Chapter 284: Chapter 141: With a Single Breath, He Can Annihilate a Hundred from the Ninth Layer, What Layer Is He Exactly?_2
"Even if he had hundreds of Profound Truth Jades on him, he wouldn’t have time to absorb True Qi. After all, his Realm was a limiting factor; a Sixth Layer Cultivator’s absorption rate was nowhere near that of a Ninth Layer Cultivator!"
Third Princess Xiaoo Ying’Er furrowed her brows. How strange! I personally saw Mu Shiba ascend to the Sixth Layer after consuming the Rare Wood Spirit Object! Could it be that in the cave, Mu Shiba didn’t actually reach the Sixth Layer and was just joking? Is he truly an Eighth Layer or even a Ninth Layer Cultivator? But my Blood Bath Divine Skill has never failed in sensing True Qi! For a moment, the Third Princess of Great Xia, her delicate face full of doubt, began to question the accuracy of her Blood Bath Divine Skill.
However, a glint of hope soon flickered in her eyes. "Over two hundred steps! Mr. Mu has walked over two hundred steps! Doesn’t this mean there’s a slight chance he might finish all three hundred steps and touch that Celestial Demon Bone?"
Guan Nanfeng froze upon hearing this, frowning in contemplation. Mu Shiba obtaining the Celestial Demon Bone? Remembering that he had once indirectly objected to Mu Shiba becoming a Tributor at the Princess’s Mansion, the steward’s face grew somewhat unsightly. Looking at Mu Shiba’s current performance, if he could indeed obtain and merge with the Celestial Demon Bone... no matter his Realm, he would immediately become one of the most sought-after figures in the Great Xia Dynasty! Even Emperor Xiao of Great Xia and the Supreme Emperor would vie to win him over! That would likely be the first Fourth Layer Celestial Demon Bone in the Great Xia Dynasty!
With this thought, Guan Nanfeng’s eyes flickered. The day’s events are incredibly thrilling! First, discovering that Mu Shiba, at the Sixth Layer, could defeat a late-stage Seventh Layer Great Demon. Then, finding out that the Demon Bone, initially thought to be a Second Layer Celestial Demon Bone, was actually a Fourth Layer Celestial Demon Bone that even I, at Eighth-Layer Perfection, couldn’t touch. And further realizing that Mu Shiba, whom I believed to be at the Sixth Layer, might be far stronger—possibly even surpassing me! Great Xia Deities above, this is too thrilling!
「In the near distance,」
Among nearly a thousand powerful cultivators, General Wang Linghui, who had previously advanced the farthest, said, his expression shifting, "This distance... it must be around two hundred and thirty steps! He actually walked this far!? Based on my recent experience within the Demon Qi Group, I fear that even if I were to advance to the Ninth Layer, I still wouldn’t be able to reach such a distance! What on earth is this Mu Shiba’s Cultivation? Is he at the late stage or Perfection of the Ninth Layer?"
"It may not necessarily be his Realm, but rather extraordinary Talent?" Little Yu King couldn’t help but interject, "Mr. Mu Shiba’s strength should be at the Sixth Layer! Or perhaps he possesses some Treasure or a unique Talent?"
"Impossible!" General Yu Jiansheng stated decisively. "No Treasure in this world can withstand the annihilation brought by Celestial Demon Qi—not even Exorcism Armor! This Mu Shiba must be hiding his true strength. Changge, don’t make wild guesses!"
Han Li, longsword on his back, mused aloud, "If Mu Shiba is a Ninth Layer Cultivator, then which powerhouse from the Great Xia Summer List is he disguised as? Most Ninth Layer powerhouses in our Great Xia Dynasty already possess a Celestial Demon Bone, and since a Cultivator can only merge with one, most of the Summer List’s Ninth Layer powerhouses wouldn’t be here. Of the remaining dozen or so Ninth Layer powerhouses..."
Han Li paused, and the crowd immediately began to speculate.
"Sect Leader Huang Qiexie of the Fire Cloud Sect in the Southern Border reached the Ninth Layer twelve years ago and hasn’t merged with a Celestial Demon Bone. But when Sect Leader Huang activates his True Qi, his entire body emits flame-like True Qi. Mu Shiba shouldn’t be Sect Leader Huang!"
