Chapter 774: Tonight in the Royal City, Let a Grand Fireworks Display Serve as the Final Baptism

It wasn't just Situ Yongren who sensed that something was wrong.

Everyone inside and outside the arena saw Xu Xiaoshou's reaction after he broke through to the Zongshi level, and most arrived at a similar conclusion.

After all, a normal Zongshi wouldn't be able to suppress their own Daoyun aura right after a breakthrough.

What's more, Xu Xiaoshou's state seemed like a forced return to simplicity, as if someone had completely stripped him of all his Daoyun aura.

To be able to do this suggested that Xu Xiaoshou hadn't truly returned to simplicity; it was more like a failed attempt at "returning and regressing" without any genuine depth or authenticity.

The sloppy uncle landed beside Xu Xiaoshou and asked gravely through a sound transmission, "Breakthrough... something went wrong?"

Xu Xiaoshou initially looked puzzled.

What did he mean?

But in an instant, he understood.

This breakthrough to Zongshi was affected by his passive system, which absorbed his Daoyun aura and a million points, creating the illusion of a forced advancement.

Combined with his earlier reactions to the "price surge frenzy," it had led to this misunderstanding from others...

Xu Xiaoshou quickly wanted to reply with "No problem" to reassure the uncle, the storyteller, and their group.

But then he had a change of heart.

He was currently using the identity of Xu Xiaoshou.

There was also a Xu Shao at the trading event.

The trial in Dongtian Wangcheng couldn't be entered with Zongshi cultivation.

There were Sang Lao's requirements, Ba Zun An's tasks...

And so much more!

Could he, in this chaotic mix of experts, find a way out at the very last moment, breaking through the schemes of all the major players in a way they never saw coming?

Perhaps, this was the opportunity.

So Xu Xiaoshou's face tightened for a moment, then returned to calm, and he said what he originally intended.

He spoke softly, lowering his voice to the sloppy uncle.

But of course, everyone could hear it.

"Rest assured, my breakthrough was smooth and natural, without any accidents!"

The various big shots fell silent.

Some had already begun using sound transmission to intercept, attempting to block Xu Xiaoshou's response.

They knew what the sloppy uncle would ask.

But no one expected Xu Xiaoshou to reply so confidently, as if he wanted everyone to hear, or as if he had a second layer of meaning—like "I know you're trying to intercept my transmission, so I'll say it all for you to hear"—declaring that his breakthrough had no accidents.

In that moment...

"Suspected, Passive Value: 9999."

A notification popped up, startling Xu Xiaoshou.

This must have come from within the Wangcheng, from all the Lingshi watching the battle, not just the red or white robes!

And this wave...

This was a huge windfall!

Xu Xiaoshou felt a bit comforted in his heart.

This was exactly the effect he wanted...

How could this bunch guess the real thoughts of Xu the Great?

If they could, he'd just change his name to Zhou Tiancan!

"No accidents at all."

Faced with another probing look from the uncle, Xu Xiaoshou seemed to catch on this time, responding through sound transmission with a tone that carried a bitter smile.

Whether that bitter smile was about the breakthrough or the uncle's doubt was left to interpretation.

But as soon as he said it, another notification shook.

"Suspected, Passive Value: 423."

Good heavens!

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't help but exclaim in his mind.

Though he had just become a Zongshi and his cultivation was still weak, did they have to be so unsupportive?

He was Xu Xiaoshou of the Shengnu, after all!

There were over four hundred openly intercepting his transmission?

At that moment, the uncle noticed the Nine Dragons Incinerating Ancestor Shengxiang behind Xu Xiaoshou was showing signs of fading after the series of battles, and he said, "Xu Xiaoshou, step back and consolidate your realm. I'll handle the rest."

Xu Xiaoshou felt touched.

How wonderful!

To live in this world, you really needed a strong backer to have an easier time.

He didn't insist.

A Zongshi versus a Jianxian.

Honestly, the gap wasn't much different from an innate versus a Jianxian.

In Rao Yao Yao's eyes, they were all just ants—maybe a bit sturdier after the breakthrough, but still just one more sword's worth.

