Chapter 791: Chapter 790: Flying Immortal Sword Qi
When calamity struck, the members of the Sea Leaf Gang didn’t opt for a suicide charge. Instead, they tried to make their escape in all directions.
Everyone wasn’t a fool, needless to mention the incomparable might between the factions. The high probability of becoming scapegoats, even if they win, what then? They’re sinners at heart, who knew what was on Qiu Mingyue’s mind.
However, the next moment, the fleeing Sea Leaf Gang masters were horrified to discover that a light screen of the Array System had appeared around the entire island. This was the Island Protection Array. Although it wasn’t particularly stout, it could fend off a few peak Earth Immortals’ attacks for a short duration.
The Array System was used defensively, no doubt, but at this moment, it stood as a barrier to the fleeing crowd. By the time the Array System was broken, their escape routes would have been cut off!
"Gang leader!"
Many turned back, faces grim.
Qiu Mingyue gave a bitter smile: "It’s over, the arrays inside and outside the halls are interconnected, we’re thoroughly trapped."
The so-called having multiple ways out, she obviously had more than one escape route, but the one inside the hall was the most hidden.
The remaining ones, senior members like Wen Bieqing, all knew. After all, this was one of her essential strategies to win over her men. She never expected that it would backfire on her now.
Sure enough, some masters had quietly left the group, clearly preparing to escape through the secret tunnels.
"Foolish."
Niu Dali suddenly said.
Shortly after his words fell, noises of fighting broke out. A group of Water Shark Gang masters had rushed in from the secret tunnels. Without a doubt, there were traitors within the Sea Leaf Gang!
Niu Dali looked at Qiu Mingyue: "You’ve spun your own cocoon, now you’re reaping the bitter fruits."
Qiu Mingyue scoffed: "The one who’s spun their own cocoon isn’t necessarily me."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battle had not lasted long when Sea Leaf Island suddenly started shaking violently. A thick sea of flames ignited from the underground, a mushroom cloud shot up to the sky like black fog.
Whether it was the Sea Leaf Gang or the Water Shark Gang, a great number of people died in the chaos.
"Gunpowder?"
Shi Xiaole took a sharp breath.
"Correct, as a precaution, Mingyue has placed a substantial amount of gunpowder in several secret tunnels to prevent treacherous actions by traitors."
At this moment, even Qiu Rou was staring at her mother in a daze, feeling as if she had never known her.
"Mr. Shi, with your abilities, it should not be difficult for you to escort Rou safely. Your kindness and grace, Mingyue is willing to repay gratefully in the next life."
Ignoring everyone else, Qiu Mingyue solemnly bowed, this time she wasn’t joking at all. She said to Niu Dali: "You should go too. Knowing you care about us is enough for me, I won’t be so selfish."
She wanted to escape just like everyone else, but Kuang Jinxiong would never let her go. Everyone else would be trapped if she left.
Niu Dali couldn’t help but sigh.
He remembered Qiu Mingyue saying that Kuang Jinxiong was at least a high-ranking Seventh Tier Earth Immortal and his mental power was extraordinarily strong. Unpredictable, Niu Dali and Qiu Mingyue, at best, could make for an evenly balanced combat power. They were barely adversaries for a man like Kuang Jinxiong.
But could he abandon this woman to save his own life?
"There’s no need for you to agonize over this, there’s no escape for any of us."
Shi Xiaole suddenly said.
As the others were puzzled, they suddenly realized that the Array System outside the island had been breached earlier, and within a radius of a hundred thousand meters, a third layer of Array System had sprung up.
Qiu Mingyue’s close subordinates laid into the array with vigorous attacks, but couldn’t make even the slightest ripple.
"No need to waste your efforts, do you think any of you can break this gentleman’s handiwork?"
From the sky, Kuang Jinxiong descended menacingly with a bunch of masters at his side, nonchalantly stepping inside the Array System. He addressed Shi Xiaole and Niu Dali: "Gentlemen, this is a grudge between me and the Sea Leaf Gang. Please leave."
