Chapter 1656: Seven Swords Journey Through Mountains, Remembering the Past; Dao Hall Ushers in the Darkest Period

“So, you won't use the 'Stealing from Heaven and Replacing the Sun' technique, will you?”

In the Ruins of the Gods, when Dao Qiongcang asked this question, he still found it hard to believe.

As intelligent as he was, even he couldn't imagine how insane Cui Yin would become once he understood the full truth.

He shouldn't actually go mad, right?

That would be hilarious, the first god in history to be driven insane by a prank...

By now, the two scoundrels had returned to the Ruins of the Gods, and Xu Xiaoshou had already taken out the Heaven Realm Core to refine it.

With the help of the Ninety Intent Dao Disk, fully controlling the Heaven Realm Core wasn't difficult.

He hadn't done it before, only giving the core an initial acknowledgment of ownership, because Cui Yin was still present.

The position and arrogance of a Ancestor God were the fundamental reasons why Cui Yin disdained using "items" to control the Heaven Realm Core.

Why go to unnecessary lengths when a single thought could accomplish the same thing?

This wasn't hard to understand.

Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't use something like the "Apricot Realm Core" to control the Apricot Realm.

Nor did he believe that people like Li Fugui or Zhu Yike, even with some schemes and tricks, if they found the Apricot Realm Core and banded together, could make him, the true master of the Apricot Realm, change ownership.

Or even exploit the original owner's passive abilities to the max, empty the original owner's entire fortune, and drive the original owner out of the Apricot Realm, leaving them homeless and forced to wander the star river.

A joke, wasn't it?

A hilarious situation had appeared, and now the joke had become reality!

Cui Yin, the original owner of the Ruins of the Gods, was absent, he had the Heaven Realm Core in his hands, and the influence of a single thought was gone...

And so, without much effort, Xu Xiaoshou perfectly refined the entire Ruins of the Gods.

He immediately manipulated the Ruins of the Gods to drift into the Space-Time Fragment Stream. This could isolate the original owner's perception, preventing them from coming back to find it.

With this step completed, the external danger was considered resolved, and Cui Yin didn't need to be considered for the time being.

Unless he got incredibly lucky and, in the vast starry sky or time fragment stream, happened to encounter the fleeting Ruins of the Gods and seized the opportunity to climb inside.

How was this different from accidentally bumping into Void Island on a street in the Eastern Region and successfully boarding it?

Liu Changqing was just one such case, and it was because someone had designed it that he had the chance to be deceived and possessed.

Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't invite Cui Yin back into a trap!

The external problem was resolved, so naturally, he considered the internal one.

After all, Cui Yin was cunning and might directly skip the "finding" process and descend into the ruins.

But internally...

It seemed there was no need for much consideration either.

Earlier, when Cui Yin avoided the Three Venerables Qiongcang, he had already erased all traces of his existence, hiding in the Ancient and Modern Forgetful Tower as if fleeing.

Xu Xiaoshou had already searched once and found no lingering tricks.

After another check now, confirming his worries were unfounded, he relaxed.

Solid as a rock, like an iron barrel.

The Ruins of the Gods could now be considered a second home.

Of course, he had to share it with Dao Qiongcang.

The Evil God was indeed evil, but only in technique; his evil was well-reasoned and upright.

Unlike a certain person, who appeared glorious and righteous on the surface, but in reality, marked every place he visited like a dog urinating.

This certainly wasn't evil.

This was disgusting!

Holding the Heaven Realm Core, and once again confirming that he couldn't find any "pee marks" left by Dao Qiongcang in the Ruins of the Gods, Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the other person and replied:

"That's right, I don't use 'Stealing from Heaven and Replacing the Sun'."

"But even if I did, I wouldn't use it in front of Cui Yin. Isn't that just showing off to an expert?"

"Showing off to an expert," that's quite an apt description, huh...

Dao Qiongcang clicked his tongue a few times, then finally sighed softly, saying no more.

He thought Xu Xiaoshou really could!

When this guy proposed the plan, he didn't specify the exact content, only asking him to submit a pair of underwear for more involvement.

Although Cui Yin's combat strength was low and he was layered with more than one weakening state, like being on the verge of demonization...

But how confident would one have to be to be so reckless as to use such a personal item to humiliate Cui Yin?

Xu Xiaoshou had that basis.

He had a subordinate named Zhu Yike.

Dao Qiongcang still remembered the matter of "Zhu Men Dou Shu Dao Fu Ru."

Not that he was holding a grudge, that wasn't the point.

The main point was that he had been hit by a "Leaping onto the Page" technique and trapped for a long time, which made Dao Qiongcang remember it vividly.

Although he later retaliated and captured Zhu Yike, that wasn't the point either.

The point was that it was natural for a descendant of a technique ancestor who could perform "Golden Gate Stealing Arts" to teach Xu Xiaoshou "Stealing from Heaven and Replacing the Sun," and for Xu Xiaoshou to master it and use it against the technique ancestor.

He never expected that whether Xu Xiaoshou could use "Stealing from Heaven and Replacing the Sun" wasn't the main point of the plan at all; the brain was the key.

