Chapter 364: Chapter 363: Red Dragon Sword (Third update, asking for monthly tickets!)
Crack!
The burning fist’s glow collided with the ominous Sword Qi, erupting instantly like pouring oil on fire, kicking up a blinding glimmer. The ground was shaved off a thick layer, and the dust that had been stirred was further ripped apart by the intertwined strength of fist and sword.
The explosive Vigorous Air carried a scorching, life-consuming fire intent, but it was instantly oppressed by a overpowering will that seemed to extinguish everything -- just like a beast’s throat was gripped and then cumbling abruptly.
"True intent, have you comprehended the true intent?"
The dust dissipated, and Xiu Qing’s confident face turned grim. Deep within his grimness, there was incredulity.
Shi Xiaole had clearly grasped the real intent, and judging by its power, it was not as simple as ordinary true intent, but rather a profound one.
Was the world joking? A boy of around twenty, with only the cultivation of the fourth layer of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, had actually grasped the profound truth.
Especially when he thought about himself. He had cultivated painstakingly for decades but always stuck at the pinnacle of the fire intent, unable to advance. Xiu Qing’s gloomy face twisted in fury, his heart filled with envious rage.
"He, he blocked the strongest punch of the Fiery Fist Marquis?"
The Lingjian Sect Elder keen on escaping hesitated, his tongue was all tied up.
What did he just see?
The punch just now, even the Sect Master of Lingjian Sect might not have been able to block it. Who exactly was this kid? He was even more stunning than Yang Feng.
"It still falls a little short compared to the peak experts of Spiritual-Passage Realm."
Ignoring the shock of the crowd, Shi Xiaole secretly shook his head.
Indeed, the Death Claiming true intent was extremely powerful. However, in reality, Shi Xiaole’s strength was still a bit inferior to Xiu Qing. The reason they were evenly matched was due to three factors.
Firstly, Death Claiming true intent greatly suppressed the fire intent.
Secondly, the Redfire Sword greatly amplified Shi Xiaole’s power.
Thirdly, and the most obscure reason, was the fifteenth strike of the Death Claiming swordsman.
The system had originally rated the fifteenth move of Death Claiming as a second-tier superior product, but it must be noted that this refers to the fifteenth move of Yan Shisan before he committed suicide.
The fifteenth move had never shown its real sharpness; it was an incomplete move.
Shi Xiaole doubted that the complete fifteenth move was not a second-tier superior sword move, but a first-tier one.
At least when he perfected the fifteenth move to seventy percent, its killing power had far surpassed most of the second-tier superior martial arts.
All in all, including the Redfire Sword, Shi Xiaole’s strength was now comparable to some of the peak experts of Spiritual-Passage Realm. If he were to fight against the Moon Demon half a year ago, there would be no chance for him to be injured.
"Fiery Shadow, Double Kill Fist!"
Being held to a draw by an unknown pawn was too much for Xiu Qing to accept. He pushed his fire intent and fist intent to their limits, split into five, and blazed towards Shi Xiaole with a flurry of fists.
Whoosh.
Moving like the wind, Shi Xiaole weaved through the fiery fists. His leg strength and Sword Qi raged in turns, shattering one fist shadow after another in midair. No matter how fast Xiu Qing’s fist was, he could never land an effective blow on Shi Xiaole.
Instead, it was Xiu Qing who was injured by Shi Xiaole’s Sword Qi several times. Assisted by the Wind God Leg, Shi Xiaole’s close-combat ability had become so formidable that it even horrifed Xiu Qing.
Sss!
Another strike.
"Damn it!"
Xiu Qing, looking at his right arm that was dripping with blood, revealing the bone underneath, roared furiously, "Remember this!" Turning to leave.
If he continued to fight, his injuries would only get worse. Fortunately, Xiu Qing could clearly feel that due to his own limited cultivation, Shi Xiaole’s sword moves had weakened a lot, and he wouldn’t be able to kill him.
"No need to remember."
A captivating aura emanated from Shi Xiaole’s eyes. Xiu Qing’s mind went blank. By the time he recovered, his throat had been pierced by Shi Xiaole’s sword.
Although the Soul Transfer Great Method could not control Xiu Qing for long, even a moment was enough for Shi Xiaole to kill him.
The Lingjian Sect were all dumbfounded.
The Elder who had responded the quickest hurriedly shouted a command, leading everyone forward and asking, "Young Hero, may I know your name?"
With a cultivation level of only the fourth layer of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, he had killed an expert at its peak. The boy’s aptitude was simply unheard of.
Shi Xiaole gave a slight nod, showing a hint of a smile to Lu Lingxi in the crowd, before soaring away.
"He is so arrogant."
A young disciple couldn’t help but comment, sounding somewhat jealous.
"Alas, he must have noticed our plans to leave by ourselves earlier."
The Elder of the Lingjian Sect sighed helplessly. Suddenly remembering Shi Xiaole’s action just now, he asked Lu Lingxi, "Lingxi, it seems that you know this mysterious young man?"
Everyone looked at Lu Lingxi, unable to conceal their curiosity.
Lu Lingxi replied, "I have nothing to do with him, how would I know him?"
Shi Xiaole had taken the Centennial Weapon Embryo and his identity being exposed would likely bring a lot of trouble.
The Elder of the Lingjian Sect stared at Lu Lingxi for a long while before withdrawing his gaze. He grunted in response, not saying whether he believed her or not.
...
"So this is the Centennial Weapon Embryo?"
Looking at the red stone the size of an egg in his hand, Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but get excited. From the stone, an intense heat kept emanating. Fortunately, Shi Xiaole’s Internal Power was profound enough, or else he would have been scalded.
Having obtained the Centennial Weapon Embryo, Shi Xiaole left the Flame Cloud Mountain Range and returned to Flame Cloud City. Immediately, he changed his appearance to that of an ordinary middle-aged man.
