Chapter 939: Another Road to Sainthood Request for Relocation

"Was it because of Old Man Sang?"

No matter how hard Ye Xiaotian thought, the only reason he could deduce for Bazun'an's intervention was Old Man Sang's position as the second-in-command of the Holy Slaves.

He stopped dwelling on it. After applying medicine to himself, he examined his body.

His flesh, nearly shattered by Huang Quan, was already showing initial signs of repair, thanks to Old Man Sang's powerful healing medication.

However, the recovery speed was still too slow.

Ye Xiaotian pondered for a moment, then unfurled his Spatial Profound Diagram underfoot. His body gradually became transparent, then completely merged with space.

*Crack!*

The instant his body merged with space, his injuries were also transferred to space itself.

In just a fleeting moment, the surrounding space collapsed and shattered, revealing the true extent of his severe injuries after his battle with Huang Quan.

But space possessed self-healing properties, and after a brief wait, the space in the vicinity returned to its original state.

Again, fluctuations rippled through the void, forming a blurry human silhouette that seemed to struggle, trying to emerge from the ethereal space.

After a long time, Ye Xiaotian finally materialized successfully, returning to his human form.

He examined his body again. All his injuries had healed, which was clearly a good thing, yet Ye Xiaotian felt a sense of lingering fear.

"While transforming into space can indeed utilize the Great Dao of Space to heal injuries, the consequences are severe.

"As the number of spatial assimilations increases, my consciousness will gradually merge with the Heavenly Dao, ultimately becoming 'as long-lived as Heaven.'

"This, in a sense, is 'immortality,' but in another sense, it is 'death'!"

The perfected Spatial Profound empowers abilities that are almost flawless.

Ye Xiaotian possessed such a method to heal himself, yet he still used healing pills. This was simply because he feared truly becoming "as long-lived as Heaven" one day.

He disliked immortality.

He only wished to live out his ordinary life within a limited lifespan, following his own consciousness.

Unfortunately, after his battle with King Yama Huang Quan, an endless storm undoubtedly awaited him.

"Sacred Origin Crystal..."

Ye Xiaotian pulled out the fist-sized, hexagonal crystal hidden within his personal space. It emitted an ethereal, sacred glow, captivating to behold.

Yet, this very object had brought him misfortune.

"Oh, Old Man Sang, to help you to this extent, I've truly done my utmost..."

Ye Xiaotian sighed, holding the "Sacred Origin Crystal" that he had protected through countless hardships, yet momentarily lost his next objective.

"Old Man Sang's letter only told me to acquire this 'Sacred Origin Crystal,' but it didn't say what it was for...

"Surely he wouldn't give this to me just so I can become a Saint, would he?"

Ye Xiaotian knew that although he had mastered the Spatial Profound, he still had a long way to go before becoming a Saint.

It was unlikely that Old Man Sang wanted him to contend for the "Sacred Origin Crystal" just for his own sainthood.

Then...

"For Xu Xiaoshou?"

Ye Xiaotian speculated, but quickly dismissed the idea, as Xu Xiaoshou was even further from sainthood.

*Crack.*

Just as he was pondering, the special, unique "Spatial Orb" on his person made a slight sound and shattered into pieces.

Ye Xiaotian pulled the broken fragments of the "Spatial Orb" from his pocket, his brows furrowed.

There were originally two "Spatial Orbs," forming a pair. The other one was with Qiao Qianzhi at the Tiansang Spiritual Palace.

Although these orbs didn't have communication functions, even across two distant regions, if one was crushed, the other would react.

Ye Xiaotian knew that communication was forbidden in the Cloud Realm World, so before his current journey, he had left one "Spatial Orb" at the Tiansang Spiritual Palace as a precaution.

"Unless the Tiansang Spiritual Palace was facing a life-or-death situation, Qiao Qianzhi wouldn't crush the Spatial Orb. And now, he clearly wants to contact me...

"What happened over there?"

Ye Xiaotian's heartbeat quickened slightly. He glanced up at the sky, and instantly, a spatial barrier appeared above, altering the scene of his location.

