120: Quick Shadow Sequence

In addition, Xiao Shi also thought of the huge spear formed by numerous black Qi in the Battle Soul's hand when he released the Battle Soul.

The black Qi he absorbed after killing the evil spirits not only brought an increase in strength to the Battle Soul, but also caused some kind of mutation in the Battle Soul.

If he were to kill a large number of Tree Spirits here, would a similar mutation occur?

After all, the absorption after killing Tree Spirits was very similar to the black Qi absorbed from killing evil spirits.

It was highly likely that a similar mutation would occur.

Then, he picked up the item that dropped after killing the Tree Spirit.

It was a heavenly material and earthly treasure.

Xiao Shi wasn't surprised by this.

The items dropped by Tree Spirits, like those from martial artists, would only be of medium quality if the Tree Spirit was in the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage.

One had to kill a Tree Spirit in the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection to drop high-quality items.

"Continue!"

After picking up the dropped heavenly material and earthly treasure, Xiao Shi continued to search for Tree Spirits here to kill.

Just like that, when the time was approaching night, Xiao Shi had no choice but to leave the Tree Spirit area and return to his treehouse.

After a day of killing, he successfully eliminated thirteen Tree Spirits in the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage.

His contribution points directly reached six thousand five hundred points.

The Battle Soul in his bracelet also recovered to the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection.

"After selling the Entering Martial Rank items on me tomorrow, I should still gain a good amount of contribution points."

Xiao Shi thought to himself.

He directly used six thousand contribution points to recharge the tree seed, which significantly replenished the energy the tree seed had previously lost.

Immediately, he began to mobilize the Spirit Tree Qi, transforming it into Grand Yin Qi through the mysterious badge to open more Qi Vortexes.

If evil spirits were not counted, and only compared to the original Seven Stars Province, in terms of strength improvement, Seven Stars Province was clearly inferior to here.

Not only were there many special auras here, but there were also more Qi Martial Realms that could be killed than in Seven Stars Province.

It was clearly possible to improve one's strength faster here.

After one night, Xiao Shi opened two more Qi Vortexes.

His Taiyin Qi Vortexes had now reached seventy!

And twenty of the Taiyin Qi Vortexes had already expanded to their limit.

Xiao Shi pondered that if he continued at this pace, it wouldn't be long before he would reach the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage.

The next day, as soon as it was light, Xiao Shi immediately went to a shop in Tree Shadow City to sell his items.

Although he had changed his identity, with his caution, he still covered his figure and appearance with a large black robe.

The main items he was selling this time were Entering Martial Rank items.

Since Qi Warrior Grade items were to be used for Qi Vortex expansion, they were not suitable for sale.

Although Entering Martial Rank items were much cheaper than Qi Warrior Grade items, Xiao Shi had a large number of Entering Martial Rank items.

And many of them were relatively rare and uncommon items.

He believed they could also fetch a higher price.

When he took out these items, even the shop owner was repeatedly shocked.

The items Xiao Shi produced were all extremely valuable; although they were only Entering Martial Rank items, they were not easy to acquire.

The value of many of these items was even greater than that of Qi Warrior Grade items.

After selling a portion, Xiao Shi's contribution points directly reached an astonishing twenty thousand!

This was much faster than him killing Tree Spirits.

This amount of contribution points... was enough for him to open many Qi Vortexes.

"If Entering Martial Rank items alone can sell for such a high price, what would be the price if Qi Warrior Grade items were sold?"

Xiao Shi's heart pounded.

However, Qi Warrior Grade items still had to be used for Qi Vortex expansion and could not be sold.

Just like that, in the time that followed, Xiao Shi killed Tree Spirits during the day, and at night, he transformed the Spirit Tree Qi into Grand Yin Qi through the mysterious badge to open Qi Vortexes.

Half a month later, Xiao Shi successfully increased his Qi Vortexes from seventy to ninety-three.

He was only six Qi Vortexes away from entering the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage!

At the same time, in terms of Qi Vortex expansion, he had already reached thirty-two Limit Taiyin Qi Vortexes.

For him, this Tree Shadow City was undoubtedly a treasure land where he could quickly improve his cultivation.

