That evening, Zi Huang arranged a banquet at the inn to celebrate Lin Xiao’s success.
Naturally, it was only attended by the Zi and Li family teams, along with a few from Wanxiang Pavilion. No others were invited, just a casual gathering.
As the banquet ended, Lin Xiao claimed he was returning to his room to rest, leaving to avoid Zi Huang and the others treating him as if he were in seclusion, protecting him heavily, unaware of his plan to refine the Sheng Shi Stone.
Once back in his room, Lin Xiao eagerly took out the Sheng Shi Token. After examining it, he decided, “Since it has no other use, I’ll have to refine you!”
With that, Lin Xiao pressed his palm onto the Sheng Shi Stone embedded in the token.
Hiss!
As expected, his hand sea reacted as if encountering a rare delicacy. The petrification power surged uncontrollably, and his entire arm turned to stone at a visible speed, transforming into a stone hand in an instant.
His palm, touching the Sheng Shi Stone, devoured it ravenously as the petrification power surged, frantically absorbing the stone.
In a flash, Lin Xiao felt a stream of exceptionally high-quality stone energy flood into his hand sea, causing it to surge instantly.
The absorption was too fast. The single Sheng Shi Stone was consumed almost instantly, disappearing from the token. His hand sea rapidly refined the stone energy it had become.
The Sheng Shi Stone didn’t contain much stone energy, but its quality was extraordinary. In mere moments, Lin Xiao’s hand sea underwent a qualitative transformation, advancing one level, equivalent to a breakthrough in his dantian cultivation.
A terrifying petrification power surged within his hand sea, leaving Lin Xiao both shocked and elated.
He hadn’t expected his petrification power to advance again in such a short time. Even refining large chunks of high-grade stone before had never been this swift.
Truly worthy of the Sheng Shi Stone, exceptional indeed!
Just one grain was enough to advance his hand sea by one level!
However, Lin Xiao felt a slight regret. The Sheng Shi Stone, preserved for countless years, had only pushed him one level forward.
Of course, given the scarcity of Sheng Shi Stones, just one grain meant limited stone energy.
If it were the size of a fist, Lin Xiao could hardly imagine how far his hand sea would advance.
The Sheng Shi walls shared the same origin as the Sheng Shi Stone. If he could rapidly refine the Sheng Shi Stone on the token, could he do the same with the Sheng Shi walls? A sudden idea sparked, and Lin Xiao’s eyes lit up.
When he first arrived at Sheng Shi City, he had entertained this thought. But considering the walls’ stone was indestructible even to Martial Emperors, and he had no means to refine it, he dismissed the idea.
Now, it seemed otherwise!
Though his petrification power paled compared to a Martial Emperor’s, it was uniquely special, inexplicably connected to stone, as if it were its nemesis. He could refine even the Sheng Shi Stone, which Martial Emperors couldn’t destroy.
If he could refine this grain of Sheng Shi Stone, then the walls made of it should also be within his reach.
The thought sent a thrill through Lin Xiao, his heart pounding.
A single grain of Sheng Shi Stone had advanced his hand sea one level. What about an entire wall of it?
A thousand-mile stretch of Sheng Shi Stone walls—wouldn’t that be an endless supply of stone resources?
Of course, Sheng Shi City was the foundation of the southeast region, and its walls were the bedrock of that foundation. Destroying the walls would undermine the region’s stability.
Deep down, Lin Xiao was unwilling to cause such destruction.
After all, he couldn’t be certain if one day the southeast region, or even the entire human race, might face a massive crisis.
Moreover, the Sheng family, which governed Sheng Shi City, and all the region’s factions would never allow anyone to damage the walls.
If he tried, wouldn’t countless Martial Emperors reduce him to ash?
But refining just a small piece of the wall shouldn’t be an issue, right? Lin Xiao paused, thinking to himself.
A massive wall—refining just a tiny corner should have no impact, not even affecting the wall’s original function. It might go unnoticed.
In the short term, even the Sheng family patrols on the walls likely wouldn’t notice.
Besides, the walls stood dozens of meters tall. Truly damaging them would require refining a large section, which, with his current strength, was impossible.
After some thought, Lin Xiao mused, “I have two Invisibility Pills, plus the Sky Eye to conceal my aura. Refining a piece of the Sheng Shi wall in the dead of night shouldn’t be detected. It’s decided!”
With that, Lin Xiao made up his mind.
He had two Invisibility Pills, prepared when he gave the pill formula to Zi Ling for the Zi family to gather herbs, intending to infiltrate the Jin family to rescue Ling Xiao.
The herbs weren’t found in time, so the pills went unused. Now, they would serve a great purpose.
When midnight arrived, Lin Xiao took out an Invisibility Pill and swallowed it. A power akin to an invisibility phenomenon activated, rendering his body invisible to his own sight.
To ensure his stone hand would also be concealed, Lin Xiao tested the Sealing Heaven Stone Hand, petrifying his arm. The petrified arm remained invisible.
Relieved, Lin Xiao confirmed the Invisibility Pill’s effect wouldn’t be disrupted by physical changes.
With his form hidden and aura concealed by the Sky Eye, unless someone was too close, even a Martial Emperor likely couldn’t detect him.
Soon, Lin Xiao stealthily slipped out of the Tian Jiao Inn, flying low towards the Sheng Shi City walls.
His heart pounded with excitement.
A massive piece of Sheng Shi Stone! Lin Xiao swallowed hard, his throat making a gulping sound.
His hand sea, after refining the special black stone Zi Huang gave him, had reached a level equivalent to sixth-stage Martial Venerable yuan force, capable of contending with a first-stage Martial Lord.
Now, refining a Sheng Shi Stone had advanced it another level, equivalent to seventh-stage Martial Venerable, with combat power roughly able to rival a second-stage Martial Lord.
His petrification power was still far from matching the top geniuses in the final assembly ranking.
If he could refine another piece of Sheng Shi Stone and advance one or two levels, it could serve as a trump card for the final ranking.
If he could break through three levels with the Sheng Shi Stone, reaching the equivalent of first-stage Martial Lord, sweeping all geniuses in the final ranking would likely be no issue.
The more Lin Xiao thought, the more excited he grew. Before long, he reached the void near the Sheng Shi walls, his eyes scanning the city.
There were indeed Sheng family patrols on the walls. However, with a thousand-mile circumference, not every section was constantly patrolled. After circling the walls, Lin Xiao found an unmanned spot, landed on the wall, and gazed at a protruding corner, thinking, “This is the one!”
He then extended his right hand, pressing his palm onto the corner.