Shi Xiaole and his companion were not of great interest to Kuang Jinxiong, but in his perspective, it was better to avoid unnecessary confrontations if he could.
Qiu Rou and several Sea Leaf Gang members were anxiously watching Shi Xiaole and his companion. Especially Qiu Rou, her knuckles had turned white from clenching, and her breathing was on the verge of stopping.
If these two chose to compromise, it would spell the end of the Sea Leaf Gang.
She resolved in secret not to abandon her mother and live stealthily.
Niu Dali struggled for a long time, almost about to speak then chose to hesitate, and in the end, he said: "Xiaole, you should go first."
Qiu Mingyue’s body shook.
Kuang Jinxiong started laughing coldly in a mocking manner, puzzled and intrigued. His gaze landed on Shi Xiaole: "Young man, please."
Heaving a sigh, Shi Xiaole slowly said: "I don’t believe in the principle of abandoning friends and leaving alone."
"So it seems, you are determined to make a last stand, you are determined to stand against me?"
As he spoke, a terrifying momentum erupted from Kuang Jinxiong, just like an abyssal sea or a dragon-snake. His terrifying aura spread out in waves, making the others present, not just the Dragon Gate Realm Lord but even other Earth Immortals, feel suffocated, as if they were facing a humanoid beast, not daring to muster any will to fight.
Niu Dali’s face turned white.
The opponent was stronger than he’d expected, no wonder Qiu Mingyue was almost killed. He and Shi Xiaole could probably hold back the opponent together, but what about the others?
His gaze brushed over Kuang Jinxiong and his mighty subordinates, Niu Dali’s face became solemn. Adventurous and cheerful as he was, he now found himself in a state of despair.
As for Qiu Mingyue and her daughter and their confidantes, it goes without saying, they were prepared to fight to the death.
In this nearly suffocating atmosphere, Shi Xiaole suddenly posed a question to Qiu Mingyue: "Lady Qiu, if you can survive unscathed this time, what do you plan to do?"
Qiu Mingyue’s eyes flickered, she said: "If only Mingyue survives, I will avenge the deaths of my confidantes. If we all escape safely, victors rule, losers perish, there will be no Sea Leaf Gang anymore, I’ve grown tired of this life."
Nodding, Shi Xiaole said to Kuang Jinxiong: "Did you hear that, Mr. Kuang? If Lady Qiu pledges, would you let us go?"
"Hahaha..."
Many people on the other side were stunned at first, then looked at Shi Xiaole as if they were looking at an idiot.
"Young Hero Shi, I give you one last chance. I would advise you not to interfere in matters that don’t concern you, lest you get yourself burnt."
The voice of Kuang Jinxiong was filled with intense killing intent.
The weak have no right to negotiate terms with the strong; he already held the winning ticket. Why should he allow his enemy to have a way out? Had this kid been practicing so hard he lost his mind?
"Why not like this: if I lose in a duel with you, I will immediately leave. If you lose, allow my companions and me to leave."
It wouldn’t be difficult for Shi Xiaole, with his strength, to escape. The difficulty lay in how to save the others.
Displaying his martial power seemed the best solution he could think of. If Kuang Jinxiong refused his proposal, he would have to break out by force of his sword, but the number of casualties in his ranks was unpredictable.
"You?"
Kuang Jinxiong stared in disbelief, suspecting a problem with his ears. The kid seemed to be very confident in beating him.
Expert fighters from the Water Shark Gang sneered and jeered loudly behind him.
"Xiaole..."
Niu Dali’s gaze was rapidly flickering.
After living together for over three months, he thought that he knew Shi Xiaole rather well. Could Shi really be confident in winning? It seemed impossible.
Qiu Mingyue was both worried and moved.
She had the best understanding of Kuang Jinxiong’s strength among all the people present; she even suspected that Kuang had not been using his full strength when he wounded her. She found it hard to believe that Shi Xiaole could defeat him.
