Chapter 588: Presenting a Big Gift

"What's it to you?"

Shuo Shuren's eyes flickered, and his gaze instinctively fixed on the Tai Xu power emanating from the other person, a power far more intense than A Jie's to an unimaginable degree.

He was all too familiar with the strength of this force.

The wound on his arm was still a problem because he had accidentally grazed it with Tai Xu power.

Even with the loss of an arm, he wouldn't cower before this figure in red robes.

Yet, his own vital energy was severely depleted, and that was the truth.

What was this old fellow doing here?

Was he not afraid that Shuo Shuren would kill him?

"Hahaha..."

Seeing Shuo Shuren's expression, Shou Ye suddenly burst into hearty laughter, which continued for a long moment.

"Could it be that the mighty holy slave Shuo Shuren let a mere Xiantian escape?"

His face registered utter disbelief.

"You old fool!"

Shuo Shuren's eyes darkened. "What right do you have to criticize others?"

"Wait, he really got away?"

Shou Ye was taken aback by his reaction.

Had Shuo Shuren truly let Xu Xiaoshou escape?

"Then where is he now?" Shou Ye asked urgently.

"Hmph!"

Shuo Shuren snorted coldly, flipping the Yin Yang Sheng Si in his hand with a swift motion. "Old fool, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself right now?"

The void suddenly trembled.

Shou Ye's heart tightened.

He had no intention of engaging Shuo Shuren in a deadly fight within Bai Ku.

Even if he miraculously escaped, the entire Bai Ku would likely be destroyed in the process.

The same went for Li Jian Grassland!

Just as he was about to make a move, Shuo Shuren across from him wore a look of astonishment.

Sensing that something was amiss, Shou Ye halted his actions.

"What's going on?"

Shuo Shuren was baffled.

The Yin Yang Sheng Si hadn't been activated, yet it was trembling on its own, as if something inside was trying to break free.

"At a time like this?"

Shuo Shuren panicked and quickly flipped open the ancient book, attempting to reseal the old monster within.

But in the next second, he realized something was wrong.

"Wen Ming?"

"Is it Wen Ming?"

His heart filled with shock.

The disturbance from the Yin Yang Sheng Si was clearly not from the old monsters he had sealed before.

It was from the page where he had recently imprisoned Wen Ming!

"Boom!"

A point in the distant void suddenly collapsed.

A single-point black hole exploded, unleashing infinite suction that drained the surrounding air.

In the next instant, vast ice-attribute energy burst forth from it.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The wind howled, and the temperature plummeted.

Shou Ye suddenly came to his senses.

So, the void's tremor earlier wasn't caused by Shuo Shuren lifting the ancient book.

Was he also caught off guard?

"Who is that?"

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

Shou Ye's thoughts raced, and he quickly grasped the situation.

Considering the circumstances, was this a repeat of what happened outside Ling Rong Ze?

—Shuo Shuren had sealed Xu Xiaoshou in the ancient book's space, and the boy had broken out again?

Crack, crack.

As the three of them were still in shock, the Frozen Calamity power had already pushed back the surrounding darkness.

Then, frost descended from the heavens, with ice crystals swirling everywhere.

The rain curtains from the nine heavens froze solid, turning into goose feathers of snow mixed with small hail, beginning to fall.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Wen Ming!"

Almost simultaneously, Shou Ye and Shuo Shuren made their moves.

The spatial collapse and the emergence of Frozen Calamity power indicated that Xu Xiaoshou had indeed broken out of the ancient book's space again.

And now, if he wanted to return to the Bai Ku world, he could only come back through this spatial node.

In that case...

Whoever struck first would be able to recapture Xu Xiaoshou!

"Erosion Hand!"

Shou Ye channeled his spiritual energy, gathering dark forces to form a massive hand that reached toward the sky, grabbing directly at the spatial node.

"Yin Yang Sheng Si: Abolish!"

Shuo Shuren tossed the ancient book into the air, his four fingers tracing through it as golden hieroglyphs leaped from the pages and stamped onto Shou Ye's black hand.

Sizzle...

The moment the two forces clashed, the black hand dissolved.

But the golden hieroglyphs were also shattered on the spot by the overwhelming righteous energy hidden within the black hand.

"Hahahaha!"

Shou Ye threw his head back in laughter and shot upward without a second glance.

He was determined to get Xu Xiaoshou!

Shuo Shuren was powerful, but as long as he couldn't take Shou Ye down directly, the Tai Xu power would suppress that strange force of his.

"You old fool..."

Shuo Shuren was furious.

He immediately grabbed the Yin Yang Sheng Si from mid-air and shot forward like a rocket.

