Chapter 1314: Chapter 1312: Achieving the Supreme Lord (Part 2)
In a cave hundreds of thousands of meters deep, an undetected breath fluctuated, strong at times and weak at others, like an unpredictable super volcano that, once erupted, would surely turn the heavens and the earth upside down.
Shi Xiaole sat cross-legged, completely immersed in the tens of thousands of methods for breakthrough, extracting their essence and discarding the dross. He intended to combine the lifeblood of all the unparalleled geniuses of this universe into one, creating a method of breakthrough uniquely his own!
Day after day passed.
Outside the deep cave, on the plains, leaves fell in abundance, flocks of geese flew southward, and, unbeknownst to when, a flurry of heavy snow began to fall, covering a ten-thousand-mile radius.
When the snow melted, hints of green slowly stretched out from between the rocks. Flower buds began to draw threads and then crawled over half of the plain; myriad flowers bloomed, with butterflies and bees shuttling and dancing among them.
Nearby hunters, bringing their children to hunt, discovered, to their surprise, that there was a place where lots of medicinal herbs grew, making them feel much clearer just by being close.
The lively hunter immediately picked these herbs and took them home for his child to consume. Before leaving, fearing discovery by others, he even deliberately piled up many rocks to block off the area.
Spring went and came, year after year.
Inside the deep cave, Shi Xiaole’s body was covered in dust; due to neglect, his hair had grown to waist length and dragged on the ground.
His aura became more and more indistinct until, at last, he stopped breathing entirely, as if he had turned into a lifeless statue.
Who knew how much time had passed.
"It’s still not enough."
At a certain moment, Shi Xiaole suddenly opened his eyes.
With his astonishing understanding, he had already penetrated the secrets of over ten thousand methods of breakthrough. Saying it was not enough did not mean his comprehension was lacking; rather, the condition before the breakthrough was not yet his strongest state.
"My Vigorous Air has only split twice. Once I step into the Sky Origin Realm, there will be no more chances for it to split."
Generally speaking, the more powerful the vortex system, the more Vigorous Air it can hold, and the fewer the number of times it splits. Ninety-nine percent of the Supreme Lords in the world split their Vigorous Air only once before breaking through.
Because their Vigorous Air Vortex is far superior to those of the Martial Emperor of the Void Origin Realm.
Only a very few unparalleled Supreme Lords, despite even stronger vortex systems, still split twice. And to Shi Xiaole’s knowledge, Shi Xuanzhong had split three times, a unique achievement in the East Victory world, and across the sixteen worlds.
After sitting idly for a moment, Shi Xiaole temporarily put aside the integration of methods and began to split his Vigorous Air. His method was crude and simple, forcibly integrating Vigorous Air and creating new Vigorous Air Vortices within his meridian channels.
Boom boom boom...
Bursts of blood sprayed out, and in the blink of an eye, Shi Xiaole became a bloody figure.
But with his complete understanding of the Life-Death Martial Path, he didn’t care about such injuries. Let alone lacerations and gashes, even if he were blown to only a head, as long as he hadn’t overexerted himself, he could recover instantly.
In this vast world, probably only Shi Xiaole dared to be so capricious. Even the old men on Moral Mount couldn’t do the same. When it came to healing injuries, the Power Martial Path was ultimately a bit lacking.
A hundred times.
A thousand times.
Even ten thousand times.
...
Shi Xiaole completely lost track of how many times he had failed. Several times, even his crown chakra was blown off. But under his cold and calm attempts, one day, he finally split his first entirely new Vigorous Air Vortex.
With one comes two, and accumulating past experience, Shi Xiaole continued with his efforts.
As his body sprayed blood mist, radiating Vigorous Air Vortices surged from his meridian channels, making his aura more and more robust. The entire void of the cave seemed unable to bear it and on the verge of collapse.
Bang!
With a final loud noise, the dense and numerous Vigorous Air Vortices covered Shi Xiaole’s whole body. Carefully counted, there were altogether five hundred and eighty-one, an increase of sixty-five from before.
How to describe Shi Xiaole at this moment?
Despite being bloodied and severely injured, the majesty he radiated was simply too profound. A single glance, and beams of light crisscrossed through the void as if countless Heavenly Swords were slashing about, so powerful they were peerless!
"The third split was successful, but I still haven’t felt there is no more progress. Perhaps, I can attempt a fourth split."
Shi Xiaole, unsatisfied still, began another round of self-torturous cultivation.
This time he was in an even more miserable state, blown up to the point where his head was not whole, with barely half remaining. Although it wasn’t fatal, the pain from each explosion was enough to deter the average person.
Yet Shi Xiaole remained unfazed. The physical pain could never outweigh the spiritual ecstasy brought by self-improvement. He aspired to surpass all others, even surpass himself, to tread an invincible path!
The explosions underground lasted several years.
The cave walls and the ground within a hundred meters radius were directly stained red – that was Shi Xiaole’s blood. His Vigorous Air Vortices went from five hundred and eighty-one, slowly and arduously increasing until they reached five hundred and ninety-nine.
Boom!
Six hundred.
It seemed to be a threshold no one had ever touched, humanity’s third reserve of potential, yet Shi Xiaole had crossed it. In that instant, he felt he could go even further.
Fifth split!
Six hundred and one.
Six hundred and two.
Six hundred and three.
...
When the Vigorous Air Vortices reached a staggering six hundred and thirty-six, Shi Xiaole finally sensed exhaustion and could no longer advance even an inch.
