454: wake

Although he successfully killed the Martial Emperor, Xiao Shi's mind did not relax; instead, he felt a sense of trepidation.

His intuition told him that something big was about to happen!

"What exactly did he do?!"

Xiao Shi's expression was grim.

Even though he had immediately killed the Martial Emperor the moment he sensed something was wrong, it was clear that the Martial Emperor's death could not stop whatever was coming.

Otherwise, the Martial Emperor wouldn't have just blurted it out; he would have tried to stall for time.

"Looking at it this way..."

"He was clearly deliberately guiding me to kill him!"

"This means that the major event that is about to happen is very likely to be triggered by the Martial Emperor's death!"

"He intentionally provoked me to kill him precisely to use his own death to trigger this event!!"

Xiao Shi suddenly understood.

A deep sense of unease welled up in his heart.

Although he didn't know what the Martial Emperor had done, he could somewhat deduce that since the Martial Emperor wanted to deal with him, he would inevitably start with the impending catastrophe Xiao Shi was about to face!

After all, the only thing that could threaten him at present was the Martial Dao Ninth Realm's catastrophe.

"Could it be that he wants my catastrophe to arrive early?"

Xiao Shi's heart stirred with a guess.

Through his previous understanding of the Martial Dao Ninth Realm, he knew that the catastrophe usually wouldn't arrive immediately after stepping into the Martial Dao Ninth Realm.

The arrival time of the catastrophe for each Martial Dao Ninth Realm expert was different.

Some were fast, some were slow.

But even the fastest would have at least one or two hundred years.

If the Martial Emperor made his catastrophe arrive early... his situation would be quite dire!

The probability of dying in the catastrophe would be extremely high.

Especially in Xiao Shi's current state, if the catastrophe were to arrive at this moment, he would surely die!

However, Xiao Shi currently showed no signs of an impending catastrophe.

Generally, when the catastrophe is about to arrive, they would have some premonition.

If he felt nothing, it meant that the time until the catastrophe's arrival was still far off.

"If it's not making my catastrophe arrive early..."

"Then what could it be?"

Xiao Shi fell into deep thought.

No matter how he speculated, he couldn't find an accurate answer.

But he was certain... this matter must be related to the catastrophe!

He shook his head.

Xiao Shi temporarily set this doubt aside.

He knew that no matter what he would face next, the most important thing at present was to restore his own origin.

His battle with the Martial Emperor was the most difficult battle he had fought since stepping into the Martial Dao.

This battle was extremely brutal!

Although he successfully killed the Martial Emperor, Xiao Shi himself paid a heavy price.

He needed to restore his Slaughter Origin as soon as possible.

Otherwise, without his origin, he would only have the strength of a Demigod.

In addition to his Slaughter Origin being shattered in this battle, Xiao Shi could also clearly feel that the World Will of the Tianwu Continent had developed hostility towards him.

Although this hostility was not as strong as it was towards the Martial Emperor before, Xiao Shi knew that once the World Will became hostile, it would inevitably make the catastrophe he was about to face even more difficult.

This was also the price Xiao Shi paid for using the World Will's killing intent as a Martial Dao Ninth Realm divine ability!

Throughout history, no Martial Dao Ninth Realm expert had ever dared to use the World Will as their own divine ability.

They all knew very well that rashly touching the World Will would inevitably backfire.

However, Xiao Shi did not regret this.

He knew very well that without the final Tianwu Divine Kill, he would certainly not have been able to kill the Martial Emperor this time.

As the restoration of his origin required some time, Xiao Shi could only restore a small portion now.

While restoring his origin, he also took the opportunity to check the item dropped after killing the Martial Emperor!

He was very much looking forward to this item that dropped after the Martial Emperor's death.

On one hand, it was because of the Martial Emperor's identity.

As the ruler of an era, the item dropped after the Martial Emperor's death would surely not be an ordinary item.

On the other hand, the Martial Emperor's Martial Dao Ninth Realm cultivation meant that the item dropped after his death would at worst be a Martial Dao Ninth Realm-level item!

Such an item... was exactly what Xiao Shi urgently needed at the moment.