At the same time, the righteous energy Shou Ye had left around the spatial node didn't dissipate; instead, it spread out, forming a protective barrier over the area.

To break through, Shuo Shuren would have to pass through the Tai Xu power.

But he was only at Zhan Dao level.

Even if he had survived all nine Lei Jie, without Tai Xu power, he simply didn't possess it.

By the time Shuo Shuren broke through the righteous energy... that would take long enough for Shou Ye to easily capture Xu Xiaoshou emerging from the spatial node.

"You're full of tricks!"

Shuo Shuren sneered, and the Yin Yang Sheng Si in his hand burst into light.

In the next second...

Buzz!

The sky sank abruptly, shattering the goose feathers of snow.

From the boundless heights above, as if a Mount Tai were descending, a massive illusory image of the ancient book, several li wide, crashed down fiercely.

Boom!

Under the immense pressure, Shou Ye's righteous energy sank heavily.

In the past, this might not have been a problem, as even if the ancient book's illusory image exerted greater force, it wouldn't shatter the Tai Xu power outright.

But now, the spatial node was fixed!

The spherical Tai Xu power dipped downward, exposing the spatial node right under Shuo Shuren's nose.

"Good one."

Shou Ye couldn't help but admire it inwardly.

This countermove was brilliantly executed.

If you can't beat the Tai Xu power, just sidestep it?

What a strategy!

But so what?

"Nightfall."

Shou Ye clapped his palms and chanted.

In an instant, the dark domain that had engulfed half the sky enveloped everything, completely sealing off the area around Shou Ye and the spatial node.

In the Wang Zuo domain, the host was like a god.

But if the opponent was left outside, it could be easily breached from the exterior.

Shou Ye couldn't worry about that now.

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't fall into the hands of the holy slaves.

Based on what the boy had said, there was a slight chance he was already under the control of the holy slaves' second-in-command without even knowing it.

Now that everything was clear, if he fell into their hands again...

Xu Xiaoshou might never come back.

Crack!

The domain sealed shut.

In mere moments, it was cracked by the ancient book's illusory image from the sky.

But it held on for a few more breaths.

Seizing that opportunity, Shou Ye darted to the edge of the spatial node.

Whoosh...

The black hole still sucked at everything.

Boom! Not long after, the dark domain couldn't withstand the force of the ancient book's illusory image and exploded on the spot.

Yet, Shou Ye waited until the spatial node's black hole closed and everything returned to normal, but he never saw Xu Xiaoshou emerge.

"Where is he?"

Shou Ye was stunned.

He turned around instinctively and saw Shuo Shuren holding the Yin Yang Sheng Si with a sinister look in his eyes.

Gulp.

Shou Ye swallowed hard, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't come.

"Hand him over."

Shuo Shuren spoke.

Clearly, in the instant the dark domain closed, he hadn't glimpsed the truth inside.

Naturally, he didn't know that Shou Ye hadn't even touched Xu Xiaoshou.

But in his eyes, with the spatial node restored and Wen Ming nowhere in sight, and Shou Ye being at Zhan Dao level...

It was obvious who had taken Wen Ming!

"To be honest, I didn't see anything at all..."

Shou Ye started to explain, but realized it was futile.

He had already figured it out.

Xu Xiaoshou had a vanishing technique!

Perhaps, the moment the spatial node shattered, he had already escaped.

And in that lightning-fast exchange between him and Shuo Shuren, which seemed short but was enough time, the boy had used some instantaneous movement to flee.

But how to explain it now?

It was like a mute eating bitter herbs—unspeakable misery!

"Haha!"

Shou Ye suddenly laughed freely.

He hadn't caught Xu Xiaoshou, but at least the boy hadn't fallen into the holy slaves' hands. That was something.

"Want Xu Xiaoshou?"

He waved his hand, playing along, and shot off in a certain direction. "Then see if you can catch me first!"

"Chase?"

Shuo Shuren, fuming, channeled his spiritual energy and was about to follow.

But at that moment, a thunderous boom echoed from the distant sky behind their intended path.

That sound was like space being punched open and shattered.

Whoosh! Shou Ye and Shuo Shuren turned simultaneously.

Indeed, space had been broken!

Not only that, traces of black demonic power lingered there.

"There's Si Jian Qi..."

Shuo Shuren rolled his eyes immediately.

He was speechless.

"So, you old fool got the upper hand, but still couldn't catch Wen Ming?"

Shou Ye's face flushed with embarrassment upon hearing this.

That slippery eel—whoever went after him ended up embarrassed.

He hadn't even caught a glimpse of the person, let alone capture him.

"How dare you say that to me?"

