Chapter 1205: Chapter 123 Reincarnation
The moment the barrier power emerged, Shi Xiaole’s sword technique was immediately drawn off its original trajectory by an unknown force.
Xuanyuan Di had been waiting for a long time and wouldn’t miss this opportunity, his feet stomped the ground, and his fist, like a rocket launcher, pounded towards Shi Xiaole, with the enhancement of the barrier power, the might of the punch was even more formidable than before.
Thud!
The Cleansing Evil Sword shielded him at the front, under the fist, the blade of the sword showed signs of bending, and the fist wrap on Xuanyuan Di’s hand emitted a brilliant light, continuously pressing inward on the sword blade.
But it was the force of the barrier pushing against Shi Xiaole’s back that created a combined attack with Xuanyuan Di’s punch.
Pressed from all sides, Shi Xiaole’s arms turned numb and his body slightly stiffened.
He had seen the barriers of the Illusion Orchid Tower master and the Purple Jade Great Emperor, and he would not forget the tide barrier of the West Sea Martial Emperor, but compared to Xuanyuan Di’s barrier, they were not worth mentioning at all, not in the same class.
Frankly speaking, this was the first time in the battle of fate that someone had pushed Shi Xiaole to a disadvantage, which made Shi Xiaole’s blood boil, filled with a sense of urgency to vent.
A flash of light.
While withstanding the sword blade, Xuanyuan Di’s other fist hammered toward Shi Xiaole’s right shoulder, but that wasn’t all, his legs, like cannonballs fired from a gun, accurately attacked Shi Xiaole’s abdomen and left knee, the tips of his toes sharp as swords, harboring an astonishing penetrating force.
This was merely Xuanyuan Di’s improvised triple strike, but its power surpassed many of the Forbidden Martial Emperor’s killing moves, sending chills down the spines of everyone from Nineteen Peaks.
In the nick of time, Shi Xiaole forcibly twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the punch, but inevitably he couldn’t dodge Xuanyuan Di’s legs.
A surging Sword Qi burst forth.
"Old Ox’s Broken Cart!"
Crack crack crack.
The power of the barrier shattered in a small area, allowing Shi Xiaole to break free, but Xuanyuan Di was like a persistent infection, with the power of the barrier following his movements, enveloping Shi Xiaole from all directions.
"My Sword Realm must rely on ’Old Ox’s Broken Cart’, while his barrier is generated from the force of his punches, wholly unrestricted. I’m at a disadvantage in this aspect."
A real barrier is self-sufficient, forming its technique, unlike Shi Xiaole’s Sword Realm, which is dependent on sword techniques.
This was mainly because Shi Xiaole took a shortcut in order to cope with the battle of fate. If he had properly researched an independent Sword Realm, he certainly wouldn’t have mastered it so quickly, but the developmental potential would have been greater.
It can only be said that there are gains and losses, and after this time, Shi Xiaole could indeed consolidate his gains, extracting the Sword Realm from his techniques.
The situation gradually came under Xuanyuan Di’s control.
It was clear to everyone that Shi Xiaole could not keep using "Old Ox’s Broken Cart" continuously, as it would consume too much energy, but if he didn’t break away from the barrier, he would constantly be constrained, unable to exert his unmatched skills.
"Xuanyuan Di is Xuanyuan Di after all, this genius martial arts prodigy really has his own set of skills."
"Although Shi Xiaole is highly talented, his accumulation is too superficial after all. Once he perfects his independent Sword Realm, I believe he has a great chance to defeat Xuanyuan Di."
The experts from the South Sea showed smiles, their mood suddenly relaxed.
Everyone has their biases, one is a local genius from the South Sea, and the other is a swordsman from overseas. Without any enmity between them, they of course felt closer to the former and hoped for his victory.
Only Ling Wenlong of the Ling Family, the master of Illusion Orchid Tower, the Flying Snow Sword Emperor, the Sentimental Demon Concubine, and a few others showed concerned expressions.
At this juncture, Shi Xiaole had finally met a formidable opponent of rare caliber.
"Reincarnation!"
All of a sudden, with a deep shout from Xuanyuan Di, the surrounding barrier began to shake violently, showing various phenomena.
Seeds grew into towering trees, ants transformed into creatures as big as elephants, resplendent flowers withered one after another, the ocean in an instant evolved into fields... This was the power of reincarnation, showing the endless passage of time.
To everyone’s shock, Xuanyuan Di’s strength was skyrocketing, returning to the state before the fight.
In contrast, Shi Xiaole’s energy was plummeting crazily, as if some invisible rule was continuously extracting his power and transferring it into Xuanyuan Di.
"Is this the real formidable aspect of the Reincarnation Barrier?"
"Stealing from the enemy for oneself, using the means of reincarnation to reverse anything that is not in one’s favor. In this barrier, Xuanyuan Di is like a god, an invincible existence."
The expressions of the crowd of experts varied from one to another in shock, as if they were witnessing something inconceivable.
In the South Sea, eighty percent of the Forbidden Martial Emperors understand Supreme Martial Arts through the guidance and heritage of their masters, but not all the twenty percent do.
Like Xuanyuan Di, for example.
Before this, no one even imagined what the Reincarnation Martial Way was. Reincarnation, this is a power possessed by the heavens and earth, an inviolable rule, how could it be controlled by human strength?
But at this moment, within the Reincarnation Barrier, people faintly glimpsed Xuanyuan Di’s supreme ambition.
He was striving towards a direction others didn’t even dare to dream of. Although he had only taken a small step, it was already frightening enough. If he could make significant progress in the future, let alone succeed, just taking a big step would make a profound impact on the ages, unmatched in the world!
