124: Crystal of the Ancient Cang'e Tree

Previously, the Tree Spirit he had killed was only comparable to a Qi Martial Realm Early Stage Tree Spirit, and there was no difficulty in killing it.

It was not enough to see the power of the Tree Shadow.

Xiao Shi needed to know... what kind of effect would the Tree Shadow have when it attacked a Qi Martial Realm Late Stage Tree Spirit?

Whoosh!

The entire black Tree Shadow silently spread from the ground.

The distant Tree Spirit seemed completely unaware of the Tree Shadow's approach.

Swish!

When the Tree Shadow's extended branches covered it,

even a Tree Spirit comparable to a Qi Martial Realm Late Stage screamed, and the covered parts of its body instantly seemed to be wiped away from thin air.

Only a small half of its massive body remained.

"It has the same effect on a Qi Martial Realm Late Stage Tree Spirit!"

Xiao Shi's heart was greatly shaken.

The Tree Shadow inherited the Taiyin Qi Strength perfectly.

It could fully unleash the power of the Taiyin Qi Strength.

And with Xiao Shi's current Taiyin Qi Strength... even a Tree Spirit comparable to a Qi Martial Realm Late Stage could not withstand it!

It directly collapsed under the Tree Shadow's cover.

This made Xiao Shi deeply feel the power and extraordinariness of the Tree Shadow.

And this was only the initial stage of the Tree Shadow.

It had not yet undergone specific cultivation!

There was still a lot of room for growth.

"The Tree Shadow's attack should not be unidirectional; it can also perform area-of-effect group attacks..."

Xiao Shi thought to himself.

At the same time, he tried to control the Tree Shadow, making its branches extend and sweep towards the many nearby Tree Spirits.

Although each extended branch, upon covering a Tree Spirit's body, would cause the Tree Spirit's body to collapse,

due to Xiao Shi's current Tree Shadow being merely a small sapling with not many branches, the number of enemies it could target simultaneously was not large.

It could attack a maximum of six targets at once.

Xiao Shi couldn't help but start pondering how to cultivate the Tree Shadow.

Although he didn't have a specific cultivation direction for now,

after preliminary attempts,

Xiao Shi discovered that the Tree Shadow was very compatible with Taiyin.

"Perhaps I can first try to let the Tree Shadow and Taiyin combine to a greater extent."

With an idea in mind, he immediately tried to move the Shadow Seed within his body between the many Taiyin Qi Vortexes.

This allowed the Shadow Seed to be nourished by the Qi Strength within the many Taiyin Qi Vortexes.

He was clearly using Taiyin Qi Strength to nourish the Tree Shadow.

And the effect of doing so was also very significant.

Under the nourishment of these Taiyin Qi Strength,

the entire Tree Shadow immediately began to grow.

While its entire trunk became thicker, new branches also grew out.

Not only that,

the Tree Shadow, after being nourished by Taiyin Qi Strength, also acquired some characteristics of Taiyin, becoming more hidden, even difficult to detect during the day.

"In this way, my Tree Shadow is the Tree of Taiyin!"

Xiao Shi was very satisfied with this.

These newly grown branches were like flexible black snakes, pouncing and raging towards the many Tree Spirits.

After being nourished by the Taiyin Qi Strength, the spreading speed of these branches also increased significantly.

In an instant,

the many Tree Spirits in this stage were all annihilated under Xiao Shi's Taiyin Tree Shadow.

The aura erosion formed by the death of these Tree Spirits permeated towards Xiao Shi, but they were all blocked by Xiao Shi's martial emperor mask.

They could only cling to the blocking barrier.

Xiao Shi looked at the many items dropped on the ground.

A conjecture suddenly arose in his mind.

He thought of the exclusive items that dropped when he killed in the Seven Stars Holy Land.

He couldn't help but wonder if killing here would also drop the important items that could be obtained after passing each stage?

Thinking of this,

Xiao Shi's eyes immediately lit up.

He quickly picked up the items on the ground and examined them one by one.

After his careful examination,

he surprisingly found something among these items.

"[Name: ancient tree crystal of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree]"

"[Type: Crystal]"

"[Grade: Qi Warrior Grade]"

"[Description: An important crystal born from the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree. After refining, one can obtain the ancient tree's recognition.]"

"[Note: The more crystals refined, the greater the blessing received, and the more permissions obtained.]"