Though up to this point, Xu Xiaoshou still didn't understand how Rao Yao Yao could bypass the Shengxiang to strike him with the Red Dust Sword without backlash from the holy power.

But right now, he wanted to pull back from the front lines after his breakthrough.

Because his real purpose tonight wasn't fighting or gaining passive value.

It was to help the people from Tian Shang First Tower escape from the trading event smoothly.

And make it perfectly justified.

"Uncle, go for it! Take down that Jianxian, and you'll be the new one. I think you can do it." Xu Xiaoshou encouraged him and chose to retreat.

The uncle chuckled.

At that moment, everyone's attention finally shifted from Xu Xiaoshou's escape from the Red Dust Sword and his breakthrough to Zongshi, back to the earlier scene.

"Da Fo Zhan..."

Some spectators murmured in their hearts.

When the main focus returned to the uncle and Rao Yao Yao, a sense of equal confrontation emerged, and in everyone's minds, a phantom figure appeared.

It was someone whose true appearance none had seen, but whom they had vividly imagined through countless myths and legends.

And right then, that mythical figure in their hearts overlapped perfectly with the uncle's ragged figure carrying a sack in the sky.

Though his appearance was a bit eye-sore...

That Da Fo Zhan seemed to declare something to everyone.

"Ba Zun An?"

Rao Yao Yao hesitated for a long time, not wanting to trouble the junior anymore, and addressed the sloppy uncle directly.

Earlier, she had been aware of the battles in the central district.

But the uncle hadn't used any signature moves.

At most, his outfit suggested he was an imitator of Ba Zun An.

Yet that Da Fo Zhan involved Huan Jian Shu and Xin Jian Shu.

Among the thousands of Ba Zun An imitators, how many could truly master—yes, "master," not just "be familiar with"—these two sword arts and manifest them into the Da Fo Zhan?

Fewer than the fingers on one hand!

Rao Yao Yao said this, addressing everyone on the entire Sheng Shen Continent!

So when even Rao Yao Yao, one of the Seven Jianxian, asked this, the Lingshi and Jianxiu of the entire Wangcheng boiled over in an instant.

"Ba Zun An?"

"Heavens! He really is!"

"I knew it—the moment he appeared and soared into the sky, his weird getup made me think he was that person!"

"Tch, just now you were saying he was a fake Ba Zun An, all show and no substance, carrying that cheap sack. Now that the Jianxian suspects it and Da Fo Zhan is out, you're changing your tune?"

"Just now? What just now? I was sleeping!"

Indeed.

In this final battle tonight, even those innocent bystanders hiding away couldn't pretend to nap anymore; they all came out into the streets to watch the spectacle all night.

After all, battles for the Wangzuo were rare.

And a struggle for the Taixu in the usually peaceful Dongtian Wangcheng was like a fantasy.

What was even more terrifying was that tonight's fight essentially had an innate with a Shengxiang dominating a Taixu...

—A once-in-a-century sight!

"What's in a name, anyway?"

In the void, facing Rao Yao Yao's question, the uncle gave an ambiguous answer.

He spoke with a faint smile, spreading his hands, and everyone felt that without even hearing the name, this gesture alone confirmed the legend with reality.

Rao Yao Yao gazed intently, her eyes still filled with doubt.

If this was Ba Zun An, and he unleashed his full power for a great battle with her...

She couldn't hold out!

Rao Yao Yao knew she couldn't, but Ba Zun An wouldn't have it easy either.

According to intelligence, he was currently gravely injured, and facing the Xuan Cang Shen Jian would mean certain death.

But if this wasn't Ba Zun An...

In Bai Ku, Gou Wuyue had led the white robes and witnessed Ba Zun An's return firsthand.

The battle scenes from the Ba Gong had been transmitted back to Sheng Shen Hall headquarters in real time via Tianji Shu.

Yet, without personally sensing Ba Zun An's aura upon his return after decades, it was hard to be sure.

The only ones who had seen the real Ba Zun An, besides Gou Wuyue, were all dead.

It was brutal, but reality.

