Chapter 168: Chapter 168: The Hottest Person
Yi Nanxiong, who had integrated the Diamond Mentality, not only increased his physical defense, offensive power, and speed, but also caused a resounding rumble in the void whenever he struck. His powerful palm force arrogantly pushed away the air in front, briefly creating a vacuum.
"The power of this palm is definitely more fierce than the killer move of the first ring master."
"It’s not that simple, this palm technique contains many subsequent changes, and Shi Xiaole can’t escape the range of its force, be he resists or dodges."
"No wonder Yi Nanxiong is so confident."
Everyone suddenly understood, seeing so many possibilities in his palm technique.
"Mr. Shi, I need to cleanse my own humiliation."
In mid-air, Yi Nanxiong still wasn’t satisfied, he almost drained all the internal power in his meridians. His thick palm force expanded to the point that even he himself could no longer control it, it forcefully leaked around.
Without any change in expression, Shi Xiaole held his sword in his right hand, rushed towards the opponent, and suddenly swung his sword across the air.
With a "hiss"!
A clear, green sword light flashed in the sky and then disappeared. Under Shi Xiaole’s control, it grazed past Yi Nanxiong’s body. The surging palm force was directly cut in half, exploding to the left and right, blasting the blue stone slabs on the ground into debris.
At this time, the sound of the sword rang only after the palm force had preemptively attacked, but it wasn’t faster than Shi Xiaole’s sword.
Splat!
Yi Nanxiong’s left shoulder was torn open, bleeding profusely, the shocking wound caught everyone’s eyes.
"Impossible!"
"This..."
The whole audience was dumbfounded, staring with their eyes wide.
"In the mid-stage of the Sword Realm!"
After the silence, someone shouted. It was the Grand Elder of the Will Sect. Even he himself didn’t realize that his voice was trembling violently, to an uncontrollable extent.
In the initial nine games, Shi Xiaole always used the initial stage of the Sword Realm to fight his opponents. He even used his opponents to hone his sword skills, so obviously, hecouldn’t have comprehended the middle stage of the realm then. But now he has, what does this imply?
The Grand Elder of the Will Sect thought of something, Shangguan Yan thought of it, and the other swordsmen also thought of it.
The scene fell deathly silent for a moment, the only sound left was the sharp intake of breath.
Wei Renhao’s face was especially ugly.
Most swordsmen, even if they understood the Sword Realm, could not hope to advance before the age of twenty. After all, it requires a large number of battle accumulations.
What was the deal with Shi Xiaole? Who could tell him how the opponent trained?
"I don’t believe it, I haven’t lost yet!"
Yi Nanxiong looked at the blood on his body, then at Shi Xiaole, who seemed to have never drawn his sword. His eyes were red, and he was mad with rage. He disregarded the fact that he would aggravate his wound, gathered all his strength to strike again with a palm. The mighty and vast shadow of his palm covered the sky, causing the air to explode with rage.
"It’s useless."
Without even lifting his eyes, Shi Xiaole swung his sword. Very few people saw the trajectory of the sword. They only knew that when Yi Nanxiong was sent flying again, the sword was already in its sheath.
The initial stage of the Sword Realm is just the entry stage of the Sword Realm. The improvement it brings to one’s abilities at this stage is trivial, mostly to lay the foundation for the future.
But reaching the middle stage, everything changes.
At this stage, a swordsman’s moves have reached a point where they are elusive and hard to trace. Unless you are a swordsman of the same realm, or have a much higher cultivation level, you will find it difficult to detect any flaw in a move.
Of course, the blow that defeated Yi Nanxiong was not only due to the employment of the Sword Realm, but also the killer move Landslide and Water Split. This was the cause of such a sensational effect.
"If you want to challenge me, you must first see your own capability."
Leaving behind those words, Shi Xiaole didn’t care about Yi Nanxiong, who had lost his soul, and strode away. The crowd automatically parted, creating a path for him. Many people had yet to come to their senses even after he had disappeared from view.
"Incredible! This boy’s strength exceeds everyone’s imagination."
"The difference between them, although they are both outstanding talents, is as vast as the heaven and earth."
Experts from various major martial arts schools, martial world adventurers were all stunned.
Not far off, many people who had heard the commotion rushed over. Once they saw the situation and learned what had happened, they were also dumbfounded.
Shortly after, news about the battle spread with a wave of shock across the martial world of the Floating River Area.
However, Shi Xiaole didn’t care.
After the Iron Bone Sect withdrew their extermination order, he had completely completed Task Six, earning a thousand reward points. Just as he was about to do the monthly draw, he unexpectedly drew blank.
Originally, Shi Xiaole had planned to stay in the Dark Alley for a while longer and rest, but as the crisis was resolved, he found himself unable to maintain a low profile.
Every day he went out, inexplicable people would come up to him to either converse or seek advice on martial arts problems. That was acceptable, but there were also many people with the ambition of making a name for themselves who openly wanted to challenge him, making him thoroughly annoyed.
Unbeknownst to Shi Xiaole, he had already become the hottest young talent in the martial world of the Floating River Area with the conclusion of the battle in the Dark Alley, overshadowing his peers with his prominence!
Nowadays, whether it was the martial world, martial arts schools, or noble clans, wherever martial artists were, from elegant Zen temples to common brothels, you could hear the name Shi Xiaole.
Handsome looks, noble demeanor, exceptional talent, extraordinary strength, cold character, all these made the mysterious young man in the green robe even more extraordinary, stimulating countless people’s nerves.
Unable to bear the nuisance any longer, one night, Shi Xiaole quietly left the Dark Alley.
...
Cloud Triangle, Feiyan City.
A group of people with murderous intent came to the Golden Phoenix Tower. The man at the front shouted, "Which one of you is Su Yanru, come out and die!"
