Chapter 879: Xu Xiaoshou, What Are You Going to Do?

The ice sculpture behind them clearly hadn't trapped Yi and Wuji Laozu for long.

In just the time it took to speak a single sentence, the two had broken free.

Yi clutched his wound and instinctively retreated, frantically using his vital energy to reconnect his severed body and restore his flesh. However, he discovered that the lingering sword intent at the wound was blocking any attempt to repair himself.

"This damn thing, always playing sneak attacks..."

Yi was filled with hatred.

He had been ambushed twice by Sheng Nu Xu Xiaoshou.

The first time was on the long street in Dong Tian Wang Cheng, and despite that lesson, he should have been more cautious.

But...

The opponent's grandmaster-level cultivation was far too deceptive.

Yi never imagined that this young guy, upon landing, would attack without a word.

"Mad dog!"

While cursing inwardly, Yi used his Dao principles to strip away the sword intent from his wound.

Yet, sword intent was ultimately a form of second-generation Che Shen Nian.

The greatness of Che Shen Nian lay in why Kui Lei Han could rightfully claim the top spot among the Ten Venerable Seats, even surpassing the once-renowned Eighth Sword Immortal.

It was because this attack method he created combined qi, intent, and spirit in three states, turning the abstract into the tangible, and using illusory mental force to deliver real damage.

This was virtually the only means under Sheng Li that could ignore rank differences and attack indiscriminately.

It was also widely recognized on the continent as the most unbeatable offense and defense technique in the same stage for Lian Ling Shi.

Unbeatable!

Even ancient sword cultivators who mastered the nine great sword techniques wouldn't be labeled with such a title.

Because the genius closest to "unbeatable," Ba Zun An, had been defeated back in the day by Hua Chang Deng's three swords.

But Che Shen Nian was entirely different!

In fact, based on Kui Lei Han's original concept when developing Che Shen Nian: even a Houtian realm Lian Ling Shi who mastered it could theoretically injure a Tai Xu.

Such claims were dismissed with laughter at the time.

Because such scenarios were practically impossible.

Even Tai Xu powerhouses at the time had no way or talent to learn Che Shen Nian.

The Sheng Shen Dian Tang originally had seven departments, with the seventh called the "Nian Bu," established specifically to counter the first-generation Che Shen Nian, "Fa Shen Xing Jie."

However, after over a decade of operation and pouring in countless research funds,

The Nian Bu was ultimately disbanded.

This story told the harsh truth to the people of the Five Domains:

Genius will always be genius; no matter how hard a dullard works or how much they pour their heart and soul into it, they can never match the fleeting inspiration of a genius that eclipses generations!

Kui Lei Han was just such a genius.

The scenario he predicted when the first-generation Che Shen Nian emerged, which seemed utterly impossible back then,

Now, decades later, appeared to be on the verge of coming true...

Xu Xiaoshou, a mere grandmaster junior, had unleashed sword intent with a single strike and wounded a Tai Xu!

This physical body of Yi's had been replaced with a brand-new one since his last encounter with Xu Xiaoshou.

Yet, facing the sword intent from that scruffy uncle, his countermeasures proved...

Utterly insignificant!

On the other side,

Wuji Laozu gazed at the two figures in the deep pit before him and fell into a long silence.

He vaguely felt that he might have made a slight mistake...

But!

As one of the secondary leaders of the Bai Mai in Xu Kong Dao, ranked second in continental Tian Ji techniques, a former Sheng Di powerhouse, and a senior figure...

All of this led Wuji Laozu to instinctively dismiss the absurd thought rising within him.

What is my status as an old ancestor?

The person before me isn't Ba Zun An, the revered one of the black and white branches; he's just Ba Zun An's junior, Xu Xiaoshou. Why should I feel any guilt?

Still, since there was a minor error on his part,

Wuji Laozu pondered for a while before speaking up: "Xu Xiaoshou, that young girl..."

"Quiet."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't even turn his head as he spoke softly.

He still held Mu Zi Xi in his arms, his full attention on the person in his hands, desperately observing if her condition would improve after consuming the Sheng Xue.

Wuji Laozu frowned, feeling dissatisfied.

It was one thing for Ba Zun An to speak that way, but you, Xu Xiaoshou, are merely his designated successor, holder of the Ba Zi Ling, and not yet fully grown. How dare you be so insolent to your senior?

He didn't stay quiet and continued, his tone laced with dissatisfaction and frustration: "That young girl is nothing more than a pawn. Since you're taking over Ba Zun An's organization in the future, you need to learn that mercy will..."

Xu Xiaoshou reacted as if his reverse scale had been touched. He whipped around, roaring ferociously: "I told you to shut up!!!"

Wuji Laozu was stunned by the outburst.

Once he recovered, anger flared in his heart.

But just then,

A faint rustling sound reached his ears.

