Chapter 521: 520
"It seems someone really does want to harm me, I’m not far from the Daze Wall now."
The Daze Wall is the potential resting place of the Heaven-devouring Devil Bone’s owner, where countless swamps and crisscrossing cliffs make it an excellent hideout.
Summoning forty percent of the Wind True Intent, Shi Xiaole sped across the wilderness like a shooting star.
Halfway through, the environment ahead changed drastically, circles of irregular filthy swamps appeared, and even hundreds of meters away, Shi Xiaole could already smell the stinking stench.
Closing off his sense of smell, he jumped right in.
Spanning dozens of miles, Daze Wall was deserted and grim, appearing to be the paradise of birds and beasts.
Amidst continuous rustling sounds, birds frequently flew among the trees, curiously observing their surroundings.
On the ground, an alligator burst out from the swamp, revealing its ferocious, grimacing skull. Not far from the swamp alligator, a colourful large snake was coiled silently, half of its body raised, tongue flicking in and out — it seemed to have noticed the uninvited guest Shi Xiaole.
"Jin Ao and I separated three days ago. If we start from the small courtyard, that means the assassin has to cover half the more distance than Jin Ao, and Jin Ao’s flying skill is far from half of mine."
Shi Xiaole didn’t panic. Through his analysis, he came to a conclusion: the person chasing him should not have a faster flying skill than him. Unless the other party deliberately concealed it, but at this critical juncture of being pursued, there would be no sense in hiding.
If everything goes as expected, his life shouldn’t be in danger.
"I’ll take a look around here first, see if I can find any clues to the Heaven-devouring Devil Bone, and figure out just who’s trying to kill me."
His feet were three inches above the ground, Shi Xiaole waved his hand casually, and his body shot forward.
Splash!
Blood spattered, and a large colourful snake was slashed into several pieces, falling from the sky to the location where Shi Xiaole had been standing.
...
Dare not to walk too fast in case he missed anything, Shi Xiaole maintained a steady speed and used his mental energy to survey the surroundings, not holding out much hope.
According to the compiler of the book, the owner of the Heaven-devouring Devil Bone lived thousands of years apart from him. And Shi Xiaole and the compiler of the book were again thousands of years apart. Adding inside and outside together, it’s probably more than 5,000 years. The corpse would have decomposed by then.
But without further exploration, Shi Xiaole felt truly unwilling to give up.
In a blink of an eye, another three days passed.
On this day, a terrifying fluctuation swept over.
"That boy is nearby. Hehe, let’s see how you’ll run this time."
The Hell Souls Chasing Fragrance could only last for half a year, with its scent coming and going. The grey-clothed elder was grateful that Shi Xiaole, unaware of being pursued, had been resting in this area for quite some time. Otherwise, he really wasn’t confident he could track him down.
Bursting into the Daze Wall, the grey-clothed elder killed countless wild beasts along the way.
When the scent of the Hell Souls Chasing Fragrance grew intense, he finally spotted a young man in green clothing in the distance. His facial features and physique matched perfectly with the portrait, it was Shi Xiaole if not anyone else.
"Young man, come over here,"
The grey-clothed elder beckoned, treating him like a prey to be captured at any time.
"Who are you?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
He had secretly taken off his disguise mask before he found the other party, lest he exposed his secret of disguise.
"Why waste time talking if I ask you to come over"
Impatient, the grey-clothed elder struck out with a big hand and condenses a lifelike grey net with Vigorous Air, covering Shi Xiaole instantly.
"A Lord Level expert."
The truth-meaning level in the grey net clearly reached sixty percent. Drawing his sword, Shi Xiaole immediately used the first move of the Wind Extreme Sword Technique, Gentle Breeze Passing the Court.
Crack!
Half of the grey net broke, and the remaining half was shredded into pieces by the surplus Sword qi.
"No wonder they say that you’re the top genius in Shuntian. You do have some skills."
The grey-clothed elder’s expression became slightly serious, squinting his eyes.
By the standards of the Martial World, he was undoubtedly a lower-Level Lord, but it wasn’t exactly the case. Because he practiced a top tier internal energy, his Vigorous Air quality was far superior to that of an ordinary lower-Level Lord.
If necessary to describe, the grey-clothed elder would be a top-tier lower-Level Lord, his strength was a notch higher than the Three Nights Ancestor.
"Young man, you’ve spoiled the Young Master’s plans, and that’s not a small crime. Why don’t you follow me to the Xuanwu Hell and apologize to the Young Master in person? That way you might spare your dog’s life."
Although his casual attack was blocked, the grey-clothed elder still didn’t take Shi Xiaole seriously.
In his opinion, if it wasn’t for the Young Master’s instruction before setting off, try not to kill Shi Xiaole if possible and attempt to recruit him, he would have launched a deadly attack long ago.
Of course, the premise of all this is Shi Xiaole being obedient. If he didn’t know what’s good for him and resisted, it was not his fault.
"Xuanwu Hell?"
Thinking of Bai Xixi, Shi Xiaole understood. The other party was indeed from the Hell Gate’s faction, but how did they find him after he had changed his appearance?
Seeming to perceive Shi Xiaole’s confusion, the grey-clothed elder sneered, "If you can gain the Young Master’s trust, perhaps you’ll have the qualification to discover many good things."
