Chapter 1112: Tear Xi'er, shrinking?

"Come on, hit me."

After landing and composing herself, Lei Xi'er was completely baffled by Xu Xiaoshou's abrupt challenge.

"Is he really sick?" She instinctively reached out to check if Xu Xiaoshou had a fever, but quickly reined in the impulse.

"Hit him, quick, hit him, it's a good opportunity!" A jubilant voice, an unbidden thought, clamored in her mind, urging her on, but Lei Xi'er didn't act on it.

"You should take your medicine," she said, staring coldly at Xu Xiaoshou.

"I'm serious!" Xu Xiaoshou was incredibly excited. He wasn't joking about the damage his "Immovable King" could nullify. In his recent test, after activating "Immovable King," he had completely nullified the attack while consuming only a minuscule amount of spiritual energy compared to the explosion, without even a scratch on his clothes! Xu Xiaoshou speculated that as a powerful awakened ability, it might not just nullify explosive attacks, but also mental and soul attacks.

"On Solitary Sound Cliff, didn't you use 'Devil-God's Eye' techniques like 'Demonic Zenith' and 'Divine Fall' to forcibly control Wang Dachui and Rao Yaoyao?" Xu Xiaoshou beckoned impatiently, his eyes filled with anticipation. "Come on, use your most powerful mental control abilities to control me, attack me!"

Lei Xi'er now looked at Xu Xiaoshou as if he were seriously ill. She took a long time to compose herself, still unable to comprehend the logic of the man in front of her.

"Hmm..." Xu Xiaoshou frowned thoughtfully. "'Demonic Zenith' probably won't affect me now. Use 'Divine Fall.' Is that your strongest mental control technique?"

"Yes." After staring at him for a long time, Lei Xi'er finally realized Xu Xiaoshou wasn't joking. She nodded immediately. "It's not just control; it's actually a mental attack that shatters one's spiritual will to achieve control."

"Your strongest?" Xu Xiaoshou pressed.

"Currently, yes," Lei Xi'er's Devil-God's Eye began to spin, seemingly eager to strike Xu Xiaoshou and truly wake him up.

"How strong?" Xu Xiaoshou showed no fear.

"I'm a Sovereign now. I can control anyone below a Half-Saint," Lei Xi'er paused. "As for the duration of control, it depends on the opponent."

"That's truly powerful!" Xu Xiaoshou thought to himself that there was truly no one else in the world who, at the Sovereign stage, could control contemporary powerhouses like Wang Dachui and Rao Yaoyao.

"Then come on!" he said decisively, without hesitation.

The moment he spoke, Lei Xi'er's Devil-God's Eye began to glow. White mist emanated from her left eye, which then spun at an astonishing speed, dazzling the observer. The next second, before Xu Xiaoshou could even react, a white Lycoris radiata bloomed at his feet. Simultaneously, his information panel flashed:

"Ambushed, Passive Points: 1."

"So fast!" Xu Xiaoshou finally fully realized the immense power of the Devil-God's Eye's control. There was no casting delay whatsoever, and it could ignore distance. As long as it was within sight, control could be established with a single thought. No wonder Wang Dachui and Rao Yaoyao fell victim on Solitary Sound Cliff; this Devil-God's Eye was truly terrifying!

However, no matter how terrifying it was, Xu Xiaoshou was prepared. The information panel even showed "Ambushed." Xu Xiaoshou, who also possessed an awakened ability with no casting delay, instantly activated his newly acquired precious skill.

"Immovable King!"

As his thoughts churned, a faint golden light enveloped his body, transforming into the ethereal image of a revered Buddha. The critical hit that should have assaulted his mind instantly felt as if it had passed through cotton, "nullified" on the spot by the power of "Immovable King."

"It really can nullify!" After activating "Immovable King," even if his thoughts slowed and his movements became immobile, deactivating this awakened ability was instantaneous. Thus, in a mere instant, Xu Xiaoshou activated "Immovable King," nullified the damage, immediately deactivated it, and then used "Ascension in a Single Step" to flash behind Lei Xi'er. The black sword, Hidden Misery, was already drawn, its tip resting against the throat of the silver-haired Lei Xi'er.

