Chapter 580: That's All

Chapter 581: Demonization, Dark Giant

No mistake...

Shou Ye slowly closed his eyes.

Each time he heard Xu Xiaoshou speak, his heart wavered, but this time, he had made up his mind.

He had heard what should be heard and what should not be heard.

The rest could be left to Hong Yi's prison to handle!

"Xu Xiaoshou..."

"Stop talking!"

Yet, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly looked up with a smile, his eyes sparkling with spirit. "I understand—you have your stance, and I have mine."

"With such a clear divide like the Chu River and Han Boundary, the artillery and chariots can advance, but those with the heart of a great general can never walk the same path."

"This world..."

"The fault lies neither with you nor with me, but..."

Xu Xiaoshou gazed into the distance, taking in the vast, pitch-black world of Bai Ku.

Devoid of any life.

Filled with death.

Where could one find a true refuge?

He shook his head and said no more.

Shou Ye was stunned for a moment. "So, you are willing to come back with me?"

"No."

Xu Xiaoshou laughed aloud, his gaze sharpening as he raised the two swords in his hands—one black and one red. "Isn't my meaning clear enough?"

"Our paths differ, so we cannot work together."

"Let's fight!"

"Fight?" Shou Ye's eyebrows nearly shot up to his forehead. "You and I... fight?"

"Yes."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded.

Shou Ye was amused. "Xu Xiaoshou, do you still think you are that commanding 'Sheng Nu second-in-command,' where everyone obeys and follows your every whim?"

"No."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded again: "I am just myself, merely Xu Xiaoshou, nothing more."

"Then, fight?"

Shou Ye confirmed once more.

Xu Xiaoshou raised the two swords high in his hands.

The fierce sword and the famous sword seemed to sense his intense will to fight at that moment, trembling lightly.

"Buzz—"

In an instant, a fierce sword intent rose between heaven and earth.

The void cracked, transforming into thousands of spatial mini-swords, floating behind Xu Xiaoshou.

"Xukong Ning Jian Shu..."

Shou Ye took a deep breath.

He knew Xu Xiaoshou was a genius, but to master the famous sword while also gaining the recognition of the four swords, and comprehending sword intent to this level at such a young age—it was probably one in a million in the world.

But...

What was the use?

Innate versus Zhan Dao?

"Xu Xiaoshou, what cards do you have to show me?" Shou Ye laughed towards the sky.

He laughed at how foolish the young man was—without the shell of Sheng Nu's second-in-command, how could he possibly rival Zhan Dao?

He laughed at how stubborn the young man was—at best, his power might reach the level of a throne, so how could he turn the tide in this predetermined situation?

"Xu Xiaoshou, you are too arrogant!"

"Your arrogance, your conceit, will ultimately lead you to a disastrous defeat!"

Shou Ye restrained his laughter, his face turning stern, and the void was instantly sealed.

This time, he was determined not to let Xu Xiaoshou escape, no matter the method!

"It's not arrogance..."

Xu Xiaoshou exhaled steadily, gathering his sword intent and enveloping it around himself.

The spiritual energy layer from the handles of the four swords in his hand was, at this moment, removed without hesitation.

"In life, one must not lose their pride, nor lack the backbone of pride."

"For the sake of freedom, even in life or death, how could one avoid it for the sake of tyranny?"

"This time, I, Xu Xiaoshou, fight for myself, for freedom... and battle!"

Feeling the fierce demonic power within him violently impacting his soul, Xu Xiaoshou no longer suppressed his clear spiritual platform; instead, he fully released the wild desires from the depths of his soul.

If you can dodge the first day, you can't dodge the fifteenth.

Since it had come, then let it be—fight!

"Roar—"

With a deafening roar that shook the heavens, golden light burst forth, turning into dazzling points.

In the next second, a golden giant several zhang tall suddenly replaced Xu Xiaoshou's position, appearing in the void.

"Bang!"

With just one stomp, the void exploded instantly, shattering into black hole fragments.

The rampaging giant made its entrance!

Its golden light shone for miles, its eyes filled with crimson madness.

Yet, in this state that seemed like demonic possession, the rampaging giant let out a hoarse and low roar.

"Fight!!!"

It raised its head and opened its eyes.

"Boom!"

In an instant, immense pressure bore down from the heavens, twisting and contorting the void.

Shou Ye merely glanced up and felt that the several-zhang-tall golden giant now appeared in his eyes like an ancient titan that could support the sky above and stand firm on the earth below.

"What kind of spiritual technique is this..."

He was shocked.

Xu Xiaoshou hadn't even used his sword intent yet; he had only activated this spiritual technique with his innate cultivation.

