Chapter 1652: Wearing firewood and tasting gall to fish for treasures, the starry sky returns to silence with the dragon character inverted

The God's Relic was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one answered the question, neither Ba Zun'an in the ancient book world nor Dao Qiongcang and Yue Gongli, who were observing the battle. Everyone seemed still engrossed in that astonishing sword strike that had just torn through the galaxy.

Xu Xiaoshou was a practical person. Glory was a thing of the past; it was enough to savor the moment. The reality was that this sword strike had almost completely depleted him! When he noticed that his internal life force reserves had recovered even a tiny bit, and he could barely move, he quickly opened his eyes, gained control of his limbs, and attempted to move.

"Pop! Pop! Crackle!"

His bones rapidly repaired, broken hair regrew, and his muscles quickly swelled back. This physique, which even Ba Zun'an envied, treated 'injury' and 'recovery' like a joke. It could be instantly depleted and instantly recover. At first, he could barely support himself, but after a few stumbling steps, his gait was already steady. After taking a few more breaths of the God's Relic's air, his Spiritual Core's spiritual essence increased by one or two tenths, and he could move independently.

"Hoo-hoo-hah-hah!"

Xu Xiaoshou bounced twice in place, threw a few punches, and his condition was mostly back to normal. He estimated that even though the energy consumption was massive and the overdraft severe, his lifespan had likely suffered. In roughly ten minutes, everything would return to its perfect pre-battle state. If Chong Yin possessed this recovery ability, even if the Ten Demigods were assembled, they might not be able to break even one of his fingers!

"The Body Dao Disk is quite strong!"

The three basic Dao Disks of Body, Spirit, and Intent each had 90% transcended Dao. Even if he didn't activate the Body Dao Disk at this moment or enter the Heaven-Man Unity state, Xu Xiaoshou could clearly perceive a qualitative change in his sustained combat ability. The last time he had depleted himself like this was in the battle against Bei Huai, after which he lay like a corpse in the Apricot Realm for so long that he almost died. This time, despite being severely overdrawn again, he could move freely in less than a quarter of an hour.

"Your recovery ability, in this world, perhaps only a god could..."

Ba Zun'an paused, his tone gaining a hint of envy. "No, not even a god could compare."

Heh heh. Sustained combat ability was his biggest trump card. If even a god possessed his set of passive skills, why would they need to abandon their body and reside in Cao Erzhu's? He could abandon his body, fight for ten minutes, and his physical body would grow back, allowing him to continue abandoning it until Chong Yin begged for mercy on his knees.

"Shieldy!"

Looking up, the void was filled with spiderweb-like cracks, but Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. After the Art Ancestor's Ruin exploded, too many treasures were sent flying out by his One-Unity Extreme Sword, and the Broken-Might Shield was among them. But unlike those divine artifacts that were either blasted into temporal-spatial rifts or voluntarily escaped into the starry sky, the Broken-Might Shield clearly remembered its new master.

It controlled its trajectory, its massive body lodged in the rift, with one end exposed in the starry sky and the other in the God's Relic. The end in the starry sky was invisible. The part in the God's Relic was like a giant, tempting radish with a big bottom, waiting for someone to pull it out.

"Pop!"

Xu Xiaoshou transformed into a raging giant, getting bigger to exert more force, and pulled out Shieldy in one go.

"Shieldy, I missed you so much. Without you, I really felt so insecure. If you hadn't been absorbed by Chong Yin then, this fight wouldn't have been so difficult. Fortunately, fortunately... You didn't switch sides! That was the most crucial thing!"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't even dare to imagine if, just now, under the One-Unity Extreme Sword, the Broken-Might Shield had been taken out by Chong Yin to block, whether he could still have shattered the opponent's spirit and intent with one sword strike.

"Difficult."

Ba Zun'an seemed to know what Xu Xiaoshou was thinking and said, staring at the tall, heavy Broken-Might Shield that was slowly shrinking in the giant's hand: "This must be what the Heaven Ancestor called 'the ultimate benevolent destiny'."

"Do you know about the Dark-Wounding Sword?"

"You're quite a dedicated Eighth Sword Immortal, always talking about swords..." Xu Xiaoshou nodded, "The one on Huang Quan?"

Ba Zun'an's attention was clearly not on Huang Quan. "The Dark-Wounding Sword wounds everything; it's said to penetrate all defenses. Does that sound familiar?"

"The Moji Sword Art?" Xu Xiaoshou was all too familiar with it; he had just finished using the Wanton Sword of No Desire not long ago.

