Chapter 631: Gou Tou Exploded

A human shield?

At this critical moment, it's not a matter of whether or not to use a human shield.

Even a mere straw can be a lifeline to a drowning person.

What's more, Yu Zhiwen is the Holy Maiden of the Shengshen Hall, a direct disciple of Dao Xuanji, and niece to Dao Qiong Cang.

With such connections, just by holding her up, even Ai Cangsheng would have to hesitate.

And now.

If it were anyone else, they might lose their composure due to Yu Zhiwen's words about a "human shield." But for Xu Xiaoshou, those anxious words caused the frantic look in his eyes to subside slightly.

"Human shield?"

"Since when does I, Xu Xiaoshou, need a woman as a human shield in the face of life and death?"

From the very beginning, from the moment he grabbed Yu Zhiwen in the Yuanfu, he had never had such a thought, not even for a fleeting moment.

It was the same as when he threw out Mu Zixi.

Picking up Yu Zhiwen was purely because the Yuanfu couldn't withstand Ai Cangsheng's arrow.

No one should have to die for him.

Even if their positions were different, Xu Xiaoshou was clear about his enemies.

A Huo, A Bing, A Jie...

All of this had nothing to do with Yu Zhiwen, who had been trapped in the Yuanfu.

The reason for Xu Xiaoshou's frenzy was that arrow; his hatred was directed solely at Ai Cangsheng.

In this world where right and wrong are blurred and black and white intertwined, there is no true, clear line of justice.

Some people, as they walk, shift from white to black, from right to wrong, simply because they lack that internal measure for the world.

But Xu Xiaoshou is different!

From start to finish, he has walked his own path without wavering.

Perhaps along the way, there were other thoughts or forced circumstances, but if you only look at the road he has traveled—not at anything else, just at his footprints—

Xu Xiaoshou's steps are straight and fearless, without a single detour.

How could he let a single sentence from Yu Zhiwen disrupt his inner balance of the world?

With a bang, Xu Xiaoshou didn't hesitate and flung Yu Zhiwen away with a backhand swipe.

He faced the arrow from the Evil Sin Bow, which had enlarged to fill his pupils completely.

Before his eyes appeared Ai Cangsheng, seated in his wheelchair, towering above all like a mountain.

Hatred surged.

The frenzied giant raised his arm.

"Passive Fist charge: 8.64."

It ignited fully!

At the same time.

Under this arrow, the one launching an attack wasn't just Xu Xiaoshou—it was Gou Wuyue!

Ai Cangsheng's arrow had revealed so many of Xu Xiaoshou's hidden secrets that it truly astonished Gou Wuyue.

If Xu Xiaoshou were of the same generation, Gou Wuyue might not have been so shocked.

But he was merely at the innate level.

A mere innate cultivator with cards that rivaled the peak of the Wangzuo realm—was this real?

Even when the Tianji Puppet appeared, Gou Wuyue found it hard to describe the mix of emotions in his heart.

He had a strong urge to act.

Not for Xu Xiaoshou's sake.

But for A Jie!

For Dao Qiong Cang's original Tianji Puppet!

As one of the two ruling sovereigns of the Shengshen Hall, others might not know the feelings Dao Qiong Cang had when he destroyed that original Tianji Puppet, but Gou Wuyue knew.

It was helplessness, and an inevitable submission...

That was the true state of Dao Qiong Cang's heart back then.

But because of his mission, and because it was an arrow from Ai Cangsheng, Gou Wuyue suppressed his impulse and didn't act.

The original Tianji Puppet was already gone.

Now, it had bloomed like an ephemeral flower, shining briefly before fading again—this might be a perfect end.

After all, letting it exist could cause even greater turmoil.

But that guy...

That Xiao Shi Tan Ji...

He still had people!

Gou Wuyue had no idea what he felt when he saw the woman appear in the golden giant's hand.

Whether from his own judgment or external reasons,

He only knew that Yu Zhiwen couldn't die!

Her existence was more important than the current mission to capture the holy slave.

Not even Ai Cangsheng's arrow could kill her.

"Human shield..."

Yu Zhiwen's initial cry rang out.

Gou Wuyue could tell.

This wasn't just for Xiao Shi Tan Ji to hear.

It was also for himself, and for Ai Cangsheng, who was watching the battle from millions of miles away through the Great Dao Eye.

The arrow had left the bow; spilled water could not be gathered.

Ai Cangsheng didn't choose to forcibly recall it—he could afford the consequences, but Gou Wuyue couldn't.

He didn't know what Xiao Shi Tan Ji was thinking.

He only knew that even if Ai Cangsheng extinguished the arrow at the last moment, even if Xiao Shi Tan Ji didn't use Yu Zhiwen as a human shield,

Even if the chances of all that were high, he still had to act.

He had to save her with his life!

