Chapter 1056: Er Teng’s Foolishness, Enough to Disturb Day and Night, Laughing Till One’s Intestines Break

Skirmishes always catch people off guard.

Xu Xiaoshou racked his brain, but couldn't understand how Teng Shanhai had recognized his identity.

He had clearly disguised himself so perfectly...

Could it be that the Holy Divine Palace had its own identity verification procedures for Half-Saint Jiang Buyi?

Even if he impersonated him so realistically, could Teng Shanhai be certain the person before him wasn't the real Half-Saint Jiang Buyi just by holding some kind of treasure?

“I’m not pretending anymore; I’m laying my cards on the table. I am Xu Xiaoshou!”

Xu Xiaoshou spread his hands. He didn't revert to his original form, but his tone returned to his usual manner.

He had never felt so defeated.

He had deceived so many intelligent people on the Holy Divine Continent; what was happening with his identity being instantly exposed on Void Island?

Being exposed was acceptable, but being instantly exposed was truly too much.

If he had been recognized by someone like Rao Yaoyao, it would have been fine, but Teng Shanhai, who didn't seem particularly bright, how had he managed it?

“How did you recognize me?” Xu Xiaoshou stroked his beard, his eyes filled with curiosity.

“Hahahaha…” Teng Shanhai burst out laughing, his single eye showing delight mixed with a tiny bit of disbelief. “So, you really are Xu Xiaoshou?”

Xu Xiaoshou: ???

You bluffed me?

He was momentarily stunned, but recalling the information from the status bar just now, it had clearly shifted from “suspicion” to “certainty.”

That meant Teng Shanhai must have had some method to be absolutely certain of his identity.

For him to still ask like this now was clearly a subconscious reaction from having been tricked too many times in the past, rather than actually having bluffed him.

That's it!

After giving himself a way out, Xu Xiaoshou’s expression became earnest, and he said, “Tell me, can you at least let me die with understanding?”

“Hmph, still trying to buy time?”

Teng Shanhai was no longer the Teng Shanhai of old; he immediately recognized Xu Xiaoshou's tactic—the usual trick of smart people: stalling for time!

But stalling for time was good!

The power of his Holy Blood still needed some time to reach its peak.

Although he didn't know where the holy power on this guy in front of him came from, Teng Shanhai felt that perhaps, with Xu Xiaoshou's ability, he had already discovered his traces.

At this moment, he had actually already taken the Holy Blood and was waiting for his arrival!

However, could a Grandmaster taking Holy Blood be on the same level as a Taixu taking Holy Blood?

“Xu Xiaoshou, I admit you have some tricks up your sleeve. Your method of suppressing treasures is indeed formidable. There was a period when I truly couldn’t find it, and even the connection was broken.”

Teng Shanhai sighed, shaking his head. His single eye fixed intently on Xu Xiaoshou in Jiang Buyi's form, and he said solemnly, “But what is mine is mine. Even if you forcibly seize it, you cannot sever the bond between me and it!”

Treasure...

It...

Forcible seizure...

Xu Xiaoshou was extremely intelligent; he almost instantly understood what Teng Shanhai was referring to and said with slight surprise, “Are you talking about the Divine Spear Xiao?”

“Exactly!”

Teng Shanhai sneered. He clenched his hand in the void, seemingly about to summon something through space.

“The Relic Stele Divine Artifact is called a divine artifact because, in its era, it was a treasure no less significant than the Twenty-One Famous Swords.”

“And the reason it’s on the Relic Stele is because it was once lost for a period, but that doesn’t mean its power weakened.”

“On the contrary, with the accumulation of time, it could advance even further!”

The void cracked.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his Nascent Source World tremble.

The Divine Spear Xiao, which had been forcibly seized from Teng Shanhai during the Night Battle of King City and was suppressed within, was now struggling wildly, trying to break out of the realm.

“You dog-thief, so that’s how it is!”

Xu Xiaoshou cursed inwardly. He thought of how, in White Cave, the Famous Sword Azure Scaled Spine he had snatched from Lu Ke's hands would break out of the realm again with a single summon from its owner.

He had thought this was a unique function of the Twenty-One Famous Swords, but he never thought the bond between Teng Shanhai and the Divine Spear Xiao was as deep as that between a famous sword and its wielder.

And the level of the Divine Spear Xiao was clearly no weaker than that of an ordinary famous sword!

“Your plan?”

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't believe it.

