Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest-Chapter 784 - 36: Clever Ningning Has Brains_2
"Yes," the Mirror Immortal said approvingly.
"Since that’s the case, this must be the only route they can take," Lin Ning began to contemplate.
"Why won’t you just give up..." The Mirror Immortal felt somewhat helpless, thinking to himself that this woman didn’t seem like the kind of murderous star with an intense killer nature, so why was her combat style so aggressive and offensive?
But as a Sword Immortal, one indeed needed that unyielding spirit, that relentless determination to always press forward...
Speaking of which, Ishana conducted long-distance bombardments from behind and directed the troops, finally chasing Lin Ning to the city’s central water tower and beginning to enter the tower in batches to pursue.
Lin Ning, on the other hand, made use of the internal structure of the tower and engaged in a tough grinding battle with the ascetics from Tianzhu. With her extremely fast reactions and sharp swordsmanship, her opponents often had just poked their heads out from the stairwell when they were instantly penetrated and killed by the Green Bamboo Sword.
There were three main divisions among the sects of the ascetics, with the Shiva Sect ascetics known for their various destructive spells. Seeing countless fall before the astonishing swordsmanship, the ascetics cried out chaotically, calling for Shiva Practitioners to the bottom of the stairwell, not poking their heads out but recklessly tossing all sorts of area spells upstairs.
After smashing around for a long time with no response from above, a few brave ascetics ascended, crawling up the stairs to the center of the tower level, not even getting a chance to catch their breath when their field of vision was entirely filled with sword light—it was Lin Ning who had pretended to retreat upstairs, secretly activated invisibility, and quietly descended the stairs as soon as the spells ceased, finding a corner to crouch and lie in wait.
Suddenly she burst forth, instantly slaying all four ascetics, leaving their bodies dismembered. Seeing this from below, they hurriedly threw more wide-ranging spells, only to see Lin Ning step out with the Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step, her figure flickering a few times, then flashing near the stairs, and with another flash, she was back upstairs.
The ascetics below looked at each other in dismay. After some squabbling, they sent up a scapegoat to ascend.
The scapegoat, trembling with fear, climbed up, randomly attacking around to make sure no one was hiding invisibly, then hurriedly called for the others below to come up.
Only to see a streak of sword light drift down from the stairwell, instantly piercing through the back of the unfortunate soul, and then calmly turning around under the barrage of spells, flying back up to the higher level of the tower.
After that, no one dared to go upstairs again. When the news reached Ishana at the back, his vision darkened, feeling a sense of helplessness that he could not effectively lead these useless soldiers.
Such a poor and mediocre performance was actually within expectations. These Transcendents from the civilian population of Tianzhu basically came from the low literacy and educational levels of Tianzhu itself, many of them not even literate enough to understand the teachings of the sect, handed down orally by their masters. They could not even understand Taoism Method books, let alone basic military literacy and the ability to judge the situation... In this respect, they could be thoroughly outclassed by the cultivators of Lu Country.
Lin Ning dared to linger here and not just think about escaping because she faintly sensed that the quality of these enemies as individual soldiers was utterly inadequate.
I can kill them all right here!
"Don’t be foolish," the Mirror Immortal timely intervened to pour cold water on her, "These are probably just Outer Disciples from their sects; no matter how many die, they can just replace them, the higher-ups won’t care at all. If you waste your True Yuan here, you’ll be done for when the big battle comes."
"Outer Disciples?" Lin Ning asked with some confusion.
"What, you don’t call them Outer Disciples anymore?" the Mirror Immortal countered.
"I understand what you’re saying," Lin Ning couldn’t help but sigh.
Yes, what truly can determine the outcome of a battlefield is actually eliminating the commanders of the enemy like the team leaders, my abilities are still far from adequate.
Ishana quickly issued new orders: all squads to have at least three Shiva Practitioners, perform a spell bombardment before going upstairs, and combine with other ascetics to ascend; each time a team climbed up a level, continue to throw spells upstairs, maintaining continuous assault without stopping.
Although it sounded like a luxurious tactic that wasted a lot of True Yuan, the ascetics were so numerous that even if they took turns resting to recover Mana, it was more than enough.
It seemed as if the opponent finally had no solution to this. When the people all rushed up to the higher levels, they met no further resistance.
