Chapter 452: A'jie's Secret

"We're here."

A man and a woman stopped before the ethereal Tian Sang Ling Gong.

They had traveled non-stop to Tian Sang Ling Gong because Xu Xiaoshou felt that the opening of Bai Ku was drawing near.

Strictly speaking, Xu Xiaoshou's alchemy assessment in Tian Sang City had been a complete failure.

He had only received a tenth-grade alchemist badge.

Even his chance to prove his strength again at the banquet was canceled due to the timidity of the guild president, robbing him of that opportunity.

"What a shame."

Xu Xiaoshou sighed softly.

However, looking at it from another perspective, he felt that on this journey, his other objectives had indeed been met.

Not only had he secured a spot for Bai Ku on his own, but he had also learned relevant information about Bai Ku in advance.

Even the Tian Shu Ji Pan and Xu Xiaojiji had mysteriously ended up in his Yuan Fu.

Incredible!

"Let's go in. First, let's head to Ling Zang Ge to find Sang Lao."

Although Xu Xiaoshou was exhausted from the journey, he didn't dare rest immediately.

He still remembered Sang Lao's words clearly.

The instruction to return before Bai Ku opened was something he absolutely couldn't forget.

After all, that old man wasn't someone to be trifled with—if anything went wrong, he might just burn him alive like pig fat.

Mu Zixi nodded and followed in Xu Xiaoshou's footsteps.

In Ling Zang Ge, the familiar large bathtub was still there, and the shelves were as cluttered with various medicine bottles as always, but the person was nowhere to be seen.

"Not here?"

Xu Xiaoshou was slightly surprised.

With Sang Lao absent, he really didn't know where to look for him.

"A letter?"

Mu Zixi, with dark circles under her eyes, wandered around bored and suddenly spotted a letter on the shelf, her spirits lifting.

"Xu Xiaoshou, open it."

Seeing the three words at the bottom, the young girl's face stiffened, and she quickly tried to cover it with her hand to pick up the envelope.

But Xu Xiaoshou was faster, snatching it away.

"I want to see it too."

Mu Zixi lifted her chin defiantly.

"This might be some private message from that old man for me. I'll read it first and then show you."

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled.

He knew Sang Lao never did anything pointless.

Leaving this letter probably meant he had temporarily left the Ling Gong.

Otherwise, why not just say it in person?

And that old man did have some secrets.

Sometimes, knowing certain secrets wasn't beneficial—in fact, it could be the opposite.

As for his junior sister...

Well, it might be better to keep her in the dark for now!

"Hmph!"

Mu Zixi stamped her foot in frustration, immediately brightening up and scanning the room with her big eyes, searching for any letter Sang Lao might have left for her.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at her, then opened the envelope.

The crooked, worm-like handwriting sprawled across the paper.

"I've left and probably won't be back for a while. No need to explain the reasons."

That was the first sentence.

Xu Xiaoshou read it and clicked his tongue.

Good that he's gone!

Hopefully, he never comes back.

As for the reasons—who cares?

Goodbye!

He continued reading.

"I've reserved a spot for you in Bai Ku. You'll find the 'Jin Zhao Da Huo Zhong' you need for your cultivation inside."

Jin Zhao Da Huo Zhong?

Xu Xiaoshou was startled.

He suddenly remembered that before leaving for Tian Sang City, Sang Lao had given him two jade slips: "Jin Zhao Tian Yan · Bai Yan" and "Long Rong Jie."

The prerequisite for practicing both was the higher-level "Jin Zhao Da Huo Zhong."

"Bai Yan, Long Rong Jie..."

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the move Sang Lao used to trap the masked man.

It seemed like his first time seeing Sang Lao truly fight.

Now, thinking back, if he mastered "Long Rong Jie," he might even burn through a Wang Zuo's domain.

Terrifying!

At that time, not having fought a Wang Zuo, Xu Xiaoshou didn't realize how valuable these spiritual skills were.

