Chapter 351: Chapter 350: Demon Bone Upgrade (4th update)
The moment he entered the darkness, Shi Xiaole immediately lost contact with the others.
The power here, unlike the demonic aura of Black Devil Ridge, diluted his senses rather than limiting them, just as ink diffuses in clear water.
After wandering alone in the dark for an indeterminable amount of time, Shi Xiaole unexpectedly collided with another person.
The other person reacted quickly, slashing their blade towards him with the force of a wild storm.
Drawing his Redfire Sword from his waist, Shi Xiaole parried it.
Bang!
Their blades clashed, causing the man to retreat. Shi Xiaole immediately lost sight of him, but he instinctively thrust his sword out, provoking a muffled grunt from the darkness.
"What a dangerous place."
In here, where senses have no effect, one could encounter others at any moment, and a slight delay could result in their demise.
After all, those who entered weren’t solely from the Lan and Huang families. Who knew who was friend or foe?
With this in mind, Shi Xiaole faintly smiled.
He wasn’t wandering aimlessly; instead, following his intuition, he headed in a certain direction. But before he had taken a few steps, he bumped into another person.
A faint scent wafted over, and along with it came an entangling aura from a palm attack.
Bang!
Shi Xiaole retreated ten steps, almost coughing up blood.
The stranger was an expert at the pinnacle of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, and not an ordinary one either. Their mastery of their palm intent was undoubtedly perfect, reaching a level of ultimate completion.
It should be known that a complete level of palm intent is by no means weaker than the complete Sword Heart Realm.
"Dead already?"
The Red Charm Demon smiled faintly.
With her strength, she could freely roam around the Great Cold State without regard for the Lan and Huang families. She only feared a select few people.
In this darkness, Shi Xiaole would occasionally run into others, some weaker and some stronger than him, the ratio approximately fifty-fifty.
After all, with the Redfire Sword included, his overall strength was comparable to practitioners at the late-stage Spiritual-Passage Realm. And as soon as he came across those with a higher martial arts level, the gap in cultivation would immediately show.
In this place, danger lurked at every step. His diluted senses had saved Shi Xiaole many times.
About half a two-hour period later, Shi Xiaole came to a halt.
The allure in the darkness intensified on him, making him feel invigorated from his blood to his spirit, as though opportunity was right in front of him.
Reaching out, Shi Xiaole touched something hard — it felt like stone, yet not, like metal, yet not.
At this moment, a purple-black light illuminated, and a mysterious force washed over his whole body, focusing particularly on his muscles and bones.
At this instant, Shi Xiaole could clearly feel some looseness in the essence of the Devil Path within his muscles and bones.
Unlike the chill he felt in the Cold Pool, it wasn’t this force that loosened the essence of the Devil Path. Instead, it seemed that some change had occurred within himself, leading to the loosening of the Devil Path essence.
"My hand?"
Shi Xiaole discovered that he had lost control of his body. Guided by this force, his muscles and bones altered bit by bit with each wash, accelerating the absorption of the Devil Path essence.
"Opportunity, this is my opportunity. I’ve finally found the Demon Crystal."
Meanwhile, the Demon Marquis had an abnormal flush on his face, laughing crazily inside.
Demons had Demon Bones and Demon Crystals.
The former indicated a person’s talent for learning martial arts in the Devil Path, while the latter could help enhance one’s Demon Bones.
However, Demon Crystals were extremely precious, a hundred times more so than Mystic Crystal Stones, and were hard to find in the world. Since he became the Suzerain of the Demon Sky Sect, the Demon Marquis had dispatched countless people to search for them, all in vain.
The intense reaction his body was giving, what else could it be besides a Demon Crystal?
The Demon Marquis’s original Demon Bones were rare, occurring once every few decades. Even inferior martial arts skills could be mastered by him within a month.
If he could absorb enough power from the Demon Crystal to enhance his Demon Bones, he was confident that he could master the highest level of the Demon Desire Divine Skill in a very short time. Breaking through the Spiritual-Passage Realm wouldn’t be a problem.
Who would then be his match in the martial arts world of the eight states?
He would repeat the heroic act of the Black Devil Divine Monarch and truly reign over the Devil Path of the eight states!
Full of lofty aspirations, the Demon Marquis walked on. His movements were odd, sometimes moving left, sometimes right, as if he knew the layout of the space within the darkness.
After about half a two-hour period later than Shi Xiaole, he eventually got his hands on the Demon Crystal. The power of the Demon Crystal began to wash over the Demon Marquis, filling him with joy.
However, if someone’s eyes could see through, they would notice the difference between him and Shi Xiaole.
The power of the Demon Crystal seemed to wash and reveal the true form of Shi Xiaole’s muscles and bones, whereas the Demon Marquis was genuinely absorbing the power of the Demon Crystal, strengthening his muscles and bones.
"Black Devil Divine Monarch, you were not capable of setting all this up. Who was it that left this secret? I must find out."
An old, hunchbacked man slowly walked forward. What was different about him was that he was always able to detect movements a few steps ahead, his thin palm occasionally swinging lightly.
Each swing took the lives of those within a five-meter radius, regardless of how many there were or where they were. Nobody could withstand his casual hit.
The darkness here couldn’t fully dilute the old man’s senses and maintained around a five-meter radius. What a fearful sight!
