Chapter 2024: Please Execute

For crying out loud, stop with the thoughts!

At that moment, when he saw the figure, whose appearance and build were seventy percent similar to Dao Qiongcang, walk up to Shi Mingnuo, Xu Xiaoshou broke out in a cold sweat. The amount of information suddenly exploded! Were there really four people? Was the Shi Mingnuo Dao never a solid trio, but a quartet, with one member he simply wasn't strong enough to perceive at the time?

"I'm speechless..."

Not only did the appearance of this Dao Ancestor, who resembled Dao Qiongcang, cause panic, but the information revealed in his words also sent chills down his spine, as he mentioned a familiar name.

"Jin Ren?""Xi He and Kong Yuhen, I know both of them.""This 'Jin Ren' must be referring to the Ming Ancestor, one hundred percent. Is the Ming Ancestor also called Jin Ren?"

Xu Xiaoshou racked his brain, but he truly couldn't recall where else he had heard the Ming Ancestor's true name. It seemed as if, from beginning to end, any mention of the Ming Ancestor's true name had always been circumvented by some mysterious power, never spoken by anyone.

"Sheng Xin, Gu Mu, Shennong Baicao, Wu..."

The true names of Ancestral Gods he had interacted with multiple times, either directly or indirectly, had been revealed long ago. Only the Ming Ancestor, despite such long interaction, was always referred to by roundabout names, whether from Nuo Ancestor and Shi Ancestor, or during confrontations with Medicine Ancestor and Demon Ancestor. Was it a coincidence? Xu Xiaoshou had never thought that an Ancestral God's true name could be linked to so much, making his hair stand on end.

But if it wasn't a coincidence, then would there be a connection between Ming Ancestor Jin Ren and the second true body, Jin Ren?

"Was it the residual power of the Ming Ancestor that influenced me, making me unconsciously name my second true body Jin Ren?""Or was it because I named my second true body Jin Ren that the Ming Ancestor then gained a true name and was called Jin Ren by them?"

This second conjecture sounded outrageous. In reality, given that Shi Ancestor was lost, the River of Time was split into nine, and time was in disorder, it might actually hold true. After all, even the Sword Ancestor from the End Times could travel beyond the Saint Ancestor's era... And the temporal order inevitably represented a primary-secondary relationship. While others might not be able to sort out the complexity, Xu Xiaoshou understood it with a single thought.

"If it's the former, then it's no wonder the second true body has its own consciousness and isn't merely a pure power incarnation.""But if there truly was 'deliberate circumvention,' who orchestrated this concealment of the true name?""The Ming Ancestor?""Or was it the Nuo Ancestor, who created the spinning wheel?"

This inevitably led him to think another layer deeper. Putting other things aside and putting himself in their shoes, Zhou Tianshen had now been deified and declared an Ancestor, but was accidentally trapped in reincarnation. Xu Xiaoshou had created a spinning wheel with the hope of helping Zhao Tianli rise, but if the opportunity arose, would he let Zhou Tianshen live, or would he let Zhao Tianli devour Zhou Tianshen's power and achieve Ancestral status from scratch?

At this point, someone would inevitably want to interject with an unrelated question, asking who Zhao Tianli was. Indeed! Zhao Tianli, who exactly was he? For Xu Xiaoshou, he was just a character he had never met, fabricated out of thin air. But for the Nuo Ancestor, wasn't Xu Xiaoshou the equivalent of Zhao Tianli to Xu Xiaoshou himself? But Zhou Tianshen was Nuo Ancestor's Ming Ancestor! If Zhou Tianshen's significance wasn't enough, what about Mr. Si Ren? Was it to let Mr. Si Ren awaken, or to let Zhao Tianli seize Mr. Si Ren's Dao and live?

"It seems I've been trusting Mad Nuo a bit too much?"

When this thought popped into his mind, Xu Xiaoshou again noticed something was off. After all, his current achievements were largely thanks to Mad Nuo. Prior to this, he had never doubted Nuo Ancestor's motives; if he had wanted to kill him, he would have done so already, and 'raising him like a pig' (for cultivation) wasn't necessary given his strength. But now, because a Dao Ancestor resembling Dao Qiongcang had uttered a single sentence, he wavered. This Dao Ancestor Yi Ji was also an obvious trickster, adept at manipulation. What should he do?

Suppressing the turmoil, Xu Xiaoshou turned to his second conjecture.

