352: Familiar times

The moment the array seal was no longer suppressed, the checkpoint where Xiao Shi and the others were located suddenly began to shake violently.

It wasn't just the ground that was shaking; the sky above was also trembling intensely.

Amidst this shaking, Xiao Shi clearly saw the azure sky, as if splattered with ink, turn dark and profound.

Not only that, the nine stars in the sky gradually blurred as the sky darkened.

This instantly caused a huge stir in Xiao Shi’s mind!

From the very beginning, he had clearly realized that the era represented by this checkpoint was related to the stars.

The nine stars in the sky actually represented the nine realms of martial arts.

Each star corresponded to one realm of martial arts!

It could be said that these nine stars in the sky were the foundation of this era!

But now, these stars were blurring.

And as they continued to blur, there were signs that they were about to dissipate!

“What… what’s going on!?”

This scene had completely exceeded Xiao Shi’s expectations and imagination.

Even if he realized that the array seal suppressed by the Sacred Giant Tree was extraordinary, he never thought that this array seal could even change the stars in the sky!

It seemed that the appearance of this array seal was meant to… change the heavens!!

Soon, under Xiao Shi’s gaze, as the sky above grew darker, the star in the sky corresponding to the first realm of martial arts suddenly dissipated.

Next was the star corresponding to the second realm of martial arts, then the third… one star after another continuously dissipated.

Until all nine stars had dissipated.

In the pitch-black night sky, a silver-white, crescent-shaped moon suddenly appeared.

This crescent moon emitted a hazy moonlight, carrying a chilling coldness.

This caused the entire world to be filled and enveloped by this coldness.

“This is…”

Xiao Shi’s pupils suddenly widened!!

...At the same time, at the edge of this checkpoint, Chu Tong did not directly use displacement to leave this checkpoint.

Instead, just like when he and Xiao Shi passed the second checkpoint, he displaced to the edge of this checkpoint, intending to take the exclusive items here before leaving.

He knew very well that if he didn't obtain the exclusive items of this checkpoint, then even if he passed it, it would be meaningless and wouldn't bring him any improvement.

Especially after he gained control of the Crimson Refining Corpse from the third checkpoint, he clearly knew that the exclusive items here were incredibly important and would be key to whether he could ultimately control this special area.

Although the Martial Demon Realm of the Great Wu Dynasty all had taboos left by the Great Wu Crown Prince, destined to be unable to compete with him, he had to guard against the Martial Demon Realm of the Three Great Domains.

According to his prediction, the fourth checkpoint was not just the one they were in; there was also another one.

After all, the checkpoint they were in only gathered half of the people, and the other checkpoint must have gathered the other half.

Here, the Martial Demon Realm of the Great Wu Dynasty were the majority.

In the other checkpoint, the Martial Demon Realm of the Three Great Domains must be the main force.

If the Martial Demon Realm of the Three Great Domains obtained the exclusive items of the fourth checkpoint when passing it, and he did not, it would put him at a disadvantage in the final competition.

Therefore, no matter what, he had to get his hands on the exclusive items of the fourth checkpoint.

However, when he used displacement to reach the edge of the fourth checkpoint, he did find the exclusive items belonging to this checkpoint.

But what he didn't expect was that these exclusive items were actually enveloped by a barrier, causing him to be pushed away directly by this barrier when he approached.

He couldn't touch these exclusive items at all.

This immediately made him frown.

“What’s going on?”

He tried to break through the barrier, but it was useless.

Even when he ordered the Crimson Refining Corpse to attack, with the Crimson Refining Corpse’s powerful strength, it still couldn't break through the barrier.

“Could it be that I must defeat the Sacred Giant Tree and pass the checkpoint before I can get these exclusive items?”

Chu Tong frowned at this, not expecting that the exclusive items within this checkpoint would have such a restriction.

This made him a bit uncomfortable.

If the others couldn't kill the Sacred Giant Tree, wouldn't he be unable to get these exclusive items?

“I can’t possibly go back to help them now, can I?”

