"Pff!"
A mouthful of blood mixed with liver fragments sprayed out as Shi Xiaole knelt on the ground, already a bloody figure. Threads of reincarnation power were seeping into his torn wounds, attempting to destroy his vitality.
The wheel of life and death turned, absorbing the power of reincarnation, and it took Shi Xiaole a moment to recover.
The realm of his Life-and-Death Martial Way was too low. Whether it was the previous "Hand of Reincarnation" or the current "Reincarnation Fist Imprint", their powers were actually weakened by a substantial amount due to the Wind Sword Way, and only the residual force was transformed by the Life-and-Death Martial Way.
Otherwise, Shi Xiaole definitely wouldnât have been able to withstand it.
Of course, conversely, with Shi Xiaoleâs current power invoking the Wind Sword Way and the Life-and-Death Martial Way, the fact that he still couldnât defeat Xuanyuan Di was enough to prove the latterâs terror.
"Hahaha..."
A hearty laugh pierced through the remnants of battle, and a figure, appearing frail but actually exuding an imposing aura, dashed forward. With consecutive punches thrown, it was unmistakably Xuanyuan Di.
The experts from the South Sea had never seen such a crazed, nor such an uncomposed Xuanyuan Di, casting aside his solitary mask and simply for a respectable opponent, he was excited.
In turn, there had never been anyone who could push the calm and inscrutable Shi Xiaole to such an extent, which showed just how powerful Xuanyuan Di was.
The Cleansing Evil Sword swung to create a sea of blades, and Shi Xiaole took the initiative to meet the attack.
"Dao Fist Imprint!"
"Extreme Breaking Sword!"
...
"Hand of Reincarnation!"
"Heart Thunder One Sword!"
...
Series of explosions spread across Nineteen Peaks, and the Fate Platform with a diameter of eight thousand kilometers was already in ruins, with holes ranging from several meters deep to several feet shallow and cracks both wide and narrow. If it werenât maintained by the Array System, it probably would have already crumbled into pieces.
The stamina of the two young masters astonished everyone onlookers.
The more formidable a killing move, the greater the consumption of Vigorous Air. For example, "Torrential Rain Sword Threads" would consume forty percent of the Thousand Swords Emperorâs strength in one use.
The killing moves of Shi Xiaole and Xuanyuan Di only consumed more, never less. Yet even so, they still had the strength to repeatedly unleash their ultimate moves with undiminished momentum. If it had been someone else, he would have been crushed by the two by now.
It could be said that excluding each other as rivals, everyone else was more than a notch below these two!
"Did I really waste my past?"
Qi Muchu tightened his grip on his spear.
He had always thought that he wasnât far behind Xuanyuan Di, yet reality proved just how laughable his thoughts were.
Not only Xuanyuan Di, but even Shi Xiaole, who was more than a hundred years younger than him, had overtaken him, leaving him, the "First Young Master under Heaven," in an untenable situation.
A strong will to battle rose within Qi Muchuâs heart, as he had never wanted to become stronger more than at that moment.
After another collision, Shi Xiaoleâs green shirt was torn, his body covered in wounds, and he felt an excruciating pain in his abdomen as if cut by a sharp blade. The balancing transformation of the Life-and-Death Martial Way had long been disrupted, and his current efficiency was less than one percent of his peak period.
On the other side, Xuanyuan Diâs lips were pale, and his body was covered in sword slashes of varying depths, with drops of blood falling onto the platform and pooling into puddles.
No matter how strong the Reincarnation Martial Way was, it had its limits. Moreover, with Shi Xiaoleâs strength, Xuanyuan Di had to give his all at every moment. Now, he also dared not waste the Qi of Reincarnation carelessly.
The air became especially heavy because of the standoff between the two.
Everyone involuntarily held their breath, sensing that this epic duel was about to reach its ultimate conclusion.
"Shi Xiaole, I will forever remember this day. Your existence will push me to reach new heights in the days to come."
Steadying his breath, Xuanyuan Diâs usually indifferent face for the first time showed a faint expression of admiration, which immediately turned into an infinite perseverance for victory.
He couldnât lose, and he wouldnât loseâthis was a belief firmly rooted in his heart for hundreds of years, not allowing anyone to shatter it.
"Same here, defeating you will certainly help me break through my own limits."
How far one could go depended not just on oneself but also on the opponent. Back in the East Victory continent, it wasnât that there were no peers who could threaten Shi Xiaole, like Zhang Xiangfeng and the other three monsters.
Unfortunately, they were all too young. The eldest among them, Zhang Xiangfeng, was only more than twenty years older than Shi Xiaole. If they were the same age as Xuanyuan Di, Shi Xiaole had no doubt that they could fight Xuanyuan Di!
To some extent, the duel with Xuanyuan Di made Shi Xiaole aware of some imperceptible flaws in himself, further solidifying his cultivation direction for the future.
Just digesting the gains from this battle alone would significantly increase Shi Xiaoleâs foundation and accumulation. But before that, he had to defeat his opponent first.
Like Xuanyuan Di, who didnât want to lose, Shi Xiaole didnât want to lose either. He might not care about the outcome, but he couldnât ignore the impact of victory.
"Take this, Key of Reincarnation!"
His eyes once again cold, Xuanyuan Diâs spirit seemed to have become detached from his body. Whiffs of authority over heaven and earth, and control over reincarnation, burst from those eyes, spreading out in a fan shape.
Although the aura was very weak, its essence far surpassed the previous Qi of Reincarnation. This was the true ultimate move of Xuanyuan Dao. He had combined martial way with spiritual power to create a psychic offensive.
