Chapter 1124: 斩神

“Night Owl?”

“Night Owl, Head of the Dark Division?”

This couldn’t possibly be a mere coincidence in names, could it?

A sudden realization jolted Xu Xiaoshou’s heart, and he instantly understood where the vague sense of familiarity he’d felt since earlier had come from.

“I’ve seen her…”

On Lone Sound Cliff, after the Water Ghost’s final deep-sea wave shattered space, sweeping countless people away, it seemed there was a fleeting glimpse of her figure amidst the spatial rifts. Further back, during the battle with Yi, when he read Yi’s memories, it seemed he had encountered this very figure numerous times. Even in the early memories of assassins like Double Dumb and Golden Foot, there were hazy recollections of this black-feathered woman.

“But I was certain I had never seen her…” Xu Xiaoshou was utterly convinced of his own memory, and his brow furrowed immediately. So, what was this? Interference from a Saint Emperor’s will? If it reached the level of a Saint Emperor’s will, even if he knew the name ‘Night Owl’ now, it would be impossible for him to recall these intricate details.

“Head of the Dark Division, Dark…” Xu Xiaoshou muttered the title to himself, and a realization seemed to strike him. It was indeed very ‘dark’ – she possessed the ability to erase outsiders’ memories of her appearance. This was practically a tailor-made skill for ‘assassins’ and other covert operatives! What a pity. No matter how powerful this ability was, as long as it didn’t reach the Saint-level, it couldn’t affect the profound impressions left by ‘Perception’… Xu Xiaoshou remembered everything.

He looked up. Not far away, Night Owl’s gaze, as silent as death, pierced through the gloom beneath her hood. Xu Xiaoshou could still only see the lower half of her face. That lower half of her face amazed him every time he saw it, because his previous impression of her would essentially vanish the moment he looked away.

“You recognize me.” Night Owl suddenly spoke, her tone remarkably certain.

Xu Xiaoshou sighed inwardly. If this woman were to take off her black-feathered cloak and put on normal clothes, she could probably walk right past him, and he wouldn’t recognize her unless she introduced herself. Of course, she hadn’t done that. The only possibility was her absolute confidence in her own ability. And rightly so; as one of the Six Division Heads, who wouldn’t be confident? Confidence is a person’s greatest weakness!

“Of course, I’ve heard of you, Head of the Dark Division, Lady Night Owl,” Xu Xiaoshou said with a slight chuckle, steadying his thoughts. He was incredibly grateful that his first reaction to an accident was always to create a new identity; this method virtually eliminated 99% of dangers. Chen Tan is great! Chen Tan saved my life!

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled to himself, spread his hands, and took two steps forward, speaking with reverence as he walked: “One of the Six Divisions of the Holy Divine Palace, the dark side of the continent’s foremost righteous power, the executioner who forever lives unnoticed in the shadows of the world. Your esteemed name, Head Night Owl, is one I’ve long heard of, even residing in the Southern Region. However, hearing is one thing, seeing is another. I never would have imagined that you, as the Head of the Dark Division, would possess such a beautiful face… Tch!”

Xu Xiaoshou’s tone was respectful yet somewhat cynical, filled with curiosity about the Head of the Six Divisions – this was Chen Tan’s persona. Since the person before him was the Head of the Dark Division, managing the Holy Divine Palace’s dark side, possessing the power to act first and report later, and having an intimate relationship with Yi, the Head of the Deviant Division, then her wisdom, strategy, and methods absolutely could not be underestimated.

