125: The final level

This abandoned forest was somewhat barren.

There weren't many trees.

And most of the trees were severely damaged.

The key to passing this stage lay in repairing these damaged trees and making more trees grow here, restoring the vitality of this forest.

This required everyone to use their Qi Strength to repair and grow the trees.

It was similar to how they used Qi Strength to stimulate the Spirit Tree Qi in Tree Shadow City.

This immediately made them frown.

They hadn't expected this stage to be such strenuous manual labor!

And once a significant amount of Qi Strength was consumed in this stage, it would be very disadvantageous for their subsequent actions.

In fact, by now, they all understood the pattern of passing each stage.

To pass each stage here, there would always be a price to pay.

For example, killing a Tree Spirit in the first stage would incur the cost of being eroded by the Tree Spirit Aura.

And this stage would result in a large consumption of Qi Strength.

These costs would make it difficult for them to maintain their optimal state when they reached the core of the ancient tree.

Of course, there was also a trade-off.

That was, they could choose to give up on passing, thereby avoiding these costs.

But similarly, giving up on passing also meant losing the important item obtained after passing.

For Cheng Tianhao, he believed that the important item after passing was the key to him obtaining the ancient tree crystal.

Therefore, he would not give up on any stage.

“I have some pills here that can quickly restore Qi Strength, so you don’t need to worry too much about the consumption of Qi Strength,” Cheng Tianhao said to everyone.

Upon hearing this, the guards could only comply.

They all began to use their Qi Strength to repair and grow the trees.

Xiao Shi looked at the damaged trees in this place.

While others needed to use their own Qi Strength for repair and growth, for him, a single thought was enough to fully repair these trees and cause new ones to grow.

With his current authority, he didn't need to consume any Qi Strength at all.

Passing this stage was completely effortless and stress-free for him.

However, given Xiao Shi's personality, he couldn't directly reveal his uniqueness in front of everyone. Even though his current identity was not his true identity, his personality wouldn't allow him to do so.

He, like the others, pretended to use his Qi Strength to repair and grow the trees here.

Cheng Tianhao then gave the Qi Strength recovery pills to everyone.

After swallowing the pills, the Qi Strength within their bodies began to recover.

However, this recovery speed was clearly incomparable to Xiao Shi's Revitalizing Qi Pill.

But at least it could prevent everyone's Qi Strength from being depleted too quickly.

Soon, after a period of busy work, everyone successfully restored this barren forest into a dense jungle.

They smoothly passed this stage.

Cheng Tianhao also obtained the important item for this stage.

This was a special branch.

By wrapping this branch around one's arm, its effect could be activated.

The function of this branch was to absorb the Spirit Tree Qi of this place at regular intervals, converting it into Qi Strength.

Thus, with this branch, if they were to engage in combat within the ancient tree or experience Qi Strength depletion due to other reasons, they could continuously replenish their Qi Strength through this branch, no longer needing to worry about Qi Strength consumption.

It was a pity that this branch could only be used by one person.

It couldn't be like the important item from the second stage, where everyone had one.

And after Xiao Shi learned of the branch's function, he also understood his third authority here: unlimited Qi Strength!

Compared to the branch, which could only absorb Spirit Tree Qi at regular intervals, Xiao Shi's authority was even more astonishing.

It allowed him to absorb Spirit Tree Qi at any time.

After conversion, it would become Grand Yin Qi.

This ensured that he would have an endless, inexhaustible supply of Qi Strength within this ancient tree.

Not only that, these Spirit Tree Qi converted into Grand Yin Qi could also allow Xiao Shi to attempt to break through the final Qi Vortex.

Although the difficulty of opening the final Qi Vortex was extremely great, Xiao Shi mused that with this continuous supply of Grand Yin Qi, he would sooner or later be able to break through the final Qi Vortex.

After obtaining the important item from the third stage, they continued to the fourth stage.

The entire fourth stage contained only one tree.