Dao Qiongcang recalled the entire scenario and was still deeply shaken, it was nothing more than...

"Cui Yin is leaving, let's go get something for nothing?"

"Okay, what's the plan?"

"Get something for nothing."

"I asked, what's the specific plan for getting something for nothing?"

"Just get something for nothing, at most add a pair of underwear."

And then they went.

And then, with a set of "Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water," the stupid white wolf was truly confused by the underwear, and happily offered up the treasure with both hands.

—Classic!

Dao Qiongcang deeply remembered the ins and outs, the subtle details of this entire situation, constantly replaying it in his mind, feeling that he could learn from it for a long time.

Learning from others' misfortunes to increase one's own wisdom, a wise person's way of learning.

"A very different mode of thinking..."

Dao Qiongcang knew that Xu Xiaoshou was probably similar to him, both were dirty. Now he finally understood the fundamental difference between them.

In his concept, it was always "exchange"—equivalent exchange, or unequal exchange.

Whatever you got from him, you would eventually spit out and return; if he actively gave you something, you would return it twofold.

In a word, you might not lose, that's because you think you didn't lose, you're just stupid, being sold out and still happily counting money for others.

He always wins.

"Exchange" was stable, a calculation refined through deep thought, a quality of thinking a mature person should possess.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't have this quality.

Although he also calculated carefully, when necessary, he would dance on a tightrope.

Under normal circumstances, he was stable, but in extreme situations, he gambled big. Losing meant a big loss, winning meant a big win, and he would win a lot.

This kind of immense satisfaction was something a consistently stable person could not experience.

Which was better or worse?

Dao Qiongcang thought for a while and felt there was no good or bad, just that people's personalities were vastly different, leading to different life experiences.

He was the stable type; his decisions might seem risky to outsiders, but in reality, he had everything under control.

Xu Xiaoshou was the risk-taking type, he liked excitement and pursued low input with high returns. This might be related to his growth experiences.

As a chess piece, he indeed had to be this way.

A leopard cannot change its spots.

Losses for the stable type could be recovered.

No matter how fast the risk-taking type rushed, they would eventually fall hard, like Ba Zun'an.

On this point, if he ever had to deal with Xu Xiaoshou in the future, such a character flaw could be exploited... Dao Qiongcang's eyes flickered.

"You've been thinking for over ten breaths. You're not scheming to trick me, are you?" A suspicious voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Dao Qiongcang's eyelids twitched. He subtly raised his head and smiled, "How could that be, my Xu?"

He paused, stroking his chin, his face full of savoring. "I was thinking about the implications of your recent move. It feels... tsk, endlessly beneficial, amazing, Master Xu."

Xu Xiaoshou scratched his head. "Strange, you actually explain yourself?"

Dao Qiongcang's heart tensed.

He silently gave himself a hint:

Don't explain in front of Xu Xiaoshou in the future.

"Ruins of the Gods, the End!"

As the curtain call arrived, Xu Xiaoshou truly felt less like a living person and more like a character in a play, having performed an entire act, so, so tired from the struggle.

He rarely gave himself such a short break, collapsing on the war-torn wasteland, letting his mind go blank for half a day, not thinking about schemes, not about dividing spoils after the war, not about returning home.

The unpredictable Palace Master Dao lay beside him, cradling the back of his head, carefree, both looking up at the gray sky of the Ruins of the Gods.

It felt so real it was almost unreal...

The great battles at Jade Capital City, Changde Town, Qingyuan Mountain, and other places seemed like a fleeting dream. The two of them got along as if they had never been enemies before.

Going further back...

During the competition at Tiansang Spirit Palace, when Zhou Tiancan used his "Drawing Sword Style," Xu Xiaoshou would never have imagined that one day he would have such a battle experience, fighting side-by-side with the high-and-mighty Palace Master Dao from Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain.

Was it good?

No, cooperating with him, just like fighting him, came down to two words: mentally exhausting.

"It's like I'm about to die."

Xu Xiaoshou laughed at himself, feeling that if Dao Qiongcang turned into Cui Yin at this moment and chopped off his head, the play would end, the effect would be there, and the lingering charm would be profound, inviting contemplation.

Clearly, real life wasn't a drama; it wouldn't always be so dramatic.

"A fleeting glimpse of life, huh?"

Dao Qiongcang turned his head and said with a smile, "When I was young, after every major battle, exhausted, I also liked to lie down and look at the sky."

"At that time, I would think, 'Ah, how can I be so virtuous and capable as to contend with those masters and seniors, and manipulate and play them to death?'"

"Were they all just acting for me, and I was merely a supporting character in the world, eventually serving as a foil for others? Or was I truly very intelligent, and people are indeed born with different grades, at least in terms of intellect?"

Xu Xiaoshou bared his teeth, noticing that Dao Qiongcang wasn't boasting, so he gave him an extra eye roll.

You are really annoying.

Dao Qiongcang turned onto his side, his legs curled up, his arm serving as a pillow, and his other hand unconsciously scratching at the dirt on the ground, a paternal smile on his face as he reminisced about the glorious past:

"At that time, the most interesting thing was, I felt I wanted to be the Palace Master."

