Chapter 1171: Chapter 1169: Martial Arts Light Body_1
This was a mysterious realm; just a momentary glance had stunned Shi Xiaole and the other nine people.
To the naked eye, the distant mountains were high or low, colorful, some barren and desolate, some brimming with life, some thick and ponderous, while others appeared so light they might float away...
These were not ordinary mountains; they clearly contained martial arts energies of varying degrees.
There were rivers, too, some rushing like rainbows, others flowing gently, or surging with vigor... All embodied the Water Sword Way, yet each represented a different direction.
The storms that blew from afar varied in shape, and the white clouds in the sky exhibited a myriad of phenomena.
Even if you looked closely, a piece of rock by the road, a blade of grass, even a petal, seemed to embody some invisible path, immersing one so deeply they couldn’t extricate themselves.
"Is this the land of Fate? Fate indeed, no wonder!"
The master of Illusion Orchid Tower exclaimed in awe; she had seen much of the world, but now she merely gazed around intently, curious about everything here.
She saw an orchid that withered, fell to the mud, then grew roots and sprouted anew, bloomed, and bore fruit, releasing a rich fragrance; this single cycle touched her heart, and even the stagnant Lotus Swordsmanship within her showed signs of movement.
Fairy Yunni, An Rumei, Bai Ruiting, Pei Qiuyan, and the other women each discovered something too, their expressions revealing deep thought.
"Every scene represents a martial way; the world is full of wonders. Here, anyone can find a martial path that suits them, or receives inspiration. The name ’Fate’ is truly not given lightly."
Shi Xiaole had long heard about the land of Fate from Ling Cunwei, but he admitted that he was still taken aback. Various martial energies intertwined, making one feel a deeper insight with every breath.
Shi Xiaole released his spirit power, and most of the martial energies in front of him were not of high realms.
But there were individual images, like an orchid, a bird perched on a tree, and a strangely shaped rock, each representing a realm of martial arts that, if converted to a martial artist’s standard, nearly reached the late stage of twelve percent!
It should be noted that on the Emperor List of the East Victory continent, apart from the five Forbidden Martial Emperors and a few others, the rest were also merely at the late stage of twelve percent.
Seeing that the master of Illusion Orchid Tower and the eight women showed no signs of leaving, Shi Xiaole did not disturb them and decided to look around first.
At the same time, those who entered the land of Fate were all inexplicably excited.
Some came for the first time, finding their eyes and spiritual power inadequate. Others, clearly not here for the first time, quickly calmed down and began to look for scenes that matched their martial paths.
There were nine figures, however, that swiftly flew across the sky, crossing tens of thousands of miles in a blink, shaking heaven and earth, and finally plunging into a thick fog in the east.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The dense fog, like endless white silk ribbons, rapidly twined around the nine people.
"Scram!"
One of them threw a punch, and amid the clanging sound, heavy cracks spread wildly, with layers of Qi gushing out. After being diluted several times, it still produced medium-depth cracks, with the chaotic void currents stirring disorderly and forming tornados.
But even such an attack was unable to shatter the white silk formed by the fog, which penetrated and continued its assault on the nine people.
"Worthy of the legendary Barrier of Fate, ladies and gentlemen, I’ll take my leave first."
One of the nine figures, radiating the power of thunder, shouted.
No sooner had the words fallen than a long spear, covered in five-colored lightning and with an indistinct shape, lashed out first, seemingly about to pierce through the universe. It radiated the aura of the Supreme Martial Arts and reached the mid-stage of eleven percent, a minor realm higher than that of the Martial Emperor and the master of the Ghost Carriage!
In the East Victory continent, this was unheard of, and in the martial world of the South Sea, it was the pinnacle.
Boom!
The fog shuddered, and like viscous tide water, it spread out into a straight, ten-thousand-meter-long passage, the tip of which took the shape of the spearhead.
That wasn’t all.
A layer of invisible spiritual force suddenly surged over the body of the figure with lightning aura. The power might not match that of the spear attack, but was on a higher level; not even heaven and earth could restrain it.
Pop!
The straight passage was pierced, and what lay beyond the dense fog was nineteen majestic mountains lined in a row, one shaped like a sharp sword, another like a heavenly knife, one with the impression of a divine spear...
Laughing heartily, the figure with the lightning aura moved first through the fog, turned into a streak of polar light, and entered the mountain that exuded the Supreme Spear Way.
"Honing spiritual power by twenty percent is quite good."
Seeing this, the other eight did not want to fall behind; each unleashed their killing moves and spiritual power, rivaling the figure with the lightning aura. Eventually, each entered a mountain peak.
"Hahaha, such rich Supreme Martial Way energy; cultivating here, my martial realm that has stagnated for years will surely ascend. If I can gain more fate, in the years to come, I might have hope to step into the Sky Origin Realm, henceforth roaming the world freely!"
"Old ghost, I’m reserving the post of the master of Fate in advance."
"You think you’re capable?"
"Don’t believe me? We’ll see the truth in our skills when the time comes."
The nine figures, some silent and indifferent, some facing off, and some watching from afar, soon all fell silent. For them, nothing was more important than comprehending the ultimate way, unless it was the future struggle for Fate.
The dense fog in the distance merged together again, as if nothing had happened.
