Chapter 290: Chapter 289: Retaliation
Internal power and spiritual power are two different things.
It’s rumored that when spiritual power is strong enough, it can kill easily without a trace. The Pupil Skill often spoken of in the Martial World is just one application of spiritual power.
When the Underground Brain Marrow employed the Soul Transfer Great Method, Shi Xiaole was suddenly pushed on the backfoot. This was because he had only learned one Pupil Skill - the Soul Transfer Great Method, and that too was a means of confusing the enemy, incapable of directly combating with spiritual power.
Boom Boom Boom.
Shi Xiaole’s head was throbbing painfully, his mind seemed on the verge of shattering at any moment.
"Hmm, such strong spiritual force, exceeding my expectations! Lad, by yourself, you’re just a mediocrity. Hand over your body to me, and I will allow you to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, laughing at all the world’s ups and downs."
Unsuccessful spiritual attack for some time, the Underground Brain Marrow was even more excited. Because the longer Shi Xiaole resisted, it symbolized the stronger his spiritual power, and ultimately he would be the one benefiting.
A surge of floating power appeared, deviating the hammer.
Left with no choice, Shi Xiaole used the Stone Touching Skill - the Air Floating Skill.
"How can you, a martial artist, possess Stone Touching Skill?"
The Underground Brain Marrow was even more surprised.
It was well known that the Stone Touching Qi Cyclone could only exist in the lower dantian of humans, and Stone Touching Skill and Internal Power were incompatible. But this youngster managed to break that law?
"Chuckles, you really are my greatest opportunity, boy, why don’t you just die?"
The Underground Brain Marrow let out a big roar, the hammer enlarged a circle, transforming into a more violent attack.
Crack!
His consciousness was heavily impacted, Shi Xiaole almost fainted from the pain, and deep down, an unavoidable sense of desperation emerged.
The opponent’s spiritual power was too strong, being more than ten times Shi Xiaole’s power, plus skillful spiritual techniques. It was like a fighting expert confronting a child, they were not on the same level at all.
If he had known that this place was so dangerous, Shi Xiaole would have rather died than come. But who would know that the so-called scroll and the nameless monk were all a scam?
But was he the one being fooled? Could someone from so many years ago predict today’s events?
The massive hammer bearing down, burst through the air and heavily penetrated into Shi Xiaole’s mind. He could feel this hammer attack would shatter his consciousness.
"System has detected that the host is in danger, defensive strength activated."
Just as the hammer was about to come crashing down, the system that had always been hidden and immobile within his brain suddenly vibrated, radiating ripples of all colors.
In an instant, it’s as if grinding tofu with a millstone. The massive hammer was crushed instantly, turning into the purest spiritual power and integrating into Shi Xiaole’s sea of consciousness.
"Ah!"
A ghastly scream resounded from the deep underground.
"Damn it, what kind of power was that?"
The Brain Marrow was horrified yet heartbroken.
You should know that he was a domineering figure in his lifetime with unparalleled spiritual power. But his physical body had died many years ago and has been kept alive by the Qi Resurrection Array and the Holy Stone Lapis Lazuli, preserving his consciousness.
The spiritual force he used to condense the hammer was the accumulation of hundreds of years’ earnings. And now it’s consumed, turning into benefit for that boy?!
This was what they meant when they said ’you tried to steal a chicken, but you ended up losing your rice’.
The Brain Marrow was so irritated that he almost vomited out blood. He would have loved to immediately kill Shi Xiaole, but he didn’t dare.
The fleeting power just now made him instinctively fearful. Maybe only his peak state self could resist that power, any attempt now would simply be throwing his life away.
"Boy, I will remember you. When the second great martial war begins, and I reveal myself, I will personally reduce you to ashes."
An invisible hand appeared in the air above the Brain Marrow, pressing down on the Holy Stone Lapis Lazuli.
A foggy aura erupted, and a moment later, the Holy Stone Lapis Lazuli disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.
With his spiritual power severely damaged, the Brain Marrow had no choice but to hibernate for a while to recover. Given this place is no longer safe, he had to activate Heavenly Destiny Divine Fortune Teller’s Array System to relocate.
When Shi Xiaole awoke from his dizziness, he immediately noticed a change.
He was filled with spiritual power!
If he were to compare his previous spiritual power to a candle flame, outshining ordinary people and able to detect the slightest movements, then at the moment, it was like a blazing fireball, radiating in all directions, sweeping through everything with nothing able to hide from him.
Upon recalling his previous fight with Ghost Granny, Shi Xiaole quickly recognized his negligence. If he fought with Ghost Granny under his current state, with the same level of strength, he was confident that he could exert only half the effort as before.
Spiritual power was originally an elusive thing. Even if one obtained a superior method of cultivating spirituality, they still had to spend a massive amount of time slowly honing and increasing it.
But Shi Xiaole had to admit, due to the sudden changes earlier, he gained what would have taken ordinary people at least fifty years of martial effort, maybe even more.
"Eh, what is this?"
Opening his eyes, the subterranean space was many times larger. This was the real appearance after the illusion array had disappeared. Shi Xiaole spotted a crimson fruit in front of him.
"Red Sun Vermilion Fruit, no, it’s a Small Vermilion Fruit."
Shi Xiaole stood up, his eyes filled with peculiar light.
The real Red Sun Vermilion Fruit was one of the ten exotic fruits, possessing fate-altering capabilities. Whereas, the Small Vermilion Fruit was several levels inferior in effect, but still an exotic fruit coveted by martial artists.
Legend says that once you consume the Small Vermilion Fruit, you can open up several acupoints in your body. Even if it doesn’t help you break through your bottleneck, it could at least reduce the difficulty of future breakthroughs.