He shot back, "Weren't you just as useless, letting that boy break the space?"

Shuo Shuren flicked his robe and ignored the old fool.

A character flew out from the ancient book's space and landed on him, and his figure vanished in an instant.

"Damn it!"

Shou Ye cursed in frustration and turned, merging into the heavenly path, chasing toward the direction where Xu Xiaoshou had broken through space.

"Under pursuit, passive value +2."

"Under curse, passive value +2."

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to curse.

He had already been pushing himself to the limit.

The moment he escaped the spatial node and saw Shou Ye inexplicably there, along with Shuo Shuren about to attack, he had used One Step to Heaven to flee.

But Shuo Shuren was too cunning!

After sealing him in the ancient book's space, he hadn't removed the heavenly restraints on this exiled land.

So, to break the boundary, Xu Xiaoshou had no choice but to use A Jie's and You Si Jian's powers.

But exploding the space like that exposed his location!

"Damn it, damn it..."

He had thought about letting Shou Ye lure Shuo Shuren away, then waiting until it was safe to break out.

But that was unrealistic!

What kind of beings were at Zhan Dao level?

Never mind if Shuo Shuren would take the bait from Shou Ye.

If those two really clashed, even if they fled a few li away, the shockwaves would likely obliterate this space in an instant.

Who could survive Zhan Dao aftermath?

"Could I?"

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't that naive!

He had to go with the flow, reveal his position, and draw them both over.

Then...

Hiss!

He popped a handful of pills, and his body convulsed violently, trembling intensely.

Amid the rush, his nearly depleted qi sea finally regained some spiritual energy.

"Come on, come on!"

Watching the two turn into specks in the distant sky racing toward him, Xu Xiaoshou's heart leaped to his throat.

His right hand gripped the A Jie stone.

In his left hand was the energy focal point he had been condensing since the start of the battle with A Jie, which hadn't fully collapsed yet!

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

In his vanished state, only Xu Xiaoshou could perceive the power of this compressed "Ice-Fire Ball Technique."

His left hand was completely numb.

Dense gray destructive energy enveloped it, and even "Everlasting" couldn't restore the corroded flesh.

Clutching it with a bare, shattered bony hand, Xu Xiaoshou's face showed no emotion.

His mind was filled with madness.

"Come on, you two little sparrows, let the storm rage even fiercer!"

"I've got a big surprise for you!"

Whoosh, whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, Shuo Shuren's golden figure and Shou Ye's dark light rushed to where Xu Xiaoshou had been in a few breaths.

As for Xu Xiaoshou...

He finally hesitated no longer, boldly stepping forward toward the two.

"One Step to Heaven!"

The void flickered subtly, and Xu Xiaoshou went straight from the southernmost point of this exiled land to the northernmost.

And what was left behind...

"What the hell is that!"

"Under suspicion, passive value +2."

At the same moment, Shuo Shuren and Shou Ye slammed on the brakes as if stepping on a landmine.

Just a few chi away, a point of extreme light suddenly burst forth.

In the next second, it transformed into a blazing sun, blinding their contracted pupils.

"Holy shit!!!"

Shou Ye's mind buzzed.

How could he not recognize this?

Just moments ago...

He had digested one with his stomach!

A whole one!

With a final kick into the void, Shou Ye launched his body into the air, pulling off a curved evasion to avoid a direct hit to the head.

On the other side...

"That was close!"

Shuo Shuren folded space in front of him and bounced himself back in the direction he came from, with no inertia.

But that backfired.

Buzz...

The originally stable energy point was disrupted by the folded space's ripple, throwing its internal balance into chaos.

"It's going to explode?"

Shuo Shuren's mouth formed an "O" shape.

He had shouted in alarm.

But at that moment, he couldn't hear his own voice at all.

"Luo Girl!"

He turned his head instinctively.

Sure enough, in another direction, Luo Leilei was calling for help with no response, so she spread her purple lightning wings and fled.

"Come here!"

Shuo Shuren instantly flashed to Luo Leilei's side, grabbed the girl, and tossed her into the ancient book's space.

He could withstand Bai Ku exploding.

But Luo Leilei couldn't!

If that guy's daughter died, the entire continent would be in turmoil!

"Run!"

After stuffing Luo Leilei into the ancient book's space, Shuo Shuren didn't even glance back.

From that brief brush, he had already sensed an aura of destruction from the energy point more terrifying than the Ling Rong Ze explosion.

Back then, he was a body outside the self and had to evade.

Now...

Now he was still a body outside the self!

"Damn Wen Ming, how could he come up with something like this, always ready to blow things up?!"

"Is this another work of that Tian Ji Puppet?"