So the current Rao Yao Yao truly couldn't tell if the person opposite was genuine.

"Alright, let's assume you are Ba Zun An..."

At this point, Rao Yao Yao spoke, her beautiful eyes narrowing as she tried to probe further.

But suddenly, her ears twitched, and her expression changed completely. She demanded sternly, "You're not Ba Zun An! Why are you helping the Shengnu? Aren't you afraid your faction will be pursued by the white robes?!"

The certainty in her voice even reached Xu Xiaoshou, who was resting in the back.

Clearly, someone had just passed her some intelligence, steadying her thoughts completely.

But who could it be?

Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled.

In the Ba Gong, everyone who had seen the real Ba Zun An was indeed dead.

Gou Wuyue wasn't leading this time and was nowhere to be seen.

Besides, a Jianxian wouldn't communicate in secret; they'd step out openly.

So that messenger couldn't be him.

Then who dared to be so certain that this sloppy uncle—whom even Xu Xiaoshou could only confirm as a fake Ba Zun An through the gifted "Guan Jian Dian"—was an impostor?

Xu Xiaoshou looked up in alarm.

Though his Shengxiang power was rapidly depleting, it was still active for now.

His Shengnian was powerful, grasping the shifts in the entire Dongtian Wangcheng.

Yet, he found nothing.

Vaguely, Xu Xiaoshou sensed that there was still one final person who hadn't appeared in this battle.

That person had been lurking in the shadows, observing, plotting, and brewing something.

He was like the true puppet master, invisible to the pawns.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly thought of the earlier heavy rain that had poured down.

The sudden rain in the Wangcheng easily made someone as paranoid as him think of Ling Bu Shou Zuo, Yu Ling Di.

But the problem was, Yu Ling Di had been taken out by Sang Lao.

Even Gou Wuyue had reacted with helplessness back then, so Yu Ling Di couldn't have survived.

So that rain was probably just the Taixu stirring the heavens, their emotions affecting the rules.

The rain was heaven's tears, weeping for the innocent.

Beyond that, Xu Xiaoshou really couldn't think of anyone else who could influence Rao Yao Yao's mind and make her so firmly believe that the sloppy uncle wasn't Ba Zun An.

The clouds dispersed, the rain cleared.

The weather was now clear, with dawn breaking.

The storm had been swept away earlier by the fluctuations of holy power and the Jin Zhao Bai Yan from Xu Xiaoshou's Long Rong Jie outburst.

Xu Xiaoshou gazed at the sky, thinking, but decided he couldn't dwell on it.

If the uncle and Rao Yao Yao clashed, it would truly ignite a war between black and white.

And by then, if he still couldn't rescue the people from Tian Shang First Tower, it would be too late.

So Xu Xiaoshou set aside his distractions and continued what others thought was him stabilizing his unstable realm.

Unlike what others believed, Xu Xiaoshou felt that entering Zongshi deserved a grand ceremony.

This ceremony would burn the last of the Shengxiang's power and put a final end to the schemes of all the major players in Dongtian Wangcheng.

And along the way, save Tian Shang First Tower from the brink of collapse.

He calmed his Yuanqi Hai, gesturing with his hands in the air.

Xu Xiaoshou stood in midair, amid the standoff between the uncle and Rao Yao Yao. Under the cover of "concealment," with his passive system having devoured his Daoyun, his internal aura was hidden from others' spiritual senses. He began madly compressing his Lingyuan...

The power of Jin Zhao Original Seed and Three Days Frozen Calamity was called upon...

The Shengxiang power was drawn out; it seemed to be self-decaying, but in reality, it was due to Xu Xiaoshou's sudden frenzied actions...

His body started to convulse.

His cells began to tremble.

Until the destructive aura inside him, enhanced by the holy power, became hard to suppress, and a faint trace of Dao Yin Mie force leaked from his pores.

"Hmm?"

The uncle and Rao Yao Yao, locked in confrontation, suddenly sensed it.

At the same time, the storyteller turned back in surprise, looking at Xu Xiaoshou. "What's going on?"

Mei Si Ren was hidden on a distant street, concealed in the Tian Dao.