"Actually, there wasn't much to look forward to, I felt being a Palace Master was just so-so, but everyone thought it was a very high position, with a bit of a 'number one in the world' feel."

"I felt I could handle it, so I wanted to prove myself, that I should be considered pretty decent..."

"Suddenly!"

Dao Qiongcang startled, quite talented as a storyteller, and said with a turning tone, "As I thought this, the opportunity truly arrived."

"What was it?" Xu Xiaoshou was genuinely curious how this guy rose to power. The stories of Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain also seemed exciting. Fratricide had happened, but surely he wasn't about patricide.

"You Tu came to Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain with a sword and directly beheaded the former Palace Master with Seven Swords, utterly unreasonable."

"Ancient Sword Cultivators are truly madmen!"

"Before him, no one dared to do such a thing. Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain didn't even have a so-called 'Mountain Protection Array' before, or rather, the previous spirit arrays were just for show."

"After all, the Ten-Person Deliberation Group was there, the headquarters of the Sacred God Hall was there, Nine Sacrifices Gui was rooted there, and God-Worshipping Liu was also there."

"For a person to do such a crazy thing, their brain must have been kicked by a donkey, then swallowed, pulled out, and stuffed back into their head, right?"

"But You Tu was just such a person." Dao Qiongcang sighed continuously after saying this, as if he still couldn't accept it.

"Alone?" Xu Xiaoshou listened, his blood boiling.

"Alone!"

"After killing, you let him escape? Are you that useless?"

"He escaped." Dao Qiongcang paused, frowning to correct, "But it was 'they,' not 'you.' I was just a passerby at the mountain at the time...!"

Xu Xiaoshou became interested, rolled over, also resting his head on his arm, and met his gaze. "You personally saw You Tu kill your former Palace Master? Did he see his face? Was it an assassination with a black cloth, or an open, swaggering kill?"

"Not personally, but sort of?"

Dao Qiongcang wasn't entirely sure. "Anyway, even though I wasn't on site, I could see the scene through the Heavenly Mechanism Puppets. The closest one was even damaged by a sword qi."

Xu Xiaoshou clicked his tongue, his interest growing. "What about Hua Changdeng? The version of the story I heard was that You Tu vented his anger for Ba Zun'an, and later wounded Hua Changdeng, sealing him somewhere like a folding screen or candle, for decades."

After asking, he added, "Is this something we can ask? If we talk about Hua Changdeng here, won't he find out?"

Still pretending to be pure, as if you knew nothing, like a blank slate... Dao Qiongcang rolled his eyes:

"He can't hear."

"The Ruins of the Gods are different from the Sacred God Continent, there's no Heavenly Stairway connecting the upper and lower realms where you can call out names directly."

He then said:

"Actually, as I said, You Tu came too suddenly, no one on Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain was prepared."

"After he killed the Palace Master, the first one to discover him was God-Worshipping Liu, and the only one he cut was God-Worshipping Liu."

"Hua Changdeng... he might have vaguely sensed the sword intent, but by the time he arrived, the person was gone and the tea had grown cold."

"Then why did Hua Changdeng seclude himself in the Folding Screen Candle?" Xu Xiaoshou even wrinkled his nose, feeling that Dao Qiongcang might be lying.

"Folding Screen Candle Land!"

Dao Qiongcang couldn't stand it.

Are you really going to climb Gui Zhe Sacred Mountain, kid?

I'm telling you things here, and you can't even get the basic place names right. Don't tell me you don't even know what the Sacred Heavenly Hall is?

"Hua Changdeng wasn't wounded physically, but heartbroken."

"He was heartbroken because he didn't have a gentleman's battle with Ba Zun'an, as is customary between ancient sword cultivators, after bathing, changing clothes, burning incense, and bowing."

"Even more so because Ba Zun'an didn't fight him in his best state or with his strongest fighting intent, so he crippled the other party, then felt smug about winning, only to later realize he was just a clown who took advantage of someone, so he was even more heartbroken."

Dao Qiongcang dug various shapes into the ground with his fingers. "The etiquette of ancient sword cultivators is very tedious, like you and Bei Bei's was quite hasty. Ninety-nine percent of them are also very stubborn. If they believe something is a certain way, it must be done according to that unchangeable understanding... Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand."

Tedious, stubborn donkeys.

Xu Xiaoshou knew all of this, after all, he was also an ancient sword cultivator, but hearing this...

"Hua Changdeng still seems like a man, how could he take advantage of someone?"

"You know Dao Xuanji, right?" Dao Qiongcang changed the subject.

I know.

Your sister.

Why bring her up? Is it related to her?

Xu Xiaoshou felt like he heard some major gossip, his eyes lit up, and he felt a surge of strength lifting his upper body. "Your sister really doesn't do anything decent, what did she do now?"

"She..."

Before Dao Qiongcang could speak, he suddenly realized that gossiping about others behind their backs, especially family, was a very bad habit.

And one of the main characters in the story he was about to tell might even be present.

He immediately ducked his head, pointing at Xu Xiaoshou's belly. "Isn't Ba Zun'an there? You should ask the person involved first!"