Chapter 986: Chapter 985 The Ultimate Choice_1
The Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors are not like the Terrestrial Immortals; there are no distinctions between low, middle, high, and top tiers.
For example, most Earthly Realm Martial Emperors have similar strengths. This is because those who step into this realm have little difference in talent. The further they progress, the more completely their potential is developed, making age and cultivation time irrelevant.
Therefore, only a very few individuals are destined to become top Earthly Realm Martial Emperors and stand out, while the other levels are also roughly the same.
The strength of the elderly man from the Flying Horse Dynasty lies in his cultivation of the "Great Sorrow Hand" to a high level of mastery. In a battle, he is naturally stronger than a Xuanyuan Martial Emperor, but under normal circumstances, the two should be fairly equal.
Thus, everyone was shocked to see Shi Xiaole forcing the elderly man with a horse-like face to retreat with a single sword strike. Wasn’t it said that the Kirin is not even half a notch below a Xuanyuan Martial Emperor?
"Old Six must have been careless," someone said.
"Yes, that preemptive strike was good. But once Old Six reacts, the real gap between the two will become apparent."
After the shock subsided, the sober elder onlookers viewed Shi Xiaole with a completely different gaze than before.
"Move Mountains, Split Earth!"
Having suffered a slight setback with the first move, the elderly man with a horse-like face felt his pride was hurt. Yet, at this moment, he was also aware that Shi Xiaole was no mere name with no substance. His expression turned solemn. With a kick to the ground, he flipped and turned his large hand, forcefully slapping it toward the sword light.
The lights inside the stone chamber dimmed and brightened intermittently.
Each dispersal of energy was diluted by the Array System, ensuring no damage was caused to the surroundings.
"Without using his killing move, his strength is on par with a Xuanyuan Martial Emperor."
After exchanging blows swiftly for thirty rounds and judging through his mental power, Shi Xiaole roughly gauged the bottom line of the elderly man with the horse-like face. Flicking his long sword, the sword light seemed to break free from the obstruction of the void, and in the blink of an eye, it tore through an opening in the elder’s attack, slicing open his air of vigor like butchering a cow.
"Well met, Dazzling Dragon Hidden Power!"
Without stepping back an inch, the elderly man’s fist was covered in a layer of gray-brown power with spiraling dragon-shaped patterns spinning around it. As the speed increased, so did the momentum of the power.
The moment the Sword Qi was about to slice through, the elderly man threw a fierce punch.
Clang!
The void vibrated intensely for a moment, and as the power spilled from the fist, it never managed to push back the long sword opposite, which greatly shocked the elderly man.
To know, the "Dazzling Dragon Hidden Power" is one of the Flying Horse Dynasty’s legacy killing moves, ranking sixteenth on the people’s list. With his Earthly List-level Vigorous Air, it was almost invincible beneath the Earthly Realm.
He did not expect to grievously injure Shi Xiaole, but at the very least, he should be able to suppress the opponent. Could it be that, in these short two months, the opponent’s skill had improved again?
Before his thoughts had finished, Shi Xiaole moved. The Spring Fury Sword was subtly withdrawn and then thrust again, with compressed wind Sword Qi, finer than a needle and twice as thin, piercing through the void with an extremely sharp sound. A sword mark, almost invisible yet strikingly noticeable, lay between Shi Xiaole and the elderly man.
"Ascending Dragon with Both Fists!"
Feeling greatly startled, the elderly man hurriedly retreated, all while not forgetting to deploy the Dazzling Dragon Hidden Power in his fists, nullifying the strength of the Sword Qi in waves of impacts.
Before he could catch his breath, Shi Xiaole appeared by his side, lightly swinging his sword. The Sword Qi was not particularly powerful, but it was just a bit stronger than any attack he could currently mount.
Bang!
The elderly man staggered, his body shifted dozens of feet to the side before he stopped somewhat embarrassingly.
"What?"
"Old Six was forced back?"
