Chapter 1487: Ming Wang Extinguishes Shi Twenty-Six, Jade Capital Sword Cuts Dao Xuanji

The audience erupted in shock!

No one had expected the battle to erupt so suddenly.

What was most astonishing was that Dao Xuanji, the newly appointed hall master, was supposed to make her name in this very first fight.

Yet, in their first exchange, her arm was torn off by Xu Xiaoshou!

"Blood…"

On the south city wall, Yu Zhiwen stared in shock at her master's uncontrolled figure, involuntarily guiding it toward the tips of the four swords.

All her attention, however, shifted to the sacred blood spilling from the break in her arm.

Golden sacred blood!

It was crystalline and pure, each drop distinct, brimming with immense power…

"Careful!"

Yu Zhiwen channeled her spiritual energy and shouted loudly.

It was unclear whether she was worrying about her master's severed arm or something else.

"Received reminder, passive value, 1."

The information panel flashed.

Before the four swords could pierce Dao Xuanji's forehead, Xu Xiaoshou's expression changed, as if sensing something, and he looked downward.

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz…"

Beneath his feet, those drops of golden sacred blood lit up with intricate Tianji dao patterns.

With cracking sounds, the sacred blood split open, hatching tiny humanoid figures.

"Boom!"

These small entities suddenly grew in size, each transforming into three-zhang-tall Tianji puppets.

They differed greatly in appearance from Tianji Divine Envoy No. 2; the Tianji puppets born from Dao Xuanji's sacred blood were clad in thin starlight veils, with curvaceous, more feminine forms.

Their skin was snowy white, and they each had three pairs of wings on their backs, formed from starlight, exquisitely beautiful.

The moment they appeared, these twenty-six pristine Tianji puppets vanished simultaneously.

"What the heck?" Xu Xiaoshou stared in bewilderment. "Female Tianji puppets?"

An explosion boomed beside him.

Before he could see who attacked, Cao Erzhu's body curled up like a shrimp and was kicked flying.

"Boom boom boom!"

As he soared through the air, his body erupted with various explosions, contorting into extremely twisted poses.

One moment, he was kicked into a vomiting position, his tongue lolling out…

Another, he was pummeled by fists until his waist bent double, his fingertips nearly touching his toes…

Or, as he lifted his knee to block an invisible attack, he was struck hard in the back…

"Ugh!"

Cao Erzhu grunted, swallowing the blood that nearly spilled from his mouth.

His father had said that a spirit refiner's blood was precious and should never be spat out in battle, as you never knew what tricks enemies might use it for.

His body was covered in a faint, thin layer of Shenxing Tribulation, incredibly refined.

Those invisible Tianji puppets dealt devastating damage!

Without this defense blocking nearly ninety percent of the harm…

Cao Erzhu thought that anyone else would have been shattered by those blows!

But in that brief moment of distraction…

He was hammered out of the battlefield, thousands of miles away!

"Brother Xiaoshou—"

"Tianji puppets!"

The spirit refiners in Yujing City were thrilled.

The legendary Tianji puppets, famous but never seen before.

After all, anyone who had seen them was either captured or killed.

Now, in the clash between Dao Xuanji and Saint Slave Xu, even though she was injured in the first strike, it allowed her to release so many Tianji puppets.

Though they vanished in an instant,

Their fleeting beauty was etched deeply in everyone's minds.

"Xu Xiaoshou is finished!"

"Twenty-six Tianji puppets—what can he fight with?"

"I heard that Tianji puppets were created specifically to counter spirit refiners, each with the power to instantly kill a Wangzuo."

"The top-tier ones, known as war machines, are practically flawless!"

Unlike most outsiders to Tianji techniques, Yu Zhiwen, as an insider, knew even more:

"Xuanji Star Envoys!"

That was the exclusive name for Dao Xuanji's Tianji puppets, all from the generations after the eleventh.

Their attack, defense, and speed were maxed out.

Each possessed combat power rivaling a peak Taixu.

Aside from lacking the self-awareness of No. 2 and not yet reaching the Saint level, their base configurations were on par in every way.

The eleventh-generation Tianji puppets were war machines, capable of exterminating entire races.

But that was long ago.

These Xuanji Star Envoys, nurtured with Dao Xuanji's sacred blood and further improved over time,

Yu Zhiwen didn't even know what generation they had evolved to now.

