Chapter 977: Chapter 976: Slaughter Begins_1
"Is there anyone else coming out, or shall we all go together?"
Shi Xiaole stood his ground, unflinching in the face of the hostile crowd surrounding him.
"This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. With just you alone, what makes you think you have the right to provoke us into action?"
A Yan Family expert sneered and shook his head, his gaze subtly turning towards Yan Jicheng, filled with pride and arrogance.
No matter how strong Shi Xiaole might be, this expert believed with the Young Master’s strength, he could easily take care of the other party, especially since the Young Master had reached the Earthly Realm level!
The Dark Sect’s experts, similarly, turned their burning gazes toward Dark Night Proton.
Even the other Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors in the outer circle held their breaths in anticipation, quietly awaiting the developments.
"What’s so great about Yan Jicheng or Dark Night Proton? If you are capable, fight on the same level as the Young Emperor!"
Seeing that the situation was not right, Yan San roared out loud.
He had great confidence in Shi Xiaole, but he knew that both Yan Jicheng and the other had already surpassed Shi Xiaole’s current level, and he feared the latter would suffer a significant disadvantage.
Halting the retorts of the Yan Family experts with a wave of his hand, Yan Jicheng’s eyes slightly lifted as he looked toward Shi Xiaole, "If what I’ve just seen is your strongest power, defeating you will take me no more than ten moves."
Without waiting for Yan San and the others to speak, Yan Jicheng pressed his other hand toward the sky.
Whoosh!
A spark suddenly appeared, then swept across the sky with a jaw-dropping momentum. From this sea of flames, everyone felt a will that nothing could withstand, as if merely an extra glance would set their souls ablaze.
"One hundred and twenty percent, one hundred and twenty percent of the fiery martial path..."
Some people’s lips trembled.
You must know that for a typical top-notch Human Realm Martial Emperor, their martial path is at the early stages of one hundred and ten percent, with very few reaching the middle. If it’s an Earthly Realm Martial Emperor, the martial path is in the latter stages of one hundred and ten percent.
If someone reaches the peak of one hundred and ten percent, they are essentially a Heaven Realm Martial Emperor. And at one hundred and twenty percent, that person would not be considered weak, even among Heaven Realm Martial Emperors.
Of course, this is under normal circumstances, because as the martial path increases, practitioners’ other abilities are also strengthening.
But there also exist prodigies among prodigies, with exceptional aptitude, who can catch up to their predecessors in martial prowess before their other abilities have broken through. This leads to a mismatch between their martial path and overall strength.
Yan Jicheng is undoubtedly one such prodigy. Who could have imagined that this young man, barely in his years, has a martial path not weaker than that of a typical Heaven Realm Martial Emperor!
At this moment, not only the others but even Yan San, who harbored ill feelings towards him, couldn’t utter a single word.
"Kirin, even if I suppress my realm, I cannot suppress my other advantages. You are still young, defeating you now is meaningless to me."
Yan Jicheng, standing high above, made a statement that sent everyone’s hearts racing.
Nobody had expected that, just as Wudao Xuan’s defeat seemed evident, the Yan Family’s Kirin would still be so imperiously arrogant, yet who could mock him?
He clearly regarded Shi Xiaole as a junior far behind, unworthy of competing with him. Yet one must not forget, Yan Jicheng himself is also among the younger generation, not even eighty years old.
"Since my debut, I have faced numerous strong opponents, some stronger than you, but so far, among my peers, I stand unrivaled in the world!"
Facing Yan Jicheng’s indifferent gaze, Shi Xiaole faced off proudly, "If you dare make a move, I will accompany you."
His words were no exaggeration, for those who had died by his hands, like the Yellow Jade Sword Emperor and Asura Martial Emperor, which among them wasn’t a Heavenly Realm expert?
Especially Asura Martial Emperor, who had defeated Iron Heart Emperor in their peer group with his Asura martial path at one hundred and twenty percent, yet still died at Shi Xiaole’s hands.
Of course, at that time, he had used the fusion of three great martial paths. But regardless, Shi Xiaole was never timid when facing any formidable enemy, he always had his confidence to fall back on.
A mere Yan Jicheng daring to assume the role of a senior was simply a joke.
Hiss!
Many people inhaled sharply, shocked at Shi Xiaole’s words.
Since only a very few had left Rainbow Island, the battle at Wuyuan Palace had not spread at all, so everyone was completely unaware of the basis for Shi Xiaole’s confidence in his statement.
Was it confidence, or was he simply refusing to seem weak and thus bluffing?
"This has to be the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. Do some people really not know their own limits?"
"Young Master, this person is so ignorant of his place, please punish him severely!"
"Kirin, don’t you get carried away!"
Several Yan Family experts were beside themselves with ridicule. How could there be such shamelessly arrogant people in this world? If it hadn’t been for the Angry Flame Emperor’s vow that only the younger generation was qualified to take action, they would have insisted on joining the fray themselves.
"Heh, so full of courage and skill, very well, let me, Dark Night Proton, entertain you."
The thick night shrouded the sky, and before many could even react, they saw the darkness pressing towards Shi Xiaole, with countless black bats flying out, emitting piercing screeches.
Just as the shock started to register with the onlookers, they saw vines rise up, connecting heaven and earth, with thick and thin branches growing from them, whipping around madly and tearing the night apart in an instant.
"Ling’er, what do you mean by this?"
The countless bats converged into the figure of Dark Night Proton, who licked his lips.
"Nothing much, just felt like competing with you," Mu Ling’er replied in her green dress, her demeanor graceful and delicate, seemingly more like a sheltered lady than a peerless prodigy. But if anyone underestimated her, they were bound to pay a heavy price.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Mu Ling’er lifted her jade-like hand, and countless willow tendrils sprouted from the ground, fell from the sky, and even stretched out from her body, enveloping Dark Night Proton in a cocoon in the blink of an eye.
