Chapter 1283: Chapter 1281: Acquired the Method
Shi Xiaole’s first destination was none other than the Life-and-Death Unfounded Cave.
Of the Ten Great Dangerous Places, it was the most hazardous yet also the most wondrous. Moreover, by now, Shi Xiaole could somewhat guess the identity of the person hidden at the deepest part of the Life-and-Death Unfounded Cave.
Therefore, he had to go.
Above the clouds, a figure traveled instantly to the ends of the earth, fast as lightning. In a moment, the figure suddenly stopped and descended towards the ground below.
An abandoned island in the sea came into view. At all times, the island was permeated with a magical magnetic field that could disrupt one’s mental power.
It was here that Shi Xiaole and Xia Yunxi formed a profound connection.
Fortuitous like an enlightened heart, Shi Xiaole walked past, the magnetic field swirling around him, yet unable to affect him in the slightest. From afar, he saw a Cold Pool.
Perhaps due to the surge in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the temperature of the Cold Pool had dropped many times compared to the past. Shi Xiaole estimated that even Martial Artists of the Dragon Gate Realm wouldn’t be able to approach within thirty feet of it.
With a light leap.
Shi Xiaole arrived at the bottom of the Cold Pool, where the temperature was even more exaggerated, enough to deter ordinary Earth Immortals of the Divine Border Realm.
The Demon-suppressing Bed was just as cold as before, and beneath the bed, wisps of demonic energy were leaking out.
Upon careful observation, one would find that the Demon-suppressing Bed had been lifted several inches, which meant that the demon suppressed underneath it was close to breaking free.
With a slight smile, Shi Xiaole lifted his palm in a gesture.
Boom!
The Demon-suppressing Bed suddenly rose ten feet high, massive amounts of demonic energy exploded out, followed by a crazed and violent laughter, "I’m finally free! You, who suppressed me for hundreds of years, I will not be at peace until I’ve taken my revenge!"
The former Shi Xiaole, who had only seen the suppressor’s eyes, shook in terror, but now, he watched as if he were watching a clown perform, allowing the other to act wildly.
The demon obviously sensed something wrong. His gaze shot over, first changing in color, and then he said with great joy, "Shi Xuanzhong, it’s you again. After suffering for hundreds of years, I never expected I would have my revenge so soon!"
Shi Xiaole said, "Do you really think you broke the seal on your own?"
The demon hadn’t even responded when he felt a sharp pain in his head, and in the next moment, he lost consciousness.
"Turns out to be an extraterrestrial creature who cultivated demonic arts, hmm?"
With a thought, the demon vanished into ashes. Shi Xiaole looked up and suddenly saw a red pearl embedded at the bottom of the Demon-suppressing Bed, its style, size, and luster all strangely familiar.
Apart from the color, it was identical to the five pearls he had acquired.
"The Array System here was probably set by mother. Was it a coincidence that she left this pearl behind?"
The Seven-Colored Divine Pearls, the key to opening East Victory Township, were of no great use now, but still, Shi Xiaole picked up the red pearl and then swiftly left the place.
He did not take the Demon-suppressing Bed with him. The fate of the world had its needs, and it was better left for its true fated one.
Utilizing the connection of the Ancestral Altar beyond the heavens, Shi Xiaole arrived at the Life-and-Death Unfounded Cave the very same day and once again plunged into the gray currents.
One quarter of a 2-hour period.
Two quarters of a 2-hour period.
Three quarters of a 2-hour period.
The former Dusty Three Elders had stayed in the gray current for only one quarter of a 2-hour period, and it had nearly cost them their lives. Shi Xiaole endured three quarters of a 2-hour period and was still as lively as a dragon.
But it seemed the gray current had no limit, and the further he went, the harder it became for Shi Xiaole until, after half a 2-hour period, he had no choice but to retreat.
"Last time, Heishi brought me here, using the power of Sky Origin. It appears I overestimated my own abilities!"
Shi Xiaole’s expression was extremely ugly.
