Chapter 27: Chapter 27: The Wonderful Use of Stone Touching Qi Cyclone (Seeking Recommendations and Favorites!)
Shi Xiaole was sitting on the ground, oblivious to the unusual behaviour of Wang Yangming and the monk. His mind was continually replaying the battle he had just fought.
Before this, Shi Xiaole had divided the Draw Sword Skill into two parts: Hidden Blade and Drawing the Blade.
Hidden Blade was the gathering of force, and Drawing the Blade was the release of that force.
But now, he had undoubtedly taken it to a higher level. The so-called Hidden Blade no longer required keeping the blade in the sheath - it was not just about maintaining form.
Previously, the opponent only needed to block Shi Xiaole’s first attack, essentially shutting down the Draw Sword Skill.
But after this battle, even with the sword out of the sheath, Shi Xiaole still had the ability to launch a second strike!
Of course, because this sword technique requires a lot of mental effort and emotion, it’s not possible to execute it indefinitely. However, it was clear that the advancement of the Draw Sword Skill had given Shi Xiaole a new hidden weapon, which could be extremely useful at critical moments.
After regulating his breath for a long time with the Embracing the Origin Energy, Shi Xiaole suddenly realized that his internal power had shown signs of progressing towards the late phase of the Hidden Qi Fifth Tier.
In conclusion, he had gained a lot from this battle.
"Young Hero Shi, I really don’t know how to thank you,"
When Shi Xiaole opened his eyes, Zhang Yuanshan and Miss Zhang came over, expressing their gratitude.
During the previous battle, the father and daughter had hid inside the carriage and didn’t come out, but they saw everything through the window. Although they knew not to rely on the help from these martial arts masters they hired in a life-and-death crisis, the departure of Dong Chengwu and others still caused great disappointment to Zhang Yuanshan.
Luckily, Shi Xiaole, Wang Yangming, and the monk did not leave.
Especially Shi Xiaole, his last desperate fight was not only shocking for Zhang Yuanshan due to his martial arts skills, but it also made him realize that he had previously underestimated this young man.
"Mr. Zhang, you don’t need to thank me, I promised to do my best."
Shi Xiaole said lightly.
"Well, at this point, Zhang has resigned himself to fate. To avoid dragging you down, I have decided to leave the Invisible Gorge and find another way,"
It was not that Zhang Yuanshan was giving up on his daughter, but that he had severely underestimated the Cave Mountain Bandits. Including his daughter, the Zhang family only had five people left, how could they dare to venture into the Invisible Gorge?
Though the Cave Mountain Bandits had lost two of their deputy leaders, their strongest one, the Golden Dragon Blade, was still around, as well as countless bandits watching eagerly.
If they continued, they would only be heading down a path to their death.
Wang Yangming, wanting to interject, could only sigh. He, a novice in the martial world, had stumbled greatly this time.
Shi Xiaole shook his head and pointed to the two deputy leaders’ corpses, saying, "I’m afraid even if we want to leave now, Zhou Xiong, the Golden Dragon Blade, wouldn’t let us."
Among the gangs of the martial world, loyalty and faith always came first. Regardless of their actual feelings, they always made sure to save face.
Two deputies were killed, and if Zhou Xiong did nothing in response, let alone his character, he would not be able to explain it to his subordinates.
When one’s little brother has been killed and you do nothing, who would be willing to risk their life for you in the future?
"This... I’ve caused you all trouble!"
Zhang Yuanshan was overcome with guilt, hitting his chest and stamping his feet.
Just as everyone was feeling despondent, Shi Xiaole suddenly said, "Actually, I have an idea in mind. It’s risky, so it depends on Mr. Zhang’s decision."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhang let out an ’oh’, and then suddenly became alert, looking deep into Shi Xiaole’s eyes. Finally, holding a glimmer of hope, he asked, "What’s the plan?"
Shi Xiaole shared his thoughts.
Everyone looked at him in surprise. Wang Yangming couldn’t help but say, "Brother Shi, you are indeed a bold strategist. If we don’t execute this plan carefully, all of us could die."
