Chapter 398: Chapter 397: Display of Finger Technique Power
The true essence one comprehends may not directly relate to one’s personality, but they are by no means unrelated.
For example, a cruel and determined person is unlikely to comprehend the essence of sentimentality. An optimistic person will also find it difficult to appreciate the subtleties of sadness.
Without the right frame of mind, how can you comprehend?
The true essence that Xie Xiaofeng carries is full of murderous intent, destructive intentions, and pure brutality. However, his demeanor was that of a polite gentleman, clearly revealing his treacherous and evil nature!
"How about the Landscape Master?"
With a stern look, Jade Fan Scholar spun around, fan shadows alternating before him, resembling landscapes in ink paintings. They appeared lofty and elusive but concealed fatal traps.
This was the first of the three killer moves that the Jade Fan Scholar created. They personified the true essence of landscapes and were lethal if the opponent let down their guard.
Retreating, Shi Xiaole avoided the successive layers of landscapes, but they were endless and their attack relentless. When the final landscape approached, Shi Xiaole’s momentum also reached its peak, and he thrust out his sword.
The Death Claiming fourteenth blade.
A terrifying sound of air blast was like the eye of a typhoon exploding on the spot. Countless marble fragments filled the air, hitting the air shield of the small Xuanwu Array creating one bump after another.
Seeing this, the experts from the Divine Palace didn’t even think about resting and continuously launched their attacks.
His face slightly pale, Shi Xiaole retreated within the protection of the Faceless Divine Skill.
"Flying Bird Unrivaled Painting Meaning."
The aftermath of the explosion was not over yet, and the Jade Fan Scholar’s second move had already arrived.
If the first move was an endless landscape leaning towards tranquility, then the second move was like a vivid scroll of painting. From within the scroll, a bird composed of Vigorous Air swept out, gently touching the lake’s surface and burst towards Shi Xiaole.
With standing hair on his body, Shi Xiaole quickly launched the Death Claiming fifteenth blade.
A spot of fiery red light appeared and magnified countless times in an instant, forming a ferocious red dragon roaring out, biting towards the bird.
Boom Boom Boom!
The collision of the Red Dragon Sword and the Landscape Jade Fan generated a deafening roar.
Although the Red Dragon Sword was sharp, the Landscape Jade Fan was now also a top-level low-grade spirit fan; hence, they were almost equal in their fierce confrontation.
A field of red filled everyone’s view. Inside and outside the Divine Palace, all experts watching felt as if their sight had been locked, unable to move away.
"Jade Fan Scholar, you dare!"
The Left-eye Elder suddenly let out a long yell. This was the first time everyone saw him in rage.
"Why wouldn’t I dare? Mountains move in water!"
Jade Fan Scholar laughed loudly. Combining his body with the fan, Vigorous Air was transformed into vague landscapes behind him, appearing distantly and closely at the same time.
The reflection of the mountains in the lake seemed to retreat with Jade Fan Scholar. Silent yet moving, still yet active, everyone could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, let alone the boundary between stillness and motion, only lost in the artistic conception of landscapes.
The true essence of landscape inherently contained the differences between motion and stillness, and it was rumored that when comprehended to the extreme, it could touch upon the mysteries of speed. Jade Fan Scholar was far from reaching this level, but he had already made quite a name for himself in eight states.
The Previous two encounters left a deeper impression on the two old men. They had even suffered a great deal.
The same thought flashed across everyone’s minds—the Red Dragon Divine Monarch was in peril.
A cold sword hilt suddenly burst out from the fan, stabbing towards Shi Xiaole at a faster speed, so fast that even the void couldn’t leave a trace.
So the third killer move wasn’t counted, sword within the fan was the real killer move of Jade Fan Scholar.
"It’s all over."
A look of joy appeared on the face of the Jade Fan Scholar.
This move had only been used when he was adventuring in Xuanwu State. Otherwise, if used on the two old men with vision challenges, they might not have survived.
The only regret was that the Faceless Divine Skill might be buried with the death of Xie Xiaofeng.
"Motion and stillness, reality and illusion, why should I care? The complicated appearances can’t conceal your murderous intentions."
The sword tip was about to pierce Shi Xiaole’s heart, but it froze three inches away.
"What?"
The expression on Jade Fan Scholar’s face dramatically changed.
Everyone saw two fingers.
Yes, it was those two fingers that had caught the horrifying sword of Jade Fan Scholar, which was his fatal killer move!
The most dangerous aspect of Jade Fan Scholar’s true essence of landscapes was its ability to confuse the five senses, thus gaining the upper hand.
However, this move was less effective against Shi Xiaole, whose mental strength was extraordinarily strong.
Two fingers flicked lightly.
Clang!
The long sword stabbed back at Jade Fan Scholar at a faster speed. Shocked and caught off guard, Jade Fan Scholar was forced back three steps before he could steady himself.
"Impossible, you couldn’t have blocked my sword? Unless... that finger was a... top-tier martial art?!"
Jade Fan Scholar stared at Shi Xiaole, his eyes wide open.
With Shi Xiaole’s strength, unless it was a top-tier martial art technique, how could he block his sword? But the opponent already had a top-tier internal strength, where did he get a top-tier finger technique?
For a full six hundred years, a total of three top-tier martial arts have emerged in these eight states. Two of them had questionable authenticity, and the remaining one was also missing.
As for a person possessing both top-tier internal strength and a top-tier finger technique, Jade Fan Scholar couldn’t imagine the level of Fortunate Fate required for such an achievement.
"Divine Monarch!"
Outside the small Xuanwu Array, the Divine Palace experts were all stunned. When they came back to their senses, they experienced a mix of shock, loss, and even a bit of admiration.
This man who once forced them to swear loyalty, if he died here, would undoubtedly set them free.
