Chapter 1196: The Oppressive Force of a Finger

A thunderous explosion echoed through half of the Zui Yi Dian, amid the scattering fragments of crystalline space.

The tumultuous battle finally ended with the Qiantang Crystal Palace suppressing the bisected body of Number Two, drawing what seemed like a perfect conclusion.

“Truly splendid!”

Behind the black hole caused by the distant explosion, a faint orange silhouette hovered, half-hidden and elusive.

Unless one looked closely, it was nearly impossible to detect its presence. Tian Ren Wu Shui watched the epic battle from afar in this manner. The self-detonation energy from Xu Xiaoshou's second true body felt like a gentle breeze brushing against him.

Beneath the faint, decaying mist, the explosive energy was absorbed into Tian Ren Wu Shui's robes and drawn into his body.

Far from causing any harm, it seemed as though it could be devoured as nourishment and assimilated for his own use.

Even Tian Ren Wu Shui, after observing the entire fight, couldn't help but raise his hand in a silent applause for the performance.

Xu Xiaoshou was incredibly strong!

When he himself had broken through to become a Ban Sheng, Xu Xiaoshou had also achieved a breakthrough—from the Zong Shi level to the lower tier of the Wang Zuo.

But from start to finish, this young man's combat prowess couldn't be judged solely by his lower realm.

At least, after watching the whole battle, Tian Ren Wu Shui could see that Xu Xiaoshou's physical strength had shattered the constraints of a Wang Zuo body, reaching half of the Ban Sheng level in terms of physical techniques...

Only the “body,” not the “techniques.”

Even so, relying solely on his physical body, he could be considered to have Ban Sheng-level combat power.

What's more, Xu Xiaoshou possessed that terrifying combat awareness, nearly at the Three Realms level.

“The breakthrough was so abrupt...”

“Before, his reaction speed wasn't this fast; logically, he shouldn't have kept up with Tianji Shen Shi.”

“But now, aside from his high-level combat experience being slightly lacking, his reactions are hardly inferior to Number Two's.”

“If given more time to engage in Ban Sheng-level battles, it's entirely possible for his awareness to fully enter the Three Realms.”

Tian Ren Wu Shui gave a fair assessment. His ally, Xu Xiaoshou, had truly reached the point of possessing Ban Sheng-level combat power.

Yet, shamefully, he still wore the label of “Wang Zuo Dao Jing”!

If that were all, it might be fine.

The key was that Xu Xiaoshou's Wang Zuo Dao Jing was absurdly powerful. Someone like Yu Ling Di had been renowned across the continent for so long, yet only mastered one layer of water-based mysteries.

In this battle, however, Xu Xiaoshou displayed a full two layers of mystery arrays!

“Sword Dao mysteries...”

“And another, seemingly a physical technique mystery array...” Tian Ren Wu Shui's gaze grew serious.

This young man was indeed walking the most difficult path. It was just unclear whether this greed for more would ultimately be too much to handle.

Glancing to the side, Tian Ren Wu Shui's lips curved slightly under his mask.

He had watched the entire fight without intervening, not just to preserve his own strength or betray his ally.

More importantly, he had other objectives. After stepping into the Ban Sheng realm, Tian Ren Wu Shui had awakened his Sheng Yu. At that moment, his Sheng Yu had perfectly merged with the darkness of Zui Yi Dian.

And over this extended period, the barriers of his Sheng Yu showed no signs of being breached.

Below the battlefield, the gravely injured Zhu Yi Ke, on the verge of death, forced out these words.

Finally, he collapsed with a thud, struggling in Feng Xiao Se's arms before weakly lifting his eyes. When his voice emerged again, it was hoarse and indistinct:

“Was it Lord Shou who killed him?”

“Just him alone?”

“Is Tianji Shen Shi dead?”

As someone who had burned himself early in the battle to illuminate others and then fallen unconscious, Zhu Yi Ke desperately wanted to hear Feng Xiao Se's exaggerated description of how Lord Shou had dominated during his blackout.

After all, before losing consciousness, Number Two had been synonymous with invincibility in Zhu Yi Ke's eyes.