At least, in her memory, the Xuanji Star Envoys didn't have invisibility or the ability to counter pure divine thoughts.

Yet, the ones that just beat Cao Erzhu were invisible and even secretly evolved sacred power!

"Xu Xiaoshou…"

Yu Zhiwen never worried about her master Dao Xuanji, knowing her true prowess.

What concerned her was the twenty-six Xuanji Star Envoys, plus the Xuanji Great Array, and the three lurking semi-saints behind…

One of them was even Grandpa Yu!

How could Xu Xiaoshou fight against such odds?

Could he manage?

"Received worry, passive value, 1."

"Good grief!"

In a flash, Cao Erzhu was blasted out of the battlefield.

The four swords hadn't struck yet, but the information panel kept pinging with updates.

"Received lock-on, passive value, 26."

The number matched exactly the female Tianji puppets.

But for the panel to react…

Didn't it require intelligent beings?

Did that mean each of these female Tianji puppets had intelligence, or perhaps the makings of true life?

"Die!"

Xu Xiaoshou, frightened, sped up his movements.

He transformed the four swords into throwing weapons and hurled them straight at Dao Xuanji's eye sockets.

"Whoosh!"

The wind whistled as they flew.

They were too close for her to dodge!

But at that exact moment, from a hidden position far behind, three beams of starlight descended, outlining Tianji array patterns.

"Three Star Teleport!"

Dao Xuanji, with her hedgehog-like hair, smirked mockingly, and vanished in a flash.

The four swords stabbed into the empty space where she had rebounded from—Dao Xuanji was protected by the three Xuanji Star Envoys and teleported to the side!

Xu Xiaoshou whipped around.

In that instant, his face showed no surprise, only a fierce grin.

"Run?"

"Can you get away?!"

Using starlight for invisibility wasn't true vanishing; even the Tianji dao patterns during the technique were visible.

Though they were covered with a concealing array to block spiritual perception,

To Xu Xiaoshou, it was like trying to hide a light—it only drew more attention!

He didn't rely on spiritual sense; he used "perception."

His mastery of weaving and understanding of Tianji techniques made him unmatched in breaking arrays.

"Buzz!"

The space dao disk under his feet spun.

The three Xuanji Star Envoys on the side suddenly became visible, shielding a sneering Dao Xuanji as they set up defensive arrays.

Xu Xiaoshou disappeared!

But his teleportation landed not among those three Xuanji Star Envoys, but behind the unnoticed Fang, Yu, and Zhong semi-saints.

In Yujing City, everyone watched in astonishment as Xu Xiaoshou reached into the air and pulled out a somewhat panicked Dao Xuanji!

"Your tricks are too crude."

As this mocking voice echoed in the sky, everyone realized that the Dao Xuanji being protected over there…

Was a fake!

"Thud thud."

The space dao disk under Xu Xiaoshou's feet switched to a fire dao disk.

White flames erupted everywhere—up, down, left, right—including the three unhidden Xuanji Star Envoys and the fake Dao Xuanji…

Exactly twenty-six in total!

Only the Dao Xuanji in Xu Xiaoshou's hand remained unburned.

"He's searching for them!"

Even the dimmest spirit refiner in Yujing City could see it now.

Xu Xiaoshou had found a way; he used the Jinzhao lineage to ignite a certain dao principle from afar.

And that principle was likely the power the Xuanji Star Envoys used when they attacked Cao Erzhu.

He had memorized its aura!

"This…"

Yu Zhiwen was stunned for a moment.

She thought her master had escaped the danger…

She thought Xu Xiaoshou would choose self-preservation and not pursue the one hidden among the three Xuanji Star Envoys…

She never imagined that one was a fake! And Xu Xiaoshou dared to press on and find the real one!

In that moment, the gap in combat awareness alone made not just Yu Zhiwen, but even Xi and Cao Erzhu, watching from afar, feel the immense difference.

Only someone seasoned from a hundred battles could spot so many flaws in an instant.

"Yan Python!"

With the four swords thrown and not returned, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed the Flame Sword Yan Python from his back.

He gripped Dao Xuanji by the neck, glared fiercely, and like chopping a chicken, swung the sword through the white flames, striking down mid-air.

"Thud thud."

In an instant, twenty-six paths of Jinzhao white flames converged.

Including the Xuanji Star Envoy disguised as Dao Xuanji and the three that had revealed themselves.

