Chapter 618: Weakling's Advantages

Demonic trees lashed wildly. Blood flowed like rivers.

"This is truly horrifying..."

In his vanished state, Xu Xiaoshou tried to touch a blood tree beside him. The tree, as if sensing something, suddenly twitched, its branches splitting and piercing straight through his body.

"Holy moly!"

Xu Xiaoshou jumped in fright and instantly darted away, only then realizing he was actually immune to attacks.

The next second, a wail sounded behind him.

"Ah—"

He turned his head and saw a white-clad figure. This white-clad figure was likely from a non-combat unit. They couldn't last long amidst the blood trees. Attacked from all sides, a single mistake led to them being drained dry by a blood tree branch, turning into a desiccated corpse on the spot.

A chill ran down Xu Xiaoshou's spine, and he felt utterly helpless. He had imagined a grand battle after the Holy Slaves emerged from the White Cave. Earlier, everything had been calm; it seemed they might have escaped just by talking their way out, and at the time, he felt a slight regret at not witnessing a magnificent spectacle. Now, seeing such a tragic scene...

"Indeed, if it doesn't erupt, fine, but once it does, it's terrifying!"

Xu Xiaoshou shivered, not daring to think further. Number Thirty-Three suddenly plunged down from the sky. Instead of directly confronting the berserk Cen Qiaofu, he cooperated with the white-clad combat units, beginning to clear the terrifying blood tree thicket. The white-clad units, led by several powerful Dao Slayers, had already reacted after suffering the first wave of unexpected damage. They formed formations to prevent their backs from being exposed to the blood tree branches.

Cen Qiaofu had lost control. The blood trees he summoned caused high damage, but having lost their main target, Gou Wuyue, they were now aimlessly injuring people within the blood tree thicket. Xu Xiaoshou watched with a pang of sadness. Yet, he didn't let a rush of adrenaline make him charge forward. The greatest sorrow of the weak was being unable to offer even the slightest help in such a high-level battle. But their greatest advantage was that once a major battle truly erupted, hardly anyone would remember their presence!

"Time to go..."

Xu Xiaoshou was grateful he had awakened "Vanish." Otherwise, it would have been absolutely impossible to survive in such chaos. But precisely because of this chaos, the white-clad formation had been broken, and the Heavenly Dome covering the nation had been torn open and not yet repaired. A golden opportunity. If he didn't leave now, he'd be letting down the commotion Cen Qiaofu had caused here.

"Ascend to Heaven in a Single Step!"

Without hesitation, Xu Xiaoshou, in his vanished state, took a step, moving far away from the chaotic battlefield behind him.

Tap.

In the mountains, a rarely visited place. Dead branches and fallen leaves covered the hills, and ancient trees towered like demons. The forest floor was strewn with broken branches. Suddenly, a broken branch cracked open, revealing a tattered sole. Then, Xu Xiaoshou deactivated his vanished state, and his form solidified in this new world.

Hiss.

As soon as he landed, he took a deep breath. The mountain air, fresh yet mingled with the scent of decaying leaves, allowed Xu Xiaoshou's frantically pounding heart to slow down slightly.

"Escaped from certain death... but not entirely out of danger yet."

Xu Xiaoshou was very tense. The battle in the Void was truly terrifying; in just a few exchanges, not only did the world shatter, but the desolate battlefield was instantly transformed into a dense blood tree forest. This wasn't child's play; people could genuinely die at any moment. And now, relying on "Stealth," a passive ability that gradually erases one's presence when silent, combined with "Vanish" and "Ascend to Heaven in a Single Step," he had escaped.

Xu Xiaoshou felt grateful. Combat-type passive abilities made him invincible among those of the same level. But support-type passive abilities were truly divine skills that allowed him to survive dire situations.

"Can't be careless."

Looking around, Xu Xiaoshou immediately used "Perception" to scout the surrounding mountain forest. The nightmare of being caught by the Night Watch in the White Cave after just a brief rest lingered, and at this crucial moment, he dared not mess up again. Now, there was no outside help. If he messed up, it wouldn't be a chain, but his very life.

"No people, no beasts, no birds..."

Xu Xiaoshou frowned. The mountain forest was terrifyingly silent. Or rather, the Void Battle had scared away all the creatures that should have inhabited this place. This was the crucial point. Once the white-clad figures searched the mountain, even the slightest rustle, then, anyone found would either be one of their own or an enemy!

Xu Xiaoshou lowered his head in thought, racking his brain for a plan. First, without a word, he removed his square face and bushy beard. Then, he looked up, and the image of a weathered old man appeared.

"An old man..." Frowning, Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No, what kind of old man would appear in this desolate mountain? If there were any, it would probably only be the Cen Qiaofu type of old man! Too unrealistic, easily exposed! But if I'm to walk out, what disguise would work?"