As Xu Xiaoshou walked, he scrutinized his current identity. Did the new identity, Chen Tan, hastily created with a new method, still have flaws? Could it truly deceive the Head of the Dark Division? In almost an instant, Xu Xiaoshou completed his self-assessment – there wasn’t a single flaw! Even if Shouye came, it would be impossible to connect ‘Chen Tan,’ who mastered the wicked arts of the Deceitful Gate and the Ghost Talisman of ancient sword cultivators’ ghost swordsmanship, and resided in the Southern Region with ties to the Feng family led by Feng Wuchen, one of the Seven Sword Immortals, with ‘Xu Xiaoshou, the Holy Slave Wanderer of the Eastern Region.’ Everything Chen Tan knew, Xu Xiaoshou didn’t. Well, the Xu Xiaoshou from a few days ago. And even under these circumstances, Night Owl just now still didn’t trust the ‘Chen Tan’ identity and probed him… Xu Xiaoshou admired the Head of the Dark Division’s vigilance and became even more determined to be extra careful moving forward. This taciturn, tight-lipped Night Owl might be even harder to deal with than Rao Yaoyao. Rao Yaoyao rarely probes; she always waits for the bigger picture to settle before making a move. But the very essence of a ‘bigger picture’ is its inherent unpredictability!

“Head Night Owl, I never imagined that with this spatial distortion, I would have the fortune to travel with you. This is truly a blessing in disguise; my safety is assured.” Xu Xiaoshou watched the Head of the Dark Division, who remained unmoved by his praise. While internally refining Chen Tan’s persona and doing his best to differentiate it from Xu Xiaoshou, he stepped forward, attempting to draw closer: “However, I believe that probing like you just did should best be avoided from now on. I, Chen Tan, have absolutely never done anything to harm the Holy Divine Palace. I swear it. So you don’t need to make a move against me.” Xu Xiaoshou raised his hand and stated solemnly: “This labyrinth is extremely dangerous, and ‘The Unforgivable Hall’ doesn’t sound like a benevolent place either. If we cooperate, we both benefit; if we split, there are more disadvantages. ‘Backstabbing’—this is something you Central Region people might rarely encounter, but it’s what we Southern Region people fear most.”

Night Owl said nothing, not even bothering to glance at Chen Tan. She simply lifted her foot and walked deeper into the Unforgivable Hall.

“Shall we explore together? My strength is considerable. If we find something jointly, we can split it evenly; if it’s a personal discovery, it belongs to the individual. It’s very fair, very Holy Divine Palace-like, what do you say?” Xu Xiaoshou smiled as he stepped to follow, trailing behind Night Owl as they entered the inner hall.

I need to find a way to kill her!

‘Concealment’ effectively hid the murderous intent beneath Xu Xiaoshou’s smiling expression. According to the memories of the Three Incense Stick assassins like Double Dumb and Golden Foot, Night Owl, Head of the Dark Division, was most likely the one who issued the ‘Black Gold Bounty.’ “This vicious woman is after my life. As soon as she finds even a hint or something amiss regarding ‘Chen Tan,’ she probably won’t say anything explicitly, but rather just find an opportunity for a fatal strike… Yes, she’s an assassin.” So, rather than being passive, it’s better to take the initiative now and keep her here!

But… “Can I keep her here?” Xu Xiaoshou continued walking, slowly ascending, yet this thought flashed through his mind. He thought of Yi, arguably the most difficult Transcendent to kill; if not for Old Ancestor Wuji’s blockade, he would likely have escaped in the end. He thought of Teng Shanhai, that simple-minded, brawny fellow… his limbs were ridiculously developed! After activating his Demonic God’s power, one could only flee, not engage in a head-on battle. Given this, Night Owl, also one of the Six Division Heads, surely couldn’t be an ordinary person. The Holy Divine Palace even granted her the power to act first and report later. This affirmatively acknowledged her profound strategic prowess and accurate judgment, and implicitly reflected the terrifying nature of her combat power and the stealthiness of her methods. “A Transcendent with both strategy, combat power, and status—she’s certainly more than an ordinary Transcendent. She should be considered capable of assassinating a Half-Saint. And indeed, she seems to hail from the Three Incense Stick organization, possibly even a ‘Three-Color Hunt Order’ assassin.” “A Three-Color Hunt Order… a rank above Red, Purple, and Gold Hunt Orders, with the promotion requirement being successful assassination of a Half-Saint… This is too absurd. Are Double Dumb’s memories even trustworthy?”