While everyone was still in chaos, Shi Xiaole had already unsheathed his sword in the ring. Without giving Kuang Jinxiong any time to hesitate, he struck out at him with a single sword thrust.
"You’re courting death!"
Kuang Jinxiong spread his hand wide, his palm energy tightly clamping down on the sword light, and shattering it with force. At the same time, his right hand drew the Tiger Shark Blade from his waist, swung it around, and slashed. The blade light, like a giant shark opening its mouth, a black hole inside, blew countless blade energies at the crowd on the other side.
Many of the Lords of the Sea Leaf Gang, and even a few Earth Immortals instinctively resisted. Though the sword light was still a distance away, it posed a lethal threat.
This single slash demonstrated the formidable power of Kuang Jinxiong. Seeing this, other members of the Sea Leaf Gang turned even paler.
Even those fighting outside the array were distracted by the disturbance here and couldn’t help but look over.
Facing the enormous shark, Shi Xiaole didn’t use any special techniques, but rapidly struck five blows with his sword.
The first sword struck its head, the second and third swords hit the vague pelvic fins, and the fourth and fifth thrusts hit nothing, yet produced a substantial collision sound.
Boom, boom, boom.
The giant shark began to collapse, and by the time it reached Shi Xiaole, it had completely vanished.
"He blocked the master’s Tiger Shark Slash without using any special moves?"
The deputy leader of the Water Shark Gang, a man with goat-like whiskers, was astounded.
"Shark Bloodthirst!"
Kuang Jinxiong was somewhat surprised too, quickly followed by a surge of anger. He gripped the handle of his blade with both hands, drew it from under his ribcage and made a harsh cut to the right. The blade scraped across the void, appearing as if countless water ripples had spread.
These ripples were actually condensed blade energies that ignored spatial distance, targeting Shi Xiaole’s most vigorous vital energy.
"Chaotic Wind Cloud!"
He responded to the wide-range killing move with the same tactic.
To be more intimidating, Shi Xiaole put everything into his attack, channeling the power of twenty-nine heart swords into Wind Sword Way. The green millstone cracked open the earth and heavens, countless threads spun inside, capable of cutting everything.
The entire Sea Leaf Island seemed to vibrate for a moment.
Shi Xiaole kept retreating, barely managing to steady himself when another blade light filled with deep blue sea waves viciously attacked again.
"Wuji!"
A reverse tornado rushed skyward, suddenly shrinking by tens of times. With a thunderous roar, Kuang Jinxiong was shockingly backed away.
"Such excellent control, compressing even killing moves?"
Kuang Jinxiong was secretly stunned, but the more so he was shocked, the stronger his killing intent became. Seeing Shi Xiaole’s character, he knew that unless he did as Shi stated, there would be serious consequences.
"Breaking Shark’s Unwarranted Slash!"
Overloading himself with power, a point of light appeared on Kuang Jinxiong’s blade tip, which instantly enlarged by hundreds of times, obscuring the sky, and transformed into a golden giant shark, swooping down onto Shi Xiaole.
"Terrible!"
Qiu Mingyue was greatly alarmed.
She had lost to this move herself. With the strength Shi Xiaole had demonstrated, how could he block it?
Niu Dali was already getting ready to move, but he was much slower than Shi Xiaole.
"Flying Immortal Sword Qi!"
Floating in mid-air, Shi Xiaole, far from flustered, wielded the Red Left Sword leisurely but swiftly, and swung it gently as if it was weightless.
No sword Qi, no, the sword Qi bypassed the golden giant shark and surged straight towards Kuang Jinxiong.
This move was the signature technique of the grand swordsman Xiao QiuShui, which Shi Xiaole had mastered before the sword rating competition and had kept as his secret weapon.
Under the enhancement of his cultivation, sword way, and Heart Sword, as soon as this move emerged, it immediately displayed a shocking and horrifying lethality.
