Chapter 717: Chapter 716: Tortoise Shell and Golden Mini Arrow
Shi Xiaole stared at the figure, his heart and mind in an unprecedented state of chaos. He staggered slightly as he crossed the few dozen steps distance, taking dozens of breaths’ time.
Her hair was black to her waist, her clothes pure as snow. A single silhouette outlined a unique temperament that Shi Xiaole had never seen before, like she only existed in an ink and wash painting, untouched by the mundane world.
"Excuse me, senior."
Shi Xiaole said softly.
For a long while, there was no response.
Slowly raising his head, he realized that this body emitted no breath. Mustering up his courage to look up, he saw a woman. Although her features were not overly stunning, the more he looked, the more comforting she appeared. She was the spitting image of the portrait he had seen at the Maple Forest Cottage!
As he looked downwards, he saw a jade bracelet with a drop of blood on her wrist. It was identical to what Shi Xiaole was holding, albeit without the missing piece.
In an instant, emotions of joy, regret, and loss surged within Shi Xiaole’s heart, accompanied by a sense of relief.
All signs pointed to one conclusion: the silent woman in front of him was likely Shi Xuanzhong’s wife, who was also his mother.
Luckily, it was only a sculpture.
The skill of the sculptor was extraordinary. Even Shi Xiaole didn’t notice it until he closely examined it.
After observing for a while, he gathered his thoughts, turned around, and found a flower path in the middle section.
Upon following the path, he found a stone bed surrounded by flowers. It was covered with dust and frequented by butterflies, showing clear signs of long neglect.
"Huh?"
Shi Xiaole didn’t know what material the stone bed was made of, as his psychic power couldn’t penetrate it. Touching it with his hands, it felt surprisingly warm and comfortable.
He tried to move it, but astonishingly found that, with his strength, he couldn’t lift it! Then he tried to put it in the system space, but the system’s mechanical voice sounded, "The detected item does not belong to this world and cannot be placed."
Shi Xiaole paused in surprise, his eyes flashing.
This stone bed did not belong to this world?
If others heard this, they would think it’s a tall tale. But Shi Xiaole, coming from another world, wouldn’t doubt it, especially since the system never makes mistakes.
"Wait, Outer Heaven Secret Record..."
Thinking of the secret manual left by Shi Xuanzhong, Shi Xiaole initially thought "Outer Heaven" meant the sky above. Now it seemed more likely that it was literally from outer heaven.
Could Shi Xuanzhong be an alien?
One question after another emerged, refusing to dissipate. Shi Xiaole passed the stone bed, and not far away in a groove on the mountain wall, two items were placed.
One of them was a tortoise shell, about six inches long and four inches wide. The pattern on it was not the usual polygon, but instead in the shape of squares, a total of nine.
Looking at these patterns, the small green sword inside Shi Xiaole’s body trembled slightly and without waiting, some sword Qi had already rushed into the tortoise shell.
Whistle!
The pattern on the tortoise shell suddenly lit up, and within the square on the top left, a knuckle-sized humanoid light shadow appeared, seemingly practicing the sword.
This spectacle left Shi Xiaole in awe.
After a moment, the light faded.
With a slight movement of his mind, Shi Xiaole input a few strands of sword Qi again, and the tortoise shell indeed lit up. After repeated tries, Shi Xiaole realized, one strand of sword Qi could light up the tortoise shell for a moment, and two strands of sword Qi could do it for two moments.
The humanoid light shadow with a strand of sword Qi becomes clearer and moves faster, repeating the same move. But surprisingly, Shi Xiaole found that he could not remember it.
Considering his current comprehension level, even high-end martial arts wouldn’t be this challenging. Does this sword gesture signify a legendary martial arts skill? Legend says that kind of martial arts transcends human bondage, achieving unity with heaven.
It didn’t seem the case.
Instead of saying that the humanoid light shadow was performing a sword gesture, it felt more like some kind of principle resonating and preventing Shi Xiaole from remembering it.
Reluctantly, he observed patiently for a long time, perhaps one hour, maybe two.
Suddenly, a ray of chaotic piercing sword light emerged in Shi Xiaole’s eyes, as if the world were beginning, with all things in extremity.
"Is this the power of the Heart Sword?"
Back in the Tri-Pole Palace, the Golden Sword King had used his remaining life to guide Shi Xiaole to comprehend the Heart Sword. Despite the obstruction of the heavens’ secrets, Shi Xiaole managed to catch a glimpse of the power of the Heart Sword.
Although he had no way to find clues later, he did not expect it to appear at this moment.
Could it be that this tortoise shell also helps swordsmen comprehend the legendary Heart Sword?
Shi Xiaole’s chest rose and fell, and it took him a long time to calm down to pick up the second item.