The fifteen elders, including three Heaven Realm Martial Emperors among them, had expressions that were each more splendid than the last.
Prior to this, they had imagined that the elderly man would be able to suppress Shi Xiaole within a few moves. The most exaggerated possibility they considered was that Shi Xiaole could easily take fifty moves, but they never imagined that Shi Xiaole could gain the upper hand.
This was impossible.
Being at the half-step Void Origin realm yet possessing the strength of a pseudo-Earthly Realm was already a rare wonder of the world. To be comparable to, let alone contend with an Earthly Realm Martial Emperor, even the weakest one, was the dream of a fool.
And yet, the most impossible thing happened right under their watch, making everyone present feel an absurd sense of reality.
"Has Master really become so powerful?"
Xia Xiaonine took a deep breath, his handsome face flushing a bit.
People of the East Victory continent place great importance on bloodlines, believing that descendants of geniuses will have better talents than ordinary people, which is somewhat true to some extent.
For a prodigy like Shi Xiaole, who shakes heaven and earth, and comes once in a thousand years, if his descendants could inherit just half of his talent, they would be more than sufficient to dominate their peers. If such a prodigy were to also marry someone naturally born with the Demon Bone, who was helpless to practice cultivation due to being sabotaged, then...
Xia Xiaonine’s heart trembled, and his chest heaved violently.
Over the years, he had been diligently working every night, but even past the age of thirty, he had nothing to show for it. Later, some experts in the palace hinted at some things to him, which made Xia Xiaonine both angry and sorrowful.
For him, the termination of his descendants was the most intolerable thing. Luckily, since the princess possessed the Demon Bone, although she was also sabotaged, her fertility was not lost upon examination!
Over the years, Xia Xiaonine had discussed this matter with Xia Youying more than once. She indicated she was willing to give everything for the dynasty’s lineage, but given it concerned Xia Youying, Xia Xiaonine was extremely strict when selecting candidates.
Now, in his opinion, there was nobody more suitable than Shi Xiaole. The only pity was that the latter...
Fists clenched inside his sleeves, Xia Xiaonine’s expression struggled.
"What a mighty Kirin, you are impressive. Now this old man is going to get serious."
Being forced to retreat under the gaze of the crowd, the horse-faced elder’s complexion turned green and then red. Shock and rage battered his heart, compelling him to no longer take the battle lightly. He raised his power to its peak, furiously smashing his fists toward Shi Xiaole, creating countless fist shadows.
But as fast as the horse-faced elder was, Shi Xiaole was faster. Often before a fist shadow could fully form, it would be wiped out. Ultimately, Shi Xiaole took the advantage, trapping the other with Sword Qi.
By this point, the two had exchanged over a hundred moves. Shi Xiaole had intended to withdraw his sword midway, but the horse-faced elder did not back down, leaving Shi Xiaole no choice but to continue.
"Kirin, watch out. Great Sorrow Hand!"
Unable to outpace or overpower in close combat, and even his ultimate moves falling short, the horse-faced elder was shocked, horrified, and angry. He gripped his right wrist with his left hand, channeling all his strength into it, and with a slap of his right hand, he sent a huge and boundless palm strike filled with intense sorrow plummeting from the sky, sealing off every direction around Shi Xiaole.
"Great Sorrow Hand," a hereditary killing move of the Daxia Dynasty, ranked eighth on the Human List.
It must be understood that the difficulty of making it onto the Earth List with a killing move is much higher than that of the Human List. Therefore, many Earthly Realm Martial Emperors actually use Human List killing moves, only their own strike power meets the standards of the Earth List.
This standard of the Earth List is a different concept from the ultimate killing list.
It’s widely known that because the vortex breakthrough method of Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors varies, resulting in ambiguous realms. Some can undergo multiple fissions, some can’t fission at all, and for some, a single fission is equivalent to multiple fissions. Thus, when evaluating strength, killing moves are generally used as a measure.
This is the precise situation, and there is also a cruder method of division.
