“Two S-rank assassins. And judging by their strength, they’re definitely not the weakest among S-rank assassins—at least above average. This ninja codenamed ‘Shadow’ can even be considered a top-tier presence among S-rank assassins. I imagine his internal energy cultivation isn’t low either, right? This time, I’ll definitely be able to max out the first level of the Northern Darkness Divine Art and break through to the second level!”
“After the Northern Darkness Divine Art breaks through to the second level, my strength will probably have another qualitative leap, right? By then, I’ll be able to release my internal energy externally. I won’t need to rely on falling leaves or flying flowers to attack anymore. I might be able to directly form energy swords, just like the Six Pulses Divine Sword or One-Yang Finger!”
Jiang Fei was undoubtedly very happy inside—excited, even.
Generally speaking, for ordinary martial arts experts in the real world, once they reach the Danjin level, they can basically release their internal energy externally. For example, people like Lion King and Yanagimura Munenori, without relying on any weapons, could gather sword energy in their hands, as real as actual blades.
But internal energy isn’t internal power after all—its lethality is limited. It’s very difficult to hurt someone from a distance because internal energy gets greatly weakened when traveling through the air. That’s why people like Yanagimura Munenori use other things, like snowflakes, plants, or fallen leaves, as vehicles for their internal energy, to reduce the weakening and maintain a strong attack power.
But Jiang Fei was different. His internal power was the real deal from martial arts novels, not the internal energy used by real-world martial artists!
If his internal power cultivation breaks through to the second level of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, given its powerful attributes, it might very well be possible for his Northern Darkness True Qi to penetrate his body and directly injure others!
Of course, for Jiang Fei to achieve something like the One-Yang Finger or Six Pulses Divine Sword, where internal power true qi forms energy swords in the air with devastating power, without any specific training methods, would probably be very difficult, if not impossible.
But since Jiang Fei had already achieved mastery of his Nine Swords of Dugu, reaching the realm of ‘no technique beats technique,’ and had fully comprehended sword intent in his heart, he believed that as long as his internal power level was sufficient, wielding energy swords wouldn’t be a problem.
“Moreover, once the Northern Darkness Divine Art reaches the second level, I can go to Japan to fulfill the duel I agreed upon with Yanagimura Munenori! And later, when those clueless Danjin-level experts come looking for trouble, I won’t need to be polite…” Jiang Fei’s face was full of smiles. He placed the two immobile Japanese S-rank assassins together, ignoring their terror and confusion, and prepared to start absorbing.
His hands rested on their backs. The Northern Darkness True Qi inside his body slowly began to circulate, flowing through the meridians in his arms to his palms. His palms rested on the backs of the two S-rank assassins, ‘Monkey’ and ‘Shadow’.
Hum!
Attracted by the special effect of the Northern Darkness True Qi, the internal energy that the two had painstakingly cultivated for years instantly found what seemed like a breach in a dam. It flowed backward in a surge, rushing into Jiang Fei’s body!
In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, whether it was Duan Yu or Xuzhu, whether they had just started practicing the Northern Darkness Divine Art or already had deep internal power, as long as they used it, they could absorb the internal energy of several people at once. The only requirement was that the absorbed energy stayed within their capacity to handle, so it didn’t burst their body.
So Jiang Fei absorbing two people’s internal energy at the same time was no pressure at all—it proceeded perfectly normally.
It felt like soaking in a hot spring. Two ‘warm currents’ simultaneously entered Jiang Fei’s body, ultimately being drawn into the Tanzhong acupoint sea, which was filled with Northern Darkness True Qi. After being converted by the Northern Darkness Divine Art, these two streams of internal energy from others quickly strengthened Jiang Fei himself.
Thus, the progress of Jiang Fei’s internal power was almost visibly noticeable. His internal power, which had been stuck at 14.2 years, quickly began to rise.
14.3/15, 14.4/15, 14.5/15…
Jiang Fei watched the skill section in his mind’s character attributes. The Northern Darkness Divine Art, whose progress bar hadn’t moved for a long time, was now rapidly increasing, heading straight for 15 years. The corners of his mouth were practically reaching his ears, and his face was beaming with joy.
It was so much more comfortable to directly absorb other people’s internal energy! Relying on his own slow cultivation was far too slow. This short while was equivalent to several months of hard training!