But now, with his own skills like "Culinary Mastery" and "Endless Vitality" reaching master levels,

And with "Jin Zhao Da Huo Zhong" possibly adding some passive values...

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated.

It would hurt a bit, but success doesn't come easy.

Plus, after experiencing the benefits of "Raging Giant," "Explosive Stance," and "One Step to Heaven,"

Xu Xiaoshou wished he could awaken all his passive skills.

Right now, apart from the city lord's mansion, the only way to get a lot of passive values might be the old method...

Self-inflicted pain?

Xu Xiaoshou scratched his fingernail, unsure.

"It's not impossible..."

"Anyway, let's see."

He set those thoughts aside and continued reading.

"'You Si Jian'—if you can get it, take it. Don't worry about what happens after.

If you can't, that's fine, but make sure it doesn't fall into Bai Yi's hands!"

Bai Yi...

Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes.

Why not Hong Yi?

A typo?

Or does Sang Lao have a grudge against Bai Yi?

Or maybe he doesn't get along with Sheng Shen Dian Tang?

The letter didn't explain, so Xu Xiaoshou didn't speculate.

But that line "if you can get it, take it" did tempt him.

With his many prerequisites and strong foundation in spiritual arrays, theoretically, his chances of getting "You Si Jian" were much higher than others'.

He hadn't wanted to go for it before because he was afraid.

But with Sang Lao's words...

"Can I trust him?"

Xu Xiaoshou was very suspicious.

Extremely suspicious!

This old man just up and left without a word.

What if he entered Bai Ku, got "You Si Jian," and then faced a siege from dozens of Wang Zuos upon exiting? How would he handle that?

No matter how strong this old man is, he wouldn't risk his life for him alone.

"Besides..."

Xu Xiaoshou set it aside again.

The letter was almost done; he could see the end at a glance.

"Bai Ku has no rules. Once inside, just follow your inner guidance.

Remember what I told you: in this world, don't trust anyone!"

Xu Xiaoshou folded the letter.

"This old man..."

"What does he mean?

Why not say it straight? Is it me he doesn't want me to trust?"

Xu Xiaoshou pressed his forehead.

His head hurt!

He calmed himself and reviewed the letter's content.

"Very straightforward. No special instructions. Even about bringing 'You Si Jian,' it's just optional."

"Is it a scheme?"

Xu Xiaoshou stroked his chin.

"To avoid making me rebellious?"

"Or a retreat to advance?"

He still couldn't quite figure out Sang Lao's intentions.

Honestly, based on this letter alone, Sang Lao was a good master.

You handle the adventure; I'll deal with the consequences.

But was Sang Lao that kind of person?

"He wants me to go to Bai Ku, clearly for some special purpose, just like last time when he said nothing, but I still ended up with the Hei Luo Jian Qiao."

"Though the sword sheath is still with me, it feels like everything is under that old man's control."

"This time, he must have some hidden agenda!"

Xu Xiaoshou pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

Besides "You Si Jian," he really couldn't think of anything else that could be Sang Lao's target.

"A load of nonsense!"

Finally reaching a conclusion, Xu Xiaoshou unhappily wanted to burn the letter.

In terms of outsmarting, this old man was probably the only one who could easily beat him.

But mainly because he hadn't encountered enough people yet.

Being in the midst of it...

"Ah, wait!"

Mu Zixi suddenly lunged forward and snatched the letter about to be burned.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Xiaoshou could have dodged, but since it was all nonsense, he didn't care.

"There's nothing about me?"

Mu Zixi quickly read it, then pouted.

"How can Master be so biased? He didn't even leave a letter for me, and in yours, there's not a word about taking care of me?"

Xu Xiaoshou burst out laughing.

"Maybe in his mind, you don't exist?"

Mu Zixi suddenly fell silent.

What was meant as a joke hit her hard this time.

Indeed.

In her sixth sense, Sang Lao seemed to care about her and even held a formal apprenticeship ceremony for her.

