Chapter 514: 513
As Shi Xiaole grew closer to Kuangyun City, he easily noticed the flood of Kuanghai City disciples outside the city, stirring an ominous feeling in his heart.
With the utilization of Wind True Intent, he swiftly merged into the wind overhead, soon entering within the city.
"The City Protection Array?"
Usually, the City Protection Array wouldn’t activate unless it was a matter of life and death. It was clear that significant events had taken place in Kuangyun City.
With a few flutters, Shi Xiaole landed in front of the dense city array, his dust-free azure attire seemed to soften the brutal stench of blood in the surroundings.
Ai Wenhong, who was worried about the situation inside the array, suddenly saw a figure emerge. Upon recognizing him, he shouted in exhilaration, "Brother Shi!"
Expressions of surprise appeared on the faces of Ai Wenqian, Ai Wenqing, and the other disciples within the city.
The individual who had been pursued by Shi Hao, a leading expert from Kuanghai City, had disappeared for over ten days, yet he now appeared unscathed. What could have happened during that time?
"Brother Shi, where is Shi Hao?"
Ai Wenhong asked curiously.
"Dead."
Shi Xiaole did not turn back; instead, he began observing the dense City Protection Array before him.
Everyone exchanged glances, but soon returned to a composed state.
Right, Shi Xiaole was, after all, the number one genius in Shuntian Capital. Although his strength wasn’t as high as Shi Hao’s, he might have used other methods to turn defeat into victory.
Most of the time, genius not only referred to talent but also to the ability to turn the tide in dire situations.
After observing for a while, Shi Xiaole asked, "What exactly happened here?"
Possibly influenced by Shi Xiaole’s inherent calm demeanor, a disciple from a top-ranking sect voluntarily stepped forward and summarized the situation. He concluded, "With the backing of the grand array, I believe our leaders will certainly achieve victory in the end."
"I see."
The Divine Barrier Realm level’s insight radiated out, and Shi Xiaole, who had already permeated the array system’s aura, saw things that others had not. He pointed towards the grand array, tapping a few times.
"Shi Junior Brother, this is forbidden! This array was left behind by a master of array systems in the past. You must not touch it to avoid hurting yourself..."
Before the person could finish speaking, the scene that unfolded next almost made him bite his own tongue off.
The originally dense aura of the array system suddenly began to dissipate. Soon, the scene inside the array was gradually becoming visible.
It wasn’t a triumph as everyone had expected; instead, it was a disheartening defeat!
Yu He, arguably the most powerful among the ranks of Kuangyun City, was bitterly clashing with a bald, elusive old man, clearly having the upper hand. However, he couldn’t keep up with the old man’s flying skill, and due to the latter constantly harassing him, Yu He couldn’t provide assistance to anyone else.
Mo Changqing, notorious for his ferocity, was retreating under the violent assault of Yuan Qiusheng, who was even more ferocious, and Zhang Jingyi’s skillful tactics, his clothes soaked with blood.
"Brother!"
The Ai Family disciples, Ai Wenhong, Ai Wenqian and others, saw their pale-faced, bone-exposed Brother Ai WenXiang repelled by Yan Wuwei and Bai Xixi’s ruthless attacks, realizing he wouldn’t hold on much longer.
Of the four main figures, Ye Lanzhi was in the worst predicament.
He lay on the ground like a corpse, blood oozing from every inch of his skin. If it weren’t for the weak rising and falling of his chest, no one would believe he was still alive.
Many people in the city were disgusted by Ye Lanzhi’s personality, but his current predicament left them feeling sad and desolate.
"What went wrong?"
Unaware that the aura of the array system had leaked, Xiahou Jinlun and his comrades felt worse than anyone else.
They had been exposed. The Shadow Lord had been exposed!
The thought of their blatant breach of the agreement becoming public, inevitably provoking the retaliation of various sects in Xuanwu State, made Xiahou Jinlun’s complexion darken and he began to hesitate in his actions.