There couldn't be other people or beasts in the mountain forest. Xu Xiaoshou racked his brain, then pulled a white robe from his ring. It looked very similar to the white-clad figures' robes, but a quick glance would reveal it wasn't.

"No matter."

Xu Xiaoshou raked his nails across it a few times, not only tearing the white robe but also scratching several cuts onto himself. He let blood stain it, then put on the tattered robe. With this tattered, blood-stained robe, whose original appearance was obscured, he used "Transformation" to add more cuts to his face and body. Instantly, the image of a white-clad figure who had narrowly escaped the battle came vividly to life.

"This could work."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded in satisfaction, then continued to analyze the situation before him. "Under Cen Qiaofu's blood trees, probably very few white-clad figures could protect themselves. Rather than staying put and waiting to die, some must have received orders to leave first. And the Heavenly Mechanism Puppet, along with the white-clad Dao Slayers, would likely stay behind to clear the area. In other words, Cen Qiaofu had tied down the white-clad experts and the Heavenly Mechanism Puppet in the battle. Perhaps others who escape might run into me, but those who can flee from that battle are probably only Sovereigns... Dao Slayers, unlikely!"

Xu Xiaoshou reached into his clothes, touched A-Jie, and felt a slight sense of calm. "Mere Sovereigns, I'll rely on you."

"M-hm..."

"Comforted, Passive Value, +1."

Shaking his head, he took a few steps forward, then stopped on the hilltop, looking down. To the west, battle sounds could still be heard faintly in the distance. Cen Qiaofu, now out of control, would likely be evenly matched with the Heavenly Mechanism Puppet for a while.

"And the others..." Haitang'er had fled with Eight Venerables, and Gou Wuyue was in pursuit, so they shouldn't be able to pay attention to him for a while. Yu Lingdi made a brief appearance, but was directly crushed by the three Holy Slaves, so no need to worry about them. "So, who's left?"

"The Storyteller!"

Xu Xiaoshou keenly realized he had overlooked this person's existence. After Haitang'er vanished with Eight Venerables, and Cen Qiaofu entered the battle, the Storyteller's presence had greatly diminished. "Where did he go? Was he guarding Cen Qiaofu on the battlefield, or had he fled with Eight Venerables?" Xu Xiaoshou couldn't figure it out. But he was certain that if he ran into the white-clad figures, he might die; if he ran into the Storyteller, at most he'd just be taken back, which was harmless.

"So, on the surface, as long as Gou Wuyue doesn't catch Haitang'er and Eight Venerables, with their forces scattered, no one will have time to pay attention to me?" Xu Xiaoshou looked down from the hilltop, feeling a surge of excitement. "Being weak is great! This was the advantage of having a low presence. He had inexplicably escaped, the kind where even he couldn't figure out why."

"No, wait, I've overlooked something..." Before he could enjoy his joy for long, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered the "Under Attention" notification that had reached seven or eight hundred when he first emerged from the White Cave. At that time, he had already concluded that there weren't just dozens of people in the battle. The white-clad figures definitely had others hidden elsewhere, surrounding the entire mountain. And a considerable number of them!

"What to do?"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. The official road he used to enter the Eight Palaces was definitely out of the question for leaving now. And sneaking out through sparsely populated farming households didn't seem very realistic either. What if both routes had white-clad informants?

"Force my way out?" The thought sent shivers down Xu Xiaoshou's spine. That was a full seven hundred-plus white-clad figures! Forcing his way out was definitely impossible. At this moment, it seemed he could only continue to muddy the waters and cling to a precarious existence!

"Weakling..."

"Sigh, the sorrow of a weakling is just as evident!"

"Let's go. One step at a time. If I really run into white-clad figures, worst case, I'll hand over the Four Swords and Lu Ke. Oh, right, and Xiao Yu..." Xu Xiaoshou felt a headache coming on, rubbed his temples, and took a step.

Tap.

His foot hadn't even touched the ground when "Perception" relayed a crisp sound from afar, and Xu Xiaoshou's pupils constricted. He was now like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. Wasn't that sound similar to the one he had made when he broke a dead branch just now? So it really was...

"What you fear, happens?"

On the other side of the mountain.

"Search the mountain, search the mountain..."

"What was Jiang Bianyan thinking, dispersing manpower to search the mountain? Brother Lin, does this, does this make sense?" A white-clad figure slapped his hand with the back of his other hand, looking indignant: "That could be the Eighth Sword Immortal! If we really find him, we'll probably be the first to die!"

"Brother Tong Feng, think of it this way... if you can die by the Eighth Sword Immortal's sword, that's an honor." The white-clad figure beside him, Lin Ruohuan, smiled faintly, tightening his grip on his sword. His expression showed that he was actually somewhat nervous too. But he still feigned nonchalance, pulling at the corners of his mouth in a dry laugh, saying, "Besides, we're not actually supposed to fight. Once we find someone, just raise the alarm, and a hundred people will come. Are you still scared?"