The next second, Wuji Laozu was horrified to find raging white flames igniting between his eyes!

"Jin Zhao Bai Yan?"

Wuji Laozu was terrified.

In that moment, he almost mistook the squatting Xu Xiaoshou before him for one of the Bai Mai's three ancestors, Jin Zhao Laozu, punishing a subordinate!

"Ancestor, spare me... Uh?"

After his instinctive reaction, Wuji Laozu quickly snapped back to his senses.

Though this white flame had the power to incinerate the heavens and boil the seas, it lacked the unlimited destructive force of Jin Zhao Laozu's version.

With a sweep of his Dao principles and a seal of Tian Ji,

Wuji Laozu flung the Jin Zhao Bai Yan away. After feeling the burning pain in his eyes and the total blindness that followed,

He was both furious and humiliated.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"I'm just setting up a Tian Ji technique to seize control of the Yun Jing world and kill that Yi. I was only a step slow, not trying to let your people die..."

"Are you insane? Attacking me too?"

Wuji Laozu channeled his Tian Ji, generating restorative forces with his Dao principles, and in an instant, healed his eye injuries. He glared at Xu Xiaoshou and shouted accusingly.

In the rear, Yi, who was still grappling with the remnants of the sword intent on his body, had already been contemplating retreat after learning of Xuan Wuji's identity and suffering Xu Xiaoshou's ambush.

But now, upon hearing this, he watched with keen interest.

Internal conflict?

This could be good.

It was quite the spectacle, and he needed to see how it played out before deciding whether to strike or leave.

He reached for his combat communicator, intending to contact Ye Xiao for backup.

After all, even Sheng Nu Xu Xiaoshou had shown up. If tonight was his lucky break and he could capture both Xuan Wuji and Xu Xiaoshou...

It would be monumental功!

But to his surprise, even this specially customized communicator was completely useless at that moment.

Yi froze, his heart sinking.

He recalled Xuan Wuji's earlier words: even a Ban Sheng presence couldn't detect the battlefield here.

"Is he serious?"

"Does he really dare make a move in the Yun Lun Mountains and try to kill me?"

Yi felt a twinge of panic and began considering the worst-case scenario.

Tai Xu weren't that easy to kill.

If he couldn't win, he could always flee.

But what if Xuan Wuji was willing to risk everything in a mutual destruction?

Yi started pondering his escape options.

Meanwhile,

After hearing Wuji Laozu's words, Xu Xiaoshou's expression grew even darker.

He finally turned back, struggling to suppress the raging bestial desires in his mind, and asked in what could barely pass as a calm voice: "So, you heard everything I said before?"

What words?

Wuji Laozu was baffled for a moment before realizing.

It was what Xu Xiaoshou had said to Liu Changqing in the Xu Bang camp: protect Mu Zi Xi.

"Of course I heard it. I'm just inhabiting someone else's body, not deaf," Wuji Laozu replied with a frown, not understanding why Xu Xiaoshou was dwelling on this.

Xu Xiaoshou's fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

He steadied his voice as much as he could and asked again, his tone heavy: "So, even after knowing your task, you still prioritized killing Yi and put the protection you were supposed to handle second?"

Wuji Laozu was furious and shot back: "Xu Xiaoshou, have you lost your mind? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I don't kill Yi, what should I do?"

He pointed at Mu Zi Xi in the young man's arms: "Her? She's just a..."

He was about to say "pawn," but remembering Xu Xiaoshou's explosive reaction to that word earlier, Wuji Laozu quickly changed his tune and softened his voice: "Saving a grandmaster versus killing a Tai Xu—which is more important?"

"Why?"

Xu Xiaoshou demanded, the murderous aura in his eyes clearly on the brink of losing control.

"Why what?" Wuji Laozu asked, unconsciously lowering his head under the increasingly overwhelming pressure from the young man opposite him.

How long had it been since he left Xu Kong Dao? How long had he been in Liu Changqing's body?

During that time, Liu Changqing had been too busy saving himself to pay attention to some random Xu Xiaoshou.

Even if he had looked into it, the key intelligence sealed by Sheng Shen Dian Tang would have been inaccessible to him.

Thus, while inhabiting Liu Changqing, Wuji Laozu could observe the outside world,

But he only knew from the Ling Que trading event that Xu Xiaoshou had produced the "Ba Zi Ling," marking him as an important pawn of Ba Zun An.

As for how important...

Something even Sheng Shen Dian Tang couldn't fully grasp, how could Wuji Laozu know?

So, in his mind, it was already an honor for Mu Zi Xi to be remembered by name.

Compared to someone like Yi, who was one of the six department heads, and considering his own grudge against Yi...

The choice was obvious.

But Xu Xiaoshou didn't see it that way!

He stared straight at Liu Changqing, as if looking at a dead man.

