Chapter 1038: Playing Dead Is Real

The Void Suppressing Stele gently pressed down.

Shifting Dumb felt his spiritual sea quiet down, and like it, he ceased struggling. Simultaneously, the sacred power from the Saint Origin Fruit seemed to be suppressed, its recovery slowing to an extremely sluggish pace. The world suddenly slowed.

"Xu Xiaoshou, what do you want to ask?" Shifting Dumb knew Xu Xiaoshou had kept him alive not out of mercy, but likely to extract answers to certain questions.

"You might not tell me everything I want to know."

The colossal Rampage Giant, looming over him, enveloped Shifting Dumb's entire world with just one crimson eye.

Shifting Dumb swallowed hard. His face strained, he managed, "As long as you let me go..."

Delusional! How could Xu Xiaoshou ever "release the tiger back to the mountains"? That would be inviting his own demise.

"Agree to one condition."

"Name it."

"Look at my cat."

Shifting Dumb paused, bewildered. Before he could ponder further, a cat suddenly flew down from the silver-haired woman's head, landing with a soft thud on the Void Suppressing Stele. Its weight was minimal, yet for the extremely weakened Shifting Dumb, it was undoubtedly a secondary blow.

"Pfft!" He spat out a mouthful of blood and involuntarily turned to look at the cat.

The next second, "Meow!" Glutton God's left eye glowed with a gray pattern, activating its Three Dislike Pupils.

"How do you feel? Can your spiritual energy and sacred power still move under the suppression of the Void Suppressing Stele?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

"Meow meow meow," Glutton God translated.

Shifting Dumb's eyes became vacant as he stammered, "Spiritual energy... can't... move. Sacred power... recovering... very slow..."

As expected, it couldn't fully suppress sacred power! Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized that while the Void Suppressing Stele couldn't halt sacred power, it could slow its recovery rate, indicating its suppressive force still had some utility. If that were the case... if ten Void Suppressing Steles were placed on a Half-Saint, would they still be able to move? This was a question Shifting Dumb clearly couldn't answer.

Xu Xiaoshou got to the point, asking, "When was the most recent time you saw a Half-Saint? Just glimpsing them from afar, without direct eye contact, doesn't count."

"Only... eighteen... years ago... once, but no... contact..."

"Then I won't hold back." Xu Xiaoshou unhesitatingly picked up Glutton God. It was largely as he expected: for a Void General of Shifting Dumb's background, meeting a Saint was incredibly difficult. Unlike those from Half-Saint families or the Sacred Temple, where even a junior might casually encounter a grinning Half-Saint disguised as a janitor monk on a family path.

"Soul Read!"

With a flash of light in his crimson eyes, Xu Xiaoshou began reading Shifting Dumb's soul memories.

"Ugh... ugh..." Soon, amidst Shifting Dumb's painful convulsions, Xu Xiaoshou experienced his entire life firsthand. His comprehension of Gold-elemental principles... his unique secondary attribute and the diverse applications of its fragmented abilities... the challenging journey of a gifted Spirit Refiner from a small county town who, after entering the larger world, had his confidence shattered by scions of powerful families, then joined Three Incense, struggling and hunting tirelessly for resources... Of course, there were also the crucial Void Island, the Forest of Miracles, and the Shennong Medicine Garden.

"Hiss!"

As Xu Xiaoshou snapped out of Shifting Dumb's life, he couldn't help but gasp. This person... his life's journey could be described as a constant series of ups and downs. Yet, after enduring for so long, the events at the Shennong Medicine Garden nearly allowed him to "leap over the dragon's gate" and turn his fortunes around. Just three months... or even a month, or half a month, if Shifting Dumb had merely been able to familiarize himself with the power of the Saint Origin Fruit and allow his sacred power to grow a bit more. It was safe to say that Shifting Dumb's vision of becoming the top Void General below the Half-Saints would have been no problem! In fact, Xu Xiaoshou seriously doubted whether Water Ghost could have defeated Shifting Dumb six months later, even without consuming sacred blood. This was the true terror of the "Saint Origin Fruit"—a peak-level holy medicine, an absolute treasure!

What a pity...

"You encountered me." Xu Xiaoshou sighed, filled with regret. Life's opportunities are truly unpredictable. Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; fate is inescapable. If Shifting Dumb hadn't targeted him, perhaps he truly would have escaped the Void Guard's grasp and soared to great heights. But from the moment he accepted the Black Gold Bounty, his fate seemed sealed.

Of course, looking at it from another angle: if Shifting Dumb hadn't taken the Black Gold Bounty, he wouldn't have become a Gold Tier Bounty Hunter, nor would he have been so suitable for the Three Incense assassin organization. In that case, he never would have risen to prominence and eventually reached the Void General stage.