Ba Zun'an nodded, speaking in a tone that wasn't thoroughly researched but carried a certain certainty: "The Nine Supreme Divine Artifacts were born from heaven and earth and are in harmony with the Dao and its laws."

"The Moji Sword Art, legend has it, was conceived by the Sword Ancestor after observing the Dark-Wounding Sword, seeking its characteristic of 'shedding the false and wounding the true'. But regardless of whether it's this art or this sword, there is one exception."

My Shieldy?

Xu Xiaoshou reverted to his human form and looked down in surprise at the silver shield in his hand, which had shrunk to match his own size. The Broken-Might Shield remained silent, unmoved by favor or disgrace, and utterly steady.

Ba Zun'an hummed in affirmation: "The Dark-Wounding Sword can wound anything, except for Broken-Might."

"The Broken-Might Shield can block anything, without exception."

That's an incredibly high evaluation! Xu Xiaoshou already greatly admired his Shieldy's defensive power and loved it even more after hearing this.

"Then isn't it invincible?"

Ba Zun'an didn't respond to that. After asking, Xu Xiaoshou had the answer himself and rubbed his nose sheepishly. Of course, it wasn't invincible! As long as the enemy didn't directly attack, but like Chong Yin, used roundabout methods to restrain and seal it, then defense wouldn't be a factor. An active item still requires a process of 'taking it to block,' which can't compare to passive abilities. Even so, Xu Xiaoshou still loved this loyal and honest fellow and caressed it a few more times, unable to put it down.

Shieldy seemed to be either aloof or socially awkward, as it didn't dare to respond directly to its new master's affectionate gestures. In Xu Xiaoshou's mind, a timid thought appeared:

"Give..."

Shieldy?

It was Shieldy's voice! Within this ancient, heavy will, there was a hint of careful attempt; who else could it be but Shieldy? Aside from when he contracted the Broken-Might Shield under the gaze of the Heaven Ancestor's Eye, this was the first time Xu Xiaoshou felt initiative from the Broken-Might Shield. The cold, massive shield finally had feelings.

"Chong Yin, you're a good god! As expected, only reunion after separation can quickly warm up feelings between two parties."

"Give?"

"Give what?"

Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand, patting Shieldy, and said grandly: "What do you want? Name it, and I'll satisfy you!"

The Broken-Might Shield no longer responded. After a few breaths, the shield body trembled, and Xu Xiaoshou sensed spatial fluctuations emanating from the shield in his hand. He instinctively flipped Shieldy over. He then saw the inner side of the silver shield, as if a large mouth had opened, and from within, like fish blowing bubbles, it 'popped' out many streams of light.

Dazzling light! No, it was all divine light! Xu Xiaoshou looked closely and was greatly startled. Blades, spears, swords, staffs, stones, herbs, wooden beads... Countless treasures were spewed out by the Broken-Might Shield. Upon closer inspection.

Somewhat familiar? Weren't these all treasures previously seen sealed within the Art Ancestor's Ruin?

"So many Relic Tablet Divine Artifacts!"

Dao Qiongcang had approached at some point, his face filled with shock, and he recited them as if listing his own treasured possessions: "White Dragon Patterned Stone, Dao-Seeking Spear, Sin Blade, Barrier-Breaking Sword, Immortal-Binding Rope..."

"Mountain Shell, Dragon Coral, Prayer Dao Grass, Dragon Horns, Dragon Eyes... and this, is this a 'Dragon Pearl'?"

"So many Dragon Pearls! One hundred, three hundred, six hundred... Even Dragon Corpses? Three, ten, eighteen..."

Xu Xiaoshou froze in place, his lips twitching, his entire being numb. This, this, this... All of this was stolen from the Art Ancestor's Ruin? Not stolen! Shieldy must have taken them when the ruin exploded. Treasures go to those who are fated to receive them; what my Shieldy likes, how can that be called stealing? It's just taking, merely taking!

"Pop pop pop..."

Having only said the word 'give', Shieldy, the practical type who acts rather than speaks, was still spewing! It couldn't finish giving; it simply couldn't! From various Relic Tablet Divine Artifacts to various biological fossils, to various holy medicines, holy plants, holy woods, to the corpses of various ancient races...

"What is this?"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes were a little red. Previously, Chong Yin's single Art of Dreams Falling Three Thousand summoned various ancient tribe avatars, and now, among the treasures spewed out by Shieldy, there were many fossilized corpses that looked similar. Horned Beastmen, Red-Eyed Elves, Black-Eyed Falcons, Quillbearers, Penglai Immortals, Map-Bearing Bixi...

