"What are you planning to do?" Zixin asked curiously.

With all her vast experience, this was the first time she’d seen a case like Zhang Xiaohao’s. The Evil Qi on him was so dense it completely surpassed her imagination.

If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, who would believe that inside the Eternal Ancient Arena Space, with tens of thousands of Cultivators, nearly ten million in total, all of them were like stray dogs by the roadside—anyone who provoked Zhang Xiaohao was slaughtered by him, leaving not a blade of grass alive. That showed just how ferocious he was.

"We’ll try it first. Once I break through to Nascent Soul Peak, I’ll find a place to seclude myself for a while and then absorb and refine this Evil Qi on my body." Zhang Xiaohao said with a smile.

With the Shennong Reincarnation Scripture and the Three Pure Ones Scripture, two heaven-defying Rebellious Heaven Scriptures suppressing it, there was simply no need to worry about any backlash from the Evil Qi.

As for his state of mind, that could be tempered at any time—he could just head down among the mortals and roam the world for a good round of training.

"Mm." Zixin nodded.

Something flashed across her mind and she continued.

"I’ll stay by your side during this period. If we run into danger, you don’t need to make a move—just leave it to me to handle!"

"Letting you make the move is fine, but you’ll have to change a bit. Otherwise, with your current beauty, even with a veil on, it probably won’t help." Zhang Xiaohao said with a smile.

"I know." Zixin replied.

Rumble rumble rumble!!!

All of a sudden, the entire Spirit Boat shook with a series of violent impacts. The next moment, countless attacks rained down from the sky, fiercely blasting the hull. The Spirit Boat’s defenses activated automatically, blocking all the attacks coming from every direction.

"Hm? We’ve been ambushed?" Zhang Xiaohao frowned.

He immediately let golden light flash in his eyes, activating the Reincarnation Heavenly Eye Divine Skill to look outside.

In front of the Reincarnation Heavenly Eye, everything was laid bare. He saw that this Spirit Boat had been trapped inside a Formation. Outside the Formation stood over a hundred Cultivators. The leader was a reckless brute at Refining Void Peak, and the others weren’t weak either—the lowest cultivation was in the Divinity Transformation Realm.

He saw an Array Master directing everything. The Magic Formula in his hands shifted as he controlled the surrounding Formation, viciously attacking the Spirit Boat Zhang Xiaohao was on.

No matter how fierce their attacks were, they were all blocked by the Spirit Boat.

With enough top-grade Spirit Stone support, this Spirit Boat, a heaven-connecting Spiritual Treasure, could fully open its defenses. It was utterly heaven-defying!

Zhang Xiaohao withdrew the Reincarnation Heavenly Eye and said with a smile,

"We’ve been ambushed by a pack of rats. Looks like they’re planning to rob us."

"There are actually people who don’t know how high the heavens are and how thick the earth is, daring to rob you? They’re just courting death! What, living too long and getting bored?" Zixin said mockingly.

"Come on, let’s go out and meet them. After all, guests from afar." Zhang Xiaohao said with a laugh.

With that, he stood up from the bed and walked outside.

Seeing Zhang Xiaohao move, Zixin naturally didn’t dare delay. She rose from the bed and followed behind him out.

A short while later.

Zhang Xiaohao and Zixin stood at the bow of the ship, and Zixin’s face was once again covered with a purple veil, hiding her peerless beauty.

"Since you’ve come, come out and meet us." Zhang Xiaohao bellowed, driving his voice with Spiritual Power.

As his words fell, his voice, boosted by Spiritual Power, frantically spread in all directions.

Outside the grand Formation.

"Big brother, they seem to have noticed us. What do we do now? Go meet them?" a Late Void Refining man asked.

"We’ve been attacking for so long and still haven’t cracked this Spirit Boat’s turtle shell. Looks like they’re not just ordinarily rich! Let’s go, we’ll meet them and see what tricks they can pull." The reckless brute in the lead pondered for a moment before speaking.

He waved his hand, and the Array Master at the side indicated he understood. With a wave, he temporarily ceased the attack and dispelled the thick mist within the Formation, letting both sides see each other across the barrier.

"Friends, you attacked us for no reason. What exactly is your intention?" Zhang Xiaohao asked, flicking the folding fan in his hand.

"No need to beat around the bush. We’re the Black Mountain Army—we specialize in robbery, and we’ve been at it for over three hundred years! Brat, if you want to pass through here obediently, you’d better hand over some money for your lives. Otherwise, don’t blame our Black Mountain Army for being rude." the reckless brute in the lead said, murderous intent rolling off him.

"No rush on that. Let me ask you something. As long as you answer one question, I’ll give you a top-grade Spirit Stone." Zhang Xiaohao said with a smile.

His wealth now was so great it was measured in top-grade Spirit Stones. A few of them naturally didn’t weigh on his mind. Besides, no one had ever managed to rob anything from Zhang Xiaohao. It wasn’t that he was looking down on them—it was that they simply weren’t worthy.

"Brat, you mean that? If we find out you’re lying to us, we’ll make sure you can’t live or die!" At the mention of "top-grade Spirit Stone," the reckless brute leader’s eyes lit up.

"Just a few external trinkets. Do you really think I’d bother to cheat you out of them?" Zhang Xiaohao said playfully.

"Since you’re being straightforward, we naturally won’t be the kind to go back on our word! As long as what you said just now is true, I’ll tell you everything I know." The reckless brute suppressed his excitement and said.

"Good! I’ll ask you this: What is this place? Which race does it belong to?" Zhang Xiaohao asked.

"That’s two questions! This is the Northern Xuan Barbaric land. Within tens of millions of li around here, there’s no clan or race." The reckless brute said.

After speaking, he stared dryly at Zhang Xiaohao, his gaze practically saying: where are my two top-grade Spirit Stones?

"Catch." Zhang Xiaohao said.

He then took out two top-grade Spirit Stones and tossed them over.

The Array Master on the other side reached out and grabbed the two top-grade Spirit Stones Zhang Xiaohao had thrown, then respectfully handed them to the reckless brute.

The reckless brute, excited, took the two top-grade Spirit Stones, tucked them into his chest, and carefully inspected them. After confirming they were genuine top-grade Spirit Stones, he hurriedly and solemnly put them away.

Then he looked at Zhang Xiaohao with burning eyes and said, "Go ahead, ask, sir!"

"I’ve already asked. I’ve gotten the information I wanted." Zhang Xiaohao said with a smile.

As he spoke, he lightly flicked the folding fan in his hand.

The reckless brute froze and subconsciously asked, "You’re done asking? You’re sure? Just those two questions?"

"Yeah, just those two." Zhang Xiaohao nodded.