Chapter 1054: Half-Saint... Twins?

Two shadowy figures darted across the sky. Each time they appeared, they lingered in mid-air for less than a moment, disappearing the next second and leaving behind intense spatial transfer fluctuations.

"Ba Zun'an, take your 'Half-Sainthood' back; I don't want it!" Ye Xiaotian exclaimed, exasperated.

"I've already said, there's no taking back a gift once it's given. Just keep it. What's with this constant following?" Xiao Kongtong, disguised as Ba Zun'an, was now getting frustrated from being chased. "Can't you take a different path? Why do you have to keep following me?"

"The problem is, the stone giants you attracted have been following me! What's up with that? You clearly want me to draw their fire for you!"

"That's exactly it! I gave you a 'Half-Sainthood'; is it wrong to have you bear some of the burden? Opportunity comes with risk!" Xiao Kongtong said matter-of-factly.

To hell with your bullshit about opportunity coming with risk! Ye Xiaotian was so angry he nearly coughed up blood.

After acquiring the Half-Sainthood, he was immediately pursued by hundreds of stone giants. These creatures looked even larger than the Void Servants from the First Sin Hall. Even Ba Zun'an had to flee, so Ye Xiaotian wasn't foolish enough to stop and fight the stone giants.

To be honest, mid-escape, Ye Xiaotian also tried running in a different direction. He held onto a sliver of hope, wondering if perhaps the stone giants weren't chasing Ba Zun'an for the 'Half-Sainthood' after all. But it was clear that hope was instantly shattered. The moment they parted ways, most of those hundreds of stone giants all chased in his direction. Terrified, Ye Xiaotian quickly changed his route, pinpointed Ba Zun'an, and continued to follow him.

Traveling alone versus having a companion—even a fool knows which to choose! Besides, with the hot potato you handed over, there's no reason for you to just walk away and leave me to bear everything alone. That's completely unethical!

Ye Xiaotian was fortunate that he possessed spatial attributes, allowing him to run for so long. He also had the ability to immediately rejoin Ba Zun'an if anything went wrong, turning what should have been a solo struggle into a shared burden where they both drew fire. If it were anyone else, they would have been long dead by now!

"Stop!"

Xiao Kongtong, who was ahead, was panting. He suddenly stopped his desperate flight, extending a hand as he halted before an ancient forest that was a complete mess as far as the eye could see.

"Heh heh, Ba Zun'an, I truly never thought I'd see you in such a pathetic state, even using 'space-time leaps' just to escape. This is truly an eye-opener."

Ye Xiaotian stopped behind him, seething with rage, but also casting a wary glance behind him. Although there was nothing there, he knew that in just a short while, once those hundreds of stone giants found their direction, they would tear through space and follow.

Xiao Kongtong had no time to dwell on Ye Xiaotian's disrespect towards his master. This persistent nuisance, even if he was rude, shared one common goal with him: Survival!

"This place seems to have seen a great battle. Perhaps our opportunity has arrived?" Xiao Kongtong looked back at Ye Xiaotian.

Ye Xiaotian swept his spiritual perception across the area and immediately recognized it as the Miracle Forest, the storm's epicenter he had witnessed with his spatial mirror before the First Sin Hall.

"How did it become like this?"

The devastation surprised Ye Xiaotian. He had been fleeing for less than a day, and this vast Miracle Forest had been reduced to such a wretched state? Broken wood lay everywhere, a scene of utter desolation, completely ruined. It had practically transformed from the 'Miracle Forest' into the 'Ruins of the Miracle Forest'.

"Half-Saints fighting?"

Ye Xiaotian raised an eyebrow, recalling the Half-Saint he had seen in the mirror world but dared not look at for too long. He found it hard to believe that a Half-Saint would dare to act on Void Island... But if it were a Grandmaster, their combat power shouldn't be strong enough to destroy the Miracle Forest to such an extent in a single battle.

"Is it Xu Xiaoshou?"

Ye Xiaotian thought of a second possibility. Under heaven, besides a Half-Saint, there's only one other person who could possibly turn the Miracle Forest into this chaotic mess within a day.

