Chapter 629: The Elegance of That Arrow

Locked on?

His entire body felt as if it were being pricked by needles, with stinging pain radiating from every inch.

Xu Xiaoshou lowered his head.

Beneath his tattered clothes, every pore on his skin was swelling, oozing blood.

"This?"

Xu Xiaoshou was horrified.

He didn't even know who his enemy was.

Yet, just from being locked on, he was spitting blood, and now his skin was starting to crack?

Who could be the one locking onto him?

"Hmm?"

Gou Wuyue and Sang Lao, both poised to strike, sensed the anomaly almost simultaneously.

If one could say that after Gou Wuyue's Qing Mo Jian Jie rose up, everyone in the Ba Gong battlefield realized these two were opting for a one-on-one fight,

Then, in this scenario where no one else could intervene, the only force that could break through space and lock directly onto Xu Xiaoshou alone was...

"Yu Ling Di?"

Sang Lao's heart skipped a beat.

He thought back to the blurred face that Yu Ling Di had manifested before dying.

At such a critical moment, was his goal simply to shout that meaningless cry?

"No, it's not Yu Ling Di!"

Sang Lao's thoughts froze, then he suddenly realized: "It's that overlooked black dot that came with Yu Ling Di's shout!"

At his level, a single thought was enough to replay memories like a vivid scene, without missing a detail.

Indeed,

In his final roar before death, Yu Ling Di not only uttered that pointless noise but also expelled a black dot from his mouth that carried no attack power.

That black dot couldn't even aim properly.

Sang Lao hadn't needed to dodge—it had missed entirely.

But now, thinking back, Yu Ling Di's target from the start might not have been himself, who could evade the final attack, but rather...

Xu Xiaoshou!

"Run!"

Realizing everything, Sang Lao roared and abandoned Gou Wuyue, lunging toward Xu Xiaoshou.

Yet, the distance that had been blasted open by the battle's aftermath now felt like an insurmountable chasm between them.

Xu Xiaoshou to Yu Ling Di,

Was like Sang Lao to Gou Wuyue!

How could Gou Wuyue pass up such an opportunity?

Though he wanted a fair fight with Sang Qiye, the mission came first. If he could take down these two without a heavy cost,

Then, he needed to allocate more of his strength for the slim chance of facing the Ba Zun An later.

"The wheel of fortune turns."

"Sang Qiye, no need to struggle."

Gripping his sword, Gou Wuyue didn't even need to move. He simply commanded, "Luofu Jian Tian!"

Buzz—

The thousands of Mo Jian floating in the void instantly responded, stacking up like an impregnable wall along Sang Lao's path.

What should have been just a split second away,

Now, with the towering sword wall fully formed, the distance between Sang Lao and Xu Xiaoshou seemed embedded with a vast spatial world.

A blue world constructed of Mo Jian, filled with raging sword energy and rampant sword intent.

Despite Sang Lao pushing forward with all his might, the "Luofu Jian Tian" appeared boundless, its Mo Jian endless.

For every one he destroyed with "Wuxiu · Chijiao Shou," three more would form.

That split second, blocked by "Luofu Jian Tian," became unattainably far.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

Sang Lao roared in fury, his eyes bloodshot.

But in this moment, even he seemed powerless.

"What am I doing?"

Xu Xiaoshou murmured in confusion.

Sang Lao had already broken through to his side, reaching out as if about to touch him, yet Xu Xiaoshou couldn't even turn his head.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Gou Wuyue with his sword held arrogantly, and Sang Lao looking worried.

These two formidable figures were both focused on him.

Strictly speaking, Xu Xiaoshou should have been able to turn his head.

But it wouldn't budge, fixed dead on a certain nameless space.

It was as if someone there demanded he keep his eyes open, watching his own demise unfold!

"What is this?"

In the hazy space before him, a black point suddenly appeared.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his very soul being drawn into it, merging in an instant.

He sensed himself traversing time and space.

Scenes of mountains flew by in reverse, and the Ba Gong battlefield blurred into oblivion.

Then came rivers, lakes, seas, continents...

"What?"

Xu Xiaoshou was baffled.

His soul sped through time and space, yet he felt no pain at all.

He felt as though he had crossed the entire Dongyu Jian Shen Tian, and after passing an endless ocean, the scene stabilized.

Rustle...

A breeze blew,

And everything slowed down.

A refreshing floral fragrance filled his nose, jolting Xu Xiaoshou's senses awake.

"Where is this?"

He looked around, realizing he had arrived at an immortal mountain.

