Ye Xiaotian shot a furious look at Xu Xiaoshou, signaling to him it wasn't the time for him to keep talking.

"Hallmaster Jiang…"

"Cheng Xingchu wasn't his match. We admit that much." Jiang Bianyan eased his temper, picked Cheng Xingchu up, and walked away.

There was no longer any way they could get the slots they were after.

You people from the Tiansang Spirit Palace are quite something.

That young lad, Xu Xiaoshou…

He finally realized why that masked man had extended his invitation to the kid. That kid was a monster!

It seemed like he didn't even need to do much to deal with Cheng Xingchu and even left him unconscious.

Seeing how casually he did it, Jiang Bianyan wondered just how much of his power the lad had put into it.

70 percent?

90 percent?

Jiang Bianyan's mind was a scattered mess. If such a young man was now part of the spirit palace, that would mean that the place would become even more prestigious.

"Master Ye, Master Qiao... I shall take my leave as well."

Yu Zhiwen bade the men farewell and walked behind Hallmaster Jiang.

After the guests left, only the four of them remained in the hall.

"Xiaoshou, you've gone too far this time!" Qiao Qianzhi remarked.

"Would he be coming to kill me for this? You know, like the old guy behind the little guy standing up for the little guy who got beaten up good?" Xu Xiaoshou said, looking rather uneasy.

"Probably wouldn't happen. It's the Holy Divine Palace we're talking about here, after all…"

"What about Cheng Xingchu then? Could there be like a Cheng family and such seeking revenge?"

"…"

No one knew what else to say.

"There is," Zhao Xidong said with a stiff nod, feeling quite amused. He enjoyed watching Xu Xiaoshou take a stumble.

Xu Xiaoshou walked past all of them with a look of despair on his face. His steps were heavy as he walked back into the hall like he was crying without shedding tears.

"I've bled for the spirit palace, I've rallied to the side of the spirit palace, yet here I am, suffering all this unknown pain all on my own…"

Ye Xiao and Qiao Qianzhi looked at each other, and the expression on their faces showed some compassion.

"Relax, kid. The spirit palace will undoubtedly protect you. And all the rewards that you've promised are yours to keep." Ye Xiaotian declared as he stepped into the hall.

Before they knew it, Xu Xiaoshou was taking the cobblestone-like 'Origin Residence' from inside the hall with a gleeful look on his face. He then took out a stamp which was of the size of a fist and handed both items over to the elders.

"Masters, please do me a favor and fix it for me. I plan to hide inside if those people come looking for me."

Ye Xiaotian, "…"

Qiao Qianzhi, "…"

Zhao Xidong sighed in resignation and nothing surprised him anymore with this lad.

Cursed, Passive Points +3.

"So, you have dug the Spirit Mark of Life out then, eh?" Ye Xiaotian's eyes kept twitching. His face was completely ashen.

"Indeed, Master Dean. You promised me before that if I were to win this, you would not go after what I had taken out of the Tianxuan Gate."

Xu Xiaoshou then wore an innocent look on his face and said, "Hmm? Is there something wrong with the mark?"

Huh…!

And I thought what I've promised was just that Black Scabbard and nothing else!

Ye Xiaotian took a deep breath. He suppressed that fury inside him and spoke in a kindly tone. "It's fine, all of it is yours, so…"

"Did you take anything else out of the place?"

Xu Xiaoshou racked his brain to recall if he did, then shook his head slowly. "That's all."

"You sure about that?"

Ye Xiaotian wasn't buying that.

He felt that maybe the collapse of the Tianxuan Gate had nothing to do with the spies at all, and maybe it was all the work of Xu Xiaoshou alone.

"If you do not declare any of them now, then they will not be considered part of what I've promised when they are discovered in the future."

Xu Xiaoshou paused and hesitated.

That look on his face told the three of them all they wanted to know. There was indeed something he was hiding.

Ye Xiaotian's face became somewhat ashen, and his body shuddered in exasperation, wondering what else the lad had in store for them.

"Take it out!"

"Umm…"

Xu Xiaoshou then fished out a white ring slowly, feeling rather apprehensive about it.

Ye Xiaotian thought the ring looked quite familiar and wondered if that was the thing Xu Xiaoshou had used to seal the sword aura on Lei Shuangxing when he snatched Zhou Tianshen back from him.

Hang on!

Sealing?

"You dug the 'Sealing Stone' out and then forged it into something else?" Ye Xiaotian's face turned red and that was a clear sign he was furious.

"Um… yes, you could say that."