Then, he swiped his hand through the void, generating a mirror surface.

Even if Qiao Qianzhi exhausted all his efforts at the Tiansang Spiritual Palace, he wouldn't be able to contact Ye Xiaotian in the Yunlun Mountains. However, with his perfected Spatial Profound, Ye Xiaotian could observe any part of the Five Regions of the continent with a slight application of his power.

Qiao Qianzhi's face slowly appeared within the spatial mirror. Despite the distance limitation, Ye Xiaotian could still discern a sense of urgency on his face.

"What happened?" Ye Xiaotian asked.

Qiao Qianzhi was in a somewhat dim space. Behind him was a square table with a tempting dark red roasted goose.

He held chopsticks in one hand and the broken fragments of the "Spatial Orb" in the other, clearly having received some urgent intelligence and immediately initiated a communication request.

Upon seeing the spatial mirror form, he eagerly spoke, getting straight to the point:

"Someone came from the City Lord's Mansion. Fu Zhi personally acted, holding a search warrant from the Holy Divine Palace. In short order, he took all information related to you.

"Shortly after, people from the Holy Divine Palace personally visited to verify your 'resignation report.'

"Of course, there was nothing wrong with the report; the relevant procedures had been completed in the past few days. Old Xiao is now the new dean, so they couldn't find any faults.

"However, they left a message."

Qiao Qianzhi paused, his eyes filled with worry.

"What message?" Ye Xiaotian took a deep breath, already understanding that his identity had been exposed, and Rao Yaoyao had sent people to verify it, successfully.

Qiao Qianzhi sighed, imitating the sarcastic tone of the person at the time, and said: "'Tiansang Spiritual Palace, first there was the Holy Slave Wuxiu, then the Holy Slave Xu Xiaoshou, and now you add Ye Xiaotian, the stowaway. The elites you cultivate are truly of excellent quality!'...Those were his exact words!"

Ye Xiaotian was stunned, realizing that the Holy Divine Palace already harbored intentions of eradicating the Tiansang Spiritual Palace.

He hadn't thought about it deeply before, but hearing Qiao Qianzhi's words now sent a chill down his spine.

Indeed!

In his subjective impression, the Tiansang Spiritual Palace was still quite normal.

But as time passed, more and more troublesome incidents occurred: Old Man Sang, who hailed from Tiansang Spiritual Palace, was captured; Xu Xiaoshou joined dark forces; and he himself inexplicably found himself on the opposing side of the Holy Divine Palace.

This...

For a moment, Ye Xiaotian felt a headache. He stared at the "Sacred Origin Crystal" in his hand as if it were a hot potato.

"Ye Xiaotian, what exactly have you been doing out there?!" Qiao Qianzhi couldn't contain his anger after relaying everything. "If you want to die, can't you just find a place to bury yourself? The Spiritual Palace still has so many young ones; do you want them all to be buried with you?"

Ye Xiaotian was silent for a long time before speaking:

"I've already resigned and become a free agent. Xiao Qixiu is now the new dean, so anything I do is completely unrelated to the Tiansang Spiritual Palace.

"The Holy Divine Palace may be powerful, but if they truly want to condemn the Spiritual Palace, they'd need the Saint Palace's approval. They can never bypass that.

"And to get through the Saint Palace, Old Man Sang, you, I, and even Old Xiao all have connections there. So rest assured, they can never touch the Tiansang Spiritual Palace."

Qiao Qianzhi became furious upon hearing this and rebuked him:

"But what about you?

"What have you been doing in the Yunlun Mountains that even the Holy Divine Palace has come looking for you? If this continues, you'll die!"

Ye Xiaotian chuckled, casually flicking his sleeve, and said, "You don't need to worry about me. Don't forget, I've now perfected the Spatial Profound."

He paused, as if recalling something, and scoffed, "Just now, I even encountered Huang Quan, King Yama's leader. That guy is a Grand Void expert, controlling space-time power—very formidable... But what happened when he faced me?"

