Chapter 281: Chapter 280: A Battle Shakes the Martial World (Bonus Chapter for Shadow-Ice Heart’s Big Reward)
Beginning with the massacre, it seemed like a long time, yet it was only a span of few breaths. After all, amongst those dozens of masters from the Spiritual-Passage Realm, there wasn’t a single one that could endure even half of Shi Xiaole’s attack. Each wave of his blade brought them sprawling down, no different than reaping wheat.
Everyone was dumbstruck, words could hardly describe the shock in their hearts.
Be it the young generation or the famed martial experts, they felt as if they were dreaming, an incredibly absurd dream that could never come true.
Someone gave himself a brutal pinch.
Hisss!
It wasn’t a dream.
"Shi Xiaole, is he a human or a demon?"
These weren’t mere cabbages, but masters of the Spiritual-Passage Realm.
Usually, such elite warriors were rarely seen, and when they fought, it would create a huge commotion. Yet, they were slaughtered by Shi Xiaole today!
This was an unprecedented event over the past decades.
Bizarrely enough, for those who had witnessed the event, their feelings were peculiar.
There was no fierce combat, no life-and-death struggle. Throughout, the Spiritual-Passage Realm experts seemed like a bunch of chickens and hounds under the swordsmanship of that young man in the blue shirt, being crushed with a single strike.
"You wish to escape?"
Shi Xiaole’s eyes were merciless, looking at the elder in the green robe who was fleeing at high speed. This was one of the people who had been targeting him earlier.
Due to Shi Xiaole’s swift actions and the situation going beyond everyone’s expectations, it wasn’t until now that the elder in green realized the danger and started to flee without a care for his life.
The green-robed elder regretted so much that his intestines turned green.
He had initially thought that Shi Xiaole was at the end of his tether and sought to take the initiative to hack down the former to avenge the elderly goat-bearded man. Little did he expect that he, in the process, stepped into the scope of the array, immersed in a crisis.
Whoosh!
A sword Qi attacked from behind, but the green-robed elder sidestepped. His body swayed like a willow leaf in the wind, and Shi Xiaole failed to chase him down.
"Wind Intent Realm, and it has reached fifty percent."
Shi Xiaole understood, the green-robed elder’s agility was phenomenal, and it was on par with the Bird Crossing Skill. Not only that, but he also comprehended the Wind Intent Realm. His attainment even surpassed Shi Xiaole’s own.
"You brat, I won’t rest until I’ve killed you!"
Nearing the edge of the array, the green-robed elder heaved a sigh of relief but he couldn’t resist making a final threat.
"Really?"
Shi Xiaole’s handsome face was filled with indifference, and a hint of ridicule was subtly detected. As he spoke, he swung his arm powerfully, and the Qingfeng Sword drew an unpredictable trajectory from the bottom up.
This sword, it gave people an illusion, as if the sword Qi wasn’t sword Qi but a collapsing dangerous peak. Countless rocks were tumbling down, leaving the person standing at the foot of the peak nowhere to hide.
The green-robed elder was terrified and felt surrounded by sword Qi. He had no choice but to resist with all his might.
Then, a horrifying scene unfolded. With a succession of horrifying thuds, the green-robed elder finally emerged from the array, but his chest was pierced by the sword Qi, leaving seven or eight large holes that were bleeding profusely. He was doomed.
"That was the first sword technique I have created myself. I tested it on you."
Shi Xiaole stated calmly.
Eversince Shi Xiaole had reached sixty percent of the dangerous terrain while leaning against the architecture on the fifth floor, he had thought about modifying the killing technique, Death Without Life. However, it wasn’t mature at that time.
Later, after being tested by the Heavenly Treasure Sword Marquis, he had a burst of inspiration. Coupled with the previous battles, he finally created a brand new technique.
Shi Xiaole named it, Dangerous Peaks Galore, implying that once this sword is unleashed, it is as if one is under a mountain peak, with absolutely no possibility to evade.
"Two more left."
His soft voice was filled with surging killing intent. A ten-zhang golden light shone from Shi Xiaole towards the older Guan, who was clutching a cowering Guan Fei, avoiding the light desperately.
A chilling palm force abruptly attacked.
"Xiao Yutong, how dare you!"
The older Guan retaliated with all his might, having to push away Guan Fei.
The next moment.
A head flew into the sky.
Right until his death, Guan Fei couldn’t believe that he, as the best of the young generation in the Qingxue State and the Guan family’s most hopeful future leader, would die here.
"You deserved it."
Earlier, Chou Wuji had informed Shi Xiaole through a secret voice transmission that the goat-bearded old man had incited everyone in a secret room, making them target him. It was clear that the goat-bearded old man was instigated by someone. It wasn’t hard to guess that Guan Fei was behind all of it.
"You damned dog, you should die!"
The older Guan’s face turned ashen, and his body trembled uncontrollably because of suppressed fury. Nevertheless, he didn’t dare to approach Shi Xiaole and kept on increasing the gap between them.
He even glared hatefully at Xiao Yutong. There was a longstanding grudge between the Queen City and the Guan family. He didn’t guard against her surprise attack just now, otherwise, Guan Fei wouldn’t have died.
"I am right here, come over if you have the guts."
Stopping the input of internal power into the array and retracting the light, Shi Xiaole stared coldly at the older Guan.
This man was very cunning and didn’t get into the array. With Shi Xiaole’s internal power, he could only trigger a ten-zhang light at one time. Therefore, he couldn’t touch the old man.