Han Ye had been crippled with a single kick! How could he not be invincible? But the first scene after being awakened was utterly astonishing...

The mighty Tianji Shen Shi, split into two!

Lord Shou summoned a page from an ancient book, transforming it into the Qiantang Crystal Palace, and reversed the situation to shatter Number Two into pieces.

Wasn't that surpassing invincibility?

With a leader like this in Tian Shang First Tower, how could it not prosper? Zhu Yi Ke had given everything; how could he not claim the first Coral Wang Zuo in the Crystal Palace?

“Yes, Lord Shou alone shattered Tianji Shen Shi...” Feng Xiao Se said, unable to hide his excitement.

He had thought chopping off one of Number Two's arms was unbelievable enough.

Little did he expect Lord Shou's combat prowess to be so ferocious, using Si Tu Yong Ren as bait to set up a flawless trap, dragging Tianji Shen Shi into it and sealing his fate.

This was utterly absurd!

But it had happened right before his eyes, no matter how unbelievable, he had to accept it!

“So...” Zhu Yi Ke's weak, aged face hid a glimmer of anticipation.

He hoped to survive and spread the word of this battle. Then, Lord Shou's fearsome reputation in Tian Shang First Tower would echo across the Five Domains. Feng Xiao Se's expression stiffened at the words.

He desperately wanted to tell this aging comrade in his arms, “Yes, you can rest easy; Tianji Shen Shi is truly dead!”

But as someone from Xu Yue Hui Gong, inherently opposed to Sheng Shen Dian Tang, and having gathered intelligence on the high-level forces of Gui Zhe Sheng Shan, Feng Xiao Se couldn't nod in affirmation at that moment.

He lifted Zhu Yi Ke in his arms, his body still covered in green scales that hadn't fully receded. Amid the fragments of spatial flows from the massive explosion, he roared at the violent giant in the sky, who was pulling a fierce sword from his chest:

“Lord Shou, run!”

Ban Shengs are divided into combat-type and non-combat-type. People like Han Ye are clearly the latter. As for Jiang Bu Yi, he's somewhere in between—neither here nor there.

In Feng Xiao Se's impression, Jiang Bu Yi shouldn't have been as weak as he appeared earlier.

But there was no helping it; that guy must have offended some calamity god. From the moment he appeared, he carried all sorts of debuffs, his mental state was off, with no trace of a Ban Sheng's vigor—he'd become easily startled, probably miserable during his time on Void Island?

His combat power was barely a tenth of what it should be.

So, in comparison, Jiang Bu Yi seemed even inferior to Han Ye. However...

Tianji Shen Shi was entirely different from the two! The title of “strongest Ban Sheng” wasn't just for show. This one was a perfect, six-sided combat-type Ban Sheng. A severed arm? A shattered body?

For a spirit refiner accustomed to battles, these hardly counted as serious injuries.

They had plenty of ways to regenerate from a drop of blood, revive from death, and required higher-level means like thorough divine thoughts to suppress.

Just look—Zhu Yi Ke and Feng Xiao Se, who had suffered ordinary injuries like decapitation or dismemberment, could transfer their wounds and regain consciousness in a short time.

Let alone such injuries for a Tianji Shen Shi born for war?

Feng Xiao Se didn't know exactly what revival methods Number Two had.

But he didn't need to overthink it.

Because the Tianji Shen Shi he remembered had a terrifying “combat mode.”

That was a mode where Three Realms awareness fully activated, and all output methods were bloodily engaged for war.

In that mode, Tianji Shen Shi could single-handedly exterminate an entire clan!

Yet in his battle with Lord Shou, Number Two hadn't even activated it! What did that mean?

“Lord Shou, run!”

“You've only managed to carve off a piece of his flesh.”

He had just slammed the Qiantang Crystal Palace into Number Two's face, crushing him to pieces, and pulled the excited You Si Jian from his chest.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't have time to celebrate his combat power reaching a qualitative breakthrough, capable of suppressing even a being like Tianji Shen Shi.

Warnings echoed in his ears and spiritual senses—one in alarm, one in mockery.

“Shocked, passive value +1.”

In an instant, the joy that had blossomed in his heart like fireworks was washed away.

