Chapter 801: Chapter 800 Fierce Battle Inside the Ancient Temple_1
The moment Shi Xiaole’s hands touched the seven-cornered palace lantern, the world before his eyes swirled and turned. In no time, he found himself in the midst of a vast, dusky, boundless desert.
The raging wind swept up grains of sand that battered his face, bringing with them a sting of heat and dryness.
"Is this the second level?"
Shi Xiaole had a faint feeling that Rainbow Island was not so much about chances as it was a trial field arranged by design. Of course, this trial field was incredibly complex, including all sorts of plans, and was absolutely a top-notch, grand undertaking in the world.
After resting on the spot for a moment and adjusting his condition, Shi Xiaole gathered his full concentration and darted towards the distance.
Before long, the half-month period passed.
Above the West Sea.
The rainbow light that enveloped a large area of the sea suddenly contracted, turning into a speck of light that vanished into the void. Likewise, the drifting Rainbow Island disappeared without a trace.
The sea surface returned to its calm state, as if nothing had happened at all.
But for many forces, for many people, this was just the beginning.
"Who knows how long this battle will last, and who will emerge as the final victor?"
"We must quickly return and prepare for all eventualities before the reappearance of Rainbow Island, to cope with future uncertainties."
"This is the last calm of the Martial World; the curtain is about to rise. Let us wait and see, hahaha!"
...
Traveling intermittently through the desert for a full five days and still seeing no end, Shi Xiaole was forced to stop for rest.
While using "Crossing the River with a Single Reed" to speed up his travel, the energy consumed was negligible, but in such circumstances, where danger was unclear, he could not afford any carelessness.
Sand, sand, sand.
The wind blew as fiercely as ever. Amidst the whirling sand, suddenly, several dim yellow lights appeared, casting fierce and bloodthirsty glares.
Whoosh!
A yellow shadow burst out from beneath the ground and charged toward Shi Xiaole, who was merely three meters away, without him having noticed it beforehand.
Shi Xiaole opened his eyes, and in a critical moment, his movements were unbelievably fast; he pierced the yellow shadow’s throat with a sword. Before he could even take a breath of relief, more yellow shadows erupted from different locations, their claws bared, lunging toward Shi Xiaole.
"What are these things?"
Shi Xiaole was greatly shaken, not out of fear, but because the appearance of the yellow shadows was identical to the green-haired and red-haired monsters he had encountered in Peony Town and on the desolate islands of the Redbud State, only differing in color and seeming even more ferocious.
There were thirty-six yellow-haired monsters in total, their speed as fast as that of a low-tier Earth Immortal from the Divine Barrier Realm, with even fiercer attacks.
What was more formidable was their defensive ability; a typical sword strike from Shi Xiaole on their bodies could only make an inch-deep wound, hardly affecting their combat power.
Raising his power to thirty percent, Shi Xiaole unleashed the Wind Extreme Sword Technique, swiftly grinding the thirty-six yellow-haired monsters into dust.
"Why do they appear here?"
The encounters on the desolate islands of Redbud State had taught Shi Xiaole that green-haired monsters could metamorphose, so he had reason to suspect that the yellow-haired monsters were yet another evolution of the red-haired monsters.
And this raised questions about the mysterious organization behind it all—the Undying Alliance, as detailed in Chapter Five Hundred and Forty-Seven. Could it be that the Undying Alliance was somehow related to Rainbow Island?
Yet the problem was that the combat power of the yellow-haired monsters had reached the level of Terrestrial Immortals. Judging from this sneak attack, they were not rare. If the Undying Alliance had such strength, they might even surpass Shaolin and Wudang.
What could their purpose be, lying hidden until now?
With doubts in mind, Shi Xiaole continued on his way.
At the same time.
The Demon Marquis was immersed in a tough battle, his opponents being fifty-six red-haired creatures.
"I wish to run rampant!"
Years of cultivation, coupled with his own fateful encounters, had evolved the Demon Marquis’s Demon Desire Divine Skill into an even more extreme version, the Heaven Desire Divine Skill.
He swung both hands, and numerous reflections of desires appeared. These reflections seemed to have their own consciousness, engulfing different red-haired monsters.
Bang, bang, bang...
The red-haired monsters were sent flying.
"This is already the sixth wave," the Demon Marquis frowned involuntarily.
Since yesterday, the appearance frequency of the red-haired creatures had been increasing, and their numbers were also growing. He could cope now, but if several times more came, he would have no choice but to run.
Through the dense forest, a desolate village emerged from the mists in front, half-concealed. The Demon Marquis’s eyes flickered with a momentary thrill of horror, but he mustered his courage and proceeded forward.
Unusual occurrences suggested the presence of demons, and perhaps there lay a chance within.
"Ahh..."
This was an old man at the level of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, who, despite his efforts, couldn’t withstand the siege of numerous green-haired monsters and got bitten on the shoulder.
Somewhat horrifyingly, a green aura spread from the bite across the old man’s body. Soon, green hair sprouted on his body, his teeth protruded menacingly, and his eyes turned fierce; he had transformed into a green-haired monster!
Every moment, warriors were fighting fiercely, and upon observation, those below the Dragon Gate Realm faced only green-haired monsters.
Dragon Gate Realm warriors were the red-haired monsters, while Divine Barrier Realm warriors became the yellow-haired monsters, and their numbers decreased as their cultivation improved.
Among the unfortunate warriors who were killed, there was always that one in a thousand chance that they would turn into monsters and start attacking other warriors along with other monsters.
