Chapter 59: Eternal Night, Dragon’s Roar

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Eternal Night, Dragon’s Roar

SPLASH!

Zeng Anmin climbed onto the riverbank from the water. Drops of water trailed from his clothes, dripping to the ground. He made no effort to control it, his footsteps producing a soft RUSTLE against the dirt.

"Who’s there?!"

Ahead of him, King Jiang’s robust figure whipped around. Under the moonlight, his icy eyes swept the area with the predatory intensity of an eagle or a wolf. His deep, resonant voice pierced through the dense leaves of the forest, stirring up a faint gust of wind.

Zeng Anmin didn’t speak. He walked forward step by step, the Short Axe in his hand drawing a continuous line of cold glints along his path. Bathed in the moonlight, his tall, straight silhouette looked like a Ghost Messenger coming to claim a soul.

TAP, TAP, TAP.

One step, two steps... Finally, he stopped less than twenty feet away from King Jiang.

Seeing the highly conspicuous hood on his head, a series of cold glints flashed in King Jiang’s eyes. He stared fixedly at Zeng Anmin, his voice freezing cold as he enunciated every word, "The Black Cat Martial Artist?"

"That’s right," Zeng Anmin’s hoarse voice sounded. His attention was locked entirely on King Jiang, ready to intercept him if he tried to flee at any moment. "I have come today specifically to take your miserable life."

His tone was indifferent, completely devoid of emotion. Carried by the cold night wind, he sounded like the Lord of the Underworld himself. King Jiang could not be allowed to escape his grasp alive.

"An Eighth Grade Martial Artist wants to take my life?" King Jiang sneered, his frosty face reacting as if he had just heard a joke. He looked the approaching Zeng Anmin up and down without a shred of concern. Now that he was free from his restraints, he felt no tension whatsoever. Those cold eyes looked at his opponent as if watching a dog barking pointlessly.

King Jiang practiced Martial Arts. Everyone in the official circles of Liangjiang Commandery knew this; it wasn’t exactly a secret. However, his talent was poor, and he had never reached the Seventh Grade Visualization Realm.

Hearing his tone, Zeng Anmin furrowed his brows slightly beneath the black cat hood. "Could it be that he isn’t an Eighth Grade Martial Artist as the rumors claim?" he thought.

"That doesn’t matter. You’ll believe it when you’re dead," Zeng Anmin replied. Knowing he lacked combat experience, he intended to strike first. He had planned to launch a sneak attack right after speaking, but unexpectedly, a fierce, howling gust of wind had already torn through the air.

WHOOSH!!!

King Jiang’s left leg pushed off the ground violently as he lunged at Zeng Anmin. In the darkness, his body moved like a ferocious beast with frantic, manic steps. A fist the size of a sandbag whipped up a sharp gust of wind, flying straight toward Zeng Anmin’s face!

"Despicable! Shameless! This guy actually had the exact same idea as me!" Zeng Anmin cursed inwardly.

Naturally, he could see King Jiang’s attack trajectory clearly. However, due to his limited practical combat experience, his first instinct was simply to dodge. In the next moment, Martial Arts Aura flooded into the soles of his feet. He bent his knees and sprang backward, his figure retreating rapidly.

"Heh!" King Jiang’s punch hit empty air, prompting a cold scoff. With a surprisingly elegant spin, his knotted, muscular left leg followed up with methodical precision.

SWISH!

The long kick swept in, carrying the wind with it. His offensive was incredibly fast; the moment his kick landed, a flurry of punches followed right on its heels.

SWISH!

SWISH!

The barrage of punches and kicks left Zeng Anmin no chance to react. He dodged clumsily, struggling to keep up. King Jiang’s relentless waves of attacks showed no sign of stopping, forcing Zeng Anmin into a desperate evasion that left him without even a moment to catch his breath. Finally, he was forced all the way back to the riverbank. Behind him lay the rushing river.

"You aren’t the Black Cat Martial Artist!" King Jiang frowned as he maintained his rapid assault.

