by Shian Jeen
In a few breaths’ time, other than the mid-Fourth Order Zhao Rui, there was no one standing around him. Even so, barely a moment had passed when blood began to seep out from the sword slashes and cuts on Zhao Rui’s body.
“Huwang Xiao, you…!” Zhao Rui’s figure continued to flicker around the inn, either jumping up or dodging to the sides.
“Stop!!” When the word came out of his mouth, even Zhao Rui felt like an idiot. Would Huwang Xiao stop? Just when he was beating himself inwardly for being an idiot, the Mulberry Sword’s attacks halted. Zhao Rui blanked for a second, but before he could think of anything else, Huwang Xiao closed in on Zhao Rui using the Phantom Shadow martial spirit innate ability. One punch landed squarely on Zhao Rui’s Qi Sea.
The force nearly popped Zhao Rui’s eyeballs out of their sockets, doubling over in pain with his mouth agape and tears in his eyes, knocking over the Zhao Family members.
Huwang Xiao walked over the group of Zhao and Xie Families with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Zhao Chen, Zhao Yi, Xie Hui, Xie Chao, and the rest looked at Huwang Xiao with fear-stricken eyes.
Ch.582
“Huwang Xiao, w-what are you trying to do?!” Zhao Rui watched warily as Huwang Xiao got closer, his face white without a hint of blood. Tried as he did, Zhao Rui couldn’t keep the trembling out of his voice.
It was too much for him to accept that Huwang Xiao had such overbearing strength with less than a hundred years of cultivation!
Those who were able to break through to God Realm all possessed high talent. Zhao Rui himself was a Zhao Family genius, however, to break through to mid-Fourth Order God Realm, he had spent more than eight thousand years!
“What am I trying to do?” Huwang Xiao stopped in front of Zhao Rui, flashing a brilliant, chilling smile, “Nothing much, just now I’ve shattered your Qi Sea; now, I want to break every meridian in your body. Oh right, at the end, I will damage your soul, turning you into an idiot!”
These were the things that Zhao Rui and the others planned to do to Huwang Xiao, he was merely paying back in kind.
Fear filled Zhao Rui’s face, but just as he was about to speak, the Mulberry Sword in Huwang Xiao’s hand swung, followed by a tragic howl from Zhao Rui’s throat.
Zhao Chen, Xie Hui, and the rest watched with dread as blood flowed endlessly from Zhao Rui’s body. That single slash from Huwang Xiao had cut off all the meridians in his body.
“Huwang Xiao, you won’t end well!” Zhao Rui screamed in pain, “The Zhao Family definitely won’t spare you!”
Huwang Xiao snickered as he raised his hand, slamming down his palm right at the center of Zhao Rui’s forehead. Sounds of shattered bones entered everyone’s ears, and in that instant, Zhao Rui no longer screamed. His pupils were out of focus and saliva started flowing out from the corner of his mouth.
“No, I don’t want to turn into a wastrel! I don’t want to become an idiot!” Zhao Chen’s terrified shrieks rang out, stammering in fear, “Huwang Xiao, spare me, let me go! If you let me go, I promise to do anything you want. I beg you, don’t turn me into an idiot!”
Thinking that he would be turned into a second Zhao Rui, his soul suffering irrecoverable damage with one palm strike from Huwang Xiao, being turned into an idiot and living the remaining of his life in this world like that, Zhao Chen’s will collapsed.
Xie Hui was also crying for mercy. So did the others from both the Zhao and Xie Families.
Huwang Xiao turned around, taking a few steps toward Zhao Chen and Xie Hui. These two could be considered old associates.
Of course Huwang Xiao wouldn’t forget the fact that Zhao Chen hunted him down when he had just arrived in the Bedlam Lands so long ago. He also wouldn't forget Xie Hui kidnapping Shi Xiaofei, wanting to force her hand in marriage, causing him to break into Cosmos God City alone to rescue her.
Events of the past flashed in Huwang Xiao’s mind. ‘Everything ends here.’
