"liquor?"
Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.
If he remembered correctly, the legendary Eighth Sword Immortal was the first person to propose the concept of "drunk swordsmanship, sword chaos".
Before him, there were indeed swordsmen who drank wine, but they were also famous in the world for being able to hold a steady sword.
But since the Eighth Sword Immortal was born, all these people have been outclassed.
The Eighth Sword Immortal never drinks alcohol.
After he proposed this concept, sword cultivators rarely had anything to do with wine.
Whether it's ancient sword cultivation or spiritual sword cultivation...
But according to Xu Xiaoshou's speculation, shouldn't there be a high probability that the first Saint Slave in front of him is the Eighth Sword Immortal?
How could he pick up a wine gourd?
"Did I guess wrong?" Xu Xiaoshou was so stupid that he couldn't figure out the situation at all.
"How do you think about it?"
The masked man who poured wine with his head raised didn't seem to care about his image at all. When he drank the last drop of wine in the gourd, he threw the gourd back to Cenchofu, wiped his mouth, and put down the mask again.
"I……"
Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts were pulled back, but he still couldn't give an answer for a while.
What the masked man said does make sense.
Xu Xiaoshou couldn't even find a single point to refute.
After all, relative and absolute are views that he also recognizes.
But can compromise really be understood as just a "choice"?
"You have trouble making a decision?" the masked man asked with a smile.
"Um."
Xu Xiaoshou nodded.
He could see the kindness of the people in front of him towards him.
Perhaps this is due to the prerequisite that he has taken a fancy to his own potential.
But again, from a consequential perspective, this is still a person who respects others very much.
Even, as the head of the Saint Slave.
It can be said that the respect given by the masked man to Xu Xiaoshou, a junior, has reached an unimaginable level.
Until now, he was still asking Xu Xiaoshou for his opinion instead of forcing him.
Xu Xiaoshou said nothing.
The masked man spoke again.
"I won't force you, but this time, I won't let you go easily."
"You know, this is reality."
"If you really want to continue going forward, with your growth rate, you will still encounter such things in the future, all kinds of things, countless."
"I can let you go once, twice, or three times, but others can also force you to make a choice the first time they meet you."
"This is the only way you must pass."
"I have given you enough kindness and respect, but fate ends here..."
"For me personally, the time has come."
The masked man looked up at the sky behind Xu Xiaoshou, which was where the other-dimensional space was.
"Rather than letting you be forced to join another force that you don't like, it's better to choose to join me at this moment... Bah, walk side by side."
"At least I can still promise you..."
"What?" Xu Xiaoshou raised his eyes.
The masked man was very serious: "I promise you that if the direction you see in the future does not match the choice you make at this moment, you can choose to leave at any time."
"Not just leaving me, not just leaving the Holy Slave."
"You can let go of everything at any time."
"Even if you have your own direction and feel you can do better than me, I can join you, help you, and help you achieve your goals."
"My goal..." Xu Xiaoshou looked a little more confused.
"You don't know your goal yet, but I do."
The masked man said, seeming to be amused by his own words, with a somewhat humorous tone: "I can see the shadow of most people in you."
"Maybe when they were the same age as you, they still didn't understand what they wanted most."
"But after reaching a certain level, the direction will lead to the same destination!"
"Why?" Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled.
He himself didn't even understand what he wanted.
Previously, I had only sorted out a big concept.
And now, a guy who has only met me a few times says that he knows what he is thinking. Is it credible?
The masked man did not answer directly.
He glanced at the storyteller first, then returned his gaze to Cenchofu and asked, "Do you know there is someone better than you in this world?"
Xu Xiaoshou: "..."
"I believe you know."
The masked man nodded, and then said: "But you may not know that looking at the whole world, there are countless people of the same age who are similar to you, or even better than you."
"Perhaps most of these people will die in their infancy because of their arrogance, arrogance, and ambition..."
