Chapter 449: Four Swords, Sword Spirits?

He returned to the room.

His Qi Sea was already completely full.

Halfway back, after his 'Breathing Technique' absorbed some spiritual energy as a foundation, 'Full of Vigor' began to kick in. In an instant, Xu Xiaoshou's condition had returned to normal.

"Passive Points: 57959."

Xu Xiaoshou pondered once more.

Truth be told, with 'Concealment', he genuinely no longer needed to deliberately suppress his cultivation level.

But this also had a prerequisite.

"If even Sovereigns can't currently discern my cultivation, then these fifty thousand Passive Points can be directly allocated to the 'Breathing Technique'."

Xu Xiaoshou knew the benefits of passive cultivation. To date, his total self-cultivation time combined didn't even exceed a single day. Yet his cultivation realm was so solid, without any signs of instability. Undoubtedly, the greatest contributor was the 'Breathing Technique', which had always been there, quietly exerting its power in the background.

Furthermore, there was the terrifying inhale during battle. Whether it was siphoning spiritual energy from others' bodies or pills from their hands, such unexpected moves were often the key to determining the outcome of a battle. And at the Innate level, he believed the power of that crucial inhale would definitely not be as great as at the Grandmaster level.

"So..."

Xu Xiaoshou composed himself and made up his mind. Instead of impulsively allocating the skill points, he touched his chest, and his entire being dissolved into points of light, disappearing.

Yuanfu.

Today's Yuanfu surprised Xu Xiaoshou. He saw that the various poisonous flowers and exotic herbs near the Spirit Pool, nourished by abundant life energy, had broken through their seeds and sprouted. The fastest growing ones were already taller than a person.

The ground was also no longer barren. Instead, it was covered by a strange purple vine-like creeping vegetation that dyed the entire Yuanfu ground. Of course, even the poisonous plants couldn't penetrate the area with the chaotic mist.

"A horror park?" Xu Xiaoshou was momentarily stunned, before finally regaining his wits from the completely transformed Yuanfu space.

"Meow."

A low meow.

Little White Cat, Gluttonous God, had clearly recovered from its drunken stupor in Xu Xiaoshou's Yuan Court space. As soon as it saw Xu Xiaoshou enter, it immediately fluttered up from beneath the Life Spirit Imprint and leaped onto the young man's shoulder. It seemed to have completely lost its shyness, rubbing hard against Xu Xiaoshou's face.

"What's going on?"

Xu Xiaoshou flicked a finger, sending Gluttonous God flying. It didn't get angry. Seeing no particular reaction from Xu Xiaoshou, it leisurely entered the Spirit Pool and once again played house with the various spirit fish. Only then did Xu Xiaoshou notice that even the spirit fish now had some purplish-black patterns on their bodies. Clearly, the Yuanfu space, filled with life energy and poisonous mist, was causing the creatures within to mutate in an undesirable direction.

"This..." For a moment, Xu Xiaoshou didn't know if this outcome was delightful or if he should feel sad. But since there wasn't much poisonous mist and it wouldn't affect him, he didn't pay it too much mind.

"The planting plan can be realized."

"In that case, he could indeed search for some spirit herb seeds in the future, or even transplant an entire medicinal garden here."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded, satisfied. As for whether the poisonous mist and spirit herbs would interfere with each other, in his opinion, it was not a problem at all. When the time came, he would just need to divide the two into different areas and set up some spirit formations; even if they wanted to interfere with each other, they wouldn't be able to.

"Awake?" Walking to the front of the broken tower of the Scripture Repository, Xu Xiaoshou asked Xin Gugu, who looked dispirited. To kill Zhang Taiying, this guy had directly transformed into a ghost beast. Exhausted after the battle, he had been thrown into the Yuanfu by Xu Xiaoshou. Evidently, even with such abundant life spiritual energy here, this guy's after-effects still hadn't healed.

"This is the difference between having 'Endless Life' and 'Full of Vigor'." Xu Xiaoshou remarked with emotion. He had also transformed into a Berserk Giant, but after a single sleep, he was already fine, as if nothing had happened.

"I'm awake." Xin Gugu saw that the newcomer was Xu Xiaoshou, and only then ended his cultivation state and opened his eyes.

"You..." He frowned as he looked up. "Have you broken through? Or..."

