Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Test Kill Move (Please subscribe and seek monthly tickets!)
Three red Poisonous Stiffs spread chaos in three different directions, forcing a large number of martial arts masters to rush to those locations.
By coincidence, in the direction of Peach Forest Town, four experts from the first level of the Xuanqi Realm encountered one of the red Poisonous Stiffs.
An intense battle ensued instantly.
The outcome was stunning.
Although the red Poisonous Stiff encountered heavy damage, the four Xuanqi Realm experts didn’t fare much better. One was killed, two were severely injured, and the last one, fearing the spread of the poison following a bite to his left arm, severed it himself.
With this news spreading, panic swept through Peach Forest Town.
Everyone knew that the red Poisonous Stiffs would be difficult to deal with, but no one anticipated just how resistant they would be. According to the three surviving Xuanqi Realm experts, the red Poisonous Stiffs were not only potent in their venom, but they also retained part of their pre-death consciousness which made their combat skills strong.
And that was not the worst of the news.
The red Poisonous Stiff had taken up residence hundreds of miles away from Peach Forest Town. Several days later, a black plume of smoke shot up into the sky, spreading in all directions. Large swathes of vegetation withered immediately. The pungent toxic substances in the air caused the deaths of a vast number of warriors in the Qi Absorption Realm.
"There’s another group of Poisonous Stiffs sealed there. Now that the array system has been broken, countless black Poisonous Stiffs have charged out, and there are two red Poisonous Stiffs now."
A Qi Absorption Realm warrior who had ventured in, frightened, managed to escape and recounted the gruesome scene inside the poison forest.
Panic spread among the people within Peach Forest Town, even among the middle-aged folks.
Fortunately, a large number of warriors and official forces arrived on the scene, including two high-level practitioners of the Xuanqi Realm. These two teamed up with the three existing high-level practitioners of the Xuanqi Realm in Peach Forest Town and managed to hold back the two red Poisonous Stiffs.
The other experts began battling with countless black Poisonous Stiffs, causing the poison forest to become a battlefield where vital energy intercrossed and explosions filled the air.
After a round of battling, neither side gained an advantage.
"The two red Poisonous Stiffs are heavily injured and will not appear again for a while, which provides an excellent opportunity for you to exterminate the black Poisonous Stiffs."
"The Poisonous Stiffs gathered in the poison forest save you the trouble of looking for them, so take advantage of this opportunity."
The five high-level Xuanqi Realm warriors were also injured. However, to restrain the red Poisonous Stiffs, they didn’t leave. Instead, they found a secluded spot near the poison forest and started tending to their wounds.
"The environment inside the poison forest is dangerous. There are massive amounts of Poisonous Stiffs. Those whose abilities aren’t up to par should not go in to seek their deaths."
"Hmph, what’s the big deal? Kill a few and get out. Over time, even small gains will add up. Anyway, the officials are guarding the outskirts. If any Poisonous Stiffs escape, we’ll know quickly."
Upon hearing the situation, many people were stirred to excitement. Especially those eager to prove themselves from the younger generation pledged to kill more Poisonous Stiffs than anyone else.
"Oh? Junior Brother Fu, you’re saying that person’s abilities are nearing the level of those on the Young Martial Heroes’ List?"
Outside the poison forest, a man asked with a faint smile.
He was the top disciple of the Spring Thunder Sect, ’Astonishing Thunder Palm’ Xin Riyuan.
Although Xin Riyuan wasn’t on the Young Martial Heroes’ List, that was because the list only documented the top 81 talents in Qingxue State. If the list expanded to 90 places, Xin Riyuan believed he could be included.
Lately, he had advanced to the sixth level in the Spring Thunder Divine Skill of the Spring Thunder Sect. His abilities had improved significantly, making him extremely hopeful for victory in the Martial Arts Competition scheduled for next year.
So, when he heard Fu Yusheng say that an unknown individual’s abilities were nearing the level of the Young Martial Heroes’ List, his first reaction was not belief but caution and disdain.
