Chapter 336: Chapter 335: Mysterious Object
What Shi Xiaole was executing was the first move of the Wind God Leg, Catching Wind and Seizing Shadows.
This was mainly a move of flying skill, incredibly fast, strengthened by a seventy-five percent grasp of Wind Intent Realm. It made avoiding the venom attack of the variegated snake effortless.
Probably recognising Shi Xiaole, the variegated snake became even more vicious, its body as thick as a water vat coiled up, then quickly struck out with its mouth spraying venom non-stop from both directions.
Shi Xiaole quickly noticed that compared to a month ago, the variegated snake’s attack has clearly increased, likely due to the resources it consumed from the Cold Pool.
If he hadn’t mastered the Wind God Leg, Shi Xiaole would have lost quickly against this kind of attack. However, now he was only calm and steady.
With one arm around Xia Yunxi’s slender waist, Shi Xiaole moved as swift as the wind, in and out, vertical and horizontal. No matter how fast the variegated serpent’s attacks were, they couldn’t touch a single piece of Shi Xiaole’s sleeve.
While dodging, Shi Xiaole still had time to counter-attack, his legs showering down like a rainstorm, constantly kicking the snake’s head and its vital parts.
It was the third move of the Wind God Leg, Stormy Rain and Wild Wind.
"His martial arts?"
Xia Yunxi was already stunned.
She felt that even a martial artist at the seventh level of Spiritual-Passage Realm wouldn’t have an advantage against the variegated snake. Yet Shi Xiaole was handling it with such ease. Could this really be happening?
Even more so, in his arms, flying around, the fearsome variegated serpent no longer seemed as terrifying.
"So his strongest skill isn’t swordsmanship, but leg technique?"
Xia Yunxi realized, she had never really understood Shi Xiaole.
If she remembered correctly, he started practicing this leg technique only a month ago. How could he master such a profound leg technique in just a month? If not, how could she ever explain everything that happened before?
Xia Yunxi’s mind was in disarray, unable to make sense of it all.
Moving like the wind, kicking like lightning, Shi Xiaole striked the variegated snake’s body, sending it flying six feet away and smashing it into the ground. This shook the ground to the point where it didn’t stop trembling, knocking over many trees.
The fourth move of the Wind God Leg, Swift as Lightning Wind.
Time and again, the variegated snake got struck flying. Compared to a month ago, the situation has completely turned around, yet Shi Xiaole is shaking his head inwardly.
The characteristic of Wind God Leg is its speed, its power though, is no match for the Death Claiming fifteen swords. Despite him having the upper hand and pushing the variegated snake around, all those kicks barely hurt the snake.
On the contrary, he had consumed a lot of his internal energy. If the standoff continued, the situation could reverse at any time.
Regardless, now that he has mastered the Wind God Leg, Shi Xiaole no longer needed to fear the variegated snake.
Continuing the fight was pointless. With a thought, Shi Xiaole stepped into the air, vanishing quickly into the dense forest with Xia Yunxi in his arm, leaving the variegated snake behind, angrily and helplessly hissing.
"Miss Xia, it’s too dangerous here, please don’t run around."
Back at their original resting area, Shi Xiaole released Xia Yunxi, speaking gently.
Xia Yunxi averted her gaze, saying, "Actually, it would be better to die than to burden others."
Shi Xiaole shook his head, saying: "You dying may be an easy way out for you, but have you ever thought about the people who are still alive, who would be heartbroken because of your death."
Xia Yunxi asked: "Like who?"
Shi Xiaole looked straight at her.
Xia Yunxi’s face turned redder and redder, and just when she felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat, Shi Xiaole laughed and said, "Like your junior brothers and sisters."
"You!"
Stomping her foot, Xia Yunxi punched the young man’s chest and ran to a tree in the distance.
Shi Xiaole smiled and said: "I didn’t say anything wrong."
"Senior Sister, it’s really you."
The words had barely left his mouth when two people emerged from the dense forest nearby, looking somewhat ragged and haggard. If not Lv Tao and Wang Yuwei, who could they be?
"Junior Sister Wang, Junior Brother Lv."
Xia Yunxi also stood up cheerfully.
Having been reunited after a long absence and experiencing countless hardships, the three naturally had a lot to talk about. When asked why Gao Fei was missing, Xia Yunxi said: "We got separated and I don’t know where he is now."
Lv Tao didn’t say anything.
However, Wang Yuwei, as if noticing Xia Yunxi’s clothes for the first time, exclaimed, "Senior Sister, why are you wearing a man’s clothes and...?" Then she looked at Shi Xiaole, her gaze filled with suspicion and danger.
A woman wouldn’t just casually wear a man’s clothes, it was an affair that could easily tarnish their reputation.
If Shi Xiaole did anything inappropriate to Senior Sister Xia, then even if her martial arts were inferior, she would still demand justice for Xia Yunxi!
Xia Yunxi was so embarrassed her neck turned bright red, while Shi Xiaole was still calmly smiling.
Lv Tao observed their expressions, pulled Wang Yuwei aside and whispered something to her. Wang Yuwei looked confused at first, and then shocked. After that, she started scrutinising Shi Xiaole.
"You better make sure your actions are just, don’t think just because you’re a strong martial artist you can bully people."
