Qing Ning once said before, below the realm of Xiantian, nothing was absolute. Even a ten year old child was able to kill a ninth-grade if he was heavily injured enough.
Ning Chen was no ten year old child and the fighters from the two families weren’t heavily injured either. That slash however, it was something neither of them managed to dodge,
That was because the thought of dodging had never even crossed their minds.
Because they didn’t know so they deserved to die.
Now that the two of them were dead, the little Great Khan was completely exposed before Ning Chen.
A distance of three zhang, barely ten meters in length, was nothing to a martial practitioner,
However, there was no way the Great Khan didn’t have anyone guarding him. The moment Ning Chen’s sword stirred, a silhouette flickered into existence next to the Great Khan.
A ninth-grade yet again, furthermore, this person was a true expert, a ninth-grade that greatly surpassed the champion from the Xiao family.
Without any warning, a terrifying palm descended upon the scarred man and shattered his wheelchair in an instant.
Yet, its occupant was nowhere to be seen.
While the crippled Ning Chen had no way of dodging that strike, that didn’t mean that the fully healed Ning Chen wasn’t able to! Just for this single moment, he chose to confine himself to a wheelchair for days upon days.
Finally, it all paid off. A ninth-grade expert was still a person and thus it was only natural that there were gaps in his cognitive process. Because such gaps existed, errors in judgement were possible.
Ning Chen perfectly exploited his mistake and dodged the palm strike. Following that, he swiftly sidestepped to the front of the Great Khan and restrained the latter by the cuff of his shoulders.
“Your Majesty, please grant this favor!” Sword levelled against the child’s neck, Ning Chen made his request in an immeasurably serious tone.
“Impudence!” Yelled the little Great Khan, eyes cold and voice furious.
“Your Majesty, please bestow this marriage upon me!” Ning Chen declared as unfazed as before.
Below the stone stairs, it was only then that the ten aristocratic families finally came to their senses and realized what was going on. Eyes wide open in shock, no one could have expected such a sudden turn of events in the brief span of a few seconds.
Drawing swords in front of the palace and taking the Great Khan as your hostage were all high crimes that bore the punishment of death for the entire clan.
The Qing family were shocked to their cores, especially Qing Wushuang whose face was exceptionally ugly right now.
As expected, one of the old officials standing in front of the palace spoke up, eyes turned to the Qing family as he raised his voice sharply, “How long do you plan on leaving him to his devices, have him release His Majesty this instant!”
At that, Qing Wushuang stepped forward and with a dark look on her face, exclaimed, “Bai Yutang, I promise to marry you so release His Majesty now!”
Nearby, the ninth-grade bodyguard tightened his grip on weapon. The moment that man released the little Great Khan, he would immediately act to kill him.
“If I believe you now, then those seventeen years I’ve spent in this world were all in vain, Little Great Khan, it’s time for us to leave.”
Having said that, Ning Chen grabbed the child and slowly walked down the stairs step by step. As he passed by the tournament grounds, he paused for a moment and in a calm voice, said: “Qing Wushuang, go prepare a horse for me and be quick about it, my patience has its limits.”
Hearing that, her brows immediately furrowed and the fury within her threatened to spill over. Yet just as she was about to act up, a voice echoed from behind to stop her.
“Do as he says.” Yelled the old official.
Coldly harrumphing, she promptly left the scene.
As before, Ning Chen proceeded forward, Great Khan firmly grasped in hand as he walked out of the palace. Behind him, a large crowd of people maintained a moderate distance from him. One that was neither too close nor too far.
Looking at the child in his hands, Ning Chen couldn’t help but admire the little Great Khan. Till now, he still maintained his stoic posture and showed no signs of begging for mercy.
‘This kid, he isn’t half bad. Looks like that woman, Fan Lingyue, managed to groom an impressive successor for the Mongolian Empire.’
Knowledge, governance, all these could be learnt later on but there was one thing an Emperor mustn’t lack. That was the disposition one should have as a monarch of a country. Otherwise, what should the entire Mongolian Empire do if their Great Khan actually begged for mercy.
By now, a large regiment of royal guards rushed out of the palace and tried to surround Ning Chen. However, when faced with a sword to their Great Khan’s neck, all they could do was obediently step aside and clear a path for the scarred man.