"What a pity, still a bit short."
Master of the Illusion Orchid Tower woke from her enlightenment. Her own Orchid Martial Way had reached twelve stages in the late phase, no less than the martial realm of that orchid, and while learning from it was possible, breaking through by it was not.
However, people like Fairy Yunni, due to their lower martial realms, made even greater progress.
"Let’s go take a look elsewhere."
Shi Xiaole spoke. He had circled the area and found thousands of martial ways, but sadly, none suited him.
The women, deeply grateful for his role as their protector earlier, naturally had no objections.
The group randomly chose a direction to move forward.
Along the way, they saw rivers flowing upstream into the sky, erupting volcanoes, the earth shattering and reforming, battlefields filled with clanking armor and weaponry, and even inverted mirror barriers, among other things. There was nothing they couldn’t imagine, nothing they didn’t see.
Some warriors plunged into these phenomena, practicing obliviously as their auras rapidly enhanced. Naturally, there were also conflicts among warriors, with only the victors holding the ground after the fray.
"Die!"
The Falling Sky Sword Emperor struck down someone who was hiding nearby, then eagerly entered a golden-lit valley.
His Sword Way was based on the Golden Sword Way, and the combative way within the valley reached a rare peak of twelve stages, which would significantly boost the Golden Sword Way!
Places like this, if encountered several times, the Falling Sky Sword Emperor was confident his strength would explode in a short term.
The Falling Sky Sword Emperor wasn’t the luckiest one there. Although martial depictions of twelve stages at their peak were rare, the lands of fate were endless, and some people found theirs even quicker than him.
There was even a one-armed elder who, shortly after landing, discovered a Supreme Lord’s image at the late ten-stage sequence deep within an abyss and was currently engrossed in comprehending it.
Shi Xiaole’s luck couldn’t be called particularly good or bad; like most, he came across a few storm convergence zones on the way, but unfortunately, these were only at about eleven stages or so, useless to him.
That is until the third day upon entering the land of fate.
Shi Xiaole found a lake formed from Sword Qi, but contrary to expectation, it was not fierce. On the lake’s surface, water lilies grew instead, with lotus flowers blossoming and propelling endless Sword Qi outward.
"Lotus Swordsmanship?"
Lotus Swordsmanship, a branch of the Wood Sword Way, was not as sharp as the Golden Sword Way, or as versatile as the Water Sword Way, but it excelled in endurance. Swordsmen who mastered this were generally solid and steady fighters.
"The Sword Realm here has reached the late twelve stages. It’s worth a try."
Seeing the opportunity, Shi Xiaole leaped into the center of Lotus Lake. Not long after, he shook his head.
His Wind Sword Way was just at the early eleven stages, but it was due to the limitations of the Wind Path; his Sword Path had already surpassed that. Ordinary sword intents had little effect on him.
He was about to leave.
Amid splashing sounds, a distorted, transparent figure suddenly burst out from the lake, swiftly slashing at Shi Xiaole.
With the Cleansing Evil Sword unsheathed, Shi Xiaole responded with a swing, easily sending the figure flying thousands of miles away.
"Is this, a Martial Arts Light Body?"
Shi Xiaole had heard from Ling Cunwei that, within the land of fate, there existed an odd being known as a Martial Arts Light Body.
When the martial imagery of a place was too intense and had been present for a long enough time, these Martial Arts Light Bodies had a certain probability of forming. They were usually incredibly strong and nearly impossible to kill, because they were composed of martial essence themselves.
The Martial Arts Light Body that attacked Shi Xiaole appeared to have strength on par with the top five hundred in the South Sea; probably comparable to Uncle Wang.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The repelled Martial Arts Light Body charged again, twisting its arms and rotating all the lotuses on the lake, forming a huge deluge of Sword Qi rushing towards Shi Xiaole.
This strike, less than ten on the Emperor List could block. Yet Shi Xiaole simply gripped his sword and swung forward without even using a finishing move.
Now, if he were to return to the continent of East Victory, aside from the five Forbidden Martial Emperors, there likely wasn’t anyone who could be his match, not even the Northern Liang Martial Emperor.
Whoosh!
The torrent of Sword Qi was bisected by the green Sword Qi, the surplus still maintaining momentum as it brushed past the Martial Arts Light Body. The next moment, the Light Body shattered like glass into countless pieces.
But before the women could breathe a sigh of relief, the Martial Arts Light Body quickly reformed and charged at Shi Xiaole for the third time.
"Indeed, very hard to kill, just don’t know how many times it can take."
Shi Xiaole was nonchalant, his two-handed sword swing earlier was just casual. Now, using one hand instead, his sword speed surged, becoming so fast that half his body blurred into a shadow, striking the Martial Arts Light Body hundreds of times in a single breath, leaving it with no room to counter.
The Master of Illusion Orchid Tower at the lakeside watched with shimmering eyes.
Her strength was, at most, on par with the Martial Arts Light Body; if she were to face Shi Xiaole, she likely wouldn’t last more than a few breaths. There was a time when this young man, who once looked up to her, had already become so powerful.
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop...
After shattering and reforming over two hundred times, the Martial Arts Light Body finally dissipated completely. In the instant of its demise, a sword-shaped rune suddenly emerged from within it.