Each one's right arm transformed with a crack, turning into sharp starlight long knives, infused not only with sacred power but also a hint of ancestral source energy…

No, it was divine power!

If the four visible ones were like this,

Imagine the twenty-two invisible ones surrounding Xu Xiaoshou—they were doing the same.

Twenty-six starlight long knives slashed down like Mount Hua splitting, visible or not, as Xu Xiaoshou's sword struck toward Dao Xuanji, aiming straight for his head.

A classic encirclement to rescue!

Everyone saw through Dao Xuanji's intent:

Would he risk taking the twenty-six attacks, even at the cost of severe injury or death, to kill Dao Xuanji?

Or turn to block and let go of his captive?

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

Mei Siyi couldn't help but call out.

The chill from those twenty-six divine powers was palpable even from afar.

"Don't fight…"

On the south city wall, Yu Zhiwen murmured silently, her heart in her throat.

One side was Xu Xiaoshou, the other her master—no matter who lost or got hurt, she couldn't bear it.

She could see Xu Xiaoshou faced a choice.

Based on the Xu Xiaoshou she knew, this guy would probably…

"You old hag, you're too naive! This level isn't enough to make me choose?"

The twenty-six flames closed in, surrounding Xu Xiaoshou tightly, with no gaps.

But as the disdainful voice rang out, his sword halted just above Dao Xuanji's head.

A faint golden light bloomed around him…

Immovable Ming Wang!

"Clang—"

The starlight long knives struck with full force, all slamming into the top of Xu Xiaoshou's head.

The surrounding space for miles collapsed under the burst of divine power.

The sky over Yujing City shattered like a broken mirror, leaving only darkness.

The combined attack of twenty-six Xuanji Star Envoys!

Everyone watched as cracks spread from Xu Xiaoshou's head, along his nose, mouth, neck, chest… crawling down to his feet!

In his cracked hand, the restrained Dao Xuanji, barely able to breathe, had joy blooming in her eyes, spreading across her face until her lips curled up.

She was about to mock him…

When suddenly, she saw that despite the cracks on Xu Xiaoshou, not a drop of blood spilled from his head?

"Something's wrong!"

In Yujing City, someone caught a falling plum blossom and shuddered.

This red plum wasn't from Mei Siyi's sword energy river; its fierce nature belonged to another ancient sword cultivator.

And in the field, the only other one was…

Xu Xiaoshou!

"Crack—"

The illusion from the phantom sword technique shattered abruptly.

Beneath the collapsed black sky, another explosion erupted.

Everyone could see the twenty-six starlight long knives bouncing off Xu Xiaoshou's head, then bursting into divine energy with a "bang," devoured by a red Taotie beast head!

The twenty-six Xuanji Star Envoys were shaken visible by the backlash, their starlight veils scattering in the wind, their snowy skin torn and ruined—utterly mangled!

"Just a joke."

Amid the storm, Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow at the old hag, rhetorically asking,

"But you believed it?"

"Then you're truly stupid!"

The Xuanji Star Envoys' power couldn't break his Immovable Ming Wang defense, but the divine power pushed it to its limit.

Xu Xiaoshou pulled back some force at the critical moment, letting Immovable Ming Wang shatter.

He withstood the attack, which had lost over 99 percent of its power, standing firm.

Those female Tianji puppets, however, suffered the full brunt in an instant—raw, unfiltered force, as if each had been struck by twenty-six starlight long knives on their heads.

So, after a brief pause…

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!"

The twenty-six beautiful veiled Star Envoys shattered into fifty-two pieces of dim Tianji puppet wreckage, exploding into dust in the sky.

The momentum of Xu Xiaoshou's Yan Python sword carried on from Immovable Ming Wang, enhanced by the devoured divine power of the starlight long knives…

Under the horrified gaze of the crowd, it viciously chopped into Dao Xuanji's slender, charred right neck.

The scene was gruesome!

"Boom!"

The void exploded from Dao Xuanji's tilted head, unleashing white flames like a brilliant one-sided fire wing.

"Master!"

Yu Zhiwen jumped in shock.

Twenty-six Xuanji Star Envoys couldn't break Xu Xiaoshou's defense, and their heads were shattered by his skull?

What kind of unforeseen terrifying defense was this!

"Xu Xiaoshou, spare—"

How could he spare her?

