Nine Nether Dragon Emperor-Chapter 44: Instant Kill, Mysterious Ferry!

"Ning Xuan, you should think before being so relentless!"

"Everyone, this little bastard has a grudge against Ning Yang, the Scion of the Divine Body! As long as we take his head to The Capital, our futures will be bright! I’m in a good mood today, so I don’t mind letting you all have a piece of the pie." Bai Yu continued to incite the crowd, wanting to get more geniuses involved to make his victory foolproof.

Ling Tian’s eyes flashed as he also spoke up. "We had no intention of ganging up on him, but he’s so arrogant and clearly looks down on us. Show him the same fervor you had just now! Let’s show him what we’re made of!"

With that, his gaze turned to several people who were preparing to slip away. These few had also looked down on Ning Xuan earlier.

Caught in Ling Tian’s gaze, they hesitated for a moment before choosing to step forward. If the initial four failed to defeat him, Ning Xuan would likely come after them next. By joining the battle now, their combined strength would ensure Ning Xuan couldn’t escape even if he sprouted wings.

In the end, a total of seven people surrounded Ning Xuan, all of them young geniuses whose names were on the Heavenly Stele.

Ning Xuan’s eyes swept over them. "Perfect. This saves me the trouble of hunting you down later."

"Arrogant! With all of us joining forces, how dare you, a mere cultivator at the First Layer Heavens of the Profound Realm, speak so brazenly!" a youth who had just joined the group shouted, his confidence soaring.

Bai Yu remained silent, glancing at the quiet Si Lanyi beside him. Si Lanyi, ever perceptive, shook her head. "This is a grudge between him and all of you. I won’t get involved." She then added, "If you manage to kill him, I’ll even give you Element Crystals. After all, he’s quite rich right now."

After saying this, Si Lanyi gave Ning Xuan a playful wink.

Bai Yu and the others had a sudden realization. Ning Xuan had taken Dong Xinchuan’s and Guan Ting’s Storage Rings, on top of the massive reward for taking first place! Furthermore, the ferryman had mentioned a random, mysterious reward for the winner. All of this added up to a tremendous fortune!

In an instant, the eyes of the seven men blazed with fiery greed as they stared at Ning Xuan.

"Ning Xuan, when you get to Hell, make sure you repent!" Bai Yu said ominously.

Then, with a loud cry, one of them charged forward.

PUFF!

Without even drawing his sword, Ning Xuan pointed a finger. A bloody hole instantly appeared on the youth’s brow.

The remaining six were not shocked but delighted. This was intentional. One less person meant a larger share for them later! As for the possibility of defeat, they didn’t even consider it. With six geniuses whose Realms far surpassed Ning Xuan’s attacking together, and Si Lanyi staying out of it, failure was impossible.

After killing one, Ning Xuan had a thought and switched from using a finger strike to his fists. I subconsciously used the Fourth Realm of the Sword Dao. To continue using it would be overkill. Luckily, the six had no idea what Ning Xuan was thinking. If they did, they would have gone mad.

Facing the six-pronged assault, Ning Xuan didn’t retreat. Instead, he advanced, throwing a punch at Zhang Yuan.

PUFF!

Zhang Yuan was sent flying backward, blood spraying from his mouth like an arrow.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Ning Xuan retreated a single step and unleashed a flurry of punches with both fists. The two youths who had joined the battle late suffered the same fate as Zhang Yuan.

Just as Bai Yu, off to the side, anticipated Ning Xuan’s retreat and attacked his escape route, Ning Xuan took a step forward instead.

CRACK!

Ling Tian’s punch missed. As he instinctively tried to retreat in alarm, Ning Xuan’s fist became a claw that crushed his throat.

In a mere instant, of the seven who had ganged up on Ning Xuan, only Bai Yu and Yang Mu were left with the strength to fight.

The three who had been knocked back—Zhang Yuan and the two newcomers—were scared out of their wits and turned to flee.

CRACK!

