Chapter 1441: Intimidating the White-Clad, Shattering Reputations and Courage; A Word from the Lord is Futile

So fast!This person arrived far too quickly!

Jin Ren was truly startled by the eccentric entrance of the flamboyant old Daoist.He had just been preparing to turn the tables with his own fishing ploy, but plans couldn't keep up with the rapid changes.It was like the Si Xiang Mi Jing opening more than ten days early—Dao Qiong Cang had caught him off guard once again.

"But Lao Zhu can handle it!"

At the critical moment, the entity residing in Zhu Yike's body was merely a strand of spiritual thought, unable to offer any real help.The only useful Tianji Arm had been damaged back in Yujing Cheng.Jin Ren thought they were done for, about to be wiped out by Sheng Shen Dian Tang, but Zhu Yike stepped up at the last second and bought them some time!His speech might not have been smooth,and Dao Qiong Cang clearly saw through the delay tactic, forcing a halt.But nothing could stop Jinmen Tou Shu from stalling even more effectively than words—Zhu Yike's desperate, unpredictable methods left everyone defenseless!During their brief clash, even Dao Qiong Cang was momentarily restrained.

Meanwhile, in Jin Ren's mind, answers to many questions had already emerged.He hadn't forgotten the core of Dao Qiong Cang's fishing expedition:

"He's coming for me!"

This was evident from how Dao Qiong Cang targeted Xiang Yi but only captured without taking her, choosing instead to wait like a hunter.No matter how twisted the process or whom else Dao Qiong Cang targeted,the essence remained unchanged!And if he overlooked Xiang Yi, then Li Fugui and Zhu Yike were even less likely to catch his eye.As long as the true target was Jin Ren himself…there was room for negotiation!

"So, the old Daoist appeared through that woman's body because he was absolutely certain I was present…""But I hadn't revealed any flaws before… Ah, yes, it was when Zhu Yike from the Southern Domain suddenly spotted traces of Tianji Technique—that was too obvious…""Dao Qiong Cang isn't stupid; he must know someone was guiding them…""Or perhaps, this was deliberately a flaw he left out!"

Jin Ren had full respect for the old Daoist's cunning.After realizing he'd unconsciously stepped into another trap, he had no time for regret and had to find a way out.At that moment, Zhu Yike was temporarily holding off Dao Qiong Cang, but the ancient sword cultivator on the opposite side emerged just as they were about to escape successfully.

"Xi!"

Jin Ren recognized this person.From Xiang Yi's intelligence, Xi specialized in Gui Jian Shu, served as the new head of the Yi Department, and had previously been the deputy of both the Yi and An Departments!His abilities, whether in intelligence or combat, were beyond doubt.But Xu Xiaoshou looked down on Xi.The gap between him and the younger generation was more than vast—without even needing his true self, Jin Ren could use ancient sword techniques to hold him off, even with a chance to kill.Unless Xi had some hidden trump card.But now, things were different; what was in Zhu Yike's body was just a strand of spiritual thought…

As soon as the aura of Yu Hun Gui Shu approached, Jin Ren sensed it, but alas, a spiritual thought was only that—limited in use.He tried to warn, but Zhu Yike was already controlled.

A dead end?No way out?

Jin Ren was still at the Ran Ming ruins, his true self in deep slumber, leaving only this useless strand of spiritual thought on site.Yet, he entered a state of absolute calm.Surrounded by white-robed figures, with Xi standing solemnly,from Zhu Yike's body, which had clearly been separated into spirit and flesh, a faint voice suddenly emerged:

"You are Xi?"

The voice was so light and weak, almost lacking energy, yet it carried an air of utter contempt.In the silent battlefield, it was strikingly piercing!

Upon hearing it, the surrounding white-robed figures stirred slightly.

"Shou Ye?""Xu Xiaoshou!""Really here? Impossible—he just fought the Sheng Emperor and should be severely injured and unconscious, just like Dao Dianzhu said…"

This voice was all too familiar to the people of Sheng Shen Dian Tang!From the Eastern Domain to the Central Domain, from red robes to white,in the current Five Domains, the one riding high wasn't the seal-saint Ao Yi Water Ghost or the leader of the Sheng Nu Eight Zun An, but the troublemaker Xu Xiaoshou!