Although Shi Xiaole could only use two-tenths of his mental power, he still had a clear advantage over those at the high Spiritual-Passage Realm level. Just how powerful was this Elder Xu?
If there were experts of the Flying Horse Dynasty level here, they would certainly recognize him as one of the top hundred elders of Sky Edge Pavilion, his skills having long since reached an unfathomable level.
He also had another identity; that is, he was the descendant of the elder from the Sky Edge Pavilion who captured the Black Devil Divine Monarch.
The Demon Marquis absorbed the power of the Demon Crystal at an impressive speed, as swift as wind penetrating his pores.
However, Shi Xiaole was even more exaggerated. That strand of the Demon Crystal flowed through his body like an electric current, transforming his muscles and bones with each breath.
With his muscles and bones becoming increasingly radiant, the essence of the Devil Path collapsed and integrated into Shi Xiaole’s internal power autonomously. His aura grew stronger and stronger.
Crack!
A crisp sound was heard.
Wishing not to be detected by others, the Demon Marquis wanted to release a howl to vent his inner excitement.
This was fantastic. His Demon Bone had improved significantly, which was equivalent to a fifty-year upgrade in talent for cultivation, which usually occurs only once every few decades.
As the Demon Bone advanced, it felt as if the barriers that had held the Marquis back were about to be shattered.
"Huh, why is there still power in the Demon Crystal?"
After the excitement, the Demon Marquis suddenly realized there was still a vast power within the Demon Crystal. It was not flowing into his body but being drawn toward another direction like a river.
"Could it be that someone else is absorbing it too? But this speed..."
The faster the Demon Crystal is absorbed, it indicates a higher level of Demon Bone. Incredulity and suspicion appeared in the Marquis’s eyes as he tried everything he could, directing a palm strike toward the side.
An explosion and a muffled hum echoed in the darkness.
The Demon Marquis continuously slapped, releasing internal power that surged out in all directions like a tide. People were persistently hit by the blow.
"Dammit!"
The Demon Marquis looked terrible.
The Demon Crystal was huge and unbreakable, effectively shielding the opposition and forming a safe area for them. But, on the other hand, thanks to the massive size of the Demon Crystal, the Demon Marquis thought he could absorb some power from it.
As more and more essence of the Devil Path merged into Shi Xiaole’s internal power, his stagnant cultivation started to increase rapidly.
He leveled up to the late phase of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level One.
The peak of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level One.
Tens of breaths later, overcoming the barrier, his cultivation broke through to the early phase of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Two. As his internal power increased, it continued to transform itself, with three and a half tenths of internal power turning into Inborn Gang Qi.
It wasn’t over. The evolution of his muscles and bones seemed to make the refinement of the essence of the Devil Path smoother and faster. About a quarter of an hour later, Shi Xiaole’s cultivation reached the peak of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Two directly.
This was a level that originally took at least a year of hard work to reach, and now it was attained in an instant.
Boom!
A surge of Qi.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had reached the early phase of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Three. Four and a half tenths of his internal power had transformed into pure Inborn Gang Qi.
At this time, the power of the Demon Crystal was depleted and the sturdy Demon Crystal turned into a pile of dust.
The whole dark space suddenly lit up.
All the people who were still groping around saw each other. They were moving around in a huge stone room, surrounded by square stone walls, dividing the room into several compartments.
Shi Xiaole activated his Wind God Leg to escape first. With the enhancement of the internal power of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Three and the Wind Realm Intent of seventy-five percent, he disappeared in a blink of an eye, like a gust of wind.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
The Demon Marquis reached out and slapped. The palm strike hit the stone wall, raising a dust storm. Shi Xiaole happened to enter behind the wall.
"Get back, you!"
This was a man with a big belly who was blocking behind the wall. His mouth was twice as big as average people. He shouted and a wave of sound barreled towards Shi Xiaole.
Many masters of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Nine who were nearby vomited blood and fell to the ground as soon as they encountered this sound wave.
He is the Heaven Eating Demon, one of the Great Cold’s Five Demons.
With the Redfire Sword in hand, Shi Xiaole didn’t hesitate to use all his strength to unleash the Death Claiming Fifteenth Sword.
Clang!
The collision of the sword Qi and the soundwave resembled a meteorite hitting the earth, causing dust on the surrounding stone walls to fall off.
Moving a few steps backward, Shi Xiaole’s face was normal.
"What? Unharmed?"
The Heaven Eating Demon’s eyes widened in surprise.
Even though he looked like a chunk of meat, his strength was second only to the Red Charm Demon among the Five Demons, and was the third strongest in the Demon Sky Sect. One shot and he could not even take down Shi Xiaole of Spiritual-Passage Realm Level Three?
Although he did not use his full strength, wasn’t this too far-fetched?
"Come again, boy."
The Heaven Eating Demon laughed loudly, and his belly shook.
"You scumbag, how dare you!"
Someone far away yelled angrily. Huang Rong sent a palm strike, bringing a strong wind.
From the breaking of the Demon Crystal to now, it may seem like a long story, but it only took a few blinks of the eye. At this moment, the ground of the entire stone room suddenly retracted inward, causing everyone present to fall down.
Hundreds of people glanced around and seeing hostile faces all around, they all attacked first. The vigorous air in various colors exploded in the sky like fireworks.
