Chapter 176: Underground Life

Does it have intelligence?

Xu Xiaoshou gazed at the steel golem, lost in thought.

With “Ganzhi,” he could see that inside the iron door was complete darkness. These large iron blocks had retreated inside and curled up at the bottom. Behind them was a light curtain, but they seemed unable to go back.

“Maybe finding the seal of the Zhenjie Zhibao still depends on them?” Xu Xiaoshou found it intriguing.

Instead of acting immediately, he went over to Zhou Tianshen.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that Zhou Tianshen's body, which was as tough as a tendon, was already covered in cracks, likely from the attacks by those large iron blocks. His internal injuries were severe too—not quite shattered meridians, but close enough. Even more terrifying was the sinister blade intent coursing through him, which had wounded all his internal organs. It seemed he wouldn’t last much longer and might die on the spot.

The worst part...

Xu Xiaoshou lifted Zhou Tianshen’s clothes and looked at the severed arm. The wound had scabbed over, and he wondered if this world even had tetanus. But the fact that Zhou Tianshen had held on this long and was still alive was nothing short of a miracle.

“Good, this is perfect for testing my black jade... wait, no, Chijin Ye.”

Xu Xiaoshou pulled out his homemade jar of honey, scooped out a lump, and stuffed it into the guy’s mouth. Then he dug out a larger piece, intending to apply it to the wound on the severed arm.

But after sensing around, he couldn't find Zhou Tianshen’s arm anywhere—probably turned to dust in the battle’s aftermath.

“What a shame...”

Though he hadn’t expected the medicinal effects of Chijin Ye to be strong enough to reattach an arm—it was just an improved version of a tenth-grade dan medicine after all—still, not getting to try it was disappointing.

“Cough, cough!”

Zhou Tianshen soon woke up. The blood-red hue in his eyes had faded, leaving only dense red threads, and he looked utterly exhausted.

“Xu Xiaoshou?” He stared at the young man in front of him, astonished.

His gaze shifted to the sky behind, where the scene of collapsing heavens and crumbling earth made his eyes bulge in shock.

“My heavens, what happened?”

Xu Xiaoshou looked at his dazed face, pondered for a moment, and said with his hands clasped behind his back, “Ah, time flies, and the white steed passes in a flash. In the blink of an eye, ten thousand years have passed...”

Zhou Tianshen: ???

His pupils dilated rapidly, then contracted just as quickly.

“Really?”

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at his information panel. No "suspected" notification? This guy actually believed it?

—As expected of a single-minded powerhouse!

He swallowed hard and said with difficulty, “You didn’t see wrong. It’s the end of the world now.”

“From what I recall, back in those years, you were still in...”

Xu Xiaoshou furrowed his brow, as if thinking.

“Tianxuan Gate!”

Zhou Tianshen felt memories from ten thousand years ago stirred, and he blurted out the answer.

Xu Xiaoshou sighed deeply, “Yes, Tianxuan Gate—a name that brings back so much nostalgia...”

“How could this be? How could this happen...”

Zhou Tianshen panicked and suddenly asked, “But why don’t I have any memories from these ten thousand years?”

“Ah!”

Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes instantly filled with grief and confusion as he said softly, “I don’t have them either...”

“Yet, somehow, only we survived!”

He grabbed Zhou Tianshen’s shoulders, excited, “We’re the chosen ones! Only the chosen can survive, and those selected by fate...”

His eyes sharpened, staring straight at the space between Zhou Tianshen’s eyebrows, which was completely red.

“They all have a third eye!”

Zhou Tianshen froze. He seemed to sense something on his forehead and focused his mind, feeling a faint pain there.

...Do I have an eye?

“I... I’m a chosen one?”

A surge of passion welled up in his heart, overwhelming him.

“But why don’t you have one?” He looked at the spot between Xu Xiaoshou’s eyebrows but couldn’t find any “eye of fate.”

“Hehehe!”

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly let out a sinister laugh, “Of course I don’t, because I’m the destroyer, not the savior!”

He turned and walked away.

“You’ve already lost to me. This world will be destroyed by my hand!”