This was an incredibly tall giant tree.

The condition for passing this stage was to make the giant tree bear fruit.

And this fruit would also become the important item for passing this stage.

“How can we make the giant tree bear fruit?”

All the guards fell into contemplation.

“Could it be the same as before, stimulating its growth with Qi Strength?” someone speculated.

“While stimulating with Qi Strength can indeed form a fruit, a fruit formed in this manner isn't very useful…” Cheng Tianhao shook his head.

The moment he arrived, he already had some understanding of the conditions for passing this stage.

“In fact, passing this stage isn't difficult, but the key is… the power of the fruit formed!”

Everyone nodded.

After all, the condition for passing this stage was the important item obtained after passing.

It was easy to pass.

But forming a fruit with greater power was not simple.

Cheng Tianhao walked to the giant tree.

After touching the giant tree with his hand, he immediately felt the message transmitted from within the giant tree.

According to the message from the giant tree, it offered three options for the formation of the fruit.

One was to challenge the Tree Puppet!

Another was to comprehend a certain profound mystery of the giant tree.

And the third was to temporarily become a part of the giant tree, thereby providing nutrients for the fruit's formation.

Cheng Tianhao immediately told everyone about the three options provided by the giant tree.

Besides these three options, they could also choose to form the fruit in their own way.

However, compared to these three options, fruits formed by other methods would be difficult to achieve the same power as those formed under these three choices.

Clearly, fruits formed through these three options would be the most powerful.

“If we challenge the Tree Puppet, with our strength, even if we can kill the Tree Puppet, we will most likely suffer damage, which will be detrimental to our subsequent actions, so we can prioritize excluding this option…”

“And comprehending the giant tree’s profound mystery requires too much time, and success is not guaranteed. If we spend too much time here, by the time we reach the final core, other teams might have already completed the competition, so we also exclude this.”

“In my opinion, among these three options, the only viable one is to temporarily become a part of the giant tree.” Cheng Tianhao said after his analysis.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Indeed, among these three options, temporarily becoming a part of the giant tree was the most suitable choice.

“However…” Cheng Tianhao looked at Xiao Shi. “This stage might have to rely on Brother Nie again.”

He told everyone that once they chose to temporarily become a part of the giant tree, they would suffer a large amount of aura erosion, and this erosion would be even greater than killing many Tree Spirits.

Among them, only Xiao Shi could bear this heavy responsibility.

Xiao Shi was not too surprised by this.

If it was just based on his role in the first stage, it certainly wouldn't be enough for Cheng Tianhao to bring out such an important item as the Shadow Seed.

Clearly, besides the first stage, there were other places later that would require his assistance.

This current stage was just that!

Xiao Shi readily agreed.

Anyway, for him, it wouldn't have much of an impact.

Cheng Tianhao was extremely grateful.

He clearly knew that Xiao Shi's role in this stage would be even greater than his role in the first stage!

After all, given the massive degree of the giant tree's aura erosion, no one could withstand it.

He believed that if other teams faced the same stage, among these three options, they could only choose the first two.

And the first two would undoubtedly cause considerable difficulties for those teams.

Comparatively, they had a significant advantage here.

Immediately, as Xiao Shi chose to become a part of the giant tree, his entire body began to petrify into wood.

He seemed to have become a wooden man.

And the fruit on the giant tree immediately began to grow after Xiao Shi transformed into a wooden man.

During this process, the aura erosion Xiao Shi suffered deepened continuously.

The sheer magnitude of this aura erosion stunned everyone even upon sensing it.

They became increasingly aware of Xiao Shi's importance in their team.

Xiao Shi remained in the petrified state for about an hour, until the fruit on the giant tree had finished growing.

He then returned to normal from his petrified form.

To ensure his disguise was flawless, Xiao Shi deliberately made his aura fluctuation drop from Qi Warrior Realm Late Stage to Qi Martial Realm Mid Stage.

