Chapter 864: Chapter 863: Opening of Wuyuan Palace_1
In the midst of the vast mountains, a lone tall stone statue stood.
Shi Xiaole stood straight, with the Red Left sword inserted a foot to his left, eyes slightly closed. The wind from afar blew through his hair and also caused the Red Left sword to sway.
Humming sounds vibrated through the air.
The swaying of the Red Left sword grew more intense, gradually from the side it looked like a fan-shaped red shadow. Clusters of Sword Qi emerged, roaming in all directions without any sharpness.
As every inch of the void filled with Sword Qi, Shi Xiaole stretched out his hand and accurately grasped the sword hilt within the fan-shaped red shadow, his right arm drooping, he swung it straight forward.
In an instant, countless Sword Qi seemed to sharpen like blunt knives, and like a horde of thousands of troops, they formed numerous sword shadows and shot out frantically, producing huge explosive sounds with each barrage.
Boom, boom, boom.
The area within thousands of zhang became a domain of Sword Qi, with storms being born and vanishing every moment.
When everything ceased, Shi Xiaole casually brushed his hand, scattering the Sword Qi in the air, which managed to blow several high mountains a thousand zhang away into powder, as if they were sand sculptures. Within the thousand-zhang radius where Shi Xiao Shi stood, the grass remained lush and undamaged.
"This move is finally complete."
Five months had passed since the departure of the old musician. In these five months, Shi Xiaole had not been idle. In addition the comprehension of the Heart Sword’s power and the enhancement of his cultivation, he had also understood the fourth form of the Wind Tribulation Sword Technique.
This form was an evolved version of the Wind Sword Way, boasting not just a mixture of fast and slow Sword Qi effects but also the blasting power generated from the collisions of Sword Qi, vastly increasing the lethality of this form.
Shi Xiaole estimated that, judging by the power of modern hand grenades, the destructive power of this form was equivalent to tens of thousands of hand grenades exploding at the same time.
With the level of power he had a year ago, it would have been enough to challenge a Ninth Tier Earth Immortal at their limit. As for now, killing a Ninth Tier Earth Immortal in an instant posed no problem whatsoever.
The transformation of the Demon Bone into pure silvery color had a tremendous impact on Shi Xiaole.
Firstly, his comprehension ability significantly increased. Not only did it expedite the creation of the fourth form of the Wind Tribulation Sword Technique, but the power of his Heart Sword also soared to a hundred strands, reaching a minor accomplishment!
At this moment, with just a thought from Shi Xiaole, thousands of swords would submit, and ninety percent of the world’s swordsmen would be suppressed by him. He couldn’t help but compare this to the Heart Sword power of the Golden Sword King of the past, which was probably less than fifty strands, while he himself had more than twice that amount, a truly terrifying feat.
Secondly, it was his body. Shi Xiaole discovered that, within the same amount of cultivation time, his progress with Vigorous Air was much faster than before. Over five months, his cultivation had already reached the early eighth level of the Divine Border Realm.
But what’s more important were the three great Martial Ways.
After his Life-and-Death Martial Way reached the peak of thirty percent and the conversion efficiency greatly increased, his Wind Sword Way remarkably reached the middle phase of eighty percent, and his Illusion Martial Way had reached the pinnacle of seventy percent.
At this very moment, Shi Xiaole felt so powerful that he thought he could kill a Ninth Tier Earth Immortal instantly even with his eyes closed.
Of course, to know exactly how strong he was, he would have to prove it through real combat.
Just when he was planning to take a good rest, a cloud unexpectedly floated from the distant sky. This cloud was different from the others and almost immediately attracted the attention of everyone in Rainbow State.
Because it was transparent, and inside it seemed like countless clusters of fire were burning, making half of the sky sizzle.
As the sunlight shone upon it, the transparent cloud layer burst into radiance that could be seen for miles, and amidst it, people vaguely saw a majestic and imposing palace descending to the ground, with the sounds of dragons and tigers shocking in all directions.
"Wuyuan Palace’s opening follows the Great Saint, the Divine Fire Order holds the foundation for all eternity, I, the elder of Wuyuan, invite all to take their places!"
A deep and authoritative voice that none dared defy then resounded.
"Wuyuan Palace!"
"It has finally appeared, the astonishment of the battle that occurs only once every three hundred years—who will command the ups and downs?"
"This time, who knows how many heroes will bleed to death, and who will step over a mountain of corpses to overlook Rainbow State?"
The Martial World was astir, countless gazes were fixed beneath the transparent cloud layer, filled with shock, fear, bewilderment, anticipation...
At the same moment, those whose names were written by the Spring and Autumn Brush clearly sensed the location of Wuyuan Palace and set off one by one.
...
Twenty days.
Fifteen days.
Ten days.
The time for Wuyuan Palace’s true opening drew ever closer, and a large number of masters had gathered in front of the palace. Many groups of three or five, presumably from the same sect, and even more were lone individuals.
A glance revealed that each person was distinctive, with long, enduring auras, each capable of being a power in their own right. But here, they were just ordinary people.
Only those with the outwardly manifest aura of the Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors became the center of attention. But even among them, they were numerous, each occupying their own territory. Every collision triggered changes in the wind and clouds, causing bystanders to tremble and dare not come close.
"Just how large is the Martial World really?"
An incredibly beautiful woman with her hair styled into a flying bun glanced around, nearly overwhelmed by an indescribable pressure that almost left her breathless.
It was Yu Yourong.
Yu Yourong had been lucky. Upon entering Rainbow State, she landed in a heaven and blessed land and obtained an astonishing heritage. Now at the ninth level of the Divine Border Realm, she was confident in her combat power to match against an average Ninth Tier Earth Immoral.
