Chapter 1677: Bright Future Ahead, One High Score After Another

Incredible!

Xu Xiaoshou was thoroughly impressed by Painting Mastery's power.

Unfortunately, his celebration seemed a bit premature.

The moment his concentration wavered, and he drew even slightly slower, the Evil God power and Evil Sin power on the Evil Sin Bow's arrow quickly reverted to their original state.

"Picture Reconstruction is indeed static by nature. However, with the foundation of my Textile Mastery's multi-threaded control, I can achieve a simultaneous effect, allowing the reconstructed fake Evil God power to dynamically follow the fake Evil Sin Bow's arrow!"

This, however, consumed an immense amount of energy.

Looking inward, his spiritual energy was already more than half depleted.

"Understandable..."

Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand, shattering the distant Holy Dome Palace and Aicangsheng, and then, with a stroke of his brush, made the arrow disappear.

The level of Ancestral Source power was extremely high. Reconstructing the essence of Ancestral Source power using holy power as ink might already be insufficient, let alone using "spiritual energy" — a lower-tier power — to supply the Picture Reconstruction.

It was normal for it to deplete so quickly.

This wasn't an issue, as in the time it took him to ponder, Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual energy had already recovered almost completely.

He began to consider the limitations and malleability of "Picture Reconstruction."

"It can change power forms, but only using powers of the same tier, like changing Dragon Ancestor power into Evil God power. Perhaps, if I actually mastered Demonic Ancestor power and used it to alter Evil God power, it would be a better fit? As for using spiritual energy..."

Xu Xiaoshou tried it and found that a forced outcome was truly unsatisfactory. The Evil God power he created with spiritual energy was obviously fake, its aura terrifyingly weak.

"No fear. I possess various Ancestral Source powers; even if they're all exhausted, I still have Sword Will to rely on. Moreover, Painting Mastery itself isn't used much; it can be deployed at crucial moments for unexpected effects, which is even more potent."

Picture Reconstruction could be applied in too many ways, definitely not just limited to Aicangsheng.

Idea Avatar, plus Transformation, plus Imitator, plus Painting Mastery, plus Textile Mastery...

Xu Xiaoshou instantly conjured a Dao Qiongcang right there!

His demeanor, gestures, details, habits, spell-casting seals, Mysterious Heaven Light, Sky Scroll... he knew everything, and what he knew, he replicated perfectly!

"I am not Dao Qiongcang. You can call me Master Shou."

When this Dao Qiongcang appeared, a smile played on his lips, and he uttered some strange words before casually casting a Great Divine Descent Art on a distant tree stump.

The tree stump split open instantly. From within it, the Dao Qiongcang who called himself Master Shou emerged, holding a comb.

Xu Xiaoshou watched in stunned silence. If this were unleashed on the Holy Mountain, it would surely scare the Ten-Member Council out of their wits, wouldn't it?

"I have weaknesses," the ambiguous Dao Shou replica said with a beaming smile, proactively explaining, "My power is not comparable to yours, my Xu. If someone approaches or attacks me, I will quickly reveal my true nature. For example, the arrow I just drew, it wouldn't even need to hit me; merely aiming at me might make me crack."

Xu Xiaoshou calmly considered other matters, while the ambiguous Dao Shou replica continued to monologue: "But, my Xu, if I say I have weaknesses, do you believe it? The Great Divine Descent Art itself isn't powerful, but due to Dao Qiongcang's elaborate preparations before casting and his composure afterward, it becomes almost invincible. Similarly, if you prepare the momentum for me before I descend upon the Holy Mountain, and then subtly guide them with the Great Dao of Intent, they will already be convinced that I am allied with you—even if exposed, that's precisely the truth. In the eyes of outsiders, my identity and appearance would already be subjectively confirmed. After seeing that I also possess all of Dao Qiongcang's abilities, who would harbor doubts?"

The ambiguous Dao Shou replica spread his hands, tilted his head, a knowing smile playing on his lips, an expression of having everything under control: "And if no one even entertains doubt, who would attempt to verify my identity? The fact is, even if they harbored doubts, who would dare to act and verify my identity... or, to put it another way, who would dare to act and force me to openly side with the Holy Servants, to side with you?"

The ambiguous Dao Shou replica calmly placed a hand on his chest and declared: "My name is Dao Qiongcang, and I am powerful. But now, Master Shou... my power is at your disposal!"

Having spoken, he bowed from afar, then shattered into specks of light and disappeared.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his mouth, a faint smile threatening to appear.

He could almost envision the dramatic impact this self-directed play would have if it truly unfolded on the continent.

No matter how much Dao Qiongcang, far away in the Southern Region, wished to remain low-key, as long as Xu Xiaoshou produced this ambiguous Dao Shou replica, Dao Qiongcang would forever be tied to the "First Tower in Heaven" and its notorious reputation.