The mountain stood in the clouds, shrouded in mist, with divine lights and wonders all around, majestic beyond measure.

The air was filled with the scent of osmanthus flowers, their pale gold, orange, and white blooms falling from towering trees that reached into the sky, fluttering like butterflies in a gentle dance.

At the end of the path, beneath a golden heavenly staircase, stood a grand and sacred hall.

The hall had blue-tiled roofs with upturned eaves, ornate beams and carvings, elevated high and guarded by nine side halls, perched at the peak of this holy mountain.

Above it hung a plaque inscribed with "Sheng Shen Dian Tang"!

The moment Xu Xiaoshou laid eyes on it, his heart clenched, and he was forced back step by step by an inexplicable mighty force.

"Sheng Shen Dian Tang?"

"Then this must be the holy land for all refiners on the Sheng Shen Dalu—the Guizhe Sheng Shan?"

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

Wasn't he in the Dongyu Ba Gong?

How had he inexplicably ended up in the Zhongyu's Guizhe Sheng Shan?

This couldn't be a daydream!

Rumble—

In the serene Guizhe Sheng Shan, from the main hall of Sheng Shen Dian Tang, the sound of wooden wheels rolling over stone floors suddenly echoed.

Shadows shifted at the hall's entrance.

Then, a barefooted boy in white pushed a guimu wheelchair, stopping just short of the stone steps.

The wheelchair was ancient, exuding the weight of time, and bore scars of swords and blades, as if proclaiming its past battles.

Xu Xiaoshou's attention was immediately captured.

Looking up,

A man sat in the chair.

With black hair cascading over his shoulders, sword-like brows, and star-like eyes, he exuded an imposing presence.

In his gentle state, his silence was serene, like a spring breeze brushing past;

But when he furrowed his brow, his dark pupils hid a curved bow, and with a slight narrowing, they revealed a cold edge like a moonlit night.

His legs were disabled, covered with black cloth, and his hands rested on the armrests.

One held a bow, the other an arrow!

The bow was black, seeping with demonic energy, taller than a person, and could only stand sideways on the wheelchair.

The arrow was blood-red, entwined with vengeful spirits, over a zhang long, held at his side and pointed forward.

Xu Xiaoshou, seeing this figure, didn't need anyone to tell him—his mind instantly conjured a name.

"Moon drunk in wine, with lingering resentment, half loving the world and half the vast cold."

"Ai Cangsheng!"

Sheng Shen Dian Tang had three emperors, and one of them was named Ai Cangsheng.

Born with disabled legs, he wielded one of the nine supreme divine artifacts born from the chaos's dawn—the Xie Zui Gong.

He also possessed the "Dadao Zhi Yan," which could observe the fates of all beings from the world's inception.

With this bow and this eye,

He could sit leisurely on Guizhe Sheng Shan, sipping wine, and shoot enemies from any spot in the five domains!

"The Shi Zun seat, one of Sheng Shen Dian Tang's three emperors, Ai Cangsheng..."

Xu Xiaoshou's heart turned cold.

In that moment, he understood how he had gotten here.

For someone like this to summon him, it was probably just a glance from Dadao Zhi Yan.

If he wanted a face-to-face meeting, it was merely a thought!

But such a method of crossing time and space, pulling him out alone amid Sang Lao and Gou Wuyue's battle...

"Half-saint?"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt as if he couldn't detect his own heartbeat.

How had this half-saint targeted him?

"Who are you?"

Ai Cangsheng's entrance was stunning, but his first furrowed words quickly shattered the atmosphere.

Clearly,

In his eyes, how could a mere innate realm practitioner be the marked target of Yu Ling Di's Xie Zui Order?

Was he joking by going to Dongyu to capture the holy slaves with such actions?

Innate realm?

Worthy of the Xie Zui Gong?

Xu Xiaoshou swallowed hard, his mouth dry, but he responded solemnly.

"Tan Ji."

Lowering his gaze for a moment, he pondered, then fired back four questions:

"Who are you?"

"Wasn't I sleeping in Apricot Flower House?"

"What about my Apricot sister?"

"Did you kidnap me?"

The scene fell into an awkward silence.

Those blunt questions carried an overwhelming amount of information.

Not only Ai Cangsheng was stunned,

Even the white-robed boy behind him, who usually transcended worldly concerns, now wore a look of disdain.

Apricot Flower House?

Apricot sister?

Sleeping?

"Ugh!"

The boy shuddered, baffled as to how such a person had caught Ai Cangsheng's attention.

"Heh, Tan Ji?"

