Chapter 511: Chapter 510: Madman
If Shi Xiaole were to cultivate methodically, it would take him several years to elevate his cultivation to this level, and his power would certainly not match his current strength.
This is because impurities within him could not have been completely eliminated by self-cultivation.
Top-notch mid-level Vigorous Air free of impurities. Now, Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air is definitely stronger than Shi Hao’s at the seventh level of the Dragon Gate Realm.
Attempting to mobilize his power, Shi Xiaole pointed forward, and a soundless hole appeared dozens of meters ahead on the rock wall. Stone chips continuously fell and burned inside the hole.
Eventually, the hole reached a depth of about thirty feet.
"My strength has increased by about seventy percent."
Shi Xiaole was excited, unable to restrain himself.
If before, he was not a match for the leading disciples of Kuangyun City and Kuanghai City, now, he was completely confident to face them in combat.
Suppressing his joy, he continued to delve deeper.
With the impurities gone, the heat’s lethality was greatly diminished. Coupled with the significant increase in Shi Xiaole’s power, his protective Vigorous Air surpassed that of the past, allowing him to easily reach the bottom of the cave, 613 meters deep.
"Is this stone causing the trouble?"
The bottom of the cave was unremarkable, with only a fist-sized, red-glowing pebble resting there. As its surface patterns flickered, waves of heat capable of melting metal washed over the area.
"This peculiar stone is currently of no use to me. However, with cultivation, impurities will still accumulate in my body, and this stone will be immensely beneficial then."
Without any hesitation, Shi Xiaole activated his energy on his palm and swiftly put the red pebble into the system space.
The value of a stone that can eliminate the impurities in Vigorous Air is immeasurable. Even Shi Xiaole, with his knowledge, has never heard of such a thing. If it remains useful after reaching the Divine Barrier Realm, then it is definitely an unparalleled treasure, rarely seen in the world!
The information here must not be disclosed.
A murderous intent flashed in his eyes, and Shi Xiaole shot up into the sky.
Outside the cave.
Upon seeing the figure rushing out from the crevice, Shi Hao’s eyes twinkled. Ignoring the search for food, he hurriedly rushed forward and sneered, "Little bastard, you finally can’t stand it any longer."
"You seem to have been waiting for me for quite a while."
Shi Xiaole’s lips were pale, and he seemed somewhat weak, as if he had been tortured by his injuries and hunger.
Shaking his head, Shi Hao enunciated, intentionally stressing, "I’m not waiting for you, I’m going to send you off personally, to thank you for leading me into the cave, for the great fortune you’ve brought me. Now, go to hell."
As his voice faded, Shi Hao’s skin turned bloody red. Countless blood bubbles overflowing from his body furiously surrounded Shi Xiaole.
Fearful of accidents, he directly used his killing move, aiming to end the fight in one strike.
Facing this strike, Shi Xiaole didn’t dodge like before. There was no panic or fear on his face, only endless composure and calmness.
Shoo!
Clang! Clang!
A sword, or rather dozens or hundreds of swords, layered Sword Qi scattered and regrouped, eventually focusing on one target.
Swoosh...
The already chaotic blood bubbles became even more chaotic, but none landed on Shi Xiaole. The Hidden Edge Sword carried him like a fish in the water, passing through at a mind-bending angle.
If the trajectories of the blood bubbles and Shi Xiaole at this moment were plotted, it would be found that the path he chose was the sole one through the bubbles!
The sword continued its momentum, penetrating Shi Hao’s palm in an instant.
"Impossible!"
Shi Hao screamed loudly, a look of disbelief on his face.
He couldn’t accept that Shi Xiaole had made such terrifying progress in just five days.
Without a doubt, the Yi Sword Skill is an intuitive skill. How one exploits openings tests the swordsman’s imagination.
Previously, Shi Xiaole had the imagination, but lacked the physical strength to implement it. Now that his basic strength had greatly improved, facing Shi Hao, his sword moves had transcended the ordinary, becoming unfathomable and unpredictable.
He paused on his feet. With a natural swing of Shi Xiaole’s right hand, the Sword Qi shot out towards Shi Hao’s intended path, blocking it perfectly.
Hiss!
An arm soared into the air. Shi Hao roared towards the sky, his face a mix of rage and horror.
What happened? What on earth had this little bastard been through? If he had known this would happen, even at the risk of exposing the secret of the cave, he should have called in reinforcements.
"Bloody Web!"
Unwilling to be defeated, Shi Hao, with his single arm, turned all his power into a bloody web.
"Outer Heaven Flying Immortal."
With the full force of the Heavenly Sword Realm, a streak of sword light passed through, piercing the bloody web. In less than a tenth of a blink, the two crossed each other, with Shi Xiaole stopping and pointing at Shi Hao’s forehead.
To be fair, Shi Hao’s strength was not much worse than Shi Xiaole’s.
The reason things turned out this way was firstly because Shi Xiaole found the flaw in Shi Hao’s bloody bubbles, losing his chance to take the upper hand. Secondly, his strength inevitably declined significantly after losing an arm, and he collapsed as a result.
If he had used a power-based move like "Bloody Web" from the start, his defeat wouldn’t have come so quickly.
"Just kill me already, hehe... Offending the Tianyuan Association... I’ll be waiting for you in hell."
Realizing that begging for mercy was useless, Shi Hao simply said defiantly.
"I’m not going to kill you, but to thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t have escaped into the cave and gained such a good fortune. Also, thank you for boosting my power."
