113: give up

Xiao Shi's mind was greatly shaken.

He never expected that the Crimson Tiger Totem, swallowed by the Ghoulish Spirit, would parasitize him.

In fact, with the power of the Crimson Tiger Totem, even if the entire statue was shattered by the Ghoulish Spirit, it would not dissipate so easily.

Or rather... it wouldn't dissipate in a short amount of time.

This was also the reason why, although everyone showed signs of their cultivation dropping, it hadn't actually dropped yet.

Even if the Ghoulish Spirit swallowed the Crimson Tiger Totem, it would still need some time to gradually digest it.

However, the Ghoulish Spirit had only just shattered the statue when it was killed by the Battle Soul, so it didn't have enough time to digest it.

But without the statue, the Crimson Tiger Totem was left with only its origin, without a vessel.

It needed a new vessel!

Xiao Shi's proximity made it choose him as its target.

After all, Xiao Shi already carried the aura of the Crimson Tiger, making him the most suitable candidate.

Thus, it directly parasitized Xiao Shi.

Originally, Xiao Shi didn't know much about the Crimson Tiger Totem.

But the moment it parasitized his body, numerous pieces of information related to the Crimson Tiger Totem automatically appeared in his mind.

He realized that the Crimson Tiger Totem was the most important thing to their Red Tiger Sect!

Everything about the Red Tiger Sect was built upon the Crimson Tiger Totem.

If he hadn't released his Battle Soul to kill the Ghoulish Spirit, and had allowed the Ghoulish Spirit to digest the Crimson Tiger Totem, then everyone who had cultivated the Crimson Tiger Art would have had their cultivation fall to that of a mortal.

Now that it had parasitized Xiao Shi, the entire Crimson Tiger Totem was temporarily stabilized. As long as Xiao Shi didn't die, there would be no need to worry about cultivation dropping.

“So... I've almost become the totem of the Red Tiger Sect now?”

Xiao Shi never expected such an unexpected turn of events.

Not only that, he also learned that the Crimson Tiger Totem had already been in a weakened state.

After being swallowed and shattered by the Ghoulish Spirit this time, its condition was even worse.

Although it was now parasitizing him and wouldn't die out in a short period, he needed to find a way to nourish it!

Otherwise, the entire Crimson Tiger Totem would become weaker and weaker.

As time passed, it would eventually disappear completely from his body.

At that time... the cultivation of everyone in their Red Tiger Sect would fall to that of a mortal.

However, Xiao Shi currently didn't have any good methods for nourishing it.

He could only nourish it with the Taiyin Qi Strength within his body for now.

This kind of nourishment could only prevent the Crimson Tiger Totem from weakening over time, maintaining its current state, but it couldn't restore it.

To restore it, more effective nourishment methods were needed.

Such as powerful nourishment arrays, or Xiao Shi possessing stronger cultivation power.

At this stage, he could only nourish it with Taiyin Qi Strength.

This nourishment wouldn't cause any depletion of his Qi Strength, so there would be no adverse effects.

“The Red Tiger Sect... it seems it's not as simple as it appears on the surface!”

Through the Crimson Tiger Totem, Xiao Shi also realized that there were some major secrets hidden behind the Red Tiger Sect.

A totem like this... was definitely not something an ordinary sect could possess.

At the same time, he could also guess... that over the years, the Red Tiger Sect in Seven Stars Province had probably mainly adopted a strategy of biding its time, continuously nourishing the Crimson Tiger Totem in anticipation of its rise!

Although Xiao Shi didn't know what kind of power the Crimson Tiger Totem would possess after it fully recovered, it would definitely be much stronger than it was now.

However, nourishing the Crimson Tiger Totem to full recovery was not simple.

Fortunately, now that the Crimson Tiger Totem had parasitized Xiao Shi, as long as he didn't die, there would basically be no problem of cultivation dropping.

In addition, after being parasitized by the Crimson Tiger Totem, Xiao Shi could also obtain more power from the Crimson Tiger Totem!

He now directly possessed an astonishing authority... which was the ability to summon the power of everyone who had cultivated the Crimson Tiger Art!

He could gather all of this power onto himself!

In other words... as long as he wanted, he could freely draw the power of anyone in the Red Tiger Sect onto himself!

He could not only draw the Qi Strength of those Inner Sect Disciples, but also the Blood Martial Realm level power of the three Blood Martial Realm Elders, and even the current Sect Master, Guo Chengdao, could also be drawn from!

