Chapter 1212: Chapter 1210: Shameless or Not (3rd update for ’poonlo’, 5/10)
This scene was beyond everyone’s expectations. Who could enter the land of Fate after the Gate of Fate had closed?
Only some experts from the South Sea showed moving expressions; however, there was a difference—the likes of the White Cloud Emperor and Xuanyuan Dao were delighted, while people like the Heavenly Martial Emperor and the Thousand Swords Emperor felt some regret and jealousy.
The voice had yet to fade away when six figures had already landed atop the cliff.
"Tower Master!"
"Ancestor!"
Experts from the Hundred Battles Tower and the Xuanyuan Clan hurried forward to pay their respects, their attitude extremely reverent.
"The six legends."
With six people, each having such a terrifying aura, coupled with the attitude of the South Sea experts, Shi Xiaole immediately confirmed the identities of the six. But weren’t these six once masters of Fate, said to be unable to enter the land of Fate?
At the same time, the incident where Shi Xuanzhong and Ling Yujie were attacked years ago surfaced in Shi Xiaole’s mind. Ling Wenlong suspected that someone among these six was involved. Was it true?
"So strong!"
"Who are these people?"
The Scorpion Lady and the Black Abyss Elder felt their hairs stand on end. The sudden appearance of these six people gave them a very dangerous feeling. Especially when the Black Abyss Elder made eye contact with a few of them, the terrible sense of oppression almost suffocated him.
The Martial Emperor’s eyes flickered, and his body was also somewhat tense.
The six legends were shrouded in the misty aura of mystery, their faces unclear. After the White Cloud Emperor, Xuanyuan Dao, and others had paid their respects, the person on the far left finally spoke, "Twenty-five people have reached this place, not bad. Our South Sea is truly the most prosperous place in the world of martial arts."
This was one of the two Fake Sky Origin Realm experts from the Hundred Battles Tower.
"Unfortunately, the master of Fate was taken by outsiders. Xuanyuan Di, you useless thing!"
This came from an expert of the Fake Sky Origin Realm from the Xuanyuan Clan, also an ancestor of Xuanyuan Di, named Xuanyuan Lang, and his tone was extremely cold and severe.
Xuanyuan Di remained silent.
"Brother Xuanyuan, it’s not that your junior is incompetent—it’s just that someone else is too outstanding. Why take your anger out on him?"
The third person spoke, his tone comparatively gentle, his body carrying the harmony of water and fire, likely to be the Ancestor from the Water and Fire Dao Manor.
At his words, Xuanyuan Lang merely huffed.
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but feel that, among the six, at least three pairs of eyes were scanning him brazenly, filled with scrutiny and even a trace of coldness. If indeed someone among the six had acted against Shi Xuanzhong back in the day, with his own appearance, that person would certainly be able to recognize him. Was the coldness coming from that person?
Or was it simply because he was an outsider?
Shi Xiaole kept his composure, yet his mind was filled with thoughts.
"Enough, don’t waste time. Bring out the stone of Fate now."
An expert from the Wind Wave Forest, also a Fake Sky Origin Realm master, spoke timely, shifting the focus, which relieved some of the pressure Shi Xiaole was feeling.
He didn’t know what the stone of Fate was, but he saw the six people each took out a gray stone the size of a chicken egg, irregular in shape, with interleaving lines on its surface that looked intricate and profound, seemingly containing the principles of the great Dao.
Hum...
The six gray stones hovered in mid-air, radiating light. At this moment, Shi Xiaole was shaken to the core as he felt a mighty spiritual force emanating from these six stones.
Suddenly, he found a part of his own spiritual force surging out of his body, drawn by the six gray stones and piercing through the void.
A thud.
A seventh gray stone fell out, tainted with Shi Xiaole’s spiritual force, it spun and flew towards Shi Xiaole.
"Come here!"
Xuanyuan Lang coldly shouted, activating his own gray stone. Under the resonance of spiritual force, the seventh gray stone slowed down.
A powerful impulse caused Shi Xiaole to reach out instinctively, but as another Fake Sky Origin Realm expert joined in, the dual resonance of spiritual force finally stopped the seventh gray stone in its tracks.