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt greatly troubled. Because his conclusion was that he might be able to fight an ordinary Transcendent alone, but it would be extremely difficult to kill or capture one, let alone a peak Transcendent like Night Owl, whose abilities were entirely unconventional. “Let’s hold our ground for now! After all, if a single strike doesn’t kill her, I’ll be directly facing a peak Transcendent. And there are no forbidden spell barriers here like in the deep sea, and she clearly possesses Saint Blood, so I don’t have much of an environmental advantage.”

As he flew through the hall, Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the plaque above, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. “The Unforgivable Hall…” “I hope you can give me a surprise.”

Stepping from the outer hall into the inner hall, the decor here was completely different. The Unforgivable Hall was practically an uncovered open-air execution ground. The vast inner hall displayed no fewer than a hundred types of torture devices. Some of these cold, gleaming, blood-stained torture devices were enormous, hundreds of feet tall; others were very small, clearly designed for human bodies. “This is an execution ground, and these large torture devices are for torturing Void Servants?” Xu Xiaoshou reached this conclusion.

Ahead, Night Owl suddenly stopped, turning her head to gaze at him. Xu Xiaoshou instantly snapped to attention, realizing he had let something slip. From the information he gathered from the soul memories of various ordinary Transcendent-level beings, it was clear that ordinary people on the Holy Divine Continent still associated ‘Void Island’ with ‘Sky City.’ As for ‘Void Servants,’ they only had a partial understanding, at least referring to them as ‘Dark Giants.’ Thus, a Southern Region native who could casually utter the three words ‘Void Servant’ was clearly familiar with Void Island and the First Hall of Sin.

“Heh!” Xu Xiaoshou didn’t panic. He raised an eyebrow and continued with a smile: “It seems Lady Night Owl is very sensitive to information about Sky City. Do you also know about Void Servants?” He paused, then feigned a look of realization, muttering to himself as if answering his own question: “Ah, right, you’re from the Holy Divine Palace. In the Central Region, the Holy Divine Palace is a major power…” He didn’t conceal his knowledge of Void Island. Most people don’t know about this place, but I, Chen Tan, am not most people, is that not allowed? Moreover, ordinary people wouldn’t have been able to survive to this point after entering the First Hall of Sin; they would have died long ago under the Void Servants’ feet.

“Void Servant information, where did you learn it?” Night Owl surprisingly opened her mouth. Xu Xiaoshou immediately showed an interested expression, leaning closer. He asked curiously: “Do you want to exchange information? I can tell you what I know, but Lady Night Owl must offer an equivalent bargaining chip.” He constantly remembered that he was now a Southern Region native. The Southern Region reveres evil gods, and its major top forces are primarily intelligence organizations. Even branches of the Holy Divine Palace struggle to gain a foothold there, let alone rank among the top forces in the Southern Region. All this information came from his previous casual chats with Xiao Kongtong. Xu Xiaoshou was meticulously refining Chen Tan’s persona from every small detail.

Night Owl remained silent, withdrawing her gaze and surveying her surroundings. She was clearly not interested in exchanging information. Xu Xiaoshou secretly thought, “That was close.” This woman was incredibly sensitive. It was best not to speak too much from now on; the more he spoke, the more mistakes he’d make. Dealing with clever people was exhausting. “Sigh, as fellow Heads of Divisions, I really do prefer fighting someone like Teng Shanhai!”

Passing through the ‘Torture Device Exhibition Hall,’ Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t resist his curiosity and casually touched a ‘Foot Splitter’ beside him. It was a weapon resembling a beast’s mouth with many ‘fangs,’ crafted from an unknown dark silver ore. It contained various mechanisms, gears, and special springs. With only a small force, the beast’s fangs could snap shut, then tear apart in two directions. The ‘Foot Splitter’ was not large, designed for human physique, and was very likely used against ‘Void Island criminals’ who committed heinous acts. Xu Xiaoshou tried it… well, of course, he tried it as the torturer, not with the foolish act of putting his foot into the beast’s mouth. With a loud ‘bang’! With just a light press, the ‘Foot Splitter’ snapped shut, even tearing spatial rifts. One could imagine the immense pain this would inflict on a helpless ‘Void Island criminal.’ Xu Xiaoshou felt goosebumps rise.

