Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Tianluo Footwork
The snowy night was deep, casting a blanket of whiteness over the mountains. The full moon hung high, pouring its frosty brilliance over the world.
Inside the cave, a bonfire flickered unsteadily.
Leaning against the cave wall, Shi Xiaole sunk his mind into the system.
"May I ask the host, would you like to proceed with the mid-month free draw now?"
The mechanical voice of the system sounded.
"Draw."
As soon as he spoke, a square halo began to flicker, moving up and down on the fifth floor of the Martial God Hall.
When the square halo almost stopped on the fourth floor, Shi Xiaole’s heart almost leaped out of his chest.
Top-level martial arts?
The next moment, the light flashed and returned to the fifth floor.
Ding.
"Congratulations, host, for drawing the third-grade top-notch flying skill from Qingcheng Sect, the Tianluo Step."
His chest felt empty, his limbs temporarily numb, before gradually coming back to their senses. Shi Xiaole wondered if the system was just teasing him.
However, hearing what he had drawn, his disappointment was soon soothed.
The Tianluo Step, one of the three great skills of the Qingcheng Sect, equally famous as the Heavenly Gang Palm and the Tianxun Sword.
It’s an extremely fast footwork technique, which reportedly follows the complex changes of the Eight Diagrams. Once deployed, it’s enough to bewilder the opponent.
If cultivated to the highest realm, one can move freely among millions of soldiers.
There are not a few people in the martial world who have learned this light footwork method, such as the famous Jin Shiyi, Jin Zhuliu and his son, the swordsman Jiang Haitian, and the devil, Qiao Beiming, etc.
According to Shi Xiaole’s estimation, the claim of moving freely among millions of soldiers seems somewhat exaggerated, but regardless, the rank of Tianluo Step shouldn’t be this low.
"I forgot, the Tianluo Step used by Jin Shiyi, Qiao Beiming, and others is a version they created based on the Qingcheng Sect’s original, naturally much more powerful than the original."
After some thought, a sense of realization dawned on Shi Xiaole.
However, he was still somewhat excited.
Flying skills are too important for a martial artist. His previously mastered Golden Goose Skill could suffice for a long journey, but it fell short when engaging in combat.
The Tianluo Step, on the other hand, is different. This is a close-combat flying skill specially designed to dodge and counter opponents, making it far superior to the Golden Goose Skill in terms of offense!
Digesting the text in his mind, Shi Xiaole began to practice it that night.
...
Under a cliff in a snow-covered mountain, a figure was moving continuously around a pine tree.
As time went on, the figure’s speed got faster and faster, from a blurry shadow initially to a continuous virtual image later, seemingly forming a Heaven and Earth Net Force around the pine tree.
Swipe.
At one moment, the figure suddenly stopped, and the surrounding virtual images seemed to rush into his body.
"The Tianluo Step is indeed extraordinary. I just took 893 steps. If the pine tree were my enemy, there would have been 362 opportunities to knock it over."
Shi Xiaole mumbled to himself.
To master the Tianluo Step, one must be familiar with the Eight Diagrams. Fortunately, he was amazingly insightful and had strong mental control. Within just five days, he had achieved the initial stage of the Transformation Phase in practicing the Tianluo Step.
Two busy days went by and the Tianluo Step smoothly reached the full stage of Transformation Phase.
The full stage of Transformation Phase Tianluo Step significantly improved Shi Xiaole’s close-up combat ability, making various actions more freely carried out, he felt like a fish in water.
Next, Shi Xiaole mastered the Tianluo Step in combination with knife art, sword art, and fist technique.
As a close-combat technique, simply being strong was not enough. Only when it was combined with other martial arts could it truly complement each other and significantly enhance Shi Xiaole’s combat effectiveness.
Thump, thump, thump.
Beneath the cliff, the clear and sharp collision sound occasionally echoed, and a shower of snowflakes fell.
Just as Shi Xiaole was engrossed in his training, a grey-robed figure was speeding through the snowy mountains. The cold wind occasionally lifted his robe, revealing his skeleton-like limbs, chilling to the bone.
"According to ’All-Knowing’s’ information, that boy should be within thirty miles of here, he shouldn’t be able to escape."
The grey-robed figure bore a sinister expression, he was none other than Yintong, the devilish martial artist Shi Xiaole had encountered at Meihua Village.
After being defeated by Shi Xiaole, Yintong had fled to other towns and villages. By constantly plundering and absorbing the energy of the children there, he had managed to recover his power.
Not long ago, he had finally completed his cultivation and restored his power to its peak using the Infant Eating Great Method.
The moment he had done this, his first thought was to seek revenge on Shi Xiaole.
If it wasn’t for that meddling brat, he could have quietly drained the children of Meihua Village of their energy and fully recovered long ago, instead of being in this miserable state.
So, relying on information from ’All-Knowing’, Yintong had traveled day and night to be here today.
All he hoped now was that the brat hadn’t left yet. Otherwise, he would have to waste more money to find out his whereabouts, which would be a hassle.
...
Day Ten.
Day Eleven.
Unbelievable, it’s already Day Fifteen.
That day, around the pine tree, there was a quick flashing of a green figure intertwined with white sparks of blade light like falling snowflakes.
Ultimately, the human eye could hardly distinguish between the figure’s movements and the shine of the blade light. There seemed to be an explosion of energy everywhere, amidst the sound of thuds, the pine tree broke into two halves with a crack.