Even now, the ninth-grade bodyguard from before was still following closely behind as he waited for an opportunity to rescue the Great Khan.
Yet, given how long Ning Chen had planned this operation, there was no way he would falter now. Left hand wrapped around the Great Khan and Ink Sword gripped tightly in his right, Ning Chen didn’t let down his guard for even a second.
At this distance, no one other than the Xiantian could snatch the Little Great Khan from his hands. He was a seventh-grade after all, perhaps he might not be able to defeat that ninth-grade bodyguard but that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to put up a fight. Ning Chen had the confidence to know that before that man could even reach him, he could drag the little Great Khan down to hell with him.
Naturally, everyone present knew of this fact as well. That was why no one dared to make any rash moves up till now. No matter who it was, they didn’t dare to bear the risk of having their nine generations executed for endangering the Great Khan’s life.
Back at the front of the palace, Qing Wushuang had finally arrived with a horse in tow. Glaring at Ning Chen, she hatefully asked, “Who are you exactly?”
“Bai Yutang, country of Ni.” Replied the teen with a jovial smile.
Hearing that, she felt a strong sense of exasperation in her heart. Even now, this man wasn’t willing to let slip a single clue.
What ensued had to be the strangest sight in living history. Under the watchful eyes of the Mongolian civilians, a scarred face man walked down the streets of the capital with a hand restraining their Great Khan. Behind him, a lady could be seen leading a horse as she quietly followed the pair in front. Even further behind, what looked like the entire court had come out to follow the scarred man. Beside them, the ten aristocratic families maintained a similar distance while they gingerly followed the pair. Furthermore, they all had one thing in common, their faces were extremely sullen.
The Mongolian capital wasn’t a particularly small city, it took Ning Chen roughly eight hours, from noon till dusk, to reach the outskirts of the city.
With that much walking, the little Great Khan’s face had already turned pale since a few hours ago. For a seven year old child, eight hours was clearly too much to bear but the Great Khan still endured it with gritted teeth.
At that, Ning Chen’s admiration for the kid grew even more. Activating a tiny portion of his Qi, he channelled a continuous strand of True Qi into the kid’s body in order to alleviate his fatigue.
Night fell and the cold winds of the desert picked up. The nights in the desert were exceptionally beautiful with their clear skies, brilliant moon and stars so numerous they seemed to form a sea. Tonight, an entire procession of people bore witness to this breathtaking sight as they marched in gloomy silence.
“I want you to ride that horse out and wait for me in that sand pavilion 30 zhang east of here.” Ning Chen turned around to look at the girl as he said that.
Qing Wushuang’s expression immediately changed and changed once more. That command…each and every one of those words stabbed right at her heart. Was he trying to get her and her entire family all executed without even a burial to speak of?!
“Do as he says!” The old court official spoke up once more, his expression even darker than the night.
With no choice, she mounted the horse and with a light shout, rode off towards the east.
As he watched her back disappear into the distance without a trace, Ning Chen turned around and gave everyone the broadest grin he could manage. Then, he did something that no one present would ever expect him to do.
He ran, with the little Great Khan tucked snugly under his arms, he ran as fast as his newly recovered legs could take him.
In that brief moment where everyone recovered from the shock, all that was left of him was his shadow disappearing into the distance. Should a seventh-grade practitioner devote his entire attention to running for his life, even a warhorse couldn’t catch up to him.
The ninth-grade bodyguard was the first to react to his departure. Gathering Qi into his feet, he kicked off the sandy surface and rushed after the pair. Soon thereafter, the elders of the ten families and their young experts recovered as well and sprinted off in pursuit.
By now, Ning Chen was feeling an immense amount of exasperation in his heart. What else could he do other than run, stay there and die? As for a plan, what plan could he possibly have? He was stuck in the middle of Mongolian territory and the senior was nowhere to be seen, who the f**k knew what to do now.
Just kidnapping the Great Khan was enough to cause his body to break out in cold sweat from the crushing tension.
In his arms, the little Great Khan continuously struggled to break free so he gave the kid a resounding spank on his butt.
He just loved people who refused to cooperate without the threat of violence.
Having to suffer through that humiliating act, the little Great Khan could only chew down on his lips and hold back the tears in his eyes. No matter what, he refused to cry. His stubborn look combined with his adorable little face gave off the impression of a small child throwing a tantrum in front of his parents.
