Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Astonishing Strength (Begging for subscriptions, monthly tickets!)
One Qin Liang had died, and there were still twenty-two experts on the scene. Four of them were at the seventh tier of Qi absorption, eight were at the sixth tier, and the rest were at the fifth tier.
The full force of these people culminated in an attack whose strength was genuinely beyond words.
The booming sound was like a landslide, with their internal power mingling with the force of their striking airwaves. The empty space around Shi Xiaole felt as heavy as Mount Tai, seemingly poised to crush him from every direction.
Shi Xiaole, however, was not worried.
Through their previous clashes, he had a rough understanding of his own strength and was completely unfazed by his current predicament.
Stepping lightly, Shi Xiaole thrust his sword towards the east. The purple-tinted sword light was incredibly fierce. When it hit a particular point, his internal power and striking force vented directly, resulting in a resonant blast.
The short, fat old man and the four Peach Forest Sect experts on the eastern side were forced to retreat ten steps.
"How is this possible?"
The old man’s expression changed.
They were not pushed back by Shi Xiaole’s sword technique, but by their own offensive rebound. However, this result was undoubtedly more horrifying. The short, fat old man found it difficult to imagine what sort of eyesight and control this required.
As he repelled the eastern experts, Shi Xiaole leapt into the air.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
Qin Wuye and the others yelled, raising their hands to prepare for a second wave of attack.
"Who said I was fleeing?"
Stopping abruptly, Shi Xiaole’s sword moved faster than his words, striking at Qin Wuye. The latter was meeting him head-on with others. Little did he know, Shi Xiaole’s sword bend halfway and aimed at the indifferent middle-aged man on the southern side.
"Rascal, what good would such tricks do?"
The indifferent middle-aged man, who was also in the early period of the seventh tier of Qi absorption, was even more formidable than Qin Wuye. He pointed his left index finger, and high-speed, dull-grey internal energy beam shot out, making a piercing noise.
Those Peach Blossom Sect experts on the other side felt a chill down their spines. Even separated by ten meters, they could still feel the terror of the beam. If it hit them, it would definitely pierce through their bodies.
However, they were all taken aback by the sight before them.
For Shi Xiaole, with a swipe of his sword, had actually split the thin beam of internal energy in half, then twisted his body, pausing in the middle of the two halves, his left-hand drawing his knife, slashing a dazzling streak of snowflake-like knife light.
Blood Battle Ten Forms.
Shunt!
Shi Xiaole and the indifferent middle-aged man retreated at the same time.
With a perfect Fuyang Qi Skill and a great Purple Light Divine Skill, coupled with the advantages of various techniques and the capitalization on his flaws, Shi Xiaole’s strength is not weaker than those of the early Qi Absorption Seventh Tier experts.
"Kid, you’re dead!"
The indifferent middle-aged man suddenly laughed sinisterly, because at that moment, the others’ attacks were arriving. The tide of internal power and airwaves were hitting Shi Xiaole’s body like storm surf.
"You’re the one who’s dead."
Pure internal force and a powerful physique allowed Shi Xiaole to turn his internal power faster than the seventh-tier experts. Just when the indifferent middle-aged man had yet to build up his strength, Shi Xiaole, with his swords, charged again.
At the same time, a strange sheen lit up in his pupils, imbued with a frightening power that could bewilder others.
"What? Pupil skill?"
The indifferent middle-aged man’s heart quivered.
He was, after all, a Seventh Tier expert and had quickly reacted. But when high-ranking experts contest, it’s all about precious milliseconds. Just this little distraction had exposed all his weaknesses to Shi Xiaole.
With a swipe of his emotionless sword, he slashed outward.
The next moment.
A head was sent flying into the sky.
In terms of raw strength, Shi Xiaole could indeed match the indifferent middle-aged man. However, with the same strength, Shi Xiaole could exert force to the eleventh degree. What’s more, he also had the incredible talent for the Pupil Skill.