It was a small arrow, just about three inches long. It seemed to be made of pure gold, and as soon as Shi Xiaole gathered his vigorous air, it got sucked up by the small arrow entirely.
10%.
20%.
...
When Shi Xiaole increased his power to 80%, the result remained the same, which could not help but astonish him. He gently let go, and the firm ground was like tofu, instantly stabbed by the small arrow to a depth of sixty feet.
"Is it a medium spiritual weapon, or even, a high spiritual weapon?"
Shi Xiaole took a deep breath.
He was sure that even the Red Dragon Sword and the Autumn Water Sword could not have such massive destructive power just from the force of dropping onto the ground.
With an air suction, the golden small arrow returned to his hand. Shi Xiaole took out the Autumn Water Sword from the system space and slashed hard.
Clang!
The golden small arrow remained motionless, whereas the Autumn Water Sword showed signs of curling up on the edge.
"What on earth is your origin?"
Even the top-tier forces are rare to have a medium spiritual weapon, and only the highest-ranking individuals with the strongest capabilities can possess it. Among the top hundred Earth Immortals, only three publicly own medium spiritual weapons and there’re probably less than ten combining those who kept it secret.
As for high spiritual weapons, they’re something that only experts at the Void Origin Realm should have because even a peak Earth Immortal can’t bring out the power of a high spiritual weapon.
First, it was a stone bed made of materials from the outer world, then a mysterious turtle shell, and now a medium, or possibly high-level spiritual weapon, golden arrow. The foundation of Mr. and Mrs. Shi Xuanzhong has already surpassed 99% of the Earth Immortals.
Shi Xiaole had a feeling that this was not all they had.
After storing the turtle shell and the golden small arrow properly, Shi Xiaole carefully took a walk around inside Hundred Flowers Cave, scanning with his mental power and leaving no stone unturned.
His movements were very slow as images of the affectionate couple from years ago seemed to float before him, close at hand across the long years.
Eventually, those images turned into lifelike sculptures in front of him. Shi Xiaole stared at them for a long time, his reaching hand suspended in mid-air, finally turning into one sentence: "No matter what, I will find you, to give myself an answer!"
He stepped away without ever looking back.
When he returned to the stone cave outside, the inner wall closed and Hundred Flowers Cave, which had eluded the Ghost Lethal Sect, was once again sealed.
Shi Xiaole sensed a fleeting wave from the Array System. He guessed that even if outsiders forcibly penetrated the inner wall without the correct method, they would probably never find Hundred Flowers Cave.
To avoid suspicion, Shi Xiaole pretended to be unconscious, and only ’came to’ when Yun Chuoxi pushed him. Afterwards, both of them lived in the cave.
Yun Chuoxi healed her wounds while searching for the source of the intense light. Seeing her expression, Shi Xiaole knew that if they could return to the headquarters this time, she would definitely send someone to investigate.
He didn’t intend to stop her.
Firstly, there was an extremely terrifying prohibition in Yun Chuoxi’s mind so it was impossible to erase her memories using the Heaven and Earth Changing Great Method.
Secondly, for some inexplicable reason, Shi Xiaole had faith in Shi Xuanzhong. He believed that no matter how hard the Ghost Lethal Sect tried, they would never discover Hundred Flowers Cave.
Time passed by quickly. They occasionally chatted but were mostly training on their own.
A month had passed.
"The Mountain Character Scripture is finally complete."
Shi Xiaole slowly opened his eyes. The illusory air in his eyes almost made Yun Chuoxi across him lose consciousness. It took her a long time to look at him with horrified eyes.
"Has your strength...improved?"
After a moment of silence, Yun Chuoxi asked in surprise.
Shi Xiaole patted his chest and casually laughed. "Only a little bit, but it should be no problem dealing with the likes of Ge Qilong."
"Really?"
Yun Chuoxi was clearly skeptical.
It was hard for her to believe that in the span of a month, a person’s strength could advance from the middle-high Tier 4 Earth Immortal level to the peak Tier 4 Earth Immortal level.
Of course, that’s not to say that a middle-high Tier 4 Earth Immortal couldn’t defeat a peak Tier 4 Earth Immortal, as Tier 4 only indicates attacking power. But Ge Qilong was after all an established Earth Immortal, whose experience and skills were unmatched by ordinary individuals.
"Ge Qilong’s tracking technique is superb and he’s likely still hanging around outside. But waiting forever is not an option. We have to try to fight our way out."
After one more day, Yun Chuoxi stood up.
Without food and water, Terrestrial Immortals can survive for more than twenty days. As their food supply had run out already, they could only hold out for a few more days.
Fortunately, her injuries were healed, so she wouldn’t be a burden to Shi Xiaole, which increased their chances of escaping.
