356: Sacrifice

Xiao Shi was not in a hurry to have his guards jump into the cyan pool.

He walked to the other end of the altar.

Looking into the distance.

This altar was mainly triangular, with three sets of stairs.

Two of the staircases mainly led upwards.

The remaining staircase extended downwards.

At this moment, Xiao Shi came to the downward-extending staircase and looked into the distance.

Standing here, he could clearly see... ahead was an area covered and permeated by numerous black mists.

He knew.

This area was clearly the most important holy land within this special zone.

"Such powerful Demonic Energy..."

Even from a considerable distance.

Xiao Shi could feel the terrifying Demonic Energy emanating from the black mists in the distance.

Under this level of Demonic Energy.

Ordinary people would be unable to enter it at all.

This was very different from what Xiao Shi had previously thought.

He had originally believed that the holy land in this special zone would likely require them, the Martial Demon Realm cultivators, and their Demonic Body Clones to enter together for the final contention.

But from the current situation... it was clear that they, the Martial Demon Realm cultivators, could not enter.

Combining this with the fact that their Demonic Body Clones would be unsealed here before entering the holy land... it was not difficult to deduce.

The upcoming holy land would likely only be accessible to their Demonic Body Clones.

"So..."

"The final contention will rely on our respective Demonic Body Clones?"

Xiao Shi frowned at this.

He wasn't worried about the strength of his Demonic Body Clone.

In terms of strength, his Demonic Body Clone was no weaker than his main body.

He mainly couldn't understand the reason behind it.

After all, from the current situation, the contention for the holy land was very likely the key to determining the ownership of this special zone.

However, under normal circumstances, a Martial Demon Realm cultivator wanting to refine an area to advance to the Saint Realm must first reach the second stage of the Martial Demon Realm, and only after their Demonic Body Clone and main body merged could they begin refining the area.

But after entering this special zone... even those Martial Demon Realm cultivators at the second stage had their Demonic Body Clones separated, causing them to fall back to the first stage of the Martial Demon Realm.

And the final contention for the holy land was actually to rely on Demonic Body Clones... this made Xiao Shi feel incredible.

Although this special zone was very unique.

Different from other areas of the Tianwu Continent.

But besides being the refinement of an area, it was also the advancement of a Saint.

And no matter the era, there had never been a case of direct advancement to the Saint Realm from the first stage of the Martial Demon Realm.

Shaking his head.

Xiao Shi felt that given the uniqueness of this special zone, he would probably find it very difficult to understand the reason behind it.

He estimated that only by entering it would he be able to know the specific situation inside.

No matter what.

The top priority now.

Was to first unseal the Demonic Body Clone, and release the Demonic Body Clone from the sealed box.

Thinking of this.

Xiao Shi returned to the cyan pool.

Preparing to begin sacrificing his guards.

Just then.

A group of people suddenly arrived from another staircase of the altar.

They were precisely the other group of people who had passed the fourth checkpoint.

Among them, Martial Demon Realm cultivators from the Three Great Domains were the majority.

Leading them was a tall, thin man, skinny as a skeleton, his entire body seemingly just skin wrapped around bones, wearing a huge hat.

He had injuries on his body, which were currently healing and recovering, clearly left over from passing the checkpoint not long ago.

Behind him, a group of people followed.

Although Martial Demon Realm cultivators from the Three Great Domains were the majority, there were also Martial Demon Realm cultivators from the Great Wu Dynasty.

In terms of numbers, they were not much different from Xiao Shi's group.

Xiao Shi was not surprised that these people were able to pass the checkpoint.

Although the fourth checkpoint required dealing with two Saints, which would undoubtedly be difficult for ordinary Martial Demon Realm cultivators.

However, some Martial Demon Realm cultivators in the Three Great Domains also possessed powerful means similar to Chu Tong's earlier.

Through such powerful means.

They could also eliminate the Saints within the fourth checkpoint.

Previously, if Xiao Shi hadn't provided a buff to the Evil Energy User, the powerful beam released by Chu Tong at that time would have been enough to kill the Evil Energy User.

