412: Birth of [Sky Box]

For Xiao Shi, the heavenly secret box holds great value and utility.

As an exclusive item of Tianji Hall, the greatest appeal of the heavenly secret box lies in the fact that anyone has the chance to open an unexpectedly powerful item from it.

The unknown is always the most captivating!

Especially since the heavenly secret box can even produce items that have been lost on the Tianwu Continent for a long time!

Even if not every heavenly secret box is guaranteed to yield good items, as long as there is such a chance, the heavenly secret box possesses immense value!

After all, many lost treasures, as well as Dao Lord Level, and even demigod-level treasures, no longer have a means of acquisition.

Given the possibility that the heavenly secret box can produce these items, even the three demigod-level Heavenly Kings cannot ignore its importance.

And long ago, Xiao Shi had already wanted to open this area.

However, Tianji Hall could only open one area per realm, which is why Xiao Shi could only open this important area now.

Immediately upon entering Tianji Hall, Xiao Shi went directly to this last unopened important area of Tianji Hall.

With a thought, the heavens secret mask on his face instantly emitted a dark, gloomy black light, instantly brightening this dim area, successfully completing the opening.

And with the opening of this area, a rumbling sound echoed!

The ground in this area suddenly began to shake, and amidst the continuous tremors, a massive stone tianji beast head suddenly rose from beneath the ground.

This was a ferocious-looking stone beast head, with blood-red eyes and an open mouth revealing sharp fangs.

And in the beast's mouth, it was biting a black box, which was… the heavenly secret box!

Xiao Shi reached out and took the heavenly secret box from the stone statue's mouth.

Information about the heavenly secret box immediately appeared in his vision.

["Name: Hungry heavenly secret box"]

["Type: Box"]

["Grade: Martial Soul Grade"]

["Introduction: A special box, no one knows its origin, how it was formed, or what is inside."]

["Remark 1: This is entirely a box of luck. Perhaps you can obtain a peerless secret manual from the box, or a peerless elixir, or perhaps there is nothing inside. As the saying goes, heavenly secrets are unfathomable. Before opening, no one can know what is truly inside the box."]

["Remark 2: Different heavenly secret boxes will contain different items. This heavenly secret box is of the 'hungry' type, so the way to open it depends on feeding it."]

["Remark 3: Opening the heavenly secret box will incur a cost, but this cost is not fixed and will appear randomly."]

Xiao Shi knew that heavenly secret boxes came in many different types.

For example, the first heavenly secret box he opened was a 'lost' type heavenly secret box.

The items opened from this type of heavenly secret box would be lost items of the Tianwu Continent.

In addition, Xiao Shi had also exchanged for a locked tianji box in the Myriad Treasure Pagoda.

This type of heavenly secret box required unlocking before it could be opened.

And now, a third type of heavenly secret box had appeared.

However, Xiao Shi's current focus was not on the type of heavenly secret box, but on how to generate more heavenly secret boxes after this area was opened.

"It can't be that only one heavenly secret box is generated after opening this area, right?"

Xiao Shi thought to himself, while gazing at the stone tianji beast head in front of him.

Information about the stone tianji beast head appeared in his vision.

["Name: tianji beast head"]

["Type: Stone statue"]

["Grade: None"]

["Introduction: A special beast head that can generate heavenly secret boxes. The higher the influence of Heavenly Secret City on the Tianwu Continent, the more heavenly secret boxes can be generated."]

["Remark 1: The influence of Heavenly Secret City will depend on its prosperity, the number and strength of Tianji Hall members, and its reputation and influence on the Tianwu Continent."]

["Remark 2: Place your palm on the tianji beast head to sense the number of heavenly secret boxes that can currently be generated."]

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

That is to say, the better Tianji Hall develops, the larger its scale, and the greater its reputation on the Tianwu Continent, the more heavenly secret boxes can be generated.

Looking at it this way, his choice to open the heavenly secret box area last was indeed correct.

If he had opened this area earlier, given the situation of Tianji Hall at that time, not many tianji plates would have been generated.

