Thus, another night had passed.

Leaning against the rocky wall, in his arms, were two stunningly beautiful lassies. He withdrew his hand from Ning’er’s special place, then the young lad, Zhou Yan, took a quick, light breath, inhaling the hypnotic, ambrosial milky scent into his body.

The lad felt extremely blessed. However, he, too, felt uneasy.

The truth was, as soon as Zhou Yan left the Zhou household, the young lad began to feel uneasy. However, nothing grim or unfortunate had happened in the three extremely blessed days.

Not a single encounter with any wild beasts nor practitioners of the sword art. It was as if the trio had stepped into the Garden of Eden, and everything seemed too peaceful.

“No…”

Out of nowhere, Ning’er suddenly screamed as she jolted from Zhou Yan’s loving embrace in her startled state. In that very instant, her movements were quite nimble.

Her sudden violent movements instantly startled Ping’er, who was still in her deep, peaceful slumber.

“What’s wrong, Ning’er?” questioned Zhou Yan with a soft, caring tone as he stood up and grabbed Ping’er, who almost tripped over.

“Ah…What’s wrong, sister Ning’er?” Ping’er seemed slightly uptight as she assumed there was an ambush by the enemy.

“No…Nothing, it was only a nightmare, merely a dream.”

Ning’er’s forehead was covered in sweat. It seemed to her that this dream she had was no normal dream.

Recalling the lad’s own concerns, a storm of anxiety raged in Zhou Yan’s heart.

At this moment, Ning’er threw herself into Zhou Yan’s loving embrace. She spoke with a soft tone, “Worry not Zhou Yan, I am fine.”

“Alright.”

Zhou Yan proceeded to gently stroke Ning’er’s back and hugging her without saying a word. This time, there was absolutely zero ill intentions from the young lad.

However, at this very moment, Ning’er once again kissed the young lad, and thus, without hesitation, the young lad promptly accepted her kiss.

…

Moments later, their lips parted.

“Zhou Yan, I need to go now. They’re coming.”

Ning’er got out of Zhou Yan’s loving embrace as she focused her gaze on the horizon far ahead. The ray of light resembled a veiled illusion that appeared as though it was able to break through the heavens above and shatter the ground below.

“Ning’er, who are they?”

Zhou Yan’s entire body was trembling violently. The lad already knew that soon, an impending major event would occur.

The lad was unsure what the cause was. However, he knew that the foreign land, simply known as ‘Earth,’ had gone through the Era of The Dharma Ending. The realm that belonged to the ancient sage who had mastered the skill of ‘Spatial Destruction.’ The young lad who had inherited the will made his sixth sense extremely unique!

“I don’t know, but I can feel it. They are getting closer.”

Ning’er sighed as her entire face grew inhumanly pale. Her beauty in that ill state seemed to reach its peak.

“Master, sister Ning’er…”

The edge of Ping’er’s eyes grew red as the young lass had no clue what was happening. However, she knew that judging from how they acted, it seemed like something awful had happened.

At this moment, a ray of blade’s light descended from the edge of the heavens. It seemed like that attack was unleashed from a neighboring town. The attack pierced the skies as it attempted to slay the trio.

This was an extremely powerful attack that exceeded a multitude of different realms. To protect both Ning’er and Ping’er, Zhou Yan shielded them by taking the full brunt of the attack, and thus, blood instantly spilled out of the edge of the lad’s mouth.

This was an extremely powerful foe who had complete mastery of Way of The Sword of Invincibility Such Blade’s Menace was condensed and concentrated from absolutely nothing and was even capable of bringing death to enemies from a thousand miles away!

Due to the enormous difference in Zhou Yan’s skills to the mysterious foe, the young lad did nothing to retaliate. He knew that it would not make much of a difference to change the outcome, even if the lad unleashed the blade’s menace from the hand-carved effigy.

The lad finally realized that his foe was simply waiting for him to be far enough away from that place, to kill him in the middle of nowhere. The foe had never left him alone.

This was truly the definition of removing the problem by uprooting it entirely!

The young lad had also…finally realized why… in the span of three whole days, not a single living soul was seen in the entirety of this dense forest. It seemed everything was planned beforehand by someone.

Zhou Yan thought about his family’s Grand Elder, the Grand Elder’s hand, and the Elder of Lore… It puzzled him as he was unsure of who was skilled enough to condense Blade’s Menace and was capable of killing from an extremely far distance.

