Chapter 593: Being Abandoned Ajie

"A-Jie! A-Jie! A-Jie!"

Xu Xiaoshou floated in mid-air, his eyes rolled back, fixed in a lifeless stare. He used his "perception" to watch A-Jie continuously draw out the malevolent demonic energy from his body.

This draining process lasted for a good while.

Finally, the black energy that had been overflowing to the point of explosion within him slightly diminished, allowing him to barely regain a shred of consciousness.

"Am I... am I saved?"

As his gaze cleared, Xu Xiaoshou saw three terrifying figures clustered together in the distance.

The Holy Slaves, a trio!

Who could possibly withstand this?

If it weren't for that critical moment when he used a burst from A-Jie to directly release himself from the Four Swords' restraint with the Disappearing Art; if the Disappearing Art didn't simply have two states—activation and deactivation—meaning he didn't need to consciously maintain his vanished form; and if the Four Swords' true target hadn't been to furiously attack the Holy Slave Leader's body, instead of him...

Xu Xiaoshou was certain, at this moment, he would either be dead or out of control. Or perhaps, he would have suffered the most terrifying fate: being simultaneously targeted by the Holy Slave Leader and the Storyteller!

"This is a nightmare..." Xu Xiaoshou could barely imagine why his journey through White Cave had been so arduous. Indeed, did the source of all this ultimately stem from his overflowing confidence after devouring the Cinder-Glow Primordial Seed and enduring the Three-Day Frozen Tribulation? If he hadn't thought of investigating the Four Swords at that time, if he hadn't considered the task Elder Sang gave him—a task that even Elder Sang himself didn't take seriously...

"I'm so tired." Xu Xiaoshou felt emotionally exhausted. Presumably, even that old geezer had already foreseen the outcome of vying for the Four Swords. Why, back then, had he so naively taken the first step towards the Sword-Leaving Grassland? That was the path to the abyss!

"Hide, hide." Xu Xiaoshou wanted to use One Step to Heaven to escape, but he didn't quite dare. Heaven knew if the Storyteller, upon arriving here, would also cautiously banish this space. If that were truly the case, his One Step to Heaven wouldn't just fail to get him out; upon touching the critical point, he would expose his location to that perverted man in the red dress.

In that case...

"Stay hidden!"

Holding A-Jie, Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare to dwell on it. Feeling the gradually diminishing demonic energy in his body—now mostly too low to affect his actions—he lowered his head and burrowed straight into the ground. Even with the Disappearing Art, Xu Xiaoshou's heart pounded wildly, having openly resolved his negative state right in front of the Holy Slaves trio.

As he burrowed underground, he overheard the Holy Slave Leader focusing all his attention on the so-called "Wen Ming" whom Xu Xiaoshou had previously mentioned.

"The sword is here, but where is this Wen Ming you spoke of?"

As the masked man finished speaking, the Storyteller was clearly bewildered.

"Oh, right, where is he?" He turned his head and glanced at the Four Swords, saying hesitantly, "Theoretically, the Four Swords are under Wen Ming's control; they wouldn't easily leave his hand, and Wen Ming wouldn't abandon this peerless demonic sword."

"After all, he's an ancient sword cultivator, isn't he?"

"However..." The Storyteller paused, and Cen Qiaofu immediately interjected, "But with the Four Swords in this state, could he even let go?"

"Indeed!" The Storyteller nodded, his brows furrowed. "So, he must have released the Four Swords early on? But how would he have known about the Four Swords' anomaly?"

"What's Wen Ming's cultivation level?" Cen Qiaofu suddenly asked.

"Approximately Xiantian realm."

"Hmm, Xiantian..."

"Huh? Xiantian?!" Cen Qiaofu's tone changed, and he turned to look at the turbulent White Cave world far in the distance. The explosion had started from there. And according to the Storyteller's earlier words, that commotion had been caused by the so-called Wen Ming.

"Are you sure he's only Xiantian?" Cen Qiaofu asked again, his tone full of doubt.

"Uh..." The Storyteller froze for a moment, also turning to look at the commotion behind them, then said meekly, "Yes... right?"

Seeing Cen Qiaofu's disbelief, the Storyteller added, "In short, he's not strong. Roughly Xiantian, at most Grandmaster realm. But his combat power should be comparable to... a Throne?" His voice grew smaller and smaller.

Cen Qiaofu's face darkened.

The Storyteller was exasperated but had to continue, "If some external force is added, even if he encounters a Slayer of the Way... well, I mean, in this White Cave world, there are various restraints, so..."

Cen Qiaofu slowly raised an eyebrow in question.

"Uh..." The Storyteller wiped away sweat, knowing how unbelievable his words were, but he insisted on finishing. "Therefore, under various restrictions, Wen Ming should be able to contend with a Slayer of the Way... I guess."