Shi Xiaole said, "Even if we try to escape now, we probably won’t make it. I think Zhou Xiong has already surrounded us."
Wang Yangming refused to believe it and so used his flying skill to sprint out. After a while, he returned with a gloomy face, the result was clear to see.
"If we stand together, we stand to benefit; if we split, we will lose. At present, the only way for us to survive is to work together as a united force,"
Shi Xiaole stood up.
Seeing his firm expression, as if extremely confident, Wang Yangming was also inspired and gritted his teeth saying, "Since Zhou Xiong does not want to spare us, then we will strip him of his armor and weapons."
The monk put his palms together and recited a prayer for the Buddha, evidently with no objections.
"Gentlemen, I am grateful for your loyalty and support, if we can survive this time, I will increase the originally promised reward from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand,"
Zhang Yuanshan fully understood that if Shi Xiaole and his party abandoned him and his daughter and decided to run away alone, their chance of surviving would undoubtedly be higher than now.
If they chose loyalty, he naturally wouldn’t be stingy.
...
"Mountain Master, that group has broken through from the east."
On a hillside to the south, a bandit hurriedly ran up and spoke to a tall one-eyed man.
"Go, follow me to fight the enemy, and avenge our fallen brothers!"
Zhou Xiong waved his blade, leading a group of his subordinates menacingly toward the east. Indeed, Shi Xiaole and his party were there, driving a carriage, and fiercely attacking the eastern line.
"For killing my brothers, I will tear you to pieces!"
Zhou Xiong roared, his majestic body leaping out like a bear and slashing his blade towards Shi Xiaole in the center.
His anger was real.
No matter what, those two deputy leaders had been with him for more than a decade. Even a pig would become attached to its companions after that long, let alone when those two had dealt with affairs, saving Zhou Xiong a lot of trouble.
But now, those two were killed in a single battle by Shi Xiaole, how could Zhou Xiong not be infuriated?
He vowed to himself that he would cut Shi Xiaole to pieces, put him out in the sun to dry, and then slowly chew him up, only then his hatred would be relieved.
His combat strength at the peak of Hidden Qi Ninth Tier, combined with the Thunderbolt Slash, a mid-tier and third-rate skill from Divine Harmony Perfection, made Zhou Xiong’s blade the strongest Shi Xiaole had seen since his arrival in this world.
He couldn’t afford to be careless, so he shifted the sword from his right hand to his left and abruptly drew out the Hundred Battles Blade with his right hand.
Clang.
"So strong!"
Shi Xiaole’s arm ached, his wrist felt as if it was about to twist off, and even the horse beneath him staggered back, collapsing onto its knees.
Seizing the advantage, Zhou Xiong became more fierce and ruthless in his blade technique, striking three blows in succession, and a small notch immediately appeared on the blade of the Hundred Battles Blade.
"Thunderbolt Xuanhuang!"
Zhou Xiong gave a cruel smirk, lifting both hands, performing the deadly move of Thunderbolt Slash.
In an instant, his blade halved the air like a thunderstorm, with an unstoppable momentum, intent on severing Shi Xiaole’s right hand.
Zhou Xiong seemed to have already visualized the scenario of blood splattering, taking pleasure in his revenge as reflected in his one-eyed stare.
Unexpectedly, at the next moment, an invisible force of confinement enveloped him, causing his blade to be suddenly hindered, the direction even deviated slightly.
Heaven and Earth Net Force.
Inside the Xuanjing Cave Mansion, Shi Xiaole had mastered the Heaven and Earth Net Force to the Transformation Phase, and after these efforts, this skill had progressed to the complete Transformation Phase.
Shi Xiaole had deliberately refrained from using this technique before, in order to prepare for this moment.
"Take this!"
With a loud shout, Shi Xiaole put the Battle Blade Skill into action one-handedly, battling against Zhou Xiong.
In terms of skill, Shi Xiaole was naturally not as good as Zhou Xiong. Every time faced with danger, he could utilize the Heaven and Earth Net Force, turning the tides of the battle and infuriating Zhou Xiong.
