Chapter 914: Chapter 913 The Foundation of the Court_1
As Shi Xiaole and his party of six burst through the encirclement, an increasing number of Martial World experts began closing in on them.
Gradually, the crowd formed a sharp-pointed shape, each collision with the imperial forces creating endless clouds of blood that were swept away by the wind into the high heavens, adding streaks of blood to the gloomy clouds.
Shi Xiaole became the focal point of everyone’s attention, with Martial World experts using him to attract fire, while imperial experts concentrated their attacks on him. His lethality was too great; along the way, countless people had fallen under his feet.
"Cosmic Sleeve Change!"
"Tons of Thunderous Might!"
The two attackers, one to the left and one to the right, were none other than the two great deputy commanders of the Golden Armor Guard, ’Sleeve Sun and Moon’ Zhao Huanzhi, and ’Hundred-Change Thunder’ Ou Tianpeng.
Both of them clearly produced a vortex of Vigorous Air accounting for more than 50 percent of their internal strength, far surpassing the three great swordsmen of Sky City. In full force, two human-shaped pathways were broken open, with both Golden Armor Guards and Martial World experts perishing, their flesh and blood flying everywhere.
"Stop and Observe!"
Shi Xiaole swept out with his sword, the shadow covering all directions, accompanied by a strong gravitational pull that made it impossible for the enemy to avoid.
Boom, boom, boom...
Between him and the two deputy commanders, large groups of people were grievously injured and fell to the ground, motionless like wheat. Shi Xiaole paused in his advance, to the great delight of the imperial fighters, who finally thwarted this devil.
"Quick, increase the attack speed, and leave no one alive!"
Zhao Huanzhi’s confidence soared as he and Ou Tianpeng exerted their full strength, attacking Shi Xiaole like mad from a distance, thus avoiding close combat and the influence of illusions while also restraining the opponent to the greatest extent.
After the shock, Shi Xiaole’s blood energy was somewhat unsettled; direct confrontation with two great experts was no joke. Had it been anyone other than Shi Xiaole, any other non-Void Origin expert would have ended up either dead or, at the very least, severely injured.
Knowing well that it would be unwise to linger, Shi Xiaole suppressed his boiling blood energy and unlocked his full power. He continuously executed the stop and observe techniques from the Ten Stoppages Tribulation, blocking the sight of Zhao Huanzhi and Ou Tianpeng, causing them to feel an urge to plunge into the sword shadows.
"Get out of my way..."
He had only shouted half of the word ’out’ when a streak of light burst from the sword shadows. Zhao Huanzhi’s face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly clamped onto the sword light with his top-grade spiritual weapon-level silk gloves, only to find it was an illusion.
At the same time, a scream arose not far away; Ou Tianpeng had been seriously struck by Shi Xiaole’s sword, pierced through the left shoulder. But he, too, was ruthless, enduring the injury to leave a palm imprint on Shi Xiaole’s chest, collapsing half of his ribcage and laughing heartily.
"Swordsman, dodge quickly!"
Gui Fuling’s voice trembled.
Shi Xiaole, blood leaking from his mouth, retreated mid-air. Suddenly, he lunged forward with even greater speed, the Heaven and Earth Changing Great Method concealed within his swordplay catching Ou Tianpeng off guard.
"You dare, Cosmic Sleeve Universe!"
Zhao Huanzhi attacked from the side.
If Shi Xiaole insisted on killing Ou Tianpeng, he himself would have been gravely injured at the hands of Zhao Huanzhi. However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Shi Xiaole advanced rather than retreated, mercilessly thrusting through Ou Tianpeng’s throat.
Ou Tianpeng, one of the three great deputy commanders of the Golden Armor Guard and just a step away from reaching the Void Origin Realm, had his head severed with a single sword stroke, spilling fresh blood into the void.
The extent of Shi Xiaole’s martial prowess shocked all around him.
"Ahh..."
