Chapter 438: Chapter 438: The Dissolution of the City Alliance
Monk Ben Yin performed the Shaolin Light Skill, Dragonfly Water Dipping Ascending Skill, and effortlessly soared to a height of thirty meters. His Bodhi Zen Palm technique was even more powerful, its might having increased manifold.
Monk Ben Guo’s Finger-Flicking Skill too was astonishing, piercing through the trunk of a large tree from over twenty meters away.
Monk Ben Xun smiled slightly and said:
"The cultivation of my two senior brothers have improved a lot. Allow me, the junior brother, to show my modest efforts."
Finishing his words, he drew a crimson longsword from behind his back, focused his attention, lifted it, and ferociously chopped towards a distant large tree.
A long sword shadow, carrying with it roaring flames, tore through the air.
Only a thunderous boom was heard, as the large tree that had just been penetrated by Monk Ben Guo’s Finger-Flicking Skill was now cleaved into two halves by that long sword shadow, and was set ablaze with raging flames.
Monk Ben Yin exclaimed joyfully:
"Amitabha! Junior brother Ben Xun’s Shaolin Burning Wood Blade Technique has finally reached great success. Congratulations!"
Ben Xun himself was somewhat astounded, not expecting that after ascending in the realm of Genetic Evolution, one of the Shaolin’s Seventy-two Skills, the Burning Wood Blade Technique, would possess such formidable power.
The three brothers, Monk Ben Yin, exchanged smiles and then in unison brought their palms together towards Yang Xiao and said:
"Amitabha! Thanks to Brother Yang’s help, allowing us three to significantly improve our cultivation in a short period of time. The Shaolin’s Seventy-two Skills are destined to shine brilliantly from now on."
Yang Xiao smiled and replied:
"This is the result of your continuous hard work, I merely helped things along, just performing an act of kindness."
Xia Luo, with a gleam in his eyes and a face full of envy, said:
"Master Ben Yin, I want to learn all of the Shaolin’s Seventy-two Skills. You have to teach me!"
Xia Luo’s own Beast Soul and Soul Skills were already quite formidable, but they came with many restrictions when being used, unlike the Shaolin Skills that Monk Ben Yin and the others were now effortlessly utilizing.
What’s more, the ancient martial art skills of Shaolin were integrated combat skills combining offense and defense. Inner strength, light skill, defense, attack, and other skills formed a system that, once deployed, would flow continuously with tremendous force.
The greatest issue with the Soul Skill was its lack of continuity; after one move was executed, there was no follow-up, and if the opponent of a higher realm could withstand it, it would be essentially ineffective.
Monk Ben Yin laughed heartily and said:
"Xia Luo, as long as you practice diligently, you will be able to master them sooner or later. Haste will not bring success."
Yang Xiao then said:
"Let’s make this clear first, after I practice the Divine Mountain Sword Skill, I will come to Shaolin to cultivate the Seventy-two Skills. At that time, Senior Brother Ben Yin better teach me personally."
"If you want to learn, you can, but first you must shave your head and become a monk, haha!"
...
All those who joined the Shenming Mountain Sect and the Shaolin Temple spent half the day in cultivation and the other half in the wilderness participating in hunting mutated creatures.
All the elite of Nanmu City and Shanyun City were participating in ancient martial cultivation. Without these elite leading, the remaining people would have difficulty facing those monsters of the Enhanced Gene Level.
While Yang Xiao and others were focused on cultivating the ancient martial arts, the situation in the Xuanming Country region was undergoing significant changes.
Magic City’s Du Tianxing was the first to send his men into the Bright Wolf Grassland. When negotiations failed to resolve the issues, he directly eliminated several leaders of Genetic Store outposts and took control.
Gu Beifeng from Wentian City sent people into Qinghai to take over several strongholds.
Then, both started negotiating with the City Kings around them. Some accepted their demands and willingly submitted, while others who resisted were conquered by force.
Gu Beifeng and Du Tianxing’s actions immediately set off a wave of mergers and acquisitions in Xuanming District.
