Chapter 842: Chapter 841 Chaotic Battle_1
Technique is the means of exerting power; when the means becomes instinct, consciousness is only a hindrance, and the body will make the most appropriate response.
Shi Xiaole finally understood why his Body-Sword Integration had been so difficult to progress—not because he was limited by talent, but quite the opposite. It was his exceedingly high talent and comprehension that had become obstacles.
With a carefree smile, Shi Xiaole hurried over to the Enlightenment Tree, plucked it up, and quickly left the scene.
Whether it was good or bad luck, just a few dozen breaths later, a terrifying figure clad in red, emanating an aura of Sword Qi all over, arrived nearby.
"There was clearly an aura of sword charm and Enlightenment Fruit here just now."
The woman looked at the debris on the ground and the crater on the plaza, her expression darkening. A sky full of Sword Qi burst forth, spanning tens of thousands of meters around her, each streak of Sword Qi acting as her eyes and ears.
After several consecutive scans, she found nothing.
She hummed in disappointment and had no choice but to leave.
...
Next to a series of deep trench-like ditches, there was a cave.
This was a hiding place that Shi Xiaole had dug out on the spur of the moment, and he only took out the Enlightenment Root after making sure there was no one around.
The Enlightenment Root was only six inches long, slightly thicker at the top with large gaps in its texture. The faint luminescence that emanated from it was soothing to the soul.
Perhaps due to contact with his palm, Shi Xiaole felt as if his thoughts had sprouted wings, sparking many flashes of insight. More importantly, the three types of Martial Arts in his spirit sea seemed to sense something and became agitated.
"Every step in the Mirage Mountain Range is perilous; improving even a bit of strength is beneficial."
Without any delay, Shi Xiaole closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then decided to first enhance his Wind Sword Way.
This was his strongest martial art to date. Life-and-death martial arts, though higher in tier, were still too immature and not suitable for managing urgent situations.
Boom!
The tiny blue sword trembled with excitement, its surface replete with veins formed by Vigorous Air, which suddenly contracted, drawing the marvelous power from the Enlightenment Root.
Like a long drought meeting sweet rain, the tier of the tiny blue sword started to rise slowly at a pace perceptible to the spirit.
One 2-hour period.
Two 2-hour periods.
Three 2-hour periods.
The blade of the tiny blue sword was fully formed, with threads of pale golden light flashing at its edge.
The Wind Sword Way had reached the late stage of 60 percent completion.
The change was far from over; as time passed, the blade became thinner and thinner. From the side, it looked almost like a thin line, the occasional flash of gold so sharp it made one shiver.
The Wind Sword Way had attained the peak of 60 percent completion.
Inside the cave, countless streaks of Sword Qi sprayed out and then quickly retracted. The faint residual aura left numerous mottled sword marks on the ground and the cave walls.
"My current regular strength, should not yet have reached the pinnacle Eighth Tier level, but it’s much stronger than before."
The further one progresses in Martial Arts, each enhancement, no matter how small, brings with it a tremendous increase in strength. It is said that when the cultivation of Martial Arts exceeds ten full levels, the rise of even a minor realm can double one’s strength.
Of course, this was not something that Shi Xiaole could comprehend at that moment, but he was moving in that direction.
In fact, compared with those Eighth Tier and Ninth Tier Earth Immortals, the tier of Martial Arts had always been Shi Xiaole’s weak point.
Because his strength had increased too quickly, he had too little time to comprehend Martial Arts. Even with his extraordinary talents, he found it difficult to close the gap.
Were it not for the Blood Yang Medium and the Sky Yew Tendril, causing his Vigorous Air to be exceptionally strong, he definitely would not have been able to attain his current level of combat power.
But this time presented a huge opportunity.
As long as he could obtain enough Enlightenment Fruits, Shi Xiaole had every hope of maximally enhancing his Martial Arts. At that point, his strength would be extraordinarily terrifying!