In front of the Crimson Tiger Totem, whether they were willing or not, as long as Xiao Shi desired it, their power would inevitably be drawn!

This also made Xiao Shi realize that by possessing the Crimson Tiger Totem, he was equivalent to becoming the supreme existence of the Red Tiger Sect!

If he wanted to be the Sect Master, with just one word, Guo Chengdao would have to obediently give way.

Even if Guo Chengdao's strength and cultivation were far above his, he could only bow his head in front of him.

This was still with the Crimson Tiger Totem being weak, only able to obtain power through authority and temporarily unable to gain any direct enhancement from the Crimson Tiger Totem itself.

However, as the Crimson Tiger Totem recovered... when it recovered to a certain extent, it would definitely bring more enhancements.

At the same time, Xiao Shi could also feel that there were still some secrets within the Crimson Tiger Totem.

However, these secrets might only be known after the Crimson Tiger Totem recovered.

All in all, the Crimson Tiger Totem still had many aspects worth studying.

But now he needed to return to Jin Yun City as soon as possible.

The Taiyin Qi Strength in his body was almost depleted, and he was about to be unable to maintain his Taiyin state.

Xiao Shi immediately reached out and grabbed the items on the ground with lightning speed, then returned directly to Jin Yun City.

In a deserted corner, he silently emerged from the Taiyin state.

Currently, everyone's attention was outside the city.

No one noticed anything unusual about him.

With the death of the Ghoulish Spirit, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.

Many people even collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, all feeling a sense of surviving a catastrophe.

The three Blood Martial Realm Elders also wiped the sweat from their faces. They had been extremely nervous before, and now, while slightly relaxed, a strong sense of doubt arose in their hearts.

They didn't know what was going on with the blood-armored knight who suddenly appeared... and with the death of the Ghoulish Spirit, their cultivation had all stabilized, with no further signs of dropping, which was even stranger!

According to the three Blood Martial Realm Elders' understanding of the Crimson Tiger Totem, once the Crimson Tiger Totem was gone, they would be like a tree without roots.

Regardless of their cultivation, it was bound to fall.

Yet now, their cultivation was stable, with no signs of dropping.

This did not align with what they knew.

“Could it be related to that crimson light from before?”

They all had their guesses.

When the Ghoulish Spirit died, they had all seen a crimson light flash from its corpse, then disappear into the void.

That crimson light seemed to be the Crimson Tiger Totem.

However, they couldn't understand why this crimson light would disappear into the void.

They pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason.

The three Blood Martial Realm Elders shook their heads.

They decided not to rush to think about this problem for now.

Currently, they needed to quickly organize everyone to leave Jin Yun City.

Although the Ghoulish Spirit was dead, the crisis in Jin Yun City had not yet been resolved.

After all, beneath Jin Yun City, there were still countless evil spirits.

These evil spirits were all tainted with Netherworld Qi and had mutated. Their strength was immense, and they were no longer something they could easily clear out.

Moreover, with the continuous increase in evil spirits, it was very likely that new Ghoulish Spirits would be born outside.

In any case, they could no longer stay in Jin Yun City.

They needed to return to the sect as soon as possible to carry out the sect's relocation.

Soon, the three Blood Martial Realm Elders gathered everyone.

They prepared to evacuate according to the plan they had arranged earlier.

“Elder, what about the other people in the city...?”

The Director of the Night Watch Department hesitated to speak.

In the plan formulated by the three Elders, only they, the Night Watch, would be led away, not including the ordinary people in the city.

After all, there were many ordinary people in Jin Yun City, and even if the three Elders wanted to take them away, they would be powerless.

In response, the three Elders shook their heads.

“Our capabilities are limited; we can't take care of so many people...”

“Moreover, the journey back won't be peaceful, and we can't bring so many people back to the sect with us.”

The Director of the Night Watch Department sighed.

He also knew that taking the ordinary people in Jin Yun City was impossible.

After all, there were still many evil spirits on the way back to the Red Tiger Sect. Just for them to fight their way back to the Red Tiger Sect through so many evil spirits was already a very difficult task.

It was impossible to also take care of the ordinary people in Jin Yun City.

If they did, no one would be able to leave.

At this moment... they could only abandon these ordinary people.

This was, after all, a chaotic world.

Even if they were unwilling in their hearts, many times, they had to make sacrifices.

The Director of the Night Watch Department naturally understood this principle.

However, he had guarded Jin Yun City for many years and had always borne the heavy responsibility of protection. Now, to abandon these ordinary people he had always protected, he felt uncomfortable.