"But you also need to understand that not every child of an aristocratic family or outstanding young man has such a problem."
"The world is relative."
"While there are these mentally unhealthy guys, there are also people who are as confident, calm and persistent as you."
Xu Xiaoshou looked embarrassed.
This sudden compliment came as a bit of a surprise.
As if stating an objective fact, the masked man remained unmoved and continued: "There are also countless people like this."
"So, there are so many people on the continent who have the potential to grow into peak powerhouses. How much do you know about the powerhouses at that time?"
"Or to put it another way..."
"How many people do you know who can stand at the highest position in this world?"
Xu Xiaoshou was asked.
According to what the masked man said, combined with his own current experience.
How could a small white cave gather so many outstanding young people, even the swordsman Gu Qingyi, the pair of tears, and all kinds of ghosts and beasts showed up.
Then how many experienced people there are in places that you can't see, places that are more dangerous than the White Cave?
How many outstanding ancient sword cultivators are there?
Can these people grow to the level of Seven Swordsmen?
Xu Xiaoshou didn't know.
But looking at the character, strength, and qualifications of such people...
If you really want to give an answer.
Xu Xiaoshou’s tendency is “ability”.
If you want to add a prerequisite, it is just a matter of time.
But……
There seem to be only seven Seven Sword Immortals since ancient times.
The number is only small, and there is never an extra one even for a period of time.
Even the Eighth Sword Immortal, who is ancient and brilliant, can only be regarded as half, and still cannot break this iron law.
Why?
Xu Xiaoshou opened his mouth slightly, and the strong desire for knowledge in his eyes was beyond words.
"Why?"
The masked man could generally understand Xu Xiaoshou's inner thoughts and helped him ask the question, but did not answer it.
Then, he turned his gaze to the two people beside him again.
"Going back to the question just now, you seem to feel strange, doubtful, and even strongly opposed from the inner level about how I can know your goals along the way?"
"..."
Xu Xiaoshou said in his heart that you really got it right.
I just don’t dare to say it.
"But I can know your future!"
The masked man said solemnly: "Why?"
Xu Xiaoshou already felt something was wrong.
His eyes also fell on the storyteller and Cen Qiaofu on one side, trying to find the answer from the masked man's glance back.
But to no avail.
The two people on the other side still looked bored. The only one who was interested was not themselves, a young man at all.
Instead, it was more like feeling amazed that the masked man could say so many words.
"Why?"
Xu Xiaoshou finally asked the question, he couldn't hold it in any longer.
The masked man had a smile in his eyes and did not respond tactfully again, but responded directly: "Because of freedom!"
"?"
"I can see your insistence on freedom in your eyes and thinking. This is why I don't force you."
The masked man paused and said, "In this world, there are people like you, without exception, they all long for freedom."
"But..."
He suddenly raised his head and looked at the sky.
The rain curtain above the sky is still pattering.
As the two became quiet, it became particularly harsh.
The masked man pointed to the sky and asked, "Do you think that beyond the White Cave is the Holy Continent?"
"Do you think people outside the Holy Spirit Continent can really transcend?"
"wrong!"
"Have you seen the rain?"
Xu Xiao nodded slightly.
"That's not rain, that's a person!" the masked man said loudly.
Xu Xiaoshou's mind went blank.
A memory that didn't seem to belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind.
That was an unknown thought about the information column after I escaped from the siege of the Storyteller and the Night Watch.
Xu Xiaoshou didn't have time to think too much and looked inside.
"Being watched, passive value, +1."
"Staring?"
He finally paid attention to this issue again.
Watch?
Who is watching?
rain?
people?
"That's a person?" Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened and he looked at the rain curtain above the sky in disbelief.
"Strictly speaking, it doesn't count. It's just an ability."
The masked man smiled: "But you just need to know that whether you are in the White Cave or the Holy Continent, there is such a pair of eyes staring at you all the time."
"Whether you are eating, sleeping, or making people..."
"He's always watching you."
