Chapter 2044: 青时

"Ayao, I told you, you underestimated him."

"Shut up!"

"I was once like you, thinking I was fully prepared, but every time we met again, he always had unexpected changes."

"You're noisy!"

"Ask your heart again, Ayao. If your opponent were Sheng Xin, would you still be so arrogant? But why does Xu Xiaoshou always seem non-threatening? Is it because he wasn't born as burly as Shenyi, or because the peak of swordsmanship can only be reached by Ba Zun'an?"

"Who are you to lecture me?!"

"Deceiving yourself with arrogance, Ayao, isn't that your usual trick? Why can't you calm down now and listen to any advice?"

"You!"

"It's guidance, Ayao, the guidance of will..."

When Beihuai's voice stopped echoing in his mind, Medicine Ancestor, after roaring furiously, found his mind completely calm instead.

Truth hurts. It's indeed hard to listen to, but isn't it the truth Beihuai spoke?

Reflecting on the past, from when he brought Xu Xiaoshou into Fragrant Homeland and was toyed with, to returning from the Zero Point and simultaneously encountering Chongyin's spirit possession, Dao Ancestor's memory infiltration, and Beihuai's host body; to attempting to devour the energy of the eighteen life elixir pools only to find them already emptied, and then to the present, where the Life Wheel Fruit proved completely ineffective, leading to him being directly suppressed and beaten by Xu Xiaoshou. Which confrontation, in fact, didn't end in his failure? Yet, on the surface, it always seemed like he had won. In Fragrant Homeland, he gained control over Name Ancestor... In the great desert, he endured the spirit possession, causing Xu Xiaoshou's various schemes to fail... The moment he unleashed the Life Wheel Fruit, he thought the game was over, believing not only would Xu Xiaoshou pay the price, but he could even reclaim the energy of the eighteen life elixir pools... All failed! His proud calculations had never truly worked. Every step was anticipated by Xu Xiaoshou, and subsequent attempts to fix the situation, though seemingly not too late, instead led him to take another bait thrown by the opponent, falling into yet another trap. With such an enemy, as Beihuai said, why could he still not face him squarely? But wasn't the Life Wheel Fruit a way of confronting him?

"No!" Beihuai, as an outsider, saw it with extreme clarity and calmly replied: "The Life Wheel Fruit can only help you condense the true body of the Battle Ancestor, but you are not skilled in direct combat."

"Xu Xiaoshou, however, excels at both scheming and combat, and now, returning from the Time Realm, he represents even greater breakthroughs."

"If you had unleashed the Life Wheel Fruit earlier, you would have succeeded; if you had unleashed it later, you could have broken through Zero Point. But you chose to directly challenge his sharp edge, playing right into Xu Xiaoshou's hands."

Hindsight! Medicine Ancestor was furious. Who couldn't analyze things in hindsight? But was there truly no truth to what Beihuai said? What if every single move, from beginning to end, was within Xu Xiaoshou's expectations? Impossible! Wouldn't that mean...

"Still unwilling to admit reality, Ayao?" Beihuai was blunt and to the point: "He's stronger than you. Even your proud Twin Dao Rivers, he possesses them too, yet he hasn't even revealed them while fighting you."

Boom— Medicine Ancestor's spiritual world trembled, feeling as if something was collapsing. He lost all his agitated emotions, as if he had rediscovered the excitement and thrill of challenging the unknown and impossible from countless years ago, and humbly asked: "What should I do?"

"A two-pronged approach."

"How 'two-pronged'?"

"I know you have one last Life Wheel Fruit: Dragon. Give it to me. With the Dragon and Battle Ancestor powers combined, Xu Xiaoshou will surely be injured; if Sheng Xin agrees to help you, Xu Xiaoshou will surely die. This is currently the only way to break the deadlock."