Only a few people, like the Emotionless Whip Emperor and the Bloody River Blade Emperor, had never encountered any predicaments and were racing between heaven and earth.
"Is my spiritual power being compressed?"
After killing three batches of yellow-haired monsters, Shi Xiaole discovered a terrifying fact.
Initially, his spiritual power could probe an area of three thousand five hundred meters, but now, it had dwindled to just three thousand two hundred meters, and even with his spirit leaving his body, it was only six thousand eight hundred meters.
It was not his spiritual power that was weakening, but the environment changing, affecting the range of his spiritual power.
A few days later, after killing two more batches of yellow-haired monsters, Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power probing range had shrunk to two thousand one hundred meters, then to two thousand meters, one thousand nine hundred meters...
Half a month passed, and Shi Xiaole successfully made it out of the desert, but his spiritual power was completely sealed within his body.
As a result, he could no longer utilize his spiritual power, and he was unable to use the Heaven and Earth Changing Great Method.
"Hm?"
After traveling a few thousand more meters, Shi Xiaole suddenly saw an old, dilapidated palace.
The palace was built of huge stones, probably due to its great age, its surface was mottled and, in some places, even covered with moss. Under the setting sun, it exuded a sinister mystery and silence.
"Opportunities don’t appear for no reason, this must be a trial."
After a moment’s hesitation, Shi Xiaole made up his mind to go inside and take a look.
Opportunity and peril always coexist, and moreover, Shi Xiaole felt that skipping this chance might lead to even more dangerous encounters in the future.
Approaching cautiously, Shi Xiaole entered the palace.
The palace corridor was long, and every few dozen meters, there was a protruding stone on both walls with a burning torch on it.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless sharp arrows shot out from the walls with enough force to penetrate the Vigorous Air of ordinary Divine Border Realm Earth Immortals, but this of course could not trouble Shi Xiaole, who breezed through with ease.
After that came dense smoke, which turned out to be a Fourth Tier deadly poison. Shi Xiaole walked through unaffected, and when he looked down, he saw corpses and bones, clearly those who had fallen victim.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
Suddenly, there was a loud clashing noise ahead.
One turn around the corner, and the corridor suddenly expanded thousands of times, with a group of warriors fighting against the yellow-haired monsters.
Among them, four stood out to Shi Xiaole.
These four yellow-haired monsters had a faint golden sheen in their fur and were noticeably taller and larger than the other yellow-haired monsters.
As they clashed, their immense strength compressed the air into tubes of air cannons, with red glows at the forefront—heat energy generated from intense friction, capable of obliterating the corpses and bones of Dragon Gate Realm warriors; as for the attack power of the air cannons themselves, it clearly reached the high Seventh Tier level.
Among the human warriors, there were also three people who stood out.
One was a girl in white, with a white ribbon tied in her hair. Her weapon, surprisingly, was a jade ruler, which emitted a faint, holy glow. Each of her strikes seemed gentle but always managed to block the assault of a large yellow-haired monster.
Another was a handsome young master in elegant attire, holding a purple bone folding fan. With his agile movements, he dodged the large yellow-haired monsters while continuously inflicting wounds on them.
The third was a middle-aged man in yellow, a swordsman whose attacks were more incisive than anyone else in the area.
Hundreds of consecutive sword thrusts, regardless of the posture, always managed to hit the same spot on the large yellow-haired monster, a level of skill and adaptability that even Shi Xiaole could not help but admire.
The three each held off a large yellow-haired monster, while another four powerful Earth Immortals teamed up to fight the fourth large yellow-haired monster, and the remaining Earth Immortals were entangled with ordinary yellow-haired monsters.
But the defense of the yellow-haired monsters was too strong, and with their numerical advantage, they already had the upper hand.
"Brother, come and help us quickly!"
Shi Xiaole’s arrival did not go unnoticed by the others, and one of the men immediately shouted out.
After hesitating for a moment, Shi Xiaole did not stand idly by. In any case, between human warriors and yellow-haired monsters, he still leaned toward the former. He would worry about the rest later.
The Red Left Sword was unsheathed, and Shi Xiaole thrust it toward the nearest yellow-haired monster. The monster hadn’t even had the time to turn around before it was pierced through and through. Shi Xiaole then twisted his sword, and Sword Qi instantly shredded it.
"Impressive!"
The eyes of the warriors present lit up.
It was known that even a Fifth Tier Earth Immortal might not kill a yellow-haired monster with one sword strike. Shi Xiaole’s strength was undeniably at least at the early Sixth Tier level, probably even higher. With him joining in, they could at least hold their ground and not have to flee for their lives.
Shi Xiaole killed several yellow-haired monsters in succession, freeing up several Earth Immortals. With united efforts, they quickly took the lead and then turned their attention to the fourth large yellow-haired monster.
Not wanting to reveal too much strength, Shi Xiaole maintained his usual power and struck with his sword.
Clang!
Sparks flew, and the large yellow-haired monster didn’t even waver, whereas Shi Xiaole’s arm went numb, and he staggered back three steps.
"Brother, be careful. This monster cannot be opposed by top Seventh Tier Earth Immortals alone. We must join forces,"
the man who had called for Shi Xiaole’s help earlier shouted.
Nodding, Shi Xiaole joined the attacking coalition.
Although the large yellow-haired monster was strong, it ultimately lacked combat skills, and began to fall back under the alternating assaults of over a dozen Earth Immortals.