Although he successfully killed the Martial Emperor, he knew that he still faced an even greater catastrophe crisis ahead.

And the crisis brought by the catastrophe would be even more troublesome than the crisis brought by the Martial Emperor.

What Xiao Shi needed most now were powerful items!

He had a premonition... the item dropped this time might be the most powerful item he had ever obtained in his life!

With anticipation and excitement in his heart, Xiao Shi looked at the item in his hand.

Information about the item appeared in his vision.

[Name: Divine Crown]

[Type: Crown]

[Grade: Divine Artifact]

[Description: ???]

[Remarks: ???]

Xiao Shi frowned slightly.

The information about this item was quite unexpected.

He didn't expect that he could only see the item's name, type, and grade.

He couldn't see any other related information at all.

"Could it be that I must become a Martial God before I can see the specific information about this item?"

Xiao Shi realized that the reason he couldn't see the item's related information was mainly because the item's grade exceeded his current realm.

What puzzled him was... previously, even if an item exceeded his own realm, he could still see the relevant item information, unless it was an item that exceeded his realm by two levels.

However, the grade of this item now only exceeded his by one realm.

Logically speaking, he should be able to see the relevant item information.

"Then there's only one possibility left."

Xiao Shi took a deep breath.

"Only after becoming a god can I see the relevant information about a divine artifact!"

"Even if I am only one realm away from being a Martial God now, as long as I haven't become a Martial God, I cannot see the relevant information about a divine artifact!"

Xiao Shi had a guess in his heart.

He looked at the divine artifact in his hand.

His heart was somewhat complicated.

Normally, dropping an item of a higher grade was naturally a good thing.

But this also presented him with another problem: he wouldn't be able to use this item until he became a Martial God!

In other words, even if this item was extraordinarily powerful, it couldn't immediately bring him improvement or help him resolve the catastrophe he was about to face.

He had to overcome the catastrophe and become a Martial God before he could use this item.

This was somewhat upsetting.

"It seems..."

"I still can't overcome the catastrophe by relying on item drops."

Xiao Shi sighed.

He knew that the catastrophe he was about to face would certainly not be a normal one.

The Martial Emperor's dying words still echoed in his mind.

At the same time, Xiao Shi was still pondering... how could the Martial Emperor create trouble for him in his dying state?

Suddenly, he thought of a crucial item he had previously overlooked: the Extinction Origin!!

As the Martial Emperor's origin from his previous life, the Martial Emperor had previously used the Extinction Origin as bait to lure Demigod Xing Kui and Xiao Shi.

The origin formed by the Martial Emperor in this life was not the Extinction Origin, but a brand new origin formed by four different heavenly rules.

However, in the battle with Xiao Shi, his origin had been completely destroyed.

But the Extinction Origin from his previous life still existed.

This made Xiao Shi realize... it was highly probable that the Martial Emperor, at the moment of his death, had taken some action through his Extinction Origin from his previous life that Xiao Shi was unaware of!

Although the Martial Emperor in this life did not use the Extinction Origin to advance to the Martial Dao Ninth Realm, the Extinction Origin had always been under his control.

Thinking of this, Xiao Shi immediately began searching for the Extinction Origin.

However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find the Extinction Origin within the Tianwu Continent.

This further confirmed his suspicion.

And the truth was indeed as he had thought.

When the Martial Emperor realized his failure, he decisively detonated the Extinction Origin, thereby accomplishing an earth-shattering event!

The Tianwu Continent was extremely vast.

In addition to the various territories and great domains that were openly visible, there were actually many hidden areas within the Tianwu Continent.

If the Tianwu Continent was regarded as a great world, then these hidden areas were like small worlds attached to the Tianwu Continent.

All of them possessed an independent heaven and earth.

However, due to various reasons, people within the Tianwu Continent were unable to find and access these areas.

Only certain specific individuals could enter these areas.

For example, the area where the Martial Emperor and the Blood Sacrifice Upper God met belonged to a hidden area within the Tianwu Continent.

Only the Martial Emperor could enter this area.

Including the Altar of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect, it was actually also a hidden area within the Tianwu Continent.

