44.1 The Magic Reaper Appears Again
Ding! Because of the quick speed, the dozens of collision seemed to have merged into a single sound. Nian Bing only felt a massive impact hit him head-on. His chest felt like it had been struck by a gigantic hammer. Due to the force of impact, he flew backwards in the air. If it wasn't because of the Proud Sky Knife's knife energy resistance, he would have been injured. A dart-like projectile had flown out of the window and had turned into fragments as a result of the sharpness of the Proud Sky Knife. Nian Bing's eyes exuded calm as he guided the snowstorm to instantly send him tens of meters away.
Two figures shot out of the opened window like two streams of blurry light. Although they had very strong qi, they definitely couldn't fly. When Ru Yi and her sister discovered that the enemy was floating in mid air, they were immediately shocked. Like a violent whirlwind, both of them threw out three darts in Nian Bing's direction as they landed on the ground. Sadly, Nian Bing was already prepared. Although the qi around the darts were extremely strong, he only had to use the snowstorm to direct himself upwards to dodge the darts. A mage in mid air held some advantage over the warriors on the ground.
Ru Yi and Ru Meng each gripped a sharp sword, both having a cold luster. Just as Ru Meng was continuing her preparations to attack, Ru Yi stopped her and questioned Nian Bing with a cold voice, "Who are you?"
Nian Bing said coldly, "This isn't the place to talk. If you have the courage, then come with me." He deliberately pitched his voice lower and added a gravelly quality to prevent them from recognising him. After talking, he immediately made the snowstorm move towards the outskirts of the city. Ru Yi and Ru Meng exchanged glances; they knew that their identities had been revealed so they had no other choice but to follow him.
The snowstorm was a mage's fastest way of achieving short-distance flight. Although Nian Bing saw that Ru Yi and her sister had the strength of swordmasters, they were still unable to compete with the speed of his snowstorm. He had set his speed so that he would be able to keep a distance from Ru Yi and Ru Meng as he led them out of Ice Orchid City to the countryside.
As Ru Yi and Ru Meng followed Nian Bing, they secretly made plans. There was only a small amount of mages on the continent - this, they were extremely clear about. Because of that, they didn't have any experience fighting against mages so they didn't have much confidence. Ru Meng became anxious and didn't know what to do, but suddenly, she heard Ru Yi shout, "Graft Flowers on a Tree!"
Ru Yi emitted green qi as she suddenly leapt. Ru Meng immediately knew what she had to do when she heard her big sister yell those words. She held the long sword in her teeth and used a similar explosive green qi to push Ru Yi upwards with both hands, forcefully sending her flying into the air. In that instant, her qi had completely transferred to Ru Yi, and Ru Yi's body flashed brightly as she became wrapped in qi, instantly travelling thirty meters into the air. When she was six meters away from Nian Bing, her qi locked around his body. She gripped her sword with both hands and slashed downwards diagonally towards Nian Bing with all her strength, forming an illusion of a beautiful green fox.
Sensing the danger, Nian Bing became colder internally. Previously, the impact of the dart was something he was almost unable to withstand, much less this full-strength slash. A protection scroll activated, and instantly, a three meter thick, solid ice wall blocked the incoming qi. Due to the combined force of Ru Yi and Ru Meng's qi, the strength of the attack was terrifying. The qi was extremely sharp and its strength caused a crack, one metre deep, on the ice wall. Although the strength of the qi had weakened on impact, it still continued to break through the ice towards Nian Bing.
Nian Bing chose to use the ice wall spell not only to block the enemies, but to also give him the chance to cut through his opponent's binds on him, as the enemy's attack slowed. By the time the green light had reached where he had originally been, he had already retreated downwards on the snowstorm. Ru Yi's strength was exhausted. As she fell to the ground, Ru Meng chased after her. The two had been stopped in their tracks. Their hearts couldn't help but constrict when faced with the mysteries of magic.
Nian Bing floated towards the two girls, but maintained a thirty metre gap between them. The snowstorm still hadn't ended, but rather, under his strong spiritual force he continually compressed it. This variation of the snowstorm spell would make even a magic scholar apprehensive. It was defensive, so naturally it was the best choice. "So the two misses use wind attribute qi," Nian Bing said indifferently.