"Who exactly did this?"
Xiahou Jinlun was terrified, and the Shadow Lord was even more so. While Xiahou Jinlun at least had the backing of the Xiahou Clan, who would support him, a loner with no sect or clan?
The Shadow Lord attempted to escape at the first opportunity, but the array’s structure was foolproof, and he couldn’t get away. He tried to use the Shadow’s True Intent to hide himself, but it was already too late; everyone had already seen him.
Yan Wuwei and others were also affected. The plan for this operation was proposed by Xiahou Jinlun. However, in the end, who would listen to their explanations? They were sure to be implicated!
Following the initial chaos, Xiahou Jinlun’s face abruptly twisted with ferocity. He telepathically shouted out, "We must withstand this, kill everyone inside the array, and if it comes to it, we’ll escape all corners of the earth. There’s bound to be a place for us in the vast Martial World."
"Azure Dragon Destroying World!"
Yan Wuwei bellowed with the demeanor of a desperado. Since they were cornered, before making their escape, they might as well kill their sworn enemies in front of them.
The rest were also decisive killers. Understanding the situation, they didn’t hesitate in their actions.
Despite the life-and-death situation, the calmest one on the field was still Shi Xiaole.
Although he wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about array systems, using the insight from his Divine Barrier Realm level, Shi Xiaole was fortunate to spot some breakdowns in the array system. Utilizing these flaws, he managed to form a pathway.
Moving like the wind, he dashed right into it.
"What?"
The numerous Kuangyun City disciples behind him were astounded. This was the dense City Protection Array; could it be that Shi Xiaole was also a master of array systems?
Just as Xiahou Jinlun’s palm was about to strike Ye Lanzhi, a sword Qi burst forth halfway, severing the incoming attack.
"Is it you, Shi Xiaole?"
Xiahou Jinlun had seen Shi Xiaole’s portrait before, and thus recognized him instantly, especially when he appeared in the array. His voice fluctuated with intense emotions, "Could it be... is it you who destroyed the array?"
"Correct."
Shi Xiaole nodded, and with a single sentence, caused all the people inside the Array to shudder.
On the ground, Ye Lanzhi was weakly laughing. With a piercing voice, she said, "Xiahou Jinlun, no matter how well you’ve schemed, how does it matter if you manage to kill us today? Hehehe, your ending will only be more pathetic than ours!"
Pausing, she continued, "Brother Shi, you shouldn’t have entered. I don’t want you to die with us, given that you disrupted the array."
Shi Xiaole inclined his head slightly, looking at the speaker.
"Watch out..."
Mo Changqing who was at a distance suddenly screamed. At that moment, Xiahou Jinlun had turned into a golden radiance that penetrated through everything, swiftly dashing towards Shi Xiaole.
"Dare to split your attention in front of me, if you do not die, then who should?"
The rage and killing intent in his heart almost exploded his chest, all of which was transformed by Xiahou Jinlun into the sharpest of attacks intending to kill Shi Xiaole on the spot.
Yu He, shrouded by cloud energy, hurriedly charged forwards, but the moment he stepped forward, he was blocked by the suddenly appearing Shadow Lord.
Ai Wenxiang and Mo Changqing had no spare capacity to help, they could only watch as Shi Xiaole met his death under Xiahou Jinlun’s venomous hand.
Outside the array, everyone’s hearts had practically stopped, as if they were watching the downfall of the top prodigy with their own eyes.
It felt like a moment yet like an eternity; a gentle breeze stirred, Shi Xiaole’s figure moved faster than anyone could react, appearing three steps to the right, deftly avoiding Xiahou Jinlun’s lethal strike.
"Yangyuan Sky Hook!"
As if being pulled by invisible strings, Xiahou Jinlun’s body stopped in a way that defied physiology, and with the force of the counter momentum, he swung out a golden hook with his hand. The golden hook seemed small, but it locked the empty space within a radius of ten feet.