"Living is truly exhausting..." He thought of Shifting Dumb's final, despairing lament. Glancing at the man still convulsing in pain from the soul-reading aftereffects, Xu Xiaoshou mused for a moment, then deactivated the extremely energy-consuming Rampage Giant and Gigantification, reverting to human form. Wrapped in white flames, he swiftly changed into a fresh set of clothes.

"Poor wretch."

"Since you wish it, I'll give you a quick end." Without waiting for Shifting Dumb to regain consciousness, Xu Xiaoshou used his *You Si* sword to sever his head.

The Void General, Gold Tier Bounty Hunter, and first Spirit Refiner below the Half-Saints to master sacred power, Shifting Dumb...

Had fallen!

"He's dead?" Lei Xier gracefully landed, watching as Xu Xiaoshou, without a change in expression, consumed Shifting Dumb's remains with a burst of white flame. This person had truly changed.

"Yes, he's completely dead."

"He had no other abilities to escape."

"Or rather, he wanted to wait until he regained consciousness and his sacred power recovered a bit more, for one last attempt at escape."

"I have to admit, his will to survive was strong..." Xu Xiaoshou paused, then turned with a smile, "But I knew he couldn't succeed, so I gave him a quick end."

Lei Xier fell silent. A Void General, dead just like that. She found it somewhat hard to accept at the moment. After all, from beginning to end, Shifting Dumb had been completely suppressed by Xu Xiaoshou, utterly unable to resist. He didn't even get a chance to unleash his sacred power, only using it for a futile escape attempt. This sounded normal, considering Shifting Dumb was in a weakened state from the start. But the only abnormal point was that the one who utterly defeated a weakened Void General was a junior in the Grandmaster realm.

"How strong are you now, exactly?" Lei Xier raised an eyebrow, asking with a hint of hesitation. She instantly recalled Xu Xiaoshou's previous form, nearly towering to the sky, amplified by various ice and fire energies, resembling a demonic god. Was that truly Xu Xiaoshou? Xu Xiaoshou had been by her side all along; when had he grown to this extent? Even if Shifting Dumb hadn't been weakened, perhaps Xu Xiaoshou in that form could have still matched him in battle? The key was... Lei Xier remembered Xu Xiaoshou also possessed another demonic giant form. That final move involved integrating *You Si*'s fierce demonic energy into his body, transforming him into a black giant. This meant that against Shifting Dumb just now, Xu Xiaoshou, in the Grandmaster realm, hadn't even used his full power...

"Condemned, Passive Point, +1."

"Muttering, Passive Point, +1."

"I don't actually know how strong I am right now..." Xu Xiaoshou scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. To be honest, the tactic of using "Transformation" to enlarge his body, then activating the Rampage Giant for a second-stage increase in size, strength, and Ash-Ignited Seed endurance, was something he'd come up with on the fly. It was powerful! But before this, in the Cloud Mist Mountains, he hadn't dared to use it because he was constantly being watched, so he naturally hadn't considered it. Every time he fought, it was either by seizing an opportunity or by using cunning to neutralize most of a Void General's combat power before engaging... Xu Xiaoshou reflected that he had never truly fought a fully powered Void General one-on-one, so it was hard to assess his current combat strength.

"Hmm?" Lei Xier's delicate nose wrinkled, her eyes showing dissatisfaction with his answer. To be honest, she had always viewed Xu Xiaoshou as a benchmark, a standard by which to measure herself and an object to surpass. This was a lingering obsession from her time as Mu Zixi. Lei Xier had thought that after breaking through to the Sovereign Dao Realm and combining it with her Divine Demonic Eyes, she could finally challenge Xu Xiaoshou. But now it seemed... in front of Xu Xiaoshou, she was still merely a support character; in a direct confrontation, she was still lacking.

"I really don't know!" Xu Xiaoshou spread his hands. He couldn't just go find a fully powered Void General for a fight in an arena just to verify his strength, could he? No normal Grandmaster would even consider such a thing. However, in a life-or-death battle, opportune timing, favorable terrain, and human factors should all be considered. Moreover, stratagem and luck could also be counted as part of one's strength.

With that thought... "I probably wouldn't want to fight a Void General, but if it came down to a life-or-death struggle, I should be able to cripple or kill one." Xu Xiaoshou thought for a moment, then earnestly added, "But the one who doesn't die, in the end, should only be me." With "Disappearing Arts" plus "Leap to Heaven," along with so much sacred blood and the protective will of Half-Saints and Saint Emperors guarding him, Xu Xiaoshou didn't believe there were many Void Generals in the world, apart from sword immortals like Rao Yaoyao, that he couldn't directly contend with. Of course, this would involve expending a lot of external force and resources. Furthermore, certain bizarre Dao-severing and Void General entities, such as Huang Quan with his spatiotemporal attributes, were naturally beyond Xu Xiaoshou's scope of consideration.

