Chapter 628: Chapter 627 Unrivaled (Part 1)
A layer of mist spreads out, obscuring the turbulent sea surface underneath. Fish and shrimp within the sea, covered by the mist, grows restless, darting about in all directions, with some leaping out of the sea, immediately pierced by wisps of clouds.
"Kneel before me, brat!"
The Cloud Tiger Lord steps through the void, every step landing on a cloud. The swirling mist forms footprints, seeming to propel him forward. He strolls on the clouds, with an unstoppable presence.
Boom!
In an instant, Cloud Tiger Lord appears before Shi Xiaole, a massive hand formed out of mist fiercely bearing down on him.
This was an effortless strike from the Lord, yet everyone watching on cringed. The lethality of this attack was clearly higher than any of the previous ones from Dragon Stick Lord and Zhu Dongqing.
Faced with this attack, Shi Xiaole does not dodge, does not draw his sword or make any movements at all. Everyone thinks he is too scared to react.
Just when the giant mist hand is three feet above Shi Xiaole’s head, the massive palm pressure and the Sword Qi in the void clash, creating intense sparks, which rush out in all directions like sickles.
Shi Xiaole extends his left hand - not too gently, not too harshly, and points forward. Sword Qi shoots out from around his finger, reacting faster though released later and giving the illusion that the mist hand was stationary and being actively attacked by the Sword Qi due to its high speed.
Hiss!
A trail appears as the sparks are pierced, the Sword Qi striking the mist hand. Each inch the Sword Qi penetrates, it is weakened a little by the surface mist. However, the Sword Qi is surprisingly tenacious and its speed too rapid for the mist to block, resulting in it fully piercing through the mist hand.
Thump thump thump.
A figure steps back by seven or eight steps, the impact shaking the mist on the sea surface, causing it to steam and converge again, resembling unconventional water splashes.
The Cloud Tiger Lord stares in disbelief at his left hand.
Fresh blood is flowing from the wound in his palm, and some persistent Sword Qi lingers, attempting to infiltrate his body. Under the impact of his Vigorous Air, it takes a full three breaths of time to snuff it out.
He’s actually injured.
From the beginning, the Cloud Tiger Lord didn’t consider Shi Xiaole a worthy opponent. If he had been that strong, why would the Lord have wasted words instead of attacking directly? It’s clear that the youth had acted out of desperation due to the Lord’s Thousand Miles Arrow Order.
Moreover, looking at Shi Xiaole’s youthful face, he appears seventeen or eighteen, and not even thirty in actuality. It’s already remarkable for such a person to be an Invincible Lord, impossible that he’s the pinnacle amongst the Invincible Lords.
Unless he’s a top-tier genius. But considering the whole of Tian State, there are only a handful such geniuses, it can’t be that he’s so lucky as to run into one right here.
Yet now, at the moment of action, Shi Xiaole incontrovertibly proves through conduct that he’s undoubtedly a top-tier genius, his previous humility was but a facade.
"He forced back the Cloud Tiger Island Master in one move. Is this a joke?"
"I don’t believe it, there can’t be such a person. The Island Master must have been careless, and that kid put forth his whole strength, it must be so."
Seeing that with only one move, the one forced to retreat turned out to be the Cloud Tiger Lord, the atmosphere turns deathly still before erupting with an uproar of discussions. An expression of disbelief plastered on everyone’s face.
Zhu Dongqing widens his eyes in surprise, unable to maintain his composure. That seemingly young boy possesses such formidable skills?
"Wind True Intent, this person..."
Red Leaf Sword Lord’s eyebrows twitched frantically, sweat prickled his skin.
Previously, he was nearly killed by the youth in the purple robe, making him more familiar with the latter’s Swordplay than anyone else. Shi Xiaole, with just one finger, displayed the same Wind True Intent and charm as the purple-robed youth.
Of course, the purple-robed youth didn’t possess Shi Xiaole’s strength.