Shi Hao was somewhat puzzled, but soon his confusion turned into intense horror.
He found that the power he had cultivated for many years was uncontrollably flowing into Shi Xiaole’s palm and being owned by him.
"You, you dare to cultivate such devious and harmful demon arts. Shi, I curse you, you won’t die a good death."
Thinking he failed to kill Shi Xiaole and was harmed by him instead, even having his power stolen and contributed to this mortal enemy, Shi Hao felt like going mad with hatred.
His voice faded, his body gradually shriveled up, finally turning into a corpse as if soaked in sulfuric acid, even his facial features were blurred.
"If only I knew it would end this way..."
Shi Xiaole did not take Shi Hao’s words to heart.
There is no good or evil in martial arts, just in people. If he did no harm against Heaven and reason, what was there for him to fear?
After destroying Shi Hao’s body without a trace using corpse dissolving techniques, Shi Xiaole returned to his cave.
There were a lot more impurities in his Vigorous Air now, he needed to purify it with a red goose egg stone. He could imagine that his strength would skyrocket then.
...
Kuangyun City.
Ai’s House, private courtyard.
The atmosphere was strange and tense.
Yu He, Mo Changqing, Ye Lanzhi, and other high-ranking officials gathered in Ai WenXiang’s room. They gazed at Ai WenXiang lying in the bed, his breath becoming fainter, expressions grave.
"When did Brother Ai get poisoned?"
Yu He asked solemnly.
"I don’t know, my brother collapsed unexpectedly during his practice in the courtyard today."
The speaker was Ai Wenqing, gritting his teeth, appearing savage and ready to pounce.
Everyone was silent.
Ai WenXiang’s poison was peculiar. Even the top medical specialists in the city found nothing unusual, yet he remained unconscious.
A foreign-looking woman wept till she fainted. Now slowly regaining consciousness, she hysterically flung herself at Ai WenXiang, heedless of anyone’s attempts to restrain her.
"Indeed, when it rains, it pours. Brother Shi just disappeared, and now Ai... Alas, our Kuangyun City has lost two great forces, the situation is not good."
Ye Lanzhi stirred her fan, speaking with a resigned tone.
"Both Brother Shi and Brother Wenxiangtang were betrayed and ambushed. One day, when I find out who was it, I will surely tear him apart."
Ai Wenhong, gravely injured, sat on a specially made wheelchair, eyes bloodshot.
That day, he was left to die in a pool of blood. Luckily his sister, Ai Wenqian, came in time to rescue him. All these days, his mind was consumed by Brother Shi’s fate. Who would have thought that his cousin would also fall victim to treachery.
A flame of desire to become stronger ignited in the heart of the innocent boy. Only by becoming strong can he protect the people around him from harm!
The silence was broken by the sound of chaotic footsteps.
"We’re in big trouble, a large assembly of people from Kuanghai City has appeared thirty miles outside the city."
A sect disciple rushed in, panting heavily.
"What?"
People were shocked and rushed out of the room. In a moment, they reached the city walls, already filled with people.
Looking out, the distant flow of people resembled an endless black river, appearing on the plains through the dense forest, covering a vast area of land.
Kuangyun City and Kuanghai City, each representing nearly half of the super first-class forces and first-class forces in Xuanwu State, not only have disciples stationed year-round, but they also replenish new personnel at regular intervals.
So over time, the population of both cities has grown to an astonishing number.
But even if you look back hundreds of years, you would never find a case where one city gathered its troops and prepared for a life and death battle with the other city.
"Has that guy, Xiahou Jinlun, gone mad?"
Mo Changqing shouted loudly, she did not believe that the other side was just gathering troops for fun.
"Issue an order, the whole city goes on first-level alert, ready to fight at any time."
Yu He’s face was as calm as ever, but within that calmness, a hint of a murderous intent was hidden.
Ai WenXiang just got poisoned and now Xiahou Jinlun comes marching with his troops. Even a fool would not believe that these are coincidences.
Kuanghai City’s troops marched a certain distance each day. On the third day, they were only ten miles from Kuangyun City, and they suddenly stopped.
"Xiahou Jinlun, what exactly is the meaning of gathering troops and marching over here? You want a war?"
Yu He said coldly.
The distance of ten miles was already small enough for the two parties to hear each other’s voices.
"Yu He, you should ask yourself. Our Brother Shi Hao from our city disappeared a few days ago without a trace. If your Kuangyun City doesn’t give an explanation, we vow to destroy your city!"
Xiahou Jinlun sat in the chariot, his inverted triangle eyebrows twitched slightly, looking sinister and arrogant.
"Well, the one who stinks still farts first. You don’t know what you’ve done?"
Ai Wenqing was furious.
Yu He coldly looked down, "Your bluffing won’t work on me, Xiahou Jinlun. If you don’t want to embarrass yourself, just get lost."
"Whether I’m bluffing or not, you will know soon enough."
Xiahou Jinlun closed his eyes, looking inscrutable.
Atop the walls of Kuangyun City.
"We don’t need to worry about him. He definitely doesn’t dare to attack."
Ye Lanzhi sneered sinisterly, her expression slightly ferocious.
The essence of the conflict between Kuangyun City and Kuanghai City was for training disciples. For years, this conflict has been maintained at a proper level, the result of manipulation by major sects.
Xiahou Jinlun’s actions undoubtedly violated this tacit agreement.