Her master hadn't held back at all; it was a killing blow.

If Xu Xiaoshou's head hadn't been so tough, he would have been the one shattered by those twenty-six divine star knives.

In a great dao conflict, how could one ask for mercy, and on what grounds?

…Friends?

Yu Zhiwen's abruptly halted cry was drowned in the uproar from Yujing City:

"Holy shit!"

"Dao Xuanji got chopped!"

"Blood's spraying, spraying! Damn, it's insane, insane—Xu's a beast! Is his head made of iron? No, even iron isn't that hard!"

"My heavens, what did I just see…"

The sharpness of the third-ranked Flame Sword Yan Python was on full display.

Dao Xuanji's body had undergone all sorts of reinforcements, incredibly tough.

Xu Xiaoshou had to use his full giant form to tear off an arm.

Yet under Yan Python, though the chop was extremely resistant,

Flames and purple lightning blazed a path from the right neck to the left kidney, smashing through countless layered Tianji spirit arrays…

Dao Xuanji's body exploded with bursts—golden jewels, precious stones—her belt snapped and shattered, its spirituality gone.

"Sizzle!"

With the final tear,

A cascade of golden sacred blood sprayed out—not drops, but torrents.

Yan Python sliced through Dao Xuanji's waist!

A diagonal cut!

Body split in two!

Sacred blood mingled with her flying remains, carrying Dao Xuanji's expression of utter disbelief and terror… the image froze in the sky above Yujing City.

"Swish!"

Xu Xiaoshou sheathed his sword, standing tall and steady, emotionless.

Specks of golden sacred blood on his cheek and nose tip sizzled away in the brilliance.

The storm from the exploding Star Envoys lifted the hem of his black robe, spreading killing intent through the air.

Real, brutal, bloody!

The world fell silent.

No one had foreseen this outcome.

Perhaps they thought Xu Xiaoshou might win, that slim one-in-a-million chance…

But when the victory was so one-sided, so swift it left no room for thought, it all felt like a dream, as if everyone was still trapped in the phantom sword illusion.

"Arrogance and contempt always come with a price."

Xu Xiaoshou sneered coldly, turning his head to see the three semi-saints recovering from Mei Siyi's sword but frozen in place, the spirit refiners in Yujing City clutching their heads in shock, and Yu Zhiwen on the city wall, speechless and full of horror…

He sighed.

Under the Qingyuan night, with wind, flowers, snow, and moon,

That flamboyant old daoist seemed truly unfathomable, calculating everything to the bone and planting the seeds of this distraction.

Lost in thought for a moment,

Xu Xiaoshou reached out and grasped the illusory Shi Ancestor Staff.

"Freeze!"

Before the three semi-saints of Shengshen Hall could cry out, time halted.

With a sizzle…

After killing, Xu Xiaoshou brazenly gave birth on the spot, splitting into another second true body!

"Impossible!"

"Dao Xuanji?!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, stop!!!"

Fang, Zhong, and Yu, the three semi-saints, snapped out of Mei Siyi's sword daze only to find Dao Xuanji beheaded.

Their faces turned deathly pale as they rushed forward shouting.

At that moment, watching the golden sacred blood rain down and the bisected Dao Xuanji still faintly alive,

Xu Xiaoshou knew this old demoness wasn't fully dead.

Even if this was just her semi-saint avatar, even if she could revive,

She should know…

A commoner's rage splatters blood for five steps!

Dare to touch someone from the First Heaven, dare to backstab, dare to leave the city—you must be ready to face the consequences!

She should know even more…

The Xu Xiaoshou who returned was no longer the weakling from Tiansang Spirit Palace, the hesitant one from East Heaven King City, or the restrained figure on Void Island.

One wrong step leads to many; strike while she's down, finish her off!

Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't let Dao Xuanji go, no matter who pleaded or if anyone did.

But before that…

On the south city wall, Yu Zhiwen's Star Pupils shook wildly, her body trembling uncontrollably, yet she refused to close her eyes.

Just then, a pair of large hands covered her eyes, plunging her into darkness, and her spiritual sense was sealed.

"Thump!"

Yu Zhiwen's heart skipped a beat, her pores erupting as the Star Disk glittered—she nearly struck out in fear.

Who was ambushing her in the chaos?!

From behind came a familiar scent and a deep voice…

"The scenes that follow aren't for children."