Chapter 1815: No Trace

In the boundless Emperor Realm, amidst crumbling walls and broken soil, Hua Changdeng arrived with his sword, radiating murderous intent. The faint candlelight from the broken lamp in his hand illuminated the heavens.

From the highest clouds to the deepest earth, the entire Wurao Emperor Realm seemed to have fallen into Fengdu, covered by various illusory and eerie visions of the underworld.

Yin souls and malevolent ghosts emerged from the cracked earth, howling and gnashing their teeth, yet showing no aggression, merely appearing to search for something.

The remaining branches of the Wurao clans all trembled, powerless to resist in their fear and apprehension.

If it were in the past, even a Sacred Emperor, who would dare to be so presumptuous, swaggering without restraint on Wurao’s land?

But today, the Sacred Emperor Rao clan has fallen into disrepair.

Their only Sacred Emperor patriarch has perished outside, and the semi-saint elders of various lineages are either dead or crippled, none possessing the strength to fight again.

For thousands of years, this land has borne the name Rao.

Even in its decline, it could always produce a Sacred Emperor who, if not brilliant, was at least acceptable, capable of standing on equal footing with other clans.

Now that the Sacred Emperor has fallen, Wurao has changed hands repeatedly, and its future destiny is unknown, perhaps to be entrusted to one of the other four clans.

Or perhaps, the entire Sacred Emperor Rao clan will have no unbroken eggs from which to nurture a chance for resurgence.

Hua Changdeng was fearless.

He had not come for a massacre, but merely to search for Xu Xiaoshou.

Yet, despite his true self arriving, his spiritual sense encompassing myriad things, and even deploying the power of ancestral origin to search, he found not the slightest trace of Xu Xiaoshou having been there.

Let alone the aura of an ancient sword cultivator.

For half a day, he toiled in vain, as if Xu Xiaoshou had never visited the Wurao Emperor Realm.

"Hiding?"

Xu Xiaoshou was adept at concealment; Hua Changdeng already knew this.

But he had met this child and had locked onto the traces of his intent.

No matter how skilled at concealment, under the searching power of a Sacred Emperor, so openly displayed, no one could be utterly seamless.

Even Dao Qiongcang would reveal flaws; why would Xu Xiaoshou be different?

"A feint?"

Hua Changdeng racked his brains to no avail, his mind slightly shaken, and he considered another possibility.

Could it be that Xu Xiaoshou was still hidden in Yunshan, merely using Hua Zhiyao’s token and the words of the clan elders to send himself away from Yunshan, while he was still causing trouble there?

This fellow, he was far too presumptuous!

Hua Changdeng retracted his power and hurried to return to Yunshan to take charge.

He knew how strong Xu Xiaoshou’s Dao of Intent could be when truly unleashed, surpassing even Dao Transformation.

The entire Yunshan, even he himself, would find it somewhat difficult to resist.

In the face of his guidance, the various clan elders would basically do whatever they were told, having no direction of their own.

But before he could move, his patriarch jade token glowed faintly, and a message arrived from a clan elder.

Hua Changdeng always carried his patriarch token with him, not to prove to anyone who the patriarch was, but out of fear of missing any clan information.

As soon as the jade token lit up, he had a premonition of ill omen and unhesitatingly accepted the message. Sure enough, the first words from the clan elder on the other end made his heart sink to the bottom:

"Patriarch, something big has happened!"

Hua Changdeng’s eyes glinted coldly: "Is Xu Xiaoshou still causing trouble in Yunshan?"

Guidance, though terrifying.

Hua Changdeng was never afraid of guidance.

True ancient sword cultivators charged forward, never resorting to such deceptive tricks.

As long as he caught Xu Xiaoshou’s trace, locked onto his position, cut off his escape routes, he could send Xu Xiaoshou to heaven with a single sword strike, even without the Sword Ghost.

A single sword breaking myriad laws, that was all it was!

"First, seal the entire Yunshan and activate the Dao Sealing Grand Array," Hua Changdeng declared decisively.

The clan elder, however, said, "No, it's not about Xu Xiaoshou. The ancestral stone tablet has been found."

This was good news?

Hua Changdeng’s expression softened slightly, and he asked calmly, "Then why the panicked tone?"

"Because the ancestral stone tablet cracked."

"Cracked?" Hua Changdeng was slightly stunned, unable for a moment to connect this word with the ancestral stone tablet that symbolized eternal antiquity. "How did it crack?"

