I Am Loaded With Passive Skills

by Stayrr

Outer yard disciple of the Tiansang Spirit Palace, Xu Xiaoshou, had average talent. However, after coming out of his death seclusion, he realized that everything had changed. He had received a Passive System with many strange, miraculous passive skills: He would become stronger with every breath. He would become stronger when he got attacked. He would become stronger when he got m

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Read I Am Loaded with Passive Skills Chapter 301 - Stand Back While I Cultivate Magic Pills online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 301: Stand Back While I Cultivate Magic Pills

"Yes, you may use your own," Yun He said.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded in satisfaction.

This alchemy cauldron was too small and delicate, and the earth fire was too inferior and low grade.

He was not used to it.

After arranging these items to one side, he managed to create some space in the small alchemy room.

Xu Xiaoshou recollected the size of his small tub.

His tub was a little bigger compared to the regular tub sizes. It was comparable to Elder Sang's.

He looked at Yun He and said, "Take a step back."

"Hmm?"

Yun He did not understand his request.

Take a step back? He had every intention of playing the role of a dutiful receptionist, down to handing each piece of herb and ingredient to Xu Xiaoshou.

"Yes, take a step back. I'm going to refine the pills."

Yun He was speechless.

'You certainly have your air when it comes to refining pills!'

Though he was displeased, he withdrew a few steps back. Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for a moment and said, "Retreat to the door."

Cursed, Passive Points, 1.

Yun He's expression showed a touch of anger.

'How about I leave you to your own devices and close the door on you?'

'You can take your exam and get your certificate without supervision. Is that okay, Young Master?'

Criticized, Passive Points, 1.

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't sure what to think.

This old man had a rich imagination. He could not figure out what this good-for-nothing old man was thinking.

'I am doing this for your good!' he thought.

Nonetheless, he did not explain his actions further. Once he saw that Yun He had retreated to the side, he retrieved his gigantic tub from his space ring. It was so large that it could fit several people inside comfortably.

Dang!

When the gigantic tub hit the ground, Yun He's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"Is this an … Alchemy cauldron?"

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. "Do you think it is a bathtub?"

Yun He was rendered speechless.

It surely resembled a bathtub.

Suspected, Passive Points, 1.

He was a little stumped by seeing such a large bath– alchemy cauldron. If he were honest, this was the first time he had seen one like that in his entire life.

But there were many exceptional and eccentric alchemists in the world, each possessing unique refining styles. Hence, he did not spare a second thought on it.

Perhaps this bathtub was a high-level spiritual weapon and could increase the success rate of alchemy.

Yun He extended his spiritual senses to scan the tub. Apart from being extremely thick and sturdy, this alchemy cauldron did not appear extraordinary.

As for its level …

It was eighth grade.

The corners of Yun He's mouth twitched. Eighth grade was not deemed low. It was also an Innate stage alchemy cauldron.

For one with an impressive background, how much could the success rate be boosted by using an eighth-grade alchemy cauldron?

Xu Xiaoshou watched the colorful expressions on Yun He's face and could not help but feel amused.

With a flick of his finger, he sent a refined Fire Seed to the base of the small tub. Its blazing heat instantly lit the tub to a warm red color.

Yun He was caught by surprise.

Although he could not see anything with the naked eye, how could he not recognize this familiar scorching aura?

He further extended his spiritual senses and saw the refined Fire Seed that was flying around at high speed.

"An invisible flame?"

His mouth fell open slightly. He was unable to hide his surprise.

To be honest, Xu Xiaoshou's extensive preparation efforts took his breath away.

He had seen many alchemists with distinctive styles, but one that was so unconventional… This was a first.

Xu Xiaoshou looked over and reached out his hand for the ingredients.

"For the tenth-grade elixir, I'll choose the Red Gold Pill. I have more confidence in this."

Though he had mastered the condensing method of infernal heavens, he was not too familiar with it. After all, it was not on par with his self-concocted Boiling Soup method.

This technique had little to do with the control of the fire. However, it put his mastery of spiritual techniques to the test.

The good thing was that he finally learned it through hard work and effort.

When it came to refining the Red Gold Pills, he was quite confident in his ability.

Yun He didn't think much about it as this was practically the first choice of all alchemists.

He took out the spiritual ingredients from his space ring and was about to deliver it.

Xu Xiaoshou hurriedly stopped him. "Wait!"

"You're fine standing there. There's no need to come over. My alchemy method is rather unique."

Xu Xiaoshou was, of course, familiar with his method of cultivating magic pills.

If this guy was Elder Sang, then he would not mind if he came closer to help himself keep a lid on any unexpected incidents.

Yun He was only Voidness State.

If he simply stood back a little farther, he would need to protect himself in the event that any accidents occurred.

Yun He, however, did not know that Xu Xiaoshou was showing consideration toward him, and his face turned dark again.

He knew that some alchemists were infamous for having obsessive-compulsive disorders, and some went to the extent of not even allowing others to watch them cultivate magic pills. Thus, he decided to put up with it.

However, this was a special privilege extended to only high-grade alchemists.

For a mere tenth-grade test, this young man was putting on ridiculous airs.

Rebuked, Passive Points, 1.

Yun He sent over the tray with the spiritual ingredients by air.

Xu Xiaoshou smilingly accepted it. With a wave of his hand, he poured all the spiritual ingredients into the cauldron and sent the tray back.

The old man's face instantly turned purple.

"Why… This is alchemy!"

"What are you doing? A smorgasbord?"

He felt his heart going into spasms. Though the ingredients for the Red Gold Pill were relatively cheap, they were not for him to cook like a big stew.

Other people who refined magic pills did so step by step, one herb after another, to distill it into the elixir.

'You, on the other hand… I dare say you have stepped foot into the Pill Pagoda for the alchemist examination to waste these ingredients!'

Xu Xiaoshou said nothing. Actions spoke louder than words.

His Infernal Heavens alchemy technique for cultivating magic pills was unconventional.

It was normal if one could not understand it, but for those who could, they had some substance.

After Yun He's exclamation, he quieted down.

No matter what Xu Xiaoshou had intended to do, the alchemist examination had commenced. If he were to cause a commotion, it would be his misdoing.

With that in mind, he settled down and soon realized that something was amiss.

This kid did not seem to be destroying the elixir.

Was he really cultivating magic pills?

Dozens of medicinal herbs were divided. Part of them were wrapped with spiritual sources and left untouched.

The remaining seven or eight medicinal herbs, surprisingly, were being refined at the same time.

Yun He almost cried out in shock once again.

Was he being taken on a ride?

Even he did not dare to refine magic pills like this.

However, as time passed, the intrigued look on his face turned into one of astonishment.

This lad's alchemy technique was extremely rudimentary. It was fair to say that he had no technique at all.

Despite that, his control of the flame was so exceptional that it seemed to obey his every bidding.

When the temperature needed to be increased, subdued, set to a fiery blaze, or engulfed in a snug warmth…

He had done it all with absolute control.

Though this seemed straightforward and clear, there was a nagging strangeness he could not dismiss.

He looked at the crackling fire.

How could a formal alchemist examination exude a vibe of a haphazard cook fest?

'This…'

'Is it an illusion?'

Yun He rubbed his eyes. He was somewhat unconvinced.

The elixir fragrance that was gradually wafting out of the furnace fire seemingly bore a waft of a food aroma.

Even if it were vegetarian, it still succeeded in triggering his appetite.

Growl…

The old man looked at Xu Xiaoshou very solemnly. His brows creased together in a frown.

He possessed such a domineering invisible flame, a grand way of refining the elixir, and a large cauldron. It reminded him of a certain legend of the Pill Pagoda.

However, there was a big difference.

He continued to watch him.

This lad's hand was constantly waving in the air. Even after staring at it with beady eyes, he was still completely unable to tell what technique he was using.

It was as if he was simply waving around.

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Chapter 302: Where Did Yun He Go?

However, an alchemist's technique was extremely important. How was it possible that Xu Xiaoshou was just randomly waving?

Yun He immediately brushed his thoughts aside. He continued to observe the magic pill refining and felt strangely immersed in the process.

It was such a big difference.

It was completely different from other alchemists.

It was as though Xu Xiaoshou had discovered a new path.

As Yun He was deeply immersed in his thoughts, he was shocked by himself.

To think that he could possibly discover a new path in a mere tenth-grade examination…

That was such a joke.

Even the president did not have such prowess.

However…

He examined Xu Xiaoshou's seemingly chaotic waving hand movements in detail and tried to discover if there were traces of the Great Path and its seal.

He failed to discover anything.

"Am I not knowledgeable enough?" Yun He thought with frustration.

Yet, he was not discouraged. This was a completely new discovery. For the time being, he could not tell if the alchemy method was on par with the Great Path, but it would qualify as a new road.

This new road… Well, he believed that if he examined it hard enough, he would be able to find inspiration and enlightenment.

This was also the reason why the old guys on the seventh floor dedicated their time to serving young prodigies.

Often, these geniuses, who had extraordinary and innovative ideas, could spark these old guys to steer away from their dated methods and point them in new directions.

Xu Xiaoshou concentrated hard on his task. The medicinal solution was refined very quickly, which was many times faster than the average alchemist.

Five minutes passed. The contents of the alchemy cauldron started to gurgle cheerily, and the elixir bubbled in the heat.

With a flip of his palm, Xu Xiaoshou extended his spiritual source to collect the liquid with the cauldron lid and continued to cook away.

The spiritual energy circulated. At that instant, Yun He was struck with inspiration.

He stared at Xu Xiaoshou with beady old eyes, realizing that he might have something to gain this time.

Xu Xiaoshou's hands were flipping and flying in the air swiftly.

The old man's eyes followed his movements keenly, not wanting to miss a single moment. He almost teared up from staring so hard.

'It's a new technique!'

'This must be a new alchemy technique!'

Even if he did not manage to observe what Xu Xiaoshou was up to, Yun He endeavored tirelessly. He wanted to seize this opportunity to uncover the secret of this young man's rapid extraction of an elixir.

Bloop, bloop…

The elixir boiled louder.

Even so, it still had not turned into ashes as one would have expected.

Xu Xiaoshou's precise control of the flames was so exceptional that the quality of the pure spiritual liquid was still being continuously refined.

Yun He was practically losing his mind.

What kind of technique was he using that could achieve this step?

He opened his eyes so widely that they were about to fall out of their sockets.

Glancing at the boiling cauldron, he could not help but to sniff the smell wafting out of it. The aroma was strangely reminiscent of vegetarian dishes. He felt as though Xu Xiaoshou's technique resonated deeply with the Way of the Heavens alchemy method.

Yun He's mind wandered off track.

Inexplicably, when he watched the young alchemist at work, he was reminded of a chef.

'This…'

Yun He was stunned.

Once this vision took shape in his mind, he could not control himself from comparing the similarities.

He secretly visualized this young lad holding a spatula in his hand and making similar motions and gestures. He thought, 'Doesn't he look like a chef frying vegetables?'

'What a joke!'

It was too strong of a blow for Yun He.

He had spent so long observing Xu Xiaoshou's movements, yet that was the only thing he had taken away from his observing.

It was no wonder the president said that his understanding of the art of alchemy was really poor.

But if he were honest, it made sense.

He was consumed with guilt and shame for not being able to comprehend the sacred art of alchemy despite spending so many years immersing his mind and consciousness in it.

But…

He took another look at Xu Xiaoshou, who was solemn and occasionally wiped sweat off with his sleeve.

'How similar though…'

'He really looks like a chef holding a spatula and cooking up magic pills…'

Yun He was once again led astray by his thoughts. He was consumed with that odd picture in his mind of Xu Xiaoshou cooking and could not help but admit that his focus on the art of alchemy was rather off.

He was lost in thought.

'No!'

'I must not think about it anymore! I am clearly going off the track!'

Despite being treated to such a grand display of innovation in alchemy, how could he possibly be thinking of cooking?

Perhaps it was true that old dogs could not be taught new tricks.

Yun He touched his belly and sighed silently.

He must have been partaking in abstinence for far too long.

Yes, that had to be it.

"Be careful…"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly said, "I'm collecting the elixir!"

Yun He was speechless again.

Was he already collecting the elixir?

Yun He almost fell to his knees. His old face was flushed with shame.

How could this kid know what he was thinking? Did he have mind-reading skills?

Xu Xiaoshou ignored the man.

This old man had a very overbearing manner. He was almost comparable to Mu Zixi.

Except for not cursing him, Yun He had already bestowed various emotions dozens of times to him.

From Respect to Doubt to Admiration…

This old man simply had a knack for awarding Passive Points.

It was a simple task for Xu Xiaoshou to refine the elixir, so he was easily able to monitor the Information Bar at the same time and keep tabs on Yun He's reaction.

For the next step, he had to focus his full concentration on the task at hand.

Pill condensation…

The youth narrowed his eyes as if he was looking at the most dangerous enemy.

However, the old man, Yun He, did not retreat after Xu Xiaoshou's warning to be careful. Instead, he moved closer as if he were planning to observe more closely.

This…

This old man was remarkably brave.

Xu Xiaoshou repeated himself. "Stand back! I'm going to condense the pill!"

The elixir collection was over. To prevent the golden honey from condensing into a teardrop-shaped pill, he did not dare linger at this step for too long.

Yun He smiled brightly and said, "Young friend, you are too distant with me. The art of alchemy is a collaborative exploration. With such a special alchemy technique, you must share the knowledge so we can make progress together!"

As he spoke, he took a few steps forward and was standing right before the giant tub.

Xu Xiaoshou's face paled.

What on earth did Yun He mean by a special alchemy technique? What did he know about it?

The waving hand movements he made to control the flames in alchemy were merely an attempt to imitate a chef using Cooking Expert.

He had always felt that something was missing from his hands during the process. It was as though there was a sense of emptiness due to the lack of grip. Despite that, the flames obeyed his bidding with his hand gestures.

He was not sure what principle that was, but it worked.

After all, relying on Cooking Expert for practicing alchemy was an unexplainable concept on its own.

That was why he could not teach it to anyone.

At any other time, he would have been completely fine if this old man wanted to discuss techniques and methods. But now, it was the crucial moment of condensing the magic pills. Did this old man have a dying wish by seeking participation at this moment?

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned dark. If he did not condense the pill, the elixir would be fully collected.

By then, the jelly shape would be apparent.

He would also fail the examination.

He finally advised Yun He, "Old man, get away quickly! I'm going to condense the pill!"

Yun He smiled and sat down next to Xu Xiaoshou. "It's fine. I'm an assistant. I'll take care of everything for you."

He took out the tray and asked in a low tone, "Little Brother, what is that technique? Teach me, and I guarantee that you will pass the examination!"

Did he still need to pull strings to pass?

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned pale. He could no longer hold back, but he was at a loss for words.

He immediately drew his hand to a close. The suppressed Fire Seed in the tub suddenly bounced and turned into a raging fire.

The success of the Infernal Heavens condensing method was dependent on one-hit wonders. Through the instantaneously increased temperature, the coal covered the surface. Condensation then took place within it to form a magic pill.

That notion was deeply rooted in his heart from the jade scroll Elder Sang had given him.

Xu Xiaoshou regarded that nugget of information as a classic. He tore open the cauldron of spiritual source, and the flame suddenly danced ablaze.

Boom!

A faint white light pierced through the skylight, drawing sunlight into the room.

Xu Xiaoshou not only felt a blow to his mind, but he was also violently shaken in his soul.

He was not one to admit defeat. He had Toughness. Even if the elixir blew up and scorched his face, he was unmoving.

There was a fragrance of medicine, and Xu Xiaoshou was immediately thrilled.

This time, it felt wonderful. Although the explosion was inevitable, he was confident that what he produced was certainly not Red Gold Liquid but a Red Gold Pill.

As for its quality… He could tell that it had to be excellent from its smell.

He got up excitedly and started to pry the magic pill out from the cauldron's channel. Suddenly, he realized that the side of the alchemy cauldron, which led the magic pill from the channel outwards, was somewhat empty.

'Oh, that's right!'

Wasn't Old Man Yun He sitting beside him just now?

Where did he go?

Chapter 303: The Pill Pagoda Was an Ominous Place Today

Meanwhile, in another alchemy room…

Mu Zixi was staring at the alchemy cauldron in front of her. Her first choice was also to make a Red Gold Pill.

Her technique and method were adequate and passable, and she did not make mistakes at all.

Relying on her strong intuition of the wood element, she could grasp the best medicinal properties of the ingredients. From refining the elixir to condensing the pills, every single step was in order.

It was a smooth alchemy practice.

Not surprisingly, this process produced a cauldron of excellent quality magic pills.

However, President Shi Ti frowned.

There was naturally nothing wrong with her alchemy process. However, the technique this little girl used to condense the magic pills was very problematic.

Wasn't she the successor of Elder Sang?

Why was her alchemy technique so rigid?

It had to be wrong.

Since Old Man Sang was looking for a successor, how could he not pass on his Infernal Heavens alchemy technique knowledge to this apprentice?

Moreover, if he did not intend to pass on his Infernal Heavens alchemy technique knowledge, why had he waited so long and invested so much effort in training so many prodigies?

Shi Ti could not be more puzzled.

He had every intention of revisiting the alchemy of the infernal lineage and experiencing its overbearing power, but he never thought that this little girl would fail to surprise him.

"Could it be… Is the Red Gold Pill too simple and not worth the effort to reveal the existence of alchemy of the infernal lineage?"

Shi Ti thought of this possibility.

He was a little speechless when it came to Elder Sang.

That lousy old man was indeed wicked.

If he did not intend to reveal his precious apprentice, why did he bother bringing a letter to see him directly?

Now that the individual and her identity were exposed, what else was there to hide and conceal?

'How disheartening!'

Shi Ti was deeply offended. He likened this behavior to that lousy old man's ability to irritate others.

He did not give it further thought and continued to observe Mu Zixi's alchemy.

It was a feast for the eyes.

Even if she didn't use the Infernal Heavenly alchemy technique, this little girl was a prodigy.

In the tenth-grade alchemy examination, there were not many people who could reach this step.

It would not come as a surprise if this girl could take the ninth-grade examination later.

'What a treasure!'

Shi Ti's eyes glittered in excitement, and a strong yearning filled his heart. No matter if it were people or objects, as long as Elder Sang approved of them, he wanted to seize them for himself.

'I'll have to wait until the end first…'

As he thought, the process of alchemy had come to an end.

Mu Zixi shook her head and focused her spirits. She was about to condense her magic pill.

Suddenly…

Boom!

There was a violent explosion in the next room, which directly caused her heart to palpitate. Under her trembling hands, the flames could not be controlled.

The alchemy cauldron suddenly throbbed. The elixir within instantly turned into ash. A burning smell wafted out.

"This is bad!"

"It's going to explode!"

The little girl's face instantly turned pale.

She thought she had it all calculated carefully, and she even deliberately sent Xu Xiaoshou away. She did not want him to watch her perform alchemy because she was afraid of being disturbed.

The Pill Pagoda was very intuitive and separated everyone into individual rooms. Each person had their own room.

There were no such things as dangerous events arising from a crowd watching one person performing alchemy.

Even though she thought she had it all planned out, she still failed to escape the fate of being forcibly disturbed.

That explosion sound couldn't be more familiar.

Relying on her powerful ability to control medicine, the little girl worked up a sweat to salvage the situation on hand. She managed to prevent the pill from exploding in the furnace and let the air cool down.

Boom!

There was another violent blast.

Mu Zixi turned her head and looked to the other side.

She succeeded in controlling her alchemy cauldron, but it was evident that the alchemist in the room next to the neighboring room did not seem to be able to accomplish that perfect control.

"Be careful!"

President Shi Ti's exclamation made her look back. The little girl's eyes widened.

She only caught sight of the alchemy cauldron trembling violently again because of her momentary distraction. This time, no one could stop it.

Boom!

"Uh…"

Mu Zixi was scorched from head to toe. She looked at the president, whose clothes were no longer resplendent, and hair was no longer white.

A passing silence loomed over them.

The air was quiet.

Many old men in the court looked sideways.

What was going on today?

Was there no end to it?

Every so often, an explosion sounded from the Pill Pagoda. Was it even capable of withstanding the blows?

"By the way, those candidates in the three rooms were all brought over by President Shi Ti, right?"

"It seems that President Shi Ti's judgment is declining day by day!"

"Shhh, don't say anything that shouldn't be said! I'm curious how there could be explosions one after another, and each louder than the one before. Wouldn't it affect alchemists in other rooms?"

"Yeah, perhaps the door isn't closed."

As everyone was deep in discussion, Xu Xiaoshou rushed out of the alchemy room where the door had been blown up with an anxious expression on his face.

"Where is Old Man Yun He?"

Everyone stood up in shock as he shouted.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with Elder Yun?"

"Didn't the old man facilitate you for the alchemy examination, yet you're still asking us?"

"Senior Yun He…"

A faint female voice suddenly spoke, which instantly attracted everyone's attention.

She blushed and silently pointed in the direction of the stairs.

"Is that him?"

Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual senses prompted him to look over instantly.

That was an old man with a scorched body and dried blood coated his face.

He was moaning for help.

The short intervals between the three consecutive blasts had attracted everyone's attention, hence, no one could hear him.

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback.

At the foot of the staircase…

How did this old guy get there?

An entire court separated the alchemy rooms and stairs.

If he flew this distance over, how could no one have noticed?

Xu Xiaoshou soon discovered a clue.

He closely examined the alchemy room where it all started. There was a red and black mark on the ceiling from the door panel upward.

The answer was quite obvious now.

Old Man Yun He was sent flying from the impact of the explosion.

His body was too frail to be blown through the ceiling. Under the suppression of the barrier, he suffered from a bloody injury.

"This…"

"This is rather inconceivable!"

Xu Xiaoshou ran over quickly and helped him up.

The old man was still groaning. Xu Xiaoshou hurriedly moved closer but could only hear a few words intermittently.

"Snake…"

"Snake?" Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback. "What snake?"

"Snake, snake puppets…"

"Huh?"

"The technique…" Yun He's eyes were still blazing hot. Finally, he uttered the two words he wanted most.

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned dark. This man was nearly killed, but he was still thinking about the technique.

He quickly took out some honey to feed him, and the old man's breath became more stable.

"I told you to stay away, yet you didn't listen. Are you satisfied now?"

"Uh!"

The old man could not catch his breath and passed out instantly.

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

Voidness State?

How weak!

This old man probably achieved the Voidness State by consuming magic pills.

Everyone was still busy discussing and pointing out their views, though they were clueless about what was going on.

Since when did facilitating alchemists become a life-threatening event?

Some old friends of Yun He came over. Xu Xiaoshou quickly passed him to them.

The old guys took over with unfriendly faces. They seemed to want to say something, but when they saw that this lad's cultivation level was at the mid-state of Origin Court…

Never mind.

What kind of tricks could one pull with a mid-stage Origin Court cultivation?

Alchemy was not even sword practice. Its destructive force was nowhere on par with that.

They guessed that the lad had no intention of causing an explosion. Yun He must have fallen into this state to save him.

But…

If he was saving someone, how could he get injured so badly?

Suspected, Passive Points 32.

Sure enough, a thousand words could paint colorful stories. If one was to summarize the day's events into a single sentence, it had to be:

The Pill Pagoda was an ominous place today.

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Chapter 304: This is the Normal Process

Pah!

Pah!

The two doors of the magic pill rooms were pushed open almost simultaneously.

Fu Yinhong had a frustrated expression on her face.

Her luck had been horribly terrible that day.

During the first exam, she had tried to make the Left Star Pill, which was ranked among the top seventh-grade magic pills.

However, the process of making it was very difficult and extremely complicated.

Yet, Fu Yinhong was confident in making it because she had already tried it at home.

Even though it was the Left Star Pill, which was very difficult to make, she believed that she had seven out of 100 odds to succeed as long as she could focus her mind on the task.

But…

When the Magic Pill Pagoda shook, all of her efforts had been in vain.

During the second trial of making the magic pill, she attempted something that was the second-best. She chose to make the Origin Court Pill, which was moderately difficult to make among the seventh-grade magic pills.

It was a popular magic pill often used by the public. It had an excellent cost-effect ratio and was a good representation of the magic pills.

In comparison to the Left Star Pill, however, the difficulty of making it was considerably lower.

Fu Yinhong believed that she had an almost 100 percent chance to succeed.

But she was wrong again.

The surprising explosion in the magic pill room next door obliterated all of her efforts.

Her mood at the moment was as uncomfortable as opening her mouth to breathe fresh air and accidentally swallowing a mosquito.

Fu Xing followed behind her carefully.

The blast…

He was rather familiar with it.

He looked in the direction of Xu Xiaoshou's magic pill room. As expected, the door panel was blown through. The remaining wooden spikes were extremely eye-catching.

"What kind of a person is this guy…"

Fu Xing felt his heart trembling.

He wondered if he could resist it even if he learned the 10 Sections of the Finger Sword.

Stroking the jade pendant around his waist, Young Master Fu suddenly reached out his hand and pulled out a second jade pendant from the ring and put it on.

After thinking about it, he still felt ill at ease and took out a third one from the ring.

"Well, in this way, I will have peace of mind."

The first thing Mu Zixi did after she got out of the door was to find her way to Xu Xiaoshou's magic pill room.

As expected, she smelled a scorching stench and saw a scorched bathtub…

And skylight.

She paused for a moment, shaking her head, and said to herself that the damage was not too bad.

"Xu Xiaoshou, where are you? Are you okay?"

The young girl sounded slightly panicked.

"I'm fine."

Xu Xiaoshou's voice came from behind her.

The young man looked at President Shi Ti, who was behind Mu Zixi with a beard full of ashes, and saw his face appear happier than a child playing in the mud.

He forced himself to walk toward them.

It turned out that Mu Zixi didn't care about Xu Xiaoshou at all. She looked past him at a spot behind him.

"I'm not asking you. I'm asking the receptionist."

Xu Xiaoshou held back his tongue.

'Little girl, you've changed!'

'I can't believe that you don't care about your senior brother first and foremost!'

He said crossly, "I'm fine, and I can still breathe."

Mu Zixi grabbed her twin ponytails and let out a relieved "Oh."

Shi Ti was stunned.

After listening to the tone of the conversation between the senior brother and junior sister, he checked the expressions of the two, which showed an immense familiarity between them.

'What about the gag of being able to breathe?'

'What kind of talk is this?'

'What the hell has happened here?'

He grew a little nervous.

Although Yun He had a limited qualification, he was an extremely hard-working old guy and had a considerably high position in the Pill Pagoda.

What did he mean by saying "can still breathe?"

Did that mean he blew up everything?

"Xu Xiaoshou, what happened over there?" he asked through his gritted teeth.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about it for a while and said seriously, "Actually, it's nothing. It's just the normal process of making the magic pills. Elder Yun He… stayed a little too close."

Shi Ti held back his anger and walked to the door of his room to take a look.

He saw the exploded door panel, shredded skylight, and room full of gray smoke.

This was nothing short of blowing up the stove.

However, if it was merely the blast of the stove, why did it sound so terrifying?

And, how come Yun He was unconscious?

Shi Ti felt he was on the verge of losing his temper. He was panting heavily. He wanted to say something but couldn't speak at all.

After Xu Xiaoshou had been in the Pill Pagoda for half a day, the president seemed to have suffered from asthma.

"This… Is this what you call the normal process of making the magic pills?" Shi Ti managed to come up with this sentence after a long while.

"Yes."

Xu Xiaoshou said seriously, "Although I feel a bit embarrassed, it is the way I make magic pills. The commotion is probably… a bit too loud."

"Heh, only a bit?"

Shi Ti was furious. He had the intention to throw the young man in front of him out of the skylight.

Although he was very angry, Shi Ti couldn't suppress the doubts in his mind. As such, President Shi Ti asked through his gritted teeth, "How did you guys break the barrier of the magic pill room?"

"How could this door shatter?"

"Did you guys switch off the soundproof barrier? It's affecting the other magic pill rooms now!"

Fu Yinhong looked that way at the right time.

That was the very question she wanted to ask the most.

Xu Xiaoshou felt a severe headache coming on and explained, "That door had nothing to do with me. I told Elder Yun He to stay further away. He opened the door, and I have no idea why he did it."

"His injury had nothing to do with me either. Before the condensation of the magic pill, I discouraged him repeatedly, but he insisted on coming close and chatting with me. I was making the magic pills and had no way to deal with him. What could I do?"

"As for that skylight…"

With his face looking green, Shi Ti roared angrily, "I suppose it also had nothing to do with you!"

"Nothing had anything to do with you, and you had nothing do with all of these matters… You didn't blow up the Pill Pagoda, or beat up Fu Xing, or damage the magic pill room!"

"What the hell did you come over here for…"

Shi Ti suddenly choked and had a hard time breathing. How could he pause when his emotions had reached their peak?

He used the spiritual source forcibly and caught his breath to continue his yelling.

"Are you here to tear down my house?"

The people in the main hall were silent in terror.

No one dared to breathe heavily, fearing that they might draw the anger of the president if they broke the silence.

The old men who fell in the back were all shocked.

It was the first time that they had seen President Shi Ti so upset during most of their long lives.

This…

This young man…

He was indeed incredible.

As he watched President Shi Ti's behavior, Xu Xiaoshou felt like he was again experiencing the scene where he met Elder Sang the first time after the master-disciple ceremony.

At that time, Elder Sang became someone's master the first time and was in high spirits. It seemed that Elder Sang could have everything in his control, including the clouds and rains.

It wasn't until Elder Sang planted a few Fire Seeds into Xu Xiaoshou's nose that the nobleness of a master had gone through the roof.

However, Elder Sang didn't lose his temper because he wanted to save face and didn't dare to go crazy in front of his disciple.

Shi Ti was different, and he didn't have to take the matter of saving face into consideration.

If he couldn't get a satisfactory answer, the anger in his heart would be brought directly to his coffin.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't press the old president further because he was afraid that Master Shi Ti might drop on the ground if he was pushed too far.

Seeing Shi Ti calm down a little, the young man started to speak slowly.

"Master President, you misunderstood what I meant. I wanted to tell you that it was I who blew up the skylight. I will definitely pay you for the damage!"

Xu Xiaoshou bowed very apologetically and got up. After he gave it some more thought, Xu Xiaoshou intended to explain a bit more.

"By the way, Master President, you have misunderstood me somewhat by saying that."

He deliberated on how he should put it in an attempt to make himself sound kind and considerate. Then, Xu Xiaoshou carefully said, "I'm not here to tear down your house. I'm here to take the exam for the magic pill technician badge."

Ka!

The crowd fell silent again. It seemed that they had even suppressed their heartbeats.

Poof!

The old president spurted out a mouthful of air/ Xu Xiaoshou hastened to step back. Seeing that what Shi Ti spewed out was not blood, he felt relieved.

Shi Ti felt a demonic force tearing at his flesh. It was as if the force intended to split his body into five parts.

Yes, he felt like he was cracking open.

He roared, "Making the magic pills! But are you freaking making the magic pills here?"

"What the hell did you make? Can you show me what you have made?"

Xu Xiaoshou nodded his head and didn't dare delay. He rushed to the bathtub and rummaged around. In the end, he pulled out a black and unpleasant pill.

He took a sip of water and absorbed the impurities of the surface of the magic pill. He then exhaled and released the turbid air through the skylight.

A medicinal fragrance was spreading.

Xu Xiaoshou turned around and said happily, "I told you, this is the normal process of making the magic pills. I've succeeded!"

Report chapter

Chapter 305: Fake Magic Pill?

"Is it a magic pill?"

"Is this the… Red Gold Pill?"

Seeing the golden magic pill in Xu Xiaoshou's hand, everybody was dumbfounded.

The blast of the stove was so loud that Yun He was even blasted unconscious on the spot. Yet, this young man claimed that it was merely a normal process of making the magic pills.

It was not so incredible if he had just talked about it.

Having said that, Xu Xiaoshou had somehow pulled out a magic pill from the stove's debris.

Shi Ti was frozen like a wooden chicken.

He stared at the magic pill in Xu Xiaoshou's hand in a daze. He raised his eyes to check the young man's face.

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not. This is really a magic pill I've just made." Xu Xiaoshou showed a serious expression on his face. "As I said, what I've just gone through is the normal process of making magic pills."

Shi Ti took the magic pill in his hand and sniffed it, which was his subconscious behavior.

Without this subconscious behavior, he could easily figure it out simply by feeling the temperature of the magic pill and smelling its medicinal fragrance.

He could tell it this was a magic pill that had just come out of the stove.

Xu Xiaoshou hadn't lied.

But…

He raised his head sluggishly and swept the crowd of onlookers with his gaze.

He had just scolded and yelled at the young man, and he hadn't done something like that for decades. 'Am I in the wrong?'

If he told this thought to others, questioning why he got so upset, his respect as a master president would have been lost.

This magic pill seemed to be something else rather than a Red Gold Pill. It was more like a slap on his face. Shi Ti felt like his face had been slapped unmercifully.

Shi Ti returned to his senses.

He recalled the letter from Old Man Sang.

"Forgiveness is a virtue."

"Generosity reflects one's civilization level."

"Ahem!" Shi Ti started to cough violently by covering his chest with his hand.

Everyone looked at the president, who was hunched over.

He gazed at the magic pill in his hand.

At first, the expressions on everyone's faces were incredulous. Even though some of them, such as Shi Ti, had the ability to perceive the magic pills, they still felt this was unbelievable.

Judging by the reaction on the president's face, it was plainly obvious.

"Is this really a freshly made magic pill?" Fu Yinhong asked hesitantly. She approached the president and took the Red Gold Pill from his hand.

It felt warm and smelled fragrant.

She felt like her soul had been pugnaciously assaulted.

"How is this possible?"

Was it possible for someone to achieve this in the blasted stove?

No.

It dawned on Fu Yinhong that nobody had believed Xu Xiaoshou ever since he started talking.

Though his words sounded rather outrageous, what he said seemed to be mostly true when she thought of it in retrospect.

"Did you really make this magic pill by the means of the normal process of making magic pills?"

Xu Xiaoshou smiled bitterly. "If there is an abnormal process of making magic pills, can you teach me how to do it?"

Everyone fell silent.

After a long time, an uproar finally resounded in the hall.

"How is this possible? I don't believe it for a million years. Maybe he pulled this Red Gold Pill from his ring!"

"Was it pulled out? How can one imitate the medicinal fragrance and the temperature?"

"Adding heat… Yes, one can definitely use one's spiritual source from the fire system to add heat to the magic pill in an instant."

"What about the medicinal fragrance? Didn't you smell the faint scorching odor hidden in the medicinal fragrance?"

"I'm not smelling it."

"There is no need to smell it now. It has been gone a while. You could only smell it the moment the magic pill came out of the stove. Your cultivation level is not high enough to smell it. I believe all the top magic pill technicians can smell it with ease."

"Are you belittling me?"

"If you don't believe me, you can ask the president to confirm it."

Hearing this, everybody focused their attention on Shi Ti again.

At the moment, Shi Ti was still hunched over and immersed in the painful thoughts.

'The Red Gold Pill is real…'

As such, his earlier roar, his magic pill room, his Magic Pill Pagoda…

All of that had become insignificant.

'What have I done, and what do I have to do?'

Shi Ti found that his mind was blank. He was too angry.

By the time his anger reached an extreme extent, he felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head as he was about to vent his anger. He felt a chill from his body to his soul all at once.

"Ugh."

The old man couldn't help but sigh. The crowd noticed that Shi Ti's expression was full of frustration.

The blow to his esteem was really a bit too much.

"Where's old Yun?"

"We'll ask him when he wakes up."

Someone loudly made that suggestion.

Even though it looked and smelled very real, the Red Gold Pill still needed to be confirmed by a witness.

However, the eyewitness, at the moment, was still a bloody, unconscious man.

Shi Ti shook once when he heard the suggestion with his eyes beaming. He ran his hand over Yun He lightly. As a result, Yun He woke up after twitching his eyelids a few times.

"What did you see?"

The president's voice was trembling.

He wanted to get a negative answer from Yun He, which would give him a good reason to vent his anger. He would also have a sufficient reason to kick the lad out of the Pill Pagoda.

Yun He looked at Shi Ti. He suddenly turned his head around to look at Xu Xiaoshou. He reached out his hand with trembling fingers.

"His…"

"Did he cheat?" asked someone nearby eagerly.

"No!"

Yun He struggled to free himself from the hands of the person holding him. His face was full of excitement. "His method… I've never seen such a method of making the magic pills. It is a remarkable method!"

Shi Ti's face turned pale.

Yun He was screaming and jumping. He had no concern for his image at the moment.

"This lad could refine the medicinal liquid in such a quick way."

"The method is really awesome, which I have never seen before. He flipped and turned the medicinal ingredients like he was frying vegetables. Soon, the magic pill was ready."

"There was also a technique of gathering the spirit back into the flow to collect the juice. This little brother described the technique so vividly and properly. It really was like collecting the juice!"

"It is a bold attempt to use the cooking method to gather the medicinal properties under the premise of precise manipulation of the fire. It's simply the idea of a genius!"

"Also, as for the method of condensing pills, if I'm not mistaken…"

"Yun He!" Shi Ti shouted loudly.

