Chapter 273: Chapter 272: A Thousand Miles in a Day
Sitting on the fifth floor, Shi Xiaole was the first to take out five boxes from the system space. After lining them up and opening them, he took out two Mystic Crystal Stones and immediately started to concentrate his mind and absorb the spiritual energy within them.
Whoosh!
Just like a giant whale sucking in water, the spiritual energy from the two Mystic Crystal Stones lasted less than ten breaths before it was completely consumed.
Four stones.
Eight stones.
...
Piles of residue fell from Shi Xiaole’s fingers, and the number of Mystic Crystal Stones in the box decreased at a visible rate. Shi Xiaole’s aura was becoming more and more strong and profound.
In less than half a 2-hour period, one box was emptied.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation level had moved from the early Xuanqi Realm to the later stages of the same realm.
If he had still been in the Qi Absorption Realm, absorbing over six hundred Mystic Crystal Stones would have been enough to increase his small realm by two levels. However, the Xuanqi Realm required too much Internal Power. On the flip side, this also meant that the increased power when breaking through would be very terrifying.
Fifteen minutes later, more than half of the second box of Mystic Crystal Stones had been absorbed.
A violent gale suddenly rose, swirling around Shi Xiaole’s body and blowing scraps and debris into a grey storm.
Xuanqi Realm, early Second Tier.
Shi Xiaole had successfully broken through.
Suppressing his excitement, he continued to absorb until the second box was exhausted, his cultivation was now stable in the middle stage of the Xuanqi Second-Tier.
The third box.
Xuanqi Second-Tier peak.
The fourth box.
Xuanqi Third-Tier.
Several 2-hour periods later, Shi Xiaole had fully absorbed the entire contents of five mystic crystal boxes. His cultivation level had soared from the early stages of the Xuanqi First Tier to the middle stage of the Xuanqi Third Tier.
Feeling the seemingly endless Internal Power inside him, Shi Xiaole truly understood what it meant to be powerful.
He pinched his fingers together and swung them forward gently. The Sword Qi condensed into a line and directly cut a four-foot-long, six-inch deep sword mark on the ground. From beginning to end, both the depth and the curve appeared as if they had been carefully measured.
"My current strength is at least twice what it was."
Shi Xiaole, in the first tier of the Xuanqi Realm, could challenge opponents in the fifth tier of the Xuanqi Realm. Now, he was confident of easily winning against a cultivator in the sixth tier of the Xuanqi Realm.
If he battled with someone in the seventh tier, more often than not, he would win as well.
It must be understood that the higher the cultivation level, the more difficult it is to fight against higher tiers. This is because each breakthrough brings about a far greater increase in strength. Furthermore, being able to break through to a higher realm is testament to a martial artist’s talent.
There have been few instances over the centuries in the entire Martial World of Qingxue State where a third-tier Xuanqi practitioner could overpower a seventh-tier Xuanqi expert.
However, this was not the end.
So far, it had only been his cultivation level that had increased. What Shi Xiaole looked forward to even more, was his realm of intent.
Looking at the fourth tier stairs, which were empty, Shi Xiaole took out a cushion from the system space that was filled with Enlightenment Seeds and sat on it.
In an instant, mountains were collapsing, divine wind was howling, an illusionary moon was hanging high, and various illusions rose in his mind, causing him to immerse himself in them, unable to break free.
At one moment, Shi Xiaole saw the process of mountain rocks forming, a tornado was attacking from a distance, tearing him apart. In his broken consciousness, the world was dark, a bright moon appeared, swaying, both real and unreal...
Shi Xiaole forgot himself, forgot everything. After some time he started to control himself, watching the mountains, the storm, the bright moon and dancing with his sword.
...
The first four levels of the building leaning against the mountain were constantly filled with bloody battles, everywhere one could see weapons, blood, and corpses.
Gradually, the underlying strength of the major door factions became apparent.
In particular, the top powers like the Three Major Societies, Four Great Noble Families, and Eight Major Schools had attained things that ordinary martial artists wouldn’t dare to seize.
To the point where there were even domineering sects like the Divine Fist Clan that claimed territories and resources, directly forbidding others from stepping into the areas they were interested in, which left people seething with anger but unable to voice it out.
Luckily, each level of the building leaning against the mountain was big enough and as the battles raged on, people found out that there were hidden compartments between the walls, so there was no worry about gains in the short term.
The fourth floor.
Finally, there were people who started climbing the stone steps, and it was Ye Liushuang from the Queen City.
At this moment, her sweat had just evaporated, her lips had lost their color, obviously, climbing the three flights of stone steps had exerted tremendous pressure on her.
Below the stone steps stood five people.
The Grand Elder Xiao Yutong stood alone, Xue Changqing and a middle-aged man in white stood together, and Wunian from the Lanci Treasure Temple stood with an old monk.
"Miss Ye’s willpower truly merits admiration."
The old monk was Yuanxing, the junior brother of the abbot of the Lanci Treasure Temple. He couldn’t help but bring his hands together, giving a word of praise.
"Master, your praise is too much."
Xiao Yutong smiled faintly, feeling a bit astounded inside.
She had just gone up to try and had to step back down from the first step. It could be imagined how much pressure the climbers faced, only those with great determination dared to attempt it.
"What do you all think, will anyone be able to get to the fifth floor?"
The middle-aged man in white was Xue Changqing’s uncle, Xue Yuanping.
The faces of the few people looked at each other, and in the end, it was Xiao Yutong who said, "Sword Marquis has very high standards, I fear there are very few people who can go up."
She didn’t outright deny the possibility, but the undertone of the comment was clearly negative.
Xue Yuanping and Yuan Xing remained silent.