And so, Ning Chen continued running for his life with a giant entourage of people chasing after him. What direction he ran didn’t matter, what mattered was that he ran. As he continued fleeing, even he lost sight of where he was now.
Suddenly, the skies shook as a couple of terrifying sword Qi rose to heavens and rammed into each other with a thunderous boom. The surroundings buckled from the immense shockwaves, all around, the sand dunes trembled and the sand reached for the skies in roiling waves.
“What the heck.”
Right before his very eyes, a gigantic wave of sand bore down upon him and in the very instant that curse left his lips, it buried him.
Behind him, the pursuit party weren’t any better off than him. Each and every one of them was buried under the astonishing sand waves that rose from the shockwaves.
An instant later, a dark yellow flash of light sliced across the air and Ning Chen tunneled into the scene with the little Great Khan still tucked under his arms. Without wasting another word, he immediately sprinted off into the distance.
Thankfully, he had the Scroll of Earth and its power of dense earth within him. In that crucial moment just now, it came in extremely handy.
Ten breaths later, the bodyguard c** master of the palace tunnelled out as well. As he raised his head to survey the surroundings, he found that Ning Chen and the Great Khan were nowhere in sight.
Soon after, the elders of the ten families and their experts tunnelled out as well. Each of them had a look of confusion on their faces as they finally breathed the fresh air around them. A moment later, they finally recovered their senses after which their hearts promptly sank.
The Great Khan was lost, kidnapped by a seventh-grade young man no less. This had to be the greatest humiliation the Mongolian Horde had ever faced. Everyone’s face immediately turned black at the grim implications of that –the royal capital was about to face a bloody cleansing.
“Send word to the Lady Strategist, also, arrest all the members of the Qing family and send them to the dungeons. If they resist, kill them!” The palace master c** bodyguard coldly declared.
“Understood.” The elder of the Ming family and his three young experts promptly acknowledged the order. They promptly stepped forward to restrain Elder Fa and the remaining two participants. As for the other eight aristocratic family, no one dared to raise a voice in dissent. In a situation like this, whoever spoke up first was asking for death. Besides, there was no way they would do so anyway.
The three Qing members didn’t dare to resist and merely allowed the Ming family to seal their Qi oceans. Either way, resisting would’ve cost them their lives so they might as well obey for now. Their greatest chance at survival would be if His Majesty was promptly recovered.
Elsewhere, Ning Chen had already been running for over two hours. Seeing that no one was pursuing him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and with a flop, tossed the little Great Khan onto the ground before promptly falling to the ground himself.
The sandy ground was extremely soft. Thus, the little Great Khan unceremoniously crashed onto the ground with a crooked mouth, body aching all over from the resulting impact.
After resting for a moment, Ning Chen finally sat up and turned towards the Great Khan beside him. Out of curiosity, he asked, “What’s your name?”
The little Great Khan immediately turned away, eyes burning with anger as he gave him the silent treatment.
Seeing that, Ning Chen promptly lost his temper. Did this brat even know that he was a hostage, did he truly want to get beaten up before he cooperate?
“Kid, there’s only two of us now, if I’m not happy, I can just dump you here and leave. I guarantee you’ll be nothing but a pile of bones by the time those court officials find you.”
Having said that,, Ning Chen stood up and patted his bum as if he was really going to leave.
“We are known as Ming Yue.”
(TL: I forgot that majestic plural existed so I mistakenly used This Emperor, etc. From now on, I’ll use ‘we’ instead.)
Seeing that, the little Great Khan finally caved in and answered his question. As he did so, the voice that left his mouth had a soft almost tender quality to it and sounded soothing to the ears.
No matter how strong willed the kid was, he was still afraid of being left alone in the boundless desert.
Hearing his voice once more, Ning Chen couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at it. Something felt off.
Back at the palace when he first heard the little Great Khan’s voice, he already felt that something was off. However, he merely brushed it off then as the kid not having his voice broken yet.
Having remembered that bit of strangeness, Ning Chen stepped up to the kid and grabbed his arm. Infusing a bit of his True Qi into the latter, his facial expression immediately underwent a massive change. No longer able to restrain himself, he cursed.
“What the heck!”
