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As this long blade formed, new item information appeared in Xiao Shi's vision.

“Name: Ice Mirror Yama Blade”

“Type: Long blade (Area-exclusive item)”

“Grade: Saint Grade”

“Description: A long blade formed by combining the ‘Ice Domain Yama Blade’ and the ‘Myriad Mirrors Handle’. While possessing all the functions of both, it also has additional enhancements.”

“Remark 1: This item is exclusive to this area and can only be used within this area. It cannot be taken out of the area.”

“Remark 2: After activating the Ice Domain, its diffusion range will be additionally doubled. The freezing ability within the Ice Domain will be stronger, reducing the necrosis time from thirty seconds to twenty seconds. Every attack launched by the user within the Ice Domain will carry a portion of freezing power.”

“Remark 3: Mirrors formed within the Ice Domain will possess an ice body and will receive additional enhancements under the blessing of the Ice Domain. The formation time of mirrors will be reduced from one minute to forty seconds.”

“Remark 4: The Ice Mirror Yama Blade can only be used once. This usage count will not be calculated in the usage counts of the ‘Ice Domain Yama Blade’ and the ‘Myriad Mirrors Handle’.”

“Remark 5: All martial artists below the Upper Three Realms, including Saint Grade individuals, cannot evade it.”

...

Xiao Shi was greatly excited by this.

When these two items combined to form this complete Ice Mirror Yama Blade, it not only brought an increase in abilities.

Most importantly.

It gained an additional usage count.

In other words.

Besides being able to use the Ice Domain Yama Blade and the Myriad Mirrors Handle twice each separately.

He could also combine them and use them one more time.

In terms of strength.

The strength of these two items was far superior to that of the items from the first checkpoint.

“If that’s the case…”

“Could it be that each checkpoint corresponds to an era?”

“The first checkpoint corresponds to the Xie Wu Era from a hundred thousand years ago, and the second checkpoint corresponds to the Mirror Martial Era.”

“And from the strength of the exclusive items in these eras, the exclusive items of the Mirror Martial Era are clearly stronger than those of the Xie Wu Era…”

“Does this mean that the further back the checkpoint, the stronger the exclusive items of its corresponding era?”

Xiao Shi's heart stirred.

If this was the case, when exchanging items with era crystals, it would be best to exchange for items from the eras corresponding to the later checkpoints.

He believed that the exclusive items from the eras corresponding to the later checkpoints would be even more powerful.

However, Xiao Shi currently did not know what the remaining three eras were.

He did not have information on that.

If he were to use the era crystal now, he would only be able to choose between the Xie Wu Era and the Mirror Martial Era.

“I don’t need to rush to use the era crystal now. I’ll first understand these five eras. If the exclusive items from the eras corresponding to the later checkpoints are stronger, then choosing to exchange for those would naturally be the most suitable.”

While thinking.

Xiao Shi led his guards out of the ice plain and into the lush forest ahead.

These checkpoints were not entirely connected.

One would not immediately enter the next checkpoint after leaving one.

There was a certain interval between different checkpoints.

Xiao Shi could see from the map he held.

Before reaching the next checkpoint, there were a total of three converging paths within this forest.

Clearly, the three parties who passed the second checkpoint would converge here.

“In other words…”

“The third checkpoint is also a multi-person checkpoint.”

Xiao Shi realized this.

At the same time, the number of people in this checkpoint would be far greater than in the previous second checkpoint.

If all three parties successfully passed, then the third checkpoint would be a six-person checkpoint.

But the current situation was... Xiao Shi's side had already lost one person.

If the other two parties also suffered casualties, would the difficulty of this checkpoint also double, just like the second checkpoint?

If the difficulty of this checkpoint doubled for every person lost... then the further they went, the more astonishing the difficulty of these checkpoints would become.

After all, no matter what.

These Martial Demons could not remain completely unscathed during the process of passing the checkpoints.

There would definitely be casualties.

Then the difficulty of these later checkpoints would inevitably increase.