If this was a contingency Teng Shanhai had set up during the Night Battle of King City, then this person was playing dumb while being formidable; his true intellect was probably no weaker than that of Rao Yaoyao or Gou Wuyue.

He had definitely underestimated him!

Teng Shanhai was momentarily stunned by the words, then he puffed out his chest confidently, his eyes reflecting the appearance of being in control of the situation.

“Exactly!”

Exactly your sister!

Xu Xiaoshou saw his subconscious reaction and knew this guy thought he was just playing along. A flash of insight struck him, and he understood something else.

“Teng Shanhai, don’t try to take credit for this,” Xu Xiaoshou sneered. “If this were truly your contingency, why couldn’t you recognize my true form on Solitary Sound Cliff?”

Solitary Sound Cliff?

Hearing this, Teng Shanhai’s momentum suddenly halted.

Indeed, on Solitary Sound Cliff, he had vaguely sensed that Xu Xiaoshou was hidden among the crowd.

Because at that time, he had also sensed a faint bond with the Divine Spear Xiao, even if it wasn't as strong as it was now.

But…

“On Solitary Sound Cliff, I believed Huang Quan’s slanderous words and truly thought you had died by his hand and that even the Divine Spear Xiao had been taken by him. Naturally, I didn’t want to act.”

“Besides, Rao Yaoyao was the leader there. If I had acted, wouldn't I have disrupted her plans?”

Teng Shanhai had not been acknowledged as intelligent by others for a long time, and the person acknowledging him now was Xu Xiaoshou, the clever individual who had repeatedly thwarted the Holy Divine Palace’s schemes.

This made him reluctant to back down.

The feeling of being praised to the heavens was truly somewhat comfortable.

So Teng Shanhai paused and continued to make excuses for himself:

“Of course, I also knew at that time that you, Xu Xiaoshou, hadn’t died by Huang Quan’s hand at all, and had been hiding among the crowd on Solitary Sound Cliff.”

“If my guess is correct, the Void Gate beneath the deep sea was also your Saint Servant’s doing, wasn’t it!”

With Bazun An’s Golden Imperial Edict, everyone understood that the overall situation on Void Island was actually his doing.

Teng Shanhai stated an undeniable fact, so he wasn't afraid of being questioned by the other side.

“Hahahaha…”

Hearing this, Xu Xiaoshou doubled over with laughter like a shrimp, tears almost splashing out.

“Oh, Teng Shanhai, Teng Shanhai, are you truly stupid, or just pretending?”

“At this point, you still think it was Huang Quan, the King of Hell, who tricked you on Solitary Sound Cliff?”

What do you mean?

Teng Shanhai was startled. “Xu Xiaoshou, what are you talking about?”

“I’m saying!”

Xu Xiaoshou wiped the tears from his eyes, finally confirming that the Divine Spear Xiao was merely a coincidence for Teng Shanhai, not a contingency.

He then laughed loudly and said, “I’m saying, if the Divine Spear Xiao was truly taken by Huang Quan, what virtues or abilities do I, Xu Xiaoshou, possess to be able to retrieve the Divine Spear Xiao from Huang Quan’s hands?!”

The void exploded with a bang.

The Nascent Source World could no longer confine the Relic Stele Divine Spear.

Thick as a boulder, the black and red evil god’s spear, about ten feet long, shot out of the air and settled firmly into Teng Shanhai’s palm.

The spear’s body was dark. The moment it entered his hand, its fierce aura instantly enveloped Teng Shanhai’s entire body, complementing his Azure God Armor perfectly.

At this moment, Teng Shanhai, like the moon returning to its full phase, finally returned to his complete form, possessing the domineering aura of one who could hold off a thousand enemies at a single pass.

But Xu Xiaoshou was even more disdainful.

If it’s not yours, there’s no need to forcibly seize it.

He wasn't truly greedy by nature; it was just that if the other party couldn't keep a treasure, he was happy to help them keep it.

If you and the weapon are truly one, like a famous sword and its wielder, then it’s yours, and I’ll return it; I don’t covet it.

Just like taking the Famous Sword Azure Scaled Spine would result in being hunted by the Night Watch.

Xu Xiaoshou no longer held back, truly letting go and allowing Teng Shanhai to retrieve his life-bound weapon, just as he had abandoned the sword in White Cave at that time.

With a brain like yours, what if the Divine Spear Xiao is given to you? Can you still overturn the heavens?!