Ye Xiaotian extended a hand, clenched it in the void, and forcefully struck down, emphatically stating, "With one strike of my Sky-Splitting Hand, I nearly shattered that guy!"

Qiao Qianzhi seemed stunned. It was only then that he noticed some bloodstains on Ye Xiaotian's clothes and asked worriedly, "Are you injured?"

"Injured?" Ye Xiaotian's voice rose in volume as he tugged at his collar and laughed. "This is his blood!"

Qiao Qianzhi remained dazed for a long time before muttering softly, "Is the Spatial Profound really that strong...?"

"I told you to cultivate seriously a long time ago," Ye Xiaotian scoffed, a disdainful look in his eyes. "Anyway, you don't need to worry about me. Even if I encounter Bazun'an... I can immediately avenge the severed arm from that night at the Spiritual Palace."

Qiao Qianzhi rolled his eyes. "Just take it easy on yourself. The Spiritual Palace is in my and Old Xiao's hands. You don't need to worry about our fallback; we'll cover you. Once you're done with Old Man Sang's business, quickly leave that trouble spot, the Yunlun Mountains!"

"I can leave anytime," Ye Xiaotian said, weighing the "Sacred Origin Crystal" in his hand.

At that moment, Qiao Qianzhi seemed to have thought of something, and a look of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Ye Xiaotian caught it and immediately asked, "Is there anything else you want to say?"

"You..." Qiao Qianzhi was still somewhat hesitant, but recalling Ye Xiaotian's earlier mention of his "perfected Spatial Profound," he felt reassured and said, "Since you can now come and go freely and are still in the Yunlun Mountains, I might need your help. Just do what you can."

"What kind of help?" Ye Xiaotian paused, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Your research into the Heavenly Machine Art, has it yielded results?"

"Hehehe..." Qiao Qianzhi chuckled, correcting him, "It's the final step in the research of Heavenly Machine Puppets. I've figured out the method to crack it. If successful, I'll be one step ahead of Hall Master Dao, developing a semi-saint level Heavenly Machine Puppet that can evolve independently!"

Ye Xiaotian was instantly petrified, somewhat dumbfounded.

After a long pause, he finally gasped, "You're not joking, are you?"

"Heh heh..." Qiao Qianzhi chuckled, retorting, "I told you to learn the Way of Spirit Arrays and the Way of Heavenly Machines with me a long time ago. That's the fundamental path to comprehending the world's mysteries... Spirit refining? Hmph, isn't that something anyone can do?"

Qiao Qianzhi held his chopsticks, his hands clasped behind his back, proudly puffing out his chest.

Ye Xiaotian was speechless, unable to retort, his mind racing with thoughts.

Back at the Saint Palace, with geniuses emerging in droves, Qiao Qianzhi had proposed the idea of "not conforming to worldly corruption," and then resolutely embarked on the path of spirit arrays.

With his comprehension, he could have been unparalleled in spirit refining. If he truly committed to the path of spirit arrays, everyone believed he could achieve great things.

After all, the Saint Palace was a place that cultivated Saints.

Theoretically, everyone who could cultivate there was a monstrous talent from the Five Regions, each possessing the potential to become a Saint.

However, a mid-path transition was too late.

Qiao Qianzhi's choice was mocked by too many of his peers. For a long time, his cultivation even fell to the bottom among his peers, and under the principle of survival of the fittest, he was almost expelled from the Saint Palace.

At that time, the paths of spirit arrays and heavenly machines still lacked a clear objective for people to pursue.

Even Dao Qiongcang, who was not yet famous at that time, was occasionally heard of for his Heavenly Machine Art on the continent, but no one could be considered a leader of that era.

Despite having no clear objective, Qiao Qianzhi persisted, firmly believing that "patterns" were the mystery of all things.

Like the tendons and meridians of the human body, the leaf veins and annual rings of plants, or the growth textures of all living beings...

