100: The final killing

Time flew by.

In a blink of an eye, Xiao Shi and the others had been in the Seven Stars Holy Land for over a month.

Fighting and scramble were ongoing at all times.

Many people died every day.

Compared to the brutal killings outside, Xiao Shi and the other six in the secret realm had it easy.

They didn't have to compete with others, nor did they need to experience any battles.

As long as they stayed in their respective areas, they could continuously harvest the special Qi and heavenly materials and earthly treasures that others yearned for.

Although there were also special Qi and heavenly materials and earthly treasures outside, their number was extremely scarce.

Every such place of opportunity would inevitably lead to large-scale competition and slaughter.

And most of the gains would ultimately fall into the hands of those powerful Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection experts.

Without this secret realm... neither Slit-Eyes and Fan Li, who were in the Qi Martial Realm Early Stage, nor Cen Qingci and the other two, who had just entered the Qi Martial Realm, would have been able to obtain special Qi.

The gains within the secret realm now made them incredibly excited.

They knew this was an opportunity to change their own destinies.

They continuously opened one Qi Vortex after another through the special Qi in their respective areas.

Taiyin Area.

Boom!

Xiao Shi's body vibrated violently.

A terrifying impact sound emanated from his body.

When he controlled a mass of Grand Yin Qi and crashed it against the Qi lock, it only caused a crack in the Qi lock and did not shatter it.

He had now opened fifteen Qi Vortexes.

He was in the process of opening the sixteenth Qi Vortex.

However, the difficulty of opening this Qi Vortex was far greater than that of the many previous Qi Vortexes.

The main reason was that the Qi lock sealing this Qi Vortex was much stronger than the previous Qi locks.

The previous Qi locks generally shattered with a single impact.

Occasionally, some relatively strong Qi locks would break after three to five impacts.

But this current Qi lock... Xiao Shi felt that it would require at least ten impacts to have a chance of shattering it!

This was the strongest Qi lock he had encountered so far!

And ten impacts would require at least ten masses of Grand Yin Qi!

After all, each mass of Grand Yin Qi was only enough for one impact.

This amount of Grand Yin Qi... even with Xiao Shi's current gains here, he felt a pang of heartache.

“The plants in my area need a total of fifteen days to complete their growth, and I can only harvest thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi at a time...”

Xiao Shi originally thought that opening the Qi Vortexes would be the same as before, where one mass of Grand Yin Qi would be enough to open one Qi Vortex.

He even thought that these thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi would allow him to directly open thirty Taiyin Qi Vortexes and step into the Qi Martial Realm Early Stage in one go.

However, as he continued to open them, he discovered that among the hundred Qi locks in his body, only a minority could be broken with one mass of Grand Yin Qi.

Now, all the remaining Qi locks could not be broken with just one mass of Grand Yin Qi.

And now, a Qi lock had appeared that required at least ten masses of Grand Yin Qi to break.

Xiao Shi smiled bitterly in his heart.

Of the thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi he had harvested earlier, only four remained. These four masses of Grand Yin Qi were clearly not enough to break through this Qi lock.

However, when he looked at the plants around him that were undergoing their second round of growth and were about to finish, he felt relieved.

The plants here would wither after fifteen days of growth and forming Grand Yin Qi.

Then, new plants would start to grow again.

In other words... every fourteen days here, he could harvest thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi.

The growth of plants in the other areas was much slower than in Xiao Shi's area; they needed twenty days to complete one growth cycle.

At the same time, the quantity of special Qi was far less than in Xiao Shi's area; they could only harvest twenty masses of special Qi at a time.

They had been in the secret realm for twenty-seven days now.

In one more day, Xiao Shi would be able to make his second harvest.

The others, however, would have to wait until the fortieth day to get their second harvest.

“With the second harvest, I should be able to open twenty Qi Vortexes.”

Opening Qi Vortexes through special Qi would be relatively fast at first; those loose Qi locks often only required one special Qi to break through.

But as he continued to open them, the subsequent firm Qi locks would require more and more special Qi.

The difficulty of opening would only continue to increase.

Even with thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi... Xiao Shi felt that he could at most open five Qi Vortexes.

