Chapter 830: Gentlemen, You Have Been Surrounded by Me, Xu

"Achoo!"

"Who's thinking about me?"

Xu Xiaoshou, who was hurrying along the road, sneezed.

He felt he hadn't even made it onto the leaderboard yet, so how could someone already be thinking about his points?

After running for what felt like forever, he watched as the number of people on the leaderboard kept growing, from just over a hundred to now more than three thousand.

Although most of them only had the initial 100 points, at least they had gotten their yunzhu. Xu Xiaoshou hadn't even caught a glimpse of one.

"What's going on?"

While stopping to rest, even Xin Gugu was getting annoyed. "Are we really this unlucky? We've been at it for half a day and haven't found a single yunzhu, not even a yunshou, but we've killed several ling shou…"

"Yunshou? You're still thinking about yunshou at a time like this?" Liu Changqing couldn't help but roll his eyes. As the top-tier tianji art master under one person and above all others, he had to admit that superstition seemed to trump tianji learning.

In just half a day, over three thousand people had found yunzhu.

Here they were—one zongshi, one wangzuo, one zhan dao—and after sealing their cultivation, they couldn't even crack the top three thousand on the leaderboard.

"It's time to change our strategy…"

Xu Xiaoshou started reflecting on his own mistakes.

Along the way, he had encountered some people, but they all looked weak and offered little reward. Even if he "plundered" one, he'd only get half of their points.

So, he had saved their "plunder" opportunities and focused solely on finding yunshou.

But yunshou were too hard to find.

Forget yunshou—he hadn't even seen what a yunzhu looked like.

He opened the leaderboard.

"1, Chong Yuan, points: 24,200."

"2, Duo Er, points: 2,700."

"3, Su Qianqian, points: 1,050."

The top three had already surpassed four digits.

The most outrageous was the leader, who seemed to have hunted two yunshou, racking up over 20,000 points—nearly ten times the second place!

Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes.

He realized he had been wrong.

Hunting yunshou was unreliable, and he didn't have the kind of luck Chong Yuan had to take down two.

To get his name on the leaderboard, there was no doubt—he had to start "killing."

"Su Qianqian…"

Xu Xiaoshou stared at the "1,050" points for third place and murmured.

That name was all too familiar—the sword sect genius from Tian Sang Ling Palace, someone who easily stood out in trials like this.

But he wasn't interested in Su Qianqian's name; he was eyeing her points.

That "50" was quite telling.

Clearly, someone who hadn't gone on a killing spree wouldn't end up with an odd number like that.

"Maybe we need to try a different approach." Xu Xiaoshou stood up from the big rock, pretending to be tired even though the journey hadn't affected him at all.

"I told you we couldn't afford to be merciful. If we'd been killing along the way, we'd have at least a few hundred points by now…" Xin Gugu complained immediately.

Xu Xiaoshou rubbed his forehead. "I thought killing one yunshou would be faster than scraping together 50 points one by one. Plus, we might run into other broke folks like us, and that would just waste time… I never imagined yunshou would be this hard to find!"

"Way too hard!" Liu Changqing shook his head in amazement. "I have no idea how this 'Chong Yuan' managed to hunt two yunshou."

In just half a day, the leader had pulled so far ahead it was like he was in another league.

This wasn't about skill—it was pure luck on Chong Yuan's part.

"Time to kill."

A murderous glint flashed in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes; he was getting desperate.

Just as the three of them stood up, a burst of spiritual light erupted in the distance, catching everyone's attention.

"Something's happening?" Xin Gugu turned back excitedly.

"Let's go!" Xu Xiaoshou decided instantly, not wanting to wait a second longer, and shot off.

"Spiritual light?"

"A treasure emerging?"

"Maybe it's a yunzhu! Let's charge!"

In the eastern region of Yunlun Mountains, plenty of trial participants were as frustrated as Xu Xiaoshou.

Clearly, the scarcity of yunzhu in the east was a problem everyone faced—it wasn't that the Yunjing world was targeting him specifically.

So, when this spiritual light appeared—something that might not have drawn much attention at first—now it had everyone's blood boiling. As soon as they saw it, they all rushed over.

Any initial caution about entering Yunlun Mountains was thrown to the wind.

At the source of the spiritual light.

Two trial participants were traveling together and had just stopped to rest, complaining about how Chong Yuan at the top of the leaderboard was inhuman and how they hadn't found a single yunzhu all day.

Then, out of nowhere, good fortune struck.

"Yunzhu!"

When they spotted the yunzhu emerging from the ground, wrapped in spiritual light about ten meters away, both their eyes turned bloodshot.

"Finally, our turn! Damn, the east is really barren. We've searched thousands of li and only found this one?"

"Grab it quick. Everyone's desperate right now, and this spiritual light will bring a lot of trouble."

