Chapter 439: Absurd Victory, Unanswerable Doubt

A small hand gently touched Xu Xiaoshou’s shoulder.

This was A-Jie’s second time seeing the demonic aura on "Mama." As part of its mission, it unhesitatingly struck again.

However, before the absorption could begin, Xu Xiaoshou, in his berserk giant form, turned his red eyes, showing a hint of conscious awareness.

"Wait, wait..." he stammered, seemingly trying to endure the pain through sheer willpower.

A-Jie stopped. It looked at Xu Xiaoshou curiously, seemingly surprised that "Mama" could recover on his own.

But the large figure on the other side was clearly losing control.

Snapping out of the stupor that followed Zhang Taiying's impact, Xin Gugu, now an out-of-control parasitic fiendbeast host, could no longer restrain his murderous urges.

However, just as he barely turned to attack the berserk giant beside him, A-Jie floated over and placed its palm against his forehead.

"Whoosh!" A black beam of light traveled along A-Jie's arm and merged into its body.

Immediately after, the ancient mammoth ox head on Xin Gugu’s back swayed and then shattered with a bang.

Deprived of its power, the figure shrunk rapidly like a deflating balloon. Then, its legs gave out, and it tumbled from the air.

A-Jie withdrew its hand, its gaze following downwards until a "thud" from the ground indicated the unconscious human lying there.

"Argh—" Xu Xiaoshou roared in agony.

He recalled that the last time he had entered the berserk giant form, he had almost managed to control the ability. He had originally anticipated that this time, when activating his awakening skill, he would have ample experience to maintain his consciousness.

Unfortunately, he had not entered the berserk giant state through normal means; instead, he had used external objects, which was clearly outside his past experience.

"Still out of control..." By then, all the memories from his time as the berserk giant had returned. He hadn't completely blacked out. A little progress!

Reading his memories, Xu Xiaoshou clearly understood the ridiculous way he and Xin Gugu, in their fiendbeast forms, had attacked the Empress Illusion. It was absurd!

Fists? Such a waste of power! If he had been conscious and could independently control the berserk giant, combined with his other powerful skills, he definitely wouldn't have spent half the day attacking without breaking Zhang Taiying's defense!

Fortunately, A-Jie had stepped in at the end...

"One kick?" Xu Xiaoshou felt numb. It seemed every time A-Jie appeared, its combat power changed constantly, adapting to his enemies.

"That foot odor..." "Pah!" "That Void Power?" "A-Jie actually has Void Power too?"

Xu Xiaoshou clutched his throbbing forehead, disbelieving.

Was this fellow’s combat power continuously growing with time, ever since it left Tianxuan Gate?

Or was A-Jie inherently imbued with such abilities the moment it was created?

Xu Xiaoshou felt the former was unlikely. His own cultivation and combat power had advanced remarkably fast; it would be hard to find anyone in the world comparable. But A-Jie... He had never seen this fellow cultivate, so how could its combat power have increased so quickly?

But! To say this fellow was imbued with Void Power the moment it was created... How could that be? If so, who created A-Jie, what method was used, and how could it retain such intelligence? Most importantly... Why was it kept within Tianxuan Gate's dual seals?

Xu Xiaoshou felt he might have truly overlooked something. The horrified and slightly terrified reactions of Dean Ye Xiaotian and Elder Qiao when A-Jie was taken out of Tianxuan Gate resurfaced in his mind.

"Yes, at that time, why didn't I realize..." "How terrifying A-Jie truly is, to be feared by two such individuals: a top-tier spatial-attribute Throne and a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays?"

Xu Xiaoshou had indeed pondered this question before. But at that time, his understanding of the concept of a Throne was not so deep. Naturally, his thoughts couldn't reach such a profound level.

But today, witnessing this fellow shatter the "Empress Illusion" with a single kick, he finally realized how terrifying this little boy, who only called out "Mama," truly was.

"No, when I return to the Spirit Palace, I must find an opportunity to ask for clarification." "Both the Dean and Old Man Sang should know; they are hiding something."