Although Tianji Hall's reputation on the Tianwu Continent has not yet reached its peak as in the past, it is no longer unknown.

All major forces have begun to interact with Tianji Hall.

Just like Heavenly King Yao Xi before, he specifically came to befriend Xiao Shi, the Hall Master of Tianji Hall.

Furthermore, the influence of Tianji Hall is not only determined by its reputation and influence on the Tianwu Continent.

The prosperity of Heavenly Secret City, the number of Tianji Hall members, and their strength are also part of it.

Xiao Shi mused that with the current situation, it should be enough to generate quite a few heavenly secret boxes.

Thinking of this, he immediately placed his palm on the tianji beast head.

With a thought, heavenly secret boxes were immediately spewed out one after another from the mouth of the tianji beast head.

Xiao Shi roughly counted, and a total of about one hundred heavenly secret boxes were generated this time.

These heavenly secret boxes came in many different categories.

Xiao Shi was now primarily considering how to allocate and utilize these heavenly secret boxes.

"First, most of the heavenly secret boxes will definitely be used as rewards for Tianji Hall members."

"Many Tianji Hall members yearn for the heavenly secret box, as it is an exclusive item of Tianji Hall. I cannot offer the heavenly secret box externally but not internally. I must prioritize Tianji Hall members having access to the heavenly secret box."

"Moreover, using the heavenly secret box as an internal reward for Tianji Hall can better promote the development of Tianji Hall."

"At the same time, if these Tianji Hall members can open good items from the heavenly secret box, it will also significantly enhance their strength."

"As for myself…"

"Actually, there's no need to keep too many heavenly secret boxes."

"On the one hand, my current demand for items is not very high. The items I need must at least be Dao Lord Level, but the items that can be opened from the heavenly secret box are random, and the hope of opening items above Dao Lord Level is slim."

"On the other hand, opening the heavenly secret box also incurs an opening cost. The cost for my first heavenly secret box has not yet arrived…"

Xiao Shi thought of the cost he had to bear when he first opened the heavenly secret box, which was a flame icon.

However, this cost was not an immediate one; it was delayed.

He didn't know when it would arrive.

And the longer it was delayed, the more worried Xiao Shi became.

After all, the later it came, as his strength and cultivation improved, the cost he would suffer would also change with his increased strength and cultivation.

If this cost were to come now, it would probably only be a Dao Lord Level cost.

But if it came a little later, it might be a demigod-level cost.

Therefore, Xiao Shi felt that there was no need for him to open the heavenly secret box unless he was absolutely sure that he could open something useful to him.

If the item opened from the heavenly secret box was mediocre, but the cost was very high, it would be a losing proposition.

"Besides using most of the heavenly secret boxes as rewards for Tianji Hall members, I can also take out a portion of the heavenly secret boxes to trade with the three demigod Heavenly Kings, or use the heavenly secret boxes to find a way to attract some people from their great domains into my domain."

Xiao Shi pondered the uses of the heavenly secret box in his mind.

He was well aware of the immense value the heavenly secret box held on the Tianwu Continent.

Even the three demigod Heavenly Kings would be tempted by the heavenly secret box.

Although these three demigod Heavenly Kings had previously set up some measures outside Xiao Shi's domain to prevent other martial artists from joining his domain, now that Xiao Shi had become a Dao Lord, under the concealment of his Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao's starlight, the measures left by the three demigod Heavenly Kings had become ineffective.

Furthermore, under the concealment of the Behind-the-Scenes Heavenly Dao, they could no longer see through Xiao Shi's domain, making it difficult to restrict others from approaching Xiao Shi's domain in the same way as before.

At the same time, Xiao Shi's domain had also expanded beyond its original foundation.

This meant that even if outsiders approached his domain now, they would not be killed by the measures set up by the three demigod Heavenly Kings.

He was fully capable of bringing martial artists from outside into his domain.

If that didn't work, he could use the heavens secret mask's spatial traversal to bring people in.