Ishana sneered to himself, then suddenly received a report from the front lines: the enemy had left the top of the water tower and was rapidly moving along the top of the Water Channel, rushing toward the underground Dark River exit at the end!
This is bad, the Divine General Dinghai is trying to escape!
With Ishana’s command, the ascetics inside the tower rushed up the Water Channel, chasing in a tailing pursuit to block off the enemy’s retreat; Ishana himself once again launched the Dan Yan Spear, bombarding from the air with thunderous fury, determined to leave Lin Ning with no way out.
The water channel was not spacious, allowing little room for movement. With the path ahead sealed by fierce storms and thunder, Lin Ning’s progress was inevitably hindered. The pursuers from behind took the opportunity to accelerate their chase and were about to catch up when suddenly, Lin Ning’s body wrapped in sword light, leapt towards the side of the water channel!
Ishana immediately activated the Blood Storage Calamity Wave Cup, forming a vast blood sea beneath where Lin Ning was expected to land, attempting to trap her in a pot.
As a result, the Green Bamboo Sword performed a Bai Niao Chao Feng maneuver; the tail of the sword lightly fluttered downward while the tip rose again, tracing a U-shaped route and returning to the water channel—nearly causing Ishana to cough up blood in frustration.
While Ishana had yet to recover and cast another spell, Lin Ning simply charged forward with Sword Control, gliding low along the surface of the water channel. At last, she reached the entrance of the underground dark river at the end and plunged into the water.
Damn it, she escaped!
Ishana’s face darkened with intense unwillingness and frustration, but then he saw a red sword light burst from the water and fly down along the pillar of the water channel.
Huh?
He suddenly realized with a shock that the support pillars of the massive water channel were ragged and torn—some of the damage was from earlier when Ishana used spells from the Trishula Spear to block Lin Ning’s path, but other marks appeared to be from the cutting of a Flying Sword...
Flying Sword cutting?
Right! This woman was capable of the Two-handed Sword Control Technique! Why then, on the water channel earlier, did I only see her azure sword light?!
Ishana’s gaze fell on the many Ascetics still in pursuit on the water channel, and his face finally twisted in horror. He was about to urgently order everyone to turn back and retreat when the Dan Yan Sword light, like a crimson comet, sped past, and the pillars of the water channel began to collapse like dominoes!
The pillars crumbled, the channel collapsed, the scene was like an earthquake shaking the mountains. Under an enchantment that forbade flight, regardless of one’s ability to fly, all the Tianzhu practitioners stumbled and fell from over two hundred meters high, tumbling helplessly in the air, clawing at nothing.
Ishana’s eyes breathed fire, with golden light growing more intense. He finally realized that from the start, he had been outwitted by this cunning woman from Lu Country, and the price was the lives of these loyal Ascetics who were following his orders!
Listening to the continuous screams, wails, and the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground in the distance, Ishana glared at the entrance to the dark river, unable to contain the fierce flames of revenge burning in his heart.
I’ve got you now, Divine General Yan Yu from Lu Country! One day, I will turn your head into a wine pot!
However, Lin Ning was unaware of his thoughts; she did not even look back to see the outcome of the battle. After shooting out the Dan Yan Sword, she simply turned around and swam against the current of the underground dark river.
After a bit, the Dan Yan Sword finally flew back to its master. Then she heard the mirror immortal say:
"I was wrong about you. Not only are you audacious, but you also have brains."
"What’s our next move?" Lin Ning didn’t indulge in flattery but asked instead.
"There are many paths to take," the mirror immortal replied leisurely. "Ultimately, it depends on where you want to end up."
"If you want to go to the Pure Land Netherworld, it’s to your southeast, take a right at the next junction; if you’re heading to the Zhenmei Sword Sect, you need to go northeast, take a left at the next junction."
Lin Ning fell silent upon hearing this. She didn’t know anything about the Pure Land Netherworld or the Zhenmei Sword Sect; she just wanted to regroup with her captain... and the rest of them, anyway, regroup first.
But where could the captain and the others possibly be!
"I’m looking for someone." Lin Ning asked, "Among the people who entered this Mysterious Realm, where are they likely to have been sent?"
"Then I suggest you head to the Pure Land Netherworld," said the mirror immortal.
"Why?"
"Because those who are transported near the Zhenmei Sword Sect hardly live past an hour," the mirror immortal stated nonchalantly.
