At this moment, spiritual energy surged within his body, condensing on its surface.
Layers of spiritual energy condensed, and the aura emanating from him in that instant was even more terrifying than Ling Kun's.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, in front of Qin Ning, chaotic streams of spiritual energy gradually condensed into a figure.
It was the image of a flood dragon, over ten meters long, with a head as large as a water barrel and two horns. At this moment, it had not yet fully solidified into a clear form.
However, this flood dragon exuded an incredibly terrifying aura.
"This is... releasing spiritual energy!"
"Not only releasing it externally, but the spiritual energy is also taking form!"
"How is that possible? Qin Ning has only just passed the Fourth Gate of Shang Men, how can he release spiritual energy or make it take form?"
"Releasing spiritual energy is something only martial artists who have passed the Fifth Gate of Du Men can do, and making spiritual energy take form is something only martial artists who have passed the Sixth Gate of Jing Men or higher can achieve. How can he do it...?"
At this moment, everyone standing in front of the Qin Manor's gate was completely dumbfounded.
At this moment, Qin Changsheng, overly excited, tightly gripped the arm of his younger brother, Qin Yuanshan.
"Big Brother, you... you're gripping me too hard!" Qin Yuanshan said with a bitter smile. "Ning'er... is truly... unbelievable!"
This scene was truly hard to imagine.
Only upon reaching the Fifth Gate of Du Men realm could one release spiritual energy.
And only upon reaching the Sixth Gate of Jing Men realm could one make spiritual energy take form.
Yet Qin Ning had accomplished all of this while he himself had only reached the Fourth Gate of Shang Men realm.
If this were spoken, who would believe it?
But this scene, at this very moment, was unfolding before everyone's eyes.
"I said, you truly... are just ordinary..."
As soon as Qin Ning's words were spoken, the flood dragon coiling around him bared its fangs, roared, and charged straight towards Ling Kun.
However, that flood dragon did not charge directly at Ling Kun. Instead, it circled behind him, tearing downwards in one swift motion.
Qin Ning had observed for a long time that Ling Kun cultivated the Ming Men, and his fatal weakness, the Zi Men, had long been exposed.
The concession just now was precisely because Qin Ning wanted to ensure he could kill Ling Kun in a single blow.
If he didn't finish him off and left an opportunity for the enemy, waiting until the old man Ling Shicheng, who had reached the Ninth Gate of Tian Men realm, intervened, then he wouldn't be able to kill Ling Kun.
With a crunching sound, in an instant, before Ling Kun even had time to attack, his head was directly bitten off, and fresh blood spurted into the air.
"Kun'er!"
Ling Shicheng had only been trying to prevent Qin Changsheng from intervening to save Qin Ning, but he never expected the battle situation to change in an instant, with Ling Kun swiftly killed by Qin Ning.
On the contrary, he had no opportunity to rescue Ling Kun!
"Hahaha... excellent!"
Qin Changsheng stepped forward at this moment, laughing loudly: "As expected of my son, Qin Changsheng's son. Ling Shicheng, Chu Shanhe, and Shen Chengfeng, in today's battle, my Qin family has won all three matches. What are you still doing surrounding the Qin Manor now?"
"If anyone still wants to challenge me, Qin Changsheng, I, Qin Changsheng, will fight them to the end, even if it costs me this old life!"
As soon as Qin Changsheng spoke these words, Ling Shicheng was forced to suppress the rage in his heart.
"Let's go!"
In the end, Ling Shicheng merely uttered a single sentence, turned, flicked his sleeves, and departed in a rage.
"Ling Shicheng!"
At this moment, Qin Ning stood rooted to the spot and slowly said, "You have shown me the life-saving grace, and I am deeply grateful. I will certainly repay you, rest assured, I will repay you very soon!"
"You..."
"Don't forget to retrieve Ling Kun's body..."
As soon as Qin Ning finished speaking, he turned and walked into the Qin Manor.
Ling Shicheng clenched his fists, seemingly unable to suppress the fury in his heart at that moment, but in the end, he still had to depart.
Chu Shanhe and Shen Chengfeng, on the other hand, were utterly enraged.
Not only did they fail to save face today, but the three great clans had suffered a crushing defeat instead.
This matter would undoubtedly spread, and by then, they would become the laughingstock of the entire Lingyun inner city!
