Chapter 54: Chapter 54 A Glimmer of Hope
The Draw Sword Skill was just an attempt by Shi Xiaole. His real trump card was his swordsmanship.
The Huashan Sword Technique imbued with a sense of peril.
In an instant, the image of a cliff edge flashed before Lian Tu’s eyes. Under the dangerous sword moves, his heart trembled involuntarily, slowing his movements.
"In a narrow path, the brave one wins!"
A crazed look appeared on Lian Tu’s face, ignoring the incoming Green Edge Sword, he threw a punch at Shi Xiaole’s face without hesitation.
With a swish.
The Green Edge Sword grazed his neck. Shi Xiaole was surprised.
His unbeatable sense of peril was broken for the first time.
Even though he knew that its effect would greatly reduce against a formidable figure with a strong mind, he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.
"Lad, you indeed have grasped the meaning of Qi, even achieving ten percent, not bad. But even so, you are still no match for me."
The shock on Lian Tu’s face quickly faded. With a turn, his fiery-red fist attacked like a cannonball, clearly having pushed his trademark Bloody Hand technique to its limit.
"Brother Shi is in danger."
Seeing this, Zhu Qian shook his head, making Lan Ning’s face turn pale.
How could she not see that Lian Tu’s current attack even surpassed the Light Sword Great Method of the Senior Brother’s, how could Shi Xiaole possibly block it?
If something happens to this kid here, I’m afraid the Golden Phoenix Tower won’t be peaceful again.
Before Lan Ning’s thoughts could finish, Shi Xiaole advanced without retreating, unexpectedly meeting Lian Tu’s attack with his sword.
The bright green sword light clashed with the red fist in Lan Ning’s widened eyes, producing a clear metallic clang.
Shi Xiaole, whilst mid-air, turned and swung the second sword towards Lian Tu’s neck.
As Lian Tu had just blocked it, Shi Xiaole’s incredibly quick third sword came, this time targeting the eyes.
In this moment, the overwhelming sense of peril once again surged into Lian Tu’s heart, but was three to four times more intense than the first.
This was the Taiyue Three Green Peaks infused with a sense of peril.
As a third-ranked martial art, the power of Taiyue Three Green Peaks was two grades higher than the Huashan Sword Technique. Combined with the perilous Qi, it wasn’t just the sum of the two, they complemented each other, simultaneously enhancing the power of the sword and Qi’s intimidation.
Under the accumulation of the two, even Lian Tu’s strong will collapsed unexpectedly.
Swish!
With a sweep of Shi Xiaole’s long sword, Lian Tu was knocked several meters away.
"What?"
Seeing this scene, everyone wide-eyed in surprise. The situation had changed too quickly, so much so that many hadn’t yet processed it.
"This the first time Lian Tu’s been knocked down, isn’t it?"
"Don’t get too excited yet, look."
Everyone turned to look, and were shocked to see Lian Tu, who had been stabbed, stand up with just an added shallow mark on his body, not even a drop of blood visible.
"Lian Tu’s iron-shirt skill is even stronger than his actual ability, if you can’t break through his defense, we can’t win. On the contrary, we’ll be crushed by him."
Zhu Qian sighed heavily, revealing the most desperate thing about Lian Tu.
However, Lan Ning didn’t even hear clearly, because at this moment, her eyes were only on Shi Xiaole up on the stage, Shi Xiaole who had knocked Lian Tu away.
"Very good, you should be proud to have forced me to this point, but as a return, I’m going to leave some marks on you."
Lian Tu licked his lips, and a cruel expression appeared on his face lined with rugged muscles.
Everyone who saw this scene felt a chill down their spine. It seemed that Lian Tu’s fighting spirit was only really ignited now.
"Bring it on."
Shi Xiaole held his Green Edge Sword tightly, speaking indifferently.
With a roar, Lian Tu’s momentum changed completely. If he was a wolf disguised as a sheep before, now he had torn off the sheepskin, revealing his ferocious and fearsome nature.
His long arms were lined with bulging veins like writhing earthworms, and his muscles as solid as steel. With all his strength pouring into his fist, he barraged Shi Xiaole with punches, causing the air to thunder.
Shi Xiaole’s response was even simpler.
He drew his sword.
Back and forth, all were Taiyue Three Green Peaks imbued with a sense of peril. It seemed that the oncoming fist capable of tearing apart a body was nothing in his eyes.
The two figures, so different in physique, were caught in a tense and deadly battle.
For Lian Tu, people could understand, after all, he was a figure who had fought his way out of the Martial World.
But Shi Xiaole, who looked clearly like a young man inexperienced in the world, probably hadn’t been practicing martial arts for many years. Where did he get this death-defying tenacity?
Within a ferocious tiger, he carefully sniffs the rose.
At this moment, looking at Shi Xiaole who showed no emotion, these eight words surfaced in some people’s minds.
"Kid, you’ve got guts! But you’ll never break through my defense, and I’ll keep hurting you, grinding you to death."
Lian Tu admitted to Shi Xiaole’s strength but this stoked his ferocity. He sneered, "Anyway, this is the last battle. I have a killer move that I’ve yet to use. I’ll use it on you today."
"What, he has a secret move?"