His face turned dark green, which was the worst color when one was extremely angry.

He had woken Yun He up in hopes that the man could help him disprove the magic pill made by Xu Xiaoshou. What did he mean by saying all of this?

'Frying vegetables?'

'Collecting juice?'

'What the heck? Can you say something sensible?'

'We are talking about making magic pills, not about cooking!'

"You, calm down!" Shi Ti yelled.

Immediately, Yun He came back to his senses from the exhilaration state. He was on the verge of crying when he saw the looks on the crowd. Everyone must have thought he was an imbecile.

It was not long ago that he was the one who had looked at Xu Xiaoshou making the magic pill with the same expression on his face.

However, it turned out that they were wrong, and everyone was fooled.

In other words, they were not fooled, but they were close-minded because of their subjective thinking of inertia.

'This Xu Xiaoshou is really capable!'

"I'm only asking you…" Shi Ti took a breath and asked with trembling lips, "Is it true that Xu Xiaoshou just made this magic pill?"

Yun He glanced at the young man, who stood silently on the side.

The young man shrugged his shoulders carelessly. It seemed that the young man didn't care so much about what he would say.

"Master President, you have truly misunderstood him."

"Though this lad is sometimes careless and has seriously injured me with the blast, frankly speaking, as for his method of making the magic pills…"

Yun He said with fire in his eyes, "I completely approve."

Everyone was surprised at the affirmative tone of Yun He's voice, wondering how someone who had almost died supported the culprit after waking up. What kind of strength did this young man have?

Shi Ti was also dumbfounded.

He looked down at the magic pill and closed his eyes tightly.

"If everyone still needs an affirmative answer…"

Yun He looked at the crowd and categorically said, "This magic pill was indeed made by Xu Xiaoshou!"

Report chapter

Chapter 306: You Don't Believe Me Again

Suspected, Passive Points, 34.

Affirmed, Passive Point, 1.

Supported, Passive Points, 4.

Xu Xiaoshou turned his head and looked at Mu Zixi.

The little girl shot him an encouraging expression in her eyes. She then clenched her fist and gave a thumbs-up.

"Hey."

Xu Xiaoshou asked with a smile, "Master President, do you still not believe me?"

"Yes, I believe you."

Shi Ti nodded his head deeply. Xu Xiaoshou felt relieved.

"To be honest, with just this magic pill and the assurance from Yun He, I can give you the magic pill technician badge on the spot."

Xu Xiaoshou was silent and looked at the old president with a smile, knowing that there would be a catch.

"But…"

The old president stroked his beard and grabbed a handful of black material. He sighed and said, "This old man wants to see you make the magic pill one more time."

The onlookers nodded frantically, thinking that seeing was believing but hearing was not.

Even though Yun He had sworn that he saw the process with his own eyes, they still couldn't believe that a magic pill had survived the extraordinary blast.

Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand with a smile.

"There is no need to redo it."

"Since Master President has said that you believe me and are going to give me the magic pill technician badge, why would I do such an unnecessary thing?"

Shi Ti was speechless.

Cursed, Passive Point, 1.

The crowd was in awe.

'There is nothing wrong with his brain,' the crowd thought.

Admired, Passive Points, 36.

Shi Ti's anger was stirred up again. He opened his mouth and was on the verge of roaring again.

Xu Xiaoshou hastened to interrupt him. "Master President misunderstood me. I didn't mean what you think I meant."

"Now that you are planning to give me the badge, I won't turn down your request."

"I'll take the exam for the tenth-grade badge first, and later I'll take the exam for the ninth grade."

He waved his hand carelessly, but everyone was stunned by what he had just said.

"Taking consecutive exams?"

Suspected, Passive Points, 36.

Shi Ti paused in anger, raising his eyebrows high.

He had previously thought that Mu Zixi had the possibility of taking the exams consecutively, but it was merely speculation.

It was one matter if one could take the exam. It was another matter if one could pass the exams.

Yet where did this Xu Xiaoshou get his confidence from?

'You are merely a shield for Mu Zixi and someone blocking the lines of sights of the others, but you start to think that you are a disciple of Old Man Sang.'

'With only a method of making the magic pills, do you think that you can conquer the entire Pill Pagoda?'

Xu Xiaoshou smiled lightly and said, "President, you don't believe me again."

Shi Ti was again speechless.

Cursed, Passive Point, 1.

Everyone was amused by his words.

As onlookers, after they calmed down a little, they realized for the first time that this lad seemed to have a good temperament.

Even though he was misunderstood by the crowd, and even though he was roared at by President Shi Ti, he still behaved carelessly as if nothing had happened. It seemed that nothing in the world could affect his emotions.

On the contrary, the crowd's behavior…

All of them felt surprised when the lad said something so casually and grew outraged.

President Shi Ti was the worst of them all, even though he was usually as calm and steady as a mountain.

Shi Ti showed a sullen expression on his face.

It was true that he didn't believe this lad had achieved such a feat already.

"It's not important whether I believe you or not at the moment. If you can make a stove of magic pills in front of our eyes, I'll believe you are indeed capable!"

Yun He rolled his eyes undetected, thinking that the truth was that Shi Ti didn't believe his words.

Xu Xiaoshou felt amused and said with a smile, "Okay, but you give me the badge first."

"I can't give the badge to you for the time being, but you can make the magic pills according to your own plan. If you can really make the ninth-grade pills…"

Xu Xiaoshou shouted excitedly, "Is President Shi Ti is going to place a bet with me and give me a reward?"

Shi Ti paused.

'I don't think I said it that way,' he thought.

He gritted his teeth and had almost spoken the hysterical words in his heart.

Xu Xiaoshou felt sad and commented, "Alas, it is true that one who is not envied by others is a mediocre talent!"

"It is apparent that I've made the Red Gold Pill, and Elder Yun He has confirmed it. However, no one is willing to believe me."

"Is it true that the life of a genius must be lonely?"

"What about my peers? Do you guys believe me?"

Everyone was dumbfounded.

They wondered why Xu Xiaoshou spoke the words that should have been kept in his mind. Why was he so shameless?

Mu Zixi clenched her fist at the side and said, "Xu Xiaoshou, I believe you."

Everyone glanced at her sideways. The little girl flushed and hid behind Shi Ti.

"Go, Xu Xiaoshou, go."

This abrupt cheering sound was even more surprising.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound.

Was the speaker Fu Xing?

Fu Yinhong stared at him with her pretty eyes. "Why are you getting involved!"

Fu Xing replied, "I believe Xu Xiaoshou. I believe my big brother!"

Fu Yinhong was dumbfounded.

Shi Ti let out a sigh of relief and realized that he had no choice but to say something.

He thought that it would be hard to save face if what Xu Xiaoshou said was true, even if it was just a slim chance.

He said slowly, "If you can really succeed in making the ninth-grade pills, I will let you choose a condition."

Everyone was surprised to hear that.

Why has he promised a condition so easily?

The envious expressions were apparent in the eyes of the crowd. Yet they wondered when Master President had become so casual and easy to give in.

However, when the crowd mulled it over, they realized that what Shi Ti said and did was a bit too outrageous if Xu Xiaoshou could actually do it.

In comparison, a promise was worth saving the president's face.

Xu Xiaoshou looked exuberant.

Although Shi Ti and Elder Sang had a close relationship, it was obviously not a reason for him to do whatever he wanted. On the other hand, if he could win the condition, the situation would be quite different.

'As a result, I will have a backer in Tiansang City!'

'As long as I don't cash out the promise, who dares to touch me?'

He immediately replied, "Does Master President mean that I can choose any condition?"

Shi Ti replied with a sneer, "The premise is that you can make the magic pill!"

Xu Xiaoshou thought, 'It's not so difficult to achieve it.'

He had made ninth-grade spiritual pills back in the Spirit Palace a long time ago, and he had many of them in the ring at the moment.

Although he didn't have enough spiritual liquids, and some of the pills still looked scorched and black, they were nevertheless finished magic pills.

'It looks like I can win his promise with ease.'

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoshou asked again, "If I have made a ninth-grade magic pill, will Master President promise me one condition?"

"What if I can make an eighth-grade magic pill?"

There was a hint of longing in his eyes.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

This lad…

They had thought that he had a good temperament not long ago, but it didn't take long for him to reveal his original nature.

He had many bad qualities, such as speaking nonsense, being overly ambitious, and causing destruction everywhere.

Shi Ti was so upset that he actually felt amused. He said, "You speak without thinking it over. How can you boast about making eighth-grade magic pills?"

"How dare you say that!"

Xu Xiaoshou frowned as he said, "Master President, you don't believe me again."

"Could you recall carefully if I spoke without thinking? Which part of my words were false?"

Shi Ti didn't reply.

He had no intention of talking at the moment.

He didn't want to recall the destruction of the Pill Pagoda. He had no intention to do so at all.

Xu Xiaoshou said with a sigh, "You have always thought that I couldn't do this or that, but every time, something unexpected happened."

"What if…"

"What if I can do it again this time?"

"Ha-ha-ha!" Shi Ti laughed while tilting his head upward. He could no longer tolerate the boasting words of the lad. He spoke in a cold tone.

"If you can really make an eighth-grade magic pill, I will take you in as my disciple, all right?"

Report chapter

Chapter 307: Well, I want three favors!

"Accept Xu Xiaoshou as an apprentice?"

The crowd went wild again. Everyone was exhilarated and worked up.

Following the promise of a favor, President Shi Ti spoke bold words again. 'Pooh!'

How generous.

How could he be so generous?

Everyone was dumbfounded and could not believe their ears. Was this the President Shi Ti they knew?

What was the matter? Did he have a short fuse today?

How come he was so irritable?

Was it because he was at odds with that young man and could not control his emotions anymore? Or was he simply getting more and more worked up?

"The old president is going to accept an apprentice! My goodness, this is big news!"

"What are you thinking? Have you forgotten the conditions attached? He requires eighth-grade magic pills!"

"Eighth-grade… My dear mother! Is this how one becomes the president's apprentice? If I knew that, I would have refrained from taking the examination and instantly sat for the third-grade assessment. That way, could I also be the president's apprentice?"

"Hehe, wake up, it's daytime now!"

Fu Yinhong glanced at Shi Ti with an inconceivable expression on her face.

Eighth-grade!

She was now an eighth-grade alchemist. If not for those two accidents, she would have been a seventh-grade alchemist now.

But Shi Ti could not possibly see something in her.

She knew that her abilities were far from enough.

Xu Xiaoshou…

Did he really have such prowess?

Fu Yinhong thought of that Red Gold Pill. Most of the people who watched the events unfurl were still on a high and did not give it much consideration.

If Xu Xiaoshou could protect and successfully condense the magic pill from the blast and was as exceptional as Yun He claimed…

Everything that happened in the meantime was extremely scary if one thought about it carefully.

She glanced at the old president. This old man seemed to be acting in the heat of the moment. In fact, Fu Yinhong could not guess what he was thinking in his heart.

"Xu Xiaoshou…"

She turned to look at the young man. To think that she almost imprisoned him when she saw him on the street that day.

She never expected that he would be such a character.

How would he respond in the face of the tempting promises made by the president?

"Accept an apprentice?"

Xu Xiaoshou murmured. To be honest, he was indeed captivated by the proposition.

He then thought of Elder Sang. Knowing the old man, he was sure that that old fellow would not set him free. He was a hundred percent sure of that.

Even if he escaped now, when the old straw hat-wearing man came looking for him, how could he not willingly go with him?

Shi Ti…

Was he capable of stopping Elder Sang?

Xu Xiaoshou was confident that he was not capable of that.

That old man's true prowess was not in the art of alchemy at all. In fact, his alchemy skills were only a side benefit attained from the practice of Infernal Heavens.

"You flatter me, President. I know I am still not qualified to be your apprentice at the moment."

Xu Xiaoshou spoke euphemistically and then steered the conversation away.

"However, it's rare to catch the president's eyes. I would be hard-pressed to shirk this bet."

"How about this… If I succeed in refining the eighth-grade magic pill, will you add one more favor to the favors you promised earlier?"

Though Xu Xiaoshou sounded greedy, he did not have the guts to act on his words.

Two favors were enough.

Deep down, Shi Ti was surprised.

Could anyone refuse his invitation to be his apprentice?

Moreover, it was a young alchemist. How could that be possible?

His eyes narrowed slightly. It was evident that Xu Xiaoshou's brazen actions triggered his anger again.

But he was not foolish.

This lad's reaction was too unpredictable.

It was almost comparable to Old Man Sang, who created a big commotion in the Holy Palace in the past.

Mu Zixi's figure unconsciously appeared in Shi Ti's mind.

He admitted that the resemblance between Elder Sang and this unruly lad in front of him was uncanny. If he had to decide now who would be the first-choice apprentice for Elder Sang, he was afraid this young lad was indeed more suited to be Elder Sang's apprentice.

"Could it be possible that I was wrong? Xu Xiaoshou is not a cover that Old Man Sang designated for Mu Zixi, but…"

"Is it the complete opposite?"

Shi Ti was surprised by his thoughts.

He re-examined Xu Xiaoshou with scrutinizing eyes.

'Similar!'

'Too similar!'

'Especially with regards to their destructive ability, he has far surpassed his teacher!'

He turned his head and looked at the skylight in Xu Xiaoshou's alchemy room. He instantly connected the dots in his heart.

Could it be possible that what this lad said is true? Was the alchemy process just a normal procedure?

Yet, in this world, by simply following standard procedures, one could create such havoc with alchemy.

Shi Ti's face paled.

He had been deceived.

'Old Man Sang, was this what you were hiding all along?'

After not meeting for many years, his shrewdness went up a notch. He predicted that Shi Ti would be judging him and prepared his counterattack.

'Damn it!'

The surrounding crowd, including Xu Xiaoshou, were all watching President Shi Ti intently. His facial expressions changed as if he were flipping a book. In a flash, he displayed all kinds of colorful and exaggerated expressions.

In the short span of a few breaths, the old president vividly expressed various emotional expressions that one could achieve.

When Xu Xiaoshou's Information Bar stopped fluctuating, Shi Ti's eyes regained focus.

He stared at the young man in front of him and said sternly, "I agree with what you said."

'Wow!'

The crowd was instantly riled up and chorused in awe. Their faces were adorned with scandalous expressions.

"Has the president gone… mad?"

"My God, two favors? This, this…"

"It can't be! Is this even acceptable? But at this juncture, why wouldn't he be the apprentice of President Shi Ti!"

"Yes, this Xu Xiaoshou is still too inexperienced. Young people simply lack foresight. What are two favors when you can get countless favors by becoming the old president's apprentice?"

The old men were green with envy or shocked by the turn of events, but some people did not forget to rebuke Xu Xiaoshou. They loudly reminded him:

"Young man, don't be penny wise and pound foolish…"

Shi Ti looked at those green-eyed old men who had not forgotten to remind him and smiled. He also looked forward to Xu Xiaoshou's change of heart.

The guy who had caught the eye of Old Man Sang and resorted to using Mu Zixi, an alchemy genius, as a cover to divert the attention of others…

How phenomenal would his art of alchemy be?

Could it be as terrifying as Yun He claimed?

Xu Xiaoshou felt the scorching gazes of the audience on him and could not help but give it another thought. After a long time, he slowly asked, "Is it true that you can agree to anything?"

Shi Ti smiled and nodded, trying to exhibit a superior demeanor.

"Yes."

'Come on, be my apprentice! I need you!'

Xu Xiaoshou no longer hesitated and said, "Well, then I have decided. I want three favors!"

Crack!

Shi Ti's expression instantly froze.

Fu Yinhong's eyeballs almost fell out.

The old guys who were observing the events beat their chests and stamped their feet in disapproval after recovering from the shock.

"What a fool!"

"He's so stupid, really so stupid!"

"As the saying goes, rotten wood cannot be carved, nor a wall of dried dung be troweled. What use is there in scolding him anymore?"

Scorned, Passive Points 36.

Ridiculed, Passive Points 32.

Shi Ti's face was dark as he asked, "Are you serious?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the Information Bar with a wry smile. What did these guys know? This bunch of… Forget it, he would just regard it as a contribution to his Passive Points.

"Yes."

He nodded. "Three favors aren't too much, right?"

Shi Ti closed his eyes heavily and nodded slowly.

Xu Xiaoshou saw that he agreed so quickly and could not help but inwardly regret appearing too eager.

"Why don't I change it again, four…"

Brush!

Shi Ti glared at him in anger. His gaze was so piercing that it was as though two fiery flames burst out from his eyes.

The phantom of a letter floated above his head, and the Way of the Heavens mantra fell upon them.

'Tolerance is…'

'What bull!'

Shi Ti exploded on the spot, roaring angrily.

"Now, immediately, get your ass to the alchemy room!"

"If I don't see the eighth-grade magic pill today, don't you dare dream of leaving this Pill Pagoda standing!"

Report chapter

Chapter 308: Reassessment

Alchemy room…

Stray rays from the sun poured down from the skylight and fell on Xu Xiaoshou's exceptionally handsome face.

The young man opened his hand and curled his fingers close. He glanced at the door with some awkwardness and spoke with dissatisfaction.

"I say, with so many of you watching, I will be very stressed."

In front of him were Shi Ti, Yun He, and the others while the old guys who wanted to watch the show gathered at the destroyed door.

Mu Zixi waved her hand at his side and said encouragingly, "Xu Xiaoshou, come on, make eighth-grade pills at one go."

Xu Xiao did not take this well. He turned his head and looked at the little girl, who had squeezed in beside him.

"You should get out of here quickly. It's too crowded. If there is an explosion later, can you run away?"

Fu Xing shouted from the other side, "Big Brother, don't be afraid, I am here! Even if this furnace blows up 10 times today, it will not hurt you!"

As he spoke, he took a jade pendant from his waist and handed it over.

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback. He swiped the jade pendant, saying, "You also should quickly leave. The air is too stagnant with everyone squeezed in here."

"No, Big Brother, I want to see you become a god before my own eyes!"

Fu Xing held his hand excitedly.

'He accepted the jade pendant!'

'There is hope for my 10 Sections of the Finger Sword!'

Shi Ti said with a black face, "You guys, get out of here. Why is there a need to squeeze like sardines here? In the first place, the alchemy examination is not for you to observe."

"We've already made an exception by letting you watch, yet you still want to squeeze around."

He shushed everyone out of the door.

It was a pity that was not even a door in this ruined place. People were still going to crowd around.

He did not dare change the venue to another room. What if Xu Xiaoshou caused another explosion?

The Pill Pagoda barrier could no longer suffer this kind of damage.

"Bear with it for a moment," Shi Ti said.

Xu Xiaoshou retracted his gaze, nodded, and said, "Just don't talk."

"Besides… Mr. President, please stand back, just in case…"

"I am at the Sovereign Stage!"

"Sigh!"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered that his facilitator was not Yun He but Shi Ti this time.

He sat down on the spot and grasped the bathtub with his fingers.

Clang!

The force of the countershock immediately resulted in all the residue within the bathtub flying out from the vibrations. Everyone's hearts trembled, only to witness Xu Xiaoshou's snapping his fingers and raising the temperature in the room instantly.

"Infernal Heavens!"

Shi Ti raised his body upright, his face thunderstruck in recognition.

He thought that Xu Xiaoshou might be Old Man Sang's apprentice. When he saw this familiar flame in person, he found it difficult to conceal the astonishment in his heart.

Infernal Heavens… Even though this kid seemed erratic and unsteady, he had endured the pain.

He surveyed the youth and seemed to see a shadow within in him of his former companion, who once ended up boiling the entire lake while practicing in Greater Goose Lake.

If it were not for the sleepless cultivating day and night, and if it were not for his determined persistence, maybe…

That old guy would not have had those deep dark circles under his eyes.

"Spiritual Cultivation Pill."

Xu Xiaoshou spoke, bringing Shi Ti out of his reminiscence back to the present.

Shi Ti took out the spiritual ingredients from his spatial ring, handed them over, and said, "Ninth-grade, Spiritual Cultivation Pill. You have three chances."

Xu Xiaoshou acknowledged with an "Oh." He proceeded to dump all the spiritual ingredients into the pot as if he were making stew.

This action immediately triggered an uproar from everyone outside the door.

Some old guys just wanted to call out. Before they could say anything, Yun He interjected with an I-know-it-all face and generously proffered an explanation.

"Calm down. Don't get too excited. This is a normal procedure."

"I'm familiar with this process. It is just the beginning. This kid is very particular, so be quiet."

"Shut up and take a good look, that's all!"

Everyone looked at Yun He with dissatisfied expressions plastered on their faces. They seemed to be controlling their emotions to a point where they were almost boiling up and appeared immensely uncomfortable.

Since when did this old guy learn to shut others up before they could even speak? Could they not even voice their thoughts now?

Compared to the others, Shi Ti's expression was collected and calm.

He saw Xu Xiaoshou's familiar and proficient movements, and he thought that it was so.

Apart from the overbearing Infernal Heavens alchemy technique, few alchemists dared to perform such bold actions.

"Sizzle…"

A soft sound came out from the bathtub. On top of the overbearing Infernal Heavenly Flames, the spiritual ingredients were promptly refined into liquid without any effort.

Xu Xiaoshou entered the boring stage of controlling the fire, and his eyes began to wander around.

Flame control was a major feature from Cooking Expert.

This feature directly introduced Xu Xiaoshou to the art of alchemy and opened the door to a side career.

For other alchemists, when they thought of refining elixir and Pill Condensation Art, the former was more arduous and challenging to perform.

It was necessary to control the medicinal properties of the substance to refine elixirs. More importantly, the alchemist also had to maintain perfect concentration for an extended period without any hint of distraction.

It required a lot of experience and practice to achieve.

For Pill Condensation Art, no matter how difficult it was, it was only a spiritual skill.

As long as one was willing to learn it and accept the same level of Pill Condensation Art as a Spiritual Cultivator, it was generally simple enough to learn the ropes, though not easy to progress far.

On the other hand, Xu Xiaoshou compared to ordinary alchemy masters behaved the opposite.

It was due to Cooking Expert and one of its branches: flame control.

Because of this Passive Skill, he seemed to have practiced the knowledge countless times in his mind.

He was an absolute natural at alchemy.

Apart from controlling the flames a little and dealing with some minor accidents that may occur in the alchemy process…

There was no other obstacle in his alchemy process of refining elixir.

What really challenged him was the Pill Condensation Art.

He just could not learn it.

Glancing at Shi Ti from the corner of his eye, he noticed that Shi Ti was carefully staring at his hand. Xu Xiaoshou waved more casually, which instantly puzzled Shi Ti further.

He looked out of the door again, and the crowd was even more at a loss.

Under the command of the Yun He, everyone's eyes were zeroed in until they almost bled. All they wanted was to understand his Profound Way of the Heavens alchemy hand gesture.

Unfortunately, no one could decipher his technique.

Xu Xiaoshou smirked. It would have been a surprise if they could see through it.

His alchemy technique was something that even he could not decipher.

Under the Infernal Heavenly Flames, the elixir refined very quickly. When it was almost time, he focused his thoughts and concentrated on the next step.

"Pill Condensation…"

Xu Xiaoshou whispered. He looked at the Passive Points Information Bar.

"Passive Points, 24,333."

Though it was not increasing fast enough, it was sufficient for him to improve his skill points.

Xu Xiaoshou did not originally plan to waste passive points on alchemy. After all, he had too many enemies, and they were too strong.

If he could refine eighth-grade magic pills, any one of the three favors promised by President Shi Ti could help him defend himself against the unknown killer.

Minutes passed…

The killer was at the Sovereign Stage…

As Xu Xiaoshou thought, his fingers moved faster unconsciously.

Under the influence of the Passive Skill Agility, if he did not control his hand speed, he could directly gesture out a phantom with his speed.

"How fast…"

Everyone stared even more intently. In the alchemy room, Shi Ti started pacing his feet unconsciously.

Gently, step by step, he did not even notice that he was already remarkably close to Xu Xiaoshou.

'What a magical technique. It's really as Yun He said! It closely resembles cooking!'

'It's too messy and disorderly. It's almost like simply waving, but is it possible?'

'He is the apprentice of Old Man Sang, could it be that this is the latest development by that old man?'

As Shi Ti thought, he proceeded to bend his knees, squatting directly by Xu Xiaoshou's side.

Report chapter

Chapter 309: Run!

'Ooh… Ooh… Ooh!'

With fingers as quick and agile as fluttering butterflies, the air was filled with melodious movements.

The crowd outside the room was staring intensely into the room while the old president squatted at a side of the room with his attention totally drawn.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoshou was totally focused on the Passive Points Bar.

'Come on!'

He thought for a while and finally decided that the benefits outweighed the costs if he were to use his Passive Points now.

As such, he stopped hesitating and exchanged some for two skill points.

Out of his Expertise Passive Skills that had reached the Innate Stage, his Sword Technique Expertise skill level had been raised twice and was already at the limit.

Considering that he still had to perform alchemy, he wanted to be very cautious.

To ensure that his cauldron would not explode, Xu Xiaoshou used his skill points.

Cooking Expertise, Innate Level 1.

Cooking Expertise Innate Level 3.

Immediately, his mind was filled with a large volume of knowledge. Different from leveling up during Acquired Stage, the experience that was entering his mind now was more of…

The way of the Cooking Expert…

As well as an understanding of food and ingredients.

While leveling up of Cooking Expert in the Acquired Stage, Xu Xiaoshou received almost all of the knowledge there was about lower-level spiritual medicines.

Now, that knowledge had been updated to include food and ingredients.

'Meats and vegetables?'

Xu Xiaoshou's face darkened.

The highly expected Pill Condensation Art did not appear at all. He lost his focus for a while, and his hands shook a little.

The audience's heart tightened as they watched from the outside. They noticed that the temperature suddenly spiked. It was as if in the next moment, the spiritual liquid above the cauldron would turn into ashes.

However, they saw the young man grab the cauldron tightly. The surrounding air seemed to come become still

The accidental spike in heat coursed through his hands, entering his body.

'Breathing Technique!'

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up.

It was almost as if it was an involuntary reaction, just like how leveling up Sword Technique Expertise was in the past. It brought him an unexpected surprise.

If the Breathing Technique could help lower the temperature, didn't that mean that from now on when he lost focus while performing alchemy, as long as he reacted in time, it could always be salvaged?

His Agility had already reached the Master Stage, which meant his reaction time would be godly.

'That's not right!'

This method should not be used on salvaging. Instead, was it better suited for multiple alchemizing?

Could he alchemize with two cauldrons at the same time?

As long as his reaction was fast enough, he could lower the heat before any cauldrons exploded, halting any impending explosions before they even started.

'F*ck!'

'What an unexpected surprise!'

Xu Xiaoshou's face brightened up as he thought about it.

Raising the skill level of Cooking Expert by two points seemed to have gotten him useless things, but flame control's level was raised as well.

If he continued to raise the skill level, controlling multiple cauldrons at the same time was not an impossible dream anymore.

That seemingly useless meat and vegetable combination knowledge was actually subtly setting the foundations for one of Xu Xiaoshou's ideals of creating meat pills.

He didn't dare to try it now, but it didn't mean that he would not try it next time.

Xu Xiaoshou was so agitated that his hands shook again, causing onlooker's hearts to tighten again. He immediately tried his new discovery.

He did not use his nostrils to breathe. Instead, he used his hands to come into contact with the Infernal Heavenly Flames, achieving the results that he wanted.

Beside him, Shi Ti was already looking a little faint.

What kind of technique was this?

He had never seen these movements before nor the results that they brought.

Was it possible to salvage things when the cauldron seemed to be exploding?

Disbelief was written all over Shi Ti's face.

Alchemists were required to have high control over flames. Even the slightest mistake could cause all to be lost and unsalvageable.

With Xu Xiaoshou's technique, he was able to lower the temperature of the cauldron just by having his hands near it.

'Is this Elder Sang's new invention?'

'Did he purposely ask this lad to show off in front of me?'

Shi Ti felt his tooth hurt a little.

To be very honest, this technique, even for a person like him, was highly desirable.

Alchemists in the lower grades might not have been able to see the value of this technique, but once they entered the higher grades, every ingredient was very costly. Hence, it would be unbearable if they were lost due to a mistake.

If they were lost due to a small hiccup or mistake, that would be the most unbearable.

With this technique, there would be so many moments and ingredients that could be salvaged.

Shi Ti continued to squat to the side as he became totally fascinated.

Glancing at the young man beside him, the president opened his mouth with the intention to ask something, but he was not like Yun He.

He knew that these examinations were highly important to the youths, so he did not want to interrupt.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced subtly at him and smiled.

He intentionally wobbled his hands again, causing the flames to lose control. Under the shocking gaze of the president, he put his hands near the cauldron again.

Chh–

There was a soft sound as Xu Xiaoshou's reddened palms perfectly absorbed the heat.

Shi Ti could not hold back to know. He was really interested.

"Do you want to learn?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

The president swallowed his saliva unconsciously and nodded.

"If you want to learn, what will you use to exchange? A favor?"

Shi Ti was speechless.

He looked at this young man with shock as huge waves rushed within his heart.

'My God, what kind of a person is this. Why does he want a favor in exchange?'

'Doesn't he know that if he taught me this technique, the returns that he could get from me would definitely be more than that?'

Shi Ti's eyes were filled with disappointment.

'No matter how strong his skills may be, if his brawn cannot keep up, then he will not be able to go far in life!'

'Sigh.'

Thinking about this, he could not help but feel a sense of pity for Elder Sang.

It was a pity because he was such a talented boy.

Xu Xiaoshou smiled as he shook his head. He had just asked casually.

Not to say that he would be able to learn it, but if he really had to teach him, just looking at the man's physique made it clear that he would not be able to bear the amount of heat at all.

If his own Master Physique could only take as much as that one breath, how much could others take?

The reason he said that was just to encourage the old man to give up and not ask any more questions.

"Here it comes."

The process of refining elixir was at last at its final step. After Xu Xiaoshou made the liquid backflow, it had become highly viscous.

His face was serious.

"Scoot further away!"

Yun He waved his arms as he hurriedly tried to usher the crowd backward.

When this lad compressed his pill, no matter if it succeeded or failed, the cauldron would still explode. It should not be underestimated.

The speed of Xu Xiaoshou's hands increased again. Under the eyes of the crowd, he finally made a hand sign that everyone could understand.

" Pill Condensation Art!"

The Fire Seed under the cauldron burst into flames. The temperature in the room shot up immediately. Everyone had shocked expressions. In the next second, everything seemed to go dark.

Boom!

A loud explosion shot straight up, causing the ceiling window to widen a little more.

Shi Ti was already prepared. He wanted to see how explosive this lad's normal pill compression was.

The explosion that caused Yun He's body to be injured did not seem to do any harm to himself.

'Is that it?'

He sighed. He then saw the young man sitting beside the cauldron suddenly getting up.

"Run!"

Xu Xiaoshou blurted this word fearfully as he immediately disappeared.

Since the door was blocked by people, he escaped through the window.

The crowd was confused.

"Is this… his normal alchemy process?"

They all looked at Yun He, including Shi Ti.

Yun He was stunned.

When he was watching Xu Xiaoshou alchemize a while ago, this was not part of his normal alchemy process at all.

Unless…

Chapter 310: Broken Brows and Blackened Face, The Angry Old Alchemist

"The cauldron exploded?"

When the crowd realized that, the alchemy room had already started emitting a layer of an appalling gas wave.

The wave was silent, but it easily sent those at the entrance of the room flying. As they were flying, they could clearly see it.

Under the cauldron, the condensed Fire Seed that had increased in temperature during the pill compression step had expanded.

Condensing Fire Seed was easy. Xu Xiaoshou had also experienced an expanding Fire Seed.

At most, it was just like one of his Lesser Fireballs.

This was a Fire Seed that had been compressed for a couple of hours and continuously gotten energy replenishment to be released at the last minute.

The amount of damage that it could bring could be seen from Xu Xiaoshou's skilled action of escaping.

Its expansion caused the surrounding gases to be evaporated, and the space around it to be a vacuum.

As the heat waves emitted from it, it eliminated all other elements within that space.

After that moment of emptiness, the air finally gushed through, causing the vacuum to disappear. A loud and frightening sound could be heard coming from the alchemy room, causing intense vibrations of everyone's eardrums.

Boom boom—

A grey mushroom cloud could be seen pushing through the ceiling of the tower as the huge blast was compressed toward the center, shattering all the walls of the Pill Pagoda.

Dead silence.

The streets were all silent.

The bustling streets and passersby were all speechless as if silenced by a god at the same time.

Those that had passed by a few times would know that Pill Pagoda was not peaceful at all on this day.

After some time, there would be a few sounds of explosions. Each was stronger than the previous one.

They still did not expect that the last blast would cause the seventh story to be damaged such that only half of it was left.

"Oh my god, what happened to the Pill Pagoda?"

"Is the Magic Pill Technicians Association under attack today? If that is the case, why are the City Guards not here yet?"

"Is this the effect of exploding cauldrons? Where is their big array barrier?"

"How could a big array have protected against an explosion of such magnitude? The Pill Pagoda is a respected place by both good and evil organizations. Why would they even need any strong arrays? Who would they have provoked to experience such suffering?"

"Could it be those organizations that are neither good nor evil?"

The crowd went silent for a while. Soon, everyone started to discuss and argue.

That was not the end. After the mushroom cloud, the crowd suddenly heard noises that sounded like "Poot, poot."

"What's going on? Who is farting?"

"Farting? Does your wife fart this loud at home? This sounds more like thunder!"

Some people started to panic as they could feel that the surrounding temperature rapidly rising.

Yet, to the naked eye, everything seemed to be normal.

"No!"

Suddenly someone stared at the Pill Pagoda and let out a shocking cry.

"The Pill Pagoda! Quick, look! Is the Pill Pagoda disappearing?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd turned to look and finally saw that the outer wall of the seventh floor of the Pill Pagoda rapidly melting.

Some alchemists noticed something amiss and used their spiritual senses to scan. They were terrified.

"Fire?"

"Is the Pill Pagoda on fire?"

"F*ck! Who can tell me what is happening?"

Suddenly, an old man wearing ragged clothes flew out of the window.

He looked extremely devastated. His hair and brows were burned off to a large extent. The most attention-grabbing thing was that his little belly was showing because pieces of his clothes were missing.

Yes, the old man's clothes on the front had been burned off.

His body was not hurt, but the little hairs on his body were gone.

"President Shi Ti?"

The crowd on the streets was all shocked.

Was this still the highly revered and angelic president?

"F*ck, I must be blind!"

"This can't be real. My eyes…"

"Ahh! Help me, someone pinch me!"

"Xu… Xiaoshou…" Shi Ti gritted his teeth and growled lowly.

His eyes were filled with tears. He raised both of his arms and separated the Heavenly Infernal Flames from the outer walls of the Pill Pagoda before condensing them together.

This was too scary.

These flames could burn anything. Unless one used the Way of the Heavens to put it out and turn it back into the most fundamental spiritual element, there was no other way to put it out.

For those who did not have any spiritual powers yet, they could only beg for mercy in front of this Heavenly Infernal Flames.

'If I were not in the Pill Pagoda today…'

Shi Ti dared not imagine what would have happened.

'Exploding cauldron… How can this be a f*cking cauldron exploding? You are more terrifying than that Old Man Sang!'

While the crowd was still distracted, he immediately disappeared into the pagoda to change into a new set of clothes.

On the other side of the Pill Pagoda…

Xu Xiaoshou flipped down from the window and entered the Magic Pill Technicians Association again through the first floor.

He was hesitant.

'Should I go up or not…'

This question seemed simple, but it could actually be a matter of life and death for him. Thus, Xu Xiaoshou had chosen to temporarily escape.

With his eyes drooping, he hid in a dark corner as he recalled the aftermath of the explosion.

'It was really just an accident!'

Xu Xiaoshou first confirmed the nature of this incident, deciding not to increase the scale of it. An accident was an accident. There was nothing much else to say.

Secondly, it was just a normal cauldron explosion.

'Yes!'

'Extremely normal!'

Whenever he had any cauldron explosions in the past, it was like that as well.

Given the experience that he had, Xu Xiaoshou had already gotten a good grasp over fire control and would basically not cause any cauldrons to explode anymore.

'Why was it like that this time?'

Xu Xiaoshou's brows tightened as he started to ponder.

Throughout the entire alchemizing process, it had been extremely smooth. The only possible time where the accident could have happened would have been when he added two skill points to his Cooking Expert.

'Could it be the heat…'

Xu Xiaoshou squinted his eyes as he suddenly realized the root of the problem.

The flame control that came along with Cooking Expert raised his skill levels.

Even though it was something that appeared in his mind straight away, the first time he used it, Xu Xiaoshou was still not used to it.

His flame control's upper limits had been raised, which allowed him to maintain stable control even under extremely high temperatures.

The amount of strength that he put in during alchemy was still that of before he leveled up.

It was equivalent to a normal person wielding a large hammer and using all of one's strength to hit a piece of metal.

There was not much of a problem with that since that was how Xu Xiaoshou usually performed alchemy.

After leveling up Cooking Expert, the control he had over the flames had increased, which was equivalent to the metal forger becoming an experienced veteran instead of a normal person.

