121: Late stage of Qiwu realm!

It was a rough, deep voice, like muffled thunder.

As the words spread, a burly man, built like an iron tower, suddenly appeared in everyone's sight.

There was a scar near the corner of the man's eye, making him look even more fierce and menacing.

The man's name was Meng Que, and he was also a contender for this Rapid Shadow Sequence.

"Brother Nie, I'll offer three Shadow Comprehension Talismans; you be my protector!" he said in a booming voice.

At the same time, he didn't forget to glare at Cheng Tianhao and Lin Ying, who were nearby, and snorted, "Do you two nobodies really think you can compete with me?"

Cheng Tianhao and Lin Ying's expressions both turned ugly.

Three Shadow Comprehension Talismans—this was already a very generous offer.

"It's just Shadow Comprehension Talismans!" Cheng Tianhao gritted his teeth, glaring at Meng Que, as if he had made up his mind. He said in a deep voice, "Brother Nie, as long as you become my protector, I promise to give you a Shadow Seed afterward!"

As his words came out, both Lin Ying and Meng Que's expressions changed drastically.

"Cheng Tianhao, you... are you crazy!?" Lin Ying was very shocked.

Although a protector was very important in the competition for the Rapid Shadow Sequence, it was still far from being worth a Shadow Seed.

In her opinion, offering a Shadow Comprehension Talisman to hire a protector was already overpaying.

She never expected... Cheng Tianhao to be even crazier than her!

"You guys want to compete, huh! Come on! If you have the guts, bring out something more valuable than a Shadow Seed!" Cheng Tianhao's eyes were bloodshot, filled with a hint of madness.

In terms of aura, he directly overwhelmed Lin Ying and Meng Que.

"Damn it, lunatic!" Meng Que cursed, then turned and left.

Although he cared deeply about being the top of the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking, he couldn't possibly offer anything more valuable than a Shadow Seed.

Lin Ying also left with a grim expression.

Even without this protector, they could still find other protectors.

It wasn't worth losing their minds over competing for one protector.

Xiao Shi watched this scene with a strange expression.

He hadn't expected that without saying a word, he would gain significant benefits from the competition between the three.

However, he still didn't know what the Rapid Shadow Sequence competition was about.

Given his cautious nature, he naturally wouldn't rashly agree without understanding the situation of the Rapid Shadow Sequence.

Therefore, regarding Cheng Tianhao's invitation, Xiao Shi stated that he needed to consider it.

This made Cheng Tianhao stunned for a moment.

He had thought that if he offered a Shadow Seed, the other party would undoubtedly agree without hesitation.

Yet, even in the face of such immense benefits, the other party still needed to consider!

Because of this, Cheng Tianhao could only wait for Xiao Shi to make a decision.

He wasn't worried that someone else would offer better terms than him.

After all, being able to offer a Shadow Seed to invite a protector was unprecedented in the entire Rapid Shadow Palace.

The emergence of the Rapid Shadow Sequence disrupted Xiao Shi's original plans.

He didn't rush to continue to the Tree Spirit area.

Instead, he decided to first gather information about the Rapid Shadow Sequence.

The reason he didn't inquire with Cheng Tianhao was that he was worried the other party might conceal something.

After all, Cheng Tianhao now really wanted him to be his protector.

He might only convey favorable information to himself, while hiding news that was unfavorable to him.

The safest way was still to inquire from other people.

After some investigation, Xiao Shi finally gained a sufficient understanding of the entire Rapid Shadow Sequence.

The Rapid Shadow Sequence was the Rapid Shadow Palace's method for selecting Sequence Disciples.

Each of the five cities in the Rapid Shadow Palace would produce one Sequence Disciple.

In the Rapid Shadow Palace, Sequence Disciples were extremely important.

Every Sequence Disciple was undoubtedly a contemporary prodigy.

They were also the face of the Rapid Shadow Palace, allowing it to stand firm in Tian Dou Province.

In addition to enjoying the best treatment and most resources from the sect, Sequence Disciples also had a certain degree of control over the cities.

For example, the Tree Shadow Sequence, born from Tree Shadow City, possessed a certain degree of control over the entire Tree Shadow City and could access important secrets of Tree Shadow City.

In the Rapid Shadow Palace, Sequence Disciples were the goal and pursuit of countless people.

It was both a supreme honor and represented supreme authority, status, and strength within the entire Rapid Shadow Palace.

However, becoming a Sequence Disciple was extremely difficult.

First, one had to qualify to participate in the Sequence competition.