"Scared! Of course I'm scared!" Tong Feng's voice rose, as he said indignantly, "You're a Dao Slayer; you can last longer. I'm just a mere Sovereign, even if I'm only a step away from Dao Slayer, I'm not enough for the Eighth Sword Immortal to crush with a single finger. Didn't you see..." He pointed to the somewhat turbulent battle to the west. "What we saw earlier... Sword Will! That was Sword Will! Even Elder Wuyue could be wounded; what time would we have to raise the alarm? One encounter, and we might die on the spot before we even react!"

"You're fine..." Tong Feng's face was dejected as he said mournfully, "You're a sword cultivator, you can consider dying by the Eighth Sword Immortal's sword an honor. But I've only just joined the white-clad figures, and if it weren't for you leading me, I might not even have been able to participate in this Eight Palaces war. I don't want to die yet."

"Oh?" Lin Ruohuan chuckled, "From what you're saying, are you blaming me now?"

"Hey, hey, no, no, that's not how you should interpret it..."

"Hush!" Before Tong Feng could finish, Lin Ruohuan suddenly startled, raising a finger to signal silence. Both their expressions changed slightly at the same time, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Something's wrong?" Tong Feng lowered his voice.

Lin Ruohuan didn't reply, narrowing his eyes as he sensed the surrounding space.

"Spatial fluctuations... Very subtle spatial fluctuations! If nothing else, someone has been here!"

Hearing this, Tong Feng's heart trembled. He immediately pulled out a red alarm bead from his ring and was about to crush it.

"Wait." Lin Ruohuan wasn't so impulsive. He stopped his teammate, saying, "The mountain forest is so vast; there's no reason we'd coincidentally find the Child of Destiny. It might just be a teammate who escaped from the blood tree thicket."

Tong Feng's fingers trembled slightly, but he managed to suppress the urge to crush the alarm bead. This thing certainly couldn't be used carelessly. With everyone on high alert, if someone crushed this, it would likely summon hundreds of people in an instant. If people arrived then and found that their supposed "opponent" was actually "one of their own," that would turn into quite a spectacle! Moreover, once people gathered here, defenses elsewhere would certainly be understaffed. It might just be such a delay that would allow the Holy Slaves to escape from this hunt!

"Hush." Lin Ruohuan crouched, and even his hushed sound became a telepathic message. As their voices faded, the mountain forest also grew silent.

Thump-thump! Thump-thump!

"Frightened, Passive Value, +1.""Noticed, Passive Value, +2.""Sought, Passive Value, +2."

Xu Xiaoshou felt his current state of mind was like encountering a disheveled ghost in a terrifying secret room, only for his teammates to mercilessly block the door and abandon him alone. It was incredibly complex!

"Seriously, they actually came?" He hadn't even had time to prepare much. The pursuers had already arrived! So the white-clad figures were actually the mice, right? They found him with no scent of blood, just by their instinct for their prey? The mountain forest was clearly so vast...

"Is this really the grand finale?"

"One Sovereign, one Dao Slayer." Xu Xiaoshou, in his vanished state, felt utterly powerless. "A Sovereign, fine." If he steeled his heart and mustered his courage, he could still force himself to lose his mind and charge in. With A-Jie's terrifying output, he might be able to knock them unconscious before they could crush the alarm bead. "But a Dao Slayer..." Xu Xiaoshou recalled A-Jie's confrontation with the Storyteller. He didn't know how strong this white-clad Dao Slayer named Lin Ruohuan was. He might not be a monster like the Storyteller, who had overcome all nine death lightning tribulations, but observing the spiritual sword in his hand... Yes, it was a spiritual sword, not a famous one. But at that moment, just seeing a sword made Xu Xiaoshou's legs feel weak. Even if he wasn't an ancient sword cultivator, or on the level of Eight Venerables or Gou Wuyue, which Dao Slayer in the Eastern Region who wielded a sword was easy to deal with? This guy probably wasn't someone he could take down quickly!

Xu Xiaoshou hid within the tree canopy. Even though Vanish made him imperceptible, he couldn't bring himself to openly confront the white-clad figures without any cover in the mountain forest.

"Sought, Passive Value, +2."

The info bar occasionally popped up with a couple of messages, startling him, and Xu Xiaoshou's face turned green.

"Spiritual energy..." Suddenly alerted, Xu Xiaoshou realized he had been maintaining "Vanish" for a long time since the blood tree forest and had used "Ascend to Heaven in a Single Step" many times. He immediately inwardly gazed at his Qi Sea. The next second, his face turned from green to white. He saw his Qi Sea was dry, with only a few wisps of mist drifting erratically. "Full of Vitality" was operating frantically, but it couldn't keep up with the expenditure. He estimated that in just a few breaths, he would be forced to deactivate Vanish.

Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes in anguish. "Heavens above, just once, can't fate stop going against my expectations, Xu Xiaoshou? I can't bear such a merciless blow!"