That brief moment of relaxation was immediately strangled by Xu Xiaoshou, leaving only utmost vigilance.

“A piece of flesh...”

“I used You Si Jian and Yan Mang together, activated both Shen Dao Pan and Jian Dao Pan, and even blew up my second true body.”

“I threw out over ninety percent of my strongest output methods, and even used the newly acquired Qiantang Crystal Palace to smash him.”

“For Number Two, that's just the damage of scraping off a piece of flesh?”

Xu Xiaoshou refused to believe it.

In that instant, he extinguished that disbelief in his heart, determined not to be like Yu Ling Di or Si Tu Yong Ren.

After all, that was a warning from Tian Ren Wu Shui! The guy was right there on site but never showed himself.

He was afraid of someone—use your toes to think, and you'd know the answer. Fortunately, Xu Xiaoshou's goal had never been to slay a saint here.

He had used Si Tu Yong Ren as bait to set up his chain of schemes, all for the ultimate purpose of escape.

“Space Dao Pan!”

Activating the Tian Ren Union state, the Space Dao Pan spun out beneath his feet. Xu Xiaoshou could easily sense that Number Two's previous control over this battlefield's space had vanished with his “death.”

He could escape! What about Jiang Bu Yi? Si Tu Yong Ren?

Xu Xiaoshou no longer cared about their survival. He didn't have time to search for or rescue them. He believed leaving these two troublemakers for Tian Ren Wu Shui would let the latter handle it well, perhaps even use them to trap Tian Ren and intercept the “deceased” Number Two.

“Come back.”

A red ghost mark flashed at his brow.

Xu Xiaoshou retrieved the severely injured Void General Hong, whose spiritual body was damaged and on the brink of death.

No time to feel heartache or treat him!

He grabbed all the treasures he could from the scene, marked everyone he could take, and with a flicker of the Space Dao Pan's light.

“Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi!” Escape!

To hell with Number Two or Three.

As long as he teleported away, he'd rest and return later with reinforcements to finish him—his teacher had already become a Feng Sheng!

The void cracked open. Spatial principles surged.

The teleportation force blurred everyone's vision. “Heh, how naive and adorable...”

In the distance, Tian Ren Wu Shui smiled and merged his form into the death principles, as if he had never existed.

He didn't want to be discovered by outsiders.

Snap! As the teleportation activated.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt a chill on his scalp. His “perception” caught a spatial rift opening beside Lei Xi Er's wooden ball.

From the black rift, a slender finger crept out—not large, just the size of a normal human's. The end where it was severed was smooth, as if cut by a sharp weapon.

It gently pressed against the underside of the wooden ball, evading everyone's sight, and flickered with a spatial aura identical to the teleportation.

“Number Two!”

Xu Xiaoshou roared, promptly halting the spatial teleportation—this thing wanted to hitch a ride!

His second true body had seen it before.

The Tianji Shen Shi, whose physical strength surpassed even A Hong's, had carelessly lost a finger.

So, this was his deliberate backup... a finger? His eyes narrowed, viewing the finger as a sword.

A sharp sword intent slashed through the air, striking the slender finger.

“Buzz!”

Divine and demonic forces flashed simultaneously at the fingertip, withstanding the sword intent's strike.

The finger stuck to the wooden ball like glue, refusing to budge. Xu Xiaoshou was horrified. He remembered.

His second true body had seen Number Two use divine and demonic forces to counter Lei Xi Er's Shen Mo Tong.

But in his battle with him, Number Two hadn't displayed these powers at all.

So, the thousand-zhang form crushed by the Qiantang Crystal Palace was actually the weaker clone.

This single finger likely hid Number Two's true body, with full combat power.

Under Xu Xiaoshou's shout, Lei Xi Er had already noticed something was wrong. Turning her eyes, she spotted the finger stuck to the wooden ball and instinctively clapped her hands.

“Little tree, go!”

With a boom, an ancient tree burst from the wooden ball, but its impact couldn't dislodge Number Two's finger.

As sacred power flowed, the tree's crown formed, shooting out countless branches that locked onto the finger and yanked outward.

“Snap, snap, snap...”