Ning Xuan’s hands shot out like vipers. They weaved past Bai Yu’s and Yang Mu’s iron fists, latching onto their throats. A quick squeeze, and both men’s throats were crushed. Their eyes bulged in disbelief. They fell backward, dead but with their eyes wide open.

Zhang Yuan and his two companions, having taken only a single step, heard the sounds. Their legs gave out, and they all collapsed to the ground.

"Sp—"

The one who spoke managed only that single syllable before Ning Xuan’s palm struck both him and his companion on their Heavenly Spirit Covers, killing them instantly. Zhang Yuan was slightly luckier. He, at least, managed to get the next word out.

"Seven Storage Rings. Not a bad haul."

Ning Xuan collected the seven Storage Rings and walked over to Si Lanyi, holding out his hand to give them all to her. If not for Si Lanyi’s encouragement, he wouldn’t have obtained them so quickly. Ning Xuan was always clear about debts and grudges, and he was never stingy with his gratitude.

As Si Lanyi took the rings, she whispered softly, "I’ll hold onto all of this for you."

Adding this new loot to what they had taken from Li Muyun and Ji Fei on the road, the two of them now had several million Element Crystals. However, Si Lanyi knew that this amount was still far too little.

With that, her beautiful eyes swept over the remaining onlookers. The stunned crowd immediately snapped back to their senses. No one here was a fool; they now understood that Bai Yu and his group had been played by Si Lanyi. They didn’t dare meet her gaze.

Almost everyone turned and left without another word. Bai Yu, Guan Ting, Yang Mu, and the others had all been formidable cultivators, yet every one of them had died at Ning Xuan’s hand. Moreover, he was accompanied by a powerful Dao Xuan Master—one who had stormed her way to second place on the Heavenly Stele’s combat power ranking. Only someone with a death wish would dare provoke the pair now.

"WOOF, WOOF, WOOF..."

Xiao Bai’s barks suddenly echoed from the direction of the ferry crossing.

Ning Xuan and Si Lanyi immediately rushed over. Although Xiao Bai had started as a stray dog, after obtaining the Divine Body Bloodline and having his constitution refined by Ning Xuan, he was now not only powerful but also exceedingly clever. He would never make a fuss for no reason.

When they arrived at the crossing, they saw Xiao Bai baring his teeth at a young man.

"Friend, is this your pet? I didn’t do anything, but it just started barking at me. It’s quite frightening," the young man said upon seeing Ning Xuan and Si Lanyi arrive. After a calm glance at Si Lanyi, he addressed Ning Xuan with a helpless tone.

Ning Xuan looked at the youth’s rolled-up trouser leg and the hole that had been poked in the ice in front of Xiao Bai. He smiled and apologized, "I’m sorry, this little guy might be in heat. Er, I didn’t mean it like that..."

Ning Xuan had just grabbed a random excuse, but upon seeing the youth’s expression change, he quickly tried to explain.

The young man simply chuckled. "I understand. I’ll leave you two to talk. It’s freezing out here, so I should be heading back."

With that, the youth turned and left.

Si Lanyi walked to the hole in the ice and peered inside. She saw that the water within was already beginning to freeze over again, and there was no current visible below.

"Xiao Bai, is there something down there?" Ning Xuan asked, a thought stirring in his mind.

Xiao Bai barked twice and made a motion as if to dive in, but he also appeared very wary.

"May I ask what reward you received, young hero?"

Before Ning Xuan could move closer, the ferryman’s voice sounded beside him.

At the mention of this, Ning Xuan’s face filled with resentment. "There was no extra reward at all! Old Sir, you weren’t trying to trick me, were you?"

The ferryman seemed to look up at Ning Xuan, who fearlessly met his gaze.

"Then perhaps I was mistaken," the ferryman said before turning to leave. Once he was some distance away, his voice drifted back to them. "The ferry crossing is a dangerous place. It’s best if you two don’t linger."

"If it weren’t for Xiao Bai, that youth would have probably gone down there," Ning Xuan mused, his gaze fixed on the hole in the ice. "What do you think is down there?" he asked Si Lanyi.

Si Lanyi shook her head, simultaneously activating her Dao Xuan Technique.