Chapter 664: Chapter 663: I Choose the Third Path
On the side of the wide official road, there was a tea stall.
Lingnan is mostly mountainous, so official roads are not as common as in other places. Some businessmen have set up rest stops on the side for passing trade caravans, escort agencies, and even martial artists to rest.
At this moment, it was noon, the sun blazing, and there were only a few people and horses on the road.
Sparse visitors were seated inside the tea stall, nibbling on peanuts or gulping down liquor. But without exception, everyone listened engrossed to the fascinating stories told by the old storyteller in the center.
"Grandpa, what happened in the end? Did Kirin win?"
A little girl, held in a woman’s arms, asked anxiously.
The old storyteller said, "How could it be wrong? Kirin drew his sword across the void, directly sending Tie Yunzi flying over three hundred feet, and those present at Endless Risky Peak almost went mad."
He made exaggerated faces, causing the people in the tea stall to laugh.
Actually, some martial artists who have seen the Martial World gathering naturally know about the events of the Endless Risky Peak. But, listening to the old man’s intriguing narrative, they refrained from bursting his bubble.
The little girl blinked, and suddenly said, "Grandpa, you said Kirin is very handsome. Is he more handsome than that big brother?"
She was pointing to a young man in green clothes sitting at the outermost part of the tea stall.
From the start, he was quietly drinking tea. The two strands of white hair on his temples were indeed similar to the Kirin mentioned in legends.
Nevertheless, the martial artists in the tea stall only laughed.
In the martial world today, countless fanatics worship Kirin. Many young newcomers would wear green clothes and intentionally dye their sideburns white. Hence, the martial artists were accustomed to seeing such antics.
Naturally, they referred to the young man in green as a follower of Kirin.
With a glance, the old storyteller said, "Kirin is widely acknowledged in the Martial World as a handsome man, so it’s unlikely he’d be less attractive than this young master."
The atmosphere in the tea stall continued to rise.
Using Kirin as the topic, the martial artists present started discussing the recent rising stars.
"That Ye Yuanzhen is truly impressive. I heard that he defeated Fu Tong in three moves and even boasted that he would dominate at Mount Wanxiang next year, competing with the five major monsters."
"And there’s Xie Dongting who is said to possess a born blade bone and no one can match his swift blade. In two months, he has consecutively defeated thirteen Invincible Lords, claiming himself as the best blade user in the Martial World in decades."
"These two have risen to fame recently, sweeping through the Martial World. Their rankings on the Lord list have now ascended to seventh and ninth respectively. It’s said that their next step is to challenge the previously ranked five Invincible Lords."
In the few months that Shi Xiaole entered the Yiling barrier, much happened in the Martial World. Many elites emerged, such as Ye Yuanzhen and Xie Dongting, the two people being talked about around them.
The two can be summed up in four words — they became famous overnight.
Few people know about their lineage or their background. They only know that they appeared like a comet, suddenly lighting up the sky of the Martial World when everyone least expected it.
In just two short months, they rose from obscurity to being top ten experts on the Lord list. Recently, the hype around Ye Yuanzhen and Xie Dongting is almost comparable to their contemporaries, the Five Great Monsters.
"You probably don’t know this, but a few days ago, Ye Yuanzhen defeated Wen Weijian, who ranks third on the Lord List, again with only three moves."
Someone held up three fingers, revealing shocking news.
After the Battle of Endless Risky Peak, the Divine Strategy Academy immediately reorganized the Lord list. As expected, Kirin overwhelmed the others and ascended to the top. The subsequent rankings were adjusted accordingly.
The originally ranked first, Fei Wenyu, was moved to second. The second-ranked Wen Weijian moved to third and so on.
Regarding the fact that Ye Yuanzhen defeated Wen Weijian with three moves, the people in the tea stall were somewhat skeptical.
The person who spoke earlier continued, "There were many witnesses at that time, and I believe it won’t be long before the news will spread. After that battle, Ye Yuanzhen challenged Fei Wenyu asking him to take on his three moves."
In the hasty and disordered breathing, the atmosphere within the tea stall was strange.
About Ye Yuanzhen, beside his arrogant personality, what made the deepest impression was his way of fighting. No matter who he confronted, he always defeated his enemy within three moves.
In his own words, he says that he has three aunts, he is the third in the family, and his birthdate is March third. Therefore, he likes to defeat his opponents in three moves.
His nickname is "Impossible to Withstand Three."
"According to spectators, Fei Wenyu admitted in public that he could not withstand Ye Yuanzhen’s three moves. At that time, Ye Yuanzhen said that he confronted him only to warm up."
The speaker dropped another bombshell.
Warm up?
So, the second-ranked Fei Wenyu was not Ye Yuanzhen’s target at all. Then who could it be?
Almost everyone instinctively knew the answer.
It had been suspected for a long time that Ye Yuanzhen was hiding his true strength. From his speech and behavior, one can see his burning ambition to be number one.
So challenging Kirin should only be a matter of time.
However, the Martial World didn’t hold high hopes for him.
At present, Kirin is considered the unparalleled figure beneath the Divine Border Realm of the Flying Horse Dynasty. Although there hasn’t been any news from him for several months, his name has come to symbolise peerless prowess within his level.
Shi Xiaole put down his teacup. He hadn’t imagined that such a person would show up in the Martial World after he’d left for a few months. A sense of an impending great era filled with towering geniuses filled his heart, thrilling him.