The third Fake Sky Origin Realm expert made a move; he was from the Demon Exorcism Sect. With a forceful pull, the gray stone that was supposed to head towards Shi Xiaole landed in his hands.
Shi Xiaole felt a hollow sensation inside, as if something very important had been taken from him.
"Sires, appropriating the treasure for yourselves seems somewhat inappropriate," Shi Xiaole said, word by word, to the six.
"Appropriating? What right do you have to speak such words? Ridiculous!"
The one who spoke was another Fake Sky Origin Realm expert who had assisted Xuanyuan Lang, from the Wind Wave Forest.
Angry inside yet calm in tone, Shi Xiaole said, "Just now, the six elders depleted my spiritual force to find the treasure, and the treasure flew into my arms. If I’m not mistaken, this stone of Fate should only belong to the master of Fate, right?"
Although he didn’t know about the stone of Fate beforehand, Shi Xiaole could deduce some vital information from previous signs.
Was the stone of Fate, which contained spiritual force, the rumored treasure that could enhance spiritual refinement?
Six legends, each with a stone, and the seventh stone of Fate found at the cost of his own depleted spiritual force—the evidence was becoming clear.
What truly made Shi Xiaole angry was that these six people did not consult him beforehand and forcibly depleted his spiritual strength. When the stone of Fate was found, they took it away almost forcefully, and in the end, didn’t even offer an explanation.
What did they take him for?
It’s known that with depleted spiritual force, all his qualities would decline, which is akin to undermining his future!
"Young child, could you have obtained the stone of Fate on your own? Don’t be too greedy. This is a treasure of the South Sea, the land of Fate. How could we allow an outsider to covet it? Rest assured, we will compensate you," the Fake Sky Origin Realm expert from the Hundred Battles Tower spoke indifferently.
"Compensation, good, as long as the senior can replenish the spiritual force I lost, I will accept it," Shi Xiaole said.
Even if his martial skills were inferior to those six people, Shi Xiaole could not just keep silent and do nothing. Moreover, he sensed through his spiritual force that there were loopholes in the land of Fate, and if he couldn’t defeat these six people, he could simply walk away!
But the grudge of today, he would certainly remember.
"Rubbish! What right do you have to bargain with us? An outsider, who stole the fortunes of the South Sea, received great opportunities, and we have been generous not to hold you accountable. You dare to quibble over this trivial matter, what can you do if we don’t compensate you?!" The Fake Sky Origin Realm expert from the Demon Exorcism Sect roared in anger, unleashing a pressure on Shi Xiaole that was as heavy as a mountain.
Crackling...
The sword aura surrounding Shi Xiaole twisted into a mess under the assault of this pressure, tearing apart and only holding its ground within a three zhang radius in front of him.
Shi Xiaole laughed, "I stole the fortunes of the South Sea?"
Without him, perhaps Xuanyuan Di would have triumphed, but what did that have to do with the fortunes of the South Sea? If he had thwarted Xuanyuan Di, Shi Xiaole would have accepted that.
Moreover, throughout his journey, the South Sea experts had obtained the opportunities they were supposed to. Apart from him taking over the Thousand Swords Emperor’s position as the master of Heavenly Sword Peak.
"You should understand right from wrong, instead of always being self-centered. With your temperament, no matter how talented, it’s all in vain!" Xuanyuan Lang scoffed coldly, his aura erupting intensely, merging with the aura of another elder from the Demon Exorcism Sect, completely crushing Shi Xiaole’s sword aura.
Forced to retreat, Shi Xiaole had no choice but to use his sword techniques to defend himself.
"Still daring to strike against us, you overestimate yourself." The Demon Exorcism Sect’s Ancestor snapped out a palm. The palm imprint itself was not large, but it contained a terrifying power. Shi Xiaole quickly swung the "Sky-shocking Sword," but only managed to cut the palm imprint in half, the force of the palm gushing out wildly.
Shi Xiaole was about to retreat when just at that moment, a fist blocked most of the palm force. The helping hand belonged to the Martial Emperor.
"Hmph!" The Demon Exorcism Sect Ancestor let out a cold snort, shocked in his heart. He had already used seventy percent of his power to intimidate Shi Xiaole, and it still had not been effective.
