Chapter 421: 420
On the twentieth day of Shi Xiaole’s stay at Flying Fish Manor, the mistress of the manor, who had been in a deep sleep for nearly three years, opened her eyes for the first time.
"Thank God!"
Jiang Moxian and her daughter Jiang Tian cried uncontrollably.
Though there had been signs of her awakening before, it was not until this moment that the two of them truly felt hope in their lives.
"Young Master, I apologize for my rudeness earlier."
With immense gratitude, Jiang Tian looked at Shi Xiaole. Thinking of how she had reproached him when they first met, she felt incredibly ashamed.
Shi Xiaole shook his head with a smile.
His magnanimity was not so narrow as to take offense over a thoughtless slip of the tongue from someone else.
"Young Hero, here is the Vigorous Air Fruit I promised you, please accept it."
Half an hour later, Jiang Moxian stealthily entered the guest room, gave Shi Xiaole a sandalwood box, and then said, "If there is nothing else, Young Hero, you should leave as soon as possible."
Shi Xiaole smiled and said, "Is the Manor Lord preparing to chase me away now?"
"Young Hero, you should know, Mr. Jiang has absolutely no such intention! I simply don’t want to get you involved in this incident."
Jiang Moxian’s face looked solemn.
Very few people knew that the most skilled martial artist in Flying Fish Manor was not him, the Manor Lord, but his deeply loved wife who was lying in bed.
Long before Shi Xiaole’s arrival, Jie Hui had told him that his wife was suffering from a slow-acting, highly toxic poison called Heart-devouring Powder. But without an inside traitor, who could have silently poisoned his wife?
Just like a few days ago, the assassin who tried to kill Shi Xiaole. The level of strength of the killer sent by the Black Spider was such that they couldn’t have infiltrated the inner circle soundlessly without collaboration.
All of these indicated that there was a mole in Flying Fish Manor with a high position and heavy influence!
"You, Manor Lord, are too merciful."
Shi Xiaole said calmly.
"After all these years together, I still can’t believe that he could bring himself to do it!"
Jiang Moxian took a deep breath, said no more, bowed to Shi Xiaole with a fist in hand, and then swiftly left.
"Ask me to leave? I fear leaving Flying Fish Manor now might be even less safe."
Looking out of the window, Shi Xiaole gave a faint smile, picked up the Vigorous Air Fruit from the sandalwood box and, without any hesitation, swallowed it immediately.
Boom!
A hot surge flowed all over his body.
Shi Xiaole’s remaining internal power was stripped away bit by bit, layer by layer, like lava bubbles, gushing out from his pores crazily.
With every passing second, Shi Xiaole could feel his internal power becoming purer.
Ninety-nine point one percent.
Ninety-nine point two percent.
Ninety-nine point three percent.
...
Internal power was continuously converted into Innate Gang Qi, and during this process, Shi Xiaole was also fully engaged in practicing the Faceless Divine Skill, helping along the Vigorous Air Fruit to accelerate the process, not daring to slack off for a moment.
About half an hour later.
The effects of the Vigorous Air Fruit gradually diminished. The Innate Gang Qi within Shi Xiaole’s body reached an unprecedented level of purity and strength, with only a trace of impurities left.
Despite the risk of exhaustion, he mobilized his spiritual force to drive the Faceless Divine Skill to every minor corner of his meridians.
A few days ago, Shi Xiaole had learned that the record of Xin Zhuliu, the ’Great Lethal Star’, breaking through to the Dragon Gate Realm at the age of 28 had been broken.
Not just one person had broken this record, but as many as three.
’Fist King’ Yu Wen Cang, whose invincible fists, broke through to the Dragon Gate Realm at the age of twenty-five.
’Sword Marquis’ Li Zifeng, with his rule-abiding sword, was undefeatable and broke through to the Dragon Gate Realm at the age of twenty-five.
’Little Lord’ Yu Zhao, with his divine posture, could easily grasp any wonderful martial arts skill, and had broken through to the Dragon Gate Realm at the age of twenty-three.