It was a mystery to who had intended to uproot the source of the problem, which was him!

When it calmed down, the young lad turned around. He looked sadly at both Ning’er and Ping’er. The lad soon realized that Ning’er paid no attention to that extremely powerful and deadly Blade’s Menace, and instead, her gaze was completely fixed on the distant horizon.

Before this lethal, horrifying Blade’s Menace descended upon the earth beneath their feet, both the Heavens and Earth contorted as if forming into an endless black hole, piercing through this very piece of heaven and earth.

It was at this moment; nine rays of crackling lightning were being dragged along by a snow cloaked phoenix that pierced through this infinite spatial void. It was as if this majestic creature hailed from a vast, boundless chaotic plane, bringing along with it an infinite, endless aura of calamity as it completely obliterated this entire land.

“Buzz…”

As both heavens and earth shattered, space and time, too, will collapse.

Everything around Zhou Yan was instantly reduced to dust. The entire stretch of land within that very instant alone was completely obliterated into a barren wasteland.

Gone were the dense forest and the waterfall.

The boundless environment was now reduced to a layer of snowy white cinder and ash.

A harrowing howl echoed from a distant plane. The piercing shrieks were heartbreaking as it sliced through the heavens and earth.

It seemed, at this very moment, that the assassin was in utter agonizing misery. He was trapped in a living hell as the prayers of death were not answered.

Just like that, the assassin who attempted to murder Zhou Yan was shrieking and howling in horrifying agony. It was as if his screams of agony drowned the very heavens and earth in a wave of deafening silence.

This foe was imperceivably powerful. As his powers descended upon this very land, they were able to tear down and completely destroy the spatial fortress.

At this moment, nine shadowed specters gradually condensed into a physical, solid form as it morphed into nine snowy odd-looking primitive beasts. They resembled a phoenix, which was magnified up to ten folds.

These nine majestic, godly birds dragged along a Prismatic Wagon. It suddenly materialized in that shattered void above.

The exterior of that Prismatic Wagon was as if layers of light were opened. Within it was nine exceptionally looking maidens wearing long white dresses. Every single one of them was indescribably stunning. They were like Ning’er, one of a kind and unparalleled in beauty.

Every single one of them looked tremendously elegant. They all wore an expressionless and monotonous pale face, but their gaze was extremely cold. They were emotionless. It was as if they were all logs.

However, every single person was akin to a legendary, godly blade that was exceedingly sharp. Not a single soul was able to shy away from its gaze.

In the face of such majesty, Zhou Yan was trapped in a violent quake as every inch of his body was trembling uncontrollably.

The lad feared nothing, however, in the face of such majestic aura, the young lad could not keep his mind composed and calm!

Ning’er and Ping’er, who were both regular people, were somehow unaffected.

After the nine majestic, godly birds had materialized, they transformed into nine snow colored longswords. These longswords were enormous and engraved on its surface was an extremely lifelike picture of the majestic bird.

Those nine godly blades suddenly shrunk in size as they fell onto the back of the maidens and into the scabbard of each maiden.

‘Blade…Blade’s spirit? The mythical, legendary invincible blade’s spirit and the mythical shape-shifting godly beast?’ mumbled Zhou Yan to himself. He was completely blown away as a surprising look dawned upon the young lad’s face.

Ning’er remained silent as she stared intently at the Prismatic Wagon, seemingly recalling certain memories.

Rays of prismatic lights flickered through the clouds, as the nine godly swords returned to its position. Out of nowhere, a majestic rainbow-like ray of light once again started to flicker. At that moment, within that ray of light, a choir could be heard singing. It was as if a godly figure was bestowing the godly knowledge and law of the Ways of The Sword as a boundless ray of spiritual light shone in between the heavens and earth.

After being touched by that ray of light, the young lad, Zhou Yan, felt as if his entire soul was being baptized by a dense, boundless, spiritually infused liquid. His body violently absorbed the infinite energy from the very essence of this spiritual bath.

Ning’er, who stood by his side, was touched by the same light. Her elegant body shivered slightly as a glint of shock and sudden realization reflected through her eyes.

As the Prismatic Wagon’s door opened, a maiden who looked the same as Ning’er walked out. The only distinction between the two was that Ning’er had some humanity left in her. However, that lass was like a deity. She had an extremely cold demeanor, and not a single shred of humanity was left in her.

