Chapter 320: Chapter 319: Wind Leaves No Trace
The Battle of the Black Devil Ridge had finally come to an end.
In this battle, both justice and evil suffered heavy casualties. Sixty-three high-ranked martial artists from Fengchen List died, and fifty-nine high-ranked martial artists from Demon List died. As for ordinary high ranked Spiritual-Passage Realm warriors, they were countless.
It was said that because he lost his Black Devil arm, the Demon Marquis went crazy and fought with the Three-Eyed Gentleman for three full days and nights. The battlefield spanned tens of miles before they exhausted their strength and stopped.
The entire Black Devil Ridge seemed enveloped in the stench of blood.
But what drove countless people mad was that the Black Devil Divine Monarch’s arm had disappeared.
No one knew who got it. There were all kinds of guesses, but as time passed, the upheaval gradually faded away.
...
By a small lake, there was a thatched house.
Shi Xiaole was sitting there, his breath long and continuous. If one could see inside, they would find that strands of Devil Path essence were being drawn from his muscles and bones, slowly being assimilated under the refining of Brahma-I Unity internal power.
This process took about two 2-hour periods before Shi Xiaole opened his eyes.
"My internal power has increased a lot."
Half a month had passed since he left Black Devil Ridge.
During this time, apart from healing, Shi Xiaole was refining the Devil Path essence. The progress of his internal power was terrifying. Compared to half a month ago, his internal power had increased by 10%.
As a result, his cultivation level had also reached the peak of the Fifth Tier of Xuan Qi, only one step away from the Sixth Tier.
"If I absorb all the Devil Path essence in my body, would my cultivation level be able to surpass the Spiritual-Passage Realm?"
Feeling the vast energy within his body, Shi Xiaole, who had long understood this, still couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
Of course, the matter wasn’t that simple.
As the refining deepened, Shi Xiaole gradually found that what he was absorbing now was just the surface energy of the Devil Path essence. The deep-level energy was extremely concentrated, often taking him two 2-hour periods of practising to absorb even a trace of it.
It was like a gold mine, with broken gold all outside, easy to pick up, but large chunks of gold rock inside, requiring ten to a hundred times more effort to move.
If he could move it all, without doubt, Shi Xiaole’s strength would reach a terrifyingly unprecedented level! He seriously doubted that then, no one in the Great Cold State would be his match.
Involuntarily, Shi Xiaole thought of the Black Devil Divine Monarch.
This was just the Divine Monarch’s single arm, and moreover, the essence in the arm couldn’t possibly have not dissipated over the past six hundred years. It could be imagined how powerful the Black Devil Divine Monarch was back then!
It was frightening to think about!
What was even more terrifying was another thing.
Shi Xiaole really couldn’t understand why he could endure and absorb such pure Devil Path essence. To his knowledge, even high-ranked Devil Path warriors had to go through a complicated process to do so.
Could it be that his origin was related to the Devil Path?
Where was his father, Shi Xuanzhong, from?
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole stood up, opened the door, and walked to the lake.
Blue Tidal was sitting on a large rock in the middle of the lake, wrapped in Invisible Sword Qi, preventing the tide from approaching him.
At one moment, Blue Tidal moved his arm.
Wham!
Nine water pillars ten feet high and as thick as water tanks shot up into the sky, spraying a sky full of water mist.
"Senior, you have great skills."
Shi Xiaole praised.
"Duel with me."
Blue Tidal said.
"I used a secret technique before, I am not able to fight for half a year, I hope senior will understand."
Shi Xiaole, still wearing a disguise mask and still having the aura of the Sixth Tier of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, said. This place was not the Black Devil Ridge, once they fought, he would inevitably expose himself.
Blue Tidal looked at him deeply and said: "After today, there will be no more days for you and me to meet."
"Senior, are you leaving?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
"In the Great Cold State, there are those stronger than me, but the Sword Realm is not higher than mine, at least not openly. After settling down for more than forty years, it’s time to see the world outside."