"This Brother Shi really has an ace up his sleeve."
Seeing the situation of the battle from this side, Wang Yangming, despite being in the heat of battle, felt a wave of shock.
To know, prior to this, only Dong Chengwu from their team could barely stand against Zhou Xiong. No matter whether it was Dong Chengwu or Zhou Xiong, both were in the Hidden Qi Ninth Tier realm and certainly not comparable to Shi Xiaole who was at fifth-tier Hidden Qi.
If Shi Xiaole reaches the ninth-tier of Hidden Qi, wouldn’t he easily kill them?
"Young Master Wang, quickly carry out Young Master Shi’s plan."
A monk on the side reminded him, jolting Wang Yangming back to reality.
Between the two, one had a sixth-tier of Hidden Qi and the other had an eighth-tier Qi Tier. Naturally, with Zhou Xiong being held back, they proceeded without worry, fighting off a group of bandits.
After the brawl, the two broke through the line of defense and charged out of the perimeter.
"Damn it."
"Boss, they got away."
The bandits chased them with their arrows, but the arrows could not penetrate the reinforced surface of the wagon.
"Pass on my order, everyone must block the carriage, those bastards cannot escape!"
Zhou Xiong roared in anger, his voice carrying far into the distance.
Upon hearing the orders, not just the brigands from the west and north, but even those guarding the two sides of the Invisible Gorge came rushing forward, tightening their encirclement.
"You guys won’t be able to escape, surrender now!"
Zhou Xiong glared at Shi Xiaole with a mean look.
Shi Xiaole replied: "Who lives and who dies, is still uncertain."
"I swear I won’t rest until I kill you!"
Zhou Xiong was seething with hatred.
The two sides soon engaged in more than a hundred rounds.
At this point, Shi Xiaole was slowly feeling his energy drain, gradually showing signs of exhaustion. Soon, Zhou Xiong found an opening, continuously inflicting minor scratches on his back and shin.
Zhou Xiong erupted into laughter, becoming even more unbridled with his attacks.
Under passive defense, Shi Xiaole was facing an unprecedented crisis.
Honestly speaking, the strength of Zhou Xiong was almost as good as Senior Brother Yuan Qiuwei’s, which was far beyond Shi Xiaole’s imagination.
Finally, Shi Xiaole staggered backward from a heavy blow.
As the blade came slicing down, set on severing his legs, Shi Xiaole was jolted. His body electrified for a moment that seemed forever yet also instantaneously, Zhou Xiong’s blade speed became excruciatingly slow.
"Qi cyclone?"
In the space of his system, the cyclone composed of thought-qi began to automatically rotate, connecting Shi Xiaole with the air in a certain way and allowing him to vaguely detect a flaw in Zhou Xiong’s blade path.
Shi Xiaole struck with his blade.
With a clang, Zhou Xiong’s blade was blocked, a look of incredulity took over his face. Next, Shi Xiaole unleashed a series of blade strikes, each one hitting Zhou Xiong right at the lapse of his defense, effectively blocking his full set of swordsmanship and infuriating him to the core.
"So the Stone Touching Qi Cyclone could be used this way?"
Unlike Zhou Xiong’s anger and frustration, Shi Xiaole was overjoyed.
In a fight between martial artists, besides internal power and techniques, one’s adaptability is also an important part of their strength. If able to discern their opponent’s flaws to the maximum extent, it would undoubtedly boost Shi Xiaole’s power tremendously.
It was not only the flaws in the technique, Shi Xiaole found that after activating the Stone Touching Qi Cyclone, his perception of wind, sunlight and other natural phenomena also increased dramatically.
As the thought occurred, he raised up his Hundred Battles Blade, angling it to reflect the sunlight just right to dazzle Zhou Xiong and irritate his eyes.
At this moment, Shi Xiaole’s long-prepared Draw Sword Skill slashed out with all its might.
Boom!
Zhou Xiong emitted a miserable cry, his long blade slipped from his hands, his throat was lacerated by a fierce knife wound. After a few spasms on the ground, he lay still.
