Chapter 961: Chapter 960: Entering the Sword King Tower_1
"Am I qualified now?"
Shi Xiaole asked indifferently, looking at the Qingyuan Sword Emperor, whose face was as gloomy as still water.
Those words sounded more like sarcasm, making the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s sword momentum tremble a few times. No one could understand his feelings.
Just half a year ago, he could easily deal with Shi Xiaole using only half of his power, yet now, despite giving his all, he was the one injured by the latter.
Among the Martial Emperors of the Void Origin Realm, unless one encounters a fortuitous opportunity, even a slight gap could require ten, twenty years, or even longer to bridge.
The Qingyuan Sword Emperor simply could not comprehend Shi Xiaole’s rate of progress. Could their talents really be that far apart?
No, I was just too careless before. I cannot be defeated. That ultimate fate must be mine!
With raging fury igniting in his heart, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor took step by step towards Shi Xiaole.
With his first step, his sword momentum reached its peak; with the second, the sword technique was cast from afar; by the third, he became one with his sword, each pore bursting with Sword Qi, stabbing at Shi Xiaole.
It was one of his famous killing moves, the Extreme Sword Massacre.
Ignoring the Sword Qi shooting towards him from all directions, Shi Xiaole countered with the simplest of swords strokes, drawing his sword in a sweep that easily deflected a myriad of blades. In Shi Xiaole’s eyes, this attack seemed extraordinary, but its power was too scattered, making it a lesser threat than the previous moves.
"Sword Breaks Without Trace!"
As if he had anticipated this moment, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s figure flickered rapidly, using the recoil to draw a complex circle in the air with his long sword. The circle kept shrinking inwards, the larger encompassing the smaller, quickly compressing to a point.
As the point of light entered Shi Xiaole’s eyes, an invisible sword thrust towards his spiritual sea.
Anyone else would have been unable to react swiftly enough, let alone have a body that could withstand such a spiritual attack that surpassed the bounds of the human realm.
But what kind of person was Shi Xiaole?
The Heaven and Earth Changing Great Method was performed, and the formless sword was instantly scattered like smoke. No, tracing back to its origin, it entered the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s own eyes, striking back at him.
"What?!"
The Qingyuan Sword Emperor was greatly shocked; his mind severely shaken, blood flowed from all his orifices as his movements twisted grotesquely, halting mid-air.
A layer of sword light swiftly enveloped him.
This was no friendly sparring match; the Qingyuan Sword Emperor hadn’t planned to spare Shi Xiaole, and Shi Xiaole was just as determined not to be lenient. Had it not been for his superior mental strength, he would have already fallen for a sneak attack, rendered mindless.
Amidst the howling gales, countless Sword Qi pierced into the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s pores, instantly turning him into a bloodied figure, with sprays of blood splattering all around.
"Qingyuan Myriad Forms!"
Severe pain jarred the Qingyuan Sword Emperor back to consciousness. His eyes reddened, he ignored all injuries, and mobilized a towering sea of swords rushing forward.
This was the move that had injured Shi Xiaole half a year before.
Facing it again today, Shi Xiaole had none of his previous apprehension. In fact, had he not wanted to witness the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s true capabilities, he could easily have prevented the latter from even making a move.
"Fearless Wind!"
The Sword Qi turned into Vigorous Air, then into strands, and finally into imperceptibly thin layers, visible only as an irregular spreading of cyan liquid with no defined shape. The dark green sword sea barely withstood upon collision, only to be torn apart and bypass Shi Xiaole of its own accord.
"Face me and hold nothing back; I’ll give you one last chance," Shi Xiaole said, his green robe billowing as he held his sword downward, suppressing an even stronger attack.
The hearts of the onlookers were trembling.
Earlier, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s strength had grown exponentially, so dominant, yet in the blink of an eye, he became the one who was suppressed. That young man from the Flying Horse Dynasty, with his inconceivably powerful strength, showed everyone who the true ruler was.
"I will make you regret this."
With a roar that pierced the heavens and the earth, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s dark green long robe tore open at the sleeves, revealing his swollen arms. Subsequently, rings of Vigorous Air surged along his arms, continually pouring into his long sword, the sword light growing ever more brilliant, as though it could penetrate the spirit.
"Qingyuan is for me, kill!"
In just one breath, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor struck with his sword.
This one stroke seemed to be powered by the very blood in his veins, as the void opened up, countless fissures crazily spreading towards Shi Xiaole. Around these cracks, Sword Qi, so densely concentrated, formed long folds, harboring terrifying power within.
The Earth Destroyer Knife Emperor stood up.
For this one sword stroke made him sense a threat.
The Yinyang Martial Emperor’s expression grew solemn; a three-dimensional black and white ellipse floated and sunk in the palm of his hand as his eyes locked steadfastly on the green-robed figure on the light bridge.
"Well done."
Under the enveloping sword light, Shi Xiaole was not alarmed but delighted. He could tell that ordinary moves were ineffective against this one, nor could it be easily dodged. But his intention had been to test his opponent’s moves, to use the Qingyuan Sword Emperor’s techniques to try out his own newly developed killing move.
"Wind God Dance."
Shi Xiaole took a sharp breath like a flash of lightning, aligning his arms at shoulder level with his elbows bent at right angles, and with the swing of his knee joints, the Spring Fury Sword drew a quarter-circle arc in front of him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, wind rose and clouds surged, not a wind-like sword but numerous strands of Sword Qi forming true wind, a wild dance that howled as it surged forward.
Zzz, boom boom boom...