"Ah hahaha!" Shennong Baicao instantly silenced Beihuai. It was merely a reveal of true intentions. If the Dragon Ancestor's true body were given to Beihuai, wouldn't that be nurturing a tiger for future trouble? Beihuai, residing within his body, had his paths of Life and Reincarnation controlled by Shennong Baicao, with no means to resist, only to wait for Shennong Baicao to deal with him. If a perfect physical body were provided, even if the Life Wheel Fruit had a time limit, wouldn't Shennong Baicao know what Beihuai, who also became an Ancestor through the paths of Life and Reincarnation, would do? Seize the Dao! This fellow, he'd be happier to see Shennong Baicao dead than Xu Xiaoshou would! However, Beihuai would first have to get out, then use Xu Xiaoshou's hand to kill Shennong Baicao, and then, amidst the chaos, seize his Dao, uniting him as a "severed Ghost Ancestor" to achieve Beihuai's own path to Zero Point perfection!

"Just a mere fourth-level combat awareness."

"Just as Battle Ancestor Wu fell back then, Xu Xiaoshou will meet the same end today!"

In Eastern Heavenly King City, the Limit Giant unleashed four thunderous punches. The true body of the Battle Ancestor, with its life patterns completely shattered and its various vital energy pathways blocked by sealed acupoints, should have been forcibly repaired under the dual powers of Medicine Ancestor's Life Dao and Reincarnation Dao. It could have been recycled! Yet, Medicine Ancestor did not do so. Accompanied by a colossal roar, surging destructive power erupted, pushing out a gigantic mushroom cloud towards the sky. This Life Wheel Fruit body was completely detonated by Medicine Ancestor! A desperate act! No more hesitation!

The instantaneous fruit detonation technique launched Medicine Ancestor's majestic true body, which even the Limit Giant couldn't suppress, and it was blown away by the immense energy wave. Fortunately, the Immeasurable Silent Son gleamed, absorbing most of the destructive energy from the explosion. Not only did this attack not harm the giant, but it also replenished its nine Immeasurable Silent Sons.

"Lord Shou, that's truly disgusting..." The people of Apricot Realm, seeing this scene, felt despair on behalf of Medicine Ancestor. But Shennong Baicao did not give up struggling. Seizing the moment of the explosion, he split himself into countless streams of light, scattering in all directions across the Five Domains and Four Seas.

"Running?" After steadying its steps, the Limit Giant looked up. Just like when fighting Lei Han, the Battle King, with his vital energy concealment technique, Medicine Ancestor split into countless forms, some merging with the Dao principles, others with the earth. Previously, Xu Xiaoshou could only roughly track them, but now, with the Sea of Will unleashed, Medicine Ancestor had nowhere to hide. "Heading straight for the Tree of Memory?" Compared to the parts hiding in the heavenly Dao and the earth, very few consciousnesses fled towards the Tree of Memory, yet Xu Xiaoshou instantly understood the intentions of this wretched man: "The Tree of Memory is inherently a Seed of Life."

"Medicine Ancestor surely still has control over the Seed of Life. By inhabiting it, he could, first, seize the Dao of Chongyin, and second, utilize the immense power Zero Point infused into the Tree of Memory..."

How could Shennong Baicao be allowed to succeed? When advancing, he could enlarge himself and shatter the Battle Ancestor with his fists. When retreating, he could revert to human form, with a black robe and a slanted sword. The Limit Giant instantly reverted to human form, while Hidden Misery flew out from his body. Xu Xiaoshou grasped the black sword, running his fingers along its blade, and softly chanted: "Red Plum Three Streams: Falling Blossom Realm."

With a single elegant swing, the sword cut out, light as smoke. The blooming red plum blossoms flowed like threads, coiling around his waist, then drifting along Hidden Misery's blade, soaring towards all directions of the Five Domains. The Five Lakes and Four Seas were all filled with the fragrance of plum blossoms. The reach of this Falling Blossom Realm sword strike covered the entire Holy Divine Continent; the whole world became a sword.