That was something even Xu Xiaoshou didn't get.

But privately, Xu Xiaoshou's relationship with him felt more like true master and disciple.

At least, that closeness was something she could see but not feel.

In fact,

Wedged between them, Mu Zixi even felt a sense of not fitting in.

"Not fitting in..."

"Even though we're master and disciple..."

Thinking of this, Mu Zixi's eyes reddened.

If he didn't like her, why take her as a disciple back then?

"Oh, why are you crying?"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled.

This girl wasn't usually like this!

How could a joke make her cry?

Where's your curse?

Bring it out!

"Cursed, passive value: 1, 1, 1, 1..."

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

As expected, the curse only delays, never absents itself.

"I'll give you a little gift."

Xu Xiaoshou wiped away his junior sister's tears.

"A gift?"

Mu Zixi's eyes lit up instantly, the gloom vanishing. "What gift?"

Xu Xiaoshou raised his hand and pulled out his small bathtub.

"You've always wanted this treasure of mine, right? Now, it's yours!"

"Really?"

Mu Zixi couldn't believe it.

Was this still Xu Xiaoshou?

The incredibly stingy Xu Xiaoshou?

So, tears are the way to deal with him...

Got it!

She broke into a teary smile. "You won't regret it?"

"Nope."

Getting a firm answer, Mu Zixi hugged the small bathtub.

Then she realized she might have only thought of herself.

As the true heir of Jin Zhao alchemy, Xu Xiaoshou probably needed this more than her.

"If you're giving me this cauldron, what will you use?"

Mu Zixi's face showed reluctance and hesitation.

Xu Xiaoshou laughed heartily.

"What's the big deal? I'm just giving it to you. Take it and don't be polite."

With that, he stood up and walked to the large bathtub in the corner, slapping it heavily.

"I'll use this one."

Mu Zixi: ???

She was stunned. "But that's Master's..."

"He's gone!"

Xu Xiaoshou said matter-of-factly. "He's left, so should his bathtub just collect dust? I'll just clean it for him regularly."

"Remember, in our sect, we're all people who love cleanliness."

Mu Zixi's face turned pale.

She looked at the smaller bathtub in front of her.

So, Xu Xiaoshou's sudden generosity was because of this?

It had nothing to do with tears!

"Cursed, passive value: 1, 1, 1, 1..."

Xu Xiaoshou hefted the large bathtub and placed it heavily in the guest room of his spiritual residence.

With the open roof, sunlight poured in instantly.

After leaving Ling Zang Ge, he and his junior sister went their separate ways.

Now, staring at the bathtub, Xu Xiaoshou liked it more and more.

He had coveted this thing for a long time.

He remembered the first time he went to Ling Zang Ge, he asked Sang Lao about the cauldron's quality.

The answer was that some swords don't need grades, and some cauldrons are the same.

"A cauldron like a famous sword?"

Xu Xiaoshou grinned and wanted to light the fire to refine some Yuan Ting explosives first.

Just then,

Whoosh, whoosh!

Two figures landed in the courtyard.

Xu Xiaoshou quickly stored the cauldron in his Yuan Fu and looked over alertly.

After all, to him, the spiritual residence was as dangerous as assassins.

But when he clearly saw the visitors, he was surprised.

"Dean?"

"Qiao Qianzhi?"

The arrivals were Ye Xiaotian floating in the air and Qiao Qianzhi standing on the ground.

Well, same height.

"Hee hee hee hee hee—"

Qiao Qianzhi laughed heartily as he approached. "Xiaoshou, I heard you got eighteen spots for Bai Ku at the city lord's banquet?"

Xu Xiaoshou humbly bowed his head.

"Not at all."

"I've sold them all or given them away. I only kept two spots."

Sold them...

Qiao Qianzhi's smile froze.

Ye Xiaotian's face darkened immediately.

He recalled the scene of Xu Xiaoshou coming out of Tian Xuan Gate, stepping on the town boundary treasure and taking back the "Seal Ring" in front of him.

