Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Breaking through the Statue Array
No one was coming after Shi Xiaole anymore because he had demonstrated his strength.
After all, even a practitioner at the fifth tier of the Xuan Qi Realm would not easily defeat him. What if they deplete their internal power in the process and find themselves vulnerable to be attacked?
After a long day, Shi Xiaole finally set foot on the odd bamboo forest. Unsure whether it was just a trick of the mind, the moment his feet touched the ground, he felt an invisible energy flowing from his body, disappearing without a trace.
"Is this the power of the Array System? If my level were at the Spiritual-Passage Realm, would I encounter its attack?"
Deep in thought, Shi Xiaole took a step and vanished into the bamboo forest in a blink of an eye.
"This boy has many secrets."
The old man from the centre of the sky had not reached his time, and could only watch Shi Xiaole leave first.
...
The bamboo in the bizarre bamboo forest were not green but red, reflecting a magnificent light under the sun. The ground was covered with red leaves too, and there were several small paths leading to the depths, mysterious and profound. Shi Xiaole chose one and ventured in.
About half an hour later, the bamboo forest became slightly sparse, revealing many figures. At the center of the figures was a wide area laid out like a chessboard with four weathered stone statues, as tall as an adult, at each corner.
At this moment, a swordsman was standing on the chessboard, enduring consecutive attacks from the four stone statues.
After dozens of moves, the swordsman was knocked down.
"Wang Yulang has a cultivation level at the fourth tier of Xuan Qi, and yet he barely lasted for so long. Also, these stone statues are too hard, they don’t show damage at all."
"What do you know? This is the masterpiece of the Four Symbols Sect from thousands of years ago. I’ve heard that a disciple of the Four Symbols Sect could fight against ten opponents of the same level. The statues can’t be made of poor material."
"Sigh, I think without mastering the Sword Heart, don’t even think about passing the first stage. But the first stage is already this hard, how powerful were the disciples of the Four Symbols Sect back then?"
The crowd gasped in amazement of varying degrees.
The entire extraordinary bamboo forest was arranged in a circular pattern, with many first-stage stone statue arrays on the outermost ring. Therefore, one must pass the first stage to smoothly enter the second stage area.
Regrettably, although Qingxue State is vast, those who can understand the realm of the Sword Heart at the Xuan Qi realm are either elite members of a sect or disciples of masters, rarely ordinary martial artists.
So most people come here aiming to improve their combat skills using the stone statue array, and it would be even better if they can understand the Sword Heart.
"I used up this chance, and now I have to go back and fight for the Meditation Stone again."
"I waited for three months to get a turn. Forget it, I will go to other places in the Martial World to improve my strength first. Otherwise, I won’t be able to win."
As many people were preparing to leave, they saw Shi Xiaole coming and stopped.
"Young Hero Shi, you finally arrived."
Hu Hao greeted Shi Xiaole with a big laugh. He had also gone up for a try just now and could only fend off thirty-six attacks from the Stone Statue Array.
"That must be Shi Xiaole. I’m sure he will have no trouble passing the first stage."
"Oh, is it him?"
Many people had been watching the fight between Shi Xiaole and Lin Laosan earlier, so it wasn’t hard to guess his identity. Those who had been stuck at the first stage were also interested when they heard the crowd’s comments.
"Guan Fei from the Guan family has passed the third stage, I wonder how many stages Shi Xiaole can pass?"
"The third stage seems impossible, but he has a fifty percent chance of passing the second one, I guess."
"Fifty percent? Isn’t it too exaggerated? Even a swordsman at the peak of Sword Heart can’t pass the second stage."
In the midst of the crowd’s discussion, Shi Xiaole stepped up to the Stone Array.
The Stone Array was made up of eighty-eight squares. Shi Xiaole observed it and found that the stone statues were moving through the gaps between squares, much like a sophisticated Combined Attack Formation.
"We have all tried it, Young Hero Shi, why don’t you give it a shot and enlighten us?"
A grey-clothed swordsman laughed loudly.
"Yes, yes. Given Young Hero Shi’s talent, surely he can pass the first stage within a mere 15 moves."
People agreed instantly, attracting curious looks. Shi Xiaole’s rise was too rapid, it sparked envy.
Those people weren’t so much praising as they were setting him up for failure. If Shi Xiaole make a mistake or can’t pass within 15 moves, they would have something to reproach him with.
But how could passing the first stage of the Stone Statue Array within 15 moves be so easy. Two months ago, a swordsman at the peak of the Sword Heart realm took 33 moves to pass the first stage.
That swordsman was an experienced veteran, and his combat readiness and adaptability were incomparable to those of the young Shi Xiaole.
"Even a genius needs time to grow. It’s Shi Xiaole’s first attempt, it’s amazing if he can pass the stage,"
Hu Hao couldn’t help but defend Shi Xiaole, reminding everyone.
Indeed, if you judge by age, very few people in the history of Qingxue State could pass the first stage of the Stone Statue Array before the age of twenty. Expecting Shi Xiaole to pass in 15 moves is too strict.
Many people sneered secretly.