On the land of Xuanwu State, Shi Xiaole was no longer the only one leading the pack. Many of his contemporaries had been moving faster than him, so he had to catch up and surpass them.
The first step in overtaking was to start today!
Sizzle, sizzle...
That remaining bit of internal power was extremely tricky and resilient, hidden deep within the pure Gang Qi, trying to sneak by unnoticed. However, how could it possibly escape Shi Xiaole’s attention?
Amidst the sound of electric shock, that bit of internal power quickly evaporated, leaving only a bit of the essence, blending with the Gang Qi as vast as the Yangtze River within him.
Time seemed to slow down significantly.
The next moment.
The Gang Qi surged and crashed furiously towards the Great Vertebra acupoint located between Shi Xiaole’s shoulder blades.
The Great Vertebra, also known as the Gate of Power, once broken through, would fill the body with vital blood, making it as strong as a dragon; hence the name ’Dragon Gate’.
The lifespan of a human being is directly related to vital blood. This is why when a martial artist breaks through to the Dragon Gate Realm, their lifespan greatly increases.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The Great Vertebra acupoint was like a formidable barrier that proved to be unbreakable.
Every time the Vigorous Air struck it, causing it to concave inwards, it would stubbornly shrink back. The sensation of pain was like countless needles severely puncturing every pore on Shi Xiaole’s body.
Breaking through the Dragon Gate Realm was different from other realms. Most top-tier powerhouses, even prodigy disciples of peak-level powerhouses, would request a protector during the breakthrough.
At the moment of breakthrough, not even the slightest mistake could be tolerated. Once the position is skewed due to severe pain, at best, all previous efforts would be abandoned and all meridians would be severed. At worst, they would enter the Devil Path due to an internal power deviation and die.
However, like Shi Xiaole, who doesn’t care about the place or time and attempts to breakthrough upon obtaining Vigorous Air Fruit, can be considered extremely rare, if not unique.
His entire body trembling slightly, Shi Xiaole’s face was as determined as marble. He treated his own pain with a cold indifference, like a spectator.
Crack!
At a certain moment, fine cracks appeared in the barrier wall. The Vigorous Air was uncontained like a burst dam, quickly penetrating the barrier and thoroughly breaking through the Dachui Acupoint.
Roar!
A terrifying roar of a dragon echoed by Shi Xiaole’s ears. It was the sound of his blood boiling.
What does it mean to be powerful? Shi Xiaole believed he had a deep understanding. But at no other moment had he ever felt it as poignantly as now.
This feeling was like a promotion in the level of life. His infinite internal power was emitting from every pore on his body, as if it could never be exhausted.
If there were others here, they would be surprised to find that Shi Xiaole appeared to be younger.
This year, at twenty-three, he looked around twenty-one or twenty-two. But now, at most, he looked seventeen or eighteen.
Because of the abundant spiritual energy in the Divine Continent, the average lifespan for civilians was over eighty years old. Spiritual-Passage Realm martial artists lived up to one hundred and fifty years, while Dragon Gate Realm martial artists could live up to three hundred years.
If we take a hundred years as an average lifespan, Shi Xiaole’s current age would be equivalent to less than ten in a regular person’s age. Thus, his appearance was much more youthful.
His torn robe on the ground exposed Shi Xiaole’s muscular and beautiful upper body. Coupled with his crystal clear skin, long eyelashes, and strikingly handsome features, he exuded a strange charm under the sunlight. With a hook of his lips, he was stunning enough to infatuate nations.
It was a pity that there were no women present to appreciate this beautiful scene.
"How much has my strength increased?"
The passage from the Spiritual-Passage Realm to the Dragon Gate Realm was without doubt a great challenge.
At this moment, with a slight thought on Shi Xiaole’s part, the Invisible Gang Qi, like a surging wave, circulated tens of rounds within his body. The fierceness and violence of its power made Shi Xiaole, its originator, slightly fearful.
