Chapter 523: Chapter 522: The Sword of Death
After days of fruitless searching at the Daze Wall, two elderly men in gray could not help but feel dejected. They had secretly decided to return to the Xuanwu State’s Hell Gate branch and report the matter to the Young Master.
But just when they were most disappointed, they ran into Shi Xiaole again. Could it be that even the heavens didn’t want their effort to go to waste?
Previously, they had been unable to deal with Shi Xiaole because he was as slippery as an eel, always escaping. But now with the Binding Heaven Array, how could they not capture him?
With this thought, the gray-clothed elder who had been chasing Shi Xiaole laughed maliciously and shouted, "Boy, hand over the things on your body and surrender obediently."
He saw Shi Xiaole hurriedly leaving and guessed that the latter might have obtained some good things, which made him greedy. Anyway, Shi Xiaole was in their hands, so they could do whatever they pleased.
"You used the Array System to trap me. You two have really planned this well," Shi Xiaole said coldly, his body floating on a tree branch.
Through spiritual sensing, he found that the surrounding Array was very profound, and even he couldn’t detect any flaws. Fortunately, he was different from what he was before; otherwise, he might have been doomed.
Of course, if he hadn’t become stronger, Shi Xiaole wouldn’t have been caught in the trap.
"No one who offends Hell Gate ends well! Boy, why are you pretending to be calm? The only chance you have to survive is to do as we say," the gray-robed elder with the broken brow carelessly said.
"The ones who should be worried are you two."
Shi Xiaole chuckled.
"Such a recklessly ignorant braggart! Watch me, I’ll pluck the bones from this kid," the gray-clothed elder who had originally chased Shi Xiaole couldn’t hold back his anger. Like a tiger after its prey, he swung his hands and turned them into huge claw shadows to rip Shi Xiaole apart.
In front of these claw shadows, the void seemed to be a massive piece of cheese, divided into many irregular parts, each filled with a strong aura capable of tearing metal apart.
Having realized 60% of the true tearing intent, plus the low-grade Spiritual Weapon level gloves he was wearing, their combined effect was formidable, making the attack extremely lethal.
Instead of retreating in the face of this attack, Shi Xiaole moved forward and stabbed with his sword.
Clang!
First, the hit claw shadow shattered, then all the claw shadows disappeared centered on it.
"Hell Shocking Soul Palm!"
Changing claws into palms, the gray-robed elder used his full strength.
Within thirty feet covered by the array, ghostly wails suddenly echoed. The palm shadow was everywhere, squeezing towards Shi Xiaole at the center, intending to grind him to powder.
Countless Sword Qi rained down, penetrating deeply before the palm aura could be released. They collided, emitting numerous intense sparks. When the palm aura wiped out the Sword Qi, its own power had reduced by about 30%.
"Wind Rolling and Thunderclap!"
Roughly at the same time, Shi Xiaole and his sword became one, shooting out like a pearly rainbow. Upon careful inspection, this beam of light was clearly Sword Qi, just extremely dense, which made it look like a light.
Thunk.
With the two of them at the center, a shock wave spread wildly, causing ripples to appear on the surface of the Binding Heaven Array. Both figures retreated at the same time.
"Damn it!"
The gray-clothed elder clenched his fist, both shocked and angry.
Shi Xiaole’s strength simply couldn’t compare to his. But the latter’s speed was too fast. Before he could build up his power, the attack had arrived. He could only use 80% of his full strength, which resulted in their standoff.
"What are you standing around for? Join me!"
Looking at the broken brow elder who was ready to move at any moment, the gray-clothed elder laughed grimly. What use was speed? He didn’t believe that two top low-level lords couldn’t take down a green boy.
"I must make a quick decision."
Shi Xiaole wasn’t afraid of them joining hands, but to deal with them, he would inevitably have to reveal some secrets that shouldn’t be known, so he must get rid of these men before the Binding Heaven Array disappears.
A sharp light flashed in his eyes. Shi Xiaole put his sword back into his waistband, holding his hands behind his back. When he took them out again, he was holding another sword.
The sword was long and slender, with a black sheath. Before it was even unsheathed, a strong sense of tyranny and evil had spread in all directions, making the two gray-clothed elders’ hair stand on end.
"Is this a top-grade low-level spirit sword?!"
The gray-clothed elder who had been chasing Shi Xiaole exclaimed, his old eyes filled with passion.
Low-grade Spiritual Weapons also had ranks. Top-grade low-level Spiritual Weapons were hard to come by. The large Hell Gate branch in Xuanwu State only the leader had one. If he could get his hands on it, his attack power could almost match that of a mid-level lord.
"Quickly, Devil Dragon Heaven-Controlling Fist!"
The broken brow old man had always been calm, but he was no longer calm now. He saw him lean forward, his body tightened like a bowstring, and then shot out. In mid-air, he drew a black dragon trajectory, the head of the dragon was unmistakably his fist.
"Hell Shocking Soul Palm!"
The gray-clothed elder didn’t want to fall behind either. This time, he intentionally flew back, forming a joint attack with the broken brow elder, one far one near, not giving Shi Xiaole any space to dodge.
Kerang...
Following a resonant sound of a sword cry, a roaring dragon’s call filled the air with immense power. After several years, the Red Dragon Sword was unsheathed again. The red and hazy Sword Qi resembled a bloody river, appearing out of nowhere, instantly filling the void with the scent of massacre.
"Wind Rolling Thunderclap!"