"Received Suspicion Passive Points, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou was amused. This was exactly the result he wanted.

"Yes, I broke through."

"Can you tell what my current cultivation level is?"

A hint of confusion flashed in Xin Gugu's eyes. What's going on? A while ago, he could still clearly see this kid's cultivation. Now that this guy had broken through, he couldn't see through him anymore? What a joke! A Sovereign expert couldn't see through the cultivation realm of a mere Innate? Even if Xu Xiaoshou had broken through to Grandmaster now, he should still be able to discern it at a glance! What's more, even if this guy broke through, at most he'd be at the late Yuan Court stage. How could he directly become a Grandmaster?

"Received Suspicion, Passive Points, 1."

"Received Suspicion, Passive Points, 1."

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at Xu Xiaoji, who was cowering with his neck pulled in. Clearly, this second message had come from him. This guy was not simple. Xu Xiaoshou had always known that. Observing the reactions of these two, he knew that his passive skill 'Concealment' had definitely achieved extraordinary results.

"What does it feel like?" He asked again.

Xin Gugu hesitated, "I can't see through your cultivation?"

"That's how it should be." After getting an affirmative answer, Xu Xiaoshou finally smiled. "I cultivated a special, quite powerful spirit skill. It's normal that you can't discern it."

Xin Gugu: "..."

I'm a Sovereign! No matter what spirit skill you cultivate, I should be able to discern it. That's what's normal!

"Received Curse, Passive Points, 1."

Verification successful.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't dwell on the matter any longer. His gaze swept around, and he suddenly noticed A'Jie standing at a distance. And in front of it was the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc'.

"A'Jie is actually interested in the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc'?" Xu Xiaoshou was surprised. This was the first time he had noticed another special reaction from A'Jie, besides its fondness for battle, bloodshed, and 'Mama'.

"I'll talk to you later." He told Xin Gugu and temporarily put aside the plans in his mind. Xu Xiaoshou walked to the other side.

The Yuanfu seemed even larger. Previously, he had been distracted by the strange transformation here and hadn't noticed at all. Now, Xu Xiaoshou took a walk around and only then discovered that the Yuanfu space was indeed gradually expanding with time. The 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc' had originally been placed next to the chaotic mist. Xu Xiaoshou remembered the location. It clearly hadn't moved, but now it was several zhang away from the chaotic mist. As expected, with the nourishment of the 'Life Spirit Imprint', even if it couldn't fully repair this dilapidated Yuanfu, time could always change everything. After all, that was one of the powerful world-suppressing treasures from the Heaven Mystic Sect's minor world!

"What are you looking at?" He called out softly, and Xu Xiaoshou came to A'Jie's side. Ever since he learned that this guy's origin was far from ordinary, he had been paying close attention to its every action. At this moment, A'Jie was lowering its head, staring at the heavenly mechanism patterns on the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc' with a thoughtful expression in its eyes.

"Is it... learning?" Xu Xiaoshou was shocked. This posture was indeed unequivocally one of learning and absorption. But how could it?

Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou's gaze froze. With the heavenly mechanism patterns of the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc' before him, and the experience gained from 'Textile Mastery' upgrading to Grandmaster level behind him, Xu Xiaoshou could completely perceive the subtly flowing lights on A'Jie's body.

"Heavenly Mechanism Spirit Patterns?" This discovery was an eye-opener for him.

"A'Jie, was it created using Heavenly Mechanism Arts?" Xu Xiaoshou felt as if he had pushed open the door to a new world. To create a semi-intelligent being using Heavenly Mechanism Arts? How powerful must a being be to imbue a created object with a soul!

"Could it be that A'Jie's existence is truly related to that Hall Master of the 'Holy Spirit Hall', Dao Qiongcang?" Rumors said that the current Hall Master of the Holy Spirit Hall, Dao Qiongcang, was the grand master of Heavenly Mechanism Arts. If he said he was second, it was likely no Heavenly Mechanism artist in the world would dare to claim first. And to be able to create something like A'Jie, it would probably take such a great power to barely achieve it, right?

The most spiritual existence Xu Xiaoshou had encountered so far was probably only the Famed Sword. But this was merely spirituality. Special intelligence capable of dialogue, thought, and learning—even the Famed Sword couldn't achieve! He had heard that if a sword's spirituality could continuously grow, it was possible for a Sword Spirit to be born. But such an existence, let alone him, was probably rarely seen by anyone in the world.