Teng Shanhai tightly gripped the Divine Spear Xiao, his heart surging with excitement.

However, Xu Xiaoshou’s last words still lingered in his ears, like a devil’s whisper.

What exactly did this guy mean?

His ability to retrieve the Divine Spear Xiao—didn’t it just prove that the Saint Servants and Huang Quan were indeed colluding, and that was why he was able to retrieve the item from Huang Quan?

Wait!

At one moment, Teng Shanhai finally felt he had discovered a blind spot. His single eye widened instantly, and he said in shock, “Xu Xiaoshou, do you mean… the Huang Quan on Solitary Sound Cliff wasn’t the real King of Hell Huang Quan, but rather…”

“It was me, my dear Teng!”

Xu Xiaoshou clapped his hands in front of him, laughing as brightly as a sunflower, and said with feigned incredulity:

“No way, you only realized it now? Are you indirectly proving that even Rao Yaoyao, after the battle at Solitary Sound Cliff, still couldn’t see through my disguise and is still kept in the dark at this moment?”

“Or is it that Rao Yaoyao did realize it, but dared not tell you, fearing she’d lose face?”

“Or the last possibility… that’s right, it’s that you, Teng Shanhai, were long abandoned by Rao Yaoyao and are no longer in her think tank?”

“Oh, right, with a brain like yours…”

Whatever Xu Xiaoshou said last, Teng Shanhai could no longer hear.

As soon as the preceding words were uttered, he felt a thunderous boom, as if lightning bolts had struck his mind, scorching and numbing his entire being.

“Impossible, impossible…” Teng Shanhai murmured subconsciously.

How is this possible?!

If the Huang Quan on Solitary Sound Cliff was Xu Xiaoshou in disguise, why would the two real Hell King members, each with Tear Family Eyes, who held the Night Watch captive, cooperate with him?

If Xu Xiaoshou’s words were true, had he and Rao Yaoyao actually already found his true form that day on Solitary Sound Cliff?

Was it just that after Xu Xiaoshou transformed once, fearing it wasn’t enough to humiliate everyone, he transformed into Huang Quan again, and once more trampled everyone’s intelligence underfoot, grinding it into the dirt?

“You’re talking nonsense!”

Teng Shanhai was furious. He thrust the Divine Spear Xiao onto the ground, and the earth split into pieces.

At this moment, even the entire realm began to tremble, becoming unstable.

Teng Shanhai absolutely refused to believe it!

That Huang Quan on Solitary Sound Cliff was Xu Xiaoshou in disguise!

The Huang Quan at that time was far-sighted and strategic, looking down on all directions, his aura encompassing mountains and rivers, able to contend with the sun and moon. He even dared to trade Night Watch’s secrets with Rao Yaoyao face-to-face, attempting to lay hands on the Azure Cloud Divine Sword, one of the five Chaos Divine Artifacts.

That kind of spirit!

That kind of pressure!

That kind of composure in the face of danger, that ability to wield great power and influence, could a mere Grandmaster junior pretend to have?

Are you kidding me?!

Teng Shanhai’s eyes were wide with fury, his nostrils flaring and huffing out two streams of hot air. He desperately didn’t want to believe these facts.

But looking at Xu Xiaoshou’s side-splitting laughter, he felt as if he had truly been thoroughly played, inside and out.

Only now, through the mouth of the person involved, did he realize how foolish he had been that day.

“I… I think I understand something…”

Teng Shanhai’s eyes suddenly went blank, losing focus. He thought of the moment before everyone was sucked into Void Island, in front of the Void Gate, beneath the deep sea.

At that time, when the Golden Imperial Edict descended, Rao Yaoyao suddenly suffered qi deviation, losing her composure as if she had lost her mind. She was utterly helpless, unable to call upon heaven or earth, and didn't respond to anyone's pleas for a decision.

It was like…

Himself, knowing the truth now, understood his past self: truly a massive idiot!

Being played like a fiddle without realizing it, he consequently lost the ability to judge anyone, anything, or any matter in the world for a short time after realizing the truth.

“So, Rao Yaoyao already understood everything at that time? And that’s why she went crazy?”

“And I, until now, if Xu Xiaoshou hadn’t said it himself, would still naively think that Xu Xiaoshou was Huang Quan, Yi was also Huang Quan, and Huang Quan… was still just Huang Quan?”

The earth suddenly shattered.