And as for the Three Great Domains, given the importance the Three Heavenly Kings placed on this special zone this time, they would naturally bestow similar powerful means upon their Martial Demon Realm subordinates.

Now, with the arrival of these people.

The first thing they saw was the Evil Energy User standing beside Xiao Shi.

This startled all of them.

Their bodies instantly tensed, as if facing a formidable enemy.

It wasn't until they realized that this Evil Energy User would not attack them like the Evil Energy Users in the previous checkpoints that they breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, intense shock arose in everyone's hearts.

Because they discovered... this Evil Energy User was actually standing obediently behind a mysterious person enveloped in a black cloak.

Like his servant.

This shocked them immensely!

Before this.

They had all personally experienced the might of the Evil Energy User.

They clearly knew that this was a Saint Realm existence.

Yet now he had become this person's servant!?

"Could it be... that their way of passing the checkpoint was by making this powerful Saint their servant!?"

A colossal wave surged in the minds of these people.

Their gazes towards Xiao Shi were filled with horror and dread.

At the same time.

Among these arriving people, the Martial Demon Realm cultivators belonging to the Great Wu Dynasty quickly looked around but did not find Chu Tong, which made them frown.

After all, Chu Tong was their core figure for contending for this special zone this time.

They were all just assistants.

However, they did not see Chu Tong here now.

They immediately asked the others.

When they learned that Chu Tong had died, and was killed by Xiao Shi, everyone's brains felt as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

Among them was a white-haired, robust and muscular young woman, specializing in physical cultivation, who, upon hearing this news, was shocked and her expression became extremely complex.

According to the rules set by the Great Wu Crown Prince at that time.

Once Chu Tong died, she would automatically become the object of everyone's full assistance.

This was also to prevent the problem of them having no core figure to refine this special zone if Chu Tong died.

Before entering this special zone, the Great Wu Crown Prince had already ranked them.

Ensuring that there would always be one person among them capable of refining the area.

Everyone else was auxiliary.

Before this.

This white-haired young woman had indeed hoped that Chu Tong would die a violent death, and she would take his place.

Now that her wish had come true, she couldn't feel happy at all.

On one hand, after experiencing the previous checkpoints, she knew that with her own strength, she would inevitably find it difficult to contend for this special zone.

On the other hand, the mystery and power displayed by Xiao Shi made her realize that with this person's ability, he would certainly not be content with being an auxiliary, but would contend for this special zone.

Since he could kill Chu Tong.

He could also kill her!

She did not want to be an enemy of such a terrifying expert.

However, she also knew... if she gave up like this.

Upon returning, the Great Wu Crown Prince would certainly not easily forgive her.

She immediately made a secret decision in her heart.

In the subsequent contention, she would just go through the motions.

Her main priority would be to preserve her life.

She would absolutely not get too involved.

Although this special zone was incredibly tempting to them, the Martial Demon Realm cultivators, she was very clear about the distinction between her own life and this special zone.

She would not lose her mind and contend with such a mysterious expert because of it.

At the same time, her heart was filled with strong curiosity about Xiao Shi's identity.

In her impression, the Great Wu Dynasty did not have such a powerful Martial Demon Realm cultivator.

As for this newly arrived group of people.

Xiao Shi merely glanced at them.

And then paid them no further attention.

He began to order the guards behind him to jump into the cyan pool ahead, to unseal the Demonic Body Clone through the sacrifice of these guards.

At this moment, some people had already unsealed their Demonic Body Clones through the sacrifice of guards.

Initially, each of them had ten guards, but many had suffered losses in the previous checkpoints.

Leading to a reduction in their number of guards.

Fortunately, unsealing the Demonic Body Clone did not require sacrificing ten guards.

After everyone's attempts.

They found that only five guards needed to be sacrificed to unseal the Demonic Body Clone.

Most people now met this condition.

As one guard after another jumped into the cyan pool.

The chains wrapped around the huge box all broke, and the seals on the box also dissipated.

Without these chains and seals.

The entire huge box then disintegrated.

Thereby revealing the Demonic Body Clone within the box.

Xiao Shi looked at his Demonic Body Clone, but his mind fell into contemplation.

