Chapter 546: Chapter 545: Return to Redbud State
The two, one chasing the other, ran through forests and wilderness, through the rise and fall of day and night, three days passed quickly.
Contained within the Undying Seven Illusions lies the Phantom Demon Body Method, enabling Shi Xiaole’s speed to match that of senior Lords. Yet Elder Yan’s Flying Skill is no less extraordinary.
Throughout the relentless chase that lasted three days and nights, the two traversed more than half of the eight states, leaving them with a barely noticeable amount of energy. Especially for Elder Yan, he had exhausted all means and expended all his life-saving tricks, yet he still couldn’t shake off Shi Xiaole.
"Look, who are those two?"
"I don’t recognize the one in black ahead, but doesn’t the one behind resemble Shi Xiaole somewhat?"
The frequented road was mostly populated by martial artists and merchant squads. A group lifted their heads, just in time to spot two figures swooping down from the distance.
Both a man and a woman within one of the carriages lifted their heads.
The man, dressed in blue with a similarly colored headband, looked unexceptional, but emanated a unique air of indifference and heroism characteristic of a young martial arts hero.
The woman had an oval face, big eyes as clear as autumn water; her beauty was both mute yet expressive, inspiring an irresistible desire to comfort and protect. She suddenly shouted, "Young Master Shi!" upon seeing the figure in the blue attire.
"You know him?"
The young man with the sword at his side asked coldly.
"We met once at the Silver Snowfield."
A look of nostalgia flashed in the woman’s eyes.
Years ago, she accompanied the Ye Family to pick medical herbs at the Silver Snowfield, where they encountered the Eighteen Bandits of Wolves Mountain. She was almost violated by those villains, if not for Shi Xiaole’s timely rescue. They then relied on him to escape from the snowstorm. The day and night they spent together had formed unforgettable memories in her mind.
Upon returning to the Ye Family, she resumed her peaceful life. However, during the years she spent traveling, she often heard stories about Shi Xiaole from random martial artists she met.
That young man had impressively become the pride of the eight states’ martial arts world, a legend of invincibility. Everyone who spoke of him wore a look of awe and admiration.
Perhaps in other parts of the Flying Horse Dynasty, there might be more impressive individuals, but within the territory of the eight states, if you didn’t know Shi Xiaole, you were hardly qualified to call yourself a martial artist!
"He’s pursuing a man. I’ll help him."
The young man’s voice remained icy cold as usual. Pulling out his sword, his body and Sword Qi fused into one, charging straight at the elder man dressed in black.
"Get lost, old man!"
Elder Yan, not sparing a glance, swung his sleeve.
The violent Vigorous Air took the form of a black foggy cyclone, instantly shattering the Sword Qi on contact and sending the young man flying backward, blood flushing from his nose and mouth.
"Hawk Spin Skill!"
Having seen Shi Xiaole behind him, Situ Changkong was reminded of the scenes from the group contest years ago. His ordinarily cold eyes now burned with fighting spirit. He stopped retreating, and as swift as a hawk, he charged out along a distorted path with his Sword Qi skyward.
It took Situ Changkong several years to perfect this Hawk Spin Skill. Under the provocation today, he successfully executed it, reaching a new height in his swordsmanship.
"Such a powerful sword move."
The high-ranking martial artists of the Ye Family and other passersby in the crowd watched with wide eyes.
"You’re courting death!"
Enraged, Elder Yan had initially thought he could easily crush such an insignificant character, but due to his massive energy consumption, he gave the young man an opportunity to fight back. He met the charging hawk-like Sword Qi with a heavy slap.
Clang!
The unpredictable Sword Qi was corroded by the black fog, shattered in the blink of an eye. Situ Changkong spat out fresh blood once again and was sent flying. He stumbled several times before he fell to the ground.
"How could it be? Even though Young Master Situ is a third-tier expert of the Spiritual-Passage Realm and can fight against those in the fifth tier, he was defeated in a single move?"
The martial artists of the Ye Family were collectively stunned.
Exactly how skilled was this elder man dressed in black? Even being on the verge of exhaustion he was still this terrifying. Considering this, how strong had Shi Xiaole become to be capable of chasing him?
Just as everyone was in shock, a sudden change occurred in the battlefield in mid-air. Shi Xiaole seized the chance when Elder Yan was making a move, rapidly closing their distance and secretly utilizing a two-eyed knife technique.
Bam bam.
Elder Yan started to feel dizzy. Instinctively, he sidestepped, but it was too late as Shi Xiaole was faster. He cast the Full Covering from the Undying Seven Illusions technique, launching an attack of fingers and palms everywhere.
"Bone Crushing Double Fog Punch!"
Mustering all his strength, Elder Yan struck out two punches. The black fog from the punches twisted and crushed Shi Xiaole’s finger and palm attacks, landing squarely on Shi Xiaole’s body with loud thuds. However, Shi Xiaole not only remained uninjured, but his momentum even seemed to increase, lunging forward with renewed vigor.
Elder Yan screamed in frustration.
He initially had a chance to escape, but Situ Changkong had managed to hinder him, and now Shi Xiaole had him pinned down, leaving him with no chance of escape.
Forced into a fierce fight, Elder Yan’s martial energy was rapidly depleted. On the other hand, Shi Xiaole, seemingly unaffected by his adversary’s offense, seemed to become more invigorated as the battle went on.
"Why drive people to extremes, Shi? You’re making many enemies by doing this and you’ll eventually taste the bitter fruits of your actions."
Elder Yan roared.
