Swallowing the Stars: The Wind Sword Master.

Chapter 96 One glance determines life or death

It was evening.

Ning Ze walked out of the tea room absentmindedly.

He was still thinking about how to break through the bottleneck, but he was hungry. It wasn't that his body needed energy, but rather a habitual hunger. Eating something would make his body feel good, and eating didn't interfere with absorbing cosmic energy. He maintained his previous lifestyle.

As Ning Ze descended the stairs, he frowned, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Councilor Jia wanted to see me about something?"

Shu Yi jogged over and whispered, "Councilor Jia has been waiting for you all afternoon."

Councilor Jia stood up with a smile on his face and came to Ning Ze's house again. Looking at the handsome young man in front of him, who seemed to have a touch of immortality, he felt a different kind of emotion.

This young man is not the same as he was a year ago. Even the Third Speaker is no match for him. This young man has already reached the level of Hong and Thor, which is truly terrifying.

It was mealtime, and the living room was filled with delicious aromas. He didn't want to disturb them, so he just got straight to the point and left quickly.

"You should know why I'm here to see you."

"You want Muya Crystal?" Ning Ze raised an eyebrow.

Jia Yi nodded directly, "Although no one has calculated it much, I think you probably got the most Wood Seed Crystals. I'd like to buy a few; it shouldn't have much impact on your cultivation."

"How many?" Ning Ze asked Jia Yi slowly, his face expressionless. "You want to use the Wood Crystals to help the God of War break through?"

"Yes, Ningze, how are you feeling? Or is there something you want?" Jia Yi asked tentatively.

"It's not about what I want. It's just..." Ning Ze hesitated for a moment, his gaze sharpening, and he said disdainfully, "What's the use of a first-tier planetary level? You can't even break through on your own, so taking it would be a waste, wouldn't it? You might as well use it yourself."

Jia Yi was speechless. Only Ning Ze could say such a thing. The Third Councilor, the Ice and Snow Emperor, was only a one-sword type, ten times weaker than those who had just broken through to the first level of the planetary stage! One sword meant ten... Before, when they were fighting, he could take two or three Wood Crystals with one sword. Now, taking ten with one sword was indeed a loss for Ning Ze.

He said with a wry smile, "The military and the government need this kind of strongman."

"Managing people? Fighting? Being able to kill king-level monsters? I'm afraid they enjoy more privileges than anything else." Ning Ze was somewhat dismissive. "If you can't even break through yourself, a strong person who reaps without sowing probably can't control their own heart. At least the previous councilors made some contributions. The people who become councilors now are breaking through on their own, they're just wasting and occupying more resources."

Jia Yi's expression froze. This man was as direct as ever, and his perspective and level of analysis were completely different from theirs!

"Alright, you choose the person, I'll meet them. Planetary-level powerhouses live for a thousand years. If he can serve the military for 200 years, protecting the country and the base city, I can exchange him for one." Ning Ze paused slightly here, "I don't have time for such trivial matters. If you bring him here, you must be prepared to die! If he doesn't pass my test, I will take his life!"

Jia Yi's expression changed. So ruthless! Could he really be dead?

However, after thinking about it, he felt it made sense. Even planetary-level powerhouses like them risked their lives to fight for a treasure like the Wood Crystal. At that time, no less than ten War Gods died, and even a councilor was almost killed.

It's perfectly normal to have such a death threat.

He asked in a low voice, "I wonder what your assessment is?"

"Take a look," Ning Ze said calmly.

Jia Yi looked surprised and repeated, "Just one look?"

"Yes, there are a maximum of three spots, and only one chance. I hope Councilor Jia will choose carefully and not let anyone tarnish my reputation," Ning Ze said expressionlessly.

"As for what to exchange, open the warehouse and let me choose. I don't think there's anything worth exchanging for Wood Crystals. Money and the like are out of the question. Trillions, tens of trillions, hundreds of trillions—they're useless to me. If it's of no use to me at all, then I'm sorry, but I won't give away what I worked so hard to steal."

Jia Yi nodded solemnly, "Alright! I understand what you mean! I will be serious when selecting people. I will open the national treasury for you to choose from. As long as you like them, feel free to take them!"

Ning Ze raised his head slightly to indicate his agreement, as if to say that he could leave.

Jia Yi nodded slightly, cupped his hands in greeting, and turned to walk outside. He sighed inwardly, realizing that the Wang family's ability to thrive in the Ministry of Commerce of China clearly meant they had offended this peerless genius.

Ning Ze currently harbors many grievances against everyone, and who knows when he might decide to clean things up and get rid of some of them. However, he may feel the time is not yet ripe, which is why he hasn't taken any action.

