Chapter 630: Chapter 629: Adrift
It was late evening, and the distant glowing red setting sun dyed both the sky and the sea a reddish hue, while seagulls fluttered in the air. In the very front of their gaze, there was a figure who looked as ethereal as an immortal.
His body too was tinged with the sunset’s amber hue, his hair, white as frost, fluttered gently with the sea breeze, his face as rough-hewn as if carved from stone, yet his expression was tranquil.
"Should we ... attack him?"
Having already suffered the loss of six Lords, the remaining who had yet to rush to the scene, except for the Luoyu Knife Lord, included five Invincible Lords. Some of them secretly communicated with others, questioning whether or not to attack.
"Idiot! If you want to die, go for it yourself!"
A lord rebuked angrily.
As a joke, even the Cloud Tiger Lord and others were chopped up like vegetables; what use would they be if they stepped forward?
Indeed, if everyone present combined their efforts and engaged Shi Xiaole in a life-or-death struggle, it would not be difficult to kill him. But the condition would require Shi Xiaole to be resistant to withdrawals. However, Shi Xiaole is not stupid, who could stop him if he wanted to leave?
Not to mention the number of people who would have to die in the process.
Everyone joined the Whale Alliance for a leisurely and happy life, rich with delicacies from land and sea. But when it comes time to risk their lives, who would be willing to step forward?
Sheathing the Cloud Tiger Staff, Shi Xiaole soared upwards, the people on the ships ahead saw him coming like a harbinger of death, and without any need for a warning, they commanded their helmsman to clear a path.
The whale let out a joyful cry, following Shi Xiaole through the waves, and soon swam out of the encirclement, disappearing from everyone’s sights in no time.
After the death of a few Invincible Lords, Lan Haichen naturally had nothing to fear anymore, he swung his large blade, leaving a pathway of hundreds of meters through the seawater, stunning those from the Whale Alliance.
One by one, the experts from the Martial World followed suit and left, but the lords of the Whale Alliance made no attempt to stop them.
By now, most of the people knew that the purple-robed young man they were looking to kill was indeed that same green-robed young man. Since the main target had left, capturing these remaining people was meaningless, and would only result innocent casualties.
"That person must be Kirin, only Kirin could have such talent."
Aboard the ship where the Ghost Lethal Sect were located, the female disciple who had recognized Shi Xiaole earlier was still engrossed in the sensation Shi Xiaole created, unable to pull herself free.
Such strength, such temperament, probably no woman could forget.
"I heard that when they were at Mount Wanxiang, although Kirin defeated Fu Tong with one sword, he was still just the Limit Supreme Lord. I don’t know if he’s been hiding his true strength, or if he just leveled up recently."
Although everyone had no doubts about Shi Xiaole’s identity, they were suspicious of his strength, a male disciple from Ghost Lethal Sect couldn’t help but grumble.
"Most likely he was hiding it. Otherwise, who have you seen who’s just become the Invincible Lord having such strength?"
Another male disciple said.
"Well, that’s true. In my view, given Kirin’s current strength, it’s not putting him first of the Flying Horse Dynasty, but he must not be far off."
The words were obviously influenced by the previous shock and awe, but more importantly, before Kirin, the Four Great Demonic Beings, each undefeated at the Dragon Gate Realm.
For instance, the oldest among them, the Young Dragon - it was over twenty years ago when he fought all over the land with the Flying Dragon Sword, and among all the Lords, few could withstand just one of his sword strikes. It wasn’t until he became a Terrestrial Immortal in the Divine Border Realm that his name was stricken from the list of lords.
The other three demonic beings-’Jade Lion’ Mu Ling aged twenty-nine, the ’Heavenly Phoenix’ Duanmu Keren aged thirty, and ’Mysterious Sparrow’ Gui Zhihang aged thirty-one, all being of a similar age.
All three of them once dominated the lords’ ranking, but Gui Zhihang remained at the top for the longest time. This was because they all had incredibly similar talents, yet Gui Zhihang was one year older and hence, had more time to practice.
After Gui Zhihang advanced to the Divine Border Realm, Duanmu Keren and Mu Ling each reigned for one year, and then too eventually emerged from their shells, achieving the state of Terrestrial Immortals.
In fact, wherever the Four Demonic Beings were, they always crushed the competition and there was never a second outcome. You could never judge them by common reasoning. Just like the Martial Emperor of yesteryears, advancing all the way forward, there were never any setbacks.
As the Fifth Demonic Being, Shi Xiaole’s talent naturally should not be inferior to the other four, which is why the disciple of the Ghost Lethal Sect suggested that Shi Xiaole, as he is now, could very well be the number one person in the Dragon Gate Realm of the Flying Horse Dynasty.
"Maybe so, but it’s not a hundred percent certain yet, after all, Kirin lacks enough battle achievements to confirm that."
Others chimed in, their voices laced with an undeniable hint of both envy and jealousy.
The ships sped through the sea, while the disciples of the Ghost Lethal Sect discussed Shi Xiaole on one hand and worried about the safety of the Ninth Elder on the other.
Unfortunately, the whale swam fast, and they did not dare to get too close, fearing that they would upset Shi Xiaole. They eventually lost sight of the whale.
...
The sea was endless.
"As top-notch inferior spiritual weapons, this Cloud Tiger Staff is inferior compared to the Red Dragon Sword."
On the back of the blue whale, Shi Xiaole held the navy blue Cloud Tiger Staff in his left hand and the blood-red Red Dragon Sword in his right. When the two weapons drew near each other, as if sensing each other’s presence, they simultaneously emitted a violent trembling sound.
However, the tiger’s roar was soon suppressed by the dragon’s chant.