Even Xi's pupils contracted at the sound, and he temporarily held back the second part of the technique after separating Zhu Yike's spirit and flesh.

Xu Xiaoshou's voice came again, this time strong and full of vigor:

"Since you're an ancient sword cultivator, I'll give you face.""Clear out the white robes within three breaths, or bear the consequences."

In an instant, all the white-robed figures turned their gazes to Xi.Everyone understood what Sheng Nu Shou Ye meant—he was tired of killing and didn't want to harm the innocent this time!

The white-robed crowd had come on Dao Dianzhu's orders, but upon arrival, they found no sign of him.Without the protection of a Tianji Great Array, if Xu Xiaoshou transformed, one punch could wipe them all out!As for whether Xu Xiaoshou was invisible or just a voice…He was called "Shou Ye" for a reason!How could a mere Taixu like you see him and still call him Ye?

Xi's sword finger hovered at his chest, his gaze hesitant.Instinct told him something was off about the situation, even the atmosphere felt abnormal.Xiang Yi's expression, A Yao's reaction, that incontinent old man's stare…Everyone's subtle actions screamed "abnormal," but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.After all, Dao Dianzhu was trapped in that blood cloth, and Xu Xiaoshou was a cornered beast—lashing out in his final moments was entirely possible!

"Three…"

Before he could think more, Xu Xiaoshou's countdown began.Sweat beaded on Xi's forehead.Through his peripheral vision, he saw the panic on the white robes' faces and their gestures begging to retreat!But—retreat was impossible!

Xi pushed back against the pressure.The invisible mental strain that broke the Dao-chopping and Taixu white robes wouldn't break an ancient sword cultivator's unyielding heart!Xi's gaze hardened with resolve, and just as he was about to order a charge…

Xu Xiaoshou's mocking laugh rang out:

"Hey, did you really think I'd let you off easy?""One!"

He skipped right over "two," creating a brief moment of awkwardness, tension, and disorientation.

Then, his voice turned ethereal, distant, and superior:

"Sword technique named Huan…"

In that instant, the scalps of all the white-robed figures tingled.Even Xi felt a chill from his feet, a shuddering electricity racing across his skin, making every hair stand on end.

"Bad!""It's Huan Jian Shu!"

Someone in the white robes shouted in alarm.They remembered this "opening line"!It was said that Xu Xiaoshou's sword techniques originated from Mei Si Ren,and Mei Si Ren's opening before drawing his sword was exactly this—the line that had slain the Jian Sheng Rao Yao Yao!

When one white robe turned to look behind, others followed, each feeling as if they were being watched.As it spread—one to three, three to nine, nine to infinity—all the white robes turned.

What they saw was despair…The world behind them was identical to what the spiritual thought perceived—no differences!

If the rear had been evil spirits, birds and flowers, mountains, or seas of fire… any disaster or anomaly,it wouldn't have panicked them, for that was the nature of Huan Jian Shu—turning nothing into something, illusion into reality.But the rear was still just the rear—this was terrifying! It only meant one possibility:

"How could I not see through Huan Jian Shu?"

A dark little sword in Xi's eyes gleamed brightly.He pushed Yu Hun Gui Shu to its limit, but his heart sank deeper with time.He felt not a trace of sword energy, not a hint of Huan Jian Shu's true intent.Sweat dripped from Xi's palms.Xu Xiaoshou's mastery of Huan Jian Shu was this profound—returning to simplicity, leaving no trace?

"Retreat!!!"

He no longer dared to be arrogant, shouting the order at the top of his lungs.In a flash, the white robes scattered like birds and beasts, using every divine ability to flee—darting, flashing, scrambling away.They had surrounded Zhu Yike from all sides, but now retreated from the defenseless figure to the distance.