"There's a Half-Saint here?" Xiao Kongtong was startled at first, then his attention was drawn elsewhere. "Xu Xiaoshou is also here?"

Ye Xiaotian glanced at him, recalling the relationship between Saint Servant Xu Xiaoshou and Saint Servant Head Ba Zun'an, and nodded, saying, "Yes, I once saw him with my spatial power. Xu Xiaoshou was on top of a medicinal garden in this very place." He paused, then added, "Also, there is indeed a Half-Saint nearby. They are not a native species of Void Island; they should be a Spirit Cultivator from the Sacred Divine Continent."

Xiao Kongtong scrutinized the white-haired Daoist boy and couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Spatial attributes are truly useful. With this kind of comprehensive awareness, why worry about not being able to devise a strategy to bury those stone giants here?

"Our opportunity has arrived!" Xiao Kongtong said with certainty.

"You have a plan?" Ye Xiaotian was truly terrified by the stone giants' pursuit and said with a hint of surprise and delight.

"Heh." Xiao Kongtong chuckled, waving his hand with a sigh. "In this regard, you, Ye Xiaotian, are more than a step behind your disciple Xu Xiaoshou. He can navigate among numerous forces, retreat gracefully when necessary, and pass through a myriad of temptations without getting a single leaf on him."

Ye Xiaotian snorted coldly. At a time like this, and you're still making sarcastic remarks? But survival was paramount now, so Ye Xiaotian paid no attention to that. He asked, "So, what's your plan?"

"I don't have a plan," Xiao Kongtong said, shaking his head bluntly.

Ye Xiaotian: ???

"Then what are you talking about, damn it! If the stone giants come chasing again, won't we still have to flee?"

"But Xu Xiaoshou does."

Xiao Kongtong looked at the devastated ancient forest, and for the first time truly acknowledged Xu Xiaoshou's ability to stir up trouble, placing it above his own. This wasn't because of the Miracle Forest before him, but purely because of the commotion that kid had caused in Dongtian King City. The First Tower in Heaven had been established right under Rao Yaoyao's nose, and had even flourished, eventually entering the Yunlun Mountains, where Xu Xiaoshou had tricked so many people.

Even if Xiao Kongtong felt that Xu Xiaoshou was still a junior at this point, unable to match him in combat power, let alone those true elders. But this sheer ability for strong strategizing was something no ordinary person could achieve. To put it bluntly, this guy was a 'shit-stirrer'. Thinking positively, this method of fighting with one's mind and repeatedly achieving success was no less impressive than Dao Qiongcang and his own master Ba Zun'an in their youth. Most importantly, Xu Xiaoshou, at his current stage, had always used his Grandmaster cultivation, as a mere chess piece, to engage in intense games with the chess players. Fighting chaos with chaos.

Ye Xiaotian had been in seclusion for years and might not be able to do this currently. After the establishment of the Moon Immortal City, Xiao Kongtong had also rarely done so. But Xu Xiaoshou was in his prime, and definitely could.

"Find Xu Xiaoshou!"

With this thought, Xiao Kongtong had already decided on their direction. "The Miracle Forest has become like this, and you said Xu Xiaoshou was here. I don't believe it has no relation to him. He must be in danger now and needs help."

"Help..." Ye Xiaotian mused thoughtfully. He believed the first half of the statement, but for the second half, was it really Xu Xiaoshou who needed help, or was it you, Ba Zun'an, who needed help? Once again, Ye Xiaotian doubted the identity of the person in front of him.

"What do you want to do?" Ye Xiaotian asked. He wasn't so down and out that he needed a disciple from Tian Sang Spiritual Palace to help him. At the same time, he became wary of the person in front of him, thinking he might not be Ba Zun'an himself, but a masked individual trying to trick the Saint Servants. After all, anyone who had witnessed Xu Xiaoshou's ability to transform endlessly would be somewhat distrustful of appearances.

Xiao Kongtong shook his head slightly, wanting to say, "I really don't know," but refrained. That would be too undignified and would damage his master's image.

"Find Xu Xiaoshou, and test him!" He gave his final instruction. Tilting his head and staring intently at Ye Xiaotian, Xiao Kongtong continued: "If he has a method, that's timely assistance. If he doesn't, that's normal."

