Chapter 548: Chapter 547 Snow Sword Lord
Actually, early on in Peony Town, when Shi Xiaole encountered the green-haired monster and learned about some families in the know, who had left there centuries ago, he had vaguely guessed that such monsters weren’t confined only to Peony Town.
Not to mention, in those informed families, were there not green-haired monsters?
Thinking deeper, after so many years of development, could it be that the green-haired monsters have already spread within certain circles?
Shi Xiaole leaped downward, and in a short while, he arrived outside the market.
"This fellow, Liu Laowu, has been consuming a lot of warriors’ blood these days. He has made quite some progress," he thought.
"No matter how fast the progress, he’s still just a low-grade green-haired monster, and he can’t compare with us."
In the teahouse of the market, two energetic middle-aged men were in conversation. They looked no different from normal people. But their dialog was anything but normal.
Not far from these two men, a monster six feet tall, covered in green fur, was frolicking around. It charged up and down the street from time to time, familiarizing itself with its own power.
"Liu Laowu, take it easy," said the man on the left, smiling.
"When can we go out and wander around the other cities and towns? There are too few people here. If we want to increase our power by consuming blood, it’s too slow," said Liu Laowu, his eyes eerily glowing green.
These green-haired monsters need to consume human blood to continually enhance their capabilities, so they have high demands for blood. The blood of ordinary people can only satisfy their hunger, while the blood of warriors helps them progress - the stronger the warrior, the greater the benefit to them.
Years ago, they discovered an uninhabited island, and by accident, they stumbled upon a marketplace. Fortunately, there were many skilled people in the market. They became a source of blood for the monsters, leading to the creation of a group of red-haired mutants.
These two energetic middle-aged men were two of them.
"Don’t do anything stupid! Without the approval from above, if you dare to act on your own, no one will be able to save you!" warned the man on the right, in a cold and ruthless voice, silencing Liu Laowu.
Shi Xiaole moved stealthily, easily discerning the difference between monsters and regular people using his spiritual powers at the Divine Barrier Realm level. As he flew, he sensed the situation around him.
But when he made a round trip around the marketplace, his face had turned extremely grim.
Over forty percent of the market was occupied by monsters.
The remaining less than sixty percent were not ordinary people, but warriors. Some had faint vital energy, indicating that some were transforming into monsters, and a few seemed to be ’food’ intentionally left by the monsters, regularly providing them with nourishment.
"Let’s go find someone for more information."
Without any hesitation, Shi Xiaole stood outside a prison.
"Who are you?"
The two men guarding the prison, their eyes shining brightly, were staring at Shi Xiaole’s eyes like a pair of starving wolves eyeing a succulent lamb.
The more abundant the power concealed in the blood, the more attractive it is to the monsters, and both of them sensed an overwhelming vitality emanating from Shi Xiaole.
With two fingers poised like a pair of chopsticks, Shi Xiaole swung forward.
Whisper Whisper.
Two headless corpses sprang up.
"Tell me, what happened earlier?"
Opening the prison door, Shi Xiaole directly performed the Soul Capturing Skill on a man to confirm his suspicions.
Facts proved him right.
This place used to be the main base of Wuhui Island, an important stronghold of the Three Talents Association in Redbud State. It was specifically responsible for transferring captured people.
Who would have thought that the place would be invaded by a group of monsters two years ago. And all of those transferred people ended up dead, not a single soul survived.
"Young hero, please have mercy, save us..."
Realizing Shi Xiaole’s extraordinary abilities, everyone in the prison pleaded. Their acupoints were blocked and they were shackled in iron chains. Without help, they would be left to die.
Shi Xiaole remained silent.
Setting aside their past sins, almost all of them were turning into green-haired monsters. If he set them free, it would certainly lead to unending troubles.
"Who dares to make trouble here?"
Just then, there were the sounds of rushing footsteps outside the prison.
Apparently, someone had seen the guards being killed and had notified others.
"Food, I’ve never seen such delicious food."
The leader was an old man with strange eyes. As he looked at Shi Xiaole, he licked his lips, his eyes suddenly turned red, and his body even grew a bunch of thick, red hair.
Whoosh!
The old man with strange eyes lunged at Shi Xiaole. His scarlet claws moved like lightning, disappearing in an instant.
Shi Xiaole easily realized that the old man’s strike was as powerful as a high-level Spiritual-Passage Realm strike, which was relatively rare in the Tian State’s martial world.
However, it wasn’t much of a challenge for him. Without a sound, Shi Xiaole poked with his finger.
The old man didn’t even have the chance to scream. His body split in two. The blood and flesh around the wound squirmed as if trying to gather back together, but the burst of Sword Qi eventually tore it completely apart.
"The Elder is dead?"
The monsters from behind, rubbing their hands together in anticipation, were left dumbfounded. All that remained was terror, and they hastily fled in all directions.
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole gripped his sword with five fingers and swung it forward. Densely-packed sword Qi instantly shredded every monster in the vicinity.
Next, Shi Xiaole began a massacre. His onslaught was unstoppable, and the monsters fled in horror.
Unfortunately, the strange force from the marketplace hindered their escape. Most monsters couldn’t get away at all, and only a few holding a bead could ignore the strange power.