What kind of style did the Saint Emperor Family and Holy Temple adhere to? It was a terrifying style that couldn't tolerate even a hint of suspicion, where even accomplishments could lead to an arm being severed. Could they possibly tolerate such an "open and righteous" alliance between Xu and Dao?

"Forcibly getting on... uh, the ship..."

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled and quickly returned to reality.

In reality, the ambiguous Dao Shou replica had another fatal flaw: when he cast the Thirty-Six Heavenly Secrets, the effects needed to be drawn by Xu Xiaoshou himself. This was highly inconvenient for the main body, who would also be present and secretly making moves—it would appear very busy and lack refinement.

But there was no alternative; the ambiguous Dao Shou replica couldn't sustain himself. He was merely an improved Idea Avatar of a portrait clone, not even a Half-Saint Idea Avatar, and fundamentally very weak.

But... was there no solution?

The answer was "yes," though it seemed a bit cruel: Let Jin Ren commit suicide and be reborn, then after mastering Saint Emperor Lv.0 Painting Mastery, Jin Ren could perfectly emulate Dao Qiongcang, surpassing him in appearance!

Culinary Mastery and Painting Mastery—one could change combat tactics, the other could introduce deceitful methods.

Xu Xiaoshou was already trying to stop his thoughts from spiraling, but as soon as he suppressed one idea, another would bubble up.

He couldn't help but devise many new combat strategies.

He spent some time connecting the four Saint Emperor Lv.0 Mastery-type passive skills:

"Sword!" Sitting on a large rock, he gently beckoned into the void. With a hum, space warped, and ten thousand swords materialized in the emptiness, singing in unison as they converged.

"Weave!" Sword light crisscrossed, multiple needles embroidering spirits, swiftly sketching a grand Heavenly Dao net in mid-air. This net evolved into an illusory scene of the Second World of Ancient Sword Arts, then transformed into a Heavenly Secret array in the shape of a frying pan, prominently displaying the Great Dao rules.

"Stew!" Heaven and earth became a furnace where all things could be stewed. Visibly, in the area covered by the frying pan array, the Great Dao rules of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, light, darkness, wind, lightning, and ice were directly stirred, chopped, and dumped into the pot. With a stir, Dao arts, spiritual energy, holy power, plants, stones... everything was stewed together, directly refined into a grand elixir that seemed to possess a heartbeat, pulsating back and forth, existing between solid and ethereal states.

"Paint!" That grand elixir, which seemed like it would explode if looked at for too long, suddenly had its essence altered, transforming into a soft, adorable little kitten that everyone would want to approach and cuddle. Even if you didn't like cuddling cats, the guidance of the Super-Dao-Transformed Intent Disc wouldn't care about your preferences; it would simply compel you to approach and cuddle the cat.

The grand elixir? Reality and illusion only lasted for three breaths.

Xu Xiaoshou noticed his spiritual energy was rapidly depleting, almost bottoming out. He shook his head, ceased the painting, and allowed the world to return to its original state.

"Rumble..." The sky was gloomy, and a muffled thunderclap seemed to reverberate.

The Water Ghost, who was in a semi-meditative state, quickly snapped back to attention, frowning as he looked at the sky.

The clouds churned, then quickly settled into a still flow.

"Still putting too much pressure on him..." the Water Ghost said hesitantly. "Could he be trying to break through to the Grand Void or Half-Saint realms?"

Elder Sang glanced at him but offered no reply. Who undergoes the Nine Deaths Thunder Tribulation to ascend to Grand Void, or the Saint Tribulation to ascend to Half-Saint, and causes such a massive commotion? And through the barrier between the First Heaven and the Eighteenth Heaven, no less?

"It seems to be... a commotion from the Thirty-Third Heaven?" Feng Yujin's soul form mumbled, while tinkering with Mo Mo's headless corpse and piecing together Mo Mo's soul fragments.

The Water Ghost glanced at him, thinking, *You're even more outrageous.* Affecting the lower realm from two heavens away? Was he trying to blow up all the Great Dao rules of the Thirty-Third Heaven while undergoing tribulation?

Elder Sang, who had initially been dismissive, found his emotions somewhat complicated after hearing this. What was going on? Did it feel a bit like déjà vu? Was the world a repeating prison, where the First Heaven was a thatched hut, the Thirty-Third Heaven was the Spiritual Storage Pavilion, and the God's Remains was a massive Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace?

"What do you think?" The Water Ghost and Feng Yujin simultaneously looked at the bald monk, their expressions conveying, *He's your disciple; you should know him better than us.*

Elder Sang hesitated, then said, "No big deal."