“What’s happening? Why is my internal energy draining so quickly?” Assassin Monkey cried out in terror. His wrists had been severed, and then Jiang Fei had pressed his pressure point, leaving his whole body weak and limp.
But this feeling of the internal energy he had painstakingly cultivated for years continuously draining from his body was even harder to bear. This method was even more terrifying than a vampire’s!
“Oh my god, my internal energy is draining quickly too! What kind of person is this?! Is he human or a ghost? How can he dissolve someone else’s internal energy!” Shadow, the assassin with formidable hiding skills, also lost his composure and shouted, lacking the calm composure expected of a ninja.
They were both terrified.
Not only were they internal energy experts, but they were also S-rank assassins. They had seen a lot in their time. But the bizarre scene happening to them now was something they had never heard of or seen before.
If this continued, the internal energy they had developed over more than a decade of martial arts training, several years’ worth, would be completely emptied in two or three minutes, turning them into useless废人 (feiren) without a shred of internal energy!
This… was practically no different from killing them.
“Stop your country’s bird language chattering. Can you be quiet?” Jiang Fei said sternly, his eyes gleaming.
While they were terrified inside, he was incredibly thrilled and comfortable. He couldn’t have been happier.
However, Jiang Fei hadn’t been happy for long. The Northern Darkness Divine Art had reached 14.7 years, just a little short of reaching the 15-year mark and breaking through to the second level————
Suddenly, Jiang Fei’s expression changed. His brow furrowed instantly, and he stared intently at the doorway, his eyes filled with shock.
He didn’t have to wait long. Almost the next instant, the already damaged door was pushed open from the outside.
The newcomers weren’t ordinary hotel staff, nor assassins, nor members of the Seven Kills Group.
Walking in were a bald, burly man with a perfectly proportioned physique; and an old man dressed in rags, leaning on a cane, yet giving anyone who saw him the immediate impression that this ‘beggar’ was not simple. He carried a certain ecclesiastical air about him.
These two made Jiang Fei, who was in the middle of absorbing internal energy and feeling overjoyed, instantly refocus his attention. He watched this strange duo enter seriously.
Because both of them gave him a strong sense of danger!
If his senses were correct, both of these individuals had already reached the Danjin level—the same level as Yanagimura Munenori and the Lion King…
Jiang Fei had known from the start that his trip to London with the Seven Kills Group to wipe out the Nether Organization wouldn’t go smoothly. He had anticipated encountering formidable opponents. Just as Jingzhe had analyzed, unless the Nether Organization had some real strength and confidence, they wouldn’t dare act so arrogantly and directly clash with the Seven Kills Group.
But honestly, Jiang Fei had never imagined he would encounter two Danjin-level experts here!
Danjin-level experts are extremely rare no matter where you go. They generally don’t belong to any specific organization. Getting them to act on your behalf is incredibly difficult. Who would have thought the Nether Organization could hire two of them to come to London, just in case?
And if there were already two Danjin-level experts in London, didn’t that mean there were probably some in the Middle East too?
If there weren’t Danjin-level experts in the Middle East, there’s no way they could have easily crushed the Seven Kills Group’s squad and nearly wiped them out completely.
“Just how much backing does this Nether Organization have?!”
Now it was Jiang Fei’s turn to be shocked.
In the assassin world, where SS-rank killers reign supreme, for one assassin organization to simultaneously dispatch several Danjin-level experts was simply unbelievable and defied all common sense. Not to mention an assassin organization—even the Vatican’s Holy See probably couldn’t pull this off.
Jiang Fei narrowed his eyes, cautiously watching the two men as they entered. At the same time, he couldn’t help but speed up the circulation of his Northern Darkness True Qi. He wanted to completely absorb the internal energy from ‘Monkey’ and ‘Shadow’ as quickly as possible, so he could break through to the second level of the Northern Darkness Divine Art and increase his strength.
The situation was somewhat unexpected. Two Danjin-level experts had appeared out of nowhere. Naturally, Jiang Fei needed to be well-prepared. Although, with his current pre-breakthrough strength, he felt he didn’t need to fear two Danjin-level experts. Even in the worst-case scenario, he could still escape from them unharmed…
But if he could break through to the second level of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, reaching the stage of external True Qi release, then Jiang Fei wouldn’t be thinking about escaping unharmed. Instead, he’d be thinking about leaving these two Danjin-level experts here, permanently!