If he still used all of his strength to play with the flames, he was bound to burn himself.

Thinking about that, Xu Xiaoshou was not shocked. Instead, he was surprised.

The Pill Pagoda burning was a small matter to him but finding out how to stop cauldrons from exploding through this experiment was a big matter for him.

As long as his Cooking Expert leveled up, flame control would level up as well. When he was able to control the Heavenly Infernal Flames during high temperatures…

Wouldn't his cauldrons not explode ever again?

"Hehe, haha…"

Xu Xiaoshou could not control his laughter. As he raised his head, he realized something was amiss.

He saw a blackened face with burned eyebrows. It belonged to an angry old alchemist

A continuously burning flame was on his hand.

"President Shi Ti?"

Xu Xiaoshou found it hard to swallow his saliva. When he did, he realized that his throat was tight.

"Startled, Passive Points 1."

---

Read I Am Loaded with Passive Skills Chapter 311 - Can you give me a chance? online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 311: Can you give me a chance?

Xu Xiaoshou thought, 'I believe I have the right to explain.'

Before he could say what was in his heart, the mild-tempered President Shi Ti had exploded in rage. He raised his hand to slap him, attacking in anger.

"Calm down!"

Xu Xiaoshou hurriedly ducked, narrowly avoiding the blow. He stepped forward to restrain the old president with his body.

"Xu Xiaoshou, I will teach you a good lesson on behalf of Old Man Sang. If I don't beat you up today, I, Shi Ti, will not bear the 'Ti' family name!" Shi Ti roared.

Xu Xiaoshou grabbed the old man's wrist in defense.

He also realized that this old guy must have recognized his Infernal Heavenly Flames and knew his identity.

It was evident from the moment he struck out in anger, yet still exercising restraint, that it would not be a fatal blow for Xu Xiaoshou.

It was just Shi Ti's levelheadedness. He guessed that there was very little left of it now.

Xu Xiaoshou clamped on him. After a moment's hesitation he said, "President, your original family name isn't 'Ti' either."

With darkness looming in his eyes, Shi Ti's actions halted midway. He almost passed out.

"If you can exit the Pill Pagoda standing today, I, Shi Ti will not bear the 'Shi' family name!"

He roared again and pulled his hand from Xu Xiaoshou's restraint in another attempt to slap him, only to find that he did not use spiritual strength. He could not move at all.

"This…"

He tried to use his spiritual strength to launch a tremor, but he realized that a tremendous force emanated from his palm near his thumb. The strange counter-shock and tearing force almost caused him to bleed on the spot.

At this moment, Shi Ti suddenly understood why Fu Xing could fly so far.

"Kid, do you have a Master Physique?"

He managed to suppress his anger. One can only imagine how terrifying this discovery was.

Across the continents, Innate Level Physiques were already rare.

A Master Physique…

To tell the truth, after he left the Holy Palace and bade farewell to Old Man Sang and Demi-Saint Infernal, he had never seen another Master Physique again.

How old was this kid?

How had he already reached heights that ordinary people could not achieve in their lifetime?

Xu Xiaoshou watched the shock in President Shi Ti's eyes and nodded helplessly.

Though he did not want to expose himself, his Master Physique was a result of the Passive Skill Strengthen. As long as he did not come into physical contact with anyone, his level would remain undetected.

However, at this moment, apart from inching closer to Shi Ti, Xu Xiaoshou did not dare to take any other actions.

If he made his escape now, he would become easy prey for Sovereign State Spiritual Cultivators.

As long as Shi Ti could still keep his wits with him, that would be for the best.

If he could not keep his wits, it would just take one person to be killed there for the matter to blow out of proportion.

Shi Ti could not die.

Yes, the puppet child in Xu Xiaoshou arms was almost breaking out of his control.

Under an actual covert attack, it was still unknown who would emerge victoriously.

He obviously would not allow such accidents to happen. He spoke a few words with Shi Ti and watched him calm down again. Seeing that he had regained his senses, Xu Xiaoshou let him go.

"Mr. President, this was an accident…"

When Xu Xiaoshou mentioned the cauldron explosion, Shi Ti could no longer hold back his emotions.

He immediately wanted to avoid the topic. After beating around the bush unsuccessfully, he guessed that he could no longer evade it. He immediately started speaking.

"President, you must be aware of the power of this Infernal Heavenly Flames. It is completely normal if I can't control it."

"You will be affected…"

Xu Xiaoshou thought, 'This was really beyond my control.'

He did not dare to say that out loud. Moreover, he had already told the old man to stay away in the first place. Since Shi Ti did not believe him, what could he have done?

He dared not say that either.

When the words left his mouth, they did not sound right. Xu Xiaoshou plastered a contrite expression on his face.

"Although this explosion was indeed a little too strong, it also revealed that the various protective measures of the Pill Pagoda are rather lacking…"

Shi Ti's face grew darker and darker. Xu Xiaoshou's voice became smaller and smaller. Finally, he muttered his suggestions softly, "Prevention is better than cure. It would do good to repair the Pill Pagoda…"

"You shut up!" Shi Ti hollered.

He had acknowledged all kinds of explosions at this point. Investigating the cause was only a matter of time, and restoration was another issue to be dealt with.

But a Master Physique, the apprentice of Elder Sang, and the strange power…

At this moment, Shi Ti only wanted to resolve the mystery shrouding the young man in front of him. However, with the chaotic aftermath of the Pill Pagoda, his heart was numb from the events. He was unable to collect his thoughts properly.

Xu Xiaoshou observed his silence and grew nervous. He attempted to break the ice again.

"President, there are three chances for the examination. I still have left…"

"You shut up!"

Shi Ti roared again. Now the young man had brought up the examination. He felt that not only was his body was going to collapse, but his soul also was in turmoil.

How could anyone sit for a tenth-grade or a ninth-grade examination and blow up the Pill Pagoda like that?

If he were to let him use up his three chances, wouldn't the Pill Pagoda completely disintegrate?

Should he pass the ninth grade and then proceed with the eighth grade with his three chances…

Then wouldn't Shi Ti lie dead on the ground before him in the end?

The old president was so angry that what little left of his beard almost fell off. He waved his hand.

"Get lost!"

"Where should I go?" Xu Xiaoshou was at a loss.

"I don't care where you go! Just leave the Pill Pagoda! Go back to the Spirit Palace or go to another city for the examination, but never come to the Magic Pill Technicians Association in Tiansang City ever again."

Xu Xiao was flustered.

How did it escalate to this?

Could the Magic Pill Technicians Association refuse entry of new alchemists?

If the headquarters knew what Shi Ti did, would he not be punished?

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to ask Shi Ti this but did not have the guts to do so.

He looked at the door and pleaded, "Am I really disqualified from taking the exam? Can you give me a chance? I'm extremely confident now that I just finished upgrading…"

"Get lost!"

Shi Ti roared thunderously and flared his nostrils.

Xu Xiaoshou was stricken with bitterness. He thought of his gamble and accumulated favors, but…

He dared not bring that up.

He had nothing to fear when he faced peers like Fu Xing because he could always rely on the elders to judge the events.

But he was now facing the old president. Moreover, this was a fuming president.

"Then, let me get my junior sister so we can leave together," Xu Xiaoshou said.

Swoosh!

In the next second, he watched the surrounding scenery rewind rapidly. He felt his body being sent flying backward.

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

His heart was cold from the injustice in the world. He fell steadily onto the ground. He squatted and thought deeply.

The outside world was cruel. He had only caused one cauldron explosion and was not given even half a chance.

It was better in the Spirit Palace.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly thought of Elder Sang.

Though he caused so many explosions in the Spiritual Library Division in the past, Elder Sang helped him shoulder the responsibility. His teacher had even sent back the law enforcement officers who came to arrest the offender.

He never thought that this lousy old man was any good before, but now that he recalled the past events, he felt a slight warmth in his heart.

And Ye Xiaotian…

He almost blasted Tianxuan Gate, but he was still very friendly with him.

Although occasionally his temper was short, at least he never chased him away.

"Sniff sniff…"

Xu Xiaoshou was touched.

It was not until he got out of the Spirit Palace and experienced the coldness of the society outside that he missed the kindness of the elders in the Spirit Palace.

"President Shi Ti, alas, though he appears gentle and kind-hearted, in terms of temperament, he is no match for the dean and the elders!"

Xu Xiaoshou sighed ruefully. From the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the Pill Pagoda swaying precariously. He instantly lowered his head.

Pooh!

'Just now, I did not see anything.'

Report chapter

Chapter 312: My Dream is Shattered

After being kicked out of the Pill Pagoda, Xu Xiaoshou naturally lost his precious alchemist examination qualification.

He squatted on the ground and drew circles, feeling very distressed.

President Shi Ti's good-natured character was also evident at this moment. With Yun He's guarantee, he has witnessed Xu Xiaoshou's pure flame control skills.

He also believed that although this kid was unruly and capable of mass destruction, he still had the tenth-grade alchemy ability.

Therefore, Xu Xiaoshou received an alchemist badge.

"Tenth-grade…"

The young man looked at the magnificent purple badge on his hand bitterly.

There was a silver-white alchemy cauldron on it, which looked like a normal alchemy cauldron yet more pretentious-looking than his small bathtub.

Beneath it were 10 floating white clouds.

Yes, they were indeed floating.

The alchemist badge has been forged with special craftsmanship. It was impossible to replicate, and it would create an impression at first glance.

If one were to observe closely, one could even vaguely see the effect of white clouds.

In addition to the badge, if one successfully advanced to an alchemist, they would receive an honorable mention from the association and other special rewards.

It included the exclusive selection of alchemy cauldrons, the designated Innate Pill formula, and the white robe and purple robe that represented the noble status of alchemists.

Xu Xiaoshou received none of that.

According to President Shi Ti, if he were to punish him for the damages caused, he would have to pay with these things and more. Perhaps he would even have his underwear taken away.

Xu Xiaoshou was doubtful about that.

His net worth was still rather sizeable.

Simply repairing the outer wall of the Pill Pagoda and some damaged barriers would not cost him too many spirit crystals.

Unexpectedly, Shi Ti controlled his impulse after his outburst. Not only did he not punish Xu Xiaoshou, but also he even gave him the badge as a gift.

"Is it because of Elder Sang?"

Xu Xiaoshou firmly believed that was the only reason he could calm the anger of the old president.

Perhaps, it was that letter with contents unknown to him…

'I'm really curious what was written in it. D*mn junior sister won't let me take a peek!'

Putting his thoughts aside, Xu Xiaoshou wiped away the circles on the ground. He got up and stretched.

Overall, his Magic Pill Technicians Association examination journey was nowhere near perfect.

According to his plan, he would at least be able to receive the ninth-grade alchemist badge.

If he upgraded his Cooking Expert skill twice, even the eighth grade would not be a problem.

Who knew? Perhaps he could even attempt to conquer the seventh grade.

That way, he could achieve the noble peak of Innate Stage alchemist starting from nothing in just one day.

His junior sister would certainly not believe it.

But she would have to believe it.

Perhaps in the future, his Passive Points would no longer be contributed by Cursed Passive Points but instead filled with Admiration and Respect.

The many old men in the court, including President Shi Ti, would also see him in a new light, maybe even praise his genius and suck up to him.

This way, he could seize this opportunity to join forces with the higher-ups in Tiansang City and gain a foothold in this city, further establishing his influence.

In the future, it could also lay the foundation for him to break ties with the Spirit Palace and escape from Elder Sang's devilish claws.

After that, he could use this as a springboard and easily establish his brand, Xiaoshou's Trademark Magic Pills.

Then, he could surpass Tiansang City, and even Tiansang County, and finally conquer the greater world.

"Sigh."

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly sighed softly, interrupting his dream of a beautiful future.

What a pity.

It was all for nothing.

No matter how glorious the picture he painted was, fate was beyond his control.

Who would have known that he would be banished like this?

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the gate of the Pill Pagoda with a dark expression dark like someone with a grudge.

He did not put away the badge. Instead, he pinned it to his chest.

A tenth-grade alchemist was also an alchemist and still noble.

He puffed out his chest and walked around in front of the Pill Pagoda. With his considerable experience being at the epicenter of explosions, he was completely free of dust.

He exuded a gentlemanly grace and suaveness.

Wandering around like this, he immediately attracted the attention of many passersby.

"How ostentatious! Who is this tenth-grade alchemist?"

"He's quite a looker. But what a pity about his mindset. Even if he is only a tenth-grade alchemist, he is already so arrogant! What could his future hold?"

"Indeed, all the alchemists I have met are humble, polite, and responsive to requests. They act low-key and never show off."

"This is the first time I have seen one with such an exaggerated demeanor!"

"Yeah, but it makes sense. No matter how noble a profession, there will always be some that slip through the cracks."

Hearing their comments, Xu Xiaoshou stopped in his steps. His face turned puce.

What was the matter? In the stories he read, as long as they were alchemists, weren't all of them arrogant?

He merely imitated their attitude. Why were so many people displeased?

Was it possible that the alchemists in this world were relatively humble and dared not express themselves?

When he thought of the alchemy profession, he likened it to sitting down for 10 days to a fortnight. He guessed that those who could reach accomplishments in this field would most certainly be boring old farts.

Just look at the old guys on the seventh floor of the Pill Pagoda… Would these people be arrogant?

Xu Xiaoshou felt that he had been misled.

He quietly took off the badge on his chest, wanting to be a low-key person again, but he caught sight of the Information Bar in his mind.

Begrudged, Passive Points 121.

Invited Jealousy, Passive Points, 133.

Envied, Passive Points 166.

Uh!

'I daresay, everyone is simply green with envy!'

Xu Xiaoshou was happy again and decided to leave his badge on.

With the Passive Points increasing by a few hundred points this time, even if the king of heaven appeared before him, he would not take it off.

"The little girl is taking a long time on her examination!"

After wandering around for half the day and gaining several thousand Passive Points, Xu Xiaoshou still did not see any sign of Mu Zixi.

Indeed, he had been kicked out and disqualified from participating in the examination, but Mu Zixi did nothing wrong. Hence, she could continue with the exam.

The Pill Pagoda did not only have alchemy rooms on the seventh floor. At this time, his junior sister and Vice Commander Fu of the City Guards were still likely hard at work inside.

In his boredom, Xu Xiaoshou stopped walking.

At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed out of the Pill Pagoda.

"Fu Xing?"

Hearing the sound, Fu Xing instantly located Xu Xiaoshou and rushed over so quickly that he seemed to be flying toward him.

"Big Brother, Big Brother Shou!"

"I am so glad that you are still here. I thought that you were gone!"

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned dark. "What do you mean by gone? If you can't say anything nice, you should be quiet."

"Hehe."

Fu Xing forced a smiled and touched the back of his head. When he was about to speak, Xu Xiaoshou reached out his hand and gestured at him to stop.

"Do not ask. If you must ask, the answer is I don't know, and I cannot teach!"

Xu Xiaoshou knew why he was so eager, but even the incomplete version of the 10 Sections of the Finger Sword knowledge was proprietary to the Spiritual Library Division.

He also had no idea where Elder Sang had obtained the complete version of the skill. Its value was evident and far surpassed his wildest imaginations.

Xu Xiaoshou could not possibly teach this skill to others. After all, he had a good grip of what he should or should not do.

Report chapter

Chapter 313: I'm Here to Give Big Brother Shou a Golden Opportunity!

Fu Xing did not mind at all.

If Xu Xiaoshou were so easily persuaded, there would be no need for him to communicate with this guy in person. Moreover, they also would not exchange more than 10 words.

As the young master of the City Lord's Mansion, he was talented in spiritual cultivation and swordsmanship.

Not only was he proficient in the way of manipulation, but he also knew how to accomplish his own objectives by dealing with people.

As long as he could speak and the other party was not mute, he was sure he would be able to dig out 10 Sections of the Finger Sword.

"Big Brother, Big Brother Shou, you have misunderstood me. I didn't come to ask for 10 Sections of the Finger Sword," Fu Xing said with a smile plastered on his face.

Xu Xiaoshou could not help taking a step back and asking, "If it's not for the finger sword, then what do you want? If you do not want my money, do you intend to take my virtue?"

Fu Xing was speechless.

His virtue?

Was he that kind of person?

"No, I'm not interested in Big Brother Shou… Well, to be honest, perhaps I am a little interested…"

Fu Xing touched his chin and suddenly noticed that Xu Xiaoshou's expression was frozen. He hurriedly explained, "No, no, no, Big Brother Shou misunderstood, I didn't mean that."

Xu Xiaoshou wrapped his arms around his chest and stared at him vigilantly. "Then, what do you mean?"

"That is…"

Fu Xing twitched the corner of his mouth and decided to abandon the topic.

This guy… He was almost side-tracked again, but business first.

"I'm here to give you a golden opportunity," Fu Xing said seriously.

"A golden opportunity?"

Xu Xiaoshou frowned. He reached out and probed Fu Xing's forehead with his hand. "Are you serious?"

Fu Xing said with a smile, "Naturally, I am serious."

"His temperature seems fine…"

Xu Xiaoshou murmured, suddenly pointing at the cracked seventh floor of the Pill Pagoda. He asked, "Do you believe that the Pill Pagoda will drop an alchemy cauldron for no reason?"

Fu Xing was taken aback.

The conversation had veered.

'As long as Big Brother Shou starts a topic, I must continue it!'

"I believe it!"

Fu Xing answered firmly.

If he were asked this question last time, he would not believe it. He had changed his mind after witnessing such a tremendous blast.

Let alone an alchemy cauldron, if a person dropped from the Pill Pagoda, he would believe it.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded and asked, "Do you believe that there is a Sovereign Pill in this alchemy cauldron?"

Fu Xing wasn't sure what to say.

He hesitated this time.

Was it possible?

"I don't believe it."

Even if he were to flatter him, he had to understand the problem and the approach clearly. Otherwise, misplaced flattery could rub him up the wrong way.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded indifferently. This answer was within his expectations.

He waved his hand and said, "You also do not believe that good fortune will rain on you, yet you still come to me with an enticement."

"A golden opportunity?"

"No one would offer a reward for nothing. I think you just want to kill me so you can inherit my finger sword!"

Fu Xing's face turned green.

He did not expect that Xu Xiaoshou would be able to manipulate the conversation in this way. With a mournful look, he explained, "Big Brother, you really misunderstood me. The opportunity I came here to give you is only good, not bad."

Xu Xiaoshou scoffed.

"Do you believe that the Sovereign Pill that falls from the sky is absolutely pure and poison-free?"

Fu Xing was speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points 1.

Fu Xing was about to cry in despair. "Big Brother, I am really not a Sovereign Pill, I am…"

"I never said that you were a magic pill!"

"I…" Fu Xing felt his chest hurting and forced himself to play along. He acknowledged that his level was no match for Xu Xiaoshou's, and he had been led astray again.

"Big Brother, do you know about White Cave?"

He decided to get straight to the point.

He realized that if he were to bait the young man in front of him, he would be the one to suffer in the end.

"White Cave?"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked this time.

The most recent time this term appeared was during his last conversation with Elder Sang.

From the moment he met Elder Sang during the Windcloud Competition in the Outer Yard of Tiansang Spirit Palace, he had been engulfed in the vortex of major events.

He was sinking in deeper and deeper. In his last conversation with Elder Sang, he inferred that the center of this vortex was the White Cave.

The invasion of the masked man, the trap Elder Sang had laid, the shocking change of Tianxuan Gate, the grey mist figure and the ghost beast, the past sword of the Eighth Sword Deity…

From just hearing their names, these were all major shocking events. Eventually, they all pointed in the same direction.

"White Cave…"

Xu Xiaoshou whispered and frowned.

To be honest, when he deduced those things, the horror in his heart was no less than Elder Sang's shock at him.

He admittedly did not reveal too much about what he knew, even if he knew that White Cave was a place of great doom and peril and that Elder Sang might just send him there.

He raised his head and looked at Fu Xing.

"Does the golden opportunity you mentioned have something to do with White Cave?"

Fu Xing nodded, feeling smug in his heart.

Sure enough, anyone who knew the existence of White Cave could not be unmoved, even if it was Xu Xiaoshou.

Xu Xiaoshou had an urge to turn around and leave.

To be honest, if he could avoid the cause and effect of this, he would do his best to stay away.

But he thought of Elder Sang.

That lousy old man did things without explanation to outsiders. It was even more impossible for him to tell others his true thoughts beforehand…

Even if this person was his precious disciple.

Honestly, getting accurate information from him was very difficult.

Xu Xiaoshou estimated that when he was about to enter White Cave, the old man would most likely give him a complete White Cave map and say to him, "It's okay, just have fun."

He would then try his best to detour away from the old man's plans. Ultimately, he would still stupidly fall into the old man's ploy.

Unknowingly and inexplicably, he would still want to complete all the missions by himself.

'How scary!'

At this thought, Xu Xiaoshou's heart shuddered.

This time, he had to take the initiative to approach White Cave to at least find out everything in advance so that he was sufficiently prepared for it.

"Tell me about your golden opportunity," Xu Xiaoshou said calmly.

He was eager for information, but he could not possibly let Fu Xing know. Otherwise, this kid would have the upper hand.

He still recalled that this lad lusted after his 10 Sections of the Finger Sword.

'He took the bait!' Fu Xing watched Xu Xiaoshou's reaction, and he was overjoyed in his heart.

He was well-versed in psychology, so how could he not see that Xu Xiaoshou was very interested in intelligence about White Cave?

Under this guy's pretentiously calm demeanor, he had a strong desire to learn about White Cave.

'As long as he wants it, I can give it to him. In the end, he will give me what I want!'

Fu Xing was overjoyed. On the surface, he remained collected and asked, "Big Brother, how much do you know about White Cave?"

"Not much," Xu Xiaoshou answered directly.

"He-he, then you should at least know about the Fourth Sword that went viral recently, right?"

"I know a thing or two about it."

"Huh…" Fu Xing rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked at Xu Xiaoshou's expression. He had guessed that he probably also knew the external news.

"Then, do you know that White Cave should be unsealed within 10 days to a fortnight?"

Report chapter

Chapter 314: The Grand Banquet

Xu Xiaoshou was surprised.

"So early?"

He had thought that in this vacation, he would at least have a one-month break before it would be over.

Fu Xing nodded. "The date is still not confirmed but seeing the frequency of the vibrations of the extradimensional space, it will only be a matter of a few days."

Xu Xiaoshou acknowledged it and asked, "What does this have to do with that opportunity that you mentioned earlier?"

"Heh heh."

Fu Xing smiled mysteriously. "Big Brother, you might not know this, but even though White Cave is an extradimensional space, it is under the control of large organizations in the surrounding 12 counties and cities."

"To enter it, you need a nomination. For those who want to try smuggling in, they are executed on the spot!"

Xu Xiaoshou raised his brows. Was it that serious?

Fu Xing knew what he was thinking and explained, "In the past, there was a highly skilled cultivator that tried to sneak into the extradimensional space, but his entering caused a whole area in the space to collapse."

"If that was just an ordinary place, it might not have mattered that much. For a place as highly sacred as White Cave, even the Holy Divine Palace has to treat it solemnly with respect!"

"In these unprecedented times, the number of guards keeping watch, no matter whether the red-clothed or the white-clothed, will be doubled in their numbers."

"At this time, if you want to enter White Cave, you have to have a nomination."

Fu Xing waved his hand without any regard and continued, "Tiansang Prefecture's White Cave nominations are decided by Tiansang City."

"And Tiansang City is controlled by the City Lord's Mansion!"

At this point, he raised his chin proudly.

Obviously, the Fu family would have the final say in the City Lord's Mansion.

In short, the White Cave nominations would be decided by the Fu Family.

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoshou was a little curious and said, "If I remember correctly, Tiansang Spiritual Palace also has some White Cave nominations!"

The Spirit Palace was the most prestigious educational organization and respected by every prefecture.

It was half-controlled by the Holy Divine Palace, affiliated to the Central Region's Holy Palace, and an entity that was totally above normal organizations.

To put it to comparison in terms of status and power, it far exceeded the various famed families of each prefecture, and even that of the City Lord's Mansion.

Of course, the Spiritual Palace did not need to compete. No matter how much they did, they could only be as large as the landmass of a prefecture.

Each Spiritual Palace, as long as it could be established, would automatically contain the top talents of that prefecture and, hence, would not need to compete that much.

Fu Xing smiled and said, "Due to the extradimensional space's opening, each Spiritual Palace would naturally have some quotas."

"The quotas they hold will be given to the top talents in the Spiritual Palace…"

Xu Xiaoshou said, "Oh" in a higher pitch, causing Fu Xing to panic.

"Of course, I'm not saying that you will not make it. What I'm saying is that you are still so young and have lots of growth potential. Even if you do not get it now, you will eventually do so."

"Besides, don't you still have me?"

Xu Xiaoshou could sense what he was hinting at and asked, "Do you want to gift me a nomination to White Cave?"

"Uh!"

Fu Xing smiled wryly. "This gift…I do not have that much of a control, but what I am saying is…"

He straightened his face and looked into the distance with a serious face as if having some deep thought.

"In the days before the extradimensional space opens, according to past rules and tradition, the City Lord's Mansion will organize a large banquet."

"During the banquet, there will be a competition for the younger generation of cultivators, as well as Tiansang prefecture's indirect ranking of the various cities and organizations."

"In short, whoever becomes outstanding during the banquet, it will mean that within Tiansang prefecture… Well, not just within Tiansang prefecture, but including the other regions… Anyway, this person will possess the capabilities to step out and explore!"

Fu Xing's eyes were bright and filled with ambition.

He did not mention how different this year's banquet would be.

Compared to the banquets before the opening of other extradimensional spaces, this year, because it was White Cave, not just organizations from Tiansang prefecture would be there. Even those from outside the prefecture were arriving one by one.

To the families and organizations originating from Tiansang prefecture, this was naturally extremely bad news.

After all, the cake was only so big. The more people there were with stronger abilities, naturally, more of the cake would be given out to them.

But to the younger generation, this banquet was a chance for them to become known.

If they could defeat those who came from outside the prefecture, that would be such an amazing and exciting feat for them.

Fu Xing's idol was the Eighth Sword Deity. Within him flowed the proud ideal of crushing all his opponents beneath his feet.

But now it seemed like it might not be impossible.

At least from those younger cultivators he had seen visit the City Lord's Mansion, there was only a handful that was stronger than him.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at Fu Xing weirdly as he saw him start to become more excited by his own words.

"In the end, you still did not say what this banquet has got to do with White Cave's quotas."

Fu Xing was stunned for a moment. He then smiled awkwardly.

"Big Brother, I forgot to say. The banquet naturally has its own procedures, but its main purpose is to decide who should be nominated to take up the White Cave quotas that the City Lord's Mansion has!"

Xu Xiaoshou nodded his head lightly.

Even if Fu Xing had not said that he had already guessed it.

He had guessed that this banquet's original purpose was to distribute the quotas for entering the extradimensional space.

Under the infighting between each organization during the banquet, it eventually caused the banquet's nature to be slightly changed.

Ultimately, to find out the White Cave's secret, this banquet was extremely important.

Xu Xiaoshou asked, "Based on what you had said, since the quotas will be distributed according to abilities and there will be competitions, are these quotas all obtained through fighting?"

"What is the competition like?"

"It would not be good for all the Sovereigns to start fighting for real within the banquet!"

Xu Xiaoshou thought of Ye Xiaotian and Elder Sang. If this level of battle were to occur…

A Hand of Ripping Heaven and another Dragon Melting Realm would be enough to destroy Tiansang City, not to mention the City Lord's Mansion.

"Unless… Is it arm wrestling?"

Fu Xing suddenly felt faint.

'Asking Sovereigns to arm wrestle?'

'What are you thinking? No wonder you are Big Brother Shou!'

"Sovereigns naturally cannot participate."

Fu Xing said confidently, "The region has already ruled that if these high-leveled cultivators were to battle, they would have to fight in their own realms or up in the sky. Otherwise, there would be millions of casualties."

"As such, the battles that occur during the banquet are usually between the younger generation of each organization. There will be simultaneous competitions for Master Stage cultivators, alchemists, and swordsmen taking place."

"The nominations will naturally go to the winners."

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. "So…"

"So, even if I cannot give you a nomination directly, I can make use of my status as prince of the City Lord's Mansion to cordially invite you to the banquet!"

Report chapter

Chapter 315: This Muggle

Fu Xing smiled, retrieved a gold gilded invitation card from his spatial ring, and handed it over.

"I won't talk about anything else. Just based on the strange spiritual technique that big brother used to send me flying, it seemed to be applied splendidly. I am sure it can play an unexpected role."

"Moreover, Big Brother, your art of alchemy… Even I can tell that you have substance, let alone Mr. President."

"Although it's a bit confounding, the protective barrier of the City Lord's Mansion would be dozens of times stronger than the almost defenseless existence of the Pill Pagoda!"

"Feel free to… I can't say you should feel free to…"

With a slip of his tongue, Fu Xing nearly said, "Feel free to test our defenses." After giving it some thought, he was concerned to give this lad a free rein.

What if the defenses of the City Lord's Mansion could not withstand his attack?

When this thought flickered across his mind, Fu Xing instantly discarded it.

That was impossible.

In Tiansang County, the level of protection cast on the City Lord's Mansion was almost the highest available.

Apart from the Palace Guarding Array in Tiansang Spirit Palace, there was no way to find other spirit arrays comparable to the City Lord's Mansion.

'An Invitation to the Night Banquet…'

Xu Xiaoshou took the gold gilded invitation card and rubbed it lightly. He felt its matte material, which complemented well with the delicately luxurious texture.

He estimated that the cost of producing this alone was exceptionally high.

He opened it. From within, there was a cloud of spiritual mist. Under the mist, there were no words but only a red seal.

"City Lord Mansion!"

On one side, there was also a smaller symbol with the words "Young Master" engraved on it.

"Tsk, this is something…"

Originally, Xu Xiaoshou was already keen on this banquet dinner.

Now that he saw this extravagant invitation card, he could already imagine the scale of this banquet dinner.

He immediately asked, "Did you mention that those aristocratic families in Tiansang County would be sending people over?"

Xu Xiaoshou had no interest in the families, except for the Zhang family.

Or rather, he was very interested in the head of the Zhang family, Zhang Taiying.

Since he had slain the two murderers sent, it was only appropriate to see the mastermind.

Fu Xing said, "Naturally, he will be attending. By then, the heads of the four major families in Tiansang County will be there, let alone other small families. Who dares not come if they want to progress upward?"

When he said that, he suddenly frowned and added, "Oh, the heads of the three major families."

Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts were consumed by "banquet dinner" and "White Cave." He paid no attention to this snippet of information.

According to Fu Xing, if the forces in all the big and small cities in Tiansang County gathered, how many people would that be?

Those people could not possibly come with ordinary guards.

Even if the Master Spiritual Cultivators were to make their presence, the guards must at least be Innate to correspond, right?

In that case, how many Spiritual Cultivators would be present at that time?

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the vicinity of the Pill Pagoda.

The explosion attracted many Spiritual Cultivators. Though, if he kept count, there were not many of them.

After all, each time he put on a display, it only amounted to more than 100 Passive Points. That indicated that except for ordinary people, the density of Spiritual Cultivators was not great.

But the banquet dinner would be different.

If he were to follow Fu Xing's advice and parade around wearing his alchemist badge, how many Passive Points would that be?

Hundreds? Thousands?

Could the City Lord's Mansion accommodate so many people?

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoshou became curious and asked, "How big is your house? I feel like it can accommodate hundreds of people!"

"A few hundred?"

Fu Xing almost raised his brows when he heard that. Was he being sarcastic?

He glanced at Xu Xiaoshou's expression carefully. When he realized that he was not kidding, a strange look crossed his face immediately.

"I'll keep you in suspense. When you come, you will find out for yourself."

Fu Xing spoke with a smile and murmured unconsciously.

"Hundreds…"

"Hmph!"

Now Xu Xiaoshou was curious. He glanced at the Information Bar.

Belittled, Passive Points 1.

This kid…

Was it possible that the City Lord's Mansion belonging to his family was so big that it could accommodate thousands of people dining at the same time?

Banquet dinner…

It was rather impressive.

Xu Xiaoshou did not ask further. While chatting with Young Master Fu, they walked to a nearby restaurant.

Fu Xing was very talkative.

When Xu Xiaoshou rendered him speechless previously, it must have been difficult for this naturally talkative guy.

Fu Xing was very knowledgeable and well-versed in subjects including astronomy, geography, the art of spiritual cultivation, swordsmanship, arrays, and the Great Path. He had studied almost all of them, and his understanding of these subjects was not superficial but extensive.

The only area that he lacked was the art of alchemy.

It seemed that the art of alchemy had skipped him entirely and passed on to his sister. However, Fu Yinhong was not proficient in other subjects besides alchemy. She must have snatched this ability when they were in the womb.

Although, Fu Xing still had the upper hand in all other subjects.

In addition, this guy had a very handsome face.

Xu Xiaoshou tsked and sighed. Ever since he came into this world, this was the most relatively perfect specimen of a person he had ever seen.

He had a good temper, high EQ, adequate IQ, and the support of the City Lord behind him, but he was not arrogant or haughty. Most importantly, he was also good-looking.

He felt that if he were a woman, he would inevitably be attracted to him.

After a hearty meal of delicious dishes and wine, the two parted ways in delight.

Xu Xiaoshou did not wait long this time before his little junior sister walked out of the Pill Pagoda.

Seeing this little girl jumping in joy and her ponytails fluttering, Xu Xiaoshou knew that her achievements were considerable.

"You took a long time. How many grades did you sit for?"

"Ninth grade!" Mu Zixi exclaimed excitedly. "I have only recently condensed my Spiritual Cultivation Pills, so I had no confidence at all."

"However, at the critical moment, I was successful during my third attempt!"

"Although it is still unstable, there was one top-grade pill. That's a top-grade Spiritual Cultivation Pill…"

The little girl was ecstatic. She grabbed Xu Xiaoshou's hand and jumped up and down.

When her excitement died down, she suddenly blushed and let go of him. She immediately handed over a badge.

Xu Xiaoshou took a closer look and could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy.

There were nine clouds…

"Damn, there is one less cloud than my badge. How about this, I'll give you my badge, and you lend me this for two days."

Mu Zixi replied, "Huh?"

What was going on?

That was the badge that she had earned through her abilities and hard work. She had not even worn it yet or touched it enough to warm it.

Did he want to take it away like that?

Cursed, Passive Points 1, 1, 1, 1…

As Xu Xiaoshou spoke, he pinned the nine clouds badge on his chest. He took off the other tenth-grade badge filled with clouds and patted the girl's left chest.

Uh!

Something seemed off. Was there more material?

Mu Zixi's face instantly burned red, and her curse was interrupted.

The air was still. Xu Xiaoshou looked mortified. He usually had a lot to say and could go on for a long time. But now, he was utterly speechless.

Should he withdraw his hand or leave it there?

"Ahem, don't get me wrong. Come, I will help you put it on…"

Mu Zixi blushed but did not say anything. When she reached out to take off the badge on Xu Xiaoshou's chest, he quickly avoided her.

"Xu Xiaoshou, return my badge to me!"

"What are you doing?" Xu Xiaoshou regained his usual wretchedness once he was at a safe distance from her. "I'm your senior brother. Why can't I wear your badge?"

"The president said that this badge mustn't be used indiscriminately or given to others!"

"If I say so, then it's fine! Whose words do you trust?"

"The president, of course!"

"Oh, so you are so obedient toward the president's words. Then why don't you be his junior sister instead? Don't look for me anymore. Hurry up and go. I will keep this badge for you first."

Mu Zixi was speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points 1.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at her pouting face and found himself amused.

The young girl's face was bouncy with collagen and saturated with vitality. This time, her face was apple red.

The corners of her mouth turned down, and her eyebrows creased. It seemed like her tears would fall out at the very next second.

It was too heart-wrenching to watch.

Xu Xiaoshou reached out and passed her the packed cooked food in his hand, "Hey, don't be sad. Your senior brother is very caring. See, I have even bought you dinner!"

Gurgle…

Mu Zixi's stomach started to growl. Her tiny face was full of shock.

"Xu Xiaoshou, have you eaten already?"

"Yes, what's the matter?"

Mu Zixi was speechless once again.

The little girl's small fists clenched so tightly that her bones were almost crushed. She was so mad that she stamped her feet twice in anger.

'This muggle[1]…'

Cursed, Passive Points 1, 1, 1, 1…

[1] The term muggle originated from Harry Potter, which loosely refers to ordinary non-magical people who stubbornly refuse to believe in all magical things.

Report chapter

Chapter 316: Xiaoshou Engages in Spiritual Array

Abundant Spiritual Inn…

That was the name of the subsequent inn that Xu Xiaoshou found after the Plenty Gold Inn.

The environment was beautiful, the service was attentive, and its protective barrier tough.

It was about the same quality as the Plenty Gold Inn, but it could have better Feng Shui.

There had been some small shocks one after another in the past few days. Fortunately, the big blasts did not occur.