And merely the qualification for the Sequence competition was enough to deter ninety-nine percent of people.

In this Rapid Shadow Sequence competition, there were only five qualified individuals in Tree Shadow City!

In other words... this Tree Shadow Sequence would only be born among these five people.

However, these five people could each invite four protectors to assist them in participating in the Sequence competition.

But as for the specific method of competition... Xiao Shi hadn't been able to find out.

He only knew that each Sequence competition was different.

He also learned that the reason the three previously qualified individuals invited him to be their protector was mainly because he was currently at the top of the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking.

In Tree Shadow City, there were many similar rankings.

Those who ranked on these lists were often the best candidates for protectors.

But thinking about how those three had vied for him earlier... Xiao Shi felt something was off.

Although it was common for those with Sequence qualifications to compete for the top protector, for all of them to offer excellent conditions to compete was a bit unusual.

Especially after Xiao Shi inquired about the specific value and function of the Shadow Comprehension Talismans and Shadow Seeds they offered, he became even more certain of this point.

According to the information he gathered, the Shadow Comprehension Talisman was an extremely expensive item throughout the Rapid Shadow Palace.

Its main function was to allow one to comprehend Shadow Seeds through it.

The Shadow Seed was the core of the Rapid Shadow Palace, and also the foundation of their power!

Just as the core of the Red Tiger Sect lay in the Crimson Tiger at each stage, the core of the Rapid Shadow Palace was the Shadow Seed.

It could be said that from the very beginning of their cultivation, disciples of the Rapid Shadow Palace aimed to form a Shadow Seed!

Everything... was built on the foundation of forming a Shadow Seed.

Only by forming a Shadow Seed could they achieve the greatest improvement and qualitative change!

The Shadow Seed was the greatest value of the Rapid Shadow Palace.

It was also a major reason why countless people in Tian Dou Province wanted to join the Rapid Shadow Palace.

Many people joined the Rapid Shadow Palace just to be able to form a Shadow Seed.

The formation of a Shadow Seed primarily involved two situations.

One was to cultivate the Rapid Shadow Palace's designated cultivation method.

Just as disciples of the Red Tiger Sect all cultivated the Crimson Tiger Art, the Rapid Shadow Palace also had similar designated cultivation methods.

However, disciples who cultivated this designated cultivation method usually joined the Rapid Shadow Palace when they were in the Entering Martial Realm.

People like Xiao Shi, who joined the Rapid Shadow Palace in the Qi Martial Realm, could no longer change their cultivation methods.

However, even without cultivating the Rapid Shadow Palace's designated cultivation method, there was still a chance to form a Shadow Seed.

It was just that the difficulty was greater than cultivating the Rapid Shadow Palace's designated cultivation method.

Some disciples who already possessed strong comprehension abilities, if they had a Shadow Comprehension Talisman in hand, could comprehend a Shadow Seed through it.

Even if their comprehension was insufficient and they couldn't comprehend it, it could, to some extent, accelerate the formation of a Shadow Seed.

This was also the value of the Shadow Comprehension Talisman.

However, Shadow Comprehension Talismans were not abundant throughout the Rapid Shadow Palace.

Ordinary disciples often had few ways to acquire Shadow Comprehension Talismans.

Only disciples like Cheng Tianhao, who possessed the qualifications for the Sequence competition, could obtain surprisingly valuable Shadow Comprehension Talismans.

This was also the main reason why the surrounding crowd was shocked when Lin Ying expressed her willingness to offer a Shadow Comprehension Talisman at that time.

And the value of just one Shadow Comprehension Talisman was already so astonishing.

What Cheng Tianhao directly offered this time... was even a Shadow Seed!!

This made Xiao Shi feel even more unusual.

"No matter how much they compete, they wouldn't offer such valuable items, unless... this Tree Spirit Kill Ranking has a different meaning!" Xiao Shi narrowed his eyes.

Although he had killed many Tree Spirits during his half-month of hunting, other Qi Martial Realm Late Stage or Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators with more opened Qi Vortexes could also achieve such results.

This was what Xiao Shi found strange.

In his opinion, becoming the top of this Tree Spirit Kill Ranking was not a difficult thing.

Many people could do it.

Yet, these three disciples, who possessed the qualifications for the Sequence competition, were all "particularly fond" of him, the number one on the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking.

To compete for him, they all offered conditions that were hard to refuse.

There must be a problem here!

As Xiao Shi continued to investigate, he finally found part of the reason.

