Chapter 559: 558
"The Vajra Unbreakable Body combined with the Undying Seven Illusions have such strong defense power."
Floating mid-air, even Shi Xiaole was somewhat in disbelief.
Previously, the poisonous arrows, about forty percent, were neutralized by the Vajra Unbreakable Body, and the remaining sixty percent were converted to vital energy through the Undying Seven Illusions, allowing him to completely recover all the Vigorous Air he had expended.
Of course, even so, to say that Shi Xiaole could ignore the attacks of the top-ranked Lords was somewhat premature.
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair, who practiced the Poisonous Skill, was powerful precisely because of his toxins. His true attacking power was actually the weakest among the top-ranked Lords.
Having endured a blow from a top-ranked Lord without a scratch, Shi Xiaole himself didn’t feel too impressed, but it stunned everyone else.
Could it be real?
The Three Eccentrics were especially shocked.
They had just sensed the aura of the Vajra Unbreakable Body from Shi Xiaole, a kind of aura that only those who had cultivated it could identify.
"He’s achieved initial success in the Vajra Unbreakable Body; it seems like he’s been practicing it for a long time, saving me the worry," thought the Golden Saber Elder secretly, subconsciously assuming that Shi Xiaole had begun practicing the Vajra Unbreakable Body from a very early age.
After all, with their talents, the Three Eccentrics practiced together all day and they have only just managed to understand the key to cultivation, let alone mastering it.
The battle continued.
Shi Xiaole was undoubtedly the weakest, but he became the focus of the battle. His defensive power was too abnormal, which aroused the curiosity of the Four Symbols Mountain people.
"Hundred Illusion and Thousand Transformation Skill."
Finding an opening, the old man with a goatee folded his hands together, and invisible waves of air flew through the void, bursting into Shi Xiaole’s mind.
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair took the opportunity to slap a palm down heavily.
Thump!
The force of his palm shattered distant boulders, but Shi Xiaole had already moved aside.
"What, even my illusion is useless?"
The expression on the old man with a goatee’s face wasn’t good, seeming like he wanted to scream out loud. Because he forcefully launched the strategy, his right arm was pierced by the Silver Sword Gentleman’s sword.
"Don’t lose your cool, hold steady, in the end, the victory will still be ours."
Seeing this, the tall and thin old man who was fighting the Jade Axe Lady immediately transmitted his voice to the other three.
The Three Eccentrics were just the weakest top-ranked Lords. In a one-on-one fight, they were not the match of any of the Four Symbols Mountain people. And Shi Xiaole, whose defence was just a bit stronger but his cultivation was even weaker than the Three Eccentrics, so they still controlled the situation.
The other three became clear-headed and immediately calmed down.
"Want to grind us down bit by bit? I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed."
After dozens of moves, Shi Xiaole suddenly retreated.
"Do you still have a card up your sleeve?"
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair smirked coldly, pursued him, and locked onto Shi Xiaole’s energy.
After ensuring no one was watching, Shi Xiaole put his left hand behind his back, and when it reappeared, a hatchet was glowing green in his hand.
The ax was not large, with softer lines than a regular axe. The handle was also engraved with a crescent mark. It looked less like a weapon and more like a craft, but the aura it emitted caused everyone present to feel a chill.
A medium-grade Spiritual Weapon, the Jade Moon Axe.
"The Jade Moon Axe is in your hands?"
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair could not help exclaiming, even his eyes were filled with intense desire.
Shi Xiaole sneered coldly, put his sword back in its sheath, and gathered all the Vigorous Air he had cultivated into the Jade Moon Axe, then struck down hard in front of him.
Boom...
The blinding green light filled everyone’s vision, like the clear radiance cast by the moon up in the sky, irresistible, even time and space seemed to have stopped under this axe.
"No!"
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair’s entire body was covered in cold sweat as he resisted the ax blade with all his strength.