"Did you think that blocking one of my casual attacks makes you my equal? Dream on! Take another hit from me!"
His chest heaving with rage, which quickly turns into a murderous intent, the Cloud Tiger Lord roars, using eighty percent of his power. With a smack of his large hand, a white tiger leaps forth, charging murderously towards Shi Xiaole.
"Back off!"
His swordsmanship remained constant, Shi Xiaole still uses his left hand, pointing upwards with his index and middle fingers; the Sword Qi arises, effortlessly shattering the White Tiger. But soon, another tiger reemerges in front of him, faster and more violent, its claws tearing towards him.
Clouds are ethereal, unpredictable in their comings and goings. They can be dispersed but never destroyed. The Cloud Tiger Lord sneers. His Cloud Tiger’s Thirteen Transformation tactic has crushed countless strong opponents, and Shi Xiaole will be no exception.
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole doesn’t move an inch.
In the Cloud Tiger Lord’s eyes, his tactic was invincible but in Shi Xiaole’s eyes, it could be easily conquered. The Lord had only mastered the True Intent of Clouds, not actual clouds, far from reaching the natural state of the clouds in the sky.
However, Shi Xiaole didn’t bother to do that - defeating an opponent by overpowering them isn’t noteworthy. He preferred to defeat them with equal strength.
Whizz!
The Cloud Tiger reassembles, and yet the Sword Qi emitted makes another round, destroying the White Tiger for the second time at an even faster pace. The precise amount of Sword Qi turned into a gentle breeze after vanishing the White Tiger, ruffling Shi Xiaole’s white hair by his temples, resembling a painting of an Immortal.
Wind, invisible and formless, moving with utmost freedom. With Shi Xiaole’s current realm, the Sword Qi was like the wind, possessing many unimaginable abilities.
"Cloud Tiger’s Thirteen Transformations!"
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Before the roar had ended, the Cloud Tiger Lord’s body had been transformed into a cloud, devoid of any physical form or weight. One moment he was a hundred feet away, the next he was right in front, and then his illusions were everywhere.
The most terrifying aspect of these phantom images is that the aura of each one is identical, making it impossible to tell real from fake. Even Lan Haichen, a top expert ranked thirteenth on the list of Lords, found it difficult to distinguish between them for a moment.
In confrontations at this level, time is of the essence, and a delay of even a fraction of a second can have drastically different results.
"Real or fake, who cares?"
Shi Xiaole drew his sword. With a single stroke, countless green swordsman’s Qi burst out like a torrential rain, sweeping in all directions with a formidable force.
The cloud phantoms either evaded, charged forward, or leaped, but what was most shocking was that each green Sword Qi seemed to have its own consciousness, locking onto a cloud phantom and following it, reaching far and wide.
Therefore, this sword strike was not just a simple application of force, but a contest of skill.
Pft, pft, pft, pft...
One by one, the cloud phantoms were pierced through, and among the clouds, a figure hurriedly retreated in a rather disjointed manner.
"He broke my body technique?"
The complexion of Cloud Tiger Lord alternated between green and white, displaying both shock and disbelief.
The Cloud Tiger’s Thirteen Transformations was a true Intent body technique that he had created after observing the variations of the clouds in the sky and pondering for over ten years with his extraordinary talents. When he used it, even he himself couldn’t predict the true locations.
In the past, as long as Cloud Tiger Lord used this technique, no rival, no matter how strong, could handle him if they were below the Divine Barrier Realm.
He even believed that even if he were pitted against the terrifying beings ranked in the top five on the list of Lords in Tian State, he could hold his ground with this technique. Even if he couldn’t win, he would be able to protect himself without any problem.
But now, all his self-confidence was shattered by the young man in front of him who seemed ludicrously young.
"How is this possible?"
Yin Pole Lord drew in a sharp breath.