Did this unreliable guy think they came for the Bai Ku spots?

"Cursed, passive value: 2."

"You're overthinking it."

Ye Xiaotian said, "We're not here for that."

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback.

"Not for that? Then what?"

No smoke without fire.

Xu Xiaoshou vaguely felt that these two would definitely bring him trouble.

"I don't need any rewards."

He refused outright.

Ye Xiaotian paused, clenched his fist, then relaxed it.

"Cursed, passive value: 2."

"There's no reward."

He pulled out a letter. "This is from Sang Lao for you. We didn't expect you to return so soon; we just finished writing it..."

"Ahem."

"Here, take a look."

Ye Xiaotian handed it over expressionlessly, calmly, without a ripple.

Xu Xiaoshou took it suspiciously.

"Read it now?"

"Yeah."

Ye Xiaotian's eyes showed no anticipation.

Qiao Qianzhi looked up at the sky.

Xu Xiaoshou tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper.

"Take it easy?"

He looked up at the two. "What does that mean?"

Ye Xiaotian said indifferently, "I don't know; I haven't read it."

"Take it easy? Is that what it says?"

"Maybe things like 'don't be too outrageous,' 'watch your actions,' 'leave some room in everything'..."

"Ahem."

Qiao Qianzhi coughed again.

Ye Xiaotian's face stiffened, he turned around, hands behind his back, and continued, "Or something like that."

"You... figure it out yourself. It's Sang Lao's letter to you, so he must value you. Maybe you'll understand something from it."

Xu Xiaoshou smacked his lips.

These two were really...

Were they that bored?

Resorting to such shady forgery?

If they have something to say, just say it. All this indirect hinting—who do they think I'm fooling?

You know, Tian Xuan Gate was just an accident!

"I get it."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded blankly. "So..."

He didn't understand why the two didn't leave after delivering the letter.

"Ahem."

Qiao Qianzhi cleared his throat.

Ye Xiaotian paused and said,

"Right, I've assigned you a task."

"You probably kept a Bai Ku spot for yourself, right? So, I took the liberty of giving your original spot to Tan Ji."

"As compensation, now that you're back, you can be the second leader of Tian Sang Ling Gong's expedition team to Bai Ku."

"Once you're in Bai Ku, just take command from Tan Ji."

"Bai Ku is all yours."

Ye Xiaotian finished quickly without giving him a chance to interrupt, then pursed his lips.

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

All mine?

So trusting?

Then what was all that indirect hinting about?

Ye Xiaotian looked at him steadily. "Of course, as the leader, you have to take responsibility. At least, if something happens, make sure to protect your team members' lives."

Ye Xiaotian's words were so polished that even Xu Xiaoshou subconsciously didn't realize it was a way to bind him, and he foolishly thought being a leader might be a good thing.

But following his lazy nature of avoiding trouble, Xu Xiaoshou still refused.

"I think that's not necessary."

"The Bai Ku team from the Ling Gong should have thirty-three people, right?"

"What qualifies me to be a leader..."

Ye Xiaotian sneered and cut him off: "Am I asking for your opinion? It's an order!"

"Uh."

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned by the dean's dominance.

This white-haired child finished speaking and left without looking back.

"So emotional?"

"I didn't notice before..."

"Why has the dean changed?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked blankly at Qiao Qianzhi.

"So, Elder Qiao is here to play the bad cop?"

Since he had a good relationship with Qiao Qianzhi and they were alone, he didn't stand on ceremony.

Qiao Qianzhi rolled his eyes.

"What bad cop? The dean giving you the leader position means he values you. Just take it."

"Be careful once you're in Bai Ku—don't cause trouble."

"Follow Rao Yinyin; she's the first team's leader. If you don't understand anything, ask her."

"Then, watch out for Tan Ji. That guy..."

Xu Xiaoshou's scalp tingled.

Qiao Qianzhi was great in every way, but once he started talking, half the outer court would get headaches.

