Chapter 534: Chapter 533: Exchange Martial Arts Again
"Master Shi, it’s truly a revelation to see you after just three days."
Ai Yingjie looked at Shi Xiaole, unable to express his astonishment and admiration.
Throughout his life, he had met many people, but nobody gave him as deep an impression as Shi Xiaole. Most people progress by years, but this young man seems to do so by months, or even days.
It’s unbelievable.
"Perhaps one day, he will make a name for himself in the Flying Horse Dynasty."
Involuntarily, Ai Yingjie envisioned a possibility, his heart full of anticipation.
"You flatter me, Elder, I’m just fortunate," Shi Xiaole modestly replied. He then turned to gaze at the figure on the bridge, saying, "Elder, isn’t that elder from Ai Family trapped within an array on the bridge? Things don’t look good."
Ai Yingjie also noticed this. He quickly stepped forward onto the stone arch bridge, but as he advanced, his pace slowed and his face expressed a range of emotions. Thankfully he retained his sanity and hastily retreated, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
"This is bad! The illusion array is extremely powerful and one could easily become trapped within, unable to extricate oneself. Young Master, could you stay here and look after the Sixth Elder, while I find the Array System Elder of the Ai Family?"
Compared to regular Array Systems, illusion arrays can be both terrifying and harmless.
The terror lies in the fact that once trapped, you might never escape, ultimately leading to mental collapse. At the same time, if one’s spirit is strong enough to withstand the illusions, it won’t have any effect.
However, the illusion array on this stone arch bridge obviously exceeds the mental capacities of the average intermediate Lord. If this continues, the Sixth Elder’s life could be in danger.
"There’s no time, I’ll have to give it a try."
Shi Xiaole leapt onto the stone arch bridge.
"No!"
Ai Yingjie’s eyes widened, he reached out to grab him but caught only air. He hastily shouted, "Master Shi, get back here, this array is too dangerous..."
But his words were cut off, stuck in his throat.
He watched, astounded, as the illusion array that had made him struggle merely appeared as another step to Shi Xiaole. Maintaining steady speed, Shi Xiaole reached the Sixth Elder, easily bringing him back to safety off the stone bridge.
"You... how did..."
Ai Yingjie stammered, not knowing what to say.
"That was close!"
As the Sixth Elder gradually regained consciousness, he expressed his confusion to Ai Yingjie, "Why are you here, nephew Yingjie?"
"Uncle Six, we just averted a disaster."
With a bitter smile and shake of his head, Ai Yingjie quickly recounted the earlier event.
Once the Sixth Elder heard the whole story, glancing between the nearby body of the Sunset Lord and the youthful, yet formidable and impressive Shi Xiaole, he fell silent, seemingly doubting the reality of the situation.
"Shi Xiaole, please accept my respects."
Suddenly, the Sixth Elder of the Ai Family bowed deeply.
Shi Xiaole quickly stopped him, saying, "That’s unnecessary. With my brotherly ties to Wen Hong, I consider myself half a member of the Ai Family. If anyone should be paying respects, it is I to the elders and to you, sir."
"Shi Xiaole, you really are..."
The old man of the Ai Family and Ai Yingjie exchanged glances, filled with joy and admiration.
They had feared his extraordinary talent and power might lead to arrogance and the casting aside of his bonds with the Ai Family.
But now, witnessing his modesty and humility, both were moved to laughter and marveled at the kind of upbringing that must have produced such an exceptional young man.
"If I may be excused, honorable gentlemen, since you’re not feeling well, perhaps you should allow yourselves some rest. I wish to investigate the bridge a bit further."
Shi Xiaole’s words interrupted their thoughts.
Before Ai Yingjie could speak, the Sixth Elder responded, "You’re a child with a mind of his own. Be careful in all matters." After saying this, he and Ai Yingjie went to rest under a willow tree nearby.
Both were now convinced that the illusion array on the stone arch bridge was incapable of trapping Shi Xiaole.
But, what they did not know was that Shi Xiaole had made another discovery.
"This Array System contains two tiers of illusion arrays. The one activated by the Sixth Elder of the Ai Family is the first tier. If I’m not mistaken, this is the Illusion Lord’s second greatest pride - the Double Ring Death Array!"
Shi Xiaole recalled that Shui Lingping had said, the peculiarity of the Double Ring Death Array lays in its hidden menace. Based on the spiritual strength of the intruder, it could be stimulated automatically.
The first tier of the illusion array corresponds to the spiritual strength of most intermediate lords.
The second tier corresponds to the spiritual strength of senior and top-tier lords.
However, the second tier is so well hidden, even top-tier lords could overlook it without a careful detection.
That was also the reason why all those top-tier lords had ignored the stone arch bridge here.
When Shi Xiaole passed so effortlessly earlier, it wasn’t due to spiritual strength. He had used a solution devised by Shui Lingping, achieving a kind of shortcut. But because of that, the array hadn’t disappeared, and no treasures had manifested.
This time, Shi Xiaole was going to face it head-on. As the second pride of the Illusion Lord, he was excited at the prospect of what treasures the array might hide.
Just as Shi Xiaole’s feet stepped onto the stone arch bridge, an unseen, more potent illusionary aura filled the surface of the bridge.
