“Hiss!”
Not long after, he broke through another level, advancing from the equivalent of the eighth level of a Yuan Force Martial Emperor to the ninth level.
Then, he advanced from the ninth level of a Martial Emperor to the half step Martial Saint stage, and from there directly broke through to the equivalent of the first level of a Martial Saint.
Moreover, the breakthroughs did not stop, continuing rapidly.
First level of Martial Saint, to the second, to the third…
Fourth, fifth, sixth level of Martial Saint.
The crystal stone monument was being consumed extremely slowly, and even now, it had not yet reached half depletion.
Afterwards, Lin Xiao Hand Sea advanced again from the equivalent of the sixth level of a Yuan Force Martial Saint to the seventh and eighth levels.
Furthermore, it did not cease, continuing to break through to the equivalent of the ninth level and the Minor Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm.
Even upon reaching the Minor Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm, it was not the end, as the Hand Sea continued to progress.
It only stopped after breaking through to the equivalent of the Major Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm.
“My heavens!” At that moment, Lin Xiao heart was filled with both shock and joy.
He had never expected that this petrification power could rely on high quality stone to break through continuously.
It was completely unlike Yuan Force or spiritual power, which face a massive barrier when attempting to break through to the Martial Saint realm, and encounter lightning tribulations at the Minor and Major Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint stages.
This petrification power had no such special restrictions, nor did it trigger any lightning tribulations.
Feeling the Hand Sea that was now equivalent to the Major Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm, Lin Xiao immediately felt his blood boil with excitement.
The combat power of the petrification power was roughly equal to his Yuan Force, possessing a strong ability to fight across realms.
Lin Xiao estimated that his petrification power might have reached the same tier of strength as spiritual power driven by spiritual energy, even surpassing his current Yuan Force by a considerable margin.
This petrification power was far too vast and terrifying.
Lin Xiao even began to consider searching for high quality stone to rely on this petrification power to break through to the equivalent of the Yuan Force Emperor Ascension realm.
Breaking through to the Martial Emperor realm with Yuan Force would certainly involve an immense barrier, but the petrification power likely would not.
Because the petrification power did not require condensing an Emperor Source or opening an Emperor Treasury, it counted as an alternative cultivation method.
If there were higher quality stone available, it would certainly be able to breach the Martial Emperor realm.
At the very least, it would be far simpler than breaking through to Martial Emperor with Yuan Force.
Lin Xiao was overjoyed, never having expected that the Heaven Sealing Stone Hand would yield such enormous benefits in its later stages.
This cultivation system completely surpassed the Yuan Force and spiritual power systems in terms of advancement, provided one possessed enough high grade stone.
However, this was likely related to the Heaven Sealing Stone Hand itself.
As for the exact reason, Lin Xiao did not dwell on it.
Regaining his senses, he looked up and ahead, only to be startled.
At that moment, Hu Yue and the heavily injured Mu Pingsheng were not far before him.
“Hu Yue, why did you, why did you both come here?” Lin Xiao asked in surprise.
“You have been cultivating here for ten days. How could I not worry? Several days ago, I slowly approached to investigate, discovered you were refining that stone monument, and chose not to disturb you,” Hu Yue scolded gently.
“Ten days?” Lin Xiao was stunned.
It seemed he had been so absorbed in refining the crystal stone monument that he had lost track of time, spending a full ten days on the process.
But it was actually quite normal to think about it.
His Hand Sea had advanced from the equivalent of the seventh level of a Martial Emperor all the way to the Major Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm.
This was equivalent to a complete major realm plus four additional levels.
Such a breakthrough could not possibly be achieved instantly, and it naturally required a fair amount of time.
Ten days was already extremely fast.
If others knew he had only taken ten days to advance from the equivalent of the seventh level of a Martial Emperor to the Major Lightning Tribulation Martial Saint realm, they would undoubtedly be shocked to the point of doubting their own reality.
“Where is my Fourth Ancestor? What did you do to him?” At that moment, Mu Pingsheng, who was heavily injured and nearly powerless, could not help but ask.
For so many days, he had been pondering this question. Lin Xiao was the only one left in this area, and he had no idea what had happened to his Fourth Ancestor.
If his guess was correct, his Fourth Ancestor must have been defeated and fled.
Although he found it hard to accept.
After several days, he had more or less come to terms with this reality in his heart.
Yet, without confirmation from Lin Xiao, he could not be entirely certain.
“Your Fourth Ancestor?” Lin Xiao looked at Mu Pingsheng with pity, and said, “I killed him.”
“What?” Mu Pingsheng body trembled, as if struck by a bolt of lightning from a clear sky.
“Impossible, he is a Martial Emperor expert. How could you possibly kill him? He must have escaped, you are definitely lying to me!” Mu Pingsheng stated with unwavering certainty.
“You do not believe me?” Lin Xiao took a skeletal frame out of his storage ring.
Although it was merely a skeleton, being the remains of a Martial Emperor still induced an inexplicable sense of suppression, as though one were facing a Martial Emperor directly.
Even without any substantial pressure, it still evoked that peculiar sensation.
“This, this is impossible!” Mu Pingsheng completely broke down.
Previously, he could accept the fact that his Fourth Ancestor had been utterly defeated and fled.
But hearing that his Fourth Ancestor had been killed and reduced to a skeletal frame for collection made it completely unbearable for him.
His Fourth Ancestor had always projected an image of invincibility and supreme authority as a Martial Emperor.
And now, he was actually dead, slain at the hands of a youth.
It was something he simply could not believe.
Beside them, Hu Yue was also deeply shocked.
Did Lin Xiao now possess the strength to kill a Martial Emperor?
That was far too terrifying.
“There is nothing impossible about it. Answer some questions for me.” Lin Xiao put the skeletal frame away, then activated his spiritual sense, instantly taking control of Mu Pingsheng mind.
He then began to interrogate Mu Pingsheng on several matters.
These questions were largely similar to what Hu Yue had asked earlier.
They all concerned Emperor Source Liquid, the Mu family, and the region where the Mu family resided.
After taking mental control, Lin Xiao managed to extract one additional question that Hu Yue had not asked.
That was, the Mu family also faced a hidden threat.
This threat did not come from the other Martial Emperor family, the Guo family.
However, Mu Pingsheng knowledge was limited, and he did not know which faction this threatening force belonged to.
“Now, you may die.” After speaking, Lin Xiao channelled his spiritual power, hurling Mu Pingsheng far away, and then took out the skeletal palm, directing it to fly over.
As spiritual power flowed into it, netherworld power surged forth, corroding Mu Pingsheng corpse into a skeletal frame.
Afterwards, Lin Xiao stored both the skeletal palm and Mu Pingsheng skeleton.
After all, Mu Pingsheng was a quasi emperor level expert, and it would not be difficult for him to refine a quasi emperor combat skeleton now. Having an extra quasi emperor combat skeleton would certainly prove useful.
“Where are we going now, to the Mu family, or shall we continue waiting for the Azure Emperor?” At that moment, Hu Yue asked Lin Xiao.
Crack!
Yet, before Lin Xiao could answer, the ground beneath his feet suddenly split open.
A massive fissure emerged from the earth, tearing apart for thousands of miles in both directions.
Simultaneously, a boundless and terrifying aura suddenly surged forth from beneath the ground.