"Reincarnation Martial Way, interesting."
Feeling the power being stripped away, Shi Xiaole was also alarmed by Xuanyuan Di’s methods.
It seemed that the Reincarnation Martial Way was very similar to the Life and Death Martial Way, both capable of reversing heaven and earth, but via different paths. Reincarnation followed its own rules and Life and Death followed theirs; the former was more comprehensive while the latter was more direct, both seeming to achieve the same goal via different means.
Enveloped by the early stage force of Elevenfold Reincarnation, Shi Xiaole’s Life and Death Martial Way showed signs of an imminent breakthrough.
"Hand of Reincarnation!"
With a belief in certain victory, Xuanyuan Di reached out his right hand, an invisible palm shadow grasping directly into Shi Xiaole’s body, intent on extracting everything from him.
But the next moment.
As the Life and Death Wheel in his sea of consciousness spun rapidly, the invisible palm shadow melted into pure power, which was then absorbed by it, increasing Shi Xiaole’s aura rather than diminishing it.
"Hmm?"
Xuanyuan Di’s spirit shook vigorously, and no one noticed that his pupils, despite holding the upper hand, were contracting, and his gaze at Shi Xiaole took on an unprecedented change.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
Shi Xiaole made his move, releasing a sword force that was even more fierce and immense, shattering the Reincarnation Barrier. His power had returned to the state it was before the encasement of the Reincarnation Barrier.
"This is the opening stance of the Sky-shocking Sword, has he finally reached his limit and decided to use his killing move?"
"No, he has not!"
Before the previous shock could subside, another wave of astonishment surged into everyone’s hearts.
A killing move is considered one because it is resolute and unstoppable.
But what had Shi Xiaole done? Using the connection between two swords, he had, with the opening stance of the "Sky-shocking Sword," created a Sword Realm even more powerful than "Old Ox’s Broken Cart" and yet held back from unleashing it. Could this still be considered a killing move?
His control over techniques was simply inconceivable, beyond the reach of gods and demons alike.
Bang, bang, bang...
Once the Reincarnation Barrier was broken, the two returned to the starting point, with Shi Xiaole maintaining the sword stance with his right hand and substituting his left hand for the sword, unleashing a Sword Qi offensive not weaker than before, making it unimaginable how he had accomplished this.
Xuanyuan Di desperately tried to close in on Shi Xiaole, but the latter’s Flying Skill and speed were superior, always putting him a moment behind, squandering his power in vain, finally restoring it through the Reincarnation Martial Way.
The two began a prolonged war of attrition. They fought from the east to the west, from the ground to the sky, leaving countless overlapping shadows in every inch of void.
Xuanyuan Di kept getting cut by the Sword Qi but was always able to heal at a certain point in time. Although Shi Xiaole appeared to have the upper hand, in people’s view, his power was depleting rapidly; in reality, he had fallen into Xuanyuan Di’s trap.
The eyes of the crowd stood erect, staring so intensely that their eyes hurt yet they did not cease, afraid to miss any splendid moment.
The experts from the Xuanyuan Clan and the Ling Family had their hearts in their throats, breathing with difficulty due to the tension.
This battle would determine who could seize the other’s invincible destiny, who could become the master of fate; both opportunities were a rarity seen once in hundreds of years, and either would benefit one immensely, leading to rapid progress in the days to come.
One could imagine, the victor would soar high while the loser wouldn’t necessarily plummet, but would miss the best chance to rise. Especially for Shi Xiaole and Xuanyuan Di, neither could afford to lose!
Clang, clang, clang...
The Destiny Platform kept shaking, as if it could fall from the clouds at any moment. Even ordinary attacks unleashed awe-inspiring lethality in the hands of these two young powerhouses.
Half a 2-hour period into the duel, Xuanyuan Di was as fierce as before, but what truly puzzled people was how Shi Xiaole could maintain his state under such high-intensity confrontation?
Every time, people thought that he had revealed all his cards, but after every round, new cards would appear, making everyone really wonder, was Shi Xiaole a human, a ghost, a god, or a devil?
Among the Nineteen Peaks, probably only Xuanyuan Di knew the answer.
"In this life, only six people have been worthy of being my opponents, but I have full confidence in surpassing those six. Only you, you are the one true opponent who makes me exert all my strength and still remain uncertain of victory. Shi Xiaole, why didn’t you appear sooner?"
Xuanyuan Di’s punches were as swift as lightning, his gaze electrifying, and when he moved, space itself seemed to become numb. He had reached the peak of his spirit in this life, and shockingly, his power also reached its peak after half a 2-hour period of fierce battle.
"It’s not too late now."
Shi Xiaole’s eyes turned as sharp as a sword, and at that moment, he no longer maintained the Sword Realm in his right hand. His entire being transformed into a radiant sword light, piercing heaven and earth, matching Xuanyuan Di’s intensity.
Growing stronger with each battle, tirelessly, what is talent? Both men gave everyone an answer.
"Unity of the Four Seals, Reincarnation Fist Seal, kill!"
With a roar that tore through the heavens, Xuanyuan Di drew his right hand back, merging the four meanings of Suffering, Accumulation, Extermination, and the Path within the fist, forming an eternal and undying light of a fist glow, filled with a rich presence of reincarnation.
Opposite him, the green sword intent squeezed heaven and earth, numerous intricate and sharp sword trajectories forming the ultimate four swords. The four swords overlaid and merged into one unique sword. Pouring all his strength into it, Shi Xiaole viciously cleaved forward.
The next moment!
The Array System’s light shield around the Destiny Platform bulged nearly fifty meters outward.
Within the violent swirling energies, two bloodied figures were simultaneously blown backward.