Buzz…

The protective barrier of a VIP room on the second floor trembled again, suddenly alarming the servant who was fidgeting on the first floor. After finding that there was no motion afterward, he returned to sit down.

Only, it was just like sitting on pins and needles.

"When is this guest with the surname Xu leaving?"

The servant was extremely anxious.

Seven days ago, he welcomed two Plenty Gold VIPs, a male, and a female. They had directly asked for two executive suites.

They stayed without any issue for two days before heading out. However, everything had changed upon their return.

The little girl's room was still okay, just like any regular room.

But that guy…

He invited too many problems.

Every two hours, the protective barrier experienced three to four blasts. The servant had no clue how the young man could trigger so many outbursts in the room alone.

He also did not see him inviting anyone into his room.

The servant was very distressed. After the heaviest blast, the protective barrier nearly shattered. Even the guest in the next room complained.

But this young man was loaded.

He brushed it off, saying, "It's okay, I will pay for it," extinguishing the servant's thoughts of chasing this god of destruction away.

The blasts that occurred from time to time in the past five days made him almost suspect that the previous explosion of the Pill Pagoda was related to this person.

After all, the timing was impeccable.

As soon as they went out, the Pill Pagoda exploded.

This matter was still widely circulated and discussed.

The servant rested his head on his hands while wondering when this god of destruction would leave. Ironically, he also hoped that this god of wealth could spend more time here.

'Well, if it was not for my livelihood, who would want to be in such a dilemma?'

He sighed and suddenly saw three young men dressed as swordsmen walking in from the door. His eyes lit up.

"Hey…"

"Three Sirs, here please."

In the room…

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes were bloodshot. He was staring closely at the two palm-sized array wheels on his hands and a carving knife in his hand.

He laid on the ground without caring for his image. There were fragments of the array wheel beside him, and there was a scorched smell in the air.

Within close sight, there was a thick ancient book. Its pages were turned until they were wrinkled.

It was stacked up. A few large characters were written on the cover.

"Spiritual Array 101: From Beginner to Professional (Li Seven)."

Yes, he was now interested in the art of spiritual array.

Strictly speaking, this new interest of his originated seven days ago.

At that time, when he saw the terrifying array wheel in the spatial ring of the killer Li Seven, he had already thought of a once-and-for-all battle plan.

That kind of plan was very Xu Xiaoshou.

He just needed to make the array wheel in advance so he could use it in battle. Who would be able to withstand it when he casually threw it out then?

As for the issue of the spiritual array costing more spirit crystals than Spiritual Cultivation Pills…

Xu Xiaoshou smirked to himself.

On the day Xu Xiaoshou received his alchemist badge, he had already pawned his stolen goods loot at a reasonable price. He directly obtained the Supreme Gold Card from the Plenty Gold Company.

People with this card were said to be worth tens of millions.

Were 10 million spirit crystals a lot?

Though it sounded like a fortune, it was not the case.

The spatial ring from Xiao Sixteen alone was worth tens of millions.

This guy did not have any side hustles and was a traditional Spiritual Cultivator.

Yet, as a killer, his spatial ring contained almost all major categories of spiritual techniques in the world. It went without saying how they came into his possession.

Xu Xiaoshou saw Innate, Master, and even a Sovereign Stage assassination spiritual technique.

If the spiritual techniques were sold, they could fetch more than 10 million spirit crystals.

Xu Xiaoshou did not have the energy to engage in these dealings and left everything to the Plenty Gold Company to handle. After all, he…

Had no use for those items.

When he sold the spatial ring, his net worth directly increased from a millionaire to a multimillionaire.

Zhang Xinxiong's spatial ring was relatively worthless in comparison.

The kind of guy who had strong family ties and was not a lone ranger could not bring so many spiritual techniques with him.

What he learned and used was sourced from the Zhang family.

That spatial ring could not fetch much, and the same went for Li Seven's ring.

All the valuable things were already in Xu Xiaoshou's possession.

Spiritual array…

This was an expensive profession. To seriously speak of it, it was more costly than Spiritual Cultivation Pills.

Alchemy merely required spiritual herbs and techniques. Techniques could be learned, and spiritual herbs plucked. Decades and centuries-old spiritual ingredients would suffice for the average practitioner.

If there were herbs that were thousands and tens of thousands of years old, then they would be priceless.

It was not the same for spiritual arrays.

To even make the lowest level array wheel for a spiritual array, it was necessary to use the Qingming Celestial Rock.

This celestial rock was extremely precious. Without a geological vein that formed tens of thousands of years ago, it could not be mined at all.

It had the function of gathering spiritual energy and reinforcing the seal of spiritual veins.

It was the most suitable material for making array wheels.

Of course, this material used to seal spiritual energy was hard and resilient. But if it exploded, its power was by no means less than that of an ordinary cauldron explosion.

"Boom!"

An explosion sounded, which directly blasted Xu Xiaoshou's face with black soot.

Although the shattered pieces hit his face, they all fell to the ground.

With the top blocked by a human face, the airwaves could only spread laterally from all around, violently pelting the walls.

Suddenly, the barrier in the room flickered again.

"Damn it! I don't have the Spirit-gathering Array Expert! With my strength, I can't even carve a tenth-grade spiritual array!"

Xu Xiaoshou cursed and put down the carving knife in his hand. He got up and cracked his knuckles, making loud snapping sounds.

He did not start learning the art of spiritual arrays just because he was idle.

And it certainly was not because his lazy streak disappeared. He felt motivated to work on himself.

The main reason was that…

"The previous Cooking Expert ability appeared in the process of alchemy. That broken system may need to sense that it is going to develop in that direction before it can point me to a new path…"

"Spiritual array …"

Xu Xiaoshou muttered to himself. He had never engaged in this before, or rather, his prior experience with it was sending it into explosions.

It was too difficult to get the Spirit-gathering Array Expert ability based on the probability of the system draw alone. He could not get it last time and only got the Toughness ability.

Therefore, he had to use external factors to stimulate it.

As long as he made even a little progress in this subject matter, the system would be able to detect it. Who knew? It might just produce a Spirit-gathering Array Expert ability one day.

That way, he could rely on Passive Points to upgrade his mastery of this subject.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the broken pieces of the array wheel on the ground. His head throbbed.

"It's just a Minor Spirit-gathering Array, yet it is so difficult to achieve. If I were to make an array wheel that can seal the Great Fireball by myself, who knows how many years that would take?"

He laid on his back on the big bed. At the spur of the moment, he was struck with a whim.

'Again?'

Xu Xiaoshou frowned. This was the 18th whim that manifested in these five days.

The deadly warning function that came with the skill Perception had proven to be truthful and effective in previous battles.

Only at that time, he was sneezing.

This time…

Xu Xiaoshou clutched his chest with a morose expression.

'Who wants to kill me?'

He viewed the Information Bar. As expected, the message displayed on it for the 18th time.

Watched, Passive Points 1.

Chapter 317: Sister, Please Watch Your Words

The Eighth Palace…

In the endless wilderness, a few desolate weeds sparsely adorned the barren ground, tenacious yet helplessly swaying to the wind.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a few wisps of smoke curled up, adding some life to the dead silence.

This was a small town.

Well, it was originally.

It could no longer be called a town because the average population that settled there all year was estimated to be less than 50 households.

At best, it was considered a poor little village.

Although scarcely populated in the past, this village had seen better days.

The past Spiritual Cultivators were countless beyond measure, each with their respective unique abilities, saying the least.

It was because those who came to this place stayed on forever.

Among the ordinary people who did not qualify to live in the city, the Eighth Palace was the most famous among tens of counties nearby.

There was no other reason than that there was an extradimensional space there.

It was called White Cave.

Bump!

A golden staff wedged to the ground. Xin Gugu stroked his hair back and raised his head with his eyes facing the sun.

Under the gray sky, only one large wild goose was flying south.

"Is that White Cave?" he asked.

Jiao Tangtang held a gray geomantic compass in her hands. She nodded her beautiful face. Her expression was serious.

"Correct."

"The sect sent us over this time. Naturally, the main mission is to find a ghost beast host body for Greedy the Cat Spirit. I didn't have high hopes originally, but Xu Xiaoshou appeared out of nowhere."

Jiao Tangtang shook her head. She did not continue the conversation about that guy but said, "In fact, the second task is what we should complete."

"What is it?" Xin Gugu was curious.

He had always known that although Greedy the Cat Spirit was important, it was only a side quest to this mission. Even if they could not find a good ghost beast host body, they would not face punishment upon their return.

When assigned to Jiao Tangtang, she did indeed accept the mission.

Even he did not fully know the contents of this secret mission.

Jiao Tangtang glanced at him, her eyes glinting dangerously, and asked, "Do you want to hear about it?"

"Of course." Xin Gugu nodded emphatically. "I have already come this far. How can I still betray you? We siblings must work on this mission together!"

Jiao Tangtang's lips curled into a sneer.

"So, you are aware of the term betrayal."

However, knowing Xin Gugu's character, she did not mind too much. After her statement, her gaze fell on the geomantic compass again.

"I will not hide this mission from you because it is indeed very likely that I will not be able to complete it by myself."

Xin Gugu had a look of surprise in his eyes. Jiao Tangtang was one of the rare gems amongst their peers who could hold back her murderous nature.

Given her abilities, how she could not settle it?

Xin Gugu looked forward to it even more and urged, "What is the mission?"

"Finding a person!"

"Who are you looking for?"

Jiao Tangtang glanced toward the abyss and declared firmly, "Feng Yujin, Elder Feng!"

Xin Gugu looked at her gravely. His eyes were finally showing confusion.

"Who is that?"

"Hehe, obviously you wouldn't know who it is, kid!" Jiao Tangtang chuckled, "When people were conquering the five domains of the continent, you were still screaming and crying in your diapers!"

Xin Gugu's complexion darkened suddenly. A threatening smile formed on his mouth.

"Har har har. What! Did! You! Say!"

Bang!

A long white leg swept across and collided directly with his head. A gush of blood sprayed out from Xin Gugu's neck.

"I was talking to you, you piece of trash!"

Jiao Tangtang glanced at the bloodstains on her calf with a look of disgust evident in her eyes.

"Can't you control your strength? How disgusting!"

"Ahh!"

Xin Gugu hugged his head and squatted down, yelling loudly.

From his swollen temples and the distorted expression on his face, it was evident the amount of pain he was in.

After a long time suppressing the pain, the man picked up his staff and stood up.

His face twisted in ferocity.

"Large Woman, how many times have I told you not to deal a blow to the head? It hurts terribly…"

Bang!

Jiao Tangtang swept one leg across again and launched into another kick. This time, the effects were symmetrical. He was red on both sides of his head.

"Large Woman?" she sneered as she stuck out her heaving chest, "Although I like your prefix very much…"

"But it's called Big Sister!"

"Sniff…" Xin Gugu cradled his head in his hands and sobbed, "Big Sister…"

Buzz…

At this moment, there was a vibration coming from Jiao Tangtang's chest.

She frowned and reached to take out a jade scroll from her robes.

"What happened?"

Xin Gugu immediately looked up with curiosity.

"Does it not hurt anymore? Are you no longer pretending?" Jiao Tangtang rolled her eyes and extended her foot menacingly.

"Hey, don't mess around! Your communication jade scroll!" Xin Gugu dodged quickly.

Jiao Tangtang snorted coldly and looked at the communication jade scroll in her hand again.

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

That day, they respected the Greedy the Cat Spirit's choice and chose Xu Xiaoshou as the ghost beast host body. Whether it was successful or whether it could create good fortune, no one knew.

But it was a fact that the price was a communication jade scroll.

Deep down, Jiao Tangtang did not want to answer this communication jade scroll.

She did not like talking to that young man…

Well, she could not exactly say that either.

Perhaps she just did not enjoy having to swallow the words on the tip of her tongue when she talked to him since he rendered her speechless every time.

After all, no ordinary person would like that.

But she had to answer it because Greedy the Cat Spirit was there. If there was nothing urgent, he probably would not look for her.

Was it possible that something happened to Greedy the Cat Spirit?

"Toot."

She answered the jade scroll.

"Moxi Moxi?" A deep magnetic voice came from the other side, "Is this Miss Jiao Tangtang?"

Jiao Tangtang's mouth twitched. "Yes."

She did not beat around the bush and got to the point. "What is wrong with Greedy the Cat Spirit?"

Xu Xiaoshou's voice rang again, "Greedy the Cat Spirit is fine. I just wanted to find you."

Jiao Tangtang was speechless.

This guy… Could he not?

Was he so idle?

He had so much free time and did not spend it on cultivation. Did he think that she gave him this communication jade scroll to answer his life problems and cure his boredom?

Her temper flared, and she instantly hung up the jade scroll.

Xin Gugu raised his eyes. "What's the matter? What did you say?"

"It's nothing. That guy is too idle!"

As Jiao Tangtang spoke, she was about to reinsert the jade scroll back into her chest, but the jade scroll vibrated again.

Hum—

"Answer it?" Xin Gugu watched her in amusement.

This guy was gifted. After only a few words, he could already drive her up the wall.

That was indeed impressive.

If he could find an opportunity to learn from him, would he impart this skill?

"If you're not answering it, may I?" Xin Gugu asked, extending his hand.

Jiao Tangtang gave him a sideways glance but paid no attention to him. She pressed the receive button on the jade scroll and hollered.

"Xu Xiaoshou! If you have nothing serious, don't call this–"

Just then, a pitiful squeal interrupted her from the other end.

"Meow! Hiss!"

Was this…

A cat meowing?

Jiao Tangtang's face turned green. How much pain did the cat endure for it to cry like this?

Was Greedy the Cat Spirit being abused?

At this time, the woman's murderous intent surged to the sky. Beside her, Xin Gugu was taken by surprise as well.

She coldly asked, "Xu Xiaoshou, do you have a death wish?"

On the other end, Xu Xiaoshou remained cool as a cucumber. He was not affected by her emotions at all, and his voice was level and even.

"Sister, please watch your words."

"The cat is in my hands. If you dare to hang up on me in the future, you may never hear this meow again!"

Report chapter

Chapter 318: I Need Reinforcements

In the inn…

"Here, I'll return the cat to you."

Xu Xiaoshou let out a breath, and the little guy in his hand swooned.

He handed the cat back to the servant and waved him out of the room.

The servant took the cat and walked out of the door. His face was full of disbelief.

What was this supposed to mean?

If he was not absorbed in his hobby of causing explosions, was he interested in pinching cats?

'What a barbaric and strange fetish. Indeed, there are all kinds of fish in the sea.'

He felt sorry for the cat and stroked it with his hand gently.

This was the fortune cat in their store. Though he had expected many possibilities, he could not have known that this customer with the surname Xu would ask him to bring the cat over only to pinch it.

Who could think of that?

'What a lunatic!'

"Woo…"

As a result, when he touched the cat, it suddenly screeched. The servant suddenly retracted his hand in fright.

He fixed his eyes on the cat.

It did not seem to be in pain. It looked as though it was comfortable.

The servant was confused.

Xu Xiaoshou was listening to the violent heaves on the phone. One could imagine how worked up Jiao Tangtang was at this moment.

He smiled, "Sister, don't hang up the phone. I have something I need your help with."

"Then speak. What's the matter?"

Listening to her curt tone, he could tell that she was trying to calm herself down. Xu Xiaoshou smiled and said, "That's right, let's speak nicely. Don't be so irritable!"

"Don't run in circles. If you want to fart[1]…"

On the other end of the phone, she stopped herself in time.

Xu Xiaoshou curled his lips and said, "I need you to help me kill someone."

"Hmm?"

Jiao Tangtang's pitch rose. She glanced at Xin Gugu who was beside her and asked, "Kill someone? Are you sure you want to use this favor now?"

Given this communication jade scroll, it was equivalent to a favor.

Jiao Tangtang could not possibly do his bidding instantly when summoned. If Xu Xiaoshou activated this favor now, this communication jade scroll would only play the role of a communication device in the future.

'Kill someone…'

Beside her, Xin Gugu's eyes lit up. He licked his lips excitedly. He was looking forward to this task.

"Correct."

Xu Xiaoshou affirmed, "I don't just want you to kill someone, but I also need both of you to come right now!"

Jiao Tangtang asked, "On such short notice? What mess have you gotten to that you need us to wipe your ass now?"

"It's a matter of life and death!"

Xu Xiaoshou was not joking. His tone became serious.

He glanced at the Information Bar.

The Watched notification appeared more frequently.

It was very ominous.

The feeling of his heart clenching in fear was very uncomfortable.

He knew that someone was spying on him, and the strength of the person was formidable.

Even when it was Li Seven, Xiao Sixteen, and the others, he had never felt that way before.

Moreover, those two guys were at the Master Stage.

What did this indicate?

Xu Xiaoshou's heart sank. He thought of what Li Seven said before he died.

He knew that these people's words were not credible, but what if they were true?

'Three Incenses…'

'The early-stage of Sovereign killer…'

Xu Xiaoshou admitted that if what Li Seven had said was just an empty threat before his death, he succeeded. Xu Xiaoshou was convinced of it now.

At least he was suppressed at this time, although he was still fearful and panicked.

And if it were true…

Xu Xiaoshou panicked even more.

Even if there was Aje, he did not have the confidence to go take on Sovereign Stage cultivators at this moment.

Could he face Xiao Qixiu, Ye Xiaotian, and others with his Innate cultivation stage?

'What a joke!'

Even if Xu Xiaoshou had a Master Physique, he could still be defeated with a single sword blow.

Xu Xiaoshou's hand clasped the jade scroll tightly. He paced back and forth, but his tone was very calm.

"Sister, don't ask further. Just come here as soon as possible. I really need you both here right now."

Jiao Tangtang lowered her head and frowned with eyebrows creasing together. She looked thoughtful.

'Head over immediately?'

The distance from Tiansang City to the Eighth Palace was not close at all. They had also spent a lot of effort along the way to get to where they were.

But they had not gone at maximum speed. The time estimate was calculated at a regular walking pace.

But if she were to hurry there, it would require at least half a day on foot.

Besides…

Jiao Tangtang looked at the gray sky. After only standing there for less than an hour, she saw a few extradimensional cracks flash several times.

White Cave was going to be unsealed soon.

She pinched the jade scroll and said, "I can give you one person. However, I also have urgent matters on my side. Both of us can't head over together."

"I can't have both?" Xu Xiaoshou's voice rose. "Bring me the cat!" he commanded.

Jiao Tangtang was so furious that her breath was trembling.

She swore that if this guy were in front of her now, she would land a kick on him and then take Greedy the Cat Spirit back, never letting it suffer anymore.

But…

"I have something urgent here!"

"What urgent matters could you have? Since you are constantly on the go, all I am asking for is for you to come over and do me a favor. You can settle it in a heartbeat."

Xu Xiaoshou was determined to hold his ground. How could one person be enough?

What if the people from Three Incenses were two Sovereign Stage cultivators?

According to Li Seven, his head was worth a million spirit crystals.

If the bounty were to be divided equally by two people, that would be half a million each.

Wasn't half a million money?

Although he was a multi-millionaire, he also did not ignore the enticement of half a million. He had every reason to be wary of those hungry and thirsty assassins who were bloodthirsty like wolves and tigers.

Jiao Tangtang said in a deep voice, "Xu Xiaoshou, I am not joking with you. I have an urgent task to do right now, so I cannot do as you wish."

"Look, I will let you have Xin Gugu. He alone can help you handle everything!"

Xu Xiaoshou immediately dismissed it. "I don't believe it!"

Jiao Tangtang smiled, "Didn't you want to kill someone? Who do you want to kill?"

Xu Xiaoshou was silent. Who was he going to kill?

How could he possibly know?

If he knew the identity of his killer, would he be so terrified?

It was because his enemy was undercover, and he was under the spotlight. If the roles were reversed, he was confident that he could cause panic and terror. What if the unknown killer was Sovereign Stage?

Jiao Tangtang said, "I don't care who you want to kill… Is it a Master? A Sovereign?"

She paused and chuckled.

How could this guy's enemy be Sovereign Stage?

No matter who it was, Jiao Tangtang was still very confident.

"I will let you have Xin Gugu. As long as you are not going against the entire Tiansang City, no matter who you are facing, even if it is Sovereign Stage, he can help you kill them!"

Xu Xiaoshou did not believe it. "Is he so powerful?"

Jiao Tangtang glanced at the man beside her and then looked at the golden staff in his hand. She thought, 'If this guy was let loose, even I couldn't stop him.'

"Yes!"

She acknowledged. "He's powerful."

Xu Xiaoshou asked, "What if my enemy is two Sovereign Stage cultivators?"

"Ha-ha!"

Jiao Tangtang was amused. Two Sovereign Stage cultivators?

This guy was hilarious. Would two Sovereign Stage cultivators go and kill an Innate Stage? He placed himself on a high pedestal.

"That's just two, no big deal," she confirmed calmly.

Xu Xiaoshou was silent again for a long time.

"There are three of them, and they are all at the peak of Sovereign Stage!"

Jiao Tangtang rolled her eyes.

"Don't even mention three. As long as they are at Sovereign Stage and yet to reach the Cutting Path Level, my brother will settle them for you when they attack!"

Next to her, Xin Gugu, who was listening to their conversation, was thrilled. He straightened his golden staff and snatched the communication jade scroll from his sister. His beard and hair danced with the wind, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Xu Xiaoshou… Is this true?"

"Did I hear that you want to kill someone?"

"Tell me the time and place, and give me another ten minutes. I will be there soon!"

"Today, even if the king of heavens was here, I would kill him for you!"

[1] The fart term originated from a Chinese proverb that means one should speak quickly and fart quickly, and not hold it in.

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Chapter 319: Uncle, Are You An Assassin?

"Duu."

Xu Xiaoshou ended the call on the jade communication device.

Since he was alone, he did not need to joke around anymore. As soon as it was quiet, his expression turned serious.

No matter how much Xin Gugu tried to reassure him, he could not relax as long he was alone in the room.

'10 minutes?'

'Is Xin Gugu reliable?'

Xu Xiaoshou opened the windows. The sun had started to set, so the sky had turned yellow.

He thought of the stranger who wanted to take his life.

The pressure he was feeling had become increasingly suffocating. It was as if he could collapse in the next second.

This feeling had lasted five days and was getting more intense.

Xu Xiaoshou knew that this could not continue any longer. Even if the assassin could wait, he could not.

The longer this dragged on, the more the assassin would find out about him.

For Xu Xiaoshou, there was bound to be a day when his last line of psychological defense would be broken.

'Today is the day to settle him!'

Xu Xiaoshou bit hard on his teeth with determination.

Bang!

He pushed the door open and walked straight out.

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

Mu Zixi was at the doorstep. She had raised her hand, hesitating whether to knock.

"Hmm?"

Xu Xiaoshou's nervousness had diminished a little. "Do you have something to tell me?"

Mu Zixi hesitated for a while and asked, "Are, are you, going out?"

"What for?"

"For a stroll?"

The young lady twirled her ponytails and lifted her head with her gaze shifting. "Don't you find it boring to always be stuck in the room?"

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned for a moment.

He had not thought of that before. He might be having a lot of fun by himself, but this young lady might not be.

It was already considered good enough if she could alchemize for a whole day. Asking her to do so for five days was too harsh for this active and bubbly girl.

"Now is not a good time."

Nevertheless, he still shook his head and said, "I have a serious matter to settle. I have to head out for a while."

Mu Zixi's eyes lit up. "I want to go with you. You can settle your matter. I will just watch from the side and cheer you on!"

Xu Xiaoshou thought, 'You really should not take part in this matter. It can only be settled by me alone.'

Whether he could make it back alive was still an unanswered question.

Touching the piece of black rock he was wearing, Xu Xiaoshou hardened his resolve and rejected her. "No."

"I'm leaving."

The young lady wanted to continue speaking, but Xu Xiaoshou had already left her behind, causing her to stomp the ground in anger.

Cursed, Passive Points 1, 1…

Stalked, Passive Points 1.

Xu Xiaoshou sighed.

He looked back and shoved the sneaky young lady back into the room.

Scolding her now might cause her to have the opposite reaction. Hence, Xu Xiaoshou gently said, "Be a good girl and wait for me to come back into the room. I will take you out to play tomorrow."

Initially, Mu Zixi wanted to resist. Once she heard such a gentle tone, she was stunned.

Was this person still Xu Xiaoshou?

She glanced at the big palm on her forehead and was speechless.

Xu Xiaoshou took advantage of this lack of reaction by his junior sister and moved away.

Mu Zixi was speechless.

'It's so irritating! I got cheated again!'

'How could Xu Xiaoshou be so gentle?'

"This senior brother is a tyrant!'

She clenched her fists tightly as her eyes widened.

"Tomorrow…"

Dong!

Mu Zixi laid on the big bed and bounced on it with her face looking like she had been wronged.

"Alone again. I don't want this!"

In the evening…

"Selling biscuits… One for one shattered spirit crystal. Two for two shattered crystals…"

"Passersby, come have a look at newly sown spiritual ice silk clothes! They're definitely clean, pristine, and high quality!"

"Elixirs! Elixirs! Red Gold Pill! Known as a second life for Spiritual Cultivators, it's usually priced at 99 but is now only 59! As long as you have the spirit crystals, it is yours for the taking!"

On the street, such shouting and merchandise promotion were heard everywhere. The world of ordinary people and that of Spiritual Cultivators had perfectly integrated in Tiansang City.

Even if the sky was turning dark, the bustling city showed no signs of fatigue.

Everyone was still motivated and working hard for the sake of earning their livelihoods to make ends meet.

Xu Xiaoshou squeezed through the crowd alone.

All the bustle belonged to the other people. In his current world, it had been solemn and grave as soon as he stepped out of that door.

Almost immediately after he stepped out of the inn, the Watched notification did not move anymore.

Different from the other notifications, which eventually got drowned out, once Xu Xiaoshou saw that one notification, he knew that that Watched would not disappear like the rest.

Instead, it was continually being executed.

'He is watching me!'

Xu Xiaoshou felt his scalp tingle.

As he looked at the crowd around him, he felt some sense of relief.

Sovereigns could not attack without reason.

That was a mainland rule.

This was also the center of Tiansang City with lots of people walking by. The assassin would not risk doing anything there.

If he did, the guards or highly skilled cultivators from Tiansang City were enough to stop him.

Even so, Xu Xiaoshou was still feeling a lack of confidence.

'Ten minutes… There are still 10 minutes before Xin Gugu arrives. I was too rushed. I should have stayed inside for a while longer.'

As he was thinking, Xu Xiaoshou walked through the crowd. At this point, he still did not dare to walk toward a place with fewer people.

To hide this fear, he purposely chose a target destination to walk toward.

It was the Pill Pagoda.

A 10-minute walk was enough for him to reach the Pill Pagoda.

'Once Xin Gugu arrives, I can…'

Dong!

A deep sound could be heard. It was followed by the sound of a figure hitting the ground. The exclamations from the people around woke Xu Xiaoshou up from his thoughts.

He raised his head.

Not far away on the floor was a sloppy-looking man with long hair and a dirty body. He was dragging a big sack behind him, causing him to look like a trash collector.

At this time, he was humming and lying on the ground while holding his chest.

'This is…'

Xu Xiaoshou had an awkward expression. Had he been too deep in thought and bumped into someone?

He was immediately apologetic and wanted to help the man up, but his hands suddenly stopped.

"Are you the assassin?"

His eyes suddenly looked cold as he picked grew alert and his body went cold.

"No, no, I'm not an assassin!"

Xu Xiaoshou had been paying attention to the notification board. If this was the assassin, there should have been a notification of Ambushed appearing.

This was merely a passerby who he had bumped into when he was nervously in deep thought.

"I am sorry."

Xu Xiaoshou helped the man up, not worrying about all the filth.

He pulled the sack on the ground over and wanted to pass it back to the man.

Clang! Clang!

He heard the sound of metal clashing.

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

It sounded like scrap metal, which suited this uncle's identity. With Xu Xiaoshou's perception, he thought it sounded more like a bunch of weapons.

Xu Xiaoshou decided to be direct again.

"Sir, are you an assassin?"

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Chapter 320: Don't Be Nervous, I'm Just Here To Take Your Life

The man looked completely confused.

Apparently, he was someone who had been through a lot. Even if he had been bumped into to the extent that his shoulders bled, he did not make a single sound.

"Young man, you did not look properly while walking. Are you now blaming me?"

"Assassin?"

"Puff!"

He laughed loudly as if amused. He used his hands, which were draped in dirty sleeves, to continually hit his leg. Tears were almost falling from his eyes.

Suspected, Passive Points 1.

Mocked, Passive Points 1.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at these two notifications and was instantly relieved.

This system couldn't possibly be fake.

No matter how well this man might have been acting, he could not possibly bluff the system. Did that mean he really was just a passerby?

"Huu…"

Xu Xiaoshou saw him laughing and started to laugh himself.

He was so nervous that he did not realize that from the moment he stepped out of the door, his back was already wet.

"Sorry, I was distracted by my thoughts and bumped into you accidentally."

The sloppy man straightened his sleeves, wiped his tears with the back of his hands, and shook his head. "Young man, do you know that if I were still young, you would have already been a dead man by now?"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyebrows raised.

He looked at the man's dirty neck. There was a huge scar as if he had been executed. Seeing that, he knew that this person might have been a tough one when he was younger.

Who didn't have a dark, passionate past?

If not for the troubles in life, if not for him being beaten until he was disabled, as a cultivator, he would not have had to give up the way of spiritual cultivation and scavenge for scrap metal.

Xu Xiaoshou eyed him again.

Acquired Stage…

His cultivation had been routed. It could be easily seen that his cultivation had most likely been forcibly dispersed by someone.

His face looked tough. He had ruthless features, but it is too dirty with oil and dirt. It looked as if he had not washed in a long time. There was a strong odor, and his facial features could not be seen clearly.

"I'm leaving."

Xu Xiaoshou handed him a bottle of Red Gold Pills and did not say anything more as he brushed past him and left.

There was a huge boulder weighing down his heart. If he did not remove it, he would not be in the mood to joke around with any strangers to earn any Passive Points.

The sloppy man hoisted his sack over his shoulders and stared at the Red Gold Pills in his hands for a while before smiling.

He took two steps forward and called out, "You are walking in the wrong direction!"

Xu Xiaoshou had already disappeared in the sea of humans.

"Hai…"

"Young people are always so impulsive…"

The 10 minutes felt extremely long. The slow passage of time was wearing him out. The little incident on the street made Xu Xiaoshou even more annoyed.

He rotated his wrists. Sounds of clicking could be heard from his bones.

He paused for a moment.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized something was amiss.

Had he seen a sovereign but been too worried to notice? Was he still himself?

"Aje."

Xu Xiaoshou squinted his eyes and called out softly.

However, there was no reaction.

Sss…

He was instantly covered in goosebumps from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. Xu Xiaoshou felt chills everywhere.

His face turned green as he stabilized his steps and continued walking forward, trying to make himself seem normal.

'It has already started…'

'No, it started a while ago!'

'That man… No. That's not right. It was not that dirty man. From the moment I stepped out of that door, I had already been tricked!'

'An illusion array?'

Xu Xiaoshou was undecided. He did not believe that this was an illusion array.

No matter how strong an illusion array was, it would trigger the system's Hypnotized notification. This fact had already been confirmed when he was eavesdropping while Rao Yinyin left her bath.

If it was not an illusion array, how could he have been influenced?

Watched, Passive Points 1.

The Information Bar refreshed with a new notification. Xu Xiaoshou understood a little what was happening.

'Sovereign…'

'Power from the heavens?'

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

At this point, he could already see that the direction he was heading seemed to be the same distance as the way toward the Pill Pagoda. Actually, it was totally different.

He had not managed to realize this at the beginning.

Xu Xiaoshou felt disappointed in himself.

'I was careless!'

'Really careless!'

'I should not have come out during the past 10 minutes!'

'It would have been good even if I had just sat around in the inn. Why did my mind want me to come out?'

'Even if Xin Gugu comes, he still needs time. I already know that this assassin is not ordinary, so why was I still so impulsive?'

Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes as he felt his heart fall into an abyss.

"Don't blame yourself."

A clear voice could be heard coming from the front.

A white-robed man wearing a red mask walked forward.

His arms were crossed in front of his chest. His fingers were slim and pale with neatly trimmed nails. He was spotless and had a refined temperament.

A red command token hung on his waist.

The symbols for the Three Incenses were carved into the token.

There was one red, one purple, and one dull green.

Xu Xiaoshou looked with his eyes wide open as sorrow flashed across his eyes.

"As expected…"

He grabbed his communication jade device immediately and was going to call Jiao Tangtang. However, the man in front of him waved his hand, and the device disintegrated.

"Don't be nervous. I'm just here to take your life."

This voice sounded as if it came from the skies freely and simply.

Xu Xiaoshou's whole face turned green.

At this moment, he suddenly could understand what those guys who were always annoyed by him felt.

"Who are you? A Three Incenses assassin? Do you know Li Seven?" Xu Xiaoshou asked a series of questions.

He needed to stall for time.

This man was too strong.

Just one glance was enough for him to know that he was a being not below the likes of Xiao Qixiu or Ye Xiaotian.

It was not a guess. It was a fact.

He was definitely not weaker than the strongest Spiritual Cultivators back in the Spirit Palace.

An assassin from the Three Incenses, an organization totally of another level, could not be compared to the Dark Street organization that Li Seven came from.

As Xu Xiaoshou looked at him, he felt it was similar to the first time he met Elder Sang.

That willful sense of indifference, not giving a care about anything… It was like someone who was used to being above all and having total authoritative power.

How could he defeat this type of person in his current state?

How could this type of person appeared at this stage in front of him?

Xu Xiaoshou's heart was filled with despair.

"I am Red Dog. That's what everyone calls me."

The white-robed man took a step forward and immediately appeared beside Xu Xiaoshou.

No matter how much the latter tried to retreat, he was always on to him as if he was a leech.

Red Dog was very tall, perhaps half a head taller than Xu Xiaoshou. He bent forward a little and said in his ear, "You are interesting."

He tilted his head as if thinking of words to explain it.

"This is the first time I've heard of an Innate Spiritual Cultivator who was worth so much money. To be honest, the reason I accepted this mission was just to have a look at you."

"But–"

His words stopped abruptly as he put away his curiosity. He indifferently said, "My kill rate does not allow anyone, including you, to cause it to drop from a hundred percent."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

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Read I Am Loaded with Passive Skills Chapter 321 - Sadistically Torturing Shou the Ball online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 321: Sadistically Torturing Shou the Ball

Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes heavily. His entire body was trembling.

"How long have you been watching me? Was it five days?"

"No wonder I have been feeling uneasy these few days."

Red Dog held onto his mask and chuckled. "Your reaction is so calm. You must have faced many assassinations in the past. Have you gotten used to it?"

"You must be gifted. Otherwise, no one would pay such a high price for your life."

"Gifted people are clever."

"You are buying time… So, have you called for reinforcements? Are they also the Sovereign Stage? Let me guess… Is it people from the Spirit Palace, elders, or perhaps the vice dean?"

His eyes were twinkling behind the mask. Though his voice was soft, his tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Xu Xiaoshou's heart dropped.

Red Dog blatantly exposed his tactics to delay the inevitable. Before he could change the topic, a message suddenly flashed on the Information Bar in Xu Xiaoshou's mind.

Ambushed, Passive Point 1.

Even though his Agility skill had reached the Master Stage, Xu Xiaoshou still had no time to react.

Red Dog had given him no warning at all. As he spoke, a death-like stench spread and enveloped his surroundings.

Clang—

A crisp thundering sound that could only come from a weapon rang shrilly. A black dagger sailed into the air.

Xu Xiaoshou clutched his chest tightly. The force from the stab sent him backward.

Even though he possessed the Toughness skill, he was no match for the thunderous blow. The flesh and blood in his chest exploded from the stab. He plummeted down.

Toughness did not mean that he was invincible.

Xu Xiaoshou fully understood that when his enemy's attack exceeded his body's tolerance limit, it would be game over for him.

Red Dog, who had planned to kill him in a single blow, was also dumbfounded.

He never allowed his enemy any breathing room, even if they were only at the Innate Stage.

He had used almost 70% of his strength in that one blow, but it had rebounded.

What kind of body was this?

Red Dog was shocked.

"Master Level Physique?"

His face contorted in disbelief. He had been an assassin for decades, and he had killed many gifted cultivators over the years.

However, this was the first time he had encountered a victim with a Master Level Physique who was so young.

He swayed his hands.

His left arm, which held the dagger, was dislocated from the force of the blow. He vaguely noticed a trace of a fracture in his bones. For Red Dog, this was simply unimaginable.

How could a trifling Innate Stage hurt him?

With a crack, he twisted his arm back into place. His eyes were fixated on Xu Xiaoshou.

"What spiritual technique is this?"

Xu Xiaoshou crouched down. That blow nearly pierced through his chest, severely injuring him. Under the effect of Eternal Vitality, he had already almost recovered.

Nonetheless, he did not show it and still adopted a pained expression on his face. He covered the wound that was fully healed with his hand, using the bloodstains from the earlier assault to conceal his healed state.