Seeing the three great clans retreat, everyone in the Qin family behind them broke out in a cold sweat, slowly feeling their entire bodies grow cold. If there had been even a slight slip-up today, the Qin family might not have existed anymore!
But the three battles just now had truly left too great a shock.
Qin Changsheng and Qin Yuanshan stood outside the door, looking at each other, unable to utter a single word.
At this moment, the expressions of the First Elder, Second Elder, and Fifth Elder were even uglier; no one had expected that Qin Ning, whose Star Gate had been stolen, would actually be even more powerful than before!
And at this moment, Qin Ning walked through the gate, heading towards his small courtyard as if nothing had happened.
"Brother Ning, Brother Ning, you truly are my brother, so amazing, you're really amazing!" Qin Xinxin followed behind, clenching his fists, his face flushed with excitement, his forehead covered in sweat.
"One punch to deal with Shen Linfeng, a wooden sword to kill Chu Yuqing, and you could even release spiritual energy, causing it to materialize and kill Ling Kun. Oh my heavens, he was a martial artist who had reached the seventh gate of the Purple Gate realm, yet you could kill him! How did you do that?!"
Qin Xinxin was completely stunned at this moment, unable to control himself.
Qin Ning had shattered all the limits he knew in this life.
Only then did Qin Xinyue look at Qin Ning and nod, "Thank you, Brother Ning!"
"Thank me for what?" Qin Ning said, looking at Qin Xinyue with his usual calm demeanor. "You're my elder sister. When we were little, Xinxin and I would see Second Uncle scolding you, and we two brothers would even provoke Second Uncle to stand up for you. Now that I've grown up, of course I won't let others bully you!"
"That's right, Sister!"
Qin Xinxin hugged Qin Ning and laughed loudly, "Now who would dare say Brother Ning is a good-for-nothing whose Star Gate was stolen?"
"If Brother Ning hadn't dealt with Shen Yuan so quickly, I would have slapped him to death with one palm!"
"Stop boasting!"
The three of them ran into the small courtyard, laughing and chatting animatedly the whole way.
But as they neared Qin Ning's courtyard, Qin Xinxin suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
"Brother Ning!" Qin Xinxin scratched his head and said, "You could say you've completely transformed today. For such a happy event, do you want to tell Second Brother? So he can also be happy for a bit!"
"Second Brother..."
Qin Ning had absorbed the memories of this body's original owner, and of course knew that Qin Changsheng had three sons.
The eldest son, Qin Shan, was currently cultivating martial arts at the Heavenly God Academy, and it was said that he had already entered the inner courtyard of the academy.
This time, the three Ling clans didn't dare to directly make a move precisely because they were still worried that if they annihilated the Qin family, Qin Shan would exact crazed revenge.
The second son was Qin Hai.
Qin Hai was once a renowned genius of the Qin family, and it was widely expected that he would certainly enter the Heavenly God Academy.
Qin Changsheng's three sons were all exceptionally talented young men within Lingyun Inner City.
However, when Qin Hai was sixteen, he unexpectedly fell and broke his leg while training in the Lingyun Mountains.
What's more, the accident occurred during a period of freezing weather.
The freezing weather in the Lingyun Mountains was always filled with noxious miasma, so for Qin Hai to have even survived and returned was already a miracle.
From then on, his legs were completely crippled. He could no longer stand because his meridians were blocked, preventing him from absorbing and circulating spiritual energy, and thus he could no longer continue practicing martial arts.
Consequently, Qin Hai grew despondent. He spent his days confined to his small courtyard, reading, writing, and painting, completely disregarding worldly affairs.
This incident had occurred two years prior.
For the past two years, Qin Hai had practically become a transparent figure within the Qin family, with only Qin Ning and a handful of others regularly visiting him.
"Alright!"
Qin Ning said nonchalantly, "Xinxin, Sister Xinyue, I suspect Father and Second Uncle will be looking for me soon. Why don't you two go see where they are, so I can talk to Second Brother alone!"
"Okay!"
Once Qin Xinxin and Qin Xinyue had left, Qin Ning let out a breath.
Today, he had merged with the sealed memories of his nine past lives, realizing he was no longer ordinary. It was inevitable that he would be different from his former self. Previously, the situation had been too chaotic for anyone to observe him closely, but with Second Brother resting peacefully here, it was unavoidable that he might notice something...
A faint smile playing on his lips, Qin Ning opened the door and stepped inside.