The winter lake should have been quiet and dark under the night snow. However, there was a strong gust of wind on the surface of the lake tonight, accompanied by terrifying explosions and sparks.
Iron lotuses blossomed in the frozen lotus field. The thick snow on the surface of the lake was thrown up by an invisible force and sprinkled into the dark night sky. The thick layer of ice collapsed and exploded. The ink-like cold lake water kept slapping against the black hole, stirring up snow-like waves and then dissipating into the real snow.
In the withered lotus field, Xia Hou was once again shaken by the airwave. Accompanied by the sharp sound of iron shrapnel, his mountain-like body broke through the wind and seemed to be thrown above the night clouds.
On the cliff of the south bank of Yanming Lake, Sangsang held the big black umbrella tightly in one hand and Ning Que's clothes in the other. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. She did not look at the chaotic scene on the lake in front of the cliff, but she seemed to be able to clearly capture the position of everything. She whispered two numbers again.
Hearing the two numbers, Ning Que did not hesitate to draw his bow and shoot at the distant night clouds above. It was pitch black and he could not see clearly what was there, but he knew that Xia Hou was there.
The sky was covered in a blizzard. It was pitch black and the arrow could not be seen. Only the sharp whistling of the Primordial Thirteen Arrows could be heard. When people heard the whistling of the arrows, it was already the next moment.
The night clouds above Yanming Lake suddenly fluctuated and the Qi of Heaven and Earth became chaotic. It was as if there was an explosion of thunder in the dark clouds, and the dim wisps of clouds fled in all directions.
The night clouds suddenly broke and blood splashed.
Xia Hou fell from the sky. This time, he could no longer maintain his balance and smashed heavily on the ice, causing a few deep cracks to appear on the ice.
A cold and dark iron arrow pierced deeply through his left arm.
Because of anger and pain, Xia Hou's eyes seemed to be burning. He was like an injured beast king. He grabbed the tail of the iron arrow and pulled it out from his upper arm. He continued to run towards the south bank.
He only had time to take three steps forward.
At the bottom of the lotus field, there was another powerful explosion in the mud.
The layer of ice under his feet suddenly cracked, almost swallowing his body into the dark and cold lake water. What followed were the heat waves, flames, and the extremely sinister and terrifying sharp iron pieces.
When the waves in the lake passed through the ice and reached the feet of the military boots, Xia Hou made the most timely response with the ability of a powerhouse at the Peak of Martial Arts.
With a heavy step, he left the frozen surface of the lake and flew into the air. Then, he raised his fists in front of him as fast as lightning.
Xia Hou let out a muffled groan as he was sent flying hundreds of feet away until he was out of the lotus field.
His arms and the parts of his body that could not be covered by his arms had dozens of small pieces of iron. Blood seeped out of the wounds, looking like red grass in the Wilderness in autumn.
Although Xia Hou was a powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts, his spirit and Qi and blood had been severely depleted after continuously withstanding the explosions in the lotus field, especially the Primordial Thirteen Arrows from Ning Que.
The Qi of Heaven and Earth that had condensed on the surface of his body had dissipated and could no longer protect his body. His skin, which was as hard as metal under the effect of the Devil's Doctrine's genuine Qi, now had numerous wounds on it. Although there were no fatal injuries, his bloody appearance made him look extremely pathetic.
At this moment, another Primordial Thirteen Arrow pierced through the burning lotus and snow, silently arriving in front of Xia Hou, not giving him any chance to breathe.
Xia Hou put his palms together and forcibly clamped the terrifying iron arrow in front of him. His body retreated another hundred feet on the ice. The ice and snow under his body splashed everywhere. His face was pale, and more and more blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Ning Que stood under the cliff on the south bank of Yanming Lake, silently watching all the movements on the surface of the lake. When Xia Hou was once again blown up and retreated, he used the flash of light from the explosion to determine Xia Hou's position. After hearing Sangsang's position, he stroked the bowstring with his fingers.
Archery was the most powerful skill of the woodcutter at Shubi Lake. However, in the past, ordinary bows and arrows did not mean much to martial arts cultivators. But once a weapon like the Primordial Thirteen Arrow appeared in the world, Ning Que would become a nightmare for all cultivators in a sense.
Ning Que's shooting was not fast, but there was a very strange sense of rhythm. From the moment Sangsang reported the position to the moment the iron arrow left the bowstring, the process was so smooth that there seemed to be no waiting. There was some kind of truth hidden in the process.
In the face of such powerful archery, and more importantly, with Sangsang beside him, Xia Hou could not avoid those silent but powerful iron arrows no matter how strong he was.
He could only resist, endure, and continue to bleed. It all depended on whether his blood would run out when Ning Que finished shooting the thirteen iron arrows, and whether he could rush to Ning Que's side.
