Inside the God Vault Space.
After a good sleep, Yu Xian's frustration over losing to Baiyanggong had dissipated.
He got out of bed, walked outside, and sat down on a chair. With a flip of his hand, he brought out the dead Golden Flash Invincible Grand General. Its carcass was already stiff.
"Awaken, my Golden Flash Invincible Grand General."
Yu Xian dripped a drop of blood onto the golden beetle's carapace, declaring with utmost solemnity.
The next moment, the beetle—which had been dead as a doornail—sprang back to life. Its eyes, however, had turned from gold to red.
"Off you go, have fun."
Yu Xian gave it a toss, and the golden beetle flew straight up to the eaves, quietly basking in the sun.
He revived the golden beetle naturally because he liked it quite a bit. Besides, it had suffered wounds and shed blood for his sake. As a good boss, he naturally had to grant it a bright future.
"Wonder who won the championship. Let's go take a look."
Remembering the tournament, Yu Xian rose and exited the God Vault Space.
The moment he emerged from the Little Mobile Ant Car, Sima Gao was already waiting by the side. Catching sight of him, Sima Gao bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Benefactor! Benefactor truly is a great, benevolent man."
"Thank me? For what?" Seeing Sima Gao's flushed excitement, a question mark practically popped over Yu Xian's head.
Sima Gao chuckled incredulously. "Benefactor, there's no need to play dumb. Who else could have dealt with the Deadly Sun other than you?"
Yesterday, shortly after Yu Xian departed, the Star-rank powerhouses assigned to monitor Balz had discovered that Balz had vanished. After putting their heads together, they promptly credited the deed entirely to Yu Xian. In their eyes, after all, no one else was capable of taking down the Deadly Sun, Balz.
"The Deadly Sun has been dealt with?" Yu Xian asked in slight surprise.
Sima Gao froze, his smile stiffening. "Benefactor... it really wasn't you?"
"Really wasn't me. I went to sleep yesterday and slept straight through till dawn, and only woke up a short while ago," Yu Xian nodded with utter certainty.
*Hiss!*
Sima Gao sucked in a sharp breath, realizing things had taken a serious turn.
If Yu Xian hadn't resolved the Deadly Sun, then who on earth had made a move? What were their motives?
Or had no one acted at all, and the Deadly Sun had simply slipped away on its own? Would it return, or was it perhaps already lurking nearby?
"Benefactor, an urgent matter has come up, so please excuse me!" Sima Gao felt he had to notify Niu Kaitian and the others immediately.
Yu Xian nodded. "Sure, go ahead. I'll take a stroll around."
After Sima Gao hurried off, Yu Xian indeed started wandering around. On one island, a street food competition was in full swing; after a single lap, Yu Xian found his hands full of skewers.
There was also a card game tournament featuring practically every card game imaginable. Yu Xian only watched without joining in, mainly because he didn't feel like using his brain.
Meanwhile, Sima Gao brought the news to Niu Kaitian and the others. Having genuinely prepared to throw a celebration party, Niu Kaitian and his companions fell dead silent.
This was truly messing with their heads.
"Are you sure Benefactor didn't intervene?" Niu Kaitian asked Sima Gao with a grave expression.
Sima Gao nodded. "I specifically confirmed it with Benefactor. Someone of his stature wouldn't lie, and denying it wouldn't bring him any benefit anyway."
"Then that spells trouble. Now that the Deadly Sun's whereabouts are unknown, if..." Dinggong Bang spoke up.
Lady Tangtang also frowned. "Indeed. The pressing priority is to figure out whether the Deadly Sun moved elsewhere or was dealt with by someone."
"Right. Let's not alarm anyone else for now. We should try searching for clues first," Xiao Jianxian agreed.
And so, the System Rank powerhouses mobilized. Across the other islands, festivities were still underway, faces radiating cheerful smiles. As it turned out, sometimes ignorance really was bliss.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Take Yu Xian: he knew plenty, yet he was still having a grand time.
He was currently participating in an arm-wrestling contest. Relying solely on his invincible right arm without deploying a shred of supernatural power, he racked up a ten-match winning streak, instantly becoming the tournament's dark horse, flanked by a throng of cheering supporters.
"Who's next?"
Yu Xian shouted to the onlookers around him.
Just then, a snake-man with the head of a serpent stepped forward, smiling confidently. "Allow me to test your mettle! I am Fasiqi, a warrior of the snakefolk!"
"Yu Xian, human!" Yu Xian looked at Fasiqi and said with a smile.
Under the referee's direction, the two gripped hands. Fasiqi's hand was icy cold and covered in a layer of scales—slick and greasy, making it tricky to establish firm leverage.
"Begin!" the referee shouted.
Fasiqi flicked his tongue, grinning. "Do you know? The arm strength of the snakefolk rivals the constricting power of a python. Without relying on supernatural power, humans are simply too frail."
With that, he exerted his full strength with a sudden heave.
Yu Xian chuckled. "Terrifying. Scared me so bad I accidentally won."
The moment the words left his mouth, he slammed Fasiqi's hand down with overwhelming brute force in the very next instant, sending the surrounding supporters into an uproar of cheers.
"Impossible! How could a human's arm strength outmatch that of the snakefolk?!" Fasiqi cried out in disbelief, his eyes filled with shock and doubt.
Yu Xian shook out his hand, chuckling. "Maybe I'm the strongest man among all humans, and you're the weakest snake-man among the snakefolk. Strike a balance between the two, and you lose."
"..."
Fasiqi shot Yu Xian a speechless glare. Calming down, he turned and walked away in silence.
"Come on, who's next? Just a few more wins and I'll be in the finals!" Yu Xian called out with a grin as Fasiqi departed.
Right then, he noticed a man walking through the crowd, looking completely out of place among the ordinary bystanders and background extras.
Yu Xian's gaze caught the man's attention. The man looked over, their eyes meeting, and both instantly sensed that the other was anything but normal.
After handing Balz over, Feng Mingge had nothing better to do. Remembering this "deathbed carnival" upon the Death Calamity Sea, an inexplicable curiosity arose in him to see what kind of mental state the people here were in, so he had come.
Yet he discovered that the people on the island harbored no despair whatsoever; they were genuinely having fun, and they seemingly had no idea that Balz had already been dealt with.
He couldn't understand it, so he could only accept it.
Feng Mingge simply strolled around the surrounding islands, until he laid eyes on Yu Xian.
With his caliber of strength, he naturally saw right through Yu Xian's cultivation at a glance—a weakling, frail as can be. Yet his instincts perversely gave the exact opposite answer: an unimaginably formidable powerhouse.
Extremely weak, yet extraordinarily strong?
How bizarre. And so, Feng Mingge simply stared at Yu Xian.
"Care for a round?" Yu Xian rotated his wrist and tossed a cheerful invitation at Feng Mingge.
Feng Mingge pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "All right."
The crowd parted to make way. Feng Mingge stepped forward to stand before Yu Xian, and their hands clasped together.
Chapter 423