"What?"
The elites of the Black Evil Gang were all stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Even Qi Guang and his two companions were astonished, but Qi Guang was the first to respond, saying, "The tip of his sword has been chipped off."
So it turned out that just now, although Shi Xiaole's fight with the skinny old man ended in a draw, the tip of his sword was broken by the Evil Wolf Claw. The idea struck Shi Xiaole, and he made his unconventional move.
Back when the Golden-faced Buddha, Miao Renfeng, was fighting the great swordsman Hu Yidao from Liaodong, he had once used a chipped sword tip to stab forcefully into Hu Yidao's chest where he gathered his qi, using the rebound from his internal power to strike Hu's Hidden Qi acupoint.
Shi Xiaole simply copied it, but the effect was undoubtedly astonishing.
Catching his longsword bouncing back, Shi Xiaole didn't waste any words and went straight to the remaining seven or eight Black Evil Gang elites.
These men had only achieved Hidden Qi's third or fourth stage. Seeing their boss being defeated, they lost confidence and were soon defeated by Shi Xiaole who used the Miao Family Sword Technique.
But two cunning men took advantage of the melee and dropped a smoke bomb while carrying the wounded skinny old man and ran away.
"What a shame."
When the smoke disappeared, and only a pile of dead bodies remained, Shi Xiaole didn't bother to chase after them. He first wiped the blood off his sword with a leaf and searched the bodies, but found nothing. Then, he got up disappointingly.
"May I know your honorable name, Sir? We won't forget today's favor."
Qi Guang and his two friends came up.
"My name is Shi Xiaole, a disciple of the Huajian Sect. It was just an impromptu act."
Hearing Shi Xiaole's identity, Qi Guang felt even warmer toward him. The Thirteen Sects of Mountain Luyan were historically close-knit, making them a close-knit community in Emerald Feather City.
Zhao Molan kept looking at Shi Xiaole with her beautiful eyes, suddenly saying, "Young Master Shi, were you the one who caught the real Three-Legged Bird at the inn? You hide your abilities so well."
Shi Xiaole laughed and changed the subject to avoid embarrassment, "How did you three get involved with the Black Evil Gang?"
Qi Guang didn't hide anything and told Shi Xiaole everything that had happened.
It turned out that they had come down from the mountain for a short-term training. Upon hearing about the horrific atrocities committed by the Black Evil Gang in Emerald Feather City, they boldly decided to infiltrate the Gang and assassinate the gang boss at night. However, their plan was exposed, leading to the Black Evil Gang's chase.
Yet, Shi Xiaole keenly sensed that Qi Guang seemed to have some hidden agenda.
Could a failed night raid by the three elite disciples of Duster Gate warrant the relentless chase from the Black Evil Gang?
Qi Hui said, "Brother Shi, it will be hard for the three of us to recover from the injuries in a short time. The Black Evil Gang won't let us go so easily. Could you escort us to Duster Gate in the meantime?"
Shi Xiaole frowned a little at his words. He didn't like Qi Hui's commanding tone.
Moreover, he noticed that every time Zhao Molan looked at him, Qi Hui stared at him with a gloomy expression.
"You guys should rush back to the mountain gate right now. The Black Evil Gang won't be able to catch up."
Shi Xiaole said.
"What, you don't want to help?"
Qi Hui raised his thick eyebrows, saying deeply, "If you are too scared to help and decide to leave alone, if this gets out, I'm afraid you will be despised by the people of the Thirteen Sects of Mountain Luyan!"
Shi Xiaole was upset. His good intention to help turned into an obligation according to Qi Hui. He found it laughable.
Seeing the tension, Qi Guang hurriedly said, "Stop!"
Qi Hui glanced at Zhao Molan's expression and his jealousy surged. Despite his elder brother's persuasion, he coldly said, "Your swordplay technique just now doesn't seem to be from the Huajian Sect. Ha-ha, it looks like you've had some extraordinary encounters. I wonder if you have reported them to the Huajian Sect? Keeping martial arts knowledge for your own use is a very serious crime."
Shi Xiaole caught his implied threat in his tone. It seemed that if Shi Xiaole didn't hand over the Miao Family Sword Technique, Qi Hui wouldn't hesitate to report him to the Huajian Sect.
Seeing the situation, Qi Guang knew it wasn't feasible to request Shi Xiaole to accompany them, so he said reluctantly, "Thank you, Brother Shi, for your righteous action. When we have some free time, we will visit the Huajian Sect to express our thanks."
Zhao Molan's face was flushed with embarrassment, she said, "Young Master Shi, I..."
Shi Xiaole smiled and left without a word, leaving no trace behind.
"This young man, who killed the members of the Black Evil Gang then searched their bodies, is not behaving decently and is definitely not a man of our chivalrous world."
After Shi Xiaole left, Qi Hui never missed a chance to smear him. Seeing Zhao Molan lowering her head, Qi Hui felt both angry and jealous.
...
Mountain Luyan is very large. The Thirteen Sects of Mountain Luyan are located deep in the inner circle, and in the outer circle, a group of imposing men in black are searching for something.
"Reporting to Master Life-Seeking Demon God, we found our brothers ahead."
One man reported to a cruel-looking middle-aged man with his head down.
Soon, two members of the Black Evil Gang, carrying the injured skinny old man, arrived. Seeing the cruel middle-aged man, known as the Life-Seeking Demon God, they knelt down in a hurry.
"Where are they?"
The Life-Seeking Demon God, with his cultivation at the peak of Hidden Qi's sixth stage, was one of the eight Demon Gods of the Black Evil Gang. Because of his ruthless and firm heart, his fearsome reputation was well-known in the gang.