If one looked closely at the broken end of the pine, one would find that it was very rugged, as if a group of people were chopping it continuously in a very short time.
"Finally done."
Shi Xiaole, standing next to the fallen pine tree, let out a satisfied sigh.
In the beginning, due to the combined use of methods, he couldn’t utilize every opening in the footwork to launch an attack. But after five days of integration, he finally achieved this today.
Taking full advantage of the steps in his footwork, this implied that the Tianluo Footwork skill had completely integrated with Shi Xiaole’s other martial arts. Within just half a month, his strength had not significantly increased on the surface, but his combat power had greatly improved.
His only regret was that he couldn’t find an adversary to spar with for the time being.
Unconsciously, another snowy night had arrived.
"There’s a light over there? Could it be..."
From a distance, Yintong saw a cave and a glimmer of gleeful ferocity lit up in his eyes as he rushed towards it without a second thought.
At the same time, Shi Xiaole, who was resting inside the cave, opened his eyes.
Bang!
Two bursts of energy collided instantly, shaking the very air and causing it to rumble.
"It’s really you!"
Yintong let out a hearty laugh upon seeing Shi Xiaole, no longer concealing his murderous intent.
"From the looks of it, you’re not here just to kill me, are you?"
Shi Xiaole asked, with a peculiar look on his face.
"Hehehe, you mutt, it’s too late for you to run now. You should blame yourself for becoming my enemy."
Feeling confident of victory, Yintong was no longer in a hurry.
His cultivation had now reached the latter stages of the Fifth Tier of Qi Absorption, and more importantly, after the successful completion of the Infant Eating Great Method, his Devil Path internal power increased by a considerable amount.
Compared to their last encounter, hadn’t his strength increased by at least 40%?
As for Shi Xiaole’s Pupil Skill, the effect produced by the complete Infant Eating Great Method also boosted his willpower. Alongside his own abilities, Yintong didn’t think Shi Xiaole posed any threat.
"Run? Why would I run?"
Shi Xiaole shook his head.
"You boastful mutt, kneel before me."
As soon as his words fell, Yintong extended a claw that brought forth clear sounds of a child crying, echoing unceasingly in the cave, giving anyone listening the creeps.
Weeping Child Demonic Claw Skill.
Without thinking, Shi Xiaole slashed his sword towards the claw.
Boom!
The claw and sword collided forcing both fighters to retreat from the impact.
"Eh? Your power..."
Yintong widened his eyes in surprise.
He had used 70% of his internal power just now. In theory, the mutt across from him wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.
Because of his overconfidence in himself, Yintong had not bothered to keep track of Shi Xiaole’s recent actions since purchasing information about him from "Knowledge is Everything". Naturally, he was unaware of Shi Xiaole’s exploits at the Snow Appreciation Pavillion.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so surprised.
The main thing was, who could have expected that Shi Xiaole would improve so quickly in just two to three months.
"Mutt, no wonder you were so calm. But if you think like this, you will make a huge mistake."
The corners of Yintong’s mouth twitched upward as he leapt towards Shi Xiaole. His heavy claw impressions, made to block out the sky, sealed off all of Shi Xiaole’s escape routes.
The third-rate superior claw method, Deadly Demon Claw.
Now that his cultivation had recovered, the martial arts Yintong could use had also increased. Among them was the Deadly Demon Claw.
This claw was not only powerful, but also incredibly fast. When used against an opponent with a lesser cultivation level, it was almost always a confirmed kill.
Amongst the layers of claw shadows, Shi Xiaole’s eyes remained calm. He moved swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, he managed to break out of the claw shadow gaps and entered the outside of the cave.
"Don’t run!"
Surprised and angry, Yintong’s face underwent a radical change. He was shocked by Shi Xiaole’s Flying Skill from earlier and enraged by his inability to react in time.
Outside the cave, Shi Xiaole stood leisurely.
He never had the intention to run in the first place. He was just worried he wouldn’t be able to fully utilize his skills in the confined space of the cave.
Seeing his calm demeanor, Yintong had a bad premonition.
"It’s impossible, he must be relying on the Flying Skill he learned earlier and is confident that he can escape."
Comforting himself internally, Yintong’s face suddenly twisted: "Heart-extracting Demon Hand!"
A layer of black glimmer enveloped his white bone-claw, and with a swift move from Yintong, it immediately fell towards Shi Xiaole.
Shi Xiaole didn’t even lift his head. Raising his arm high, a ray of light-blue sword aura streaked out with a hint of purple.
With a shattering sound that made one’s teeth sore, two energy forces shattered simultaneously.
"Let’s use you as a test subject."
Mumbling to himself, Shi Xiaole moved and in an instant, he was in front of Yintong. The sword in his hand struck like a meandering river.
Clang, clang, clang...
Each time his Azure Edge Sword clashed with the bone claw, a series of sparks were spat out.
Gradually, Yintong’s expression went from surprise to anger and then to a trickle of dread.
While Shi Xiaole’s footwork was intricate, it was not surprising enough for Yintong.
What truly surprised him was that the opponent was coordinating his footwork and hand movements so perfectly that it looked natural.
Twenty moves.
Thirty moves.
On the fifty-third move, Shi Xiaole aimed at a loophole, swung his sword, and sliced a deep gash across Yintong’s face amidst a scream.