"My Jin Ren first, then the Ming Ancestor's Jin Ren?"

Putting other things aside, no matter how he thought about it, it still seemed absurd, yet, unexpectedly, it had a trace of rationality:

"Jin Ren has self-awareness...""During my weaker period, Jin Ren could already be treated as a real person to divert attacks from Dao Qiongcang, Bei Huai, and others...""Jin Ren has disconnected multiple times...""Jin Ren once had individual contact with Dao Peipei...""Every time Jin Ren died and was reborn, it could inherit my latest peak power; the only difference was the lack of external objects..."

The more Xu Xiaoshou thought about it, the more he felt a chill run down his spine. However, when analyzing a problem with a preconceived answer, even if it were truly a coincidence, one could still discern traces of manipulation. This was seriously wrong! What should he do?

"Perhaps, I should set aside the process and go straight to the result?"

During multiple torments, Dao Qiongcang had taught Xu Xiaoshou a principle: just analyze the ultimate beneficiary. So, in this "farce," what did the Dao Ancestor's appearance beside Shi Mingnuo bring? Xu Xiaoshou, calm as a Heavenly Machine Puppet, quickly analyzed the answer:

"It made me wary of the passive system...""It made me start to guard against the Nuo Ancestor...""It made me wary of Jin Ren..."

Was this Dao Ancestor benevolent, or did he harbor ill intentions? This point also required careful consideration. After all, from the timeline, while he was comprehending the Dao in the temporal realm, Dao Qiongcang had probably almost finished receiving the Dao Ancestor's inheritance. When deified and declared an Ancestor at the Crossroads, Dao Qiongcang had vaguely shown signs of nearing the completion of the Way of Memory, reaching 100%. After all, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't discern any concept of the "backside of the Great Dao" in the Medicine Ancestor's Great Dao of Life and Reincarnation.

"So at this time, there's a ninety percent chance that Dao Qiongcang's Way of Memory has reached grand perfection, no longer inferior to my Way of Intent.""My memory has a problem. It could be that I wasn't strong enough to see it before, or it could be that while I was recalling past memories, he inserted a piece of 'truth.' Now I can only sense that something is wrong, but it's difficult to distinguish 'right from wrong.'"

This was Dao Qiongcang's usual trick. When the enemy is in an ambiguous state, his strategy has largely succeeded.

"Regardless, the Way of Memory has interfered with me.""It's roughly equivalent to saying this memory didn't exist when I didn't see it. But when I saw the Dao Ancestor here, he must have also seen me on the Saint God Continent and could exert some influence."

So... There were still two remaining questions.

"Is he Dao Ancestor Yi Ji now, or Dao Ancestor Dao Qiongcang?""And whose will is interfering with my memories in the temporal realm? Who is friend, and who is foe?"

Completely suppressing his thoughts, Xu Xiaoshou continued to look at the scene before him, a scene full of disjointedness that had not existed previously. In fact, he no longer wanted to watch; he felt nauseous but had no choice. He now truly just wanted to return to the Saint God Continent, transform into the Extreme Giant, punch Dao Qiongcang into a pulp, and smash all his doubts into pieces. No answer was the best answer.

If your heart is dirty and black, you flamboyant old Daoist, stop your posturing and just go reincarnate!

"Yi Ji, do you mean...""Not just the Way of Intent, the Power of Names, and the Power of Space-Time, you also want to add other things into this spinning wheel?"

Xu Xiaoshou clearly remembered that this dialogue hadn't existed before. But Nuo Ancestor, looking at the uninvited Dao Ancestor, surprisingly didn't punch him into oblivion. Instead, he asked, "You want to add the Way of Memory?"

"No!" That Dao Ancestor Yi Ji, who closely resembled Dao Qiongcang, shook his head: "My Way of Memory is not yet perfected, and its concepts are not even comparable to yours three, so I won't cause any trouble."

"Then..."

"But Jin Ren's reincarnated body can cultivate multiple Ways simultaneously and then nurture them with the Power of Names." Dao Ancestor Yi Ji looked at Ming Ancestor with a subtle smile. "Didn't Xi He once mention that he had seen several usable Venerated Supremes?"

Too similar! He was exactly like Dao Qiongcang, carved from the same mold! Xu Xiaoshou wished he could rush up to him and slap his face wildly, smashing that ghastly face. He suppressed this urge, though in reality, he couldn't reach him. Ming Ancestor remained silent and glanced at Nuo Ancestor.