So many! Too many! If he mastered the Way of Life and granted them new vitality, even without their own sentience, could he create an an army of ancient races? What! I have a Life Dao Disk? What! I just need to spend passive points to transcend the Dao of the Life Dao Disk?

Xu Xiaoshou's mouth stretched to his temples, and he suddenly understood the life scholar Bei Huai a little. Everyone hated Bei Huai. Everyone was Bei Huai.

"No, I'm different."

"I just want to resurrect them; it's just about caring for life."

"I'm not doing research, and I'm certainly not interested in assembling, combining, or creating grotesque life forms. I just purely want to command these ancient races."

Those things, only the Three Revered Heavens combined with the Overlord, could explode one with a single strike. But how many Three Revered Heavens are there in the world, and how many Overlords? Leaving aside other things, if that red-eyed elf were given vitality, could it also draw the Evil Sin Bow and directly fight Ai Cangsheng? Even if it couldn't win, was it entirely possible to defeat Dao Xuanji and other forces of the next tier?

"Absolutely possible!"

The value of the ancient tribe fossils was too high, so high that even Dao Qiongcang was gasping for breath and felt a little envious. Xu Xiaoshou casually picked up a medicine that rolled to his feet, sealed within an unknown stone. This was a holy life medicine whose name he couldn't even call out; the power it contained was probably enough to allow even a god to fully unleash their combat power on the Holy Divine Continent. Such ancient martial artists lacked powerful medicines the most. Previously, fighting Bei Huai, ten ordinary holy medicines could buy him ten attacks. Here... So many! A huge pile!

Holy medicines were relatively small in size and didn't take up much space when piled in the Art Ancestor's Ruin; Shieldy could grab a large bundle with a casual scoop. The amount spewed out just now visually exceeded ten thousand.

God, forget about Aunt Xiang. From now on, I am your treasure. Teach me Grand Summoning Art, and I can make you satisfied!

The only flaw was... These powerful medicines sealed in stones all lacked activity, which was a bit of a pity. What! The Medicine Ancestor's true name was Shennong Baicao? What! I just happen to have a Shennong Medicinal Garden? What! The soil in the Shennong Medicinal Garden can even sustain the Ancestral Tree, Dragon Apricot, which doesn't want to leave, and everything planted there thrives, everything cultivated flourishes? What! The medicines in the Shennong Medicinal Garden had coincidentally been wasted by that prodigal gluttonous god, and now only the soil remained, with Li Fugui having only recently planted a batch of rank three and four king-tier spiritual medicines?

"Pull them all out!"

"Only plant holy medicines!"

Xu Xiaoshou could already imagine Li Fugui's dumbfounded expression when this pile of potent medicines was thrown before him, Li Fugui, the chief steward of the Apricot Realm. As for Dragon Apricot, the owner of the Shennong Medicinal Garden? This tree dragon, whose capacity was so small that a single bucket of dragon blood could yield one of its dragon apricots, would have thirty dragon corpses thrown at it when they next met, to let it gnaw on them.

Expand! Expand your mindset, open it all up!

"Pop pop pop..."

Still spewing! Shieldy was still giving! Xu Xiaoshou found this guy absolutely adorable. He had never seen a weapon so perfectly compatible with him — yes, Shieldy was just a weapon — how could it understand his heart so well?

"Desired, Passive Points, 1."

A notification popped up in the information bar, Xu Xiaoshou felt a prickling sensation on his back, and he abruptly turned to stare at Dao Qiongcang. Dao Qiongcang's eyes were also red, clutching a dragon horn in his hand, and he seemed to be suppressing his desires as he looked at the mountain of treasures before him.

"Swoosh."

Xu Xiaoshou shifted his stance sideways, without saying a word, and positioned his body between Dao Qiongcang and the treasure mountain. My Shieldy gave these to me, what are you looking at? Haven't you weighed our relationship clearly in your heart?

"A share for everyone who sees."

At that remark, Xu Xiaoshou realized for the first time that those who could become Hall Masters had thick skin, daring to say anything. Of course, he couldn't refuse his words. He waved his hand grandly and said generously: "Alright. The dragon horn is yours."

He didn't want to take back anything Dao Qiongcang had touched, so what harm was there in giving him one dragon horn? "Go on, move to the side, you're an eyesore. All the treasures are glowing, only you aren't glowing. Don't you know you're out of place?"

"Stop spewing."

"Shieldy, stop, don't spew anymore. Don't flaunt your wealth."

