Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Stunning Skills
The grid-like sword light was not only sharp, but also emitted a heavy aura that made everyone within its range feel as if they were locked in and unable to escape.
As the main target, Shi Xiaole felt even more constrained. It seemed as if any movement would cause him to be slashed by countless invisible sword auras.
"Not good, the young master is in danger."
Meng Qi’s face changed, but he found his body hard to move.
Just then, Shi Xiaole swiftly swung his sword upward at an incredibly unorthodox angle, causing the grid-like sword light to shatter instantly.
"Haha, you fell for my trap."
Dong Hao laughed loudly.
What made his Imprisoned Heaven Grid Slash deadly were not the straightforward attacks, but what came after. Hearing the repeated sounds in the void, everyone realized that the shattered sword aura had suddenly formed into three strands, all rushing towards Shi Xiaole from unexpected angles.
Without a glance or delay, Shi Xiaole swiftly twisted his wrist. The three diverging sword auras were all deflected and sent back towards a falling Dong Hao.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
With three consecutive slashes, Dong Hao was forced to retreat until he was behind Chou WuHui, his face losing its triumphant look and now filled with uncertainty.
A coincidence, or not?
Know that even a swordsman who had mastered the unity of the sword for many years could not easily break his Imprisoned Heaven Grid Slash, let alone Shi Xiaole.
"It must be a coincidence."
Despite his words, Dong Hao couldn’t help but become more cautious. He held his knife in his hands, leaning slightly forward, and constantly circling around Shi Xiaole at a great speed, soon creating an array of shadows around him.
This was the second-rate light body movement technique of the Revenge Gathering, the Wuding Step Technique, which could easily confuse the opponent’s line of sight; even a top performer on his level would struggle to see through its truth.
Swish!
With a single stroke from Shi Xiaole, amidst the fierce sparks, Dong Hao’s body froze, and all the false shadows disappeared.
"This is impossible!"
Dong Hao screamed, his face full of disbelief.
"There’s nothing impossible, unless you have absolute strength. Otherwise, don’t try any tricks in front of me."
The Sword Heart Realm is not just about increasing swordsmanship strength.
It’s a realm that integrates swordplay, comprehension, combat experience, and even physical responsiveness, greatly enhancing the swordsman’s acuity. Although Shi Xiaole has not fully grasped the Sword Heart, the seventy-three percent he has touched is more than enough to deal with Dong Hao’s deceptive tactics.
Dong Hao was shocked that Shi Xiaole had broken his movement technique, yet there were two others who were ten times more shocked than him.
"Sword Heart, I actually sensed the breath of the Sword Heart."
Lian Chen’s eyes were drawn like magnets, losing their ability to move.
Although it was fleeting, Lian Chen, who had also touched the Sword Heart, was confident that he hadn’t mistaken it. The sword stroke just now carried the unmistakable aura of the Sword Heart––even richer than his own.
Could it be that Shi Xiaole not only touched the Sword Heart, but also comprehended it more than he did?
"Did my eyes deceive me?"
Elder Rong, who wasn’t a swordsman, was shocked due to his vast experience.
At his level, of course he had seen many swordsmen who had touched the Sword Heart, so he was somewhat familiar with this aura; however, not one of them was as young as Shi Xiaole.
Anyone capable of touching the Sword Heart before the age of thirty would be considered a genius in the Martial World. Where would this put Shi Xiaole?
"Talking big."
Hearing Shi Xiaole’s words, Chou WuHui, who was unaware of what was actually happening, had an angry expression on his face as he uneasily shouted, "Dong Hao, why are you hesitating? Finish him off quickly."
"I originally wanted to leave you some dignity, but you’re asking for it."
With a leap, Dong Hao raised his Internal Power to the limit. His double-edged sword swelled as he swung it in a flurry of strikes. Lengthy sword auras traversed horizontally and vertically, accurately aimed at Shi Xiaole’s thirty-six fatal points.
"Heartless Thirty-Six Cuts!"
The disciples of the Revenge Gathering recognized this. It was a second-rate, superior sword technique unique to their sect. When perfectly performed, it could deliver thirty-six strikes in a single breath, leaving no escape for the enemy.
Seeing Dong Hao’s display, it was clear that he had almost perfected this technique. Coupled with his first layer of Xuan Qi cultivation, the power he demonstrated was enough to instantly defeat the Shi Xiaole from the Hero Gathering.
"Just don’t hurt the lad."
"This Dong Hao, his killing intent is too intense."
Just now, Shi Xiaole had hidden his aura very well, so most of the high-level members of the Revenge Gathering did not notice anything. At this moment, they all wanted to intervene but couldn’t in time.
Thirty-six sword auras rushed from all directions, reflecting a pair of clear eyes.
With the Brahma-I Unity fully operational, Shi Xiaole didn’t evade, but instead used his seventy-three percent mastery of the Sword Heart Realm to deliver a sweeping horizontal sword stroke. In an instant, the bluish yet fiery Sword Qi, was like the setting sun, shed brilliant light all around, directly colliding with the sword aura.
The seventh form of the Eclipse Eight Forms, Sunset Light.
This move can counter the opponent’s attack, changing the course of the battle.
As expected, when the thirty-six blade lights encountered the Sword Light of Azure Sun, their momentum was significantly diminished, like a ball hitting a basket, bursting and bombing wildly in all directions.
Amid the roaring explosions, dust was kicked up, fragments were scattered and cracks appeared on the bluestone slab floor.