Drawing his famous sword upside down, Gou Wuyue's eyes narrowed.

"Illusion Sword Art, Sequence, Reverse!"

Thud!

The moment Xu Xiaoshou flung Yu Zhiwen away, Gou Wuyue spat out a mouthful of blood.

The sound of the famous sword Nulan rang out as it struggled to rise amid the blood.

Though the sword was light, in that instant, Gou Wuyue felt as if he were in the vast sea, trying to overturn the entire ocean by lifting just a corner of an iceberg.

Crack, crack.

The void cracked, and the heavenly dao fell into chaos.

The gears of time meshed, advancing step by step toward the future.

But when Gou Wuyue drew his famous sword an inch from its sheath, with a boom, the rules of heaven and earth drastically changed.

Yin and yang reversed, the seasons disordered.

In that moment,

Heat and cold intertwined, the heavenly dao collapsed, and everyone felt as if they were in an icy inferno.

Life and withering mixed in disorder; spring and autumn occurred simultaneously. Bodies aged while souls seemed to revert to infancy.

Chaos!

Whether it was Gou Wuyue, Sang Lao, or Xu Xiaoshou...

Under this sword, they all felt as if the order of heaven and earth had been disrupted.

Plants withered while sprouting new growth; sand and gravel weathered only to turn back into stone...

Day and night arrived together.

Sunrise chased sunset across the sky, circling endlessly without setting.

Biting cold wind seeped through pores and, upon exiting the soul, became the scorching breath of the desert.

"An illusion?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt his frenzied desires receding.

A corner of clear-mindedness in his spiritual platform expanded with each layer of chaos.

The power in his arms remained unaffected, but that arrow before his eyes...

"Retreating?"

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

Ai Cangsheng's arrow, which had pierced through two realms and was about to stab into his skull, was retreating?

Time reversal?

No one could describe Xu Xiaoshou's shock at that moment.

This chaotic scene completely surpassed his understanding of the world.

"Mama..."

In his ears, like a hallucination, came the fading voice of A Jie again.

"Responding to the call, passive value: 1."

Only when the information panel popped up did Xu Xiaoshou confirm.

This wasn't an illusion.

Time was truly reversing...

Space-time was rewinding!

Xu Xiaoshou stared in horror at the indescribable scene before him.

Void cracks appeared, from which scattered, disordered flesh and bones flew out.

With rustling sounds, they pieced together into A Jie's head before he turned back.

Then, the exploded parts reformed.

One leg, one arm, including the torso...

The black mist on A Jie faded, returning to the retreating arrow of the Evil Sin Bow.

The arrow flew back, and with a bang at a certain point, A Bing's body parts were sucked in from all directions and reassembled.

Then, A Huo revived again, barking wildly at the retreating Evil Sin Bow arrow.

"This..."

Xu Xiaoshou was overjoyed and terrified, finding it all unreal, like a dream.

But until the bonds of "Cinder Illuminating Seed" and "Three Days Frozen Calamity" returned to his heart, and he could sense and respond to their calls,

He realized this wasn't a daydream.

Gou Wuyue's sword had truly overturned the natural order and reversed the heavenly framework!

"Sword Immortal, isn't that just illusory? How could it reverse a semi-saint's arrow?"

The thought had barely arisen in his mind when Xu Xiaoshou saw a figure appear before him.

Gou Wuyue!

Unlike the elegant immortal he usually appeared as,

Gou Wuyue now stood with his sword at an angle, but exhaustion was evident in his eyes.

His face looked completely aged.

New lines appeared at the corners of his eyes, and his once-black hair had turned entirely gray-white.

The price of that sword!

"Why are you here?"

Gou Wuyue, standing ahead, didn't even glance at Xu Xiaoshou with his peripheral vision. He stared in disbelief at Yu Zhiwen, his face full of shock.

"I..."

Yu Zhiwen had been flung away and then returned to Xu Xiaoshou's golden palm. Her mind was still dizzy, unable to find herself.

She suddenly felt unsteady on her feet and stumbled.

Crack!

Looking down, she saw cracks forming on the golden palm beneath her.

The rampant violent power on it nearly shredded her.

Roar...

Xu Xiaoshou let out a painful roar.

Gou Wuyue's sword was too slow, yet too fast.

In the instant of complete upheaval, amid the reverse flow of space-time in all directions, the only thing unaffected was Xu Xiaoshou's fully ignited "Passive Fist."

This punch from the system ignored the space-time reversal!

Ever since that punch nearly killed Hong Gou last time, Xu Xiaoshou hadn't used it again.

But the charge of the Passive Fist had accumulated along his journey, stacking up from various high-intensity injuries from Wangzuo and Zhan Dao levels, reaching 8.64.

It hurt the enemy by a thousand, but himself by twelve hundred.

Xu Xiaoshou vaguely remembered that after throwing that punch last time, he was left half-dead.