His previous assumptions had manifested. Even if his opponent were a Sovereign Stage cultivator, as long as he was not aiming to kill in a single blow, he would not die. His resilience and speed of recovery were phenomenal.

Even with this knowledge, he was not confident to launch a counterattack.

He knew that there was no point in doing so.

No matter how strong his attack was, could he kill his opponent with a single blow?

After all, it was the Sovereign Stage.

If he were rational, he knew that this casual strike was not the maximum force that Red Dog was capable of.

If he rushed forward indiscriminately and angered the other party, he might not live past today.

"This is not a spiritual technique. It is a natural talent."

Xu Xiaoshou answered Red Dog's question, his voice trembling. "I am sure you can see it too. I am a Master Level Physique…"

Slash!

A dagger flew out again, giving Xu Xiaoshou no time to react. It was aimed directly at his forehead.

With a bang, Red Dog sent Xu Xiaoshou flying again.

His body whizzed upside down in the air, though it had yet to reach full speed. It was suddenly caught in the abyss as if hitting an invisible barrier wall.

'Is this the bounded domain?'

Xu Xiaoshou's face was full of blood. He felt a wave of hopelessness.

Red Dog was too vicious and did not give him any chances. He was indeed an experienced killer.

Xu Xiaoshou had heard a little about the invisible barrier that shielded him.

The bounded domain was a small realm. Only powerful Sovereign Stage cultivators could cultivate a bounded domain. In the realm, the master of the bounded domain was the invincible god.

The master of the bounded domain needed to have a strong understanding of the Way of the Heavens. With that, they could manipulate almost everything in the realm.

Xu Xiaoshou knew that he had walked right into Red Dog's bounded domain. It was most likely when he walked into the scruffy-looking uncle.

It was only after that encounter that his consciousness was fully affected. After that, he was no longer able to exercise self-control.

This was a sign of being disturbed by the Way of the Heavens.

'Am I finished…'

Xu Xiaoshou's body fell from the air feebly.

Clang!

The dagger, which had experienced a countershock from Xu Xiaoshou, flew into a perfect parabola and landed at the same time as him.

Red Dog touched his mask as if he was deep in thought.

"Interesting."

"Your Master Physique seems to be more than an ordinary Master Physique. Is this special countershock force a spiritual technique?"

"Or is this your bloodline power talent?"

He was curious and took a step forward. He moved closer to Xu Xiaoshou's body and squatted down before him.

Slash!

A black shadow flew out of Xu Xiaoshou's chest and pierced Red Dog.

At such a close distance, he twisted his body and limbs. He flexed his hands, forcefully sending the black sword flying in the opposite direction.

Omm—

Hiding Pain wailed pitifully. This tenth-grade spiritual sword's weakness was fully exposed.

Even if Hiding Pain were wrapped in the Black Fallen Scabbard now, it would disintegrate into shards with just a gentle flick from Red Dog.

Xu Xiaoshou's heart fell. It did not matter if the black sword broke.

The important thing was that he stood no chance against his opponent's speed.

"Heh, sneak attack?"

Red Dog chuckled lightly, reaching out his hand to cover Xu Xiaoshou's head. His voice was ice-cold.

"Little guy, you are too slow!"

With that, he lifted Xu Xiaoshou's head and slammed it on the ground.

Boom!

The impact instantly created a deep crater. He anticipated that the young man's body would rebound straight up again. He was not disappointed.

Red Dog smiled, and a sadistic pleasure flashed in his eyes.

"Interesting, how interesting!"

"Hahaha, how can you be so interesting?"

His eyes opened wide in wonder as if he had discovered an incredible toy. He grabbed Xu Xiaoshou's rebounded head and slammed it down again.

Bang!

The body rebounded.

Red Dog was crazed and laughed wildly.

"How interesting! How come you have such attributes? Is it rebound or backlash?"

"Are you still a human? Ahahaha… You must be a ball!"

Bang bang bang—

Pools of blood formed on the ground as Red Dog took delight in smashing his head. Xu Xiaoshou had no power to resist even though he wanted to. His body was drained of its strength from the blows.

Red Dog's Way of the Heavens imprisonment was far too terrifying. It restrained his body so that he could not even move a finger.

He was like a toy at the mercy of others, falling under the masked man's hands again and again. He went sent flying, flying, and falling.

"Oof!"

Xu Xiaoshou choked on a mouthful of his blood.

Darkness descended before his eyes. It was hard for him to see anything.

The sky and the earth blurred in his dizziness. He could not tell which was which.

Was this the power of the Sovereign Stage?

Xu Xiaoshou's lips were dry. His opponent was not even trying hard but just toying with him. As for his trump cards, he could not use them at all.

Life was playing a joke on him. Suddenly, he was nearing the end. It was too soon.

He slowly closed his eyes.

F*ck!

Chapter 322: The Giant Returns

Boom!

Boom!

It was as if the Ghost God battle drums from the ancient battlefield were sounded, and the demon king, who had been silently asleep for thousands of years, was awakening in the twilight.

His heartbeat was louder than ever.

When Xu Xiaoshou was mercilessly pummeled by Red Dog, a primitive lust for violence surged from the bottom of his heart.

In a heartbeat, this desire gushed out like a waterfall. It destroyed the clarity that one saw in their final moments, engulfing humanity into inexistence.

The fury within and a thirst for release…

Became Xu Xiaoshou's sole yearning.

Boom boom boom—

Red Dog was euphoric with joy. He had not encountered such an interesting person in a long time.

He could even say that this kid ranked the top three on his hit list of people he had abused and killed. He was that intriguing.

It was the first time he met a human with the attributes of a ball.

When hurled to the ground, he would bounce back. If he slung him twice, he would bounce twice.

It would never run out of air.

"This is so much fun!"

After taking so many shots, Red Dog discovered that this kid had a remarkable vitality.

It was a force that even he could not attain. How rare was it that both of these astonishing abilities could appear on this kid at the same time?

If it were not for this mission, Red Dog would not even want to kill this kid. He would bring him back and train him.

But…

It was impossible.

"You must die today!"

With a bang, he tossed the young man to the ground. Xu Xiaoshou's body rebounded in a countershock, and it flew into the sky.

"It's time to put an end to this."

Red Dog's eyes glittered teasingly.

Sovereign Stage cultivators were not allowed to attack without reason. Now that he had initiated his bounded domain in the city, he was sure those guys must have sensed it.

If he delayed it any longer, he was afraid someone would arrive.

"One minute…"

"It took me a minute to kill this kid!"

Red Dog smiled and shook his head. He faced the young man, who was falling from the sky, and slowly raised his right hand. A bountiful spiritual source burst out from his five fingers.

"Sky Stab."

He spoke in an impassive tone.

This technique was an amalgamation of Red Dog's aspirations from the past few decades.

He thought, 'There will be another life on my hands after today!'

Boom—

However, the expected piercing sound did not materialize.

When Red Dog's raised right hand collided with the figure, a deafening sound thundered. A ray of golden light pierced blindingly from the sky, blanketing Red Dog whose face was one of astonishment.

"What is this?"

Red Dog was thunderstruck.

"Is this a spiritual technique?"

"What on earth is this kind of spiritual technique?"

The spiritual techniques this kid possessed were incredible. How did he get them?

There was no time to think about it. At this distance, even he could not avoid it altogether.

The golden light that fell… Wait, was that a foot?

The area that it had covered was too large, and the suppressive force contained in it even blocked all possible escape routes around him.

Red Dog only reacted with the skill of a finger to protect his head.

Boom!

The gigantic golden foot stomped on the ground. Red Dog did not even have time to use any moves and was kicked into the deep pit on the ground in one strike.

Crack, crack—

The sound of broken bones originated from his fingers and spread into his arms and body.

Red Dog could perceive that under this stomp, a violent golden energy source force raged free. It aggressively infiltrated his energy reserve and provoked his spiritual source into turmoil.

He laid at the bottom of the pit. He was a sorry sight. His mask had cracked, and his face was crooked from the stomp.

Red Dog licked the corners of his lips. He froze when he tasted metal.

Was this an Innate Stage?

"I…"

Suspected, Passive Point 1.

The giant foot lifted and suspended in midair.

Beneath the cover of the mask, Red Dog's bare graying face was etched with ugly scars as if they were sliced piece by piece with a dagger.

It was a face with a story.

"Ha!"

Red Dog smiled and reached out his hand to wipe his cheek. He felt the uneven marks on it, and his body began to tremble.

"Blood?"

Was he trampled so severely by a mere Innate Stage that he bled?

"Heh, haha, hahaha…"

Red Dog seemed to have encountered a ridiculously hilarious incident and let out a sickly laugh. In the next moment, the gigantic foot above his head stomped down again.

Boom boom boom!

Dozens of blasts exploded in an instant, and the ground looked nothing like it did before. Under the wild plummeting by this violent giant, the four corners shattered, and the earth mourned.

"Little guy, you, you are too interesting!"

"Hahaha, I'm roused up!"

Red Dog's mad laughter suddenly came from the sky.

He was a Sovereign Stage. How could he possibly let Xu Xiaoshou have the upper hand after the first stomp?

That was just an Innate Stage. So what if this kid could change forms?

If he missed his target, what was the point?

Boom!

As soon as his laughter escaped, a golden palm struck him so hard that he was sent flying.

The massive force, which was akin to the strength of God of War, sliced through the sound of the wind and swept Red Dog into the abyss.

When his figure reappeared, he crashed headfirst into his bounded domain as though he was forcefully teleported.

The bounded domain quivered with a buzz.

The energy in it could not be contained and leaked out from the cracks.

At this moment, the ground in Tiansang City trembled and sent everyone into a panic.

"What happened?"

"Is it an earthquake?"

An anxious and uneasy feeling sprouted in everyone's hearts. Although it was just a trivial earthquake, everyone felt their hearts palpitate.

"Something's off!"

The crowd looked around and saw black figures flying out of the direction of the City Lord's Mansion. They were…

"City Guards!"

"Did someone launch an attack in the city?"

The people on the streets of Tiansang City panicked. An outburst of this degree would not be a Master Stage battle anymore.

Since it was not a Master Stage battle, it could only be…

"Sovereign Stage?"

Although everyone was not convinced, they heard a roar from a middle-aged man leading the City Guards. The sound instantly spread all over the nearby streets.

"Everyone, stand back! Keep a distance of 10 miles from the Pill Pagoda!"

For the Sovereign Stage, 10 miles was just a blink of an eye.

But this was the very last resort and the only way to protect everyone.

City Guards Commander Chong Dong gazed into the distance. Apart from him, no one could see that a Void Bounded Domain was tightly wrapped around a few streets.

"A Sovereign Stage made a move…"

He could not believe it, but he had to believe it.

As he flew, a Void Bounded Domain on his body also unfolded from his energy center. It wrapped and covered the little domain that was quivering in its original position.

He intended to prevent the energy inside from leaking out and hurting the public.

The energy emanating from the violent encounters inside only shocked Chong Dong.

"Two Sovereign Stages?"

Only a Sovereign Stage could beat up the master of the Void Bounded Domain in the domain master's realm.

Those two people were crazy.

Did they choose to launch into an attack in Tiansang City?

Was the outside world not big enough? Was Tiansang City so appealing that they had to fight within the city?

"They are courting death!"

He gritted his teeth and guided the people under his command to evacuate the crowd and walked away by himself.

Outside the city…

The whistling wind sounded from the top of Xin Gugu's head.

It was not until the power in the city leaked out that Xin Gugu changed from his casual attitude into a full-fledged battle mode.

'Is someone making a scene in the city and beating up that kid?'

Xin Gugu felt that the world was going bananas.

No matter how convincing his promise was, from the bottom of his heart, he still did not believe that a trifle Innate Stage could provoke a Sovereign Stage to make a move in the city.

That was something that even he dared not do.

But at this moment, the situation forced him to believe it.

Perhaps there would always be some people in this world who had no regard and acted recklessly.

'Damn it!'

Thinking of the gap between the Innate and Sovereign stages, Xin Gugu's head throbbed sharply.

Xu Xiaoshou could die, but they only gave Greedy the Cat Spirit to him a few days ago.

If he was dead, what would happen to Greedy the Cat Spirit?

This time, he despised that his legs were too short, and he had no wings. In his haste, he turned into the color of flesh and disappeared instantly.

"Xu Xiaoshou, hang on!"

"You have to wait for me!"

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Chapter 323: Raging Giant Exploding Posture = Red Dog Panicked

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the battle…

The violent golden giant was moving at lightning speed as he swept back and forth.

Red Dog was slapped and sent flying, only to bounce off the bounded domain barrier wall. Later, the giant palm that struck once again pinched him.

"Slap!"

From the tightly clenched five fingers, blood and flesh oozed out from the gaps.

Red Dog had a twisted, painful smile on his face.

His smile was spine-chilling.

Even though he nearly became squeezed to pieces, his eyes were glinting fervently.

The pain seemed to stimulate him, causing his agitated emotions to rise further.

He let out a pained hiss. His memory was addled, and he could not help muttering.

"Oh…"

"No, this is not possible. Lord Black Snake, Black Snake… Heh, heh…"

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he roared with a grimace.

"Ah!"

"Sorry, I forgot that you are dead!"

With a bang, Red Dog, who had just finished roaring, was hurled to the ground by the giant.

The tables turned. This time, it was Red Dog's turn to be on the receiving end of the blows. He was assaulted until the floor broke, and he ended bouncing like a ball.

Xu Xiaoshou, who had transformed into the golden giant, clasped both palms together.

Boom—

The airwaves in the void split into vertical ripples, akin to a disk that could slice the sun. It directly penetrated Red Dog's bounded domain.

In that instant, the people in the outside world could see a golden airwave disk radiating from the storm's eye. It promptly wrecked the surrounding buildings into pieces.

Chong Dong's figure flew out. His speed suddenly increased again.

"Damn it!"

With just one blow, he could predict how many people nearby were killed.

He could no longer ignore the battle of the Sovereign Stage.

It was because he saw it with his own eyes. When the bounded domain split, a gigantic golden silhouette was visible in the background.

He could not see the other person, but he had never experienced such terrifying and blasphemous pressure throughout his long lifetime.

"Sovereign Stage spiritual technique?"

Chong Dong was horrified. The golden giant looked like it originated from his worst nightmare.

At the same time, there was a niggling doubt at the bottom of his heart.

It was such a terrifying spiritual technique. How come the cultivator who activated it had a weak breath?

"Innate Stage?"

He denied this idea without hesitation.

How could an Innate Stage go up against a Sovereign Stage?

As soon as the bounded domain opened, there had to be a Sovereign Stage there.

Yet, he only saw a golden giant who was an Innate Stage. Did that mean that the Sovereign Stage, which there was no trace of, was beaten?

'What a sh*tty joke!'

Chong Dong shook his head and cast aside this absurd idea. He rushed to the center of the battle.

'This battle must end immediately!'

The bounded domain sealed itself.

It was a self-healing attribute that was unique to the Sovereign Stage Bounded Domain. As long as the owner did not wish to open it, it would remain shut unless another Sovereign Stage attempted to open it forcibly.

Otherwise, it was even more difficult to break open the bounded domain.

The attacks raining down from the violent giant stopped without warning.

It was simply unbelievable.

After Xu Xiaoshou morphed into a violent giant, he still could not control his consciousness for the time being. So, why did he stop like this?

Crack!

Crack!

Crack—

At the point where the giant golden palms met, there was finally a sound. Red Dog, who was enveloped in a spiritual source, managed to extricate himself from his reach.

"Xu Xiaoshou… Hahaha, Xu Xiaoshou!"

Red Dog howled savagely.

His mangled face was so ghastly that only blood was visible.

Never in his wildest imaginations would he have envisioned the outcome of this mission to turn out like this.

It was already bad enough that he had shed blood. Not only was he was beaten from the sky to the ground, but he was also finally slapped by a mere Innate Stage.

"You are finished!"

"Even if the king of heavens comes now, he can't save you!"

Red Dog bellowed in his wrath. He could feel that the power emanating from Xu Xiaoshou did not belong to him at all.

Such a tremendous outburst of energy came at the cost of losing consciousness. Xu Xiaoshou might never find himself if the bounded domain was to be isolated.

But was that possible?

'Who would be fiercely slapped again and again from the sky and still have a good temper?'

At this moment, Red Dog could not wait to yank Xu Xiaoshou out of the golden giant immediately and rip him into shreds.

How could he wait a few more minutes?

If he waited this time before he made his kill, he would surely reach his goal. But how could that appease his anger?

"Innate Stage!"

"I have never expected that at the Innate Stage, you could exhibit a power beyond the Master Stage!"

Red Dog supported himself with both hands and bestowed the power of the Way of the Heavens on his body. The colossal power of the Great Path had already repelled this irrepressible and formidable force, even if it was not a Master Physique.

He sneered and said, "But, so what if you could exhibit the power beyond the Master Stage?"

"If your cultivation level is not enough, you can never kill me!"

"Today, I will show you the power of the Sovereign Stage–"

"Roar!" Before he could finish speaking, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly bellowed. At such a close distance, he almost shook Red Dog's spirit out of his body.

Above the glowing golden giant, there was yet another explosion after Xu Xiaoshou bellowed. The force of that explosion sent golden stars sparkling into the sky. That was the…

Exploding Posture.

Red Dog's voice stopped, and his complexion instantly paled.

He felt the surging power from his opponent's hand again. That explosive power, combined with the primitively violent power of the golden giant, unexpectedly doubled.

It instantly blew his Way of the Heavens' power to pieces.

At this moment, Red Dog admitted that…

He had panicked.

Feared, Passive Points 1.

Rumble—

Xu Xiaoshou's gigantic palms clapped and crushed Red Dog until his arms broke. After that, he was squeezed into the golden flesh wall in between the giant palms once again.

Slap!

He squeezed his 10 fingers, and the person inside burst like a meatball, creating a disgustingly thick squishing sound.

"Gu…"

Red Dog was speechless.

He felt his consciousness wane, and he was blank for a moment.

Even with the continuous strengthening of the Way of the Heavens' power, he still felt the severity of the injury inflicted. He had not experienced that in a long time.

His internal organs were under immense pressure, and his bones were misaligned. How many years had it been since he was last severely injured?

"He was just an Innate Stage…"

Red Dog only felt bitterness and horror in his heart. He did not care at first, but he had not expected that after the Sky Stab move, this sudden twist would occur and…

He would be forced into this situation.

If there were a rare occasion he could catch his breath, he would not end up like this.

"I'm the Sovereign Stage!" Red Dog's temper exploded.

However, his thoughts did not last long. Xu Xiaoshou launched his horrifying technique of Exploding Posture.

After several explosions, the impact blasted Red Dog to the ground.

Hiss—

The golden palms swiftly separated. The sudden gesture formed a bone-chilling wind that resonated in the ears.

The moment he escaped the golden palms, Red Dog was elated. He immediately realized that this was a turning point for him.

As long as he could grasp this fleeting opportunity, he would be able to take the lead and seize his chance to strike this giant.

However, he had miscalculated.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his palms and created a tremendous gust of wind with that action. As a result, Red Dog's body was trapped in mid-air for a brief moment.

When he recovered, all he could see was Xu Xiaoshou's massive golden head and his mouth, which was bearing a constantly trembling black and gold…

Pure Energy Bead.

Red Dog was shocked.

"No, please don't…"

Chapter 324: Energy Bead, Destroy!

How could Xu Xiaoshou understand human logic at this moment?

Even if he did understand, would it be enough for him to hold back his attack?

That day in the Plenty Gold Inn, he had already proved his power. Though the golden energy beads were casually collected, they proved capable of striking a good amount of space into pieces.

Now, this energy bead was made with all the energy that he had stored within his body. It was terrifying to imagine the explosive energy that it held.

Even if Xu Xiaoshou were to come to his senses, there was no guarantee that he would contain the power.

Pant!

With a spray from Xu Xiaoshou's mouth. Red Dog, who had been pulled into a spread-eagle position, watched fearfully as the Pure Energy Bead effortlessly penetrated through his chest and shattered the space around it.

Boom!

After this attack, Red Dog could no longer hold on. He bowed his body. Fresh blood and piece of his organs began to spray out from his mouth.

Despite being made of splashes of the remnant energy, the energy bead was able to tear apart his defenseless body in a split second.

His energy reserve was surging, and his energy center was shaking uncontrollably. If the attack had fully penetrated through his energy center or anywhere close to it, it would have meant the end for this Sovereign Stage killer.

In face of this, Red Dog broke into a smile.

He looked at Xu Xiaoshou, someone who lacked awareness and only knew how to attack carelessly, and his smile grew more ferocious.

As long as the Pure Energy Bead did not directly explode within his body, it was impossible for the attack to take him out.

"No awareness at all." Red Dog laughed and asked, "Who would've thought that I would be saved by a rascal without awareness?"

"Ah ha ha ha, oh!"

However, his smugness was short-lived. After the energy bead had fully penetrated Red Dog, Xu Xiaoshou still had spare power within him despite a depletion in his golden light.

Slowly, he reached out his hands. With a knock of his wrist, he sent Red Dog flying.

Bang!

The Raging Giant technique was naturally slower than it had been. With Xu Xiaoshou's remaining force, it still maintained the effects of Exploding Posture and Recoil.

This was a merciless attack. It cut short the smug laughter of Red Dog and sent him directly to the landing place of the energy bead.

That spot was a bounded domain that obstructed the exit of anyone who had entered.

The bounded domain had been there ever since…

When the bead had landed, its energy had not exploded yet. When Reg Dog had arrived, it landed squarely on it with his rear like it was a stool.

The air was silent.

The despair in Red Dog's heart was eternal.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With the sound of the explosion, even the void had been immediately caved in. Black voids began to emerge from the shattered centers of the energy beads.

The bounded domain started to shatter as well. A corner of the domain had been bombed open.

Like a deflated balloon, the horrifying explosive energy began to slip out from the exposed corner of the bounded domain.

The extremely golden waves were mixed in with raging and exploding energy. It held unlimited destructive power. It moved like a tsunami as it charged toward a defenseless street.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The golden tides washed through the area. Anywhere it touched was accompanied by intense thunder and lightning. Frightful roars could be heard. Those areas were left barren as if a war hammer had torn through them.

The people who had evacuated stood far away, witnessing its destructive power. Although they were taken aback and thrilled to witness the impactful energy, they could not help but feel sorrow for their loss of homeland.

"Who on the earth is fighting? How can Sovereigns fight within the city?" The voice sobbed, "My home…"

"Oh lord, this explosion… It's crazy! It's over! The City Guards will be furious!"

"Where is Commander Chong? How is he not here when this person is wreaking havoc in the city?"

"Ha, wreaking havoc? If it wasn't for the sake of the commoners, do you think the commander would allow the person in the battle to behave this way in the city?"

"Saving people?" A voice asked in confusion.

"Haha, didn't you notice? The golden waves advance to a certain point before it looks like they hit a wall and start to roll back."

Everyone who was listening started to observe closely. They discovered it was like what was said.

"Has the commander arrived?"

"He didn't just arrive. That is called a bounded domain. If it was not for it, I'm sure we all would have died. Nothing can escape that."

A few people were sorrowfully wiping away their tears. Some others watched in astonishment at this rare battle within the city. Many Spiritual Cultivators mediated and had an epiphany about the Great Paths on the battlefield.

The battle of the Sovereigns was an event of realization for many.

After a while, the people felt dumbfounded by their discovery.

They had never seen any power in the Way of the Heavens in this battle.

Did it mean that the battle was fought on strength alone?

That had to be a joke.

The people found themselves in disbelief. They decided to observe and learn from the battle in greater detail.

If they failed to realize, it was not an indication of the absence but a sign that they were not on a suitable level of consciousness yet.

The surging waves almost blew him apart on the spot as Xin Gugu flew through the city gates.

"Xu Xiaoshou, are you there?"

He immediately scanned the city with his spiritual senses. In the instant the bounded domain slowly began to close up, he picked up a dying and familiar breath.

"Gulp!"

He swallowed his saliva. His eyes were bloodshot.

"T-The breath of Greedy the Cat Spirit… Did it disappear?"

"Is Greedy the Cat Spirit dead?"

He started to shiver, and his eyes grew wide.

With a sudden step, the waves of the void splashed. He flew directly into the place of the Sovereign's bounded domain.

"Die!"

"Where did you come from fool? If something happened to Greedy the Cat Spirit, I will bury Tiansang City with it!"

Chong Dong's heart was on the verge of an explosion.

As he activated his bounded domain to hold back the golden tides, he picked up the breath of another Sovereign outside the city gates. He was flying crazily into the city.

"This is…"

"Help?"

His face was filled with anger. How could this be? White Cave had not been activated yet. Had the Sovereigns lost their minds?

The meeting in Tiansang City could be overlooked as the Sovereigns not obeying their orders.

However, it was one thing to disobey orders and another to fight within the city.

Now that the fight had occurred, they still dared to call for help.

Chong Dong's anger grew the more that he thought about it. He pulled out a communication jade scroll.

"Hello, City Guards, is this Vice Commander Fu's City Guards?"

"I need some backup here. Please send three. Yes, send Liu Qing and Qiu Xuan from the guards, as well as Elder Yuan!"

"It's necessary! Send them in right now, immediately!"

He paused. His head bobbed as he hurriedly spoke. "No, no. It's fine. You don't have to come down. Please continue your spirit-gathering research at home."

"Yes, it's only a few ants here, so nothing big. It's not worth your time."

"Alright, that's all."

Beep!

Chong Dong placed down the communication jade scroll in his hands and heaved a sigh of relief.

Even if it was a battle between three Sovereigns, he should not ask the City Guards to join in.

After all, the death of three Sovereigns was not too significant. There were hundreds and thousands of people residing in this city."

Whoosh!

"I'll handle them!"

He glanced toward the bounded domain that he had set up. The golden tides were truly horrifying.

Though it may not matter much to him, to the average man, that was a power that could eliminate them in one shot.

The Way of the Heavens had to be used to suppress aggressive energy of this caliber.

If he were to release the energy, it would be a massacre.

Therefore, he was held back and trapped from accomplishing his goal.

"Curses…"

Gazing into the small bounded domain within his own bounded domain, Chong Dong was getting whiter than a sheet. He could only hope that help would arrive soon. If not, the battle would only worsen if it was to continue.

"Hm?"

He suddenly thought he saw a figure within the raging golden tidal waves. Before the bounded domain closed its boundary, the figure seemed to walk out of the domain.

"Did I see wrong?"

Chong Dong blinked furiously and glanced toward the skyline.

The bloody breath of the Sovereign remained perched on the ground. It was obviously not it that made it to the boundary in time.

But if it was not him, then who could it be?

Who could have walked into the battle of two Sovereigns with ease?

"Oh, Lord…"

Chong Dong felt his face twisted with rage. This battle was akin to a trigger, and he was unaware of what would follow in the aftermath of it.

That was when the true terror would reveal itself.

Chong Dong thought carefully as he tried to recollect the figure, but he could not have any particular memory of it.

His mind was in a complete blur.

The only thing that seemed to persist in his memory was that the person seemed to be dragging something behind them.

Was it a sack?

Chapter 325: How About I Cut Your Flesh Bit By Bit?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dong!

Xu Xiaoshou kneeled on the ground with one knee.

The raging energy within him had slowly subsided and vanished, leaving behind a little of his original bloodlust. This was what was giving him the strength to maintain the form of the golden giant.

"This is…"

His bloodshot pupils began to clear up. He was able to see with more clarity.

Xu Xiaoshou focused his vision. He saw the pavement slates turned to rubble, remains of fallen historical buildings, and a giant hole that was dozens of feet wide. He had never seen one so big.

His heart began to beat furiously as his memory returned to him.

After he had transformed into the Raging Giant for battle, he had left it to its natural destructive tendencies. The Sky Stab attack from the Red Dog had reinstated the Raging Giant to subconsciously attack to defend itself.

However, the scene before him had made him question whether the self-defense was a little extreme.

"Was this the fault of Exploding Posture?"

Xu Xiaoshou raised his left hand. Golden light continued to emit from his hand. It resembled the hands of an undefeatable battle god who had arrived.

In his memory, he could see the unstoppable and mighty state. This image left a deep impression on him.

However, he was in a weak state now. Xu Xiaoshou reached down to the ground and pushed himself upright.

A giant should not be kneeling on the floor.

As he got back up, he started the Raging Giant form a second time. Xu Xiaoshou never failed to be frightened by his height.

Though the form was nowhere close to the altitude for flight, simply standing was enough to perpetuate an extraordinary sense of pride.

The birds-eye view from his perspective made him feel as if he could observe all that existed between heaven and earth. He could overlook every common person.

The feeling was simply marvelous.

However, Xu Xiaoshou did not focus his attention on this small surprise.

He was deep in thought on the topic of how to operate the Raging Giant while staying conscious.

'Is there a resistance?'

Although he had lost control the first time, he was able to restore a bit of logic before it was shut down. He realized this was the effect of using Strengthen for the second time.

This was a huge improvement from his past experiences.

If he were to follow this development and operate the Raging Giant two or three more times, he was certain he would be able to master it.

By then if he could combine this with Exploding Posture…

It was easy for Xiu Xiaoshou to imagine the power he would have. In his line of sight, he could see the horrific impact left behind by the energy bead's embers.

The ground had been left with a deep pit. If one did not look carefully, one might have mistaken it for a cliff that existed naturally in the city.

This level of destructive power was irresistible and far exceeded the level of an ordinarily strong master.

It would be piece of cake to eliminate a Sovereign on the spot.

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head and tried hard to maintain a clear mind.

His judgment might not have been accurate. He had never eliminated a Sovereign before, and he was not aware how the next batch of energy beads would go.

Was it possible for attacks like this to be able to eliminate Red Dog immediately?

He looked toward the pit before him.

The bounded domain was unstable, and the front was sizzling with moving smoke.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his Perception reach deep into the pit. Within the depths, he could see a body lying spotted with blood. Red Dog was laying between the leaking underwater streams.

In the image that his Perception delivered to him, Red Dog's body had been broken completely. His face was an unrecognizable pulp.

There were black dirt and holes on its body. On some of the bigger injuries, he could see that it had been burned into a matted surface. Blood scabs were everywhere.

Blood was seeping out from some of the smaller tears of the skin. The sight was bone-chilling.

'Is it over?'

He could not detect any signs of life from Red Dog. Xu Xiaoshou felt a huge burden lift from his heart.

With injuries like this, even if Red Dog had endless healing capabilities, it would have been impossible for him to recover in time.

Passive tactics such as this were only effective in the context of video games and unrealistically glamourous moments.

No fancy tricks or passive tactics would be effective if someone were to send them to the blood pool.

"Huff…"

Xu Xiaoshou exhaled heavily. His fatigue was wearing him down.

This battle almost took everything out of him.

As he recovered from his high energy, the golden glow that surrounded his body started to shake as it tethered on the edge of disappearing.

After a second, the Raging Giant shook violently and resolidified the form.

This was the moment when the expression on Xu Xiaoshou's face changed drastically to reveal a face of horror.

Creak!

The head on the corpse-like body of Red Dog had turned around.

His miserable face twisted into a deeply abnormal expression. His blood-filled eyes with broken shaking pupils stared at him. It looked as if there was a creature about to crawl out of its body.

Puff—

Red Dog spat out a mouth of blood as well as the piece of his insides that were constricting its airways. The energy of the Way of the Heavens was heavy on his body.

His flesh body started to grow rapidly, and his injuries begin to heal bit by bit.

"Ha ha ha ha…"

Red Dog twisted his neck. His joints produced a chilling clacking sound. After he had barely gained control of his head, he gritted his teeth. His face was terrifying.

"Xu Xiaoshou… Haha, Xu Xiaoshou!"

"You're awesome!" Red Dog growled.

"I never thought an Innate… No, a Master Physique…"

He turned his neck again, and his face was full of confusion. "Even if you were following the valence of a Master Physique, how was it possible that you crossed an entire stage and landed me in this state?"

"Amazing! You're more interesting than the dying Black Snake!"

Another crack of the joints was heard.

As he talked, Red Dog shifted his body and stood up.

Red Dog held his face up and gently caressed his features as he delved into a nostalgic recollection.

"Do you know how he passed?"

"No, do you know how he trained me before he passed?"

Red Dog erupted into manic laughter. "Haha, to make me into the top killer, he severed my connection to the heavens, destroyed my spiritual roots, and destroyed my features…"

"Ahaha…"

"He was just like you, treating me like a dead dog. In the end, I was groomed from the immense hatred within me. I paid all the pain back to him tenfold!"

Red Dog approached Xu Xiaoshou slowly. As he walked, he cut open his chest with a finger.

The ring on his body had already shattered in the terrific explosion.

Could a killer without a weapon still be considered a killer?

How could he talk about torture without any devices on him?

Red Dog reached into his chest and pulled out a blood-colored bead.

He concentrated his spiritual source and transformed the bead into a feather dagger.

His smile began to twist. His lips were quivering with words as he stumbled toward Xu Xiaoshou.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his entire body shiver in fear.

Red Dog was a psychopath through and through. He had suffered greatly in his past life, but even the greatest pain would leave when one lost their life.

However, the power of the Way of Heaven tied to the Sovereign had brought him back to life. His vigorous training in cultivation assisted in the restoration of his flesh to the appropriate amount that would ready him for battle.

Rather than human, he seemed more to be an unkillable cockroach.

Every cell in Xu Xiaoshou was begging for him to turn back and retreat.

But he was drained of his energy.

It took all of his energy to sustain the form of the golden giant. He lacked the strength to even raise his body to guard in the face of the oncoming attack from Red Dog.

"Do you want to feel the pain I felt?"

Standing before the golden giant, Red Dog was only around the height of the giant's calf.

With the dagger held tightly in his hands, Red Dog inhaled deeply. When he looked up again, his expression was suddenly solemn.

"You're too tall, and I can't fly in this state. So, I'll cut your flesh bit by bit until I see your human form."

"How about that?

Chapter 326: Legend Has It, There Was A Technique Passed From The Heavens…

"Good!"

Before Xu Xiaoshou had time to react to the question, Red Dog launched into a series of growls.

As he laughed, his hand moved at a ghastly speed. The feather dagger floated like a butterfly before striking into the calf of Xu Xiaoshou's golden giant.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The waves of the Recoil shock emitted from the giant in an attempt to bomb away from the Red Dog.

However, this was not the first battle between Red Dog and Xu Xiaoshou. Red Dog had familiarized himself with the properties of the golden giant. Therefore, he had reserved a bit of energy to counter the power of Recoil.

The sounds of bombs filled the space, but Red Dog was obscurely close to slow. The dagger flew and attacked over a hundred thousand times in a span of an instant, tearing the calf of the golden giant apart.

Attacked, Passive Points 1.

Attacked, Passive Points 1.

The notifications refreshed crazily on the panel, however, Xu Xiaoshou was the furthest away from excited.

This was not Black Cliff.

When he was at Black Cliff, he still had a means of protection due to the presence of the glow of the swords.

If he had failed to hold on to the battle, there was a window for him to retreat.

However, as Red Dog attacked incessantly, he was not given any opportunity to defend or regroup. This led to his calf taking immense damage.

"Ah–"

Even if Xu Xiaoshou had been through the burns of flames and embers, in the face of the endless cuts from the blade, he could not help but let out a yell of pain.

With a loud bang and an explosion of golden lights, the Raging Giant no longer existed.

The form of the giant transformed with the body of Xu Xiaoshou as a base. Still, severing the giant was not the equivalent of severing Xu Xiaoshou.

A benefit of the Raging Giant form was that it had more worldly strength that boosted its defense.

As the giant form took most of the damage and shattered, Xu Xiaoshou's body shrunk by the dozens. There was a scar on his calf from the attack, but it was not severe enough for his body to break down.

Whoosh!

Red Dog looked up in anticipation as he watched Xu Xiaoshou fall from a great height.

He immediately raised the feather dagger and summoned Sky Stab again.

If the Raging Giant could not withstand the extraordinary attack, how could the body of a Master Level Physique?

It was a matter of life and death. He needed to use this fall to finish off this psychotic Red Dog once and for all.

'Unbelievable! First, it was that he was a Sovereign, but who would've thought he was crazy too?'

In the heat of the moment, Xu Xiaoshou was wrapped up in the madness.

His body was falling numbly. Out of desperation, Xu Xiaoshou violently bit down on his tongue and borrowed the pain as a method to trigger his body.

The pain triggered his left arm to move ever so slightly.

Time seemed to have slowed down the moment he got close enough to see Red Dog's excited and contracting pupils. His dagger read like an invitation from the grim reaper as it seemingly cut into the spaces of his heart.

However, Xu Xiaoshou's consciousness had directly plunged into Yuan Mansion.

In Yuan Mansion, there was a handicapped cat. It stood upright. Its body exuded a source of spiritual power. It was something that had remained high above the chaos…

The Red Interface!

Passive Fist (charge point: 3.18%).

After the attack from Red Dog, the transformation into the Raging Giant, the energy bead he ejected in the state of Exploding Posture that he himself was caught up in…

Even after all of that, the charge point only increased from 3.14% to 3.18%.

The accumulation of all the frightening damage had brought about a mere 0.04% rise.