"Uh-oh..." In the Thirty-Third Heaven, Xu Xiaoshou, completely blackened but not dead, struggled to his feet. His flesh writhed, and his wounds healed rapidly. Yet, he seemed to have lost the ability to speak, staring blankly at the massive crater in the distant sky.

The sky had a massive hole in it!

From the perspective of the Heaven Realm Core, the tiny sphere of the God's Remains originally only had one small tree rooted in it: the Infant-Conferring Holy Plant. Now, in the layer representing the Thirty-Third Heaven, a corner was missing. This was precisely the hole that had just been blasted out!

"How could the power be so immense?" Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered. He racked his brain, certain that the sword he used was merely Void Condensation Sword Art, not particularly powerful. The Heavenly Secret array drawn with Textile Mastery simply made the Dao principles clearly manifest in the manner of the Three Flowing Red Plum Petal Realm. And the final kitten painting was just an illusion, incapable of significantly increasing power.

Therefore, the answer was obvious...

"Culinary Mastery!" Was the problem with the Grand Stewing Art?

"No! It's due to the rules of the God's Remains!"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized that the God's Remains had been blasted with such a massive crater not because he was too strong. Instead, it was because the rule-set of the God's Remains itself was too high-tier and powerful. The Grand Stewing Art, by blending various Dao arts, was equivalent to the God's Remains itself performing the Divine Five-Finger Seed Art. The subsequent explosion from the grand stew of various rules, capable of reaching supra-Dao transformation, was far more advanced than anything he could produce by stewing his own spiritual energy, holy power, sword will, and ancestral source power.

"I don't cause explosions; I'm just the exclusive chef of art?" As he grasped this, Xu Xiaoshou, covered in dust, his eyes gleamed brightly.

Culinary Mastery naturally brought "normal" culinary skills, including cooking people, cooking Dao, cooking the undead, cooking living beings... and so on.

While proper chefs produced dishes perfect in color, aroma, and taste, an enraged cook could also create deadly dark cuisine. Xu Xiaoshou was following the path of the enraged cook.

He had no time to research delicious Aicangsheng. All he was thinking about now was whether to feed the Grand Stew of the God's Remains to the Osmanthus Mountain once it was cooked...

"No, no, that's too brutal."

Xu Xiaoshou still had some conscience. If he fed that pot of Grand Stew, the balance would be broken. If everyone on the Holy Mountain perished, what meaning would the Aicangsheng Emperor's hesitation hold? He would definitely choose to fight Xu Xiaoshou to the death!

"Calm down, calm down." The Grand Stew was so "artful" that it almost stunned Xu Xiaoshou. He reined in his thoughts, pulling his attention away from the qualitative changes brought by Painting and Culinary Masteries.

"Not much time..." Yes, it wasn't that he didn't want to continue researching cooking and painting, but there really wasn't much time. With twelve million passive points, he couldn't fully dedicate his thoughts to the qualitative changes brought by a mere one million passive points. That would be like picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons!

Furthermore, Jin Ren, on the other side of the mountain, had no contingency plan. All the Ancestral Source powers, the Dragon-Drawing Halberd, the Shattered Jūn Shield, etc., were with the main body and couldn't be given to Jin Ren, as there was a chance of losing them if he died... Under this vicious cycle, all Jin Ren could do was "adapt on the fly." But this helpless improvisation clearly carried the constant risk of Aicangsheng seeing through the empty fort strategy and being killed with a single arrow.

"Awaken, awaken!" Xu Xiaoshou patted his head, letting the excitement cool down, and brought himself back to the Second Awakening. This was the main priority!

He would spend most, if not all, of his remaining passive points on the second awakening of his extended passive skills. So, the question was, which one to awaken first?

"Rebound, Perception, Transformation, Sharpness, Resilience, Conversion..." "If each second awakening skill costs an average of one million, it seems I can have them all?"

For the first time, Xu Xiaoshou so clearly felt the sense of abundance brought by his power transformation. Things he had previously longed for but couldn't reach—could he now obtain them all just by standing boldly on the Holy Mountain? "Wuwuwu..."

Tears welled up in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes. He had waited for this day for too long!

"Then the first one will be... 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe,' whoever it lands on... it's you, Perception! My beloved concubine!" With a casual tap, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't be bothered to ponder the pros and cons; Perception was a divine miracle anyway, destined for a second awakening sooner or later. It had nurtured him from infancy, and its first awakening even unlocked Soul Reading, marking the beginning of his transformation from a brute-force fighter to a trickster. So, this first second awakening in the God's Remains, he entrusted it to you, Concubine Perception!

Ten awakening stones for exchange, starting with one million passive points. Xu Xiaoshou was very generous with Concubine Perception, though his hidden intention was to hope that his million-point investment would yield a ten-million-point return. "Oh, spirits above and below... Pah, I don't need to do these mystical things now; I'm rich! Very rich!"