"Cursed, Passive Point, +1, +1, +1, +1..."

"Heh." Xu Xiaoshou saw the info bar and chuckled: "My benchmark is Yu Lingdi, the Chief of the Spirit Division. I heard that when he was in the Sovereign Dao Realm, he could already take down Void Generals by himself. I reckon even a fully powered Shifting Dumb could have been easily dealt with by him in the Sovereign Dao Realm. If I don't significantly increase my combat power, I probably won't even be able to run away if I meet him in the future."

Lei Xier nodded silently. That made sense. But soon, she realized something and looked up, somewhat bewildered. "You..." Yu Lingdi was already in the Sovereign Dao Realm! You're only a Grandmaster, and just at the first stage of Grandmaster, the Heavenly Phenomenon stage! How can you compare?

Xu Xiaoshou naturally understood the girl's thoughts. He curved his lips into a smile and said, "Time is the same for everyone."

Just then, the battle ended, and the Void Guard, who had been observing from behind, stepped forward. "Congratulations, your mission is complete." He waved a hand, and two golden lights descended. Xu Xiaoshou quickly caught them, finding two black hexagonal crystals, each the size of a fist, containing immensely vast and compressed pure energy. Just holding them, his breathing technique unconsciously drew in some energy. Xu Xiaoshou felt his spiritual sea surging, a sudden impulse to break through its limitations.

"Good stuff!" Xu Xiaoshou's expression shifted. These were treasures! He estimated they surpassed even Grade three or four Sovereign cultivation pills. This was because the crystals contained un-attributed energy that could be entirely absorbed by the spiritual sea without needing conversion through breathing techniques.

"Void Crystals?" Holding the two black hexagonal crystals, Xu Xiaoshou realized these were the reward for the "Clear the Intruders" mission.

"Void Guard, sir, what's the purpose of these Void Crystals?" Xu Xiaoshou figured that since they were called "Void Crystals" rather than cultivation crystals, they surely had some other connection to Void Island, not just for simple cultivation.

Facing Convict 800820, the Invisible Giant and Ice-Fire Human Bomb, the Void Guard did not ignore him this time. It rumbled in response: "Void Crystals can aid cultivation, or be exchanged for Void Island survival resources at the Hall of Sin 1."

"Hall of Sin 1?" Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head; he remembered Lei Xier mentioning this place.

Lei Xier's gaze drifted over, and Xu Xiaoshou understood: "I only mentioned it, but I don't know what the 'Hall of Sin 1' looks like or what resources can be exchanged there."

"May I ask, Void Guard sir, what survival resources can be exchanged at the Hall of Sin 1?"

"Many."

"Such as?"

"For instance, a 'Death Exemption Token' can grant you immunity from death once."

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback. Death exemption... Was it referring to exemption from the... death penalty that convicts of Void Island might face? It was something, but not much.

"Any other examples?" Xu Xiaoshou leaned in and asked again, feeling that the Void Guard was speaking in frustratingly small increments, like squeezing toothpaste. If no one prompted it, it wouldn't reveal anything; if prompted a little, it would only reveal a little; if he stopped, it would stop too... It seemed completely incapable of elaborating or volunteering information about Void Island itself. Truly annoying.

"Also, a 'Passage Token' can allow you to enter a restricted area." That was said, but it was as if nothing had been said.

"Anything else?"

"There are also... various treasures. You'll know once you find the Hall of Sin 1; it has descriptions." The Void Guard stopped again and impatiently rejected all of Xu Xiaoshou's subsequent questions, saying, "The mission is over. I must return to the land of guardianship."

"Uh..." Xu Xiaoshou truly had no experience dealing with such colossal beings. For now, he could only wave goodbye, "Well then, goodbye."

The Void Guard, towering above them with arms crossed, scoffed, "You won't wish to see me again." With that, a booming sound echoed as it covered a vast distance in a single stride, departing swiftly.

"But we *will* meet again..." Xu Xiaoshou muttered silently, watching its retreating form.

"What did you say?" Lei Xier turned her head to look.

"Nothing." Xu Xiaoshou pointed at the Void Guard's retreating back and said, "Did you remember it? This back, this path."

Lei Xier followed his gaze. "So?"

"Remember it, big treasure!"

"Big treasure? What do you mean?"

"Have you seen ten thousand types of sacred medicines similar to the Saint Origin Fruit?" Xu Xiaoshou's eyes suddenly burned with fervor, staring intently at Lei Xier's delicate face.

"..." Lei Xier took a step back, wanting to reach out and touch Xu Xiaoshou's forehead. Was he daydreaming, or did he have a fever?

Xu Xiaoshou, however, held the cat and vigorously waved it. "I have seen them! And Play Piss is real!"