Those who understood the history of the Martial World knew that the age of the great war between good and evil was the true era of genius talents. After that war, the martial world suffered a heavy blow, leading to a few hundred years of transition period.
Although there have been signs of revival in recent years, it won’t reach the heights of that era anytime soon.
Xiao Yutong and Xue Yuanping were geniuses in their youth, but even if they hadn’t reached the Spiritual-Passage Realm, they doubted they could even ascend to the third step.
Using the standard of Sword Marquis Tianbao for the people of today is simply demanding too much.
Sure enough, half an hour later, Ye Liushuang fell from the fourth step and was caught by Xiao Yutong.
"Grand Elder, I have disappointed you."
Ye Liushuang’s face turned pale, she said softly.
"Child, your talent might not be top-notch, but your willpower is rare in the martial world. I believe no one could have done better than you."
Xiao Yutong softly comforted her, smiling.
The outstanding disciples of all major top forces have gathered here, but apart from Ye Liushuang, Xue Changqing and Wunian from Lanci Treasure Temple, no young person under forty years old could ascend to the fourth floor.
Even Guan Fei, who was vaguely regarded as the number one amongst the younger generation, also failed.
Moreover, of the three successful ones, Ye Liushuang climbed the fastest, and also adjusted the fastest, which was enough to illustrate certain issues.
After Ye Liushuang failed, Xue Changqing and Wunian, who had adjusted themselves accordingly, also began to climb the steps. To corroborate the suspicions of the others, Xue Changqing failed at the third step, while Wunian failed between the second and third steps.
"Ah, even you guys have been defeated, it seems that the legacy of Sword Marquis Tianbao won’t be revived."
Xue Yuanping shook his head.
Xue Changqing’s fists clenched within his sleeves. For some reason, at that moment, he thought of Shi Xiaole.
If there was still a person in the martial world who could do what others couldn’t, he believed that person could only be Shi Xiaole.
"Hahaha, don’t underestimate the world. If you can’t climb to the top, it’s only because of your own weakness."
A loud laugh suddenly echoed in their ears, followed by a lazy-looking youth with a wooden crown, leading a simple-looking old man dressed in black.
"It’s you."
Xue Yuanping’s pupils contracted slightly.
This youth with the wooden crown was at most in his twenties, but his cultivation was surprisingly high, reaching the Xuanqi Realm’s Second Tier. Previously, the youth defeated a Xuanqi Realm’s Fifth Tier master with just seven swords. His strength was truly astonishing at his own tier.
Later, they learned that this youth was from Great Cold State, near Qingxue State.
"Your Qingxue State is far inferior to Great Cold State, so the level of your Rankings of Aspiring Heroes may not be high. However, I came out this time just for the fun of it. Even if the standards are low, it’s worth experiencing."
The youth with the wooden crown kept his hands behind his back. The arrogance in his tone irritated several people present.
"You should not be so overconfident, or else the one who will lose face will be you."
Xue Yuanping couldn’t help but retort as he glanced at the old servant behind the youth.
The servant had only made a move once, and within three moves, he severely wounded a well-known Spiritual-Passage Realm master in Qingxue State. After that, no one dared to provode the youth with the wooden crown.
"My young master’s talent surpasses anyone in your Qingxue State."
The old servant in black was cold, but his words made everyone, including Xiao Yutong, unable to retort.
Indeed, whether it was cultivation or strength, within the age of twenty-five, there was no one in Qingxue State who could rival the young man with the wooden crown. Even Shi Xiaole, who was in his prime, fell short.
He was arrogant because he had the ability to be arrogant.
Ignoring the gazes of the others, the young man with the wooden crown adjusted himself for a while before ascending to the fourth step.
The fifth floor.
Shi Xiaole sat quietly on a straw mat, his long eyelashes occasionally trembled.
At one moment.
Whoosh!
An astonishing sword light shot into the sky. It was sharp and fierce, yet it gave a feeling of absolute aloofness, as if it could collapse at any moment.
This move, Landslide and Water Split, which was previously eliminated, had become extremely lethal because it embodied sixty percent of the Perilous Intent.
Yes, sixty percent!
Our miraculous encounter in Wind Valley had once brought Shi Xiaole’s Perilous Intent to forty-five percent. Unfortunately, he had been busy understanding Sword Heart these days, and his progress in Intent was minimal.
It wasn’t until now that his Perilous Intent finally broke through with the aid of the Enlightenment Seed, reaching a shocking sixty percent.
Shi Xiaole was deep in thought. His self-invented move, Death Without Life, which had originally been put out of use, was now as powerful as Meteor from the Sky and Eclipse Eight Forms. Even in terms of danger, it exceeded the others.
However, that wasn’t all that made Shi Xiaole’s eyes open wide.
Not only did his Perilous Intent increase, but his Wind Intent also increased from thirty percent to forty-five percent, and when combined with the Bird Crossing Skill, his expertise in flying skills soared.
His Enchanted Moon Intent rose from forty percent to fifty percent, bringing the Soul Transfer Great Method up a notch.
It could be said that in just half a day’s time, Shi Xiaole’s skills not only improved by leaps and bounds, but they also soared. Now, if he played all his cards, he could kill a master of the Seventh Tier of Xuanqi Realm.
Even for the Eighth Tier or Ninth Tier Xuanqi Realm, as long as they weren’t particularly outstanding in flying skills, even if he couldn’t defeat them, he could still escape.
"I can rebuild the move, Death Without Life. But for now, I only have a general idea of it. The urgent task is to do something else first."
Rising to his feet, Shi Xiaole brushed off the dust on him. He glanced at the youth with the wooden crown who was climbing the steps, then strode towards the side stairs with a murderous aura.
It was time to settle some scores.