"This is..." The Apricot Realm's transmission screen zoomed in, showing red plum blossoms gracefully falling everywhere across the continent, a truly magnificent sight. Under the reflection of illusion and reality, Medicine Ancestor's scattered consciousness, originally invisible to outsiders, instantly transformed into numerous terrified faces looking back. All of them were clearly seen! Not a single one could hide! Even the color of their underwear and how many holes it had were revealed under Lord Shou's sword strike!

"It's Mr. Si Ren's sword." With just one glance, the various sword cultivators gathered in the Guiding City all stood up excitedly, their expressions exhilarated. Why has the lineage of ancient sword cultivators never ceased? Just like now! Sword Ancestor created nine great sword techniques, only achieving deification and becoming an Ancestor with the Emotional Sword Art. Later, Ba Zun'an perfected the Illusionary Sword Art and Myriad Sword Art to their third realm, becoming an Ancestor by returning to Zero through the Way of My Sword. Even Ba Xia Wengou, astonishingly talented, opened the three-realm profound gates of the Formless Sword Art and the Silent Sword Art. The paths unfinished by predecessors, surpassed by their successors. As with those, so too with Mei Xu. Under Sheng Xin's oppressive might, Mr. Si Ren couldn't even unleash a single sword strike, yet his disciple, Xu Xiaoshou, made the Red Plum Three Streams resonate across the entire Five Domains of the continent!

"The net of heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it." After unleashing a sword strike, Xu Xiaoshou, shifting his perspective into consciousness form, let Hidden Misery fly and hum into the sky, while he flexed his ten fingers. Like an elegant conductor, he used the Sea of Will beneath his feet as an instrument, shooting countless conscious spirit threads from his hands. With each rhythmic movement of his fingertips, he pierced into Medicine Ancestor's consciousness bodies that were hiding in the heavenly Dao, the earth, and even those attempting to enter the Tree of Memory.

"No—" Across the Five Domains, shrill and overlapping roars echoed.

"Puppet String Manipulation!" Xu Xiaoshou, with a lift of his ten fingers, reeled back the myriad threads. Medicine Ancestor's fragmented consciousnesses were like puppets on strings, forcibly dragged back from their hiding places, filled with utter terror on their return journey.

"Whoosh!" From the gurgling sound of water, the Daoist resonance arose. Following the Sea of Will, a great Dao river came winding from the distant sky, flowing beneath Xu Xiaoshou's feet, heading towards the unknown.

"The Great River of Swordsmanship?!" This scene immediately stunned the observing Ancestors. At Zero Point, Dao Qiongcang seemed to have instantly come to terms with Yi Ji, looking on in astonishment. Isn't Swordsmanship a combat-oriented Great Dao? If Swordsmanship could also condense into a Great Dao River, wouldn't that imply flaws in his own understanding? "Could it be that many combat-oriented Great Daos are also divided into practical combat and comprehension? Ba Zun'an is practical, while what Xu Xiaoshou has condensed this time is a Swordsmanship more inclined towards comprehension?" This was one of the few explanations available for what they were currently witnessing. The only thing that couldn't be explained was... Xu Xiaoshou, in fact, was a comprehension-type genius? *Pfft*, if that were said, Medicine Ancestor would probably be the first to stand up and object, right?

