Chapter 466: Chapter 465: Rapid Increase in Strength
"What should we do?"
The buzzing sound grew louder, causing the crowd trapped in the Divine Transformation Den to break out in a cold sweat.
The peculiarity of the Divine Transformation Den wasn’t limited to the black bees, but these bees were among its most lethal inhabitants. In the past, more than ten powerhouses at the Dragon Gate Realm had been attacked by the black bees, only to die in the end.
Moreover, there was no discernible pattern to their emergence. Sometimes they wouldn’t appear for half a year, other times they’d appear every other day. Their unlucky encounter with them was purely bad luck.
"Qiankun Hand!"
With a strike of his palm, Elder Ye hit the dirt wall to his side, instantly creating a passage ten meters deep.
This caused a spark in the eyes of Elder Ma and over a hundred other powerhouses. They didn’t need to be reminded to put their skills into action, as they simultaneously directed their internal power towards the passage.
Thud, thud, thud.
Stone and dirt flew everywhere and the passage grew wider.
But soon, a black tide from afar rushed towards them- an endless swarm of black bees.
Phew!
A sword streaking with blue brilliance pierced through the black tide, creating a white tunnel; but within a moment, the tunnel was filled by the black bees once more.
"Only a few dozen were killed?"
Shi Xiaole was stunned.
With his current cultivation level, a strike deployed with nearly 80% of his strength had only killed a few dozens of the black bees? He finally understood why Elder Ye and the others were so panicked. If he were to be surrounded by these black bees, he too would be doomed.
"Fifty of you follow me and attack together."
Shi Xiaole shouted, brandishing his sword continuously.
Everyone knew they had to hold back the black bees and gave it their all.
Over fifty Xuanqi Realm martial artists initiated their attacks simultaneously. Their highly concentrated internal power resembled a mini-sun explosion, turning batches of black bees into powder. This greatly relieved the pressure on Shi Xiaole.
To be exact, the combined internal power of those fifty Xuanqi Realm martial artists was not inferior to Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air.
Although Shi Xiaole had absorbed the cultivation of seventy-two lower rank Xuanqi Realm figures previously, that only enabled him to break through to the Dragon Gate Realm.
Factually, there can be great wastage as the process of absorption can reach the limit of one’s meridian channels; being able to retain sixty to seventy percent is already not easy.
As the Divine Transformation Den wasn’t very wide, under Shi Xiaole’s leadership, the crowd consciously blocked the passage with their power. The black bees at the front instantly shattered upon contact with the strong vigor, while the bees at the back continued unabated, completely oblivious to death.
They persisted like this for some time until many martial artists were panting heavily and on the verge of collapse.
"Move!"
At this moment, another group led by Elders Ye and Ma had formed a near hundred-meter-long tunnel and rushed into it frantically.
The tunnel was even narrower than the Divine Transformation Den, preventing many from squeezing in. Some even attacked those in front in their fight for survival. Cries and roars filled the air, and coupled with the oncoming bee attacks, the scene quickly descended into chaos.
Like a gust of wind, Shi Xiaole weaved through the crowd. At this point, he could no longer be bothered with the fate of others.
"Ah...."
Someone behind him was pierced through by the black bee swarm, leaving nothing behind but a corpse riddled with bloody holes.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh.
The mandibles of the black bees were as sharp as swords. If anyone were stung by them, they would instantly lose a substantial amount of vital essences. The crowd couldn’t stop the black bees. Like dominoes, they continued to fall and had their blood drained from them.
Whoosh!
Exerting all his strength, Shi Xiaole cut a path in the tunnel on his left, creating a branching path fifteen meters long. He quickly hid inside before sealing off the entrance with another slash.
The despairing Elders Ye and Ma saw this and quickly followed suit.
Once the bees had killed everyone, they circled around the tunnel multiple times. Then, in a horrifying spectacle, they began to dig through the crevices in the soil, seeming able to sense the living beings within.
"Not good."
Shi Xiaole’s reaction was extremely quick. As soon as the black bees started to crawl into the crevices, he noticed and began brandishing his sword. Luckily, only a few bees managed to get into the crevices in the short amount of time, and he was able to handle them.
But Elders Ye and Ma weren’t so lucky. They had missed the optimal moment to react, causing the influx of the black bees to increase.
"Yixin Finger!"
A wave of black bees swarmed over Elder Ma just as he executed his technique, leaving him horrifically disfigured. He forcefully released his Vigorous Air and hurriedly squirmed in the mud to escape, feeling a cold sensation seeping from his pores.
Elder Ye was not doing much better. If he had the choice, he would have preferred to disobey the City Lord’s orders instead of coming to this godforsaken place.
One sword stroke after another, Shi Xiaole’s face was grave. Each stroke was able to puncture a path ten meters long. Sometimes he moved forward, sometimes upward, and he repeatedly blocked the entrance with the Three-Point Finger of God using his left hand.
However, there was a certain height he couldn’t penetrate with his sword, indicating he’d hit the boundary of the Divine Transformation array system. He was unable to break through.
After exhausting everything, Shi Xiaole was so fatigued that his face turned pale within just fifteen minutes. He was barely able to hold up his sword. By this point, he had already moved far from the entrance of the Divine Transformation Den.
Without the luxury of resting, he performed a meditative exercise until he recovered thirty percent of his strength, and then repeated his previous actions. After several rounds, he realized the black bees were no longer following him, so he finally let out a sigh of relief and collapsed on the floor.
"That was close."
After resting for half an hour, Shi Xiaole finally managed to get up from the ground. But when he saw something three meters away, his body shuddered.
