"And the result?" Jiang Ming frowned slightly.
"The disciples of the Qingyuan Sword Valley were almost completely wiped out. However, no one expected that the Qingyuan Sword Valley would actually go all out. That team had brought a few lethal magical tools and even hid an incomparably terrifying body-tempering assassin among them."
As the middle-aged man said this, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. It was as if the assassin had left a terrifying impression on him. "Many people from the alliance formed by the Cangming Grotto-Heaven and other factions were killed. In the end, the three people from the Qingyuan Sword Valley fled into the depths of the snowy valley with the piece of the map."
"Was the assassin killed?" Jiang Ming asked.
As expected, the body-tempering assassin was an old acquaintance of his.
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment before he laughed bitterly. "To be honest, I really don't know. Perhaps no one knows. Some people said that the assassin had died in the chaotic battle. However, no one seemed to be able to confirm who the assassin was when they found the corpses."
Jiang Ming raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, "If that's the case, then he's not dead. It seems that Wu Hen has been doing quite well. His methods are getting more and more exquisite."
"Put away your magical tool and give me your storage ring. I'll spare you!" he looked at the middle-aged man and said calmly.
"Fellow cultivator, don't push your luck. How about we each take a step back?" The middle-aged man sighed and slowly retreated. "I can give you all the treasures of that disciple from the Immortal Feather Grotto-Heaven."
As he spoke, he took out a silver-white storage ring and threw it at Jiang Ming.
At this moment, the middle-aged man suddenly made a move. A dazzling sword aura burst out from behind the storage ring and cut through the void toward Jiang Ming.
"Looks like you're not stupid." Jiang Ming's expression was calm, and he was not surprised. He flicked his finger and the Fire Metal Sword Technique slashed out. Golden flames swept across the sky and smashed into the sword aura, shattering it.
The middle-aged man's eyes darkened, and his heart sank. This casual attack that did not rely on a magical tool was enough to prove that this young man was definitely a terrifying foe.
He wanted to stall for time. However, this young man was obviously a cunning fox and did not fall for his tricks at all.
"Fellow cultivator, you're indeed an expert. I admit defeat!"
As the middle-aged man spoke, he turned around without hesitation. His body exploded with a blood-red light as he used a secret technique to escape.
However, the outcome had already been decided. Jiang Ming moved his body and crossed the sky. More than ten sword auras shot out, sealing all the escape routes of the middle-aged man.
The battle broke out and ended in a dozen moves. Jiang Ming shattered the middle-aged man's spiritual core with a punch, and the violent spiritual energy completely crushed his vitality.
Jiang Ming put away all the spoils of war and quickly left the place, rushing downstream along the river.
Even if Wu Hen's methods were extraordinary, with so many enemies hunting him down, his situation would probably not be too good.
Along the way, Jiang Ming could see some traces of battle from time to time. There were bloodstains and some corpses left.
"Hmm? The temperature in the vicinity is dropping rapidly."
Gradually, Jiang Ming suddenly noticed that the surrounding environment was changing. A large snow-covered mountain range could be vaguely seen in front of him.
Thinking of what the middle-aged man had said earlier, Jiang Ming's heart skipped a beat. It seemed that they were about to reach the base camp of the Cangming Grotto-Heaven.
A magic ship suddenly appeared from behind. It flew in the same direction as Jiang Ming and headed toward the snowy mountain ahead.
"If you dare to use a flying ship to fly here, you're either courting death or you're extremely familiar with the surrounding environment. Do you think you won't encounter a demonic beast attack or an array?" Jiang Ming said softly. The identity of the person controlling this ship was self-evident.
At this moment, the people on the ship seemed to have discovered Jiang Ming in front of them. Suddenly, a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation erupted, and the direction suddenly changed. It wanted to collide with Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. If such a ship crashed into him, even a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm would be seriously injured or even killed.
He saw a few young men and women with extraordinary auras standing on the deck in front of the ship. They seemed to be the genius disciples of some large sects. They were smiling as they looked over. Their eyes were filled with ridicule, as if they were wicked children preparing to crush little animals.
"Interesting." Jiang Ming smiled and saw the emblem of Cangming Grotto-Heaven on the ship.
"Friend, can you break the ship's defensive array?" the black sword appeared in Jiang Ming's hand, and he quickly communicated with it.
"Long-range attacks might not work. However, if I were to touch that ship, I could even cut the ship into two, let alone the array!" the black sword shouted.
"Good!"
Jiang Ming looked at the rapidly approaching ship and smiled brightly.
The communication between him and the black sword was done in a split second. Without any hesitation, he activated the Burning Spirit Scripture with the Mystic Flame Spirit Sacrifice Spell, and all his spiritual energy exploded.
Jiang Ming's body was covered in flames as he shot out like a meteor toward the ship.
"Hahaha! You are so stupid that it makes my heart ache."
At the front of the ship, a few young geniuses could not help but laugh when they saw this scene.
"How dare he attack our ship? Doesn't this kid know he's courting death?"
"Perhaps he's an individual cultivator from some remote corner. He doesn't have much knowledge. He's really ignorant and fearless to barge into the ruins alone."
"Hurry up and run over him and return to the camp. The cannon fodder on the ship still needs to be used!"
They chatted casually and did not spare Jiang Ming a glance.
Behind the ship, hundreds of individual cultivators with mixed auras were trapped on the deck under a large net. Their eyes were deathly still and filled with despair.
The entire ship suddenly shook violently. These captured individual cultivators raised their heads in shock and looked at the violently trembling array above their heads. They were somewhat bewildered and uncertain, not knowing what had happened.
In front of the ship, the young geniuses who were calm earlier had already retreated hundreds of feet, looking at the scene in front of them in horror.
A black sword was stabbing their protective array with incomparable strength. It erupted with astonishing spiritual energy ripples and slowly cut a hole in the array.
"Hehehe, little ones, I'm about to come inside!"
The black sword's entire body was flickering with a bloody light as it let out a laugh. However, only Jiang Ming could hear it, and he automatically blocked this lunatic.
However, even though the black sword was a lunatic, it was indeed powerful when it fought. The hole became bigger and bigger, and soon, it could accommodate an entire person.
Jiang Ming stood outside the array and grinned, revealing his pearly whites. He smiled at the group of young geniuses who were a little flustered.
"How could this be?" one of the geniuses stuttered, his face pale. "Isn't this array formation able to block all attacks under the Core Formation Realm?"
"Calm down. He is alone. He can only be at the Foundation Establishment Realm at the most. He relied on that strange black sword to pierce through the array. It doesn't matter if he comes in. We are the geniuses of the Feather Kingdom. Why should we be afraid of him?"
"No matter what, I feel that something is not right. Let's use the communication talisman to call the people in the camp first," one of them frowned and said cautiously.
At this moment, a large hole was finally broken through the array. These young geniuses watched helplessly as the young man stepped into the ship.
"Fellow cultivators, the gates of hell are open to you!"
Jiang Ming smiled faintly. Then, without any hesitation, sword auras rushed into the sky and attacked fiercely.
His entire body turned into a shadow and disappeared from where he was. The next moment, he appeared in front of the group of geniuses.
His blood Qi and sword aura erupted at the same time, and blood splattered all over the deck in an instant. At this moment, Jiang Ming was like a wolf entering a flock of sheep. Wherever he passed, limbs flew everywhere, and screams could not be heard. No one could block his attacks.
