Chapter 431: Little Deputy City Lord, Wake Up, You Can't Sleep...

Boom!

A roaring blast.

Figures scattered everywhere.

When that beam of light shot skyward, even the Night Watchman couldn't stay seated. He instantly sprang from his chair, his eyes wide with profound shock as he stared at Xu Xiaoshou.

"Is this an alchemy explosion?"

Had he not witnessed it himself, if someone else had told him the City Lord's Mansion was under attack, he would have believed them without a second thought.

"Save them!" Shi Ti roared loudly.

He knew the damage Xu Xiaoshou's alchemy explosion could cause, so he could provide immediate protection. However, to protect the lives of those nearby, his first instinct wasn't to rush towards the sky-piercing beam. Instead, he shot into the air and pulled down all the people who had been flung upwards. If these people had been blasted high up and exploded with the force, there would undoubtedly have been nothing left of them.

"Save me!" Xu Xiaoshou shrieked in alarm as well. The power of 'Cinderflame Condensation' combined with the top-grade sixth-rank spiritual medicine clearly exceeded his control. But he was lucky. The explosive attack, which 'Reverberation' couldn't withstand, instead propelled Xu Xiaoshou horizontally, causing him to rapidly escape the scene.

With a shattering sound, Xu Xiaoshou's body slammed directly into a wall panel, then was blasted out of the banquet hall. He stared in disbelief at the beam of light in the hall and at President Shi Ti, who was frantically trying to save the people flying into the air.

"We're done for." If that thing exploded, never mind the banquet hall, half the City Lord's Mansion would be gone!

"Get back here!" At the critical moment, the Night Watchman finally regained his composure. He remembered the boast he had made earlier. If he couldn't protect these people, he'd have no face to leave this place tonight.

"Coalesce!" With a shout, the Night Watchman clasped his hands together, and a terrifying force erupted. He actually embraced the astonishing beam in mid-air, clamping it down.

Buzz!

After saving the vast majority of people, Shi Ti's domain finally settled over them. For the rest, he was powerless to help.

Buzz!

Another layer formed, and the Night Watchman's domain transformed directly into a columnar shape, restraining the beam. Their impromptu cooperation was seamless: one saved people, the other saved the pillar. But the contained explosion would eventually burst forth.

Rumble—

The earth-shattering sound finally erupted violently after the beam's energy reached its peak. The Night Watchman's domain suppressed everything, but the confinement within a small area caused waves of explosive force to push outwards repeatedly, then rebound. In this cyclical process, the damage the Night Watchman was currently enduring alone was several times that of the explosion itself.

"Ugh!" Suddenly, the Night Watchman's body trembled. He widened his eyes, which bulged, and his Adam's apple moved. It was as if some unexpected situation had occurred due to his underestimation.

After a silent ripple, the scene was quiet for half a breath. The explosive energy was completely halted, but the instantaneous airwave it generated swept across the entire hall during that half-breath. From the outer wall of the banquet hall, Xu Xiaoshou could clearly see that the visible airwave, after sweeping over everyone's clothes, blasted everything apart.

Bang, bang, bang—

The floor, the banquets, the food... Even the crowd that had been pulled back to the ground earlier, barely regaining a sense of security, was once again thrown into disarray, tumbling through the air.

Boom!

The circular outer wall of the banquet hall seemed to be blasted through from the middle, suddenly exploding outwards and shooting towards the approaching white-robed guards, who, though unaware of the exact cause, knew the place was under attack. With a crash, another group of people instantly fell.

Xu Xiaoshou froze. He lay prostrate, head tucked in, feeling the aftershocks on the ground, his mind in turmoil.

"What the hell, isn't this a bit much?"

As far as the eye could see, the entire banquet hall was gone. This was all thanks to Shi Ti's domain barrier, which not only stopped the people who had been blasted away but also contained the storm's spread, keeping the explosion confined to such a small area. Looking back at the scene, essentially only a few Sovereigns were still standing.

Zhang Taiying was already dumbfounded. He had only managed to grab the feet of two nearby people who had been flung, and just as he was about to offer more support, he was momentarily stunned by the shockwave of the explosion.

This scene... His eye twitched. Hadn't the Zhang Manor been similarly blasted that day? It was just that being so close now, the sensation was entirely different from the slight tremor felt back then.

"Xu Xiaoshou... so that's how the East District was destroyed..." he murmured, his face extremely grim.

Apart from a few standing Sovereigns, those at Grandmaster rank and below were either hanging on piles of rubble or had flown to unknown locations. Those old alchemists were, without a doubt, all buried under the newly churned up debris.

