363: Rules, shield!

Xiao Shi clearly saw it.

Not far from the shrine, there were rows of bookshelves, filled with ancient artifacts and books.

A dazzling array.

Beside the bookshelves, numerous massive iron chests were neatly arranged, containing all the treasures collected by the Martial Emperor.

However, the treasures inside these chests were all below the Saint Realm, which held little significance for the current Xiao Shi.

It was obvious.

Treasures above the Saint Realm would be stored separately by the Martial Emperor, not concentrated in chests.

What Xiao Shi was primarily focused on at the moment were the books on those bookshelves.

He discovered... most of the books here were related to cultivation.

They not only included various cultivation systems from the Great Martial Era.

But also the Martial Emperor's research on the systems of past eras.

If he could thoroughly comprehend all these books.

Xiao Shi felt that he would have a complete grasp of most cultivation systems in the world.

Although with his current strength and realm, he no longer needed to change his cultivation system.

He could, however, use them to improve some of his own techniques and killing moves.

More importantly... with these books, he would be able to better cultivate the people within his own domain.

Xiao Shi knew.

For a Saint, the stronger the people within his domain, the greater the enhancement he would receive.

Especially since Xiao Shi had seen through these ancient texts from old eras that Saints of previous eras did not rely heavily on their domains.

Xiao Shi had actually noticed this situation earlier when he encountered the Crimson Refining Corpse and the Evil Energy User.

After all, neither the Crimson Refining Corpse nor the Evil Energy User, both of whom had reached the Saint Realm, possessed a domain anymore.

Yet, the combat power they could unleash was no less than that of Saints who did possess domains.

Through these books,

Xiao Shi finally understood.

Saints of the Nether Moon Era and the Martial Corpse Era did not rely on domains.

Especially the Saints of the Martial Corpse Era.

Their method of breaking through to the Saint Realm was to refine a Saint Corpse!

And among the ancient texts collected by the Martial Emperor, there were indeed various corpse-refining Secret Skills from the Martial Corpse Era.

This included... the Crimson Refining Secret Skill!!

Although this Secret Skill was extraordinarily powerful, the conditions for practicing it were equally stringent.

It had very high requirements for one's strength and realm.

One had to at least reach the Saint Realm to cultivate this Secret Skill.

With this Secret Skill, Xiao Shi would be able to unleash the full power of the Crimson Refining Corpse when controlling it.

Not only that.

Xiao Shi could also refine Crimson Refining Corpses himself through the Crimson Refining Secret Skill!

At present, only he could do this.

Even if others mastered the Crimson Refining Secret Skill, they would only be able to refine Crimson Refining Corpses under the environment of the Martial Corpse Era.

Once they left the environment of the Martial Corpse Era, any corpse-refining Secret Skill would become ineffective.

And currently, only Xiao Shi's domain possessed the environment of the Martial Corpse Era.

Only he could perform the unique corpse refinement of the Martial Corpse Era!

This couldn't help but give Xiao Shi an idea.

He felt that since he now possessed ancient cultivation texts from various eras, once he absorbed some martial artists into his domain, he could fully allow these martial artists to cultivate the powers of these five ancient eras within his domain.

For example, the corpse-refining Secret Skill of the Martial Corpse Era, the suppression of the Star Era, and the mirroring of the Mirror Martial Era were all good choices.

At that time, each martial artist in his domain would have a powerful Martial Corpse by their side, possess strong suppressive abilities, and even be able to split into mirrors!

Their strength would undoubtedly far surpass that of martial artists in other domains!

Not only that.

Since the Saints of these eras did not rely on domains, martial artists cultivating these ancient era powers would not have to worry about not finding an area to refine when attempting a Saint breakthrough.

This also meant... that in Xiao Shi's domain, Saints could be born!!

This was something unprecedented on the current Tianwu Continent.

No Saint's domain could ever give rise to a second Saint.

However, the uniqueness of Xiao Shi's domain allowed for the birth of more Saints besides himself.

Once there were other Saints in his domain, he would be able to gain an even greater power amplification from the domain.

Clearly, when the Martial Emperor constructed this special area, he not only considered the increase in strength that could be gained after refining this special area, but also the future development of the domain.