Otherwise, he would be the first to kill him.
"’Shi’, you have committed an act against nature’s law, prepare for the pursuit of the martial world of Qingxue State!"
Elder Guan nearly went mad with rage, his eyebrows constantly twitching. He wished he could tear Shi Xiaole apart.
He brought three spiritual-passage realm experts this time, but all of them were killed by Shi Xiaole’s sword. The heavy loss made his heart bleed.
If he could bear such a loss, then the death of Guan Fei truly made him shudder. He couldn’t imagine the storm it would unleash once the higher-ups of the Guan Family learned that their most outstanding descendant was slain!
Even the top powers dared not to do something like this, as it would bring about frantic retaliation. However, this madman, Shi Xiaole, did it without hesitation.
At this moment, Elder Guan was tempted to launch a sneak attack, but he managed to restrain himself. The distance between them was too great, and if the opponent activated the array plate, he would be left with nowhere to cry.
"Being hunted? Not necessary, perhaps I will pay the Guan Family a visit."
The words of Shi Xiaole made people shudder, and Elder Guan’s face turned from green to white.
Suddenly, he realized that given the Heaven and Earth Harmony Array Plate, casual attacks could not harm the other party, and spiritual-passage realm experts dared not to approach. If he really barged into the Guan Family, it would definitely result in a catastrophe!
Unless, he could find someone of the same realm who was not afraid of the opponent, however, did such person exist?
At least not in Qingxue State.
Elder Guan’s face turned red, his veins popped, and he almost screamed: "You mongrel, despicable and shameless, what kind of skill is it to rely on external objects?"
The fact that he could curse such words made many people present have their own thoughts. The man, who held part of the Guan Family’s power, was indeed out of his mind.
"Anyone else interested in the things on me?"
Shi Xiaole turned his head and looked around.
Anyone who met his eyes would subconsciously avoid them.
"Brother Shi."
Su Zhi’er opened her mouth wanting to say something.
The Shi Xiaole she remembered was always calm, unfathomable, but now, he was still calm yet exuded a kind of decisive killing intent.
Was it a helplessness forced by the situation, or was he originally like this?
Xue Changqing, Yue Tianlin, and others were all silent.
Never before had they felt such a vast gap between themselves and Shi Xiaole. When he casually killed spiritual-passage realm experts of the same realm, their hearts trembled.
This was a man who feared neither heaven nor earth, calm on the outside but volcanic within. Whoever dared to provoke him would have to bear the unimaginable consequences.
"A blessed talent."
The leader of the Mechanism Pavilion muttered to himself.
The Mechanism Pavilion was different from other powers. They didn’t care who was highly skilled in martial arts; they relied on their mechanism puppetry. Moreover, they were happy to befriend geniuses. That’s why they chose to help Shi Xiaole previously.
Of course, now it seems that it was completely unnecessary.
"After today’s battle, Shi Xiaole’s name will truly become known to all."
Many people sighed in their hearts.
"Everyone, thank you for your assistance. Shi Xiaole will remember this. If there’s a chance in the future, we’ll meet again."
After searching the treasures that several major forces got from the Heavenly Treasure Ruins, Shi Xiaole only took a portion of them, the rest was distributed to forces like Queen City, Revenge Gathering, and Floating Rain Pavilion. Then he made a fist salute to everyone, summoned Qingfeng, and rode away.
When he came, the top powers were very aggressive, and anyone would probably think that Shi Xiaole stood no chance of survival. However, the result was astonishing. This young man, who was merely at the third stage of Xuan Qi, killed everyone in cold blood, and then calmly rode away on his horse, leaving only the corpses of the experts on the ground.
"Ah."
Elder Rong sighed.
He understood the meaning of Shi Xiaole’s last words.
The array plate was eventually an inanimate object that could only be used a few times, it couldn’t last like the array system. Unless Shi Xiaole truly possesses the power to fight against spiritual-passage realm experts, he cannot stay in Qingxue State.
In the mountains, Shi Xiaole spat out a mouthful of blood, his face a bit pale.
The array plate couldn’t completely isolate the attacks from the spiritual-passage realm experts. Coupled with the constant input of internal power, he was not only injured early, but was also seriously wounded.
He took out the healing pill he obtained from the Heavenly Treasure Ruins, swallowed it, and let Qingfeng gallop while he circulated his energy to absorb the effects of the medicine.
Now was not the time to rest, he had to handle a matter quickly.
...
The fight shook the martial world!
Although the Guan Family, Asura Mansion and other powers tried their best to conceal it, the news of Shi Xiaole’s battle with the top schools eventually spread out like a storm. Too many experts saw it in person, and most of them were at the spiritual-passage realm level, and it couldn’t be made secret.
For a time, the martial world of Qingxue State was in uproar.
"This Shi Xiaole is really the fastest rising, most legendary person in the martial lord in recent decades. Every time news about him breaks out, it’s always earth-shattering."
"It’s more than just decades. If you trace back fifty years, one hundred years, two hundred years, you will never see such a person."
"This time it’s too big, and there are already array experts proving that his array plate can’t last too long. It is said that the Asura Mansion and other seven major powers have dispatched elites overnight to activate all sorts of connections and channels to hunt him down. Even the masters on the wind dust list have moved, no matter how much the cost, they will not hesitate!"
Many martial artists were speculating in private whether Shi Xiaole could successfully escape this manhunt.