Given Shi Xiaole’s current strength, in actual fact, he could break through forcefully, but there was no need to do so.
The avoidance before had been to accumulate strength, once accumulation done, he drew his sword, and with a single slash, struck the golden hook at the position three inches above the middle of it.
The sparks that shot out illuminated Shi Xiaole’s face, but not one landed on him. The golden hook, hit by this strike, instantly split into two halves, flying close past Shi Xiaole’s body, making the Array barrier behind ripple.
Just then, Shi Xiaole’s sword move had not even reached its heights yet, he shifted his left foot sideways, both hands gripping the sword handle, under the effect of the Sword Realm, countless Sword Qi condensed into a dense, blue light arc, fiercely striking the old Xiahou Jinlun who was out of moves.
Clang, clang, clang.
Xiahou Jinlun forcibly changed his bodily trajectory, Vigorous Air in front of him morphed into three golden barriers, yet they could only withstand for a moment before being shattered by the Sword Qi. He lost control of his body and retreated, his mouth bulging, unable to hold back from spewing a mouthful of blood mist.
Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship captured his technique’s weaknesses, always striking at the Achilles heel and achieving maximum effectiveness with minimal cost.
"How can your strength... be so strong?"
Xiahou Jinlun found it hard to accept, almost shrieking with disbelief.
He had reached the seventh stage of the Dragon Gate Realm, Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had actually reached the seventh stage of the Dragon Gate Realm, how could this be possible?
The others were also dumbfounded.
According to the words of the Martial World, Shi Xiaole’s aptitude was considered the best in the Shuntian Capital, but his strength was not the best among the younger generation, he wasn’t even able to compare to the leading-level disciples of the two cities.
Wasn’t it said that he was being pursued and killed by Shi Hao just a few days ago?
Although Xiahou Jinlun was wounded previously, his strength should still surpass that of Shi Hao, yet he ended up being wounded by Shi Xiaole with just two strokes.
Good fortune, could it be that Shi Xiaole had encountered a stroke of good luck in a desperate situation?
Suddenly, everyone thought of something.
The reason why Shi Xiaole gained an advantage quickly was actually due to three reasons.
The first was that although he was only in the late stage of the seventh level of the Dragon Gate Realm, the internal energy he cultivated was from a top-quality cultivation method, and his Vigorous Air contained no impurities. In terms of quality, it was enough to compete with the Vigorous Air of a master at the ninth level of the Dragon Gate Realm.
The second was the Sword Realm. To a certain extent, Shi Xiaole had made up for the gap between him and his opponent at the level of True Intent.
The third was that Xiahou Jinlun was already injured, and was not at his peak state.
The thoughts were just fleeting. In the sights of everyone present, Shi Xiaole, without uttering a word, took the initiative to attack Xiahou Jinlun.
"Sun Moves Heaven and Earth!"
Xiahou Jinlun frantically slapped twice with his palms, but his powerful palm momentum exploded abruptly on its way and the disordered energy almost injured him.
Only then did he realize that Shi Xiaole’s sword had moved first, and it just happened to block his move.
Moving nine steps to the left and three steps back, Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship was the most common, simple to the utmost. Despite this, every one of his sword strokes was spot-on, used at the most correct place, forgoing all flourishes and changes, there was only extreme precision and lethality.
No matter how exquisite the swordsmanship, isn’t it all composed of the most basic moves?
"Returning to simplicity, the level of this child’s Sword Realm has already caught up with many Lord-level swordsmen. Even in terms of application, he performs even better."
Watching this, the Shadow Lord felt chills with hairs standing on end. What kind of monster is this?
Whoosh, whoosh.
Endless sword lights emanated from Shi Xiaole as the center, covering Xiahou Jinlun, some hitting the opponent and some not. His sword moves were like a chess board he had set up with not a single excessive stroke, what seemed excessive was just meant for the layout.