Having passed the second checkpoint this time, Xiao Shi had already felt how extremely difficult it became to pass once the checkpoint's difficulty increased.

If the other two parties suffered losses... or if one of those two parties died directly in the second checkpoint and failed to pass, then the situation would be very grim.

And the worst-case scenario.

Was undoubtedly Xiao Shi having to pass this multi-person checkpoint alone again.

This checkpoint, being a six-person checkpoint.

The difficulty of passing it alone would definitely be incomparable to the previous second checkpoint.

Even Xiao Shi lacked this confidence.

After all, during the process of passing, he not only had to protect himself but also ensure the safety of these guards.

“The other two parties shouldn’t be unable to pass, right?”

Xiao Shi knew that all the Martial Demons of the Great Wu Dynasty had taboos placed on them by the Great Wu Crown Prince, preventing them from fighting each other.

Therefore, as long as the other two sides were also people from their Great Wu Dynasty, they would inevitably cooperate to pass the checkpoint.

With two people cooperating, passing the second checkpoint shouldn't be too difficult... As they continued to advance.

Xiao Shi discovered a huge pavilion in the forest ahead.

This pavilion was located exactly at the intersection of the three paths.

It clearly existed for them to gather and wait here.

Currently, the people from the other two paths had not yet arrived.

Xiao Shi led his guards and waited in the pavilion.

He noticed... that at the left and right ends of the pavilion, which were the entrances connected to the other two official roads, there was a barrier.

This barrier clearly existed to prevent those who passed first from entering the checkpoints belonging to the other two sides.

No helping allowed.

They could only wait here.

In addition to this.

The path leading to the third checkpoint also had a barrier.

This meant that Xiao Shi could not enter the third checkpoint until the people from the other two sides arrived.

While waiting.

Xiao Shi also began to conceptualize the establishment of a teleportation array.

If he could establish this teleportation array before entering the next checkpoint, it would undoubtedly be very advantageous for the subsequent checkpoints.

Even if he faced an unmanageable crisis.

He could use teleportation to pass through.

However, after trying, Xiao Shi found that establishing a teleportation array was far more complex and difficult than he had imagined.

Although he had successfully grasped the principles of teleportation arrays.

But to establish a teleportation array, in addition to requiring many precious and rare materials, the most important thing was that the location for establishing the teleportation array had very high requirements.

As the most high-end, profound, and mysterious of all arrays, a teleportation array.

Could not be built just anywhere.

The location for building a teleportation array had to have extremely high stability.

The problem Xiao Shi currently faced.

Was not about the rare materials needed for construction.

Even though most of these construction materials were rare and uncommon.

But Xiao Shi's large-scale killings in the sea area previously had already provided him with numerous items.

In terms of materials, he was not lacking.

The problem he encountered now.

Was primarily that the location for establishing the teleportation array did not have sufficient stability, thus preventing him from building it.

According to Xiao Shi's vision.

He planned to establish the teleportation array within the internal space of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree, as the fourth array within the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree.

Just like the three arrays he had previously arranged within the internal space of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree.

However, he didn't expect that even the internal space of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree did not have enough stability to establish a teleportation array.

To solve this problem.

He had to enhance the stability of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree's internal space.

And the only thing capable of doing this was the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree itself.

However, ever since the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree absorbed the Divine Tree Heart of another one of the Nine Divine Trees in the Demigod Land where the eye of imperial judgment was sealed, it had fallen into a deep slumber.

It had not yet awakened.

Xiao Shi could only wait for the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree to awaken and then enhance the stability of its internal space before he could proceed with the construction of the teleportation array.

He felt somewhat regretful about this.

If he could build a teleportation array at this moment, then he wouldn't have to worry about the upcoming checkpoints.

However, he could feel... that the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree was not far from awakening.

At that time, all aspects of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree's abilities would undoubtedly experience a huge increase.

He believed that establishing a teleportation array then would not be a difficult matter.

Just like that.

After Xiao Shi waited for a while in this pavilion.