‘I won’t trouble others unless they trouble me’—Jiang Fei had never been one to willingly create enmity.
But if someone came looking to provoke him, Jiang Fei wouldn’t go soft or be afraid. Those who deserved to die wouldn’t leave alive!
These two Danjin-level experts had quietly tracked him down, each wearing a lecherous grin as they looked at him. If they said they weren’t here to kill him, but just to negotiate, Jiang Fei wouldn’t believe it for a second!
The arrival of two Danjin-level experts naturally meant they intended to finish him off in London. Jiang Fei, in turn, had to think about how to finish them off instead.
“I didn’t expect the Nether Organization could hire two experts like you. It’s truly surprising.” Jiang Fei remained calm, speaking softly in English.
He didn’t need much more time—at most one more minute—to reach 15 years of internal power cultivation.
If he could just stall for a little while, he would succeed!
“Hmm…” The ascetic Michael and ‘The Devil’ Augustus were both a bit surprised when they entered and saw this scene. They had no idea what Jiang Fei was doing.
Jiang Fei was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his hands pressed against the backs of the two Japanese assassins. Although outsiders couldn’t tell what he was doing, the scene was undeniably strange.
“What are you doing?” The bald man, Augustus, asked.
Jiang Fei thought for a moment, then said with a grin, “I’m thinking of using these two as hostages to threaten you. Believe me?”
Neither Augustus nor Michael laughed at Jiang Fei’s lame joke. They remained noncommittal, simply walking slowly towards Jiang Fei. Perhaps confident in their superior skills, they didn’t care if Jiang Fei sitting like that meant a trap. They weren’t in the mood for small talk and wanted to get straight to the action.
“Man, you guys have zero sense of humor!” Jiang Fei’s mind raced. Seeing that his stalling tactic wasn’t working on them, he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
Just then, the two Japanese assassins, already more than halfway drained of their internal energy by Jiang Fei and in absolute agony—unable to seek life or death—trembled their lips and managed to speak: “Save… save us! This person… is absorbing our… dissolving! He… he’s very strange!”
“Absorbing internal energy? Dissolving can be absorbed, too?” Michael raised an eyebrow. Experts as profound as them naturally understood what internal energy meant for Eastern martial artists.
Although this claim seemed utterly absurd—as far as he knew, internal energy couldn’t possibly be absorbed by someone else—he instinctively calmed his mind and observed more closely.
He discovered that the aura of the two Japanese assassins, with Jiang Fei’s hands pressed against their backs, truly weakened with every passing second, while Jiang Fei’s own aura grew stronger bit by bit!
This strengthening was even quite noticeable, like crazy, explosive growth from taking some kind of drug!
“This is bad! We can’t let this drag on!” Michael and Augustus’s expressions changed slightly. Simultaneously and without hesitation, they struck out at Jiang Fei.
The ascetic Michael used his ever-present cane.
That ordinary-looking cane, covered in grime, suddenly seemed washed by holy light. A faint, white glow enveloped it as it smashed down towards Jiang Fei’s head with unparalleled momentum.
As for Augustus, the bald man’s weapon turned out to be a sword. And not just any sword—it was a soft sword, full of Chinese charm, practically unique to the Chinese!
This soft sword was like a venomous snake, as if it had eyes. It moved flexibly through the air, eerily and unpredictably, making it impossible to pinpoint its true direction of attack.
A soft sword is one of the most difficult sword styles to master. Even in China or Japan, hardly anyone practices it anymore. Mastering the soft sword is much harder than ordinary swordsmanship—the strength, techniques, and methods are completely different. If you’re not skilled, you’ll end up hurting yourself, let alone using it against an enemy.
Who would have thought that such a wondrous, soft-sword technique would be performed today by a Westerner? It was absolutely ridiculous!
Both men acted cleanly and decisively, without a single unnecessary word. They attacked the moment they sensed something was wrong.
Normally, if Jiang Fei were a bystander watching this, he would have praised them greatly. He’d think this was the proper way for true experts to behave.
If you’ve decided to act, just do it—why waste time chattering?
Hesitating and blabbing before a killing blow, giving your opponent a chance to recover—people like that wouldn’t survive two episodes in a TV show!
But today, since he was the target, and these smart experts weren’t bothering with small talk but simply drew their swords, Jiang Fei could only angrily curse: “Damn it!”