In his impression, the Black Cat Martial Artist killed with a single, fatal strike, using a clean and decisive method. But the person in front of him was flustered by his attacks, clearly lacking combat experience. Furthermore, the Spiritual Artifact that person was known to wield was a jade-green short sword...

"You bastard!!"

A ruthless glint flashed through Zeng Anmin’s eyes. He had nowhere left to retreat; another step back and he would fall into the river. His eyes, hidden beneath the hood, locked onto King Jiang. As the next howling attack came his way, Zeng Anmin abruptly charged forward to meet it.

"Die!!!"

The Martial Pill within his body spun frantically, sending a violent surge of Martial Arts Aura flooding through his meridians like a raging river. The Short Axe in his hand slashed through the air like the break of dawn.

HUM!!

Fueled by the flowing Martial Arts Aura, the Short Axe suddenly erupted with a rainbow of seven colors! Within that dazzling brilliance hid boundless, lethal intent.

Seeing this, King Jiang cursed inwardly. If he followed through with his strike, he would definitely smash this masked man’s face in—but he wouldn’t be able to escape the devastation of that Short Axe, either.

"Hah!!" He let out a low roar, forcefully pulling his fist back to narrowly dodge the incoming slash by a hair’s breadth.

THUD!!

King Jiang pushed off the ground, widening the distance between him and Zeng Anmin.

SLASH!

The axe gleamed, its arc severing a few strands of black hair that fluttered away in the wind. The wind howled. The southern weather, mixed with the chill from the river, carried a bone-piercing bite. Yet, the two men facing off on the bank were completely oblivious to it, their gazes fixed deadly upon each other.

Zeng Anmin struggled to regulate his breathing. The brief exchange had been incredibly perilous; under King Jiang’s relentless assault, he hadn’t even been able to exert the true strength of his Realm.

RUSTLE.

The fallen leaves on the ground offered no reprieve to either man, swept up by the freezing wind and drifting slowly toward them.

A sudden, intense light erupted in King Jiang’s eyes. In the next moment, scales began to shimmer into existence across his body. The scales spread from his waist and abdomen all the way up to his face. Layer by layer, piece by piece, they reflected a dazzling gleam under the moonlight. At the same time, faint ripples of a watery aura emerged from between the scales, carrying the metallic scent of a lake and emanating an eerie fluctuation.

The Intent of Water! This was an Intent unique to the Seventh Grade Visualization Realm of Martial Arts! King Jiang’s physical form had undergone a drastic transformation.

"I don’t care who you are. Today, I’ll slay you to blood my banner!!"

His imposing aura surged to its absolute peak. The oppressive force radiating from his body rolled straight toward Zeng Anmin.

"The outside world claims I have no talent in Martial Arts," King Jiang said, a mocking smile surfacing on his face as he looked at Zeng Anmin as if viewing a corpse. "I suppose your confidence stems from believing those rumors. Dying at the hands of someone in the Visualization Realm—you’ll have enough to boast about when you meet the Ghost Messengers."

King Jiang’s massive body strolled forward with leisurely steps, deliberately trying to inflict immense psychological pressure on the man wearing the black cat hood. Meanwhile, the rippling fluctuations of water emanating from his scales grew increasingly violent and agitated.

Zeng Anmin watched the approaching King Jiang without a single ripple of emotion in his heart.

"The Visualization Realm? Heh, so am I!" he thought.

Keeping his eyes on his advancing foe, he slowly shifted into a stance. His right leg moved back, his left leg forward. Both hands gripped the Short Axe lightly as the blade was steadily raised...

As he completed this movement, the Short Axe in his hands seamlessly blended into the dark night. The Martial Arts Aura churned by the Martial Pill in his body flowed straight toward his Sea of Consciousness.

ROAR!!!

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the dragon upon the phantom image of the Dragon Inspection Map seemed to come alive, exuding an incredibly fierce, oppressive presence.

At the same time, as that dragon’s roar echoed—a sound only he could hear—Zeng Anmin’s right arm holding the Short Axe began to change...