328: Crisis from the future

Although there is currently no area available for refinement, Xiao Shi is not in a hurry.

Ultimately, he is still some distance away from breaking through to the Saint Realm.

He has ample time to explore and understand the areas outside the Imperial Domain.

Furthermore, after Xiang Zizhen becomes a Saint, he will be able to access higher levels of the Tianwu Continent. Later, he can ask Xiang Zizhen to pay more attention to information in this regard.

Besides this, as the Hall Master of Tianji Hall, Xiao Shi can obtain many secrets and pieces of information that ordinary people cannot through Tianji Hall.

It can be said that as long as there is an area in the Tianwu Continent that can be refined, it will certainly not escape his notice.

Speaking of Tianji Hall, Xiao Shi suddenly remembered that after breaking through to the Martial Demon Realm, he hadn't yet had time to open up a new area in Tianji Hall.

This was mainly because he hadn't entered Tianji Hall since arriving in the Imperial Domain.

According to the characteristics of Tianji Hall, as he moved from the Star Luo Territory to the Imperial Domain, when he enters Heavenly Secret City, he will no longer appear in the area originally belonging to the Star Luo Territory, but rather in the area corresponding to the Imperial Domain.

Each area within Heavenly Secret City corresponds to a location in reality.

Previously, when in the Star Luo Territory, all Tianji Hall members within the Star Luo Territory would appear in the Xingluo Zone corresponding to reality after entering Heavenly Secret City.

But now that Xiao Shi has arrived in the Imperial Domain, he will no longer appear in the previous Xingluo Zone.

In Xiao Shi's view, Tianji Hall and the Great Wu Dynasty were, after all, once enemies.

Especially with the Martial Emperor's apprehension towards Tianji Hall, he would absolutely not tolerate the presence of Tianji Hall members within his Imperial Domain.

Therefore, even if he entered Heavenly Secret City, he probably wouldn't find any Tianji Hall members in the Imperial Domain area corresponding to Heavenly Secret City.

However, Xiao Shi thought again, and suddenly felt that this might not be the case.

In the Martial Emperor's era, perhaps there were indeed no Tianji Hall members in the Imperial Domain.

But after the Martial Emperor's demise, it's possible that some Tianji Hall members joined the Imperial Domain... “I can go in and take a look, and also open up a new area.”

Thinking of this, Xiao Shi immediately took out the heavenly secret mask.

After putting it on, his soul directly entered the magnificent and vast black palace.

He immediately saw the fragment of the celestial compass above the throne.

Since the first time he used the fragment of the celestial compass to deduce a future crisis, all of its energy had been depleted, turning it dark grey.

Now, after these days of recovery, the energy of the entire fragment of the celestial compass has finally recovered and can be used again.

This made Xiao Shi's heart stir.

He now very much wanted to know if the crisis he had initially deduced through the fragment of the celestial compass after arriving in the Imperial Domain still existed.

According to the crisis he had deduced at that time, the entire crisis would sweep across the Star Luo Territory.

That is to say, if he had remained in the Star Luo Territory, the entire Star Luo Territory would have been affected when this crisis descended.

But now that he has arrived in the Imperial Domain, with the Imperial Domain's level, perhaps there is a chance to block this crisis!

Thinking of this, under Xiao Shi's will, the fragment of the celestial compass above the throne immediately shot out a brilliant beam of light, engulfing Xiao Shi's figure.

Under this beam of light, Xiao Shi experienced the same situation as last time.

In just a blink of an eye, he found himself no longer in Tianji Hall, but in a vast sky.

Just like last time, the azure sky quickly turned dark red and spread at an extremely fast speed, causing the entire sky to be completely stained dark red in an instant.

A huge petrified face pierced through the clouds and emerged from the sky.

This was a face that almost occupied the entire sky, filled with indifference.

It seemed that in front of him, all living beings were mere ants!

Even with Xiao Shi's current cultivation, facing this huge petrified face, the immensely powerful oppressive feeling still made it difficult for him to breathe.

His feelings were not much different from when he first saw this petrified face.

He still felt that this petrified face was too powerful to be defeated, as if a gentle breath could turn him to ashes.

