Chapter 1160: Chapter 1158: Kill the One Who Must Be Killed_1
"Returning Sword!"
Shi Xiaole didn’t retreat. The situation didn’t allow him to, otherwise the ladies of Illusion Orchid Tower would be affected. Pushing his power to its limit, he unleashed his current strongest technique, "Returning Sword," stabbing at the goateed old man.
The sword light that seemed to pierce the heavens and earth struck the giant goat, emitting a soul-chilling creaking noise as if tough metal were being twisted apart. The sword Qi uncontrollably burst outward.
Swallowing a few times, the goateed old man managed to keep the blood from spurting out. His face turned a mix of green and white, clearly not expecting to be outmatched by a full-force strike.
But that was no problem; the right deputy hall master was still there. With his own engagement, he was keen to see how the opponent would defend against the right deputy hall master’s killing moves!
Thinking this, the goateed old man’s eyes suddenly bulged, he stared in disbelief with an incredulous look on his face.
Shi Xiaole, having unleashed one killing move, didn’t pause. Maintaining a steady level of sword momentum, he unleashed a second killing move, this time targeting the oppressive black disc, only a kilometer away.
Clang!
Everything went still.
The black and green Vigorous Air, like the light of annihilation, caused the close masters to feel like their eyes would be blinded and they retreated in a frenzy. Those even a bit further away felt stinging sensations all over and a heavy pressure in their chests.
The black disc was continuously pierced by Sword Qi, yet it ground away at the Sword Qi as well. Locked in a stalemate for merely a hundredth of a blink, both sides disintegrated at the same time.
A beam of elliptical sword light suddenly shot toward the burly old man, who responded with a punch that shattered the sword light, though his expression turned slightly ugly. In this exchange, he was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
In the blink of an eye, Shi Xiaole fought against two deputy hall masters and repelled them both. This shocking scene left everyone around them speechless.
"Has it come to this?"
The Illusion Orchid Tower master exhaled a fragrant breath, her chest heaving.
In terms of raw strength, the two deputy hall masters were almost no worse than Shi Xiaole, if at all. Under such circumstances, it was difficult for anyone to withstand one against two, especially with killing moves involved, without being seriously harmed or even killed.
Yet Shi Xiaole managed to block their attacks, in a manner that baffled everyone.
"I’ve used up thirty percent of my power."
Shi Xiaole was inwardly vigilant.
Confronting killing moves was extremely taxing on Vigorous Air and the speed of its recovery. Even he didn’t dare to try too many times. Not waiting for the two deputy hall masters to react, Shi Xiaole’s swordplay shifted, and he immediately used "Lightning Startling Swan," disappearing into the void.
Clang!
The sword and the spear clashed. The burly old man’s right arm went numb, and he involuntarily stepped back. Shi Xiaole appeared behind him, stabbing with his sword again.
The burly old man roared without looking back, holding his black spear horizontally behind him. With a shake of his right arm, he channeled a surge of power from the Cleansing Evil Sword toward Shi Xiaole.
But it seemed Shi Xiaole had anticipated this. He ducked and slipped through, and in the next instant, he appeared on the goateed old man’s left side, his sword light fleeting.
"Get lost!"
Without the time to use a killing move, the goateed old man thrust out with both fists. The light from his fists resembled meteorites falling from the sky, endlessly sweeping in all directions to prevent Shi Xiaole from getting close.
Meanwhile, the burly old man moved to a distant place, his chest caving in and legs squatting as he raised his black spear high, ready to launch his ultimate attack aimed at Shi Xiaole.
The two, one far and one near, cooperated seamlessly.
Unfortunately, before they could feel smug, something that made them stare happened.
Surrounded by the meteor-like fists, Shi Xiaole was calm and composed. His sword flew out, effortlessly flicking the fist lights away. The deflected fist lights then collided with the second wave of fist lights, and due to the finesse transferred from the sword, they didn’t explode, but instead combined and crashed towards the third wave, and so on...
As many fist lights converged and could no longer hold together, everyone realized that they had flown up above the celestial temple and exploded there, instantly blowing apart the nearby masters.
With every sword Shi Xiaole wielded, a cluster of fist lights exploded, it was unimaginable how he could predict and judge so accurately and control the force to the slightest degree.
For a moment, the meteor light fist appeared like drawings on the canvas of the void, being erased back and forth, quickly disappearing without a trace.
In contrast, the festivity of fist lights in the distance was like countless firecrackers and fireworks going off, reducing a large number of masters to ash, leaving not even their bones behind.
And all of this happened in an instant, so absurd and terrifying that the two deputy hall masters didn’t have the chance to react.
"Young Hall Master!"
The goateed old man suddenly acted, snatching a youth out from the aftermath. Seeing that he was intact, he let out a sigh of relief internally.
"Old Goat, kill him for me, you must kill that kid!"
The youth spoke with a vicious look.
No sooner had the words fallen than a fine needle-like Sword Qi silently attacked. Old Goat quickly shattered it with his hand, but unexpectedly there was more Sword Qi within the Sword Qi. With a cold huff, a white glow shone around Old Goat as the Sword Qi was rapidly dissolved.
But at that moment!
Old Goat could have never imagined that within the Sword Qi lay a tremendously powerful spiritual force. Compared to it, his own spiritual power was like a stone to steel, not even in the same league.
Thump.