Again, it was the third move of the Wind Extreme Sword Technique, except this time, it showed a greater destructive will, beyond just its sharpness. Like a crimson dragon, it brashly met the oncoming black devil dragon head-on.
Vroom vroom vroom.
The invisible waves of force came surging layer upon layer, progressively weakening the power of that crimson dragon. As the force passed by, two dragon-shaped vigorous airs, one red and one black, finally met head-on, causing a deafening explosion.
Inside the Array System, the air rapidly expanded, resulting in a bulging of the boundary wall by about three feet before abruptly snapping back into place.
The constant clash of palm force, fist strength, and Sword Qi ground against each other, turning the thirty-feet area into a slaughterhouse; any average martial artist of Dragon Gate Realm entering at this moment would undoubtedly be pierced on the spot.
Waving the Red Dragon Sword, Shi Xiaole dodged the lingering waves, his face was paler than usual.
The two Elders with broken eyebrows also seemed unsettled. One had his clothes torn, the other had blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, both looking utterly disheveled.
The afterwaves were a combined creation of all three of them and given the confined space, the resulting destructive power was more significant than an attack from any individual. Fortunately, Shi Xiaole was protected by the Red Dragon Sword and had excellent Flying Skills. Otherwise, things would have been far worse than mere pallor.
"No matter how great something is, without power, you don’t deserve to have it."
There was no anger in the Elder’s voice, only boundless joy.
He severely underestimated the power of the Red Dragon Sword and had a feeling that the quality of the Red Dragon Sword held by Shi Xiaole was better than that of their Leader’s top-grade spiritual weapon.
Even if he was not a swordsman himself, owning this sword would still greatly enhance his combat power. Or he could directly hand it over to the Hell Gate’s headquarters, in exchange for a lot of useful cultivation resources.
Either way, this trip was worth it.
"By the way, I need to thank you both for helping me complete my sword moves."
Out of the blue, Shi Xiaole said.
Long before his departure from Qingxue State, Shi Xiaole had mastered the Death Claiming Fifteen Swords. However, he was limited by the incomplete fifteenth sword move and thus, couldn’t fully utilize the power of this sword technique.
Over the years, he never stopped understanding the fifteenth sword. Subsequently, he mastered the Faceless Divine Skill, Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger, Outer Heaven Flying Immortal, and other top martial arts moves. The understanding of Heavenly Sword brought a massive improvement, he finally enhanced the fifteenth sword to the stage of being 99% complete.
However, this last 1% unexpectedly stumped him and he couldn’t make any progress.
It wasn’t until he was in the swamp cave bottom and the quality of the Demon Bone significantly improved that Shi Xiaole’s talent for the Devil Path increased significantly. At that moment, he occasionally had bursts of inspiration, so he wanted to find a beautiful place to break through the final barrier.
But, the two old men had intercepted Shi Xiaole, and in the midst of the battle, probably because of the affinity between the Red Dragon Sword and the Death Claiming Fifteen Swords, he was inspired unexpectedly, clearing the key points ahead of time.
"Bragging about without substance, take this!"
The Elder with broken eyebrows shouted, his fists were coming in a flurry of shadowy punches toward Shi Xiaole. The other grey-robed Elder, flitted to his side, sneakily tried to seize the opportunity.
The two had no doubt coordinated many times before. Aware of Shi Xiaole’s swift reactions, they never engaged him in close combat. After launching wide-range attacks several times, they gradually blocked Shi Xiaole’s retreat path.
"The Death Claiming Fifteenth Sword, signifies the limit of death. To unleash this move, one must embrace death as part of oneself."
By allowing himself to fall purposely into danger, Shi Xiaole truly grasped the essence of this Devil Path sword technique. His eyes became colder, and his body emitted a deathly silence.
"Die, Double Dragon Break!"
Seeing Shi Xiaole reveal a flaw, the Elder with broken eyebrows turned his anxiety into a towering murderous intent. His fists combined, transformed into two devil dragons, and fiercely struck Shi Xiaole’s chest.
The grey-robed Elder had never been lenient, leaving him somewhat lacking in strength at this moment. But with such a rare opportunity, he mustered his remaining strength, launched several palm waves, and covered Shi Xiaole.
As the storm of fists and palms arrived, Shi Xiaole saw a mysterious line. Following this line, he calmly swung his sword.
The sword’s edge was blood-red, the Sword Qi was blood-red, even the sword’s momentum was a sheet of blood-red. Everything inside the Array System was covered in a terrifying scarlet, as if all things in heaven and earth would be destroyed under this single sword.
This was the complete Death Claiming Fifteenth Sword, on par with the Outer Heaven Flying Immortal!
What was even more frightening was, due to the enhancement of thirty percent of the Demonic True Intent, the frontal lethal power of this sword had reached an upper-mid tier class.
The blood-red Sword Qi flashed and disappeared, leaving two elongated streams of blood in the void, followed by two agonizing screams.
"Impossible!"
Looking at the sword hole in his chest, the pupils of the Elder with broken eyebrows had almost narrowed to the size of a needle.
The grey-robed Elder stood wide-mouthed, pale as a ghost, speechless.
"Die."
With a slight tremor of his right arm, Shi Xiaole showed no mercy in his heart, and once again executed the Death Claiming Fifteenth Sword which he had just comprehended.
"No..."
With two swishing noises.
Everything became silent.
All that was left were two severed heads and two headless bodies.
Until their end, the faces of the two Hell Gate Elders still bore expressions of shock.