Zhao Huanzhi’s eyes turned red, and with a vengeful slap, he hit Shi Xiaole’s left rib, causing a series of cracks to sound off—no telling how many ribs were broken—and nearly dislocating all of his internal organs. Despite this, he laughed heartily.
"Stop Killing!"
Vomiting chunks of liver mixed with fresh blood, Shi Xiaole seemed to feel no pain as he swept his three-meter sword glow across the field.
Zhao Huanzhi, horrified, turned ashen-faced, with fear solidifying on his expression. Despite his quick evasion, he was still grazed by the sword glow, and a large strip of flesh was sheerly sliced from his abdomen, his intestines spilling out.
"Those who stand in my way, die."
Shi Xiaole was like a killing machine; with a light step in the air, he lunged forward with another sword thrust, bursting with thousands of light points. The clusters of imperial experts below shouted as they dodged, with some bleeding profusely and screaming in agony.
After two strikes, two great deputy commanders, one dead and one wounded—let alone other people—even the leaders of the Devil Path and Tang Sect Elders felt a chilling sensation and a twitching in their hearts.
They were experienced and knowledgeable, but they had never seen such a powerful person. This kind of power was not of a realm, but an unparalleled strength, one that commanded respect.
The veiled woman protecting Zuo King looked at Shi Xiaole’s retreating figure, her beautiful eyes shining brilliantly beneath the veil, more radiant than any gem, deep in thought.
Not everyone was intimidated; some, seeing that Shi Xiaole was badly injured and thinking him spent, grew bold with audacity and snickered as they converged on him from different directions.
What awaited them was a life-claiming sword thrust.
Plunk, plunk, plunk...
A wild spray of blood.
"Follow me."
Indeed, Shi Xiaole had been injured, but not as severely as others imagined. On one hand, he had avoided vital points, and on the other, he had the transformation ability of the martial arts of life and death, his injuries healing every moment.
In fact, with his strength, he would have been able to kill the two deputy commanders within a few hundred moves without injury if he had been steady and methodical. But he couldn’t wait for that, so he had chosen the quickest way.
Seeing Shi Xiaole’s unstoppable momentum, the Martial World side was vastly boosted in morale, performing beyond their normal abilities in combat. After a bout of slashing and killing, Shi Xiaole and the others smoothly broke into an alley and disappeared from view.
"Don’t pursue them. They can’t escape."
Sima Wu’s face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water as he gestured to stop his experts from chasing.
Behind them laid a slaughterhouse-like pile of bodies, skeleton fragments, bits of flesh, and even guts mixed with blood, accumulating into variously sized pools. The walls were stained red with splashes of human organs. Through the hundred-meter-wide, kilometer-long street hung an unyielding stench of blood.
"Let’s stick to the plan. We’ll block them from the other side, heh heh, this is just the first wave. There’s still Jixia Martial Academy and the Martial Alliance that haven’t made a move."
Sima Wu clenched his fists. Despite his words, in his assessment the first wave should have been enough to destroy everyone; the unexpected emergence of that formidable opponent was to blame.
Within Sky City, individual martial prowess wasn’t supposed to overturn the situation, but Sima Wu vaguely sensed something terrifying about that strong man.
"I must personally chop that guy to pieces."
Zhao Huanzhi clutched his stomach, a face full of resentment. After taking some medicinal pills and performing a simple circulation of his inner energy, he had recovered a lot of his combat strength and was eager to test it out.
...
Ahead was a fork in the road; Shi Xiaole went to the left.
"Wait, swordsman, it’s wiser to go to the right!"
The Heaven-Shaking Fist King from Langyao Sect shouted loudly, then took the initiative to explain. According to their inside information, the defenses of the imperial forces were weaker on the right, making it easier to break through.
Everyone was overjoyed.
But Shi Xiaole shook his head: "The left side is safer."
"Do you not trust this old man? We are all grasshoppers on the same string; I surely wouldn’t harm you."
