Chapter 1154: Chapter 1152: Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way (Additional Chapter for poonlo, 3/10)_1
Half a 2-hour period later.
Shi Xiaole finally stopped, panting heavily.
Although he had shaken off the Lonely Lance Emperor from the start, the latter was a universally recognized top-two hundred expert; Shi Xiaole dared not be careless.
Looking inward at himself, the black stripes on the surface of the Demon Bone had faded somewhat.
Using the Demon Bone inevitably consumed the power of one’s origin. Fortunately, the severity was minor, and after some time, he could recover. However, it also made Shi Xiaole realize that such methods should not be overused, otherwise the Demon Bone itself might be damaged.
"Personal strength is the foundation."
Shi Xiaole smiled. Regardless, he had finally seized the Spiritual Origins Grass.
"Xiaole, as your uncle, I’m really useless, always having to depend on you. Maybe we should separate."
Seeing that Shi Xiaole was without serious harm, Ling Cunwei breathed a sigh of relief and said after pondering for a moment.
He didn’t want to be a burden to Shi Xiaole. Without him, the latter would be more able to come and go freely. On the other hand, Ling Cunwei also didn’t want to seem too useless, perhaps his pride was at play.
"Uncle, you are more familiar with these places than I am. Without you, I’m afraid I’d lose my way. So be it, this place is too dangerous; let’s go back together."
Ling Cunwei could only give a wry smile.
With his nephew’s strength, moving about in these areas might not win against many people, but self-preservation was absolutely not an issue; it all came down to his own weakness.
He was still too weak.
Under the transformation of the martial ways of life and death, Shi Xiaole quickly recovered his Vigorous Air, and the two flew towards the shallower areas. However, due to different directions, along the way, they encountered many experts, some of whom were not weaker than the Lonely Lance Emperor.
Relying on his exceptional spiritual power, Shi Xiaole managed to narrowly avoid each encounter.
"What is that..."
Suddenly, in the range of the two’s vision, a river of air appeared, with rolling air waves swirling, possessing an overwhelming force capable of devouring and shattering the heavens and earth.
"It’s the Ruthless Gang Wind River!"
Ling Cunwei inhaled deeply.
The Ruthless Gang Wind was deemed ruthless not because it lacked a path, but because it was a blend of various martial powers. According to its power, it was divided into five grades.
The Ruthless Gang Wind that Ling Cunyi and others had previously activated was merely second grade. Above that, there were third, fourth, and fifth grades, each stronger than the last.
And the Ruthless Gang Wind River here converged a full five grades of Ruthless Gang Wind; even a Forbidden Martial Emperor would be walking a path to certain death.
Ling Cunwei had once seen a top-thousand expert merely approach the periphery of the Ruthless Gang Wind River, only to be turned to flying ashes by a third-grade Ruthless Gang Wind, leaving no bones behind.
"We should take a detour."
Ling Cunwei advised cautiously.
Shi Xiaole didn’t move. "There’s someone there!"
In the Ruthless Gang Wind River, there were clearly three figures seemingly moving with the wind. This mad act puzzled Shi Xiaole immensely.
Ling Cunwei sighed and explained, "They are searching for the leaf of the Supreme Martial Way."
"The leaf of the Supreme Martial Way?"
The sensitive term made Shi Xiaole’s heart jump.
"Indeed. It has always been a legend in our South Sea martial world that between heaven and earth, there are myriad paths formed from the essence of martial arts cultivated by countless warriors, such as the Supreme Sword Way, Supreme Blade Way, Supreme Spear Way, etc."
"Those who obtain the leaf of the Supreme Sword Way can become true Emperors among swords, while those who obtain the Supreme Blade Way can become Monarchs among blades... Sadly, for countless years, no one has been able to capture the elusive Supreme Martial Way, let alone catch a glimpse of it."
"However, although the Supreme Martial Way is elusive, at some point, a leaf containing a hint of the Supreme Martial Way’s power appeared in the world!"
