Chapter 533: Chapter 532: Evil Spirits
Three figures were rapidly approaching from a distance.
The first was a somewhat short middle-aged man, waving a long sword. Each time he launched a sword strike, ripples would spread out, hinting that he was an expert from the Ai Family.
The second was a venerable, neatly dressed old man with a beard and black hair. His vigorous air was as strong as iron, emitting metallic collision sounds each time it clashed with sword qi.
The third was a burly man with disheveled hair, exuding an overwhelming aura.
However, he was merely a low-level Lord, so he kept his distance, only attacking when the expert from the Ai Family had exhausted his moves. Surprisingly, this tactic was highly effective. After dozens of bouts, the expert of the Ai Family received a cut on his shoulder, blood flowing profusely.
"Why do you two gang up against me? If you are brave enough, Sunset Lord, fight me one on one!"
While using his power to suppress the blade qi in his shoulder wound, Ai Yingjie retreated and shouted. He stealthily launched a signal flare with his left hand behind him.
However, the hand seal was quicker, suppressing it before it took off. The signal flare was destroyed just as it was launched.
The black-haired old man, the Sunset Lord, laughed, "A fair fight? I wouldn’t fear you! But now that our archenemy, the Ai Family, is before us, why would I be so foolish as to fight one-on-one?"
"Well said, Sunset Lord."
Hearing this, the burly man from the Tianyan Sect, the Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable, burst into laughter.
He had been searching for treasures in the city, but upon seeing Ai Yingjie’s fierce battle with the Sunset Lord, he decided to join in on the fray.
The Ai Family was not only the enemy of the Xiahou Clan but also a great enemy of the Tianyan Sect. Eliminating a mid-level Lord of the Ai Family would surely inflict severe damage on them.
"Is heaven really trying to destroy me?"
Despair surged in Ai Yingjie’s heart.
Although his strength surpassed the Sunset Lord by a fraction, escaping wasn’t difficult. However, with the Sixth Elder trapped on the stone arch bridge, seemingly caught in an array system, how could he just abandon him?
"Ai Yingjie, you die today, and next, it will be the other experts of your Ai Family. I promise to exterminate every one of you, leaving no survivors."
Sunset Lord smirked cruelly, radiating a murderous aura that seemed to distort the surrounding space.
Just as Ai Yingjie was preparing to fight to the end, he noticed a figure appearing behind him. His initial surprise turned into anxiety, concern, and determination.
"Rippling Sky in the Water!"
Pouring all of his vigorous air into his sword, Ai Yingjie swung his sword. It looked like ripples were spreading in the air, engulfing the Sunset Lord and the Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable.
Unhurried, the Sunset Lord brandished his palm, emitting a dazzling light as if holding a mini sun, and struck it towards the sky to neutralize most of the sword qi.
The remaining sword qi was shattered by the blade strike from the Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable.
Both of them were not fools. Upon noticing Ai Yingjie’s unusual behavior, they quickly moved to a safe distance. When they saw the figure behind them, they were stunned.
"It’s you?"
A twitch ran across the Sunset Lord’s face, his eyes filled with a mix of surprise, delight, and hatred.
During the previous battle in Kuangyun City, Shi Xiaole not only killed Xiahou Jinlun but also implicated the Xiahou Clan, the Tianyan Sect, and the Spring Night Hell, forcing them to give concessions to compensate for the impact brought by the collaboration between Xiahou Jinlun and the Shadow Lord.
In the centuries-long conflict between Kuangyun City and Kuanghai City, the major forces had never been so passive and humiliated as they were then.
Therefore, all senior members of these major forces had seen a portrait of Shi Xiaole and memorized his face.
The Sunset Lord, in particular, had an even deeper impression.
Because the victim, Xiahou Jinlun, was his grandson.
"Haha, your Ai Family is indeed bold to deceive us and sneak this boy in here. Aren’t you afraid that he might die here?"
The Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable roared with laughter, licking his lips.
He instinctively believed that Shi Xiaole had come in with the rest of the Ai Family. A strong desire flared up in his heart. If he personally killed Shi Xiaole, it would be a great achievement. He could even make it to the next issue of the Martial World’s collection, gaining both profit and fame at the same time.
Ai Yingjie turned pale, swaying as if about to collapse.
He had no energy to argue or think about how Shi Xiaole got here. He only knew that Shi Xiaole’s whereabouts had been exposed, and it was doubtful he could escape!
It’s all over, absolutely over. The deaths of him and the Sixth Elder would certainly be a disaster for the Ai Family. But if Shi Xiaole were to die, it’s feared that the whole Ai Family would be shrouded in gloom.
Among the high-ranking members of the Ai Family, who didn’t know the great hopes and personal affection that the old master of the Ai Family had for this young genius?
Just as the atmosphere turned ominous, Shi Xiaole gave Ai Yingjie a smile and spoke a sentence that left the three men dumbfounded, "Senior, allow me to handle these two."
"Young Master Shi, you..."
Just as Ai Yingjie opened his mouth, a blade light filled with boundless fury flew towards Shi Xiaole. The one who made the move was the Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable.
"Great Sun Thunderclap Hand!"
At the same time, under the encouragement of the Sunset Lord, a hand seal resembling a sun, accompanied by thunderous explosions, rapidly struck towards Ai Yingjie, preventing him from coming to Shi Xiaole’s aid.
"I’ll fight you two to the end!"
A chilling dread gripped Ai Yingjie as despair and gloom transformed into a hot battle spirit. Unfortunately, he was no match for the Sunset Lord, let alone assist Shi Xiaole while dealing with the Lord.