Xu Xiaoshou now felt that the Tiansang Spirit Palace was somewhat abnormal. In the past, he was young, superficial, and naive. He simply didn't understand the true concept of a spatial-attribute Throne, a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays, or the seemingly invincible Vice-Dean, Old Sang.

Looking back now, these people were clearly not right! What kind of Spirit Palace could be so terrifyingly powerful? At least, besides those so-called elders, probably any one of the actual governing members could easily overpower the Thrones he had encountered so far.

And these formidable individuals, a den of vipers... ugh, gathered together, and they were also hiding A-Jie, this ultimate weapon?

"Strange, too strange!"

He stopped thinking further. Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare to think too much. With Xin Gugu falling to the ground, the barrier was clearly about to collapse. The rapidly dissipating power probably couldn't even withstand a single attack from an ordinary Throne.

But clearly, he wasn't the only one shocked by A-Jie's kick; the five... four Thrones outside were equally stunned!

What his "Perception" saw was that, besides Fu Zhi, who had been incidentally kicked away and was still missing, the other four had not yet recovered from that sudden, piercing strike.

Taking advantage of this opening, Xu Xiaoshou hurriedly shoved the fallen Xin Gugu into his Origin Realm, and temporarily ushered A-Jie in as well.

If it weren't for his recent conjecture, Xu Xiaoshou might have indeed let A-Jie take the blame. But now, A-Jie's secret was potentially even more astonishing than that of a parasitic fiendbeast host. How could he possibly expose A-Jie's existence and risk losing something greater for something minor?

Having finished the remaining cleanup work, Xu Xiaoshou’s golden giant form was rapidly losing cohesion. He swayed, his body beginning to crack, about to burst apart.

"Brother." Just then, a plaintive call came from behind him, near the ground. "Brother, what about me, Xu Xiaoji? Have you forgotten me?"

Xu Xiaoji had originally transformed into a small stone, intending to be a "Lord of the Ground" for ten thousand years—the kind that only hides and never fights.

Unexpectedly, this "Lord of the Ground" almost got blown to smithereens by thousands of compressed fire seeds while halfway through his hiding.

Subsequently, Xu Xiaoji, having recovered with his powerful regeneration, was probably the only one present who was fully intact and conscious, thus perfectly witnessing the insane scene that had just unfolded.

The Empress Illusion, the parasitic fiendbeast host, the berserk giant, and A-Jie... Heaven knew what a terrifying impression this bloody spectacle had left on Xu Xiaoji's young mind.

He was just a passerby! He had merely followed his inner calling, wanting to seek out traces of the "Heavenly Pivot Mechanism"! Why, why did he have to see these things?

It turned out that Xu Xiaoshou's accessories weren't just limited to "Grandpa Jie" being impressive. The rest, including Xu Xiaoshou himself, were all on the level of "Grandpa"! How could Xu Xiaoji be worthy enough to witness such a magnificent spectacle?

"There's no way out..." If he had harbored thoughts of escape before, at this moment, Xu Xiaoji had completely dismissed that notion.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that sometimes, as a person, seeing things one shouldn't meant the best outcome was to at least leave a complete corpse. But he didn't want to die! So, how to survive under the death glare of peak-level existences like "Grandpa Shou," "Grandpa Jie," and "Grandpa Gu" became the problem.

"Origin Realm!" The moment he saw Xin Gugu and A-Jie enter the Origin Realm, Xu Xiaoji knew his chance had arrived.

Unlike others, Grandpa Shou even possessed something as precious as an Origin Realm. With his intelligence, combined with the almost unsolvable unique existence of the Origin Realm, he might just be able to secure a sliver of hope with his silver tongue after this struggle in the City Lord's Mansion.

"I want to go in!" "Brother, Brother Shou, I want to follow you!" Xu Xiaoji cried out these words almost in a sobbing voice.

Deep down, he felt that following Xu Xiaoshou was definitely not a good life. But it seemed that everything had been predetermined from the moment he failed to extort this guy at the City Lord's Mansion gates. Not following meant death!