No one understood the strength of the Cloud Tiger’s Thirteen Transformations better than him. The kind of change it involved was beyond ordinary people’s imagination. If Shi Xiaole had shattered this skill with a True Intent martial art, it would have been understandable, but he didn’t.
This indicated that Shi Xiaole’s skill far surpassed that of the famously skilled Cloud Tiger Lord.
"He, he’s that young man in the purple robe!"
Red Leaf Sword Lord suddenly pointed at Shi Xiaole and shouted. This cry reminded the other Lords, recalling the sword moves of the other party, they were all shocked.
Xuanshui Lord clenched his fists. He didn’t believe that Shi Xiaole was the young man in the purple robe, but the sword techniques and the True Intent of the two were identical. Considering the fact that the other party was good at disguise, the answer was not hard to determine.
But the young man in the purple robe had been hunted down by them before and fled in a disheveled state. In just a blink of an eye, he was suppressing Cloud Tiger Lord. Was it that the world was changing too fast, or was he having a nightmare, a nightmare that he desperately wanted to wake up from?
"Ah..."
As everyone stood there dumbfounded in the deathly silence, Cloud Tiger Lord let out a loud roar. He suddenly pulled out two short rods from his pocket, inserted them together, and the short rods transformed into a long rod. The surface of the rod was flowing with a mysterious blue light, giving an impression of being indestructible yet capable of demolishing mountains and seas.
"Hehehe, I forgot to tell you, what I truly specialize in is not palm skills, but staff techniques. You should feel proud to die under my Cloud Tiger Staff."
If possible, Cloud Tiger Lord didn’t want to reveal the Cloud Tiger Staff. This was a top-notch lower-grade Spiritual Weapon. While the high-level Divine Barrier Realm experts might not care, it was an invaluable treasure for the warriors below the Divine Barrier Realm.
Even those Lords from the top sects, more than 80% of them had never owned one.
For an Invincible Lord like him, once he had the Cloud Tiger Staff, his offensive power could almost rival those ranked in the top five on the Lord rankings, only falling short in other aspects.
But now, he had no choice but to reveal the Cloud Tiger Staff. Once he was beaten back, Shi Xiaole and Lan Haichen would certainly leave. How would he explain to the high-level Divine Barrier Realm experts who came rushing over, that they were being toyed with?
Luckily, thanks to the intimidation of the Sea Whale Alliance and the fact that he stayed in the South Sea all year round, not many people should covet it.
"A top-notch lower-grade Spiritual Weapon, didn’t expect that the Cloud Tiger Island Master had such a card up his sleeve."
Red Leaf Sword Lord let out a slight sigh of relief.
Since he had taken out the long staff and was proficient in staff techniques, the power that Cloud Tiger Lord should be able to unleash would certainly be far stronger than before.
"Wings of the Tiger, kill!"
Cloud Tiger Lord vigorously swung the Cloud Tiger Staff. Numerous staff radiants broke out from its surface, forming a winged tiger that was ten feet tall and rushed out like a flash of lightning, heading straight for Shi Xiaole.
"If you’re not strong enough, even the best weapon is useless."
The level of the Cloud Tiger Staff was equivalent to the Red Dragon Sword, and the long sword in Shi Xiaole’s hand was just an ordinary lower-grade Spiritual Weapon, which had put him at a huge disadvantage from the start. However, he didn’t care.
If he told the truth, he hadn’t even used half of his strength just now. In other words, at this moment, Shi Xiaole could overpower a top-tier Invincible Lord with just half his strength.
Facing the winged tiger, Shi Xiaole swung his long sword, and a Gale Blade attack was unleashed.
After reaching the peak of the Heavenly Sword Realm, Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship had truly reached the peak of the Dragon Gate Realm —— the Sword Qi was only a thin layer, but it carried the sharpness and speed of the wind.
Hiss!
The wings of the cloud tiger were severed. The remaining sword Qi scattered and then pierced through the cloud tiger.
