Chapter 510: 509
The sword light pierced into the bloody palm shadow, weakening under the continuous wash of the bloody palm force. When it penetrated halfway, it finally disintegrated completely. Still, four-tenths of the bloody palm shadow’s power remained, striking towards Shi Xiaole.
At the critical moment, one after another, Sword Qi barriers were erected in front of Shi Xiaole, blocking this blow for him.
"Heavenly Sword."
Shi Hao squinted his eyes, both furious and resentful.
An expert who comprehends the realm of Heavenly Martial is recognized as tricky because his aura can be freely manipulated and fired at will, unless the Vigorous Air runs out.
Among the Heavenly Martial Realm, the Heavenly Sword is the trickiest because of its sharpest attacks.
"No matter what realm you have comprehended, I will kill you today."
Wrapped in a layer of red, Shi Hao looked like a blood man. He actually immunized a large piece of Sword Qi, and with a clap of his hands, countless bloody foam appeared, turning wherever it appeared into the colour of blood.
This is the secret technique of the Tianyuan Association, Blood Shadow Body.
Ordinary people can’t exert the power of the Blood Shadow Body. However, Shi Hao has understood five-tenths of the True Intent of Blood. When displayed, it is enough to kill ordinary experts of the Ninth Tier of Dragon Gate Realm in seconds.
Ding ding ding.
The Sword Qi was continuously repelled, Shi Xiaole dodged left and right, but bloody foam was everywhere. His body accidentally rubbed against a few, causing his qi and blood to boil, and he spewed out a mist of blood from his mouth.
"Brother Shi, there are divine powers in the water!"
Ripple Sword Qi spread again and again, and Ai Wenhong rushed out from the side.
"A stupid bug who seeks his own death."
With a gesture from Shi Hao, some of the bloody foam blocked Ai Wenhong. Amid the plopping sounds, Ai Wenhong couldn’t even hold his breath, his limbs exploded with bloody plasma, bones broken and tendons severed.
Ignoring Ai Wenhong, Shi Hao snorted coldly and chased after Shi Xiaole, who was just about to escape.
"Brother Shi, I... I’m so useless."
Watching the two people leave, Ai Wenhong fell to the ground, his face pale.
...
The cold night wind swept across his face, but it was not as cold as Shi Xiaole’s heart.
He really underestimated this time. If he had hidden from the side from the start, this would not have happened, and Ai Wenhong would not have been seriously injured.
Speaking of which, he still underestimated Shi Hao, not underestimating his strength, but underestimating his encounters.
Everyone has encounters. The rich man wearing gold and silver, but the same scruffy beggar may also carry a treasure. Don’t underestimate anyone.
"Ai Wenhong has risked his life for you, and you fled without caring about his safety. You are a good friend!"
Shi Hao’s undisguised sarcastic laughter could be heard from behind. Under the impact of the bloody foam, Shi Xiaole’s clothes were ripped apart, and several bloodstains appeared on his back.
In the bloodstains, there were clear hissing sounds, which were the True Intent of Blood evaporating Shi Xiaole’s blood and qi.
While escaping, Shi Xiaole was hit from time to time. Fortunately, his sensory abilities were astounding, and each time he managed to minimize the damage. In secret, he also displayed the Unrivaled Soul Transformation and Selfless Heart Transformation.
Unfortunately, as he had predicted, the influence of his transformations on Shi Hao was minimal due to the great distance between them and Shi Hao’s formidable mental power.
The chase lasted for a quarter of an hour, and the blood color on Shi Hao’s body faded away.
The Blood Shadow Body was after all a secret technique, it could not be performed for a long time. However, what excited Shi Hao was that Shi Xiaole was already heavily injured, his combat power greatly reduced, and he could not hold on much longer.
"Kid, you should have seen it by now, hahaha! For such a long time, you have not escaped at all, but just been moving within the array set up by me. It’s better for you to commit suicide, so you don’t suffer torturous pain."
Shi Hao laughed loudly, provoking Shi Xiaole.
He really regretted not learning more attacking array techniques; otherwise, he would have killed Shi Xiaole long ago. However, on the other hand, the attack array technique was too profound. If he spent part of his energy on it, his martial arts skills would certainly not be what they are now.
Tightly pressing his lips together, Shi Xiaole suddenly stabbed out with his sword. Ripples appeared in the void, and his body instantly passed through.
"He actually found a flaw in the array, damn it."
Shi Hao was greatly alarmed and hurried to follow him.
The scene before his eyes changed drastically. Shi Xiaole swept his gaze around and quickly found a red mountain. The emptiness on the surface of the mountain was distorted, and the scorching temperature caused not a single blade of grass to grow within a hundred meters.
At the foot of the mountain a few dozen meters away from Shi Xiaole, there was a natural fissure. An ordinary person would definitely not notice it, but Shi Xiaole sensitively detected that there was a different world inside the fissure.
Normally, Shi Xiaole certainly wouldn’t go in. But in front of him, the area was open. Given his current condition, he would only be caught up by the other party. It was better to take the risk.
Biting his teeth, he darted into the crevice.
Shi Hao forcibly retracted his palm and followed suit.
At first, the inside of the fissure was pitch black, with only a narrow tunnel leading underground. But soon, as they delved deeper, the light became stronger, and the passage wider.
When they reached 300 meters underground, the onslaught of heat felt like countless red-hot irons, cruelly burning Shi Xiaole’s skin, almost making him scream out loud.
Shi Hao behind him had already started screaming.
Shi Xiaole continued to burrow in without regard for anything.
meters underground.