Unable to enter the Life-and-Death Unfounded Cave meant no communication with the Holy Monarch, which cut off his safest and perhaps most convenient path to advancement!
Unwilling to accept defeat, Shi Xiaole made many attempts, but all ended in failure. And with his current level of Life-and-Death Martial Arts, he couldn’t even begin to unravel the gray currents.
Despite all the helplessness and disappointment, after trying consecutively for several days, Shi Xiaole had no choice but to leave the place.
There were still nine dangerous places left. The Colorless Realm was elusive and intangible, and Mirage City’s traces were hard to find; even knowing they were connected to the Overlapping Land, he wouldn’t be able to find it right away.
He could head to Soul Losing Hill, but while it was easy to enter, it was hard to emerge from, and Shi Xiaole didn’t have that many Limitless Pills. He wasn’t familiar with the other dangerous places either. After some consideration, he decided to go to Heavenly Desire Origin first.
Returning to the South Sea.
In the distant mountains, a fierce battle was underway, the combatants being none other than Ling Wenlong and another white-haired old man.
The white-haired old man was the Gongyang Ancestor of the Gongyang Clan from the ten great families of the South Sea. Shi Xiaole recognized him because this man had attacked the husband and wife, Shi Xuanzhong, years ago.
After learning the identity of his foe from Ling Wenyu’s mouth, Ling Wenlong launched a vigorous revenge campaign. Shi Xiaole didn’t intervene.
First, aside from Black White Master, the other four were not a match for Ling Wenlong.
Second, this old man had suffered for many years and needed to take revenge with his own hands to break his inner demons and not affect his future.
After a bitter battle, Ling Wenlong shattered Gongyang Ancestor’s cranial vault with a palm. With cloudy old eyes, he looked up to the sky and laughed, "Yu Ji, your father has avenged another of your foes for you. There are only two left. Rest assured, they won’t live much longer!"
The powers of the Gongyang Clan were furious but dared not speak out. It was not Ling Wenlong they feared, but the young man behind him; offending him would spell doom for the entire Gongyang Clan.
Without lingering for too long, and without alerting anyone, Shi Xiaole rushed towards the Overlapping Land, and after some searching, he finally entered the depths of the Heavenly Desire Origin.
Three terrifying presences surged all at once.
Among them, one was filled with intense killing intent, heading straight for Shi Xiaole, but it was scattered by another presence when it was about to reach within ten thousand meters.
"Sky Evil Lord, he is the son of the Holy Monarch."
A loud voice rang out.
"If he weren’t a descendant of that person, I would not even deign to make a move."
"Heh heh, very well, then you can do the killing."
An aura filled with murderous intent enveloped the sky, but never actually fell.
In the depths of the black mist forest, within a pitch-black ink-like cold pool, a fierce head emerged—none other than the Sky Evil Lord, who had faked his death six times (Chapter 1052).
Now, as the spiritual energy of the world was nearing saturation, even if he could not leave, at least within the Heavenly Desire Origin, the Sky Evil Lord could attack without any misgivings.
But he did not dare.
Just now, he was merely infuriated and acted rashly. However, once he calmed down and remembered the invincible strength of that person from the past, even someone as powerful as the Sky Evil Lord had to consider the consequences of killing Shi Xiaole.
Indeed, after faking his death six times, his power had increased substantially, but would that person merely stand still?
He had heard that the person had created some kind of incredible technique for creating avatars. While the Sky Evil Lord viewed the success rate as nearly zero, he didn’t dare to act recklessly without verification.
"At most, in a year or two, I shall endure. As long as I confirm that the Shi family has not progressed, or even regressed, I shall exterminate him and everyone around him!"
The Sky Evil Lord withdrew all his aura.
Looking in the direction of the black mist forest, Shi Xiaole secretly felt fortunate for his swift escape back then, for it was there that he experienced his first Vigorous Air split.
"Holy Young Master, what brings you here?"
The voice that previously stopped the Sky Evil Lord asked. The owner of the voice was known as Dream Emperor, who was a renowned Supreme Lord 160,000 years ago.