With the heavenly secret box as such an important resource, Xiao Shi now had an important bargaining chip to win over other martial artists and to trade with the three demigod Heavenly Kings.

He thought for a moment and decided to try contacting Heavenly King Yao Xi first.

He wanted to see how much Heavenly King Yao Xi valued the heavenly secret box.

Based on Heavenly King Yao Xi's emphasis on the heavenly secret box, he could accurately judge its weight and value in the eyes of these Heavenly Kings, and thus set a better price.

Thinking of this, Xiao Shi immediately began to contact Heavenly King Yao Xi… Meanwhile, in a mysterious area of the Tianwu Continent, dark clouds covered the sky, layer upon layer, boundless.

Pale heavenly light struggled to penetrate the clouds, casting its glow upon this lifeless land.

This was… a forbidden zone of life!

The grayish-brown land stretched to the horizon.

Rotten corpses and grayish-white bones were like festering sores on the surface of the earth.

A massive, blood-red lake, like a crimson jewel, was embedded in the ground.

On the blood lake, there was an island.

Up close, it was an island, but from a distance, one would realize that this island looked more like a tomb!

The mound of this tomb was an altar made of large golden stone blocks.

The altar floated in the air, extending nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine suspended stone steps.

At this moment, a figure completely enveloped in a black cloak was climbing the stone steps, one by one.

Soon, the figure enveloped in the black cloak successfully stepped onto the altar after continuous climbing.

"He has become a Dao Lord!"

A deep, hoarse voice came from the black cloak, filled with solemnity.

"Too fast!"

"It's really too fast!"

"He just became a Saint, yet he became a Dao Lord so quickly!"

"The most terrifying thing is that I don't even know how he became a Dao Lord! And his Dao… is the Ancient Heavenly Dao!!"

"I believe the previously formulated plan must be changed!"

On the golden altar, a figure sat cross-legged.

This figure had his head bowed, with no aura emanating from him, like a corpse.

Upon hearing this, his bowed head slightly lifted.

If Xiao Shi were here, he would undoubtedly recognize at a glance that the figure sitting cross-legged on the altar was… the Great Wu Crown Prince!!

However, the Great Wu Crown Prince at this moment had undergone tremendous changes.

Half of his face was covered with countless red blood vessels, making him look incredibly ferocious.

His entire left eye, which Xiao Shi had gouged out, was now just a hollow socket, but countless blood threads spread out from within, merging into the array on the altar beneath him, and then amplified by the array, spreading outwards.

At the same time, the blood vessels on his face frantically wriggled the moment he raised his head.

They all converged into his left eye socket, transforming into a pupil as deep as the starry sky.

The Great Wu Crown Prince looked very eerie at this moment.

His right side of the face was in a lifeless, desolate state with no aura, and his right eye was also tightly shut.

His left face, however, exuded a profound depth, as if he had become another person.

"What are your thoughts?"

The voice he emitted also carried a sense of vicissitude, completely unlike the Great Wu Crown Prince's original voice.

"Actions need to be accelerated!"

The person in the black cloak seemed very anxious.

"I have a premonition…"

"If we follow our original plan, it won't be long before this person becomes a demigod!"

"Once he steps into the demigod realm, our plan will be very difficult to succeed!"

"We must act earlier!"

The "Great Wu Crown Prince" sitting on the altar shook his head.

"The promotion to demigod is not that simple. Even if he is extraordinary, it is impossible for him to be promoted to demigod in a short time…"

"But you are right."

"We do need to plan ahead, and the plan needs to be accelerated."

"The secrets on this person are more numerous than I imagined."

"How about this, we split up. You accelerate your actions, and I will try to directly break his Dao here!"

The person in the black cloak was stunned.

"You want to break his Dao?"

The "Great Wu Crown Prince" sitting on the altar smiled.

"All Daos in the world, whether it's the Heavenly Dao or The Mortal Dao, have flaws."

"As long as there are flaws, the Dao can be broken!"

"You should know that when I was in the Dao Lord Realm, I was known for breaking Daos. The Heavenly Dao… I have broken it before!"