It turned out that while killing Tree Spirits was a quick way to earn contribution points, it also had drawbacks.

Every time a Tree Spirit was killed, one would often suffer a trace of Tree Spirit Qi corrosion.

This Qi corrosion was unavoidable.

As long as one killed, one would inevitably be corroded.

If it was just one or two Tree Spirits' Qi corrosion, it wouldn't be much.

But once too many Tree Spirits were killed, as the accumulated Qi corrosion continued to increase, one's own strength and cultivation would be weakened under the corrosion of these Qi.

Of course, this Qi corrosion was not permanent; it would gradually dissipate over time.

But it would take at least two or three months to completely dissipate.

Therefore, most people, even if they accepted the task of killing Tree Spirits, would not kill too many.

Someone like Xiao Shi, who continuously killed for half a month... was extremely rare.

After Xiao Shi learned this, he finally understood why he had so easily become the top of the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking... No wonder he hadn't seen anyone killing Tree Spirits on the fourth floor for the past half month.

Generally, the stronger the Tree Spirit, the more severe the Qi corrosion suffered after killing it.

Very few people would go to kill the Tree Spirits on the fourth floor.

However, other doubts also arose in his mind.

From beginning to end, he hadn't felt any Qi corrosion.

His own strength and cultivation also showed no signs of weakening.

"Could it be because of the martial emperor mask?" Xiao Shi pondered, thinking it was very likely.

After all, the martial emperor mask could immunize against all Qi.

Therefore, this Qi corrosion had no effect on him.

But in the eyes of others... for him to be able to continuously kill these Tree Spirits while under Qi corrosion, that was terrifying!

However, this alone was still not enough for them to offer such valuable items to compete for him.

There must be a deeper reason!

But no matter how Xiao Shi inquired, he could no longer find any useful information.

"Perhaps the Tree Spirit Kill Ranking is also related to the method of competition..." Xiao Shi silently guessed.

After understanding all this, he also developed some interest in the entire Sequence competition.

If he could obtain a Shadow Seed from it... it seemed pretty good!

Most importantly, this was an opportunity to kill Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators!

According to the information Xiao Shi had gathered, Sequence competitions were often filled with blood and slaughter.

In previous Sequence competitions, no more than half of the participants survived.

And those who possessed the qualifications for the Sequence competition, as well as the protectors they invited, were basically all Qi Martial Realm Late Stage or Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators.

These were undoubtedly good prey!

Now, as Xiao Shi's cultivation was about to reach the Qi Martial Realm Late Stage, he figured he could probably try to kill Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators.

After all, only by killing Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators would high-quality items drop.

However, there weren't many Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators to begin with.

For example, there were no Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection Tree Spirits.

The strongest Tree Spirits were only those on the fourth floor, comparable to Qi Martial Realm Late Stage Tree Spirits.

Therefore, it was not easy for Xiao Shi to find and kill Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection cultivators here.

And this Sequence competition was clearly a good opportunity!

At the same time, as a protector, if he could assist the person he supported in becoming a Sequence Disciple, he would also be able to stand more firmly in the Rapid Shadow Palace.

Considering all aspects, Xiao Shi felt that he could participate in this Sequence competition as a protector.

However, he didn't rush to find Cheng Tianhao to agree to him.

Currently, there were still ten days until the start of the Sequence competition.

He continued to the Tree Spirit area, as usual, to kill Tree Spirits.

While killing, he also began to perceive the Qi corrosion that formed after the Tree Spirits died.

This Qi corrosion was silent and extremely difficult to detect.

But with Xiao Shi's careful observation, he still detected this faint Qi corrosion.

However, when these Qi corrosion acted on his body, his body seemed to have an invisible barrier, preventing these Qi from penetrating his body and blocking them outside.

"It really is the martial emperor mask," Xiao Shi realized.

After he had killed many Tree Spirits and once again gained a lot of contribution points and items dropped after the Tree Spirits died, he returned to the treehouse to continue opening and expanding his Qi Vortexes.

Two days later, with a muffled bang, Xiao Shi's body vibrated violently, and the ninety-ninth Qi Lock within him, under the impact of numerous Grand Yin Qi, burst open.

He successfully opened the ninety-ninth Taiyin Qi Vortex!

He officially transitioned from the Qi Martial Realm Middle Stage to the Qi Martial Realm Late Stage.

At the same time, only one Qi Lock remained within his body.

As long as he broke through this last Qi Lock, he would be able to break through the Qi Martial Realm Late Stage and enter the Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection!