Chapter 161: Chapter 161: 50 Consecutive Wins (Part 1)
Under the glow of the setting sun, a group of people walked into Dark Alley.
At the head was an elderly man, unremarkable and unnoticed. However, when the Martial World’s people around them saw the young man in the yellow garb beside the old man, they froze in place.
"’Yellow Dragon Talent’ Xiang Mingzhen, I have seen him before."
"Starry Sect has finally arrived."
The Starry Sect was one of the first-class forces in the Floating River Area and also a member of the Qingxue Alliance. As the Iron Bone Sect had issued the Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order, they naturally had to send someone. However, due to the distance, they had only arrived today.
"Mingzhen, according to you, that young man is slightly better than you?"
The elderly man was the Grand Elder of the Starry Sect. The fact that he personally led the team showed the importance the Starry Sect placed on this matter.
"Back then, in Dongfang Haoran’s cave, he was a bit stronger than me. I don’t know about now."
Xiang Mingzhen was a modest gentleman. He had promised Ling Tianyu not to divulge the fact that he had been defeated by Shi Xiaole. Hence, he could only subtly hint at Shi Xiaole’s strength.
The Grand Elder of the Starry Sect nodded and said, "On the way here, I heard that this young man had already achieved nine consecutive victories. His strength is indeed not weak. However, you have made great progress recently, and you have never dueled with him. You must not belittle yourself."
Xiang Mingzhen quickly nodded in agreement.
In his heart, he was eagerly looking forward to seeing whether he could now defeat Shi Xiaole.
At the other end of Dark Alley, people were also flocking in, yet they were permeated with a dense murderous intent.
At the forefront was a man with a cold face and a fierce appearance. It was Jiang Zhenglin, the leader of the Whale Lake Gang, also known as the ’Whale Lake Evil Dragon’.
Given the distance between Whale Lake and Zhongshan City, Jiang Zhenglin had journeyed at incredible speed, which showed how deeply he hated Shi Xiaole.
"Leader, I have found out that the young man hasn’t battled for several days."
A skinny middle-aged man whispered to his subordinates before approaching Jiang Zhenglin.
"He can’t hide for long. Hmph! I want to see him become a cripple, thrown out of Dark Alley, and finally torn to pieces with my own eyes."
Jiang Zhenglin smiled cruelly.
Sometimes, he could only hate that the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform set a rule prohibiting high-level individuals from suppressing those with lower level during battles. Otherwise, he would find it incredibly delightful to personally cripple Shi Xiaole.
As for the victim being weaker, there are no such considerations in the underworld.
Apart from the Starry Sect and Whale Lake Gang, the Flying Flower Sect where Ye Linglong belonged, the Iron Spear Hall where Ling Tianyu stood, and other first-class sects also arrived over the next few days.
Among the four top sects of the Floating River Area, two were members of the Qingxue Alliance. However, these two sects were quite low-key, entering Dark Alley only at late night, without alarming anyone.
Faced with this situation, the several inns in Dark Alley were naturally overjoyed.
After all, not many people in the martial art world could afford the accommodation. Most of those who had been following Shi Xiaole sneaked out of Dark Alley surreptitiously at night and returned during the day, gaining no profit for the innkeepers.
Now that these sects had arrived, business was booming.
Shi Xiaole knew nothing about all these. After he had advanced his ’Man-Sword Unity’ Realm to the mid-phase, he continued to practice the Moon Concealing Sword Technique tirelessly.
This training session was even faster than before, and many technical difficulties in the swordsmanship were resolved effortlessly.
Shi Xiaole was not surprised at all.
’Man-Sword Unity’ Realm was purely a swordsmanship realm. With the advancement of the swordsmanship realm, it was only natural that his sword technique practice would speed up. On the contrary, the more he practiced the sword techniques, the more beneficial it was to improve his ’Man-Sword Unity’. When both supplemented each other, it was hard not to make progress.
Only then did Shi Xiaole truly feel the benefits of ’Man-Sword Unity’, no wonder so many swordsmen were eagerly striving for it.
Under normal circumstances, it would take Shi Xiaole at least several months to cultivate a second-class inferior swordsmanship to a small accomplishment. But now, he had achieved a small accomplishment in practicing the Moon Concealing Sword Technique in just seven days.
"This sword technique focuses on ’concealing’. It seems fictitious, but also substantial. It fits perfectly with the Chaotic Intent Realm."
Shi Xiaole’s surprise was still ahead.
Due to the uniqueness of the Chaotic Intent Realm, it could easily integrate with third-class martial arts. However, for second-class martial arts, matching becomes significantly difficult.
The Blood Battle Ten Forms was a case in point.
But Shi Xiaole found that integrating the Chaotic Intent Realm into the Moon Concealing Sword Technique was way easier than the Blood Battle Ten Forms. After a few practices, he had gained a lot of insights.
"I should go out and practice now."
Shi Xiaole had never liked doing things behind closed doors. Only by combining real battles and comprehension could he make faster progress.
Inexplicably, even he himself hadn’t noticed that his attitude toward the current crisis had changed.
The next day, under the radiant sunshine,
Nearly half of the seats on the Gold Silver Jade Copper Platform were occupied. This was still the result of Dark Alley secretly preventing more people from entering. Otherwise, if they truly let all the people come in, the crowd of martial arts enthusiasts could have crowded Dark Alley to the bursting point.
"He’s here!"
Someone suddenly pointed at the figure appearing on the stairs, his voice filled with excitement.
