Chapter 429: Chapter 428: The Mysterious Qingfeng
Under Qingfeng’s full-speed sprint, the surroundings blurred into streaks of light, and violent explosions could be heard from behind time and again, causing the ground to shake.
"So fast."
Third Elder was not angry, but delighted. His large hand came crashing down.
Boom!
A vast layer of soil blasted apart.
Qingfeng’s body was thrown into the air; mid-flight, he made a drastic turn to avoid landing on Shi Xiaole.
"Xiao-Feng, escape to the left."
Although it lasted only for a moment, it slightly relieved Shi Xiaole’s stress. He pushed off the ground with his feet and flew towards the right.
Qingfeng was slowly growing stronger. At this point, his speed was almost on par with that of an expert at the peak of the Spiritual-Passage Realm. But, it was clearly not enough for Third Elder.
"Both the man and the horse, I want them."
Third Elder let out a cold laugh. Both his hands reached forward, unleashing two forces as heavy as mountains, aimed at both Shi Xiaole and Qingfeng.
Shi Xiaole reacted faster. The moment Third Elder moved, he turned his head and shot out two spiritual blades from his eyes.
The Eye Blade was not omnipotent. Only when the distance between the two parties reached a certain extent could it take effect.
Bang!
Third Elder’s vision blurred and his movements stalled for a tenth of a blink of an eye before pushing forward with force again, causing numerous trees to break and fly in all directions.
But Shi Xiaole and Qingfeng had already taken advantage of this time difference and charged forward.
"This kid’s spiritual power?"
Third Elder looked surprised.
With his level of mental stability, anyone who could obstruct him even for a moment had to be a genius in the realm of spiritual power. To Third Elder’s knowledge, even his disciple Luo Wenxu wouldn’t be able to achieve this.
Of course, Third Elder was also quite interested in the method of spiritual attack exhibited by Shi Xiaole. If he could learn it, it would undoubtedly raise his power level by a considerable extent.
"Kid, if you swear by the will of heaven and earth and take me as your master, never betray me, and hand over everything you know, I’ll spare your life."
Third Elder laughed loudly.
Shi Xiaole completely ignored him and focused solely on running for his life.
"Those who overestimate their capabilities often die the fastest."
To target both Shi Xiaole and Qingfeng, Third Elder mustered all his power and, from a distance of a hundred meters, forcefully controlled both their escape routes with his Vigorous Air, not allowing them to separate.
As a result, the rate at which the gap between them narrowed slowed down.
When the distance closed to eighty meters, Shi Xiaole would immediately use his Eye Blade Absolute Technique to widen the gap once again, repeating the cycle.
"Wasting my energy."
Third Elder seemed to have thought of something. He smirked and abruptly stopped controlling Qingfeng. His body accelerated and he swung his palm down mercilessly.
Shi Xiaole quickly turned around and swung his sword, but the Sword Qi was easily shattered by the palm strike. The extra palm force continued to press down, causing Shi Xiaole’s face to turn pale as he spewed a mouthful of blood.
He admitted, he had miscalculated this time, having not expected his opponent to see through his disguise.
This also served as a reminder to him; the Martial World was full of skilled individuals and he should never let his guard down.
With every subsequent palm strike from Third Elder, Shi Xiaole continuously spewed blood. In no time, he had turned pale and was gasping for breath.
Although Qingfeng could’ve escaped, he didn’t. Instead, he moved towards Shi Xiaole, refusing to abandon the companion who had led him out of the barren mountains.
Seeing this, Third Elder was further reassured. He brought his palms together and unleashed a palm shadow that obscured the sun, aiming directly at Shi Xiaole.
Bang!
Just like a hammer striking the ground, a strange sound made Shi Xiaole turn his head, only to witness a scene that caused his eyes to fill with rage.
Qingfeng was hurled through the air; he had taken most of the palm’s force with his body.
In a deafening cry, a rain of green fur mixed with blood filled the air. Qingfeng landed on the ground, causing cracks to appear, but immediately forced himself to stand up and follow his master’s steps.
Bearing the pain in his heart, Shi Xiaole turned his head away.
The best way to repay Qingfeng was to survive, then take revenge on his enemy in the future.
The explosions continued behind him, each accompanied by heart-wrenching screams. Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but let out a long howl to vent his inner rage and killing intent.
After who knows how long, he finally stumbled to a stop. Struggling to stay standing by a stream, his face was as pale as a sheet and sullen.
He had escaped, but there was not a shred of happiness in his heart. All he wanted to know was the condition of Qingfeng; if he was alive or dead. Having withstood so many attacks from Third Elder, Shi Xiaole was certain that if he were in Qingfeng’s place, he would have no chance of surviving. As for Qingfeng...
"He must still be alive."
Shi Xiaole told himself to stay calm. After finding a cave nearby, he began to heal his injuries, which were completely healed after about three days.
But Shi Xiaole still didn’t leave. Instead, he flew through the forest every day.
Qingfeng was extremely sensitive to his scent. If he had just been there, Qingfeng would be able to find him by following his lingering scent.
On several occasions, Shi Xiaole saw Third Elder from a distance. Fortunately, his mental strength was much stronger than the Elder’s, and he managed to avoid him each time just in the nick of time.
Another half a month passed.
Shi Xiaole’s heart sank further. Standing by the stream, his eyes were so indifferent that it was as if he had lost all human emotions.
Neigh!
Suddenly, a familiar sound echoed in the distance.
Shi Xiaole, in shock, abruptly turned around.