In addition to opening the Qi Vortexes, Xiao Shi was also cultivating the Nine Refinements Vajra Body using the harvested heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

The cultivation of the Nine Refinements Vajra Body was mainly divided into three steps: Vajra Skin, Vajra Tendons, and Vajra Bones.

Now, after cultivating the Vajra Skin, Xiao Shi began cultivating the Vajra Tendons.

The heavenly materials and earthly treasures required for cultivating the Vajra Tendons were significantly more than those needed for cultivating the Vajra Skin.

Xiao Shi had already continuously refined twenty kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures... but the progress in cultivating the Vajra Tendons was only halfway!

“Judging from the current situation, to cultivate the Vajra Tendons, I'll need at least forty kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.”

Xiao Shi felt the difficulty.

To obtain so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures, he could only wait for the next harvest.

And it would have to be the next round from the other areas.

The next round from the Taiyin Area alone would definitely not be enough.

After all, the twenty kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures he had refined did not only come from the heavenly materials and earthly treasures born in his area, but also included those from other areas.

It was impossible for a single area to produce so many heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

And although these heavenly materials and earthly treasures were precious and valuable, when Xiao Shi asked Slit-Eyes and the others for them, they all unhesitatingly gave him the heavenly materials and earthly treasures from their respective areas.

They all knew very well... the reason they could stay in this secret realm was entirely due to this senior.

This senior not only saved them but also gave them such an opportunity and fortune.

Their hearts were filled with gratitude.

Even though these heavenly materials and earthly treasures were incredibly valuable, they did not hesitate or feel reluctant, and decisively gave them to Xiao Shi.

This allowed Xiao Shi to gather twenty kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Xiao Shi estimated that by the next harvest, he should be able to gather another twenty kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

By then, there might be hope of cultivating the Vajra Tendons!

Soon, a day passed.

Xiao Shi's Taiyin Area finally welcomed its second harvest.

Just like the first harvest, there were a total of thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi and five pieces of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Xiao Shi quickly used these masses of Grand Yin Qi to break through the sixteenth Qi lock!

Then, without any pause, he continued to attack the seventeenth Qi lock.

He knew that not all remaining Qi locks were like the sixteenth, requiring more than ten masses of Grand Yin Qi to break through; there would still be some Qi locks that only needed four or five masses of Grand Yin Qi to break.

Thirty masses of Grand Yin Qi... were consumed in a blink of an eye.

It was roughly as Xiao Shi had expected.

He successfully opened from the sixteenth Qi Vortex to the nineteenth Qi Vortex, only one short of his estimate.

The main reason for this was that the twentieth Qi lock was another sturdy Qi lock that required almost ten masses of Grand Yin Qi to open.

Xiao Shi could only continue to wait for the next harvest.

Just like that, when the time reached the fortieth day, the other five areas had their second harvest.

Xiao Shi also obtained fifteen pieces of heavenly materials and earthly treasures from these five areas. Including the five pieces of heavenly materials and earthly treasures harvested in his Taiyin Area during the second round, it was exactly twenty pieces of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

However, after Xiao Shi refined all twenty pieces of these heavenly materials and earthly treasures, he was still missing... a sliver from cultivating the Vajra Tendons!

He felt that he still needed one or two more heavenly materials and earthly treasures to cultivate the Vajra Tendons.

“To be stuck at such a critical moment...” Xiao Shi smiled bitterly in his heart.

This meant he could only wait for the third round.

Fortunately, in two days, the Taiyin Area would welcome its third harvest.

The other five areas clearly couldn't wait for the third round.

After all, they could only stay in the Seven Stars Holy Land for two months.

They had already been in the secret realm for forty days.

Before entering the secret realm, about ten days had also passed.

Only ten days remained until the two-month limit.

“Then...”

“It's time to lure people in!”

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Shi's eyes.

He couldn't end it so uneventfully.

Although he had already opened nineteen Taiyin Qi Vortexes, only three Taiyin Qi Vortexes had expanded to their limit.

The other Taiyin Qi Vortexes did not have enough Qi Warrior Grade items to expand.

Before leaving, he naturally had to make a good fortune.

At the same time, the bracelet also needed to accumulate more Wandering Souls. Although the Battle Soul in the bracelet had already reached the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection, Xiao Shi wanted to try and see if it could break through to the Blood Martial Realm!

No matter what, he definitely had to go on a killing spree before leaving.