"No rest for a moment!"
Xu Xiaoshou's hair suddenly stood up, and he felt cold sweat directly wet his back, "Who is he?"
"who is he?"
The masked man asked the question to the two people behind him.
The storyteller looked startled, "How do I know? That's how I was deceived by you."
Xu Xiaoshou: "..."
Cen Qiaofu shrugged and spread his hands: "Who is he? How would I know? If it weren't for you, I would still be working at sunrise and resting in the deep mountains and forests of the Southern Region. Wouldn't it be happy?"
The masked man rolled his eyes slightly.
Turn around.
"Look, one is at the pinnacle of Zhan Dao and the other is Taixu. They haven't been able to give an answer to this question until now. You can imagine how strong 'he' is!"
Xu Xiaoshou: "..."
At this moment, he really wanted to give direct feedback on the masked man's cheating.
But deep down in my heart, I was really shocked by the "Taixu" that suddenly popped up.
Xu Xiaoshou turned to look at the old man with some difficulty, feeling a little unbelievable.
This image doesn't look like an old guy at all. Too mad, too empty?
Shouldn't this be a man who stands on top of the world, possesses the spirit of immortality, and rides a crane on the clouds?
Why was he standing behind the masked man, cleaning up the wine gourd for this guy?
"I……"
With all kinds of words coming to his lips, Xu Xiaoshou didn't know how to speak out.
"I can tell you clearly that when the storyteller was in the Central Territory, he was really just a storyteller."
The masked man pointed at the man in the red dress and said, "He was just like you when he was young, and he also yearned for freedom."
"But when I broke through to Zhan Dao, I suddenly resigned myself to mediocrity and went straight to open a storyteller's shop and became the so-called 'boss' among ordinary people."
"Why?"
Pointing at Cenqiaofu again, the masked man said: "This man must have lived for hundreds of years. As he said before, he has been chopping firewood in the deep mountains and forests to make a living."
"When I was about to die, I suddenly had the idea to take a peek into the world, and then I achieved the Dao of Killing."
"But after a year, I returned to the old forests of the Southern Region and picked up my old business again."
"Why?"
Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.
What kind of gods are these people?
"because of him'."
The masked man looked up at the rain curtain on the sky and said, "Because of these eyes!"
Xu Xiaoshou was still a little confused and wanted to speak. The masked man pressed his hand to indicate that he had not finished speaking, and said:
"Like them, those geniuses who failed to shock the world have great potential."
"But each of them sank somewhere and couldn't hold their heads up at all."
"There is a god three feet above your head. When you grow to a certain point, you may be able to understand this statement."
Xu Xiaoshou felt chills in his heart.
This is not a god, this is a devil!
The masked man clicked his tongue, feeling a little dry, and moved his hands to reach back.
Cenqiaofu immediately said: "No more."
"Forehead……"
Now the masked man realized that he had said too much.
He said "hmm" and finally spoke.
"I'm tired, let's get back to the problem we just had!"
"them."
The masked man gestured to the two people beside him.
Then he pointed his hand towards the void: "And them."
Xu Xiaoshou understood that this was talking about those people who were also willing to be mediocre.
"These people, the question of 'who is he'...
The masked man raised his eyes to look at Jiutian Yulian and said, "I can give you the explanation they can't give you."
Xu Xiaoshou nodded.
He was ready for one last bombardment of his worldview.
"'Freedom' and 'cage', this is the answer!" The masked man said impassionedly.
"?"
A black line dropped from Xu Xiaoshou's forehead, and he tried his best to interpret: "'They' are 'freedom', and 'he' is a 'cage'?"
"good."
The masked man nodded.
"Just like the powerlessness you encountered along the way, everyone who longs for freedom will definitely fight for it. Therefore, their experiences are similar to yours."
"Why?"
"Because we are born to play in the chess game of those in high positions."