"In a real fight, you'd be dead by now. So don't rely too much on your 'Devil-God's Eye'; it's not invincible," Xu Xiaoshou whispered with a chuckle, then put away Hidden Misery, which was about to start twisting.

A shiver ran down Lei Xi'er's spine. She hadn't yet recovered from Xu Xiaoshou's rapid series of defensive and counter-attacking moves.

"Divine Fall, how did it fail?" She turned her head blankly, seeing Xu Xiaoshou's smirking face close to hers.

"This is a technique I just learned. It can 'nullify' physical and mental damage, which is why I asked you to attack me," Xu Xiaoshou explained, then frowned again. "By the way, was that truly your strongest attack?"

Lei Xi'er: "..."

"Feared, Passive Points: 1.""Glared At, Passive Points: 1.""Cursed, Passive Points: 1, 1, 1, 1..."

"No!" Moving away, Lei Xi'er was clearly provoked, her fighting spirit surging. "I only used one-tenth of my power just now, fearing I might hurt you... Again!"

Without hesitation, Lei Xi'er unleashed her full power. Her "Devil-God's Eye" rotated to its maximum, suppressing the demonic power to its lowest while pushing the divine power to its utmost limit. In an instant, she replicated her previous technique. This time, however, she held nothing back. Knowing Xu Xiaoshou had mastered a new, strange skill, Lei Xi'er used twelve-tenths of her power.

"Divine Fall!"

Forming hand seals, countless white Lycoris radiata instantly bloomed across the entire landscape. At this moment, Lei Xi'er seemed to transform into a holy fairy descending from the heavens, effortlessly gathering boundless divine power, which materialized into visible waves of mental attack, surging towards Xu Xiaoshou.

"Meow!" Outside the battlefield, Glutton, holding half a dragon apricot, casually appeared to watch, not understanding why the male and female masters were fighting. But that didn't stop it from watching the spectacle while munching on the dragon apricot. Keen as it was, it could sense that this battle was only about victory, not life or death.

"Why don't *I* have such cool attack effects..." Xu Xiaoshou was practically drooling over the holy Lycoris radiata blooming everywhere. But he couldn't afford to be distracted during a fight. He didn't use any elaborate moves, simply activating his awakened ability again.

"Immovable King!"

This time, it seemed "Immovable King" couldn't entirely nullify the "Divine Fall" attack; it exploded violently in his mind. However, at the cost of consuming over seventy percent of his spiritual energy, what actually hit Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual body was no more than a tickle.

"Heh." Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. "Immovable King" was truly a natural counter to all mental attacks! He hadn't expected that the "Resilience" awakened ability perfectly exemplified what "passive" truly meant! With an instant activation and deactivation, the golden light appeared and vanished. Ninety-nine percent of the damage was negated. Xu Xiaoshou's "Conversion" ability meant he took no real injury, so he instantly flashed beside Lei Xi'er, drawing Hidden Misery and thrusting it forward.

"Still 'nullified'?" Lei Xi'er's pupils constricted in disbelief. But this time she was also prepared. She flashed away, not believing a word Xu Xiaoshou had said earlier. Her divine power was suppressed to its extreme, and dense black demonic power surged from her right eye.

"Demonic Zenith!"

The holy Lycoris radiata blooming across the mountains instantly turned black. Lei Xi'er, shrouded in demonic energy, also changed in demeanor, becoming alluring and eerie, like a fiendess from the nine heavens. The pure mental attack, imbued with demonic power, transformed into countless demons, clawing and tearing at him.

"Heh, I told you not to use that move. You'll regret it." Xu Xiaoshou reacted instantly, but this time he didn't activate "Immovable King." Instead, he lowered his eyelids, then snapped them open again.

"Heart Sword Art, Gaze of Gods and Buddhas!"