Increasing his power to eighty percent, the Demon Exorcism Sect Ancestor delivered a second palm, shrinking the heavens and earth as if they were diminishing. Under this palm, all beings were as fragile as ants, forced to close their eyes and wait for death.
The Martial Emperor’s fist energy was shattered, and he was violently thrown back. En route, his right arm exploded with cracking sounds, turning into a mist of blood, while the unceasing force shook the Martial Emperor to the point of spitting fresh blood, his face paling.
Shi Xiaole froze.
Why, why did the Martial Emperor repeatedly protect him? As the palm’s residual waves continued to assault the Martial Emperor, in the nick of time, Shi Xiaole stopped his retreat, intercepted the force halfway, and shattered the palm energy with one sword strike.
Then came two consecutive palms, and the sky dimmed.
With terrifying power, the palms forced Shi Xiaole to operate beyond his capacity. Still, his arms ached and blood trickled out.
Just then, another streak of light slashed at the palm force—Zhang Xiangfeng. But he was shaken so fiercely by the impact that his sinews and bones broke, spurting blood.
Almost as fast as Zhang Xiangfeng, a figure pushed Shi Xiaole aside, the person’s own body exploding to only half its entirety—a robust man biting his lips to suppress his screams.
Another handsome young man roared, swinging his fists and pulling Shi Xiaole behind him while resisting the shockwave, seemingly indifferent to his own life.
"You..."
Shi Xiaole was profoundly shocked.
The fifth palm struck, and the world fell into an unprecedented silence. The robust man and the handsome young man faced it with tragic expressions, vulnerable yet resolute, like ants in a storm.
Just when the two seemed doomed to perish in the turbulent waves,
"Getting older just to regress, what kind of ability is it for six old fogeys to gang up and bully one lad? Stealing the fortunes of the South Sea? Utterly ridiculous! Without this lad, Supreme Pool might not have appeared, have you South Sea experts not already gained enough?"
"Had it not been for the merging of the three Fate lands and the Array System lapse, the Stone of Fate would have appeared on its own, falling into the lad’s hands. Was it your turn to meddle?"
"Now seizing the opportunity of the lad’s weakness, you forcefully extract his spiritual power and take the Stone of Fate that belongs to him for your own cultivation, you six old fogeys, do you have no shame?"
At the critical moment, the unhurried sound of an Erhu, accompanied by the gentle strumming of a guqin, suddenly arose. The two melodies intertwined, unexpectedly playing a forceful and imposing tune reminiscent of clashing warriors on the battlefield.
Three figures rushed from the direction of East Victory, and in terms of aura, they were not at all inferior to the six legends of the South Sea.
A sinister laugh spread in all directions. At the same time, five people rushed in from Miaojiang, and innumerable intertwined black patterns suddenly appeared in the space between heaven and earth, creeping quickly, mysterious and alarming.
Boom!!!
The clash of auras from the three parties was like an eighteenth-level tsunami, shattering the void into countless pieces, taking several breaths to recover.
"What..."
Everyone was inwardly startled. What was happening, when had East Victory World generated so many fearsome experts?
Shi Xiaole’s gaze, however, remained fixed for a long time, unable to shift away from the three figures that had emerged from East Victory Continent.
These were three old men. On the far left, one had an emaciated figure, looked as if he could be toppled by the wind, yet he held a seven-string guqin, plucking its strings at times, shaking heaven and earth with its sound.
The Guqin Master!
This old man was none other than the Guqin Master from Rainbow State, who helped Shi Xiaole enhance his combat skills!
Beside the Guqin Master was a blind old man. Although blinded, his hands were more dexterous than most in the world. The melodious Erhu sound made people’s souls involuntarily sink into it.
Shi Xiaole had never seen this old man, but he would never forget that when he hit a bottleneck in cultivating the "Dragon Gate Divine Skill," an Erhu sound had echoed, leading to an epiphany.
That Erhu sound was exactly the same as the one now.
The third old man wore a flat-topped hat and a patched robe, the most ordinary among the three. But this sort of ordinariness, in contrast, made him even more concerning. Could someone who kept company with the other two be ordinary?
