Chapter 1015: Half-Saint Descends, Forcing the 'Shou Shou' Combination to Desperately Go Mad

"You're here?"

"What's here?"

Situ Yongren was first taken aback by the question, then glanced over and saw Huang Quan's haughty, upward gaze, suddenly realizing what it meant.

"The Half-Sage is here?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Mm." Xu Xiao Shou nodded slightly.

Situ Yongren's legs went weak in an instant.

The Half-Sage is here, and you're still so calm? This is probably to kill you!

Please, at a time like this, stop pretending, okay?

"Senior..."

Situ Yongren hesitated, wanting to say, "Run quickly, and take me with you."

After all, he already knew the Jiang Shi Half-Sage's plan, and with a Half-Sage's abilities, it wouldn't be hard to figure out that he was aware of it, leading to... both of them being silenced!

But their positions were different, so Situ Yongren really couldn't bring himself to ask to go with Huang Quan.

"Thump-thump, thump-thump..."

The Sheng Di Long Lin beat faster and faster.

This meant the Jiang Shi Half-Sage was in the deep sea forbidden law barrier, tracing back through time and space at an incredibly rapid speed.

Xu Xiao Shou didn't know what methods the other side was using.

But the power of a Half-Sage was terrifying; he was already starting to sweat on his back.

"What's there to fear?"

Though his heart was filled with alarm, Xu Xiao Shou maintained a facade of calm on the surface, his eyes indifferently fixed on the void, as if staring at something unseen. "The deep sea has a forbidden law barrier. How much of a Half-Sage's power can remain after entering the water?"

"Though a Half-Sage's power will be sealed, yours won't be much better off, right?" Situ Yongren almost blurted out, but managed to hold back.

The fact that Huang Quan could use abilities in the forbidden law barrier was already beyond his expectations.

But no matter how many ways there were to circumvent the barrier's seals, there had to be limits, didn't there?

Besides, if you have ways around it, wouldn't the Half-Sage have methods too?

In a balanced situation, how could a sealed Tai Xu defeat a sealed Half-Sage?

"Senior... are you thinking of counter-killing?" Situ Yongren asked, his voice slightly stammering. Though he couldn't see anyone, the tingling on his spine and the sudden premonition told him that Huang Quan's words might be true.

The great enemy was approaching!

"Counter-kill?"

Xu Xiao Shou chuckled.

He was still holding on.

He had to persist until the very last moment, forcing Situ Yongren into this alliance in a desperate situation, so that the overall plan would be secured.

"Counter-killing is impossible; a Half-Sage is still a Half-Sage. I won't be foolish enough to clash head-on. The priority right now..."

Xu Xiao Shou turned his gaze back to Situ Yongren's face, looking at the man's panicked expression. "I'll take my leave first. Take care of yourself."

With that, he lifted his foot, and spatial power bloomed in his hand, about to step into the spatial vortex to teleport away.

"Senior, wait!"

Situ Yongren's lips turned pale as he panicked. You're running— what about me?

Truth be told, the situation was so dire that he didn't even need the Jiang Shi Half-Sage to come and silence him; as soon as you leave, the deep sea pressure will crush me. How can I protect myself?

"Senior, could you take me along?" Situ Yongren finally spoke up.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Xu Xiao Shou's lips.

Retreating to advance— it worked!

"Take you?"

He didn't agree immediately but teased, "You need to understand, you're the Holy Son of the Sheng Shen Dian Tang, and I'm the Yan Wang of the dark forces.

"Our paths are different; we shouldn't conspire together. If we're seen together...

"It might not even wait for the Jiang Shi Half-Sage— under the crowd's mockery, you'd have no way to defend yourself."

Situ Yongren was well aware of the risks.

But right now, he had no other choice.

Huang Quan had already destroyed his protective spiritual artifact, so this was basically a forced "burning of boats," wasn't it?

"Damn it..."

Though anxious enough to scratch his head, Situ Yongren could still calmly analyze the situation and argue for himself: "Senior, you don't need to worry about that. As long as I survive, I can easily handle those trivial matters.

"The key now is that we're both grasshoppers on the same rope; we can't separate.

"Besides, Senior, you destroyed my protective artifact precisely to force me onto your... ahem, ship, right?

"You want to use the Sheng Shen Dian Tang's power to fight the Jiang Shi Half-Sage, and I need to stay alive to compile the details of this situation into solid intelligence and send it out, to claim... uh!"

Situ Yongren paused, clearly getting worked up, then gritted his teeth and continued: "Let's put it this way, Senior, you have your plans, and I want to claim merits. We're heading toward the same goal now. If you help me, it's like helping yourself, right?"

"You're very calm." A hint of admiration appeared in Xu Xiao Shou's eyes.