This was different from "Heart Thunder One Sword," which was still a sword technique that merely absorbed some spiritual power.
"Such strong psychic fluctuations, nearly twenty-five percent refinement."
The Yin Soul Great Emperor was astonished.
Among all the people present, his psychic refinement was the highest, reaching twenty-six percent. He hadnât expected Xuanyuan Di to be only a little lower than him. How did the latter cultivate?
"Extreme Divine Tribulation!"
What was even more astonishing came after.
Almost at the same time, Shi Xiaole also launched a spiritual attack, which, when it came to refining the spirit, actually surpassed Xuanyuan Di, even higher than that of the Yin Soul Great Emperor.
Boom!
In the intangible clash, âExtreme Divine Tribulationâ shattered. After all, âReincarnation Keyâ still contained the power of reincarnation. Having used up seventy percent of its power, it still charged towards Shi Xiaole at an unfathomable speed.
It seemed Xuanyuan Di was about to claim victory!
No one expected that two consecutive âExtreme Divine Tribulationsâ would shoot out from Shi Xiaoleâs glabella, their might entirely not weaker than the first one.
Any warrior who has stepped into the refining stage would generally have their spiritâs essence reach the Sky Origin level, but the amount differed.
Shi Xiaoleâs spiritual power was rare in this world, especially after a series of fortuitous encounters that vastly increased it, his capacity was probably unmatched in his time.
While others could exert all their strength to release a single spiritual killing move, at most two, he could unleash three.
Bang!
This time, the âReincarnation Keyâ was the one to break. At a critical moment, Xuanyuan Di released a second âReincarnation Keyâ, while desperately pushing himself backward to hold his remaining strength.
Another silent boom resounded.
The Extreme Divine Tribulation force, with only ten percent of its power left, shot towards Xuanyuan Di like a deathly arrow.
With a thunderous bang!
Xuanyuan Diâs body swayed, his proud gaze dimmed significantly, but with an ultimate willpower, he forcefully kept his strength flowing, and swung his last punch towards Shi Xiaole, its aura unceasingly shaking the void.
Shi Xiaole, having released three âExtreme Divine Tribulationsâ, was also greatly exhausted, but remained lucid. His body lightly skimmed through, passing through the flaws of the punch, and raised the Cleansing Evil Sword upwards, slashing across.
Blood stained the vast sky.
Xuanyuan Di, defeated!
This battle was probably the most challenging one for Shi Xiaole since he began his journey. It took nearly an entire two-hour period. His Reincarnation Martial Way was nearly collapsing, not one in a hundred of his Vigorous Air remained, and even his spiritual power was severely depleted, he was truly at the end of his tether.
If Xuanyuan Di endured for just a while longer, perhaps the defeated would have been Shi Xiaole.
Victory and defeat hinged on a moment, but the outcomes led to two entirely different paths.
"Even Xuanyuan Di has lost?"
"Inconceivable, utterly inconceivable..."
Nineteen Peaks fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a tumult as bubbling as boiling water.
Any praise, no matter how embellished, would not be exaggerated for Xuanyuan Diâs performance. He had reached the limit of what a martial genius could achieve, anyone else facing him would have been defeated.
Regrettably, oh how regrettable.
His opponent was not just anyone, but the even more astonishing Shi Xiaole. Frankly, people did not know how to describe him, or more precisely, they were not qualified to do so.
Having dominated all before him, undefeated under his sword, to have climbed to the very summit of the Fate battle below the age of a hundred, he was destined to shine throughout the world, his name eternal in the records of the Martial World, becoming a legend for countless future generations to reminisce about.
History has always only shone brightly for the victor.
The tragedy of Xuanyuan Di was encountering Shi Xiaole, his momentum of victory ended. Shi Xiaoleâs fortune was in meeting Xuanyuan Di, whose unprecedented strength highlighted his own peerless invincibility.
Who had made whom? Perhaps only the future held the answer.
"Curse it, just a bit more!"
Xuanyuan Dao gnashed his teeth in frustration.
In terms of seniority, he was Xuanyuan Diâs uncle. Not only was the momentum of being undefeated stolen, but he also lost the position as the main character of Fate. Just thinking about it made Xuanyuan Dao feel the pain for Xuanyuan Di.
Other experts from the Xuanyuan Clan also had sullen faces, filled with regret.
In stark contrast were the experts of the Ling Family, from another of the ten great clans, trembling with excitement. Shi Xiaole had truly won, creating this unimaginable miracle.
With his qualifications and strength, the goal for the Ling Family to return as the head of the ten great clans was certainly no pipe dream and might be realized very soon!
Boom!
The Fate Monument suspended in mid-air suddenly bloomed with light, and above Qi Muchuâs name, Xuanyuan Diâs name appeared, and above Xuanyuan Diâs, Shi Xiaoleâs.
The crowd noticed that everyone elseâs name was silver, but only the three characters for Shi Xiaole shone in golden light, radiating a sword fighterâs sharpness and edges, suppressing all names below.
Whoosh!
The Fate Monument shot up into the clouds.
And at the same moment, on the Sunset Glow Great Plain in the South Sea, where the Gate of Fate had faded into the void, it reappeared once more. The door now bore the names, unmistakably those of the final rankings of this Fate battle.
"What, the Fate battle is over after just over three years, how has it ended so quickly?"
"Who has become the master of Fate?"
"Who, Shi Xiaole, who is Shi Xiaole? Impossible, the Heavenly Martial Emperor only ranks fourth, the Thousand Swords Emperor fifth, whatâs going on?!"
On that day, the entire South Sea was shaken to its core.