Xu Xiaoshou said sheepishly. He thought about it for a moment and eventually decided not to rat Mo Mo out.

He figured he would talk to Elder Sang about it later, and given Ye Xiaotian's current state of mind, the latter seemed unable to take in such overwhelming information anymore.

Ye Xiaotian looked like he was about to blow up. Of all the eight all-powerful, world-stabilizing treasures he had searched all over the continent, Xu Xiaoshou already had three of them in his possession.

Is this kid some kind of treasure hunter?

Just how did he manage to find all of those in such a short amount of time?

"So…" the young man with silver hair said, trying to calm himself. But his expression was ice-cold as he said, "So, do you have a fourth treasure on you right now?"

"None. Not even half of a treasure."

Out of concern for his safety and the emotional wellbeing of the dean, he hid Jie's presence.

"Ma Ma!"

Suddenly they heard a rather irked voice coming from his chest, and it startled all four men.

Jie was angry.

All the other treasures got proper introductions, yet despite waiting so long to get introduced, Xu Xiaoshou did not let it out.

Xu Xiaoshou's face was ashen.

Despite all of his calculations, he had forgotten that Jie was something that had developed some form of human nature and wisdom. It could understand the conversations between Xu Xiaoshou and everyone else.

I'm done for…

I'm so, so done for…

"Jie?"

Qiao Qianzhi said, and his eyes widened as he suddenly recalled what that was.

He even dug that one out?

The look on his face when he looked at Xu Xiaoshou was one of terror.

Is there need to be that frightened? Xu Xiaoshou saw how the other two looked so terrified and immediately explained, "Okay, this one's not on me. It wanted to come out on its own!"

"Back when I was out saving the world and saving Zhou Tianshen along the way, I just happened to encounter it…"

Qiao Qianzhi and Ye Xiaotian looked at each other and eventually just sighed.

It was indeed as they had speculated.

Zhao Xidong was similarly stunned. Four world-stabilizing treasures! Man, Xu Xiaoshou is quite something…

"See, I've told you all! Xu Xiaoshou is the biggest spy of them all," he mumbled like he was possessed, and shot up right away.

"Die, you thief!"

Tap!

Ye Xiaotian caught Zhao Xidong's arm and pressed it down.

"Why?"

Zhao Xidong was shocked, wondering why they would just let him go after he admitted to stealing four treasures.

Is Xu Xiaoshou a ba**ard of yours?

Ye Xiaotian's mind was rather blank at the moment. He didn't know what to say any longer.

Elder Sang…

You are one sly old man!

Four treasures. I lost four treasures in one go!

Damn you, old geezer... You just wait!

He panted like he had asthma, and his lips were already turning white. He then yelled, "Get out of my sight right now, at once!"

Xu Xiaoshou's hand trembled from fright, leaving right away with all the treasures.

But before he could get far, he returned and stuffed both the cobblestone and the stamp into Qiao Qianzhi's hands.

"…"

Cursed, Passive Points +3.

"Thanks!"

Xu Xiaoshou shuddered as he took a peek at the silver-haired dean and felt all hairs on his body standing on ends.

"Get lost, right now!"

He shot outside right away, activating "Agility," and was out of sight before long.

CLANG...

A light clang could be heard, and the three looked down with puzzled expressions.

The rolling white ring kept clinking away in the silent hall like it was laughing out loud and feeling very pleased.

Xu Xiaoshou was flustered.

It was only after he had run quite a distance that he realized he had been so nervous that he dropped the ring. He took a deep breath and went back.

There was a look of disbelief in Ye Xiaotian's eyes. His eyes trembled as he looked in disbelief at the young man who just returned.

After the young man came and kept within a safe distance from the dean, he gradually squatted and extended a leg out…

He then searched and pricked, dragging the ring back to his side.

"Xu-Xiao-Shou!"

The rumbling roar reverberated to the heavens, so much so that even the mystic sparrows in the air found their legs had snapped.

Summoned, Passive Points +1.

"I'll disappear right now, and you'd never see my face again."

Xu Xiaoshou picked the ring up and disappeared yet again.

He was suddenly afraid. He knew that if he stayed around any longer, he would end up being killed on the spot.

Zhao Xidong was all baffled.

He looked at Ye Xiaotian, who was fuming. That was the first time he saw the man being so angry after all these years.

Elder Qiao was just as baffled, eyeing the two treasures in his hand, and the whole thing just felt surreal…

"He's quite something!"

That statement so shocked Zhao Xidong that his knees went limp and he dropped to the ground with a thump.

Impressed, Passive Points +1.