"This river..." By the Time Realm, Sheng Xin also took a sharp breath, almost severing the Heavenly Seal to go aid Shennong Baicao. What he saw briefly through an avatar was incomparable to what he was witnessing with his own eyes now. After all, what he saw then might have been an illusion. But the Great River of Swordsmanship he was seeing with his own eyes now, the most direct feeling was that it couldn't be fake, and furthermore... "He has mastered all nine great sword arts too?" "No, perhaps he's only mastered the second realm of various sword arts. He shouldn't be able to reach Ba Zun'an's level." Even so, the appearance of the Great Dao River meant he was just one step away from perfection. If the Great River of Swordsmanship was real, then the Great River of Body Dao should also be genuine. By that calculation, Xu Xiaoshou had already surpassed him in terms of Dao comprehension—at the very least, even if his own Saint Dao encompassed myriad paths and he had cultivated the Divine Demon Dao Sea to mastery, Xu Xiaoshou was still on par with him. How old was he? How many years had he himself cultivated the Dao? There was no comparison. Any comparison would easily destabilize his Dao Heart, even knowing that there were assistances from Nuo Ancestor, Name Ancestor, and others involved. Sheng Xin's gaze was complex; his previously confident mindset immediately wavered. After all, Xu Xiaoshou clearly posed a threat to him as well. "No!" "I must not interfere." Xu Xiaoshou's mastery of clones was one reason. Medicine Ancestor hadn't asked for help, so how could he assist him? That was the second reason. The third reason was, naturally, his disbelief that Xu Xiaoshou's attainments in swordsmanship could be even one or two tenths of Ba Zun'an's, or that Ba Zun'an would allow anyone to stand shoulder to shoulder with him at the end of the Dao. He also didn't believe Shennong Baicao would fall as a result, completely defenseless, as Shennong Baicao also possessed Twin Dao Rivers. "What other trump cards can Shennong Baicao force Xu Xiaoshou to reveal? Shennong Baicao, he won't really be cut down by this kid's sword, will he?"

While all sides were in turmoil, Xu Xiaoshou forcibly pulled back Medicine Ancestor's fragmented consciousnesses, merging them into a single, extremely condensed thousand-zhang-sized lump of consciousness in mid-air. Then he raised his hand to recall Hidden Misery, holding it suspended before his chest. Around him, three illusory swords materialized. Clearly in the shape of Hidden Misery, yet they resonated with the Three Talents of Heaven, Earth, and Man, emanating boundless sword light and echoing the ethereal Daoist chants: "With desireless action, execute the Sword of Returning to One, combining the Myriad Dao with the names of the Three Talents Formation, seeking the Manifestation of Reality and Illusion within the Great River of Swordsmanship."

"This sword: Will returns to Heaven, Spirit returns to Earth, Body returns to Man; three paths merge into one, Sword Ghost fully unleashed." This is... Hua Ancestor, Hua Changdeng's sword? Sheng Xin's foot twitched slightly; even watching from a distance was already incredibly difficult. Because it felt as if Xu Xiaoshou's sword was even superior to Hua Changdeng's? Medicine Ancestor was not skilled in direct combat to begin with; how could he possibly withstand this?

All sides watched in horror. But in Sheng Xin's moment of hesitation, a thunderous roar was heard, and the Great River of Swordsmanship shattered. It was precisely like when Hua Changdeng crushed the Divine Court Underworld, transcending tribulation to become an Ancestor. Xu Xiaoshou, by "crushing" the Great River of Swordsmanship, did so in a more refined manner, thereby injecting all the sword-nature power into the three Sword Ghost swords: Body Ghost, Spirit Ghost, and Will Ghost. Three ten-thousand-zhang swords, establishing the Three Talents. The sword formation rotated, the Three Talents merging into one. A Will Ghost, shaped like Hidden Misery's shadow, closely resembling the Silent Sword, hung suspended in mid-air, pointing at Medicine Ancestor's lump of consciousness, accompanied by Xu Xiaoshou's shouted command: "Red Plum Three Streams: Azure Time Sword!" Overlapping Daoist chants should have resonated in all directions: "Will Ghost: Azure Time Slash!" The Azure Time Will Ghost, imbued with the power of the entire Great River of Swordsmanship, burst forth with brilliant silver sword light, flickering with blood-red plum blossoms, transforming into a stream of light that shot towards Medicine Ancestor's lump of consciousness.

"No—"

"Ayao, what did I tell you?"

"Shut up!"

"I told you, you need me, don't you?"

"Shut up!"

"The Hua Changdeng you fostered couldn't seize the authority of the Way of the Sword through this, but instead, Xu Xiaoshou comprehended it, *hehe*."

"Shut up, aahhh!"

"Life Wheel Fruit..."

Behind that massive lump of consciousness, two adorable little hands reached out. Rapidly forming hand seals. Rapidly drawing talismans. With his back to Xu Xiaoshou, he seemed to be hurriedly attempting to perform some extremely useful emergency measure...

"Swoosh!" The brilliant sword light resonated with a long hum. The Azure Time Will Ghost, with a single sword stroke from bottom to top, from front to back, directly tore through the entire thousand-zhang lump of consciousness, splitting it in two. Its momentum undiminished, it slashed towards the sky. The sword's tail whipped, spreading a long river of sword energy across the sky, a brilliant light. Silver-white sword energy fell like flowing hail. From a distance, it looked as if someone had torn apart a star river with a single sword, inspiring awe and astonishing the entire world.

"Hiss, aahhh—" Overwhelmed by immense suffering, Medicine Ancestor couldn't hold back his pained cries. The sword carried terrifying sword intent and white flames that burned through everything, sending pain to the very marrow, branding a thousand-needle piercing torment deep within his consciousness. "What sword is this? What kind of sword is this?" He was certain that Hua Changdeng's Will Ghost could not possibly have such an effect. This was a true Will Sword, transcending the scope of Sword Ghosts. Resist? It was utterly useless! From the moment he began to hesitate above the West Sea, Shennong Baicao had already fallen into Xu Xiaoshou's combat rhythm, and thereafter, with every step pressing closer, he was given no further opportunity. Battle opportunities are fleeting. How could Xu Xiaoshou miss an opportunity to cut down Shennong Baicao?

"Reversal of the Dao of Reincarnation!" Yet the lump of consciousness refused to give up. Knowing that resistance was futile, he forcibly cast another technique, intending to directly pull his fragmented consciousness into the River of Reincarnation to hide...

"Swoosh!" The Will Sword, having left, returned, severing this technique. Compared to a simple cut, this "Swallow Return" strike filled the air with immense impact. Appearing on the Apricot Realm's sky screen, what everyone saw was Medicine Ancestor, completely undefended, still performing his technique, while within the river of sword energy, the sword light grew from small to large. It seemed as if it wanted to tear apart space, tear apart dimensions. It came from the end of the Dao, slicing Medicine Ancestor's lump of consciousness into four large pieces. The sword's brilliant edge seemed as if it would even cleave through the Apricot Realm, cleave through all cultivators in the world.

"Whoosh!" In the various Guiding Cities, cultivators collectively crouched down, breaking out in cold sweat. The sword didn't come for them. Yet, in the minds of various cultivators, besides Ba Zun'an, who was known for "one poem, one sword, one sword, one song," another figure was imprinted: that of a black-robed young man, embodying "the ultimate of swordsmanship, the beauty of utmost effort."

Swish, swish, swish! Swish, swish, swish... The Azure Time Will Ghost sliced back and forth, again and again. Medicine Ancestor's shrill wails echoed ceaselessly across the Holy Divine Continent. But Medicine Ancestor was too powerful. His consciousness body, refined since ancient times, simply could not be completely obliterated by the Azure Time Will Ghost in a short time. As a result, even after being sliced into countless tiny fragments by one sword strike after another, Medicine Ancestor was still not dead. He could only suffer in agony. He wanted to resist, but Xu Xiaoshou gave him no chance at all. And if any part of his consciousness, unable to bear the pain, splintered off and scattered, Xu Xiaoshou, like a hungry dog that hadn't eaten for thirty thousand years, would pounce on it. He activated the Immeasurable Silent Son, ravenously devouring Medicine Ancestor's fragmented consciousness, refining it into his own power, replenishing himself while fighting. "Delicious, delicious." Xu Xiaoshou grew stronger with each kill. Shennong Baicao grew weaker with each slash. Under this constant power shift, if no external force intervened, it was highly likely that a single past oversight would now lead to him being controlled to death, utterly annihilated!

"Ergghh—" Medicine Ancestor, with nearly half of his consciousness collapsing, let out a prolonged, shrill cry, shouting: "Sheng Xin, aren't you going to make a move yet? If I fall, then the Xu-Dao Alliance—even with your Divine Demon Dao Sea—will surely end in failure!"