The place was not far from the Qin Family of Yuanling. He took a brief rest and was about to set out when his expression suddenly changed, and he looked off into the distance.
From there, a terrifyingly intense sensation was rolling in. Even from thousands of miles away, it made one feel oppressed, weak, and limp.
The surge of energy took a physical form, becoming thick dark clouds. As they passed, the bright noontime sun itself was mercilessly obscured, casting a heavy shadow that enveloped the world. Not until the clouds moved away did the light return.
In an instant, the clouds closed over the tea pavilion from several thousand miles away. The air, heavy as a lead weight, left everyone present breaking out in cold sweat, as if they would suffocate the next moment.
"Hahaha, I’ve found you at last, Kirin, after much searching,"
As the dark cloud dissipated, a figure appeared in the air. His eyes were like arrows; most people couldn’t bear to look at him more than once. They felt prickling pain all over their bodies and shivered uncontrollably, so much so that they couldn’t hear the newcomer’s words clearly.
Shi Xiaole lifted his head and said, "I don’t know you. I’ve never offended you."
The Sky Crow Wanderer laughed uproariously, a look of mockery on his face.
He found it hard to believe that such childish words could come from the famous Kirin.
"You still don’t understand the rules of the Martial World, Kirin. What’s more, you have not offended me, but you have offended the Whale Alliance. There has never been a good outcome for those who offend the Whale Alliance."
Remembering how he had narrowly escaped death in the past few months while chasing after Kirin, the Sky Crow Wanderer was overcome with righteous anger, yet he couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased with himself.
What about the five great monsters? What about being the number one below the Divine Border Realm? In the end, they all fell into his hands.
"The Whale Alliance?"
Shi Xiaole understood.
He didn’t expect that the Whale Alliance would go so far as to send someone into the Flying Horse Dynasty to deal with him. If their identities were revealed, the government would undoubtedly hunt them down.
In the eyes of the Sky Crow Wanderer, he probably believed that Shi Xiaole posed no serious threat and handling him was nothing more than a trivial matter.
"Kirin?"
After a short pause, the people in the tea house finally heard clearly. They couldn’t believe their ears.
Although they didn’t recognize the Sky Crow Wanderer, his words were most likely true given his intense energy. Hence, the youth in green that they had just been mockingly discussing behind his back was indeed the authentic Kirin.
"I give you two choices. First, everyone here dies, and you come with me. Second, if you don’t want to implicate the innocent, you disable your martial arts. Choose one."
The Sky Crow Wanderer laughed wildly as he enjoyed holding Kirin’s life in his hands.
With his words, a surge of energy erupted from his body, covering them like violent storms and black clouds hanging over the city.
The wooden poles and beams in the tea pavilion creaked under the pressure, and everyone present turned pale, as though the end of the world was upon them. They didn’t even have an ounce of strength left to resist.
"Is that... the power of Martial Arts? Is he... a Terrestrial Immortal?"
One of the low-tier martial artists in the Dragon Gate Realm understood the second stream of truth. His lips quivered uncontrollably.
Under this oppressive energy, his truth was severely suppressed, and only Martial Arts power could suppress the truth.
Oh my God, a Terrestrial Immortal is chasing after Kirin?
Everyone heard his words and felt like they would faint from fear.
The major forces in the Martial World of Tian State all had Terrestrial Immortals to back them up, and most had more than one, not to mention the top-notch forces. But if you take the vast size of Tian State into account, ordinary people would never see one in their entire lives.
They were at the apex of the pyramid of power in the Flying Horse Dynasty. To the individuals gathered here, they were like ants looking at the sky, an impossible goal.
Thinking that the lives of everyone was entirely up to Kirin, their eyes turned hard as they looked towards Shi Xiaole, waiting to see how he would choose.
"I choose the third option."
Facing the threat of the Sky Crow Wanderer, Shi Xiaole’s expression remained unchanged and he spoke word by word, "No one has to die, you die."
After he had been bathed in the light of the Divine Stone, Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power hadn’t increased, but his spiritual quality had greatly improved, so his perceptiveness and sense of awareness were now much stronger.
Almost as soon as the Sky Crow Wanderer appeared, he recognized that this man was an expert in the first realm of the Divine Border, and, most importantly, he did not pose any threat to himself.
At Shi Xiaole’s level, intuition wasn’t something illusory and abstract, so he absurdly but steadfastly believed that he didn’t need to fear this man.
Upon hearing Shi Xiaole’s words, the people there thought they had heard wrong.
Some turned deathly pale, shaking like leaves. They feared Kirin would drag everyone with him. After all, they were complete strangers to him; why would he care about their lives?
The Sky Crow Wanderer was first taken aback, then he laughed out loud with rage, his laughter piercing the clouds, filled with a chilling murderous intent.
"I offered you an olive branch, and you rejected it. I will disable you first, then kill everyone else."
In truth, even if Shi Xiaole had surrendered, to prevent the news from leaking, the Sky Crow Wanderer would still have committed mass murder. However, he resented Shi Xiaole for not cooperating with him.
"Black Sky Palm!"
Summoning up fifty percent of his power, the Sky Crow Wanderer reached out and a jet-black palm descended from the sky. Carrying an oppressive Majestic Internal Energy, it cloaked everything under its dark clouds.