"Cracked into two halves."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changdeng could no longer maintain his composure. "Done by Xu Xiaoshou?"

"No, it was cleaved by Yue Gongli!"

The Wurao winds were biting cold.

The eerie visions had vanished, and Hua Changdeng stood disheveled in the chilly breeze.

The clan elder's words had taken too many sudden turns, like heaven and earth, east and west, and the topic suddenly shifted to Yue Gongli—something Hua Changdeng had never conceived.

"Yue Gongli, who Xu Xiaoshou transformed into?"

On the other end of the jade token, the clan elder was also dumbfounded, wondering why the patriarch kept mentioning Xu Xiaoshou.

This matter had absolutely nothing to do with Xu Xiaoshou!

Who was Xu Xiaoshou? The old man still didn't know!

"No, Patriarch, please listen to me carefully..."

"Speak."

"It's like this: we’ve confirmed with Han Palace, and the situation is roughly as follows… Wasn’t the ancestral stone tablet sent into the temporal shattered flow by Hua Zhiyao earlier? Later, the ancestral stone transformed into Hua Zhiyao, who, under your command, provoked the entire Han Palace clan, even slapped Yue Gongli, and was finally cleaved into two halves..."

Hua Changdeng had initially been listening to the story intently.

Before long, he felt as if his soul had left his body, lost and bewildered in the Wurao Emperor Realm.

Every word the clan elder spoke was in the Yunshan clan language, not difficult to understand, but the meaning pieced together from those words—all Hua Changdeng heard was "absurd."

This was a story?

Even an accident wouldn't be this outlandish!

He finally couldn't help but interrupt the lengthy discourse from the other side: "Is Xu Xiaoshou, very amusing?"

The clan elder stopped abruptly, then cried out in surprise: "Patriarch, I am Hua Zhixiao, I am not Xu Xiaoshou!"

Hua Changdeng's eyelids twitched wildly; he was almost at his limit.

If you are not Xu Xiaoshou, why would you tease me like this?

If you are not Xu Xiaoshou, how could the ancestral stone tablet turn into Hua Zhiyao?

How could the ancestral stone tablet possibly speak and provoke the entire Han Palace clan?

And how could Yue Gongli not see through that the ancestral stone tablet was not the ancestral stone tablet, but Hua Zhiyao, who had just been punished with confinement and was about to face death?

Even more preposterous…

The ancestral stone tablet could even sprout a hand and slap Yue Gongli, and Yue Gongli would obediently take the slap?

The absurdity of this matter simply shattered the definition of "absurdity." Hua Changdeng no longer knew how to respond.

He only heard the "Xu Xiaoshou" on the other end still feigning ignorance:

"Patriarch, I'm really not Xu Xiaoshou, I'm Hua Zhixiao, I'm in the Yunshan Sacred Hall right now, you can come and see for yourself!"

"Young Master Li is here too, he personally came. He returned the ancestral stone tablet, and there are spatial回溯 images from Han Palace’s reception hall. The slapping was all real… Ah!"

The clan elder spoke, sounding as if he had collapsed himself, and only calmed down after a shout:

"Patriarch, I know this matter is hard to accept for a while, I still can't accept it either."

"Young Master Li is also very regretful now for not seeing through the clues immediately, but he is 'full of sincerity'."

He emphasized the last four words in his tone, then added:

"He came with the attitude of resolving the matter."

"And he wants to tell you some information about Xu Xiaoshou. In short, he said that once you return, all truth will be revealed, and it was all a misunderstanding."

The ancestral stone tablet cracked, was that also a misunderstanding, could it also be remedied?

Hua Changdeng was already furious; the more he listened, the more enraged he became. He even had thoughts of cleaving Yue Gongli.

"Let Yue Gongli speak."

The other side paused, then a seductive young master's voice, tinged with embarrassment, came through: "Hua Changdeng, I am Yue Gongli..."

"Xu Xiaoshou, is it fun?"

Fun!

It was too much fun!

A bizarre trick, but truly a divine skill.

In the Han Palace Emperor Realm, in the Tingyu Pavilion, Xu Xiaoshou molded his “Jinren” consciousness into Yue Gongli's likeness and grandly arrived here.

It was imaginable how shattered Yue Gongli’s heart must have been when he was pushed to his breaking point and cleaved the Yunshan clan’s ancestral stone tablet, under Xu Xiaoshou's deliberate and circuitous guidance, subtly emphasizing "ancestral stone tablet" and "Hua Zhiyao" as existing entities.

