Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Let Me Choose for You
Attaining 90% of Sword Heart, Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship had an unprecedented increase in strength and firmly suppressed the masked man despite the significant gap in their cultivations.
"Bone-Piercing Whip."
His first move failed, and the masked man swung his arm round. The bony spiked whip drew a large circle in the air, the circle’s tip formed a ring, within it were countless spikes, charging fiercely at Shi Xiaole. Along the way, the ground was plowed into a long trench full of pits.
The masked man had comprehended an extremely rare ring concept. This concept imbued each of his moves with a large range of destructive power, especially this ultimate move, which exhibited the ring concept to the fullest.
His plan was to first trap Shi Xiaole and gradually wear him down.
Without a word, Shi Xiaole’s wrist trembled slightly, and countless layers of Qingyang Sword Qi burst out like beams of midday sunlight, reaching everywhere.
The ring of bone spikes was immediately punctured full of holes as soon as it touched the Qingyang Sword Qi, deflating like a balloon.
"Damn it."
The masked man yelled angrily. He hadn’t expected that Shi Xiaole would make such great progress in less than two months. He hurriedly said to the swordsman, "Aren’t you going to make a move?"
"I’m waiting for the right opportunity, you hold him off."
The masked man was annoyed but had no choice but to do so as Shi Xiaole had already rushed forward with a dense attack of Sword Qi.
"Whip Shadow Siege."
Rotating his body, the masked man was surrounded by whip shadows, impervious to attacks. The sound of collisions echoed as Shi Xiaole exhausted his Sword Qi. Suddenly, like a shuttle, the masked man charged out, targeting Shi Xiaole’s chest at an astonishing speed.
Clang...
The concentrated power point on the sword transfixed into Shi Xiaole’s hand like a needle piercing his palm, almost making him let go of his sword.
The masked man, on the other hand, also suffered. He was cut by a layer of Sword Qi, causing splatters of bloody lines.
"Damn mongrel, if I don’t kill you, I won’t be worthy of being a human."
The sight of blood sent the masked man into a fury. He charged recklessly, aiming to intimidate Shi Xiaole with his momentum. This move had slain many who were of similar strength to him.
But the result dumbfounded him.
Thud, thud, thud.
The masked man was ruthless, but Shi Xiaole was even more so. Not just in form, but in will. His moves were reserved, allowing him to withdraw at any time, while Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship was a desperate gamble.
"If you want to play with me, play to the finish."
In a crisis, only the courageous emerged victorious—without the determination to give up everything, how could one unleash the swordsmanship that conquers all?
His face-off with the stone statue array taught Shi Xiaole a lesson. As a swordsman, one shouldn’t worship the sword as the ultimate creed, but with a sword in hand, one can face anything without fear.
Only between life and death, man and sword truly meld as one.
"Now is the time!"
The sword-bearing man suddenly made his move. Drawing his sword, the tip was like a poisoned dragon drill, covering the distance of ten fathoms in an instant, targeting Shi Xiaole’s heart.
"I’ve been waiting for you."
Those who could be accomplices in the unpredictable bamboo forest must have their skills matched. Therefore, from the beginning, Shi Xiaole had selected the sword-bearing man as his primary target. Because of the Sword Heart, the sword-bearing man’s threat was far less than the masked man’s.
Retreating, Shi Xiaole flung his sword, and the fine Qingyang Sword Qi immediately interlaced into a sword net. The masked man’s sword was disrupted by an inexplicable force, causing it to only exhibit sixty to seventy percent of its power.
"It’s a Sword Heart, at least more than eighty percent."
Blood spurted from his mouth like a fountain. The sword-bearing man backed away in horror, his body full of crisscrossing sword marks.
Swish.
A point of cold light twinkled. It was a dazzling meteor flying from outer space. Under this sword, the sword-bearing man felt his whole body stiffen, even his thoughts ceasing to function.
"Damn mutt, don’t you dare run."
The masked man was a mixture of shock and rage. The whip in his hand swung out at an extreme speed, entangling Shi Xiaole’s Qingyang Sword. The sword hit the shoulder of the sword-bearing man, cutting a wound deep enough to see the bone.
"If you don’t attack me, I won’t attack you. But if you do, I promise to repay you tenfold. Today, you are both doomed."
His chilling gaze simultaneously covered the two men. Shi Xiaole swung his sword repeatedly, each stroke aimed at the sword-bearing man.
Under the suppression of the Sword Heart, the sword-bearing man’s strength was hard to display and became the masked man’s burden. Unless he did not care about his partner’s life.
But Shi Xiaole was certain the masked man wouldn’t do that. When the two men joined hands, there was at least some hope of killing him. If they missed the opportunity today, they would lose it forever.
The three figures fought together, a turbulent storm of internal power surged, and the red leaves exploded into fragments filling the sky. The bamboo, protected by the array system, swayed from side to side.
The trio charged across from the stone statue array, fighting atop the bamboo tips. The red bamboo forest, under the gusts of wind, looked like a tumultuous red river, extremely dazzling and beautiful.
"Those two seem to have met their match."
"Should we lend a hand?"
"There’s a rule in the Martial World, mind your own business."
Many of them were hideaways in the bamboo forest, they watched from the sidelines without any intention of getting involved. As for the Martial World’s guests, and even the guild masters, they too watched with the same mentality.