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for only a second before throwing Xu Xiaoji, who had reverted to human form, into his Origin Realm. At that moment, he didn't have much time for miscellaneous matters. Whether Xu Xiaoji deserved to die or live, these things could be resolved later once they were inside the Origin Realm.

"What a good thing!" Indeed, the Origin Realm was an excellent possession. Without it, Xu Xiaoshou truly wouldn't have dared to execute today's plan!

"Bang!" As the cleanup concluded, Xu Xiaoshou's berserk giant form abruptly exploded, sending golden specks of light raining down like scattered hail, a beautiful sight.

A heavy sense of weakness instantly washed over him. In that instant, Xu Xiaoshou felt his entire body had been hollowed out; he couldn't even manage to twitch the corners of his mouth. He slammed onto the ground with a thud, his eyelids grew heavy, and he felt himself about to faint.

"Just sleep!" He didn't resist; the best state for him right now was deep sleep. Unconsciousness could refuse all conversations.

Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes. The end!

"It's over." The red barrier before them slowly dissipated. What remained, however, were the boundless spirit patterns enveloping the area.

Shou Ye hadn't deliberately destroyed them; he was waiting. It wasn't until the person sent to retrieve Fu Zhi returned that he asked, "How was it?"

Fu Zhi's entire old face was flushed. As a Throne, he hadn't even had time to react, getting directly smashed away by that sudden "butt" from inside the barrier. What terrifying speed!

Returning like this, the battle had indeed concluded. Looking at the spirit array before them, which, due to the lingering spirit patterns, ironically prevented Shou Ye from entering, Fu Zhi's old face flushed with embarrassment again.

"No matter." He waved his hand, directly dismantling the spirit array he had set up.

Everyone looked over simultaneously. Then, their lips twitched in unison. This wasn't a battlefield! Was this hell?!

As far as the eye could see, there wasn't a single intact stone larger than a palm! Deep pits covered the ground, most of them dozens of feet deep. Scorched, seeping with water... all were present.

Most importantly, the void was completely shattered. The scattered spatial walls looked as if they had been struck with permanent, fixed damage; even though they were slowly healing at a snail's pace, black cracks still appeared intermittently. The black holes' suction force stirred up dust everywhere, chaotically.

"This place, I reckon, won't be suitable for people for three to five years." Feng Ma sighed.

This was what a battle between Thrones looked like. At full power, space simply couldn't withstand it. Fortunately, these individuals had the conscience to activate a barrier. Otherwise, the City Lord's Mansion's most urgent task would likely be to hold a housewarming ceremony.

"The stench, it's too strong..." Shou Ye murmured. The moment the barrier dispersed and the spirit array opened, the completely unconcealed putrid smell from within almost made people vomit on the spot!

"A parasitic fiendbeast host definitely wasn't missed..." "But a parasitic fiendbeast host bold enough to bare its fangs before a Redguard? This is truly the first time I, Shou Ye, have seen such a thing!" Shou Ye snorted coldly.

Everyone was silent. They knew that allowing a parasitic fiendbeast host into the City Lord's Mansion was itself a dereliction of duty. However, as things stood, it only showed that the fiendbeast host that entered this time was too powerful, and their usual vigilance was too weak. Pursuing accountability was pointless; self-reflection was enough.

"A person." Liu Jing pointed to a nearly breathless half-corpse floating in a watery pit on the ground, reminding them.

Everyone turned their heads to look. Although the battle aura was intense here, indeed, the only living being remaining was this one.

"Xu Xiaoshou?" And upon seeing the person's face clearly, even Shou Ye was astonished.

"It's really Xu Xiaoshou?" Feng Ma felt completely unsettled. He suddenly realized, could it be that even Xu Xiaoshou asking him to visit the old City Lord earlier was for this very moment? But... How high was Xu Xiaoshou's cultivation? How could he be here? And lying here as the sole survivor!

"Brother Shou?" Fu Zhi's spontaneous exclamation astonished everyone even further.