"This…"

Zhu Yike's consciousness froze.Li Fugui rubbed his eyes, still not understanding, but grumbled inwardly:So he could act!And unleash such powerful Huan Jian Shu!If that's the case, why did he say back in Xing Jie that a spiritual thought was just that—powerless, scattering at the slightest touch?

Glancing at the wet stain in his crotch, Li Fugui nearly cried…Shou Ye misled me!I, Old Li, have lost my reputation!

"Is this Huan Jian Shu?"

On the other side, uncertainty filled Xiang Yi's eyes.From an outsider's perspective, at the level of the Ten Zun Seats…Her gut feeling was, had she imagined it? How could there be Huan Jian Shu without a single trace of sword intent?Soon, she got her answer from Xi's reaction.As expected of Huan Jian Shu!As expected of Sheng Nu Shou Ye!Xu Xiaoshou had grown to the point where even she couldn't detect his strike—and it was Huan Jian Shu.In terms of Huan Jian Shu alone, he was on par with the young Eight Zun An…

"Ghost Abyss, break!"

A shout echoed from the distance.Xi's heart raced, his sword seals in disarray.He was already ten li away and still felt no sword intent!Logically, Huan Jian Shu grew stronger near the center,but due to the ancient sword cultivator's limited energy, the further away, the more blurred the illusion, the more flaws, the easier to escape.Yet…

"Is Xu Xiaoshou's power endless?""In such a short time, he can finely illusionize even ten li away?""Or have I seemingly run but actually stayed in place?"

Sweat poured down Xi's face.He could no longer hear Xu Xiaoshou's murmuring whispers or seductive chants.But as he ran, drawing on memory and knowledge of the Seven Sword Immortals…He even hallucinated Xu Xiaoshou's voice, Mei Si Ren's pre-strike sword words, echoing in the high skies beyond the Huan Jian Shu range, deep in his soul:

"The way of illusion…""Glorious and magnificent, divine kingdom in the heavens, vast and boundless, eternal and unfalling…""Call truth false, call false truth, all is delusion, space-time entangled…"

Thirty li!He had run thirty li, nearly to Qingyuan Mountain!Those voices in his mind looped endlessly, appearing again and again…Yet Xi detected no sword intent!His mentality was on the verge of collapse!

"Ghost Abyss, break for me!""Break!!!"

Ghost Abyss manifested around him again as he tried to violently shatter the boundary of Huan Jian Shu.No result.After the explosion, all around was utter silence of spirits, nothing more.Even these omnipresent "spirits" couldn't find a flaw in Xu Xiaoshou's Huan Jian Shu.They were forever trapped in the world of illusion, never to awaken, never to feed back a trace of "illusion"…

"Tap!"

Xi suddenly stopped.A drop of sweat slid from his nose tip.His pupils quaked as a possibility struck him…

"No!""Impossible!""Absolutely, absolutely impossible!"

Xi shook his head fiercely, suppressing the thought.If that guess were true, there'd be no place for him in the world of ancient sword cultivators from now on.He'd be mocked everywhere; better to draw his sword and end it now.But unwilling as he was, it remained a possibility…If he couldn't even face it, from today, "Xu Xiaoshou" would become a nightmare that jolted him awake every night!

Whoosh!

Xi turned back and charged.

On the battlefield…

Thump!His mind shook, his heart resumed beating.Zhu Yike felt the Gui Jian Shu force binding him completely withdrawn by its master.As spirit and flesh reunited, Zhu Yike felt no fear or joy, only the urge to kowtow to Shou Ye on the spot.

"Shou Ye…""No, Shou Shen!""From today, you're my god, Old Zhu!"

As the only one who'd experienced it firsthand—even as the "caster," with spirit separated from flesh, his spiritual thought could still see and hear—Zhu Yike clearly sensed that during the technique, Shou Ye's spiritual thought in his body hadn't consumed even a bit of spiritual energy.That meant…Shou Ye hadn't struck at all!?But if he hadn't, why had dozens of white robes fled, and why had Xi run? Were they all just scared off?