The cracks in the void were continually being filled in, but due to collisions, they were born again at an even faster pace.
As soon as the Sword Qi wrinkled and coiled into the wind, it was rudely erased, leaving no trace wherever the sword wind passed, as if a blackboard eraser had swept away the marks, eradicating the Sword Qi of the Qingyuan Sword Emperor completely.
When it drew close to the Qingyuan Sword Emperor, the sword wind had weakened by a full ninety percent, but it still shattered the opponent’s protective Vigorous Air and enveloped him.
Pfft pfft pfft...
Among the continuous sounds of flesh being pierced, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor screamed loudly, his body slamming against one side of the light bridge like a kite with a severed string, then bouncing several times before crashing hard to the ground.
After trembling a few times, the Qingyuan Sword Emperor did not stand up; he would rather have passed out than endure the repeated torture of the glares around him.
Those gazes must be full of disdain and mockery.
He hated, hated why he had lost, and even more, hated Shi Xiaole who had put him in this situation. Why, just why could this guy make such rapid progress!
"The power is quite decent."
To be objective, when maintaining the Heart Sword at the same standard as the Qingyuan Sword Emperor, Shi Xiaole’s strength was extremely close to that of the Qingyuan Sword Emperor, which was also a major reason why the Dance of the Wind Deity did not cause serious damage to the opponent.
However, Shi Xiaole was already very satisfied, at least proving that the level of the Dance of the Wind Deity surpassed Qingyuan by me.
"So powerful, such a strong killing move."
"The killing move of the Qingyuan Sword Emperor, if it doesn’t make it into the top fifteen of the people’s list, it’s close, but in my opinion, the young emperor’s killing move can definitely rank within the top fifteen."
"Who would have thought, who would have thought..."
After the silence, the noise erupted like boiling water. Although there were not many people present, each one of them was a Martial Emperor of the Void Origin Realm, creating a wave of aura that was even more terrifying than the chorus of ten thousand people.
From not fancying Shi Xiaole’s strength, to being amazed by it, and then to the outcome being revealed, their emotions were like riding a roller coaster, continuously soaring, and at this moment, even breathing becomes labored.
If there were still many who thought that Wudao Xuan was stronger than Shi Xiaole before, now, no one held this opinion anymore.
Everyone could see clearly that the Qingyuan Sword Emperor was a notch stronger than the Seven Slaughter Martial Emperor, yet he lost to Shi Xiaole.
Even if one thought about it a little more, they would realize an even more terrifying fact, under the premise that the strengths displayed by both parties were almost equal, from beginning to end, Shi Xiaole had been pressing the Qingyuan Sword Emperor in the fight.
An outright thrashing!
What this proved, everyone knew.
"I take back what I said earlier, there’s only one person who is truly invincible among peers, and compared to Wudao Xuan, the young emperor is more deserving of these four words."
Qizheng Martial Emperor was full of emotions.
Without comparison, there is no harm; under the dazzling brilliance of Shi Xiaole, even bearing the Selfless Sacred Bone, Wudao Xuan still seemed to pale in comparison.
Unless he could defeat Shi Xiaole in a fair fight.
The Purple Wood Sword Emperor laughed heartily, "The young emperor must have been holding back his strength earlier to help us. Such high morality and deep friendship truly puts me to shame."
Knowing full well that he was promoting Shi Xiaole, all those who had received the ’sparring’ could not but admit this favor.
The same deed, done by people of different strengths, has different meanings. The previous Shi Xiaole was at most very helpful to everyone, but now, it should be considered as giving guidance.
"Damn, that’s ruthless."
The Seven Slaughter Martial Emperor gritted his teeth, then suddenly let out a sigh of relief.
He was extremely grateful that he had faced Wudao Xuan; if he had faced Shi Xiaole, his fate would likely have been even worse. Didn’t you see the Qingyuan Sword Emperor looking like a dead dog?
"If you can defeat him, it means you have a chance to defeat me."
The Earth Destroyer Knife Emperor’s gaze lingered on Shi Xiaole for a moment before withdrawing, his expression already solemn. The upcoming battles were truly tough, not allowing for the slightest negligence.
The Yinyang Martial Emperor shook his head.
With his acute intuition in the yin-yang martial arts, he had always been highly accurate, but this time he had failed to see the extraordinariness of Shi Xiaole. There was only one answer: the other’s level had surpassed his own.
Against such a person, his chances of winning wouldn’t exceed forty percent.
Wudao Xuan closed his eyes and continued to comprehend the essence of Heaven Asura Tower as if nothing had happened.
After obtaining victory as he wished, Shi Xiaole was detained by a beam of light, and when the light dissipated, he found himself within an edifice filled with the aura of the sword path.
It was noticeable that from time to time, sword shadows would appear in midair: some were agile, some were heavy, some were hot as blazing fire, while others were incomparably cold... In short, they were weird and varied, all sorts of them.
"These are the different essences of the sword path. Sword King Tower really lives up to its reputation."
Shi Xiaole knew well that he had arrived at the fourth floor of the Sword King Tower.
Right then, he couldn’t even care about the battles happening outside, his gaze fixed solely on the martial arts manuscripts and experience notes on the walls. After recording them and converting them into reward points, he sat down cross-legged and silently pondered.
To increase efficiency, Shi Xiaole would also actively interrupt this process to comprehend the essences of the sword path around him. As soon as he gained some insights, he would immediately compare them, allowing them to complement each other.
As for the lower three floors of the Sword King Tower, there was no need for him to visit them, as the fourth floor had already encompassed all the mysteries of the previous three floors.