The giant silkworm was unstable; each willow strand resembled a bone-dissolving steel knife, constantly grinding and tightening, and the force of the tight binding made many spectators’ hearts tingle with numbness.
Boom...
When the giant silkworm contracted to the size of a hundred zhang, it suddenly expanded and exploded violently, with countless bats flying out from within.
"Shadow Bloodlust!"
Few people could clearly see Dark Night Proton’s position; he seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, as if existing in another space, dodging through the layers of willow strands. All the bats merged into one, swallowing Mu Linger whole before quickly dispersing, leaving behind a pool of blood where Mu Linger once stood.
Boom boom boom.
Successive loud noises came from the sky, where dark energy collided with wooden energy. It turned out that, at some point, Dark Night Proton and Mu Linger had switched their battlefield.
This unpredictable tactic shocked everyone; compared to Shi Xiaole’s battle with Wudao Xuan, this fight was undoubtedly on a higher level.
"My friends, if we let this person go today, it will be a disgrace to the Martial World of Daxia. Please, stop him!"
"That Shi is boundlessly arrogant, acting as if there’s no one in the Martial World of Daxia. Whoever defeats him will be a distinguished guest of the Yan Family."
Before the battle, the Yan Family and the other three major powers were full of confidence; hence they made such oaths, but nobody expected Shi Xiaole to be so overwhelmingly powerful. With Yan Jicheng unwilling to take action and Dark Night Proton being blocked, they ended up in a passive position.
As Shi Xiaole was about to leave with Yan Yuchai and others, the experts from the Yan Family and Sky Water Palace silently transmitted their voices to the experts on the periphery, promising various benefits.
After all, it was only they who couldn’t make a move. Among those watching the battle, there were no shortage of Earthly Realm Martial Emperors, and even more Human Realm Martial Emperors.
Just as they were about to leave, a giant hand suddenly reached out towards Shi Xiaole and his companions. Shi Xiaole hadn’t made a move yet when Yan Da let out a cold snicker and went to meet the attack with a punch.
Clang!
The two forces of Qi broke apart simultaneously; quite obviously, the attacker was an Earthly Realm Martial Emperor.
"Despicable creature, if you can’t make a move yourself, you incite others to do it."
Yan Er and Yan San were old hands in the Martial World and instantly understood everything, glaring hatefully at the Yan Family and others. But it was too late for outbursts, as more people rushed at them, Yan San shouted, "Young Master Shi, please take the miss and leave quickly."
Shi Xiaole didn’t need telling; he had already taken Yan Yuchai and started to move, but being the main target, the experts attacking him were several times more numerous than those attacking Yan Er and Yan San.
Among them, there were even two Earthly Realm Martial Emperors.
"Who allowed you to run amok in the Martial World of Daxia?"
The Earthly Realm Martial Emperor specializing in leg techniques didn’t think twice; a fierce leg strike came whistling in. The strength of the leg hadn’t arrived yet but had already forced Yan Yuchai to summon all her Vigorous Air to barely fend it off.
"Get lost!"
At a critical moment, a slash of saber light cut through the leg’s force; it was the third Earthly Realm Martial Emperor who had swept in from afar.
The Yan Family and others could stir up experts, and so could the Wood Empress. This Void Origin Realm Saber Emperor was one of the Wood Empress’s few friends.
"Purple River Saber Emperor, what do you mean? Do you really want to watch a foreigner strut around Daxia?"
The Divine Leg Emperor squinted his eyes.
"So much for the righteousness of the Martial World, too bad your capacity and vision are too small."
Without bothering to explain, Purple River Saber Emperor executed deadly moves in rapid succession, entangling the Divine Leg Emperor.
Unfortunately, there was another Earthly Realm Martial Emperor who couldn’t be stopped.
Compared to the four major powers, the Wood Empress’s side had fewer people and found it more difficult to rally support. After all, one against four, they just didn’t have the advantage in terms of resources they could offer.
As for the younger generation of Holy Wood Tower, sorry, but Martial Emperors who were a hundred years old were not common cabbage—only two people in the entire Holy Wood Tower qualified, and the other one stayed behind at the sect, so there was no possibility of helping Shi Xiaole.
The Longevity Sect had Helian Duba, but not to mention whether he would be willing to help, even if he were, with his strength, going up there would be tantamount to seeking death.
So suddenly, despite the obstruction of a few other Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors helping the Wood Empress, Shi Xiaole still faced the encirclement of no fewer than nine Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors.
Seeing this, that Earthly Realm Martial Emperor simply stood aside, smiling as he watched.
The Void Origin Realm was not like other realms; the differences in strength at different levels were huge, and these differences often manifested in killing techniques.
So it was common to see a situation where two people of different strengths, in a one-on-one fight, would have a one-sided outcome. If it was two against one or three against one, the stronger one would instead be at a disadvantage, struggling to defend against the other two.
Now it was nine against one, and Xuanyuan Martial Emperor really wanted to see what Shi Xiaole’s fate would be.
"Sky-opening Halberd!"
"Unparalleled Fist!"
"Bright Spirit Resentment Fire!"
"..."
Layer upon layer of powerful offensive surged toward the two at the center.
Yan Yuchai’s pretty face turned deathly pale, her protective Vigorous Air shattered one after another. At such a critical juncture, dragging herself as a burden, she didn’t believe Shi Xiaole could escape with her.
No, unless it was an Earthly Realm Martial Emperor, no one could do it. Was their life really going to end here?
In the midst of the raging wind, Shi Xiaole showed not the slightest sign of panic, his eyes unusually cold.
"Since you all seek death, don’t blame me for embarking on a killing spree."