It was a wilted Transformation Flower, but its pistil was exceptionally vibrant, glowing like a pearl.
From that distance, Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air started to circulate automatically, expressing an intense longing.
"A Return Energy Flower?"
The single character difference between a Transformation Flower and a Return Energy Flower marked a world of difference.
Shi Xiaole had heard Elder Ye say that the Return Energy Flower is a kind of Transformation Flower, except it neither decomposes Internal Power nor Vigorous Air, but instead absorbs them from the Transformation Flower.
Unfortunately, the energy of the Return Energy Flower is unlike that of a crystal stone and cannot be absorbed by ordinary martial artists.
With twinkling eyes, Shi Xiaole walked up to the Return Energy Flower.
He pondered: Since the Karmic Conversion Skill can absorb a martial artist’s Internal Power and Vigorous Air, what would happen if the source was the Return Energy Flower?
Upon confirming that there were no dangers around, Shi Xiaole reached out to the flower’s pistil and tried to operate his Karmic Conversion Skill.
Boom!
A surge of extremely pure power, as if carrying the energy of nature itself, rushed into Shi Xiaole’s meridians and instantly became a part of his inner Vigorous Air.
"Can it actually work?"
Shi Xiaole was filled with joy.
Not only because his Vigorous Air had improved, but what excited him more was that the power inside the Return Energy Flower had made his Vigorous Air a bit more concentrated.
Because a significant part of his current strength was absorbed from others, Shi Xiaole’s level of Vigorous Air was lower than his past self.
But after being refined by the power of the Return Energy Flower, his Vigorous Air’s level had a faintly rising trend.
"It’s the same decomposition effect, but what’s being decomposed are the impurities."
Shi Xiaole mused thoughtfully.
Under normal circumstances, the Return Energy Flower would never grow by itself. Shi Xiaole wielded his sword and carefully searched the surrounding area. After he had explored front, back, left, and right with no result, he began to dig upwards and downwards.
Some fifty meters below, the sweet fragrance overwhelmed his senses, and the sight before his eyes made his heart pound.
It was a large patch of Return Energy Flowers, roughly a thousand in number. The bright flower pistils leaned against each other, forming an eye-catching yellow ocean.
Without any hesitation, Shi Xiaole pushed his Karmic Conversion Skill to its limit and started absorbing freely.
One flower.
Two flowers.
...
The energy contained in the Return Energy Flowers was too pure. After absorbing 320 flowers, there was a loud rumble from within Shi Xiaole’s body, and his cultivation directly upgraded from the early stages of the Second Layer of Dragon Gate Realm to the peak of the Second Layer.
When the number reached 372, a sudden boom was heard as his black hair fluttered. Shi Xiaole had broken through to the early stages of the Third Layer of Dragon Gate Realm.
What’s more, his Vigorous Air was becoming purer and purer, almost reaching 80% of his original self’s level.
Suppressing his joy, Shi Xiaole continued to quickly absorb the energy.
Four hundred.
Five hundred.
Six hundred.
After the nine hundredth flower, Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had upgraded to the peak of the Third Layer of Dragon Gate Realm, only one step away from the Fourth Layer.
Fast forward to the 927th flower. Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air trembled. As the last bit of impurity was removed, akin to a complete rebirth, it became incredibly pure.
At this moment, his Vigorous Air’s level had astonishingly returned to the level before his cultivation had regressed!
"Only the last ten flowers left."
Shi Xiaole took a deep breath, gathered all his strength, and kept charging against the invisible barrier.
When the last Return Energy Flower was absorbed, cracks appeared all over the invisible barrier. It was finally and mercilessly broken as his Vigorous Air flowed unceasingly like a surging river within his meridians.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had successfully upgraded to the early stage of the Fourth Layer of the Dragon Gate Realm.
He clenched his fist and felt an immense power condensing in his palm. Shi Xiaole threw a punch, and immediately a twenty-meter-long hole appeared before him.
Even when he exerted all his strength before, he could only create a fifteen-meter-long passage, but now, using only seventy percent of his power, without using any sword techniques, he achieved a depth of twenty meters.
The comparison clearly showed the stark increase in his power.
"I think my current strength is more than double what I had before," Shi Xiaole stated.
If it were somebody else who had broken through two minor realms in the Dragon Gate, they might not have advanced as much as Shi Xiaole, unless they had also refined a top-tier martial art to perfection and had also improved their Vigorous Air’s level.
Looking at the withered flower pistils on the ground, Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of opportunity. However, sometimes, even if opportunity is right in front of you, without the appropriate strength, you can’t seize it.
Standing up, Shi Xiaole picked a random direction and continued on his way.
Since he couldn’t leave the Divine Transformation Cave yet, he wanted to see if there were any other mysteries in it.
About two hours later, the buzzing sound in his ears reached him. Shi Xiaole pierced through the layers of soil and returned to the Divine Transformation Cave.
"Deputy City Lord Shi, is that you?!"
A blood-stained silhouette in the distance saw Shi Xiaole and yelled out in surprise. It turned out to be Elder Ma. He was in a disheveled state, his energy was in chaos, and his body was full of bloody holes. Clearly, he was in danger.
Elder Ma didn’t possess Shi Xiaole’s skills. After struggling for several hours, he was still caught by the Black Bees and fell back into the Divine Transformation Cave.
"Hide quickly!"
Seeing Shi Xiaole standing still, Elder Ma thought he was frightened and hurriedly warned him.
A dying man always speaks true.
As he was left with nowhere to run, he didn’t want to see Shi Xiaole perish at the hands of the Black Bees.