The aura it emitted could actually rival that of a throne?

"No."

"It's not innate!"

Shou Ye sensed the pressure on his shoulders and suddenly realized this was the power Xu Xiaoshou had pretended to use as Sheng Nu's second-in-command in the ancient archives space.

Now, he was merely amplifying his momentum several times over with the giant's massive body!

"A Zongshi body."

"That's right, Xu Xiaoshou is not only innate but also at the Zongshi level."

"This spiritual technique's golden giant form—could it be that he has already touched the edge of a Wangzuo body?"

Shou Ye was astounded.

He had never seen a spiritual technique that could elevate one's level like this.

Even the strongest blood sacrifice techniques couldn't allow someone to leap an entire major realm like this.

There was a vast Zongshi realm between Xu Xiaoshou and Wangzuo!

"Roar!"

While Shou Ye was pondering, the void's seal had no effect on the rampaging giant whatsoever.

The spatial rules of Bai Ku were already inferior to those of Sheng Shen Continent.

Thus, it was even more fragile and couldn't withstand Wangzuo-level power.

This was also why Hong Yi prohibited Wangzuo entries.

In his rampaging giant form, Xu Xiaoshou's passive skills were amplified several times over.

With just a simple "Fan Zhen" of his body.

The void's restraints shattered into cracks.

"Fight!"

A hoarse sound like muffled thunder erupted.

The rampaging giant bent its legs and shot forward.

In a flash, it leaped dozens of zhang into the air.

"So fast!"

Shou Ye never expected that without the eight wings of the sacred war black angel for enhancement, the rampaging giant could still explode with such speed.

Instinctively, he looked up following the giant's soaring figure.

But as he tilted his head back fully, his line of sight completely lost the golden giant.

"Gone?"

Shou Ye's heart tightened, sensing something was wrong.

At that moment, a whistling wind came from behind him.

"Fight!"

After a roar, the rampaging giant's fist swung fiercely, landing directly on Shou Ye's body as he barely turned around.

"Bang bang bang..."

In the void, in the blink of an eye.

Along a straight line, dozens of spatial areas exploded simultaneously.

Only then did Shou Ye's hunched, shrimp-like figure fly out from several hundred zhang away in the black hole, crashing through spatial barriers all the way.

"Under suspicion, passive value: 1."

This strike truly stunned Shou Ye.

It wasn't until now that he realized he had been deceived by the golden giant's crimson eyes.

Xu Xiaoshou still had his wits about him!

And even tactics!

Taking advantage of the leap's start, when his own line of sight was drawn away, he directly used that unknown vanishing teleportation technique to appear beside him.

At such a close range, who could guard against it?

Even if he immediately deployed his spiritual energy barrier.

Shou Ye still felt, as he was pulled into the spatial fragments, the force from the golden giant that far exceeded Zongshi level.

"Rampaging giant?"

In that moment, he suddenly recalled what Xu Xiaoshou had mentioned in the city lord's mansion flower sea—the several powers he claimed could rival Wangzuo.

"This kid is too terrifying!"

"How has he grown to this extent in such a short time?"

He was blasted back several li by the terrifying force.

In the next breath, Shou Ye barely regained control of his body.

He knew he had been careless.

If he treated Xu Xiaoshou with the mindset of dealing with an ordinary junior, he wouldn't capsize in the gutter, but he would definitely suffer losses!

"Good one."

As he tried to turn his body, Shou Ye suddenly let out a muffled "hmm," interrupted by a delayed force exploding within him.

"Hidden force?"

His face turned from black to purple in an instant.

Sure enough, in that brief moment of losing control, dozens of black fierce demonic sword energies surged toward him.

Sword energy from the four swords—who, other than ancient sword cultivators, would dare to face it?

"Dark Shadow Stealth!"

In this critical moment, Shou Ye didn't even need to form seals; he suddenly ignited the dark attribute within him.

In the blink of an eye, blackness enveloped his entire body.

He merged into the heavens and earth, like an omnipresent dark element, one with the world.

"Swish swish swish..."

The sword energies slashed through his previous position, cutting through the wind and leaving undissipating remnants of fierce demonic energy along the way.

"Fight!"

The muffled sound erupted again from the previous spot.

The golden giant...

Shou Ye's newly solidified body trembled violently, his pupils contracting sharply.

What was this? Where was the golden giant?

In just one exchange.

How had that gold been completely overtaken by darkness?

What met his eyes was a several-zhang-tall dark giant, shrouded in the fierce demonic energy of the four swords, like the most sinister and evil monster in the world.

Its aura was completely different from before—worlds apart!

"Explosive stance!"

