Chapter 40: Costly Battle
Ning'Er flew furiously towards her grandfather's village. If she had taken a horse, riding at full gallop, it would have taken almost three hours to arrive but at the speed that she was flying, it would take just under thirty minutes. She prayed that her Winged Dragon Family there would be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
As she flew closer, she saw the glow of fire in the distance which made her put on an extra burst of speed. It was one of the factories they had built to create inscription talismans which was being consumed by massive flames. She continued on when she saw the signs of a fierce battle ahead at her grandfather's home.
Her father had already arrived and stood together with her grandfather and around thirty other family members making their last stand in the courtyard in front of the house. All around, there were injured bodies groaning softly, and some of the bodies lay completely unmoving. In front of them stood merely nine masked experts dressed completely in black, who did not seem to have a single injury on them.
It had been a completely one-sided battle. Although her grandmother had been recruiting experts, the strongest ones had been sent to Glory City to support the plans there, not realising that a side branch would come under attack.
Just how strong were these individuals? Knowing that her grandfather was at Black Gold Rank if he released his cultivation, this made her even more surprised at how powerful this attacking force was. And what were their motives? Was this linked to the initial attack on her those months ago?
She decided to hover in the darkness to the side and not reveal herself just yet while figuring out how to best support the battle.
In an instant, she observed three of the masked men spring forward in a sudden attack. Her grandfather and her father lunged forward to defend with a flurry of weapon swings and the sharp ringing sound of metal clashing together rang out thirty times in the matter of a few seconds. With a sharp burst of power, her grandfather's silver halberd flashed upwards with overwhelming force, forcefully wrenching two swords out of his opponents' hands. In the same moment, her father dashed in and slashed his gleaming sword through the middle of one torso.
There was a choked, anguished scream as the man reached his hands downwards to try to hold back the intestines that started to spill out uncontrollably. As her father used the momentum of his sword swipe to pierce through the leg of the second man who had lost his sword, her grandfather had the time to crash the halberd down, aided by the gravitational pull of its heavy weight, right through the head of the third man even though he tried to lift his sword to block. The man's head split open like a watermelon and threatened to completely break off into two pieces but somehow managed to stay attached while his legs crumpled under him.
The remaining six men did not seem anxious at seeing three of their comrades taken out of action so decisively. Before this, the Silver Flash had focused on defending those around him as much as possible and trying to probe out the enemy's strength but now that his son had arrived, he had finally decided to go on the offensive. Xiao Yun Feng quickly stabbed a dagger into the heart of the man he had crippled, and they retreated back to the circle of family members again.
Clap, clap, clap.
"It seems like the legends about the Silver Flash were true after all. I had heard that you were severely injured, or even dead. Who knew you could still bring out such battle power?" A hoarse voice spoke out from one of the masked men. "But it looks like exerting such strength has its cost. The rumours that you have been carrying an injury for many years have some truth after all. You may have tried to hide it but I've seen you swallow down three mouthfuls of blood in your mouth that did not come from any of the attacks we did!"
He started laughing out loud as he saw the concerned face on the old, weary man in front of him.
Ning'Er's grandfather stood up straighter and with a firm voice, replied, "Even if I have to die today, I will take all of you down with me. Did you really think that nine gold ranked experts were sufficient to destroy us today?"
"Our lives are not worth much compared to that of...the Silver Flash! Shall we see how long you can hold out?" The man was resolute and unfazed in front of the dangerous black gold ranked warrior's rage.
The moment she heard that there were only nine gold ranked warriors, Ning'Er decided to make her move. As long as there were no black gold ranked experts, she would be able to handle them. She did not want to wait until her grandfather put even more pressure on his weak, poisoned body.
She silently flew in towards the back of the remaining six enemies and with two precise motions, sent two deadly blades of wind with her new sword through the sides of their necks, severing their carotid arteries and causing blood to spurt out wildly. The other four turned in shock that they had not even sensed her aura, and turned their weapons on her.
As they all stabbed towards the middle of where she was, she nimbly jumped up, avoiding their weapons and flapping her wings hard to gain as much distance as possible from them. As they looked upwards in confusion at her unique flying movement, one of them heard a soft clink which landed at their feet. He looked down to see an unusual black cube with inscriptions that were glowing brighter as seconds passed. Three seconds later, there was a loud screeching sound as a dense ball of black lightning shrouded all four men.
In the next moment, their screams began to accompany the strange chirping sound as onlookers could barely make out their convulsing bodies being ravaged by the terrifying electricity. Although it was a bit of a waste, Ning'Er decided to use one of her precious cricket bombs to take out the remaining four men at the same time, and protect her grandfather's remaining life force.
