Chapter 732: Chapter 731: Accepting the Battle
By the edge of a cliff that emitted a gloomy yellow fog, a withered tree stood alone, with a crow perched on it, uttering dry and desolate caws.
The sunset on the horizon was slowly sinking.
At a certain moment, the dark yellow fog parted to reveal a silvery ocean beneath. A closer inspection showed that it was an accumulation of countless bones!
A young man in golden clothes stepped through the air, landing at the edge of the cliff. His handsome face full of pride seemed boundless and uncontainable even by heaven and earth.
Suddenly.
The crow on the tree swooped towards the young man in golden clothes with a speed that even lightning could hardly describe. Almost before its wings even moved, its long beak was already aimed at the young man’s neck.
"Black Crow Taoist, your illusion technique is powerful. Unfortunately, you could have made your escape quietly in the first place."
The long beak abruptly stopped. As the golden-clothed young man turned his head, an illusion hidden in the void shattered layer by layer, and the crow transformed into a short, darkly-dressed elder with an expression full of infinite horror.
How could that be? My Thousand Illusions Skill could even deceive high-level Earth Immortals from the Divine Barrier Realm. When did the Jade Lion detect me, and why can’t I muster up the courage to resist just by his aura alone?
The Black Crow Taoist was screaming in his heart.
Before entering the gloomy mystery land, he nearly killed Jade Lion. He couldn’t believe that in only over one year, the latter had grown this much.
Smack!
Ignoring the opponent’s expression, Mu Ling waved his hand casually, and the Black Crow Taoist was obliterated into thin air, fading into nothingness.
The sunset turned redder.
"Over a year’s time, I’ve been through life and death, and my skills have improved even further. Have you all forgotten me? I can never forget the Martial World, and you all should not think about forgetting me either!"
With large strides, Mu Ling let out a wild laugh.
If two years ago, he was like a wild lion of gold, then now, his temperament can only be described as lawless. Every micro expression, every movement, even his breath, was all so wilful, so arrogant.
...
At the same time, in the endless desert, a merchant caravan was hustling along the way.
Whoosh!
The desert climate was capricious. It was calm just a moment ago, but suddenly, a sandstorm swept up, filling the sky, like an endless golden net covering the vicinity from afar. The permeating dust and smoke rushed all the way up, mercilessly swallowing even the white clouds in the sky.
"Not good, a sandstorm is coming!"
"Run, run quickly!"
The people of the caravan were scared silly. No one knew better than them how terrifying a sandstorm could be. Once trapped, not even bones would remain. The only solution was to escape, the farther the better.
In the midst of the panic, a beam of orange light approached from afar, piercing straight into the oncoming sandstorm before everyone’s eyes.
Boom!
First, there was a pause before the ripples spread out. The orange light, with its barbaric dominance, shattered the barbaric sandstorm and completely flattened it.
In the sky, an orange phoenix phantom soared, looking contemptuously upon the world.
"If I continue traveling at my speed, I should be able to reach Tian State in about half a month."
In the center of the orange phoenix phantom, sat an incredibly beautiful woman in an orange dress, her eyebrows like distant mountains, her eyes upturned. With her slightly wide shoulders, she resembled an empress.
Remembering the news she heard in the Western Region, how someone openly challenged her, the dominance on the orange-clothed woman grew even stronger.
...
This place was an unknown small town, with gray walls and dark tiles, small bridges over flowing streams, with boatmen paddling now and then. Narrow black-awning boats moved leisurely through the waterways in the town.
On the bluestone walkway by the river, kids with their hair tied up were playing freely, chasing butterflies that refused to leave the scent of roadside flowers. Their cheerful noises and laughter were unending.
Under a willow tree, a young man packed up his fortune-telling booth as usual.
"Xiaoyu, come to Auntie’s house for dinner tonight."
A voluptuous woman who was still attractive approached with a smile, intending to help the young man.
"Aunt Shuilian, I would rather not. I’m afraid Miss Cheng might not like it."
The young man was dressed in plain clothes, with a square flat cap on his head. His already flawless skin glistened even more under the sunlight. Just a slight smile made Aunt Shuilian, who has been married for many years and has an 18-year-old daughter, feel as if she had been struck. She was speechless for a while.
"Aunt Shuilian, this is a secret martial arts manual I collected during my travels. Miss Cheng likes practicing martial arts, could you please give it to her?"
"Well! You’re such a tender and delicate young man; you’ve actually trained in martial arts. However, why don’t you give it to Miss Cheng yourself?"
"I’m leaving tomorrow."
"..."
From complexity to simplicity, from the exceptional to the ordinary, these days of spiritual practice have been greatly rewarding. It’s time for me to return to the Martial World.
Gui Zhihang muttered to himself. He should have been happy about it, but Aunt Shuilian’s frozen smile made him glance involuntarily towards a deep courtyard not far away obscured by yellow flower trees.
It seemed like a pair of beautiful eyes that could be happy or annoyed were looking his way, then quickly moved away.
Is this reluctance?
Her reluctance, or my reluctance?
Every time that lass sees me, she’s always bad-mouthing and indifferent to me. It must be my imagination.
...
A painterly boat large enough to accommodate hundreds of people was sailing straight on the river.
The boat was three floors tall.
Shi Xiaole slowly opened his eyes.
"I am just a step away from mastering the Dragon Gate Divine Skill and once I do, my powers will certainly advance further."
The increase in power brought about by the perfection of internal energy far outweighs that brought about by martial arts. Shi Xiaole, as he stands now, is on par with a high-level Fifth Tier Earth Immortal. Once he achieves mastery of the Dragon Gate Divine Skill, he might just have a chance to stand at the pinnacle of the Fifth Tier Earth Immortals.