Liu Jing and Feng Ma were relatively okay; they had heard Xu Xiaoshou's nonsense before, and even if they didn't believe it, they had some mental preparation. But Qiu Xuan and Shou Ye were instantly shocked.

"You really know him?" Shou Ye asked.

"Of course." Fu Zhi immediately recalled their encounter in the sea of flowers. "This fellow's mastery of spirit arrays—no, or rather, his mastery of Heavenly Secrets—is extremely powerful, a level I can't even hope to match." Fu Zhi exclaimed, "How could I not know him?"

"Spirit arrays, the Way of Heavenly Secrets..." Shou Ye's pupils constricted. If he had previously doubted Xu Xiaoshou's mastery of spirit arrays, now, with just a single word from Fu Zhi, he was convinced that this fellow was truly skilled.

Nothing was more credible than the words of a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays present at the scene, and no other endorsement could be more convincing than such an affirmation from the arrogant Fu Zhi, as Shou Ye knew him. Fu Zhi, in terms of spirit arrays, was an existence comparable to the Redguards!

If he spoke like that, then Xu Xiaoshou's ability to instantly break the "Thirty-Six Heavenly Seal Array" of the White Cave was absolutely certain!

A storm raged in Shou Ye's heart. So, the conclusion that the Redguards' Grandmasters of Spirit Arrays had researched for three months... This fellow had genuinely achieved it in mere moments?

"What is to be done..." At this point, even the Redguards were in a dilemma. Such a genius, such a figure... Why did you have to get involved with fiendbeasts?!

"The person who sent you flying just now, was that Zhang Taiying?" he asked with a heavy heart.

Fu Zhi nodded.

"What happened to him?"

"He exploded." Fu Zhi replied.

Thinking of this former rival with whom he had once competed, he felt a bit wary. Gone! The Head of the Zhang family had been blasted away and exploded in the City Lord's Mansion! Utterly annihilated! And the person responsible, possibly... just possibly! Was Xu Xiaoshou...

"No doubt about it." Unlike Fu Zhi's slightly hesitant mindset, Shou Ye immediately drew a conclusion. He looked at Liu Jing and said, "It seems your intelligence was quite accurate." "Xu Xiaoshou and Zhang Taiying really did fight in the City Lord's Mansion." "However, the true events, the fiendbeast it lured out, and the shocking outcome..." Shou Ye fell silent.

This whole mess was too absurd and troublesome! An Origin Court realm cultivator slaying a Throne?

"Wake him up." Shou Ye sighed. With only one person involved, it would be extremely difficult to handle the situation. How would they explain this? It would all depend on Xu Xiaoshou's words! And Xu Xiaoshou's words... Shou Ye felt dejected again. He had experienced them fully in the banquet hall.

"What should flee cannot escape." "At least, within the barrier at that time, there were no less than two fiendbeasts!" Saying this, Shou Ye looked at Fu Zhi and sneered, "If both Zhang Taiying and Xu Xiaoshou were fiendbeasts, then your position as City Lord might not last long."

Fu Zhi's lips twitched, and he waved his hand down. "Wake him, wake him!" "Let's first hear what Brother Shou... what this fellow has to say!"

Qiu Xuan responded and flew over, directly dragging Xu Xiaoshou, who was like a pile of mud, back.

"Exhaustion, shock..." Shou Ye felt Xu Xiaoshou's pulse and nodded, saying, "This perfectly matches the state of a parasitic fiendbeast host after exiting its abnormal form. Without a doubt, he is a fiendbeast." "My thought is, better safe than sorry; we should just cut him down here and now to see what comes out of him."

Fu Zhi's face darkened. But he also knew Shou Ye was joking. How could they simply cut down the sole human witness? "We're not at the bottom of this yet!" he said, then pulled out a pill and fed it to Xu Xiaoshou.

"Huu..." "Huu..." The young man's body reacted. As his breathing intensified, his reactions became more vigorous. "Huff, huff!" "Ergh, ergh..." "Mmm..."

Everyone was bewildered. Listening to the increasingly strange sounds, everyone's expressions changed. "Mmhmm." After an uncontrollable moan, and as his convulsing body stopped trembling, Xu Xiaoshou finally ended those enticing guttural sounds.

The next second, his Qi Sea surged, and spiritual energy pulsed. Invisible gusts of wind brushed against their clothes, enlightenment dawned, and the Dao aura of breaking through a realm spontaneously arose. Xu Xiaoshou had broken through. Origin Court realm, Peak!

Everyone fell silent. Looking at the young man slowly regaining consciousness and opening his eyelids, even Shou Ye didn't know what to say.

After fighting for his life, he simply lay down, waiting for someone to give him medicine. And then, he even broke through. Breaking through was one thing, but what was that whole series of noises you made beforehand?

After holding it in for a long time, Shou Ye finally uttered two words with a sullen face. "What a character."

"Hmm?" When Xu Xiaoshou awoke again, he felt great.

"Full of vitality" plus "endless life" shouldn't have eliminated the berserk giant's after-effects so quickly. Combined with his breakthrough, there was no doubt Fu Zhi had used a powerful elixir!

"Brother, thanks." "It's a good thing you arrived in time; otherwise, you might not have seen me again."

Fu Zhi was about to smile. "Hmph!" With a snort, Shou Ye's eyes suddenly turned cold.

"Yes, one moment later, and you'd have scurried back to your rat hole, wouldn't you?"

Xu Xiaoshou paused, startled. "Rat hole?" He seemed to realize something, an expression of understanding dawning on his face. "You mean those fiendbeast things, right..." "Senior Shou Ye, do you believe me?" he asked.

Shou Ye was suddenly stumped by the question. It wasn't a difficult question to answer. But coming from Xu Xiaoshou, why did it feel so baffling? "I believe you, my foot!" "Don't believe me?" "I... Do I have the right not to believe you... Can I?"

For the first time, Shou Ye doubted his own rhetorical skills. Seeing Xu Xiaoshou's expression, he knew this fellow was about to argue. But could he just execute this guy on the spot without evidence, without giving him a chance to speak?

"Yes!" "There's evidence!" Shou Ye recalled the roars of the two fiendbeasts; Xu Xiaoshou and Zhang Taiying each had one, which fit perfectly. Now Zhang Taiying was dead. If he killed this fellow immediately, that would be the end of it. But... that was just a conjecture after all...

"I know Senior Shou Ye doesn't believe me, but I still have to say something..." Xu Xiaoshou said, hesitating as he saw everyone remain silent. He knew that at this moment, he couldn't argue or force an explanation. Explaining was just covering up. So.

"Zhang Taiying, I killed him." This firm statement made everyone's minds reel for a moment. Even though they knew this might be the outcome, hearing it from a mere Innate Realm cultivator who had just broken through to the peak of the Origin Court realm in front of them, everyone was still stunned.

"How did you kill him?" Shou Ye glared.

"With a kick." Everyone: "..."

Shou Ye's murderous intent was almost uncontrollable: "Xu Xiaoshou, remember, you are suspected of being a parasitic fiendbeast host, with ninety-nine percent probability!" "I, a Redguard, have the right to execute you on the spot!"

Xu Xiaoshou glared back, unwilling to back down: "You dare!" He then burrowed deeper into Qiu Xuan's embrace, and looked at Fu Zhi to the side, "My elder brother is here; how can you act so recklessly?"

Shou Ye trembled with rage. Fu Zhi felt he couldn't stay silent any longer. He reminded him, "Shou Ye is also my elder brother."

Xu Xiaoshou was now at a loss. He seemed to have just realized Shou Ye's esteemed status, and shivered: "I'm sorry, I was impulsive."

"Detail the process of the killing." Shou Ye had lost patience: "If you add any more unnecessary details, I will execute you on the spot."

"Oh." Xu Xiaoshou saw that he could finally embody the role of the eyewitness recounting the full story. He immediately adopted a solemn demeanor, wanting to explain everything that had just happened, precisely, without concealment, and in its entirety. "It happened like this..."