Atop the red bamboo sea, the masked man and the sword-bearing man grew more and more heart-stopping and fearful as they fought.
They found out that their prized combat skills were nothing more than child’s play in front of Shi Xiaole, laughably naive. In contrast, his techniques had reached such a high level that he almost ignored the combined attacks of the two.
Of course, it was mainly because the sword-carrying man was being suppressed and was Shi Xiaole’s main target, strategically putting him at a disadvantage.
A strange glint flashed in the masked man’s eyes, he was a step slow, Shi Xiaole’s long sword lunged forward, using the ’Meteor from the Sky’ attack.
"Not good!"
The sword-carrying man turned pale with fright, screamed, and dodged to the side at his fastest speed, not forgetting to block with his sword.
Chi.
Blood splattered, the hand he was holding the sword with was severed at the elbow. While screaming, he fell into the red bamboo forest, with Shi Xiaole relentlessly continuing his attack.
"Stop!"
Someone shouted angrily, with the Sword Qi that was spouting being utterly ruthless, blocking Shi Xiaole’s attack.
A figure came speeding from a distance and stood before the sword-carrying man. It was a youth with an ordinary appearance but wearing luxurious attire.
"Swordsman Guan."
Like a drowning man grabbing a straw, the sword-carrying man’s eyes lit up, he glared at the youth and said viciously, "Swordsman Guan, this man is ruthless and cruel, cutting off my arm is worse than taking a life. Please, cut off his arm for me."
The person who arrived was Guan Fei, a young swordsman from the Guan Family - one of the four major families.
Guan Fei had just taken the Meditation Stone again and arrived here after crossing two sectors. As soon as he heard the commotion, he hurried over.
If it were an ordinary person, Guan Fei wouldn’t bother. But, this sword-carrying man had helped him once three years ago, both out of gratitude and principle, he couldn’t ignore the situation.
The masked man landed half a position behind Guan Fei, his previously tense face relaxed as he sneered continuously at Shi Xiaole.
There was indeed a way out. With Guan Fei stepping in, what was there to worry about? With his cultivation and strength, it would be effortless to suppress Shi Xiaole.
"Friend, we people of the Martial World have always repaid kindness with kindness. Did you hear his words?" Guan Fei casually spoke with a hand behind his back.
"Does it matter whether I heard it or not?"
Shi Xiaole guessed Guan Fei’s identity from the way the sword-carrying man addressed him and his appearance. He believed that based on today’s circumstances, he could probably figure out who he was.
But deliberately ignoring it was interesting.
It wasn’t that Shi Xiaole was conceited, expecting everyone to acknowledge his reputation upon seeing him. Instead, it was because Guan Fei’s eyes concealed a deep melancholy.
From his perspective, if he were to inquire about his identity and then make a move, it would inevitably seem like he was envious, therefore, not asking was the best choice.
Guan Fei smiled faintly, with an air of indifference, "You should sever an arm yourself, and I will spare your life."
As he spoke, an ruthless, chilling sword intent surged from his body. It was extremely similar to Guan Duli’s, but far more dreadful, instantly enveloping Shi Xiaole, giving him no chance to evade.
At the Fifth Tier of Xuan Qi and with seventy percent mastery of Sword Heart, Guan Fei’s pride was uncontainable from the day his talent had been revealed. Furthermore, due to the repression of the past twenty years, his pride was far more excessive than that of a usual genius.
He wouldn’t allow anyone to disrupt him.
Yet, this year, a man named Shi Xiaole emerged. Beneath his dazzling light, all of Qingxue State’s younger generation was in the shadows, even the top talents from the previous generation were affected, being compared and found inferior.
Guan Fei had finally become number one among the younger generation, he couldn’t accept this willingly.
Fortunately, he had run into him here, and Guan Fei felt that if he didn’t take full advantage of this opportunity, he’d be letting down his good fortune.
"This kid is doomed now that he’s been targeted by Guan Fei."
"With Guan Fei’s current strength, even a casual Eighth Tier Xuan Qi master isn’t his match, let alone his backing from the mighty Guan Family. If it were me, I’d run away as far as possible from the start."
"Have any of you noticed, the youngster sharply resembles someone we’ve heard of in rumors."
"Shh, don’t speak carelessly."
People of the Martial World around them were more alert than monkeys, many had figured out Guan Fei’s intentions, their hearts couldn’t help but pity Shi Xiaole.
From the current momentum, he was without a doubt a prodigy. But unfortunately, if he were to lose an arm here, the so-called prodigy would plummet instantaneously.
But without the help of outsiders, how could Shi Xiaole escape Guan Fei’s ruthless attack?
"Heh heh heh, no matter how strong you are today, you will dutifully pay the price. If you dare to make me disabled, you must end up the same!"
The sword-carrying man stood up from the ground, cackling incessantly. It seemed like this was the only way he could vent his inner rage and resentment.
The masked man was so excited that his whole body was trembling. As long as Shi Xiaole severs an arm, he could manipulate him however he wanted.
"Cut it off yourself, or do you want me to do it? You choose."
Guan Fei said arrogantly with a faint smile, like a supreme ruler looking down.
"Neither, I choose neither."
Shi Xiaole shook his head.
"Well, let me choose for you then."
His voice was cold, the Sword Qi even colder. The crowd only saw a blur before their eyes. Guan Fei had already drawn his sword, aiming directly for Shi Xiaole’s sword-holding right arm.