Xu Xiaoshou felt power surging through his entire body; without deliberate guidance, endless golden light points exploded around him as he took another step.

The light points floated and shimmered.

Even before they gathered power, the void began to crackle and shatter.

"What kind of damned spiritual technique is this?"

Shou Ye was dumbfounded.

Such a terrifying aura of destruction—it was no less than a single-point explosion of the ancient archives space!

Instinctively, he wanted to evade.

But suddenly, the dark giant focused its gaze, its lowered eyelids angrily opening.

"Boom!"

Shou Ye's body sank heavily.

That majestic pressure, like the fury of the heavens, poured into every part of his body.

It didn't hurt.

But it was an irritating skill that could restrict movement!

"Explode!"

In that brief moment of control, the endless light points from the explosive stance had fully gathered.

In the next second, as the dark giant leaped into the air and clenched its fist.

"Boom boom boom boom boom..."

The air currents reversed.

The spatial layers ruptured.

The gray-black energy of destruction, mixed with the fierce demonic power of the four swords and the golden rebound energy of the explosive stance, flipped the entire area upside down.

The space for several li around was completely turbulent.

A massive dark void directly replaced the fragile, cracked space of Bai Ku, like the gaping maw of the heavens swallowing everything.

"Hmm."

Shou Ye, wrapped in his dark prison, had his clothes in tatters, his red robe reduced to ragged strips barely covering him.

From this explosion, he felt a sweetness in his throat, as if even his stomach fluids had been shaken out.

His cheek swelled, then contracted.

As his Adam's apple rolled, Shou Ye didn't want to see his own stomach fluids.

"Bitter and fishy..."

But sensing the taste on his tongue, Shou Ye was stunned.

He had swallowed this before.

It didn't seem to be stomach fluids?

Could Xu Xiaoshou have injured him?

"Under suspicion, passive value: 1."

"Is this the limit?"

The dark giant, Xu Xiaoshou, held the four swords in one hand and the famous sword Yanmang in the other.

He hovered in the air, his "perception" scanning outward—Shou Ye had only swallowed a mouthful of blood and showed no other signs?

"So, this is Zhan Dao?"

An infinite despair rose in Xu Xiaoshou's heart.

The rampaging giant plus explosive stance, along with the four swords' demonized state.

He himself was almost at his limit.

For Shou Ye, it truly lived up to the words... just that?

"Fight!"

However, at this moment, there was no other way out.

If he couldn't take down Shou Ye, if he couldn't restrict his movements, no matter where he fled, he would inevitably face this disaster.

He, Xu Xiaoshou, didn't want to enter Hong Yi, nor go to that so-called Hong Yi prison.

His will to fight surged once more.

"Sword!"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly gripped the two swords tightly in his hands.

If the extended passive skills couldn't solve the problem, then leave it to the one skilled in passive skills, leave it to the one in his hand...

The four swords!

Seizing this fleeting moment when Shou Ye was injured, Xu Xiaoshou directly lifted the fierce sword in his hand and stared intently.

From the eighth sword immortal's former sword.

From the eighth sword immortal's "Guan Jian Dian."

"Let me, Xu Xiaoshou, see what kind of sparks you can create!"

"Guan Jian Zhi Shu!"

As his eyelids flickered open and shut, the surging momentum of the heavens and earth was fully directed onto the four swords in his hand.

Yet, that force, which even made Shou Ye bow his head, landed on the fierce sword's blade without moving it in the slightest.

"Buzz..."

A light tremble.

"Under attack, passive value: 1."

Intense pain shot directly from his palm.

At this point, Xu Xiaoshou had no extra time to slowly transfer the sword thoughts he observed from the four swords to his own body.

With a swipe, his dark arm was dyed red with blood.

In the next second, Xu Xiaoshou realized he couldn't hold on.

This black sword thought from the four swords—so faint that it couldn't even be called "a trace"—contained power that surpassed the aggregation of the sword thoughts he had painstakingly observed from Cang Ku in the past!

And the pain it brought was exponentially greater than the sum of his previous sufferings!

"Go!"

Not waiting to move it to his dantian, he barely guided it to his arm before Xu Xiaoshou had to force the black sword thought out of his body.

"Swoosh."

A black line across the sky, separating heaven and earth.

"Boom!"

Like a mountain rock sliced by a blade as thin as a cicada's wing, the void suddenly split into upper and lower halves only when the wind rose.

And that invisible dark sword thought flashed to Shou Ye in the blink of an eye.

"Darkness..."

Shou Ye's eyes widened in shock, but before he could finish, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and pain in his chest.

High in the sky.

The dark giant glanced briefly, like the gaze of death.