The moment "Demonic Zenith" engulfed Xu Xiaoshou, the world in Lei Xi'er's eyes instantly turned black. The next instant, she saw the Yuan Mansion world transform into a final world filled with endless apocalyptic disasters: heavenly thunder calamities, volcanic eruptions, flash floods, tsunamis... Against the backdrop of a surging dark demonic apocalypse, a ninety-nine-story ancient tower rose into the sky—clearly the familiar "Heaven's First Tower"! But atop "Heaven's First Tower," the person who should have been engulfed by "Demonic Zenith" transformed, absorbing all the demonic power into his body, becoming a figure in a black robe fluttering in the wind. He stood on the pinnacle of the ancient tower, a lone back figure, appearing aloof and cold against the backdrop of the silver moon.

"What... is this..." The shock brought by the scene before her was immense. Lei Xi'er's Devil-God's Eye widened, her delicate body trembling. She felt as though she were facing a deity, almost compelled to prostrate herself by the sheer imagery. "Xu Xiaoshou, when did he master such a terrifying technique?"

But before she could recover, the towering figure, like a giant imbued with boundless might, casually turned its head, slightly opening its eyes.

"Puff!" Lei Xi'er was struck as if by lightning, thrown backward by the sheer force of that gaze, a mouthful of blood spraying into the sky.

"Meow!" Glutton, the small white cat watching, was so startled it dropped its dragon apricot. It fumbled with its two chubby front paws for a few tries before picking it up again. "What's going on? Are the master and mistress fighting to the death?"

"What was that?" Adjusting her posture in mid-air, Lei Xi'er looked over, her pretty face etched with shock.

"Heart Sword Art, just learned... You can also call it 'Demonic Sword Art,'" Xu Xiaoshou chuckled to himself, feeling more pleased than when he used Gaze of Gods and Buddhas against Old Xie.

Lei Xi'er felt a sudden surge of anger. Before she could even grasp the source of her anger, a loli voice shrieked loudly in her mind: "Ah! Xu Xiaoshou! How dare you hit me with that power... Beat him, quick, beat him!"

"Quiet," Lei Xi'er finally understood she was being influenced.

Xu Xiaoshou stared at the silver-haired woman, and only after confirming that Lei Xi'er was merely affected by a minor momentum attack and not fundamentally harmed, did he smile faintly: "Don't worry, I only used a fraction of my power too. If I added the 'Qi Deviation' attack, which isn't just a momentum attack, you'd be in an even sorrier state than this."

Lei Xi'er: "..."

There was no need for the strange squealing in her mind; she was genuinely angry now, the anger of being belittled!

"Fine, a fraction of your power, very good..." Lei Xi'er clenched her molars, her pretty face flushed with effort. After a long pause, she squeezed out the words through gritted teeth: "Then take this next move!"

Her Devil-God's Eye closed, then opened again. This time, black and white intertwined in Lei Xi'er's eyes, no longer distinct, but perfectly merged — the divine power and demonic power completely fused.

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded. "That's enough, the battle can end here, the experiment is complete!" He had no idea what he'd done to provoke this young lady. Why was she getting so angry as they fought?

"Wait a minute..." But before he finished speaking, half of the black Lycoris radiata covering the mountains instantly turned white. Amidst the black and white intertwining, an ultimate yin-yang balance formed. Sacred power surged from Lei Xi'er, merging with the power of her Devil-God's Eye.

"Crack—" The void of the Yuan Mansion world cracked, forming a spiderweb-like pattern that spread across the heavens.

"Meow!" Glutton's fur bristled, and it teleported far back, cowering in fear.

"Sacred power? Are you serious?!" Xu Xiaoshou was also terrified. "Why are you being so fragile? And now you're shamelessly using sacred power? The Yuan Mansion world can't withstand an attack like that!"

But Lei Xi'er didn't stop. Defeating Xu Xiaoshou was arguably her obsession, one that had existed since her days as Mu Zixi. To trace it back, it went all the way to the semi-finals of the Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace's Outer Court tournament, where she was picked up and thrown out of the arena by a certain someone, who even complained about her breath... So, when Xu Xiaoshou initiated this spar, by an unforeseen turn of events, Lei Xi'er took it seriously, seeing it as an opportunity to test her own combat prowess.

Thus, as the "devil-god power" of her Devil-God's Eye perfectly fused under the influence of sacred power, and illusory, translucent, black-and-white intertwining two-colored Lycoris radiata bloomed across the entire Yuan Mansion world... The world in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes also changed!

