Chapter 216: After Nightfall

The grand array flickered and vanished, and two figures disappeared into the void.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

Xu Xiaoshou asked in confusion, noticing the patches of blood on the four bodyguards standing before him. They had fought to this extent, yet in the final moments, they hadn't even tried to hold them back and just let them leave? Weren't reinforcements rushing over from outside? If they could have held on a bit longer, maybe those two...

"Xiaoshou!"

Qiao Qianzhi patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "If a Wang Zuo wants to escape, forget about just us—even if we doubled our numbers, we might not be able to stop them."

"Besides, those two aren't ordinary people."

Xu Xiaoshou was a bit stunned. A Wang Zuo was really that powerful? He had killed enemies across realms multiple times and couldn't quite grasp the concept, but then he thought it over... Not everyone was like him, so he let it go.

"Aren't they almost here?" Xu Xiaoshou gazed into the distance.

"You can sense that?"

Qiao Qianzhi was surprised. "If the white-robed ones from Sheng Shen Dian Tang arrive, they might actually be able to stop them, but..."

"Those two held back."

Everyone sighed, and Ye Xiaotian picked up the thread, not bothering to save any face as he said, "If Cen Qiaofu hadn't held back, we might all be lying outside the Ling Gong by now."

At these words, everyone's faces turned bitter. For a Wang Zuo at the Zhan Dao realm, they really weren't much of a match.

Xu Xiaoshou's heart skipped a beat. That hunched old man was that strong?

"Since there was such a good opportunity, why didn't he kill you?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Xu Xiaoshou realized he'd said something wrong, and sure enough, Qiao Qianzhi slapped him hard.

"You little brat, are you hoping some of us die?"

"Figures like that—how can you guess their thoughts? Maybe it's because..."

Whoosh! Sang Lao descended, supporting his straw hat.

Everyone turned to look, seeing the old man with dark circles under his eyes staring straight at Jiang Bianyan, making the latter feel uneasy before he finally spoke in a low voice:

"Sheng Shen Dian Tang?"

Jiang Bianyan was completely flustered. How come none of the Ling Gong people acted normally? I just brought a few fewer people—do you have to hold a grudge like this? Every one of them is so direct, with no idea how to be subtle?

His eyes darted around, and before he could respond, Sang Lao forced out a somewhat passable smile.

"Hard work from you."

Jiang Bianyan: ...

Well, that smile's even worse—it's creepy!

"Let's disperse. We'll get someone to fix this place later."

Sang Lao didn't bother saying more to him. These social tasks weren't his responsibility anymore, so he saw no reason to put on a good face. Let Ye Xiaotian handle the headaches—he's got nothing better to do anyway.

With the battle over, no one had a reason to stick around. Ye Xiaotian saw Jiang Bianyan off, and the others followed suit and left. The place was a total mess after the fight, but with night falling, there was no rush to repair it. Probably by tomorrow when the sun rises, the outer court disciples will happily grab their tools and get a taste of the inner court adventure. And that's exactly what they're looking forward to... well, as a task, that is.

Only two people remained in the area.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Sang Lao asked.

Xu Xiaoshou gazed at the Ling Gong's grand array repairing itself in the sky, his thoughts complex.

"Being noticed by those guys means you're really something," Sang Lao added. He was never stingy with praise.

"Could I have gotten away?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked at Sang Lao. He didn't believe this old man was just sitting back and watching—it might have been another test.

If he had really gone with the masked one, could he have stopped it?

Sang Lao chuckled. "I didn't control you, so how would you know if you could get away without trying?"

"Control..."

Xu Xiaoshou mulled over the word, unable to figure out the old man's temperament. On one hand, he treated him well, but everything he did seemed to carry a hint of scheming.

...Was it just an illusion?

But if you said Sang Lao was no good, he always showed up in crises to turn things around. Even though the Ling Gong seemed unimportant to him, he clearly cared—a stranger couldn't touch it!

What did someone like this truly care about deep down?

Xu Xiaoshou was silent for a long time before saying, "Since you already knew the outcome, why bother testing it?"

"That depends on whether the result you get is handed to you by someone else or figured out by yourself."

"Is that different?"

Sang Lao lifted his straw hat, stroked the sparse hair on his head, and grinned. "You have to try it out."

"Isn't there a saying: you won't turn back until you hit the south wall?"

"If you don't fight against fate, how will you know it's so real?"

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

He knew it—this old man never said anything nice, always circling back to that miserable nested worldview.

Destined? The ending...

Shaking it off, Xu Xiaoshou changed the subject. "That guy has come twice now."

"Yeah, twice." Sang Lao's expression grew melancholic.

Seeing him like this, Xu Xiaoshou hesitated before saying quietly, "Don't you feel embarrassed? Your own territory trampled twice, and you've lost all dignity."

Sang Lao's wistful mood halted abruptly, his face darkening.

He swung a palm down, but Xu Xiaoshou just smirked, ready for it, and blocked it.

The ground exploded into a deep pit, sending dust flying everywhere.

Sang Lao adjusted his hat, looking at Xu Xiaoshou, who was now deeply embedded in the earth eating dirt, with an unstoppable smile on his lips.

"Zong Shi Zhi Shen?"

"Pfft, cough!" Xu Xiaoshou spat out mud, his heart full of shock. This old man wasn't just at Zong Shi Zhi Shen?

He had thought that after breaking through to Zong Shi Zhi Shen, he could at least hold his own against this scrawny old guy for a moment. But instead, he was instantly overpowered?

What was the gap still so huge?

"What's the level of your physical body?"

Barely poking his dirt-covered face out of the ground, he couldn't help but ask.

"Guess."

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

"Wang Zuo Zhi Qu?"

Sang Lao chuckled without denying it.

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

He had always known that this old man's claim of "Zong Shi Zhi Shen as the mainland's limit" wasn't empty talk. But if this guy had broken through that limit and gone further...

What kind of monster was he?

Did this guy have some kind of cheat too?

Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath to calm the billion waves in his heart, full of amazement.

Everyone had been so focused on Sang Lao's "Jin Zhao Tian Fen" that they probably couldn't even get close in a fight before getting burned to a crisp.

But they never realized—his strongest asset might not even be that flame power.

After all, "Jin Zhao Tian Fen" was a technique that stood firm or fell, and ultimately, its goal was to break the physical limits of a Ling Shi.

Jin Zhao Tian Yan was just a side effect...

"Huff."

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoshou finally let out a breath.

"Everyone's hiding so much..."