The Divine Spear Xiao unleashed visible black and red malevolent energy, coiling around Teng Shanhai and dying his single eye blood-red.

Space suddenly collapsed.

The entire realm, above and below, appeared distorted and collapsing. Intense killing intent materialized into vicious jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, tearing at the endless void.

At this instant, Teng Shanhai, holding the Divine Spear Xiao and clad in his Azure God Armor, leaped into the sky, transforming into a black and red speck of light, and swung his spear heavily downwards from the air.

“Divine Spear Xiao, Divine Severing of the Vast Sea!”

“Xu Xiaoshou, die!!!”

Holy power surged, its aura reaching its peak at this moment.

In Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes, the entire unstable realm transformed into an endless ocean at this moment, and he was merely a small boat amidst the sea and rivers, drifting helplessly.

With one spear strike, not only would the small boat shatter, but even this vast ocean would be split in two!

“Clang!”

A sonic boom exploded, space curled up around them, and the air currents reversed into a massive mushroom cloud, suddenly rising into the sky from Xu Xiaoshou’s location.

Xu Xiaoshou also had holy power.

But he wouldn’t be foolish enough to use the holy power accompanying the Holy Relic Fruit to directly take a Taixu’s crazed, furious blow after consuming Holy Blood.

With a “Disappearance Art,” he ascended to the heavens in one step.

He appeared in the sky, while Teng Shanhai's spear shattered the earth, leaving him standing in a ten-thousand-foot abyss, having swapped positions with Xu Xiaoshou.

Good heavens!

You even shattered your own realm; how ashamed and furious must you be?

Xu Xiaoshou watched in awe and quickly reined in his emotions.

“You’re getting agitated, you’re getting agitated…”

A smile played on his lips as he looked at Teng Shanhai below, who was almost consumed by the Divine Spear Xiao’s evil aura, and laughed heartily:

“Teng Shanhai, you really are agitated!”

“What good would killing me here do? It can’t possibly cover up your foolish nature.”

“Ahem!”

Clearing his throat, Xu Xiaoshou adjusted his throat, and like a bard, stroking his beard with dramatic flair, his voice became melodious and echoed in all directions:

“Your Teng’s stupidity can confound day and night, and make people laugh until their guts hurt!”

“If I were you, upon retrieving the Divine Spear Xiao, I would immediately commit suicide with the spear—not to prove innocence with blood, but to leave a carefree and heroic name for ten thousand generations.”

“If not, once I, Xu Xiaoshou, return to the Holy Divine Continent, bards will sing praises of the events at Solitary Sound Cliff day and night, spreading word of your and Rao Yaoyao’s ‘magnificent feats of the era’!”

“After meals and during leisure, at all times, there will be a ridiculously laughable Sword Immortal Rao and a hilarious Chief Teng appearing.”

“Oh, right!”

Xu Xiaoshou clapped his hands by his face with a mischievous expression. He seemed to have recalled something and sighed:

“Don’t worry, Teng Shanhai, even as a joke, you won’t be the protagonist. Rao Yaoyao will be.”

“You’re a fringe person; you can’t even get a title among the Ten Sovereigns, nor can you be the strongest in any of the Holy Divine Palace’s Six Divisions. Even if you came to Solitary Sound Cliff, you’ll forever and always be just a firefly next to the bright moon.”

“Even in a joke, you’re just a supporting character!”

Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes, enunciating each word, his voice clear and cold: “Insignificant. Too small to mention.”

“Aargh—!!!”

In the deep abyss below, an enraged beast roared, holding the Divine Spear Xiao, as if even its sanity was about to be completely emptied.

This was truly an attack designed to destroy the spirit!

“Xu… Xiao… Shou!”

Teng Shanhai gnashed his teeth, his gums bleeding with a metallic taste, and with eyes about to burst, he said, “You just want to provoke me! Do you really think I don’t know that?”

Xu Xiaoshou put his hands on his hips, with an amused expression. “I succeeded, didn’t I?”

He floated in the void, with another flick of his sleeve, and sneered, “In all my life, I, Xu Xiaoshou, have never failed in a scheme. Even if it’s an open plot forced upon you, Teng Shanhai, and I tell you about it, what can you do to me?”

“Teng Shanhai, I’m giving you a chance, but…”

Xu Xiaoshou leaned down from high in the sky, like a devil’s whisper, but his voice carried beyond the collapsing realm.

“Can you kill me?”