His main reason for coming to the Flame Cloud Mountain Range was to find a top-quality Weapon Embryo to upgrade the quality of his Redfire Sword. Now that he had obtained an exceptionally rare Centennial Weapon Embryo, it was time to start forging the sword.
Returning to the Flame Cloud Mountain Range, after careful selection, Shi Xiaole burrowed into the crater of a moderately fiery volcano.
In the outside world, the birth of the Centennial Weapon Embryo caused a huge stir, inevitably drawing attention to the mysterious young man.
However, aside from the top sect masters, not many were seeking Shi Xiaole.
Joke, even Fiery Fire Fist Marquis was no match for him. What were they going to do, seek their own death?
Inside the volcano crater.
Shi Xiaole repetitively hammered the Centennial Weapon Embryo with a special knocking method. When the liquid essence appeared, he carefully poured it onto the Redfire Sword.
Hisss!
The Redfire Sword seemed to have a spirit, absorbing the essence of the Centennial Weapon Embryo as soon as it landed on it. As more and more essence was absorbed, the silver-white body of the Redfire Sword began to turn red.
One day.
Two days.
Soon, two months had passed.
The essence of the Centennial Weapon Embryo was completely absorbed by the Redfire Sword. At this moment, the body of the Redfire Sword was a piercing, translucent red. As it moved, the blade occasionally flashed with a heart-throbbing sharpness.
When the final step - the quenching - was completed, a deeply muffled roar came from the Redfire Sword.
As usual, a shower of magma erupted from the bottom of the crater. This time, Shi Xiaole did not dodge but casually swung his sword.
With a rumble, a thirty-foot-long Red Dragon Sword shadow burst from the Redfire Sword, turning the falling magma into smaller droplets, and scorching countless holes in the opposite rock wall.
"The sword’s power has increased by twenty percent on the original basis."
Shi Xiaole was ecstatic.
The Redfire Sword could originally amplify the attack power by thirty percent. Now, it was even more exaggerated. Without a doubt, the current Redfire Sword should be one of the top in the lower-grade spirit swords.
"Calling it Redfire Sword no more is suitable, let’s call you the Red Dragon Sword."
With the Red Dragon Sword in hand, Shi Xiaole felt ambitious.
In these two months, apart from the improvement in the quality of the weapon, Shi Xiaole’s own cultivation had also broken through from the early stage of the Spiritual-Passage Realm Fourth Layer to the middle stage.
His overall strength had increased further.
Instead of leaving the Flame Cloud Mountain Range in a hurry, Shi Xiaole took out the high-grade Weapon Embryo and Ten-Year Weapon Embryo he had originally found from his system space and began to forge other lower-grade spirit swords.
He intended to comprehend the Sword Heart and enhance his swordsmanship foundation through the process of sword forging.
Clang, clang, clang.
The sound of metal against metal rang day after day.
The experts traveling through the Flame Cloud Mountain Range did not know that someone was forging the coveted lower-grade spirit swords within an ordinary volcano crater.
The two months quickly flew by.
The high-grade Weapon Embryo and Ten-Year Weapon Embryo were far less sturdy than the Centennial Weapon Embryo, so Shi Xiaole’s efficiency greatly increased. By the time he had used up these materials, three more lower-grade spirit swords had been born.
During this time, Shi Xiaole devoted all his attention to the forging process. Each time he struck, he seemed to have an inspiration for swordsmanship.
His Sword Heart Realm had clearly surpassed the Grand Mastery, and was getting closer and closer to perfection.
Manifesting itself in every move, when Shi Xiaole deliberately exerted an imposing aura, a single glance was like a sharp sword, enough to cause a warrior of lesser willpower to collapse.
As for his strength, even without relying on the Red Dragon Sword, he was confident in fighting against some of the Spiritual-Passage Realm limit masters.
Picking up the three newly forged lower-grade spirit swords, Shi Xiaole tested their power one by one and found that each had its own emphasis.
The slender one was the sharpest, the heavy one was full of momentum, and the third was more balanced, not as sharp or as powerful as the first two, but combined both.
"These three swords, to me, are like chicken ribs, of no significant use, rather..."
Thinking, Shi Xiaole quickly had a good idea. Immediately, he quietly left the Flame Cloud Mountain Range and arrived at the Lingjian Tower in Flame Cloud City.
"Sir, is there something important?"
Seeing a squalid middle-aged man covered in dirt, a Lingjian Sect disciple frowned.
"I want to see your manager, to discuss a business."
Said Shi Xiaole.
The Lingjian Sect disciple subconsciously wanted to scold, but after all, coming from a renowned and upright sect, he held back his anger and said, "The elders are busy recently, please come back another time."
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole leapt up and entered the second floor.
The Lingjian Sect disciple just felt a blur in front of his eyes. When he looked around again, where was Shi Xiaole’s figure?
"Who are you? Why did you break into my Lingjian Sect’s residence?"
In the room on the second floor, a Lingjian Sect elder saw Shi Xiaole, his old face changing, showing a wary look.
"I have a lower-grade spirit sword here, willing to exchange?"
Shi Xiaole took off a sword from his back, threw it in front of the elder.
The elder, with a skeptical attitude, pulled out the sword, and his expression immediately solidified, his throat bobbing, "It really is a lower-grade spirit sword, and the texture is very well preserved?"
"What do you think?"
"Sir, I am not in charge here, I need to notify the Grand Elder, please wait a moment."
Shi Xiaole clearly noticed that before the elder left, he glanced at the other two swords on his back, his eyes filled with a cryptic color.
With a smile, Shi Xiaole sat down on a chair in a grand manner, not afraid that the Lingjian Sect would play any tricks.