Ling Cunwei’s face flushed with excitement as he murmured, "Even though it’s just a hint, for most of those in the Void Origin Realm, it’s still an unimaginably tempting power, even if one cannot perceive the Supreme Martial Way; it can greatly enhance one’s understanding of their own martial path, increasing their strength."
No one knew the origin of the leaf of the Supreme Martial Way, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that few people ever obtained it.
In fact, the Ruthless Gang Wind was formed by the mingling of auras from some scattered leaves of the Supreme Martial Way, becoming a destructive storm. Therefore, in places where large amounts of Ruthless Gang Wind were gathered, it was highly possible that leaves of the Supreme Martial Way existed.
Unfortunately, a third-grade Ruthless Gang Wind was enough to tear apart most unparalleled experts. At fourth-grade, even those in the top hundred of the South Sea struggled.
Against fifth-grade Ruthless Gang Wind, even the six Fake Sky Origin Realm experts wouldn’t dare to resist directly, let alone that the leaves of the Supreme Martial Way were of little use to them.
Most importantly, discovering the leaf of the Supreme Martial Way was a matter of luck. Bad luck could mean not seeing a shadow even after three to five years.
One couldn’t possibly delve into the depths of the air river; that would be seeking death.
So, ever since the discovery of this place, many had set their sights on it, but very few had actually obtained a leaf of the Supreme Martial Way. Over time, not many were willing to stay here.
"Xiaole, don’t act recklessly. Over the years, I don’t know how many have died in the Ruthless Gang Wind River, including those among the top hundred of the South Sea!"
Seeing that Shi Xiaole was still staring into the distance, Ling Cunwei’s heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst, and he quickly dissuaded him.
Shi Xiaole nodded, but Ling Cunwei felt that the other party hadn’t really listened.
In the Ruthless Gang Wind River.
Three figures struggled to advance, just at the periphery, where only a small amount of third-grade Ruthless Gang Wind gathered. Leveraging their extraordinary powers, the three barely managed to hold on.
"Next year, the realm of Fate will open, and I must obtain it."
The man in the cyan robe, with a horse-like face, clenched his teeth and shattered a third-grade Ruthless Gang Wind with his staff.
If a well-informed person were here, they would recognize that this man was "Iron Tree Blossom" Chen Boqing, a South Sea expert universally ranked within the top two hundred.
The other two were also not ordinary, only slightly weaker than Chen Boqing.
They had all reached the bottleneck of their lives and didn’t have much time left, all wanting to make a final attempt. Moreover, as long as they didn’t venture too deeply, they were confident they could all retreat safely.
All this was for the sake of coming out on top in the land of Fate.
It was rumored that within it lay the method to breakthrough to the Sky Origin Realm, that those six legends had also become masters of the Fake Sky Origin Realm after entering the land of Fate, and now they’ve lived for over ten thousand years!
"Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way!"
The silver-haired elder’s eyes lit up; at a few hundred meters away, a leaf as translucent as jade from the river of Vigorous Air below drifted by, with a faint mysterious aura emanating from it.
"Capturing Spirit Hand!"
A void hand reached out towards the distance, just about to succeed when the Vigorous Air caused the river’s currents to fluctuate, and no less than three, third-grade Ruthless Gang Winds surged toward the silver-haired elder.
Taken by surprise, the elder hastily used his killer move to counter; however, his technique only shattered two of the winds, with the third nearly sweeping him away. Fortunately, the elder urgently activated a secret technique to narrowly avoid it, but he still ended up injured, spitting out three mouthfuls of blood mist.
And that Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way, because of the turbulence in the river, was once again washed deep inside.
"Dammit..."
The elder’s face turned ugly as he swallowed a medicinal pill in pain; his breath quickly recovered.
Over the past two months, he had already missed three opportunities and used up two precious medicines. If things kept going like this, he wouldn’t get anything and would be drained dry first. But at this point, was he supposed to give up?