In fact, there was no need to imagine.

After using the bizarre trick to combine the ancestral stone tablet of Yunshan with the image of Hua Zhiyao, Xu Xiaoshou also infused a wisp of Jinren's will, mixed with Hua Zhiyao's aura, into it.

Everything that happened in the reception hall was under his guidance.

Perhaps Yue Gongli and Hua Changdeng had no old grudges, but new ones were definitely forged.

Perhaps after they communicated with each other, they would understand that he was behind everything, but the fact that the Yunshan ancestral stone tablet was broken by Yue Gongli's hand was undeniable.

No matter how harmonious Han Palace and Yunshan might become in the future, with such a grudge, they would never truly unite.

Moreover, these two families could not be harmonious.

The people of Yunshan were not foolish. If they insisted that the ancestral stone tablet was broken by Han Palace's successor, Yue Gongli would never be able to clear his name.

If he couldn't clear his name, Han Palace wouldn't benefit.

If Han Palace didn't benefit, it would certainly cause trouble for Yunshan elsewhere, demanding double in return.

The existing conflicts between the two sides would only escalate like a snowball, exacerbated by the incident of the stone tablet.

A peaceful end?

Even in the struggle for the Great Dao, there was no peaceful end.

In the thousands of years of family feuds, such a term was non-existent.

—But that was all for later.

This step, taken casually by Xu Xiaoshou, did not intend for Yue Gongli and Hua Changdeng to fight at this moment; it was merely an idle move.

During the time "Hua Zhiyao" waited and sought to be cleaved in the reception hall, Xu Xiaoshou used Jinren's will to largely contaminate the imprints belonging to Dao Qiongcang within the Han Palace Emperor Realm.

This place, essentially, could now be visited anytime he wished.

"The Dao of Intent, its wondrous uses are endless..."

As early as when the Ghost-Buddha World first showed abnormalities, Xu Xiaoshou had asked Ba Zunan about Hua Changdeng, his arch-nemesis.

At that time, Ba Zunan hadn't talked much about Hua Changdeng's Sword Ghost.

But he spoke a lot about Hua Changdeng's state.

"Hua Changdeng cultivates 'ling'—not the 'ling' of spiritual energy, but the 'ling' of the soul. In this aspect, his pursuit can almost be described as 'obsessive'."

"Just as ordinary people perceive the world with their physical eyes and experience the world with their 'body,' Hua Changdeng is the exact opposite. He perceives the world with his 'spirit,' and his soul dominates both the body and intent Dao."

"Even his perspective on cultivation is unique. He should have manifested in the world as a soul body, but in order not to be different from ordinary people, he maintains a physical form in daily life."

This was the explanation Ba Zunan provided.

Such unique statements and perspectives had immediately given Xu Xiaoshou crooked ideas.

Hua Changdeng's Dao of Soul must undoubtedly be Transcendent.

Among the three Daos—body, spirit, and intent—ordinary people prioritize the body over spirit and intent, while he prioritizes spirit over body and intent, which was truly special.

Xu Xiaoshou began to wonder if he, too, was constrained by conventional thinking.

His body, spirit, and intent Daos were all Transcendent.

Although he currently prioritized the body over spirit and intent, perhaps it wouldn't be impossible to switch to Hua Changdeng's method of prioritizing spirit over body and intent, or even the most unique method of prioritizing intent over body and spirit?

He acted upon the thought.

The shift in mindset brought about a change in his state.

After only a few attempts, Xu Xiaoshou, whose body, spirit, and intent Daos were already Transcendent, quickly completed the practice and found that everything was feasible.

Hence, half a year later.

When the Ghost-Buddha World mutated to its limit and Hua Changdeng's will appeared, Xu Xiaoshou had an idea:

"The essence of soul reading is to experience the other party's memories in past time and space through soul contact, with one's own intent."

"The body is physical and has limitations, making it difficult to traverse time and space, but intent is ethereal and different, easily traversing time and space."

"When the body dominates spirit and intent, it is also constrained by spirit and intent, making it difficult to truly go to the past during soul reading; it can only reach the past."

"When intent dominates body and spirit, can intent, during soul reading, choose to extract itself from time and space, condense body and spirit in the past, and then use methods similar to Great Divine Descent or spatial-temporal leaps, to transcend the past and reach the current time and space of the soul-read person's past memories?"

This was a bold and absurd idea.

Although he didn't know the outcome or if it would cause irreversible damage to the recipient, it was not good to try on his own people.

But if it was feasible, even if the Ghost-Buddha melted the heavenly ladder, he would only need to sacrifice Jinren's will, find a good target, and perhaps be able to land in the Five Great Sacred Emperor Families in advance!

Could this technique truly work?

If there were no "Dao Qiongcang" in this world, Xu Xiaoshou would not believe this technique was feasible, and might not even have such an absurd idea.

But Dao Qiongcang's unfathomable use of the Dao of Memory, coupled with Chong Yin's precedent of altering future reality in the past, suggested otherwise.

Perhaps it was not feasible for others.

Xu Xiaoshou thought, why not give it a try, and he did.

He used Hua Changdeng's consciousness as a vessel, augmented by the Daos of body, spirit, intent, time, and space, and through his previous practice, successfully landed in the Five Great Sacred Emperor Families.

Reaching this step, it was already considered a success.

Afterward, whether it was contaminating Yunshan's memory imprints or stirring up disputes between Yunshan and Han Palace, it was all an unexpected bonus.

As for doing so much, and Jinren still not dying…

This was a double bonus!

Since this Jinren consciousness successfully entered the Five Great Sacred Emperor Families, Xu Xiaoshou had no intention of retrieving it.

He was afraid of contamination.

Or rather, afraid of being targeted by Sacred Emperors and Ancestral Gods; in short, it must never be retrieved, serving as a carrier for a "Great Divine Descent"-like technique.

Naturally, if he could do more now, the more the better.

And in the Han Palace Emperor Realm, in the Tingyu Pavilion, having just finished contaminating Dao Qiongcang's memory imprints, Xu Xiaoshou, who had assumed this was his final journey, hadn't yet been purged by the Han Palace Sacred Emperor!

This couldn't help but pique his curiosity.

He firmly believed that even if Yue Gongli was unaware of his entry into Han Palace, the Han Palace Sacred Emperor should have sensed something.

But why didn't he stop him and let him run wild?

Was he spread too thin?

He was in the Tingyu Pavilion, in this waterside pavilion, squinting and enjoying the lavish lifestyle, while the charming maid kneading his shoulders was still saying:

"Didn't Young Master Li go to the Yunshan Emperor Realm?"

Xu Xiaoshou was relaxed, viewing Jinren as a dead man, so he didn't care about anything. "What is Yunshan? He insulted me, and I cleaved his ancestral stone—it's only natural. A mere semi-saint avatar of intent was enough to make a point; why would my true self need to go and give them so much face?"

The maid's delicate body trembled upon hearing this: "Young Master Li, this servant heard nothing, and will keep silent."

"No need, you go spread these words. I, Yue Gongli, just can't stand their Yunshan Sacred Emperor, and I've wanted to cleave his ancestral stone for a long time."

Ping'er froze.

How could she dare to be so presumptuous?

A timid maid… Xu Xiaoshou sighed inwardly with regret, continued to enjoy his medicinal bath and massage, and casually asked, "What has the Han Palace Sacred Emperor been doing recently?"

The maids were stunned. Why was Young Master Li suddenly concerned about the old patriarch?

"He's in seclusion..."

"Where is he in seclusion? I haven't seen him in a long time; I'm starting to miss the old man."

Old man…

This seemed to be the first time Young Master Li had referred to the Han Palace Sacred Emperor this way; he usually respectfully called him "Father."

The maids, who didn't even dare to speak harshly outside, certainly didn't dare to ask more, and could only reply:

"In the Han Palace Dongtian, Young Master Li, have you forgotten?"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't even need to ask where the Han Palace Dongtian was; he found it immediately.

Dao Qiongcang had left countless imprints in the Han Palace Emperor Realm, but like a bald spot, they were completely missing in a certain place where the sacred power was most concentrated.

What he feared was self-evident.

"Meet him?"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated.

Meeting the Han Palace Sacred Emperor at this time, regardless of what he might gain, Jinren's journey to the Sacred Emperor Families would certainly come to an end.

He thought for a while, then squinted and smiled.

"Ping'er."

The cute maid, who had moved to the front and was straddling Young Master Li to knead his shoulders, looked up upon hearing her name, her face rosy and tender, her big eyes fluttering: "Young Master?"

Xu Xiaoshou knew this maid's name only because the other maids around had just called it, not because she was the cutest.

He said, "Let's play a game."

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