Chapter 467: Chapter 466: Terrifying Thoughts (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Sensing the presence of two living beings, the swarm of Black Bees grew more agitated, swarming toward them like a tumultuous black river.
Elder Ma felt his scalp tingling. He had just reached Shi Xiaole and tripped, falling heavily to the ground. He sighed weakly, "It seems we’re destined to die together."
The swarm of Black Bees was just a few yards away from the two of them.
Shi Xiaole held his sword with his thumb and made a swift swing forward.
Crackle and snap.
A twenty-yard long green sword light, cut through the swarm like a scythe, wherever it reached, it thinned out the swarm. By the time the swing was over, there was a large void within the black river.
Don’t assume that Shi Xiaole’s strength doubled after he killed dozens of Black Bees with a single stroke. The number doesn’t add up that way.
The surge in Vigorous Air made Shi Xiaole more comfortable with his swordplay. The increase in his attack power was surely more than doubled.
"Vice City Lord Shi, what just happened?"
The power of that single stroke left Elder Ma dumbstruck. He almost doubted his own eyes.
How was this possible? They had only been apart for few hours, yet the other’s strength had increased so much, he seemed like a completely different person.
With several more swings, the swarm of Black Bees could not get any closer and became even more agitated.
"As expected, this is troublesome."
Shi Xiaole shook his head with a smile.
There were countless Black Bees. Even if he exhausted all his strength, he couldn’t kill them all. He grabbed Elder Ma by the collar and leaped forward, leaving the swarm of Black Bees far behind.
By the time they managed to burrow into the earth, Elder Ma was still in a daze. On looking at Shi Xiaole, his gaze now carried a hint of fear.
It wasn’t fear towards Shi Xiaole himself, but rather a fear one feels when faced with non-humans.
"I wonder how Elder Ye is doing."
Swallowing hard, Elder Ma spoke first.
"I’ll go check."
"No...Um, Vice City Lord Shi, let me accompany you."
Elder Ma, truly frightened by the Black Bees, preferred to stay with Shi Xiaole for safety, as he simply wouldn’t know how he might die if he were alone.
Looking at Elder Ma, Shi Xiaole didn’t say anything, tacitly agreeing.
They returned to the Divine Transformation Cave soon after and found the body of Elder Ye. His blood had been drained, and his face still bore a look of terror.
Elder Ma turned away, overwhelmed with grief. He then roared angrily, "If it hadn’t been for someone stirring trouble, we would’ve escaped from the Divine Transformation Cave by now! If we make it out this time, I’m going to investigate this thoroughly and ask the City Lord to deal with it personally!"
"Do you trust the City Lord that much?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
"Vice City Lord Shi, you have no idea how powerful the City Lord is. Actually, the rumor was wrong. Ten years ago, the City Lord didn’t kill a vice city lord at the Fifth Tier of the Dragon Gate Realm in ten moves, but five."
Elder Ma’s face held an expression of reverence as he said, "For the past ten years, the City Lord has been in seclusion. His strength has probably reached an incredibly terrifying level. Nobody in the entire Divine Transformation City could be his match."
Shi Xiaole thought to himself: After my cultivation reached the fourth tier of the Dragon Gate Realm, I needed only one move to defeat people like Weng Ming. I wonder if the City Lord used his full strength at that time.
With an expressionless face, he said, "Let’s wait for now. The Divine Transformation Array System will open eventually, and then we can get out."
Elder Ma leaned in and whispered, "Vice City Lord Shi, it just occurred to me. There’s a legend that says a great fortune is hidden inside the entrance of the tree roots in Divine Transformation City, that is, where the Black Bees usually nest."
If it were anyone else, Elder Ma would never mention this. But with the strength of Shi Xiaole, even if he couldn’t defeat the swarm of Black Bees, he could still freely move in and out.
Shi Xiaole laughed, "Who told you that? Has anyone ever gone there?"
Elder Ma shook his head, "No one has, but ever since I came to Divine Transformation City, I’ve heard this rumor. If Vice City Lord Shi doesn’t believe me, you can treat it as a joke."
After considering it, Shi Xiaole said, "Upon hearing Elder Ma’s words, I’ve become curious. Elder Ma, first return to the hiding place. I’ll be back soon."
With a flash, he disappeared.
"Hey, Vice City Lord Shi, come back..."
Elder Ma wished he could cut off his own tongue. He stomped his foot in frustration, looked at the passage in front of him, afraid that the swarm of Black Bees might appear. He quickly burrowed into the ground and returned to the refuge Shi Xiaole had taken him to.
At the bottom of the Divine Transformation Cave, Shi Xiaole saw a large number of Black Bees sucking on the Mutation Transformation Flower seeds. In a sense, the appearance of the Black Bees had its pros and cons.
The disadvantage was obvious, yet the advantage was that the Black Bees helped martial artists eliminate the Mutation Transformation Flower seeds, saving them a lot of effort.
The Black Bees were divided into two groups. One group stayed in the same place, the other roamed around the cave.
Hearing some movement from behind him, Shi Xiaole didn’t panic. He dug into the soil from above and hid there, waiting for a group of Black Bees to leave and then return to the cave. He quietly observed the giant hole at the root of the Divine Transformation Tree.
He had noticed this place before, but didn’t see anything special. However, after observing for a long time, Shi Xiaole finally noticed something unusual.
At the massive cave entrance, every once in a while, there were faint rays of light seeping out. Logically speaking, how could there be light underground?
"Is there something magical inside?"