This made Xiao Shi clearly realize... the strength corresponding to this petrified face is at least at the Dao Master level!!

No wonder the scene he first saw affected the entire Star Luo Territory.

With the status of this petrified face, even the Star Luo Territory Lord would be unable to contend with him.

Soon, Xiao Shi's perspective changed.

Just like last time, his upward-looking perspective changed to a downward-looking one.

From this perspective, he immediately saw the Imperial Domain below!

This made Xiao Shi's heart tighten.

“Could it be that even the Imperial Domain cannot stop this petrified face?”

Fortunately, as the perspective continuously zoomed in and magnified, Xiao Shi soon clearly saw that this huge face was staring at himself, who had just stepped out of the Imperial Domain!!

With a crack, the scene before Xiao Shi's eyes exploded like a shattered mirror.

He returned to Tianji Hall again.

Xiao Shi's expression was solemn.

He immediately began to analyze the future crisis deduced by the fragment of the celestial compass this time.

Although this deduced future crisis was somewhat different from the last time, the difference was only in the location.

The result was still the same.

Under the gaze of this huge face, his body still petrified directly, losing its breath and life, becoming a corpse!

This indicates that if he continues on his current path, one day in the future, he will still be unable to resist this huge face.

It is still a certain death situation!

This immediately caused an extremely strong sense of urgency to rise in Xiao Shi's heart.

His fists also clenched involuntarily.

Logically speaking, his current rate of strength improvement is already terrifying, but such a rate of improvement is still not enough to resolve this crisis... “That means the arrival of this huge face won't be too long.”

“And with my current rate of improvement, it's certainly impossible to reach the Dao Master level in such a short time...”

“So the future scene I'm seeing now is still a certain death situation.”

Xiao Shi quickly analyzed in his mind.

To resolve this crisis, there are only two methods.

One is to extend the time of the huge face's arrival.

The later it arrives, the more time Xiao Shi will have to improve his strength.

But now, Xiao Shi can only infer that the time of this huge face's arrival is approaching, but he doesn't know the exact day it will arrive.

Nor can he think of any way to extend its arrival time.

Then he can only improve his strength at a faster pace before this huge face arrives, striving to possess the cultivation and strength to contend with it when it does.

But this is also very difficult.

As martial arts realms continuously improve, the further one goes, the more difficult each realm breakthrough becomes.

For example, the Saint Realm not only requires sufficient talent, comprehension, and other conditions, but more importantly, it requires an area that can be refined.

If there is no area to refine, then no matter how good one's own conditions are, one cannot become a Saint.

Moreover, with the status of this huge face, it is at least at the Dao Master level!

That is to say, merely breaking through to Saint Realm is far from enough.

One must become a Dao Master.

This is clearly unrealistic in the short term.

Even with Xiao Shi's extraordinary rate of strength improvement, it is impossible to achieve.

However, Xiao Shi felt that there might be another method!

According to the scene he saw before, he was only stared at by this huge face after leaving the Imperial Domain.

He felt that this huge face... might not be able to enter the Imperial Domain!

It must wait until he leaves the Imperial Domain before it can act against him.

This conjecture is not without basis.

Xiao Shi knows that although the current Imperial Domain is far from being comparable to the Great Wu Dynasty's most prosperous period, it is after all the Martial Emperor's domain.

There are many of the Martial Emperor's methods and arrangements from his lifetime.

Even the Three Heavenly Kings, who are demigods, cannot step into the Imperial Domain.

It is normal for this huge face not to be able to enter.

If he stays in the Imperial Domain, he can effectively avoid this huge face.

But this involves another problem.

If he stays in the Imperial Domain, he will not be able to break through to the Saint Realm.

Given the current situation of the Imperial Domain, he certainly cannot refine an area here.

Even if he slowly endures for ten years after ten years, the remaining few areas will not be his turn.

Relying on the areas within the Imperial Domain is definitely out of the question.

This gave him a headache.

Unless he is content with the status quo and takes the Martial Demon Realm as his ultimate goal, no longer striving for higher martial arts realms.

Then he could stay in the Imperial Domain for the rest of his life and go nowhere.