Shi Xiaole guessed that it was probably because the Red Dragon Sword had a shorter existence.
Spiritual weapons have a lifespan. As time goes on, the surface material will inevitably develop cracks due to the impact of the seal force inside, leading to energy leakage and a decrease in power.
Judging from the mottled cracks on the surface of the Cloud Tiger Staff, this weapon should have existed for a long time.
I’ll keep it for now. I can give it to someone later."
Storing both weapons in the system space, Shi Xiaole stood up and moved to the head of the blue whale, squatting down and gently petting it.
The blue whale suddenly let out a gentle cry.
It could clearly see that Shi Xiaole had earlier repelled those dangerous humans, enabling it to safely leave. It was secretly grateful to him.
"I hope we can both return home safely, without any danger along the way."
Before setting out to the South Sea, Shi Xiaole had investigated the Whale Alliance and knew that the more northward he went, the weaker the Alliance’s influence became. Hence, he purposely directed the whale northwards to avoid being pursued by the Alliance as much as possible.
Letting out a few cries, the blue whale continued its joyful journey.
Days at sea were always so peaceful.
Every day, Shi Xiaole would either meditate or practice his swordsmanship, with a focus on the latter.
After attaining the pinnacle of his Heavenly Sword technique, his understanding of swordsmanship climbed to a new level. Now overflowing with inspiration, he planned to develop new sword techniques.
There were two directions in particular: one was to continue improving the Wind Killing sword technique, and the other was to create a new sword technique driven by Life and Death True Intent, based on the Soul Extinguisher technique.
As for the way to break through the gap that remained, he couldn’t just rely on intuition anymore. He needed to broaden his understanding and use other breakthrough methods as a reference.
Days passed by.
The blue whale seemed to have become more lively than before, perhaps because it had a companion now. Sometimes it would playfully submerge into the deep sea and forcefully accelerate upwards, or it would suddenly roll over whilst swimming, causing waves to form.
Each time, Shi Xiaole would deliberately act flustered, which pleased the whale. However, if Shi Xiaole overdid the act, the whale would be worried and quickly steady itself.
During this time, Shi Xiaole and the whale encountered people from the Whale Alliance multiple times. The groups could be as large as tens of thousands of people or as small as hundreds. Regardless of the size, they were invariably defeated and scattered in the face of Shi Xiaole’s sword.
Simultaneously, upon receiving the news, the higher-ups in the Whale Alliance were furious. Several Divine Barrier Realm masters were frantically chasing him now.
However, the South Sea was simply too vast. The territories occupied by the Whale Alliance were merely drops in the ocean compared to the shallow areas of the South Sea, not to mention the entire South Sea.
Finding someone in such a vast sea was harder than reaching the sky.
The elderly man in the long robe and the round-faced man were getting weaker.
As Terrestrial Immortals in the Divine Barrier Realm, they could endure without eating or drinking for a month. However, their mental exertion couldn’t be measured in time.
Over twenty days had passed, and the two had evidently thinned a great deal, their eyes disoriented and lifeless. It seemed their time of death was only a few days away.
"Unless one eliminates their inner demons and harmful thoughts, they cannot escape from the Array System."
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but admire the three monks even more after taking back his gaze.
The Array System they laid down, provided benefits and freedom to those with principles while those harboring ill intentions could only die within it. It served as an effective selection process.
Using his arm as a sword, Shi Xiaole suddenly swung it towards the front.
Whistling noises could be heard.
In an instant, a thin layer of black smoke shrouded a radius of five hundred meters around him, hiding in the sea water. Then countless fish and shrimp floated to the surface, carrying algae and blowing bubbles from their mouths within the area covered by the black smoke.
Shi Xiaole swung his arm once more.
The black smoke suddenly turned into white smoke, which then infused into the bodies of the fish and shrimp. They instantly regained their vitality and dove back into the sea.
The seagulls in the sky found this peculiar and eerie spectacle quite fascinating, and they made excited cries.
"This sword technique, which can transform life into death and death into life, with life and death in a single thought, should be much more profound and powerful than Soul Extinguishing."
After many days of rigorous cultivation, Shi Xiaole made significant progress. He referenced the Undying Seven Illusions and finally created another sword technique based on the Life and Death True Intent.
Unlike Soul Extinguisher, which is solely infused with Death True Intent, this sword technique possesses both Life True Intent and Death True Intent. It can freely switch between the two intents, making it an evolution of the Undying Seven Illusions.
However, this technique was yet to be perfected.
According to Shi Xiaole, not only should this sword technique be potent, but it should also be as inescapable as possible for his adversaries. It shouldn’t be like Soul Extinguisher, which could be evaded with enough speed.
"Perhaps I could incorporate the essence of illusion techniques to create illusions."
Ordinary people are unable to combine two intents, but Shi Xiaole was an exception. Besides, the Undying Seven Illusions itself was an illusion technique, so integrating it into his sword technique should be simple.
Closing his eyes, Shi Xiaole continued his contemplation.
Initially, he extracted a trace of Wind Sword Way intending to enhance Wind Killing. However, Wind Killing was already a top-tier secondary-grade sword technique. The next level would be a primary-grade sword technique.
It was clear that this was beyond Shi Xiaole’s abilities. Even many Terrestrial Immortals in the Divine Barrier Realm could only cultivate primary-grade martial arts but were incapable of creating them.
The sun rose and fell, and the stars twinkled.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
The elderly man in the long robe and the round-faced man had long since died. They fell in front of the stone man and were automatically expelled by the Array System, plunging into the sea.
During this period, Shi Xiaole tried to activate the Array Systems of the other two stone men, but to no avail. It was probably because the tests of the three stone men were largely similar, and he had already passed the test of one stone man.