Many people had waited in the audience seats for several days, and seeing the time, they thought Shi Xiaole wouldn’t come today, but unexpectedly, he did.
In an instant, countless pairs of eyes looked over. There were looks of surprise, hatred, scrutiny, and so on.
At the same time, many disciples of various sects left the audience seats at high speed and to report back to their inns. Naturally, those big figures from the sects would not sit here all day like ordinary martial arts practitioners, just waiting.
When Shi Xiaole arrived, there was a bronze-level arena battle going on, which ended after a while.
"Young Hero Shi, you have already achieved nine wins in a row. Are you going to continue today?"
Ignoring others, the white-haired old man looked directly at Shi Xiaole, inwardly relieved that the young man had finally arrived.
"May I trouble you with the arrangement, sir."
Seeing no one else intends to make a move, Shi Xiaole flips into the arena, his posture graceful.
"No trouble at all, serving each challenger is my duty."
Amidst laughter, the old man in white makes a gesture towards the back passageway.
The next moment, a relatively beautiful woman walks out.
"I can’t believe it’s her, she looks like a flower from afar, but up close she’s full of scars. This woman can’t be easy to deal with."
"Although A Flower only has the third level of Qi Absorption, she has killed more than a dozen peak practitioners at the sixth level of Qi Absorption. She is dangerous."
Crowds from the Martial World are excited.
As Shi Xiaole has won nine straight victories, his power is intriguing. Now that Dark Alley has sent out A Flower, the situation is bound to be compelling.
"Despite the Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order on Young Hero Shi, he remains so calm. I can’t help but admire him."
A Flower, slim and with delicate features, unfortunately, the freckles on her face cover her beauty, chuckles softly.
"Life is but a game, the most important thing is to enjoy it."
Shi Xiaole speaks indifferently.
A Flower is taken aback; she did not expect such words to come from a sixteen-year-old boy. "Young Hero Shi, perhaps we could have a chat."
Shi Xiaole smiles, neither wholeheartedly nor dismissively, "Chatting with a woman who wants to trap me?"
A Flower is shocked.
Almost as soon as she finishes speaking, she feels her head buzz and staggers backward, her face pale. "Young Hero Shi, I admit defeat!"
Few know that A Flower has a rare Pupil Skill talent. It is on account of her unforeseeable Pupil Skill that she has been able to kill many martial arts masters.
But she did not expect that the young man opposite would have such a strong will, not only discerning her intentions but even rebounding her Pupil Skill.
What kind of monster is this?
A Flower probably doesn’t know that if she hadn’t merely intended to stun Shi Xiaole with her Pupil Skill, rather than kill him, she would be more than just lying on the ground now.
"What happened? Is it over already?"
"It seems that A Flower tried to use some kind of trick, but it was discovered."
Some of those close by vaguely guess what’s going on, though they don’t dare confirm it.
Just like that, amidst everyone’s confusion, Shi Xiaole achieves his tenth straight victory.
Meanwhile, a somewhat hurried footsteps sound from the back of the audience stand.
"This young man is Shi Xiaole?"
The Grand Elder of the Starry Sect looks toward the stage, and when Xiang Mingzhen confirms it, the elder scrutinizes Shi Xiaole, then nods to himself.
It is said that one judges a person by his demeanor. Although it’s just the back of him, Shi Xiaole gives the Grand Elder a very different impression.
"Shi, you mangy dog!"
The members of the Whale Lake Gang have also arrived.
Jiang Zhenglin clenches his fist, his knuckles cracking. If not for the weighty presence of Dark Alley, he really wants to go down immediately and kill Shi Xiaole to avenge Xue Ang.
"Is that him?"
Above the opposing spectator stands, a pretty middle-aged woman asks in a complex tone.
"Master, it’s him."
The young woman beside her carrying a pair of swords nods. She is the ’Double-bladed Jade Girl’ Ye Linglong.
Jiang Zhenglin had already discreetly informed Ye Linglong’s master -- the Sect Master of the Flying Flower Sect, ’Lotus of the Blade’ Shi Weiwei, that Shi Xiaole was the murderer.
Shi Weiwei has mixed feelings.
Indeed, she had a history with Jiang Zhenglin, but it was because of a sinister plot that she had Xue Ang. Plus, considering Xue Ang’s behavior over the years, she didn’t genuinely like her illegitimate son.
Even because of the status, she regarded him as a stain in her life.
But after all, he is her son. Otherwise, Shi Weiwei wouldn’t have reminded Ye Linglong not to have a conflict with Xue Ang.
Seeing the murderer of her son in person, Shi Weiwei’s heart surges. In the end, she decides privately that, if given the chance, she won’t let Shi Xiaole go, but she will not be the first to make a move.
It wasn’t long before the masters of the Iron Spear Hall, Will Sect, and other top sects all arrived, one by one sitting in the front row, which their disciples had already secured.
"I want to see what’s so extraordinary about this young man named Shi."
Sitting in an inconspicuous place in the audience stand are a few youngsters filled with pride.
They are disciples of the Xiaoxiang Gate, one of the four top sects in the Floating River Area.
Due to the pressure of the Rivers and Lakes Assassination Order, the Xiaoxiang Gate had no choice but to send their experts here. But, a mere Shi Xiaole is not qualified to have the elders of Xiaoxiang Gate deal with him.
So, some of the Xiaoxiang Gate’s experts are still practicing in the inn. Only a few disciples rushed over.
On the other side, it is the same with the Red Sword Pavilion.
Amidst the gaze of thousands, Shi Xiaole’s eleventh opponent steps onto the stage.
