Chapter 732: The Strength of the Dragon Tone Art
Xiao Chen took in his surroundings, gauging distances. Then, he said softly, “Five hundred meters. That is much wider than the past few days. I have to continue to work hard and increase the radius of effect to a kilometer. After that, I will practice the angle of projection.”
As for how to increase the Dragon Might in the sound waves, he still had to keep practicing.
He leaped up and disappeared into the night, starting his search for his next prey.
The Spirit Beasts in the Savage Beast Forest were not very strong. The strongest ones would generally be Rank 8 Spirit Beasts. Xiao Chen could move around this place as he wished, practicing the Dragon Tone Art without any fear.
Of course, he might get unlucky and run into strong Spirit Beasts that ventured out from the inner area or other cultivators who came here to explore. However, these contingencies had a low probability of occurring.
The mysterious roar resounded in the silent night once again, scaring Spirit Beasts and cultivators traveling at night and putting them on edge.
That cry sounded like the ferocious roar of a True Dragon, as startling as a thunderclap. Quite a lot of Spirit Beasts stampeded, throwing the Savage Beast Forest’s periphery into chaos.
Only when the sky brightened did the sounds disappear. The tumult slowly died down. However, several cultivators made up their minds to not come back to the Savage Beast Forest.
Completely unaware that he had caused such a big commotion, Xiao Chen sat on a thick tree trunk and circulated his exhausted Quintessence.
However, he did not let his mind rest. He carefully reviewed the results of the night’s practice.
When the first rays of the sun pierced through the dense leaves and landed on Xiao Chen, he opened his eyes.
The depths of his eyes flickered purple. When he stood up, he spat out some turbid Qi. His spirit felt refreshed, the fatigue of the previous night swept away.
“Perhaps I am being too shortsighted. Since the Dragon Tone Art specializes in countering Mental Energy Martial Techniques, then the intimidating force of the sound wave should not be my main focus.”
Yesterday, after many attempts, Xiao Chen had still struggled to effect a tangible increase in the Dragon Tone Art’s killing power, no matter how much Quintessence he used.
Right after Xiao Chen considered that possibility, it was like a light suddenly switched on in his brain. He managed to figure out several things instantly.
That’s right. Quintessence amplifies the Dragon Tone Art, but Mental Energy should be the driving force. The Dragon Tone Art has to enter the opponent’s sea of consciousness in order to exhibit its greatest might.
Since the Dragon Tone Art countered Mental Energy Martial Techniques, how can it be entirely reliant on Quintessence? It has to use Mental Energy as well.
Xiao Chen’s cultivation of the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation gave him extraordinarily high Mental Energy. If it was as he thought, then he would be able to bring out an unprecedented might from the Dragon Tone Art.
Immediately putting his thoughts into action, he jumped down the tree and soon found an ordinary Rank 7 Lightning Ox. Then he circulated his Dragon Tone Art, and the Mental Energy in his sea of consciousness surged.
When the Lightning Ox got near, Xiao Chen squinted and opened his mouth to roar. The sound of a True Dragon came out of his mouth, and the Mental Energy in his sea of consciousness decreased by thirty percent. The Dragon Might in the sound wave increased boundlessly as if an Azure Dragon was really roaring ferociously.
“Weng!”
The head of the Lightning Ox charging at Xiao Chen buzzed as if lightning had struck it. Then, it fell over.
He quickly went over and arrived before the Lightning Ox. When he inspected the creature, he discovered that the Lightning Ox’s life force still flourished. However, its eyes lacked spirit, and its body trembled. It did not have a shred of combat prowess; anyone could kill it.
Xiao Chen’s face lit up in joy. Smiling, he said, “Indeed, this is the way. Compared to cultivators, the biggest advantage of Spirit Beasts is their superior physical body. In the future, when I run into strong Spirit Beasts, I will have a way to protect myself. I just wonder how effective this is on cultivators.”
When cultivators advanced to Martial Monarch, they would open their sea of consciousness. Their Mental Energy was not something that that Spirit Beasts could compare to; Spirit Beasts would have difficulty attaining the same level as cultivators.
Seeing that the Lightning Ox seemed to be recovering, Xiao Chen circulated his Quintessence and sent out a purple saber Qi, chopping off its head.
He calmed himself and continued on his way. His direction was clear, towards the west.
Just like this, Xiao Chen traveled in the day and practiced the Dragon Tone Art at night. Occasionally, he unfurled the Azure Emperor painting and tried to comprehend the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber.
Time passed day by day. Xiao Chen became more familiar with the Dragon Tone Art. He also found seventy-two different directions for drawing the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber.
That mysterious painting astonished Xiao Chen more and more. No matter how he thought about it, there would always be an attack that could “kill” him.
After a month, Xiao Chen calculated the distance he had traveled. He had already crossed several large provinces. Now, he entered the inner area of the Savage Beast Forest.
In this place, the weakest Spirit Beasts were peak Rank 8 Spirit Beasts, which were as strong as a late-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch.
From time to time, Xiao Chen would come across several Rank 9 Spirit Beasts. When he encountered this type of Spirit Beast, his Dragon Tone Art would not have much of an effect. His only option was to keep his distance to avoid trouble.
He moved carefully along the way. So far, everything had been peaceful. While there had been some surprises, there had not been any danger. Actually, as long as he did not meet any of the rare Rank 10 Spirit Beasts, he would be able to leave easily.
After all, no matter how powerful Rank 9 Spirit Beasts were, they would not be stronger than Bai Wuxue. Now, even Bai Wuxue could not stop Xiao Chen. What more a Rank 9 Spirit Beast?
