Chapter 926: Elder Sang's Scheme

Above the fourth dragon vein in the Yunlun Mountain Range.

Xu Xiaoshou finally finished his prostrate position, dusting off the dirt from his beloved little skirt before standing up. He looked at the distant meteor shower of treasures with lingering fear.

It hadn't been long, but he felt as if he had been lying there for a century!

"What a spectacular sight..."

The Heavenly Fate Golden Dragon of the Divine Sword Xuan Cang, the Heavenly Mechanism Array of the Semi-Saint Dao Qiong Cang, the arrow of Ai Cangsheng that spanned two realms to strike evil, along with the remnant will of the Saint Emperor and the Black Dragon Scales...

And!

And that enigmatic leader of the Saint Slaves, Ba Zun An, who never even showed his face yet manipulated everything within his grasp.

"Too powerful."

"The peak powers in this world are overwhelmingly strong."

After watching the battle, Xu Xiaoshou was still trembling with excitement.

At his current novice stage, when a peak-level war truly erupted, he didn't even qualify to participate.

The fact that he wasn't obliterated by the residual shockwaves was solely due to the combatants' careful control, as they had no intention of harming the innocent.

"Drunk on the waters of the mortal world, awakening as an immortal in perfect harmony..."

The faint echoes of Ba Zun An's post-battle song still lingered in his ears, leaving Xu Xiaoshou stunned for a long while, unable to snap out of his daze.

He could now understand why Ba Zun An had so many fervent fans in the Dongyu Sword God Heaven and across the five continents of the mainland.

This kind of person, with his carefree and unrestrained fighting style, his way of doing things like "finishing the deed and vanishing without a trace, hiding all merits and fame"...

It was hard not to draw people in!

"This was his first true return to the world since his 'fall,' and even then, it was just an indirect move."

"It's tough to imagine how wildly arrogant Ba Zun An must have been in his prime, facing others head-on in that glorious era..."

Xu Xiaoshou let out a soft sigh, regaining his composure, and noticed the dozen or so members of the Xu Gang around him. They too had risen from their forced kneeling due to the saintly power, each brushing off their clothes as they stood.

Everyone was still reeling from the epic battle in the sky above.

Everyone was still savoring that mysterious, ethereal song that had followed the fight.

It wasn't until much later that one Xu Gang member clutched his personal sword, his face flushed with excitement, and shouted hysterically:

"The Eighth Sword Immortal! This has to be the Eighth Sword Immortal! This saintly battle was definitely orchestrated by him!"

Xu Xiaoshou turned to look, and without asking, he knew this guy was one of Ba Zun An's die-hard worshippers.

Several others nearby were drawn by the voice and turned their heads.

The member continued with passion, gesturing wildly:

"Legends say that in his youth, the Eighth Sword Immortal wielded one sword and one poem per step, defeating all challengers wherever he went! Lines this free-spirited, uninhibited, and bold could only be his work—he's back!"

Overcome with joy, the member burst into tears, clutching his spirit sword and sobbing:

"I just knew it, I always knew the Eighth Sword Immortal never fell. I've always believed he was alive—he's back, he's really back!"

"Wahhh..."

Xu Xiaoshou watched in silence, unable to comprehend how a grown man, a spirit refiner no less, could be so fanatical about someone he'd never met, even obsessing over their fate.

Nearby, someone with similar thoughts spoke up. He was from the Zhongyu region, a proper spirit refiner, and he laughed at the sight of the man weeping into his hands:

"Why go to such extremes? We spirit refiners hold no gods or Buddhas in our hearts; we only pursue the upright path of sainthood. Why get so worked up over..."

"You don't get it!"

The sword-wielding member cut him off, raising his sword high in anger:

"When I was bullied in my clan, when I chose the sword path and was mocked, when I stayed up nights practicing and wanted to give up..."

"It was that line, 'One sword from the east, one sword as an immortal,' that kept me going, that encouraged me."

"This is faith!"

"You people who grew up safe and sound in big families or powerful factions know nothing, so what right do you have to judge me?!"

His eyes were red, his anger boiling over.

The spirit refiner from a traditional background was stunned into silence, shrinking back awkwardly:

"Sorry, I didn't know you had that kind of background..."

The mountain fell quiet.

Xu Xiaoshou remained silent, watching, and suddenly gained a new perspective on the Eighth Sword Immortal's influence among sword cultivators or, more broadly, all the "underdogs" in this world.

Perhaps what people like this sword-wielding member admired wasn't just the name "Ba Zun An," but the spirit it represented: unyielding resilience and the pursuit of freedom.

"What's your name?"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly asked.

The sword-wielder, still wiping away tears, was startled but quickly replied:

"Reporting to Gang Leader Mu, I'm Li Yan."

"Li Yan..." Xu Xiaoshou murmured, smiling as he walked over and patted his shoulder, standing on tiptoe. "Li Yan, keep it up. Maybe others don't believe in you, but I do. The power of faith is limitless!"

Li Yan stood there stunned for a moment, his spiritual energy surging to dry his tears, and he lowered his head:

"Thank you..."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't look at him anymore and turned his gaze back to the sky.

The meteor shower continued to fall, scattering seeds of hope across the heavens, while the frantic red-clad figures darted through the Yunlun Mountain Range airspace. Even without forming any arrays, they kept intercepting.

But some still slipped through, allowing these treasures to land in the trial grounds of the Yunlun Mountain Range.

"How many Li Yans are there in this world?" Xu Xiaoshou wondered wistfully, then shook his head to clear his thoughts and refocused on the matter at hand.

The red-clad forces couldn't stop Ba Zun An's final wave of treasure flood.

Among them was the Demonic Sword Wanbing Mojun, which had vanished into nothingness with the dissipation of the Saint Emperor's power.

And, as expected, the legendary source of sanctification, the "Sheng Yuan Jing Shi"—straight from Ba Zun An's words.

Since these treasures might fall in the Yunlun Mountain Range and had no owners, the trial participants would go mad searching for them.

So why should he stay put in this deserted mountain and miss out?

"This wave of treasures will buy a lot of time, keeping Yao Yao Yao from splitting her focus to hunt down the killer of the anomalies, and the red-clad forces will be afraid of these items falling into the hands of dark powers, potentially creating major enemies for them—especially the 'Sheng Yuan Jing Shi'..."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't know why Ba Zun An had referred to the Sheng Yuan Jing Shi with the prefix "source of sanctification." Maybe it was on par with the "foundation of sanctification"?

But not understanding it didn't mean he wasn't tempted.

After all, this was a treasure highlighted alongside the Demonic Sword Wanbing Mojun in Ba Zun An's words.

And right now...

It was first come, first served!

Xu Xiaoshou was about to give the order to go out and search for treasures, stirring up the chaos even more.

But just then...

"Drip."

His trial jade pendant beeped.

Xu Xiaoshou's eyebrows twitched as he pulled out the pendant and saw the latest prompt:

"The Nine Dragon Veins contest, second task issued."

"Search for treasures containing saintly power scattered across the Yunlun Mountain Range and submit them via the trial jade pendant. Each submission earns 100,000 points."

"Additional: Submitting the treasure 'Sheng Yuan Jing Shi' earns 100 million points; submitting 'Demonic Sword · Wanbing Mojun' earns 100 million points."

The message was straightforward.

Xu Xiaoshou was left speechless with shock.

This was too fast!

Were the red-clad forces short-handed, turning the treasure hunt into part of the trial itself and using the Yunlun Mountain Range participants to search for them?

But could it work?

A nearby Xu Gang member read the message and snorted:

"This is just shameless. 100,000 points? How does that compare to a treasure with saintly power?"

"Exactly, but those two rewards of 100 million points at the end are making my head spin. If I found one and couldn't protect it, I might just submit it right away..."

This made Xu Xiaoshou narrow his eyes.

The Xu Gang members hadn't seen the full details of the saints' clash earlier, so they didn't realize that "treasures containing saintly power" weren't actually saint-level items—just spirit tools or elixirs coated with a layer of saintly power.

Once they found the treasures and figured out the truth, they might speed up the trial process for the allure of the "Sacred Palace trial spots," forcing them to submit the items.

If someone lacked the strength, getting a treasure would likely lead to a few outcomes:

One, it gets snatched away.

Two, they hand it over to their clan afterward.

Three, it's discovered by the enforcers and they have to submit it for points.

So why not turn it in the moment they get it, swapping it for the points they need most, then go search for more?

Even if they snagged the "Sheng Yuan Jing Shi" or "Demonic Sword," who among the Yunlun Mountain Range participants could hold onto it?

It would either be stolen by intruders or passed around among the strong until the enforcers found it and forced a submission...

"So underhanded!"

"This treasure hunt task is downright dirty!"

Xu Xiaoshou could almost see the red-clad forces' real intentions behind this task.

Because every normal trial participant still had a trial jade pendant on them, and that thing was probably the core for monitoring everyone in the Yun Realm.

As long as you went treasure hunting, no matter how many you found or hid, the whole process would be under Yao Yao Yao's watchful eye.

"Impressive!"

Xu Xiaoshou had to admire the red-clad leadership's quick thinking. How sharp did their minds have to be to come up with such an almost overt scheme?

Regardless, now that the trial jade pendant had turned treasure hunting into an official activity, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't just sit idle anymore.

"Everyone, listen up!"

He adopted the demeanor of Gang Leader Mu, and instantly, the dozen or so Xu Gang members stood at attention, responding in unison:

"Yes!"

"Head down the mountain immediately and search for treasures containing saintly power. Once found, submit them to me first, then based on the situation, I'll record your merits and exchange them for whatever you want!"

Xu Xiaoshou declared loudly.

He paused, then grinned playfully:

"Of course, you could choose to keep them for yourselves, though that might attract the enforcers' attention."

"No way..."

"Gang Leader, we wouldn't dare!"

The Xu Gang members waved their hands frantically, their words tumbling out in panic.

They had thought about hiding some, but now that it was exposed, they felt a chill—after all, Gang Leader Mu was basically a "devil."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't bother with more talk. He wasn't interested in the regular treasures with saintly power; he was only after the "Sheng Yuan Jing Shi" and the "Demonic Sword."

He could foresee that with all the Yunlun Mountain Range participants searching, it wouldn't take more than a day—maybe not even half—before these big prizes surfaced.

"Move out!"

In the core area, near the ninth dragon vein.

The white-haired, short-statured young man, Ye Xiaotian, drifted slowly along the mountain path like a ghost.

"Sheng Yuan Jing Shi..."

His gaze sharpened with disbelief as he murmured the familiar term that had come from Ba Zun An's mouth.

Ye Xiaotian remembered his purpose as an intruder in the Yunlun Mountain Range.

He also recalled that even though Elder Sang's letter had been destroyed, those elegantly phrased lines remained etched in his mind:

"The night draws near, yet dawn has not arrived."

"In the grand scheme, how can one transcend?"

"My Saint Slave, your space."

"The embers do not die, the path cannot be severed."

"Yunlun Shanmai, Sheng Yuan Jing Shi."

Yunlun Mountain Range, Sheng Yuan Jing Shi... The last line, that final term, matched exactly what Ba Zun An had said!

"Old Sang..."

Ye Xiaotian shook his head repeatedly, his eyes flickering as he looked back at the sky, as if seeing the earlier scene of the black dragon coiling and the saints clashing.

He sighed, his heart filled with shock:

"Old Sang, oh Old Sang, how dare you ally with these figures? They could devour you whole, bones and all!"

"The Demonic Emperor Black Dragon, the Eighth Sword Immortal... Are any of them easy to mess with?"

"They've directly challenged the Sacred God Hall—how could you dare get involved in all this!"

Ye Xiaotian instinctively viewed his old friend through the lens of the Sacred Palace's Sang Qiye, the vice dean of the Tian Sang Spirit Palace.

But then he thought again—his former friend had another notorious title.

"The second-in-command of the Saint Slaves, Wu Xiu!"

So Ye Xiaotian fell silent.

Connecting the dots: the time he received Elder Sang's letter, and the news of the Saint Slaves' second-in-command being captured in the Bai Ku battle...

By the time of the Bai Ku incident, Elder Sang was already gone.

Yet that letter clearly stated "Yunlun Mountain Range, Sheng Yuan Jing Shi."

How far in advance had he planned this?

And in the end, it actually came true!

Ye Xiaotian vaguely pictured Elder Sang smirking triumphantly before him, and his eye twitched as he revised his inner complaint:

"How could you dare orchestrate something like this? If you wanted to die, you didn't have to play it this way!"

However, now that he was in the Yunlun Mountain Range and at the heart of this vortex, Ye Xiaotian found it hard to extricate himself.

Besides, this was Elder Sang's final request, and deep down, Ye Xiaotian didn't want to walk away.

"So, where is the Sheng Yuan Jing Shi?" Ye Xiaotian pondered.

He thought: Since Elder Sang was Wu Xiu of the Saint Slaves, and the Saint Slaves' leader was likely Ba Zun An, who seemed connected to the Void Island, the clash between the Demonic Emperor Black Dragon and Dao Qiong Cang was probably his scheme.

In that case, as a sort of "insider"...

Elder Sang would likely leave some clue to help him get the Sheng Yuan Jing Shi faster than the other intruders, before the red-clad forces even reacted.

But clues...

Ye Xiaotian hesitated.

Were there any?

None at all!

All he had from Elder Sang's letter was the mention of "Sheng Yuan Jing Shi"—nothing else.

"Damn old man, you left out the most crucial info. Are you trying to make things hard for me?" Ye Xiaotian cursed inwardly.

He was a man of dignity, once a Sacred Palace disciple, and even in the Yunlun Mountain Range, he aimed to stay hidden if possible.

If he flaunted his space abilities to search the entire Yunlun Mountain Range, it wouldn't take three breaths before Yao Yao Yao showed up with her sword.

But if he didn't do that...

If he was too slow, he'd still have to risk exposure to snatch the Sheng Yuan Jing Shi once someone else found it.

"Damn it!"

Ye Xiaotian cursed again, gritted his teeth, and decided he couldn't abandon Elder Sang's last request.

He swiped his hand through the void, turning space into a rippling mirror.

But just then...

Whoosh.

A faint sound of something breaking through the air interrupted him.

He turned to see a crystal-clear, six-sided crystal stone, about the size of a fist and emitting a faint saintly glow, flying toward him.

Ye Xiaotian: ???

It wasn't coming to him?

Was it seeking him out?

Soon, he snapped out of his daze because, right behind the crystal stone, came urgent human shouts:

"Stop it!"

"Damn it, that's a saintly treasure worth 100,000 points, brothers—charge! Wait... someone's ahead?"

"Hey! You short guy in front, block this for me! Don't submit it—I'll split you 50,000 points!"