It was tough for Xu Xiaoshou to imagine what a punch with three charge points would pack. If he had thrown the attack, what kind of damage would the explosion bright?

Would he have brought destruction to himself?

Xu Xiaoshou looked down at Red Dog, who was still in a fit of manic laughter. He felt as if he had once again entered the state of Raging Giant. Suddenly, madness filled Red Dog's pupils. He had lost all forms of logic

"Die!"

Red Dog grinned widely. The ends of his lips nearly touched his ears. His eyes were bright red as he crazily spoke.

"Come on Xu Xiaoshou, I'll let you have a taste of pain!"

He adjusted his newly recovered flesh body. For his remaining spiritual source, he injected his personal Sovereign spiritual weapon, the nine spirits blade

A humming sound rang out. The Sovereign spiritual weapon had accepted nourishment from the spiritual source. It immediately started to emit a dense black fog.

A black phantom manifested and tangled itself on Red Dog's arm. It exuded a black glow that was comparable to moonlight shining down.

"Phantom Bloodbath · A Thousand Forms!"

His arms turned transparent as he watched Xu Xiaoshou's body fall. The nine spirits blade, which had concealed itself deep within the void, instantaneously cut through the shards of space. Howls of countless black shadows charged toward Xu Xiaoshou.

"Die, die, die!"

"Lord Black Snake… Ah… Ha-ha, become my pieces of human meat Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Hm… What's this?"

As the shadows parted, he was surprised to see Xu Xiaoshou's arm exploded instantly.

In between the bone and flesh, an ordinary-looking boxing figure emerged and appeared before him.

It did not have any monstrous or bizarre form, nor was it of a similar physique as the previous Raging Giant. It certainly lacked any flashy effects.

In fact, it looked uncanny to an ordinary grown-up who had thrown an ordinary punch in the context of an ordinary battle.

The sight of the figure was shocking to Red Dog.

It took a special type of punch to pulverize the arm of a Master Physique. Without being close, no matter the point of contact, a punch like that relied only on the charged power.

This had to be a joke.

He had used his spiritual weapon. He had exercised the Sovereign spiritual technique. He had made countless cuts, and all he did was severe one of the calves of the golden giant.

"This…"

Red Dog snapped in confusion.

His body was surrounded by the presence of death. At this moment, his top priority was to evade and escape from the attacks of its seemingly trivial Innate power.

No mission and no one, not even Lord Black Snake, was more important than ensuring his own survival.

However, it was too late.

The distance between the two had grown closer. It was so close that neither would have the opportunity to evade the attack from one another.

Xu Xiaoshou stood strong in the face of all the torments from the countless phantoms.

Red Dog's face was growing redder as he took one after another attack from the ordinary boxing figure.

There was not a sound heard.

Heaven and earth seemed to have returned to chaos. Red Dog could not pick out any sound, yet he could witness clearly the fragmented body of Xu Xiaoshou…

The expression of indescribable pain scribbled across his face…

The flesh that had been cut down… The skull as well as his limbs…

"Lord Black Snake?"

Red Dog's eyes were full of joy. The lingering person who appeared countlessly in his dreams had finally appeared before him.

"You're still here! You're still here!"

Tears were pouring from his eyes as he reached out to touch the graceful black figure.

A punch emerged from the shadows to mark the end of everything.

Somewhere outside the bounded domain…

"Hm?"

Chong Dong frowned as sudden anxiety gripped his heart.

The golden tide was forcefully destroyed with his power of the Way of the Heavens, and it no longer posed any danger for those who did not manage to evacuate on time.

The masses took this window of time to continue their retreat into safety.

The situation was stable, so he did not understand why there was an unsettling feeling in his heart.

"Is the battle over?"

He looked unexpectedly toward the small bounded domain on the old street. With another thought, he strolled over to it.

Even if the battle was over, as a commander of the City Guards, he could not let anyone within the bounded domain walk free.

It was at this moment that a shapeless wave suddenly emerged from the bounded domain. The bounded domain buzzed upon the impact. Without a crack, the domain proceeded to explode.

"Darn!"

All the color drained from Chong Dong's face.

Without the protection of the bounded domain, the catastrophic energy waves within had finally spilled out.

The commander of the City Guards felt his legs were weakening.

He immediately took to the void. His desperate yells were heard from all corners of the city.

"Retreat! Rollback! Hurry!"

Unfortunately, it was all too late.

With a loud bang, a boxing figure appeared on the old street.

The buildings that were within the 10-mile radius jerked and lifted away from the ground. All of them blew into the sky by the explosion.

Chong Dong was as pale as a sheet.

To his shock, the ordeal was not over yet.

He watched as the buildings crashed into the ground and caused the earth to break apart.

Even buildings that were as broad as 10 feet and spanned over 10 miles of land had been sent into the clouds.

Chong Dong could only watch in fear and confusion.

It was as if the giant hand of a transparent giant had given the world a violent punch, which had shaken heaven and earth and made the rivers flow in a different direction.

Instantly, a 10-mile vacuum was created.

Report chapter

Chapter 327: The Scruffy-Looking Man

At one glance, the estimated number of people floating in the void was no less than tens of thousands.

These people were hung upside down by a powerful force, and they were dumbfounded.

They were merely passers-by taking a stroll on the road who did not spot anything amiss. Some were not even aware of the spectacle that was happening, and then…

Were they floating?

The isolation of the dual bounded domain had absorbed most of the power.

But the instantaneous outburst of Passive Fist was far too intense.

Even if Chong Dong were to spread his bounded domain in time, he was still unable to protect most people.

"Am I in heaven?"

Someone uttered aloud in surprise, only to realize that he could not even hear his voice.

The force of the punch emptied the air of all tangible and intangible objects and created a vacuum.

Everyone who had realized this phenomenon panicked.

Even if the earth had withstood most of the power from the Passive Fist, they would have only jolted away.

But it fell from this height…

Not everyone was a Spiritual Cultivator.

"Help!"

The moment the vacuum restored to its original state, tens of thousands of exclamations and screams filled everyone's ears.

"Damn, it seems like it is 10 stories high! I've never flown in my entire life, and suddenly… God…"

"Commander, help!"

"Spiritual Cultivator, save me…"

Some people called the City Guards. Some hugged the thighs of the Spiritual Cultivators next to them, and some dragged another person nearby to serve as a cushion.

During the chaos, the floating fragments of the ground finally crashed and fell. Tens of thousands of people also fell to the ground.

Whiz!

Suddenly, three figures flew over the horizon. There was a man, a woman, and a senior.

As soon as these three arrived, a triple bounded domain flew out from their energy center. Under the convergence of the bounded domains, the realms merged into an immense world. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped everyone who was about to land on the ground.

"Settle!"

The senior, who carried a massive knife on his back, lightly made the command.

It was the decree of the Way of the Heavens, and it instantly suspended the tens of thousands of people in the void.

With the situation suspended, the turbulent crowd was lunged into the void, creating a spectacular scene.

The people watching from a distance were stunned.

This vivid scene in the void was like the Spiritual Gods colored in ink. All displays of human emotions were seen.

Panic, uneasiness, admiration, and shock…

Diverse emotions colored the faces of the people. Their thoughts were distracted.

In the void, the senior who carried a big knife on his back was a contrasting sight. With two fingers to the heavens, he decreed the Way of the Heavens.

"Yuan Sandao, Elder Yuan?"

How many years had this scene not materialized?

Did the battle of the Sovereign Stages in the city draw Elder Yuan out of retirement?

Even the City Guards Commander Chong Dong could not help but feel shocked at seeing this old man and the sight before him.

"Did Elder Yuan come?"

"City Lord is such a clairvoyant. How could he have guessed that the wave that just broke out was not the last?"

At that moment, he was a little terrified of how the events would have unfurled if the three reinforcements he had sought did not show up at this time.

Or if just Qiu Xuan and Liu Qing came, how much more severe would the situation have been?

Sovereign Stage cultivators were enlightened by the Great Path, but they could not cut the Path. How could one manipulate the lives of tens of thousands of beings with merely their fingers?

"Save the people!"

Yuan Sandao did not hesitate. Even with his ability, it would not be an easy feat to control this 10-mile radius.

Since he did not possess a space attribute, he could only achieve this purely by his superior cultivation base.

Once he gave the order, the other three Sovereign Stages immediately dispersed, each taking charge of an area. They led the City Guards to stop damage in time and save people trapped under the rubble.

Yuan Sandao did not move.

He glanced at the center of the blast.

It was a blurred spatial surface and not as empty as one would have thought.

"Hmm?"

Yuan Sandao frowned.

He observed that the power from the earlier blast could blow up the bounded domain. However, the person who cast it had no control of the attack range.

That meant the person was already at his limits. If that person was a Sovereign Stage, it would be impossible to cut the Path.

If it was not a Cutting Path, how could it interfere with his spiritual senses?

"Is there any outside interference?"

There was only one explanation left.

Perhaps it had even escaped Chong Dong, but someone had managed to slip into the battle scene toward the end of the explosions.

Moreover, it was a strong cultivator.

Yuan Sandao carefully scrutinized the rippling surface of the void.

Logically speaking, the bounded domain was the best shield against prying eyes, so why would one bother?

Distorted space?

It was even more energy-consuming than the space he resided in.

'Is it possible that the person inside is not a Sovereign Stage and does not know how to cast a bounded domain, and is simply… gifted in the space attribute?'

Yuan Sandao quickly discarded this thought.

He suddenly noticed that on the irregular surface of the space, there was a very faint…

'Sword Intent?'

"Are you going to die?"

Xu Xiaoshou collapsed to the ground, unable to lift a finger.

He appeared to have a broken body. The truth was that his insides were already blown to pieces by the Passive Fist.

Eternal Vitality coursed tirelessly in the background, but the smell of death was getting stronger and stronger.

"Ah!"

He laughed at himself.

He had never expected to be sent to his death by his own hands.

Indeed, he was as strong of a cultivator as the Sovereign Stage. Even Red Dog's repeated slashes at the end still could not kill him on the spot.

Given time, he could recover.

But Passive Fist would not allow it.

This punch was too strong. It was not something that he could execute at his current level.

To put it another way…

He had held in this Passive Fist technique for far too long.

He had initially thought that more than three charge points were nothing. He had never imagined that these three charge points would kill him.

He slowly closed his eyes, and his six senses gradually disappeared.

Boom!

On the ground below, the rubble moved. A half-dismembered body stood up.

What kind of person was that?

One could not even call him a human anymore.

The right arm and the entire torso were blasted to pieces. There was only half of the skull left, and the remaining body joints hung limply.

Even with such an injury, he still stood up.

Red Dog's smile looked like a grimace.

His laughter was indistinguishable from a human sound.

"Xu Xiaoshou…"

"Ha-ha, you are too strong!"

"I am a prodigy who has killed tens of thousands! But you are the only one who can put me in this state with an Innate Stage cultivation level!"

"But… so what?"

He had only one eye left. Even his eyeballs had fallen out. At this moment, his spiritual source shrank and converged crazily.

"The power of Sovereign Stage is beyond your imagination!" he roared.

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked to reality by this statement.

Based on the vision conjured from Perception, was Red Dog still alive?

"Is he still alive?"

Xu Xiaoshou could not be more thunderstruck.

What kind of persistent vitality was this? He had such a strong will to live.

Based on this alone, Xu Xiaoshou was at a loss.

He had beaten Red Dog into this mutilated sight, yet he was still determined to live. How could he allow himself to give up because of a punch he had executed?

"Stand up!"

His strong determination to survive drove him to try to move his fingers.

It was because Red Dog crawled over to him.

This mad dog first touched the fragments of the dagger and then squirmed slowly. Step by step, he made his way closer.

Xu Xiaoshou was in such a weak state that even if a baby stumbled on him, he might drop dead instantly. How could he bear a blow from this dagger?

"Enough."

A soft sound interrupted the dispute between the two disabled people. They turned their heads in unison and saw an elderly male figure walking out from the smoke.

His hair was greasy and shaggy like noodles. Though his face was chiseled-looking, it was filthy.

He was dragging a big sack in his hand. As he moved forward, the scrap-like things inside bumped and clanged dully.

"Who are you?"

Red Dog was astounded.

This man was only at the Innate Stage. No, he had not even reached the Innate Stage. He was at the peak of the Acquired Stage, so how he could enter the battlefield?

What was going on in this world? The lower the cultivation base, the more defiant they were.

Red Dog was furious.

This battle belonged to him, and the spoils of war could only be his to claim.

No one could lay a finger on Xu Xiaoshou.

As soon as his energy center moved, the bounded domain unsealed. It would send away the scruffy-looking man from the battle in an instant.

However, when the bounded domain was about to touch the man, it seemed to hit an Infinity Sword Armor and was instantly torn to shreds.

Red Dog was speechless.

Was this the Acquired Stage?

"I said that's enough."

The scruffy-looking man spoke. From within his extremely fat sleeve robe, he reached out a palm that only had four fingers.

He curved his four fingers to extend two of them and affixed a faint sword cognition to them.

It took one stroke.

Red Dog was beheaded.

Chapter 328: The Man's Offer

"Ha-ha…"

Streams of blood gushed out from the neck of the headless stump.

Red Dog was not dead yet.

In his horror, he covered his neck in horror and pushed his head down. It was a final attempt to rely on his own life force to heal the wound.

Xu Xiaoshou was stupefied.

Was this the life force of Sovereign Stage?

The violent giant and the explosive gesture failed to kill him.

The Passive Fist that shook the skies and 10 miles of the earth also failed to kill him.

Now that he was beheaded on the spot, was he able to defy the odds and survive?

Xu Xiaoshou swore that this was the most determined person he had ever seen.

In the past, he thought that as long as he had the ability, the Sovereign Stage would be the same level as the Grand Master and the Innate Stage cultivation level.

After his encounter today, he had to revisit his original assumptions. Red Dog's terrifying resilience shook him down to his bones.

Moreover, this was the combat power that Red Dog exhibited after he missed his shot and was the underdog.

If he could recover, even if he fought back twice…

Would he still be alive now?

"You are struggling in vain."

The scruffy-looking man looked at his actions and shook his head helplessly. His fingers flicked twice once more.

The two were several feet apart.

At this distance, coupled with the man's warning, Xu Xiaoshou knew he was about to attack.

At this moment, Red Dog could not react in time.

With two slashing sounds, one of his arms and the other half-broken leg were chopped off.

The body, the head, and the limbs were all scattered individually.

This time, Red Dog could no longer hold on.

He was dismembered.

His head could no longer sustain the gushing force of the blood and was pushed away.

"Donglulu–"

Red Dog's head rolled on the ground several times. His lips squirmed as if he wanted to say something.

But no one could hear it.

His eyes were still as big as saucers until his imminent death.

He had already thought of all the ways he could have salvaged the situation, even during the times he had missed his aim and was delayed by his opponent.

He had to kill Xu Xiaoshou no matter what. It did not matter how many Sovereign Stage cultivators from Tiansang City came after him. He was confident that he could make a clean escape.

Now, none of that was needed. It was futile.

'Where did this guy come from…'

Red Dog's doubts, along with his fading soul, departed from this human world.

He did not get an answer in his final moments.

Yet, he did not even notice it at all.

Gulp!

Xu Xiaoshou swallowed nervously.

"Is he dead?"

Xu Xiaoshou's condition was not much better. He was on the brink of death and paralyzed. Even so, he failed to kill Red Dog.

Two fingers…

And he was dead…

He looked at this scruffy-looking man, and the horror in his eyes was no less than when he first saw Red Dog.

This guy…

If he remembered correctly, right before he met Red Dog, he was so engulfed in his thoughts that he knocked a man over.

'In this world, people cannot possibly have the same cultivation, hair, dirty clothes, sack, and look like two peas in a pod!'

Xu Xiaoshou panicked.

This man turned out to be a big boss.

Simply put, with the man's ability, he could not possibly allow himself to be hit.

At that time, his presence must have been intentional.

But, what for?

Xu Xiaoshou pondered it carefully. He vaguely recalled that this man seemed to have called out, "You went in the wrong direction," right after he left.

In other words… Was he there to send him a sign?

Had he not noticed it?

Then…

"Are you here to save me?" Xu Xiaoshou instantly looked woeful and excited.

Regardless of whether he was here to save him or not, if he did not get into this man's good books right now, he might end up like Red Dog.

'Two fingers…'

'Oh my God!'

'He killed a Sovereign Stage with two fingers!'

'Was it because Red Dog was too weak, and his body was dismembered?'

'That's impossible!'

Xu Xiaoshou knew that if that psycho Red Dog did not die, it would only take a short time before his physical body could recover.

But he was now dead.

Even Red Dog's Sovereign Stage cultivation base was no match for those two fingers.

This was absolutely terrifying.

The scruffy-looking man dragged the gunny sack and slowly walked toward Xu Xiaoshou.

He let go of the sack and squatted before him.

Xu Xiaoshou finally had the chance to examine this big boss up close again.

His face was handsome. Even if it was covered in dirt, it could not conceal the spiritual aura glowing from within.

The big scar on his neck was so rugged that it was the ultimate statement of a man's beauty. It was a badge of honor from his countless battles.

Even his four fingers looked so cute. The sword cognition attached to them was simply…

Hmm?

Sword cognition?

Xu Xiaoshou finally realized what the problem was.

Among the people he knew, only a few of them comprehended sword cognition.

Even in his recollections, there was only one person who could fit the bill.

"You."

His pupils dilated in realization. "You are…"

"Who am I?" The scruffy-looking man smiled.

Xu Xiaoshou was horrified and thoroughly shaken.

He carefully looked at the cultivation level of the man. It was Acquired Stage.

He gazed at the man's eyes again…

They were hazy…

Ordinary…

Undistinguishable…

It could be said that any random person on the street who was drowned in the turmoil of life would have such a pair of soulless eyes.

But…

There was one exception.

'Is it the masked man?'

Xu Xiaoshou did not dare to speak as he was afraid of dying.

He exclaimed it in his heart, and it was as shocking as it seemed.

The masked man also had such eyes.

He practiced swordsmanship as well. He also comprehended sword cognition.

Furthermore…

Xu Xiaoshou secretly glanced at the man's four fingers from the corners of his eyes.

'No thumbs?'

He recalled stabbing the masked man's heart with Hidden Bitter when he first encountered this guy at Goose Lake.

At that time, his opponent clapped the sword with both hands instead of gripping it.

This detail was still crystal clear in Xu Xiaoshou's memory.

During their fated second encounter, he tackled the masked man and exchanged blows with him.

He had very flat palms with no irregular surfaces at all. It was just like the thumbs were gone.

That detail was also etched in his mind.

In the past two encounters, this guy was fully armed and covered from head to toe. What was that for?

Was it to cover up the recognizable scars on his neck and the broken fingers on his hands?

Xu Xiaoshou's mind buzzed without warning. He felt that the universe was playing a tasteless prank on him. It was far too scary.

Did this man have his eye on him?

"The masked man?"

He knew that by saying this name, he would appear to know too much. It was likely to increase the probability of his imminent death.

Xu Xiaoshou could not hold himself back, and he exclaimed it out loud.

"Masked man?" The scruffy-looking man repeated his words with a strange expression flashing on his face.

"You have identified the wrong person."

"It does not matter who I am. The important issue on hand is…"

He paused and pointed at Xu Xiaoshou's body. "You are dying."

"Hmm?"

Only then did Xu Xiaoshou realize that his time was about to run out.

He regained his senses. The weakness in his body overpowered him, and his eyelids fluttered close.

"I can save you."

The man spoke with a smile.

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to speak but was so frail that he could not muster the energy to utter a sound.

He desperately tried to keep his eyes open, even for a little bit.

The world flickered. It was bright and then dark for a while.

The extents of his line of sight narrowed and shrank a little. Suddenly, everything turned gray.

'Help me?'

'Then you should hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, I will really die!'

Xu Xiaoshou was so weak that he was unable to complain. However, the man was not in a hurry and seemed to be waiting for him to close his eyes.

After waiting for a long time, he finally sighed, "Not bad. His life force is rather strong to have lasted so long…"

"But his strength is still too weak!"

He tilted his head and muttered to no one, "Your training method is too slow."

After he spoke, he took out an ancient book, which was as thick as the width of a palm, from his spatial ring and slammed it in front of Xu Xiaoshou.

The impact sent smoke and dust flying.

The man smiled and said, "Do you want to live? Do you want to become stronger? When you encounter this kind of Sovereign Stage power again, can you make your kill with one move?"

"Come on, just blink your eyes, and all this will be yours."

"Of course, you cannot regret your decision if you dare to close your eyes."

Xu Xiaoshou almost spurted out a mouthful of blood and passed out on the spot. However, he kept his eyes wide open.

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Chapter 329: Xin Gugu's Confusion

"Wow, is he dead?"

The man looked at Xu Xiaoshou. His eyes filled with anger and great amusement.

This fella was a tough cookie.

He was aware that could never do things the hard way when it came to people with such stubborn tempers.

The man reached toward Xu Xiaoshou's eyelids and silently closed his eyes for him.

He had to do things in the hardest way possible.

"Well, since you promised, I also can't do nothing as you pass."

The scruffy-looking man sighed in resignation.

Death used to be a wonderful occurrence. Death had come easy in the past. Any small incident would have caused death. To be able to die was a form of release.

It was a shame that he could not die yet. Xu Xiaoshou was not at a stage where he could afford the luxury of death.

It was safe to say that his destiny had not even started yet.

The scruffy-looking man found his line of sight focused on the ancient text on the floor. With a wave of the hand, the palm-thick ancient text was turned into a stream of light that went straight into Xu Xiaoshou's mind.

Suddenly, the corpse on the floor started to shiver.

His expressions were cramped as his body shook uncontrollably. He was close to foaming from his mouth. He moved as if he was struck by lightning.

For a corpse to have such a violent reaction to pain, it was frightening to imagine the impact this ray of light must have had on his mind.

"You should rest…"

After much hesitation, the man did not let him swallow the elixir he held in his hand.

To experience pain while sleeping was much more tolerable than withstanding the pain while awake.

He turned his palm over and restored the elixir. Pushing his hand, he passed through a wave of Sword Aura.

The Sword Aura entered the energy center with a slight shake before it had perfectly synced into the body of Xu Xiaoshou.

The shell of Xu Xiaoshou's heavily wounded flesh body begun to sprout streams of sword cognition.

The sword cognition had exhausted the massive Sword Will and turned into a white fog.

The Sword Aura pulled together the flesh body and simultaneously triggered Xu Xiaoshou's torn-apart body. It constantly tugged and assembled it.

Within moments, the majority of Xu Xiaoshou's body had been healed.

A strong tide of life force surged from an unknown source and washed all over the body.

Cells were reproducing, nourishing, and growing the body as the flesh body began to rapidly recover.

The sudden change left the scruffy-looking man stunned.

'What's happening?'

'This surge of life force… Where did it come from?'

'Could it be that someone gave this fella a protective prohibition to prevent him from dying accidentally?'

'Isn't all that old fella knows how to do is blow his temper and run away from home?'

The scruffy-looking man was deep in thought. In this case, he could have saved the next Rejuvenation Pill.

If he gave this fella and his brimming life force the time, it would be possible for him to recover to the state he was at his peak.

'For an Innate Origin Court Level fella like him to have this kind of life force, what would he become when he becomes a Sovereign?'

The uncle laughed bitterly.

For others, to live again was an occurrence worth celebrating.

For him, to remain alive despite the desire to die must have been the greatest pain in the world.

'Such a burden of life force to carry at such a young age…'

'Why am I worried? I should be celebrating on your behalf.'

The scruffy-looking man sighed faintly. He watched as Xu Xiaoshou's convulsing body finally stood up.

He retrieved a sack from his ring and placed the twitching corpse inside. Fastening the knot, he casually tossed the sack aside.

Dong!

The ground shattered upon impact.

The man was stunned.

At this moment, a faint banging sound could be heard from afar.

The space barrier had been broken. A shocking number of black City Guards marched into the location and surrounded the area tightly.

Their leader by four Sovereigns.

"Charge!"

The guards maintained formation and charged forward with an overwhelming presence.

The audience of hundreds and thousands of rescued masses had retreated miles away.

Even in the aftermath, some of them were not petrified. Instead, they looked forward to the battle.

If it was not for the City Guards forming an obstruction line in the front, the hot-headed impatient individuals would have charged into the center of the battlefield.

"Look! What are those? Why are there are so many pits?"

"Pits? You must be blind. That is obviously a cliff!"

"I know this place. This was the shortest path to the Pill Pagoda. Tiansang City barely has any crowd, so how can there be any cliffs?"

"That's true, but there's no way a cliff a few miles in depth could be the result of a fight!"

"Oh, god, there might be a possibility it was from a fight. Could this be the power of Master Spiritual Cultivators?"

"Spiritual Cultivators…"

The masses watched the Master Spiritual Cultivators use their handcrafted tools from miles away.

Many Spiritual Cultivators lowered their heads silently.

The masses had been too kind to them.

No Spiritual Cultivators, including a Master Spiritual Cultivator, would be able to leave such a cliff in the defensive barriers of Tiansang City.

It would have taken a year to accomplish a feat such as this.

The quarreling crowd could only watch from afar, but those with the knowledge were aware that the battle was far from over.

Many wished to get closer to the center, but many knew that if they tried, there would be no escape. They would not have even know what killed them.

Xin Gugu squeezed by the crowd. He wore a frown on his face. His Golden Staff was particularly eye-catching.

However, in a situation as chaotic as it was, there was little attention paid to him.

The battle between Sovereigns was the heated topic of discussion of the moment.

"Am I late?"

In the past 10 minutes, he had rushed to the scene at the speed of lightning. He traveled so much that he almost figured out how to teleport between spaces.

All that rush had been in vain.

For someone of his caliber, he could easily tell the scene apart.

Xu Xiaoshou was alive and lying behind the scruffy-looking man. His body was well-hidden within the sack.

"Is this a kidnapping?"

Xin Gugu had never been this confused in his life.

Kidnapping aside, to bomb Tiansang City to this state was a little overboard.

Did they assume the City Guards to be a Buddha-level organization, one that would forgive in the face of the most atrocious crimes? What a joke.

Moving his sight to the ground, he spotted puddles of blood. The inside of one of the deep pits was scattered with colorful and differently shaped pieces of…

Was it pieces of flesh?

'Was this a homicide?'

He was more confused than ever.

If Xu Xiaoshou was alive, then who did the corpse belong to?

He had lost track of any sense.

In this context, Xu Xiaoshou was a mere outsider in the battle.

After all, someone who was at a trivial Innate level was not able to engage in a battle with a Sovereign that resulted in this terrible aftermath.

Therefore…

Xin Gugu turned toward the scruffy-looking man who stood in front of the sack. Was it his doing?

'But… How is it possible for someone his age to hit the peak?'

Xin Gugu felt as if his mind was about to blow. It was impossible to guess the truth of what had truly happened.

The weak and trivial status of Xu Xiaoshou couldn't have a battle of this scale with a Sovereign. Yet, the only standing figure of the fight was him.

How could he make sense of this?

'Don't panic!'

"If the damned hag was here, she would certainly instruct me to wait and see what happens next. So, I better wait and see how things go!'

'In the worst-case scenario…'

Xin Gugu poked the Golden Staff in his hand. His fingers tapped the body of the staff, which produced a steady rhythm. He started to count.

'One, two…'

The City Guards had sent four Sovereigns.

There was one scruffy-looking man.

No, he changed the number of Sovereigns from four to five.

His pupils were glowing with a dangerous glimmer.

'In the worst-case scenario, I could hastily and silently eliminate these five and take Xu Xiaoshou away!'

'Greedy the Cat Spirit must not die!'

Report chapter

Chapter 330: Put Your Finger Down!

Meanwhile on the battlefield…

Four Sovereigns and one individual at the Acquired Stage…

The one who was leading the city guard was surprisingly an elder wielding a large sword.

Even Chong Dong had given up his position as the leader in the presence of the elder.

"Yuan Sandao?"

The older man smiled. He did not recognize the other younger individual, but the old man was familiar with him.

He liked to believe he had a good memory.

Yuan Sandao had certainly aged. It had been years since the conflict between the Ten High Nobles of the Central Region. After all, it was hard to avoid the effects of time.

There was one thing that still stood out about him after all the years—his unparalleled swordsmanship.

Yuan Sandao squinted as he walked toward the older man.

Anyone was able to tell that this scruffy-looking man was at the Acquired Stage. He had only taken half a day to locate the gap in space, split it open, and twist the space with his blade. Yuan Sandao dared not to underestimate him…

Especially the Sword Will and the potential to fold through space.

It was hard to believe that the man before him was only at the Acquired Stage.

The very fact that he was the only individual standing in the middle of the battlefield had raised red flags to not underestimate this man.

Yuan Sandao was aware that others followed more powerful Great Paths aside from the Spiritual Cultivators.

An example were those who specialized solely in the way of the sword, particularly the Ancient Sword Technique, which did not require any spiritual strength for the practice.

There was a great possibility that the man before him was a character who had undergone a similar form of training.

He lowered his head and asked carefully, "You are…"

Yuan Sandao had good knowledge of all the strong individuals above the Sovereign Stage in the entire Eastern Sky Realm.

He felt a sense of familiarity with the man in front of him like they had crossed paths before, but he was not able to produce anything from his memory that was clear and detailed.

Moreover, the more Yuan Sandao hoped to have a clear look at the features of the standing figure, the more his vision began to blur.

"How was this possible?" Yuan Sandao asked in surprise.

He did not think that the opening of the White Cave would attract mighty individuals above the Cutting Path Level to this realm.

There was one sole possibility in this situation.

The figure definitely possessed a special ability to conceal his figure. Therefore, he must have impeccable potential.

The scruffy-looking man lightly shook his head as he looked at the four before him. There was no change in his expression. He spoke with a raspy voice.

"You won't remember who I am if I tell you, so let's skip this."

He lifted his head to inspect the weather.

"If there are any other questions, please ask. How about this? I'll answer three questions. Once they're answered, I'll leave."

He dragged the sack on the ground as he finished his sentence. With a slight bang, he slung the sack on his shoulders.

Chong Dong was furious. He had a terrible temper to begin with.

To him, it was obvious that all the damage—the 10 miles of vacuum and chaotic mess in the city—was done by this man. Yet the man had arrogantly agreed to only answer three of their questions before leaving. This was absurd to Chong Dong.

"For a low-level bloke like you, you sure have guts!"

"Three questions? How about I cut you into three pieces and act mercifully by letting you ask 10 questions on why I did it?"

Qiu Xuan and Liu Qing, who stood next to Chong Dong, straightened their bodies in alertness.

Trash talk was rarely effective for people on the same level as them.

If Chong Dong could successfully provoke the bizarre person and spur a fight between them, they could resolve the awkward situation at hand.

It was an opening that they could use.

Yuan Sandao was awaiting an opening such as this as well.

However, the scruffy-looking man laughed.

He completely ignored the tension between the four men and did not seem affected or doomed by Chong Dong's words in the slightest.

He truly resembled a vagabond who carelessly traveled worlds. Even as he stepped into the pit and smoke of the battlefield, he had retained the carelessness of a vagabond.

"Bloke?" The scruffy-looking man repeated the word.

The smile on his face froze. He turned his attention to Chong Dong.

"It's been a while since anyone dared to call me that in front of my face."

"This is a chaotic world. Everyone is moving at a fast pace as if they cannot wait for their next life."

"There are many ways to die too, so why choose this one fast path?"

Though his voice was calm, there was a hint of rage in his tone.

The scruffy man was someone who lived by the motto of "Don't do unto others what you don't want to be done unto you," and he was not responsible for the consequences if anyone were to cross his path.

Although Chong Dog was unable to pick up any trace of hatred from the man's eyes, he found himself overcome with an unexplainable fear as the man finished his words.

"This…"

His heart was in shock. He could not believe a man like this could strike that amount of fear into his heart despite his Sovereign status.

"You're joking."

He tried to abandon his panic and laughed mockingly. "It must be a joke. How dare you attack us after you left Tiansang City in the state it is?"

"Tiansang City…" The uncle shook his head. "This isn't my doing."

Chong Dong laughed and pointed at the sack. "If it wasn't you, then was it the brat inside that bag?"

"That's a corpse!"

Chong Dong pointed to the corpse of Red Dog. His voice was arrogant. "Did that brat kill him too?"

The scruffy-looking man sighed.

"If you put it like that, I'm part of it. I made the last cut that ended it."

"So, yeah I killed him, I won't dispute that."

"I always try to be fair in the things I do…"

Suddenly, his voice paused. "Put your finger down!"

Even though Chong Dong's finger was pointing at the corpse of Red Dog, since the man was close to Red Dog, it looked as if Chong Dong was pointing at him.

The atmosphere stood still after the man yelled.

The masses outside the situation had picked up a change on the battlefield. The air was on the verge of something big happening.

Chong Dong fixed his stare and boldly pointed his finger at the man.

"Are you too proud to let me move my fingers? Must I listen to you?" he asked with a sneer.

The scruffy-looking man moved his sleeves slightly. Something hidden within it almost emerged, but he stopped suddenly.

Looking ahead at Yuan Sandao, he suppressed the urge to attack and turned back to Chong Dong.

"You know, I really admire you, young fella. I was as hot-tempered when I was your age, but you have to know–"

"The more stubborn one is, the easier it is to take one down."

"Talking to others like this is a sure way to get into trouble."

"Young fella?" Chong Dong laughed heartily.

He stroked the unshaven beard below his chin.

He looked at the man carefully. He had more beard than him, but that was because he was a disheveled mess.

The man did not look like he had lived many years himself, yet he dared to refer to Chong Dong as "young fella?"

He replied mockingly, "You really like to talk carelessly. How old are you? Still breastfeeding?"

"How can you not know how old I am?"

"What crazed words are saying? What level are you at? Acquired?"

"When I was traveling the Eastern Region, you were still drinking milk somewhere!" Chong Dong added.

Before saying anything else, Chong Dong let out a yelp of pain.

A finger flew cleanly across his face. Fresh blood was shooting out from the wound.

A Sword Aura appeared out of the blue and cut close to his scalp. If he had not reacted in time, he would have lost his head.

Cold sweat was pooling on Chong Dong's back.

However, he couldn't retreat now.

He caught the broken finger that drifted into the void. Fortunately, through this attack, he deduced a vague conception of the man's level.

"Sovereigns! Attack!"

---

Read I Am Loaded with Passive Skills Chapter 331 online for free - AllNovelFull

Chapter 331: The Cangqing Sword

The battle was sparked by those two sentences.

Qiu Xuan and Liu Qing launched from the left and right sides.

They were the Ying Yang guardians of the City Lord's Mansion. They had over decades of teamwork with Chong Dong, so they had to respond diligently in this situation.

The two lurched out to attack before Chong Dong could finish talking. In that instant, Chong Dong's finger had been severed.

In a battle between Sovereigns, this distance was hardly worth a sweat.

They gathered the rules of the Way of the Heavens and transformed.

Qiu Xuan retrieved a black snake spear, and Liu Qing summoned an outrageously huge ax from the sky. The two instantly appeared before the scruffy-looking man.

"High Sun Strike · Thorn Shadow!"

The onlooking crowd was riled up. This was Qiu Xuan's famous spiritual technique. At its peak, it was able to tear through a dimension of a void and pierce the energy centers of three great Sovereigns.

That was the battle that officially hailed Qiu Xuan as a God of War, and it was the battle that solidified his status as one of the core pillars of the City Lord's Mansion.

However, only a portion of the masses was watching the spear. The majority of the attention was given to the attractive Liu Qing, who wielded three axes that were large enough to cover the sky.

"Is that the new guardian Liu?"

"Wow, so violent!"

"This technique… It must be a Sovereign spiritual technique too, right? Does anyone recognize it?"

"It severs human limbs!"

The knowledgeable voice suddenly went mute. Before he could explain, the crowd watched as one of Liu Qing's hammers slammed down and split open all the void in the way.

The explosion was massive. Black energy seeped out in a spherical form from the center of the exploded spiritual source into the surrounding area. It was quick to explode as well.

Yuan Sandao clapped the back of his hands, and he wielded his large sword for the attack.

He held on and hoped to use the remaining waves of the bounded domain to conceal his attack. To his surprise, he heard a plain raspy spoke from the center of the explosion.

"Easy peasy."

The elder felt his pupils shrunk as he watched the black energy be torn apart. Two beams of vertical Sword Aura revealed themselves amidst the black energy.

The two pillars of Sword Aura seemed like two giant swords headed into the sky as they sliced through the cloud layers above and pierced into the hell below.

The appearance of the two swords immediately caught the attention of the onlooking masses. The swords flew into the heavens.

It was accompanied by a deafening and piercing hum. For many who were on the lower level, the impact caused their ears to bleed immediately. The worse could be said for the ordinary person who was experiencing pain like never before.

They realized that the remaining waves of the battle's impact were out of the question. Even the sounds of it were too much for the masses. Yet, many persevered to watch the battle.

"So, is this a battle between Sovereigns?"

The opportunity to witness a showdown between Sovereigns was once in a lifetime. No one was willing to give up on this opportunity to observe.