A series of footsteps suddenly came from the official road on the left.

Xiao Shi turned his head to look.

He saw two Martial Demons leading a group of guards approaching.

One of them had a square face, thick black sword-like eyebrows, and a robust build at one meter ninety centimeters tall.

The other was a gaunt old man in a long robe with silver hair, possessing a faint scholarly aura.

Both of them looked tired.

Especially the gaunt old man; his entire left hand was still covered in a layer of ice, in a frozen state.

And this frozen state seemed impossible to resolve.

In addition to this.

Xiao Shi also noticed.

The number of guards following behind them had also decreased.

Among them, only eight guards remained with the tall man.

And the guards following the gaunt old man were reduced by half, with only five remaining.

Both of these individuals were Martial Demon Realm martial artists from the Great Wu Dynasty, and Xiao Shi had an impression of them.

Especially the tall man.

Like Xiao Shi, he also came from the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect!

However, this person was not the Martial Demon from the Mountain God Branch chosen by Chen Yuan, but a disciple selected by another Saint Grade individual of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Including Xiao Shi, there were a total of five Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect disciples who entered this area this time.

After all, there were four Saint Grade individuals within the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Plus Chen Yuan, who was the Dao Master.

Naturally, they had five slots.

Xiao Shi could clearly sense.

This person was a disciple from the Evil Ghost Branch.

At the same time Xiao Shi noticed these two.

They also saw Xiao Shi in the pavilion.

However, Xiao Shi was entirely covered by a black cloak, preventing them from seeing his face clearly.

At the same time.

Xiao Shi had also concealed his Crimson Tiger aura.

This prevented the Martial Demon from the Evil Ghost Branch from realizing that Xiao Shi, like him, also came from the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect.

Due to being unable to see Xiao Shi's face.

Their bodies instinctively tensed up, unable to determine if the other party was from the Three Great Domains.

They knew.

If this person was from the Three Great Domains, he might very well attack them, so they had to be on guard!

Fortunately, as they approached.

They detected the taboo existing on Xiao Shi.

Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, they also noticed that although the other party had many people, everyone else was surprisingly a guard!

There was only one Martial Demon.

This made both of them pause.

“...Brother, where are your teammates?”

Zhou Hong, the tall man from the Evil Ghost Branch, couldn't help but ask.

“I killed him.”

A hoarse and aged voice came from under Xiao Shi's black cloak.

He did not intend to expose his identity here.

Although when he followed Xiang Zizhen to the palace, the Great Wu Crown Prince and others already knew of his existence.

However, Xiao Shi had already planned ahead.

Regardless of whether he successfully seized this special area, he would create a false death phenomenon.

So that everyone in the Great Wu Dynasty would believe that the Martial Demon chosen by Xiang Zizhen had died within this special area.

At that time, he would only need to change his identity.

This way, he wouldn't have to worry about the problem of being exposed to everyone's sight before.

He could continue to hide behind the scenes.

In addition to this.

His actions within this area would also be carried out under another identity.

This way, even if he displayed extreme power here, people would not associate him with the Martial Demon chosen by Xiang Zizhen.

Then no one would suspect his “death.”

Moreover, even if someone did notice him.

His identity with Xiang Zizhen was itself fake... In terms of hiding and disguising his identity.

Xiao Shi was not worried.

If it weren't for the taboo on his body being impossible to eradicate, he would even disguise himself as someone from the Three Great Domains, which would be more beneficial for his actions here.

In any case.

He would always remain hidden behind the scenes, and would certainly not easily appear within the sight of those powerful individuals, thereby attracting their attention.

At this moment, as Xiao Shi's words came out.

Zhou Hong from the Evil Ghost Branch, and the old man named Guan Zhihong, were both startled at the same time!

“He was a Martial Demon from the Three Great Domains. The first moment I met him, I killed him.”

Xiao Shi's voice carried indifference.

“Since you two have already passed the second checkpoint, I find it necessary to discuss the problems we will face after our team is short a member, before we enter the next checkpoint.”