But with his pursuit of martial arts, he is clearly unwilling to stop at the Martial Demon Realm.

Moreover, he felt that even if he was willing to spend the rest of his life hiding in the Imperial Domain and going nowhere, it might not be safe.

The current Great Wu Dynasty looks peaceful, but in reality, many people are eyeing it.

Especially the Three Heavenly Kings, who are all harboring ill intentions.

Although they seem to have no way to deal with the Great Wu Dynasty now, this does not mean that they will always be helpless against it in the future.

Perhaps one day in the future, they will find a way to deal with the Great Wu Dynasty.

Once the Great Wu Dynasty is destroyed, Xiao Shi's situation will be dangerous.

Xiao Shi knows very well that to survive in this chaotic world, merely hiding is definitely not enough.

Only by possessing absolute strength will he be truly safe!

“It seems I need to seize the time and improve my strength at a faster pace!”

Xiao Shi took a deep breath.

He felt that the best way to deal with the current situation was to first refine an area outside the Imperial Domain and advance to Saint Realm before this huge face arrives.

If there isn't enough time to break through to Dao Master, then he will hide in the Imperial Domain and find a way to break through to Dao Master within the Imperial Domain.

“I remember the incomplete consciousness in the black coffin once said that it chose me because it felt an aura that could revive it on me...”

“As long as the existence in the black coffin revives, then this crisis can be resolved, after all, this crisis itself originated from the black coffin.”

“Before, I once thought that the aura that could revive the existence in the black coffin might originate from the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect. But from the information I currently have, it doesn't feel like it's from the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect...”

Xiao Shi frowned.

Previously, his understanding of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect was limited.

Coupled with the fact that the black coffin had integrated into his body through the Crimson Tiger Totem at that time, he felt that the black coffin chose him because it sensed the aura of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect inherent in the Crimson Tiger Totem.

But now, with his understanding of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, he has not found any power or item within the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect that could revive the existence in the black coffin.

Either his previous guess was wrong, and the aura that could revive the existence in the black coffin did not come from the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Or, there are still some secrets within the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect that he doesn't know about.

Xiao Shi felt that he could later use Xiang Zizhen to further understand the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

First, he would determine whether the aura that could revive the existence in the black coffin was related to the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, and then proceed with the next step.

If the existence in the black coffin truly needed the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect to revive it, Xiao Shi could act in that direction.

If not, he would have to re-search for the aura on him that made the other party feel capable of revival.

In any case, he needed to prioritize this matter, as it concerned his future safety.

Xiao Shi had thought that with his current rate of strength improvement, and having already left the Star Luo Territory, he would be able to resolve this crisis.

But he didn't expect... that under the second deduction of the fragment of the celestial compass, the result remained unchanged.

Shaking his head, Xiao Shi temporarily set aside this future crisis.

His entry into Tianji Hall this time, to deduce future crises with the fragment of the celestial compass, was secondary; the most important thing was to open up new areas in Tianji Hall.

Within this dark and vast palace, there were a total of four sealed areas.

Each time Xiao Shi broke through a realm, he could open up an area.

When he previously broke through to the Martial Soul Realm, he had successfully opened up the area for digging up intelligence, thereby activating the Eye of Heavenly Secrets.

Now, he will open up another area among the remaining three areas.

According to his speculation, besides the intelligence-gathering area, the remaining three areas are respectively: an area that can form the heavenly secret box, an area that can perform regional traversal within Heavenly Secret City, and one remaining area whose specific function is unclear.

“If it's an area that forms the heavenly secret box, then I can continuously form heavenly secret boxes through Tianji Hall...”

“Besides being able to open heavenly secret boxes myself, I can also exchange them for other benefits within the Tianwu Continent through the heavenly secret box.”

Xiao Shi deeply understood the value of the heavenly secret box within the Tianwu Continent.

Even the Great Wu Crown Prince and the Three Heavenly Kings, who are demigods, would attach great importance to the heavenly secret box.

After all, the heavenly secret box can open up any unexpected item, including items of extremely high levels and realms!

It is enough to make every martial artist, regardless of their realm or cultivation, moved by it.