Under the willow tree, Ai Yingjie unconsciously glanced over and immediately felt his whole soul being sucked in. Visions started to form before his eyes. Luckily, the Sixth Elder at his side gave him a timely push, bringing him back to his senses.
"Uncle Six, I fear we have underestimated the Array System here. Even Brother and the others didn’t notice it."
Lowering his head and no longer daring to look, Ai Yingjie’s voice trembled.
Just as the Sixth Elder turned to look at him, he noticed Ai Yingjie’s pale complexion and cold sweat. He too lowered his head and asked, "I wonder how Xiaole on the bridge is doing?"
"Let’s wait for a moment. If we do not hear any noise, Uncle Six, please knock me out and throw me onto the bridge to awaken Xiaole."
"You want to die for him?"
"If I die, he cannot die either. Otherwise, the Ai Family will lose a friend, and the martial world will lose an elite."
The stone arch bridge spans over thirty meters.
Shi Xiaole strolled across the first twenty-five meters, allowing the illusionary aura to surge into his mind without showing any changes in his expression.
Twenty-eight meters.
Thirty meters.
At the thirty-second meter, his vision blurred, revealing scenes of tall buildings, trains, and airplanes from his past life’s memories.
The scene shifted, revealing ancient buildings, incredibly beautiful martial world women, and violent swordfights.
The two memories overlapped and merged, finally converging into a single point of light that shot into Shi Xiaole’s forehead.
"Impressive, this array could have ensnared many high-level lords. The strength of the Illusion Lord back in his day was probably close to the Divine Barrier Realm."
Shi Xiaole could temporarily utilize his spiritual power to the level of an ordinary Divine Barrier. Therefore, he naturally had nothing to fear from the Double Ring Death Array.
Responding to his intuition, he abruptly unleashed all his spiritual power. The next moment, two faint suns and moons rose behind Shi Xiaole, merging into one to form another illusionary world.
Illusion True Intent!
Back then, in the cabin under the Divine Transformation Tree, Shi Xiaole’s Illusion True Intent had reached one-tenth of its peak. At this moment, being stimulated, he reached a two-tenths level.
With two-tenths of his Illusion True Intent and Divine Barrier level spiritual power, Shi Xiaole raised his eyebrows and shot out two invisible spirit blades...
He clearly sense two subtle blade marks appearing in the void. Inside the blade marks, the illusionary aura was overwhelming, approximating eighty percent of the first layer of the Double Ring Death Array.
That is to say, with just the Eye Blade Absolute Technique, Shi Xiaole could now trap and kill many of the ordinary middle-level lords!
Note that although his spiritual power reached the level of the ordinary Divine Barrier Realm, it did not mean that Shi Xiaole could easily crush the experts of the Dragon Gate Realm.
This was because the spiritual secret technique has a certain carrying capacity.
The second-rate top-quality Eye Blade could not fully display the level of Divine Barrier Realm spiritual power.
As for the Unrivaled Soul Transformation and Selfless Heart Transformation, even though they were of a higher level than the Eye Blade, they had less damaging power against the lords because they required at least a three-tier difference between the user and the target.
Of course, once they were effective, the effects were incomparable to the Eye Blade.
Crack.
The Double Ring Death Array crumbled inch by inch, and finally exploded with a loud bang. In the middle of the stone arch bridge, a stone rose.
Shi Xiaole picked up the stone and knocked it, found it hollow inside. He squeezed it with force, turning the stone into dust, and a secret manual appeared in his hand.
"Purusha Illusion Extremity Skill!"
Shi Xiaole was shocked.
Wasn’t this the culmination of the Illusion Lord’s entire life? According to rumors, it had achieved a first-class mid-level status. Logically, it should be placed in the Illusion Lord’s strongest Array System.
Shi Xiaole suddenly remembered something. The Double Ring Death Array was said to be discovered by the Illusion Lord and his beloved wife. The two bonded over this Array and eventually became a couple.
After his wife passed away, the Illusion Lord, disillusioned and despondent, left the martial world and disappeared without a trace.
Could it be that he placed his ultimate skill here in this Array for this reason?
Flipping open the secret manual and browsing through the pages, Shi Xiaole had to admit that this was a martial arts technique that shocked both past and present. According to the manual, once one reaches the highest level, one can manipulate everything within five hundred meters with a mere lift of the eyebrows or a blink of the eyes, no matter the scale.
It made sense; Despite the Illusion Lord’s breathtaking talent, without practicing a first-class mid-level martial arts technique, it would have been impossible for him to have such strength.
"Although Yi Sword Skill is a first-class mid-level sword technique, it is more about the concept, and its destructive power is not strong enough. The Demonic True Intent should also remain hidden. If I learn the Purusha Illusion Extremity Skill, my strength will surely soar."
Without any hurry, Shi Xiaole smiled to himself, his mind entered the system, and immediately said, "I want to exchange martial arts technique."
The reward value he had was enough to buy a top-quality martial arts technique, but since he didn’t have the authority, he kept it for now. He didn’t feel a necessity to convert all the obtained secret manuals into reward value.
The most important thing at hand was to increase his combat capabilities.
Shi Xiaole wanted to see what martial arts skill the Purusha Illusion Extremity Function would exchange for, and then he could choose to cultivate one of the two.
A square halo moved through the stone wall of Martial God Hall’s third floor, quickly settling in place.
Seeing the words on the stone wall, Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful, and also a bit joyful.