Ru Yi stepped forward, her gaze firm as she glared at Nian Bing,. "Who are you really?"
Nian Bing said, "You can call me the Magic Reaper."
Ru Yi said coldly, "That said, did you hear our conversation from before?"
Nian Bing smiled disaffectedly. "I don't really care about which country you're spying for, but I do care about the lives you take. Miss Ru Yi, that man that you dealt with before is my charge. Seeing that Miss Ru Meng has been very kind hearted, I do not wish to make trouble for you. You may leave, only from now on, I hope that Miss Ru Yi will be more prudent when she acts. Those who kill people may end up being killed in return."
Ru Yi turned to look at her little sister. "Meng, you…"
Ru Meng didn't dare meet her older sister's gaze and lowered her head. Ru Yi looked at Nian Bing coldly. "Mages don't have an advantage when fighting against warriors. You don't want to trouble us, but I would like to try and trouble you. If you have the ability then don't run." The strongest point about wind qi was its ability to raise the user's attack speed. With a swoosh, Ru Yi had already arrived in front of Nian Bing in a moment.
Nian Bing didn't retreat. Snorting coldly, the snowstorm that had been condensed to one meter in diameter suddenly exploded. Even after the compression of the snowstorm, its attack strength wasn't any less than a rank 6 spell. Ru Yi felt that she had crashed against a giant, sturdy wall and countless spinning blades of ice seemed to pierce her body. Her protective qi was ripped to shreds by the wildly revolving ice blades. The moment the snowstorm exploded, she was immediately blown backwards. Her clothes had ripped, exposing trails of crimson blood and more of her fair skin.
Blood poured out unrestrainedly. The variant snowstorm had injured Ru Yi severely. Though in an one-on-one confrontation, mages were at a disadvantage, but, this referred to mages who didn't have time to chant spells. If a warrior faced off against an opponent who had already prepared magic beforehand, the chances of winning would be very small.
"Big Sister!" Ru Meng caught Ru Yi. Her body had become icy cold; the snowstorm had put cold poison in her vessels. To Ru Yi who had wanted to kill, Nian Bing didn't hold back. Fortunately Ru Yi's qi wasn't weak, so she wasn't completely shredded apart by the snowstorm.
"Powerful ice element! Condense and convert into the ice from the ancient Cold River, turn into the magnificent ice from the splendid moon. Ice and ice merge and become two orbs of ice." While Ru Meng was checking on her elder sister, Nian Bing chanted another spell. Giant balls of ice appeared in front of them. He did not dare to be careless, even for a bit when dealing with warriors.
At this moment, Ru Yi barely had a strand of qi left. Her blood continued to pour out of her wounds nonstop. Her most grievous wounds were not the cuts on her body, but, the cold qi that had invaded her body when the snowstorm had exploded. Currently, the blood in her veins were freezing. Once all her heart vessels froze, she would die. Ideas about protecting the fairer sex didn't appear in Nian Bing's mind. He only knew that his own life was the most valuable.
"You! What did you do to my older sister? I will fight you." Ru Meng set Ru Yi's body down and raised her sword at Nian Bing and charged.
Tens of waves of wind qi cut down from her sword. Nian Bing was surprised to discover that Ru Meng's qi was purer than her sister's. However, the twin balls of ice had already formed. This rank 6 spell could not be compared to the rank 4 wall of ice spell from before. With just a thought from Nian Bing, the twin orbs of ice endlessly changed their direction. Ru Yi's attack could scratch the orbs of ice, but wouldn't threaten Nian Bing at all.
Nian Bing had somewhat of a good impression of Ru Meng. At least, her heart was much kinder than Ru Yi's. "Miss Ru Meng, if you don't want your elder sister to die, then you should stop attacking." He blocked Ru Meng's attack once again. The twin orbs of ice shone with a cold luster as it formed a bone-piercing chill and multiple ice cones shot out, immediately forcing Ru Meng backwards.
Ru Yi breathed heavily as she looked at the strong mage,. "You, you already killed my sister, but you are still making snide remarks?"