These "biological pattern diagrams" corresponded one-to-one with "spirit patterns" and "dao patterns" evolved from inanimate objects like spirit arrays and heavenly machine arrays. Once mastered, becoming a Saint would be effortless.

This idea, when it emerged at the time, was truly groundbreaking, no less significant than the later advent of the "Thorough Divine Sense."

The only difference was...

Kuilaihan proposed the "Thorough Divine Sense" and successfully evolved the "Divine Punishment Tribulation." He stood on the shoulders of giants from the spirit refining era and realized his aspirations.

Qiao Qianzhi had no one to refer to. The path he chose had no predecessors, so he could only rely on himself, endlessly exploring.

Decades passed...

Even when Ye Xiaotian thought Qiao Qianzhi was truly mad and was about to give up on him, the other party suddenly declared that he had completed the final step.

"Semi-Saint?"

Ye Xiaotian's thoughts drifted, then suddenly his lips twitched, and he nearly burst out laughing.

He mocked himself for striving for so many years to only achieve the perfected Spatial Profound, still an immeasurable distance from being a Semi-Saint.

He also wanted to bless his friend, who was dedicated to researching an alternative path to sainthood, wishing for the success of his idea and hoping he truly had the chance to surpass him and Old Man Sang, becoming a Saint first!

"It's not *me* becoming a Saint, alright? It's me making the Heavenly Machine Puppet a Saint. And this is just an idea; it hasn't been truly implemented yet," Qiao Qianzhi seemed to sense Ye Xiaotian's expectation and immediately spoke, trying to lower it.

Ye Xiaotian smiled, "If you already have the idea, how far away can success be?"

He didn't say the unspoken thought: If the Heavenly Machine Puppet successfully became a Saint, wouldn't Qiao Qianzhi himself have a reference method? What would he have to fear about crossing the three Throne realms?

If someone else had proposed such an idea, which seemed to go astray, Ye Xiaotian would certainly have scoffed.

But the Saint Palace did not recruit mediocre talents; anyone admitted represented someone with boundless imagination and down-to-earth execution.

Qiao Qianzhi had been working from the Saint Palace to the Tiansang Spiritual Palace, spending decades of his life.

For him to present this idea now, no matter how humble his words, would he say it without at least a seventy to eighty percent chance of success?

Moreover, couldn't every path in this world, big or small, lead to a destination?

Consider the era of ancient sword cultivators: wasn't the first person to conceive of "spirit refining" also a peculiar genius cast aside by that era?

"What help do you need?" Ye Xiaotian's mood was somewhat uplifted, and he decided to help Qiao Qianzhi, no matter the difficulty.

"Do what you can, alright? Don't be impulsive. Prioritize your own life," Qiao Qianzhi cautiously advised first.

Afterward, he chuckled softly, rubbing his hands, and said:

"The test subject is a Heavenly Machine Puppet, and I don't have one on hand. The only one the Spiritual Palace had was taken by that kid Xu Xiaoshou; go get it back for me.

"That's the first-generation Heavenly Machine Puppet developed by Hall Master Dao, possessing growth potential, and it's also the experimental subject I've analyzed for decades and found most suitable.

"At the time, it was originally just borrowed by Xu Xiaoshou to play with, to see if it could activate more spirituality...

"Hmm, with Old Man Sang's connection, Xu Xiaoshou and I also have a good personal relationship. If you find him, he'll agree."

Hearing this, Ye Xiaotian's eyebrow twitched. *That's not necessarily true*, he thought to himself.

Who knew what Xu Xiaoshou had become like after joining the Holy Slaves?

"I'll try my best, provided I can find Xu Xiaoshou's tracks; he's elusive," Ye Xiaotian nodded, then asked, "Anything else?"

"There's one more item..."

Qiao Qianzhi took a deep breath and said:

"Didn't the Eighth Sword Immortal spread rumors throughout the Five Regions that the City of Sky has a 'Saint Sealing Dao Foundation'? I don't need a 'Saint Sealing Dao Foundation,' but if possible, please help me find something that he mentioned in his words at the time..."

"The Sacred Origin Crystal!"