Shi Xiaole had few fatal weaknesses, but if he had to name one, it would probably be his intense curiosity and love for adventure. Unless he knew he was facing a life or death crisis, any appearance of mysterious objects would pique his interest.
If the green substance in the blood battle hadn’t been too odd, he would have investigated it more thoroughly.
"I can delve deeper slowly, and if I find something wrong, I’ll immediately retreat. Escaping from the Black Bee’s attack is not difficult."
Making up his mind, Shi Xiaole concentrated and once he found the opportunity, he suddenly gathered his energy like a light arc and plunged into the huge hole of the tree root.
The hole was silent and extremely deep. As Shi Xiaole descended, he would occasionally thrust the Hidden Edge Sword into the side wall to slow down his fall.
Approximately a quarter of an hour later, Shi Xiaole’s feet finally touched the ground.
Strands of light entered, guiding him forward.
Shi Xiaole took steps forward and soon the light grew brighter until it illuminated the entire space.
"This is..."
In his field of vision, there was a statuesque woman made from marble and emanating a fluorescent light. Every detail, from the eyes to the expression on her face, down to the wrinkles on the statue’s face was crystal clear, showing the enormous effort the carver had put into it.
The pair of eyes of the statue, as if possessing strange magic, made Shi Xiaole look at them subconsciously.
Bang!
In an instant, a surge of incredibly powerful spiritual force, as profound as the ocean, welled up from the statue’s eyes and poured into Shi Xiaole’s mind.
Taken aback, Shi Xiaole didn’t have time to be surprised. He gathered his spiritual power into two blades and fiercely counterattacked.
At this moment, he was in his mind where the spiritual suppression of the Divine Transformation Tree didn’t exist.
The two spiritual forces clashed intensely.
Compared to Shi Xiaole’s skilled attack, the statue’s spiritual power was like a great sea, regardless of your myriad changes, engulfing everything and taking the win by quantity.
After crushing the spirit-blades, the remaining spiritual force blasted Shi Xiaole’s spirit sea, causing unprecedented tremors.
The strength of the sculpture’s spiritual power surpassed that of most Divine Barrier Realm masters. If it had been someone else in this situation, they would’ve fallen into a mental breakdown. Yet Shi Xiaole merely swayed a bit and continued to engage the statue.
Hence the stalemate persisted for about half a 2-hour period, after which the statue’s spiritual power weakened a bit. Seizing this opportunity, Shi Xiaole strode forward and as he passed the sculpture, the attacking spiritual force receded like the tide.
His surroundings underwent a dramatic change as if the sky and earth had rotated. Shi Xiaole found himself standing in front of a small hut by a river.
"This is an array system, and the statue is the key to break through the array."
Shi Xiaole wasn’t sure whether anyone had entered the cave before, but he was almost certain that no one had come here. His spiritual power was unique, enabling him to withstand the statue’s attack. If it were anyone else, they would have basically been taking their own life.
The nurseries on the east and west sides of the hut were stacked with a large amount of Mutation Transformation Flower seeds, so red they resembled two pools of blood that would seep into a person’s heart.
Was this artificially cultivated?
Suppressing his tumultuous emotions, Shi Xiaole passed through the center path and entered the hut. Dust lay everywhere, but the arrangement was quite tasteful.
Inside, there was only a table, a chair, and there was no bed. The only resting place was a mat, which was probably the bed of the hut’s owner.
On the dusty table, there was an open wooden box filled with seeds of various colors. Next to the box, was a stack of parchment papers.
After glancing at the papers, Shi Xiaole’s heartbeat quickened.
All because they noted the watering methods for the seeds, their combinations, and even the results after combination. It seemed like someone had been using the seeds for experiments?
Xinru, I am not far from success. As soon as I cultivate that thing, I will make all the warriors in the world disappear!"
"Why, why is it wrong? Where did the problem lie?"
"I understand now. It’s because one ingredient is missing... Xinru, I have to go to Sky Mountain. Don’t worry, I will come back to you soon after I take my revenge."
Most of the papers recorded the experimental results, while some recorded the owner’s mood.
Shi Xiaole then found out that the mutated Transformation Flowers were cultivated by the owner of the hut and their killing power was even more formidable than the Transformation Flower.
"So, that’s how it is. The Transformation Flowers can only grow in specific environments, and so they only appear in the Boundless Flower Prison. The man went to Sky Mountain... Could he have found a way to plant Transformation Flowers on a large scale?"
Shi Xiaole furrowed his eyebrows.
From the quality of the paper to the state of the hut, the owner of the hut hadn’t been gone for too long, probably just a few decades. He wondered what he was doing now?
If Transformation Flowers were to be spread on a large scale, it would be a huge disaster for the warriors of the world.
Putting down the paper, Shi Xiaole took a walk around the hut. When his feet touched the long mat, his vision was suddenly filled with hallucinations.
Shi Xiaole’s blood began to boil, not out of fear, but excitement.
"Enlightenment Seed?!"
Earlier, his spiritual power was suppressed and Shi Xiaole had not felt it. But now, he immediately found out that what was inside the mat was an Enlightenment Seed which could help comprehend truths and states of mind.
Shi Xiaole was not unfamiliar with Enlightenment Seeds. Back in the Heavenly Treasure Ruins, thanks to this miraculous thing, his understanding level had greatly increased, thereby reducing his cultivation time.
The number of Enlightenment Seeds inside the mat was no less than ten times the number in the Heavenly Treasure Ruins!
