On the vast expanse of ice.
Jiang Ning soared upward, lightly tapping his toes against the surface a few times before landing atop a steep and smooth cliff.
He turned around, and the howling wind mixed with snow came rushing from behind him.
His long hair, swept up by the gusts, danced wildly like a demon, slapping chaotically against both sides of his face.
In no time at all
His gaze locked onto two figures who blended seamlessly with the icy landscape.
Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes, and their gazes met.
At that moment
The Wind Deity Envoy became certain he had been discovered.
He turned to exchange glances with the Star Guardian beside him, and in that silent moment, they both understood each other completely.
The next instant
Neither of them bothered to conceal themselves any longer.
The Star Guardian moved first, kicking up a storm of snow as he surged forward.
His powerful physique tore through the oncoming blizzard with sheer force.
Each step he took sank deep into the snow, stamping heavily onto the ice beneath.
The thick ice cracked under his feet, forming a web of fractures that spread outward like a spider's web.
The Wind Deity Envoy, however, was different.
He moved swiftly across the snowy terrain like a flickering shadow, barely disturbing the snow beneath him.
Compared to the Star Guardian trailing behind, the Wind Deity Envoy was faster by at least thirty percent.
"Four breaths." Jiang Ning spoke.
The moment they moved, he had already calculated the time they needed to reach him.
A distance of one kilometer.
The leading enemy would reach the island in just four breaths.
Which meant he had only four breaths of unrestricted time to strike.
With that thought
A longbow appeared in Jiang Ning's hands.
It was the same standard longbow he had been using for archery practice.
Not particularly rare, but practical, affordable, and easy to replace if damaged.
As he nocked an arrow and pulled the string, the bowstring reached full draw with ease.
"Just as I thought this won't cut it. Only using thirty percent of my strength, and it's already at full draw!"
Feeling the force of the bowstring, Jiang Ning couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.
As his strength grew, this ordinary standard-issue longbow increasingly limited his archery skills.
Archery was different from other weapons.
If the bow's quality couldn't keep up, he wouldn't be able to unleash his full power.
This would significantly reduce the might of his archery.
Archery relied heavily on force.
The greater the force, the stronger the kinetic energy of the arrow, making its impact all the more terrifying.
But now, with only thirty percent of his strength, his bow was already maxed out.
This severely restricted his ability to wield his archery freely.
A fleeting thought passed through his mind.
Then
Thwang!
The arrow tore through the air, leaving behind a white streak as it shot straight toward the Wind Deity Envoy.
On the other side
Seeing this, the Wind Deity Envoy couldn't help but smile.
A silent arrow, an arrow moving at supersonic speed.
If it had come from his blind spot, where his hearing couldn't detect it, it might have posed a threat.
But now, it was visible to him.
How could such an arrow possibly harm him?
At a distance of one kilometer
Even a silent arrow would normally take at least a full breath to reach him.
Jiang Ning's arrow was indeed fast it would reach him in just over half a breath.
But for someone of his level, one who had reached the Fifth Rank even a tenth of a breath was enough time to shift his position.
Moving just a step to the side would be enough to render even a mountain-splitting arrow useless against him.
In the next instant, the Wind Deity Envoy blurred like a phantom, dodging the trajectory of the arrow.
But the very next moment
His pupils contracted sharply.
When the arrow closed in within a hundred zhang, he suddenly realized its trajectory was still locked onto him.
This was Jiang Ning's Heart Arrow Technique at work.
Even after being loosed, the arrow could still make slight adjustments to its path.
Such an arrow was effectively guided, making it significantly more dangerous even to the strongest of foes.
At a distance of a hundred zhang, against an arrow traveling at multiple times the speed of sound, evasion was nearly impossible.
In an instant
The Wind Deity Envoy made his decision.
"Cloud Dispelling Palm!"
He muttered under his breath.
With a single palm strike
A surge of internal energy erupted.
Boom!
A vacuum-formed in front of him.
A visible shockwave expanded outward.
As the arrow met his palm, his body jolted, and his momentum was abruptly halted his speed sharply reduced.
The next moment
The iron-tipped arrow shattered into countless fragments, deflected by his palm strike.
"What a powerful arrow!" He stopped and shook his right hand.
Blood droplets could be seen falling from his palm.
Even with his internal energy unleashed, he had still sustained an injury.
The Star Guardian behind him immediately halted.
"Deity Envoy, are you alright?"
"No problem." The Wind Deity Envoy lifted his gaze toward Jiang Ning only to see him once again nocking an arrow, his bow fully drawn.
He continued, "The arrow's power isn't overwhelming, but the force contained within it is terrifying. Don't try to block it directly."
At the same time.
At the same time, Jiang Ning once again drew his arrow to full draw.
The first arrow he had shot earlier was merely a test of his archery skills it hadn't stirred the wind and thunder.