That is, a Void Origin Realm Martial Emperor attacks a fighting power stele, and depending on the stele’s different reactions, they are classified as Human Realm Martial Emperors, Earthly Realm Martial Emperors, and so on.
The horse-faced elder was confident that with his Earthly Realm Martial Emperor strength combined with "Great Sorrow Hand," he could severely injure or even kill Xuanyuan Martial Emperor level opponents. He refused to believe Shi Xiaole could withstand it. As for Earth List killing moves, he had yet to master them; thus, deploying them would be less effective than using "Great Sorrow Hand."
Under the melancholic shadow of the palm, even though Shi Xiaole’s mind was steadfast, his fighting will uncontrollably weakened. However, the current him, with two hundred and twenty-one Vigorous Air Vortexes opened throughout his body, was far from the Shi Xiaole of the past. Raising his sword with his right arm, he executed a move called Wind God Dance.
Boom!!
The force expanded outward with a roar as intense as a mountain collapse and tsunami.
Both figures staggered back dozens of steps, Shi Xiaole’s complexion turned pale, but quickly turned ruddy again, whereas the horse-faced elder remained unfazed.
"How is that possible?!"
The horse-faced elder’s eyes bulged.
From the looks of it, he appeared to have the upper hand, but the problem was, that was his full-force strike, and he couldn’t even make the Kirin spit blood.
Doesn’t this imply that his opponent was a master almost equal to him, saying they were on the same level was not an exaggeration. Let’s not forget, the Kirin possessed dual martial arts strengths, and his mental power was also exceptional. Yet, from beginning to end, he never showed any sign of using them.
This guy is simply...
The horse-faced elder didn’t know what to say anymore. Eventually, he cursed resentfully, "Monster!" before turning his head and sitting back down.
Shi Xiaole silently shook his head.
Strictly speaking, he was still slightly inferior to the horse-faced elder. He was unhurt due first to the space they were in being too small, which suited him better. Second, under the transformation of the martial path of life and death, his injuries were not outwardly apparent, creating the illusion that there was little difference between them.
Of course, Shi Xiaole was not discouraged. If it really came to a life-and-death struggle, he had at least a sixty percent confidence that he could kill his opponent.
While Shi Xiaole was pondering quietly, the fifteen elders below were already shocked into silence, with either a fixed gaze or slightly agape mouths. Fortunately, they were all Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors, and they quickly recovered, concealing their lapse in composure.
The central elder praised loudly, "A person on the road is like jade, the Young Master is unmatched in the world. The demeanor of the Kirin truly makes one forget worldly matters, good, good, very good!"
"Seeing you is even better than the rumors."
"Worthy of being the number one talent of the Flying Horse Dynasty."
The other elders also expressed their views in quick succession, any remaining doubts from before had long since vanished. Now looking at Shi Xiaole, their eyes held only astonishment and admiration.
Such a talent joining any force was destined to receive the utmost attention.
When things quieted down a bit, the central elder said, "Shi-xiong, now we need you to swear an oath with your martial heart never to betray our Great Daxia royal family. I hope you can understand."
Shi Xiaole had anticipated this and nodded in agreement. Afterward, there was a mood of joyfulness, even the horse-faced elder began to smile, showing a somewhat friendly demeanor.
After sitting for a while in the seat especially made available for him, and listening to the elders across speak of the Witch Queen’s Temple and the affairs of the Witch Heavenly Guard, Shi Xiaole finally left with Xia Xiaonine leading the way.
"What do you think of this lad?"
"An exceptional choice!"
"If he truly joins with all his heart, our Great Daxia royal family will surely have hope. I predict this lad will break the mold and become a Witch Heavenly Guard. Just announce that he is the husband of Youying."
The chamber was silent.
They knew that the decision of their leader meant a firm denial of the Ancestral Temple, leaving no room for turning back. But on second thought, when had the Ancestral Temple ever left them any room?
Instead of being slowly consumed, why not make a bold stand!