If he could, he wouldn't want to use the Passive Fist at all.

Yet under Ai Cangsheng's arrow, he had no choice, and even felt that 8.64 charge was far too little.

Now,

Gou Wuyue's "Sequence" sword reversed the rules of heaven and earth, the framework of space-time, but it couldn't retract Xu Xiaoshou's punch.

How could a system-derived punch be retracted?

It needed to vent!

Even before the punch landed, Xu Xiaoshou felt the golden light on his right arm disintegrating and cracking.

Pain assaulted him.

In this moment, he needed a target to vent on, something to bear it, to alleviate the backlash of the Passive Fist.

With Ai Cangsheng's arrow retreating and Yu Zhiwen not strong enough,

This suddenly aged Sword Immortal Gou Wuyue was, admittedly, a perfect target.

"Gou Wuyue."

Xu Xiaoshou murmured his name.

He felt no goodwill toward the man in front of him—precisely because of his appearance, he had nearly died.

Along with all his companions in the Yuanfu, who had died once to protect him.

Their positions were different from the start.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't believe Gou Wuyue's sword was meant to save him.

So, in this scene of intertwined pain, where even his reason was about to shatter...

Attack!

"Hmm?"

As Gou Wuyue approached, he finally noticed the violent power from Xiao Shi Tan Ji that had been overlooked under the arrow.

He turned his head slightly.

And saw a massive golden fist enlarging in his vision.

"Take this punch!"

As the fist swung, its core began to wither and decay.

Even the forearm, upper arm, and half the shoulder along its path exploded into golden light and blood mist.

Gou Wuyue only caught a glimpse of the fist for an instant.

Then, it vanished.

But Xu Xiaoshou's frenzied will still locked onto Gou Wuyue.

The form was gone,

Yet an unnamed force whistled through the void, making Gou Wuyue's expression turn grave.

In his weakened state, he could only raise his sword horizontally and muster his spiritual energy.

"Innate is still innate; even if you struggle desperately, what can this punch do?" That was his inner thought.

But Gou Wuyue, whose attention was fully on Yu Zhiwen, had no idea that this punch's power was something even his sword couldn't reverse.

In the flash of impact,

With a whoosh,

The famous sword bent slightly.

Xu Xiaoshou's body leaned forward, and the blocked invisible force finally manifested at the spot where his arm had exploded, condensing into a phantom of a giant fist.

After a faint sizzle, the world fell completely silent.

Yu Zhiwen widened her eyes, wanting to say something.

But as her red lips parted, not a sound came out.

Sang Lao stood in surprise behind them.

He had thought Gou Wuyue was trying to finish off Xu Xiaoshou, but the man's focus was entirely on the girl.

On his way to save his disciple, the world was suddenly shaken into a vacuum by a punch, so he chose to stop.

Sometimes,

Sang Lao was actually afraid of Xu Xiaoshou.

Memories of his disciple's shocking deeds flashed in his mind:

The fire seed shooting up his nose, burning the Lingcang Pavilion, blowing up Tianxuan Gate in anger, destroying the city lord's mansion...

That kid could injure his five viscera and six bowels with post-heaven cultivation.

What was he doing now?

Looking up,

Sang Lao saw Xu Xiaoshou's phantom fist clashing with Gou Wuyue, pausing for a breath.

Then,

Boom!!!

Sounds erupted from all sides, shattering the space for miles.

The deafening noise even threatened to tear Sang Lao's eardrums.

Immediately after,

Xu Xiaoshou's entire body exploded backward in the blast, tearing apart like he was being quartered, splitting into several pieces.

As for Gou Wuyue...

In the first instant of the fist and sword colliding, he seemed to realize his mistake.

But instead of protecting himself first, he used his domain to envelop Yu Zhiwen and chose to bear it alone.

As for the result...

Sang Lao's gaze followed the direction of Xu Xiaoshou's punch, his head twisting along the ultra-compressed black line in the void.

Rumble, rumble.

The black line released its pressure, turning into a terrifying shockwave that blasted a distant mountain into rubble.

Sang Lao's eyelids twitched wildly.

With a few rustles,

The famous sword Nulan spun in the air and clanged into the ground.

That was the scene before him.

And in the distance...

Gou Wuyue, who had been hurled over ten miles away and embedded deep into the mountain...

Sang Lao probed with his spiritual sense.

Gou Wuyue's body was barely held together by the famous sword, but it had shattered into nearly disconnected pieces.

And his head, directly targeted and undefended...

Was gone!

Sang Lao's mouth twitched as he tried to adjust his straw hat, only to touch his bald, chilly scalp.

His straw hat had been blown away by the aftermath, and he couldn't even save it.

Probing Gou Wuyue's injuries again in disbelief, Sang Lao finally confirmed it, though shock still filled his eyes.

"Gou Wuyue's head... really blown off?"