And indeed, its power was insufficient.
That arrow had only managed to inflict a minor flesh wound on the distant Wind God Envoy.
A mere scratch, caused a drop of blood to trickle from his palm.
Such an injury would barely qualify as a scratch for an ordinary person, let alone a seasoned Wind God Envoy who had reached the pinnacle of the Fifth Realm.
But this arrow was different.
This was his strongest arrow.
Suddenly
A violent windstorm erupted around Jiang Ning as he stood atop the cliff, swirling snowflakes dancing wildly around him.
At this moment, it was as if he was enveloped by an invisible storm, standing at its very center.
His robes flapped fiercely in the gale.
His hairband snapped loose, letting his long black hair whip through the storm like a demon god emerging from the tempest.
The raging winds poured into the arrow, and soon, lightning crackled along its shaft.
On the other side
Although Jiang Ning had yet to release the arrow, the Wind God Envoy abruptly halted his advance, his expression turning grave.
Being locked onto by this arrow sent a wave of intense danger coursing through him.
And as he took in the storm-like phenomenon surrounding Jiang Ning, his expression became even more solemn.
Within the vortex of wind, Jiang Ning now looked like a deity of destruction.
A god of war, bow drawn, aiming straight at him.
The Star Guardian behind the Wind God Envoy also stopped in his tracks and then took two silent steps backward.
Killing Jiang Ning was an order given to the Wind God Envoy by divine decree.
He had no desire to die for it.
At that moment
The arrow left the bowstring, unleashing a tempest, with flashes of thunder streaking through the air.
At this instant, the arrow became the eye of the storm, constantly absorbing the wind's energy.
It effortlessly broke the sound barrier and continued accelerating.
With every inch it traveled, its speed increased, and the lightning crackling around it grew even brighter.
This arrow truly lived up to the phrase "When the arrow is loosed, wind and thunder follow."
A kilometer's distance is covered in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, the Wind God Envoy's face darkened.
He slowly pushed both palms forward.
"Surging Waves!"
Faced with Jiang Ning's arrow, he dared not hold anything back.
He immediately unleashed one of his strongest techniques.
As his palms struck forward, his vast inner energy transformed into a torrential surge of force, surging like an ocean wave.
The next moment
The arrow, carrying the power of raging wind and thunder, had already reached him.
But just as the arrowhead came within three inches of his chest, its speed drastically slowed.
At the same time, the Wind God Envoy's body slid backward, forced to retreat.
"So this is how internal energy is used?"
Watching from afar, Jiang Ning murmured to himself.
This technique the Wind God Envoy had displayed he had never seen anything like it before.
The Wind God Envoy was also the first opponent he had ever faced who had reached the Fifth Realm Inner Strength Mastery.
In the distance
The Wind God Envoy had already been pushed back more than ten yards.
The arrow's energy had significantly diminished.
Then
With a flick of his hands, he redirected the arrow past his body, letting it pierce straight into the ice beneath his feet.
Crack
As the arrow struck, the ice shattered, and fractures spread outward in a web-like pattern.
In the next instant
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted from beneath the frozen lake.
Water surged skyward, sending ice chunks weighing thousands of pounds flying through the air.
Beneath the ice, electric-blue arcs of lightning flickered.
"What a terrifying arrow!"
Glancing at the ice beneath him, the Wind God Envoy murmured in disbelief.
Then, he let out a slow exhale, releasing the pent-up energy in his chest.
Having witnessed the sheer power of this arrow, he suddenly understood.
Why had Jiang Ning, after discovering them, deliberately lured them onto Luoshui Lake?
Right now, Luoshui Lake was frozen for miles, with an unobstructed view in all directions.
This was the perfect battlefield for an archery master.
With such fearsome archery skills, if he had been anything less than a Fifth Realm Inner Strength Master if he had been merely a Sixth Realm martial artist, even one with tempered jade-like bones, he would have been shot dead within a few arrows.
Unless he escaped into the water.
"That's it into the water!"
His gaze flickered downward.
Beneath the thick layer of snow, the ice was at least several inches thick.
The freezing winter waters would be bitterly cold, but to a martial artist, that was hardly a concern.
Not to mention someone as powerful as him.
Mastery of Internal Energy.
He could easily hold his breath underwater for one to two hours.
As long as he entered the water, he would no longer fear the threat of archery.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.
If he were a sixth-rank martial artist, he might need to rely on the terrain.
But he was a fifth-rank master of internal energy, with an immense flow of inner power like a river.
Why would he need to use the advantage of the environment?
At that moment
Jiang Ning released another arrow without hesitation.
The moment the arrow was loosed, it stirred up wind and thunder.
It carried a surging force of storm and lightning.
This arrow was aimed at the nearby Star Guardian.