"By then, with the chaos here, Xu Xiaoshou will surely be in a difficult situation. My space-time leaps can't bring people along, but your spatial attributes can pick him out and teleport him away with us. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"

Ye Xiaotian rubbed his forehead. "Your wishful thinking has no real substance, yet you're calculating away loudly!"

Though he grumbled inwardly, he had to admit Xiao Kongtong was right about one thing: Xu Xiaoshou was likely in danger. And if he could retrieve him, Ye Xiaotian couldn't possibly ignore it. After all, he was Elder Sang's only hope.

"I'll try."

Without further ado, Ye Xiaotian directly unfolded his spatial mirror, layer by layer, focusing entirely on the scope of the Miracle Forest, trying to locate someone. Xiao Kongtong, with no trace of curiosity on his face, moved closer, stretching his neck to peer at this powerful 'peeping' ability, and his understanding of the white-haired Daoist boy was once again refreshed.

"So skilled. You must have done many stealthy things like this, haven't you?"

"No one..."

The first location Ye Xiaotian pinpointed was where Xu Xiaoshou had appeared before. But it was empty. Even the medicinal garden was gone, leaving only a vast black pit. It looked as if the very ground had been scoured clean, as if Xu Xiaoshou had emptied everything.

Impossible, right? No way, right? Such a large medicinal garden, truly emptied? Xu Xiaoshou, how did he do it?

"This is where Xu Xiaoshou was before?" Xiao Kongtong, at his side, his expression shifting. "Such a large pit, surely blown out by an explosion, right? As expected of you, Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Yes," Ye Xiaotian said nothing more, but something came to his mind. Origin Palace!

He still remembered that during the Tian Sang Spiritual Palace event, Cheng Xingchu had offered an abandoned Origin Palace for a wager against Xu Xiaoshou. Origin Palaces originated from decaying alternate dimensions and had immense origins, yet were almost impossible to successfully activate. They required the assistance of a Spirit Cultivator proficient in spatial arts and at least a Grandmaster of Spiritual Arrays. Tian Sang Spiritual Palace happened to possess this capability, which was why Cheng Xingchu offered it as a wager. But the reason he dared to offer an abandoned Origin Palace, despite knowing this, was purely because the aforementioned were only the starting conditions. The probability of successfully activating an abandoned Origin Palace was still too small!

If Ye Xiaotian hadn't been born into the Holy Palace and pursued the path of 'Spatial Profound Truths', and if Qiao Qianzhi hadn't been an ordinary Grandmaster of Spiritual Arrays but the most talented genius among the 'Four Sons of the Holy Palace', they wouldn't have truly been able to activate the Origin Palace successfully. This led to Xu Xiaoshou actually acquiring an active Origin Palace in the end! The number of people in the world who possessed an active Origin Palace could probably be counted on one hand!

After all, among spatial Spirit Cultivators on the continent, Ye Xiaotian currently knew only three: himself, Huang Quan, and Kong Yuhen. Ye Xiaotian knew very little about Kong Yuhen. But Huang Quan's strength lay in the coordination of space-time attributes, and his mastery in spatial arts was far inferior to his own. Even if he were given a Qiao Qianzhi, he might not be able to successfully activate an Origin Palace.

Without going into further detail, Ye Xiaotian still understood that Xu Xiaoshou possessed the prerequisites to empty such a large medicinal garden. But he also remembered that Origin Palaces were very small, equivalent to a slightly larger spatial ring, with the only good feature being the ability to house living beings. Yet, how did Xu Xiaoshou empty such a large medicinal garden now? Had his Origin Palace world evolved to this extent?

"Xu Xiaoshou is definitely in danger!" Ye Xiaotian's expression turned grim. Being from the Holy Palace, his understanding of Void Island and the Miracle Forest surpassed that of many others. Whether it was emptying it or blowing up such a vast and seemingly valuable medicinal garden, Xu Xiaoshou would definitely be hunted by Void Servants!

