Waves of blood spread in the clear water, quickly turning it a sharp red. The black rats in the rear did not have any terror, continuing to advance, and then were pierced by the threads of the sword.

The fine white flowers on the sword threads rippled through the bloody water like flowers blooming in hell.

The bloody water spread around Ding Ning but his expression remained calm. He continued to maintain a constant output of vital energy so that the sword threads covered every inch of space in the stream in front of him.

These black rats were unusual and faster than most cultivators under realm three. But none of them were able to make it through the packed sword threads. As they were successively pierced, many black candied hawthorn skewers seemed to form in the bloody water.

“As expected.”

The green-robed man behind Jing Liuli became stern. He said with some emotion, “The Last Flower’s ductility is the best in the world.”

“Not just its ductility, its ability to withstand vital energy is the best in the world.”

“I once heard someone say that Sect Uncle, you wanted to challenge some of the experts of the Ba Mountain Sword Field at the time, including the master of this Last Flower sword… Seeing this sword now, do you feel you could have won against the master of this Last Flower sword?” Jing Liuli turned her head to look at this green-robed man lamenting to himself, asking seriously in a sincere tone.

“Those are just arrogant words said in youth and ignorance.” The green-robed man smiled, mocking himself, and said seriously, “Even now, I still have no possibility of victory facing the master of the sword back then, because my sword cannot fight if not whole while this sword is crippled but still able to fight.”

Jing Liuli’s eyebrows rose slightly and she felt a bit of indignation on behalf of this green-robed man. “Even so strong, hasn’t the sword been cut?”

“The sword is cut, but the sword itself can stretch with vital energy. There is no difference in it after being cut. Also, countless cracks were created in the sword blade due to powerful vital energy … The sword cracked into threads, and there are more possibilities when facing an enemy. In a certain way, this sword was given new life.” The green-robed man looked at Ding Ning within the bloody stream and praised in a soft voice. “Or rather, this wineshop youth gave this sword new life.”

Jing Liuli was a true genius, and there were not many in the world who could rival her. Many of Changling’s so-called geniuses were ignorant and stupid in her eyes so she was extremely proud. She did not respect many of the people of the former Ba Mountain Sword Field, including the master of this Last Flower sword. But when she heard the words of the green-robed man, she did not voice any objections and remained silent.

The thin threads blooming with fine white flowers were even faster at reaping these black rats than the burning golden mist. But this cruel and silent reaping did not cause the black rats to feel terror like the heat and light of the fire. The black rats continued to charge towards Ding Ning, as though the black tide would not stop unless Ding Ning killed them all.

But Ding Ning did not want to use his valuable vital energy like this.

The output of vital energy from his hand suddenly stopped for a moment. As his vital energy output stopped, the piercing sword threads started to shrink and gather together. The scattered sword threads gathered back into a sword.

The rat corpses that had been strung together by these sword threads were squeezed together. Almost instantly, they burst into countless irregular pieces.

The stream in front of Ding Ning, already sticky due to the blood, became a pot of boiling porridge.

All the black rats in the back suddenly found their movements slowing. They felt like they had climbed into a sticky porridge. In the next moment, they saw floating in front of them and pressing down on them were the bloody pieces of their fellows.

They finally felt primal terror. They retreated in a frenzy, forming a reverse tide.

Ding Ning looked up calmly and gazed towards the back of the tide.

Just like the process Xie Changsheng had experienced, a silver tide appeared behind the black tide, and created a chaotic wave of blood.

The silver lizard-like beasts quickly fed on these rats. A large proportion climbed onto the shores, shedding their skin and limbs withering as though they were transforming into another state. Then many red worms came out of the brambles on the shores, and started to consume these silver little beasts, and manifest the power of ice in their bodies.

This was not a natural change and an unimaginable scene. But during this process, Ding Ning did not move at all, and just watched calmly.

He didn’t even take a step towards the stream shore. He allowed the sticky and filthy water to wash onto him and then waited until the stream water became clear and washed him clean.

“Why hasn’t he left?”

The green-robed man behind Jing Liuli frowned again in puzzlement.

Xie Changsheng had fled when the red worms had been transforming. If it was him, either he would leave immediately like Xie Changsheng, or he would take the opportunity before the red worms finished transforming to kill as many of the worms as possible. If these black rats were equal to ordinary fighters of the world, then these red worms, after their transformation, would be like the cultivators of the world. The two were fundamentally different.

In his view, even if Ding Ning had the confidence to kill these black ice worms after they finished their transformation, he would pay a great price.

Jing Liuli shook her head. She did not understand what Ding Ning was doing at this time.

This was inside the Min Mountain Sword Sect, and she was the freakish organizer that Xie Changsheng spoke of. These were events that she had set up. And yet, Ding Ning repeatedly puzzled her. When she looked at the other youths that were attending, she always judged them as stupid or average. She always thought from the viewpoint of a judge and looked at them with a selective gaze. But Ding Ning felt completely different to her.

He was a riddle. Jing Liuli even felt that, in many aspects, she was not as good as Ding Ning. While Ding’s cultivation was still weak in her eyes, he gave her an indescribable pressure. Previously, only An Baoshi of Spirit Void Sword Sect had given her such pressure.

“Regardless of what he is doing… With his performance, he qualifies to enter Min Mountain Sword Sect to study,” Jing Liuli said after a moment of silence.

The green-robed man nodded slightly in agreement.

Jing Liuli slowly raised her head and said coldly, “But he must still follow the rules of the trial and win.”

The green-robed man looked at the profile of her face and smiled slightly.

The rules were the rules, especially when this was an event open to the entire Qin Dynasty. One could not make an exception for one person. But Jing Liuli’s words expressed her hopes again. She hoped that Ding Ning could win.

As the teacher who was responsible for giving her guidance during her cultivation journey, he naturally hoped that a person like Ding Ning who could give her true pressure would join Min Mountain Sword Sect.

**

All of the small silver beasts were deep in sleep and shedding. The shores of the stream were silver, yet the beasts grew few in number as the red worms fed.

The ice energy within these red worms grew stronger. At the start, there was only ice energy coming out of their mouths, forming ice by the mouth. But as time passed, the cold air gradually covered their entire bodies.

It was like the ordinary-looking red worms had put on a set of ice armor. Because the ice was irregularly shaped and bumpy, these red worms started to look fierce.

As the silver beasts grew fewer in number, these long worms covered in ice started to notice Ding Ning who was patiently waiting in the water.

One of the worms close to Ding Ning opened its mouth hesitantly.

A ball of icy energy gathered in its mouth. The movement of its mouth was not fast, but the formation of this ball of icy energy was as fast as a cultivator drawing their sword.

There was a splitting sound.

The icy energy formed into an icicle ten feet long that shot straight towards Ding Ning’s chest.

Noticing this cold light, Ding Ning swung his sword.

With a crack, the icicle shattered in front of the sword blooming with white flowers. Many pieces of ice fell into the stream water in front of him.

The blade shook slightly and Ding Ning frowned.

The strength of this blow surpassed his predictions slightly. He did not hesitate in his movements at all. After blocking the icicle attack, he sent a new wave of vital energy into the Last Flower remnant sword, and then swung it forward in a steady manner.

Sharp murderousness appeared in the air.

A white sword seal formed, turning into a white sword energy that swept towards the stream shore in front of him.

Dozens of worms were enveloped in this sword energy. Their ice armor abruptly cracked, their flesh split turning them into segments of meat.

“Still killing?”

The green-robed man behind Jing Liuli gave a soft sound of surprise. One of Ding Ning’s minute actions attracted his attention.

Ding Ning first carefully looked at the reactions of these ice worms, and then glanced towards a point in the distance.

In the distance, among the deep red brambles, an unusual vibration was occurring.

“He purposely waited for these ice worms to transform before killing them because he wants to see what can be lured here?”

The man in green robes frowned deeply and couldn’t help but say, “It is already hard to defeat these ice worms. If what appears next is stronger than the ice worms, hasn’t he put himself into a disadvantageous situation?”