Thus, he created a unique special area!

In addition to this.

Xiao Shi also found books related to the Upper Three Realms of Martial Dao within these texts.

These included how to break through to Dao Master and Demigod.

This made Xiao Shi feel as if he had found a treasure!

He knew clearly.

Currently, information regarding the Upper Three Realms of Martial Dao was considered top secret throughout the entire Tianwu Continent.

Previously, he could obtain information about higher realms through Xiang Zizhen.

However, even Xiang Zizhen found it difficult to acquire information about the Upper Three Realms.

Especially given their current relationship with the Great Wu Crown Prince.

It was even more impossible to obtain any information about the Upper Three Realms of Martial Dao from the Great Wu Dynasty.

The value of these books was immense!

Xiao Shi continued to examine the other treasures in the treasure vault.

Most of the treasures here were still below the Saint Realm.

Although many treasures were not very useful to Xiao Shi, these items could be used to cultivate the martial artists within his domain.

Just then.

"Hmm?"

Xiao Shi suddenly saw.

On a black table in the treasure vault, there was a black wooden box.

The entire wooden box was 20 centimeters long, 10 centimeters wide, and 10 centimeters high. Its surface was deep and dark, as if it could swallow light; even under candlelight, it showed no reflection.

Other than that, there was nothing else special about this wooden box.

However, Xiao Shi curiously examined the wooden box, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.

For all the treasures he had seen in this treasure vault, relevant information about them would appear in his sight.

Only this wooden box... showed no information whatsoever!

Xiao Shi had never encountered such a situation before.

He instantly realized that the wooden box before him was not simple!

He stared intently at the wooden box.

However, neither observation with his naked eye nor scanning with his Soul Consciousness could reveal any clues from the wooden box.

"What exactly is this?"

Xiao Shi frowned slightly.

He tried to pick up the wooden box, turning it over and over, but still couldn't find any problems.

After some thought.

Xiao Shi felt that the problem might be inside the box.

He immediately tried to open the box.

With a soft click.

Xiao Shi successfully opened the box.

A wisp of black mist immediately rushed out of the box at a speed too fast for Xiao Shi to react.

It directly merged into Xiao Shi's glabella.

Thump thump!

A dull "thump thump" suddenly echoed in Xiao Shi's ears.

"Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump thump thump..."

The drum-like sound continuously rang out, growing increasingly intense. The heart in his chest was like an overloaded motor, beating frantically while also producing a tearing pain.

Not only that.

Xiao Shi's skin also became pitch black, black blood vessels protruded, his pupils and whites of his eyes also turned pitch black, and his glabella tore open, revealing a black face!

All of this happened extremely suddenly.

Xiao Shi had not detected any signs beforehand.

Nor had he perceived any abnormalities.

Even at this moment... he still hadn't received any crisis warnings.

However, he found that his body was no longer under his control.

Black threads, like blood vessels, spread throughout his body, pervading his entire being.

Making him lose control of his body.

Even more terrifying... was the Emperors Armor within his body.

At this moment, they all vibrated, and under the continuous vibration, as if summoned, they all appeared from Xiao Shi's body.

His face was covered by the black martial emperor mask, his shoulders were clasped with the heavy Martial Emperor Shoulder Armor, the Martial Emperor Belt was wrapped around his waist, the Martial Emperor War Boots appeared on his feet, and the golden martial emperors cloak extended from his back.

And what terrified Xiao Shi the most.

Was that after these Emperors Armor appeared on his body, the Martial Emperor Belt among them actually began to form an emperor soul directly!!

With him having lost control of his body, he was utterly unable to stop it.

He could only watch helplessly as the Martial Emperor's figure materialized from the Martial Emperor Belt.

And the moment the Martial Emperor's figure materialized.

All the other Emperors Armor on Xiao Shi's body resonated with the Emperors Armor on the emperor soul under the vibrations, causing the entire emperor soul to greatly increase in power beyond its original foundation!

Its aura became even more powerful.

The ethereal feeling diminished.

The entire body became much more solid than before.

Not only that.

The black face located at Xiao Shi's glabella forcefully rushed out at this moment, and under the impact, directly merged into the emperor soul.