Wang Yuwei said to Shi Xiaole, then she took Xia Yunxi away to chat privately. Judging from Xia Yunxi’s shy expression, Shi Xiaole was sure that Wang Yuwei was probing into their relationship.
"Brother Shi, that’s just how Junior Sister Wang is, I hope you don’t mind," Lv Tao walked up.
"Why would I? My conscience is clear."
"Shi Xiaole said.
With the addition of Lv Tao and Wang Yuwei, there was much more excitement. After dinner, Shi Xiaole said something to the three of them and then left alone.
"I worry that something might happen to this mysterious kid! Senior Sister, don’t say I didn’t warn you, Lv Tao and I once saw a terrifyingly large snake from a distance. With Shi Xiaole’s strength, he’s sure to die if he encounters it," Wang Yuwei said worriedly.
"Yeah, Senior Sister, we should all move together in the future so that we can look out for each other," Lv Tao also expressed his concerns about Shi Xiaole.
"Alright."
Xia Yunxi didn’t know what to say. If she told them that the huge snake was already beaten under Shi Xiaole feet, they probably wouldn’t believe it.
In the night, Shi Xiaole headed straight to the Cold Pool and jumped in without caring whether the giant snake was around.
Not long after, the Cold Pool started to violently fluctuate. Both he and the snake emerged from the Pool after a long nighttime brawl with the snake being kicked around unknown times, and its fierce momentum utterly extinguished.
"Let’s make a deal, we live in peace and each takes what we need, how about that?" Shi Xiaole proposed.
He believed the snake could understand him since it had attained some form of sentience. However, the ferocious nature of the dotted snake exceeded Shi Xiaole’s expectations as it continued to ferociously bite at him, seemingly realizing that Shi Xiaole was unable to seriously injure it.
"You leave me with no choice," said Shi Xiaole as he took off.
For the following days, Shi Xiaole would regularly enter the Cold Pool, kick the snake around, and leave. This kept the snake from benefiting from the resource of the Cold Pool, and neither of them could enjoy peace.
After a few days, the speckled snake finally gave in. Shi Xiaole’s speed was just too much for it to handle.
Within the Cold Pool, a strange yet harmonious scene playing out.
A man and a snake, each occupying a position, would launch attacks on a large irregular solid, then absorb the cold air rebounding from it.
It had been ten days. Under the operation of the Brahma-I Unity’s Internal Power, the essence of Devil Path in Shi Xiaole’s body was being slowly stripped and absorbed.
Furthermore, because he was continuously using the resource, Shi Xiaole felt that he was getting closer and closer to an invisible barrier.
Glancing at the snake, it was fully absorbing the cold air from the irregular solid, treating it like nourishment. And its efficiency far exceeded his.
Each time it took in a gust of coldness, its breath became a bit stronger. The snake sneaked a glance at Shi Xiaole, its eyes glinting with an evanescent treacherous light.
Under the round-the-clock attacks by Shi Xiaole and the big snake, the irregular solid gradually reduced in size while the congealed cold air grew denser.
When the solid reduced to just three meters in size, even Shi Xiaole and the snake needed to wait a while before daring to launch an attack.
Despite this, the benefits for the two increased greatly.
"Just a little more," Shi Xiaole got excited.
The catalytic effect that the coldness had on the essence of the Devil Path was extremely powerful, especially now. Each time he endured the cold air, the amount of Devil Path essence peeled off was dozens of times more than before, equivalent to the accumulation of several tens of days!
If the other geniuses knew this, they would surely envy him to death.
Everyone knew that time was everything, especially for martial artists. The earlier one broke through the realm, the higher their potential would be in the future.
If one could break through to the Spiritual-Passage Realm before turning thirty, that would make them a genius in many states of Shuntian Prefecture. Breaking through before twenty-five would make them top-notch geniuses like Xia Yunxi.
As for breaking through before twenty, those were extremely rare, likened to phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Out of the numerous young martial arts prodigies across the hundreds of states in Shuntian Prefecture, such geniuses could be counted on one’s fingers!
Of course, these only referred to cultivation talents and didn’t include hidden qualities such as comprehension ability.
Three days later, when the irregular solid had shrunk to two meters, the rectangular object in the middle finally revealed its true form, turning out to be a bed crafted from an unknown material.
The snake’s eyes lit up with anticipation.
Whoosh.
Crack.
Shi Xiaole and the speckled snake launched attacks simultaneously.
Under the joint effects of Sword Qi and the biting force, the surface of the irregular solid was densely covered with cracks and finally crumbled. An ice-cold breath that chilled to the soul diffused out from the bed.
"This is bad!" Shi Xiaole swiftly activated his Wind God Leg and flew out.
The snake also let out a miserable cry, escaping up as fast as it could. Just after its tail left the water surface, the entire Cold Pool was completely frozen.
Several hundred meters away, half of Shi Xiaole’s body was covered in frost, and even his blood nearly stopped flowing.
The coldness was terrifying. Shi Xiaole had only been grazed by a thread of it, and he almost lost his life. If he had been any slower, it would have been certain death.
What on earth was that bed?!
In his muscles and bones, the cold remained, and large amounts of Devil Path essence were loosened, gushing like a tide into Shi Xiaole’s meridians, making his internal power spontaneously operate and rush towards a certain acupoint in his spine.
He was about to break through the Spiritual-Passage Realm!
