Chapter 1275: Chapter 1273: Killing
The momentum was fierce and the twelve Outer Heaven Giants, seemingly invincible just moments ago, were reduced to a single one in the blink of an eye. The swift change caught all the experts on both sides by surprise.
Different, however, was the wild joy of the warriors from East Victory.
In the wake of utter despair and bleakness, the situation underwent a monumental reversal. The surging excitement and relief in the hearts of East Victory’s warriors was like an underwater bomb, setting off tsunamis, as if their chests might explode.
Countless warriors, who were hanging by a thread, severely injured, or powerless, now seemed to be infused with boundless strength, their fighting spirits greatly aroused as they roared and charged at the enemy.
"Evil shall not prevail over good!"
"Hahaha, annihilate the Outer Heaven Demons!"
"Protect our homes, even death is not too high a cost!"
The rainbow-like momentum swept in all directions, the belief that caused the firmament to shudder surged towards the unprepared Outer Heaven warriors, causing their responses to become sluggish and full of gaps. For the first time, they were at a disadvantage against East Victory’s warriors.
High above in the atmosphere.
Two figures stood ten thousand meters apart, dividing the world into two distinctly different realms.
To the east was a sharpness that seemed to contain countless swords humming, eager to strike, while to the west was like the sturdiest of bulwarks, with no flaws or gaps, not even allowing air to pass through.
Che Renzhong and Spirit Ink Emperor took a short breather before plunging into the crowd below, joining the other combatants.
Though they were seriously wounded, their remaining strength let them move unchallenged across the battlefield, taking and giving at will, significantly reducing East Victory’s casualties.
The Great Battles Emperor, having lost his fighting power, chose to burst into the atmosphere to watch the battle from afar.
He knew that the outcome of this battle was crucial, not only determining the victory of the day but also the destiny of countless lives in East Victory.
If Shi Xiaole won, East Victory could rest easy for a good long while. If Shi Xiaole failed, then all previous efforts and advantages would dissolve like a mirage, ready to shatter at any moment.
The fight hadn’t started yet, but the Great Battles Emperor’s heart suddenly started pounding, his nervousness surpassing even that of his own battles.
Gazing at the figure standing tall and firm ahead, the Great Battles Emperor saw deep admiration in his eyes.
Looking back through history of over a hundred and sixty thousand years, perhaps Shi Xiaole truly was one of a kind.
Who else, since the beginning, could continue to set record after record, never tarrying, with no lows, always far ahead when you think he’s behind?
And who else, at less than a hundred years old, could stand at the pinnacle of the world, carrying the life and death of billions on his shoulders?
This boundless pressure could drive any man mad, yet he remained so composed, seemingly unshaken by any storm.
Great Battles Emperor was reminded of Che Renzhong’s words—Shi Xiaole’s mentor was the Holy Monarch. If the Holy Monarch of the past was anything like the present Shi Xiaole, it was no wonder he was so revered.
"You’re very strong. In all these years, you’re the first who has gotten me excited," said Wansheng Madman, his lips curling up slightly.
Elite prodigies from the land of Outer Heaven outnumbered those of East Victory by more than tenfold, and to stand out among countless strong contenders was a testament to Wansheng Madman’s excellence.
For years, he challenged one legendary figure after another, but they were too weak to even raise his fighting spirit.
He was considering challenging the strongest of worlds across different realms, perhaps then he might find a worthy opponent. Unexpectedly, he met one ahead of schedule.
No wonder many say East Victory is a land of miracles, not to be underestimated.
"I hope you can stay this excited for what’s to come," said Shi Xiaole.
"That depends on you. If you’re strong enough, I don’t mind indulging you a bit longer," replied Wansheng Madman, squinting his eyes. He could not miss the threat in Shi Xiaole’s words. With a mock step and a forceful push, he shot out like a cannonball, only a hundred times faster.
Boom!
This wasn’t the sound of breaking through the air, but the collision of a void storm.
