Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Taiji Hall.

As Jiang Ning’s voice fell.

The Martial Saint spirit body slightly inclined his head toward him, the hazy white light shrouding his whole body flowing calmly.

He said nothing more, merely raised his hand in a light sweep; a gentle force lifted Jiang Ning up, bringing him to his side, standing shoulder to shoulder.

The people in the hall, seeing this scene, wore all kinds of expressions.

Prince Pingjian Ji Xuan’s gaze was deep; when it swept past Jiang Ning, a trace of barely discernible complexity flashed in the depths of his eyes.

The arrival of the Demon Country’s envoy had caused the Martial Saint spirit body to descend once more; this he had not anticipated.

His gaze lingered on Jiang Ning for but a moment, then quietly withdrew.

At this moment, though the Demon King Black Feather’s head was newly regenerated and his aura feeble, his back was ramrod straight, not daring to show the slightest abnormal movement.

Bai Li’s ice-blue eyes looked toward Jiang Ning, paused briefly for an instant, then quietly withdrew.

"Let us go." The Martial Saint spirit body said.

As his words fell, he lifted his hand and waved; a streak of white light blossomed in the hall, spreading like ripples, and in an instant shrouded Jiang Ning, Bai Li, and the Demon Country envoy within it.

"We respectfully see the Martial Saint off!"

"We respectfully see the Martial Saint off!!"

Within the Taiji Hall, the civil and military officials bowed once more, their voices surging like a tide.

At the same time.

Jiang Ning only felt time and space rapidly shifting, flickering lights and shadows before his eyes, just like when he had first executed the Great Five Elements Water Escape Technique.

The power of space!

He immediately understood in his heart.

After the Taixu Yin Yang Sword reached Perfection, using the sword to Enter Dao, his grasp over space had already far surpassed that of ordinary men.

He could merely sense the methods the Martial Saint was currently employing.

He also at once understood why, back at the Cross Immortal Gate, with the Martial Saint seated in Shangjing County, though separated by tens of thousands of miles, he could instantly slay that Ling Xuzi.

The spatial means the Martial Saint was currently displaying were far above his own.

In the span of merely a breath, he felt the Martial Saint spirit body carrying him and the Demon Country envoy as they swept past countless mountains and rivers, racing toward the south of Great Xia.

He promptly closed his eyes.

The shifting light and shadows of the mountains and rivers outside crossed in his mind like fleeting reflections.

In just an instant, he felt that he had already swept past Li State, the southernmost frontier of Great Xia, then plunged headfirst into a vast Ancient Forest and a chain of mountains undulating like a dragon.

...

The next moment.

The light withdrew, and the few figures came to a halt.

Jiang Ning opened his eyes, steadying his Heart Spirit from the dizzying whirl of heaven and earth.

Then he discovered that he already stood atop a desolate cluster of peaks.

Sea of clouds surged beneath his feet, distant peaks dusky as ink; the world stretched vast and boundless, enough to shake one’s very soul.

The Spiritual Energy here was far denser than in the Royal Capital; vegetation was lush and rugged, and faintly one could hear deep bestial roars from afar, carrying primitive savagery and oppressive might.

He instantly realized that this place was the Demon Country’s territory south of Great Xia.

It was said that the Demon Country’s territory lay within a chain of mountains stretching for a hundred thousand li without end.

The mountain range rolled in desolate waves, Ancient Forests towering and stretching into a sea, boundless and limitless.

That was the paradise of the Demon Clan, also their place of slumber, and a forbidden land for humans.

Any Martial Artist who ventured deep into the hundred thousand li mountains rarely returned alive.

At the same time.

Bai Li’s eyes turned hazy for a moment, and the bodies of the other few Demon Clan members of the envoy swayed unsteadily at his side, as though they might topple at any moment.

Only the Demon King Black Feather’s gaze steadied a heartbeat earlier.

He looked at the scene before him, his pupils contracting.

As a Demon King, he naturally remembered this place and knew where he was.

This was the heartland of the Demon Country’s territory, at a distance of untold tens of thousands of li from the Great Xia Royal Capital.

"So this is the Martial Saint’s means!!" His heart sank secretly, and he felt his earlier intention to make a probing move laughable.

Even as a Demon King, he had never seen such methods.

In the span of a breath, from the Great Xia Royal Capital, they had come to the edge of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range in the heartland of the Demon Country’s territory.

Such means, in the Ancient Times, only Immortals who had comprehended the Heaven and Earth Great Path and grasped the laws could possess such mysterious methods.

Yet he knew that the path the Martial Saint walked was pure Martial Arts, not Immortal Dao.

Martial Arts seeks within oneself; Immortal Dao seeks in the external world.

"This place is already the edge of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range. Three hundred li further ahead lies the Dragon Burial Abyss." The voice of the Martial Saint spirit body sounded at his side, still calm, yet clearly reaching every ear.

Jiang Ning cast a glance to his side, only to see that Bai Li and the Black Feather Demon King and the other demons had all steadied themselves.

The few members of the Demon Clan had also stabilized, their breathing held extremely light.

Upon hearing the words of the Martial Saint spirit body, the tips of Bai Li’s ears trembled slightly, then she stepped forward.

Her ice-blue eyes gazed into the depths of the sea of clouds, her voice on the mountaintop growing all the more clear and bright: "Martial Saint, the Dragon Burial Abyss lies in the heart of the mountain range, a thousand zhang underground, shaped like a rift valley. Poison miasma shrouds it all year round, and there are underground flames and dark rivers crisscrossing below. That evil flood dragon coils at the Dragon Nest at the bottom of the abyss; the Dragon Nest was once the evil flood dragon’s place of slumber, naturally endowed with the advantage of terrain. In the previous encirclements, several Great Demons of our clan fell there, all because it was difficult to delve deep within."

The Martial Saint spirit body faintly nodded, the hazy white light enveloping his body seeming to ripple outward. He did not move immediately, but instead turned toward Jiang Ning: "Do you know why I summoned you?"

Jiang Ning cupped his hands and said, "This junior is dull-witted."

"The evil flood dragon has nearly five thousand years of Dao and is about to undergo Dragon Transformation. Its flesh, blood, sinew and bone, its Dragon Soul essence, and even the Dragon Origin it is about to gestate are all Heaven and Earth Treasures. You have already walked quite far upon the path of Martial Arts, and my own time is nearly spent. Previously, you also suffered calamity due to my attention. This is the karma between you and me; this is what I owe you. Before my end, I shall grant you one more stroke of fortune, to repay this karma." At this moment, the Martial Saint spirit body spoke openly of his current state, entirely unconcerned with the presence of the Demon Country’s demons beside him.

"This junior will remember the Martial Saint’s great kindness." Jiang Ning cupped his hands in thanks.

He did not exchange any polite formalities with the Martial Saint.