Just now, he let the big man make demands to distract him.
Because of the perspective and the darkness of night, when the sword wings quietly unfolded, the enemy did not notice.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ning Tianchen shook off the feather blades and hid them beneath the fallen leaves on the ground.
When his third soul skill activated, these feather blades seemed to have a soul of their own, spontaneously attacking the vital points of the big man.
When the big man's neck was pierced, a large amount of blood splattered onto Ning Rongrong.
Seeing the crisis resolved, Ning Rongrong, with tears in her voice, collapsed into Ning Tianchen's arms.
"Brother Tianchen, Rongrong thought I'd never be able to be with you again..."
Ning Tianchen gently stroked her forehead, "Rongrong, don't cry. The bad guys are all dealt with."
After this incident, Ning Rongrong's mentality matured considerably.
The soul master world is just this cruel. Without Ning Fengzhi's protection, given her personality, she'd likely have been killed long ago.
Even bearing the name of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, in this sparsely inhabited area, there are still those who don't respect their status.
"We can't stay here any longer, let's leave quickly."
That big man just now was probably not the head of the Black Wind Stronghold. The fight made quite a commotion, and the other members of Black Wind Stronghold are probably on their way.
Over twenty men, even under the overwhelming strength advantage, still managed to take Rongrong hostage. This proves that it would be very difficult for Ning Tianchen to ensure her safety if they were surrounded and attacked.
If there were more enemies, Rongrong likely would have had no chance of survival.
Of course, this isn't Ning Tianchen's fault. The Seven Kill Sword Technique emphasizes extreme offense and killing—it's not a defensive sword technique.
"Rongrong, stand on the sword for now. Later, we'll find a river and wash off the blood."
Being covered in blood, it's not just about entering the city—if the guards see them like this, they'll likely be captured immediately.
Using the flight ability granted by his third soul skill, Ning Tianchen and Rongrong quickly flew down the mountain.
The third soul skill is Ning Tianchen's current ultimate technique, consuming a huge amount of his soul power. Since Rongrong doesn't have a soul skill that boosts soul power, he can't maintain flight for very long.
When his soul power was halfway drained, they barely managed to descend the mountain.
Within their view, not far away, there was a small stream.
Ning Tianchen casually took off his shirt and wiped the blood from his body with the stream water.
Rongrong, however, couldn't do the same.
After all, she's a girl, and taking off her shirt would be inappropriate.
Seeing this, Ning Tianchen said, "Rongrong, I'll guard you here, you go wash up."
Rongrong blushed deeply, slowly took off her clothes, and squatted by the stream.
It was a crescent moon night; the reflection on the water made it hard to clearly see her face.
After a while, she quietly said, "Brother Tianchen, I can't reach my back, c-could you help me…"
Her voice grew softer and softer until it disappeared completely.
The moonlit night was quiet, but Ning Tianchen understood what she meant.
"Th-that's not really appropriate…"
Rongrong looked embarrassed and said, "Dad said that Brother Tianchen is going to marry Rongrong, so it's… it's okay."
After a moment of hesitation, Ning Tianchen agreed.
Relying on the faint moonlight, he could barely make out her snow-white skin, but in other respects...
"It's a bit small…"
Rongrong's body stiffened in place until all the blood stains were completely wiped away.
…
The next morning, they entered a nearby city as the city gates opened.
They had spent the entire night outdoors and were very tired, planning to rest in this small city for half a day before continuing their journey.
As they entered the city, the caravan traveling with them started discussing the Black Wind Stronghold.
"Did you hear? Yesterday evening, the head of the Black Wind Stronghold was killed by a strong warrior from the Martial Soul Hall. At dawn, I came from Peiyang City and saw a considerable number of kingdom troops gathering on the hills near Black Wind Stronghold."
"Whoa, no wonder. You don't know, I just passed through the mountain roads they control and heard that their Fourth Leader was killed last night by a group of people. Instead of seeking revenge, the Black Wind Stronghold packed up and fled. I didn't expect this was the reason."
Their voices drifted into Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong's ears.
They both smiled helplessly.
If they had followed Ning Tianchen's advice and set off a day later, they might not have encountered the bandits.
Of course, they did gain something from this encounter.
Ning Rongrong quietly said, "Brother Tianchen is really amazing, he actually killed their Fourth Leader."
These bandits were nothing more than idle bullies. Usually, they bullied the weaker in numbers, but when taken out individually, their combat strength was even inferior to soul masters who had been training in the Douhun Arena for ten or fifteen days.
Moreover, they were a loose, unorganized, and undisciplined group who basically swarmed their opponents during fights, with no tactical coordination.
The anti-bandit squads sent by the Barak Kingdom, even if all were ordinary people, could still defeat these bandit soul masters due to their strict discipline.
Ning Tianchen took the map from her hand and carefully studied the route.
"There are three cities between here and Soto City. It should take about three or four days to reach it. Rongrong, your soul power is already at level twenty-nine. Push yourself, and try to break through to level thirty soon after enrollment."
He knew that on the first day of classes at Shrek Academy, Oscar had broken through to level thirty, and then the "Seven Freaks of Shrek" went to hunt souls in the Star Dou Forest.
Tang San also, by accident, obtained the Eight Spider Soul Bones around that time—one of the biggest early opportunities.
The Eight Spider Soul Bones and Ning Tianchen's external soul bone sword wings each had their own characteristics.
The sword wings mainly offered flight ability and surprise feather blade attacks. The Eight Spider Soul Bones had devouring ability, allowing Tang San to rapidly increase his power in a short time by devouring enough soul beasts.
At present, the Eight Spider Soul Bones seemed superior to the sword wings. However, Ning Tianchen felt that the sword wings' potential had not yet been fully unlocked and might gain new abilities in the future.
By then, the sword wings might not be inferior to the Eight Spider Soul Bones.
Though Ning Tianchen didn't have good feelings toward Tang San, he wasn't immediately hostile either.
Without knowing if Tang San would be a friend or foe in the future, the best choice was to let him lose the Eight Spider Soul Bones.
As for whether to stay at Shrek Academy, Ning Tianchen hadn't decided yet.
Ning Rongrong definitely would not go to the Royal Tian Dou Academy. There were only a few powerful academies within the Tian Dou Empire. The Four Elements Academy belonged to great families, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no cooperation with them, so it was impossible for them to arrange schooling there for the two of them.
Building a new academy would take too much time, likely causing them to miss the next Soul Master tournament.
After entering the hotel, Ning Tianchen decided not to think about it anymore.
With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's vast wealth and influence, he had no worries about where they would go afterward.
This trip to Shrek Academy was mostly to accompany Ning Rongrong on her "runaway from home" and to have a look at the master-disciple pair Tang San and Yu Xiaogang.
As his thoughts gradually quieted, Ning Tianchen lay down on the hotel's big bed and fell into a deep sleep.