This guy was really tough; even at a time like this, he could come up with so many logical arguments just to survive.

But wasn't that exactly his own intention?

Situ Yongren was desperate to spread that false intelligence, smearing the Jiang Shi Half-Sage and the Yan Wang, and Xu Xiao Shou needed this guy's master's "influence" to intimidate the Jiang Shi Half-Sage.

So, the request could naturally be agreed to.

But the strategy of "desiring to capture, first release" worked because the "release" had to be thorough; only then, once they were bound together, could the "capture" be even tighter!

Xu Xiao Shou ignored the increasingly frantic thumping of the Sheng Di Long Lin, furrowed his brows, and said, "You'd better think this through. This is your own request, not me coercing you."

"Yes!" Situ Yongren nodded vigorously.

He knew full well that the other was playing the game of desiring to capture by first releasing. But when a scheme becomes an open plot, and not going along with it means only one outcome—death—Situ Yongren understood that he should just play dumb now.

—What a rare mess!

Xu Xiao Shou's expression remained unchanged as he continued, "If the Jiang Shi Half-Sage sees you siding with me, he'll understand your choice.

"He won't care if it was voluntary or not, or how much face your master has, because you've already learned his plan.

"By then, you might not even get a chance to send a message before you're killed by him.

"You understand that, right?"

Situ Yongren looked left and right repeatedly, though he couldn't see anything; that scalp-tingling sensation grew stronger.

He nodded like pounding garlic, his voice even carrying a hint of a sob: "Senior, I'm not stupid...

"I only have one path left now!"

Poor kid.

Xu Xiao Shou thought to himself that Situ Yongren's hatred for Yan Wang Huang Quan probably outweighed his resentment for the Jiang Shi Half-Sage right now, though he hadn't shown it.

But all that...

Had nothing to do with Sheng Nu Xu Xiao Shou!

"Alright." He nodded firmly. "Since that's your intention, I'll take you along and save your life."

Situ Yongren's eyes lit up immediately: "Thank you, Senior!"

He stepped forward, about to cling to Yan Wang Huang Quan's body for the teleportation.

But after extending his hand, he found the man in the golden mask still unmoving.

Situ Yongren was baffled. "Senior, why aren't we leaving? What are we waiting for?"

Are we waiting to die?!

Hurry up and take me away!

His mindset was exploding.

"Wait a moment."

Xu Xiao Shou spoke calmly, though a flash of madness gleamed in his eyes.

Hearing is believing, seeing is knowing.

Up to this point, Situ Yongren had only learned about the Jiang Shi Half-Sage's plans from his one-sided words.

Of course, in this crisis, he would choose to side with him.

But once they escaped, would he still take it seriously?

He said it was to claim merits, but after some interaction, Xu Xiao Shou knew Situ Yongren wasn't a good person; the guy was just as scheming and sharp-minded.

So, he had to let Situ Yongren see the Jiang Shi Half-Sage in person!

As long as he saw him face-to-face and recognized the identity...

No need for conversation; Situ Yongren would subconsciously affirm all the psychological suggestions he'd implanted, like "Jiang Shi Half-Sage wants to overthrow the family," "Jiang Shi Half-Sage is plotting for family power," "Jiang Shi Half-Sage has bypassed the Sheng Shen Dian Tang and is eyeing a higher position and bigger prize," and so on!

These charges were magnitudes greater than just "Jiang Shi Half-Sage plotting against the family child."

The latter was personal.

The former was the outrageous scheme of a Half-Sage family!

As long as Situ Yongren survived this ordeal and reported these fabricated "plots" as facts to the Sheng Shen Dian Tang headquarters...

The matter of the family child alone might not alarm the highest levels.

But with those three charges...

Xu Xiao Shou believed the entire Bei Yu Pu Xuan Jiang Shi would be doomed!

Shui Gui's task for Xu Xiao Shou was to lure the Half-Sage into the water, then commit sacrilege, and ideally, slaughter the saint.

But Xu Xiao Shou wasn't satisfied with that.

This involved his junior sister and the family child...

If this threat wasn't eliminated, troubles would keep coming.

So, since he'd encountered Situ Yongren as a pawn, he would use the smallest cost in the deep sea to drive the wolf to devour the tiger and borrow a knife to kill.

—Utilize the Sheng Shen Dian Tang to wipe out the entire Bei Yu Pu Xuan Jiang Shi!

"Thump-thump..."

"Thump-thump..."

"Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump!"

The three hearts at the scene were pounding wildly.

Xu Xiao Shou suppressed the fear of facing the saint, staring fixedly upward without turning back, and asked, "You recognize the Jiang Shi Half-Sage's face and aura, right?"

"Gulp."

Situ Yongren swallowed hard, his face turning pale.

He already understood what Yan Wang Huang Quan intended, and replied, "Of course I do."