Shi Xiaole gave Hu Hao a friendly smile and took the initiative to jump onto the stone square. Suddenly, an invisible pressure rushed towards him, forcing him to circulate his internal power.
Boom.
The four stone statues immediately began moving. Shi Xiaole discovered that the speed of the statues’ movement was much slower than the previous round.
"So that’s it. The power of the array system of the statue formation adjusts its attack intensity according to the challenger’s cultivation level. This excludes the influence of levels, purely testing the spiritual realm and combat skills. What kind of existence was the Four Symbols Sect in the past?"
The thought flashed by. The four statues rushed toward him like filled pies, with fists swinging and palms striking. The surging, fierce qi could crush four Qi Absorption ninth-tier masters simultaneously.
If Shi Xiaole chose to defend, he would certainly be under control everywhere. If he chose to attack, he needed to ensure not being hit by the opponents and also be able to repel the statues.
As for escaping with flying skills - sorry, once both feet left the stone grid, the array system would stop working, declaring your challenge a failure.
So, whether it was attacking, defending, or evading, none were good options.
At this moment, Shi Xiaole finally understood the difficulty of the statue formation. No wonder in Qingxue State, not many people in the Xuanqi Realm could pass the test, despite their numbers.
"Why should I follow your rhythm?"
Without panic or confusion, all Shi Xiaole had was relentless sharpness. He never liked being led by others. True masters are always in control of the situation. It’s not me following you, but you following me.
Ding...
A series of metallic clashing sounds rang out, like pearls falling on a jade plate. This continuous sound of piercing eventually connected into one, indistinguishable from each other.
In the midst of sparks flying out, Shi Xiaole thrust his sword three times in succession, forcing the stone statue in front to halt its movement. A strong fist intent had nowhere to go, like a child shooting a gun, the recoil force suddenly erupted in all directions.
As if anticipating this, Shi Xiaole moved his body to the right. His position was just right, stopping at the weakness of the palm skill of the statue on the right.
The statue on the right was also remarkable; it retreated instead of advancing.
With an indifferent expression, Shi Xiaole put his strength into his arm. Almost instantly, the body of his Qingfeng sword smashed into the back of the statue on the right, causing it to pause for a moment.
Pft!
The punch-ish qi blasted towards him, shaking the statue on the right violently and freezing it.
With one statue down, dealing with the remaining three became easier. The joint-attack array system emphasized team cooperation. Missing one part would reduce its power by at least 50%.
The Sword Qi was like a rainbow, slow and fast layered together. Wherever Shi Xiaole waved his sword, there would be a dense shadow of swords blocking everything.
Swish, swish.
Shi Xiaole sheathed his sword.
It was only after three breaths’ time that the sword shadows disappeared from the air, leaving behind four completely immobile stone statues.
At this moment, whether they were expectant, onlookers, or those indifferent, everyone involuntarily drew a cold breath.
There were even a few whose eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"Seven... Seven swords? He only used seven swords just now?"
"It must be an illusion."
"I’ve heard that if a challenger can meet certain requirements, they would receive rewards hidden in the statue formation by the masters of the Four Symbols Sect. I wonder if Shi Xiaole has a chance."
If there were many who doubted the validity of Shi Xiaole’s rumors before, considering them exaggerated, now there was no doubt left, only sheer amazement.
The two people who had maliciously belittled Shi Xiaole earlier had twitching faces. They wanted to say something, but they were speechless.
Middle-aged Old Man was also in the crowd, his expression deep, lost in thought.
"Young Hero Shi, after passing the first hurdle, don’t step down. Directly move onto the next challenge, otherwise, you will have to start over."
Hu Hao spoke loudly.
Shi Xiaole naturally knew this rule. He nodded at Hu Hao, passed the statue formation, and walked towards the next path. Behind him, everyone was immediately separated by the array system and disappeared without a trace.
"I wonder what the remaining challenges are like."
In the battle just now, Shi Xiaole only used about 30 to 40 percent of his strength, and he didn’t even use his Sword Heart.
Since his Air Floating Skill was perfected, his mental power had increased to a level that even peak Xuanqi Realm masters could not match. Therefore, his ability to grasp battle situations was astonishing to the ordinary person.
The area where the second challenge was located no longer had a narrow path. Guests from the Martial World could move around freely. Along the way, Shi Xiaole ran into several frightfully strong men from the Martial World, as well as some corpses.
This was another intriguing area of the bizarre bamboo forest.
Because Spiritual-Passage Realm masters could not enter, it became a refuge for many Xuanguan Realm masters. Some died here of old age, and their belongings would remain.
In addition, fire fights, killings, and other factors made this place a treasure land for masters who could enter the second challenge. With luck, they might find their desired treasures.
Of course, where there is opportunity there is danger. Some people have secretly marked Shi Xiaole as a fat sheep, but they aren’t in a hurry to act. If he can’t pass the second challenge, there’s no rush to deal with him.
The first challenge had four stone statues, the second one had eight.
Twenty-three swords.
Shi Xiaole easily passed the second challenge.
"What?"
The changes in expressions of a few people hiding in the dark were noticeable.