Upon hearing Lian Tu’s words, the experts on the scene were taken aback, almost thinking they’d heard wrong.
The formidable Lian Tu, who had almost swept through the Hidden Qi Realm masters without using his secret move, how strong would he be once he used it?
As it turned out, they hadn’t even deserved the chance to fight at their full strength from the very start.
People who had previously fought in the ring were feeling ashamed, angry, or powerless. At this moment, they didn’t know how to describe their feelings.
Zhu Qian’s face alternated between red and white, and he remained silent.
Lan Ning, however, shrieked at this moment, "Shi Xiaole, surrender quickly!"
"Surrender? It’s too late for that now."
With a sneer, Lian Tu gathered all his strength, transforming it into a faintly visible red glow enveloping his fist. This glow was more than twice as profound as before, glaring as a pool of blood.
No one in the audience knew that Lian Tu had earned the nickname Bloody Hand not because of his martial arts skills, but because of his killer move, the Floating Monastery Bloody Hand.
Once the Floating Monastery Bloody Hand comes out, it means that Lian Tu’s intention to kill has been provoked.
Boom!
He hastened a step, and reached out to press down on Shi Xiaole.
Amid the horrified, worried, perplexed, and even indifferent gazes of the audience, Shi Xiaole appeared fearless. Suddenly, he relaxed his whole body, raised his sword in both hands, and then smoothly swung it forward.
Time appeared to stand still.
His strike seemed unremarkable, but when the sword sliced through Lian Tu’s Bloody Hand, it produced a serrated screech.
As it cut through the gashes on Lian Tu’s body, the wounds instantly ruptured, finally exploding with puffs of blood flying out of his body.
"Wha, what?"
In his great shock and fear, Lian Tu almost bit his own tongue.
As for the rest of the attendees, they were all dumbfounded at that moment, leaving a deathly silence all around.
Lian Tu had a killer move, and Shi Xiaole, being cautious, wouldn’t be unprepared, would he?
Indeed, during the time he realized the realm of peril, Shi Xiaole had an idea about the Huashan Sword Technique, wanting to attempt to fuse them into a single sword move.
Whether it’s internal power or combat techniques, if a martial artist wants to enhance his strength, he should discard the superfluous and keep only the essence.
Although the Huashan Sword Technique was considered low-level, trying to merge them into a single move required determination and sacrifice beyond the average person. Fortunately, Shi Xiaole didn’t lack perseverance and managed to complete it a few days ago.
His acceptance of the mission was, to a large extent, also a result of the confidence he received from mastering that move.
"What, what kind of sword technique is this?"
All covered in blood, Lian Tu couldn’t help asking against his will.
"A Single Thread of Hope."
Shi Xiaole stated indifferently.
The Single Thread of Hope combined the risky implications of the Huashan Sword Technique and the realm of peril. Anyone confronted with this sword strike would only have a single thread of hope.
"What a clever move - A Single Thread of Hope. I, Lian Tu accept my defeat, it was not in vain."
While coughing up blood, Lian Tu suddenly started laughing hysterically.
His Floating Monastery Bloody Hand required continuous victories to build momentum. But losing was good as well. After the fall comes the rise. He was bound to make significant progress after this.
"I hope next time, we don’t meet again."
Shi Xiaole glanced at Lian Tu, then walked down from the arena without looking back.
Lian Tu had just tried to kill him. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t let him go.
But at the moment, there’s an enemy lurking in the dark who’s eager to move. Between two risks, Shi Xiaole decided to keep his strength and remove the immediate threat first.
"Shi Xiaole, wait a minute."
A voice, filled with mixed emotions, echoed from behind him. By the time Shi Xiaole turns around, Lan Ning had already run towards him.
"Are you really Shi Xiaole?"
She had just started to speak when she realized that she had asked a foolish question, her frosty face involuntarily turned red.
"Senior Sister Lan, there are many people here, it’s not easy to talk. I still have an important task to do. We’ll talk more later. Goodbye."
With the enemy in the dark in his mind, in order not to disrupt the plan, Shi Xiaole left after saying these words, leaving Lan Ning with a disappointed look.
"Tsk, what’s he putting on airs for? Does defeating Bloody Hand Lian Tu make him so great?"
A disciple of the Light Sword Sect couldn’t help but hum.
"It is quite great."
Another disciple respond unconsciously, immediately earning several angry stares from the people around him.
"Senior Sister Lan, although Junior Brother Shi seems gifted, he appears somewhat arrogant."
Zhu Qian walked over and said in a neither warm nor cold tone.
Lan Ning shook her head. After a long while, she finally turned her gaze away, letting out a sigh.
She used to disregard Shi Xiaole completely. Perhaps now, in his eyes, she was also like that - a familiar stranger.
Shi Xiaole left decisively, but he wasn’t aware that a storm was about to erupt in the entire Emerald Feather City because of him.
Almost at noon on the same day, people from the neighboring martial world heard about Lian Tu’s defeat. And the person who defeated him was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy in the Hidden Qi Realm.
As soon as this news came out, many people were extremely moved and kept asking about the young man’s identity.
Some people had seen Lan Ning interacting with the boy. After layers of analysis, the identity of the young man was soon revealed.
For a while, the name ’Shi Xiaole’ made its first appearance in the discussions among the people of the martial world.