Zhu Yike found it absurd.It was an egg-paining feeling!As if the world was fake, the path of cultivation was fake, and true powerhouses could kill enemies with just a few words.Zhu Yike had opened a new door to the world: turns out, fights could be like this?But in the end, reason made him slam that door shut!Zhu Yike preferred to believe he'd also fallen for Huan Jian Shu rather than accept that Xi and dozens of white robes were frightened away by Shou Ye.

"Shou Ye, did you really strike?" he asked, trembling, posing such a ridiculous question.

Jin Ren didn't answer.He had no time for nonsense.At that moment, almost roaring, as the enemies briefly retreated, he issued several commands in succession:

"Li Fugui, crush the Xing Jie jade talisman!""Xiang Yi, give directions!""Zhu Yike, shift the battlefield—go to Changde Town and find Kui Lei Han, don't delay!""Dao Qiong Cang's target is me—if you're in danger, escape into Xing Jie; prioritize your lives, he won't pursue you…"

"Hmm? Why aren't you speaking?"

Silence persisted around him.Li Fugui was stunned, Xiang Yi was stunned, Zhu Yike was stunned.A Yao was half-comprehending, still slumped on the ground as before.It seemed none of them had snapped out of it.

Jin Ren was anxious!Damn it, his fake Huan Jian Shu was meant to fool the enemies—was it this effective that even his own people were tricked?

"What are you standing there for?""I'm bluffing! It's all fake!""Empty city stratagem—do you get it? A mere spiritual thought like mine is useless; how could I perform Huan Jian Shu?""Those white robes were already terrified of Shou Ye's name; that Xi looks like a greenhorn… I was just spouting nonsense, how did you all get fooled too!"

It grew even quieter.Jin Ren tried roaring to wake them, but they were more dumbfounded than ever.

Zhu Yike opened his mouth, "Is it really true?"Li Fugui's eyes widened, glancing at the empty world around him and shouting, "This can't be…"Xiang Yi was like a wooden chicken.She was the first to suppress her shock, push aside all questions, and suppress her instinctive thoughts:

"South!""Head south!""Zhu Yike, I told you the location before."

After speaking, she held her breath, her expression shocked as she looked toward the spot in Zhu Yike's dantian where Xu Xiaoshou's voice came from.A flood of questions raced through her mind: "Why," "How did you do it," "You're deceiving me," "If not Huan Jian Shu, then what?"But thousands of words on her lips boiled down to just half a sentence:

"Don't be too outrageous…"

Li Fugui came to his senses and immediately crushed the Xing Jie jade talisman, opening a spatial passage.

"Shou Ye, what should I do?""Go in!""Then what?""Throw it out!"

A one-armed, patchwork Tianji Puppet stood at the passage entrance, clearly having waited a while.Li Fugui didn't think twice and tossed it out.He poked his head back out of the passage, about to jump out.

"Why are you coming out again?" Jin Ren exclaimed."Uh, that…?""Get back in!""Got it, Shou Ye. You all take care."

The spatial passage closed.Zhu Yike had already thrown out four stones.In the final moments, he clearly saw Xi's figure leaping from the horizon.Dao Dianzhu wasn't skilled in direct combat, but an ancient sword cultivator's remote techniques were fast.Not to mention, Gui Jian Shu could forcibly separate spirit and flesh, while Xin Jian Shu could directly affect one's mental will.Either could interrupt Zhu Yike's techniques.

Unexpectedly, Xi just hovered in midair, looking wilted, as if struck by lightning.His hands hung limply, his face ashen, his gaze unfocused.

"Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun!"

Zhu Yike didn't dare delay, seizing the chance to swap away Xiang Yi, A Yao, the Tianji Puppet, and himself.As he vanished in the final flash, a doubt lingered: why hadn't Xi stopped him?Only when he faintly heard Xi's self-mocking murmur in the wind, full of self-deprecation, inferiority, and remorse, did he understand.

"Milky and unweaned…"

In Xi's eyes, the world was gray. "Was I really played?"