However, their escape speed was far slower than Shi Xiaole’s killing speed. Soon, all but three monsters were dispatched.
"Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve caused immense trouble. If you’re smart, you’ll let us go, or the Undying Alliance won’t let you off!"
A red-haired, bald old man shouted hurriedly.
"Undying Alliance?"
Using the Soul Capturing Skill, Shi Xiaole easily discovered everything. He turned to look at the other two monsters, and soon, they were also dispatched by his sword.
"Indeed, there is no shortage of these monsters, and the elites among them have even organized a force known as the Undying Alliance."
The news caused Shi Xiaole to reel in shock.
First, the Undying Alliance was established many years ago. Even the three monster leaders didn’t know when exactly.
Secondly, each of the high-level figures in the Undying Alliance possessed formidable power. It was rumored that the headquarters were located in Tian State.
Thirdly, and most relevant to Shi Xiaole, the people in the market were just one of two groups of monsters scattered throughout the eight provinces of the martial world. The whereabouts of the other group were still unknown.
One could imagine the devastation that these monsters would cause should they infiltrate the general population.
However, what brought Shi Xiaole some relief was that not every ordinary person bitten by a monster would be assimilated. Such cases were apparently less than one in a thousand.
Moreover, the Undying Alliance seemed to show some restraint. Throughout all these years, they had only transformed a handful of people occasionally.
With long-term issues at the back of his mind, what mattered most to Shi Xiaole now was how to handle the detained members of the Three Talents Association.
After considering for a good while, he finally decided - to kill!
Those people were not good individuals in the first place, and on top of that, they were undergoing a transformation into green-haired monsters. He couldn’t possibly let his momentary kindness lead to the loss of more innocent lives.
After finishing all of this, Shi Xiaole ventured into the centermost estate of the market. Upon nearing it earlier, he had picked up on the subtle waves emanating from within, as if hiding something.
He dispersed his Divine Barrier Realm-level mental energy and soon pinpointed several spots in the void.
Bang, bang.
A couple dozen beams of white light emerged from nothingness, weaving into a gigantic web. At the centre of the web, a small courtyard of about several tens of square meters suddenly floated up.
In the yard were beds of flowers, a stone table and three stone chairs. There were also some items on the stone table.
"Indeed, this is an array system of the Divine Barrier Realm."
As the name suggests, the Divine Barrier Realm is an elevation closely touching divinity. But this ’divine’ does not refer to the gods of myth and legend, but to Terrestrial Immortals.
According to written records, those who have reached the Divine Barrier Realm had techniques too unfathomable and powers too unimaginable for an ordinary person to comprehend.
Just as naturally, a Divine Barrier Realm-level array system would also be beyond extraordinary. If it wasn’t for Shi Xiaole’s mental powers reaching this realm, he wouldn’t have found this array system.
Grabbing a glove from his system storage, Shi Xiaole tossed it into the array system.
Hiss, hiss!
As the glove touched the white light, it was immediately burnt, leaving a large hole.
"Even a lower-grade spiritual weapon can be destroyed?"
The glove was a lower-grade spiritual weapon he had confiscated. His own attack power couldn’t even pierce it, which goes to show the horror of the array system; he couldn’t barge in recklessly.
His mental energy radiated again, and after spending two full hours, he finally found a flaw in the array system. When the flaw was hit, the white light instantly decreased by half.
Dashing forward, Shi Xiaole skillfully maneuvered through the gaps and narrowly entered the yard.
He was very cautious. He continued observing with his mental energy and, after ensuring there were no further dangers, he walked up to the stone table and picked up the topmost book.
"Snow Sword Lord?!"
The author of the book was none other than the Snow Sword Lord.
This person was not an unknown figure. On the contrary, he was quite famous. It was said that he was the number one genius of Heavenly Snow Mountain hundreds of years ago. His fame resounded across Tian State, and he had mastered the various unique arts of Heavenly Snow Mountain at an early age. He was the designated successor to be the next Snow Mountain Lord.
Unfortunately, after a journey to the Martial World, he never returned, suspected to have died in a foreign land.
"Could that Demon-suppressing Cold Bed be related to him?"
Shi Xiaole quickly flipped through the pages. It turned out that the book contained Snow Sword Lord’s insights and experiences, as well as some personal notes.
"Throughout my arrogant life, I have always allowed three moves in every confrontation as a mark of courtesy. Yet even so, I have rarely been defeated in my more than ten years of wandering the Martial World..."
"After traveling for five years, I have trodden across the entire Flying Horse Dynasty. I’ve unbelievably stumbled upon the long lost Demon-suppressing Cold Bed here. To obtain this bed, I fought against a monstrous giant who had hidden away from the world for many years."
"This demon’s skills are deep, even stronger than the elder of Heavenly Snow Mountain. I almost got killed by him. Fortunately, Brother Shi and his wife happened to pass by."
"Brother Shi is indeed a remarkable person who defeated this monster in just a few dozen moves and suppressed him under the Demon-suppressing Cold Bed."
The book recorded many of Snow Sword Lord’s experiences and observations, but the most discussed topic was his daily interactions with a couple surnamed Shi. His admiration for the couple was evident in his words, bordering on fanaticism.