The Mulberry Sword gripped in Huwang Xiao’s hand slashed down. A sheet of bright sword lights flashed by and both Zhao Chen and Xie Hui’s veins and meridians were cut off. Then, with an additional strike from Huwang Xiao’s palms, their Qi Seas shattered. Lastly, another strike on their foreheads damaged Zhao Chen and Xie Hui’s souls.
Before long, all present Zhao and Xie Family members were crippled and turned into drooling fools by Huwang Xiao.
When everything was done, Huwang Xiao had lost the mood to drink. Buying all the remaining Hailstone Wine available from the inn owner, Huwang Xiao left the inn, walking toward a shop selling armors.
Despite the confidence he had in his own strength, the frigid coldness in the deeper parts of the Hailstone Mainland was not something to sneeze at, having a fire element armor was better than nothing. After all, Huwang Xiao did not lack money.
Due to the unique environment of the Hailstone Mainland, armor shops were in abundance.
A short while later, Huwang Xiao came to a street filled with shops selling armors. He saw as much as thirty to forty shops. Picking one of the biggest shops at random, Huwang Xiao went inside.
When Huwang Xiao entered, there were already more than a dozen people inside the shop, from the looks of things, everyone had the same purpose.
Noticing a new customer walking in wearing the Black Warrior Institute’s inner disciple robe, the shop worker’s eyes lit up as he hastened to greet Huwang Xiao in quick steps. After knowing that Huwang Xiao was looking to buy an armor, the shop worker enthusiastically introduced their shop’s many different goods.
The four interior walls of the shop were hung with rows of various different kinds of armors, they had different colors, styles, and different sizes from large to small. In a quick glance, there were more than a hundred of them on display. The majority of them were fire element armors, but there were also earth element, metal element, water element, so on and so forth. The many choices bedazzled the eyes. Depending on the armor, the price ranged from a hundred thousand to millions.
But Huwang Xiao secretly shook his head looking at them. Although these armors were not bad, they were still too weak in his eyes. Some were worse than the Divine Dragon Armor that Deities Templar had.
“Do you have something even better?” Huwang Xiao asked.
The shop worker was stunned at first, then his face bloomed into a wide smile, “We have a few pieces that are the shop’s treasures, it’s just that the price is a little high, the lowest one is priced at one hundred million.”
“Money is not an issue.” Huwang Xiao replied nonchalantly.
A hundred million? The amount of Xuanwu coins inside his Asura Ring could buy this entire shop if he so desired.
Noting the extravagant air in Huwang Xiao’s tone and words, the shop worker beamed as he led Huwang Xiao to a small hall in the back. Politely asking Huwang Xiao to wait for a moment, the shop worker turned around and left in search of his boss.
It didn’t take long for the shop worker to return with the shop owner in tow.
The shop owner was a middle-aged man with coarse facial features, even more so with the long scar across his face. His body emitted a strong ferocity that belied his identity as the shop owner, a bandit was more like it.
On the other side, surprise flickered in the shop owner’s eyes when he saw Huwang Xiao, but just as quickly he put on his best smile and uttered a few perfunctory words before taking out the six most expensive armors with the best attributes for Huwang Xiao to see.
Among the six suits of armors, three of them were fire element armors in three different colors; snow white, copper yellow, and dark black.
At first glance, Huwang Xiao was taken with the white armor, pure like a white snowflake. This was also the most expensive armor among the three fire element armors. A piece of armor selling at three hundred fifty million, this price would leave anyone staggering in shock.
When the shop owner, He Liuhua, heard that Huwang Xiao wanted the white armor, he chuckled and explained, “T
his little brother’s eyesight is really good! This divine armor was forged by an ancient fire element master using several hundred different pieces of magma essence iron, aptly named White Flame Divine Armor. There is even the ancient formation, Nine-nine Blazing Sun Formation, carved on it. After wearing this White Flame Divine Armor, even to the depths of the Hailstone Mainland, you’d have no trouble resisting even the frigid coldness from the polar ice.”
The highest grade of ice in the lower world was called polar ice, even if a high-level God Realm master accidentally touched this polar ice, they would be turned into an ice sculpture. Hearing the shop owner bragging that this White Flame Divine Armor could resist the extreme coldness from polar ice, Huwang Xiao merely smiled and did not refute.