In Blue Tidal’s eyes, there was anticipation, expectation, and a strong desire to fight.
The goal of martial artists to cultivate wasn’t just to enhance their strength, but also to travel the world, see various wonders, and meet various masters. To do so wasn’t it even more enjoyable?
From the moment Blue Tidal understood the true meaning, his heart had already left the Great Cold State.
"I want you to do something for me, as repayment for me saving you."
Blue Tidal suddenly said, not hiding anything.
Shi Xiaole smiled and said: "Please tell me, senior, as long as I can do it, I will do my best."
"The only thing I can’t let go of is my daughter, Xiaodie. The Martial World is long and difficult, I have entrusted Lady Bizan to take care of her, but I still want you to promise, if Xiaodie is in danger in the future, no matter life or death, you must save her once!"
"Xie Xiaofeng never owes anyone anything, rest assured, senior!"
Without making any oaths, Shi Xiaole solemnly said.
In a flash, Blue Tidal head towards the distance and disappeared, coming and leaving suddenly.
This was a true Martial World person.
"Maybe I’ll meet him again."
Shi Xiaole stared into the distance for a long while before he retracted his gaze and murmured to himself.
Without Blue Tidal, Shi Xiaole had no reservations, spending his days cultivating the essence of the Devil Path and practicing various sword techniques.
The battle at Black Devil Ridge advanced his Death Claiming Fifteen Swords technique greatly but also exposed several weaknesses.
First, his sword techniques were too focused on offense, lacking defensive moves. His chances were slim when faced with an unbeatable formidable opponent.
Second, his Flying Skill was too poor.
After all, Bird Crossing Skill is a second-rate low-level Flying Skill. It’s not even comparable to the second-rate mid-level Flying Skills practiced by talented disciples from top sects on the martial arts ranking, let alone the high-level masters. It placed him at a disadvantage at the onset of a fight.
Speaking of second-rate high-level Flying Skills, no one actually practices them. These martial skills are almost as valuable as first-rate low-level martial skills, which do not exist in Great Cold State.
Days passed by.
One month later, Shi Xiaole’s injuries were fully healed, and he successfully broke through to the early stages of the Xuan Qi Sixth Tier.
Due to the Small Vermilion Fruit he ingested in the Ghost Castle’s underground, Shi Xiaole’s body was much stronger than most people. Before reaching the Spiritual-Passage Realm, he didn’t need to worry about the instability brought about by too rapid progression.
However, although this breakthrough improved his strength, it didn’t make a dramatic difference as before. Mainly because his Internal Power had reached its limit, he could only increase the amount.
Aside from cultivating, Shi Xiaole spent his time studying sword techniques and movement skills to address his weaknesses. Eventually, he temporarily focused on the Retaining Life Sword Technique of the Heavenly Sword Marquis.
Acquiring a mid-level, second-rate Flying Skill wasn’t something you could stumble upon by chance. Trying to create one from scratch without much reference posed a great challenge.
Unlike sword techniques which offered nearly a hundred variations and had the Retaining Life Sword Technique for comparison.
The Retaining Life Sword Technique always leaves a line of survival for the opponent, using only eighty percent of its full power. Shi Xiaole previously thought this technique was too gentle. Now, he realized that by leaving a line for the opponent, wasn’t there also a line left for oneself?
This sword technique might lack killing intent, but it assuredly excelled in defense.
The Heavenly Sword Marquis in his later years seemed to comprehend a different Sword Realm that deviated from ordinary swordsmen. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to develop it further.
The Retaining Life Sword Technique could only unleash its might when combined with the Primordial Life Heart Sutra. Of course, Shi Xiaole couldn’t possibly cultivate it, so he could only extract the essence of the Retaining Life Sword Technique to create defensive sword moves himself.