"The level of the Young Martial Heroes’ List surely isn’t that easy to attain. Most likely Junior Brother Fu’s own abilities are too low. Seeing someone stronger, he made a misjudgment."
Xin Riyuan thought to himself, a smirk spreading across his face.
"Xin Senior Brother, do you not believe it?"
Seeing his smile, Fang Yao suddenly questioned.
Xin Riyuan was taken aback and said, "What we hear may be false; only what we see is true. If you all praise him so highly, that person’s abilities shouldn’t be weak. However, as for the specifics, we can only know after seeing him."
Though he said the words transparently, there was an evident tone of disbelief.
No knowing why, Fang Yao couldn’t accept anyone belittling that young man in green, no matter if it was Xin Riyuan. Just as she was about to refute, the Fifth Elder of the Spring Thunder Sect frowned and said, "Enough, your mission here is to kill black Poisonous Stiffs and train yourselves. There’s no need to waste time over an outsider."
He paused before continuing, "Riyuan, lead your Junior Brothers and Sisters into the forest. With your current abilities, I believe there’s no need for this old man to accompany you."
He waved his hand.
The Fifth Elder wasn’t concerned about how powerful Shi Xiaole, the boy Fu Yusheng mentioned, was. Regardless of his skills, he was merely close to the level of the Young Martial Heroes’ List. How could he be compared to Xin Riyuan? Quarrelling over such a person, that was the epitome of wasting time.
"Fifth Elder, rest assured, I will not let anything go wrong with my Junior Brothers and Sisters."
Xin Riyuan cupped his fist and smiled.
With his abilities, as long as he didn’t encounter the red Poisonous Stiffs, he could wander around the whole poison forest leisurely and without worries. Even if he encountered a large group of black Poisonous Stiffs, escaping wouldn’t be a problem.
Of course, by bringing along liabilities like Fu Yusheng, venturing deep into the poison forest was definitely out of the question. However, it was very easy to loiter around the outskirts of the poison forest and kill some Poisonous Stiffs.
Fang Yao lowered her head.
Actually, she wasn’t clear how powerful Shi Xiaole was, only that he was much stronger than herself. But seeing the Fifth Elder and Xin Riyuan disregarding him, she felt somewhat dissatisfied.
"That person... looks like Tao Baichuan?"
A few hundred meters away from Xin Riyuan and the others, two martial arts practitioners pointed at a figure disappearing into the poison forest, whispering in astonishment.
"Song Wuji and Li Wufeng are already competing, seeing who can kill more Poisonous Stiffs. Now that even Tao Baichuan, who’s ranked 65th on the Young Martial Heroes’ List, has joined them, the competition will likely become more intense."
"Interesting. Though we can’t be as brave and progressive as the young generation, watching them compete is still worthwhile."
The two spoke while entering the poison forest.
Every five meters outside the poison forest, there was an official with a badge and a sword standing guard. However, they all wore cold expressions and paid no heed to the martial arts practitioners.
Meanwhile, while the outside world was caught up in chaos, Shi Xiaole was in his own courtyard, reflecting on the events of that day.
"The essence of the sword and knife combined attack lies in the perfect collaboration between the sword wielder and the knife wielder, where changes in the aura of both directly affect their power."
Standing in front of a flower bed, Shi Xiaole raised his hands, crossed the sword and knife, and swung them forward amidst friction.
Swish!
A sudden burst of fierce energy, carving a web of marks deep into the soil, about three feet deep, as thin as silk threads.
"This attack is about 50% stronger than the initial one."
The eyes of Shi Xiaole brightened.
Whether it is the unity of the person and the sword, or the unity of the person and the knife, both emphasize the usage of force. Therefore, this sword and knife killing technique, in essence, is a clever combination of force.
And a combination of forces, a minute more or less, is a kind of change, a pairing which possesses countless possibilities.
Three days passed.
In the flower bed, the friction of the sword and knife carved out a crisscrossing surge of energy into the soil, this time cutting more than four feet deep, a range two-tenths more than three days ago.