When still in the Eight States, the Lan and Huang families would call Shi Xiaole by this title, but the significance of the two Holy Young Masters was worlds apart.
Shi Xiaole spoke respectfully, "I do not wish to conceal from my seniors that a great calamity is approaching, and yet, I am in dire need of a method for spiritual refinement. Therefore, I have come to seek assistance from both seniors."
There were three people present. The Sky Evil Lord would definitely not help him, so Shi Xiaole simply ignored him.
"Hmph!"
The Sky Evil Lord chuckled coldly.
Shi Xiaole’s life force was less than a hundred years old, and to start refining his spiritual power now truly marked him as a rare prodigy of a millennium. But it was simply too late. With only a year or two until the great calamity, even achieving five percent refinement would be difficult.
The other two were silent.
Through Shi Xiaole’s words, their already pessimistic mood became even heavier.
Even Shi Xiaole was seeking a method for refinement, indicating how weak the martial civilization outside must be. Were there any leading figures at all?
Indeed, it seemed they, the old folks, would have to face the great calamity themselves!
"The Holy Monarch showed me kindness in the past. This is the refinement method I practice, I give it to you," said one of them after some thought. A beam of light shot towards Shi Xiaole and stopped in front of him, astonishingly in the form of a leaf.
This leaf was excessively magical; under his gaze, it displayed various characters and mysteries observable only to Shi Xiaole.
The other person as well emitted a ray of light, a drop of crystal-clear water which seemed to contain a small world. Layers of aura diffused from it, almost instantly putting Shi Xiaole into a state of comprehension.
"I thank the seniors for the generous gift of these techniques. Your kindness will never be forgotten. I will surely repay it in the future!" Shi Xiaole said respectfully as he bowed.
"There’s no need. We have no disciples, and it’s as if through you our legacy continues. Besides, not long from now, perhaps the entire East Victory civilization will no longer exist. It serves no purpose to treasure these as if they were pristine heirlooms."
Dream Emperor and his colleague didn’t take Shi Xiaole’s words to heart. Their actions today were purely out of respect for the Holy Monarch.
Frankly speaking, by the time Shi Xiaole had the ability to repay them, who knew what East Victory would look like or whether they would still exist?
"Overestimating your capabilities!"
The Sky Evil Lord scoffed openly, sparing no courtesy.
Ignoring the thoughts of the three, Shi Xiaole inquired about the locations of the other dangerous places and easily left the Heavenly Desire Origin, guided by the densest concentration of desire.
Next, he searched for other perilous locations while diligently studying the refinement techniques from Dream Emperor and his colleague.
Under a mountain of pressure, Shi Xiaole focused like never before, wandering between the two vastly different essences. With his solid foundation, he learned quickly and soon mastered the essentials.
A month later, Shi Xiaole found the Rushing Sky Valley, where he encountered the Chaotic World Blade Emperor and naturally came away full-handed.
Once the Chaotic World Blade Emperor understood Shi Xiaole’s purpose, he warned him to be cautious but did not dissuade him. No one currently dared to harm the son of the Holy Monarch.
Afterward, Shi Xiaole did not delay and successively visited The Ends of the Earth, Farewell Pavilion, and Mirage City, among other places.
Some Supreme Lords were generous and easily gave away their refinement methods, while others were indifferent, paying no attention whatsoever. After all, what of it if he was the Holy Monarch’s son? Moreover, some who were adversaries were already being polite by not attacking him.
Shi Xiaole had anticipated this and didn’t mind.
Apart from obtaining some refinement methods, the greatest reward for Shi Xiaole was entering the Immortal Palace. The vital aura there was so intense that it greatly benefited his Life-and-Death martial arts.
In the end, Shi Xiaole simply stayed there, refining his spiritual power while improving his Life-and-Death martial arts.
The former was a spiritual technique, the latter a martial technique; he aimed to integrate both in the shortest time possible to prepare for advancing into the Sky Origin Realm!