Looking at the Enlightenment Root whose light had dimmed, Shi Xiaole did not absorb any more of it. The remaining aura was insufficient for advancing the Wind Sword Way to 70 percent, so it was better to use it to sense the Enlightenment Fruits instead.
Shi Xiaole was also not in a hurry to leave. The elevation of Body-Sword Integration had inspired another possibility that he was eager to try.
Swish, swish, swish.
In the cave, sword lights crisscrossed rapidly, soon forming a web of swords. At the intersections, one could even hear the sounds of Sword Qi clashing.
Eventually, within a single breath, the sword lights could strike hundreds of times, with the hundreds of clashing sounds nearly merging into one, forming a thunderous rumble.
In the end, all the sword lights disappeared, leaving only a comet-like sword glow in existence, accompanied by a dull blasting sound.
Boom!
A hill several hundred meters tall collapsed in an instant.
Shi Xiaole appeared on another mountain peak, his face reflected by the Red Left Sword.
"Combining Body-Sword Integration with the Wind Sword Way is indeed feasible. The close-range lethality has increased by at least 30 percent, and it’s even above the Wind Catastrophe."
Excluding the unusable Heart Thunder Sword, the Controlling Sword with Qi Skill was Shi Xiaole’s number one trump card, with Wind Catastrophe as the second.
However, Controlling Sword with Qi Skill excelled in speed, proving almost useless against high defenses.
The Wind Catastrophe, on the other hand, was about fast and slow rhythms, a combination of speed and power that, although well-rounded, tended to be mediocre and did not fully demonstrate Shi Xiaole’s strength.
With the Wind Ocean still incomplete, the importance of a third trump card was self-evident.
To a certain extent, the new killing move formed by merging Body-Sword Integration with the Wind Sword Way addressed Shi Xiaole’s urgent needs.
This sword, driven by strength to achieve speed, was not purely about force; it also infused the unpredictability and variations of the wind. Over short distances, the lethality surpassed even the Controlling Sword with Qi Skill, but it was less effective over long distances.
Once executed, even the top Eighth Tier Earth Immortals would not take it lightly.
"Let’s call this move Star Stab."
"Star" represents the form of the sword technique, exceptionally dazzling. "Stab" is the action, implying an unstoppable force.
Once the Star Stab was complete, Shi Xiaole’s strength had nearly reached the peak of an Eighth Tier Earth Immortal, and he was only thirty-two years old. Announcing this would certainly shock the entire Rainbow State.
Clutching the root of Enlightenment Tree, Shi Xiaole flew off, intending to continue his search for Enlightenment Fruits.
...
"Gentlemen, first come, first served, I won’t compete with you for the rest," Shi Xiaole called out to them.
A massive silent surge was undulating, and next to it on the boundless grassland stood an exceptionally tall Enlightenment Tree with eight Enlightenment Fruits hanging from it.
The man speaking also held another in his hand.
Over twenty people surrounded him, each with eyes blazing and breaths coming fast and furious.
At these words, a burly spear-wielding man chuckled, "Jiuhua Hermit, we don’t wish to fight you either. Just put down the Enlightenment Fruit and you’re free to go."
"Tyrant Mysterious Spear Master, don’t push people too far!"
Jiuhua Hermit’s expression was ugly, his gaze at the spear-wielding man was as fierce as if he wanted to devour him.
He was the first to discover this place, and, unusually, there were no Array Systems. He could have taken all nine Enlightenment Fruits at once, but he never expected that the Tyrant Mysterious Spear Master, because of past enmities, had long joined with others to target him, thus spoiling his big opportunity!
As a high-level Eighth Tier Earth Immortal, Jiuhua Hermit considered himself no weaker than the Tyrant Mysterious Spear Master, but the latter had six companions, and there were other masters rushing to the site. The situation was unclear; it was not the time to stick his neck out first.
