Chapter 637: Chapter 636: Jade Lion’s Challenge
There was a light drizzle in the sky, with raindrops splashing on the bluestone pavement, covering it with a layer of hazy white mist.
Inside the inn, everyone was astounded.
"Impossible, isn’t it? Xing Shuzi himself is a genius of a generation who advanced to the Divine Barrier Realm fifty-three years ago. Legend has it that when he first broke through, he shattered a hundred-meter-high mountain into scattered rocks with a single palm. Now, his martial arts skills must have reached an unpredictable realm."
Breaking through to the Divine Barrier Realm in itself represents martial arts elites, and after fifty-three years of accumulation, no one can imagine how powerful Xing Shuzi is.
In contrast, Jade Lion is only twenty-nine years old, and has been practicing martial arts since he was seven, merely twenty-two years ago. Is he really challenging Xing Shuzi?
If it wasn’t for the notorious name of Jade Lion being widespread, and his every move causing astonishing miracles, everyone would think he’s crazy.
But even so, many people still have trouble believing this news, filled with doubt.
"Don’t you guys disbelieve it, the whole martial world has got wind of it. Even Carefree Unmoving City has confirmed the news."
The first martial artist to speak swallowed the peanuts from the plate, took a sip of wine, his face turning slightly red. His voice spread throughout the inn, "There are still more than twenty days until the first day of next month, but martial artists all over the place have already begun to head towards Endless Risky Peak. That battle is sure to shake the whole world!"
Martial world people love excitement. And this challenge initiated by Jade Lion is like a depth charge, causing continuous waves in martial world, unstoppable like a tsunami.
Frankly speaking, this is one of the most influential major events in the Flying Horse Dynasty over the past five years.
"Xing Shuzi’s Senior Brother is Jin Chengzi, who is one of the top hundred terrestrial immortals. His talent is not as exceptional as his brother’s, but he is only slightly inferior. This time, Jade Lion is too rash."
A mature and steady middle-aged person shook his head. Despite knowing about Jade Lion’s natural talent and his consistent ability to exceed expectations, he still wasn’t optimistic about him.
The so-called ’Top Hundred Terrestrial Immortals’ is a concept formulated by the Divine Strategy Academy, similar to a list, but without a clear ranking.
Martial arts practitioners at the Divine Barrier Realm are different from other fighters. At this level, unless there is a fight to the death, no one knows their depths and details.
In the past, there were two terrestrial immortals who held grudges. One was a widely known figure, while the other was not well-known within the celestial circle. However, to everyone’s surprise, it only took ten moves for the less famous terrestrial immortal to cut off the head of the latter, shocking everyone.
There were also some terrestrial immortals who were pompous and bombastic. When they were besieged by several people, they burst out with several times their original strength, killing the enemies. Only then did everyone realize that he was concealing his true power under flamboyance.
Everyone has their secrets and trump cards. In summary, at the realm of terrestrial immortals, unless there is a significant difference, it is difficult to truly judge a person’s strength.
As for the top ten martial artists of the Flying Horse Dynasty, although they all have transcended the realm of terrestrial immortals, they all participated in the battle between good and evil over six hundred years ago. Although many incidents are now blurred, the key major battles still circulate, making rankings simpler.
It is for this reason that, despite the intelligence capabilities of Divine Strategy Academy, they didn’t dare to rank every terrestrial immortal, thus they listed a ’Top Hundred Terrestrial Immortals’ instead.
’Top Hundred Terrestrial Immortals’ are the one hundred strongest terrestrial immortals. They are obviously more superior than other terrestrial immortals, but their relative strengths are difficult to measure. They are known as the strongest under the Void Origin Realm.
Jin Chengzi and Xing Shuzi hail from the same school and Jin Chengzi is one among the ’Top Hundred Terrestrial Immortals’. People believe that given Xing Shuzi’s potential, he might also enter the ’Top Hundred Terrestrial Immortals’ in the future.
Jade Lion, who just advanced to the Divine Barrier Realm over a year ago, plans to rashly challenge the famous Xing Shuzi, who has been opposing him for fifty years. This is not just reckless, but bordering on humiliation and overconfidence!
However, fearing the wrath of Jade Lion, some people in the inn didn’t voice out such thoughts.
"Yes, logically, Xing Shuzi has a much greater chance of winning. But don’t forget, Jade Lion is one of the five demons and he always defies common sense. So maybe, just maybe, he’s confident too."
A young man quietly rebuked.
"Impossible, even the highest talent has a limit! One year against fifty years, Xing Shuzi is not an ordinary person."
"No matter what, this challenge is undoubtedly sensational! Enough talk, as soon as I finish this drink, I am going to start heading towards Endless Risky Peak, I hope it’s not too late."
"Ha ha ha, with your prowess, I bet you won’t even be able to reach the foot of Endless Risky Peak."
People in the inn laughed and chatted, with Jade Lion and Xing Shuzi being the hot topics.
At some point, a young man in a cyan outfit, with streaks of white in his hair, sat down in the main hall, quietly listening to the surrounding chatter.
"This is really something."
Shi Xiaole took a sip of hot tea, and despite his composure, he couldn’t help but be startled upon hearing the news.
He suddenly recalled that someone once mentioned that Mu Ling, before going to Mount Wanxiang, was not called Jade Lion but Crazy Lion. True to his name, Shi Xiaole had finally witnessed the other man’s recklessness.
However, being one of the five demons himself, his perception was different from others.