The boundless spiritual energy of heaven and earth formed an immense loophole, crazily tilting downward, and submerging Shi Xiaole inside the cave. The storm of spiritual energy expanded the cave by more than double its original size.
Two periods later.
Shi Xiaole was entirely restored, with pitch-black hair, and white patches at his temples. His eyes seemed to contain the stars above, and his whole body emitted an aura that made gods and spirits tremble.
At this moment, Shi Xiaole had truly reached the pinnacle of his own Void Origin Realm. If one must describe his strength, it could only be said that he had an inexplicable confidence to confront a Supreme Lord of the weakest kind head-on!
"This place is no longer safe; it’s time to find somewhere else," he thought.
The recent disturbance had been significant. For safety, Shi Xiaole immediately flashed away, silently appearing tens of thousands of miles away. With another flash, he had reached The Ends of the Earth, leaving behind no trace.
"Who is this person?"
Only tens of breaths apart in time, a mysterious one-eyed old man appeared where Shi Xiaole had been cultivating. Sensing the residual aura, his face turned extremely grave.
"Could it be that my Ming Ancient World is about to give birth to a new Supreme Lord?"
The one-eyed old man muttered to himself.
The Ming Ancient World, also known as the Celestial lands, never lacked peerless geniuses.
To the one-eyed old man’s knowledge, there were three people in this generation who could become Supreme Lords in the next few years, with the youngest not even a thousand years old.
"It must be so."
For a moment, the name Shi Xuanzhong flashed through the one-eyed old man’s mind, then he shook his head.
Such figures, perhaps one might not emerge even in tens of thousands of years; it couldn’t be a stowaway from another world. Furthermore, each of the Ten Great Dangerous Places was guarded by a Supreme Lord, and if someone were to come out, it wouldn’t be without any disturbance.
In the midst of an ice-capped snowy plain.
Shi Xiaole stopped and chose the very center of it to commence his final breakthrough!
Roar...
A vibration akin to a dragon’s roar resounded as Vigorous Air solidified into layers around Shi Xiaole. With every tremor, tiny glowing particles would appear.
To merge Vigorous Air with mental power, one must first break both down to a more primal material, achieving unity—this is called "Dispersing Power to Divine Transformation."
The process was extremely dangerous, for if the fusion failed, it meant both Vigorous Air and mental power would be completely wasted. Hence, there were no Supreme Lords who failed to break through, only those who died in the attempt.
If one did not succeed, they would pay with their life.
As Vigorous Air continued to disintegrate, the resulting shockwaves spread out, thundering across snow-capped peaks. Suddenly, an infinite avalanche surged forth, covering half the sky and terrifying explorers who witnessed this spectacle, scattering their souls and spirits.
Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air was too powerful. Even a mere ripple caused an unprecedented avalanche. However, it also greatly masked the noise of Shi Xiaole’s breakthrough, extending the time before his discovery.
Dispersing Power took Shi Xiaole half a month. Diamonds-like lights emerged around him; even the tiniest one, the size of a grain of rice, was filled with terrifyingly destructive power.
Next was the "Divine Transformation."
"Divine Transformation" was even more complex than "Dispersing Power," especially since it involved mental power. A single mistake could undermine the foundation, even if the breakthrough was successful. Hence, utmost care was necessary.
But Shi Xiaole was quick.
Because he knew he didn’t have much time. If he took a leisurely pace, his breakthrough could be brutally interrupted midway, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
Time slowly passed.
Shi Xiaole was like walking a tightrope, a slight misstep might plunge him into an abyss, yet he had to maintain a swift pace, betting his life on it.
Far in the sea of clouds, two figures unexpectedly encountered each other, both racing towards the snowy region.
"Poison Dragon Supreme Lord, did you sense it too?"
This was a burly man wielding a long blade with a black scar on his face. Under his feet, the blade’s aura churned incessantly, shredding the sea of clouds into pieces.
"Seven Evils Blades Supreme Lord, you arrive at just the right time. Days ago, near Heavenly City, I discovered someone breaking through. The strength of their aura was unlike anything I’ve encountered in my life."
The one-eyed old man, who was the Poison Dragon Supreme Lord, spoke coldly.
"You suspect it’s the one in the snowy region?"
Seven Evils Blades Supreme Lord narrowed his eyes.
He understood Poison Dragon Supreme Lord’s fear as he felt it too. The person in the snowy region had not yet broken through to the Sky Origin Realm, but the aura emitted put immense pressure on him!
It was clear that once the person broke through, their power would be immense, perhaps even surpassing the recently ascended Limitless Sword Sovereign!
"You and I both know that the talents of those three young geniuses, though once in a hundred thousand years, still fall short of the Limitless Sword Sovereign."
Poison Dragon Supreme Lord said.
"Perhaps, he’s some genius we’re unaware of," Seven Evils Blades Supreme Lord replied.
Poison Dragon Supreme Lord let out a cold sneer, "In the circle of Supreme Lords, there are many secrets. If such a person truly exists in my Ming Ancient World, even the Celestial Master would be alarmed, how could they remain hidden until now? Besides, I suspect that person left early to hide from me a few days ago."
"You’re saying..."
Seven Evils Blades Supreme Lord’s face was thick with killing intent, his presence causing the very sky to hiss. He grunted, "We’ll see soon enough. If they’re from another world, show no mercy!"
The last three words echoed through the sky, causing the snowflakes within the snowy region to explode outward. Clearly, the two were very close to the snowy region.