The current time... was just right!

Only when it was close to the end could he confidently use up the exclusive items he had on hand.

If he used up the exclusive items midway, then he would have to live cautiously for the rest of the days.

This did not align with his cautious nature.

The ideal situation is to use up the exclusive items just before leaving.

This way, there's no waste of exclusive items, and one's safety is ensured.

"Let's begin!"

Xiao Shi's thoughts stirred.

Buzz!

The gate outside the secret realm, whose light he had completely suppressed, suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, so brilliant that even from a distance, the scattered light was visible.

Under this radiating light,

the Qi Martial Realm martial artists near the secret realm immediately noticed the dazzling glow.

They all realized that

this kind of light must originate from some kind of great opportunity!

And it was an extremely significant opportunity!

This ignited a fervent desire in many people's hearts.

They all knew that

the two-month time limit was almost up.

Many wanted to make one last push in these final few days!

Of course, there were also some who knew when to quit, unwilling to take further risks, and only wished to pass the last few days safely and peacefully.

Therefore, even upon seeing these lights, they chose not to go explore.

But such people were, after all, a minority.

Most people still wanted to seize the last bit of time to make another fortune!

For a time,

most of the people who saw the light rushed quickly towards the source of the light… "The bait has been cast; now we just wait for the fish to come in!"

Xiao Shi focused on the entrance to the secret realm.

When he suppressed the light of the gate, it was extremely concealed and difficult to detect.

During these forty days, no one had discovered this gate.

But when he released the light,

this gate became like a torch in the dark, bright and shining.

Not long after,

a young man holding a long spear arrived at the entrance of the secret realm.

He immediately saw the glowing gate.

The young man was as excited as if he had discovered a rare treasure, and with a flicker of his body, he stepped directly into the light gate.

The next second,

he appeared in a pitch-black area.

The sky was overcast and dim.

Cool moonlight fell.

The faint Grand Yin Qi permeating the air, and the special plants constantly growing around, made the young man instantly feel the extraordinary nature of this area.

Although he had a premonition of a great opportunity here before coming,

he hadn't expected it to be such an astonishing place of opportunity.

His expression was excited, and his heart was even more fervent.

Now, as the time to leave approached, there were not many opportunities left in the Seven Stars Holy Land.

Especially such large places of opportunity.

They were even rarer.

He hadn't expected there to be such an astonishing place of opportunity here!

But soon,

the young man noticed that

under the moonlight,

a tall and burly figure was quietly watching him, with eyes hidden in the shadows by a black hood, like a beast eyeing its prey, cold and emanating a dangerous aura.

This sent a chill down his entire body.

"A Qi Martial Realm Early Stage, huh…"

Xiao Shi's eyes narrowed slightly.

The cold glint in his eyes grew even sharper.

From the moment this young man entered the secret realm,

Xiao Shi had already made an accurate judgment of his strength and cultivation.

Originally, according to the rules of the secret realm,

once the opponent entered this area, this area would automatically be divided in half, changing from six areas to seven.

But with Xiao Shi's special privilege in the secret realm,

he could temporarily keep this area intact.

Swish!

Xiao Shi's figure flickered.

He dashed towards the young man at an extremely fast speed.

And during his charge, Xiao Shi, in the young man's eyes, split into two, forming two identical figures.

The young man's expression was solemn, not daring to be careless.

His long spear whistled out, choosing to attack both figures simultaneously.

But just as the two figures approached him,

"Something's wrong!"

His mind suddenly jolted.

Without hesitation, he turned around, and his long spear also turned with him, like a twisting snake, stabbing fiercely behind him.

Clang!

The tip of the long spear struck the blade.

The collision of Qi Strength caused an explosion of surrounding air currents.

The blurry phantom that had appeared behind the young man slowly solidified, revealing Xiao Shi's true form, while the two figures in front vanished.

The young man's hands holding the spear trembled, his palms tingling from the shock.

The opponent's Qi Strength was clearly stronger than his.

Hiss!

As soon as Xiao Shi unleashed one strike, a second immediately followed.

The young man couldn't keep up with such frequent attacks and could only defend with the long spear in his hand.

However, just as he blocked the second strike,

the third and fourth strikes immediately came down rapidly, the blade light continuous, giving him no chance to breathe.