"Fellows, someone will discover this place soon, and it would be wiser to seize the remaining eight Enlightenment Fruits than to force me to stay. Otherwise, you might end up with nothing," Jiuhua Hermit said calmly.
Some people’s eyes flickered.
The adversary was trying to extricate himself, true, but his point was indeed valid. With only over twenty people there, if they didn’t hurry to grab the Enlightenment Fruits, their chances would only diminish as more arrived.
While they were hesitating, Jiuhua Hermit suddenly burst out, launching a palm strike directly in front of him, kicking up a storm of flying sand and rocks.
"You dare!"
"Suicidal fool!"
The Earth Immortals directly in the path of the palm force hastily countered, but others, seizing the moment, rushed toward the Enlightenment Tree. Each would have grown an extra pair of wings if possible, and while still midair, various deadly moves were already being hurled recklessly.
Vigorous Air spilled out, and the eight Enlightenment Fruits were forcibly ejected, only to be immediately trapped by the light barriers set up by the crowd.
The scene descended into chaos.
"You all fight it out amongst yourselves."
With several elusive moves, Jiuhua Hermit easily dodged the two in front and left behind a trail of cold laughter, fleeing triumphantly into the distance.
"You might as well stay."
Countless shadowy staff strikes swept across horizontally, merging into one, heavily crashing toward Jiuhua Hermit, the brutal force nearly crushing a large swath of the mountain.
"Jiuhua Whirlwind!"
His face instantly changed, Jiuhua Hermit forcefully pushed out with one palm.
Clang!
The vacuum shuddered violently, with both individuals at the center, the grass within sight was reduced to dust. The staff shadow, like scribbles on a blackboard, was erased one by one, but Jiuhua Hermit’s escape route was also blocked.
"Jiuhua Heaven-Opening Palm!"
Without time for talk, Jiuhua Hermit struck nine palms in quick succession but left from another direction. Yet he was met with another chilling blade light.
"Leave behind what you’re holding, or die."
The bald swordsman was just as strong as Jiuhua Hermit, while the staff-wielding man was savagely brutal, swinging one strike after another.
Both were acutely aware that joining the melee rashly would be unwise; better to wait and strike when the others had weakened. Now, their priority was to stop Jiuhua Hermit.
"This is your doing!"
Seeing the situation escalating, Jiuhua Hermit’s refined face twisted with ferocity. Biting the tip of his tongue, he concentrated his blood essence and sprayed it toward the staff-wielding man.
"Staff Shadow Chill!"
Overwhelmed by a sinking feeling of danger, the staff-wielding man’s back ran cold. As his arms swelled, he swung a staff forward, transforming it into thousands of staff shadows compressing everything around them.
Sss.
The slender blood thread, seemingly fragile, horrifically pierced through the staff shadows in an instant, not slowing down at all.
In a desperate move, the staff-wielding man, acting on his instincts, dodged to the side. However, he grunted upon seeing a three-inch cut on his left arm; the tiniest bit more, and his entire left arm would have been ruined.
"You won’t escape today!"
The staff-wielding man frantically applied pressure to his wound to stop the bleeding and let out a long howl.
The bald swordsman, however, had retreated a great distance, even restraining some of his energy—more than happy for the two sides to fight to the death and settle scores later.
Boom! Boom!
Unexpectedly, rather than clashing, both the staff-wielding man and Jiuhua Hermit simultaneously attacked the bald swordsman, sending him stumbling back in disarray, spitting out blood.
"You guys are ruthless."
The bald swordsman clenched his teeth in hatred.
Now, all three high-ranking Eighth Tier Earth Immortals were injured, each standing their ground, trusting no one else.
Meanwhile, in the distance where the melee raged, someone finally managed to seize an Enlightenment Fruit. But as soon as they obtained it, they became the target of all.
Some were wounded, some bathed in blood, and a few narrowly escaped, only to immediately become the target of the three combatants including Jiuhua Hermit.
