Chapter 1018: The Words of the Half-Sage Exterminating the Clan

“Thump! Thump!”

“Thump! Thump!”

After a brief pause, the Sheng Di Long Lin began pounding rapidly again.

Xu Xiaoshou knew that the persistent Jiang Buyi was approaching once more.

Even with the speed of a Ban Sheng, without using Sheng Yuan to assist, it should still surpass Tai Xu’s speed and close in quickly.

But no matter how fast, it probably couldn’t match instant teleportation…

“It’s time to go.”

Xu Xiaoshou looked at Situ Yongren and slowly extended his hand.

Situ Yongren, like a helpless doll, closed his eyes in despair, all too familiar with this escape routine.

In the next second, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed his collar, flung him over his shoulder, and a wave of spatial power surged around them.

The moment the forbidden seal’s barrier lit up, the two vanished from the spot.

Whoosh!

Three breaths later, a streak of light arrived.

Jiang Buyi’s Ban Sheng avatar landed there, gazing at the empty deep sea with annoyance on his face.

“Damn thing, runs faster than a rabbit!”

This was already his eleventh chase.

Each time he was about to catch them, the Huang Quan avatar would teleport away with Situ Yongren.

In this deep sea, the other could use spatial abilities, while he couldn’t employ any spirit techniques… This frustration was something Jiang Buyi hadn’t felt in ages.

“Pursue!”

Without hesitation, Jiang Buyi followed the guidance of the Xun Dao Sheng Zhu, dashing quickly toward the direction where the Huang Quan avatar had fled.

His speed was extremely fast.

And with each stop, he left behind a trace of Ban Sheng will.

If the Huang Quan avatar made a mistake and teleported near a previous location, that Ban Sheng will would awaken, transforming into a Ban Sheng intent avatar.

The way the Huang Quan avatar was fleeing—without even daring to talk or fight—meant its combat strength was extremely weak.

Once caught, even without the full Ban Sheng avatar, a Ban Sheng intent avatar could launch a mental attack to suppress it so thoroughly that it couldn’t even form the intent to teleport.

This was a highly time-consuming method.

But at the moment, aside from scouring the entire deep sea to catch them, Jiang Buyi had no other options.

As for time…

Jiang Buyi didn’t lack it at all!

In half the time of a cup of tea, he could chase the Huang Quan avatar eleven times.

And each Ban Sheng intent’s coverage extended a full li.

How big was this deep sea, anyway?

How long could the Huang Quan avatar keep running?

Give it a full hour, and the deep sea would be filled with activatable Ban Sheng intent avatars.

Jiang Buyi refused to believe that after an hour, the Huang Quan avatar could still find a spot it hadn’t teleported to before.

By then, it might teleport and immediately activate several Ban Sheng intents around it…

Want to run?

Not a chance!

“Senior, this is the thirty-sixth time already. When will it end?”

Situ Yongren was flung onto the shoulder again, his face ashen.

Even though he could withstand the high-frequency teleports, his body, now without Ling Yuan protection, was struggling with the repeated impacts.

“Ugh—”

He suddenly dry-heaved.

This Huang Quan’s shoulder was incredibly hard and rough.

Even though Huang Quan was controlling his strength, Situ Yongren’s chest and stomach had been rubbed raw and bloody.

“It’ll be a while yet…”

Xu Xiaoshou replied, though he himself didn’t know when it would end. After another teleport, he fell into thought.

Why hasn’t the Water Ghost shown up?

This lure of his had been quite successful, right?

It had been over a quarter of an hour… Who else in the world could, as a Zong Shi, evade a Ban Sheng for this long?

Not even a Tai Xu could do it in the deep sea, dragging things out like walking a dog.

In Xu Xiaoshou’s mind, his task was to… ahem, lure.

Luring meant delaying.

The purpose of delaying was to give the Water Ghost a better chance to slaughter saints, wasn’t it?

A quarter of an hour…

Even casting a forbidden spell didn’t take this long!

Was the Water Ghost starting to chant the spell, or had he completely forgotten about this and focused on something else?

“Senior, I have to warn you—this deep sea isn’t that big. If you keep teleporting like this, something might go wrong.”

Before the next teleport, Situ Yongren suppressed his nausea and said.

“Go wrong?” Xu Xiaoshou snorted. “What could go wrong?”

He had “Disappearing Technique” and “One Step to Heaven.”

Not only could he evade a Ban Sheng who couldn’t use techniques, but even if the Water Ghost himself came down, if Xu Xiaoshou really wanted to escape, the other couldn’t stop him.

Situ Yongren’s intellect was always sharp in the face of life-or-death crises, and he immediately responded:

“A Ban Sheng, even if sealed by the forbidden barrier to ninety-nine percent of his power, isn’t that simple.