"Heavenly Mechanism Arts..." Xu Xiaoshou felt that his 'Textile Mastery' now had another new direction for research. He didn't speak. He quietly observed the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc' and A'Jie. Grandmaster-level 'Textile Mastery' made the heavenly mechanism patterns on the disc no longer obscure or difficult to understand, but rather gave them a sense of clarity at a glance. After all, the foundation of his mastery passive skills was vast enough. Even though it was only 'Grandmaster Lv.1', Xu Xiaoshou was confident that perhaps all Grandmaster Spirit Array Masters in the world who competed with him might not necessarily surpass him in foundational aspects.

Yet, after thoroughly observing the 'Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc', Xu Xiaoshou found that he still didn't understand the obscure heavenly mechanism patterns on A'Jie's body. He was completely bewildered.

"Too powerful."

"These kinds of heavenly mechanism patterns are simply not something I can understand right now."

"And combining this with the feet that A'Jie displayed at that time... Void power, yes. It's likely that the person who created A'Jie, if not Dao Qiongcang, must be someone of a similar caliber."

"At the very least, a Heavenly Mechanism artist above the Void realm!"

Reaching this conclusion, Xu Xiaoshou's heart trembled. Void realm. Above the Dao Severing realm. How terrifying was that realm? But even so, it was still not enough. It would also require a powerful individual whose 'Heavenly Mechanism Arts' had reached the same level to have even a slight chance of creating a being like A'Jie.

"After I go back, I must ask Elder Qiao to clarify where A'Jie truly came from."

"How could such an existence be sealed within the Heaven Mystic Sect with a double seal?"

Xu Xiaoshou suppressed the astonishment in his heart, and without disturbing A'Jie's learning, he directly left.

"What else do you remember? Tell me everything!" Xu Xiaoshou squatted down in front of Xu Xiaoji. This guy put in no effort during battle and directly played dead by lying still. At the time, there was no time, and he was afraid of unexpected events, so he didn't pay it any mind. Now, it was time to deal with him. A non-human entity of unknown origin, yet extremely bizarre...

"A ticking time bomb?" Xu Xiaoshou narrowed his eyes, with a dangerous glint in them. It had finally come...

Xu Xiaoji made a bitter face. "I really don't remember much. I've already said everything I should, just as you understand it." He stammered meekly, glancing at A'Jie, who was quietly learning, and said, "I was drawn here by a special sensation, wanting to get the Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc. Then I met you and Brother Jie."

"What about before that?" Xu Xiaoshou was not very satisfied with this answer.

"Before..." Xu Xiaoji hesitated.

"Answer, or die." Xu Xiaoshou's face turned stern. He was no longer the warm-hearted Xu Xiaoshou from the Wind and Cloud Competition. Regarding life and death, regarding choices, he now possessed the most decisive power of decision and choice.

"I..." Xu Xiaoji shivered in fright. If anyone else had said that, he would have attacked them first. But Xu Xiaoshou... Not only was this guy terrifying himself, but two Sovereign-level cultivators were also calmly sitting beside him. How could he resist! They were the butchers, and he was the fish on the chopping block. *Give it up, Xu Xiaoji, you can't beat this guy.*

"I actually don't know either." Xu Xiaoji came clean. "Even before you gave me a name, I didn't know who I was. I only knew that to survive, I had used many names, after all, I could transform."

"Regarding my strength, as you know, I'm quite pathetic. Although sometimes I have Sovereign-level cultivation, it disappears after a while."

"So last night, it wasn't that I didn't want to help, but I was powerless!" As Xu Xiaoji spoke, he pointed to his body, indicating that at present, he posed no threat whatsoever. "Once that feeling passed, my cultivation became zero again."

Xu Xiaoshou felt troubled hearing this. He had actually verified Xu Xiaoji's identity and knew that this guy likely wasn't lying. But what was the point of asking such nonsense that amounted to saying nothing at all?

"You're not human." Xu Xiaoshou stated decisively, "So what exactly are you?"

Xu Xiaoji shrunk his neck back awkwardly. He felt insulted, but dared not resist at all.