Although he had taken less-traveled paths after leaving the underworld, Shi Xiaole still heard the news from the Martial World and naturally, he became aware of the Four Sons of the Demon Door.
Originally, he didn’t want to confront Yao Mie Sheng so soon because the strength of the latter was unknown. However, since he was challenged, avoiding a fight was not Shi Xiaole’s style. So, why not just go and have a look!
For this reason, he made a point to write a letter, agreeing to meet with Hua Yiyun and the others at the Endless Risky Peak.
Every night in the lounge of the painted boat, the sounds of string and wind music echoed. Many different characters from the martial arts world would gather on the deck from time to time.
Not wanting to attract attention, Shi Xiaole stayed in his room all day, while QingFeng and Da Bai Xiao Bai took a different path. Without him, he believed the two of them would get along more harmoniously.
Just as they were getting close to the Endless Risky Peak, the painted boat suddenly stopped.
"What happened?"
"Look, there are two people ahead."
"Hmm, isn’t that the renowned swordsman Shi Qianxiao? I saw him a year ago. He’s a high-ranked Fourth Tier Earth Immortal. Who’s the other person challenging him? He looks quite young!"
On the river surface, with cold eyes filled with frost, Shi Qianxiao, dressed in brocade robes, chillingly said: "I don’t recall offending you, why are you blocking me without reason?"
Being a well-known Martial World expert, Shi Qianxiao was here undoubtedly for the upcoming fight between the righteous and the evil. Just a few days ago, four monsters have announced their acceptance of the challenges from their respective opponents, which caused a huge stir in the Martial World.
This fight was different from the previous combat that took place two years ago between Jade Lion and Xing Shuzi or any other challenge.
The previous duels were due to grudges or rivalry, but this time, it was a direct confrontation of the up-and-coming stars of both the righteous and the evil sides! It’s safe to say that over ninety percent of the Martial World was secretly following this.
Not to mention, each of the involved contestants possesses at least the combat strength of the Fourth Tier, making them top-class experts in the world.
The Fifth Tier Earth Immortals in the Flying Horse Dynasty are very few. Those who surpass this level can be called super top-class experts. Below this level, the Fourth Tier Earth Immortals are considered top-class experts.
In Shi Qianxiao’s view, he had no noticeable advantage against the Four Sons of Demon Door and the four monsters, especially Yao Mie Sheng, who was stronger than he was. Hence, watching these four duels would benefit him greatly.
Unexpectedly, while he was on his way, he was blocked by a grim-looking young man on the opposite side.
"Stopping you is a sign of my respect for you. I wonder how many moves the renowned Shi Qianxiao can handle?"
The young man laughed.
"How dare you!"
"What a arrogant guy!"
The people standing on the painted boat were not ordinary people, and upon hearing these words they all started cursing.
Shi Qianxiao turned even colder, sneering: "Aren’t you afraid your tongue will slip with such wind?" Yet, secretly, he was cautious. As the opposite party knew his identity and was still so cocky, either he was backed by something or he was simply a fool.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the young man smirked and made a move.
His weapon turned out to be two iron rings, each with a diameter of three feet. Thrown from each hand, their bloody smell was overwhelming, like two paths into the underworld, attacking Shi Qianxiao.
"No Self Spear!"
Feeling that his surroundings were being locked into silence, Shi Qianxiao was a little nervous. The ability to silently lock onto his breathing wasn’t something an ordinary person could do. Therefore, he launched his spear with eighty percent of his full power.
Ding! Ding!
Almost simultaneously, the two bloody paths retreated.
"The spear has no form!"
His body was like a wisp of smoke, weaving through the cracks in the paths. Like a flash of lightning, Shi Qianxiao’s spear struck first, directly aiming for the young man’s chest, a step ahead of the bloody iron rings.
He didn’t want to kill, but considering the other’s arrogance, he had to give a lesson.
"Don’t you think you are too slow?"
The young man stood still, as if he had intentionally waited there. With a wave of his hand, the two iron rings accelerated by more than twice their speed. One collided with the back of the spear, the other with the tip three inches below.
Boom! Boom!
Shi Qianxiao’s attack was immediately broken and he cried out in alarm: "Controlling rings with Qi?!"
This was a heavenly gifted technique, he didn’t expect the opposite party to have mastered it. Moreover, from what he had observed, it seemed he was quite proficient.
"Don’t you know that when you are in a duel, you should not get distracted?"
The young man sighed and shook his head.
The two bloody iron rings got faster and faster and when they reached a speed one and a half times of what they were before, the shadows of the rings filled an area of one kilometer.
With a snap!
The spear, mixed with blood, splashed onto the river’s surface. Shi Qianxiao turned pale, his feet sank into the water, and he watched in disbelief as the young man put away his bloody iron rings.
"You, who are you exactly?"
The principle of Controlling rings with Qi, was similar to that of Controlling Sword with Qi Skill, but it shouldn’t have had such a significant effect.
Unless, the mental and heart strength of the opponent was very strong, or else, he had integrated some unknown techniques? Either way, the opponent was terrifying.
"I am Blood Yama."
The young man gave a grim smile: "You should be grateful, for when I decided to make my Martial World debut, I wanted the Kirin to be the first soul taken by me. So, you don’t need to die today."
"What, Blood Yama, is he Blood Yama?"
"Is this his hidden technique? Can Kirin hold up?"
Having defeated the high-level Fourth Tier Earth Immortal, Shi Qianxiao so easily, without a doubt, Blood Yama’s strength was incredibly fearsome, and he was likely to be at least close to the Fifth Tier.