Mad Nuo nodded, and without much thought, said, "Sheng Xin of the Saint Dao, Shennong Baicao of the Life Dao, Gu Mu of the Sword Dao, Wu of the Battle Dao, Void Heaven of the Void Dao, and Cui Yin who cultivates the Way of Arts..." This was almost the list of peak Ancestral Gods and Venerated Supremes across the Three Thousand Planes, above and below the Heavenly Realm, and because it came from Mad Nuo's mouth, it could be called the "Mad List." Among the Ancestors on the list, as far as Xu Xiaoshou knew, only the Dragon Ancestor among the Ten Ancestors from the Saint God Continent was not included; he hadn't heard the Dragon Ancestor's true name. "...each lacking one step, or half a step. But as long as the time is ripe, they can surely cultivate the Great Dao to perfection and lend us a hand." Nuo Ancestor finished speaking and looked over, seemingly not yet grasping Dao Ancestor Yi Ji's full meaning.

"Then it's them." The Dao Ancestor strode over, took the crude spinning wheel, and with starlight converging in his hand, infused some power into it: "I cannot seize their Dao, but Xi He has a way to do so indirectly. When Xi He can't avoid circumventing the indirect seizure of Dao, and the Ancestors become aware of their own authority and power leaking, my Way of Memory can play a role, making them briefly ignore the infiltration of their power."

After a pause, the Dao Ancestor spoke with complete confidence and ease, an air of having everything under control: "The Way of Stars encompasses the three thousand foundations of the Great Dao. If Xi He lets me observe the Venerated Supremes in his memory, I can nourish the nascent forms of various Ways in the spinning wheel beforehand. Once the Dao foundation is initially established, Jin Ren's Power of Names has a special attribute that can help your reincarnated body, or the inheritor, to nurture various Ways and cultivate them to perfection as much as possible."

At this point, Dao Ancestor Yi Ji's ruthless side finally subtly revealed itself in a smile at the corner of his lips: "Since no one is willing to help, why don't we seize their Dao and help ourselves!"

After these words, the entire place fell silent. Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded, and in a daze, he realized something:

"Berserker Giant, Extreme Giant, the gigantification abilities from the Void race...""Sharpness, Sword Dao Mastery, Sword Dao Disc, derived from Sword Ancestor Gu Mu's Ancient Sword Arts...""Immovable Mingwang, Absolute Refusal of Balance, and others, came from the Battle Ancestor's Martial Dao. Even during moments of Divine Agility, there were traces of Fourth Realm combat awareness...""Culinary Mastery's 'Knows No Medicine, Everything Can Be Medicine' originated from an understanding of pharmacology and the Way of Life, merely packaged differently...""The Time and Space Dao Discs came from the Shi Ancestor, the Fire Dao Disc from the Saint Ancestor, and the Arts Dao Disc also came from Cui Yin, whom Mad Nuo had met..."

How could this not be terrifying upon closer thought? No wonder all the abilities in the black spinning wheel bore similarities, big or small, to those of the Ten Ancestors of the Saint God Continent. Even with the 'Secluded Independence' that Cui Yin feared immensely, Xu Xiaoshou seemed to see the shadow of Dao Qiongcang standing silently on the backside of the River of Memory, a shadow that even Medicine Ancestor had barely failed to notice.

"This..."

Just one consciousness recall, and the things revealed made his back turn cold and his palms sweat profusely. It made sense! Suddenly, it all made sense! Even the most inexplicable part, "cultivating multiple Ways simultaneously," was perfectly completed with logical concepts after Dao Ancestor Yi Ji appeared. It was as if the Dao Ancestor should have been there, one corner of the "Shi Mingnuo Dao" quartet—missing anyone was unacceptable, as the powers in the black spinning wheel wouldn't correspond to what he himself had mastered if any were absent.

"Dao Ancestor Yi Ji, one of my angel investors, even showed me kindness?"

Unlike Xu Xiaoshou's shock, the three of Shi Mingnuo clearly did not quite agree with the Dao Ancestor's statement.

"Cultivating multiple Ways leads to being unfocused. Originally, the Ming Ancestor's reincarnated body would weaken with each reincarnation; if energy is dispersed..."

"The Way of Intent should be primary." Dao Ancestor Yi Ji always hit