"Heavenly Condemnation · Heart Shattering Dao!"

A clear cry, drifting from an unknown direction. Xu Xiaoshou felt everything in the world become illusory and transparent. He seemed to be in the clouds, seeing countless people he had met throughout his life. There was Old Sang, Ba Zun'an, Red Dog, Yu Lingdi, the Twin Dorks, the little girl Yi... and so on. Endless. Even transient passersby, who had only met him briefly, now manifested in this world above the clouds. Without exception... they leered, transforming into ethereal demons, flying high in the clouds, converging into transparent tribulation clouds.

"Heart Tribulation?" Xu Xiaoshou was shocked, remembering the power once taken from the Lei family—the power to control punishment! Without time to think, within the heart tribulation clouds that covered an entire world, seemingly as vast as the Sacred Continent, thunder roared, unleashing millions of ethereal, transparent heart tribulation lightning bolts.

"I..." Xu Xiaoshou's eyes instantly showed confusion, as he was pulled into individual worlds by these heart tribulation lightning bolts, unable to resist.

However, a moment later, this cloud world radiated a brilliant sacred light. Mental awakening! Xu Xiaoshou suddenly awoke, realizing that if he couldn't withstand this heart tribulation lightning, he might truly die on the spot, assuming Lei Xi'er didn't hold back at the end.

"Immovable King!" He subconsciously activated this brand new passive ability.

"Boom—" In just an instant, countless heart tribulation lightning bolts slammed into his mind. The golden light that had just emanated from Xu Xiaoshou was abruptly shattered. His mind felt as if countless steel marbles had been forcibly crammed into it. When these marbles exploded, they transformed into endless steel thorns, scattering and stabbing, causing unbearable agony.

"Ugh!" Xu Xiaoshou's face contorted, but he still endured. Because these heart tribulation lightning bolts, weakened by "nullification," could no longer penetrate his spiritual body. He immediately summoned his Heart Sword Art, placing himself atop the ancient tower, using the power of imagery to suppress the heart tribulation lightning. Only then did he feel the world return to clarity. Such a terrifying and exceptional technique had finally been defended against.

But...

"Puff!" On the other side, just as Xu Xiaoshou's "Immovable King" was shattered, Lei Xi'er's delicate body trembled again. With a *puff*, blood gushed out, and she was thrown upward. This time, she had completely lost consciousness. Blood oozed from her seven orifices, and her delicate, limp body fell helplessly from the sky. Her frail body, devoid of any defensive power, would foreseeably die instantly, shattered into pieces, if she continued to free-fall and didn't even activate her Saint Body's strength.

"What in the world..." Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered. "I haven't even attacked, how did you get launched?" He quickly flashed, teleporting beneath Lei Xi'er, catching her in his arms. Only then did the battle end, and he descended to the ground, cradling her.

"Her mind suffered a terrifying impact, consciousness completely fragmented, she passed out..." With a single glance, Xu Xiaoshou judged Lei Xi'er's injuries to be severe, almost fatal. If not for the Devil-God's Eye's autonomous defensive power, she would likely be spiritually dead by now.

He stood frozen, his eyes filled with endless regret, wishing he could just delete "Immovable King." After hastily picking a holy medicine, a "Flower of Life," and feeding it to Lei Xi'er, he finally realized that the dreadful awakened ability he had just acquired was even more terrifying than he had imagined!

"Physical, mental, and perhaps even soul attacks below the Half-Saint level can be nullified simply by consuming spiritual energy.""But once there's damage that 'Immovable King' can't nullify, as long as the golden light is shattered, the caster also suffers the same damage as me?""I have a body full of passive abilities, but she doesn't!"

Xu Xiaoshou stared nervously at the soft, limp figure in his arms. After taking the holy medicine, her breathing recovered quickly, but Xu Xiaoshou was still filled with remorse. "Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I should've just gone out and tested the new move on Mr. Jiren!"

"Little Junior Sister, you absolutely cannot die..." As he silently prayed, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt a slight, strange change in the person in his arms. It was odd, very odd, the sensation in his hands became extremely peculiar!

"Something's not right!"

"Little Junior Sister... no, Lei Xi'er, why do you feel like you're shrinking?"