He was thinking that since sacrificing five guards could unseal the Demonic Body Clone, would other situations arise if more guards were sacrificed?

Although the stone tablet in front of the cyan pool only showed that the purpose of this cyan pool was to unseal.

But Xiao Shi vaguely felt that if more guards were sacrificed, there might be other uses.

Anyway, he currently had many guards here.

He could try as he pleased.

Thinking of this.

After unsealing his Demonic Body Clone, Xiao Shi did not stop, but continued to sacrifice more guards.

His actions quickly attracted everyone's attention.

After all, Xiao Shi was already a focal point here now.

At the same time, after others had unsealed their respective Demonic Body Clones, they had already stopped sacrificing.

And upon seeing Xiao Shi continue to sacrifice, they also had some curiosity, and wanted to know what would happen next with continuous sacrifice?

And so it was.

With Xiao Shi's continuous sacrifice.

When he had sacrificed ten guards in a row.

A series of black smoke suddenly emanated from the Demonic Body Clone, these black smoke swirled around the Demonic Body Clone, coalescing at the Demonic Body Clone's neck, forming a black bead, entirely black, about the size of a fist.

Before this.

A similar black bead already existed on the neck of Xiao Shi's Demonic Body Clone.

This black bead was formed by the numerous black smoke that the Demonic Body Clone of the Martial Demon Realm cultivator from the Three Great Domains transformed into after Xiao Shi first killed him.

Just like the current situation.

At the same time, in the third checkpoint, Guan Zhihong's death further strengthened this bead.

Also, in the fourth checkpoint, the Demonic Body Clones of those Martial Demon Realm cultivators who died all transformed into this kind of black smoke, dispersing among everyone's Demonic Body Clones.

However, due to the larger number of people in the fourth checkpoint.

And those Martial Demon Realm cultivators who died were not killed by Xiao Shi.

Therefore, the black smoke formed by these Demonic Body Clones was distributed among everyone, in smaller quantities, and did not coalesce to form a second bead.

But at that time, Xiao Shi had already realized... that after these Martial Demon Realm cultivators died, their Demonic Body Clones would turn into black smoke and disperse among everyone's Demonic Body Clones.

Once the black smoke reached a certain level, it would form such a bead.

Now, after he sacrificed ten guards, he successfully condensed a second bead.

However, Xiao Shi knew nothing about the function of this type of bead.

Nor could he sense anything unusual about this black bead.

But in conjunction with the fact that the final holy land required these Demonic Body Clones to contend, Xiao Shi felt that this black bead would likely play some role in the upcoming holy land.

Thinking of this.

Xiao Shi then had more guards jump into the cyan pool, continuing the sacrifice.

"It's a pity that the previous killing of Chu Tong wasn't counted as my kill, neither his Demonic Body Clone nor his guards were fully attributed to me, but shared among everyone..."

Xiao Shi felt some regret about this.

But there was nothing he could do.

He carried a taboo.

If it were counted as his kill, then the taboo on him would also be triggered.

This outcome was still acceptable.

At this moment, everyone also noticed the black beads on the neck of Xiao Shi's Demonic Body Clone.

They pondered over it.

They all guessed that this kind of bead would likely play a role in the upcoming holy land.

However, most of them now had no thoughts or interest in the upcoming holy land.

Even if some of them still had extra guards, they had no intention of continuing to sacrifice to form such black beads.

They didn't even want to enter the upcoming holy land anymore.

They only wanted to lead their respective Demonic Body Clones and leave here.

For a time.

Among those who passed the checkpoint in Xiao Shi's group, many directly chose to transfer their extra guards to Xiao Shi.

Allowing Xiao Shi to have more guards to sacrifice.

Xiao Shi's number of guards then reached thirty.

Apart from the initial five guards.

After that, every five guards he sacrificed would condense into a black bead.

When he sacrificed all his guards.

He successfully formed five black beads on the neck of his Demonic Body Clone, and counting the one he formed earliest, he had a total of six black beads.

These six black beads encircled the neck of the Demonic Body Clone, like six demonic pearls, constantly rotating.