But she had not anticipated that there would be so many strong individuals in Rainbow State. At a glance, she noticed many individuals whose aura was not weaker than hers, and their number was still increasing.
This was just Rainbow State, so what about the Daxia Dynasty? There would only be more hidden experts!
Let alone the Bei Liang Dynasty, Flying Horse Dynasty, countries of the Western Region, the islands of the West Sea, and even the mysterious world deep within the South Sea.
Yu Yourong began to understand what her master often said: no one can claim dominion over the world, for there will always be someone stronger than you.
"Whoever emerges as the champion of this great battle will undoubtedly be a peerless figure of a generation. I wonder who it will be."
Yu Yourong gazed at the several prominent figures, pondering secretly.
"Miss Yu."
A gentle voice sounded.
"It’s you, Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Sister Zhong."
Yu Yourong excitedly stepped forward to greet Zhang Xiangfeng and Zhong Lingsui. In a world full of strangers, seeing two familiar faces inevitably gave her a sense of security.
"Junior Sister Yu, has Brother Shi not arrived yet?"
Zhong Lingsui looked around with a smile and asked.
"I have not seen him."
The name Shi Xiaole was already well-known throughout Rainbow State, which made Yu Yourong marvel at his greatness. Like gold that shines wherever it goes, Shi Xiaole is indeed the gold among gold.
Having not surfaced for a year, it’s possible he could even arm-wrestle with the extreme Ninth Tier Earth Immortals, and although this thought may be far-fetched, when has Shi Xiaole not been extraordinary?
As time passed, more and more masters arrived.
Yu Yourong also managed to see Bai Ruiting, and the two women shared an affectionate reunion, recounting the separation of the past two years.
"Look quickly, the Iron Heart Emperor has come."
"There’s Miao Haihuang."
"Is that the Great Sorrow Knife Emperor, what a strong aura."
Among the Terrestrial Immortals, without doubt, the six prodigies were the strongest and attracted the most attention, but as the three titans appeared, the limelight was immediately stolen from them.
In the history of Rainbow State, there were individuals who could rival the three titans, though they could be counted on one hand, and the existence of all three in the same era was an unprecedented marvel.
Even if it weren’t for the matter of Spring and Autumn Brush, the three titans were the most likely candidates to become the master of the Divine Fire Order.
"In terms of potential, perhaps we are no match for you, but in strength..."
The Asura Martial Emperor glanced over, then immediately retracted his gaze and continued meditating. If the battle at the Wuyuan Palace was inevitable, anyone blocking his path was an enemy, and it would be a fight to the death.
The Yellow Jade Sword Emperor remained unperturbed. To him, there were only a few true enemies; all others were eventually fated to be defeated by his sword.
On the penultimate day, Shi Xiaole finally arrived.
However, no one was chatting at that time, as everyone was busy adjusting their conditions, so almost nobody noticed him, and Shi Xiaole did not speak, preferring to find a quiet corner for himself.
Creak!
As the last day was about to end, the fifty-zhang tall twin palace gates opened on their own, revealing a broad road that no one knew where it led.
A layer of light enveloped everyone.
The next moment, Shi Xiaole found himself sitting on an arc-shaped stone slab, with a vast arena in front of him.
The arena was circular, located at the very bottom, with a diameter of a staggering twenty thousand meters. Mysterious and profound fluctuations circulated around it, impenetrable even to Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power, likely a peak Void Origin Realm level Array System.
Following Shi Xiaole, more and more people appeared on the arc-shaped stone slabs, which were arranged in concentric rings but only occupied two opposing sides of the arena, still accommodating an astonishingly large number of spectators.
"Welcome, everyone. Your presence here proves you are all outstanding figures in the Martial World."
An elder suddenly appeared in the center, smiling, "This is the Eastern Arena. The final victor here will contend with the winners from the Southern, Western, and Northern Arenas. The strongest among you, will be the master of the fifth Divine Fire Order."
"Before the fight begins, either side has the right to admit defeat, but it also means that you will become a permanent slave of the Wuyuan Palace. Once the fight starts, it must end with someone’s death to declare the other side’s victory. Have you all understood?"
Despite the elder’s smiling face, everyone listened with chills down their spines.
They finally understood what ’each person can avoid death’ meant; it was at the cost of losing freedom and becoming a slave. For many, this was even worse than death!
"If you wish to defy the palace master, feel free to try now. Or perhaps everyone can join forces," the elder said with undiminished amusement as his gaze seemed to see through everyone’s souls.
No one dared to try.
In other places, people might have stood a chance against the old master of Wuyuan by working together, but not in Wuyuan Palace, where the secrets were unknown.
"Then let us begin. The Nine-Colored Palace Lamp will shine on two individuals; those two will enter the arena."
A colossal Nine-Colored Palace Lamp hovered above the arena, with each face shining with a different hue. Shi Xiaole noticed that it was also covered in dense scripts.
No sooner had the elder finished speaking than two of the scripts lit up, transforming into beams that shone in different directions.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The two illuminated individuals wore grim expressions; under the elder’s compelling gaze, they had no choice but to leap onto the arena.
Realizing that the opponent’s strength was not much greater than their own, but facing a fight to the death without certainty of victory, the two were torn between fighting and admitting defeat.
Thump, thump.
Suddenly, two bursts of blood mist appeared in the arena, and from the beginning until the end, not even the Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors present could tell how the two had died.
"I’ve said it before, do not challenge the palace master’s rules. Next pair."
The elder called out coldly.