Even if others approached these hidden areas, they could not enter them.

There were many similar areas in the Tianwu Continent.

With Xiao Shi's current Martial Dao Ninth Realm cultivation, under his control of the entire Tianwu Continent, it was not difficult to find these hidden areas.

However, his previous battle with the Martial Emperor had caused his current energy to be mainly focused on the recovery of his Slaughter Origin.

At the same time, he also had no leisure to think about searching for these hidden areas.

Just like that, a month after the battle between Xiao Shi and the Martial Emperor, within a hidden area of the Tianwu Continent, this hidden area was a glacier.

The entire glacier land was perpetually silent, devoid of any life, and time seemed to have stopped here.

However, on this day, the entire glacier suddenly began to shake.

The incredibly violent tremors caused the entire glacier to sway.

The ground cracked, and the earth shook!

Under the continuous tremors, a hand pierced through the glacial ground and emerged from deep underground.

A being that had been slumbering deep underground for many years opened its eyes, completely awakening from its slumber!

At the same time, in the Seven Stars Territory, the ancient stone gate located deep underground in the Seven Stars Secret Realm also experienced strong tremors.

Although Xiao Shi had reached this stone gate in the Seven Stars Secret Realm, he had been unable to open it.

He had always been very curious about the existence behind this stone gate.

However, he had never had the opportunity to explore this Seven Stars Secret Realm again.

Now, with the tremors, the entire stone gate, under continuous shaking, emanated crack after crack.

When these cracks spread across the entire stone gate, with a bang, the stone gate exploded, revealing the hidden area within!

And from this hidden area, an ancient sigh emerged... Beneath a lake of fire filled with scorching magma, the previously calm lake suddenly churned with a sea of fire at this moment.

Waves of fire soared into the sky, rushing straight into the clouds.

A colossal face gradually formed above the lake.

The moment this face opened its eyes, the sky above was suddenly dyed crimson, transforming into a fiery red sky.

And sounds like thunder emanated from this gigantic face, booming and exploding within this hidden area.

"Who... has awakened me?"

In an area filled with countless poisonous mists and miasma, teeming with numerous venomous insects, the poisonous mists rolled and layered.

All the venomous insects simultaneously raised their heads and let out sharp, piercing hisses.

Their bellies visibly swelled up at a rapid pace, like inflated balloons.

The next second, with a puff, the swollen bellies of these venomous insects simultaneously burst, and from inside their bellies, more poisonous mists and miasma surged out.

These poisonous mists and miasma continuously gathered, intertwining and weaving together to form a phantom figure, but this figure continuously solidified from its phantom state.

In an instant, it transformed into a real figure... Xiao Shi, who had returned to his own domain, was completely immersed in the restoration of his Slaughter Origin.

After days of recovery, he had successfully restored one-third of his Slaughter Origin.

He was quite satisfied with this progress.

He believed it wouldn't be long before his Slaughter Origin was fully restored.

Besides this, he had also been contemplating the Martial Emperor's intentions during this time.

He had many speculations in his mind.

Now, he could basically confirm that the Martial Emperor had taken some action using the Extinction Origin.

And given the power of the origin, what the Martial Emperor did must not be simple.

These past few days, Xiao Shi had been keeping an eye on the entire Tianwu Continent; any slight disturbance would draw his attention.

However, up until now, he hadn't detected anything unusual.

He also hadn't sensed any signs of his own catastrophe arriving early.

Just then, Xiao Shi suddenly felt that his control over the Tianwu Continent had inexplicably decreased!

When he became a Martial Dao Ninth Realm expert, he already had control over the entire Tianwu Continent.

This decrease in control had occurred once before, when the Martial Emperor broke through to the Martial Dao Ninth Realm.

He knew that this was because when two Martial Dao Ninth Realm experts appeared simultaneously in the Tianwu Continent, their control over the Tianwu Continent was divided.

And now... the same situation had occurred again!

This meant that another Martial Dao Ninth Realm expert, besides him, had appeared in the Tianwu Continent!

Not only that, but Xiao Shi had just felt his control over the Tianwu Continent decrease by half, and the next second, within that decreased half, it decreased by half again!