He couldn't take it.

He interrupted immediately: "Elder Qiao, I have something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

Qiao Qianzhi's attention shifted right away.

"It's about..."

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated, remembering that his Yuan Fu came from Qiao Qianzhi, so he didn't hold back.

He vanished and reappeared the next second, holding a iron ball glowing with two red lights.

"Mama..."

As soon as he said that,

Qiao Qianzhi instinctively stepped back, his face turning serious.

"So, you recognize it!"

Xu Xiaoshou thought to himself that this was promising.

He hadn't noticed these details before.

But now that he realized how extraordinary A Jie was, Qiao Qianzhi's subtle actions were too obvious.

"What's the problem?"

Qiao Qianzhi asked since Xu Xiaoshou wasn't speaking.

"Tian Ji Shu?"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't beat around the bush.

He knew that if he didn't reveal something, Qiao Qianzhi would just keep circling.

Sure enough, at the words "Tian Ji Shu," Qiao Qianzhi's expression changed.

"How do you know about 'Tian Ji Shu'?"

Clearly, before leaving the Ling Gong, this guy knew nothing about spiritual arrays.

He even needed Qiao Qianzhi to teach him how to activate the Yuan Fu array step by step.

In just half a month, he knew about "Tian Ji Shu"?

"You're the one who doesn't need to worry about how I know."

"Anyway, A Jie is in my hands. Hiding it from me doesn't seem right, does it?"

Qiao Qianzhi fell silent.

He wasn't sure how much Xu Xiaoshou knew.

But from the looks of it, this guy seemed to know quite a bit.

He had just come out of Tian Xuan Gate not long ago...

"Has Xu Xiaoshou grown this fast?" Qiao Qianzhi wondered.

"Are you close to it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded.

"A Jie..."

Qiao Qianzhi hesitated.

Indeed, back then, why did he suggest to Ye Xiaotian not to reclaim A Jie? It was because he saw that A Jie actually showed affection toward humans.

But their relationship had developed too quickly, hadn't it?

Now, he couldn't sense any hostility from A Jie at all.

Had this thing been tamed?

Impossible!

"Sigh."

In the end, he sighed and said, "A Jie is a Tian Ji puppet from Sheng Shen Dian Tang."

"Sheng Shen Dian Tang?"

Xu Xiaoshou's heart tightened, matching his suspicions.

He immediately thought of someone.

"Dao Qiong Cang?"

Qiao Qianzhi's face changed drastically, and he covered Xu Xiaoshou's mouth.

"Shut up!"

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

What was going on?

Qiao Qianzhi nervously scanned around, narrowed his eyes, and formed a spiritual seal. Only after confirming nothing was amiss did he relax.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? How dare you say a Ban Sheng's name directly?" he scolded.

Ban Sheng...

Xu Xiaoshou's heart suddenly calmed.

So, the rumored contemporary lord of Sheng Shen Dian Tang was that kind of existence that transcended Tai Xu and touched the power of the saintly path?

He knew that in the current world, the highest realm was called "Sheng Di."

However, "Sheng Di," such a near-mythical existence, hadn't appeared in who knows how many years.

Ban Sheng was the only one close to that level.

Yet, for most people, Tai Xu was already the strongest force in the human world.

Even the legendary "Seven Sword Immortals" were at that level.

Transcending it seemed impossible.

As for Ban Sheng...

As for Dao Qiong Cang...

This externally rumored impossible realm, and even the name couldn't be spoken aloud, was directly revealed by Qiao Qianzhi in a panic.

Xu Xiaoshou knew Qiao Qianzhi must know something.

Why was he so certain that the lord of Sheng Shen Dian Tang was a Ban Sheng?

Qiao Qianzhi looked at the flickering-eyed Xu Xiaoshou and knew that with this cunning guy's smarts, he must have guessed something.

He decided not to hide it and simply spilled a bigger secret.

"You're right."

"A Jie is indeed from the Dao master's hand, but it's a defective product!"