...Xiao Shi's pupils violently constricted.

One must know,

Cheng Tianhao and the other five Sequence contenders were here precisely to compete for this ancient tree crystal of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree.

As long as they could obtain an ancient tree crystal of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree within this ancient tree, they would be able to inherit the Tree Shadow Sequence!

Logically speaking,

this ancient tree crystal of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree should be an item similar to the Holy Land Badge in the Seven Stars Holy Land.

Even if it could drop through killing,

it should only have a chance to drop after killing a Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection... But now, Xiao Shi had only killed Tree Spirits from Qi Martial Realm Initial Stage to Qi Martial Realm Late Stage.

And he successfully dropped the most important ancient tree crystal!

This came too easily!

Not only that,

after carefully examining the many items, Xiao Shi also discovered... the ancient tree crystals that dropped now were far more than just one!

There were as many as seven!

This caused another huge shock in his mind.

In the past, every sequence contention in Tree Shadow City only involved competing for one ancient tree crystal.

In everyone's perception,

the crystals within the entire ancient tree took a very long time to conceive.

And at most, only one crystal would be conceived each time.

But now, Xiao Shi directly dropped seven crystals through killing.

This made him completely stunned.

"There's only one possibility for this situation..."

"That is, ancient tree crystals are just ordinary items here!!"

"Here... there might even be something more precious and extraordinary than ancient tree crystals!!"

Xiao Shi's mind was incredibly shaken.

This was a deduction he made based on the drop mechanism.

If ancient tree crystals were the most precious, important, and rare items here,

then it would definitely require killing a Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection to have a chance of dropping them.

Just like the Holy Land Badge back then.

But now, just by killing these Tree Spirits, ancient tree crystals dropped, and the number of dropped crystals was far more than one.

This indicated that ancient tree crystals were not as rare and precious as Cheng Tianhao and the others perceived them to be.

Within the ancient tree, there existed some unknown item that was even more precious and extraordinary!

This also made Xiao Shi's heart burn with excitement.

He knew very well that as long as he killed a Qi Warrior Realm Great Perfection, he would be able to verify his conjecture!

If his conjecture was true... perhaps he would have a chance to get this mysterious unknown item!

But before that,

Xiao Shi planned to refine the ancient tree crystals first.

Although he had no interest in the Rapid Shadow Palace's sequence,

these ancient tree crystals were already in his hands.

There was no reason not to refine them.

Thinking of this,

Xiao Shi immediately held an ancient tree crystal.

And began to refine it.

Sizzle sizzle!

The refinement of the entire ancient tree crystal was not difficult.

During the refinement,

the entire crystal gradually melted, turning into a stream of light that merged into Xiao Shi's body.

Xiao Shi clearly felt the Shadow Seed within his body change instantly as the crystal integrated.

When he tampered with the Shadow Seed before, he knew that the Shadow Seed could be continuously upgraded.

The Shadow Seeds within Outer Sect Disciples like them,

were completely different from the Shadow Seeds within Sequence Disciples.

The Sequence Disciples' Shadow Seeds allowed them to have higher permissions and greater benefits in Tree Shadow City.

Now, the Shadow Seed within Xiao Shi's body, with the refinement of the crystal, became the same as a Sequence Disciple's Shadow Seed!

And he even gained a certain degree of control over the entire Tree Shadow City!

Not only that,

with the refinement of the crystal,

Xiao Shi also clearly felt a sense of affinity transmitted from the ancient tree.

This made him feel a kind of comfort here, similar to what one would feel in the dark.

At the same time, it also increased his strength to a certain extent!

Xiao Shi did not stop there.

He continued to refine the crystals.

Each time he successfully refined a crystal, he could clearly feel the ancient tree's affinity increasing.

The amplification he received also grew larger and larger.

When he had refined all seven crystals,

he could even use a portion of the ancient tree's power!

At the same time, within the ancient tree, he gained many permissions.

If those Tree Spirits were still there at this moment,

he could even issue commands to them!

And this permission... was not only available when he was inside the ancient tree.

Even if he left here,

he would still have such permission in Tree Shadow City.

"If... the entire Tree Shadow City is built upon this Azure Calamity Ancient Tree, and the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree is the core source of Tree Shadow City, then with my current permissions, even the existence that governs this city may not be higher than me!"