"Be careful!" The Wind God Envoy immediately warned, "You must not take this arrow head-on!"
In the next instant
Facing the wind-and-thunder-infused arrow that traveled thousands of zhang in a blink, Star Guardian's figure flickered repeatedly in an attempt to dodge.
Yet, he soon realized that no matter how he moved
He could not escape the arrow's lock-on.
Seeing this, he stopped dodging.
Facing the arrow hurtling toward him with a storm-like force, Star Guardian raised his fist.
His fist instantly transformed into a color as smooth as mutton-fat jade.
Unlike the Wind God Envoy, he chose to confront it head-on.
But in the next moment, he regretted it.
As soon as the arrow struck his fist, he felt an overwhelming force descend upon him like the will of heaven itself.
The immense wind-and-thunder energy surged into his fist, and the power contained within the arrow instantly began tearing through his arm.
The pristine, jade-like flesh of his arm shattered bit by bit, revealing the bones beneath the skin.
His bones were unlike those of ordinary people.
While normal bones were an ashen white
His bones were like flawless, crystal-clear jade.
This jade-like structure was utterly pristine, without a single blemish or discoloration.
Through the transparent bones, one could faintly see the marrow within, along with the red veins and nerves.
In the next moment
A sharp pain shot through his bones.
The bones at the top of his fist began to crack apart.
The immense impact force sent him hurtling through the ice, plunging into the frigid waters of the lake below.
Beneath the cliff.
With Jiang Ning's sharp eyesight
He could see the result of the arrow's clash with Star Guardian.
He noticed that although the arrow was incredibly powerful and had instantly torn apart the flesh of his fist and wrist.
It lost its unstoppable momentum when faced with the jade-like bones.
That was why Star Guardian had been sent flying into the lake instead of having his right arm completely obliterated.
If the arrow had been strong enough
It wouldn't have ended like this.
Instead, it would have pierced straight through his right arm, reducing it to pulverized flesh.
Just as Jiang Ning had done previously, under the cover of night, to the martial artist carrying the golden box
A single wind-and-thunder-infused arrow had pierced through his chest, instantly turning his heart to dust.
That was a true unstoppable power.
Meanwhile
The Wind God Envoy advanced toward Jiang Ning like a ghostly white specter.
He had also witnessed the clash between the arrow and Star Guardian.
Seeing the blue lightning spreading through the lake beneath his feet, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes.
"Foolish!!"
At this moment, he wanted to point at Star Guardian and shout those words.
With him leading the charge, how could Star Guardian be so reckless as to take such a terrifying arrow head-on?
That was utter stupidity.
At the same time
Beneath the icy waters.
Cough, cough
Star Guardian coughed lightly twice.
Then, as he looked at his right arm, he couldn't help but inhale sharply.
He had planned to take a minor injury just enough to heal quickly.
That way, he could rightfully stay in the background and leave the mission entirely to the Wind God Envoy.
But he hadn't expected that after just one direct clash
His right hand would be covered in wounds, and the flesh of his wrist and palm would seem as if it had been sliced away.
Only the jade-like bones beneath the skin remained.
He clenched his fist.
Guided by the nerves within his bones, his fleshless right hand curled into a fist.
Hiss
He sucked in another breath of cold air.
Losing his flesh meant that simply making a fist caused excruciating pain.
Moreover, he could see that the bones in his hand had cracked under the force of the arrow.
The entire surface of his skeletal fist bore several deep fissures.
This alone proved how severe his injury was.
Jade bones were incredibly tough and resilient.
But. precisely because of that, once damaged, they were exceedingly difficult to heal.
Even with his transformation into a divine being, which granted him near-immortal regenerative abilities, his bones wouldn't mend quickly.
"That Jiang Ning… truly terrifying!" Star Guardian murmured.
He had spent days in Luoshui County, gathering information.
And the more he learned
The more he feared Jiang Ning.
That was why, even when acting alongside the Wind God Envoy today
He had chosen to step back.
Why he had chosen to take a minor injury on purpose?
But he hadn't expected that his minor injury
Would turn into a major one.
This injury wouldn't force him to transform into his divine form to recover.
But healing would take at least one to two months.
And that was only because of his status as an heir of the Blood God.
As a divine heir, even without transforming
His regenerative abilities far surpassed those of martial artists of the same level.
Ordinary flesh wounds would heal in the span of a tea break.
So this injury, while severe, didn't worry him too much.
He certainly wasn't in a rush to transform and hasten his recovery.
After all
Each transformation, even for him, meant losing a piece of his rationality.
If he transformed too often
One day, he would completely lose himself and become nothing more than a divine puppet.
But as long as he didn't transform
As long as he didn't take that step
He wouldn't descend into that abyss.
And right now, this injury gave him the perfect excuse
To avoid participating in the Wind God Envoy's battle against Jiang Ning.
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