Chu Tong felt that if he went back now, the displacement he used would be for nothing.

This was meaningless!

Just then, he suddenly saw the sky above begin to change, and he also saw the disappearance of many stars in the sky.

When the silver-white, crescent-shaped moon appeared, Chu Tong’s heart trembled.

“The… the heavens have changed?”

At the same time, he also clearly noticed that with the change of the heavens, even more exclusive items appeared out of thin air among the exclusive items behind him!

These exclusive items were separated by a distance from the previous ones, seemingly indicating that they were two different types of exclusive items.

“Could it be that…”

“This checkpoint simultaneously contains two eras!?”

Chu Tong knew that this special area contained a total of five different eras.

And according to Xiao Shi’s previous analysis, if one checkpoint represented one era, then there should be five checkpoints before reaching the sacred land.

But the sudden change now made Chu Tong instantly realize that this checkpoint was very likely the last checkpoint.

Because it contained two different eras! And two different types of exclusive items appeared!

It was just a pity that both types of exclusive items were currently enveloped by a barrier and could not be obtained.

However, the change of the heavens at this moment also made Chu Tong realize that Xiao Shi and the others had very likely dealt with the Sacred Giant Tree, which was why the change of the heavens occurred.

“It seems I underestimated them a bit…”

“In that case, I’ll just wait here for them to clear the checkpoint.”

Chu Tong decided to stay here.

After Xiao Shi and the others cleared the checkpoint, he would be able to effortlessly obtain many exclusive items here.

For him, the most important thing before heading to the sacred land was to preserve his strength… Xiao Shi stared blankly at the silver-white crescent moon that appeared in the sky.

The moonlight cast down from the crescent moon carried a cold chill, causing a shiver to run through everyone’s bodies and souls.

However, when this chill acted on Xiao Shi’s body and soul, he did not feel uncomfortable like the others; instead, he felt a strong sense of familiarity.

This silver-white crescent moon appearing in the night sky was not the first time he had seen it.

He had already clearly seen an identical silver-white crescent moon in the illusory world.

This made him instantly realize that he was currently in the Nether Moon Era!!

In fact, when he saw the stars in the sky earlier, Xiao Shi already had some guesses in his heart.

After all, in that ancient ruin, he had seen three different eras: Sun, Moon, and Star.

At that time, he chose the Moon Era, thus appearing in the illusory world of the Youyue Dynasty.

Xiao Shi had previously suspected that the stars in this checkpoint might be from the Star Era he had seen before.

However, since he had not entered the Star Era at that time and did not understand it well enough, he could not be certain.

But the silver-white crescent moon appearing in the sky now confirmed to him that this checkpoint had directly transformed from the Star Era into the Nether Moon Era!

“If that’s the case…”

“There is a very strong possibility of some connection between the Star Era and the Nether Moon Era.”

“And the Sacred Giant Tree from before was likely from the Nether Moon Era, but for some unknown reason, it appeared in the Star Era, thus being suppressed by the Star Era.”

“But while it was being suppressed, it also suppressed the array seal that opened the Nether Moon Era…”

“So it seems that this checkpoint is already the last one, because it contains two different eras!”

As thoughts flickered in Xiao Shi’s mind, with the change of eras, a black figure suddenly shot out from the array seal, transforming into a humanoid creature covered in black scales, even its face wrapped and covered by many black scales.

It had a strong, burly, tall body, nearly three meters tall, and under the moonlight, its black scales reflected a cold luster.

Beneath the scales covering its face, a pair of dark, deep crimson vertical pupils peered out.

At the same time, behind it, there was a black scaled tail that dragged on the ground.

The most striking feature, however, was the crescent moon mark on its forehead.

Xiao Shi was no stranger to this.

He knew that every person in the Nether Moon Era had such a crescent moon mark.

This was their power system.

However, what surprised and made Xiao Shi solemn was his realization that this humanoid creature was not an ordinary Martial Artist from the Nether Moon Era, but an Evil Energy User!!