"You are the one pushing the limits, you old man! If people do not hurt me, I will not hurt them. But if you dare to threaten my loved ones, I will not consider myself a man if I do not kill you."
Ring after ring of silver-grey energy encased Elder Yan, regardless of how he tried to break it. They’re always regenerated instantly. Moreover, Elder Yan noticed that the dispersed energy all flowed into Shi Xiaole’s body along a secret path, becoming his power.
"Prepare to die, Fierce Wind Hundred Turns."
His strength recovered, Shi Xiaole swung his sword, causing Sword Qi that filled the sky to revolve around Elder Yan, eroding his defensive Vigorous Air layer, then his body, like a meat grinder.
"No!"
Elder Yan, pale with fright, was powerless to resist as his energy had been nearly depleted.
Crack crack crack.
In a swirl of endless resentment and unwillingness, Elder Yan turned to ash and scattered into nothingness.
Shi Xiaole sagged with relief as he collapsed onto the ground.
Being a thief for a thousand days, but one cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days. If he had not killed Elder Yan, he would have struggled to find peace. The man’s martial arts were too high, he would pose a constant threat at any time to the people around him.
Sheathing his sword, Shi Xiaole noticed a young man sitting on the ground. Flashing over, he extended his hand with a grin. "Brother Situ, long time no see."
Situ Changkong was taken aback for a moment but reached out his hand anyway, allowing Shi Xiaole to pull him up. He asked, "My sword just now, how was it?"
Gazing into the young man’s eyes, Shi Xiaole knew that he was a man obsessed with the sword. For him, any lie would be an insult. So, he replied, "Your understanding of the sword is good. But if you can enhance your sword skills, you can increase your power by at least fifty percent."
"Really?"
Situ Changkong took a deep breath, silently clenching his fist.
If someone else had casually made such a remark about the killing skill he had put so much effort into creating, Situ Changkong would have dismissed it. However, the comment came from Shi Xiaole, which inadvertently silenced him.
Years ago, when they competed on the same stage, they were on the same level, but now Shi Xiaole’s fame had spread throughout Shuntian Capital, but Situ Changkong was still limited to the martial arts world of the Eight States, the difference was like night and day.
"It’s really Shi Xiaole, he looks ten times better than his portrait."
"God, I can’t believe I’m seeing him in person, should I go and say hello?"
Whether it was the expert from the Ye Family or the martial artists passing by, they were all staring at Shi Xiaole, overcome with excitement, eager to approach and say a few words, but held back due to their own apprehension.
In the Martial World, age was never used to judge a person’s qualifications; strength was always the most admired. Maybe due to a long-standing impression, all people saw Shi Xiaole as if he was enshrined in a halo of godliness, his imposing manner discouraging anyone from approaching him.
Shi Xiaole’s gaze unconsciously searched the crowd, but then suddenly fixed on a young, sweet girl standing by the side of a carriage. He smiled and said, "Miss Ye, long time no see."
Ye Yiyi’s body slightly shuddered.
She thought that he had already forgotten about her, but now mentioning her name causing her quite the anti
She walked forward and said, "Young Master Shi, I hardly recognize you now."
"I am still me, and you are still you. If I remember correctly, if it weren’t for you finding the Three Purities Flower, we would have died at the hands of the Spicy Scholar long ago."
Shi Xiaole chuckled.
Remembering that brief yet intense time, Ye Yiyi felt a warm feeling in her heart and joined him in laughter.
Seeing Shi Xiaole’s approachability, a brave martial artist finally stepped forward to greet him. Shi Xiaole promptly responded, causing that martial artist to become shy.
Therefore, more martial artists stepped forward, all eager to talk to Shi Xiaole. They gathered into a giant circle, almost blocking the spacious official road.
As more martial artists arrived, asking what was going on, those in the know lied that nothing was happening. The giant circle moved to the side, willingly giving way on the road.
Watching the ignorantly departing martial artists, all those in the know felt an overwhelming sense of superiority.
Years later, Shi Xiaole had already become world-famous. When they bragged to their friends about this incident, their friends envied them, wishing they had been there. It was said that there were even a few disputes, because some of those friends had been among the people fooled that day.
From Situ Changkong, Shi Xiaole learned that he coincidentally met Ye Yiyi and seeing the weak strength of the Ye family’s expert, happened to be going the same way temporarily, so he took on the responsibility of protection.
Because he had been chasing Elder Yan for many days and was not in a good state, and he could not resist the enthusiastic hospitality of Ye family’s expert, Shi Xiaole decided to stay with the Ye family’s merchant team and rest in a carriage.
The caravan set off again, and the experts from the Ye family were all high-spirited, constantly on guard around them, as if they were afraid that someone might do harm to Shi Xiaole.
In the following days, Shi Xiaole sometimes recovered his energy in the carriage, and sometimes got out of the carriage to exchange sword secrets with Situ Changkong. However, some of Ye family’s experts came forward to ask questions about cultivation, and he didn’t turn anyone down, answering each question. His modesty deeply impressed everyone.
Shi Xiaole did not expect that his unintentional actions today would greatly enhance the martial arts capabilities of the Ye family. After several decades, the Ye family had become a top-ranked family in Qingxue State.
While the experts of the Ye family made rapid progress, Situ Changkong’s progress was even more significant. Under Shi Xiaole’s guidance, his Hawk Spin Skill was continuously improved, and his power was rapidly increasing, to the point where he felt like he was being reborn.
When the carriage arrived in Redbud State, Shi Xiaole suddenly had a premonition.