The skinny old man reported tremblingly, "Master Demon God, initially I captured them, but someone intervened...so…"
"So, you failed?"
The Life-Seeking Demon God said coldly, emitting a threatening sense of killing that suffocated everyone.
The skinny old man was trembling with fear and hurriedly said, "Master, when we were leaving, we secretly released the Soul-Chasing Smoke in the smoke bomb. As long as we follow the scent of the Soul-Chasing Smoke, they cannot escape our grasp!"
"Spare your life for now, will you lead the way?"
"Yes!"
The Soul Chasing Smoke was one of the odd medicines the skinny old man accidentally obtained during his adventures in the martial world. Unless someone had an unusually keen nose like him, they could never detect it.
Half a day's travel away from the Huajian Sect, Shi Xiaole did not hurry on the journey, but instead sat cross-legged under a secluded tree, concentrating on cultivating.
Today, after battling the skinny old man, he unexpectedly touched upon his cultivation bottleneck, the thin membrane in his lower dantian was even more fragile than before. Shi Xiaole decided to give it a go, hoping to break through the bottleneck and reach a new level today!
Using the Hengshan Mind Method to stimulate his internal power, he circulated it through his body in one cycle after another.
Ten cycles.
Twenty cycles.
Thirty cycles.
When the count reached the 150th cycle, the thin membrane was as fragile as paper, but Shi Xiaole's internal power was also exhausted.
It was on the verge of breaking, but fell short, unable to touch the bottleneck.
"One burst of energy, followed by exhaustion, three collapses."
Shi Xiaole had a feeling that if he can't break through tonight, he may not get another chance for quite a long time.
Time was, after all, what Shi Xiaole cherished the most.
From somewhere, he summoned the strength, forcefully took a deep breath, let out a loud shout, and his dwindling internal power surged upwards.
Puff!
Accompanied by a slight sound within his body, a wind not too large or small engulfed the area around Shi Xiaole within a three-foot radius, rustling the fallen leaves and dried branches on the ground.
The initial stage of Hidden Qi Level 4!
Feeling his internal power, which had increased by more than 30%, Shi Xiaole breathed a sigh of relief.
If the previous internal power was like a thin rope, then now it was like a hemp rope.
Moreover, breaking through the bottleneck allowed his internal power to circulate longer distances within his body, indirectly increasing his explosive strength.
As for the circulation speed, it even decreased in comparison due to the increase in explosive strength.
In short, after advancing his cultivation to Hidden Qi Level 4, Shi Xiaole's strength reached a brand-new realm, incomparable to what he had during the day.
Perhaps due to the joy of the breakthrough, Shi Xiaole felt his mind was clear and inspiration was brimming.
He quickly found a cave, did a bit of camouflage at the entrance, and immediately converted the reward points he got from remitting the secret scrolls of the Twin Tyrants of Hebei into twenty 2-hour periods of cultivation time.
Previously, Shi Xiaole's Miao Family Sword Technique had already reached the initial stage of Spirit Integration. Now, he wholly focused on practicing, combined with the enlightenment acquired from the day's battle, and after just twelve 2-hour periods, his Miao Family Sword Technique had further improved and was nearing the upper stage of Spirit Integration.
After the Miao Family Sword Technique, it was the Huashan Sword Technique.
The scene from the battle against the Twin Tyrants of Hebei, where he had to fight his way out of a life-threatening situation, resurfaced in his mind. Shi Xiaole waved his sword nonstop; each stroke was combined with the grand and dangerous quirks of his swordsmanship.
There were a few seconds when a faint shadow of a mountain seemed to have appeared in his sword technique.
If an expert saw this, they would surely be struck speechless.
This was clearly the sign of the third stage of the martial technique, Transformation Phase.
All martial arts techniques in the world, first have their form, and then are given divinity. When form and spirit are both ready, it implies that the martial artist's understanding of martial techniques has reached a new height.
At this point, they are on the threshold of the next realm, Transformation Phase.
Among the common people in the martial world, even if they can cultivate a third-rate martial arts technique to the Transformation Phase, they are absolutely considered a genius in martial arts.
And Shi Xiaole, who only learned the Huashan Sword Technique just over a month ago, was already on the verge of the Transformation Phase. It must be said that his comprehension skills were one in ten thousand.
Swish.
Yet another sword flash, a faint mountain-like illusion, three foot in size, flickered uncertainly in the air and gradually disappeared.
Ding!
"Congratulations to the host, for mastering the initial Transformation Phase of the third-rate lower-tier sword technique, Huashan Sword Technique, reward with one chance to draw a third-rate martial arts technique. Does the host want to use it immediately?"
The sudden voice of the system left Shi Xiaole overjoyed.
He had heard from the system before that after practising one's martial arts to a certain extent, additional rewards could be gained. But previously, whether it was Shape Mimicry or Spirit Integration, there was no response from the system. Shi Xiaole had given up, and unexpectedly, while he was unintentionally practising the transformation phase, it triggered the system.
Shi Xiaole was about to speak when he suddenly sensed movement outside and had to temporarily leave the Martial God Hall.
"Damn it, how did you find us?"
Qi Hui, covered in blood, was running blindly in the night.
"Hehehe, boy, I have my ways. Today you won't have a sky to ascend to or a ground to burrow into."
The skinny old man, after taking a medicinal pill to suppress his injuries, was leading the top fighters of the Black Evil Gang in a pursuit of Qi Guang and the others.
Of course, he was deliberately guiding the trio in a certain direction, without intending to kill them.
His extremely keen nose allowed the skinny old man to determine Shi Xiaole's location. In his mind, he naturally wanted to wipe out all four of them to exact his revenge!