As long as he had enough contribution points, he wouldn't have to worry about lacking the special aura needed to open Qi Vortexes.

However, not everyone was as smooth as him.

Compared to Xiao Shi, Cen Qingci and the others had a somewhat difficult time.

The contribution points they earned each day were very limited, and they not only consumed tree seed energy when mobilizing Spirit Tree Qi, but also consumed tree seed energy when converting Spirit Tree Qi... This made their progress much slower than Xiao Shi's.

It often took two or three days to accumulate enough contribution points for one conversion.

Xiao Shi was also helpless regarding their situation.

Under the current circumstances, if he rashly helped them, he might expose himself, which would only be counterproductive.

At the same time, in Sword Shadow City, within Five Shadow City of the Rapid Shadow Palace, Luo Jun, a white-haired elder in a blue battle robe, was sitting quietly with his eyes closed in front of a pond, asking faintly, "How is it?"

His disciple behind him quickly and respectfully said, "Reporting to Master, it's as we estimated before. This Red Tiger Sect hostage is very ordinary. After staying in Tree Shadow City for half a month, her total accumulated contribution points have just exceeded ten thousand, which is equivalent to the most common type of disciple."

"Her few attendants are even worse."

"This Red Tiger Sect is quite amusing, arranging such cannon fodder as attendants."

During this half-month, they had closely monitored the situations of Cen Qingci and her five attendants.

Their development in Tree Shadow City often revealed their abilities.

According to their usual criteria, reaching over ten thousand contribution points (including points used) within half a month was considered qualified.

Reaching over fifty thousand was considered excellent.

Those exceeding one hundred thousand would surely attract the attention of the higher-ups and belonged to the top tier of disciples.

From Cen Qingci's performance, she was only just qualified.

"After all, she's from a small place. How can we expect her to have any astonishing performance?"

Another disciple of Luo Jun said indifferently.

He never expected Cen Qingci to perform well.

In their eyes, Cen Qingci and her group were like people from the countryside, not worthy of their high regard.

"Since that's the case... then there's no need for excessive attention. Just keep an eye on her to ensure the hostage's safety."

Luo Jun said faintly.

Originally, in his plan, if this Red Tiger Sect hostage showed an astonishing performance, he would make other arrangements for her.

But if she was only mediocre... then there was no need for excessive attention.

Just ensure she was under control.

"The competition for the Rapid Shadow Sequence is about to begin. Among this year's candidates, there are a few promising talents that can be looked forward to."

Luo Jun thought to himself... Inside the treehouse, after continuously devouring several Qi Warrior Grade items, Xiao Shi successfully expanded his Limit Taiyin Qi Vortexes to thirty-three!

The moment these thirty-three Taiyin Qi Vortexes all reached their limit, numerous dark, viscous Tai Yin Power suddenly surged from Xiao Shi's body.

This Tai Yin Power enveloped his entire body, turning him completely black.

Xiao Shi's eyes shone with a strange light.

He felt that in this state... his use of Taiyin Arts would have a better effect.

For example, in terms of using Taiyin Escape, he no longer needed to rely on the darkness of night.

Even during the day, he could still escape into the Taiyin!

And in the Taiyin state, whether it was speed or recovery, everything had significantly improved.

The consumption of Taiyin Qi Strength was also weakened to a certain extent.

He could maintain the Taiyin state for a longer time.

This was consistent with his previous predictions.

When the Limit Taiyin Qi Vortexes reached a certain number, he would experience some physical changes.

Currently, these were only preliminary changes.

According to his estimation, when the Limit Taiyin Qi Vortexes reached sixty-six, there might be even more changes!

However, the expansion of the Taiyin Qi Vortexes was extremely difficult, requiring a vast amount of Qi Warrior Grade items.

It was also thanks to the many Tree Spirits that could be killed in Tree Shadow City that Xiao Shi had a relatively abundant supply of items.

By now... he was no longer just killing in the fourth layer of the Tree Spirit area.

He would also kill in the third layer.

Although the Tree Spirits in the third layer yielded fewer contribution points than those in the fourth layer, their numbers were relatively higher, leading to more item drops.

Xiao Shi made a rough estimate.

The contribution points he had consumed in the past half-month were already close to one hundred thousand.

This was still with him holding back.