The two moved forward together.

They didn't take the spiritual light seriously.

Gathering their spiritual energy, the two trial participants attacked simultaneously, following their pre-arranged plan: secure the treasure first, then divide the spoils. Two pillars of spiritual energy shot toward the yunzhu's spiritual light.

"Bang!"

There was an explosion, but the yunzhu's spiritual light remained unshaken.

"So tough?" They were surprised.

It was a strike at the peak of Xiantian level, though not at full strength to avoid damaging the yunzhu.

But even with half their power, it should have felled an ordinary Xiantian cultivator!

"Go all out!" The two exchanged a nod and decided.

"Boom!"

Another explosion, and after a full-power attack, the spiritual light still stood firm.

Now their faces darkened.

"This defense is at the zongshi level—maybe even a Tianxiang realm strike couldn't break it."

As geniuses, after two attempts, they had figured out the yunzhu spiritual light's hardness.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

While they pondered their next move, several figures whizzed in from the sky, landing nearby—clearly drawn by the yunzhu's spiritual light.

"Ha ha ha, it really is a yunzhu. We're so lucky."

This was another trio.

After half a day, everyone knew that communication beads didn't work in the Yunjing world, so to avoid being picked off alone, they had all formed alliances.

With this trio arriving, the original pair felt the pressure mount.

"You two are so lucky to find this and wait for us? Guarding the prize like hunters?" Zhu Dong, the leader of the trio, laughed.

The pair felt even more pressure. One of them said, "The yunzhu's spiritual light won't break. If you think you can do it, go ahead and try."

"Oh?" Zhu Dong raised an eyebrow and looked at the yunzhu's spiritual light.

"Zongshi level?" He judged instantly.

This glance surprised the others. Without even trying, he could tell the defense level—Zhu Dong's strength was clearly beyond ordinary Xiantian peak.

"I'll give it a shot. You two keep watch and don't let anyone else approach." Zhu Dong instructed his companions.

Then he stepped forward alone, sinking his energy into his dantian. Mist swirled around him as spiritual light gathered on his left fist.

"Tide Rise!"

He threw a punch, the energy surging like a tsunami, faintly carrying the aura of water-based dao principles.

"This punch is definitely zongshi level, a zongshi spiritual skill!" The pair was shocked. Zhu Dong's power must be on the verge of breaking through to zongshi—he'd probably suppressed his cultivation for a year or more.

With a thunderous boom, the yunzhu's spiritual light shook as if it might dissipate.

In the eager eyes of the onlookers, it stabilized and solidified again.

"Can't break it?" Zhu Dong's face stiffened. He had put everything into that punch, holding nothing back.

If even that failed, they'd have to wait for more people.

"Damn it…"

More figures swooped in from the distance, and faintly, from all directions, more frustrated trial participants from the east were howling toward them.

The fight for this yunzhu was about to get brutal.

"Should I break through?" Zhu Dong hesitated.

Honestly, breaking through to zongshi for one yunzhu wasn't worth it.

But he was confident that if he did, he could rank in the top thirty-six on the leaderboard.

What if he didn't…?

"Get the hell away from here! This yunzhu is ours!"

An arrogant voice boomed from afar.

Following it, a burly bald man led six others charging in.

Zhu Dong narrowed his eyes. Seven people—this was getting tough.

"You guys try it!"

He signaled the original pair to fall back slightly and whispered, "Let's pull back for now. This is turning into a free-for-all."

The burly man hadn't even started trying when another dozen figures arrived.

These dozen belonged to different teams, and as soon as they landed near the yunzhu, the atmosphere grew tense.

But after twenty-something people tried, the yunzhu's spiritual light clearly couldn't be shattered by Xiantian cultivation.

A moment later…

"Damn, over forty people now."

"Just one lousy yunzhu—barely enough to go around. Is the east this destitute?"

"Hell, even Zhongyu Xuan Tian Fu Tai, San Sheng Jiao Pai Mo Bei Bei, Da Liang Gong Xi Guang Han, and Chao Dong Ge Zhu Dong are here, and we still can't break the spiritual light."

"This thing needs zongshi or even Yin Yang Mirror level to crack. Without breaking through, we're just waiting around."

"Yeah, Xiantian using zongshi spiritual skills can't touch the yunzhu's spiritual light at all. This Yunjing world is rigged, forcing people to break through."

"What a rip-off…"

As the crowd chatted, they had no idea that a few hundred meters away, three sneaky figures were hiding in the underbrush, suppressing their auras.

"Xu Xiaoshou, what are we waiting for?" Xin Gugu asked, puzzled.

They had talked about killing, and they'd flown close to the yunzhu, but then Xu Xiaoshou suddenly changed his mind. Was he turning soft?

If he struck, not only the spiritual light but the yunzhu itself could be shattered.

