108: The stages of the Red Tiger

The massive Crimson Tiger traversed through the sea of evil spirits, rushing towards Jin Yun City at an astonishing speed.

All the evil spirits along the way were unable to stop the Crimson Tiger's advance.

However, as it continued to move forward, the immense energy consumption caused the red glow on the Crimson Tiger's body to dim considerably.

Many disciples of the Red Tiger Sect within its body had already depleted their Qi Strength, no longer able to provide more Qi Strength to the Crimson Tiger.

This caused a hint of anxiety to appear on the faces of the three Blood Martial Realm Elders.

In fact, this Crimson Tiger, conjured from a tiger talisman, was not primarily for travel, but facing numerous evil spirits now, they had no choice but to use this method to travel to avoid heavy casualties.

“If this continues…”

“It won’t last much longer!”

The Elder controlling the Crimson Tiger looked anxious.

Relying solely on the three of them was not enough to sustain the entire massive Crimson Tiger.

Once the Qi Strength support from these disciples was gone, the Crimson Tiger would quickly dissipate.

And at present, they were still some distance from Jin Yun City.

If the Crimson Tiger dissipated, they would be surrounded by countless evil spirits.

The situation was dire!

At this moment, the sky gradually darkened, and night was approaching.

Just as the three Blood Martial Realm Elders were worrying, a surge of Qi Strength, which had been dormant within the Crimson Tiger, seemingly in a state of slumber, suddenly awakened the moment night fell!

This was a deep black Qi Strength.

The moment it awakened, the stripes on the entire Crimson Tiger's body suddenly turned deep black.

“This is…”

The three Blood Martial Realm Elders were shocked the moment they felt this Qi Strength.

They discovered that this was a special Qi Strength!

And it was a special Qi Strength with powerful might in the darkness.

Under the influence of this Qi Strength, the speed of the entire Crimson Tiger actually increased even further than before.

This filled the three Blood Martial Realm Elders with pleasant surprise.

“It seems someone had a great harvest in the Seven Stars Holy Land earlier!”

They knew this Qi Strength originated from one of the disciples among them.

However, this disciple seemed unwilling to reveal his identity, making it impossible for them to sense the source of the Qi Strength.

And with the support of this special Qi Strength, the entire Crimson Tiger had transformed into a massive crimson and black striped tiger, moving at an astonishing speed under the cover of night.

Inside the Crimson Tiger's body, Xiao Shi discreetly took out another Revitalizing Qi Pill and swallowed it.

This was already the third Revitalizing Qi Pill he had consumed.

Under the effect of this pill, the depleted Qi Strength in his body rapidly recovered at an extremely fast rate.

He had injected Taiyin Qi Strength into the Crimson Tiger's body three times in succession.

Each time, the Taiyin Qi Strength in his body was completely exhausted, then quickly recovered through the Revitalizing Qi Pill, and then injected again.

He understood clearly that this Crimson Tiger needed continuous Qi Strength support to maintain its form.

In the current situation… he couldn't do nothing.

“This should be enough to reach Jin Yun City, right…” Xiao Shi thought silently.

Initially, the Taiyin Qi Strength he injected had merely lain dormant within the Crimson Tiger's body, only awakening when night arrived.

And the moment these Taiyin Qi Strength awakened, they seemed to automatically take over the Qi Strength injected by others.

As if they had become the commander of all Qi Strength, taking charge of all Qi Strength!

Xiao Shi used these Qi Strength to examine the internal structure of the entire Crimson Tiger.

He discovered that this Crimson Tiger, composed of powerful energy, had an extremely complete and complex structure.

It was not simple.

Moreover, this structure… was very similar to the Crimson Tiger formed by vital energy and blood during the Entering Martial Realm, only more complex.

Comparatively, the Crimson Tiger formed by vital energy and blood during the Entering Martial Realm was like having only a skin.

But the current Crimson Tiger, in addition to its skin, also had complete flesh and bones.

“If I’m not mistaken…”

“This should belong to the third, or even fourth, stage of the Crimson Tiger!”

Xiao Shi's eyes narrowed slightly.

The Crimson Tiger formed by vital energy and blood during the Entering Martial Realm could be called the first stage of the Crimson Tiger.

The second stage was the Crimson Tiger formed by the Qi Vortex within the body.

Xiao Shi knew that besides opening Qi Vortex, there was actually another step in the cultivation of Qi Martial Realm martial artists.

That was to combine and condense the Qi Vortex in the body through different cultivation methods and secret manuals!

Like the disciples of their Red Tiger Sect, they would use the Crimson Tiger Art to combine all the Qi Vortex in their bodies to form a Crimson Tiger!

However, a complete Crimson Tiger could usually only be formed after opening a hundred Qi Vortex!

This was also the most important cultivation for Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection.

To perform Qi Vortex combination!