The crowd had just evaded danger and their gaze instantly returned to the battlefield.
A strong azure light, like the rising sun cutting across the horizon, emanated a hot but demonic taste in Shi Xiaole’s hand. Under this sword, Dong Hao was completely deprived of any chance to evade, as every space for evasion was filled with Sword Qi.
Eclipse Eight Forms, First Form, Breaking Dawn of White Sun.
"I can’t believe it!"
A madness appeared on Dong Hao’s face, his arm swinging at a speed beyond limits, slashing a full seventy-two blade lights up and down, it was twice the strikes of Heartless Thirty-Six Cuts.
Layer upon layer of white blade lights collided with the Sword Qi of the Azure Sun, erupting countless chilling shattered breaths.
Even more ruthless than the Heartless Thirty-Six Cuts was Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship. The splendid Azure Sun Sword Qi was fierce and masculine, yet it carried a hint of an elusive meaning, like the noon sun, making it difficult to parry.
Eclipse Eight Forms, Third Form, Sunshine at Zenith.
The Eclipse Eight Forms itself is a top-notch medium-ranked sword method, Shi Xiaole had trained it to the stage of perfection, and under the bolstering of seventy percent of the Sword Heart Realm, it directly made up for the gap in cultivation level with Dong Hao.
Plop, plop, plop...
Under this most domineering sword, the white blade light seemed like melting cheese, being pierced bit by bit by the sword Qi, forcing Dong Hao to constantly dodge, but there was too much and too urgent sword Qi, how could he completely avoid it?
Soon, fine slits began to appear on Dong Hao’s body.
Boom!
The moment one sword passed, Shi Xiaole’s fourth sword arrived.
The aggressiveness and endurance of this sword maneuver is even more intense than Dong Hao’s blade technique. Dong Hao had an illusion as if he was standing in front of the sun, enduring exposure.
"Ah!"
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Dong Hao’s eyes reddened, his hair disheveled, and he roared with fury: "Heartless Single Slash, die!"
As soon as his blade momentum started, bloody threads seeped out from the pores of his arms, the wounds cut by the sword Qi spurted out blood, quickly dyeing Dong Hao into a half-blood man.
This absolute killer move fused the Heartless Thirty-Six Cuts into a single strike, which was beyond Dong Hao’s control at his current realm, but he didn’t care anymore. Even if he was half ruined, he couldn’t accept losing to Shi Xiaole, who was more than ten years younger than him!
"Fire Scale Eclipse the Sun."
Indifferent to Dong Hao’s miserable state, as the opponent forcibly gathered a slash, Shi Xiaole brandished his long sword, creating a dense azure sword net.
Inside the sword net, the light couldn’t penetrate, a sense of despair surged into the heart, blood gushed from Dong Hao’s mouth like water, his body rolled on the ground like a sack, sending out bursts of blood spurts.
Sheathing his sword, not a single hair on Shi Xiaole was out of place. In contrast, Dong Hao was in a dreadful state, covered in blood. The stark contrast shook everyone in the venue, each of their hearts trembling.
Even people like Su Yanru, had their eyes wide open.
No one knew the extent of Shi Xiaole’s skill progress, yet now that they saw clearly, everyone was dizzy, feeling as if their worldview was being turned upside down.
Dong Hao, a peer of the three-fold Xuan Qi from the Martial World, was defeated without a fight by Shi Xiaole, an eight-fold practitioner of Qi Absorption. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it.
"Villainous dog, you dare to hurt me, everyone, kill him, kill him!"
In the silence, a scream suddenly rang out, a thin and long sword mark appeared on Chou WuHui’s right face, in the same position as the whip mark she had left on Lan Ning. While speaking, her body fell to the ground, blood spilling from her mouth, clearly seriously injured.
It happened that one of the blood arrows that shot from Dong Hao’s body, containing Shi Xiaole’s sword Qi, had grazed Chou WuHui’s face. Unfortunately, at that time, the martial arts masters of the Revenge Gathering were stunned by Dong Hao’s defeat and didn’t notice it.
"A dodge Young Hero Shi, shouldn’t you give the old man an explanation?"
Elder Rong’s voice sounded timely, stopping those masters who were about to make a move.
"Elder Rong, I did not deliberately target anyone."
Shi Xiaole said indifferently, causing many to secretly sneer.
If you didn’t deliberately target anyone, things just happened to coincide. How Lan Ning was injured, Chou WuHui was also injured. Is it really the case of heaven having eyes?
But more people had a grave look. Especially those disciples from the Revenge Gathering, they could hardly imagine what amazing level Shi Xiaole’s control had reached.
"Good, let’s say you didn’t intentionally hurt WuHui, but what about Dong Hao?"
Elder Rong’s words left many from the Golden Phoenix Tower dumbfounded, this remark seemed to reprimand but was actually gently turning away.
They, of course, didn’t know how bad the people of Revenge Gathering’s perception of Chou WuHui was. In Elder Rong’s view, if an outsider could be used to curb Chou WuHui’s aggression, it would be a good thing to stop her from causing more trouble in the future.
Shi Xiaole said, "Elder Rong should have noticed, a large part of Dong Hao’s injuries were self-inflicted."
After hearing it, Elder Rong fell silent for a moment.
How could he not see, Shi Xiaole’s final move, the deadliest part of it was the feeling of despair it created, making the opponent submit. But the real reason for Dong Hao’s injury was the backlash from his own blade technique, which allowed the sword Qi to take advantage of his weakness.