The loud noise also caused Night Owl, who was ahead, to stop and glance sideways, but she only took a quick look and retracted her gaze without saying a word. “Very strong…” Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes gleamed with fervor. Even a small tool had such biting force. There were hundreds of weapons here, some quite large; one could simply pull them out and smash people during a fight. It was practically a treasure trove. “Share them?” He looked up at Night Owl, but received no response. How boring… Xu Xiaoshou withdrew his gaze from the black-feathered woman, glanced at the ‘Foot Splitter’ again, then shifted his attention to Night Owl’s feet. “No, hold it in! I’m not Xu Xiaoshou now, I’m Chen Tan. Revealing too much greed… or rather, my nature of liking treasures, would clearly be detrimental to the next actions. This woman is incredibly sharp.” Xu Xiaoshou ultimately suppressed the urge to stash hundreds of treasures from this place into his Yuan Mansion and followed Night Owl into the main hall ahead.

The layout of the Unforgivable Hall’s main chamber was very peculiar. There was only an incredibly tall table and chair, suitable for giants to sit at, with some scattered items on top. Directly facing it was the vast execution ground. Clearly, this indicated the distinction between the judge and the condemned. Strangely, the surroundings of this main hall no longer had murals, but rather individual side rooms. The side rooms were uniform in size, all very large, with identical doors and standardized iron bars, resembling prison cells for inmates. The iron bars on the doors gleamed coldly, keeping people at a distance. Night Owl first approached the third side room from left to right, counting from the inside of the table. She seemed to sense something, lingering outside the door, but not acting rashly, nor even touching anything here.

“Very cautious…” Xu Xiaoshou made his judgment. This was indeed the quality an explorer should possess. An ancient place, and a clearly visible prison at that. Who knew what dangers might arise from casually touching things here? For a moment, Xu Xiaoshou felt ashamed of his earlier action of touching the ‘Foot Splitter’ and his desire to collect all the torture devices here. This was clearly courting death; it was highly likely to trigger some special formation, leading to the collapse of the Unforgivable Hall or something similar.

“Heaven… Three…” His gaze shifted to the side room where Night Owl was standing. There were two ancient characters there. Xu Xiaoshou read them aloud, his expression a little puzzled. “Heaven-Ranked Cell Number Three? Had his guess come true? Were these truly cells all around?”

“Hmm?”

Just then, after drawing closer, as if sensing something, Xu Xiaoshou looked up at the tall table. Something there seemed to be attracting people, even more so than the ‘Heaven Three’ cell. Treasure? Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly flew up.

The table was for giants; a single table leg was as thick as a pillar supporting the sky. To avoid revealing his identity, Xu Xiaoshou didn’t even dare to use ‘Ascension in a Single Step,’ relying solely on flight to land on the tabletop. The massive tabletop was scattered with items used by giants, each averaging about ten zhang in size. But these dust-covered objects didn’t catch Xu Xiaoshou’s attention. What he looked at was a token… over half a person’s height! The ancient, weathered token emitted a faint glow, clearly a treasure. It was still enormous, but much smaller compared to a giant. Xu Xiaoshou picked it up and swept his ‘Perception’ over it. On the front was a soul-stirring character ‘敕’ (Chì), which made his eyes go blurry. He flipped it over, and two complex ancient characters were imprinted on it. They seemed to possess a super high-level power that instantly assailed Xu Xiaoshou’s mind and soul, leaving him unable to recover for a while. He shook his head for a moment, his heart pounding in alarm, before finally regaining his senses and discerning what the two large characters on the token spelled.

“God Slaying!”

What grandiosity! What kind of thing dared to have the words ‘God Slaying’ written on it? What did ‘God’ here refer to? Was it the ‘God’ in ‘Sword God Gu Louying’? Xu Xiaoshou almost laughed. Before he could think further, a pale hand, covered in black feathers from the wrist up, suddenly snatched towards him at extreme speed. At the same time, Night Owl’s distinct husky, somewhat neutral female voice sounded beside him: “Give it to me.”