"I'm asking why you're so fixated on killing Yi!"

Xu Xiaoshou glanced back at Yi, who had retreated as far as possible, not hiding the frenzied killing intent in his eyes. "This is my own business!"

Up to this point, he still naively believed that Wuji Laozu was helping out of revenge for Yi's pursuit in Dong Tian Wang Cheng.

However,

After a moment of daze, Wuji Laozu parted his lips and said quietly: "Personal grudge."

"Personal grudge?" Xu Xiaoshou's pupils dilated in an instant.

"Um..." Wuji Laozu was caught off guard.

He didn't know why he felt such immense pressure from Xu Xiaoshou, something he only experienced when facing Ba Zun An.

But soon, Wuji Laozu realized.

Xu Xiaoshou carried an aura that didn't belong to his cultivation level at all.

This innate, overpowering presence had erupted from the start and was at least on the level of a Wang Zuo.

And as time passed, the young man's aura kept building, accumulating without limit, rising steadily.

What a strange kid... Wuji Laozu finally understood why Ba Zun An had chosen him.

Just this aura alone, which could devour mountains and rivers—if Xu Xiaoshou learned to control it—armed with his Si Jian, he could take on Dao realm opponents or even challenge Tai Xu without any external aid.

And he was only at the grandmaster level right now!

A monster... This ability to fight far above his level was practically a replica of the young Ba Zun An!

Wuji Laozu's thoughts raced as he tried to use Tian Ji to slightly evade the aura's influence.

But an aura was formless and intangible, an abstract force—how could it be fully countered by a concrete Tian Ji technique?

Wuji Laozu, due to his fundamental connection to Ba Zun An and now to Ba Zun An's successor Xu Xiaoshou, already lacked confidence when facing this young man.

He could speak tough,

But he couldn't completely ignore the impact of that imperial rage-like aura.

In the end, he could only mumble a few words and lay it all out.

"Before I entered Xu Kong Dao, I fell into that guy's hands, and he destroyed my physical body." Wuji Laozu pointed at Yi, feeling a twinge of shame.

How had he, a senior, been forced to explain something so beneath him to a junior?

But...

Fine, let's consider it giving face to Ba Zun An!

Wuji Laozu sighed softly.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly laughed.

"Heh."

"Hehehe."

"Hahahahaha..."

His eyebrows shot up, and his laughter faded as his eyes, in that instant, were almost entirely consumed by the Si Jian's murderous aura, turning pitch black.

With all his schemes and strategies,

Xu Xiaoshou believed he had planned flawlessly, even allowing an absurd organization like Tian Shang First Tower's branch to operate openly under Rao Yao Yao's nose and still survive.

Even if Mu Zi Xi's Tun Sheng Mu body had accidentally been exposed, potentially leading to danger—whether real or just his paranoia—

He had put the strongest safeguards in place, sending Liu Changqing to draw out any threats from the shadows and crush them head-on.

But he never expected that this so-called "strongest safeguard" would be breached from within before any external attack.

"Betrayal?"

Xu Xiaoshou knew it wasn't quite betrayal—Wuji Laozu's reasons were understandable.

But rationally speaking,

All he felt now was the intense sting of being stabbed in the back!

After a long pause,

Xu Xiaoshou's lips curled into a somewhat deranged smile.

"Personal grudge?"

"I told you to protect her, but you tell me..."

"You're ignoring her life and death for your own grudge?"

Xu Xiaoshou cradled Mu Zi Xi and gripped his Si Jian, slowly rising to his feet.

To outsiders, this was just a madman—a complete lunatic controlled by the Si Jian's murderous aura.

He was about to go berserk!

In the back, Yi paused his self-healing efforts at the sight.

He feared this was another ploy, that these two were staging a fight only to turn on him, with Xu Xiaoshou striking again.

After all, it was Si Jian!

But this internal conflict—how did it seem so genuine?

Regardless, Yi heightened his vigilance to the maximum, his gaze darting between Xu Xiaoshou and Xuan Wuji.

Wuji Laozu watched Xu Xiaoshou approach with his sword, and though he was just a junior, a sudden sense of massive threat made his back prickle with cold sweat, and beads of perspiration formed on his forehead.

"Xu Xiaoshou! What are you doing!"

His eyes locked on the Si Jian in Xu Xiaoshou's hand, recalling the scene of sword intent slicing Yi, knowing full well that this steadily advancing youth's abilities couldn't be judged by ordinary grandmaster standards.

Wuji Laozu suppressed his urge to step back and roared: "Xu Xiaoshou! I'm on your side! The priority right now is to kill... I mean, to save the girl in your arms!"

Only at this moment did Wuji Laozu finally realize,

That girl, whom he had dismissed as insignificant and on the verge of collapse,

Was actually the most important one among the four of them!