Boom!!

The entire emperor soul vibrated violently.

A terrifying and peerless aura began to awaken from the emperor soul.

If the emperor soul Xiao Shi had previously formed with the Martial Emperor Belt did not possess much sentience and was in a dormant state.

Then the emperor soul at this moment seemed to have gained sentience, rapidly awakening from its slumber.

Its tightly closed eyes slowly opened a tiny slit, but what emanated from this slit was no longer the golden light from before, but had transformed into deep black.

A strong sense of greed continuously burst forth from the emperor soul.

Just like a fierce beast that had been hungry for a long time, eyeing delicious prey!!

"He wants to devour me!"

Xiao Shi's mind churned with a tempestuous storm.

But even at this moment.

Within his heart, there was still not the slightest sense of crisis.

At the same time, he received no warnings.

This was very wrong!

After all, martial artists all have a sense of impending danger.

Especially martial artists with higher cultivation realms, their perception of danger is more acute.

Before this.

Xiao Shi's sense of danger had always been accurate.

But this time, he had absolutely no sense of crisis.

Even though he was now facing a life-and-death situation.

He still didn't perceive any danger.

This was clearly abnormal!

Logically speaking.

Given the dangerous nature of this box, he should have felt a strong sense of crisis when he touched it.

It was impossible to perceive nothing at all.

The reason he dared to open the box was precisely because he didn't sense any danger from it.

Otherwise, with his caution.

He definitely wouldn't have opened it easily.

"Could it be because of... concealment?"

Xiao Shi's mind trembled.

He suddenly recalled a mysterious and powerful force he had seen in those ancient texts earlier.

More precisely.

This was a rule!

Under the rule of concealment, his perception of danger would be blocked, thus preventing him from sensing any crisis.

Presumably, this was also the main reason why he couldn't obtain any information from the box when he saw it.

Because the box itself was under concealment.

This made him not only unable to perceive danger from the box but also unable to see relevant information about it.

As this was the first time he had encountered such a rule.

Xiao Shi was caught off guard.

And he hadn't expected such a danger to exist in this treasure vault!

At this moment, his body was completely unable to move.

When he first formed the emperor soul, he had already felt his insignificance before it.

Especially now that the emperor soul had been further strengthened, he was even less capable of resisting it.

Xiao Shi's soul began to throb with pain.

His entire soul was instantly pulled out of his body.

This was even worse than the first time the emperor soul opened its eyes.

There was no need to wait for the emperor soul to fully open its eyes.

Xiao Shi's soul had already flown towards the emperor soul.

About to be devoured by the emperor soul.

At the critical moment.

Hiss... Xiao Shi's chest rippled like water, creating waves.

A faint rustling sound slowly spread from his body.

A black coffin flew out from within Xiao Shi's body.

A dull "creaking" sound emanated from the coffin.

That was the sound of the coffin lid sliding down.

Swish!

Through the crack revealed by the coffin lid.

A black shadow shot out from the coffin like lightning.

This was an arm!

At an astonishing speed, just as Xiao Shi's soul was about to be sucked in front of the emperor soul, it grabbed Xiao Shi's soul and quickly pulled it back, successfully bringing Xiao Shi's soul back.

However, the appearance of this arm caused an extremely intense emotional fluctuation in the emperor soul, seemingly greatly stimulating it.

So much so that the emperor soul's eyelids twitched violently, and its originally expressionless face became ferocious.

Even the speed of its eye-opening accelerated.

At the same time, the emperor soul's hand also involuntarily lifted.

It directly grabbed fiercely at the arm extending from the coffin!

The arm extending from the coffin could only put down Xiao Shi's soul first and then meet the attack.

Poof!

With a bang.

The arm extending from the coffin suddenly burst into a cloud of blood mist, and two fingers on its hand exploded and shattered.

And it was blasted backward, flying away.

Completely unable to withstand the emperor soul's attack.

However, while flying backward, the arm extending from the coffin grabbed Xiao Shi's soul, successfully bringing Xiao Shi's soul back into his body.

At the same time, the arm extending from the coffin also retracted into the coffin.

The coffin lid closed again.

And merged into Xiao Shi's body.