Of course, these people were still fortunate. The most bewildered, however, were the old men who were directly swept away and had their furnaces explode from within the protective barriers, only to open their eyes to a doomsday-like scene. Heaven knows, the trauma of this moment might never fade, even when they die.

"My bad." Xu Xiaoshou blinked, a little embarrassed. "'Cinderflame Condensation' shouldn't be this powerful, should it? Could it be that the higher the grade of the spiritual medicine used with that old man's broken condensation technique, the greater the power?" At a moment when he should have felt guilty, a thought suddenly clicked in his mind, as if he had been enlightened, and his eyes lit up.

Just then, a suppressed roar came.

"Xu... Xiao... Shou!"

Shi Ti, who had protected everything, had already turned green in the face. He was disheveled, his voice distorted and horribly grating.

"Present!" Xu Xiaoshou immediately poked his head out of a pile of dirt, waving as he replied, "No need to worry, President, I'm fine."

The scene fell silent for a moment.

'Received Curse, Passive Points, 1420.''Received Resentment, Passive Points, 1356.''Received Fear, Passive Points, 1020.''Received Insult, Passive Points, 1211.'

At this moment, the message log scrolled at an unprecedented, frantic pace, more impressive than frequent 'Attacked' notifications. And almost every passive point update was no less than four digits!

"Ahem." Only then did Xu Xiaoshou realize he might have misunderstood President Shi Ti's intent.

"Let's talk about accountability later, first save people. The explosion wasn't intentional, I only wish... huh? The commotion has settled?" Xu Xiaoshou said smoothly.

Shi Ti was speechless. His mood at this moment was a mix of emotions; he desperately wanted to vent something using the most venomous language. But after searching his vocabulary, he found no sufficiently insulting words, couldn't bring himself to say them, and furthermore, didn't know what attitude to adopt in the face of all this.

"Holy crap!"

The crowd held it in for a long time, until finally, a terrified, trembling voice, striving to express its urge to complain, coalesced into those two words, followed by a shaky trailing sound.

"What the hell, is this an alchemy explosion?"

After that one exclamation, everyone finally came to their senses.

"Damn you, Xu Xiaoshou! Get out here and see if I don't beat you to death!"

"You damn well did that on purpose! What the hell were you refining just now, explosives?"

"Xu Xiaoshou, where are you? Get out here and face your death!"

"Mmm, can't speak, move away, what's in my mouth?"

"Can't move, my leg's broken."

"Leg? Toe? Ugh, crap!"

Hearing the curses, Xu Xiaoshou immediately flicked out several sword qi blasts, destroying the scattered luminous pearls on the ground that were still struggling to emit light. Night, at last, smoothed over all the sins.

The curses of the crowd grew feeble, and the scene finally seemed to quiet down. The wind blew, carrying with it a mournful aura, and also bringing additional sounds that didn't belong to the resentful crowd.

Flutter... flutter...Flutter... flutter...

Shi Ti's pupils contracted. Hearing that familiar sound, his heart seemed to seize up, directly clenching.

"Be careful, that kind of flame, perceive it with your spiritual sense!"

The others were still clueless, but some individuals near the explosion's center began screaming heartbreakingly.

"Ah—"

"What the hell is that? Ghost fire?"

"'Cinderflame Heavenly Incineration'?" Xu Xiaoshou was startled and immediately rushed over. With a single inhale, he sucked the tiny leaked flames into his abdomen. "Good thing, good thing, that Red Robe was strong; he didn't let this explosion burst open. Otherwise, with Cinderflame spreading everywhere, even Shi Ti might not have been able to put out the fire..." As soon as Xu Xiaoshou imagined his all-consuming Cinderflame Heavenly Incineration engulfing half the City Lord's Mansion, he immediately felt a pang of guilt.

Just then, he suddenly felt his feet leave the ground; he was floating.

"Hmm?"

Turning his head, he saw Shi Ti's rustic and ferocious face appear before him under the dim moonlight. And Xu Xiaoshou was directly suspended by his clothes.

Whoosh!

Shi Ti flicked his finger, and a bright flame shot into the sky, finally restoring some clarity to the area. Once everyone could finally see with their own eyes, they looked around the entire banquet hall and collectively fell silent.

"Just now half-ruined, now completely gone?"

"What the hell, this isn't alchemy! Others do alchemy for money; Xu Xiaoshou does alchemy for lives!"

Everyone withdrew their gazes in shock, then focused their attention on Xu Xiaoshou, who was being held up with nowhere to hide.

"Hehe." Xu Xiaoshou offered his most sincere smile, only to find his facial muscles stiff. He immediately said, smiling thinly, "No need to panic, just a small mishap, hehe."