But the ax’s light was everywhere. After the prior battle, he had used some ultimate moves and had used up quite a bit of power. The force of his palm had just slapped down when it was shattered by the ax’s light, and the remaining ax’s light fell lightly.
Puff!
Blood splashed and was torn apart by the ax’s light.
The old man with chicken-skin and crane hair let out a terrible cry and was thrown off, causing cracks in the distant mountain wall. His mouth uncontrollably spewed out vital essence and blood.
However, he was just clutching his left shoulder, his aged face contorted, and his entire left arm was gone.
"How is that possible?"
The other three from the Four Symbols Mountain people enlarged their eyes.
During the previous chase, the Jade Axe Lady had used the Jade Moon Axe, but its power was only half as much as this time.
The three of them couldn’t understand why Shi Xiaole, whose strength was clearly far inferior to the Jade Axe Lady, could unleash such a strike?
Even the Three Eccentrics were taken aback.
"Was this the purpose of him borrowing the axe?"
The Jade Axe Lady had been suspicious of Shi Xiaole when he first asked to borrow the axe, but now she knew that she had been overthinking.
How could outsiders imagine the purity of Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air?
For most high-ranked Lords, the purity of their Vigorous Air is, at most, eighty percent, top-ranked Lords hover around ninety percent, and a few top-notch top-ranked Lords could reach up to ninety-five percent in purity.
But Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air was a hundred percent pure, without any impurities.
In combination with his cultivation of a top-quality mid-tier inner strength method, his Vigorous Air was of higher quality than the Jade Axe Lady’s. Therefore, while the latter could only summon half the power of the Jade Moon Axe, Shi Xiaole could fully activate it.
"The top low-grade Spiritual Weapon can enhance the attack power of a Dragon Gate Realm master by about twenty percent. In contrast, a mid-grade Spiritual Weapon can increase it by forty percent. Truly terrifying."
Looking at the Jade Moon Axe in his hand, Shi Xiaole was lost in thought.
If he held a mid-grade spiritual sword in his hand, the strike he just made would not only have injured his opponent but might have killed him.
Upon sensing that only sixty percent of his Vigorous Air remained, Shi Xiaole directed his attack toward the goatee-bearded elder skilled in illusions, feigning an attack, which forced the latter into a hasty sidestep, only to realize it was a feint.
Like a phantom reappearing, Shi Xiaole was now near the gaunt elder, his hands held high, and ferociously chopped down.
"You’re courting death!"
The gaunt elder jumped up, spinning his iron mace to its limit— a dense flurry of mace shadows sprung forth which covered him.
However, at the same time, Jade Axe Lady, who had already received a whispered warning, also took action, swinging her axe once which sent a beam of jade light across the void, directly erasing a large area of mace shadows and severely blocking the gaunt elder’s retreat.
Whoosh!
A figure flew out, the gaunt elder turned deathly pale and a chunk of liver was expelled along with a fog of blood from his throat. His strength was significantly weakened as he moaned, "Kill... kill him quickly."
The short elder and the goatee-bearded elder did not move.
After using the Jade Moon Axe twice in succession, Shi Xiaole’s Vigorous Air was inevitably greatly drained. But what if he could unleash a third strike? Who would be able to withstand it?
Even with the three eccentric individuals shielding him, killing Shi Xiaole with their combined strength was not necessarily guaranteed.
"The third one, you’ll be the one to die."
Shi Xiaole coldly and ruthlessly directed his spearhead at the goatee-bearded elder. The three eccentrics charged ahead, gesturing to enclose him.
"Go."
Deploying an illusion technique, the goatee-bearded elder ran in terror, taking off with the defeated gaunt elder.
The short elder didn’t delay either. However, the fastest of all was the wrinkly-skinned elder. As soon as he got injured, he hid far away, fearing he would be cornered and unable to escape.
In an instant, the Testudine Mountain men vanished without a trace, not even leaving a harsh word behind.
"They ran off?"
The people of Lele City were still somewhat stunned.