After arriving at the inner area, the number of cultivators that Xiao Chen encountered lessened. However, if he met any cultivators exploring this area, he would put his guard up and be very alert.
He could not underestimate the cultivators that dared to explore the inner area. The hearts of men were sinister. Human cultivators were much scarier than Spirit Beasts.
Fortunately, Xiao Chen was not weak, either. Others could not make out his strength or see any valuable treasures on him. So other cultivators saw no reason to challenge him.
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On this particular day, Xiao Chen was walking on a small path in the forest when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching from the front. Along with the footsteps came rushed breathing.
He heard some other sounds and guessed that someone was fleeing pursuit. Furthermore, it seemed that the situation was not good.
Not wanting to get involved in any trouble, Xiao Chen gently pushed off the ground and leaped to the top of a towering tree to hide.
Indeed, it was as Xiao Chen expected. Soon, a youth covered in wounds, wearing blood-soaked robes and holding a sword, appeared in his field of vision.
This young swordsman seemed to be an early-stage Inferior Grade Martial Monarch. It was hard to imagine that someone of such meager strength would venture into the inner area of the Savage Beast Forest. Doing so was no different from committing suicide.
Five swordsmen wearing black chased closely after the young swordsman. They all had the same emblem embroidered on their chests.
“Pu ci!”
The young swordsman was too severely injured. When he saw his pursuers approaching, he panicked and tripped over a root sticking out of the ground.
The five black-clad swordsmen laughed sinisterly as their figures flashed. Soon, they surrounded the young swordsman.
“Situ Feng, did you think that we would not dare to chase after you if you ran into the inner area of the Savage Beast Forest?” the leader of the five black-clad swordsmen said as he smiled coldly.
The young swordsman had a horrified expression as he quickly got to his feet. His right hand, which was holding his sword, trembled. Given the circumstances, he knew that his life would be forfeit here. His chances of survival were not good.
“You are intolerable bullies. I’ll fight it out with you all.”
Faced with certain death, the young swordsman, Situ Feng, set his gaze on his target, his dread dissipating. He charged straight at the leader of the five black-clad swordsmen, determined to fight to the death.
Electricity leaped around the sword of that youth. As the sword light danced around, the faint sound of thunder appeared. When used together with his Sword Technique and state, it could barely reach the level of exquisite.
Perhaps because they feared the frightening explosive power of a person with his back to the wall, the five black-clad swordsmen did not want to get injured by the youth.
They had mocking expressions as they slowly whittled away Situ Feng’s final bit of Quintessence.
Xiao Chen gave this scene one glance and was disinclined to continue watching. Both sides were just Inferior Grade Martial Monarchs. Such a battle no longer interested him.
Furthermore, he did not have the compassion to save a stranger without knowing the circumstances first.
Xiao Chen, don’t go yet. Save that swordsman.
Xiao Chen had just raised his foot when Ao Jiao’s voice came from the Immortal Spirit Ring. He had no choice but to change his mind.
That young swordsman was severely injured in the first place. How could his burst of energy before his death last long?
Not long after, before the mocking eyes of these five black-clad swordsmen, Situ Feng’s aura suddenly plummeted. His legs buckled, and the electricity on his sword faded. With one glance, it was obvious that he had exhausted all his Quintessence.
“Kill him!” the leader of the black-clad swordsmen said to the other four with a cold smile.
Four sword lights with a hidden boundless killing Qi headed for Situ Feng. The swordsmen flew mercilessly towards him, intent on chopping him into five pieces.
Situ Feng closed his eyes in despair. He felt regret in his heart. If he had not been too greedy, he would not be in such a situation today. If he died, then what was the point of glory and wealth?
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Fist winds blew, and four anguished cries resounded. Situ Feng opened his eyes and was surprised to see the four black-clad swordsmen, who were previously charging at him, vomiting blood. Then, they went flying backwards with twisted expressions of agony.
At some point, a white-robed cultivator had appeared before Situ Feng, looking coldly to the front.
This entrance alarmed the leader of the black-clad swordsmen. As he looked at Xiao Chen, he found him somewhat unfathomable.
Even though Xiao Chen’s cultivation was not much higher than that of the leader of the black-clad swordsmen, when he attacked, he injured four Inferior Grade Martial Monarchs to the point of crippling their combat prowess with one move.
The leader of the black-clad swordsmen tried to recall all the experts in Hunluo Province but could not match Xiao Chen up with any of them. So he could not help but become doubtful.
“Might I ask, who are you and why are you obstructing the business of our Azure Peak City’s Liu Clan?” the leader of the black-clad swordsmen asked sullenly.
Xiao Chen calmly lowered his hands and looked at the leader of the black-clad swordsmen. “Who I am is none of your concern. However, you cannot kill this person now.”
Xiao Chen felt somewhat surprised. He had put on a display, attacking so quickly and overbearingly, to force them to give up and retreat to avoid defeat.
After all, this place was near the border of Hunluo Province. It would not be good if he offended some big factions and got hassled.
However, that black-clad swordsman did not retreat. Instead, he announced his clan. Could this Liu Clan be some big faction?
The eyes of the black-clad swordsman looked around anxiously. The moment Xiao Chen attacked, Xiao Chen defeated four Inferior Grade Martial Monarchs. He was definitely not a match for Xiao Chen.
However, the Liu Clan’s First Young Master was currently leading people over. If the black-clad swordsman could drag things out, given the First Young Master’s strength, he would be able to stop this person.
Furthermore, this Situ Feng knew a big secret of his Liu Clan and had to die. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire.