Chapter 316: Chapter 315: Finally Seeing the Arm
Fifty miles outside of Black Devil Ridge, a group of people had gathered. They stood twenty meters apart from each other, arranged in such a way that they could disperse in all directions at any moment.
"Sir, up to this moment, twenty-three of our elite warriors from the Sacred List have died, and of the younger generation, thirty-six people have been killed or injured," one man reported respectfully to a man in the center of the group who carried a powerful aura with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Speak," the man in the center said, briefly regarding the speaker from the corner of his eye.
"Sir, according to our high-level martial artists from Sacred Path, among the fallen warriors from the Sacred List, five were killed by the hand of the same individual. Judging by the wounds, the culprit must be a swordsman."
Uproar ensued among the group immediately.
Some were filled with rage, others emanated the intent to kill, and still others had expressions full of gloom.
The high-level warriors from the Sacred List were not expendable; they were extremely valuable.
The presence of Three-Heart Man, the number one figure of the Righteous Path, already posed a sufficient challenge to them. Yet now, an unknown swordsman had emerged in addition. How did the Righteous Path possess such a reservoir of talents?
Out of the blue, Slaughter Sky Demonic Human proclaimed, "If I am not mistaken, the murderer must certainly be that Xie Xiaofeng whose reputation has been making a stir."
A woman with red eyeshadow, radiating a seductive aura, giggled in response, "Oh, Demon Man, I heard that you had an encounter with him and you were the one who ended up fleeing?"
Within the ranks of the Great Cold Demon Path, only the legendary Five Great Demons could afford to tease Slaughter Sky Demonic Human, who held an high status. The woman who’d just spoke was one of the Five Great Demons, the Red Charm Demon.
"Huh, if it comes down to a death duel, that whelp is no match for me," Slaughter Sky Demonic Human retorted angrily.
"Sir, that lad is extraordinarily gifted. We must eliminate him as soon as possible," the most taciturn member among the five great demons, Love Demon, suggested.
"Haha, Demon of Love, I understand your character. Since you have spoken as such, you must have a concrete plan already. I entrust this matter entirely to you," the formidable man in the center announced.
"Rest assured, sir, he shall surely die," Love Demon lowered his head in reply.
Those present could not have guessed that he had already set his plan into motion half a month prior, and was just waiting to spring his trap.
While the rest had their attention solely on the Black Devil Arm, Love Demon viewed Xie Xiaofeng as no less of a priority. The former had to be obtained both for public and personal reasons, and the latter had to be eliminated!
...
The depth of the dark tunnel was immeasurable, and Shi Xiaole, fully alert, slowly stepped in.
The devilish energy here was several times more potent than outside, causing Shi Xiaole’s perception to be limited to just two meters in sight and up to five meters in sensing his surroundings.
About half a two-hour period later, a sudden premonition surged within Shi Xiaole. As he walked on, he swerved suddenly to the left. A burst of Inborn Gang Qi whooshed by, causing a violent surge in the surrounding devilish energy.
"Huh? It’s you, kid. Quite lucky to have made it here," a man in black appeared from ahead, it was the very same person who had tried to kill Shi Xiaole before he entered the Black Devil Ridge. Seeing Shi Xiaole, the man in black smiled cruelly.
"Your good luck ends here, come, do as I tell you."
The man in black lazily waved his hand, his five fingers spread out, grabbing at Shi Xiaole’s neck. Surprisingly, he made no attempt to kill him, seemingly intending to use him for something else.
"Your good luck ends here," replied Shi Xiaole, unsheathing his sword and slicing through the force exerted by the man’s hand. In an instant, Shi Xiaole’s sword-tip was pointed at the man’s throat.
"What?!" the man’s eyes bulged in surprise.
"Move," Shi Xiaole jerked his chin and the black-clad elder could only retreat step by step. Shi Xiaole could clearly discern the fear in the man’s eyes, as if there was something terrifying ahead.
"A river?" Not long after, a knee-deep river of unknown length appeared before them. The man’s feet were already submerged in the water. He cried out nervously, "Young hero, spare me. This is a dangerous place; we must not enter thoughtlessly. Let us leave quickly!"
"Step in," the Sword Qi was on the verge of bursting and Shi Xiaole stared coldly at the elder.
Guided by his perception, about four meters away was a still warm floating corpse. Clearly, there was something strange about this place. It was just right to let this old man test the waters.
Inwardly full of rage and panic, though, the man in black did not dare to contradict Shi Xiaole’s command and had to reluctantly turn to wade into the river. Shi Xiaole’s Sword Qi locked onto him; he could deliver a fatal blow at any moment.
When they were about three meters apart, Shi Xiaole ordered him to stop and stepped into the river himself.
The two of them, with the man in black leading the way and Shi Xiaole following afterwards, walked several tens of meters. Everything was peaceful—up until suddenly!
There was a slight disturbance within the waters. The man in black stomped hard, causing water to scatter due to the explosion of his internal power, water grasses with sharp thorns were splintered into sections that burst out from within.
"Young hero, run, we cannot handle these poisonous grasses," he yelled, continuously using his internal power to protect against the poisonous grass, offering a desperate cry.
He had forced people into the water before and had tried it himself too, but the amount of poisonous grass was far beyond his expectation. He may hold out for a short while but if much time passed, he would surely be entangled and killed.
Shi Xiaole didn’t move.