Binding the skill, he walked to the Awakening Pool, gave a cheerful "Whoo-hoo!" and happily skipped stones. Ten consecutive failures!

Xu Xiaoshou's fervor suddenly vanished. His soul seemed to be extracted, his eyes became hollow, his hands hung limply by his thighs, and his entire body stiffened, petrified. His jaw stiffly lifted, and his lifeless eyes stared. In the Thirty-Third Heaven of the God's Remains, there was surprisingly wind, a strong wind that sent shivers down his spine. All the excitement brought by the qualitative changes in Culinary Mastery and Painting Mastery was completely extinguished by this streak of ten failures. It was a complete cool-down, akin to a sage's detachment, no longer holding any interest in anything in the world.

"I'm sorry," Xu Xiaoshou silently apologized to the passive system, and to his previously arrogant self. *Only ten million passive points, what are you showing off for, Xu Xiaoshou? Are you sick?!*

He looked around, suddenly realizing that the feng shui must be off in the place where the Evil God had revived.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't believe in such things. He just had a sudden thought: he wanted to change locations to skip stones... no, to throw awakening stones!

So he held the Heaven Realm Core and teleported to the Eighteenth Heaven.

The Eighteenth Heaven was also dilapidated. There wasn't a single good spot in the God's Remains. "It's simply a place of filth... bah, bah, bah!"

Xu Xiaoshou immediately scorned himself, and as if to compensate, he activated the Second World with a sword, sketching out a beautiful paradise and reciting with deep emotion: "At first it was very narrow, barely allowing passage; after tens of sections, it suddenly opened up..."

Now! This was the moment of unexpected breakthrough, of turning misfortune into blessing, of everything suddenly becoming clear!

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes gleamed like a robot's as he aimed at the Awakening Pool and forcefully flung a beautiful awakening stone. Come on! My precious!

"Damn it!" Unwilling to give up, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed another one and threw it.

He stopped his awakening attempts, beginning to suspect that the passive system was playing tricks on him now that he was rich... Should he switch to the Brute Great Dao Disc instead? At least, that was a substantial improvement...

"No." Xu Xiaoshou quickly shook his head, returning to calm: "It's just a bit of hardship." He ended the Second World, no longer wanting to deceive himself.

The dull, gray environment was incredibly oppressive, as if in the God's Remains... How could there be good luck in a place like a "ruin"?

"Wait, luck?" Xu Xiaoshou's face suddenly froze, then his lips twitched, his teeth chattered, and he viciously slapped himself. "Xu Xiaoshou, are you a pig?!"

He flashed out of the God's Remains and into the Apricot Realm.

The vibrant Apricot Realm, the bustling Jade Capital City, the delicious Dao arts of primordial chaos, the fresh, sweet air rich with the scent of medicine...

"Wuwuwu." Xu Xiaoshou burst into tears instantly, bawling as he sought out the Dragon Apricot, "I want a blessing, a fortune blessing, wuwuwu Apricot boo-hoo, I miss you so much..."

The spirit of the Dragon Apricot was slightly startled. Still fast asleep in Shennong's Medicinal Garden, it had initially felt a bit emotional that the Lord of the Apricot Realm hadn't come to see it immediately upon returning. A month wasn't a long time, but it wasn't short for humans either. However, from the current situation, Xu Xiaoshou showed no sense of detachment from it at all; on the contrary, their intimacy seemed even greater. Clearly, it was still his only Elder Tree! The Dragon Apricot's spirit quickly brightened, casually flicking a beam of golden light at Xu Xiaoshou. It had done similar things before, and simultaneously blessed him, saying: "May your branches spread wide, and apricot luck always bloom. Do good deeds, and fragrance will naturally come."

Xu Xiaoshou felt a surge of refreshment. For no apparent reason, he felt that *this* was the moment, he was certain *this* was the moment.

He lightly tossed an awakening stone onto the water's surface. This was it! It had to be right!

"Second Awakening successful." "Perception." "Perception." Aha! I hit it! Xu Xiaoshou raised both fists, a look of madness on his face, and circled the ancestral Dragon Apricot three times, then cupped it and kissed it twice with a loud smack.

Intent Deprivation? What was this? Could he strip away others' intentions and read their consciousness? Wasn't this a divine skill among divine skills?

Just as he was contemplating trying it out...

Suddenly! An inspiration struck! Xu Xiaoshou had a thought: "I can still do it!" — like getting one subject right in high school, and there's still another subject to ace. Go for it! Young man! Give it your all!

Whoosh— A beautiful arc cut through the Awakening Pool, the stone creating a startling splash and rippling waves.

"Second Awakening successful." "Sharpness." "Sharpness." There's wind and rain during the process, but a rainbow at the end... Good luck with the college entrance exam!