortal experts
hadn't survived past the second move in his hands before Ning Qi finished them.
If Ning Qi wanted to kill him, it would be an even more trivial matter.
"Then let's go!"
Ning Qi glared at him, then had Liu Xi continue leading the way.
"Yes!"
Liu Xi hurriedly agreed.
He then took out the compass again.
Facing the spatial rift they had entered through earlier, he activated it once more.
"Swish!"
The next moment, the rift suddenly expanded.
"Senior, please!"
Liu Xi was the first to rush into the rift, then invited Ning Qi to follow.
Ning Qi didn't hesitate either, directly following him in.
They arrived in this expanse of void space.
Here, they could see quite a few points of light.
In other words, each of these lights was a different Sumeru Courtyard.
"Senior, this way!"
Holding the compass, Liu Xi began leading the way again.
He soon brought Ning Qi to the location of one of the lights.
Then, he used the compass to tear open the space here once more.
Both of them simultaneously left this place.
"Whoosh."
When they reappeared, they were already back on the ship.
"Senior, they are at the inn up ahead!"
Liu Xi pointed in a direction, then continued leading the way. "Right now, Xue Haoran should be waiting for us to return and report success."
"Good, keep leading!"
Ning Qi had no intention of letting him go at all, making him continue leading the way.
"Ah?"
Liu Xi had obviously just assumed that once Ning Qi followed him out and he gave the directions, he would be spared.
But he never, ever expected that Ning Qi would still make him continue leading the way.
"What? Want to die?"
Ning Qi suddenly erupted with a fierce, chilling killing intent.
It made Liu Xi instantly shrink his neck back. "No, no, Senior, please!"
Then, reluctantly, he continued leading the way for Ning Qi.
Soon, they arrived at the inn.
They proceeded directly to the door of the chamber where Xue Haoran was staying.
"Knock, knock!"
Forced by Ning Qi, Liu Xi knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
Soon, Xue Haoran's lazy voice came from inside the chamber.
By now, the chamber had quieted down.
Clearly, his so-called friends from earlier had already left.
"Creeeak."
Summoning his courage, Liu Xi directly pushed the door open.
He saw the table in disarray.
Those few "friends" were already drunk at the dining table.
They lay sprawled in all directions.
Xue Haoran, meanwhile, was lying on the bed.
Their eyes were bleary with drunkenness, utterly unable to see clearly who the person following Liu Xi was.
"Liu Xi, how did it go? Is it done?"
Xue Haoran could make out Liu Xi walking into the chamber.
He didn't pay attention to Ning Qi behind him.
"It wasn't done."
Ning Qi suddenly stepped out from behind Liu Xi.
A pair of cold eyes stared at Xue Haoran before him.
Xue Haoran, who had seemed drunk, sobered up considerably the moment he clearly saw it was Ning Qi.
"What, you captured him and brought him back?"
"But that's fine too. It's good for me to kill him with my own hands!"
Xue Haoran smiled, then said, "Bring me my sword."
"Xue Haoran, see clearly. I'm not here to die!"
Ning Qi smiled, then continued, "I'm here to kill you!"
"What? You kill me?"
Hearing Ning Qi's words, Xue Haoran acted as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
While holding his sides with laughter, he didn't forget to say, "Can you even kill me?"
"Then let's try and see."
As he spoke, Ning Qi directly arrived before Xue Haoran.
A pair of icy eyes fixed dead on him.
It instantly sobered Xue Haoran up from his drunken stupor.
"You, you..."
He could now clearly sense Ning Qi's immense power.
That fierce aura was definitely not something a True Immortal possessed.
"Thump!"
However, Ning Qi gave him no further opportunity to speak.
With a mere wave of his hand, he directly swept Xue Haoran's head off.
"Gurgle."
Xue Haoran's head rolled on the ground.
His face likewise wore an expression of extreme unwillingness.
"You... you..."
Seeing this, Liu Xi immediately sensed something was terribly wrong.
This kind of ruthless person, having killed the young city lord, would absolutely not leave any witnesses alive.
Thinking of this, he turned and tried to flee.
"Thud!"
Ning Qi similarly gave him no chance.
A single punch pierced straight through his chest.
Liu Xi, unwilling, managed to stumble forward two more steps, but he had already lost his strength.
Under the absolute power of a Celestial Immortal, they had no capacity for resistance whatsoever.
They didn't even have time to unleash any Dao Artifact Divine Abilities.
Their end was the same as Zhao Qianfeng and Wang Xiaoshan's, killed as easily as ordinary people.
"What's going on? So noisy!"
One of the men at the dining table was disturbed by the commotion.
He asked displeasedly.
"Thump!"
"Thud!"
Next, Ning Qi didn't spare these men either.
He killed them one by one.
Several of these people were still in drunken dreams when they were killed.
After resolving everyone here, Ning Qi didn't idle around.
He collected all the corpses, and even used flames to vaporize all traces of blood.
He wiped away every trace here until it was spotless.
It looked as if no one had ever stayed here.
Only after everything was properly cleaned up did he retrace his steps.
After using Liu Xi's compass to return to the Sumeru Courtyard where he had been staying earlier, he also disposed of the corpses there until nothing remained.
Only after everything was finished did Ning Qi finally relax.
"Master, I keep feeling something isn't right!"
Pill Spirit looked at Ning Qi, frowning as he said, "Did someone leak the news that we were staying here?"
"Otherwise, how could Liu Xi and the others have found us so precisely?"
"Oh? You mean this inn also has an inside man?"
Pill Spirit's words, instead, reminded Ning Qi.
If that were really the case, then hadn't he killed Liu Xi too early?
"Yes, otherwise how could they have found us among so many Sumeru Courtyards?"
Pill Spirit nodded deeply in agreement, then continued, "Master, that's why I feel our task of 'uprooting the grass and eliminating the roots' isn't complete!"
"What's done is done. There's no helping it now."
"How about this, after we go out, we'll disguise ourselves!"
Ning Qi let out a long sigh, then said, "Whether we're in trouble or not, I think the inn's people should be able to tell!"
"Tomorrow, I'll just see which person comes looking for me here first."
"When that time comes, it will be the moment of their burial!"
"Once we get off the ship, we'll disguise ourselves immediately."
"That's a good method!"
Pill Spirit clapped his hands. "Master, it has to be you!"
"Alright, enough flattery. Let's prepare!"
"Time is already running short."
"If there are no results here for a while, someone is bound to get anxious!"
A ruthless expression appeared on Ning Qi's face. "Let's go, find a place outside to wait."
"Right!"
Pill Spirit nodded in agreement, then flew up to perch on Ning Qi's shoulder.
The two of them left this place and returned to the inn.
"Master, let's split up. I'll see who can't hold back first!"
Pill Spirit pointed in another direction and flew off.
Ning Qi, meanwhile, went to a different direction.
He found a spot in a corner and hid.
Just like that, the two of them began their 'wait by the tree stump for the rabbit' here.
Time also began to pass.
After a little over an hour, a sneaky, furtive figure slipped over from a corridor to one side.
Upon reaching the door of Ning Qi's chamber, the figure hesitated for a moment but still didn't enter.
Instead, it headed towards the other side, coming over.
This direction was precisely where Ning Qi was hiding.
Ning Qi took a look. It was exactly that shop assistant who had received him when he arrived.
"Shop Assistant, where are you heading?"
Seeing the assistant, Ning Qi stepped forward and asked with a smile.
"Young Master! How are you..."
The shop assistant was startled by Ning Qi's sudden appearance.
However, he quickly regained his composure.