Of course, mainly the indifferent middle-aged man did not foresee this, otherwise he wouldn’t have been killed so easily.
"Brother Zhao!"
"He’s dead just like that?"
To this result, Shi Xiaole wasn’t surprised, while everyone else was stunned, unable to believe their eyes.
But the situation didn’t allow them to think too much, as Shi Xiaole’s attacks had arrived again. This time, it was a powerful knife technique.
Shunt!
"Everyone, don’t try to fight him head-on. Drag the battle out as long as possible," said the tall, thin man angrily.
Shi Xiaole was a powerful warrior, but his level was apparent. So, as long as they used the attrition warfare strategy, they could make his internal force run out, and then it would be at their disposal to butcher him.
Boom, boom, boom.
Three groups, led by Qin Wuye, the short-fat old man, and the tall thin man respectively, formed a triangle with Shi Xiaole in the middle to prevent him from escaping while they launched their attacks.
Under normal circumstances, Shi Xiaole would indeed be drained to death.
However.
With five golden bullets tucked between his fingers, Shi Xiaole mimed an attack, then threw them than towards the tall thin man.
These were the Thunder Bombs he had taken from Jiang Zhenglin.
"Damn mongrel."
This was Shi Xiaole’s all-out attack. With the short distance between them and his having the element of surprise, the tall thin man managed to knock away three bullets with his internal power. But the other two exploded right in front of him.
Boom...
In the deafening sound, flames burst and smoke filled the air, and the ground beneath them cracked with a web-like series of crevices.
The tall thin man was covered in blood. Staggering backward, a knife blade sent his head flying.
Qin Wuye and the short plump old man widened their eyes in shock, their hearts trembling.
They had arrived full of confidence, never expecting that two of their heavyweight masters would be taken down so quickly.
"You coward, can you only resort to such underhanded tricks?"
The angry retort came from the short plump old man.
"You have a mob bullying me and you have the nerve to complain?"
Shi Xiaole scoffed, opening up his stance and charging towards the group in front of him.
The four Qi Absorption seventh-tier experts were, to be honest, quite daunting, but with only two, he could come and go as he pleased, engaging or retreating without concern.
Seeing Shi Xiaole’s determination, both Qin Wuye and the short plump old man trembled with anger; their eyes reddening, they began to fight him all out.
Whoosh.
A dazzling sword-tip pierced the void, Shi Xiaole’s body seemed like a ghost, coming and going without a trace. His blade headed towards Qin Wuye’s face, and the moment the latter launched his attack, his shadow flickered and appeared next to the short plump old man, finally unleashing the sword technique he had prepared.
Among the two Qi Absorption seventh-tier masters, the short plump old man felt more dangerous to Shi Xiaole, so he decided to eliminate him first.
"You’re courting death, Green Ring Divine Skill!"
The short plump old man reacted with both shock and rage. A jade-green halo lit up around him. The halo was roughly three inches thick, as it slowly rotated, it gave one a sense of solidity impenetrable to needles.
The Green Sword stabbed at it, causing ripples to spread out, and an invisible force transmitted through the long sword, rebounding onto Shi Xiaole.
"Black Heart Hand!"
At the same time, Qin Wuye unleashed his full strength, sending a sticky black, eerie handprint flying towards Shi Xiaole. His face was filled with rage and hatred, and he resolved to fight to the death with Shi Xiaole.
With a light tap of his feet, Shi Xiaole took to the sky like a wild goose, using an off-the-wall maneuver to swiftly attack the short plump old man while simultaneously deploying the Soul Transfer Great Method.
However, the Green Ring Divine Skill of the short plump old man, although merely top-tier among third-rate skills, had the effect of resisting both physical and psychic attacks. Especially with the support of his seventh-tier Qi Absorption internal power, it was tough to shake.
After trying for a while, Shi Xiaole inevitably fell into the two-on-one offensive and was seriously injured multiple times. As for the others, they no longer had any room to intervene.