The other two saw the elder’s failure and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was human nature not to want their peers to succeed when they failed. In fact, at this step, all three had thoughts of retreating.
With their strength, they could only loiter on the outskirts of the river of Ruthless Gang Wind, waiting for a target. But even when a target appeared, they couldn’t get it, simply wasting their time.
"Uncle, wait here for me."
Having witnessed everything, Shi Xiaole could not help but be moved.
If he were the silver-haired elder, he would have had a seventy percent certainty of obtaining the Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way. There was no reason not to try, and even if he didn’t get it, he wouldn’t lose anything.
"Impossible!"
Ling Cunwei still wanted to stop him, but Shi Xiaole had already dashed out ahead of him, leaving him to wryly smile. This nephew seemed gentle, but was actually assertive, once he made up his mind he completely disregarded others’ opinions.
No sooner had he entered the river of air than a third-grade Ruthless Gang Wind rushed towards him. Shi Xiaole drew his sword and slashed it into two halves. From the left and right, two more winds attacked him.
Contrary to Chen Boqing and the others’ expectations, Shi Xiaole didn’t resist head-on, nor did he retreat. Instead, he actively approached and when only a hundred meters away, his body floated up like a tuft of willow down, miraculously passing through four third-grade gang winds without a scratch.
"What?"
The three, Chen Boqing included, were shocked beyond words.
It wasn’t an issue of movement technique but rather timing; perhaps there was only a one in ten-thousand chance in the blink of an eye. If it had been any of them, they absolutely could not have utilized it.
Where did this kid come from?
Ignoring the thoughts of the three, Shi Xiaole, with his spirit and body as one, surged forward. The third-grade gang winds, which seemed deadly to others, apparently couldn’t affect him at all.
Quickly, Shi Xiaole surpassed Chen Boqing who was at the forefront.
"This kid actually wants to go deeper; is he not afraid to die?"
Chen Boqing sneered.
As they went deeper, the third-grade gang winds became more frequent, escalating from groups of three and four, to combinations of five and six. Even Shi Xiaole became serious.
Using his Sky Origin level mental fortitude, he was always able to predict the wind’s force, angle, and direction, and use them successfully. But as the winds became numerous, with fewer flaws, the advantage of mental power was greatly reduced.
Five hundred meters into the river of air, Shi Xiaole’s blue shirt was torn, and his right arm was nearly twisted off, making Ling Cunwei watching from outside tremble with fear.
At the eight hundred meter mark.
Here, groups of nine or ten third-grade gang winds would attack together. Dodging one wave only to have the next come in a moment, even the vision became blurry.
Shi Xiaole was extremely focused, his gaze sharp and unyielding. Despite this, his left arm, right shoulder, and even his thigh were grazed by the gang winds, with large chunks of flesh flying off.
"Self-righteous fool."
The silver-haired elder scoffed, though more out of envy; despite Shi Xiaole only going five hundred meters deeper than him, the likelihood of finding the Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way was definitely greater.
Speak of the devil, the silver-haired elder’s breathing quickened. At that moment, among the tumultuous sea of air, a Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way appeared next to Shi Xiaole, less than fifty meters away.
From the aura, this Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way was clearly the same one the silver-haired elder had discovered before.
"You see it, but you can’t get it."
The silver-haired elder snorted coldly.
Before the words fell, Shi Xiaole reached out, and indeed the Vigorous Air below reacted, from which no fewer than sixteen, third-grade gang winds rushed toward Shi Xiaole.
"Bring it on."
Unlike the silver-haired elder’s blind action, the moment Shi Xiaole made his move, he already had a rough estimate of the subsequent effects. So, as the gang winds emerged, the Leaf of the Supreme Martial Way was also swept up.
A one-thousandth of a blink-of-an-eye opportunity!
Shi Xiaole suddenly leapt forward like streaking lightning, his body torn with hundreds of wounds by the residual gang winds, blood drenching him. But when he moved out of danger, in his hand, he held a jade-green willow leaf.