"Right, if there wasn’t an existing Small Vermilion Fruit, the illusion array wouldn’t be able to simulate a Red Sun Vermilion Fruit."
Shi Xiaole confirmed there were no dangers, picked up the Small Vermilion Fruit, swallowed it, and sat down to refine it.
Half a "2-hour period" later...
The aura from Shi Xiaole suddenly flared up. Immediately following this, his cultivation level broke through from the mid-stage of the fourth level of Xuanqi Realm directly to the early stage of the fifth Xuanqi level.
In addition to this, he could discover through introspection that many of his meridians had been unblocked. From henceforth, his cultivation speed would surely be much faster than before, and it would be easier to breakthrough too.
"With my current strength, killing Ghost Granny will be as easy as pie, and I am fully confident of defeating the eighth stage expert of Xuanqi Realm from Great Cold State."
If it was previously, even if Shi Xiaole had broken through to the fifth level of Xuanqi Realm, it may not necessarily mean he would be able to defeat an eighth level Xuanqi expert. This was because the difficulty of spanning four levels was far greater than defeating a seventh-level from third-level Xuanqi.
However, the doubling of his mental power brought his battle skills to a whole new level. Spanning four realms was no longer a daunting task.
He got up and walked back through the tunnel, and when Shi Xiaole returned to the surface, it was just when dawn was breaking. Looking back at the Half Moon Pond, he felt as though he was in a dreamlike trance.
"Who does the voice underground belong to? And the anonymous monk, did he intentionally lead others here, or was he deceived too?"
Shi Xiaole had many mysteries in his heart. One thing he was sure of was that he would not go down there again until he had reached the peak of his strength.
As he walked out of the Ghost Castle, a figure was standing under a tree gulping down wine.
"Brother Lin?"
Shi Xiaole recognized Lin Shaoyi.
"I don’t know why you came back to the Ghost Castle, and I’m not interested in your affairs. I was just waiting for you."
Lin Shaoyi said indifferently.
"Why wait for me?"
"Because I owe you a life, and I don’t like owing others."
Shi Xiaole laughed it off, saying, "Brother Lin, don’t worry about it, I just helped you casually."
Lin Shaoyi said, "You helping me was your business, but whether I accept this favour is my problem."
Alright then...
Shi Xiaole didn’t know what to say. Lin Shaoyi was also not a talkative person. Strangely enough, the two ended up together — to be precise, Lin Shaoyi was following Shi Xiaole.
In his words, he would leave when he had repaid Shi Xiaole the favour of saving his life.
Although Lin Shaoyi didn’t talk much, he was after all, a native of Great Cold State. He could answer many local customs that Shi Xiaole didn’t understand. This saved a lot of trouble.
The two left Xuanfeng Town and headed west. Half a month later, they arrived at a dense forest.
At this moment, it was bright and sunny.
Many Martial World travellers were resting under the shade of trees.
"Hey, have you heard? More than half a month ago, ’Young Master Startling’ Chu Shanhe made it through the second level of Silver Horn."
"This is big news in the Martial World, we wouldn’t not know. Chu Shanhe is really impressive. I heard he is only nineteen, yet he could span three realms and fight an eighth-level Xuanqi expert."
"This generation’s youngsters are generally powerful. In the Martial World of the past ten years, it was considered exceptional to reach the third level of Silver Horn. Now, it’s not uncommon to reach the fourth level. People like the ’Sunset Little Sword Marquis’ completed such superhuman feats a year ago."
Shi Xiaole had just awakened from his meditation and heard the discussions, so he curiously asked Lin Shaoyi: "Brother Lin, what is the Silver Horn?"
Knowing that Shi Xiaole was not a native of Cold State, Lin Shaoyi explained, "The Silver Horn is a tower. Because its shape resembles a horn and it is silver in color, it is called the Silver Horn. It is a holy place that measures the level of genius. The pride of our Great Cold State is derived from passing through the high levels of the Silver Horn."
"Generally, those who pass the first level are considered the chosen youth of all places, capable of defeating ten others within the same realm. Those who pass the second level are considered first-class geniuses and can easily span three realms while in the Xuanqi realm."
"Those who break through the third level are truly top-tier geniuses. Within the Xuanqi Realm, spanning four realms is not considered difficult. As for breaking through the fourth level and climbing up to the fifth level, that has not happened in the history of Great Cold State in nearly a thousand years."
Upon finishing, Lin Shaoyi’s typically bland eyes gleamed with an extremely rare fervor.
As a young man, who wouldn’t want to surpass everyone and laugh scornfully in the midst of striking talent?
However, the Martial World is vast, with hidden talents growing like bamboo after a spring rain. Maybe one moment you’re at the top, and the next, you’re defeated by someone else.
Who could truly reign supreme in this constant cycle? In the young generation’s circle, the struggles are even bloodier, with constant intense back-and-forth.
Self-confident in his own talents, Lin Shaoyi had only passed the first level of the Silver Horn.
"If you go, you might have a bit of a chance to break through the third level."
Lin Shaoyi suddenly looked towards Shi Xiaole.
Those words prompted peals of laughter from the martial artists resting in the forest. Was it because there had been a sudden surge of geniuses lately, and so many people became overly confident?
"Brother, it’s the guy in the green clothes over there."
Just then, a man brimming with murderous intent rushed into the forest and pointed at Shi Xiaole.
Lin Shaoyi turned to look, his eyes narrowing.
It turned out, it was the middle-aged man with a moustache who had fled from Ghost Castle, and he had brought three helpers along with him.
From the three men’s undisguised aura, they were all high-level practitioners of the eighth Xuanqi Realm. Lin Shaoyi himself, given his own power, could at most handle one of them.
"Get out of here quickly!"
Lin Shaoyi shouted at Shi Xiaole. The latter’s power is lesser than his own, so the best choice was to run.