After all, under normal circumstances, a person suffering such aura erosion would certainly experience a drop in cultivation.

If he suffered such aura erosion and his cultivation didn't change at all, it would be too fake.

For Xiao Shi, the necessary disguise still had to be maintained.

Although with his current situation, passing these stages was already extremely simple and without difficulty, he needed to pass these stages to understand his authority within the giant tree.

With the fruit in hand, Cheng Tianhao also announced its function to everyone.

This fruit was a tribute.

Upon reaching the final core, they could offer this tribute to gain powerful strength enhancements.

If they had previously used Qi Strength to stimulate the formation of this fruit, it would have been merely a secondary tribute.

The enhancements gained from offering it would not have been significant.

The tribute formed now, however, would yield a substantial enhancement.

“Tribute?” Xiao Shi pondered this.

With his authority, he shouldn't need a tribute to receive the desired enhancements.

Subsequently, as they entered the entrance to the next stage, the scene before them suddenly differed from the previous stages.

They appeared on an extremely wide road.

This was a straight road, extending far into the distance.

Although the road was long, they could see its end at a glance.

Because at the end of this road, there was a massive giant tree that blotted out the sky.

This allowed them to clearly see this enormous giant tree at the end of the road, even from a great distance.

Not only that, from this massive giant tree, they all sensed a grand and majestic aura.

This made them realize that the enormous giant tree at the end of the road was the final destination!

It was also where they would contend for the ancient tree crystal.

Whoever arrived there first would seize the initiative.

At the same time, not far from Xiao Shi and his group, a flash of light revealed another team!

It was the team led by the young girl Lin Ying.

They, too, had now appeared here.

“This stage will not just be our team; other teams will also arrive!” Cheng Tianhao quickly grasped the rules of this stage.

Compared to the previous stages, this stage was different from the previous four.

This stage would no longer have an important item after passing.

Nor would it be an independent stage for each team.

It would be a stage where all teams competed together.

The rules were also very simple: after the road opened, it would be a race to see who reached the end of the road and entered the core first.

Based on past experience, the first person to enter the core would have the best chance of obtaining the ancient tree crystal.

This made the competition in this stage basically directly relate to the final success or failure.

“It’s a pity we can’t set off immediately!” Cheng Tianhao felt regretful.

Currently, a barrier stood before them, obstructing their path and preventing them from setting off for the time being.

They had to wait for the barrier to dissipate before they could depart.

The barrier would remain for another ten minutes.

This meant that if other teams could reach this stage within ten minutes, they could all set off at the same time.

If they failed to reach this stage within ten minutes, they would inevitably fall behind the other teams.

Of course, teams that arrived at this stage earlier would also have some advantages.

Many special auras gathered here.

These special auras were continuously converging into everyone's bodies over time, enabling them to move faster.

In other words, as long as Cheng Tianhao and his group waited here for ten minutes, their speed would all increase significantly, naturally making them faster than other teams.

Of course, they also knew that the key to this stage was not speed, but rather the mutual slaughter among the various teams.

To prevent other teams from reaching the core first, this road would inevitably be a bloody path filled with slaughter.

Cheng Tianhao and Lin Ying, who was not far away, exchanged glances.

Flames burned in both their eyes.

Xiao Shi gazed at the massive giant tree at the end of the road ahead.

By now, the call from the ancient tree had grown even stronger.

It seemed to be urgently urging him to quickly head to the core ahead.

This also made Xiao Shi realize that this was the final stage.

“It seems that to obtain more ancient tree crystals and that mysterious item, I still have to rely on killing these martial artists for a chance to drop them…” Xiao Shi looked towards Lin Ying’s team.

He had originally intended to obtain more ancient tree crystals and that mysterious item, which was even more precious than the ancient tree crystal, by killing opponents in these stages.

However, these stages did not offer opportunities for killing.

In that case, he could only gain his rewards by killing these martial artists on the upcoming road.