Cen Qiaofu's face instantly went from dark to green.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely."

"You're not joking?"

"Nope."

"This is what you mean by 'in short, not strong'?" Cen Qiaofu's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Whew." The Storyteller let out a heavy sigh. "You'll know if you fight him. That kid is a bit... peculiar." As he spoke, he turned to look at his brother. "Right?"

Cen Qiaofu also cast his gaze. He had never understood why the Leader valued Wen Ming so highly. Even in the Saint Emperor's grand scheme, that fellow was used as a pawn. But now, if none of this was an exaggeration...

"He's not a Grandmaster," the masked man said. "When I first saw him, he should have been at the Houtian realm. It's only been a few months, hasn't it? Has it even been a month?"

"No matter how talented he is, he shouldn't be able to directly comprehend the Heavenly Phenomena realm and reach the Grandmaster level."

"Theoretically speaking, for Wen Ming to reach the Xiantian Yuan-Ting realm or even Jūwú at this point would already be quite impressive."

"Of course, it's not ruled out that he also had some fortuitous encounters and could reach the Upper Spirit realm..."

"Hmm? What's that expression?" As the masked man spoke, he noticed Cen Qiaofu's unusual expression. Cen Qiaofu's jaw had dropped and wouldn't close.

"That hedgehog, at the Upper Spirit realm, could cause such a huge commotion?" He pointed at the shattered space behind them.

"Upper Spirit is just a conjecture," the masked man said.

"Did you miss the point? My meaning... isn't that!" Cen Qiaofu roared at the Storyteller: "A mere Xiantian can achieve this level?"

"Comparable to a Slayer of the Way?"

"What kind of joke are you playing?!"

"I'm not joking," the Storyteller said after a moment of silence. "He has a Heavenly Secret Puppet."

"Oh?" At this, not only was Cen Qiaofu stunned, but even the masked man was surprised.

"A Heavenly Secret Puppet?"

"Mm." The Storyteller nodded and said, "A Heavenly Secret Puppet that doesn't quite look like a Heavenly Secret Puppet..."

"Wait." The masked man suddenly interrupted the Storyteller. Only after the two in front of him looked at him did he say, "That Heavenly Secret Puppet you mentioned, is it not in an adult form?"

"You know?" the Storyteller asked in surprise.

"A small boy?"

"Exactly!"

"Bald?"

"Yes!"

"Very weak?"

"Not bad... Uh, you can't really say *very* weak, can you?" The Storyteller's excited thoughts calmed down, and he explained, "It's weaker than a normal Heavenly Secret Puppet, only having one realm of combat awareness. But it's very strange, as if..."

"Like a real person?" the masked man spoke again.

"Mm-hmm, that's exactly the feeling!" The Storyteller nodded wildly and said, "If it weren't for the complete lack of human vital signs, I would have almost been fooled. If you just glance at it, you definitely wouldn't realize it's an emotionless Heavenly Secret Puppet."

"I understand." The masked man fell silent.

The Storyteller raised an eyebrow, glanced at Cen Qiaofu, and seeing him shrug cluelessly, immediately understood that the old man was also utterly confused. He could only ask, "Brother, do you know it?"

"Not really know, I suppose. I've seen it once... no, twice, I think." A hint of memory appeared in the masked man's cloudy eyes, and he said slowly: "The first-generation Heavenly Secret Puppet, Dao Qiongcang's self-proclaimed defective product. If I recall correctly, it should have been discarded on Void Island."

"At that time, it seemed to have no consciousness yet."

"But the second time we met, it had already developed sentience and seemed capable of self-growth."

"Very peculiar, and also very dangerous."

"Finally, it seemed it was destroyed a second time by the White-Clad One, right there on Void Island."

The two bystanders were speechless for a moment. A Heavenly Secret Puppet, developed sentience, destroyed a second time?

"It was clearly very strong, so why not utilize it?" Cen Qiaofu felt something was wrong. "This doesn't seem like the kind of foolish act the Holy Divine Palace would commit."

"Strong, yes, but it couldn't be truly controlled." The masked man glanced at him meaningfully. "Something that cannot be truly controlled by one's own hands, do you think 'those people' would keep it?"

"But according to Dao Qiongcang's nature..." Cen Qiaofu grew anxious. He absolutely refused to believe that the grand Hall Master Dao, who was addicted to Heavenly Secret Arts, would give up such an excellent research opportunity.

The masked man lightly smiled and shook his head, interrupting him. "The people I'm talking about aren't *those* people; they're *those other* people."

Cen Qiaofu froze for a moment. The Storyteller's pupils contracted. He seemed to have realized something as well, shuddering as a chill pierced his body.