But now, they had a feeling that he may indeed be the predestined ruler of the Devil Path.
For one person to obtain two top-tier internal arts certainly required chance, but without exceptional talent and perseverance, how could he have cultivated them both to such a high level while under thirty?
This is an achievement that ordinary people wouldn’t dare to dream of.
"The strength of my defense now should easily withstand my full-strength attack."
The strike of the Jade Fan Scholar, given his own power and level of genuine intent, had already surpassed the Thirteen Styles of Breezy Wind and the Fifteen Swords of Death Claiming in power, but still was caught by Shi Xiaole.
This shows the extent of his defensive strength.
If the Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger could be perfectly executed, not only could Shi Xiaole defend against the opponent, but also turn defense into offense and defeat the Jade Fan Scholar at once.
With a long howl, the Jade Fan Scholar frenziedly attacked Shi Xiaole, his left hand fanning the fan, and his right hand wielding the sword. His offensive was like a silver-galaxy cascading, endlessly grand, enveloping Shi Xiaole completely.
However, after a few moves, the sword of the Jade Fan Scholar was caught again, the offensive faltered, the Red Dragon Sword and the Landscape Jade Fan collided consecutively, and both of them retreated at the same time.
The Jade Fan Scholar charged again.
"You want to wear me out?"
Shi Xiaole bitterly smiled in secret.
With the absolute defense of the Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger, the killing move of the Jade Fan Scholar indeed couldn’t break through him. But there was no denying that as time passed, his disadvantage in internal power would become more apparent, and he might not be able to withstand it then.
Fifty moves.
A hundred moves.
The two quickly fought one hundred and ninety-three moves.
Although Shi Xiaole was always at a disadvantage, he did not suffer much damage.
Crash!
At this moment, the surface of the Small Xuanwu Array System was covered with cracks. Under the continuous bombing of thousands of experts in the Divine Palace, and even in the collision of vigor between Shi Xiaole and the Jade Fan Scholar, it finally failed to hold up and shattered like glass.
"Kill!"
Under the leadership of the two old men of the Cripple Eye, everyone surged forward.
"Xie Xiaofeng, what finger technique are you using?"
At the very moment when the Small Xuanwu Array System shattered, the Jade Fan Scholar had abandoned Shi Xiaole, leaped a few times, pushed away the blocking experts of the Divine Palace, dodged like an earthworm in the crowd, and fled into the distance.
"Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger."
Shi Xiaole replied.
"Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger? I have learned something new today."
The Jade Fan Scholar was greatly drained of his power, plus there were countless experts from the Divine Palace, he was finally injured, but after all, he was the number one expert in the eight states, he forcefully concentrated his power and broke through the encirclement.
"Thief, stop!"
The two men of the cripple eye tapped their toes and pursued unwillingly.
"I hope they won’t catch up."
Looking at the direction where the three of them were leaving, Shi Xiaole withdrew his gaze.
Although the Jade Fan Scholar was wounded, the latter had been roaming the martial world for hundreds of years and should have many life-saving means.
Without knowing his identity, Shi Xiaole would not resent his assassination attempt. In fact, the martial arts world needed brave men like the Jade Fan Scholar who dared to risk their lives for the Righteous Path, entering the tiger’s den alone.
Not long after, the two old men of the Cripple Eye returned with disappointment.
"Divine Monarch, we two old men are incompetent and have let the Jade Fan thief escape."
The Left-eye Elder sighed.
Unbeknownst to him, his tone of speech carried a hint of equality.
In the past, Shi Xiaole’s identity was unquestionable, but after all, he was a junior.
But the Shi Xiaole at this moment, to put it bluntly, his strength was not inferior to theirs much, the two old men of the Cripple Eye subconsciously changed their attitude, no longer acting superior.
Shi Xiaole waved his hand and said confidently, "You two elders need not worry, if the Jade Fan Scholar dares to assassinate me, this debt, I will definitely get it back sooner or later."
"That’s right, with the posture of the Divine Monarch, in a few years at most, he will easily kill the Jade Fan Scholar, lead us in exterminating the Righteous Path, and restore our path."
The Eradicating Emotion Elder bowed, rhetoric inspiring.
From today’s battle, Shi Xiaole completely persuaded him. With his talent, following him, the Devil Path was destined to have a better future.
"The Divine Monarch is unparalleled, dominating the martial world!"
Someone suddenly shouted in the distance.
"The Divine Monarch is unparalleled, dominating the martial world!"
More people started shouting.
Looking at Shi Xiaole, whose figure was infinitely elongated under the illumination of the palace lamps, even the Red Charm Demon, the Heaven Eating Demon and others had to admit that he was indeed the most outstanding individual in the Devil Path, far surpassing the Demon Marquis.
The shouts of the people were incredibly loud, breaking through the night and startling Haoyuan City ten miles away.
In the city, countless warriors opened their windows, looking towards the direction of the Red Dragon Divine Palace, eyes filled with fear.
What’s going on, why are the demon followers in the Divine Palace so excited? Could it be, are they preparing to strike against the Righteous Path?
That night, the Divine Palace was sleepless, and many people in Haoyuan City also suffered from insomnia.
A few days later, news that Red Dragon Divine Monarch Xie Xiaofeng had forced a draw with the Jade Fan Scholar spread like wildfire in the martial world. In order to gain momentum, experts from the Divine Palace even vividly propagated the entire process.
The Devil Path in the Eight States was filled with joy.
Members of the Righteous Path turned pale.
Especially under the circumstance where the Jade Fan Scholar had not come forward to clarify, the authenticity of the news was increasingly accepted by the martial world, some angrily retorted, while some remained silently.
What was the same, was that the dark cloud lingering over the Righteous Path’s heart thickened even more. At any corner of the martial world, you could feel that oppressive atmosphere.