These were four of the top fifty experts in Shuntian Capital who had all arrived concurrently. Even the major, top-notch forces would find them problematic, yet now they were beaten into a hasty retreat.
"City Lord, you’re amazing, invincible in battle!"
One of the male disciples couldn’t help shouting, his face flush with excitement.
The rest of the crowd was similarly emotionally surging.
Given that even the Testudine Mountain men could be chased away, just how many would city lord Shi fear? Their sect was destined to shine brilliantly in the power-packed Xuanwu State—no one could stop them!
"Lele..."
Suddenly, Su Yanru let out a scream.
The Shi Xiaole up in the sky suddenly plummeted for no apparent reason. Fortunately, the Silver Sword Gentleman caught him. By the time he landed on the ground, his legs had already gone limp and he nearly collapsed.
"Lele, what’s wrong with you? Don’t scare auntie."
Upon seeing the boy’s bloodless face, Su Yanru’s eyes blurred with worry as she reached out to touch his face. The masters of Lele City surrounded in a circle, all wearing anxious expressions, and the atmosphere became a little depressing.
"Don’t worry, I’m just exhausted. Swinging the axe twice has drained me of much of my power. I’ll be fine after a few days rest. Chief Guard Zhu, quickly dismantle the Array System or it will waste energy."
Zhu Ling nodded forcefully.
The moment the Array System was dismantled, a figure suddenly shot out. The terrifying air it carried was even more than that of the Testudine Mountain men, shocking everyone present including the three eccentrics.
"Hahaha!"
The person laughed loudly, appearing extremely pleased.
However.
The nearly exhausted Shi Xiaole, as if expecting this, showed that the posture of him being held not only did not limit him but instead facilitated his axe attack. As soon as the individual appeared, he chopped down with his axe - quick and accurate.
Crash!
A gush of fresh blood blossomed in the sky. The person’s laughter stopped and they turned to run, quickly disappearing from view.
"Well-deserved veteran of the Martial World, so crafty."
Shi Xiaole said nonchalantly.
With his powerful spiritual strength, he had noticed the hidden individual early on. He turned around only to find everyone watching him. He couldn’t help but smile, asking, "What’s up?"
"You pretended to be weak and let the Array System be deactivated, tricking everyone in order to draw that person out?"
Jade Axe Lady asked.
"I had no choice."
Hearing Shi Xiaole’s answer, Silver Sword Gentleman couldn’t help but laugh, "Sect Master, you said that the man is a seasoned veteran of the Martial World, but you’re rather good yourself."
"After three consecutive moves, I really am out of strength. If another enemy of the same level appears, we would all be doomed."
Shi Xiaole shook his head and gave a wry smile, causing everyone to laugh. About a few dozen breaths later, his face suddenly turned deathly pale and he collapsed into the arms of the nearest Jade Axe Lady.
"What are you doing?"
Jade Axe Lady asked angrily.
"Quick, support me, let’s get inside. They’ve finally left."
Shi Xiaole weakly laughed and promptly fainted.
....
Several kilometers away, two figures met.
"Xiahou brother, you weren’t very careful."
The elder had a long, narrow face, wore a bamboo hat, and had a long sword hanging at his waist. It was the Suzerain of the Tianyan Sect, Tianyan Sword Lord.
Xiahou Zong was severely injured and coldly laughed in response, "That kid is incredibly cunning. But after executing three axe strikes, his power should be exhausted. Sector Master, why waste such a good opportunity?"
The Tianyan Sword Lord, cunning as an old fox, replied, "The boy could sense your presence, he may have sensed mine as well. He still had yet to activate the Array System after injuring you and deliberately mentioned his exhaustion. Clearly, he wanted to lure me out. Do you think I am that stupid?"
Xiahou Zong humphed in response, "That kid is indeed difficult to deal with, it seems we have to bide our time."
"In my opinion, we should report this matter to the Saintess. When it comes to martial arts and cunningness, only she can suppress that boy."