Fortunately, during the past months, he had pulled out the Great Day Heavenly Sword Skill of Jin Shiyi, which helped him develop a lot of defensive sword moves for reference.
By the tranquil lake, Shi Xiaole swung his sword, stimulating countless droplets of water. He then danced with the droplets. The white sword light formed a sphere, encapsulating him.
"Twenty-six drops."
Sheathing his sword, Shi Xiaole looked at his clothes and shook his head. A total of twenty-six tiny droplets had passed through the Sword Qi and landed on him.
According to his plan, once this defensive sword move was perfected, even a ten-foot wave wouldn’t leave a single drop of water on him.
He continued to improve and practice over and over.
Shi Xiaole was entirely absorbed in his practice.
Half a month later.
The twenty-six droplets were reduced to thirteen.
One month later.
Thirteen dropped to six.
Two months later, six became two and then, one.
However, this last drop seemed to be a bottleneck for Shi Xiaole. After another two months, although his cultivation reached the Seventh Tier of Xuan Qi, he still couldn’t overcome the obstacle.
Although this one drop might seem inconsequential to others, any imperfection felt like a gaping flaw to Shi Xiaole. He sought perfection, refusing to accept any error.
One afternoon, Shi Xiaole sat wearily on the grass. His vest was wet, and a small droplet spread out on it.
"What am I missing?"
Shi Xiaole was at a loss.
After sitting quietly for a half-hour, just when he was about to stand up, a gentle breeze blew by. He never felt anything before, but at this moment, it was as if an electric current passed through his entire body.
"How foolish of me, isn’t the place a gale passes through the tightest?"
"Previously, I incorporated the Wind Intent Realm, but I focused too much on speed. A gale doesn’t want speed, it wants power."
Drawing his sword, Shi Xiaole made a move, stirring up countless water droplets. This time he didn’t deliberately swing his sword around. He merely thrust forward. The gale-like Sword Qi formed a conical shape and suddenly expanded.
The water droplets hit it, making a crackling sound. All the droplets were eventually bounced back into the lake, causing countless ripples.
With a single shake, his clothing stayed dry.
After months of practice, the defensive sword technique was finally perfected.
"I’ll name this technique Traceless Wind."
’Traceless’ referred to the effect of the sword technique, and ’Wind’ referred to the characteristic of the sword technique.
This Traceless Wind technique incorporated the essence of the defensive moves from the Retaining Life Sword Technique and the Great Day Heavenly Sword Skill, as well as 60% of the Wind Intent Realm. Although it might not be as powerful as the complete Retaining Life Sword Technique, it definitely surpassed most mid-level second-grade sword techniques.
Shi Xiaole estimated that even a Spiritual-Passage Realm three-tier master wouldn’t be able to break through this move. Coupled with his Seventh Tier Xuan Qi cultivation, it’s safe to say that Shi Xiaole, despite his less capable Flying Skill, wouldn’t be inferior to a Spiritual-Passage Realm three-tier master in terms of attack and defense!
Half a year had passed in a hurry.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had surged once again, reaching the astonishing Eight Tier of Xuan Qi.
Note that even in the talent-rich Great Cold State, achieving the Eight Tier of Xuan Qi at 19 years old was a truly shocking feat.
If he continued at this pace, there was a high chance that Shi Xiaole could break through to the Spiritual-Passage Realm before he turned 22. This would be a shocking accomplishment.
Before this, the record of Great Cold State was 27 years old.
Even in Shuntian Prefecture, which governed hundreds of states, an accomplishment of breaking through to the Spiritual-Passage Realm at 22 years old would be considered incredibly stunning.
However, things weren’t that easy.
The higher you go, the slower your progress. Shi Xiaole felt that the remaining tremendous amount of Devil Path essence in his body was unimaginably tough. Often, he had to put in half a day’s effort to extract just a bit of it.
Perhaps only when his cultivation reached the Spiritual-Passage Realm or his Internal Power level upgraded again could he speed up the extraction and refinement process.