In the former Youyue Dynasty, there existed an Evil Energy organization.

This organization primarily conducted research on evil corruption and seizing the bodies of powerful individuals, thereby creating many Evil Energy Users.

This even led to the creation of the Ten Evils Ranking.

Ranked among the Ten Evils were ten extremely powerful and extraordinary Evil Energy Users.

Xiao Shi still remembered that four Evil Energy Users were unfortunately lost in battles with some powerful beings, and their whereabouts remained unknown to this day.

What he had obtained back then was the corpse of an Evil Energy User ranked third on the Ten Evils Ranking!

And what appeared before them now was also an Evil Energy User! And it was an Evil Energy User that had reached the Saint level!

The moment this Evil Energy User appeared, a terrifying, immense fluctuation, even greater than that of the previous Sacred Giant Tree, immediately burst forth from it.

It directly stirred up a storm in the surroundings, causing all the trees around to shatter and collapse.

Not only that, but a colossal cloud vortex also appeared above the Evil Energy User’s head.

Within the entire vortex, dense black lightning intertwined and moved, and any single bolt of lightning within it possessed terrifying power capable of easily annihilating a Martial Demon Realm.

This terrifying scene made everyone present feel an indescribable sense of oppression.

Even deeper despair and fear arose in their hearts.

It was clear that this Evil Energy User was even more powerful than the previous Sacred Giant Tree!

The previous Sacred Giant Tree was in a suppressed state, unable to move, and many of its abilities were significantly restricted.

However, the Evil Energy User of the Nether Moon Era was not suppressed at all.

It was in its peak state.

In front of such a Saint… these Martial Demon Realm were like ants, and what’s more, they were all severely wounded by the explosion of the Sacred Giant Tree earlier, their Iron Refining Corpses were all destroyed, and all their exclusive items were exhausted when dealing with the Sacred Giant Tree.

They had no strength left to resist.

The only path before them was death.

Soon, the Evil Energy User’s crimson vertical pupils locked directly onto one of the Martial Demon Realm, and boiling killing intent and brutality surged within its eyes.

After all, these Evil Energy Users were inherently focused on slaughter, containing strong murderous intent and bloodlust.

Boom!! Its figure moved, and the entire ground exploded into a gigantic crater.

It was as if it had teleported.

In less than a second, it appeared directly in front of this Martial Demon Realm, raising its foot to stomp down.

And with the terrifying power of its foot, once it fell, not only would the Martial Demon Realm in front of it die, but everyone in the vicinity would instantly perish!

However, just as it raised its foot and was about to bring it down, it suddenly paused in mid-air.

Its gaze directly turned to Xiao Shi not far away, discovering that Xiao Shi’s forehead also had a moon mark appearing.

At the same time, from this moon mark, an aura that it found familiar was emitted.

It was because of the presence of this aura that its raised foot did not fall.

Swish! The Evil Energy User’s figure flashed, abandoning the stomp, and instantly appeared in front of Xiao Shi, almost face to face with him.

Its crimson pupils gazed intently at the moon mark on Xiao Shi’s forehead, as if trying desperately to see what familiar thing existed within this moon mark.

At such a close distance, Xiao Shi could more clearly feel the terrifying aura emanating from the Evil Energy User in front of him.

This pressure originating from a Saint caused his entire body’s bones to creak.

His skin cracked, and he was like a piece of glued-together porcelain, with cracks all over his body, as if a slight touch would shatter him instantly.

Moreover, from these cracks, a lot of fresh blood continuously seeped out, gathering beneath Xiao Shi to form a stream of blood.

Under such powerful pressure from a Saint, even with Xiao Shi’s strong physique, he couldn’t last much longer.

However, there was no trace of fear in his bloodshot eyes.

He stared intently at the Evil Energy User in front of him.

Gradually, the Evil Energy User, who was staring at the moon mark on Xiao Shi’s forehead, suddenly had its crimson pupils contract violently!!

It was as if it had seen something that terrified it greatly, causing it to retreat rapidly.