Why wait so long?

"Don't rush. There's only about forty people here. If we're going to do this, let's make it big." Xu Xiaoshou chuckled.

Xin Gugu was baffled. "Did you go deaf, Xu Xiaoshou, or am I hearing things? Didn't you hear them talking? They're as broke as us—the east is too poor!"

"Yeah, they're broke."

"Then why…"

"But they're all geniuses!" Xu Xiaoshou turned back with a smile, his canine teeth gleaming.

"What do you mean?" Xin Gugu was stunned.

Xu Xiaoshou sighed. "Are you dense? The east is this poor, and one yunzhu draws this many people. If we don't take them all out at once, we'll have to fight again for the next spiritual pearl. Do you want to keep brawling?"

Xin Gugu was speechless. "You're planning to take on fifty by yourself?" By now, there were over fifty.

"No." Xu Xiaoshou shook his head. "I'm giving them a chance to prove themselves against the successor of a bansheng. Who wouldn't want to take down a bansheng successor?"

With that said.

Seeing the numbers exceed sixty and the yunzhu's spiritual light starting to fade, Xu Xiaoshou waited no longer. He soared into the sky and shouted, "Everyone, you've been surrounded by me, Xu Xiaoshou!"

Hiding behind the big rock in the grass pile, Xin Gugu and Liu Changqing exchanged glances, both bewildered.

"He's so shameless!" Xin Gugu grumbled, though a bit envious of Xu Xiaoshou's flair.

"What a guy." Liu Changqing sighed in admiration and quickly rushed out to guard him.

"Everyone, you've been surrounded by me, Xu Xiaoshou!"

His booming voice shifted everyone's attention from the fading yunzhu spiritual light to the newcomer.

"Who's this?"

Some saw the ordinary-looking, mysterious cultivator acting so boldly and thought he was an idiot.

"So arrogant!"

"Does he mean to take on all sixty of us alone?"

"Beat the crap out of him! This guy's just begging for it—I want to fight him one-on-one. Don't anyone stop me."

From the crowd, a burly man with a warhammer leaped forward.

The man grinned lewdly, his yellow teeth bared, drool nearly dripping, as he faced the flashy young man. "Who are you? Name yourself—I don't beat nameless fools."

"What a coincidence." Xu Xiaoshou looked at the man's lewd grin and felt nauseated, retorting, "I never ask for names before I strike."

With that, he drew the black sword Cang Ku from his ring.

Cang Ku had reached the level of a six-pin zongshi spiritual sword, full of spirit. In this setting, it was more than sufficient.

Though its appearance hadn't changed much since leaving Tian Sang Ling Palace, its aura was completely different, perfectly matching Xu Xiaoshou's identity.

"Shing!"

As soon as the black sword appeared, it writhed excitedly like a snake.

The piercing sword hum gave everyone an odd, chilling feeling.

"Holy crap, what kind of sword is this? It feels dirtier than Zhao Xiu's!"

"This sword hum… Damn, I don't sense any killing intent, just goosebumps. This sword is disgusting!"

"A six-pin zongshi spiritual sword with this much spirit? Unbelievable!"

Zhao Xiu ignored it all. Xu Xiaoshou's words had enraged him. He swung his heavy hammer, creating a fierce wind in the void, even producing sonic booms.

He was indeed a genius… Xu Xiaoshou thought, gripping Cang Ku, a bit surprised.

This Xiantian peak casual strike already hinted at zongshi level power. This bald guy wasn't ordinary!

But "not ordinary" only went so far.

Xu Xiaoshou was already at zongshi level, even if he could only show Xiantian. His sword dao far surpassed everyone here.

"White Clouds Drifting, Sword Flick Style!"

With a casual flick of the black sword, like a fleeting antelope's horn, traceless and unpredictable.

Zhao Xiu's hammer strike not only missed but also made him feel trapped in quicksand, his momentum tangled and sluggish, even disrupting his footwork.

Then, from the quicksand, an ancient beast leaped out, jaws wide.

"Boom!"

The void trembled violently.

In that instant, Zhao Xiu, despite his brute strength, couldn't hold his weapon, and the heavy hammer was flicked away.

"Gah!"

He broke free from the quicksand but found the black sword already pressed against his carotid artery.

"I surrender! I give up! Don't kill me, don't move…"

Zhao Xiu's face fell, hands raised high. He didn't want to die or be eliminated.

"I haven't moved." Xu Xiaoshou smiled calmly. He wanted to subdue the crowd, not wipe them out—that would be pointless.

"But…"

Zhao Xiu still looked like he was about to cry, flexing his finger toward his neck.

His carotid artery was already cut, blood gushing out.

Xu Xiaoshou paused and looked at Zhao Xiu's neck.

Damn!

Cang Ku had twisted into a convulsing maggot—it was licking the blood?