A massive humanoid tunnel suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with void storms leaking from it. At the front of the tunnel, tens of thousands of void folds overlapped upon each other, cracking loudly under the pressure of Wansheng Madman’s momentum.
Just this preface alone made the Great Battles Emperor’s hair stand on end from a great distance away.
"Boundless Supreme Punch!"
With the momentum at its peak, Wansheng Madman unleashed a punch that tore through the void folds.
The rebounding force within the folds exploded suddenly, like a supernova illuminating much of the sky, dragging the void storm with it as it struck towards Shi Xiaole.
The Great Battles Emperor drew in a sharp breath. Even at his peak, coupled with the Shark Tooth Whip, he could at best only repel Wansheng Madman, but not injure him.
How terrifying a thing that was.
Divine artifacts contain the incomplete power of Sky Origin, and even though he could not fully utilize it, it wasn’t something a Void Origin Realm Martial Emperor could withstand. In some ways, Wansheng Madman’s battle prowess had transcended the mundane.
Suddenly, the Great Battles Emperor’s heart leapt into his throat with worry for Shi Xiaole.
Unflinching, Shi Xiaole met the attack with his sword.
Hiss hiss hiss...
As the punch neared Shi Xiaole, a broad channel of sparks formed, dissipating heat and turning the stratosphere into a furnace.
If any Void Origin Realm Martial Emperor were to come close, they would undoubtedly be burnt to ashes and die, for this was the result of the clash between fist and Sword Realm, blending together Wansheng Madman’s and Shi Xiaole’s understanding of martial arts.
"You can’t stop me with just a barrier."
The punch’s force did not diminish, and in just a few moments, Wansheng Madman had grasped the Sword Realm’s patterns, rushing straight at Shi Xiaole like a demon, surpassing a thousand troops.
"Cut!"
After the second split of his Vigorous Air, Shi Xiaole’s power became exceedingly strong, rarely matched across the world, surpassing even some Supreme Lords. After all, what made Supreme Lords truly powerful was their martial realm, not Vigorous Air.
So when the Sword Realm was compromised, Shi Xiaole remained unaffected, instead using the gap to push his power to the limit. He raised his Cleansing Evil Sword high and swept it down.
"Emotional Heaven and Earth Sword Twenty-Three!"
The fist strength and Sword Qi collided at a rate beyond the scope of vision, a single exchange sufficient to deafen most martial artists. Multiplied a million times, savage and boundless fluctuations spread across the sky causing a soundless chaos.
Because the amplitude of the fluctuations far exceeded the range of human perception.
A figure was violently repelled, looking somewhat disheveled.
It was Wansheng Madman!
"What?"
Great Battles Emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
It wasn’t that he was not optimistic about Shi Xiaole, quite the contrary, he greatly hoped for Shi Xiaole to win. But Wansheng Madman’s momentum previously was so overpowering that he seemed invincible.
"Has this young man’s strength reached this level?"
Great Battles Emperor forced himself to remain calm. The end was not yet here, perhaps Wansheng Madman still had a trump card up his sleeve, and it was still too early to tell who would win or lose.
"The one being repelled is me?"
Wansheng Madman was even more shocked than Great Battles Emperor.
How many years had it been since his fame spread throughout the Outer Heaven, even when fighting above his level, he had scarcely suffered any losses, and defeating peers was as simple as eating and drinking.
To this day, even the three Celestial Masters unanimously recognized him as the first person below the Supreme Lord. Yet today, he was repelled by a peer?
Unforgivable!
Fists sunk to his shoulders, legs slightly squatting, around Wansheng Madman’s body appeared one after another Vigorous Air tornadoes.
These tornadoes were arrayed in an apparently chaotic but actually orderly fashion, looking from afar like a honeycombed hive of countless holes, from which an utterly terrifying aura was being released.
The next moment!
"Primordial Heaven Melding Palm!"
Under the influence of the tornadoes, Wansheng Madman’s jet-black hair stood on end, fists shooting out like heavy hammers on drums, omnipresent vigorous fist strength enveloping Shi Xiaole.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Threefold Strike of the killing move!