"When the unity of the person and the sword and the unity of the person and the knife are controlled at the initial stage, the impact is the strongest, the power is the greatest, and the diffusion distance is the farthest."
Shi Xiaole found this rule after trying countless combinations.
This was his first attempt to create a combined sword and knife killing technique, therefore, his lack of experience inevitably resulted in a not so ’rapid’ progress, but the power was already approaching that of the Landslide and Water Split technique.
Once completely refined, it should not be hard to surpass the Landslide and Water Split technique.
Inspiration inevitably dries up when one works in isolation. After practicing for a few more days and noticing that his technique didn’t land any advancements, Shi Xiaole finally decided to visit the Poisonous Forest.
After all, the best way to test a technique is through combat.
The Poisonous Forest was shrouded in darkness, inhabited by tens of thousands of poisonous zombies. The dizzying smell could be sensed from afar.
Fortunately, Shi Xiaole was immune to all poisons and had practiced the Breath-holding Technique, thus facing the poisonous air with indifference, he casually leaped into the forest without exerting any Qi to resist the poison.
The earth in the forest was somewhat blackened and the trees were dense. From time to time, Shi Xiaole could hear the sounds of intense battles just around him.
Thud, thud.
Two black poisonous zombies rushed from behind.
Without looking back, Shi Xiaole blinked and disappeared. He was here to perfect the combined sword and knife killing technique, thus to him, a few negligible poisonous zombies were just a waste of time. So he intended to find a group of poisonous zombies.
"That guy’s scared."
"Haha, he came to the Poisonous Forest without any skills. He won’t even know how he died."
The two people at the rear sneered and laughed, and then took the initiative to attack the two black poisonous zombies that had been ignored.
After half a 2-hour period of navigating around, Shi Xiaole witnessed many battles, but none aroused his interest.
Which ordinary Qi Absorption martial artist would dare to confront the horde of poisonous zombies alone?
And the experts beyond the eighth level of Qi Absorption Realm probably had no interest in the Poisonous Forest. It was said that the poisonous zombies were trapped here, and they did not need to worry about any fishes slipping through the net. Presumably they were all sitting by and watching the show.
"Run!"
"Turn around, young master!"
While pondering, three martial world guests fled toward him, shouting loudly. Behind them, tens of black poisonous zombies were in hot pursuit.
With a slight smile, Shi Xiaole dashed into the group of poisonous zombies amidst the astonished stares of the three martial world guests.
"What is he doing?"
"Is he trying to show off, or..."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The doubts of the three martial world guests lasted only a split second and then turned into shock.
They saw Shi Xiaole wielding both his sword and knife, weaving through the swarm of poisonous zombies. Every collision of the sword and knife formed a unique aura, driving back the black poisonous zombies before him.
"Both his knife technique and sword technique are so strong."
"No, I feel like he’s testing something. Every time his sword and knife strike, they’re not at full force. It’s like they’re almost there, but not quite."
"I have the same feeling. My goodness, could he be using the group of poisonous zombies to test his techniques?"
The three martial world guests looked at each other, finding this theory increasingly plausible. They stopped and unconsciously stood aside to watch the battle. Of course, the main reason was that the poisonous zombies were being held back by Shi Xiaole.
"Just a little more, the aura of the sword and knife must strike at the same time to create the maximum level of damage."
Shi Xiaole kept pushing himself.
Ordinary practice has no pressure, but it is pressure that allows people to progress rapidly. Under the continuous attack of the surrounding poisonous zombies, Shi Xiaole’s concentration reaches its peak and eventually forms a certain point.
This point magnified in front of his eyes, just at the intersection of the sword and knife.
As if a layer of paper was punctured, Shi Xiaole moved his heart at will, the crossed sword and knife lightly drew across. Puff, puff, puff - the bursting energy knocked down more than a dozen poisonous zombies at once.
After repeating this five times, the dozen or so poisonous zombies burst into black fog almost simultaneously, dying beyond revival.
"What? Five moves killed thirteen poisonous zombies?!"
The three martial world guests were completely flustered.