By the time the black lightning dissipated along with the grating sound it was making, four bodies had slumped over in the ground. Their clothes were ripped all over and through the tears, those around could see that the flesh had been charred black. They shuddered as they wondered what kind of weapon this girl had used on her opponents and realised that it was literally seconds since she had showed herself but six gold ranked warriors lay at her feet! She had killed without remorse or hesitation, as though she had done it a thousand times, and in fact...she had.
As they looked at her, one by one began to recognised that she was the beloved granddaughter of their ex-Patriarch. Even her father looked at her in surprise, not knowing that she had flown after him immediately after he had left.
"Ning'Er!! Oh...Ning'Er..." She heard the shrill voice of her grandmother from the balcony of one of the upper floors where she had been desperately watching the battle unfold. She was still trying to make sense of how her granddaughter had entered into the picture and ruthlessly destroyed her opponents.
As Ning'Er looked up at her grandmother deciding what to say, her heart froze in terror as she saw a black shadow silently hang down from the roof and drop down onto the balcony. Before she could even scream out a warning, a dagger burst through the back of her grandmother, through the heart and out of the chest, in one smooth motion. There was a faint gurgling sound as her grandmother tried to say something but could only keep her eyes locked on Ning'Er as she collapsed over the balcony railing and began her descent to the hard ground below.
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
She heard the cry of desolation from her grandfather as he activated his soul force to jump up and catch her gently. He landed back down, softening her landing as much as possible, cradling her in his arms and pulling her close in his embrace. He no longer bothered about hiding his inner injuries as blood poured out of his mouth, mixing with the blood from her heart that no longer pumped anymore.
Ning'Er knew that she could not save her grandmother anymore. She quickly tracked where the assailant had gone and flew after him with an uncontained rage bubbling over in her heart. He had arrived in the open fields leading to the forest and she could see that he was running with a unique gait that was unbelievably fast. As he sprinted, he was hunched over as though he were a beast and not a human, and as she flew in closer, she could even hear soft grunts and snorts in his ragged breathing.
With a sinking feeling, she realised that she would not be able to catch him before he reached the shadowy cover of the forest and that he may very well escape. True enough, he disappeared once he reached the thicker part of the forest and no matter how much she searched, it was impossible to track him in the dark of night. Filled with grief, frustration and anger, she flew back to the house to face the devastation that remained there.
She found her father completely distraught as he supervised the able bodied family members to tend to the injured and clean Grandma Xiao's body of the blood. He was trying to keep his emotions under control but seeing the mother that had raised him die right before his eyes had shaken him deeply.
"Where's Grandpa Xiao?" Ning'Er asked in deep concern.
Her father's eyes flicked downwards in desolation. "He over-exerted this time round and the shock of seeing...the love of his life killed shook his frame of mind so much that he did not defend against the poison that ravaged his body. He has fallen into a coma and...may not wake up anymore."
Ning'Er stumbled into a chair as she heard the news. "No...both grandma and grandpa..." She felt like her heart was being crushed by an iron fist as she thought about what they had lost today. "Is there anything we can do?"
Her father sat next to her as he too felt the weight of the events of that night. "There's nothing we can do...even if I know where the cure is, we're just not strong enough..."
"What?? What do you mean?" she asked her father.
He took a deep sign and began explaining, "Well...this is a secret that only the Patriarchs were allowed to know. In the mountains behind this village, there's a creature...that is linked to the origin of our Winged Dragon Family. Long ago, our founder had stumbled into a deep cavern and had gained the acknowledgement of the powerful beast there, a Winged Lightning Dragon! The dragon had allowed him to choose some of the treasures that lay there such as precious cultivation manuals, weapons and armour."
He continued, "The dragon became our family's benefactor...and in every generation, any family member who reached Black Gold Rank could go and take the beast's test for a chance at incredible rewards. Your grandfather went to take this test...and failed. Although the beast let him leave with his life, it left a devastating lightning poison within him. If anyone has the antidote, it would be this dragon!"
"So why doesn't anyone just go and plead with this beast for the sake of grandpa?" Ning'Er earnestly asked with tears in her eyes.
"We've tried before. Everyone we sent was killed by that arrogant dragon. It will only listen to a family member who has reached black gold rank, and even so, that person must first pass its test!!" he replied.
She finally understood the dilemma that her father faced and also knew what she should do.
"Father...please ask the doctors to help grandpa hold on as long as he can. I will face this dragon when I reach black gold rank in less than two months!!" she declared with unshakeable conviction in her clear eyes.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AerynSun
AerynSun Step by step...
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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