One must know, most masters at the first level of the Dragon Gate Realm, have not yet perfected the lower-grade internal power of the first class.
For instance, Qu Buping of Mirror State, known as ’Iron Cloud Hand’, and the previous black spider assassin who attempted to kill Shi Xiaole. Otherwise, two Shi Xiaoles wouldn’t be enough for them to kill.
It can be said that Shi Xiaole, after breaking through the realm, inherently possesses the power to overwhelm practitioners of the same level.
The only regret was that he spent too short a time in the Spiritual-Passage Realm, being unable to enhance his Sword Heart to the limit. But that was of no significance. He couldn’t possibly suppress his progression intentionally while he was clearly capable of making a breakthrough.
"Hmm? Have those people finally made their move?"
Suddenly hearing shouts and sounds of fighting, Shi Xiaole looked towards the front yard.
...
"Senior Brother, you, it’s your poison. How could you do this?"
Jiang Tian looked at Xu Shaoyi opposite her, her eyes filled with tears, feeling heartbroken.
Today was supposed to be the happiest day, but unexpectedly, the Senior Brother had led a group of people to break into the backyard and tried to harm her parents.
Xu Shaoyi said indifferently, "Mother’s martial arts skills are too high, I have no chance if she’s present. According to the original plan, the best outcome would be for the master to pass on the position to me himself, but with her awakening, I knew she would guess I was the murderer, so I had to take action early. Don’t blame me, Junior Sister."
"You vile and ungrateful wretch!"
Jiang Tian angrily scolded.
"Enough with the nonsense. After today, the Flying Fish Manor will belong to the Three Yin Sect."
In front of the crowd where Xu Shaoyi was standing, three experts advanced, their auras reaching the second level of the Dragon Gate Realm!
The Three Yin Sect, one of the forces of the Devil Path. Although there are no level three Dragon Gate Realm experts in the sect, they have three level two Sect Leaders, so their strength is no weaker than ordinary second-class forces.
Jiang Moxian’s wife was unable to fight back, and Xu Shaoyi betrayed them. In this circumstance, their overall strength was actually half a notch above the Flying Fish Manor.
The Three Yin Sect was one of the six divisions of the Nether Demon Hall. A long time ago, they had received an assignment to swallow the Flying Fish Manor within thirty years.
There were only three years left in their thirty-year plan, and the wife of the Master of the Flying Fish Manor was about to recover. Naturally, the Three Yin Sect could not sit back and watch, deciding to launch a surprise attack today.
Whizz!
The three great Sect Leaders entangled Jiang Moxian, and the rest of both sides also charged at each other. A fierce fight was on the verge of breaking out.
"Ah, you, dare to betray..."
Xu Shaoyi stabbed through the right protector of the Three Yin Sect with a sword and struck the left protector’s heart channel with the Flying Fish Hand technique, killing him. Everyone was stunned.
"Xu Shaoyi, have you gone mad?"
The face of the Sect Leader of the Three Yin Sect turned dark, he yearned for nothing more than to execute Xu Shaoyi on the spot.
However, Xu Shaoyi just laughed loudly. With all his skills released, he killed the Three Yin Sect experts one after another, saying, "Master, I know you were there that night. You had long known of my identity but you ultimately didn’t kill me. Shaoyi has let you down! Today, let me use my life to repay your immense kindness."
The battle among the four Dragon Gate Realm experts was intense with no clear victor in sight. Therefore, the quality of Spiritual-Passage Realm experts on both sides would decide the outcome of this battle.
However, the two invincible Spiritual-Passage Realm experts of the Three Yin Sect had been killed by Xu Shaoyi from the start. So, the Flying Fish Manor quickly gained the upper hand.
"I have to say, you’re an idiot."
A beam of dense smoke shot out, knocking Xu Shaoyi, who was slaughtering fiercely, away. His liver fragment mixed with fresh blood was spat out and suspended in mid-air.
"It’s you!"
Jiang Tian looked at the newcomer in disbelief.