Ning Hua escorted the man to the door, and Jia Yi turned around as he walked out, saying, "It's already inappropriate to disturb your meal, there's no need to see me off any further. Farewell."

Ning Hua cupped his hands in a strange gesture, then turned around to see Ning Ze leading Shu Yi to the dining table. Ning Qianqian and Li Qiu on the sofa both looked dazed.

He closed the door and came in, saying in a low voice, "Kid, isn't this kind of attitude towards Councilor Jia a bit inappropriate?"

Ning Ze said seriously, "Dad, this Muya Crystal is no different from stealing monsters in the wilderness. Even the councilor almost died back then. There were no rules back then. Even if I'm strong, there's no reason to give it away for free. It's only because of Councilor Jia; if it were anyone else, I'd tell them to get lost!"

"They knew the Wang family had tried to kill me time and again, yet they still dared to harbor them and collude with them. Today, I'm not going to take up my sword and slaughter them all, but only because I want to follow the rules. Even in death, they should understand the consequences. A public death will serve as a warning to others, a deterrent to the world! At least it will have some effect."

Ning Hua was completely stunned. What level of understanding did he mean by that?

It's not that I can't, but that I don't want to; I don't even consider the Wang family a threat.

If you want, then just execute them publicly! Ning Ze decides the rules, and he's not just doing it for the rules, but to warn some people.

In short, no matter the organization or the person, they all have no choice but to obey orders! And who are these people? The most elite group on Earth!

"My son is right! If it weren't for Xiao Ze's talent, who knows what might have happened? Those people should have been killed!" Li Qiu's voice was somewhat sharp. Hearing that someone wanted Ning Ze's life, she immediately became furious.

Ning Ze smiled and comforted her, "Mom, don't be angry. They won't escape with their lives. No one on Earth can take my life right now! Laser cannons are just a tickle! Don't worry!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qiu's anger turned to joy, "You're that strong now?"

Ning Ze smiled and said, "Master Hong is hard to say, but Thor is no match for me. If I wanted the Third Speaker dead, it would only be a matter of a single, serious sword strike. Seniors Hong and Thor are both on my side, and I don't take others seriously. I haven't taken the Wang family to heart either. I'll deal with them after I've resolved my own cultivation issues and dealt with the monsters on Earth."

"As long as you know what you're doing, that's fine." Li Qiu was very relieved. She believed Ning Ze's words; her son was invincible! What was there to worry about?

Ning Hua remained silent, pondering the issue of his own rise in status. Hong and Lei Shen, on the other hand, had no parents, yet he seemed to be incredibly powerful!

"Dad," Ning Ze called softly.

Ning Hua snapped out of her daze. "What is it?"

"Don't slack off in your cultivation lately. You've gained a lot this time. Once you've absorbed all the plant spirits, your strength should be able to rise to the level of a high-level war god. At that time, you can use the Wood Crystal to advance to the planetary level."

"I will test Wu Hao and Zhang Ran further. If they are of good character and loyal, I can train them as my personal guards. When they are at the planetary level, they can take you, a high-level war god, out on training missions. That should be safe enough."

Ning Ze made all the arrangements clearly and directly. He felt that his father was always lax, so he spoke a bit harshly about it.

Ning Hua was somewhat dazed. Was he going to become a member of parliament? Could he really ascend to heaven?

"Ah! Okay, okay!"

Ning Ze shook his head, turned to his sister who was starry-eyed, and said, "You've had enough fun after a year. From now on, you should follow Mom and your sister-in-law and cultivate properly. Otherwise, we'll all be planetary-level beings with lifespans of a thousand years, and you'll become an old woman. Let's see if you'll still want to play then!"

Ning Qianqian shook her head vigorously, saying quickly, "Brother, don't worry! I will definitely work hard to cultivate! You were so cool just now!"

"Alright, let's eat. We'll cultivate after we finish eating."

……

2058年12月30日晚21:36分。

Earth, in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometers away from the Hawaiian Islands, in the deep ocean.

Cold and dark!

In this seabed area, an oval-shaped black giant egg with a diameter of about twelve meters has been here for more than a year. It has been flying at high speed through countless air resistances, ignoring the impact of the water surface and being beyond the observation of human technology. It can be said to have unlimited power.

Now it's covered in mud and weeds, and has become quite unremarkable.

Many monsters in the surrounding seas discovered this mysterious giant egg more than a year ago. At first, they were quite curious, but no monster was ever able to bite through the eggshell. Gradually, few monsters paid any attention to this mysterious giant egg.

Suddenly.