And this Crimson Tiger, formed by combining all the Qi Vortex in the body, was the second stage of the Crimson Tiger.

The third stage of the Crimson Tiger… should only be formed during the Blood Martial Realm.

The current Crimson Tiger carrying everyone might be the third stage Crimson Tiger, or it might be an even higher fourth stage… Xiao Shi couldn't accurately determine which stage it was.

However, through this Crimson Tiger, he realized that the Crimson Tiger Art cultivated by the Red Tiger Sect was by no means as simple as it appeared!

Whoosh!

Under the rapid traversal of the entire Crimson Tiger, after some travel, finally, everyone could vaguely see Jin Yun City in the distance.

Jin Yun City was currently enveloped in a crimson barrier, but the light on the entire barrier had dimmed considerably, and many cracks had appeared, seemingly on the verge of collapsing.

Outside the barrier, numerous evil spirits continuously bombarded the barrier, causing the cracks on the entire barrier to increase.

“Fortunately, we made it!”

The three Blood Martial Realm Elders all breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although the city-protecting formation was on the verge of breaking, they only needed to arrive before the formation shattered.

This way, even if the formation shattered, they could still block the invasion of these evil spirits.

If they didn't arrive before the formation shattered… the Entering Martial Realm Night Watch in Jin Yun City would inevitably be unable to withstand the attack of so many evil spirits.

At that time, the entire Jin Yun City would fall.

Immediately, the Blood Martial Realm Elder controlled the Crimson Tiger, carving a path through the encirclement of numerous evil spirits, and rushed into the formation, entering Jin Yun City.

Upon seeing the Red Tiger Sect members who had come to reinforce them, the Director of the Night Watch Department and the Night Watch, whose nerves had been tightly strung for days, finally felt some relief.

“We’re saved!!”

Many people breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling unburdened.

However, the expressions of the three Blood Martial Realm Elders were very solemn, showing no signs of relaxation.

The sheer number of evil spirits now far exceeded their imagination.

They knew that the most difficult moment was yet to come!

Immediately, they quickly began to deploy for the upcoming actions.

Now that the city-protecting formation was about to break, they could only rely on themselves to resist and clear these vast numbers of evil spirits.

The three Blood Martial Realm Elders simply divided their tasks.

Some disciples were responsible for defending the city, while others were responsible for clearing evil spirits outside the city.

Xiao Shi was assigned to the group clearing evil spirits outside the city.

This was exactly what he wanted.

He was now eager to kill an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit to verify his conjecture.

There were many evil spirits outside the city, so finding an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit would not be difficult.

However, before they went out to clear the evil spirits, the three Blood Martial Realm Elders would first take action to deal with the adult evil spirits outside the city.

Just like clearing the evil spirits on Nan Lie Mountain before, this would largely ensure everyone's safety.

In the current situation, every disciple of the Red Tiger Sect was extremely important, and their casualties had to be avoided as much as possible.

After the three Blood Martial Realm Elders made their move, the many disciples of Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection then began their actions.

By the time it was the turn of disciples like Xiao Shi, who were just entering the Qi Martial Realm, the evil spirits within a three-mile radius of Jin Yun City had all been cleared.

However, there were still vast numbers of evil spirits in the surrounding areas.

Everyone began to act according to their assignments.

They all knew that their main task here was to clear evil spirits and protect Jin Yun City.

Xiao Shi did not want to expose his strength.

After leaving the city, he went to an uninhabited place.

As soon as Raging Bull Ram was unleashed, Xiao Shi transformed into an unstoppable fierce wild bull, charging wildly.

The numerous evil spirits nearby were all smashed and exploded by him.

Xiao Shi then picked up the numerous items that had dropped to the ground, pondering that this was also a good opportunity to acquire a large number of Qi Warrior Grade items.

If it weren't for these evil spirits… it wouldn't be so easy for him to find and kill Qi Martial Realm martial artists in Seven Stars Province.

Thus, with continuous killing, he killed further and further away.

He didn't stop until he realized he was already some distance from Jin Yun City.

“I can’t go any deeper…”

He knew very well that currently, the three Blood Martial Realm Elders had only cleared the adult evil spirits within ten miles of Jin Yun City.

Once he killed beyond ten miles of Jin Yun City… he would likely encounter adult evil spirits!

“This position is just right!”

Xiao Shi looked around.

Not only were there many evil spirits at his current location, but most importantly, among these evil spirits, there happened to be Eight-Mark Evil Spirits!

Xiao Shi immediately locked onto one of the Eight-Mark Evil Spirits.

Swish!

With a burst of speed, he directly rushed in front of an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit and slammed into it fiercely!

Boom!

The Eight-Mark Evil Spirit was directly sent flying, and in its trajectory, it crashed into a Six-Mark Evil Spirit, causing the Six-Mark Evil Spirit's body to instantly collapse and explode.

