Chapter 695: Chapter 694: Essence (Updated for ’20170624041258224’)
Recently in the Martial World, true talents were emerging in succession. Wave after wave of outstanding individuals appeared suddenly, taking the stage one after another.
However, when it comes to natural talent, the five demon geniuses still held unattainable positions. But in terms of strength, except for ’Young Dragon’ Zhang Xiangfeng, who was first on the Earth Immortal list and ranked among the top hundred Earth Immortals, the remaining four were not that remarkable.
For instance, ’Mysterious Sparrow’ Gui Zhihang was ranked sixteenth on the Earth Immortal list.
’Heavenly Phoenix’ Duanmu Keren was ranked twenty-first on the Earth Immortal list.
’Jade Lion’ Mu Ling, had not made the list at all.
As for ’Kirin’ Shi Xiaole, due to his remarkable achievement at Wuling Villa, where he defeated four Earth Immortals single-handedly, he was ranked thirtieth.
The four of them were simply too young. Even if their talents were higher, they had no advantages when compared with peerless geniuses who had practiced for decades more than them.
However, name casts its shadow. Even though their brilliance had dimmed slightly, the presence of Shi Xiaole still attracted the attention of many people on the scene.
...
Inside the Tri-Pole Palace, a thick fog of chaos lingered.
Shi Xiaole amplified his spiritual power to its limit, covering a range of 2,500 meters. After one 2-hour period, he still had not found anything.
It was said that besides the Tri-Pole Strongmans, there was only one servant in the Tri-Pole Palace responsible for cleaning and cooking. After the Tri-Pole Array was activated a few days ago, even that servant had left.
Both logically and emotionally, the Tri-Pole Palace should not be large. The fact that he had not finished walking around after two 2-hour periods was likely due to the influence of the Array System.
"Hm?"
At that moment, the dense fog before Shi Xiaole’s eyes dissipated, and in its place was a sea of flowers.
In this sea of flowers, countless petals of various colors bloomed in competition, then wilted at their brightest moment, turning into specks of spring mud and re-forming into seeds, repeating the cycle of growth and decay.
"An illusion?"
According to the routine of seniors testing juniors, this place should be an opportunity. Given Shi Xiaole’s research on the Illusion Martial Way, he indeed sensed something profoundly mysterious within it.
But he forcefully restrained himself from comprehending it.
Though he was well-versed in four martial ways, compared to others, Shi Xiaole was more passionate about swordsmanship. If he had a choice, he would prefer to comprehend the essence of the Golden Sword Way in the Tri-Poles.
Understand that the comprehension here is different from comprehension in the usual sense.
What the Tri-Pole Strongmans did was to incorporate the essence of their life into martial arts, and then completely let go, they made an irreversible act of self-damage for others’ benefit. Outsiders also had to release their own martial arts in order to comprehend it.
Otherwise, with so many Earth Immortals in these top force, wouldn’t it be possible for a few Earth Immortals to emit their martial arts aura each day, allowing the disciples of these forces to advance rapidly?
The Tri-Pole Palace was after all the territory of the Tri-Pole Strongmans. Shi Xiaole temporarily restored his true self and naturally could not reveal the Illusion Martial Way, otherwise, there might be a big problem.
Passing through the sea of flowers, and soon, Shi Xiaole saw a pond. Gouts of brown smoke were rising, as ethereal as a dream. After inhaling a small breath, Shi Xiaole felt dizzy, as if he had no strength in his body.
This was the Poisonous Skill.
As a top-level martial art, Poisonous Skill was divided into many kinds. For instance, the Poisonous Skill practiced by the Five Poison Elder, who attacked Wuling Villa previously, was the Five Poison Martial Art within the Poisonous Skill.
However, the one controlled by the Thousand-Handed Poison King in the Tri-Pole Strongmans was the most orthodox Poisonous Skill, which could control all the poisons in the world. It is said that when the Thousand-Handed Poison King struck with full strength, he could poison all the livestock and plants within a radius of ten thousand meters, leaving no grass alive.
The poison gas in front of him should just be a manifestation of the Poisonous Skill. The fact that it was affecting Shi Xiaole, who had a body that was immune to all poisons, demonstrated how deep his attainments were.
After struggling to kill the poisonous gas through the Wind Sword Way, Shi Xiaole bypassed the pond. After a quarter of an hour, he saw a golden sword.
The golden sword was embedded in the ground, and the upper half was trembling incessantly. With each tremble, strands of Sword Qi sprayed out, piercing the void and fog into a thousand wounds, extremely sharp.
"Golden Sword Way!"
Shi Xiaole’s pupils slightly shrank.
Among the swordsmanship, the Golden Sword Way might not be as violent as the Fire Sword Way, as comprehensive as the Water Sword Way, or as swift as the Wind Sword Way, but it was the one with the strongest lethality.
That’s why swordsmen who comprehend the Golden Sword Way were also those with the heaviest killing intent and sharpest swordsmanship.
Without any hesitation, Shi Xiaole immediately stepped forward. When his own Vigorous Air was balanced with the Sword Qi of the golden sword, he was still three zhang away from the golden sword.
Just remember that this was only a manifestation of the Sword Way from the Golden Sword King. It was hard to imagine how powerful his true strength must be.
With eyes closed, Shi Xiaole began to focus and comprehend.
He did not expect to fully master the Golden Sword Way, which was not realistic. But as long as he could absorb part of the essence of the Golden Sword Way and integrate it into the Wind Sword Way, it would greatly enhance his swordsmanship.
When martial artists reached the Divine Border Realm, even though their martial power was set, they could still expand and strengthen it to a certain extent within a conditioned limit.
Buzz...