And now... Seeing the devastated state of the Miracle Forest once again, Ye Xiaotian suddenly realized something. Perhaps, this wasn't blown up by Xu Xiaoshou. But by a Void Servant whose home had been robbed, who, in its rage, couldn't find anyone, and lashed out.

—That's very Xu Xiaoshou!

"How so?" Xiao Kongtong was baffled to see the white-haired Daoist boy stare at a black pit and draw such a conclusion. "There's no Xu Xiaoshou here, so how did you come to that conclusion?"

"It's a long story..." Ye Xiaotian had no intention of explaining. "But not finding Xu Xiaoshou means he is safe for now."

With a swipe of the spatial projection, a frantic Void Servant was seen charging through the forest, looking as if it was searching for something. Even though it was careful not to cause destruction, its immense size meant that wherever it passed, wood chips still flew.

"A Void Servant!" Xiao Kongtong's expression turned solemn, clearly knowing how terrifying the combat power of these native Void Island giants was.

Seeing this scene, Ye Xiaotian became even more certain that what the Void Servant was looking for—no, *who* it was looking for—was definitely Xu Xiaoshou! This huge mess... It's more like you, Xu Xiaoshou! I inexplicably got a Half-Sainthood and am being pursued by hundreds of stone giants. But you, on the other hand, single-handedly managed to anger a Void Servant on Void Island and ruin the Miracle Forest to this extent.

Wait! Miracle Forest, medicinal garden? If nothing else, this should undoubtedly be the Miracle Forest. So, the medicinal garden in the Miracle Forest, emptied by Xu Xiaoshou... could it possibly, perhaps, be the legendary Shennong Medicinal Garden?

As Ye Xiaotian thought of this, his eyes widened. His accumulated knowledge of Void Island from the Holy Palace suddenly connected at this moment. He felt that what Xu Xiaoshou had done was somewhat akin to incurring the wrath of heaven and earth! If he truly emptied the Shennong Medicinal Garden, then next, it was absolutely impossible for only one Void Servant to be chasing him.

This guy, is he insane? Didn't he know that the commotion he caused was likely to be even greater than hundreds of stone giants chasing him and Ba Zun'an?!

"It's over, it's over..." Ye Xiaotian's fingers, touching the spatial projection, suddenly trembled. He was scared by his own conjecture. He hoped things wouldn't unfold in this direction; he desperately hoped he was wrong.

Bang, bang, bang! The distant void behind them began to shatter, and the stone giants were about to appear. Not much time left.

"Well, find him then!"

Xiao Kongtong, completely bewildered, patted the white-haired Daoist boy on the head. "What the hell? You can get this scared just by looking at two spatial projections? Are you sick?"

"So, where is Xu Xiaoshou?" he asked urgently.

"Now, I almost hope that Xu Xiaoshou's figure doesn't appear on my spatial mirror..." Ye Xiaotian cast a heavy glance behind him, then looked back at the spatial mirror, feeling besieged from both sides.

With a swipe of his fingertip, the two projections in front of him disappeared simultaneously, replaced by a new scene. His gaze froze. In that instant, Ye Xiaotian's entire body tensed, his scalp tingled, and his eyes went wide. Even Xiao Kongtong, in disbelief, leaned closer, then immediately shifted his gaze away, not daring to look for even a moment longer.

The second before the figure in the spatial mirror could turn around, Ye Xiaotian hurriedly stopped his ability, shattering all the projections.

"What did I just see?" Xiao Kongtong swallowed, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

Ye Xiaotian was equally stunned, and said dazedly, "If I'm not mistaken, it should be... two Half-Saints?"

Xiao Kongtong slapped the white-haired Daoist boy across the face. Ye Xiaotian winced and clutched his face in pain, yet the two of them, in perfect unspoken agreement, didn't dwell on this trivial matter.

"It wasn't a dream!" Xiao Kongtong tightened his grip on the sack on his shoulder, even more shocked. "So, Ye Xiaotian, can you explain why there were two identical Half-Saints in your spatial projection, both in this forest?"

"Was the projection wrong?"

"The projection can't be wrong!" Ye Xiaotian's lips twitched, feeling like the world had gone absurd. "Perhaps, those two Half-Saints... are, are twins?"