It mattered little whether they would go deaf. Any problem, even bankruptcy, could be solved with an elixir.

Weighing the significance between the outcomes was as easy as a piece of cake.

Hence, the crowd covered their ears as tight as possible and waited for the next battle development. Concentration was written all over their faces as they set their sights on the battle. All of them proclaimed being awed and stunned.

In the center of the black energy, Qiu Xuan fought valiantly with his spear in his hand. It was truly a sight to behold.

His body was filled with nourishment from the spiritual source. If he were to increase his intake a bit more, his figure would be akin to a majestic golden statue that could overwhelm Tiansang City.

Liu Qing, who was wielding the ax, was no less of a sight. The graceful figure had intricately and perfectly complemented and been accentuated by the attacks from the giant ax.

Without any extra movement, the sharp blade of the ax was able to cut through the void.

However, this was not the true shocking sight. The unbelievable sight to witness was how the two of them were completely held down by the Sword Aura.

The two endless pillars of white Sword Aura had trapped and encapsulated the two from head to toe.

In that instant, the fearless and out-of-control void stiletto emerged and sliced through the bodies of the two.

Blood splashed haphazardly, painting the void a sheet of red.

"Darn!"

Chong Dong shrank back in fear. He was lucky to have stopped his steps in time. If not, he would have ended up in front of the scruffy-looking man.

He was unsure if he would be able to resist this level of suppression if he got too close.

Since he did not have any knowledge about when this type of skill emerged, nor was he aware of how long it took to cultivate this skill, it gripped him with fear. It was a skill he had never encountered.

Gulp.

He swallowed his saliva and exchanged spiritual senses with Yuan Sandao.

His mouth felt dry as he recalled his previous command of "Sovereigns! Attack!"

He changed his words. "This is beyond the powers of a Sovereign. Please move carefully."

Qiu Xuan and Liu Qing were enraged. They could have been able to stomach the physical pain, but the added betrayal from their teammate was unbearable.

The scruffy-looking man turned to Yuan Sandao with a smile. "I don't plan on hurting anyone. If there are no questions, I guess I will see you again."

Elder Yuan could not hold back any longer. "Who are you?" he asked.

The definitive Sword Aura was all too familiar to Yuan Sandao. In his mind, he immediately recalled a myth. He shook off his thoughts. The person in mind had already passed. It was impossible. However, there was no one else that could fit this profile.

The blade Yuan Sandao's hands turned lightly, but he hesitated.

The Eastern Region spanned many lands. Many great individuals had cultivated in the Ancient Sword Technique, and certain individuals had cultivated to this present level. The Burial Sword Tomb and Fringe Moon Immortal City combined had less than a few dozen individuals.

There were a few visitors from Burial Sword Tomb. However, if it was regarding White Cave, they would not have sent someone of this caliber for it.

'Fourth Sword was invisible. Moreover, they were all related to each other…'

He had a realization. 'Yes, the people from Burial Sword Tomb had come, but those from Fringe Moon Immortal City had not!'

The others might not have known the details about Fringe Moon Immortal City, but Yuan Sandao had clear knowledge of the place.

After the fall of the Eighth Sword Deity, the next in line was a rising master of the way of the sword. He was associated with the creation of the way and the anonymous head disciple in Bazhun'an's olden days.

"Are you from Fringe Moon Immortal City?" Yuan Sandao asked.

The scruffy-looking man walked past the standing figures of the other two men and shook his head with a smile as a reply to the elder's question.

"You're wrong."

"Second question."

"Are you at Cutting Path or Higher Void?" Chong Dong held up a tough front, but he was shivering on the inside. He was terrified.

He was someone even Yuan Sandao feared.

Chong Dong started to regret his previous rash actions. It was true that an aggressive front was not always to his benefit. There was a chance that the man really had the intention of eliminating him.

The scruffy-looking man glanced toward Chong Dong. A spark of killer intent flickered in his pupils.

No one had survived after pointing a finger at him.

In the face of such a character, it was needless to say that on top of the previous kill intent, he was more than willing to banish this man from his line of sight.

"You don't have the right to ask."

Chong Dong hesitated. He was about to speak when the man raised his voice and shouted, "Be gone!"

The sky instantly changed. Wind and storm clouds were pulling together chaotically.

The cangqing sword manifested from the void. It was capable of taking down stars from the sky. It slowly rotated itself into position.

"Watch out!"

Yuan Sandao yelled as he sprinted to defend Chong Dong.

He could not defend himself against an attack of this scale, and less could be said for Chong Dong. However, he was too late.

Everyone's vision started to slow down. The figure of Chong Dong evading the attack had slowed down too.

Yuan Sandao was included. Every step he lifted seemed to take billions of years before it hit the ground.

'Time rule'

In that moment, fear clutched Yuan Sandao's heart. The fear was overwhelming like a tsunami washing out the mountains.

Every lifeform had slowed down, but the cangqing sword levitating above the head of the scruffy-looking man did not reduce in speed.

The man moved the fourth finger that he had hidden within his wide robe sleeves.

There was a sound of an exhale.

A half-moon chopped down. From far away, there was a sound of a void hole being destroyed. It sounded as if the realm of the gods had crumbled.

Afterward, a tearing sound was heard.

Chong Dong had been sliced into two.

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Chapter 332: Eighth Sword Deity?

Thud!

Thud!

The two halves of the corpse hit the ground with a loud impact.

The onlooking masses erupted into cheers during the punch by Xu Xiaoshou that cleared a 10-mile void. Now, they were dead silent as they witnessed the swing of the blade by the scruffy-looking man.

Everyone present was stunned. They were in disbelief over the godly powers of the sword.

The sword must have been crafted by the God of Pottery Kun Wu, equipped with the power to cut through the nine heavens, slice through the clouds, and sever the rivers and lakes.

Chong Dong was not the only victim of the sword.

The long black line of vacuum that had sliced through Chong Dong extended to the edge of the sky. It seemed to extend endlessly into space.

"A sword that has cut into eternity… There is nothing more powerful than this!"

As a voice was finally heard in the masses, the onlooking people began to explode with excitement and noise.

The swordsman in the crowd watched as their own swords flew away from their hands. It was as if they were returning to their rightful owner. All of them headed straight for the scruffy-looking man in the center of the battlefield.

A legend that was recalled in the hearts of the onlookers.

Many gripped their fists tight as they remembered. Their faces were red as they did.

The legend said that in the Northern Region, located within the place of convergence for swordsmen, there was a god.

The powers of the said god were one in a million. There were thousands of legends and myths on Shengshen Continent. However, the legend of this particular god left a deep mark on the continent.

"A sword from the North, the sword of the god, drunkard of the yellow springs and walker of the sky…"

A voice from the masses subconsciously recited this sentence from the legend.

The swordsmen in the crowd turned toward the voice angrily.

"Are you joking?"

"Eighth Sword Deity cannot be compared to this one move!"

"But he struck down a Sovereign!"

"It's just Commander Chong! It's nothing impressive!"

"How is this anyway related to the Eighth Sword Deity?"

"First of all, the Deity has already fallen. How dare you relate this weak move to Bazhun'an!"

"This is absurd!"

"Ridiculous!"

"What a clown!"

The poor owner of the voice had become the target of public humiliation.

The Eighth Sword Deity was a household legend in the Northern Region.

The Deity was a religion for the swordsman and had been worshipped as a god.

Therefore, a god couldn't descend into the world so suddenly and deliver such a weak attack with the blade.

Chong Dong was only a Sovereign. In ordinary times, he would have been a great figure among the people, but he remained unrivaled to the image of the divine in the minds of the people. The assertion was simply absurd.

The owner of the voice felt wronged. He knew that he would become a target if he spoke out, but he was not able to hold back the comment.

He was a fan of the Eighth Sword Deity, and he had a good knowledge of the famous techniques of the Deity.

"Say whatever you want, but if you look at that sword closely, does it not resemble the great buddha chop of the Eighth Sword Deity?"

The comment silenced the crowd.

It was only a while later that another voice chimed in. "It does resemble it…"

"No, it does not!"

Another angry voice rang through the crowd.

"You talk as if you have the right to. All your superficial knowledge of the great buddha chop is from hearsay!"

"Is it accurate to compare it to what you've read in the transcript of spiritual techniques?"

"Can the great buddha chop be so weak?

"Also, how many times have there been others who copied spiritual techniques?"

"At least a few hundred thousand. Not everything is related to the Eighth Sword Deity you fool!"

"Wait, where is the buddha in this technique? Where is the illusion of the great buddha?"

"There's no doubt this is a stolen and copied spiritual technique!"

The atmosphere was tense. It seemed as though they were about to start a fight.

Fortunately, there were a few in the City Guards who did not train with swords and maintained their composure. They were the ones who held back their aggressive comrades and prevented any fights between the City Guards and civilians ending in bloodshed.

Yuan Sandao fell silent as well.

It was true that there were many transcripts of the giant buddha chop, and one did not have to be Bazhun'an to be able to execute the actual technique.

To Yuan Sandao's knowledge, the spiritual technique was passed down within the bloodlines of the Fringe Moon Immortal City.

Hence, those who were capable of even executing a half-form of the great buddha chop did not require any personal connections with the Bazhun'an.

However, this would have been enough evidence to prove that the man who stood before him might have been from the Fringe Moon Immortal City. At the very least, he had a strong connection to the bloodline in Fringe Moon Immortal City.

However, this had brought up the question of why he had answered "wrong" to his initial question. Truthfully speaking, Yuan Sandao had not expected an honest reply from the beginning.

Slam!

Suddenly, a purple box fell out of Chong Dong's halved body.

As the box fell, it opened with another slam. A ray of light illusion manifested in the form of Chong Dong.

Yuan Sandao strode forward and blocked the path of the scruffy-looking man.

The man only lifted his eyebrow slightly and remained where he was. His gaze was fixed calmly on the purple box.

Following the light illusion was a wave of sparkles. A purple wormhole appeared and absorbed the corpse of Chong Dong, which was scattered to its sides.

In a split second, there was a loud hum as if there was a law in the Way of the Heavens that had been forcefully changed. The stray clouds gathered, and the sky turned pitch black.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck. It was followed by roaring thunder, however, the lightning failed to find its target.

As the dark clouds finally retreated, the wormhole reappeared. It dropped a new Chong Dong.

His body had been fully recovered. Even the finger that had been cut off was fixed up with a new one.

The laws of time and space had been redefined. The box had retrieved a new and shiny Chong Dong from a different time in the past to replace the current one.

However, his memories remained with him.

The newly rebirthed Chong Dong was pale as a ghost. His hands and legs lacked the strength to hold him up. He had collapsed upon his appearance.

Yuan Sandao retracted his sword and caught Chong Dong with his arms.

"The jewel of Beta Ursae?"

The eyes of the scruffy-looking man widened in surprise as he asked, "How did you get your hands on Dao Qiongcang's tianji box, little fella?

Yuan Sandao felt his pupils shake. The very mention of Dao Qiongcang sent chills into his heart.

Dao Qiongcang was notorious. Not even Kui Leihan or Bazhun'an or even spirits were on the same level as Dao Qiongcang.

He was one of the three spearheads of The Ten High Nobles of The Central Region, the current Hallmaster of the Holy Divine Palace and the first tianji warlock of Shengshen Continent.

The name of the Hallmaster of the Holy Divine Palace was not to be uttered in vain or by ordinary men. Even for Spiritual Cultivators, they would refer to Dao Qiongcang as the Hallmaster and not his full name, yet the man before him had casually said it without much thought.

The mystery of the man had only grown. There were many questions in Yuan Sandao's mind. 'Was he from the same era as Dao Qiongcang? Have they fought? Do they have any unknown special relationship?'

Yuan Sandao inhaled deeply. His heart was heavy.

He knew that with the present circumstances, they may have to leave with a bad exit.

Despite the situation, he still had to perform his duties. He reluctantly prepared to ask his third question. "You should know that under the legal code of the continent, the Sovereigns are not to fight normally. They must enter a bounded domain or a half void."

"Your reckless action here today have caused countless damage to the innocent civilians in Tiansang City, and you cannot be forgiven."

"If the Holy Divine Palace were to launch an inquiry, even if you exceed the stage of a Sovereign, you would still face the punishment of death."

Yuan Sandao twisted his blade and posed himself in a guarded position. His next words were calm. "So, my third question is, why did you do it?"

In his mind, there was no reason for someone of his caliber to sabotage himself by fighting within Tiansang City. It was simply foolish. Therefore, there had to be a secret he was guarding.

The scruffy man smiled.

He respected Chong Dong for surviving because of his capabilities, and this event was already wrapped up for him. He had the moral code that he would only kill once.

Letting the issue with Chong Dong go, the man replied to Yuan Sandao's question. "First, I'm not a Sovereign. You saw it yourself. I am just a person at the Acquired Stage, therefore I am not bound by the laws of the continent."

Yuan Sandao felt his lips twitch.

The uncle continued. "Second, I'll explain it again. The damage done to Tiansang City was not my doing."

"If not you, then who?" Yuan Sandao sneered. He thought, 'Are you going to say it was the torn-up corpse next to you?'

"It was him."

The uncle kicked the sack on the floor. "It was his fault. I had nothing to do with it."

Yuan Sandao felt his chest give in.

He had already surveyed the bag. There was nothing in there but a dying person at the Innate Stage. It was otherworldly to imagine that he was able to knock out the earth of Tiansang City.

'Are you playing with me? Hm?' Yuan Sandao thought.

He could not believe the man would shift the blame to those who were unable to speak for themselves. It was utterly ridiculous.

"Then, why are you here?" Yuan Sandao coldly asked.

He was not willing to pick any more battles with the man. At the very least Yuan Sandao, needed to know the reason for the attack in the city.

He doubted the man would make up any excuse to be in Tiansang City, especially one along the lines of being there to rescue the person in the sack. Otherwise, he would be killed by the corpse that laid beside him.

'Ha-ha!' He laughed to himself.

Yuan Sandao was amused by his own line of thinking. If that was the case, this man must believe Yuan Sandao was as illogical and unhinged as he was.

Unexpectedly, the scruffy-looking man kicked the sack and said, "Truth to be told, I am here to save this fella."

Report chapter

Chapter 333: I Understand Your Choice

Yuan Sandao was immediately furious.

He had thought this man's thinking was already ridiculous enough. He had not expected this man to spout even more ridiculous nonsense.

Did this man think that he was just some brainless guy?

"Sir…"

"There's no need to call me sir. Do you want to attack me?" The man was annoyed and interrupted him.

Yuan Sandao gripped his blade tightly as his gaze flickered.

Attack?

He really wanted to.

Unfortunately, he alone was not enough to take this guy down.

If he could not restrain him and could only drag it into a long fight, Tiansang City would not be able to take it even if he wanted to.

This man could ignore the lives of innocent citizens, but Yuan Sandao was not that ruthless.

'Just a little longer!'

He had just called the mayor, so he just had to wait for him to arrive.

Based on his spirit-gathering array skills, as long as he was not careless, it should not have been too big of a problem to just trap this person here.

Yuan Sandao was still thinking to himself and did not speak.

The scruffy man saw that he did not react. With a swift movement of his sleeves, the two Sovereigns behind him were sent flying while spewing blood.

"If that is the case, see you next time."

He dragged his sack and glanced toward Xu Xiaoshou. He continued to tilt his head and looked at the tightly knitted crowd.

"Are you the helper that this young man called for?"

Just outside the space, Xin Gugu, who was already frightened by this man's abilities, felt his heart skip a beat.

He looked around him and realized that there were no other strong Spiritual Cultivators other than him.

That meant this man's question was directed at him.

How did he know the relationship between Xu Xiaoshou and him?

Everyone, including Yuan Sandao, traced the man's eye line and looked toward the crowd.

Under the gaze of so many eyes, Xin Gugu felt his scalp going numb.

If it were ordinary people looking at him, he would still be fine. Unfortunately, he was a demon beast host.

All these Sovereigns were looking at him. There was even a Cutting Path Level cultivator.

Who could remain calm?

Xin Gugu clutched the golden staff in his hand tightly, trying to oppress the energy from it.

"I cannot let them see anything suspicious!"

At this point, along with his plan to get five kills, his initial arrogance was eliminated by the man's sword.

He was only filled with fear as he cautiously replied, "No, you got the wrong guy."

Yuan Sandao stared at him for a while, subtly sensing something weird about him but not knowing exactly what it was.

Chong Dong was behind him and warned, "This guy… That's right. He is that Sovereign with blood energy. He was attracted by the blast earlier on. He must be a helper of these three!"

Upon hearing this, Xin Gugu had the intention to cut his heart out.

This guy was annoying. Why couldn't he have just stayed dead?

Did he have to speak and add oil to the flames?

When he rushed over earlier, he had exposed a little bit of his scent. But…

'My identity should not have been exposed completely!'

Xin Gugu's attention was all on Yuan Sandao.

He was not afraid of the man since he seemed to be somehow related to Xu Xiaoshou.

As for Yuan Sandao, he couldn't help but be wary of him.

He was someone from a righteous organization. If he knew Xin Gugu's true identity, he did not need to even take any action himself.

As long as he shouted, "There is a ghost beast host body here," in less than two days, Jiao Tangtang and he would forever be left on the cold hard ground of Tiansang City.

The legendary beast control artifact in his hand shook a little, hiding his scent completely.

Yuan Sandao still had some subtle suspicions, but a majority of his attention was still on the scruffy man. Hence, he did not think much about it.

The scruffy man walked toward Xin Gugu and said, "Little fella, you are not performing your duty as a guard very well!"

"He is almost dead, yet you still have not arrived. If not for me appearing, wouldn't this young man here have been dead due to your lateness?"

"Guard?" A hint of anger flashed across Xin Gugu's eyes.

Was he being compared to a guard?

It was Xu Xiaoshou who had pleaded for him to come save him. He was definitely not his guard.

Just as he was about to rebut, the man had already walked in front of him. He patted his shoulder and quietly asked, "You are from Xu Yue Grey Palace, right?"

Xin Gugu's mind went blank.

'How is this possible?'

Even if the man had seen through him as a ghost beast host body, how could he have known his relationship to Xu Yue Grey Palace?

Could this guy read people's minds?

His eyes widened as he turned abruptly toward Yuan Sandao, only to see that the old man was indifferent.

He immediately realized that the man's last sentence had been communicated using telepathy.

Phew!

Xin Gugu let out a sigh of relief. Before he could relax, the scruffy man's husky voice rang again.

"It has been very tiring living like a rat, right?"

"Do you want to expose you to uprightly roam this world without any worries? Do you want to live your life and not fear the scrutiny of others anymore?"

The man's voice was filled with temptation. Under the horrified look of Xin Gugu, he continued. "As long as you give me a nod, I can expose your identity."

"You will then be able to enjoy at least one day of freedom."

"Even though the duration is short, life is all about living it interestingly and not about the length. What do you say?"

Xin Gugu's pupils were wildly darting around.

'This guy has to be a demon!'

'I have no grudges with you. Even if you know my identity, based on my relationship with Xu Xiaoshou, aren't we all on the same boat?'

'What good would exposing me do you?'

At that moment, the impulsive desire in his heart shot up.

However, before his mocking laughter sounded, the vision of that one powerful sword move that could slice the deities flashed in his mind. Xin Gugu's body went cold immediately.

This was an evil demon who could instantly slice someone into half on the spot with just his fingers.

'He is even crueler than me!'

'I cannot be careless!'

Xin Gugu grabbed the golden staff, trying as hard as possible to control the laughter that could cost him his life. He slowly shook his head.

"No, I don't want to"

"Life is better when it is longer and not just a short bloom."

The man was amused and smiled. "Are you afraid?"

Xin Gugu was speechless.

He really wanted to beat this guy up with his staff.

This guy talked just as badly as Xu Xiaoshou.

"If you are really afraid, then you should know that what I am about to say to you is definitely not a joke," the man suddenly said.

Xin Gugu's heart dropped a little. "What are you going to say?"

"I said earlier that you are a guard who came late. For coming late, you shall be punished."

"For the next few days… Uh, let's just say a year…"

"You will follow this young man for a year. Afterward, you will get your freedom."

Xin Gugu was shocked.

'Are you dreaming?'

He almost said it out loud but managed to change his words at the last second. "That is not possible!"

"I have my own missions. One year? Who are you kidding?"

"I don't have the time!"

"The fact that I already came here this time to save him is already good enough on my part!"

The man nodded without saying anything much.

"I understand your choice."

He turned and looked at Yuan Sandao while pointing at Xin Gugu. "Old man, you didn't see anything wrong. This is indeed a ghost beast host body."

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Chapter 334: You, Go Save The People

Xin Gugu felt like his head was about to explode from the rage.

'You!'

'Why must he be the way he is?' Xin Gugu thought.

'There is room for negotiations!'

'Business is not done like this,' he thought. "And this is beyond business. There is life and death involved in the process!'

It was out of line to reveal Xin Gugu's identity because they disagreed.

'He's going to let me die here,' he thought.

Xin Gugu's eyes were red with fury.

In other circumstances, such as being in the midst of battle, to have his identity revealed was tolerable.

In that case, Xin Gugu had an excuse to take the enemy down with him.

However, for the scruffy man to reveal him in this situation was displaying his cards before Xin Gugu tried to play them. He felt like it was a joke.

As the man finished his words, Xin Gugu could almost see the shell-shocked face of Yuan Sandao. He could also see a memory that he had buried in the depths of his mind. It was something he was unwilling to recollect.

"Red Coat!"

Xin Gugu was overwhelmed with rage. His blood energy dispelled into the air around him. He predicted that a huge unavoidable battle was about to start.

Even if he died, he swore he would bring the disgusting scruffy-looking man down into hell with him.

With a fling of his staff, the killing intent that filled the air begun to explode.

The instant he launched his attack, the onlookers flipped over and fell from their horses. The ones with a weak heart fell immediately because of the attack and exploded on the spot.

"Die! All of you!"

Xin Gugu roared as he waved his staff violently. The ground started to vibrate and cracked. Black blood water was rising to the surface.

The earth in the 10-mile radius had turned into nothing but red.

It looked as if they were in the depths of hell.

The masses had delved into madness. Many were running for their lives, yelling, crying, and groaning in pain.

The battlefield was filled with a terrible mixture of sounds.

Xin Gugu withdrew the staff and realized he had passed through the man in front of him. Despite standing so close to him, the person in front of him was no longer the terrible person he had seen. Was he a phantom?

"Have you realized anything?"

The figure of the man started to fall apart. Rays of bright sword light peaked out from behind the pieces.

His voice sounded like it had traveled from the heavens. It was a voice that transcended the dimensions of the universe. It was otherworldly.

"You saw the future because of your choice!"

"I already gave you the best option, but you chose death."

"Wake up rascal! You don't have a right to reject me."

With a clear slap on his face, Xin Gugu woke up from the dream. His cheeks still hurt from the slap.

He shook his head and repositioned his vision only to make the shocking discovery that nothing had changed.

Xu Xiaoshou remained on the ground. Yuan Sandao still stood in the distance, and the onlooking crowd was still bustling with anticipation. More importantly, the ground was not overflowing with blood.

'Was I mistaken?'

Xin Gugu focused his vision. His mind was blank.

'That is impossible,' he thought. 'It was not a mistake. This must be the man's creation." He had not known that the man had the ability to influence the cognition and thoughts of others.

There was also a possibility that the man had awakened the ability to travel through time and viewed the future of his actions. Had he appeared before him as a time traveler?

His body was covered with cold sweat. The sweat gave Xin Gugu chills. He suddenly felt his strength leave him as he clutched onto the golden staff tightly with a pant.

"You…"

"How did you do that?"

There was a possibility for both methods. Therefore, he had underestimated the man's abilities.

He feared that even Yuan Sandao was still caught under the immense pressure of Xin Gugu's knowledge.

'I see you have this trick hidden up your sleeves, Old Man!'

Xin Gugu felt a mess of emotions in his heart. He watched the man and was unsure about how to react.

"How did you do that?"

The sides of the scruffy-looking man's mouth lifted. He was on the edge of a smirk. He hummed and paused as if he wanted to hold something back.

Cough.

With a small cough, he calmly turned around with his hands behind his back.

"You don't need to know how I did it."

"You should definitely reconsider my proposal to you!"

Xin Gugu gritted his teeth, but he was unwilling to accept. "My time is tight. I can't accompany this fella and stay by his side for a whole year."

"Sure."

Unexpectedly, the man changed his mind. "Actually, as long as he needs you, you can't be late, that's all."

Xin Gugu was kind of surprised. He suddenly recalled the cough just now. He frowned and tried to ask for more explanation. "I have my own duties. I could only help him as much as I can in my spare time…"

"All you need to do is block the attacks from the Sovereigns and those above his level. It should not take much time." The man continued to pace about.

Xin Gugu raised his eyebrow. The man was asking a bit too much. "How many times?"

"The number of attacks is not limited!" The man rejected Xin Gugu's proposal.

The man laughed.

"What's wrong? I had already given in."

The scruffy man stilled his footsteps and turned around slowly. His gaze shifted to Xin Gugu. He stared at him mercilessly. "You at most can say one more word to me."

"Of course, the cost of it is, death."

'Are you joking? He's just Xu Xiaoshou, yet he expects me to beck at his every call. Are you crazy? I have already seen through your messed-up acts. If it was not for that sword attack just now, I wouldn't have even bothered with you, you nutjob!'

Xin Gugu maintained a calm and composed expression, but he was cursing the man to no end in his heart.

"Good."

The uncle laughed coldly and lifted his sack up.

He peeked at the Sovereign at the far end and said, "I'll pass the sack to you."

"Pass it to me?"

Xin Gugu tilted his head in confusion, but he did not have the courage to question it.

"Pass what to me?"

"This rascal is a ticking timebomb. There are four Sovereigns ahead watching me. Do you want me to hold him?"

"How do you expect me to carry him?"

Xin Gugu was filled with questions and resignation, but he did not dare to voice them. Besides, the scruffy-looking man was not interested in offering any explanation.

Step by step, he dragged the sack toward where Yuan Sandao was standing. The scruffy-looking man asked with a smile, "How's the delay going? Has backup arrived yet?"

Yuan Sandao touched the blade of his sword. He sensed that something amiss.

The man had been in discussion with someone else for a while, yet the City Lord had not rushed to the scene yet.

Additionally, there was no backup sent for Yuan Sandao, not even any updates or letters about the current situation.

"Did something happen?"

Yuan Sandao narrowed his eyes, which were full of the intention to strike the man down.

He could not wait any longer.

It did not matter that the City Lord had not arrived yet. He was ready to take the man down on his own.

"Don't be so hasty."

The scruffy-looking man had not yet reached out. He had simply cast his vision downward, yet Yuan Sandao felt like he was trapped by an invisible pair of hands.

He turned to the man and said with a sneer, "You hurt men and destroyed Tiansang City. You will not escape today."

The man replied calmly, "Save this talk for later."

He stopped his words and looked out. The sun had set from the faraway mountains. He shifted his vision in the direction of the City Lord Mansion.

"Your people are still not here yet, but mine have almost arrived."

Yuan Sandao gripped his blade tighter. The three Sovereigns behind him reacted in shock.

As if it was on the scruffy-looking man's command, a loud explosion came from the direction of the City Lord Mansion.

Bang!

A ray of black shadow cut through the sky and the earth and landed. It was like a colossal godly hammer had struck down. The light and the dark were separated, and the chaos began to unravel itself.

The City Lord Mansion vibrated and instantly exploded.

Every onlooker looked petrified in response to the explosion.

"This…"

The scruffy-looking man dragged the sack and took a step in preparation for departure.

"Go save the people."

Chapter 335: Sword Observation Manual

It seemed that things had finally settled down.

The heroes had regrouped at the Abundant Spiritual Inn.

Whoosh!

Xu Xiaoshou jerked awake and sat upright in the bed.

He felt like he had awakened from a long dream. In his dream, he had met a man who was a perverted individual. He was almost killed by this man.

Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes slowly.

Bang!

Mu Zixi, who was gently nursing him with a hot towel, immediately experienced a rush of blood to her head and jumped back.

As her body collided with the bedboard, her small body flung and was almost caught inside the wall.

Splash!

Simultaneously, a basin of boiling water hit the side of the bed frame. Half of the water had been splashed onto Xu Xiaoshou's bed.

Unfortunately, the other half of the water had landed squarely on Xin Gugu, who was fast asleep and drooling beside the bed.

'A wave?'

Xin Gugu was rudely awakened by the hot water.

Cursed, Passive Points, 1,1,1,1…"

Insulted, Passive Points, 1.

Xu Xiaoshou's expression was full of confusion and shock. He gazed at the two, who looked as though they were contemplating life. He turned to see the familiar room in the inn.

He truly did not have a clue about what was going on.

"Huh?"

Xin Gugu waved his hand and pushed himself up against the bed. "Are you awake?"

"What happened?"

Though he asked the question, Xu Xiaoshou was trying to remember what happened on his own.

His memory was still intact. He could recall how he was supposed to be angered to death by the scruffy-looking man.

It was the kind of anger that was unstoppable, yet he had been unwilling to die.

From the looks of his current state, he seemed very alive and well.

Therefore, the man might have saved Xu Xiaoshou after all.

It was also possible that Xin Gugu had arrived in time and turned the tides of events by saving him from the scruffy-looking man.

"Honestly, so much happened when you were out cold…"

Xin Gugu's cheeks were bright red from the burns. He held his face carefully and tried to calm down.

He recollected the orders of the scruffy-looking man and about the shocking slaying of the City Lord Mansion and held in his anger.

The scruffy-looking man was terrifying.

He had even struck out at the City Lord Mansion, which the man had eliminated. Its destruction had forced Yuan Sandao to immediately retreat for safety.

It was no longer a scheme for battle but pure suppression from a stronger power.

Tiansang City was no match for someone on this man's level.

The more important issue at hand was that the scruffy-looking man had taken a liking to Xu Xiaoshou.

Xin Gugu never thought that his mission to seek out and protect Greedy the Cat Spirit would land him into the position of being a bodyguard for Xu Xiaoshou.

However, Xin Gugu could not express his bitterness out loud. Instead, he sighed and said, "Those things were not important. All you need to know is that I saved you."

"You saved me?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

"Correct. If I had not arrived on time and fought five people to suppress those Sovereigns, the man and the City Guards would have torn you apart."

Xu Xiaoshou was more confused than ever.

He did not fully believe what Xin Gugu had just said. 'Xin Gugu must be joking,' he thought. The City Lord Mansion being destroyed and Xin Gugu fighting five people seemed impossible.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about the finger move by the scruffy-looking man. He was unsure if Xin Gugu would have been able to handle the attack.

Before Xu Xiaoshou could ask anything else, a teeth-gritting voice came from the wallboards.

"Xu… Xiao… Shou!"

He turned toward the voice. Mu Zixi was holding her head in pain. She cursed rapidly as she walked over.

Xu Xiaoshou had a headache. "How many times did I tell you to keep your spiritual source protection open?"

Mu Zixi relaxed her clenched fist and remained quiet. Her logical side agreed with Xu Xiaoshou's statement as she thought, 'It's true. He has mentioned this to me before.'

However, this was not enough to quell her anger. She was fuming.

The girl stared at Xu Xiaoshou. Her eyes were full of unreconciled fury. Her heart was full of anger.

All she wanted to do was to clean his face with a towel. Instead, she was attacked and suffered great pain.

'The human world is truly not worth my time,' she thought.

"I was changing your towel, but you sneakily attacked me!"

"Sorry, it was not intentional…"

Xu Xiaoshou had no idea why he had done what he had. He motioned Mu Zixi to go closer with a wave of his hand.

Mu Zixi stopped in her footsteps. "What?"

"Come here."

The young girl had an uneasy feeling in her heart. However, since she was injured while trying to take care of others, she rationalized there was nothing worse that could happen.

She stepped forward courageously.

"Here, let me see where you are injured." Xu Xiaoshou tapped the mattress and gestured for her to sit down.

"Here!"

Mu Zixi pointed to a wound on her forehead. It was roughly the size of three fingernails. Her face was twisted with anger.

Looking at the big wound he had caused, Xu Xiaoshou felt extremely embarrassed.

He inched closer and held her head up. "Here, I'll blow on it. That will make it better. Be good, OK?"

Mu Zixi was stunned.

Her pupils enlarged as she thought, 'Do you think I'm a child? Is he messing around?'

Hoo!

Suddenly, a gust of life force exited with Xu Xiaoshou's exhale.

As Xu Xiaoshou exhaled, Mu Zixi felt her ponytails float upward. The pores on her body eased. Her face was flushed red. She almost groaned.

She quickly remembered there were others around her and held in her expression.

She decided on a softer hard exhale from her nose as an alternative. Her body spasmed.

"You…"

"Shameless!"

The young girl blushed the moment her wound healed to its original appearance and took off quickly after speaking.

Xu Xiaoshou watched her disappearing figure. He had many questions in his head.

'Shameless?'

'How was I shameless?'

To Xu Xiaoshou, this was the best healing method. Greedy the Cat Spirit would have loved this method. It was a shame it did not have access to it.

He turned to look at Xin Gugu, who was beside him.

Xin Gugu had a displeased expression.

He almost had drawn the staff that was in his hand.

Fortunately, life was precious. He could not attack just anybody.

After a while, Xin Gugu finally squeezed out a few words. "You know there are other people like me here, right?"

Xu Xiaoshou was more confused than ever.

"Did I do something shameless?"

Xin Gugu did not reply.

Cursed, Passive Points, 1.

Xin Gugu felt like his body had taken a million hits. The thirst for revenge after he was scalded was abandoned immediately. He stood up and was prepared to leave.

"Wait."

Xu Xiaoshou called after him in a hurry.

He could not let Xin Gugu leave before he was able to clarify the questions and doubts that were in his mind.

"How long have I slept?"

Xin Gugu replied with annoyance, "A day."

"One day…" Xu Xiaoshou lowered his head and tried to remember. After a while, he spoke up again. "Nothing really happened while I was out, right?"

"There was…"

Xin Gugu nodded. "I already told you."

Xu Xiaoshou fell silent. He did not believe that Xin Gugu was able to defeat them one to five.

The scruffy-looking man was a tough opponent. Xu Xiaoshou supposed that Xin Gugu was not able to offer him a clear story. Hence, he decided to stop pursuing the matter.

It was fortunate enough for him that Red Dog had been thoroughly defeated.

"Then, how did I get here? Do you know this place?"

Xu Xiaoshou posed another question. He was not convinced that Xin Gugu was able to locate him and subsequently locate his room in the inn.

"The girl brought me here." Xin Gugu nodded in the direction of the door.

"Mu Zixi?"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked. "How did you meet her?'

Xin Gugu laughed.

"She ran out to see why the half of Tiansang City had exploded. Is that not OK?"

"On the other hand, we want to know something from you too. How did you get yourself into the middle of a battle between Sovereigns?"

Xu Xiaoshou was silent.

At this moment, he recalled his Passive Fist. Even a bounded domain had not managed to obstruct it. He assumed that it had harmed a large number of innocent civilians.

He had not given the attack much thought. When he was in that state, the top priority was keeping himself alive.

Therefore, he had not considered the repercussions of his actions or his attacks on the others around him.

Once he had returned to reality, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes met with Xin Gugu's. His eyes were filled with curiosity, but Xu Xiaoshou shook his head.

"No, you don't want to know."

Even if Xu Xiaoshou said it, Xin Gugu would not believe him.

Xin Gugu was speechless.

He did not say anything else and walked out of the door.

He had finished his quota of speaking with Xu Xiaoshou for the day.

Xu Xiaoshou watched the two figures disappear from his sight and returned to his thoughts.

Lifting up his blanket, he got up from the bed and stretched his hands and his legs.

His body was in perfect form.

'Not a single injury from the attack…'

Xu Xiaoshou was amazed by his body. All the intense injuries he had sustained had healed in just one day.

If Red Dog had known about this, he would have come back from the dead out of sheer anger.

It was at this moment he felt a presence of energy within his own body. The energy was foreign and did not belong to him.

"Sword Aura?"

The ray of white Sword Aura was resting on top of his energy center.

'No,' he thought. "This does not qualify as Sword Aura."

It was similar to the ordinary power of thought he had mastered on the Black Cliff.

There was still a difference between the two.

In comparison to the ordinary power of thought, the energy was far ahead in power and had completely left the boundary of the ordinary.

"Sword Cognition?"

Xu Xiaoshou uttered this phrase bluntly as if he had been possessed by an unknown entity.

His brain immediately cramped as knowledge that did not belong to him began to flood his mind. He felt as if he had figured out the tenth level of Sword Technique Expertise.

The waves of knowledge had struck him so powerfully that Xu Xiaoshou had to hold on for his dear life.

Xu Xiaoshou collapsed onto the floor. It had taken him half a day to fully recover his consciousness.

The massive amount of knowledge in his mind and transformed itself into an ancient-looking and thick book.

Three characters were written boldly on the cover:

"Sword Observation Manual."

Chapter 336: The Sword Worship Technique

"Sword Observation Manual?"

It only took Xu Xiaoshou one glance at the thick book to immediately realize that this was the last straw that had crushed him.