Nian Bing said cooly, "Your elder sister has received a serious wound, a fatal invasion of a cold stream. Right now only I can save her. You should understand that killing you would be very easy for me, so I have no need to lie to you." The strongest point of those ice balls were its killing power. If you were facing off against a group, then it would shoot off the tyrannically strong ice cones until it exploded. Once this rank 6 spell was formed, unless one was a Grand Swordmaster or higher, the twin balls of ice could not be destroyed.
Ru Meng turned cold as she listened to Nian Bing's indifferent voice. It was true. If he had wanted to kill her, then he only had to use the spell from before to do so, and she would have no way of stopping it. "You, you really want to save my sister? I beg you, please save my sister. We only have each other left. My big sister originally didn't have such a bad personality but because of a past trauma did she started to hate men."
The twin orbs of ice disappeared. Nian Bing walked to Ru Meng. He knew very clearly that since Ru Yi's life was in his hands, Ru Meng definitely wouldn't attack him again. "I also don't want to kill people, but your sister's personality needs to be taught a lesson. I must ask you to take off her upper clothes."
"What? Wh-what do you think you're doing?" When she heard Nian Bing's words, Ru Meng immediately became shocked. She obstructed Nian Bing, glaring at him warningly with the sword in her hand raised. When she saw the skeleton mask on Nian Bing's face, she couldn't help but develop a feeling of intense fear. Up until now, she had done everything as her sister had said and had, long since, developed a very dependent personality. Ru Yi had also taken care of her every need. However, now Ru Yi was unconscious. With an enemy that she had no way of beating, she really didn't know what she had to do.
Nian Bing creased his brows and said, "Miss Ru Meng, your elder sister has many wounds. If you do not take off her clothes, then how am I supposed to treat her? Do not worry, I don't have even the slightest iota of interest in your sister's body." He had seen many beautiful girls, any of whom Ru Yi had no hope of comparing to. Especially when compared with Feng Nu's looks, Ru Yi was like the mere light of a firefly.
When she heard Nian Bing's words, Ru Meng came to see the reality. She hurriedly got out of Nian Bing's way and crouched down by her sister and helped Ru Yi to sit up. "You, you really want to save my big sister?"
Nian Bing nodded. "Of course, there was no enmity between us anyway. However, I hope that you will advise your sister not to treat people's lives like grass from now on. If not, then the next time we meet, I, the Magic Reaper will inevitably descend upon her. Loosen her clothing." While speaking, Nian Bing held the True Sun Knife in his left hand. The Fire God's Stone in the knife handle was directly placed against RU Yi's forehead. What could be more effective against the cold poison than the Fire God's Stone? A scorching hot stream of qi flowed into the space between her eyebrows. Ru Yi's green, pale face immediately regained its flush.
Upon seeing Nian Bing seriously saving her elder sister, Ru Yi immediately heaved a sigh of relief. She set down her long sword and with trembling hands, loosened her sister's clothing.
After the outermost layer of the cheongsam was the middle layer, and after the middle layer, the inner clothes. Ru Meng was extremely fidgety as she looked into Nian Bing's apathetic eyes. Nian Bing muttered, "Girls are really troublesome! Miss Ru Meng, hurry up. If not, the cold poison may not claim her life but too much blood loss might. I can't do anything about that."
Hearing that, Ru Meng's hands stopped shaking and she quickly removed the obstructions on her elder sister's body. Once everything had been taken off, Nian Bing was momentarily stunned. He couldn't help but admit that Ru Yi, who possessed the strength of a swordmaster, had a perfect figure. This was the first time he had seen a girl's body so he couldn't help but be stunned. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask. If not, he didn't know what Ru Meng would think if she saw his blushing face. Taking a deep breath, Nian Bing forced his excitement down and tossed the heaving peaks to the back of his mind. Swallowing his saliva, he pressed his hands on Ru Yi's body. Nian Bing was very familiar with chants after several months of studying at the Mage Association. Currently he was not the Nian Bing who was unfamiliar with the incantations of ice magic. "O great ice elements! I beg that your kind hearts to melt into the water from the Holy Spring. Soothe the wounds. With the Water Goddess as my witness, appear, Spring of Healing, Holy Water."