Chapter 425: Chapter 424: Finally Lost
The Ancient Land, located at the intersection of the living and mining areas, is a circular area with a diameter of one hundred meters.
Probably due to the fact that every duel would damage the stadium, a circular trench three feet deep was only drawn on the surface of the entire platform to demarcate its inner and outer boundaries.
Around the circular trench, there was a ring of slopes that were not too steep.
Having paid an entrance fee of ten taels of silver, when Shi Xiaole arrived, the slope was lined with a dense crowd of people.
The numbers of well-off martial arts travelers were already quite few. Many people who had run out of money but were unwilling to leave the ancient relic site naturally ran to the Ancient Land, hoping to win money through battles.
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but admire the methods of the Ancient Land Alliance.
Ten taels of silver per person per match may not seem like much, but the profit earned in a day is simply unimaginable.
At this time, in the circular ring, two high-level martial artists at the Spiritual-Passage Realm were engaged in an intense battle.
"Saber Dominates the World!"
At the 136th move, the swordsman aimed at the flaws, swung his arms forcefully, and the powerful sword aura instantly blasted his opponent outside the circular trench.
"Song Yingsheng wins."
The referee immediately announced the verdict.
"This Song Yingsheng has won three consecutive victories, quite impressive indeed."
"He clearly has the strength of a high-level warrior in the Spiritual-Passage Realm. However, the Ancient Land Alliance won’t interfere in the first three rounds. Winning won’t be so easy from the fourth round on."
People were still discussing when Song Yingsheng had already begun to fight with the first powerful martial artist sent out by the Ancient Land Alliance.
This person was a formidable warrior in the Spiritual-Passage Realm. After just ten moves, Song Yingsheng was brutally defeated.
Shi Xiaole suddenly thought of Dark Alley.
The rules of the Ancient Land were clearly similar to those of the gold, silver, jade, and copper platforms in Dark Alley. However, this is not surprising as Dark Alley’s superordinate power, the Black Tower, is one of the Red Dust Three Marvels in the top power of the Flying Horse Dynasty.
And the Ancient Land Alliance was formed by the branches of several top powers in the Xuanwu State, so naturally, it has the shadow of the Black Tower.
The circular ring remained busy at all times with one performance after another on stage. If your flying skills and reaction speed were a little slower, you wouldn’t even have a chance to get on stage.
After watching for about two quarter-hours, Shi Xiaole’s figure flashed and arrived first before anyone else, surpassing many martial artists and landing inside the circular trench.
"Ah, someone beat us again."
"Damn it, this kid is so fast."
Many of the martial artists were still in mid-air, and on seeing this, they had no choice but to forcibly stop and fall back to their original position, looking sullen.
"May I know your full name, young hero?"
The swordsman opposite, who had just won two rounds, looked slightly more serious when he saw Shi Xiaole’s flying skills.
"My name is Shi Xiaole, ’Xiao’ for small, and ’Le’ for happiness," Shi Xiaole said.
"Be careful, Young Hero Shi."
The swordsman suddenly raised his power to ten percent. Man and sword seemed to ignore the distance between them, and in the blink of an eye reached Shi Xiaole’s face.
Swish.
At this point, a series of sparks erupted from the point of his passage, forming a taut straight line.
This was a formidable swordsman at the Spiritual-Passage Realm.
Xuanwu State was full of talents. Those who could afford to come to the ancient relic site and win consecutive matches at the Ancient Land could never be ordinary.
In fact, without the strength of a top-level martial artist in the Spiritual-Passage Realm, one would never have a chance to get on stage.
Clang!
The swordsman was fast, but not as fast as Shi Xiaole’s reflexes. A slight flicker of his finger caused great confusion in the swordsman’s technique. The swordsman and his sword were swept aside.
"Sword Ascending the Sky!"
The swordsman cried out, releasing a killer move. A sword aura rose from bottom to top, attacking Shi Xiaole’s exposed gap from a strange angle.
But as soon as the sword move was released, the swordsman was horrified to discover that the opponent’s gap was gone. No, it didn’t disappear; the exposed part was a just a diversionary tactic.
A finger force, neither too far nor too near, sprung up on the sword blade. The swordsman rubbed his feet against the ground and retreated all the way to outside the circular trench fifty meters away, his face filled with fright.
And his sword move brushed past Shi Xiaole, just slightly stirring a few strands of hair at his temple.
There was a world of difference between them.
"I admit defeat."
The swordsman retracted his sword and turned to leave.
Shi Xiaole’s strength was at least twice his own, how could he continue the fight?
If this swordsman knew that Shi Xiaole had suppressed his cultivation to the Spiritual-Passage Realm and was at the same level as him, he would probably be even more amazed.
"Let me test your skills, young hero."
No sooner than when the swordsman had just left the ring, a muscular man leaped into the air, immediately releasing a powerful palm attack.
Even among formidable martial artists at the Spiritual-Passage Realm, there are different levels.
Like the retreating swordsman, he was probably the weakest among the formidable martial artists at the Spiritual-Passage Realm.
But this big man, judging from this one palm attack alone, was stronger than the swordsman by a notch.
But what difference did this make to Shi Xiaole?
Before breaking into the Dragon Gate Realm, his strength was more than twice that of a typical formidable martial artist at the Spiritual-Passage Realm. Even now, even though he suppressed his realm, his internal power has all been transformed into vigorous air, making his strength more than three times that of a typical formidable martial artist at the Spiritual-Passage Realm. If his actual strength were known, it would terrify everyone.
In fact, even without a breakthrough in realm, Shi Xiaole’s talent would sooner or later have brought him this strength.
With a flicker of his fingers, the Pangu Axe Finger burst out like a bullet piercing through steel. With a puff, the palm’s powerful air was scattered all over the place. Not only did it fail to injure Shi Xiaole, but it also forced the big man to retreat continuously, shaking unsteadily.
"I surrender."
The big man, looking at his palm that had been pierced by a finger force and was now hot and numb, voluntarily stepped out of the circular trench.
There was a moment of silence around.
Shi Xiaole appeared unaffected, as if oblivious of his surroundings.
He didn’t mind revealing his strength. After all, the later matches would be fought against experts sent by the Ancient Land Alliance. There’s no need to worry about frightening anyone else.
As for whether the allied experts would be too strong, there was no need to worry either because according to the rules, the Ancient Land Alliance would only send experts with a cultivation level not more than two minor realms higher than the challenger.
"Young hero, you’re obviously a Dragon Gate Realm expert playing ignorant. Ha, interesting."
A figure dropped into the field, a man with well-groomed sideburns, his eyes sparkling brilliantly.
The Martial World is vast and filled with extraordinary figures.
Shi Xiaole could use Stone Touching Qi Cyclone to assess others’ cultivation levels, so naturally, there were others who could determine his level through other means.
Clearly, the sideburned man was an expert in this matter.
"Ah, is this young man a Dragon Gate Realm expert?"
"No wonder he easily crushed others. I knew it, a person’s combat power can’t exceed that of an expert at the same level to such an extent."
A high-level martial artist possesses an inherent advantage when fighting a lower level martial artist. Even if voiding his or her own level, the victory is still more likely.
The shock in people’s hearts gradually subsided. Of course, due to Shi Xiaole’s young age, it was without a doubt he was a true genius to have reached the Dragon Gate Realm.
"Senior, please."
Unaffected by the changes around him, Shi Xiaole gestured with his hand.
The sideburned man grinned. "I wonder what your true strength is when competing with someone at your level."
As soon as his words fell, he took a step that covered ten meters, approaching with an extremely unpredictable rhythm. Seemingly fast yet slow, near yet far, as if there were multiple versions of him moving at the same time, making it impossible to react properly.
This was not the Shadow’s True Intent, but the rarer Distance’s True Intent.
Distance encompasses speed, authenticity, and can even involve space; it is very broad.
But sometimes, broadness also means being a jack of all trades but master of none, just like everything in the world contains the mysteries of heaven and earth, yet no one can truly comprehend it.
Not using the Wind True Intent, Shi Xiaole drew his sword and swung it towards the left front.
"You’re wrong."
The voice came from behind, and the sideburned man lunged out a claw, stirring up a strong wind. His claw passed through Shi Xiaole’s body, finding nothing but air.
"Your movement is quite impressive, Heavenly Collapse and Earth Shattering!"
Slightly astonished, the sideburned man wildly tore the air with his hands.
The dark claw marks resembled cracks in the void, a vigorous air spewed out from within forming a chaotic hurricane, circling Shi Xiaole on all sides blocking his retreat.
"As expected of ’Sky-splitting Claw’ Chen Yuan, his combat experience is indeed more extensive than young fighters."
On the slope, there are many long-established Dragon Gate Realm experts. They could easily see that Chen Yuan’s initial moves, although aggressive, were merely probing. The real powerful move was starting from this move.
"Heaven Overturning, Earth Inverting!"
"Heaven’s Worry, Earth’s Misery!"
With each move from the sideburned man more vicious and deceptive than the last, under the effect of Distance’s True Intent, layers of claw shades appeared disorderingly, upside down. The many Spiritual-Passage Realm experts around watched, their eyes dizzy, quickly averting their gazes.
"This young man should have comprehended True Intent, why haven’t he used it?"
In the crowd, several outstanding young men and women stood.
"Could it be that he wants to defeat Chen Yuan with just his regular abilities?"
One of the young men couldn’t help but snicker.
"This kind of approach, only talents like Senior Sister Tan can execute. Judging by this person’s age, there might be a possibility that he is a genius of that caliber."
Under normal circumstances, the higher the talent, the faster the progress in cultivation. However, talent here refers to martial talent, not insight, willpower, etc.
Therefore, one shouldn’t just judge how insightful Shi Xiaole is by his youthful appearance.
Moreover, some people naturally seem younger than their actual age.
"Heaven Condenses, Earth Closes, be defeated by me!"
As the battle heated, Chen Yuan’s hands swung with a range even exceeding the limit. The lingering claw shadows seemed like barriers, overshadowing the sky and heading towards Shi Xiaole.
Just as they were about to close, the claw shadows were suddenly shattered for no apparent reason. Countless transparent sword Qi burst out from within, like a vastly enlarged hedgehog exploding suddenly.
"What’s happening?"
Chen Yuan widened his eyes.
He distinctly saw that Shi Xiaole did not move at all just now.
"Was it the sword he used earlier?"
Sensing the sword Qi continuously exploding in the air, Chen Yuan suddenly recalled Shi Xiaole’s previous action.
Could it be that these sword Qi were hidden by him through sword techniques in advance? If that’s the case, what level of control does he possess, and to what extent has he comprehended the way of the sword?
"This person?"
Many keen-eyed pros also came to the same conclusion, each staring in awe.
"You should also take a few of my strikes."
Using Wind True Intent, Shi Xiaole could easily defeat his opponent even with his eyes closed, but that would be meaningless.
Having advanced to Perfect Sword Heart for a good while, Shi Xiaole is eager for an intense fight. He wants to deepen his comprehension through battle and elevate his sword realm again.
Clank, clank, clank...
With his heavenly sword technique and keen perception, Shi Xiaole drove Chen Yuan into a corner. The latter shouted wide-mouthed, his face reddened as if his life was being strangled, and was helpless.
In his lifetime, Chen Yuan has never felt so frustrated and stifled.
Clank!
The twenty-third move, his clothes were slit by the sword.
"Finally defeated."
Chen Yuan sighed a breath of relief, as if he had been liberated.