Shi Xiaole wasn’t in a hurry, as he was waiting for an opportunity to nail down both of them once and for all.
If he showed his trump card too early, he was afraid that it would scare off the other person. Moreover, he didn’t know whether they have a hidden trump card or not.
"You insolent pup, I swear to kill you if it’s the last thing I do!"
The short plump old man’s face was red from anger from repeatedly getting sneak attacked by a young whippersnapper. However, half of his anger was feigned. No one noticed a tiny red bug, no larger than an ant, crawl out from his sleeve.
This is the Heart Devouring Poison Gu.
The Heart Devouring Poison Gu is not a high-grade Gu insect in Miaojiang, but it was a potent weapon relative to the short plump man’s level. Once this Gu sticks on a person’s body, it invades through the pores and bites directly into the heart.
Even an expert whose internal power strength has reached the eighth tier of Qi Absorption could unwittingly fall victim to it.
With the Heart Devouring Poison Gu, the short plump old man had tormented countless people in the past. The power to control life and death, the freedom to do as he pleased, brought him endless satisfaction.
In fact, his confidence to force Shi Xiaole into submitting his martial arts skills came from the Heart Devouring Poison Gu.
Because of the small size of the Heart Devouring Poison Gu and the chaos of the fight, even Shi Xiaole didn’t notice it. Under the gleaming eyes of the short plump old man, the Heart Devouring Poison Gu quickly entered Shi Xiaole’s body.
"Hahaha, lad, you’ve been poisoned by my Gu, why don’t you kneel and beg for mercy?"
The short plump old man breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began to laugh mockingly.
He acknowledged Shi Xiaole’s strength, but now that he was poisoned, no matter what kind of divine skill he possessed, he must bow down to him. From this point on, Shi Xiaole’s life and death depended solely on his whimsy.
"Old man, nicely done."
Upon hearing this, Qin Wuye also felt extremely gratified.
Shi Xiaole, of course, knew the power of the Gu poison, but he also laughed. After ingesting the inner dan of the Emerald-eyed Golden Toad, ordinary Gu poison could not bother him.
Could a person of the short plump old man’s level bring out a truly powerful Gu?
His sword continued its relentless speed as Shi Xiaole attacked him directly.
"Foolish boy, I’ll let you taste what it’s like to be devoured."
The Green Ring Divine Skill was still operating as the short plump old man recited the secret mantra.
However, to his dismay, he found that his connection with the poison Gu had disappeared. Who could tell him what had happened?
It was surely the doing of this young lad.
The short plump old man’s face turned so dark it was frightening, but he had no choice but to raise his palm in defense.
He had put in countless effort and energy into cultivating the Heart Devouring Poison Gu. It was now gone! This kid, even if he couldn’t kill him today, he would never let him go.
As all these thoughts ran through his mind, the short plump old man suddenly locked eyes with a pair of cold and ruthless ones, cold as the stars in the sky, chilling him from head to toe.
"You have no chance."
As if reading his thoughts, Shi Xiaole flicked his wrist and the Green Sword instantly created an illusion, connecting into a plane that looked very much like a green moonlight.
The speed of his sword technique, just like moonlight, was not fast. Only when you saw it was it already on your body.
"No..."
The short plump old man saw a headless corpse, followed by the ghostlike expression of shock on Qin Wuye’s face. He couldn’t believe until his death that he would meet his end at the hands of a Qi Absorption third-tier junior.
"A second-rate sword technique, and a Transformation Phase mastery!"
Qin Wuye involuntarily exclaimed, turned around and ran.
How could he fail to see that Shi Xiaole’s sword skills not only had a high realm but were also fused with a terrifying concept. In a one-on-one, he was no match.
Unfortunately, Shi Xiaole, having worked hard to set up the current situation, was never going to let him get away.
"Moon Concealing Sword Technique!"
Due to the distance between them, Shi Xiaole lunged a sword from afar, creating innumerable illusions. With a "ch" sound, a sword suddenly appeared on Qin Wuye’s neck.