"When you think you can break out of the cage, you jump into another bigger chess game, hitting the wall every time, over and over again. Under such circumstances, the only result is despair."
"Don't tell me you can break the cage!"
The masked man immediately saw Xu Xiaoshou's inner thoughts and said with a smile: "If you really want to say something, please say it to him."
Xu Xiaoshou followed the direction of his finger and saw Cen Qiaofu with a dark face, and immediately swallowed his words.
This is too weak!
A peerless strong man who has reached the top of the world cannot even give an explanation to a single problem and is still in the middle of a chess game.
I, can I... Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep doubts about himself.
"You can not."
The masked man said: "I used to think I could do it, but I failed. Escape from the cage is not as simple as you think."
Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.
He felt that the masked man and his thoughts were, to a certain extent, completely consistent with Mr. Sang's.
Are they really worthy of being from the same organization?
A world view like a matryoshka doll...
"I want to ask a question."
Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for a long time and said, "Sang Lao, your second-in-command of the Saint Slaves, is this the same?"
The masked man laughed. He saw the looseness in Wen Ming's eyes and said, "Otherwise, what do you think he is running about all day long? Exercise?"
"wrong."
"Like you, he is a person with his own ideas, and he thinks that my way will not work and that he cannot break the cage, so he is looking for his own way."
"The paths are different and we are temporarily separated, but we reach the same destination through different paths. Can you understand that?"
Xu Xiaoshou: "..."
Do you understand?
He looked up at the sky and was speechless for a moment.
…
The scene was quiet for a while.
"Rustling, rustling..."
The masked man suddenly moved his hands up and down, touching everywhere.
After a long moment, he frowned.
"Where's the token?"
Cen Qiaofu looked disgusted from behind: "Throw it away when the space breaks out!"
"Forehead……"
The masked man sighed and stretched out his hand directly to the old man, "Token."
"That belongs to me!" Cenchofu said angrily.
"I don't want your piece," the masked man sighed and said, "My own piece."
"What?" The storyteller was shocked on the spot, "Brother, you..."
"Stop it."
The masked man immediately stretched out his hand to stop him from talking, "It's just a token."
"That's..."
The storyteller was dumbfounded and suddenly had an idea: "I'll help you get Luo Yatou's piece!"
"Forget it."
The masked man waved his hand, took the purple token that Cenjou took out from the ring, and handed it to Wen Ming in front of him, "Do you want to join the gang?"
Xu Xiaoshou's liver was shaking.
He felt that the scene in front of him was so familiar.
Tiansangling Palace, Elephant Lake, Cao Li Old Man, and that sentence...
"Eat seeds?"
Damn it!
Why are all of them such terrifying beings!
God, who will save me?
Xu Xiaoshou collapsed and cried, "Can I refuse?"
"Can."
The masked man slapped the token into his hand with his backhand and said, "I never force others, but you think about it yourself."
"Even if you refuse now, you will encounter many, many more things like this in the future."
"But they may not be as easy to talk to as me."
Xu Xiaoshou held the token, his hands trembling.
"As I said before, whenever you feel that you are on the wrong path, you can leave at any time. Now, I am just a 'tool', nothing more."
The masked man's last words seemed to give Xu Xiaoshou a powerful reassuring shot.
Xu Xiaoshou moved his eyes downward.
This is a purple token with a slight purple light.
On it, there is a sculpture of a graceful naked woman, with her head bowed and her knees clasped, weeping, which made me feel pity for her.
On its hands and feet, there are heavy shackles that stretch to all directions of the token, as if connecting the world.
It's just like……
Embarrassing Saint!
Xu Xiaoshou felt that he understood something, but he seemed to understand nothing.
He turned over the token with trembling fingers.
The back is clean and neat, with only one word engraved on it.
"eight!"
Bang——
Xu Xiaoshou shook his hand and the token fell to the ground.
The expressions of the three people in front changed at the same time.
Xu Xiao was so frightened that he immediately leaned over to pick it up.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean to refuse..."
