231: Arresting the Red Tiger Sect Hostage

Regarding the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, Xiao Shi saw it mentioned in the bloodline manual under the Red Tiger Bloodline.

According to the records, the Red Tiger Bloodline originated from the unique bloodline of the Crimson Tiger Lineage within the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

This meant that the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect was very likely behind the Crimson Tiger Totem!

Xiao Shi mused that to uncover more information about the Crimson Tiger Lineage, he might have to start with the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

However, he currently knew too little about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

He had only seen the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect mentioned in the bloodline manual.

Beyond that, he knew nothing.

“I need to learn more about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect…”

Xiao Shi found Guo Chengdao that very day.

He wanted to see if he had heard of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

“Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect?”

Guo Chengdao pondered, then shook his head.

He had never heard of this force.

The previous Red Tiger Sect Ancestor had also never mentioned this force.

Thus, Xiao Shi could only go to Cheng Tianhao, planning to have him inquire about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect through the Rapid Shadow Palace.

Meanwhile, in Wind Shadow City of the Rapid Shadow Palace, five Elders gathered in the main hall for an important meeting.

Only these five Elders were present at the meeting.

Normally, even a deacon like Cheng Tianhao would not be qualified to participate in a meeting of this caliber.

“According to the intelligence gathered, most of the foreign experts from before have already left Tian Dou Province, so there should be no more foreign experts attacking us,” the Grand Elder of the Rapid Shadow Palace, seated at the head, said.

They now knew that a Martial Demon Realm Expert from a Demonic Path force had entangled the Martial Demon Realm Expert left by the Star Luo Territory Lord to protect them, allowing several other Martial Soul Realm Demonic Path forces to seize the opportunity to attack their first-tier forces in Tian Dou Province.

Fortunately, they had withstood the attack from that Martial Soul Realm Expert and did not suffer too much loss.

Now, upon learning that there would be no more expert attacks, the other Elders all breathed a sigh of relief.

These past few days, they had been on tenterhooks, worried about another attack from foreign experts.

With the Shadow Master in seclusion, if they encountered another attack of that intensity, the entire Rapid Shadow Palace would likely suffer the same fate as Sky Trace Pavilion.

“Then, our focus will primarily be on the recovery of the sect and preparing for the upcoming reshuffling of Tian Dou Province.”

The Grand Elder of the Rapid Shadow Palace looked at everyone.

“What are your thoughts?”

They all knew that the current situation in Tian Dou Province would lead to significant changes in its power structure.

Especially with the decline of Sky Trace Pavilion, one less powerful competitor meant the balance between the four first-tier forces would be broken.

After this reshuffle, it might no longer be a balance of three equal powers, but rather a situation where one dominates!

These three first-tier forces—Rapid Shadow Palace, Extreme Fire Sect, and Lei Miao Temple—had all suffered varying degrees of damage from the attacks of the Demonic Path forces.

Now, it depended on which of the three suffered the least and had the strongest combat power.

“From the intelligence currently gathered, Lei Miao Temple suffered the least losses this time and will be our main formidable enemy moving forward,” Fourth Elder said gravely.

“To decisively defeat the Extreme Fire Sect and Lei Miao Temple in the upcoming reshuffle, our current strength is far from enough.”

Although the Rapid Shadow Palace did not suffer particularly heavy losses this time, the Shadow Master’s seclusion and the use of the sect's trump cards had significantly weakened their overall combat power.

It would be difficult to contend with the Extreme Fire Sect and Lei Miao Temple.

“The most important thing right now is to find a way to boost our combat power in a short period!” Second Elder also said.

“The Shadow Master is no longer able to fight, so we need to find other means to increase our combat power…”

Several Elders fell into deep thought.

Finding a way to increase combat power in a short time was not an easy task.

“Perhaps… I have a method, but I need to verify something first,” the Third Elder of the Rapid Shadow Palace, Luo Jun, said after some contemplation. “You know about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect?”

Xiao Shi looked at Cheng Tianhao with some surprise.

He had intended for Cheng Tianhao to inquire through the Rapid Shadow Palace, but he hadn't expected Cheng Tianhao to already know about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

“I don’t know much,” Cheng Tianhao said after recalling carefully.

“The Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect was once the national protector sect of the Great Wu Dynasty. When the Great Wu Dynasty was prosperous, the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, as its national protector sect, was renowned and hailed as the number one sect on the Tianwu Continent.”

“However, after the collapse of the Great Wu Dynasty’s imperial power, the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect also disintegrated and disappeared from the Tianwu Continent many years ago.”

The national protector sect of the Great Wu Dynasty?