…
…
The speed of the Primordial Thirteen Arrow was too shocking, far faster than the speed of sound. So only when it hit the target would the sound of the arrow travel diagonally in both directions.
By the wooden bridge on the west bank of Yanming Lake, the reeds suddenly swayed. Ye Hongyu's green Taoist robe fluttered, and then she heard the sound of the arrow.
"Primordial Thirteen Arrow?"
Ye Hongyu was slightly shocked.
She had seen the Primordial Thirteen Arrow on the snow cliff in the Wilderness and by the Daming Lake. She knew the power of the Talisman Arrow that gathered the wisdom of the Second floor of the Academy.
However, the wind and snow were chaotic tonight, the reeds were swaying, and her green Taoist robe was fluttering in the lingering sound of the arrow. Only then did she realize that in less than a year, Ning Que's Primordial Thirteen Arrow had become even more terrifying.
Then, the explosion in the lotus field of Yanming Lake spread to the snow bridge.
She frowned and said, "What is this?"
Explosions after explosions, flashes after flashes of fire, shrill screeches of spinning metal pieces, and the terrifying arrow intent in the night snow made her face paler and paler.
She looked at the lake in the east and suddenly said something very puzzling, "I'm dead."
Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang had been standing on the other side of the wooden bridge.
They were watching the battle on the lake, worried about Ning Que and Sangsang, and were silent.
Ye Hongyu did not know what the explosion was, but Chen Pipi had seen the small iron kettle experiment, but he did not explain.
Just when Ye Hongyu said those three words, he looked at the distant arrow and the thunderous fire, and said with a complicated expression, "I'm dead too."
They were still standing on the wooden bridge, so naturally they were not dead.
But when they heard the explosion and the arrow coming from Yanming Lake, they both said the same thing.
I'm dead.
Ye Hongyu was the Tao Addict of the West-Hill Divine Palace, and Chen Pipi was the youngest Grand Cultivator in the Knowing Destiny State in the world. They were the most talented and powerful young people in Haotian Taoism.
The reason why they said I'm dead was because they were watching the battle in silence. They were sure that if they were in Xiahou's position, facing Ning Que's 15 years of painstaking preparation from summer to winter, they would only be able to hold on until this moment and then die.
…
…
On the snowy city wall.
Ye Su said, "I never thought that a cultivator in the Seethrough State could make such a big noise. It seems that I have underestimated Ning Que. But what's with the explosion in the lotus field?"
Eldest Brother did not speak.
As the Eldest Brother of the Academy, he naturally knew what was going on. But like Chen Pipi, he would not tell others about his Youngest Brother's trump card.
Ye Su looked at the direction of Yanming Lake and was silent for a long time. He slowly shook his head and said, "If Ning Que's methods were used to deal with other cultivators, it would be a deadly weapon. But to kill Xiahou with talismans, arrows, and these strange explosions, it is still not enough."
…
…
The snow on Yanming Lake gradually stopped, but the snowstorm in the palace continued.
Under the night snow, the main hall was brightly lit and silent. Naturally, there were no cicadas chirping.
Everyone knew what was happening in Chang 'an, so everyone inside and outside the main hall had a strange look on their faces. The guards held the cold hilts of their swords and stood guard outside the hall. The eunuchs and palace maids lowered their heads and walked slowly, making sure that when their feet touched the ground, there would be no sound.
The Tang Emperor did not wear his regular clothes tonight. Instead, he wore a bright yellow dragon robe. He leaned on the soft couch and read a scroll in his hand, but no one knew if he could focus on it.
The Empress sat on the chair beside the couch. Her gentle and elegant face was expressionless today. One could vaguely see worry and anger in the depths of her eyes.
The Nation Master of Tang, Li Qingshan, and the Emperor's younger brother, Master Huang Yang, sat opposite each other in front of the couch. Today, many powerhouses gathered in Chang 'an, so the two most powerful and trustworthy sublime people of the imperial court had to be in the palace.
The Emperor slowly put down the scroll in his hand and looked at the falling snow outside the hall. He looked in the direction of Yanming Lake in the south and frowned slightly. No one knew what he was thinking about.
Although Xia Hou was the Empress' elder brother, from an emotional point of view, His Majesty hoped that Ning Que could win. Because His Majesty had always regarded himself as a student of the Headmaster of Academy, then in his eyes, Ning Que was his Younger Brother.
"What a majestic aura." Li Qingshan felt the fluctuation of the Qi of Heaven and Earth from Yanming Lake and said, "Ning Que's Talisman Arrow is really terrifying."
The Empress suddenly raised her head and looked at the Emperor. She said in a trembling voice, "Gathering the wisdom of the Academy's Back Mountain and the power of the Tang Empire to create such a Talisman Arrow. Is this fair?"
The Emperor was silent. He did not want to make his wife more upset.