If he sold the Qi Warrior Grade items on him, he could easily get hundreds of thousands of contribution points.

This kind of contribution points, which were extremely difficult for ordinary people to earn, was incredibly easy for him.

This also made his cultivation improvement extremely smooth.

"In at most two more days, I will be able to open ninety-nine Qi Vortexes and step into... the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage!"

Xiao Shi was very excited.

His cultivation speed here was comparable to the improvement brought by killing evil spirits before.

At the same time, just as Xiao Shi was pushing towards the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage, in a large treehouse in Tree Shadow City, Cheng Tianhao, a young man dressed in a light green robe, was discussing important matters with two of his close friends.

Cheng Tianhao exuded a noble aura.

His cultivation had already reached the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection.

His two friends had also reached the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage.

"Tianhao, I have already found out that this Rapid Shadow Sequence allows a total of four bodyguards to be invited. These are the candidates I have prepared for you..."

One of them handed a list to Cheng Tianhao.

Cheng Tianhao took it and examined it carefully.

The list was actually four different rankings.

One of the rankings was precisely... the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking!

This ranking recorded the recent status of everyone killing Tree Spirits.

Based on the killing situation, a ranking was established.

To some extent, those ranked high on this list also possessed considerable strength.

After all, these Tree Spirits were not that easy to kill.

And the person currently at the top of the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking... was Xiao Shi's second identity, Nie Jie!

Next to his name, there was also his specific kill record.

"This Nie Jie seems pretty good."

Cheng Tianhao's heart stirred slightly.

The other two also nodded slightly in agreement.

"I've never heard of such a person before. He must be a recently risen powerhouse and a good candidate for a bodyguard."

"Since you have this intention, Tianhao, I'll go negotiate with him now."

However, Cheng Tianhao shook his head.

"I want to go personally, to show my sincerity."

At the same time, in another treehouse, a graceful young woman was also looking at the list in her hand, her gaze focused on the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking.

"Nie Jie..."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

She searched her memory and found that there was no such person in her recollection.

"It seems he's a recently risen figure..."

"He's a good candidate for a bodyguard!"

...Whoosh!

After successfully opening two more Taiyin Qi Vortexes, the Taiyin Qi Vortexes within Xiao Shi's body had reached ninety-five.

"Only the last four remain!"

His eyes gleamed.

Once he reached the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage, he would not be far from the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection.

After all, there was only one Qi Vortex separating the Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage and the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection!

However, Xiao Shi could also predict... that the opening of this last Qi Vortex would definitely be different!

At this moment, as the sky brightened, Xiao Shi also walked out of the treehouse.

He continued towards the Tree Spirit area.

However, when he arrived at the entrance leading to the Tree Spirit area, a noble young man in a light green robe, upon seeing him, immediately brightened.

He took a few steps forward and asked very politely, "Is this Brother Nie Jie?"

"Hmm?"

Xiao Shi frowned slightly, looking at the noble young man with some vigilance.

"You don't need to be nervous, I mean no harm."

The noble young man quickly said, "My name is Cheng Tianhao, and I am one of the contenders for this Rapid Shadow Sequence. I came to find you this time because I want to invite you to be my bodyguard."

"Rapid Shadow Sequence?"

Xiao Shi was puzzled, but his face showed no expression.

Just as Cheng Tianhao's voice fell, a voice suddenly came from not far away.

"Cheng Tianhao, do you think you can compete with me?"

As the voice came, a graceful young woman suddenly sped over from a distance.

Cheng Tianhao frowned.

The young woman directly came to Xiao Shi's side and said, "My name is Lin Ying, and I am also one of the contenders for this Rapid Shadow Sequence. As long as you are willing to be my bodyguard, I can give you a Shadow Comprehension Talisman."

As her words came out, the surrounding onlookers all took a deep breath, their eyes filled with shock.

Even Cheng Tianhao's expression instantly darkened.

Although Xiao Shi didn't know what a Shadow Comprehension Talisman was, from the reactions of the people around him, he could tell that it must be an extremely valuable treasure.

Just as Cheng Tianhao gritted his teeth, preparing to raise his offer, another voice came from not far away.

"You're offering just one Shadow Comprehension Talisman? I'll offer three!"