"Could it be Sect Master Zhou Qianchong of the Earth Armor Sect in the Southern Border? But Sect Master Zhou has long, jade-green hair and is famously proud of it. He wouldn’t disguise himself as someone else, let alone dye his hair black!"
"Or could it be Elder Dugu Jiu, the Independent Cultivator from the Eastern Six Prefectures? It’s rumored his Abnormal Technique comes from a Demon Sect in the Rakshasa Kingdom, and he excels in various Poison Techniques, Disguise Techniques, and Puppetry... Given Mu Shiba’s proficiency in refining Spirit Puppets, perhaps he is Elder Dugu Jiu!"
"If he is indeed the elusive Elder Dugu Jiu, we must certainly try to connect with him this time!" Han Li couldn’t help but exclaim.
Eighth Layer Powerhouse Yang Luochen shook his head. "Even if he isn’t Elder Dugu Jiu, what does it matter? Any Cultivator who obtains a Celestial Demon Bone is worth befriending! Every Celestial Demon Bone represents a Secret Realm that can expand over time, which is equivalent to a Little World!"
General Wang Linghui agreed, "Exactly! Especially since this Celestial Demon Bone before us is likely a Third Layer Celestial Demon Bone. That means it’s not just a Little World issue—the Ba Mountain Secret Realm could eventually grow to a size comparable to one-fifth of Great Xia’s entire territory!"
In the crowd, Little Yu King quietly shook his head upon hearing this. These old folks are just guessing wildly! Mr. Mu’s Spirit Puppet Technique seems to have been learned from the Third Princess, so how could he be Elder Dugu Jiu? Still, if this Mr. Mu Shiba truly obtains the Third Layer Celestial Demon Bone... he is definitely worth befriending! After all, the Ba Mountain Secret Realm produces Heavy Water Spiritual Objects and is one of only two such Secret Realms in Great Xia. Plus, the Demon Techniques of a Third Layer Celestial Demon Bone would be incredibly powerful!
Amid the crowd’s discussion, Third Princess Xiaoo Ying’Er, standing not far from the Demon Qi Group, watched the sphere of light intently. Her fair hands were clenched, and her expression grew increasingly tense. She knew very well that the Celestial Demon Bone before them was definitely not Third Layer. The closer to the center, the denser the Demon Qi became. Mu Shiba seemed to have walked over two hundred and eighty steps; he was just over ten steps away!
But these final ten-odd steps were harder than all the previous two hundred combined, requiring more than ten times the effort—perhaps even dozens of times more!
To walk three hundred steps... even failing to complete the very last one could result in failure, leading to immediate annihilation of body and soul!
Mu Shiba, I truly hope you can merge with this Fourth Layer Celestial Demon Bone!
「At the very center of the Demon Qi Group,」
Lin Xuankong moved with extreme difficulty, each step a monumental effort. He was now only ten steps away!
Here, the pressure from the Demon Qi increased dramatically. It took him four or five breaths to take a single step, and with every breath, the Demon Qi annihilated nearly ten thousand points of his True Qi!
Lin Xuankong found it hard to imagine what Realm he would have needed to reach to withstand such a terrifying rate of annihilation if he didn’t possess the Vigorous in Old Age Life Plate. Taking one step forward required five breaths. If one breath annihilated ten thousand points of True Qi, that meant a single step consumed fifty to sixty thousand points of True Qi! The True Qi limit for a Ninth Layer Cultivator, without using Rare Wood Spirit Objects, was only around five hundred points. The time it took him to take one step would be enough to obliterate more than a hundred ordinary Ninth Layer Cultivators! This utterly terrifying speed of annihilation... He feared that even if Immortals were to come, several would perish in a single breath!
Lin Xuankong glanced at the rapidly changing numbers on his Life Plate, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. If he hadn’t made such meticulous preparations beforehand, and if Third Princess Xiaoo Ying’Er hadn’t valued him and gifted him that Rare Wood Spirit Object, allowing his True Qi reserves to skyrocket after he advanced to the Sixth Layer, he feared that even with the Vigorous in Old Age Life Plate, he wouldn’t have made it this far!