"I won't deceive you."

Xu Xiao Shou turned his gaze, smirking with a terrifying glint in his eyes behind the mask, but spoke gently: "Follow my lead, and the intelligence you'll gain this time will help you get anything you want!"

"Gulp."

Situ Yongren swallowed again, this time with excitement.

He nodded vigorously: "I understand."

Yan Wang Huang Quan wanted to use the Sheng Shen Dian Tang to eliminate Bei Yu Pu Xuan Jiang Shi; for Situ Yongren, he had only one choice: reluctantly become the blade.

But "reluctantly" would never match "willingly."

Since he was doomed to walk this path of "one general's success on ten thousand bones," Situ Yongren dared to use the Sheng Shen Dian Tang as his chess piece to pave a broad road for himself.

As long as what Huang Quan said was true... no, as long as a third of it was true!

Afterward, he, Situ Yongren, could use the excuse of "Jiang Shi Half-Sage intending to encroach on the Sheng Di position" to slaughter an entire Half-Sage clan.

Then, with that monumental merit, he could leisurely claim the position of Dao Bu Head.

And even gain more.

Of course...

When the path truly led there, the "truth" wouldn't matter anymore.

In Situ Yongren's eyes at that moment, he was already on the thief's ship; this wave was either his death or the entire Jiang Shi clan wiped out.

As long as he saw the real Jiang Shi Half-Sage later...

Regardless of whether the other had such grand schemes...

He, Situ Yongren, would say they did, and even if they didn't, they would have to!

—That's how a community of interests works.

"Splash."

In the deep sea, ripples gently stirred.

After the two fell silent, the thumping heartbeats were so piercing, like butterflies flapping wings to stir up a gale, creating turbulent undercurrents in the deep sea.

Waiting...

A nearly suffocating wait...

Situ Yongren's whole body tensed, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, and veins bulged on his forehead.

"Swish."

Suddenly, the water surged, and there was movement beside him.

"Who!"

Situ Yongren shouted, turning his head to see Yan Wang Huang Quan reaching out... toward the back of his own head.

Situ Yongren froze. "Sen-Senior...?"

"So jumpy." Xu Xiao Shou smirked slightly under the mask, adding a touch of amusement. "I'm just bored and scratching an itch. Why react so dramatically?"

With that, he scratched the back of his neck a couple of times.

Situ Yongren: ???

He felt like killing someone right then.

With a great enemy at hand, could you stop messing around?!

"Reprimanded, passive value +1."

"Cursed, passive value +1."

"Splash!"

Before one wave settled, another rose.

As Situ Yongren was frantically cursing in his heart, the Sheng Di Long Lin's high-frequency heartbeats, ten times per second, suddenly stopped.

At the same time.

Not far in front, the water parted rapidly to both sides.

At the wave's crest, clouds and mist gathered into a solid form, and an elder landed with a smile.

He had eyes as clear and bright as a child's, but his hair was white, with frost at his temples and slight crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, giving him a kindly appearance.

However!

The deep sea forbidden law barrier sealed everyone's power!

This time, the elder appeared without any clouds or mist to conceal him.

And seeing a Half-Sage's true form was like a mortal beholding a god; the soul would tremble.

"Dong!" With one glance, Xu Xiao Shou's heart stopped.

"Dong!" Situ Yongren looked sideways, and the same happened.

Though the elder made no moves, both felt as if they were facing a divine spirit, realizing their own insignificance like ants, utterly powerless to resist.

"You must be Huang Quan?" The elder stopped and fixed his gaze like a sword.

"Shocked, passive value +1."

Under the mask, Xu Xiao Shou's face turned deathly pale, losing all color.

I overdid it!

Shui Gui didn't lie to me!

This Half-Sage couldn't even be seen; I should have run earlier...

If this wasn't Xu Xiao Shou's first time facing a saint, he was still overwhelmed by the immense pressure, unable to utter a word.

Situ Yongren's reaction was better than his.

Because he'd spent a long time by his master's side, he had some resistance to such pressure.

"Half-Sage, Jiang Bu Yi!"

He stared wide-eyed and forced out the words.

Situ Yongren saw a massive opportunity waving at him, but also the Grim Reaper slowly extending his scythe.

His hand behind his back waved frantically, almost turning to wail at Yan Wang Huang Quan beside him:

"I recognize him; it's the real one!

"Even if you're deceiving me, as long as I survive, he'll be done for! But...

"What are you waiting for? Take me and run! This is the Half-Sage's true body!"

But Situ Yongren would never imagine that the absolute pillar he saw in Yan Wang Huang Quan was actually a Zong Shi peer with even lower cultivation than himself.

Right now...

With the Half-Sage targeting him directly, Xu Xiao Shou couldn't even move a finger!