The branches shattered completely!

Number Two's finger remained unmoved, instead piercing deeper into the wooden ball.

Lei Xi Er immediately leaned back, her pupils trembling, her face paling. This was Tianji Shen Shi—only Xu Xiaoshou could fight him!

“Great World Buddha Hand!”

As she swiftly retreated, Lei Xi Er disregarded her fear, raising her delicate hand. Tree seeds scattered across the sky.

The prototype of the Bai Ku Small World emerged behind her, with vast world power outlining illusory shadows.

With a boom, a massive Great World Buddha Hand, dozens of yards high, formed from the exploding seeds and intertwining wood.

This wooden hand pushed forward, as if moving an entire world.

“Bang!”

The entire wooden ball, along with the finger on it, was pushed away!

This move even left Xu Xiaoshou stunned.

His sword intent couldn't cut the finger, but Lei Xi Er's attack worked?

Of course...

The divine and demonic forces canceled each other out.

The remaining world power—Number Two, with just a finger, couldn't eliminate it in time?

The wooden ball and finger were gone.

Lei Xi Er quickly drew out the bronze cauldron from inside with one hand. Her slender, blood-stained hand held the large cauldron, her tattered skirt fluttering in the wind, silver hair flying, her mysterious Shen Mo Tong reflecting the trembling rotten flesh and bloody ripples within the bronze cauldron.

“Saved...” Lei Xi Er thought with relief.

Si Tu Yong Ren had already vanished under Number Two's arm's protection, making it hard to use as a hostage again.

If Number Two seized the pieces of Yu Ling Di in this bronze cauldron...

Then, with Tianji Shen Shi unleashing his full power unrestrained, even Xu Xiaoshou's schemes would only end in being crushed by brute force!

Yes...

In the end, whether those present could escape depended on the fate held by Yu Ling Di, who had mastered the Ci Mian Zhi Men but was reduced to a pile of rotten flesh.

This was also Number Two's final weakness!

“Throw away the bronze cauldron!”

But as Lei Xi Er felt relieved, Xu Xiaoshou's urgent roar suddenly came from the horizon.

Lei Xi Er was stunned.

With Xu Xiaoshou's intelligence, he couldn't possibly overlook that handing over Yu Ling Di would leave them unable to resist Tianji Shen Shi, yet he still said it...

Lei Xi Er seemed to realize something.

Her Shen Mo Tong spun, and she sharply noticed a drop of out-of-place golden blood in the rotten flesh inside the cauldron.

It carried a faint, sealed Sheng force fluctuation from a simple Tianji technique.

“Sheng blood!”

Some people die, but not completely...

After endless coma, Shi Yu suddenly jolted upright from the bed. He wanted to see the content.

He gasped for fresh air, his chest heaving.

Confusion, bewilderment, and various emotions surged within him.

Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously scanned his surroundings, only to become even more perplexed.

A single-person dormitory?

Even if he had been rescued successfully, he should be in a hospital room by now.

And his body... how could it be completely unharmed?

With doubts, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept the room and finally settled on a mirror by the bed.

The mirror reflected his current appearance: about seventeen or eighteen years old, quite handsome.

His previous self had been a dashing young man in his twenties, already working for some time.

But now, he looked no older than a high school student...

This change left Shi Yu stunned for a long while.

Please don't tell him the surgery was successful...

His body and face had completely changed; this wasn't about surgery—it was immortality arts.

He had totally transformed into another person!

Could it be... he had transmigrated?

Besides the mirror, which was oddly placed and seemed to disrupt the feng shui, Shi Yu also spotted three books nearby.

Picking one up, the title made him fall silent instantly.

“Beginner Beast Tamer's Essential Breeding Handbook”

“Pet Beast Postpartum Care”

“Guide to Appraising Exotic Beast-Eared Girls”

Shi Yu: ???

The first two titles were normal enough, but what about the last one?

“Cough.” Shi Yu composed himself and reached out, but his arm froze midway.

Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain pierced his brain, and a flood of memories rushed in.

Bing Yuan City.

Pet Beast Breeding Base.

Intern Pet Beast Tamer.

Yu Shou Master?