"You insolent cur, daring to speak out without the skills to back it up."
The Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable sneered silently to himself. As the blade light descended, he seemed to visualize himself decapitating the genius.
However, a sword light shattered all his illusions.
Hisss.
The straight sword light was like a ray of light, above which a human head soared into the sky before falling to the ground.
In the last moment before his death, the Heavy Mountain Blade Venerable was still puzzled about who killed him.
Two dull sounds echoed.
Far away, the Sword Qi and the imprint of the furious sun were both off-target, losing control. Ai Yingjie and Sunset Lord both wore expressions of shocked disbelief, their eyes contracting non-stop, unable to believe what had just happened.
A single sword strike that instantly killed a low-ranking Lord!
Had Shi Xiaole already become a mid-ranking Lord? No, even a mid-ranking Lord rarely had the ability to kill a low-ranking Lord instantaneously.
What was happening?!
"Master Shi, your... your strength..."
Ai Yingjie was too stunned to even speak properly.
As one of the few mid-ranking Lords in the Ai family, Ai Yingjie was worldly and had a great ability to adapt. Yet, from a logical standpoint, he struggled to come to terms with the events he had just witnessed.
Since his battle at Kuangyun City only a few months ago, Shi Xiaole was merely at the level of a leading disciple. How could he have advanced so much this quickly?
From an emotional standpoint, however, Ai Yingjie was trembling with excitement, his mind turning blank.
"Fiend, you will not escape today!"
With goosebumps on his scalp, the Sunset Lord instinctively pounced at Shi Xiaole, launching two Great Sun Thunderclap Hands as soon as he attacked.
At the same time, he drew a small, sharp arrow from his sleeve with his glaring glare. This was the Shadowless Arrow of the Tang Sect, capable of injuring Lord-Level experts and Sunset Lord’s life-saving tool.
But today he had no other choice. Shi Xiaole’s rate of progress had truly terrified him. If he continued to let him grow, who knew what would happen?
"Wind Rises and Clouds Surge!"
Facing the imprints of two gigantic suns, Shi Xiaole didn’t back down. With a light wave of his arm, he swung his sword, and green Sword Qi spread out like a colored wind, overwhelming and forceful with a speed indescribable in words.
Boom!
Whir! Whir! Whir!
The golden-green Vigorous Air blinked in and out of existence, flashing dozens of times every breath. The immense power collided with the Sword Qi, friction erupting in nerve-wracking screeches.
Suddenly, a ripple of light exploded like dynamite. Pebbles flew into the sky, willow trees turned into powder, and the stream water exploded into countless water mists obscuring the view within a hundred-meter radius, making everything hazy.
Far away, a few Lords sensed the commotion and cast their gazes in this direction.
Before the mist completely dissipated, there was a clang.
Shi Xiaole sidestepped and with his Hidden Edge Sword thrust, deflected a small short feathered arrow.
"Damn monster, how could you be this powerful?"
Sunset Lord’s face was deathly pale. His move, combined with the Shadowless Arrow - a combination he wasn’t sure he could block himself - had still not been able to injure Shi Xiaole.
"Thunder Light Sphere, explode!"
Golden light erupted all around him, countless golden serpents hissing, Sunset Lord didn’t give up and directly deployed a secret technique that cost life force and vitality.
Golden light spheres rushed out, filling the space within dozens of yards like a landslide, each carrying the force capable of killing a peak Spiritual-Passage Realm master.
"Mid-ranking Lord, is indeed not easy to deal with."
Intuition told Shi Xiaole that ordinary moves could not block this attack. His body shifted horizontally, fleeing like a green meteor. But the golden light spheres had locked onto him, and were even faster, seeming ready to engulf him.
"There’s a heaven in the water."
Ai Yingjie mustered all his strength and stabbed his sword towards Sunset Lord, who controlled the golden light spheres. The Latter chuckled wildly, forcibly redirecting half his body, allowing his left shoulder and arm to be severed while keeping his eyes on the exploding cluster of light spheres ahead.
Clang!
The void vibrated.
Many golden light spheres shattered, and a figure flew out backward. Besides looking somewhat pale, he was unharmed. If not Shi Xiaole, who else could it be?
"Master Shi, are you alright?"
Ai Yingjie hastily asked with concern.
"Please rest assured, senior."
Shi Xiaole gave a smile.
Thanks to Ai Yingjie’s final interference, the sphere cluster had a weak point that he took advantage of to escape.
Of course, even without Ai Yingjie’s help, Shi Xiaole was confident he could block this attack. However, that would mean he’d have to use the power of the Demon Bone, which could inevitably bring about some loss of cultivation.
After this battle, Shi Xiaole finally understood his strength. Excluding some unknown factors, he could roughly handle an average mid-ranking Lord without being at a disadvantage.
If he encountered a top-tier mid-ranking Lord, he still had a chance to fight.
"Hehehe, you beast, even if you don’t die today, someone will take care of you in the future."
Sunset Lord lay on the ground, fresh blood flowing from his half-severed body. The Water and Sky Sword Qi rampaged inside his body, destroying his life force.
He had almost killed this differential pest, why was fate so cruel?
Sheathing his sword, Shi Xiaole looked at Sunset Lord and thought to himself: If I can absorb his Vigorous Air, advancing my cultivation to the ninefold of Dragon Gate Realm won’t be difficult.
As he was contemplating a reason, he saw Ai Yingjie act faster, severing Sunset Lord’s head with his sword first. Seeing this, Shi Xiaole could only sigh inwardly, dispelling his previous thought.