Master Huang Yang, who had been silent, suddenly said calmly, "It's fair. It's just that Ning Que has prepared for a longer time. He has prepared for 15 years."
After saying this, he and Li Qingshan left their seats and walked out into the snow outside the hall, leaving the quiet and complicated palace to the Emperor and the Empress.
There was a pavilion at the back of the main hall, and an ancient bell hung in the pavilion.
There was a thick layer of snow on the eaves of the pavilion, and a light layer of snow on the ancient bell.
Li Qingshan and Huang Yang walked into the pavilion and stood beside the ancient bell.
Li Qingshan looked to the south and said with a deep frown, "It's still not enough."
Monk Huang Yang said, "I didn't expect that you also hoped that Ning Que would win."
Li Qingshan said, "People's emotions are uncontrollable. Although Xia Hou is an elder of our Haotian Taoism, Ning Que is my Senior Brother's only successor."
Then he said with slight sadness, "He has prepared for 15 years, but it's still not enough."
Monk Huang Yang reached out his palm and gently wiped the snow on the ancient bell. He said, "When Ning Que entered Talisman Taoism, he once came to the Wanyan Tower to ask me. I also hoped that he could win, but I had my own thoughts. If the one who prepared for a longer time would win, then what's the point of cultivation?"
…
…
The blizzard abruptly stopped, and the airwaves caused by the explosion gradually subsided. The night wind also became much gentler. Yanming Lake was quiet in the middle of the night. The night clouds on the lake gradually parted, revealing a gap. A few stars popped out of the gap and looked curiously at the ground, trying to see what had happened.
Most of the night sky was still covered by thick black clouds. The few stars disappeared as soon as they appeared, but some light shone down, making things slightly visible. It was a mess on the ice surface of the snow lake. The withered lotus had long been broken into powder, and dozens of faint black holes appeared in the lotus field. It was chilling to see.
A burly man knelt on one knee on the ice in front of those black holes. His clothes were in tatters, and it was unknown if there were dozens or hundreds of pieces of metal. Blood continuously flowed from his body, finally flowing onto the snow on the surface of the lake, dyeing the snow around his knees dark red.
The red on the winter night was actually more like black.
The place where the burly man knelt was only a few hundred feet away from the south bank of Yanming Lake.
Ning Que stood on the cliff by the lake and stared at the lake.
In order to fight and shoot arrows, he wore a black Academy uniform. The sleeves and trousers were tied tightly by Sangsang with cloth ropes. At this moment, his body, especially his right arm, was trembling violently, so the black Academy uniform flapped in the lake wind.
Using the Primordial Thirteen Arrows consumed a lot of physical strength and Psyche Power. Ning Que could only shoot a few arrows in the past. Now that he had successfully cultivated the Great Spirit, it was still a great burden for him to shoot all thirteen iron arrows in the quiver. In addition to the hundreds of talismans in the lakeside house and the small iron kettle in the mud at the bottom of the lake, he had used all his means. At this moment, the Psyche Power in his sense of perception was almost exhausted.
His eyes were abnormally bright, and his face was abnormally pale and haggard. His right arm was extremely weak, and his right shoulder felt as if it was being torn apart. He was so weak that he could fall at any time.
But he did not fall.
He waited for Xia Hou to fall first on the lake.
Xia Hou knelt on one knee on the snow lake. In the end, he did not manage to block Ning Que's last Primordial Thirteen Arrow. The cold and dark iron arrow directly pierced through his calf bone.
If it was an ordinary cultivator who was shot by this iron arrow, his leg would definitely be broken.
Xia Hou was not an ordinary cultivator. His leg was not broken, and the iron arrow did not even pierce through his leg. However, this caused him more serious injuries and more pain.
Xia Hou reached out his right hand to hold the iron arrow in his calf. He wanted to pull the arrow out, but his hands were trembling so badly that he did not succeed.
He added his left hand with a blank expression.
His two iron hands suddenly exerted force, and the hard iron arrow was actually broken in the middle!
This action would definitely bring great pain.
Xia Hou's iron eyebrows twitched violently. His lips, which looked like they were smeared with rouge, opened and let out a shrill howl.
The shrill and terrifying howl reverberated on the quiet snow lake. It shook the ice and snow, and even the willows by the shore danced.
Xia Hou's knees gradually straightened and he stood up.
At this moment, he was covered in blood and looked extremely miserable. However, when he stood on the snow lake, he was extremely domineering, like an indestructible mountain.
He was more like the blood flag outside the courtyard on the north shore of Yanming Lake.
That blood flag whistled and danced in the cold wind, but it seemed as if it would never fall.
Xia Hou looked at the cliff on the south cliff.
His pale face was devoid of any expression, and his trembling voice was clearly filled with pain. However, his words were still filled with an insufferably arrogant aura.
"Ning Que, is that all?"
…
…
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