On a slope far east of Shi Xiaole, a slender man with waist-length hair suddenly opened his eyes. His sharp gaze caused the golden sword in front of him to tremble at a speed that was ten times faster than before.
With the shattering of the golden sword, a strand of gold-colored aura merged into the skinny man’s body. Subtly, his sword momentum seemed to grow stronger.
"Truly worthy of the Golden Sword King’s Golden Sword Way, just understanding a fraction of it has perfected my Blood-Slaying Sword Way, it seems that after this, my rank in the Xu Zhongting will have to be moved up."
Xu Zhongting is known as the Blood-Slaying Sword, ranking nineteenth on the minor Earth Immortal list, and is recognized as one of the most talented swordsmen among the hundred-year-old Earth Immortals.
No genius is willing to be underneath others and Xu Zhongting is no exception. In his heart, only the top ten, or even the top five of the minor Earth Immortal list could match his standing.
Taking a step forward to the spot where the golden sword shattered, Xu Zhongting picked up a golden stone carved with a small sword pattern and put it in his bag, before moving forward.
This was the Gold Stone. According to the voice he heard earlier, only those who collect five Gold Stones have the right to compete for the inheritance of the Golden Sword King.
"This young man is impressive. It took him two 2-hour periods to absorb a strand of the essence of the Golden Sword Way."
In the central location of the Tri-Pole Palace, where the fog could not permeate, sat three aged elders. The one sitting on the far right, with the sharpest aura, suddenly let out a laugh.
The Golden Sword Way was related to the Golden Sword King, anyone who absorbed the essence of the Golden Sword Way could not escape his detection.
"Two 2-hour periods? He certainly has some talent."
Hearing this, the other two elders also looked somewhat surprised.
Trying to divert from one tributary of different sword ways which was like the big river’s distinct branches was as hard as one could imagine. Even though the golden swords were merely set up by the Golden Sword King, their contained Golden Sword Way was hardly good, hence they were impressive.
The quickest person previously took two 2-hour periods plus a quarter of an hour.
"Huh? Someone digested my Poison Martial Way in one and a half 2-hour periods. Impressive!"
At this moment, the gentle old man sitting in the middle suddenly paused.
From the Array System’s detection, a masked girl was standing in the distance, her whole body shining with colorful lights, like countless crystal butterflies fluttering up and down, a sight of absolute beauty.
But the young men and women around her retreated far away, because those colorful lights were extremely toxic.
As the colorful lights retracted into her body, a trace of joy passed through the masked girl’s icy eyes.
"Congratulations, miss!"
Xiao Yujian was the first to congratulate her with a smiling fist salute.
Few people knew that the Ice Heart Ghost Fox Yun Chuoxi, one of the top ten beauties in the world, had the Poison Spirit Body that was naturally immune to all poisons and her mastery of Poisonous Skill made her twice as effective.
Unfortunately, the Poisonous Skill was too rare, even with the resources of the Ghost Lethal Sect’s Left Sect, they had not collected too much, and this greatly restricted the development of the young miss.
The Left Sect’s Void Origin Realm powerhouse had considered making a move on the Thousand-Handed Poison King, but in the end, they gave up.
A Void Origin Realm powerhouse will not make a move easily, this is a rule in the upper circles of the Martial World, otherwise, they must be attacked as a group, even the Devil Path dare not violate it.
The Tri-Pole Strongman belonged to the heretical path, today you can make a move on the heretical path, tomorrow the heretical path’s Void Origin Realm powerhouse can also make a move on your Devil Path, and if this continues, everyone will have to stop playing.
Therefore, upon hearing that the Tri-Pole Strongman was publicly passing on the inheritance, the young miss almost moved without hesitation. The Ghost Lethal Sect also dispatched several of their Ghost Guards to escort her, and secretly there were experts following her.
"The miss is extraordinarily talented. As long as she has enough resources, I don’t think she’s inferior to any damn five big freaks."
The stout young man who spoke was called Han Sen, also one of the six Ghost Guards.
They had seen the golden swords before, but even Xiao Yujian, the one with the highest sword talent in the Left Sect, took three 2-hour periods to comprehend it. The young miss used half the time, isn’t that astonishing?
"Enough with the nonsense, let’s move on."
Picking up the Poison Stone, Yun Chuoxi moved forward.
She never underestimated anyone in the world and of course, she would not underestimate herself. One day, she would make everyone remember the name Yun Chuoxi.
In the Tri-Pole Palace, many more people were comprehending martial arts. It was very clear that, except for a few anomalies, the geniuses who made it to the minor Earth Immortal list were able to comprehend faster than those who did not.
Being a hundred-year-old Earth Immortal of the same level, strong power often represents strong talent, this is an innate gap that is hard to make up for.
The golden sword glowed brilliantly, yet Shi Xiaole’s slender eyelashes did not flutter, allowing the sharp sword Qi to pierce the Vigorous Air. Unconsciously, he had walked within a yard of the golden sword.
It was not that the power of the golden sword had diminished, but rather after the essence of the sword Qi had been absorbed and assimilated by Shi Xiaole, its threat to him had lessened.
At a certain moment.
The golden sword suddenly shattered into hundreds of pieces, and a dense strand of the essence of the Golden Sword Way merged into Shi Xiaole’s body. This caused the small green sword above his spiritual sea to tremble slightly, and between the flowing lights, it became somewhat sharper.
"The Golden Sword Way, truly an offensive sword way."
After the essence of the Golden Sword Way entered his body, Shi Xiaole clearly felt his Wind Sword Way becoming stronger. Despite this not being very obvious in terms of power since this was just one golden sword, if he absorbed more golden sword essence, what would the result be?
Picking up the Gold Stone, Shi Xiaole looked forward to it.
He had already heard the prompt of the Array System and knew what to do next.