"What kind of blade technique is this!!"

The young man's heart was filled with horror.

He had never seen such a fast blade technique.

The opponent's blade strikes were not only continuous but also each strike was powerful and heavy.

As a result, his arm holding the spear, after continuously blocking several attacks, was subtly starting to give out.

However, Xiao Shi's slashes still didn't stop.

Under the Absolute Severing Blade Technique, the blade light was like surging waves, one after another.

At the same time, his Bewildering Shadow Step was also deployed again.

Creating multiple illusory images.

Making it difficult for the young man to distinguish between real and fake.

Under Xiao Shi's continuous assault, the young man felt increasingly strained.

He could only struggle to hold on.

"That's enough."

Xiao Shi's gaze sharpened, and the Taiyin Qi Strength in his body surged violently into the Qi Severing Blade, causing the Qi Severing Blade to instantly transform from its normal state into a Qi Blade state.

The deep black blade light sliced through the air, producing a low, sharp whistle.

It swept directly past the young man's long spear.

Previously, although the young man struggled to block every strike Xiao Shi unleashed, he could still barely hold them off.

However, with the transformation of the Qi Severing Blade's form now,

during the entire deep black Qi Blade strike,

the long spear in the young man's hand was instantly cut in half, severed by a single blade, and the blade light then flashed before him.

Chit!

A thin line appeared on the young man's glabella.

His body fell backward.

With a thud.

He hit the ground, lifeless.

"Indeed..."

"With my current strength, even a Qi Martial Realm Early Stage, I can easily kill!"

Xiao Shi looked down at the corpse on the ground.

He hadn't used any exclusive items; he had directly relied on his own strength to kill him.

This young man probably had thirty-four Qi Vortexes opened.

Killing a Qi Martial Realm Early Stage of this strength was basically effortless for Xiao Shi now, and he didn't need to use any exclusive items.

With the young man's death, a Wandering Soul emerged from his corpse and floated directly to Xiao Shi's side.

Xiao Shi was not in a hurry to gather this Wandering Soul into his wristband.

On one hand, Wandering Souls could be used for combat, and if necessary, he could directly have them attack.

On the other hand, Wandering Souls had a certain deterrent effect on these Qi Martial Realm martial artists, so there was no need to rush to gather them into the wristband for now.

After picking up the items that dropped after his death,

Xiao Shi continued to wait there.

Not long after,

another Qi Martial Realm martial artist entered the secret realm.

Also a Qi Martial Realm Early Stage.

As soon as he entered the secret realm and just managed to get a clear look at his surroundings...

Chit!

He suddenly felt a pain in his entire waist and abdomen.

The next second,

his body was already severed by Xiao Shi's blade.

Previously, Xiao Shi had acted when that Qi Martial Realm martial artist was somewhat prepared, in order to test his own strength.

Now that he had a concrete understanding of his own strength,

he naturally didn't need to be like before.

Specifically giving the opponent time to react.

He directly attacked at the fastest speed.

And killed him!

His special privilege in the secret realm gave him a huge advantage here, allowing him to clearly know where these Qi Martial Realm martial artists would appear after entering the secret realm.

He could prepare in advance.

As soon as the opponent came in, he could immediately strike.

This place… was his home turf!

Just like this,

Xiao Shi guarded the entrance of the Taiyin area, killing one as each entered!

The Wandering Soul Guardians surrounding him grew more and more numerous with his killings.

The Qi Warrior Grade items he acquired also continuously increased.

"Kill a few more, and it'll be almost time to expand the fourth Taiyin Qi Vortex!"

Xiao Shi's heart filled with anticipation.

The Qi Martial Realm martial artists outside, unable to see what was happening inside the secret realm, did not know what was going on.

Upon seeing such a dazzling entrance, they all entered with excitement and anticipation.

However, as the number of people entering continued to increase,

some Qi Martial Realm Middle Stage, and even Qi Martial Realm Late Stage martial artists began to appear among them.

But when Xiao Shi used his exclusive items, even these Qi Martial Realm Middle Stage and Late Stage martial Realm martial artists would be immediately annihilated upon entering the secret realm!

At the same time,

not far from the secret realm,

three figures were rushing at extremely high speed towards the glowing entrance of the secret realm.

These three figures… were indeed three Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection!