Chapter 1031: Zhenxu Tablet, You Truly Are a Great Treasure

"Communicating with a rock..."

"Xu Xiaoshou must be insane!" Lei Xier was speechless, thoroughly impressed by his actions.

It was clear, however, that the Void Suppressing Stele had no interest in the Eight-Character Command, much less the disrespectful individual standing before it. No matter how Xu Xiaoshou brandished the token or hurled insults, he received not even the slightest reply.

"Damn it, it's really ignoring me." After cursing for a while longer and realizing the Void Suppressing Stele was impervious to verbal attacks, Xu Xiaoshou ceased his tirade. He didn't dare to actually strike it with his sword; after all, his life was paramount. A war of words was one thing, but truly provoking this broken stele might result in a beam of light shooting out and obliterating him. What would he do then?

"Leave a name..." Xu Xiaoshou stroked his chin, lost in thought. Would it only react if he left his name? Was that why so many predecessors had inscribed their names on this old stone?

"Why don't you try?" Xu Xiaoshou suggested, looking at Lei Xier. He reasoned that after all the insults he'd hurled at the Void Suppressing Stele, it wouldn't possibly yield any treasures if he left his name. Lei Xier, however, was different. She was attractive and well-behaved; compared to his own brazenness, the stele might favor her. Wouldn't the chances of a treasure appearing be much higher if she were the one to leave her name?

"I'll try," Lei Xier said, unafraid, as she gathered her spiritual energy. Soon, a sharp vine extended from her palm, with which she attempted to carve her name onto the Void Suppressing Stele. "Clang—" However, the moment the vine made contact with the stele, a metallic clang echoed. Leaving a name had failed! Lei Xier's vine couldn't even scratch the Void Suppressing Stele, let alone inscribe anything upon it.

"Oh, really!" Xu Xiaoshou's temper flared. "You puny stone stele, how dare you bully my junior sister?" Lei Xier simply stared at him in silence. "..."

"Use this to cut it down!" Xu Xiaoshou said, his eyes filled with encouragement, as he reached to hand over the You Si Sword. Lei Xier's gaze dropped, sweeping over the You Si Sword, which shimmered with demonic energy. She then silently lifted her eyes to Xu Xiaoshou, saying nothing.

"Cursed, passive points: 1, 1, 1, 1..." "Uh!" Xu Xiaoshou immediately realized that if Lei Xier touched the You Si Sword, she would likely die before even having a chance to engrave her name. "My oversight, my oversight," he chuckled awkwardly, then offered the renowned Yanmang Sword instead. "I have plenty of swords; try this one again, it should work."

Lei Xier remained silent. Xu Xiaoshou gestured, saying, "Gu Qingyi was able to leave a name; that must have been because of the Evil Sword Yuelian. If the top-ranked guy can do it, and the third-ranked guy is also a big shot, then Yanmang can definitely do it!" Lei Xier countered, "The main question is, does it agree?"

"Buzz—" As expected, the Yanmang Sword trembled violently, spitting out tongues of fire, seemingly resisting being wielded by anyone else.

"Just a moment," Xu Xiaoshou said with a smile. He turned around, sternly flicked the renowned Yanmang Sword, and began to lecture it: "Are you stupid?! This is one of us, this is my junior sister! And this is the Void Suppressing Stele on Void Island! Do you know what an honor it is to have your name inscribed on it? You haven't left a name before, have you? You know how important fame is for a renowned sword, don't you? If you keep being so arrogant, I'll use the You Si Sword to carve my name instead, and you can go cry in the Yuanfu world by yourself! It's beyond stupid; how did I end up with such a dull bunch of swords? This is a prime opportunity, and you're not seizing it!"

Ding ding ding! After Cang Ku emerged, it was bouncing around on the ground nearby, playing like a child with boundless energy. Hearing its master's lecture, it excitedly leaped up and bounced in front of Lei Xier. "Buzz buzz buzz!" it hummed, as if saying, "Use me, use me! Big sister, use me! I want to make my mark on history too!" Xu Xiaoshou unceremoniously pulled Cang Ku back. "Look at your rank," he chided. "You still want to leave a name on the Void Suppressing Stele? Dream on! Practice hard. Maybe when you become a renowned sword, you'll be put to good use." Cang Ku whimpered, "Sob sob sob..."

The Yanmang Sword, observing this scene, seemed to realize that leaving a name was indeed a good thing. However, its haughty nature persisted, and it appeared a little embarrassed, unsure how to yield. "Just do me a favor; using it for a bit will be fine," Xu Xiaoshou offered, giving it an easy way out. With a soft "buzz," the Yanmang Sword finally dipped its tip in assent.

Lei Xier silently observed the entire exchange, feeling her worldview begin to crack. Was it Xu Xiaoshou's influence that made all the swords around him so eccentric? Or was she simply ignorant? Did ancient sword cultivators truly train their swords this way?

"Suspicion received, passive points: 1." "Here." "Oh." Taking the Yanmang Sword and feeling the surging power suppressed within, Lei Xier still couldn't comprehend what she had just witnessed. She shook her head, casting aside her confusion, and turned to face the Void Suppressing Stele with the sword in hand.

She didn't activate any spiritual energy. Yet this time, it was unexpectedly smooth. As the tip of the Yanmang Sword touched the Void Suppressing Stele, stone chips rustled, and soon three graceful yet sharply incisive characters were carved onto the monument: "Lei Xier." Once the inscription was complete, the Yanmang Sword hummed once, as if it had achieved something highly satisfying, and joyfully flew back into Xu Xiaoshou's hand.

"Where are the treasures? Where are they?" Xu Xiaoshou, holding three swords, stared intently at the Void Suppressing Stele, shielding Lei Xier behind him as he waited to see what would happen.

After a long pause, "Buzz!" The Void Suppressing Stele trembled once more, finally stirring. From it, a rhythmic, mechanical voice resonated: "Sinner... Lei Xier... Sinner... number... 152384... Welcome... to... Void Island. Please... strictly adhere to... Void Island... order. Violators... will die!"

Lei Xier: ??? Xu Xiaoshou: ??? Both their hearts skipped a beat simultaneously; they could hardly believe what they had just heard. The words emanating from the Void Suppressing Stele, coupled with the terrifying legends of Void Island, veiled their hearts in a chilling mist, instilling an inexplicable panic. Sinner... Die...

"What kind of damn joke is this?!" After a moment of stunned silence, Xu Xiaoshou erupted in fury. No treasures were bad enough, but this was a stele for recording criminals' names? The fear instilled by the Void Suppressing Stele's voice failed to quell the indignation in Xu Xiaoshou's heart. Had he known this, he would have inscribed his own name; there was no way he would have let his junior sister take such a risk!

"You bastard!" Xu Xiaoshou raised the You Si Sword, no longer holding back, intent on cleaving this broken stele in half with a single strike. He was done with this ridiculous name-leaving game! Perhaps disturbing the stele would indeed invite unforeseen consequences, but he no longer cared. He was so close to the powerful figures on the Inner Island, and he still carried the token symbolizing the authority of the Inner Island's twin lineages. What sort of trouble could a mere Void Suppressing Stele stir up? No matter how formidable it was, could it surpass Ba Zun'an? Besides, if anything truly went wrong, the wills of those powerful figures within him would bear the responsibility!

Therefore... "I'm going to see what treasure is really hidden inside this broken stele!" Xu Xiaoshou's eyes blazed with fierce intent as the You Si Sword sliced through the air and struck downwards with full force.

"Wait!" Lei Xier was completely taken aback by Xu Xiaoshou's sudden frenzy. She tried to stop him but was too late. Instantly, white mist billowed from her left eye, and divine power erupted from her God-Demon Eyes, channeling into Xu Xiaoshou. She hoped to help him mitigate any unforeseen consequences that might follow. Xu Xiaoshou felt his thoughts clear in that instant, all distractions cast aside. A surging power coursed through his body, increasing the might of his sword by a third.

"Whoosh!" The You Si Sword descended, striking the top of the Void Suppressing Stele with immense force. "Boom!" The void exploded, and air currents surged. Yet, after all that, the Void Suppressing Stele didn't crack; instead, it completely withstood the brutal attack from the fierce You Si Sword.

"Clang—" The sword and the stele were evenly matched, generating fierce sparks at their point of contact as sword intent raged. Even Cang Ku was startled; its blade bent, curving back to rest against Xu Xiaoshou's neck. "Sob sob sob..." it seemed to wail. "Stop fighting, you two! If you're going to fight, at least let me go! I don't want to be caught in the middle of the battlefield!"

Beside them, Lei Xier watched the scene in utter shock. The You Si Sword was one of the Five Great Chaos Artifacts, revered as the Fierce Sword, yet it failed to cleave the Void Suppressing Stele in a single strike? This outcome genuinely astonished her.

"Xu Xiaoshou, no injuries..." The God-Demon Eyes possessed incredibly keen sight. Even through the turbulent space, fierce sparks, and radiating sword intent, Lei Xier could still discern that there wasn't even a scratch where the sword and the stele had met.

"Bang!" After ten breaths of fierce confrontation, Xu Xiaoshou, despite his formidable resilience, could no longer endure the impact. He absorbed all the recoil force, and with a "rip," his palm split open from the shock. The You Si Sword flew backward, and his eyes widened in horror. "What kind of joke is this?" he muttered. "I can't even overpower a broken rock?"

Peeling off the blood scab from his palm and gazing at the tender, new skin beneath, Xu Xiaoshou found it all unbelievable. The Void Suppressing Stele remained unperturbed; even after his feigned furious strike, it showed no adverse reaction and never launched an attack. Yet, just the recoil force alone was enough to overwhelm his body?

"How strong! It actually made me bleed." Xu Xiaoshou recalled the You Si Sword, unwilling to accept defeat, and continued his assault, employing every technique he knew. "Clang clang clang—" "Boom boom boom..." Time and again, the You Si Sword was repelled, and Xu Xiaoshou was injured only to be healed. Yet, the Void Suppressing Stele remained utterly unblemished.

"You're too weak!" Xu Xiaoshou chastised, shifting the blame to the You Si Sword. "Even the Yanmang Sword could leave a name, but you can't even carve a single sword mark?" The You Si Sword "..." indicated its reluctance to speak, instead conveying a torrent of silent exasperation towards its feeble master, who couldn't even properly wield a sword.

"Surely not?" Lei Xier knew Xu Xiaoshou's physical prowess well. If he were to fight seriously, his physical body alone could contend with a Grand Void realm expert, let alone when combined with the You Si Sword. Yet, the Void Suppressing Stele's complete lack of damage was an undeniable fact...

"I'll leave a name," Xu Xiaoshou declared, unwilling to concede defeat. Hitting the stone yielded no reaction, but perhaps leaving a name would work. Maybe the Void Suppressing Stele's design was such that attacking it was impossible, but obediently inscribing one's name and becoming a "sinner" was within its rules. Glancing over the numerous names already on the stele, Xu Xiaoshou paused for a moment.

Soon, he nodded decisively and moved to the reverse side of the Void Suppressing Stele. There, the three large characters "Void Island" were carved, but otherwise, it was entirely blank. "Everyone here is so considerate, leaving their names on the back..." Xu Xiaoshou mused with a touch of irony. "Unlike me."

"I'm going to leave my name now!" he shouted at the Void Suppressing Stele, then gently touched the stone with the You Si Sword. "Swoosh." Stone chips flaked away. Chopping it didn't work, but inscribing a name actually did!

"Odd," Lei Xier mumbled, walking closer, curious to see if Xu Xiaoshou could finally provoke the stele. Based on previous experience, after realizing he'd been tricked, Xu Xiaoshou was unlikely to seriously leave a name. After all, the notoriously long inscription "Xiao Wanfeng, come find this young master soon" on the Yunlun Mountain Range trial jade pendant was still vivid in her memory.

"I'm starting to write now!" Xu Xiaoshou shouted again. Before the Void Suppressing Stele could react, he rapidly began inscribing. Swish swish swish. Stone chips rained down as, on the pristine upper left of the stele—which previously only bore the three characters "Void Island"—two small words appeared: "Shou... Shen..." Lei Xier murmured them aloud, her beautiful face instantly flushing. This was absolutely shameless! She felt utterly embarrassed just saying those two words; how could Xu Xiaoshou possibly write them? "Shameless," she thought. "Shou Shen? Does he have no shame?"

"Scorn received, passive points: 1." As she pondered these thoughts, Lei Xier suddenly noticed that after writing "Shou Shen," Xu Xiaoshou didn't stop but continued with another "Shou"... "Shou Shen Shou? What does that mean?" Before she could even process it, the fourth character was inscribed. "Shou Shen Shou Shen..." Swish swish swish! "Shou Shen Shou Shen Shou Shen..." Swish swish swish!