However, the Eight-Mark Evil Spirit only sustained a few cracks where it was struck, and it did not die.

Eight-Mark Evil Spirits… already possessed strength comparable to a mid-stage Qi Martial Realm practitioner.

An evil spirit of this strength was clearly not something Xiao Shi could instantly kill.

Xiao Shi was not surprised by this either.

With his current strength, killing an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit was not something he could do casually.

Whoosh!

Xiao Shi's figure flickered.

Using his advantage in speed, he circled behind the Eight-Mark Evil Spirit and slammed into it again.

This time, during the collision, he not only unleashed Raging Bull Ram, but also attached the Taiyin Qi Strength in his body to his physical form, making his impact even more ferocious.

Boom!

The Eight-Mark Evil Spirit was sent flying again.

Cracks appeared on both its front chest and back.

And it seemed to have realized that the enemy was very fast, as it also possessed a certain degree of intelligence.

It immediately tilted its head back and let out a sharp shriek.

Waves of sound spread from the mouth of the Eight-Mark Evil Spirit.

After impacting Xiao Shi, it instantly made him feel weak in his limbs, his brain throbbing, and his speed was greatly affected.

He knew that this was the sound wave attack possessed by evil spirits.

Under this sound wave impact, not only would one's own strength be weakened and speed become slow, but even the physical body would become more fragile than under normal circumstances.

And as the Eight-Mark Evil Spirit shrieked, the other nearby evil spirits also seemed to be summoned, collectively tilting their heads back and shrieking.

Numerous sound waves superimposed in the air, causing the air to vibrate.

Xiao Shi felt as if his entire head was about to explode!

His hands and feet were weak, and his speed was only 30% of his normal state.

Xiao Shi clutched his head, his eyes suddenly sharp.

The black martial emperor mask instantly appeared on his face.

Although the martial emperor mask had no effect in resisting sound wave attacks, he could use the martial emperor mask to interrupt the shrieks of these evil spirits.

Boom!

A terrifying Martial Emperor aura instantly erupted from Xiao Shi's body.

Under this terrifying aura, even these evil spirits trembled, showing fear that was rarely seen on them, and they all stopped shrieking.

Swish!

Xiao Shi immediately seized this opportunity.

His entire body's power erupted, and the golden luster hidden beneath his skin surged forth, interweaving with the Taiyin Qi Strength emanating from within his body to form a dark golden hue, making him seem to transform into a dark golden stream of light that tore through the air, stirring up booming explosions.

And while crashing forward, he also took out the Qi Severing Blade, and with the infusion of numerous Taiyin Qi Strength, it transformed into a deep black Qi blade.

With a whistle, it pierced directly into the chest of the trembling evil spirit.

Chirp!

The tip of the Qi blade entered the evil spirit's chest, but it was difficult to penetrate further.

The reason it could pierce the evil spirit's chest was thanks to Xiao Shi's previous collision, which caused cracks to appear there; otherwise, given the evil spirit's resistance to Qi Strength, it would be difficult to even break through its body.

After all, this was an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit comparable to a mid-stage Qi Martial Realm practitioner!

Although the Qi blade could not penetrate further, Xiao Shi, who had followed up with a full-force collision, transforming into a dark golden stream of light, slammed fiercely onto the Qi blade.

That violent impact directly pushed the Qi blade, inch by inch, continuously deeper into the evil spirit's chest.

Puff!

Finally, the entire Qi blade, amidst the collision, pierced through the evil spirit's back.

At the same time, Xiao Shi's body also heavily impacted the evil spirit, sending the evil spirit, along with the Qi blade, flying.

It could be seen… the evil spirit's entire chest was caved in by Xiao Shi's impact, with even more cracks on it, and the Qi blade had completely pierced through its body.

Swish!

Xiao Shi did not stop his attack there.

With a flash, he rushed in front of the evil spirit, his fists raining down like a storm, furiously pounding on the evil spirit's caved-in chest.

Each punch unleashed his maximum strength.

Boom boom boom!

Under a series of bombardments, the entire evil spirit's chest was punched through by Xiao Shi, successfully killing it!

“Hoo!”

Xiao Shi let out a long breath.

Eight-Mark Evil Spirits… they really weren’t easy to kill!

Of course, this was also due to his current lack of strength.

In terms of Qi Vortex, he had only opened twenty-three Qi Vortex.

He hadn't even reached the early stage of the Qi Martial Realm.

It was only by relying on his physical strength after cultivating Vajra Tendons that he could kill an Eight-Mark Evil Spirit.

If he relied solely on Qi Strength, he could at most cross one level and face an early-stage Qi Martial Realm practitioner, but not two levels.

Looking at the items that had dropped to the ground, Xiao Shi felt a strong anticipation in his heart.

Now he could verify his conjecture!

If this Eight-Mark Evil Spirit dropped high-quality items, then…