"Which people?"

Deep underground, Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered by these words. From the tone of the words, the legendary Hall Master Dao should have wanted to keep A-Jie. But he was stopped? How was that possible? Wasn't the Holy Divine Palace the pinnacle of this world, and wasn't its current Hall Master, Dao Qiongcang, the strongest? He was stopped from researching?

"Mama..." A-Jie suddenly murmured aloud.

Xu Xiaoshou was startled and immediately gripped the stone-like iron ball tightly. "Don't make a sound. They're not talking about you. Don't be scared, be good!"

"Mama..." A-Jie's mood seemed a bit off.

Xu Xiaoshou could completely understand. He might not have even known these secrets if he hadn't been lurking underground with the Disappearing Art at this moment. However, why did A-Jie, who was supposed to have been destroyed on Void Island, appear at the Heaven Mystery Gate of the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace?

"Elder Sang?" Xu Xiaoshou immediately thought of that person. If the masked man said he had also seen A-Jie, could it be that he went to Void Island with Elder Sang, the second-in-command of the Holy Slaves?

That didn't seem right either! If the two truly went together, there's no reason A-Jie would appear in such a small place as the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace. It should have fallen into a large organization like the Holy Slaves and been fully utilized.

Moreover...

"Void Island?" As Xu Xiaoshou thought, he suddenly remembered something. He vaguely remembered Jiao Tangtang's words. Void Island—isn't that the terrifying place rumored to seal saints? If all went as expected, the interdimensional spatial rift here was created by that disheveled saint; it was the rift leading to Void Island.

Within all this...

"Oh my goodness!" Xu Xiaoshou felt his brain was going to explode. All of this combined was simply terrifying to contemplate. When he didn't know everything, he still thought this world was beautiful. But every time he learned a little more, every time he uncovered a bit more of the secrets, Xu Xiaoshou always felt a chilling unease. Why did it seem like every single thing was related to him, Xu Xiaoshou, and was even targeting him?

"Mama..."

"Hey, hey, it's okay, don't worry. Mama won't abandon you." Hearing A-Jie's murmuring, Xu Xiaoshou immediately hugged the poor little guy even tighter. He was afraid it might not be able to resist flying out and exposing them, and then things would... go terribly wrong!

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I'm rather concerned about," the Storyteller said hesitantly.

"Speak."

"Is Wen Ming still the second-in-command's disciple?"

The masked man was startled. "How do you know?"

"Well..." The Storyteller recalled being teased in the ancient book space, his face flushing as he found it hard to speak. "It's a long story, so I won't go into detail. I just want to know where the second-in-command went during his disappearance."

The masked man smiled. "You already know the answer, so why ask me?"

"So, it really is..." The Storyteller was incredulous, unable to continue speaking.

Cen Qiaofu shook his head with a wry smile, recalling Elder Sang's "Dragon Realm Fusion" technique in the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace. To be honest, if he hadn't followed the Leader to that spirit palace, he would have found it hard to imagine old man Sang running off to such a remote, out-of-the-way place.

"For that Wen Ming?" Cen Qiaofu asked. Aside from this explanation, he found it hard to imagine why old man Sang would go to such a place.

"No." The masked man, however, shook his head. "Wen Ming was just an accident. The second-in-command didn't stay long in the Heavenly Mulberry Spirit Palace. His return this time was merely to obstruct my plan and prevent the renowned sword from being lost."

"But it was useless." The masked man chuckled and continued, "More importantly, it was a plan."

"What plan?" the Storyteller asked curiously.

The masked man casually glanced behind him and said, "It's already completed."

The two simultaneously looked behind them. The void was empty, with no other presence. But they all knew that in this space, there was an interdimensional spatial rift leading to Void Island. Mortal eyes could not see it.

"Then there's one more thing..." The Storyteller understood. His eyes darted, and his face lit up with joy. Then, as if seeking praise, he squeezed out a fawning smile, about to say something.

"Wait a moment." The masked man saw this and knew it wasn't good, so he immediately stopped him, then turned his head to look around. Then he lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the ground. His brows furrowed.

"I always feel like something is wrong..." he said, looking at the Storyteller with doubt. "Did you really only bring one sword?"

"What do you mean?" The Storyteller glanced at the Four Swords still floating behind them and said hesitantly, "Did Wen Ming truly come?"

"Not Wen Ming..." The masked man curled his hand, tightly encased in a black glove, then twisted his wrist and shook off the uncomfortable feeling. "But it's not just the Four Swords."

"What do you mean?" The Storyteller and Cen Qiaofu spoke simultaneously.

The masked man was a little uncertain, his eyes showing hesitation. "Is it a delusion? I always feel there's still the aura of a renowned sword here..."