"Then you agreed?" The masked man's eyes were filled with joy.
Xu Xiaoshou froze on the spot.
He saw that the other party seemed to be a little out of sorts due to excitement.
This alone is completely different from Sang Lao.
respect……
Xu Xiaoshou pondered for a moment and asked: "Can I shake your hand? I'm a little... flattered?"
The masked man's eyes narrowed, "Shake hands?"
"No, no, no, if it's inconvenient, then there's no need at all." Xu Xiaoshou waved his hands quickly and took a few steps back in fright.
"Convenient!"
The masked man suddenly smiled and grabbed the black glove in his right hand with his left hand.
"If you just want to shake my hand, I will respond with the utmost sincerity."
"But if you just want to take a look..."
He paused.
Inside the mask, there seemed to be an outline of raised lips.
"It doesn't matter."
After swiping, the masked man took off his right glove and stretched out his hand towards Xu Xiaoshou.
Xu Xiaoshou's whole body tensed up.
one two three four……
He closed his eyes deeply.
No thumbs!
"What's wrong?"
The masked man smiled and said, "Have you never seen four fingers?"
"without."
Xu Xiaoshou felt that his voice was trembling: "I just think you are very similar to a friend I have met."
"Oh, which one?"
"A sloppy uncle..."
Xu Xiaoshou couldn't think straight. It took him a long time to realize that speaking like this was really impolite.
The masked man frowned.
Suddenly he raised his hand and sniffed it with his nose, and his brows furrowed even more.
"Sorry, I haven't washed it in a few years. It's really a bit sloppy. Do you mind?"
"I……"
Xu Xiaoshou watched him reach out his hand again, and suddenly felt dumbfounded.
He subconsciously raised his hand, but then retreated slightly, but he did not dare to retreat too obviously.
"Snapped!"
The masked man stepped forward and grabbed it.
"It's a bit dirty, but there is still a sense of ritual. Just wash it off later. You are welcome to join us, Wen Ming."
"I……"
Xu Xiaoshou no longer knew what to say.
He felt that his mouth was unable to perform any tricks under the pressure of the person in front of him.
but!
So warm...
This guy's hands.
Calluses, roughness, and dense scars...
But!
So warm...
When you hold him, you feel like you hold the whole world.
Xu Xiaoshou felt a little excited.
He knew that he had been persuaded by the masked man.
Indeed, in this world like a chess game, artillery, chariots and horses are all controlled by others and "willfully" move forward according to designated rules.
But in the end, the only way to get out is to be eliminated.
And if you want to break the chess game and become the chess player, it is too slim to rely on the strength of one person... not enough!
Xu Xiaoshou didn't know whether his "choice" was right or wrong.
But it is different from Hongyi, Ghost Beast, and Sang Lao.
At least from the masked man, he felt respected many times, and his commitment...
Can I quit?
A trick?
Or, really? !
"What if..."
Xu Xiaoshou held the whole world in his hands, and he felt a little embarrassed when he spoke, "If it is, I can't bear it anymore, can I really choose to quit?"
"You can handle it."
The masked man said happily: "Even if you can't bear it, I am still behind you. Taking a step back, quitting is also a choice. It is not shameful. Many people do this, just to live in a different way. "
So warm...
Xu Xiaoshou has never felt such a degree of warmth from any senior.
Even the vigil was only a material gift.
On a spiritual level, he also wants to impose his thoughts on himself.
This is completely different!
"Thank you." Xu Xiao's voice sounded like a mosquito.
"What?" The masked man couldn't hear clearly for a while.
"I said……"
Xu Xiaoshou paused for a moment, then raised his head and saw the rain curtain above the sky.
That's actually a pair of eyes...
Look inside again.
"Being watched, passive value, +1."
He was relieved.
Give your hand a firm squeeze and then let go.
"I mean……"
"Holy slave, I, Xu Xiaoshou, choose to join!"
Lewen
