“When you’re at the Qi-controlling Realm, the air around you is not something inferior to you, but a part of you. In other words, your body is part of the air. When a shadow that is strong enough appears, you don’t actually exist until you switch places with it. You don’t exist in the eyes of your enemies or in your heart. You are just air.”
Tribulation stood in front of Li Tianlan, but his voice drifted on the horizon. “To be more precise, when the shadow comes out, you become the domain. The shadow is no longer a part of you, but you become a part of the shadow. You’re not driving it, on the contrary, it’s driving you.”
Tribulation’s body seemed to have completely disappeared from Li Tianlan’s perception. But in front of Li Tianlan, Tribulation raised his hand with the shadow beside him at the same time.
A jet-black dagger protruded from his sleeve.
His shadow’s hand, too, was tinged with a faint, sharp color.
Li Tianlan’s blood froze. Compared with orthodox Martial Arts, the Buddhist Incantation of Nine Words arguably belonged to the heterodox school or even the wicked cultivation method. The sharpness and weirdness of it made everyone’s blood freeze.
“Stop!”
Tribulation spoke softly, and in an instant, the twisted air and leaves around Li Tianlan abruptly stopped in mid-air.
Just as the Pseudo Invincible Realm of this realm had been created, a kind of not dazzling but very condensed killing intent rose and instantly smashed Tribulation’s domain to the ground.
“Do you understand?” Tribulation asked.
“If you want to apply the Shadow Formula and make the shadow to imitate your movements, you must understand the skill I performed just now. To turn your body into the domain, crash the domain with your killing intent, and then reach the peak. Then you will have the strongest shadow, the strongest outburst of power.”
Li Tianlan took a deep breath and smiled bitterly. “After listening to martial uncle’s words, I have some thoughts, but get nothing. I seem to have understood you, yet don’t.”
“Take your time.”
Tribulation wore a rare smile and continued, “You’ve made great progress. We still have time. Don’t worry.”
Li Tianlan nodded his head in silence and said nothing.
Deep darkness crept into the air. It filled the woods, the academy, the magnificent Yangtze river and the sea, stretching to the horizon.
Fifty meters away.
As Lin Fengting stood silently on the tree canopy, his body fluttered in the night wind and he grew cooler and cooler. Hearing the conversation between Tribulation and Li Tianlan, he chuckled. “This shadow is interesting, and even I don’t understand its principle. Tianzong, that man said that his unique skill had the strongest outburst of power, what do you think?”
The Martial Arts of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai were also famous for the outburst of power. Lin Fengting really wanted to see what w.a.n.g Tianzong would look like when he heard someone else say that his unique skill had the strongest outburst of power.
w.a.n.g Tianzong stood beside Lin Fengting and replied with a straight face, “In terms of the instant outburst, if used by the people at the same realm, his Buddhist Incantation of Nine Words is indeed the strongest today and it’s not much worse than the Sword of Six Paths of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai. However, in terms of the sustained outburst over a short period of time, it’s much worse than the Sword of Six Paths.”
Instant outburst.
Sustained outburst over a short period of time.
Their meanings seemed similar but very different in fact.
“I see what you mean.”
Lin Fengting smiled and said with a nod, “However, what’s the Buddhist Incantation of Nine Words? Is it the Buddhist Incantation of Nine Words of the Great Soaring Temple?”
After staying in Huating for two days, he couldn’t resist the temptation to catch a glimpse of the Li family’s contemporary successor. And that was why he went to the Sky Academy with w.a.n.g Tianzong. One of them ranked first on the Divine List, and the other was an Invincible Realm expert who was able to beat the person who ranked second on the Divine List hard. It may sound exaggerated to say that they could sneak into the Sky Academy as easily as walking on firm earth, but they were unlikely to be found.
The two originally planned to go straight to Li Tianlan based on the address they got from the Enchantress, but as soon as they got close to the residential area, Lin Fengting saw the target.
In terms of appearance and figure, Li Tianlan was not very similar to Li Kuangtu and Li Honghe in Lin Fengting’s impression. However, they were alike in spirit. Therefore, Lin Fengting immediately identified him.
“It’s his self-created unique skill, and it includes nine words, namely execution, slaughter, shadow, extermination, instantaneous speed, split, stop, resistance, and escape. It’s really extraordinary. Both his manner, momentum, and boldness show that he’s able to enter the Invincible Realm directly. From the killers’ point of view, the Buddhist Incantation of Nine Words is arguably an unimpeachable unique skill, but he can only perfect it probably when he truly enters the Invincible Realm.”
Through the darkness, w.a.n.g Tianzong calmly looked at Tribulation with complicated emotions in his eyes. “You should have seen this guy before. His name was Situ Wanjie, and now he is called Tribulation. He’s the Lord of Shadow in the Dark World and is quite famous.”
Situ Wanjie…
Lin Fengting was in a trance. Subconsciously, he conjured up a young man who he had seen beside Li Kuangtu.
That was a comely and silent youth.
“Oh, it’s him…”
Lin Fengting sighed gently. “How did he become what he is now?”
“He’s the most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in Zhongzhou State and even in the Dark World. Why do you have so many emotions?”
w.a.n.g Tianzong looked helpless.
“The most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin?”
Lin Fengting chuckled and said, “I believe he’s the most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in Zhongzhou State, but I don’t think he’s the most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in the Dark World. Who’s the number one killer in the Dark World today? Although the p.r.o.nunciation of his name is similar to that of Tribulation (in Chinese), they are not the same person. Is his code name Evil? Am I right? His name is on the Holy List and he’s the most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in the Dark World currently.”
w.a.n.g Tianzong smiled noncommittally.