"If I'm not human, then what am I? I truly am human; I just happen to be able to transform."

"No!" Xu Xiaoshou shook his head. Perhaps even Xu Xiaoji himself wasn't entirely sure. But the system had already verified that this guy was indeed not human. "You've deceived yourself. Have you ever considered that 'human' is merely one form you take after transforming?"

"To survive in the human world, you used the 'human' form so much that, subjectively, you started to feel like you were human."

"This..." Xu Xiaoji hesitated. He had actually suspected this point as well. But if he wasn't human, what else could he be?

"What about your beginning? What's your earliest story, and where did it start?" Xu Xiaoshou intended to help this guy recall. If the memories proved useful, Xu Xiaoji could be kept. If he was a menace, it would be better to deal with him sooner rather than later, to avoid complications.

"Initially, I think I was in a small space?" Xu Xiaoji's eyes showed a look of recollection: "I don't remember very clearly. It seems there was a void crack; I entered it, and then I came out."

"Entered?"

"Came out?"

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't confused, but tried to help himself and Xu Xiaoji speak more clearly. "Entered the void crack, came out, and arrived in the human world? Left your... what small space?"

Xu Xiaoji shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be like that." He tried hard to recall again and said, "I should have come out of the small space into a large space."

"It was quite large there, and very dangerous. There were white flaming skeletons, humans, and other creatures."

"At that time, I didn't have any strength, and relied on transformation to hide and escape in various ways."

"Finally, when I came out, it was also through a void crack." Xu Xiaoji straightened his expression, as if he had finally reached a clear part of his memory. "Because I suddenly gained Sovereign-level strength, I directly traversed through the void crack and once again escaped that large space."

"Only then did I arrive in the human world!"

Double space... Small and large? Xu Xiaoshou pondered in his heart. Perhaps it was a conditioned reflex. After all, he had recently dealt with many incidents related to other-dimensional spaces, and his first thought was of the 'White Cave'.

"Humans? You said you saw humans in that large space?"

Xu Xiaoji nodded. "There were relatively few humans; most of them were those skeletons burning with white flames..."

"What kind of humans?" Xu Xiaoshou interrupted him, a faint guess forming in his mind.

Xu Xiaoji paused and recalled: "A very distinct feature was that they all wore red robes, but there weren't many; I only encountered a few."

Red Robes! Xu Xiaoshou's pupils suddenly constricted. Space, red robes. Weren't these the Red Robes patrolling in the other-dimensional space?

"They were like the Night Watch..." Xu Xiaoshou stopped as soon as the words left his mouth. The Night Watch, it seemed Xu Xiaoji had truly never seen them? Since he was brought into the City Lord's Mansion by him, this guy had gone missing. The next time he saw him was during the Flower Sea explosion, when this guy, in his stone form, along with the Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc, was collected into his Yuanfu. When he was let out again, it was outside the banquet hall, accompanying Xin Gugu on an errand. During this interim, it seemed he really hadn't seen the Night Watch?

As expected, a confused look flashed across Xu Xiaoji's face. "Night Watch?"

"Never mind." Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand; it was not a big issue.

Xu Xiaoji, he actually came out of the White Cave? Or rather, even if it wasn't the White Cave, he came from an other-dimensional space? But this guy wasn't a ghost beast either, so what exactly was he? Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt his mind struggling to process this.

"Small space?" That's right, before entering the White Cave, this guy had also stayed in a small space. How did he come out? "Do you still remember what happened inside the small space?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

"I don't remember." Xu Xiaoji shook his head: "Even the memories after coming out were blurry; I only truly gained consciousness after arriving in the human world."

"And then you followed that feeling all the way to the City Lord's Mansion?" Xu Xiaoshou added.

"Not that quickly..." A hint of awkwardness appeared on Xu Xiaoji's face: "After all, after coming out, I suddenly lost my Sovereign-level strength again, and to survive, I stubbornly used various methods and lived for quite a long time."

"How long has it been since you came out?"

"A little over a month, I don't remember clearly."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded. The general process, he estimated, was probably just like that.

"The White Cave?"

"And it's related to the Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc?"

"Small space?"

As Xu Xiaoshou thought, his gaze fixed on the groove on the Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc. According to his previous judgment, this groove should be a sword mark. And it was very likely the resting place of 'Four Swords Have'!

Connecting all the fragmented information to piece together a somewhat complete story, it should be:

"Xu Xiaoji is the Sword Spirit of Four Swords Have?"

"That small space is the internal space of Four Swords Have?"

"After the Sword Spirit of Four Swords Have awakened, it escaped from the shattered sword body and then went to the White Cave?"

"At this time, the Sword Spirit was still unstable, and its memories were fragmented."

"But because it was a Sword Spirit, it could occasionally gain power similar to that of a Sovereign, then successfully escape and arrive in the human world?"

"After sensing its previous resting place—the Heavenly Pivot Mechanism Disc—the Sword Spirit wanted to take a look, and then fell into his hands?"

Xu Xiaoshou's expression grew strange. If that were truly the case, it would be too coincidental and absurd. The legendary 'Four Swords Have', the personal sword of the Eighth Sword Immortal, its Sword Spirit was actually such a cowardly thing. Who would believe it if word got out? But it seemed there was no better explanation than his current speculation.

Xu Xiaoshou knew he possessed a certain degree of reasoning ability. Before the matter had a definitive outcome, he would tentatively treat this as the correct answer. If verified successfully, then his inference would become a conclusion. If it failed, he would reconsider!

Thinking this, Xu Xiaoshou pulled out Zang Ku. An Eighth-grade spirit sword! His personal sword had evolved into an Eighth-grade weapon under the nourishment of the 'Sword Contemplation Scripture' and the Blackfall Scabbard. But this wasn't important. Xu Xiaoshou pulled out Zang Ku, and with a casual toss, sent it away.

"Blackfall Scabbard..." This item, its true name could not be called Blackfall Scabbard at all. It was the true scabbard of 'Four Swords Have', and one of the Eighth Sword Immortal's personal artifacts! He still remembered when he brought this item out of Blackfall Cliff, Xu Xiaoshou had promised to help it find its former master. And now, it seemed this crucial moment had arrived.

"Do you recognize this?" Gently caressing the scabbard, Xu Xiaoshou knew that this item possessed great spirituality. But a feedback devoid of any fluctuation was sent back. Xu Xiaoshou immediately knew that the Blackfall Scabbard didn't recognize Xu Xiaoji at all.

"What's going on?"

"Could his speculation be wrong?"

Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled. He looked at Xu Xiaoji and gestured with the scabbard in his hand. "Do you recognize this?"

"No." Xu Xiaoji also shook his head in denial. He felt that Xu Xiaoshou always liked to play such unrealistic jokes. A scabbard pulled out from who knows where. How could he possibly recognize it?

"Received Ridicule, Passive Points, 1."

"How strange." Xu Xiaoshou put away Zang Ku and the scabbard, and scratched his head, feeling a bit vexed.

"Wait!" He suddenly realized again that the Blackfall Scabbard had been separated from 'Four Swords Have' decades ago. What if Xu Xiaoji was another Sword Spirit born from 'Four Swords Have' during this period?

He slapped his head, and Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts suddenly broadened. "That's it! How could the dignified 'Four Swords Have' possibly have such a cowardly Sword Spirit? This must be Xu Xiaoji secretly being born while 'Four Swords Have' wasn't paying attention!"

"In that case..." Xu Xiaoshou felt his deduction had been verified again. According to Xu Xiaoji, he had come out of a void crack in that small space. If that small space belonged to 'Four Swords Have', then that meant 'Four Swords Have' had problems.

"Cracks?"

"Could it be that the sword body cracked or shattered?"

Xu Xiaoshou's heart tightened, and he thought of something again. He hastily pulled out from his ring the bronze carved piece from Zhang Mansion's Scripture Repository broken tower. Xu Xiaoshou suddenly recalled again the scene he had seen after falling into a demonic state. Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a black sword stood alone!

"Was that truly Four Swords Have?"

"So, after the sword body shattered, this carved piece detached?"

He raised his gaze, intending to ask Xu Xiaoji if he recognized this item. However, the condition of the person in front of him was completely beyond his expectations. Just by staring at this bronze carved piece, Xu Xiaoji actually began to tremble all over. It was as if, after activating the highest level of 'Breathing Technique', he had instantly gulped down a handful of Yuan Court Pills; his entire body trembled so much that he began to blur.

A chattering sound...