The mysterious black giant egg trembled slightly, and some of the weeds and mud that had fallen on it slid off.

"Click click click~~"

The sound of breaking continued to ring out.

Actually, more than a month ago, this giant egg had been trembling occasionally, and the frequency gradually increased. Yesterday alone, this mysterious giant egg trembled more than ten times.

"Click click click~~"

The mysterious black giant egg trembled again, and more weeds and mud slid off, gradually revealing strange golden patterns on the surface of the black giant egg.

hum!hum!hum!

The giant black egg began to vibrate violently, the vibrations growing stronger and stronger. With a crisp sound, a crack appeared on the surface of the giant black egg, followed by several loud cracking sounds.

The crack in the originally black giant egg broke open, and a dark, slimy "unidentified object" emerged from the eggshell.

"Chirp, chirp." This unidentified creature covered in slime actually started eating the eggshell.

It was as if they hadn't known how many years they had been starving.

It's devouring everything in sight!

In just over ten minutes, about a third of the oval-shaped black egg, which was twelve meters in diameter, was eaten, and the dark, unidentified creature was fully revealed. It was a reptilian creature with strong limbs, covered in black scales, with a pair of scaled wings and a tail that swayed slowly like a dragon's tail on its huge black body.

Its head, held high, has a single horn that proudly pierces the sky!

However, its entire body was covered in mucus, making it impossible to see its true appearance!

"Waaah—"

It lay prone on the rocks on the seabed, its head raised, a sharp sound emanating from its throat as if announcing its arrival. Its cold eyes held a hint of pleasure, making it look terrifying.

Hearing the noise, a crab-like monster over a hundred meters long came charging sideways, its two enormous claws snapping and cracking. "How dare you bark like that on my turf? You've got a death wish! I'll see who dares to be so bold!"

Ocean monsters are generally larger; Lord-level monsters are typically over 20 meters tall, while King-level monsters are typically over 100 meters tall.

This is a black-armored giant claw crab that has just become a king-level monster and the boss of this sea area.

Upon approaching, the Black-Armored Giant Crab blinked its eyes repeatedly. "What kind of monster is this?"

It was only about sixteen or seventeen meters tall and looked like a lord-level creature, but its entire body was covered in jet-black scales, the shape of which resembled sharp blades, which inexplicably gave it a chill.

If that were all, it would be one thing, but it is clearly an aquatic monster, yet it has four limbs and a sharp, golden horn on its head, which is engraved with mysterious patterns. These faintly golden patterns extend from the top of its head to its neck, and from its neck to various parts of its body.

If it's a land monster, it also has a pair of wings growing on its back.

This is a strange monster, not at all like an aquatic monster; it has never seen such a monster before.

Especially after watching it for a long time, it vaguely felt that the strange monster was full of coldness and ruthlessness, which made it very nervous.

In this mood, it decided to get rid of the monster as soon as possible, so it charged forward suddenly, and the seawater beside it became completely murky.

Hearing the commotion, the mysterious monster turned its head, and its dark golden pupils suddenly lit up, turning into a dazzling gold!

Seeing the giant crab claw hurtling towards it, it was not afraid but delighted, and charged towards the black-armored giant claw crab in a flash.

The Black Armor Giant Claw Crab's eyes were filled with astonishment, because this mysterious monster was incredibly fast. It wasn't even a Lord-level creature, so why was it so fast?

The next second, it saw a black shadow flash by, felt a pain in its body, and its consciousness slowly dissipated. Its body had been split in two.

A strong black paw stepped on the black-armored giant crab, and the mysterious monster raised its head and roared again.

"Ugh!"

The sound was extremely sharp, and it spread to a great distance in an instant, as if it were declaring that it would henceforth rule this sea area!

Although it was just an ordinary sound, the ferocity within it was terrifying. The monsters that heard it felt a chill run down their spines, a sense of dread creeping into their hearts. Furthermore, the immense aura of the king-level monster had vanished, clearly indicating that the monster that made the sound had killed the previous king.

Before long, various sounds echoed from the surrounding sea, as if celebrating the mysterious monster.

A cold glint flashed in the mysterious monster's dark golden eyes, before it lowered its head and began to devour its spoils.

It devoured the monster incredibly fast. Despite being only sixteen or seventeen meters long, while the king-level monster was a hundred meters long, it was questionable whether it could even eat it. Yet, it devoured the monster in less than a minute, and its size even increased slightly.

A flicker of discontent flashed in those dark golden eyes, as if to say, "Why are you so weak when you're so big?" It felt as if it had only grown 1 centimeter! That was negligible compared to its sixteen or seventeen-meter length!

(End of this chapter)