The poison grass was much like the man-eating plant in his world of origin, instinctively attacking the moment it sensed movement in the water.
However, the presence of the man in black took the heat off Shi Xiaole. Although a few poisonous vines occasionally wrapped toward him, he easily tore them apart.
"Young hero, save me!"
Overwhelmed on one side by the Sword Qi from Shi Xiaole, and on the other by the relentless, poisonous vines, the man in black was far from his initial towering posture, becoming only pitiful and terrified.
With his left hand’s two fingers joined together, Shi Xiaole pointed forward several times helping the man in black to share about thirty percent of the pressure. After the first wave of attack, he ordered, "Keep moving forward."
The man in black wanted to cry, and walked stiffly ahead.
The second wave.
The third wave.
The attack of the aquatic poisonous plants was getting fiercer.
The first wave lasted only a moment. The second wave extended to two moments and did not merely assail from a single direction but came from all around in a fan-shaped attack.
At the start of the third wave, the man in black’s legs were twisted into bone sticks, and then his whole body was entwined by the poisonous vines. With a hissing sound, what remained was a skeleton dripping with blood, sinking into the water.
Suddenly, all poisonous vines lunged toward Shi Xiaole.
Eclipse Eight Forms.
Risky Peaks.
Shi Xiaole kept executing his wide-ranging swordsmanship moves, but the attack of the poisonous vines showed no signs of receding, instead, it intensified.
Half an hour later, Shi Xiaole’s internal power had been depleted by eighty percent. His special skill of Brahma-I Unity could not be maintained and exposed his true cultivation level.
Just as he was about to retreat, the assault of the poisonous vines suddenly weakened.
"Could it be..."
Shi Xiaole thought of a possibility. However, being inherently cautious, he retreated to the riverbank, waiting until his energy had recovered, before stepping into the water again, this time without heightening his cultivation through Brahma-I Unity.
Sure enough.
The attack of the poisonous plants decreased to one-tenth of the original strength. Almost effortlessly, Shi Xiaole waded across the river, subconsciously raising his cultivation level once again.
Beyond the river was a long dreary passage. Shi Xiaole suddenly realized that the density of the devil qi in front of him had congealed into droplets.
His field of view became shrouded in total darkness. His perception was confined to a range of less than a meter, truly feeling as if he was blind and crossing a river, unable to distinguish north from south.
Yet, he felt an absurd wave of excitement.
The stronger the devil qi, the closer he was to the Black Devil’s arm.
Following changes in the strength of the devil qi, within less than a moment, Shi Xiaole stopped. This was due to the overwhelming power of the devil qi that entirely blocked his sensing ability.
This total darkness that robbed even his senses was enough to drive a person with steel nerves insane. However, Shi Xiaole stayed at this location for a full day and night.
He was waiting.
During this time, the devil qi continued to fluctuate. Sometimes, it would greatly reduce, indicating that the arm had moved away from the location, but it would return a few hours later.
Shi Xiaole tensed his whole body, narrowing his mental power to a single point.
At one moment.
When his sensing ability drastically diminished and finally vanished in the front-left direction, Shi Xiaole lashed out, touching a floating arm.
Boom!
Like being drawn in by a magnet, the arm stopped dispersing the devil qi. With a sudden quiver, a stream of ink-like black light surged out from inside, flowing into Shi Xiaole’s body.
If anyone could see, they would notice that Shi Xiaole’s eyes had turned completely red. The murderous intent mixed within could easily frighten ordinary martial artists with a single glance.
The power level of the original Black Devil had already reached an unimaginable degree, leading to his body’s mutation. This is why, 600 years later, the residual arm could still emit devil qi.
The power flowing into Shi Xiaole’s body contained the essence of Devil Path. One part wreaked havoc on his physical channels, while the other part impacted his mind.
However, the part of Devil Path Essence trying to destroy his body seemed to encounter its nemesis quickly, as it suddenly assimilated into his bones and flesh, failing to mount any resistance.
The part of the essence that attacked his heart led Shi Xiaole into a world full of blood and slaughter. He had never felt such a strong urge to kill before, as if only killing could bring him joy.
He always suppressed these thoughts, but in the end, Shi Xiaole could no longer hold back and drew his sword, slashing at everything around him. The murderous aura poured out like a flood breaking through a dam, becoming unstoppable.
The Devil Path essence contained the will of the Black Devil, albeit only a small amount, it was still not something that the current Shi Xiaole could resist.
...
"This is it."
Outside the tunnel, stood thirteen people, led by the Love Demon, one of the Five Demons of Great Cold.
The other twelve, including Slaughter Sky Demonic Human, were all infamous experts on the magic list.
To track the whereabouts of Xie Xiaofeng, Love Demon had placed an odd tracking bug on many high-level magicians who had entered Black Devil Ridge more than half a month ago.
Anyone who came into contact with these high-level vooodooists would emit an invisible aura that could be tracked.
However, this bug technique consumed a lot of mental energy and even carried Love Demon’s essence of blood. Even a minor injury could impact his cultivation, so he hardly ever used it.
These past few days, with the limited time spent in Black Devil Ridge, Love Demon had eliminated many people and places, and eventually confirmed that Xie Xiaofeng was at this location.
"Kid, you’re dead."
Slaughter Sky Demonic Human’s eyes were cold.
"Let’s go."
At Love Demon’s command, the group of high-level vooodooists circled around and cautiously entered the tunnel.