“He doesn’t need to do much—just leave a Ban Sheng intent each time he stops in the deep sea. If we teleport near the same spot, we might not get out.

“Because under the Ban Sheng intent’s pressure, Senior… you might not be able to handle it.”

Situ Yongren hesitated.

Huang Quan’s combat strength was formidable, with space-time attributes that worked in the deep sea, and he was familiar with every aspect of this place… practically invincible!

But in terms of spirit and soul, that was probably his weak point, right?

A Ban Sheng had countless ways to deal with a Tai Xu; the example he gave was just one drop in the ocean.

“Why didn’t you say this earlier!”

Xu Xiaoshou almost blurted out, shocked by the revelation.

He had encountered a Ban Sheng before, but only briefly faced Zang Ren from afar and didn’t understand their full capabilities.

He had thought evading a saint like this was harmless and wouldn’t mind playing cat-and-mouse with Jiang Buyi in the deep sea all day, only teleporting to the Xukong Men if something went wrong.

But now…

He might not last until the Water Ghost made a move.

Maybe this guy’s real intention was to force him into the Xukong Men, and that’s why he hadn’t acted yet—hoping Jiang Buyi would chase him right through the door?

“They’re all a bunch of schemers!”

Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t help but curse inwardly. As he hoisted Situ Yongren again, he made a decision.

Since he couldn’t evade the saint for too long, he’d just lead Jiang Buyi straight to the Xukong Men.

Anyway, he had already laid the groundwork with the eight Zun avatars.

He imagined how Yao Yao and the others would react when they saw Jiang Buyi actually arrive—probably priceless expressions.

“Hold on tight.” Xu Xiaoshou felt the Sheng Di Long Lin pounding rapidly again and turned to Situ Yongren.

“Hold what?” Situ Yongren couldn’t help but ask. Huang Quan hadn’t warned him during all the previous teleports, so this sudden concern made him uneasy.

“Hold the situation.” Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. “Say what you need to say later, and keep quiet about what you shouldn’t.”

Situ Yongren: ???

“Received shock, passive value +1.”

“Received fear, passive value +1.”

Before he could ask more, Xu Xiaoshou had already taken him into the spatial vortex again.

At the bottom of the deep sea, before the Xukong Men.

Rao Yao Yao gazed at the strangers trapped in water bubbles, lost in thought.

Beside her, Teng Shanhai was still lecturing.

“What are you here for? Is this a place you can just come to?”

“I—I’m a killer…”

“Another killer? Here for the black gold bounty too?”

“Y-yes…”

“From Dong Yu?”

“Yes…”

“Damn it, another fool willing to die for Xu Xiaoshou’s head—a bunch of stupid birds with nothing better to do!”

“You’re right, leader…”

Teng Shanhai was furious.

With a black gold bounty of three incense sticks, so many Tai Xu from major forces in Dong Yu, plus killers, had shown up.

But as soon as they arrived, they were all trapped by the forbidden barrier.

These Tai Xu, now powerless except to contribute energy to the Xukong Men and have their Ling Yuan drained until they couldn’t even argue back… were utterly useless in a fight!

“You’ve caused quite the mess.” Teng Shanhai glared at Ye Xiao.

“…” Ye Xiao fell silent, having no retort.

The black gold bounty was indeed issued by her, to avenge Yi Bao.

But who could have predicted that Gu Yin Cliff had a forbidden barrier?

Now, all these people had become unwitting helpers, as if they’d come just to aid in opening the Sky City…

“Enough.” Rao Yao Yao listened with growing headache and waved to stop Teng Shanhai’s rant.

She had other ideas.

After all, these were over a dozen Tai Xu. Even if they couldn’t fight now, if united properly, they could be temporarily recruited.

Once they entered the Sky City, they’d be a significant boost.

As she thought this, she turned toward the Xukong Men, considering grabbing another to test it.

Unexpectedly, a surprised voice drifted from afar.

“Oh, quite the crowd here?”

Everyone before the Xukong Men tensed up.

Rao Yao Yao, Mu Lin, Bai Lan, Teng Shanhai, Ye Xiao, plus the other Tai Xu trapped in water bubbles, all turned sharply toward the distance.

The spatial power faded.

The gold-robed masked figure Huang Quan, carrying a disheveled young man who was still vomiting, stood there calmly.

“Spatial power?!”

In the water bubbles, shocked screams erupted immediately:

“What’s going on? Isn’t there a forbidden barrier here? How can he use spatial power?”

“Gold-robed masked man… Huang Quan? That’s him, right?”

“This is unfair… totally unfair! Why can he move freely down here? I heard someone crying for help while falling, mentioning ‘Yan Wang Water Ghost’…”

“Yan Wang Huang Quan, Yan Wang Water Ghost… Damn! Is this his setup?!”