Rao Yao Yao had already spotted him, but since he wasn't making a move, it meant he was neutral, so no one bothered him.

Now, he was startled by the aura from Xu Xiaoshou.

"This is..."

Yu Zhi Wen was at the far rear of the battlefield; her eyes had never left Xu Xiaoshou.

When this destructive force appeared, she immediately recalled various classic scenes from Bai Ku involving Xu Xiaoshou.

The massive explosion when the Yan Python emerged...

The massive explosion from the Ling Rong Ze's ice and fire fusion...

The massive explosion when the storyteller's world collapsed in Li Jian Grassland...

And the final great explosion in Bai Ku!

This vibe felt all too familiar.

Realizing what was happening, Yu Zhi Wen's starry pupils widened in shock. She stared at the rapidly fading Shengxiang behind Xu Xiaoshou, which was nearly drained.

She suddenly understood what this guy was about to do...

A Shengbao level explosion!

"Run—"

Yu Zhi Wen shouted urgently.

Igniting holy power to blow up the entire Wangcheng?

No one in their right mind would do that.

But if it was Xu Xiaoshou, it was entirely possible.

This move would force the red and white robes to scramble just to handle the world-shaking blast.

And though Xu Xiaoshou's intent might not be to harm the innocent, if Sheng Shen Hall mishandled it, he could truly become a world plague!

Wait, something didn't add up...

As she thought about it, Yu Zhi Wen felt her mind knotting up.

Why was whether Xu Xiaoshou was a plague judged by Sheng Shen Hall's actions?

And ironically, to prevent him from becoming one, Sheng Shen Hall had no choice but to endure this Shengbao level blast.

—This was so like Xu Xiaoshou!

Almost as soon as Yu Zhi Wen shouted at Rao Yao Yao,

All the white and red robes realized something was wrong.

They surged from all directions toward him.

At that moment, Xu Xiaoshou lifted his startled eyes.

On his ten fingers, ten dark high-pressure energy points appeared, vibrating at high speed and easily tearing through space.

These energy points contained holy power.

Sheng · Ten Finger Seal Technique!

"Uncle, hold off Rao Yao Yao."

Xu Xiaoshou said to the equally shocked sloppy uncle, who had turned to look and seemed ready to flee first.

Then he ignored the red and white robes rushing at him, casting his gaze down at the entire Dongtian Wangcheng, shrouded in his Shengnian.

Since Sheng Shen Hall treated him, Xu Xiaoshou, as a dark force and hunted him relentlessly,

And since he had taken on the prefix of Shengnu for the dark forces,

Then tonight, he'd play the role of a complete villain, an unscrupulous demon!

This blast.

Was for those who truly needed protection.

For this world where black and white had blurred.

And especially for those hidden masterminds, those invisible puppeteers who always flipped clouds and rain with a wave of their hands!

Xu Xiaoshou, like a madman, drained the last bit of power from the Shengxiang.

He maximized the Shengxiang's absolute suppressive force on everything below.

Then he flung the ten "Ice Fire Sheng Seeds" gathered at his fingertips into the air.

Ten black lines shot out like lightning, like a painter's casual stroke adding the most beautiful touch to the sky.

At that moment,

The horizon broke with dawn.

The sun was just rising.

In the previous night, the symbolic Bai Yan of light had been in battle.

Now that day had arrived, it was the dark Ice Fire Sheng Seeds guiding the light.

The Ice Fire Sheng Seeds exploded first in the nine heavens, turning into countless black raindrops falling from the sky like flowing sleet, elegant and mesmerizing.

Time seemed to slow down.

In that instant, Xu Xiaoshou, witnessing the black raindrops adorning the sky, felt like a clown from another world.

The difference was, he wasn't a diseased clown.

And this so-called other world desperately needed healing!

"Tonight, let the Wangcheng end with a grand fireworks display as its final rite."

Xu Xiaoshou smiled at the red and white robes charging toward him only to scatter, spread his hands, and with a pop, his figure vanished completely into the void, leaving only his final echo.

"Wash away all superficiality, shed all dust!"