At this point, even if Lei Xier were slow-witted, she would have understood Xu Xiaoshou's intention. This man actually planned to completely cover the front of the Void Suppressing Stele before it could even react! Was he truly human, or some kind of demon? Lei Xier stared blankly at Xu Xiaoshou's increasingly brazen inscriptions, lost in thought. "Amazement received, passive points: 1."

Xu Xiaoshou wrote with increasing frenzy, his expression gradually becoming maniacal. "Wah-ha-ha-ha! Little stele, I've already figured it out for you—your reaction time is quite slow, about thirty breaths. In thirty breaths, I could fill both sides, but today I'll only do one, out of respect. Not many, just nine hundred and ninety-nine inscriptions. Later, when I become famous, you can just chip off a piece of this stele and sell it for a sky-high price. Excited? Stimulated? Hee-hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha..."

Xu Xiaoshou's laughter grew increasingly distorted as he wrote. With a blur of his hand, the You Si Sword finished carving nine hundred and ninety-nine names onto the stele. He refused to believe that after being so thoroughly tormented, the Void Suppressing Stele wouldn't get angry enough to retaliate. If it didn't yield treasures, fine, but if it could resist attacking him, Xu, today, he'd remove the character "Shou" from his name!

"Buzz—" Finally, after thirty breaths, the Void Suppressing Stele reacted. "Sinner... Shou Shen Shou... Shen Shou... Shen Shou Shen... Beast... Shen Shou... Rope... Uh?" The Void Suppressing Stele uttered "Uh"? Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. He glanced back at Lei Xier, pointing at the stele and laughing hysterically. "It, it got stuck! That's hilarious!" Lei Xier: "..." She was dumbfounded, utterly unable to comprehend the absurd scene unfolding before her. Yet, she couldn't deny it: there was something undeniably amusing about the Void Suppressing Stele getting stuck.

"Hmm." Lei Xier's lips curled into a subtle smile; she was starting to understand the "Shou-style fun." Was this what it meant to be broken by being played with? At that moment, the Void Suppressing Stele was still struggling... "Shou Shen... Beast Shou... Aunt, Shen... Shou Aunt... Collect collect... Uh uh uh uh uh..." After a while, all the "Shoushou" and "Aunt" vanished, leaving only the short, frantic, sputtering sounds of "uh uh uh"—a complete system crash.

Xu Xiaoshou surmised that after millions of years, the Void Suppressing Stele might be malfunctioning or low on energy. But he never imagined it would break down so completely that it couldn't even utter its final two lines. "Oh, Void Suppressing Stele, you truly are a great treasure!" He took the You Si Sword and struck it twice more, delighted to find that no matter how much he humiliated it, the stele would not retaliate.

"Excuse me," he said, bracing his feet and settling into a horse stance. "What are you doing?" Lei Xier asked, tensing. Was he about to cause more trouble? The Void Suppressing Stele was already broken; what more could he possibly want?

"A treasure!" Xu Xiaoshou carefully put away his three swords, rolled up his sleeves, and turned to Lei Xier, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "This big treasure that only makes 'uh uh uh' sounds, even though it can't produce little treasures, can't be cut by the You Si Sword. What level do you think it is?" Lei Xier was dumbfounded. "You mean..."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't reply. But the very next second, Lei Xier understood his intention. After settling into his horse stance, he extended his arms and, astonishingly, wrapped them around the colossal oval stone—a monolith taller and more massive than any person—then exerted force. "Bang! Bang!" The floor beneath his feet shattered, and Xu Xiaoshou's knees sank into the earth, a testament to the immense weight of the Void Suppressing Stele. But then, in the very next second, "Boom!" Golden lights erupted from Xu Xiaoshou's body; his "Burst State" was fully activated! The Void Suppressing Stele, still emitting its "uh uh" sounds, was lifted into the air by a human.

"Lei Xier, let's go!" Xu Xiaoshou hoisted the Void Suppressing Stele onto his shoulder, turning his head, his eyes burning with fervor. "Hitting a Half-Saint with this thing will definitely hurt like hell! And it'll be incredibly satisfying! As for Grand Void realm experts... definitely one hit, one kill!" Lei Xier murmured, "Uh..." The Void Suppressing Stele responded, "Uh uh uh uh uh..."