Anyone else would have already had a falling out with the Heaven-Shaking Fist King, but in the face of Shi Xiaole, he dared not. This was an incredibly terrifying man; with him around, their chances of breaking out increased by at least thirty percent.
"Because I’ve just come from the outside and have already surveyed the situation."
Shi Xiaole said.
"How is that possible?!"
The one to exclaim in surprise this time was Tang Que, the eighth elder of the Tang Sect.
The information he received stated that within tens of thousands of meters centered around Noon Gate, the imperial court had set up three iron-wall defense lines.
The first line was composed of the Golden Armor Guard and the Imperial Guard Camp, the second was Jixia Martial Academy, and the third was the Martial Alliance Headquarters; with each line of defense more formidable than the last.
For them to break out was difficult; for someone to break in was even harder. Tang Que did not believe that a person could infiltrate this area surrounded by a copper wall and iron barrier unless they unleashed power at the level of the Void Origin Realm. But with the Golden Abyss Alliance in place, that was impossible.
"Will you follow me or them?"
Shi Xiaole looked to Mu Ling and his group.
"My life was saved by you, boss. Whatever you say goes."
Mu Ling said nonchalantly.
"We trust in our brother."
Gui Zhihang gave a deep bow. Without Shi Xiaole, they would have died long ago.
Without further words, Shi Xiaole immediately headed to the left, and Mu Ling and the others quickly followed suit.
"We’re going too."
The woman in the black veil stepped forward.
"Miss, this doesn’t match the information we received."
The speaker was Uncle Lu, who had always been following Ren Mengzhen, ensuring her safety.
The woman in the black veil muttered, "Uncle Lu, the insider information might not be reliable, but trust me, that man is definitely reliable; he’s the most reliable person."
For some reason, Zuo King also made a prompt decision: "Let’s go left."
Some who insisted on going right were displeased, but they had come specifically to rescue Zuo King, and they would need his influence in many matters in the future. Reluctantly, they held their noses and set off towards the left.
Another brutal fight ensued.
This time, over six thousand experts from the Martial World had come; after the first wave of encirclement, over two thousand had died, with more than a thousand wounded.
Following the second wave, the death toll rose to over five thousand, with another thousand plus injured or crippled. Even top-notch fighters like the Heaven-Shaking Fist King and Tang Que had been injured, almost everyone was bleeding.
Dragging their wounded, everyone arrived at an open street, where they either sat cross-legged, knelt down, or lay on the ground. After having fought fiercely, everyone was almost too exhausted to move and just wanted to rest indefinitely.
The setting sun in the distance was sinking slowly, spreading tranquility all over. A scene that was often seen and dismissed without a second thought had now become the only consolation for the weary bodies and minds of the people there.
Shi Xiaole had been injured more severely than the ordinary person because he had faced the strongest attacks. Sima Wu, Zhao Huanzhi, and several Half-step Void Origin Experts from Jixia Martial Academy—almost all available high-end combatants—had focused their attacks on him.
However, the way of life and death in martial arts was, after all, the way of life and death. After it had been transformed, Shi Xiaole’s injuries recovered at an astonishing rate, so while he looked miserable on the outside, he still had some strength left in reserve.
Thud, thud, thud.
A deathly aura gathered.
Everyone sprang up like springs, their heads spinning uncontrollably.
"The final assault is coming."
Tang Que opened his eyes, madness flickering within.
The imperial court was not foolish; of course, they would not give them time to rest. This was the last blood battle. As far as the eye could see, scantily more than a thousand elites remained. How many could survive in the end?
But as it turned out, the situation was even worse than what Tang Que had imagined.
Aside from the well-rested and imposing Martial Alliance experts controlling the east side, the remaining forces of Jixia Martial Academy and the Golden Armor Guard also blocked the south and north sides.
And on the rooftops to the west were many men draped in capes and wearing black hats, each one emanating a strong presence.
"Six Fan Gate!"
The Heaven-Shaking Fist King’s pupils contracted.
With their current strength, facing a siege from all four sides, there was virtually no chance of survival.