Xu Xiaoshou secretly patted the large silver shield twice. The Broken-Might Shield was also dizzy from spewing so much, and only after a few breaths did it realize what its master was saying and stopped spewing treasures. Then it dully started re-ingesting the items one by one. So cute! Xu Xiaoshou had never found Shieldy so adorable! He activated his Spatial Dao Disk, and with Shieldy's permission, he stuffed all the treasures back into its internal world. What better place to store treasures than the number one defense in the world? With the Heaven Ancestor's Eye's affirmation, not even Chong Yin could shake my Shieldy's loyalty. Who else in the world could turn it against me and make it spew treasures? Not even the unfathomable Dao Qiongcang!

"Stingy."

Dao Qiongcang cursed softly, having only managed to grab one dragon horn. Seeing Xu Xiaoshou activate his spatial profound meaning to retrieve the treasures, as if fireproofing and protecting the Dao, he quickly snatched another item.

"Two items, then."

"Give me this broken stone too."

What is it? There were too many treasures; Xu Xiaoshou truly hadn't noticed them all. But anything Dao Qiongcang set his eyes on was definitely not some broken stone. Without a word, he altered space. The 'broken stone' in Dao Qiongcang's hand returned to his own hand. He flipped it over and looked... How was this a broken stone?

The Saint Ancestor Stone Engraving!

"Shieldy even managed to grab this?"

Xu Xiaoshou was both surprised and secretly resented Dao Qiongcang's sharp eyes. This guy really knew how to pick; he picked the Demonic Saint Emperor's trump card. He vaguely remembered... Just now, under the One-Unity Extreme Sword, most things in the Art Ancestor's Ruin hadn't worked, and what Chong Yin ultimately intended was to pull out this stone engraving to save his life. Xu Xiaoshou still remembered the information Dao Qiongcang had shared earlier!

"The Saint Ancestor Stone Engraving truly seems to be able to summon a Saint Ancestor; only family heads possess it, and he doesn't even have it..."

"Something only the heads of the Five Great Saint Emperor Families possess!"

Xu Xiaoshou stared at the stone engraving for a long time, then looked back at the calm-faced Dao Qiongcang, and didn't see much eagerness in his eyes. He shook his head. "I can tell you don't particularly like it, so I won't give this one away."

Dao Qiongcang's face darkened. Xu Xiaoshou bent down and picked up a broken stone from the ground, handing it over, saying: "Here's the broken stone you wanted. It's yours."

Dao Qiongcang's face sank. Is that how you behave, Xu Xiaoshou? After all that, that sword strike just now also borrowed the Saint Ancestor's power from my thirty million Saint Judgment Swords, so what's wrong with giving me a Saint Ancestor Stone Engraving?

"You're very stingy."

Dao Qiongcang's voice was muffled – Xu Xiaoshou wondered if his mood was the same. "More stingy than I imagined! Much more!"

Xu Xiaoshou thought for a moment. He didn't give the Saint Ancestor Stone Engraving away, nor did he put it into Shieldy's internal world. Instead, he put it into his own internal world and said seriously: "Not only am I stingy, I'm also petty and narrow-minded. I'm very bad."

A tree without bark will surely die. A person without shame is invincible. Xu Xiaoshou thought again; he was still in the God's Relic and needed to maintain a good relationship with Dao Qiongcang, so he said: "You, as the Hall Master, embezzled so many resources, and I didn't ask you for even one spirit crystal, right?"

"It's not 'a share for everyone who sees'; it's 'what's yours is yours, and what's mine is mine'."

"Of course, if you give me ten thousand Heavenly Mystery Divine Envoys in exchange, I'll give you the stone engraving."

Xu Xiaoshou ultimately took a step back, and after speaking, observed the flamboyant old Daoist's expression. Dao Qiongcang took a deep breath, deciding not to argue with this child. Let alone ten thousand, he wouldn't give even one. Xu Xiaoshou was also a Heavenly Mystery Sorcerer; seemingly giving away one Heavenly Mystery Puppet was actually akin to giving away thirty years of research and effort, and the flaw in his Heavenly Mystery Art!

"No trade."

No trade is best! Xu Xiaoshou hadn't intended to trade either. If Dao Qiongcang gave in, he would raise the price. If he offered ten thousand, he'd raise it to one hundred thousand, and if he still offered, then one million. Smart people knew that this transaction, from the moment Dao Qiongcang proposed it, ceased to exist. How unfair was that? My Shieldy endured hardship for so long just to retrieve these items. If observers get a share, then I also saw those thirty million Heavenly Mystery Puppets!

Actually, the most important thing was... If he left the God's Relic, and if the Saint Ancestor Stone Engraving possessed great divine abilities... Xu Xiaoshou didn't know if this thing would eventually come back to haunt him, making his future self regret