"Audacious!"
"How dare you address our gang leader by name, who do you think you are?"
Inside the Golden Phoenix Tower, shadows swarmed and the sound of rushing wind followed. Soon after, many martial arts experts emerged from the doorway.
Ever since the demise of the Spring and Autumn Hall, the Golden Phoenix Tower had become the foremost force in the martial world of Feiyan City. When Shi Xiaole demonstrated his power at Snow Appreciation Pavilion, and singlehandedly smashed the Bloody Red Altar, the martial world of the Cloud Triangle was greatly shaken. The Golden Phoenix Tower had thus become a faction sought after by many skilled fighters.
These people understood that going at Shi Xiaole’s current pace, he harbors great potential to become a Xuanqi Realm master. By then, the rising tide will lift all boats, and the Golden Phoenix Tower could only be stronger, right?
You need to understand, even the top forces in the Cloud Triangle, are only ruled by Qi Absorption Ninth Tier masters.
Of course, this time frame might be long, and no one can predict the future. So the martial artists joining the Golden Phoenix Tower are primarily those at the peak of the Hidden Qi Realm, and a limited number of lower-level Qi Absorption practitioners.
However, Su Yanru and others were already quite satisfied with this outcome.
"Who are you people, who dare to act wildly in the Golden Phoenix Tower?"
The one speaking was a thin middle-aged man, one of the two Qi Absorption fifth tier masters of the Golden Phoenix Tower.
"Acting wildly?"
Opposite him, a man with thin eyes smirked. The man’s figure moved, and when he reappeared, he was in front of the thin middle-aged man, pressing a palm towards his chest.
The thin middle-aged man, terrified, immediately drew his sword to block.
The two fiercely battled. To the surprise of everyone in the Golden Phoenix Tower, their top expert, the thin middle-aged man, was not the skinny man’s match. After dozens of moves, he was slapped into vomiting blood and sent flying backward by the other’s palm.
"Idiot. Bring out Su Yanru, otherwise, today will be the day of Golden Phoenix Tower’s demise."
The man with thin eyes laughed wildly, triumph on his face.
He was a top-ranking fighter of the Whale Lake Gang, a mid-tier Qi Absorption sixth-rank practitioner, who was ordered by their gang leader to capture Su Yanru.
They couldn’t act against Shi Xiaole in the short term, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t go after his loved ones. To Jiang Zhenglin, torturing the people his enemy cared most about was the cruelest form of revenge.
"And you think you can cause our downfall?"
Just as everyone in the Golden Phoenix Tower was at a loss, a soft voice sounded. Then, amid the gust of perfume, three figures walked out from the doorway.
The Whale Lake Gang expert was instantly riveted by the woman in red in the center, unable to tear his eyes away.
The woman had callipygian curves, a slender waist, and irresistible charm exuded from her entire being. Even with a pout on her pretty face, that irresistible allure that went deep into her bones still set the hearts of the men in the room trembling.
Many of the Whale Lake Gang experts flushed, swallowing hard.
"So you’re Su Yanru, well, well. Not bad, not bad at all."
The thin-eyed man rubbed his hands as his desires surged. Before taking her back, he could have his way with her and let it be worth the trouble he went through to get here.
"Get your filthy eyes off me."
Su Yanru frowned, speaking coldly.
"Not only will I look, but I’ll also touch. What can you do about it!"
The thin-eyed man advanced once more, appearing in front of Su Yanru and reaching out to her as he had with the thin middle-aged man.
"Not good!"
The second and third leaders by her side were alarmed but they couldn’t catch up with the man’s speed. As for the other Golden Phoenix Tower experts, they could only watch. No one in the room was a match for the thin-eyed man.
"Dare to disrespect me, die!"
Su Yanru’s cold but pleasant voice sounded, and at the same time, a streak of knife radiance swept across the void.
Blood splattered.
The thin-eyed man fell to the ground with his eyes bulging in disbelief. Wasn’t it said that the Golden Phoenix Tower had no experts?
How could outsiders know, ever since Shi Xiaole left, Su Yanru committed herself to cultivating the second-tier superior martial arts, ’Irresistible to Men’.
As Shi Guanyin’s lifelong ultimate skill, ’Irresistible to Men’ combined the essence of Heavenly Martial nerves. Coupled with Su Yanru’s talent, after half a year of intense cultivation, her martial prowess far surpassed her previous standard.
"Someone, capture them all. I, your leader, want to personally investigate this."
After killing several more Qi Absorption Tier 5 experts, under the stunned gazes of the Golden Phoenix Tower’s many experts, Su Yanru departed leisurely.
Deprived of their spearhead, the group of Whale Lake Gang fighters lost their will to fight. Moreover, Su Yanru had intimidated them. Naturally, they were like caged animals and quickly collapsed across the line.
...
Inside a humble inn near the Dark Alley.
Shi Xiaole awakened from his meditation.
Ever since his cultivation reached the early stage of Qi Absorption Third Tier, his internal power was not weaker than an ordinary Qi Absorption Sixth Tier pinnacle expert. Once he mobilized his Purple Light Divine Skill, he was at least 50% stronger than an ordinary Qi Absorption Sixth Tier peak expert.
Now, Shi Xiaole’s only question was, how much gap remained between him and an ordinary Qi Absorption Seventh Tier expert. Was he incredibly close or, was he stronger?
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole got up and took a sip of tea. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.
Feeling a familiar presence, Shi Xiaole began to smile.
"Sect Master Shangguan, why have you come?"
Standing outside the door were three people, who turned out to be Sect Master Shangguan Xing of the Will Sect, the Grand Elder, and a kindly old stranger. With the strength of the Will Sect, it obviously wouldn’t be difficult to find him if they wanted to.