What Wansheng Madman had comprehended was the same type of strength-oriented martial path as Qi Muchu, and he had reached the late stage of eleven-fold strength. Under his consummate application, he achieved the effect of a triple successive strike of the killing move.
Thanks to this technique, Wansheng Madman was worthy of his reputation as the foremost under the Supreme Lord.
However.
His opponent was Shi Xiaole.
The Life-and-Death Martial Path churned. Shi Xiaole swung his long sword three times without thinking, each slash faster than the last, also delivering a triple successive strike of the killing move.
"Death, Primordial Drill Path Slayer!"
An earth-shattering explosion created a vacuum in the atmosphere, a point of light appeared from nowhere, its tip like an electric drill, striking towards Shi Xiaole with the speed outstripping a shooting star.
After three successive killing moves, Great Battles Emperor found it hard to imagine that Wansheng Madman could still use another killing move. Although it was far weaker than the previous ones, it was enough to severely injure the Forbidden Martial Emperor.
He wanted to save Shi Xiaole, but was utterly powerless, unable to even vocalize a warning, his thinking barely able to comprehend what was happening before his eyes, all his emotions frozen in place.
"Let me show you the mightiest strike of the Saintly Spirit Sword Technique."
With eyes cold as the Cold Pool, Shi Xiaole’s body relaxed, both hands gripping the sword as his spirit, energy, and mind converged into a single point. He was no longer himself, and the world was no longer the world, but a vast "emptiness" where everything was void.
Clang!
Whoosh!
At this moment, the battling martial artists in the pit felt something and couldn’t help but look up.
All they saw was a sword appearing in the sky, a sword extending straight into the cosmos, with just a hint of its sword intent splitting the clouds in half.
With the sword slashing down, the sky seemed to contain millions of pounds of explosives all detonating at once, endless Sword Qi wildly surging, shattering all obstacles, slaughtering gods and demons, annihilating the six paths, something mortals couldn’t resist.
It was none other than the ultimate strike of the "Saintly Spirit Sword Technique," "Six Extinguish Selfless Sword"!
The "Saintly Spirit Sword Technique" consisted of connected sword techniques. Having fully comprehended "Annihilation Heaven and Earth Sword" and "Emotional Heaven and Earth Sword," and after numerous battles, Shi Xiaole had already completely mastered the essence of "Six Extinguish Selfless Sword" with only the refinement of strength remaining.
At this moment, with his full strength unleashed, the grandeur of this sword finally revealed itself to the world, engraved in the annals of the East Victory realm’s history for future generations to worship and admire.
Sizzle...
Faced with the irresistible cutting power of the Sword Qi, the sharp light drill lasted only a moment before it was evenly sliced in half like paper and disintegrated.
A scream of agony!
The invincible Wansheng Madman, blood streaming from his seven orifices, his upper body displaced from his lower half, blood spraying across the sky. He grabbed his lower half without a second thought and fled towards the Overlapping Land.
"Think you can escape?"
Though depleted of Vigorous Air, Shi Xiaole, with his immense mental strength, used the "Controlling Sword with Qi Skill," and the Cleansing Evil Sword became a beam of light and shot out.
"Scram!"
Wansheng Madman also mobilized his mental strength, forming barriers in front of him. When the Cleansing Evil Sword struck them, it created a dense reverberating boom.
In terms of mental fortitude, Wansheng Madman was a notch above, but in terms of mental quality, no one could surpass Shi Xiaole. After a mental struggle, with the help of the Life-and-Death Martial Path, Shi Xiaole had recovered some of his Vigorous Air.
Boom...
The Cleansing Evil Sword struck like roaring thunder, a manifestation of the "Heart Thunder One Sword"!
Splat!
Wansheng Madman’s body froze, as the Cleansing Evil Sword shot out from his forehead. With a turn it returned to Shi Xiaole’s hand, its dark golden blade spotless, righteous and imposing.