Without uttering a word, Shi Xiaole turned and walked away.
The other party’s identity had been figured out, there was no need to waste any more time. As for apologizing to some lordling, it was laughable in the extreme.
"Boy, stay put for this old man!"
With a glare, the old man in grey roared like spring thunder with a kick that sent forth a leg arc akin to a curved blade, reaching Shi Xiaole almost immediately and appeared to be slicing him in half.
"Heartless Wind and Rain."
Without looking back, Shi Xiaole swung his sword, unleashing countless needle-like Sword Qi to counter the leg arc. The clashing forces created explosive sounds, echoing for miles around.
The leg arc was reduced by eighty percent, and the remaining twenty percent tore through the Sword Qi and barely missed Shi Xiaole, leaving a deep tens-of-meters-long mark on the mountain wall in front of him.
"Shi Xiaole, old man is giving you three breaths’ time. If you keep running, I will show no mercy!"
While speaking, the old man in grey continuously clapped his palms, sending out a barrage of ferocious palm prints aimed at hindering Shi Xiaole’s escape.
However, as fast as the palm prints were, Shi Xiaole was faster. In a blink of an eye, the distance between the two expanded from a hundred meters to three hundred. No matter how strong the palm prints were, they couldn’t catch Shi Xiaole.
"This damned creature!"
The old man in grey’s eyes widened, who was obviously irritated.
According to the information, this boy had only mastered thirty percent of the Wind True Intent when he left Kuangyun City. How many days have passed, and now he is already at forty percent?
Quarters of an hour later, the old man in grey completely lost track of Shi Xiaole.
However, with the Hell Souls Chasing Fragrance, he was astonished to discover that Shi Xiaole was still nearby and had not gone far.
"Could this boy have some purpose here? No matter, I will wait until Elder Three arrives, then decide."
After several days, another old man in grey with a broken eyebrow arrived who had killed Jin Ao. Upon hearing about the previous events, he immediately waved his hands and laughed: "No worries."
While speaking, he took out a circular array plate from his bosom.
"Inside this array plate is a Binding Heaven Array carved by an Elder from the headquarters. Even an expert at the Divine Barrier Realm can’t easily break it. It’s enough for us to apprehend the boy."
The value of the array plate was not inferior to a lower grade Spiritual Weapon.
Firstly, the array plate had high material requirements, thus, even the major top-tier forces in Xuanwu State might not own many.
Secondly, carving an Array System on the array plate was a huge test of the Array System master’s skills. In the whole Xuanwu State, there were less than ten such masters.
Only the elders of the Hell Gate branch could just nonchalantly use the array plate.
"Hahaha, Elder Three, you’ve always got a way."
The gray-clad old man who was previously chasing Shi Xiaole burst into laughter, feeling much better.
But as it turned out, they had underestimated Shi Xiaole’s speed and caution.
He did not give the two old men any chance to get close or surround him. As a result, the old duo couldn’t use the array plate and could only stare from afar.
"It seems there’s no harvest here."
While evading the two old men, Shi Xiaole had been using his spiritual power to sense every grass and tree of the Daze Wall. Having found nothing for a long time, he was preparing to leave.
But just before he departed, Shi Xiaole’s mind wavered.
It was an extremely faint feeling, as if, something was seducing him, no, more precisely, it was tempting the Demon Bone in his body.
After concentrating on his senses for a moment, Shi Xiaole finally set his target on a small swamp with just a three-meter diameter, his eyes flickering uncertainly.
"Could it be, the legend of the Heaven-devouring Devil Bone is true?"
Shi Xiaole felt an impulse to go in, but he remained rational. Knowing that if he entered the swamp, and the two old men from Hell Gate caught up, he wouldn’t be able to escape. So he suppressed the urge, noted down the location, and flew away.
In the following days, Shi Xiaole had been running circles around the two old men. Over time, he was pleasantly surprised to find that their efficiency in tracking him had significantly fallen.
By the tenth day, he completely lost them.
"Damn it, the Soul-Chasing Incense has failed."
The two old men from Hell Gate looked grave and furious.
As two low-level lords, their failed attempts to kill a youngster at the seventh level of the Dragon Gate Realm would surely be a laughingstock if news of it got out.
"Let’s search for a few more days, if we still can’t find him, then we’ll report back to the Young Master and ask for reinforcements. Even if this brat escapes, he can’t escape to the sky."
With gritted teeth, the grey-clad old man with the broken eyebrow spoke hatefully.
Having confirmed that the two old men from Hell Gate couldn’t trace him any longer, Shi Xiaole immediately headed to the small swamp, encased himself in Vigorous Air, and jumped in with a splash.
With the protection of Vigorous Air, Shi Xiaole plummeted at a high speed.
After diving about two hundred meters, he finally reached the bottom. Relying on his astonishing eyesight, Shi Xiaole found an entrance blocked by silt on the left side of the bottom.
With a flick of his sword, Shi Xiaole created an opening and squeezed through.
It was a cave about six meters wide. There was no silt or water in it. There wasn’t even a speck of dust on the stone walls, as if someone cleaned it regularly.
An invisible force tried to repel Shi Xiaole. However, as soon as the Demon Bone in his body shook slightly, the force disappeared.
The source of the force was a grey-white skeleton deep within the cave.