That maiden never intended to speak. However, upon seeing Zhou Yan’s blade and the dress on Ning’er body, some emotions were visible through her monotonous demeanor.

“It seemed that Zhou Wangchen never did fulfill his promise, after all.

“If it wasn’t for our efforts in providing a solution, that blade’s body of extreme cold would be an utter waste.”

The tone in the maiden’s voice was extremely cold, it was almost without emotion.

“Your grace, you knew my father?”

Zhou Yan questioned with zero hesitation and reluctance.

The young lad was slightly agitated, however, at this moment, this young lad was nothing more than an insignificant ant to that maiden. There was nothing he could do.

‘It seems you’re Zhou Wangchen’s son, after all. That explains everything.

‘Even though your foundations are strong, and you were enlightened that awoke your Blade’s Essence, your natural gifts are only of ordinary level compared to your father. It seems that you’re only slightly better than he was. What a shame… you’re old, and the very foundations of your bones had already been fixed. You have not reached the realm of the Blade’s Menace before you turned sixteen. You’ve wasted your time,’ mumbled the young lass to herself. It was rare for her to speak that much.

Zhou Yan felt this maiden was just like Ning’er, a lass of few words. However, to say such things to him, this made him wonder how his own father knew a person like her.

“My lady, he is someone…precious to me, if you have any respect for me, then you shall respect him as well! His natural gifts were so powerful that it was beyond anything you’ve ever understood!”

Suddenly, Ning’er proceeded to lift her head up, staring directly at the maiden in the sky. As she spoke, her entire attitude and demeanor was headstrong!

Zhou Yan was surprised at such dominance, while Ping’er, on the other hand, was completely stunned.

“Saintess, you…you’re back?” That maiden questioned with a shaky tone.

“Yes, I have returned.”

Ning’er slowly nodded.

Hints of surprise were visible on the cold, emotionless face of the young lass and the nine other maidens who served her.

“Zhou Yan…I need to leave now as some matters of utmost importance require me to handle it. However, I promise you, I will wait for you. I’ll be waiting for your arrival someday and look for me in the Snow-Jade Palace!”

Ning’er had plenty to say to Zhou Yan as complicated emotions flooded her pearly eyes. However, in the end, she only managed to say those few words.

“Go on now…Ning’er.”

Zhou Yan nodded as the lad knew that in matters like these, it was obviously not her choice but something that she was forced upon.

“Zhou Yan, Ping’er has unique gifts in other aspects. I know her secret, and I really wish to bring her with me.”

“Alright…it would be better to have a friend by your side. You and her alone. It seems like I would have nothing to worry about now.”

A wave of melancholy washed over Zhou Yan’s heart; however, he knew that this was Ning’er’s destiny, and he was in no position to stop her in the pursuit of destiny.

Ping’er, on the other hand, the lad knew that the heart of this handmaiden was extremely determined. She decided to walk the path of The Ways of The Sword for his sake, and hence she will train extremely hard for him.

However, her natural gifts were nothing spectacular, it would be really hard to make any major progress. Judging from the horrifying raw strength of these people, he knew that in a similar encounter soon, there would not be anyone by his side for him to protect.

He knew that Ning’er would rid herself off any ‘lingering’ emotions, and took Ping’er’s future into deep consideration, thus taking Ping’er along with her. The young lad understood the reason behind her actions.

“Zhou Yan…I…love you. It will be forever unchanging.”

Ning’er hesitated while her lips twitched slightly. She never voiced her thoughts aloud, but it was expressed in great detail through her expression.

The lass was truly wise, as she never exaggerated her own expression in her current situation.

Zhou Yan’s heart and soul were trembling, and he was extremely tempted to hug Ning’er in his loving embrace, infusing her into his soul and the deepest parts of his bone marrow.

However, the young lad suppressed his emotions. Ning’er seemed to be in an authoritative position. Thus, the young lad did not wish to put her in a tough position.

The young lad also did not wish to provoke the exceedingly powerful maiden, due to Ning’er’s actions, because by doing so, Ning’er would not have a peaceful life there…

Once again, he resented his weakness and his inability to protect the ones that mattered most to him. If only the lad had powers on par with that maiden, there would not be a need to part with his loved ones. There would be no need to depend on these people to aid Ning’er in her search for her own identity.

“Ning’er…I love you, unchanging even till death.”

Similarly, Zhou Yan’s lips twitched without speaking a word. However, the meaning of it was extremely obvious.

…