"Just an alchemy explosion, a necessary skill for every alchemist, right?" He turned back to Shi Ti, "Right? Right?"

Shi Ti was trembling with anger. He pointed at Xu Xiaoshou, grimacing, and couldn't utter a single word.

"You call this... an alchemy explosion?" Among the crowd below, someone finally couldn't wait to speak for President Shi Ti.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced over, "Otherwise? I didn't do it on purpose. Besides, before I started the furnace, I already asked if you really wanted to stay this close? You all said it was fine!" He looked at the Night Watchman. By this time, the Night Watchman had single-handedly absorbed all the damage. The hand that had supported the domain was gray, and even after he retracted it, it still trembled slightly. This was, of course, not from being blasted. To be honest, if it weren't for the crowd, this minor explosion would be nothing to the Night Watchman. His body trembled simply because he felt deceived.

Now, the Night Watchman, who had been on edge the entire time, guarding against Xu Xiaoshou's alchemy explosion and wondering why Shi Ti had opened his domain so early, understood everything. This guy's alchemy explosions were completely different from everyone else's!

Xu Xiaoshou looked at him, and before he could speak, mimicked his tone, saying, "You said it wouldn't be a big problem. With your protection, I dared to go all out."

"Hm?" Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow, trying to pull a partner onto his side.

The Night Watchman's lip twitched, and veins bulged on his neck. These were exactly the words he had spoken before Xu Xiaoshou started the furnace. But hearing them now, they felt laden with heavy sarcasm. Should he save face, or should he retaliate against Xu Xiaoshou and vent his frustration?

"Yes, it's not a big problem..." The Night Watchman spread his hands, looked around at the expressions of those who had survived the ordeal, and then his gaze fell on Xu Xiaoshou's face, a face that made one want to punch it.

"Not a big problem, my ass!"

"Damn it, I'm going to cripple you today!" The Night Watchman, with a fierce expression, charged forward, raising his fist.

Xu Xiaoshou was baffled. He never expected that the usually silent, nodding Red Robe would need such a simple reason to act, and what a temper... Oh right, this guy came from the White Cave; what human societal rules would he care about?

"Fu Xing, save me!" Xu Xiaoshou shrieked miserably. He arched his waist, sprang directly from Shi Ti's grasp, then ducked low and darted towards the Night Watchman's waist from the direction he had come.

"This speed..." The Night Watchman, who hadn't reacted in time, realized he had not only underestimated the power of Xu Xiaoshou's alchemy explosion but had also severely underestimated the boy's reactions and physical speed. He hadn't intended to use much force with that punch, just wanted to hit Xu Xiaoshou's face to let everyone vent their frustration. After all, in such circumstances, for Xu Xiaoshou to get away unscathed, he clearly needed an excuse.

Shi Ti was equally stunned. He also wanted to catch Xu Xiaoshou, but the guy was like a hedgehog; that instant arch of his body and the irresistible reverberation force allowed him to escape for a moment, even though Shi Ti had been prepared.

"Fu Xing..."

"Little Fu, where are you?!" Xu Xiaoshou panicked. Everyone here was an enemy; only Fu Xing was left to rely on.

Wait! Why didn't Fu Xing reply? He suddenly stopped in his tracks. At this point, everyone else also realized something was wrong. With something so huge happening, how could the Vice City Lord still not be out here managing the situation?

Everyone thought for a moment. Just before the explosion, it seemed that the people closest to Xu Xiaoshou weren't all Sovereigns like Shi Ti and the Night Watchman. Fu Xing. As the host. He seemed... to have no choice but to be on the high platform?

"Vice City Lord..."

As everyone quieted down, a faint cry from a white-robed guard finally came from the ruins outside the banquet hall. "Wake up, Vice City Lord..."

"You can't sleep..."

The banquet hall was unusable. However, the crowd didn't fuss over minor details. After gathering a few Earth-elemental Grandmaster-level spirit refiners, everyone worked together to flatten the ruins, then recreated the banquet area with stone tables, making it look quite presentable. No one complained about the City Lord's Mansion. It was as if, after simultaneously enduring brutal torment from the same persecutor, everyone felt a strong sense of unity, looking at their own handiwork with a touch of pride.

As for Xu Xiaoshou... Xu Xiaoshou, covered in bumps, sat on a raised stone stool. Beside him was a girl whose small dress had been muddied. Mu Zixi was arguably the least disheveled person on the scene at that moment. Compared to everyone else's dusty faces, her small face was probably the cleanest. After all, she had been protected well in advance.

"You've lost your qualification for the alchemy competition," she teased.

"I know."