He held his breath because every breath he took felt like a knife cutting through his lungs.
meters underground.
Shi Xiaole’s body-protecting Vigorous Air was burned through, his clothes nearly caught fire, and he had to stop.
"You damn dog, you have the guts to run, keep running!"
Seeing this, Shi Hao laughed loudly above, but immediately shut his mouth, his face twisted in pain. All of his anger was channeled into a merciless slap, striking hard at Shi Xiaole.
Clunk!
Rocks rained down in the tunnel, Shi Xiaole was hit by the residual force, blood flowed from his body, and was immediately evaporated by the air.
Under conditions where both his cultivation and perception had fallen drastically, no matter how proficient his techniques were, they could not bridge the enormous gap between the two.
Just as Shi Hao decided to rush down and capture Shi Xiaole, he penetrated three meters and immediately retreated with a miserable scream, his whole body covered in blisters.
"Hmmm, what is this?"
If it had been anyone else, they would’ve been at a loss, or have fled for their life. However, Shi Xiaole had noticed something unusual in this situation.
He tried it as well and found that he too could no longer go any deeper, and the vigorous air in his body was diminishing at an imperceptible rate.
But it was not the Vigorous Air that was decreasing, it was impurities.
"Could it be that the scorching breath inside this hole can burn away the impurities within the Vigorous Air?"
The mysteries of Heaven and Earth are inexhaustible.
In this world, Shi Xiaole wouldn’t exclude any possibilities.
If his assumptions were correct, the more impurities he had, the stronger the burning force and the greater damage to himself, thereby making this place a potentially rare opportunity for him.
Secretly operating his Karmic Conversion Skill, Shi Xiaole indeed found that the purification of impurities in his Vigorous Air had accelerated, allowing him to penetrate deeper, finally stopping at a depth of three hundred and ninety meters.
Not long after, Shi Hao also discovered this and a look of ecstatic joy appeared on his face as he remained at a depth of three hundred and twenty meters.
"This kid’s internal energy purity is actually so much higher than mine," he sneered, "I’ll simply stay above and wait for you to exhaust yourself to death."
With his feet planted on an indentation in the rock wall, Shi Hao sat down and began to cultivate without paying any attention to Shi Xiaole.
The speed at which impurities were being burnt was, of course, much quicker compared to removing them manually. However, according to Shi Hao’s estimates, there would be no significant progress within half a month.
This also eliminated the possibility of Shi Xiaole making a breakthrough and killing him in retaliation. In half a month, if he didn’t come up, he would have starved to death by then.
Ha ha ha, having killed this great threat from the Tianyuan Association and also found a cultivation treasure, could it be that my good luck has finally come?
"Overconfident?"
Finding a place to sit on the rock wall, Shi Xiaole retracted his gaze, hiding the sharpness in his eyes.
What he practiced was the Karmic Conversion Skill, his Vigorous Air grade was far superior to Shi Hao, and his cultivation speed was beyond the other’s imagination. Calming his mind and spirit, Shi Xiaole quickly immersed himself in a selfless realm, leaving only a fraction of his consciousness alert to any sneak attacks from Shi Hao.
The cave was quiet once again, except for the faint sound of flames burning the air.
One day.
Two days.
Every time Shi Xiaole circulated his Vigorous Air, a portion of the impurities disappeared. The achievement of three days was equivalent to several months of hard work.
At this moment he had reached a depth of four hundred and twenty meters. This was intentionally done by him to avoid provoking an extreme reaction from Shi Hao.
Shi Hao could never imagine the difference between a supreme medium-grade martial art and a supreme low-grade martial art. Of course, even if he knew, he could do nothing about it.
With a distance of seventy meters between them, his threat to Shi Xiaole was minimal. If they continued to fight, the first to withdraw would be him, as he did not have the system space or stored food.
This was the main reason why Shi Hao had chosen to wait for his prey.
"Just a little more."
With sixty percent of the impurities removed from his body, Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air seemed to fly towards an invisible barrier.
Boom!
In the collision noise that only Shi Xiaole could hear, his cultivation rose from the early stages of the Fifth Tier of the Dragon Gate Realm to the middle stages. Just before the aura leaked out, he hid it with exquisite control.
Shi Hao had no idea about this.
Perhaps because of the improvement in his cultivation, the impurities in Shi Xiaole were burning even faster. On the fourth day, his cultivation skyrocketed from the middle stage of the Fifth Tier, directly to the peak of the Fifth Tier of the Dragon Gate Realm.
The fifth day.
Shi Hao couldn’t help but open his eyes, glanced down, and furrowed his brow.
As experts in the Dragon Gate Realm, they have much greater vitality than ordinary people, and could hold on for about nine days without food or water. However, given the special environment here, by this time, Shi Hao could hardly bear it.
"Bastard, do you really want to die here? I’ll see how long you can last."
With a flash, Shi Hao left the cavern. Since there was only one exit, he just needed to find food within controllable distance.
Little did he know that the moment he left, Shi Xiaole immediately dashed deeper into the cave.
Four hundred and thirty meters.
Four hundred and fifty meters.
It wasn’t until he reached five hundred meters that Shi Xiaole stopped. In here, the remaining ten percent of impurities were burnt away almost immediately.
His Vigorous Air, as pure as a crystal, suddenly surged, releasing a huge sound wave that resonated through Shi Xiaole’s body like a tumultuous river.
The very next moment.
An intense burst of energy erupted.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation level suddenly jumped from the peak of the Fifth Tier of the Dragon Gate Realm to the middle stage of the Sixth Tier, and even with his control, he could barely contain his aura.