“Let me take a closer look and see what happened to the little guy who was with my second elder brother, and what happened to my second elder brother’s son.”
Lin Fengting smiled and took a step forward.
Dozens of meters away.
Li Tianlan was unconscious of Lin Fengtin’s move.
Tribulation, who was talking with Li Tianlan, suddenly looked back. Like lightning, his gaze locked where Lin Fengting was.
Nothing suspect was in his sight.
His eyes suddenly grew sharper.
Instinctively, he took one step forward and hid Li Tianlan behind to protect him.
Four nearly invisible shadows instantly appeared in four directions: east, west, north, and south.
His eyes narrowed and his voice was deep and hoa.r.s.e, like the voice of Death. It echoed through the woods in seconds, layer upon layer.
“Stop!”
Two daggers thrust straight out of his sleeves.
His voice had not died away.
However, the trees within a hundred meters immediately stood still.
And the howling of the wind was gone.
The previous vibrant forest suddenly seemed to have become a landscape painting that looked vivid but was extremely pale.
Only the dark, bleak killing intent was surging.
Everything happened in an instant.
Less than half a second later, Tribulation raised the daggers in his hands and slashed fiercely forward.
“Extermination!”
To exterminate common people.
To exterminate experts of the Thunder-shocking Realm and Invincible Realm.
To exterminate G.o.ds and Buddhas.
The air within a hundred meters was twisted crazily like never before. The forest, which was as calm as a painting half a second earlier, was torn apart in an instant under the extreme killing intent. The air was spreading rapidly, layer upon layer.
Tribulation held the daggers.
The four shadows in the four directions also held daggers.
Although Tribulation moved, the daggers in his hands didn’t. Nevertheless, the daggers held by the four shadows were instantly thrown out with a clear target, rushing directly toward Lin Fengting’s location.
There was no rain or wind.
There was only the pure and violent killing intent rushing to Lin Fengting through the heavily twisted air at a seemingly slow speed.
The killing intent surged forth as mighty as a boundless sea.
It was the most fierce and unshaken killing intent between heaven and earth and also the extreme craziness!
The twisted air roared past.
In a split second, with Tribulation at the center, the trees in a radius of hundreds of meters all smashed!
Numerous broken trunks, branches, and leaves were trapped in the air and they finally turned into dust, leaving a dazzling blank s.p.a.ce in the woods.
Tribulation’s face turned pale. This move obviously consumed him a great deal of force. However, he still stood where he was, looking around without moving, and his eyes grew colder.
The woods were calm.
Tribulation narrowed his eyes and dragged Li Tianlan away.
A shadow appeared in his place without being noticed, however, he had taken Li Tianlan hundreds of meters away.
At last, the greatly twisted air subsided slightly.
The figures of Lin Fengting and w.a.n.g Tianzong appeared a few hundred meters away silently.
The two looked at each other and saw gravity and seriousness in each other’s eyes.
“This person…”
Lin Fengting spoke after a short silence, “Is he really the youth who followed the second elder brother? He is Situ Cangyue’s younger brother, right?”
w.a.n.g Tianzong nodded in silence. He knew that Tribulation was known as the most powerful a.s.sa.s.sin in Zhongzhou State, but the power of his move just now was somewhat beyond his expectations. It was clear that this eccentric lunatic was a step closer to this elusive realm after he failed to reach the Invincible Realm.
“How far is he from the real Invincible Realm?”
“Ahead of him, at the end of the Qi-controlling Realm, is there still a way?” thought w.a.n.g Tianzong.
“Alas, it’s really beyond my expectations.”
Lin Fengting took a deep breath and shook his head. “There was a misunderstanding tonight. Who would have thought that the boy has become so powerful?” “If he enters the Invincible Realm someday and is given enough time, his ultimate achievement may not be lower than yours and mine. This boy…”
“He has no chance.”
w.a.n.g Tianzong said calmly.
“Why?”
Lin Fengting was startled.
“Tribulation…”
w.a.n.g Tianzong muttered, “I guess he’s 38 years old this year. If he had followed the normal path, he would have had a chance to make a last stand. But if he now intends to enter the Invincible Realm directly from the Qi-controlling Realm… he does not have enough time, and there may not be a path before him.”
Lin Fengting suddenly fell silent.
38 years old.
A man tried to force his way through the Qi-controlling Realm into the Invincible Realm at this age.
This unprecedented path of Martial Arts was probably feasible, but did Tribulation still have time?
The heyday of Martial Artists was before the age of 40. Most real geniuses could enter the Thunder-shocking Realm by the age of 40. And a few of these geniuses who were really awesome could normally enter the Invincible Realm at the age of 36 or 37.
After the age of 40, the body condition of Martial Artists may be maintained for a long time, but at this age, it was almost impossible for them to make even little progress in Martial Arts.
Tribulation was already 38 years old.
If he could not enter the Invincible Realm in the next two years…
The corners of Lin Fengting’s mouth moved. At the thought of the quiet and comely boy who had followed his second elder brother many years ago and the terrible blow full of raging Killing Intent that he unleashed tonight, he felt sad groundlessly.
If such a person failed to enter the Invincible Realm, it would be a tragedy for the Martial Arts and all the a.s.sa.s.sins in the Dark World.
“Is there no other way?”
Lin Fengting asked instinctively.
“There is.”
w.a.n.g Tianzong added calmly, “But it makes no difference. Even if that condition were to meet, his chances of success would still be slim.”
“What condition?”
Lin Fengting asked with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s almost something in the legend. It’s called the Martial Arts Stone, also the Fate Jade.”
w.a.n.g Tianzong shook his head as he looked at Lin Fengting, who was muddled as if he was listening to something extremely abstruse, and then continued, “It’s also known as the Imperial Jade Seal.”