He, of course, didn't believe that this White Flame Divine Armor could resist the frigid coldness from polar ice, otherwise, this armor would be worth much more than just three hundred fifty million.
Subsequently, the shop owner explained to Huwang Xiao the various attributes of the armor. The White Flame Divine Armor had many other uses than merely resisting the cold. After activating the Nine-nine Blazing Sun Formation, it could even withstand attacks from a Seventh Order God Realm.
Huwang Xiao did not bother to negotiate for the price, he paid the full price and bought the white armor.
After buying the White Flame Divine Armor, Huwang Xiao exited the Hailstone City, flying toward the deeper parts of the mainland without further dallying about.
Shop owner He Liuha watched Huwang Xiao’s disappearing silhouette on the horizon, chuckling to himself, “Hehe, I didn’t expect that after more than a decade’s waiting, another big fish came!”
“Big boss, when do we move?” The shop worker stood behind He Liuhua asked.
“No hurry, this kid won’t be able to run away.” He Liuhua’s eyes narrowed, causing the scar on his face to stretch taut, “This kid is a Black Warrior Institute inner disciple, it would be a lot of trouble if someone found out we killed him. Wait till he enters the Hailstone Forest, we’ll make our move then.”
Ch.583
“But, Big boss, shouldn’t we try to investigate this brat?” The shop worker hesitated before suggesting.
He Liuhua waved his hand brusquely, not minding one bit, “A mere Black Warrior Institute inner disciple, how strong can he be? Given the highest probability, he’d be a peak late-Third Order God Realm at most. If he was an elite disciple of the institute, I might act with caution. There's nothing wrong with being scrupulous, however, being overly scrupulous will cause you to lose out on many opportunities, leaving you with regrets when you think back about it later.”
“This one thanks Big boss’ guidance.” The shop worker smiled respectfully while managing to bootlick his superior. “But that kid bought the White Flame Divine Armor, it will be slightly troublesome dealing with him later.”
He Liuhua wasn’t worried at all, “You’d think I miss this point? I’ve placed a ban on the White Flame Divine Armor early on, as long as I activate the ban later, this kid will be subjected to a backlash from the White Flame Divine Armor. No matter what, he won’t be able to escape from my hands even if he grows a pair of wings!”
“Haha, Big boss is the wisest! This trick is really superb, superb!” The shop worker laughed with glee. “This kid could take out three hundred fifty million without blinking an eye, there should at least be one billion on him!”
Both men’s raucous laughter echoes in the air.
Huwang Xiao flew at high speed across the field of ice and snow. Roughly an hour later, he entered the Hailstone Forest.
Vigilant against any unforeseen danger that could jump out at any time, Huwang Xiao took out the Mulberry Sword, flying forward as he stood on the wooden sword.
White snowflakes drifted endlessly from the sky above, leaving a heart-penetrating coldness when they touched his skin, whereas the cold wind that was blowing against his face as he flew brought a different sensation; a little numb, and a little itchy.
“Little Huwang brat, be careful of that armor shop owner.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi cautioned Huwang Xiao.
Huwang Xiao laughed nonchalantly, “Don’t I have you?”
Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi could clearly see through the hidden intentions of that armor shop owner, but then again, how could Huwang Xiao not see it as well?
One should not display their wealth in public, but it was deliberate on Huwang Xiao’s part.
Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi issued a laugh at Huwang Xiao’s remark, “You think I’m a miracle worker? Then again, you kid probably still don’t know that the other party had already placed a hidden ban inside your White Flame Divine Armor, right?”
Huwang Xiao was astounded, “There’s a ban inside the White Flame Divine Armor? I just checked it with the Eye of Hell and couldn’t see anything wrong with it.”
“The other side had skillfully concealed it, a pretty smart method. So it is very normal that you didn't detect anything.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi added, “The point is, the ban is a strong one, only high-level God Realm masters are able to break it. Take out the White Flame Divine Armor first, I’ll erase the ban on it.”
Huwang Xiao nodded as his hands moved quickly, taking out the White Flame Divine Armor. The minuscule golden symbol of the Dragon Pearl on his forehead glimmered brightly as it sucked the white armor into the space within the Dragon Pearl so that Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi could erase the ban placed on it.
Although that armor shop owner He Liuhua was a Seventh Order God Realm master and the ban he placed on the White Flame Divine Armor was well hidden, as well as powerful, it was child’s play in Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s eyes. Moments later, the ban was erased. Putting it on now, Huwang Xiao need not worry about the sinister tricks left behind by that He Liuhua.
Huwang Xiao flew forward on the Mulberry Sword, he dared not fly too high nor too low close to the ground.
In the boundless fuzzy Hailstone Forest, flying too high would turn oneself into an obvious target, having a high risk of attracting attacks from the numerous demonic beasts in the forest, while flying too close to the snow-laden forest floor was also dangerous, with the various demonic beasts on the prowl.
Thus, Huwang Xiao maintained a flying height of twenty meters from the forest floor.
The Hailstone Forest was made up of a very large land area, in fact, it took up eight-tenths of the Hailstone Mainland’s surface and was thirty to forty times bigger than Martial Spirit World itself. Other than the undulating white, snow-covered mountain range, everywhere one looked, thick trees of an olden era could be seen.
The olden trees on the outer part of Hailstone Forest weren’t tall, most of them growing to a height of thirty to forty meters. These olden trees were also covered with white snow and ice, one could hardly make out their true appearance anymore.
“Watch out!” While Huwang Xiao was flying forward on his Mulberry Sword, right in front of him some distance away, a flock of demonic beasts that resembled nightingales flew over. Each one of them was more than ten meters in length, pure black from head to tail, and had eyes of ice-blue. Iron-like sharp glints were reflected from their deadly claws.
“These are the most commonly seen aerial demonic beasts in the Hailstone Forest, they are called Darksprite Poison Owls.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi went on to explain, “Their claws contain extremely toxic poison, it would be best if you don't let them scratch you!”
Just as Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi finished his sentence, that flock of several hundred Darksprite Poison Owls had narrowed the distance between them to several hundred meters. Their beaks issued a series of euphoric squawking noises, and their lethal claws were poised to capture Huwang Xiao.
The most troublesome thing in this Hailstone Forest was none other than running into these Darksprite Poison Owls, for they were a flock of aerial creatures with amazing speed. On top of that, they had highly toxic poison.
Watching several hundred Darksprite Poison Owls locked onto him,
Huwang Xiao did not dally. The Mulberry Sword under his feet flew up, and with a wave of his hands, the Mulberry Sword created a curtain of sword lights, resulting in these Darksprite Poison Owls plummeting from the air like dead locusts.
Even the blood of these Darksprite Poison Owls was black, unusually glaring to the eyes as it splattered across the white snow. It didn’t take long for Huwang Xiao to deal with this flock of blackbirds.
The Mulberry Sword flew back to Huwang Xiao’s side as he descended, once again riding on the wooden sword. However, when Huwang Xiao wanted to go down for a closer inspection, his eyes widened and goosebumps ran down his neck.
The several hundred Darksprite Poison Owl corpses were almost instantly covered by thumb-sized bugs barely seconds after hitting the ground. These bugs were white, countless in number, gnawing and wriggling all over the corpses at a horrifying speed. A short while later, nothing was left, not even a feather!
“These are ice maggots!” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi exclaimed. “This kind of ice maggots lives underground and is extremely terrifying. Their numbers too are too large, and once bitten by these ice maggots, frigid ice poison will spread rapidly throughout the entire body, robbing the body’s ability to move, a little similar to the Poison Corpse Scarabs that you tamed. It’s just that your Poison Corpse Scarabs can evolve, and these cannot.”
Huwang Xiao’s eyes lit up.
If he sent out his Poison Corpse Scarabs to ‘eat’ these ice maggots, would his Poison Corpse Scarabs obtain these ice maggots’ attribute?
As if knowing what Huwang Xiao was thinking, Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi spoke, “It is not so easy to handle these ice maggots, although your Poison Corpse Scarabs could suppress them, and even swallow them, the number of ice maggots is too much, tens of billions of them. Moreover, once you start attacking, it might attract the nearby ice maggots!”