But this... was, after all, a chaotic world!

“Let's go.”

The three Red Tiger Sect Elders once again took out a tiger talisman.

This was their last remaining tiger talisman.

After activating the tiger talisman, the entire tiger talisman instantly transformed into an enormous Crimson Tiger, enveloping and covering many Inner Sect Disciples and Night Watch.

Because there were more people being carried this time than when they arrived, and many Night Watch, who were only at the Entering Martial Realm, could not provide energy support to the Crimson Tiger, the entire Crimson Tiger would have a much harder time returning than it did coming.

Under these circumstances, it was even more impossible for them to take the ordinary people in Jin Yun City.

Xiao Shi also looked back at Jin Yun City at this moment.

He knew that once they left, Jin Yun City would inevitably face destruction.

Not a single ordinary person here would survive.

Xiao Shi also felt quite unsettled by this.

He had served as a Night Watch in Jin Yun City for three years and had some affection for the place, having interacted with many ordinary people there.

But now... even he was powerless.

“A chaotic world, huh...” Xiao Shi murmured in his heart, clenching his fists.

He was still too weak.

In such a chaotic world, he often felt powerless.

If he were strong enough, perhaps he wouldn't even need to leave Jin Yun City; he could simply clean up these evil spirits and Ghoulish Spirits.

This also made Xiao Shi yearn even more to become stronger!

At present, not only Xiao Shi felt bad about abandoning Jin Yun City, but most people shared the same sentiment.

After all, they had all served as Night Watch and had some affection for Jin Yun City.

“Remember, the ones who truly abandoned Jin Yun City and these ordinary people are the Heretical Organization! It's the Flying Origin Palace!” Elder Qiao scanned everyone and said in a deep voice.

“For us, the most important thing now is to survive!”

“Only by surviving will we have the chance in the future to seek out the Heretical Organization, to seek out the Flying Origin Palace and settle this score!”

Everyone nodded in agreement, their eyes revealing a glimmer of hatred.

They knew that the Heretical Organization was responsible for all of this!

And the Flying Origin Palace, as the ruling power of Seven Stars Province, had done nothing to solve the problem from beginning to end.

This inaction was equally detestable!

Seeing that morale had lifted, Elder Qiao nodded.

“Depart!”

Whoosh!

Immediately, the massive Crimson Tiger charged out of Jin Yun City, speeding towards the sect with astonishing velocity.

The evil spirits outside Jin Yun City were all tainted with Netherworld Qi and had mutated.

The strength of these evil spirits was far greater than that of the previous ones.

Moreover, in terms of numbers, with the appearance of the Ghoulish Spirit, many evil spirits had also climbed out from underground, replenishing the number of evil spirits that had been cleared out some time ago.

Boom!

The massive Crimson Tiger galloped forward, crashing into the obstructing evil spirits. Although it sent them flying as before, many evil spirits immediately got back up from the ground after being knocked away and continued to rush forward to block the Crimson Tiger.

As a result, the Crimson Tiger's overall speed was greatly affected.

Furthermore, due to the large number of people being carried this time, the Crimson Tiger's consumption was also greater than when it came.

This also caused the three Blood Martial Realm Elders' expressions to show a hint of anxiety.

They realized that it might be very difficult to return to the sect completely unharmed this time.

Perhaps along the way, the entire Crimson Tiger would disintegrate due to running out of energy.

At that time... many of them would surely die again.

Xiao Shi, inside the Crimson Tiger, also noticed that the entire Crimson Tiger's energy depletion was quite severe.

And the Taiyin Qi Strength in his body was completely depleted.

He couldn't provide Taiyin Qi Strength to the Crimson Tiger as he had when they arrived.

However, Xiao Shi thought of the Crimson Tiger Totem he now possessed.

This tiger talisman was, in fact, derived from the Crimson Tiger Totem.

Perhaps he could enhance this Crimson Tiger through the Crimson Tiger Totem!

Thinking of this, Xiao Shi immediately tried to enhance the Crimson Tiger through the Crimson Tiger Totem on his back.

Whoosh!

As Xiao Shi's thought moved, the entire Crimson Tiger's body suddenly expanded, instantly doubling in size from its original foundation.

At the same time, the Crimson Tiger's speed and impact force were also greatly enhanced.

After crashing into these evil spirits, even adult evil spirits were sent flying far away by the Crimson Tiger's impact.

And they couldn't immediately get back up in a short time.

This made the Crimson Tiger's progress much smoother.