At that time, the scruffy-looking man had chucked the thick ancient book in front of him and uttered some nonsense. His words sent Xu Xiaoshou into such a fit that he had promptly fainted.

"Is this a spiritual technique?"

Xu Xiaoshou gazed at this ancient book with a strange look on his face.

He thought of Elder Sang.

Every time that old man asked him to learn a new thing, he never resorted to encouragement and reward. Instead, he always coerced him into it.

In this situation, it could not be a good thing if he was required to learn it himself.

Infernal Heavens required Infernal Fire Seed.

The prerequisite for Infernal Heavenly Flames-White Flames and Dragon Melting Realm was the Advanced Infernal Fire Seed.

He had not even encountered the latter and had no intention of finding out how to get this big Fire Seed.

Now, this man also embraced Elder Sang's method.

"This Sword Observation Manual… Can it be a good thing?"

Xu Xiaoshou was a little puzzled. Allowing this content to reside in his mind did not seem to be a good idea.

His spiritual senses reached out to it.

There was a buzzing sound. Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt a strong tug on his soul. His entire being was sucked into a mysterious black hole.

Everything was black.

It was an endless blackness that was darker than night.

It was lonely and remote, yet desolate and drowning in adversity. The infinite ocean of darkness was immersive as if it originated from the eternal conception of ancient times.

Xu Xiaoshou was astonished.

"Is this an illusion?"

It was very similar to the unusual illusion that formed when he launched the Expertise Passive Skill.

Was it possible that this Sword Observation Manual was as strong as Expertise Passive Skill, so much that it was almost invincible?

"You came."

A hoarse voice sounded from behind.

Xu Xiaoshou instantly turned around.

He saw the first ray of white in the endless darkness.

That was sword energy.

Or rather, it was sword cognition.

Experiencing the slightly familiar aura on it, Xu Xiaoshou was extremely sure that this was the Sword Cognition in his energy center.

However…

What about the sound?

"Who are you? And where are you?" Xu Xiaoshou yelled.

The voice slightly resembled the man's, but it was not identical.

Even though it was also hoarse, it was not that rough and unpleasant. By just hearing this voice, Xu Xiaoshou could sense a majestic nobility to it.

'How extraordinary!'

Hum—

The sword cognition trembled in response. It swayed and wavered for some time before a white figure gradually appeared.

The white light lit up. It was rather blinding in this endless darkness.

Even so, the figure dressed in white was still very vague. His facial features were not distinguishable to the eye.

One thing was unmistakable, which were the many swords the figure possessed.

That was right.

Above this streak of white light, the figure had two gigantic swords strapped to his back in an "X" fashion. One was purple, and the other was gold.

In addition, there were two sabers on his waist: one black and the other cyan.

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked by the awe-inspiring Sword Intent originating from this figure.

Just as he just wanted to ask questions, the voice spoke again.

"Watch closely."

"I will only perform one sword."

Xu Xiaoshou was confused.

He did not even know what was going on, but the matter-of-fact tone brought him to a realization.

The energy within this flickering guy might not have been enough to hold a conversation with him. If he was not mistaken, this guy was a sealed and preserved memory reel.

It was akin to…

A video?

After the white-clothed man finished speaking, he did not perform any movement of drawing out his swords. Instead, he put his hands directly on top of his head.

It seemed that he was about to pull out something from the top of his head.

Xu Xiaoshou had a curious expression on his face.

Didn't he say that he would draw the sword?

Even if he said that he would perform one sword, he had four swords strapped to his body. If he did not intend to use those, what show was he putting on now?

Was it possible that he would draw a sword from the top of his head?

In the next second, Xu Xiaoshou had to eat his words. He was unprepared for the scene before him and sent into absolute shock.

He only saw the man dressed in white lift his hands from the top of his head. The movement, however, shook all corners of the world.

In the next instant, the space shattered. Time seemed to slow down. Xu Xiaoshou felt that even his breathing stopped, and the seconds felt like years.

The terrifying Order of the Great Path emerged plainly under the gesture of these two hands and then shattered.

An infinite white sword cognition rose from the heavens and the earth. Like moths attracted to light, the sword cognition rushed towards the man who had both arms raised.

Indeed, this man had summoned the white sword hilt formed by half of the sword cognition from the top of his head.

Keng—

A lilting sword cry resounded through the sky, obliterating Xu Xiaoshou's spirits to fragments.

The sword hilt of this sword was barely visible. It had been drawn out to only half of its grip. Even so, the power was already too much for the earth to bear, and the surroundings disintegrated into pieces.

Boom!

The darkness receded, welcoming the light again.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the familiar surroundings around him and collapsed to the ground with a dull thud. He was back in the inn room.

"Was that what he meant by one sword? Only one sword?"

"Even a tenth of the sword was not drawn out yet!"

"Powerful!"

"How powerful!"

"What kind of sword technique was that…"

Even if he has mastered the Sword Technique Expertise, Xu Xiaoshou still could not help admiring this sword technique after seeing it.

Such divine Sword Intent of ancient times coupled with stately heroic movements…

How magnificent would it be if he performed the sword movement himself and pulled it from his head? Xu Xiaoshou found that vision hard to imagine.

As for performing an actual strike…

He did not even dare to think about it any further.

He was afraid that after that sword, even this part of the universe would no longer exist.

"It is far too terrifying!"

Xu Xiaoshou breathed out a sigh of relief. When he was relaxed again, he realized that cracks ran down the entire length of his body.

The broken cracks on his body were constantly oozing blood. Furthermore, there was the familiar sword cognition entangling him.

Though the wounds were recovering, the recovery speed was slow. It was unusually snail-paced.

His Eternal Vitality had already reached the Master Stage, so how could his recovery speed be so slow?

Xu Xiaoshou's body could withstand even the swift cuts dealt by Red Dog under extreme duress.

"Wait a minute…"

Was that swordsman not a phantom?

Did everything in his illusion affect reality?

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked again.

He felt as if he could manipulate the sword cognition on his body.

With a thought order, he removed the foreign objects entrenched in his wounds.

They shrunk back above his energy center, resuming the docile appearance he saw in the beginning.

As soon as they disappeared, the wound healed quickly.

"Is this the Sword Cognition that the man bestowed me?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt it was the only possibility.

If his guess was correct, this sword cognition was included in the Sword Observation Manual and transmitted into his body.

In this case, the phantom in the sword cognition should naturally be the man.

'Is he that strong?'

Xu Xiaoshou wondered.

The memory of the man killing a Sovereign Stage with only two fingers resurfaced. Although it was most remarkable, it was nowhere close to the impact of the sword drawn from the top of the head of the white figure just now.

Xu Xiaoshou could not restrain his inner curiosity anymore.

He opened the Sword Observation Manual in his mind.

When he turned over the first page, it did not mention any obscure sword technique. Instead, there were a few lines of small words.

"Do you wish to learn the Sword Worship Technique that you just saw?"

"Do you wish to have the esteemed honor of One Sword from the East?"

"Do you wish to reach the pinnacle of this world with your saber and cut away the infinite shackles from the impoverished heaven?"

"Open me!"

"Do not hesitate, for here is an opportunity not to be missed. This moment will never come again!"

This feeling was deeply familiar. Until this point, one abominable character has made an appearance in Xu Xiaoshou's mind.

This tone belonged to none other than the scruffy-looking man.

His face contorted in a grimace. Although he wanted to slam this cursed book shut, his curiosity got the better of him.

'What the hell?'

'Is this so amazing?'

Xu Xiaoshou's mind was racing. Thinking that uncle was not there now, and no one was watching him, he decided to continue reading.

"Listen up! Once you choose to open this book, you will never be able to look back."

"Now, you have three seconds to consider whether you wish to flip to the next page or not."

"Of course, I warmly offer a kind suggestion. If you choose not to proceed, the Sword Cognition in your body will probably explode."

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

"What the hell…"

He immediately sank to his energy center. He saw the Sword Cognition had begun to expand and seemed to be ready to explode any second.

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned green. So, was this thing a time bomb?

"I have been conned!"

Chapter 337: The Sword Cognition Transcends Generations!

"I'll flip to the next page!"

Xu Xiaoshou did not dare to risk his life and agreed without hesitation.

He had witnessed firsthand the formidable power of the man's two fingers and also seen the destruction that the Sword Worship Technique attack brought.

If he were to let this sword cognition explode in his energy center, he feared that his body would not be intact in his death.

The spiritual senses in his mind turned the pages of the ancient book automatically with a flick.

Before Xu Xiaoshou could see the content clearly, it suddenly broke apart. It shattered into starlight before integrating with his Yuan Mansion.

Enlightenment was born from the depths of the spiritual altar.

Xu Xiaoshou's expression changed suddenly.

As he expected, this Sword Observation Manual was a spiritual technique cultivation method.

The existence of the spiritual technique cultivation method was equivalent to Xu Xiaoshou's Breathing Technique.

The higher its level, the faster the cultivation speed of the Spiritual Cultivator would be.

Unlike other cultivation methods, this Sword Observation Manual also was the most fundamental spiritual technique used to build a strong foundation.

But its function was quite different from the cultivation method of ordinary spiritual techniques.

There was no mention of spiritual energy cultivation at all. Instead, it colorfully introduced a swordsman method from ancient times.

"The Ancient Sword Technique?"

Xu Xiaoshou lightly spat out those words, somewhat unexpecting it.

He had heard of the Ancient Sword Technique.

His pure sword intent battle route was one of the paths in the Ancient Sword Technique.

He did not understand this before talking to the masked man and looking up information from the classics. Xu Xiaoshou later learned that this Ancient Sword Technique had its moment of glory back in ancient times.

At that time, spiritual energy did not exist in the heavens and earth.

As for Spiritual Cultivators, one could not even catch a glimpse of their shadows.

At that time, the so-called swordsmen were genuine swordsmen befitting of their name.

They repaired swords, understood swords, and even slept with their beloved swords until they developed an emotional connection with their swords. This bond resulted in the birth of spiritual intelligence in their sword.

It was an arduous journey. Once cultivated, its power was tremendously terrifying.

One could tell by observing Xu Xiaoshou's 10 Sections of the Finger Sword and the battle between the scruffy-looking man's Acquired Stage against four Sovereign Stages.

The downfall of the genuine ancient swordsman was due to the Ancient Sword Technique, which by consensus was too difficult to practice.

After the rise of spiritual energy, the Ancient Sword Technique was abandoned by the times. Only a few cultivated it.

People were interested in manipulating spiritual energy and pursuing powerful spiritual techniques. They could achieve an effect almost equivalent to the Ancient Sword Technique through spiritual strength.

It was only natural that they would opt for the easier road.

Even so, the powerful Ancient Sword Technique faced extinction because it was exceedingly difficult to cultivate. However, this did not mean that one could not do it.

On the contrary…

If two opponents had the same cultivation level, the one who understood the sword intent and cultivated the Ancient Sword Technique could instantly kill the other.

That was the power of the Ancient Sword Technique.

What surprised Xu Xiaoshou was not the detailed introduction of the Ancient Sword Technique in the Sword Observation Manual.

It was because this ancient book documented far more knowledge than merely the Ancient Sword Technique.

The introduction turned out to be the pièce de résistance of the Ancient Sword Technique. It was accumulated over thousands of years and then condensed into a crux through thousands of Great Paths, thus producing this discovery—a nugget of wisdom that transcended generations.

"Sword cognition!"

Xu Xiaoshou looked a little intimidated.

According to this classic, the tremendous power of the sword cognition had far exceeded his imagination.

The scruffy-looking man only used a tiny sliver of the sword cognition to launch his phenomenal strike.

The Sword Observation Manual turned out to be an Ancient Sword Technique Cultivation Method that claimed to be able to cultivate endless sword cognition.

To speak of it, this could no longer classify as a spiritual technique cultivation method.

It was the essence of the Ancient Sword Technique from ancient times. It was an ultimate cultivation method that gathered, condensed, and distilled the learnings of all predecessors.

"Who created this marvel?"

Xu Xiaoshou was already considerably impressed by the introduction of this cultivation method.

He did not know much about the Ancient Sword Technique.

even so, he knew that sword cognition transcended generations and crossed ages. This discovery did not exist at all in those ancient times.

Even the Ordinary Power of Thought realized by Xu Xiaoshou through 10 Sections of the Finger Sword was a small-scale outcome that transcended generations.

In the past, these things had never existed.

"According to Elder Sang, 10 Sections of the Finger Sword is Bazhun'an. Then, the Eighth Sword Deity would have created it…"

"This Sword Cognition is similar to Ordinary Power of Thought, but the quality is as different as day and night."

"So, was this also created by the legendary Eighth Sword Deity?"

"Hmm…"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for a moment.

First, he could not ignore the fact that the Eighth Sword Deity has met his demise. Moreover, speaking of that man alone…

Could his tattered appearance be connected to the existence of the illustrious and highly revered Eighth Sword Deity?

If they had no relation at all, then where did this guy obtain such a terrifying Sword Observation Manual?

"Are you yet another fan of the Eighth Sword Deity?" Xu Xiaoshou had a surprised look on his face.

Before this, there was the masked man. Now, it was this scruffy-looking man.

What kind of existence did this the Eighth Sword Deity possess?

If any random follower of his was so powerful and terrifying…

Could this world accommodate his existence?

"Perhaps, the masked man is this scruffy-looking man, and these two are Bazhun'an."

Xu Xiaoshou was fearful of his thoughts.

He shook his head.

"It should not be possible."

When he saw the man that day, he did consider whether the guy was the masked man.

However, the dissimilarity was unmistakable from his words and behavior. The contrast was too strong.

Although the masked man was terrifying, he always lost his words and was tongue-tied each time he faced Xu Xiaoshou. He could not exasperate Xu Xiaoshou as he did to him.

It was impossible that their previous encounters had changed his character or that he had a split personality disorder.

Besides, that masked guy was only obsessed with abducting Xu Xiaoshou to be a Saint Servant.

He had blacked out that day. If the scruffy-looking man was the masked man, would he not find himself a sack and kidnap him being presented with such a perfect opportunity?

Xu Xiaoshou knew that his way of the sword prowess brought forth by the Sword Technique Expertise was terrifying. If that man truly appreciated his talent, he would not have been able to leave the man's hold on him to return to the inn.

Shaking his head, Xu Xiaoshou stopped these meaningless thoughts.

Although, he was curious as to why the man suddenly appeared and treated him so well.

Maybe, he was simply attractive to others.

Elder Sang was like that, and the masked man was like this. Adding the scruffy-looking man to the list did not seem like an exaggeration.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the Sword Cognition above his energy center.

After the ancient book shattered into starlight, it was calm again. The sword cognition wandered along Xu Xiaoshou's body quietly, seeming to be actively contacting his spiritual source.

"What's going on?"

Xu Xiaoshou had a splitting headache. He wanted to get rid of the sword cognition, but it was not something he could remove.

It was indifferent to his Breathing Technique.

After further observation, he realized that the sword cognition had no intention of causing harm to others. Xu Xiaoshou shifted his focus to the Sword Observation Manual again.

Whoever hung the bell on the tiger's neck had to untie it.

If sword cognition was cultivated, perhaps this sword cognition from the man could be expelled from his body.

Or could it be absorbed?

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Chapter 338: Cultivating with Hidden Bitter

Recalling the devastating power of sword cognition, Xu Xiaoshou was tempted.

It was such a strong cultivation method, not a spiritual technique. He thought, 'If you wanted me to learn it, you should have just told me and not do it this way.'

'Did you really have to force me?'

'I am not a fool! I know the value of this thing!'

Xu Xiaoshou thought as he continued to recall the practice method of the Sword Observation Manual.

Just looking at the introduction was enough to make his blood rush in excitement.

However, that changed when he saw the content at the back. Once he saw it, his face turned as dark as charcoal.

"The Sword Observation Manual was named as such because it focused on sword observation!"

"Observing the sharpness of the sword, understanding the true form of the sword, comprehending the way of the sword, breathing as one with the sword, forming oceans with spiritual energy, and transverse it into the sword…"

"The tougher the life of the sword, the higher the probability of cultivating sword cognition. Hence, the best swords to cultivate sword cognition would be the famed swords."

Xu Xiaoshou took a look at it and understood the meaning of these sentences.

The cultivation of the Sword Observation Manual was in essence observing the sword.

If the sword under observation was a famed sword, cultivating sword cognition would be much easier.

What made his face turn pale was not those few lines. It was a line of fine print hidden at the end of the passage.

"Observing the sword, allowing the sword cognition to enter the body, as if knives cutting the flesh, is extremely painful. Please take caution."

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

When he read this line, he immediately knew why that scruffy-looking man used this method to force him to learn the Sword Observation Manual.

"Observing the sword is very painful? How painful?"

It was not written inside.

Based on that man's performance, wouldn't this be even more terrifying than Infernal Fire Seed?

At that moment, Xu Xiaoshou wanted to give up the idea of cultivating it.

He was a person good at everything, even at enduring pain, but he was lazy.

With the Breathing Technique to cultivate stably every day, who in the right mind would want to endure the pain of Infernal Fire Seed?

Just because the name contained the word "shou" did not mean endure. Did it mean Xu Xiaoshou had to constantly endure pain?

"Humm…"

As soon as he had that thought, the sword cognition above his energy center shook a little and started to expand.

Xu Xiaoshou almost peed his pants.

"I was kidding. I was kidding. It was just a casual remark. Please do not explode!"

"Let's all calm down!"

Something magical happened.

This broken thing actually understood his thoughts and regained its silence.

Xu Xiaoshou's whole body immediately went soft.

"This f*cking…"

That stupid man had thought of everything.

'What is going on with me? I have not escaped from Elder Sang's grasp yet, and now I have fallen to another stupid man's trap.'

'Oh, how sorrowful!'

Xu Xiaoshou felt the unjustness of fate.

This feeling of having everything planned for him was something that he did not like, yet it seemed like what he was afraid of most always happened.

He first thought that leaving Tiansang Spiritual Palace would enable him to escape from the cage and gain his freedom.

He never thought that the words Elder Sang told him on the night he became his teacher would come true.

This was what it meant to get trapped by a stronger and larger lock right after escaping from a smaller space.

"Red Dog, and the scrap-collecting man… Where is the end of all of this?"

Xu Xiaoshou clenched his fists.

He did not intend to bow down.

If given sufficient time, he was confident that he could break all these chains. Unfortunately, he was lacking time.

"Train!"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated no longer and set his resolve.

Not only would he learn the Sword Observation Manual, but he would also even pick up Elder Sang's Infernal Heavenly Flames – White Flames and Dragon Melting Realm.

"Isn't it just some pain?"

"Once I endure this period of suffering, it will be all rainbows after the storm!"

The person who made him determined to endure such suffering was not Elder Sang nor that scruffy man. It was Red Dog.

"Sovereign…"

Xu Xiaoshou's faced darkened.

He thought that his enemies would not be at the Sovereign Stage so quickly, but Red Dog's appearance destroyed his wishful thinking.

That man's horrifying vitality and explosive attack power…

Those were what he could not take at this stage of his cultivation.

If not for that man arriving, Red Dog might have killed him.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaoshou stopped hesitating. He sat down cross-legged and took Hidden Bitter out.

It was a tenth-grade spiritual sword.

Xu Xiaoshou actually had a sword of a higher grade on him that he did not use, which was Cheng Xingchu's spiritual sword.

Because of the introduction of the Sword Observation Manual, the method of observing the sword could benefit the body and the grade of the sword could be increased with the cultivation.

Xu Xiaoshou did not know where the famed swords initially came from.

He now knew.

The mainland's 21 famed swords were all in essence some strong being's sword from the past.

During that era, pure swordsmen did not use the best material to forge their swords.

Although of good quality, those grades of swords were not able to form connections with their owners.

The strongest existences were instead those that had grown with their owners since they were young and formed spiritual connections with them.

Once the sword developed a spirit of its own, it would be able to cultivate as well.

Xu Xiaoshou had finally found a way of upgrading Hidden Bitter without spending any money.

He was actually fine with spending some money and had even thought of re-forging Hidden Bitter.

But Hidden Bitter had already developed some spirit. He was afraid that if he reforged it, the spirit might not be able to endure it and disappear.

That would be equivalent to him directly killing the spirit of the sword.

"Spiritual possession of the sword?"

Xu Xiaoshou was still reluctant to do that sort of thing.

The appearance of the Sword Observation Manual solved this problem.

'Dang…'

Xu Xiaoshou pulled out the black sword, casually threw the scabbard aside, and mumbled, "Little fella, I have found a way to upgrade you, and that is…"

"Couple cultivation!"

The body of the black sword curved as if frightened and instinctively wanted to fly out.

Xu Xiaoshou was joyful.

It had been a while since he had seen this sword. Now, it seemed that it had even more spirit.

He grabbed hold of this scaredy-cat, accumulated sword cognition onto his fingertip, and gently fondled the body of the sword.

Hidden Bitter shook intensely. This was a form of love that came from its owner. It was something that any spiritual sword would not be able to resist.

It made a sound of excitement as the body of the sword stood straight and tall. It looked proud.

Xu Xiaoshou felt the dirt on his hand and felt a little sorry for it.

This black sword had silently followed him for so long and had endured a lot.

It had been punished harshly when it tried to take over its owner, had been hit explosively by Luo Leilei's Forbidden Lightning Purgatory, and had even fought many weapons of a much higher grade than itself.

This fella had endured so much pain that it should not have had to at this stage.

To be honest, it being able to survive until now was really something.

Even after all of that, with just one touch from Xu Xiaoshou, it still experienced climax.

How was it possible to not feel sorry for such an existence and not give it the status it deserved?

"Come, let us cultivate!"

"From tonight onward, you are bound to grow stronger."

Xu Xiaoshou held Hidden Bitter. He put it on his knee, followed the sword observation method of cultivation in the Sword Observation Manual, gathered his power, and looked straight at the sword.

One breath…

Two breaths…

Three breaths…

Hidden Bitter curved in shyness and started to curl up.

Xu Xiaoshou's face turned green. Veins were popping from his forehead.

"We are cultivating, understand?"

"You f*cking lie down properly and don't move around!"

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Chapter 339: The Inn Destroyed

A beating had followed the intense scolding.

It finally occurred to Hidden Bitter that this was not playing but a serious matter.

Xu Xiaoshou watched as his pants were dragged down by the scabbard of the sword. A pair of fuming eyes stared intensely at it. It was beyond embarrassing for Hidden Bitter. Even if Xu Xiaoshou was its master, he should not have to resort to such ways.

Hidden Bitter tried to evade again, but Xu Xiaoshou had learned its tricks. He caught Hidden Bitter's head and the tail and straightened the black sword.

Xu Xiaoshou disregarded the resistance from the black sword. Instead, he focused all of his energy on his eyes and look straight ahead.

The technique of sword observation to unlock a sword cognition was not learned through simply looking. If it was that simple, anyone who had picked up a sword and looked at it would be able to cultivate into high-level individuals.

This specific form of spiritual cultivation had one criterion of extreme difficulty, which was psychokinesis.

Psychokinesis was the combination of form and will. Since it hinged on the overlap between the two elements, it posed a challenge for one to actualize.

Coincidentally, Xu Xiaoshou discovered that he had almost mastered the ability of ordinary power of thought. This was an astonishing discovery for him.

In his mind, he pondered if the existence of the 10 Sections of the Finger Sword was a prerequisite for the cultivation of the Sword Observation Manual.

'Is this a coincidence?'

Xu Xiaoshou wondered if he was reading too much into this, but the knowledge that he was able to directly cross over this threshold was comforting for him.

He had arrived at the second threshold of the Sword Observation Technique. If psychokinesis obstructed more than 99 percent of cultivators, the second threshold would have reduced the remaining one percent of them by half.

"Higher knowledge of the way of the sword!"

This was a new concept for him. The technique was really about the understanding of the way of the sword.

In other words, this was Sword Will. If a sword was incapable of cultivating Sword Will, the cultivation of the Sword Observation Technique was out of the question. The innate Sword Will was the passing criteria to the Sword Observation Technique.

However, it was only a passing criterion.

The higher knowledge of the way of the sword was not limited to Sword Will. It was the actual understanding of the fundamentals of the sword. It was the canon of the sword.

Aside from Sword Will, everything else regarding the sword, such as the forms and techniques of the sword and the physical state of the sword, were included in the higher knowledge of the way of the sword.

The immensely comprehensive subject was different for each individual.

Xu Xiaoshou had understood why this was a challenging technique to cultivate.

After all, no one in this world dared to claim their understanding of the way of the sword was the sole truth.

Xu Xiaoshou wondered if the Eighth Sword Deity would have questioned their personal interpretation as well. He dismissed the thought with a clear of his throat. Someone like the Eighth Sword Deity should not have had problems with that.

Despite realizing what an obstacle the Sword Observation Technique was, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes were glowing with determination. He was not willing to give up.

He had stumbled onto another pleasant discovery. His own Sword Technique Expertise had cleared the second threshold.

He had always thought Sword Technique Expertise was a few self-made sword moves and nothing more. He never thought that there was irreplaceable value in the precious and endless foundational training.

With this foundation, he used the Sword Observation Technique to observe Hidden Bitter. After he had entered the mysterious realm of realization, Xu Xiaoshou learned more about understanding the Sword Technique Expertise.

Perhaps the Passive Skill encompassed the entirety of the sword. Furthermore, he had never expected that his sword techniques and understanding of the sword would subconsciously improve because of an improvement in the Sword Technique Expertise.

"Maybe if I attempted to cultivate the White Cloud Sword Technique, I will be able to master it?"

Xu Xiaoshou had an unreadable expression on his face.

That spiritual technique was challenging to master, and it was a drawback that had bothered him for a long time.

He initially thought that he had to draw a Passive Skill that was under the realization quality type to attain a higher level of realization. With the presence of the Sword Technique Expertise, he now had drastically pulled up his understanding of the sword.

He had been worried about nothing all along.

Once Xu Xiaoshou had this realization, he was less inclined to learn the White Cloud Sword Technique. For spiritual techniques, there was only a slight possibility that it would reach the state of a pure sword technique.

Since he had already embarked on the path of the Ancient Sword Technique, there was no reason for him to give up on the fundamental foundations in pursuit of a specific technique. Moreover, as long as he had the Sword Technique Expertise, it was not necessary to learn any new sword form.

A fisherman would not fear the lack of fish. He had nothing more to worry about.

Over time, Xu Xiaoshou had successfully crossed the two thresholds. The presence of the sword cognition was beginning to feel less and less far for him.

With time, Xu Xiaoshou stared intensely with his drying eyes that were filled with psychokinesis. He had finally seen in the depths of the black sword, the purest elements of its nature.

"Sword cognition?"

A ribbon of white fog arose from the black smoke.

In the next moment, Hidden Bitter jerked violently and started to jump and shake aggressively.

It was ecstatic as it jumped. It was almost as if it saw how the ways of heavens had blessed it with powers and saw its limitless growth and future.

The white fog poured out of the black sword. Once the sword had absorbed enough nourishment from the Great Path, it transformed into a razor-sharp blade.

The silver light shone brightly. Under Xu Xiaoshou's control, the stream of sword cognition returned into the sword form of Hidden Bitter.

The sword transformed with a hum. The new sword seemed much brighter and shinier. The scratches on the body of the blade seemed to have been slightly patched up.

The sword was completely renewed like an elder who had returned to the young glory days. The black sword was high-spirited. It let out a yell of excitement and almost severed Xu Xiaoshou's control.

Xu Xiaoshou cursed in his mind and forced the stream of sword cognition away from Hidden Bitter. The sword cognition passed through his left hand and flowed into his body.

"Scoff!"

Like his finger had been struck by an electrocuted silver needle, blood started to splatter. Before the sudden pain passed, the pain from the needle had penetrated his body out of nowhere.

"Ouch!"

Xu Xiaoshou threw Hidden Bitter to the side as if he was electrocuted. He felt his heart palpitate hard. His fingers felt like they were breaking apart.

With a sharp sound, the out-of-control sword cognition transformed into a silver needle and flew out of Xu Xiaoshou's shaking fingers.

A black line emerged in the void and opened. Xu Xiaoshou was hit with a premonition of disaster and reached out to stop the action.

However, he was too late.

Boom!

The barrier of the inn split open instantly. Bright sunlight fell through the ceiling. Xu Xiaoshou was stunned for words.

"This…"

The stream of sword cognition was barely able to be circulated through his body. It was not capable of being called that level of sword cognition. Yet, the soundless attack packed destruction that was the equivalent of the 10 Sections of the Finger Sword.

The only difference between the two was the terrifying noise that accompanied the 10 Sections of the Finger Sword.

The silver needle was a wicked tool of destruction. The needle barely made any sound, yet it mercilessly chopped the inn in half.

"Ah, no! Was the inn hit?"

Bang!

The room exploded within seconds. Xin Gugu gripped his golden staff and prepared for any oncoming attackers.

He had been resting in the nearby rooms. He picked up the familiar presence immediately.

"Is that the Sword Will of the scruffy-looking man?"

It did not matter whether it was or not. The energy came from the direction of Xu Xiaoshou. That could mean an enemy attack.

He flew into Xu Xiaoshou's room, but all he saw was the young man with an awkward expression.

"What's going on?" Xin Gugu scanned the room in a panic. He was trying to locate the terrifying scruffy-looking man.

Xu Xiaoshou remained silent.

'Nothing. I was training,' he thought, but he held his tongue from saying those words aloud and ignored Xin Gugu. However, with his Perception, he saw the inn owner rush toward the scene of destruction in panic.

"Oh no!' Xu Xiaoshou thought. "We might lose our rooms at the inn!"

His mind started to race. 'Do I have any good excuse to push this responsibility on something else?'

This was a matter of extreme urgency.

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Chapter 340: House Binding Plan

"My dear customer!"

The owner of the inn charged angrily toward them. Before he could let his anger run, Xu Xiaoshou stopped him.

"Say no more. I'll pay for all the costs."

The abrupt statement from the wealthy patron stunned the inn owner. Even Xin Gugu was shocked by Xu Xiaoshou's words.

"Well… We will need to calculate the losses."

Xu Xiaoshou briefly glanced at the destruction within the inn.

The protections from the barrier were strong. Even though his sword cognition had broken through his room, he was unsure where the remaining attack was transferred.

At the very least, the other patrons staying at the inn were safe and sound.

It was unfortunate that the hall on the second floor had been split from the center. He would have to pay quite a large amount to cover all of the damage.

He waved his hands and said, "You can rest first. This thing is no big deal."

The inn owner heaved a deep sigh of relief as he turned around to calculate the payment.

He was in a rush as he was afraid the customer might escape before he properly paid up.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoshou felt his head start to ache.

If this were to occur every time he attempted to cultivate, he would have a lifetime worth of damage payments to make.

Xu Xiaoshou thought that rather than continue wasting money to pay for damages, it was more convenient for him to have his own house in the city center. It would greatly reduce the troubles that his cultivation seemed to cause.

Moreover, cultivating in his own residence meant more onlookers would observe him as he cultivated as well.

Additionally, money to purchase a personal estate was not a problem for him. Xu Xiaoshou was greatly motivated by this idea.

"Xin Gugu!"

Xin Gugu turned at the sound of Xu Xiaoshou's voice. "Hm?"

"Are you free right now?"

"What?" Xin Gugu's sixth sense sensed that something was amiss.

Xu Xiaoshou replied, "That day you were supposed to save me, you were late. If that man had not appeared, I could be dead right now."

Xin Gugu stared at Xu Xiaoshou.

Belittled, Passive Points 1.

"Don't beat around the bush! What do you want?"

Xu Xiaoshou smiled triumphantly. "You see, we really need a house," he replied. "We need something that gives us the private space to freely cultivate and move, you know what I mean?"

"I'm sure you would need this free space too. I mean, you are…"

Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow. Xin Gugu was a ghost beast host body and needed a space such as this more than Xu Xiaoshou did.

Xin Gugu's face darkened. Was this an attempt to extort from him? If Xin Gugu had the financial power, he would not have brought them to that inn to begin with.

"I'm broke," he answered immediately.

Xu Xiaoshou felt wronged. "I'm not asking you to pay. I just wanted you to find a spot that we can use freely in the future."

"Is that all?" Xin Gugu replied in surprise.

He watched as the young man in front of him pulled out a prestigious-looking golden card from his robes. Even though Xin Gugu was not in close contact with the wealthy, he could tell this was a VIP-only card from the Plenty Gold Company. It should be worth over a few hundred thousand dollars.

Xin Gugu was stupefied. "Where did you get something like that?"

Xu Xiaoshou lifted his brows. It seemed like Xin Gugu had lived a rather difficult life. He may have faced fearsome features and murdered countless people, but he did not seem to be capable of earning a living. He did not seem to know to loot the possessions of the ones that he had slain.

"Don't worry too much about where it came from. Here, take it and help me buy a house."

"Find the good ones from Plenty Gold Company, preferably somewhere a bit more secluded but not too much that we will be assassinated."

"Just find what you can. No pressure."

Xu Xiaoshou lightly patted Xin Gugu's shoulders.

Xin Gugu instantly filled with excitement. He looked forward to spending money on a purchase.

He hummed in agreement and bolted off. He suddenly stopped himself.

'This is wrong!'

'Am I becoming this rascal's maid? How can he assign this type of errand to me? Xin Gugu angrily thought, "An Innate Stage individual asking a Sovereign to run his errands… Is he crazy?"

Xin Gugu decided to turn back. At that moment, he heard Xu Xiaoshou yell one last instruction. "Remember to save some rooms for you and your sister as well!"

Those words made Xin Gugu hesitate. 'A yard of my own?' he thought.

Xin Gugu felt moved. He may have been a Sovereign, but he was relatively on the younger side of the community. His age only permitted him a small rundown room in Xu Yue Grey Palace where the elders assembled.

He was constantly on the move to complete his missions as well. This had given him plenty of money, but he did not have time or the mood to enjoy a life of leisure. Unlike Xu Xiaoshou, he was not carefree and happy-go-lucky in nature. To live a lifestyle similar to him was difficult for Xin Gugu

However, even if he knew he would not stay in it long, the idea of a yard that belonged to him and the image of a happy and warm lifestyle was moving to Xin Gugu regardless.

He clutched the card and determinedly stepped onto the footpath outside the door.

"Nice!"

Xu Xiaoshou raised a clenched fist behind him. For an unknown reason, Xu Xiaoshou felt that something was different this time. After Xin Gugu saved him, he had remained by his side instead of leaving at the first moment. It was not possible or believable that a Sovereign like Xin Gugu would have the luxury of time to stick around.

By simply looking at the constant state of movement Xin Gugu and Jiao Tangtang on a daily basis, one could tell they were individuals with their destiny instructed to them. Yet, Xin Gugu decided to stay. This greatly confused Xu Xiaoshou.

He wondered if it was his guilt regarding his delay in the rescue mission, so he stayed a while longer to make up for that. Anyhow, Xu Xiaoshou was not oblivious enough to ask him directly. If he had asked, it may be interpreted as an attempt for Xin Gugu to leave, even if that was not his intention.

Xin Gugu was a powerful Sovereign. Though he had not witnessed him in battle, based on the stories told by Jiao Tangtang, Xin Gugu was not a simple character. Therefore, someone like him should not be asked to leave. In fact, he should be convinced to stay for every possible reason.

The destruction of the inn and the proposal to purchase their own personal space were an excellent crossover of fate.

It mattered little if Xu Xiaoshou had bought the house. In the event Xu Xiaoshou had not bought it, he would not be able to stay for long either.

In half a month or less, he would have to return to the Tiansang Spirit Palace and face the music from Elder Sang.

More importantly, the idea of private space was more tempting for a ghost beast host body. If he could use the house Xin Gugu bought as means to bind Xin Gugu to stay, he could take revenge on Red Dog for almost murdering him.

The revenge was closely carved into Xu Xiaoshou's heart. He would not forget it.

Red Dog was only one killer. After the death of Red Dog, there were others, such as Red Cat and Blue Rabbit, who would come after him. As long as the one who was behind all of this remained alive and his warrant was active, he would continue to live a rather intense life.

As Xu Xiaoshou was deep in thought, the house opposite the second floor suddenly pushed out. Three figures emerged from the dust.

"The three swordsmen?"

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned. The men walking toward him were the three persons he had bumped into at the doorstep of the Plenty Gold Company.

They had left a deep impression on him since two of the three swordsmen were carrying two of the famed swords out of the 21 famed swords found on the continent.

For people who looked as young as they did to have such thick and dense potentials made the three swordsmen very intimidating individuals.

Gu Qing, the swordsman who appeared to be their leader wiggled his eyebrows as he voiced out in suspicion. His hand was holding his head as he spoke.

"Sword cognition?"

"Sword cognition?"

The two behind him repeated his words like copycats and followed the same head-holding gesture. Their expressions were the exact replica of the man in front of them.

Though it had been only a few days, Xu Xiaoshou was now far away from the clueless youth he was then.

"Sword cognition?"

He was shocked. It did not occur to him that these three persons were able to recognize the concept of sword cognition as well.

At that moment, each individual had located a target on their own. Instantly, the four pairs of eyes locked on each other. Sparks started to fly in the air.

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