The area before the Xukong Men buzzed with excitement.

Clearly, the fact that someone could evade the forbidden barrier’s effects made all the Tai Xu feel like the world had turned upside down.

This was inconceivable!

Their discussion only strengthened Rao Yao Yao’s prior suspicions.

It was Huang Quan’s scheme!

Huang Quan had shown up personally!

Huang Quan could use his abilities!

All of this was obvious!

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Rao Yao Yao’s gaze sharpened, landing on the person on Huang Quan’s shoulder.

“Wait! That’s…?”

That downtrodden face looked somewhat familiar.

“Received shock, passive value +16.”

“Received awe, passive value +8.”

“Long time no see—I’ve missed you all.”

Xu Xiaoshou, with one hand holding the person and the other outstretched, looked calmly at Rao Yao Yao. After the greeting, he smiled and said:

“Rao Jianxian, my previous offer still stands—one person for one sword.

“But now, the trade item has changed. I wonder if you’ll be more interested in the person I have?”

He said, lifting Situ Yongren high.

Situ Yongren had been thrilled to unexpectedly encounter Rao Jianxian.

But after Huang Quan’s words, his face burned with shame, wishing he could cover it with extra hands.

What thrill, what miraculous rescue… All washed away in this embarrassing scene.

“Situ Yongren?”

Rao Yao Yao scrutinized the young man covering his face and finally recognized him, her voice laced with disbelief.

How had Situ Yongren ended up in Huang Quan’s hands?

“The sword.”

Xu Xiaoshou smiled at the Xuan Cang Shen Jian.

He always enjoyed proposing impossible trades to torment others, as their dilemmas brought him plenty of passive value.

Plus, the variety of expressions he saw was a bonus.

“Huang Quan, do you realize what you’re doing?!”

Rao Yao Yao was furious at Huang Quan’s audacity.

How could he be so obsessed with the Xuan Cang Shen Jian? Didn’t he know it was impossible to trade?

She pointed at Situ Yongren, fuming: “The person in your hands is from Dao Qiong…”

Before she could finish, Situ Yongren suddenly looked up and shouted: “Don’t say it!”

Directly invoking the saint’s name could alert his master.

But Situ Yongren had already promised not to do that, and going back on his word now, especially while in Huang Quan’s grasp, could lead to who-knows-what retaliation!

Most importantly…

Situ Yongren knew full well that his value was far less than the Xuan Cang Shen Jian.

So this trade would never happen, and he’d still be stuck with Huang Quan!

Naturally, it was best to play it safe for now.

Rao Yao Yao was interrupted by her own ally, her expression freezing, but she quickly realized there must be some deal between Situ and Huang Quan, so she said no more.

“Thump… Thump…”

“Thump… Thump…”

The Sheng Di Long Lin pounded rapidly again—the persistent one was coming.

Xu Xiaoshou had no time to chat with Rao Yao Yao and the others. He patted Situ Yongren’s face and said sideways:

“It’s your turn to perform.

“Remember, you only have one sentence. If you say too much, the guy behind will come for your life.”

Situ Yongren’s body trembled.

He had no choice but to ignore the humiliation of being carried like this while talking to seniors from Sheng Shen Hall, Sheng Gong, and other Tai Xu.

But clearly…

The Ban Sheng chasing them was far more terrifying!

“Rao Jianxian!”

Situ Yongren brushed back his hair, widened his eyes, and declared loudly: “I’m Situ! I haven’t been coerced at all, but I have an important matter to report to you!”

He glanced back hastily and, seeing the Ban Sheng hadn’t arrived yet, blurted out in a rush:

“The Pu Xuan Jiang clan from Bei Yu! Ban Sheng Jiang Buyi! He’s plotting for the Sheng Di position!

“He’s acting without Sheng Shen Hall’s approval, has come to Dong Yu, and is right behind me, trying… to silence me for good!!!”

His voice was loud.

It carried far.

Rao Yao Yao, Teng Shanhai, Ye Xiao: ???

Mu Lin, Bai Lan: ???

The Tai Xu: ???

Before anyone could question it,

Right on the beat of the Sheng Di Long Lin’s fastest heartbeat, Jiang Buyi’s Ban Sheng avatar burst into view, straight into the barrage of Situ Yongren’s accusations, and locked eyes with Rao Yao Yao’s gaze, which had shifted from disbelief to murderous intent…

Jiang Buyi’s head swelled to twice its size in an instant.

On the side, Xu Xiaoshou quietly stepped aside, letting Rao Yao Yao get a better look at the Ban Sheng’s face. Behind his mask, his lips finally curved into a meaningful smile.

Ban Sheng extermination.

It was done!