A sound audible only to Old Goat rang out inside his head, piercing a large hole in his sea of consciousness, stopping his thoughts dead in their tracks.
Greeting him was a streak of blue sword light.
"How dare you, Bloody Spear!"
The stout old man, unaware of what happened to the goateed elder, hastily swung his black spear, shattering the sword light mid-way.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Shi Xiaole had already grasped the sword with both hands, changed from chopping to swinging, and unleashed another "Returning Sword" with no time for reaction, giving his opponent no chance at all.
The sword light flitted across the bodies of the goateed elder and the young man, as if a light breeze had passed by, and their expressions froze simultaneously, with reluctance, shock, and even resentment, all shattering in an instant.
Hissss!
The stout elder felt a numbness all over his body, barely believing what his eyes saw.
He had seen people stronger than Shi Xiaole, like the palace lord. But battle prowess like this, inhuman to the point of making equals seem a level weaker, was something he’d never seen or heard of.
This was not a lower-tier martial artist, but an unparalleled expert one step away from the Forbidden Martial Emperor, yet being dominated at the same tier.
Seeing Shi Xiaole’s gaze turn toward him, the stout old man retreated in a panic, but, immediately after, he was overwhelmed with boundless rage and killing intent.
With the deputy palace lord and left vice-palace lord dead, how could he explain to the palace lord? Moreover, the opponent had launched several kill moves in succession, his energy clearly weaker than before, which was an opportunity for him.
"Kill!"
His pupils vertical, the stout old man furiously attacked Shi Xiaole.
Shi Xiaole relied on his nimble movements to force close combat, and amidst the clanging of metal, the sky was filled with their numerous afterimages.
Gradually, the stout elder’s face grew more and more unsightly, as he realized that Shi Xiaole’s energy was recovering at an abnormal pace, nearly returning to its peak, and the situation was being controlled by him.
With strength strong, sword technique stronger, and now even his recovery was abnormally strong, what was this boy, human or demon?
"You have offended the Sky Outer Temple, when the palace lord returns, you will have no place to be buried!"
Leaving behind a vicious remark, the stout old man gritted his teeth and fled without looking back, quickly turning to a mere dot. It was impossible to fight; continuing would probably lead him to the same fate as the left vice-palace lord.
With two deputy palace lords, one dead and one fled, and most of the experts who had broken out of the array system already dead, the few remaining were chasing after the Illusion Orchid Tower’s leader.
But unfortunately, despite the leader of the Illusion Orchid Tower being not weak and having recovered 60% of her strength, her deliberate evasion meant she escaped capture.
Seeing Shi Xiaole had ended the battle, the few pursuers were so frightened they scattered in different directions. Without chasing them, Shi Xiaole simply launched three swords and then sheathed his sword.
Bang Bang Bang.
Three sprays of blood burst into the distance.
The violent pursuit ended in the blink of an eye.
"Brother Shi, you are so amazing," Bai Ruiting was the first to throw herself at Shi Xiaole, her long-suppressed emotions overwhelmed by her beloved’s heroic display, bursting forth uncontrollably.
Shi Xiaole intended to stop her, but seeing so many people around he didn’t want to hurt Bai Ruiting’s pride, so he let her embrace him and smiled, "Miss Bai, you are unharmed."
With those words, "Miss Bai," if it were the past Bai Ruiting, she would’ve been silently heartbroken. But now, having gone through so much, she became braver than before, burying her head deep into Shi Xiaole’s broad chest, she smiled, "Brother Shi, you are also unharmed, right?"
Shi Xiaole was stunned, not sure what to do.
Seeing the invincible young man at a loss, several women finally felt a sense of accomplishment, laughing together, amusingly watching the scene unfold.
Only Qu Ni clenched her fists and let out two light snorts through her nose.
Pei Qiuyan shook her head helplessly at the side.
"We were lucky this time that the Sky Outer Palace Lord was not present," lamented the Illusion Orchid Tower’s leader, referring to the stout old man, "unfortunately, he escaped, and the news probably won’t stay hidden for long."
"Don’t worry, they won’t find us."
If he could, Shi Xiaole certainly wouldn’t have let the stout old man go, but the energy from refining his spiritual power had been depleted when he killed the goateed elder, and he couldn’t recover it in a short time.
Taking the opportunity to push Bai Ruiting away, Shi Xiaole looked towards the Sky Outer Temple, where the experts inside all turned ashen-faced.
"Mercy, great swordsman!"
"Your divine power is unparalleled in the world, a swordsman like you surely won’t bother with us petty people."
"We were all forced..."
Pleas for mercy and wails rose in chorus.
Bai Ruiting angrily said, "These scumbags have been torturing people they captured for their pleasure, none of them are good."
Without needing the reminder from the ladies, Shi Xiaole had already sensed the situation in the dungeon, Sword Qi bursting forth and killing all the experts inside the Sky Outer Temple.
Since arriving here, Demon Bone had become particularly active, its frequent tremors vaguely letting Shi Xiaole identify these people’s identities, but what of it?
He always killed those who deserved it.
The dungeon was opened, and the martial artists who had been tormented, whose bloodlines could not resonate with the Demon Bone, were all released. Learning it was Shi Xiaole’s doing, each one was profoundly grateful.
"Young Hero Shi, his martial arts have reached such heights," some people, who were slaves of the Wuyuan Palace and had witnessed the battle there before, looked at Shi Xiaole with complex eyes.