Mu Ling would not have reached his current position if he were arrogant and not sensible. Given that he has challenged Xing Shuzi, he must have some confidence.
Though it may seem implausible to outsiders, Shi Xiaole knew himself best. Even with only thirty percent of his strength, he was confident he could easily defeat the Invincible lord, the top one on the Lord’s list. If he were to say it out loud, who would believe him?
He has comprehended the Wind Sword Way, and mastered it, even before reaching the Divine Barrier Realm. Who would believe that?
If he could do things unimaginable to ordinary people, then perhaps the Jade Lion could as well.
Of course, these were all just conjectures; all the answers would be revealed on the first day of next month.
"I’ve been at loose end lately, so I might as well go and take a look."
Shi Xiaole was curious about the other four major freaks, and he had heard that the Endless Risky Peak was a wonder in Tian State, which interested him.
Soon after, Qin Xiangyu and the other two hurried over, obviously having heard about the upcoming duel. The beautiful young girl asked immediately, "Brother Shi, are you going to watch?"
"Of course I am. What about you guys?"
Shi Xiaole replied with a smile.
"Brother Shi, it looks like we will be travelling together again."
Yu Zhao seemed somewhat excited.
After Shi Xiaole had settled the bill for their accommodation, the group of four set off.
This scene, viewed by the martial-world spectators in the inn, was dismissed as just another case of fanatical worshippers of the five major freaks, wanting to witness the legend of their idols. They all chuckled and continued to drink and chat, agreeing on the day they would set off.
...
As Southern Star City was far from the Endless Risky Peak, the four of them had to make a hastened journey.
Along the way, they saw a flurry of activity on the roads, dust kicked up by numerous passing horses. In almost every city, at every resting spot, they could hear people discussing the impending battle.
Random martial-world dwellers, scions of prestigious families, clan masters... In short, everyone in the martial world, regardless of gender, age or status, was filled with anticipation for the upcoming battle.
Even more astoundingly, some people were stirring up public opinion, claiming this to be the first battle of the four other young monsters ruling the martial world, beginning with the Jade Lion!
"Xing Shuzi represents the last generation’s favored son, while Jade Lion is one of the leading figures of the current generation. This is the first head-on challenge from junior to senior. They say that a dazzling era that only comes once in tens of thousands of years is about to begin, and I feel like I can already smell the gunpowder."
"Indeed, besides the Martial Emperor, no one else has advanced as rapidly as the five major monsters."
Such public opinion within a certain range caused quite a stir, but in the end, it didn’t spread widely.
After all, apart from the Young Dragon, the remaining four major monsters were at most thirty-one years old, with the youngest, Kirin, only twenty-six. It was too early to say they were beginning to rule the martial world. Moreover, who knew what the outcome of the battle on the first day of the month would be.
Just as it seemed the eyes of the entire world were on Endless Risky Peak, after enduring more than half a month of traveling through wind and rain, Shi Xiaole and his companions finally arrived at their destination.
Endless Risky Peak was located in the center of Tian State, surrounded by countless mountain ranges spanning thousands of miles. These mountain ranges, high and low, elevation constantly changing the further one ventured in, looked as if they were spiraling outward when viewed from the side.
As Shi Xiaole and his companions closed in on Endless Risky Peak, they found themselves at an altitude over ten thousand meters high.
Ahead, clouds rolled and changed in an instant. Under the glow of the crimson sun, they seemed like a vast, boundless sea of red, imposing and magnificent.
Even more astonishing was, hidden under the clouds, when exposed by the wind, were the bases of numerous mountains, near and far, packed tightly together.
Yes, the bases of mountains!
The starting altitude of Endless Risky Peak was ten thousand meters, then one would have to continue climbing to reach the top.
The reason for saying ’might’ was that the air pressure at Endless Risky Peak was different from other places. Those below the Dragon Gate Realm level could only stand at the base of the mountain. As one ascended to a certain height, the already terrifying air pressure would multiply, demanding high-quality Vigorous Air.
Typically, low-rank martial artists of Dragon Gate Realm could only ascend to a height of five hundred meters. Mid-rank martial artists could only make it around one thousand meters, and high-rank martial artists usually made it to around one thousand five hundred meters.
Most of the Lords were able to make it to a height of two thousand five hundred meters because the gap in terms of Vigorous Air between starting-level Lords and high-level Lords was not very significant.
On the other hand, Invincible Lords, due to their higher purity in Vigorous Air, could usually reach a height of three thousand meters.
Above that, it was the domain of the Divine Barrier Realm.
As Shi Xiaole and the others arrived at the base of the mountain, figures began to fly in from all around. All of them had an amazing aura, they were all top-notch martial artists in the martial world.
Tian State was a land of a brilliant people and abundant resources, coupled with its large population, which meant a plethora of Lords. If we were to calculate the proportion, it would be roughly one in a million.
However, among the high-level martial artists present, the ratio was different. For almost every hundred high-level martial artists, there was one Lord. Among those were high-level and Invincible Lords. Even starting-level Lords were as common as cabbages here.
This grand scene had not appeared for several decades. From this, one could tell how much impact the battle provoked by the Jade Lion had in the martial world.
Not wasting any more time, Shi Xiaole and his companions immediately ascended the mountain. As the beautiful girl only had a practice of the eighth level in Dragon Gate Realm, the four of them chose in advance a mountain that was just over one thousand six hundred meters tall.