Ai Cangsheng was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

If not for his Dadao Zhi Yan seeing that the young man before him was indeed in the Dongyu Ba Gong battlefield, he might have been led astray.

"You're quite something."

"Facing a half-saint, your mind stays so agile, and in just a few words... not a single one true!"

"What's your real name?"

Xu Xiaoshou blinked his big eyes: "Tan Ji... My surname is Xiao Shi, or you can call me Xiao Shi Tan Ji..."

His vision blurred, and Guizhe Sheng Shan vanished, along with Sheng Shen Dian Tang.

The white-robed boy and Ai Cangsheng disappeared without a trace.

The last thing Xu Xiaoshou saw was the man in the wheelchair drawing his bow and nocking the arrow.

The Xie Zui Gong, steeped in demonic energy, and the blood-red arrow entwined with evil spirits, were pulled into a full moon.

Xu Xiaoshou felt as if he were in a vast, cold immortal realm.

But there was no trace of immortality—only the Dadao Zhi Yan piercing deep into his soul, making him shiver all over.

"Dammit, don't shoot me!"

"I'm sorry, I lied to you, I'm not Tan Ji, my real name is Zhou Tian Shen, Zhou Tian Shen!"

"Don't aim at me, crap—"

Xu Xiaoshou panicked.

He felt his soul retreating at the speed of light.

The other didn't even bother with more words, ending the pointless exchange.

Lakes, seas, and oceans reappeared, with lights flashing by.

In an instant, Xu Xiaoshou's vision shifted, and the scene changed back.

He returned to the Ba Gong.

In his peripheral vision,

Gou Wuyue's lip curl was only just forming, and Sang Lao's charred hands had torn through Luofu Jian Tian but still hadn't reached him.

Xu Xiaoshou stood rigidly in place, unable to move an inch.

Yet, the black point in the void was growing larger.

This time, he saw it clearly.

It was an arrow from the Xie Zui Gong!

That arrow had already been loosed from Guizhe Sheng Shan in Zhongyu, but the conversation with Ai Cangsheng had only begun after it was fired.

"Disordered time and space?"

Xu Xiaoshou had no extra thoughts to ponder this.

Death's crisis enveloped him entirely.

Notifications popped up like a deadly countdown, one per second:

"Under pursuit, passive value +1."

"Under pursuit, passive value +1."

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned deathly pale, but he gritted his teeth, mustering every ounce of strength to seize a chance at survival.

Memories flooded in.

He recalled the Tian Sang Ling Gong's spirit repository, where Sang Lao first told him about the Eighth Sword Immortal's dominating legend, and his own bold declaration:

"My ambitions lie not in Tian Sang, but in the five domains!"

He also remembered in Tian Xuan Gate, when Luo Lei Lei tried to persuade him to join the holy slaves and change his path, his resolute retort:

"I'll see the world myself, even if it leaves me covered in wounds!"

How many times had he woken from dreams, tempted to give up and join some force?

That way, he wouldn't have to live in constant fear, caught between factions as a man torn in every direction.

At times, he had considered that the path he chose might end in self-destruction.

But this arrow from the half-saint Ai Cangsheng came like an unexpected twist, striking him head-on.

He had never imagined this so-called "covered in wounds" would arrive so swiftly!

Yet, in this moment,

Deep in Xu Xiaoshou's heart, there was no regret.

Words spoken were like spilled water.

His inner resolve couldn't be shattered by a single arrow!

"Want to kill me?"

His face twisted ferociously, and he bit his tongue hard, but the pain couldn't free his immobilized body.

In this instant, his soul's desperate will to survive erupted for the first time.

Without his four swords in hand,

And the sacrificial falling carving piece not in his grasp,

A burst of golden light exploded forth.

Boom!

A berserk giant descended!

Gou Wuyue's pupils contracted. What was this?

Under Ai Cangsheng's lock, how could a spiritual technique be unsealed?

Sang Lao's advancing form froze for a second.

A giant?

His mind flashed to the word "ghost beast," but he quickly dismissed it.

It was completely devoid of any ghost beast aura.

The golden giant that Xu Xiaoshou transformed into was pure, unadulterated rage!

Roar—

With a earth-shaking roar, the red-eyed berserk giant stamped its foot, hammered its fists, and charged forward with its shoulders.

Bang!

Space shattered completely.

But even if the half-saint's distant lock could be briefly broken, how could the arrow's momentum, piercing through two domains and bearing down, be undone?

Xu Xiaoshou reached into his Yuanfu, holding nothing back.

Not a single card up his sleeve.