Xiao Shi's eyes sparkled.

By now,

even if he didn't tamper with the Shadow Seed in his body, no one could use his Shadow Seed to check all his related information.

And he also had multiple permissions over other people's Shadow Seeds!

It was no exaggeration to say that,

after refining these seven ancient tree crystals, he had essentially become the master of this Tree Shadow City!

Unless someone appeared who had refined more ancient tree crystals than him,

otherwise, in terms of permissions... he would directly crush them!

At the same time,

he also clearly felt a strong summons emanating from the ancient tree.

It seemed as if a voice was calling him, urging him to quickly go to the core area of the ancient tree.

Something seemed to be waiting for him there.

This summons seemed to be issued by the ancient tree.

This also made Xiao Shi realize that,

in the core area within this ancient tree, there might be some unexpected things.

"These ancient tree crystals must be far more than seven; there should be more..."

Xiao Shi pondered thoughtfully.

He really wanted to see,

if he continued to acquire more ancient tree crystals and refined all of them, what kind of improvements would there be?

However, he also knew that,

to obtain ancient tree crystals, one could only get them through killing drops.

If there were no targets to kill in the subsequent stages, then he would only be able to kill people from other teams.

Besides that,

Xiao Shi was also curious about the important item after passing this stage.

Originally, according to his thoughts,

among the dropped items, there should have been an important item after passing the stage.

However, among the items dropped this time, there were only ancient tree crystals.

The other items were just ordinary items.

Now, as he passed this stage,

the important item after passing the stage also appeared before him.

This was... ten seeds!

The moment he picked up these ten seeds,

Xiao Shi also knew the purpose of these ten seeds.

As long as these ten seeds were planted in the ground, they would transform into ten Qi Martial Realm Late Stage Tree Spirits.

In other words,

owning these ten seeds was equivalent to owning ten Qi Martial Realm Late Stage Tree Spirits!

Although the combat power of these ten Tree Spirits was insignificant and not enough to pose a threat to other teams,

the aura erosion brought by these ten Tree Spirits was a powerful means that others had to guard against strictly.

However, this level of important item... seemed very ordinary to Xiao Shi.

After all, with the permissions he currently possessed, even without these ten Spirit Tree Seeds, he could still command the Tree Spirits here to attack people from other teams.

It could be said... such a crucial item was merely one of the permissions he currently possessed.

"If the important items after passing all stages are similar to these Spirit Tree Seeds..."

"Then there's indeed no need for them to drop."

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

After all, the dropped ancient tree crystals alone could grant him these permissions.

Dropping such an important item again would be meaningless.

However, Xiao Shi was still somewhat vague about the many permissions within the ancient tree.

He only knew that he had the permission to command Tree Spirits.

As for other permissions... he would need to go to the subsequent stages within the ancient tree to find out.

Thinking of this,

Xiao Shi immediately walked towards the entrance to the next stage.

After stepping into it,

he then appeared in a dense forest.

Cheng Tianhao and the others in the forest had already successfully passed this stage.

Although two of their guards had injuries,

the injuries were not serious.

Upon seeing Xiao Shi arrive,

their eyes all lit up.

"Brother Nie, have you obtained the important item from the first stage?"

Cheng Tianhao asked nervously.

Xiao Shi nodded.

He directly handed the ten Spirit Tree Seeds to Cheng Tianhao.

After Cheng Tianhao received them,

he immediately understood the purpose of these ten Spirit Tree Seeds.

This greatly excited him.

These ten Spirit Tree Seeds would undoubtedly be able to impose certain restrictions on other teams.

"You've already cleared the stage?"

Xiao Shi looked around.

"That's right."

Cheng Tianhao smiled and nodded.

At the same time, he took out five waistbands woven from tree grass.

He indicated that the purpose of this important item was that after wearing the waistband, they would gain one Tree Grass Protection.

"Tree Grass Protection?"

Xiao Shi pondered thoughtfully.

In other words,

this was his second permission here.

But unlike the one-time effect brought by an item,

he should be able to... receive Tree Grass Protection without a limit on the number of times!

Cheng Tianhao gave one of the tree grass woven waistbands to Xiao Shi.

They each had one, which was perfect.

Then they went to the third stage together.

The third stage was a desolate forest.

------

Thanks to 'Chi Feng Wuying' and 'Cong Long' for the rewards!