"That Red Robe and President Shi Ti were probably lenient, weren't they?" The young girl couldn't stop smiling.

"Yes."

"But if it were Master... hmm, I don't think I've ever seen Master lay a hand on you?" Mu Zixi suddenly paused. She was happy to see Xu Xiaoshou discomfited. But then she suddenly recalled that Xu Xiaoshou had never been punished, even after committing unspeakable horrors at the Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace.

"Don't even mention it. That old man is dozens of layers deeper than you can imagine. I'd rather he beat me too." Xu Xiaoshou covered his face, surprisingly not allowing most people to see that his injuries had already recovered. Old Sang was different from these guys. Say he's not good? He actually seems quite good. Say he's very good? Yet it feels strange to say, as if something is off. Xu Xiaoshou felt that if he truly admitted it, he would definitely be the kind of person who, after being sold, helped count the money, and still fondly remembered the seller's 'goodness.' At least so far, he could only sense that Old Sang's grand scheme was not yet complete. But given the current progress, nothing could be discerned.

"Brother Xiaoshou, are you alright?" Su Qianqian quietly snuck over from the main table. After Xu Xiaoshou left, she didn't want to stay at that table alone either. Surrounded by old men, she couldn't stand it. Young people should still hang out with young people. Anyway, everyone had lost face by now, so naturally no one would stand up and criticize others' impropriety.

"I'm fine." Xu Xiaoshou lowered his hand and glanced at the host platform, "How's Fu Xing, by the way?"

"He's still there," Su Qianqian said, covering her mouth and chuckling softly. Fu Xing was truly the most miserable person in the entire hall. The explosion had immediately sent him flying, and no one had noticed. When he was finally woken by the white-robed guards, he was screaming hoarsely. It was only when Shi Ti went over that he discovered the boy was still contaminated with 'Cinderflame Heavenly Incineration'... Well, he won't die. With Shi Ti present, there were injuries throughout the hall, but not a single death.

"You're Brother Xiaoshou's junior sister?" Su Qianqian turned to look at Mu Zixi. This was the first time she had seen a girl from within the Spiritual Palace who was about the same height and age, and whose strength was also commendable.

"Junior sister?" Hearing that title, Mu Zixi was startled. She knew about Xu Xiaoshou and Old Sang's 'three-point pact' and was about to shake her head.

"I know," Su Qianqian said. "I already asked my master. Although he didn't say anything, it's obvious to anyone with eyes. I really don't know what there is to hide."

Mu Zixi was taken aback. This was actually her own question too. As long as Xu Xiaoshou's 'Cinderflame Heavenly Incineration' was displayed, anyone who bothered to investigate would definitely be able to link it to Old Sang. She also didn't understand why her master was acting so obviously self-deceptive.

"That's right." Xu Xiaoshou very generously admitted it. Regarding the 'three-point pact,' he initially thought it was for his protection, but later realized it was completely unnecessary; those who wanted to know could easily find out in the end. And now, after gaining a tiny bit of understanding about Old Man Sang, he felt relieved instead. That old man definitely had some unspeakable secret. The existence of the 'three-point pact' defined an apparent eternal rift between him and Old Sang, in the eyes of outsiders. Even if they were fully believed, as long as the two of them didn't admit it, then it wasn't true. And in the adult world, sometimes, things genuinely need to proceed according to specific rules, or rather, evidence. No matter how obvious the inference, without concrete proof, it couldn't become evidence. Old Sang was indeed protecting him. But he was also hiding something. His 'three-point pact' wasn't aimed at people within the Spiritual Palace. Perhaps it was directed at distant... enemies?

Mu Zixi. Su Qianqian. The two young girls seemed to have happily become friends. Xu Xiaoshou didn't pay much attention to them. He shifted his gaze to the newly laid hard dirt floor. Even though the 'time bomb' Xu Xiaoshou was no longer present, no one dared to do alchemy with their protective barriers open. Heaven knows, how much dread and horror the three sixth-rank alchemists felt, realizing they had once done alchemy beside Xu Xiaoshou. Consequently, the crowd below was quietly awaiting the final results from the alchemists while healing themselves. Of course, this quiet was only on the surface. The moment Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes, he could clearly feel the terrifying power of curses contained within this seemingly calm banquet hall.

'Received Curse, Passive Points, 1212.''Received Grudge, Passive Points, 1240.''Received Curses, Passive Points, 1123.'

The alchemy competition was interrupted midway, leaving all alchemists in a highly unstable emotional state. When the final results were announced and the protective barriers lowered, the hall was certainly filled with the aroma of medicine. But the burnt smell mixed within it was also extremely noticeable. The group of old men had clearly never tried alchemy in such a mental state. An alchemy explosion was guaranteed. Yet, many resilient individuals managed to complete their elixirs. Although the quality wasn't good, compared to the other alchemists, it was already a decent result.

The final championship was taken by Long Dan. This old man, instead of presenting his previous 'Grand Clear Spirit Underworld Elixir,' had chosen a seventh-rank elixir. As for Chen Qi and Li Mingji, who still insisted on 'Grandmaster Elixir' and 'Extreme Dao Elixir,' they undoubtedly both failed. Sixth-rank alchemists were certainly impressive. However, a sixth-rank alchemist with an unstable mind, trying to push through, indeed couldn't refine elixirs matching their rank. After all, there was only one Xu Xiaoshou with such resilience.

Long Dan, who had won by a clever tactic, didn't show much pride, or rather, if he did, it wasn't visible. After all, everyone looked the same: covered in dust and grime. In short, after Xu Xiaoshou's departure, the originally harmonious alchemy atmosphere became incredibly bizarre due to his lingering presence.

The annual elixir auction was directly canceled. The reason? The host was still lying on the ground! Fu Yinhong took over. She gazed at the sky, seemingly anticipating something, but until the end, the person she expected did not appear.

"The alchemy competition has ended."

"The trial of the Formation Path, however, will not begin now." Fu Yinhong said, looking at the Night Watchman, "Senior, please announce the rules!"

The Night Watchman stood up and scanned the somewhat quiet atmosphere that had returned.

"The Formation Path competition is very simple," he announced. "As everyone knows, the rules of a dimensional space dictate its internal terrain and the generation of special secret realms. I will provide a spiritual formation map, which has been imprinted from the rules of a dimensional space. Whoever can decipher it... well, to be precise, the allocation of the remaining White Cave slots will ultimately be decided based on how much progress you make in deciphering it. The more you decipher, the more slots you'll receive."

"Of course..." At this point, the Night Watchman revealed a foxy smile, "If, in the end, no one can decipher it, then the remaining slots will be given to whoever *can* decipher this spiritual formation map. Regardless of whether that person is present here or not!"

At this, everyone was astonished. Originally, they were very pleased with what the Night Watchman had said earlier about getting early access to the White Cave's terrain formation map. After all, even if they couldn't fully decipher it, they should at least be able to memorize some parts! And considering what the Night Watchman had brought out, combined with his previous declaration to invite all formation masters in the world, this spiritual formation map must be an extremely important terrain map from the White Cave, perhaps even of its central area.

"But..." Listening to this Senior Red Robe, does it mean this spiritual formation map will be circulated later? Will those who haven't arrived yet also be able to see it?" Everyone panicked. This was not good news. If too many people knew, wouldn't the information they had gained in advance lose all its meaning?

The Night Watchman watched these groups of three to five, collectively pondering, and secretly found it amusing. If it could really be so easily deciphered by unprepared people like you here, would I, the Night Watchman, have bothered to invite all the formation masters in the world earlier? A map that even the Red Robe Organization hasn't fully understood—among those present, even if there are formation masters, they probably wouldn't even be able to get through the door! However, hope needed to be given, and he couldn't just crush their spirits outright.

"Now, the competition begins." The Night Watchman took out rows of jade slips. "Formation masters who are interested and wish to try can come forward. Remember, only formation masters may take one; I don't have many jade slips."

Everyone's footsteps paused; a large number of people were originally about to surge forward to memorize the spiritual formation map. But this last remark directly forced everyone to sit back down. Thus, in the end, only about twenty-odd family factions that happened to bring formation masters with them stepped forward, filled with anticipation.

"Damn it, we missed the first-hand opportunity. Later, to get this spiritual formation map, who knows how much it will cost."

"Yeah, what a loss! If I had known there would be a formation competition, I should have invited my old master out of retirement!"

"This wave directly cost us a hundred million... huh?"

The crowd below was discussing, when suddenly their voices ceased, as abruptly as if a saint had sealed their lips. The Night Watchman looked up in bewilderment, suddenly seeing everyone's eyes converge on one spot.

"Xu Xiaoshou?" His face instantly darkened. "Why are you standing up?"

"Hehe." Xu Xiaoshou was no longer intimidated by the Night Watchman at this point. As for the three punches this guy had thrown at his face earlier, the kick to his stomach, and the slap to his backside... he remembered every single bit of force used, clearly.

"What, looking down on me?" Xu Xiaoshou puffed out his chest, striding majestically, and shouted loudly:

"I, Xu Xiaoshou, am a Formation Master!"

"Challenge me if you dare!"