Xu Xiaoshou knew that for these hot-blooded, dramatic youths, tales of saving the world would stir their deepest desires.

“Xu Xiaoshou, stop right there!”

Sure enough, Zhou Tianshen was furious. “Ten thousand years ago, I lost to you, but now, I won’t lose!”

Xu Xiaoshou nearly burst out laughing and kept walking without looking back, running off.

Zhou Tianshen tried to pull himself up twice, only to realize he was still embedded in the wall. He looked up at the sky, tears welling up as he cried without shedding any.

“Pull me out so we can fight fair and square!”

“What kind of hero does this make me...”

Xu Xiaoshou arrived at one of the eight iron doors.

Time was pressing, and he had no intention of continuing to toy with that single-minded guy outside. He still needed to find the Zhenjie Zhibao!

“Out with it—where’s the treasure?”

Facing the cowering steel golem, Xu Xiaoshou raised his fist.

This iron lump was clearly provoked. It had already shown signs of backing down, but this monster was still pursuing it. Did it think it wasn’t a living thing?

It had barely straightened up when Xu Xiaoshou smashed it with a punch, sending out a booming sound as it knelt again.

“I know you all have some intelligence. Tell me the truth, and I’ll spare your life.” Xu Xiaoshou got straight to the point.

The iron lump didn’t react, so Xu Xiaoshou decided to use the prisoner’s dilemma: “If you don’t talk, your eight companions are still waiting for me...”

Suddenly, he realized this golem probably couldn’t speak.

“If you can’t speak, just nod?”

The steel golem’s large head fell straight to the ground.

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned. What was going on? He told it to nod, not to lose its head!

Almost simultaneously, he heard several “bang” sounds from outside. Without a doubt, the others’ heads had fallen off too?

Xu Xiaoshou felt a sudden unease. This was uncanny!

Intelligence...

How could these things have intelligence? It didn’t make sense!

And now their heads had all fallen off—could it be...

“Someone’s controlling them? And now they’re reclaiming the intelligence?”

As soon as he reached this conclusion, Xu Xiaoshou spun around and looked toward the ground.

More precisely, underground.

With “Ganzhi,” he detected a faint trace of life deep beneath the black arena, which was...

Bursting into growth!

“If I’m not wrong, that’s probably where the Zhenjie Zhibao is sealed—the seal should be there too.”

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the fractured sky. Time was limited; he couldn’t afford to think more.

He didn’t believe the Zhenjie Zhibao could cause any real trouble and rushed to the top of the arena, extending his hand.

“Five-Finger Seal Technique!”

Unleashing the full heat without holding back, Xu Xiaoshou thrust his hand downward. Before it even touched the ground, the arena platform had already melted through.

The all-consuming Jinzhao Tianyan spiraled downward rapidly, soon reaching hundreds of meters deep.

By then, the life energy below had grown so intense it surpassed that of a normal person.

Xu Xiaoshou had a vague sense of foreboding, but he thought of the black-fallen sword sheath—nothing could be much stronger than that...

Could it possibly produce a person?

“Hah!”

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and steadied his hand.

He touched a black rock, and as Jinzhao Tianyan burned away the surrounding soil, he realized it was actually a waist-high black cubic crystal.

The life energy was emanating from inside...

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the gray fog figure’s six-sided crystal that had sealed Mu Zixi. Was something sealed in here too?

Feeling a bit uneasy, he reached out and touched it.

One punch.

No reaction?

Wait, there were cracks!

With Xu Xiaoshou’s current strength, he could demolish an entire mountain given time, but this black crystal only showed cracks?

Another punch.

The cracks spread like a spiderweb...

Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes narrowed. Today, he was set on breaking this thing!

He raised his fist again.

As it struck, a responding sound echoed from inside, as if it had judged Xu Xiaoshou’s punching rhythm from the previous two blows.

Working together, the black crystal shattered instantly.

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded.

Based on his attack power, it should have taken another hundred or so hits to destroy it completely.

But now... it was shattered?

Without a doubt, it was that internal life energy at work!

He looked down, and as the dust settled, the dark interior of the black crystal began to reveal itself.

A human head?