Xiao Shi’s heart stirred.

He hadn't expected this force to be related to the Great Wu Dynasty.

“The Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, its name ‘Four Symbols’ – which four symbols does it primarily refer to?” Xiao Shi asked.

“That, I don’t know,” Cheng Tianhao shook his head.

“Actually, the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect isn’t a secret, but it’s from a long time ago. For cultivators of our level, we don’t know much about it.”

Xiao Shi nodded.

Now that he knew the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect was the former national protector sect of the Great Wu Dynasty, it wouldn't be difficult to conduct a deeper investigation.

He immediately instructed Cheng Tianhao to ask the Elders of the Rapid Shadow Palace for more information about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

He believed the Elders of the Rapid Shadow Palace would know more about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Combined with the information Xiao Shi himself had seen in the bloodline manual, he was basically certain that the Crimson Tiger was one of the Four Symbols!

Now, to obtain the method for breaking through to the Martial Soul Realm, he could only learn more about this force.

However, Xiao Shi also knew that this matter couldn't be rushed.

While waiting for news, he continued to invest in the training of the Red Tiger Sect disciples.

Currently, under his guidance, the Red Tiger Sect disciples had successfully produced twenty Blood Martial Realm cultivators.

This rapid emergence of a large number of Blood Martial Realm cultivators was extremely rare, not just in Tian Dou Province, but even in the entire Star Luo Territory.

Xiao Shi mused that if he continued to cultivate them this way, there should be hope of increasing the Red Tiger Sect's Blood Martial Realm cultivators to over thirty.

By then, he believed the Red Tiger Sect would have the capital to establish itself in Tian Dou Province. On the other side, after the meeting concluded, the Third Elder, Luo Jun, dressed in blue battle robes, returned to Sword Shadow City, which he governed.

“Master.” His disciple immediately came to greet him.

“Go call Xiong Chang and Meng Shang,” Luo Jun instructed indifferently.

“Yes!” His disciple immediately went to call the other two disciples.

“I seem to recall you mentioning not long ago that the Red Tiger Sect had relocated to our Rapid Shadow Palace. Is this true?” Luo Jun asked the three.

“It is true,” one of his disciples nodded.

“Earlier, a foreign expert from a Demonic Path force occupied Bi Xin City, causing Bi Xin City to be destroyed. The Red Tiger Sect could only come to our Rapid Shadow Palace and was settled in Tree Shadow City.”

Luo Jun nodded.

Ever since he brought the Red Tiger Sect from Seven Stars Province, he had been keeping an eye on them.

However, after numerous experts gathered in Tian Dou Province earlier, the Elders needed to constantly monitor the situation in Tian Dou Province and had no time to pay attention to the Red Tiger Sect.

But he remembered his subordinate disciples mentioning it to him once.

“It’s good that they are here,” Luo Jun thought, then looked at one of his disciples.

“Xiong Chang, go bring that Red Tiger Sect hostage. It’s time to verify whether the Red Tiger Sect is indeed a branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.”

Luo Jun had brought the Red Tiger Sect from Seven Stars Province to Tian Dou Province precisely because he suspected it was the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

However, he had never verified it, thinking he would do so after the Red Tiger Sect hostage grew stronger.

After all, if the Red Tiger Sect hostage was too weak, even if he tried to verify, it might not be accurate.

He needed to wait until this Red Tiger Sect hostage reached the Blood Martial Realm.

But now, he couldn't wait that long.

Even if he couldn't get an accurate verification, he needed to clarify whether this Red Tiger Sect was indeed the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

“If they truly are the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, then I will have a way to make our Rapid Shadow Palace the sole dominant force in Tian Dou Province during this power reshuffle!”

“From now on, Tian Dou Province will be ours to command!”

Luo Jun’s eyes gleamed with fervent light.

He had already made up his mind.

If he couldn't get an answer from the Red Tiger Sect hostage, he would sacrifice the entire Red Tiger Sect.

He believed that by sacrificing the entire Red Tiger Sect, he would surely be able to verify whether they were indeed the Crimson Tiger branch of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Even if they weren't, the sacrifice of such a small sect wouldn't matter.

Their Rapid Shadow Palace wouldn't care about the life or death of such a small sect.

“Yes!” Luo Jun’s disciple, Xiong Chang, bowed in response. “Ancestor, today another disciple reached the Blood Martial Realm. This is already the twenty-second Blood Martial Realm cultivator in our Red Tiger Sect.”

Guo Chengdao was elated, feeling as if it were all a dream.

Before this, their Red Tiger Sect only had a total of four Blood Martial Realm cultivators.