The City King of Zongli City in the southern and the City King of Qingyun City engaged in a fierce battle where the latter emerged victorious, crossing the Xiang River to annex Zongli City and continued northward, only to be intercepted by the City King of Tianyue City.
Most of the City Kings along the southeast coast began to expand their territories.
Similarly, in central, western, and northern areas including Tis City, the entire Xuanming District was in chaos with big fish eating small fish and the mighty conquering the weak.
As a result, all cities closed their teleportation channels to each other and the City Alliance, initially advocated by Yang Xiao, was declared dissolved.
However, after the initial chaos, the numerous Mutated Creatures in the wilderness and the vast distances between cities temporarily slowed down the wars among some cities.
Steep mountains, long distances, and numerous Mutated Creatures slowly stabilized the initial chaos. Long-distance combat came to a halt temporarily, making cross-provincial battles over thousands of kilometers basically impossible.
However, within the same province, battles for territory between neighboring cities within 100 kilometers of each other were constant.
Once a City King captured another city, they would use the new city as a bridgehead to advance towards neighboring cities.
Although the rate of mergers between cities in Xuanming District had slowed down, it never stopped.
...
In just one month, Yang Xiao mastered the Seventy-two Sword Skills of the Shenming Mountain Sect, including the final three moves which he could perform with great proficiency.
As the only male disciple of the Shenming Mountain Sect, Yang Xiao was the envy of others like Zhao Gang, and with Lan Xin rejecting all male applications, everyone else could only sigh in helplessness and direct their jealous gazes at Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao’s improvement in the inner strength and light skill of the Shenming Mountain Sect was significant. Even though he hadn’t reached Lan Xin’s level of flight using virtual wings, the current Yang Xiao could easily leap dozens of meters with astonishing speed.
"Yang Xiao, if you can defeat me within thirty moves today, you’ll be considered to have completed your apprenticeship."
Yang Xiao and Lan Xin stood tens of meters apart on the square, surrounded by Huang Wen, Qin Yu, and other 300 disciples, including Monk Ben Yin from Shaolin Temple and Xia Luo who had all come to watch.
Yang Xiao’s Genetic Evolution Level was higher than Lan Xin, and the competition restricted the use of Soul Skills, only allowing the use of ancient martial arts secrets from the Shenming Mountain Sect.
This battle was Yang Xiao’s declaration to everyone that by utilizing the power of Genetic Evolution and focusing on cultivating ancient martial arts, one could achieve concrete results in a short amount of time, encouraging everyone to strengthen their confidence in practicing ancient martial arts.
Yang Xiao and Lan Xin greeted each other with a bow of their fists.
"Sister Lan Xin, please!"
Lan Xin nodded her head; now as an elder, she was given the respect of making the first move by Yang Xiao.
Lan Xin flicked her Longsword, and with a flash, she thrust at Yang Xiao.
Lan Xin, who had reached the Enhanced Gene Primary Level, could unleash tremendous power with a simple thrust.
The Longsword pierced through the void, reaching Yang Xiao in an instant.
Whoosh!
A fierce Sword Qi burst forth, shattering the void around it.
Yang Xiao, holding a +7 Strength ordinary Longsword, dodged Lan Xin’s attack in a flash, his Longsword pointed at Lan Xin from the side.
With a whoosh, a meter-long Sword Qi shot through the air.
Although Yang Xiao’s light skill couldn’t match Lan Xin’s, his Agility Attribute was much higher than Lan Xin’s. Thus, with his training in the light skills of the Shenming Mountain Sect, his overall speed was not slower than Lan Xin’s and was even slightly faster.
As for Sword Qi, it was entirely dependent on inner strength and Genetic Evolution Level. Yang Xiao had a slight advantage in Genetic Evolution Level, barely able to unleash a meter-long Sword Qi.
In just the first round, Monk Ben Yin already felt a surge of admiration in his heart; Yang Xiao’s progress was incredibly swift!