Under the crimson sunset, a majestic azure horse, stained with blood and with more than half of its fur fallen out, dashed towards him, joyful cries ringing out as it ran towards Shi Xiaole.
"Xiao Feng!"
The man and the horse embraced tightly.
Qingfeng nuzzled Shi Xiaole’s neck, then lowered its body, affectionately sniffing the comforting scent radiating from its master.
Shi Xiaole tenderly stroked the traces of blood on Qingfeng’s body. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that more than sixty percent of its body had cracked open before but for some inexplicable reason, had healed over and started growing fresh azure fur.
"Xiao Feng, how did you escape?"
Shi Xiaole asked with concern.
Qingfeng mimicked a running posture, then shook its head, indicating that it too, did not know.
This was certainly odd.
Unable to comprehend, Shi Xiaole decided not to dwell on it. Qingfeng’s safe return was undoubtedly what mattered most.
"Xiao Feng, I will avenge us."
Believing that unavenged ills are at odds with virtue, Shi Xiaole regained his old confident demeanor and said with a faint smile.
Upon hearing these words, Qingfeng raised its hooves high, its eyes gleaming with anticipation.
The master’s words were as good as gold; if he said he would seek revenge, he certainly would.
...
The ruins of the ancient land, where the Tianluo Sect had set up camp.
The Third Elder slammed his cup in rage.
He still couldn’t comprehend how that azure horse had managed to get away when they had it cornered.
To his surprise, in the last moment, the horse had suddenly unleashed a terrifying power. Luckily, he had managed to dodge in time, otherwise, he could have been killed by a swift kick.
"That brat must be skilled in disguise techniques. Should I spread the news?"
The Third Elder’s eyes flicker with indecision, then finally resolved to first mobilize men to find Qingfeng. As long as they found Qingfeng, they would find Shi Xiaole, and then they might be able to uncover his mental mystery technique and disguise technique.
Of course, if they couldn’t locate him within a year, the Third Elder would spread the news without doubt, not letting Shi Xiaole have it easy. Otherwise, given the latter’s talent, if he were to grow successfully, wouldn’t that spell disaster for him?
...
"So, this is the Sun Moon Crystal Stone, it’s indeed magical."
In the cave, Shi Xiaole held a crystalline stone the size of a chicken egg. Inside the stone, a puddle of liquid changed forms as he rotated it with his fingers.
The energy of the Sun Moon Crystal Stone was a tier higher than that of the Mystic Crystal Stone, highly similar to the Vigorous Air refined from the human body. It had a miraculous effect on warriors in the Dragon Gate Realm.
Without any hesitation, Shi Xiaole activated Faceless Divine Skill to start absorbing the energy inside the Sun Moon Crystal Stone.
After a while.
The Sun Moon Crystal Stone disintegrated.
And Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had leaped from the early stage of the first layer of the Dragon Gate Realm to its mid stage.
One should know that once one’s cultivation reached the Dragon Gate Realm, even the most talented person’s cultivation speed would slow down.
Take Shi Xiaole for example, with his cultivation talent, if he followed the normal method of cultivation, it would take him at least half a year’s time to progress from the early stage of the first layer to the mid stage of the first layer of the Dragon Gate Realm.
Moreover, it became even more difficult to progress as he moved forward.
This was why most of the elite warriors in the Flying Horse Dynasty were at the level of the Dragon Gate Realm.
The reason why the Third Elder of the Tianluo Sect dared to give Shi Xiaole a year’s time was based on this fact.
"If only I could have enough Sun Moon Crystal Stones."
The endless desire for power reminded Shi Xiaole of Blood Battle Plains.
He highly suspected that the place in the Blood Battle Plains, where tens of thousands of Mystic Crystal Stones were excavated, might contain Sun Moon Crystal Stones, or even more advanced items.
Unfortunately, with his current strength, any plan of digging further was just a pipe dream.
After much thought, Shi Xiaole finally decided to begin with the Demon Alliance, using the rewards from the tasks to enhance himself.
However, because he was still an Incense Master, he would initially be able to take on only simple tasks with mundane rewards.
Day by day.
Aside from cultivation, Shi Xiaole was busy completing tasks, working tirelessly, hurrying between unfamiliar towns and forests without rest.
With the help of Qingfeng, he saved a lot of time traveling, which allowed him to complete tasks at a much faster pace than ordinary people. Approximately two and a half months later, after completing several dozen tasks at the Incense Master level, he was finally promoted to the role of Altar Master from Incense Master.
The Altar Masters of the Demon Alliance in Qingxue State generally had a cultivation level of the seventh level of the Spiritual Passage Realm, while those in Xuanwu State were at the first level of the Dragon Gate Realm, so the rewards for every task were naturally much richer.
On the first day of becoming an Altar Master, Shi Xiaole took up a task.
The specifics of the task required him to travel to a border town in the Falling Geese Domain of Xuanwu State. It was said that in the past half year, there had been several dozen mysterious cases of townsfolk being torn in half in that town.
Many martial arts experts had arrived there upon hearing the news, but either ended up meeting the same fate as the townsfolk or left without solving the case.
The reason he took up this task was that its reward was one of Tang Sect’s Hundred Secret Weapons, "Flowers in the Sleeve".
Renowned for its element of surprise, the weapon might not be powerful enough to kill a warrior at the third level of the Dragon Gate Realm directly, but if used well, it could even severely injure a warrior at the fourth level of the Dragon Gate Realm. It was one of the life-saving treasures to have at critical moment.
Riding on Qingfeng, Shi Xiaole reached Peony Town of the Falling Geese Domain in Xuanwu State after two days and two nights of travel.