He had never imagined that so many Blood Martial Realm cultivators would emerge in such a short time.

He knew that all of this was brought about by this unfathomable Ancestor.

Ever since their Red Tiger Sect had this Ancestor, it had undergone a tremendous transformation, as if reborn.

This made Guo Chengdao see great prospects.

Xiao Shi nodded, somewhat distracted, pondering his own breakthrough problem.

The three conditions for the Red Tiger Sect's independence, two of which had basically been met.

Only his breakthrough to the Martial Soul Realm remained.

“If Cheng Tianhao can’t find much information about the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, or if the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect is too high-ranking, even if I learn some related information, I won’t be able to get the Martial Soul Realm breakthrough method in a short time. Then I’ll have to prepare other breakthrough methods, I can’t stay stuck in the Blood Martial Realm…”

Xiao Shi thought of his body refinement.

Since there was no breakthrough method in the Red Tiger system for now, he might as well proceed with the body refinement breakthrough first.

First, he would let his body refinement reach the Martial Soul Realm!

Xiao Shi already knew the method for body refinement to break through to the Martial Soul Realm.

In the Blood Martial Realm, body refinement mainly focused on forming bloodlines.

In the Martial Soul Realm, it was about further strengthening the bloodline, pushing it to another level.

“I remember there seem to be cultivation techniques for strengthening bloodlines in the Myriad Treasure Pagoda…”

With this thought, Xiao Shi’s figure vanished from Guo Chengdao’s sight, appearing directly inside the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree.

When entering the Myriad Treasure Pagoda, his soul would temporarily leave his body, so he naturally had to choose an absolutely safe place.

Guo Chengdao wasn't surprised by the Ancestor's disappearance.

In his eyes, this Ancestor was already mysterious and unfathomable.

Even when the other party appeared before him, he was either facing away or in a place he couldn't see.

To this day, he didn't know the Ancestor's true appearance.

Whoosh!

When Xiao Shi entered the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree, he immediately entered the Myriad Treasure Pagoda through the Pagoda Spirit in his sea of consciousness.

At the same time, Luo Jun’s disciple, Xiong Chang, had also arrived at Tree Shadow City.

Upon arrival, he headed straight for the Red Tiger Sect’s location.

Currently, most of the Red Tiger Sect members were gathered in one area of Tree Shadow City, making them easy to find.

He had also been paying attention to this hostage from the Red Tiger Sect.

Soon, Xiong Chang saw Cen Qingci not far away.

His eyes flashed, and he quickly walked towards Cen Qingci.

However, before he had taken two steps, he was suddenly stopped by a Red Tiger Sect disciple.

“Who are you? This is our Red Tiger Sect’s area. Without our Sect Master’s permission, please leave.”

Xiong Chang was stunned, then instantly burst into laughter from anger.

Your Red Tiger Sect’s area?

This is their Rapid Shadow Palace’s territory!

Since when did an affiliated small force dare to claim territory on the Rapid Shadow Palace’s grounds?

A small Red Tiger Sect actually dared to be so arrogant!

He sneered, too lazy to waste words with an ant.

He directly ignored the Red Tiger Sect disciple and walked straight ahead.

“Stop!” The Red Tiger Sect disciple immediately reached out and placed a hand on Xiong Chang’s shoulder, stopping him from moving forward.

“Courting death!!” Xiong Chang’s eyes flashed with fierce light.

Boom!! His Blood Martial Realm cultivation erupted.

With the Natal Martial Blood circulating within him, a powerful shockwave was directly formed, intending to instantly kill this Red Tiger Sect disciple who didn't know his place.

However, the Blood Power emanating from him did not result in the scene he had imagined—the Red Tiger Sect disciple’s arm being shattered, along with his entire body exploding.

Instead, a force no weaker than his own emanated from the Red Tiger Sect disciple’s palm.

The two forces collided and exploded.

Boom!

Both figures simultaneously recoiled.

Xiong Chang’s figure swayed in the shockwave, almost losing his footing.

“???” He looked up, staring blankly at the Red Tiger Sect disciple in front of him.

Based on his previous understanding of the Red Tiger Sect, he knew that the entire Red Tiger Sect only had four Blood Martial Realm cultivators in total.

One was the Red Tiger Sect Master, and the other three were Red Tiger Sect Elders.

He knew the appearances of these four individuals.

He could confirm that the person in front of him was not one of those four Blood Martial Realm cultivators.

“Someone else in the Red Tiger Sect broke through to the Blood Martial Realm? But I’ve never heard of this person before, and… and they’re having a Blood Martial Realm cultivator guard the door here?” Xiong Chang suddenly felt a bit confused by the situation.