Passive Points: 66,888.
It had been a few days since the first lottery.
However, in this short time, Xu Xiaoshou had surprisingly accumulated more than 60,000 Passive Points.
Xu Xiaoshou stared at the auspicious string of numbers and could not help but think about the merciless slashing done by Red Dog before his demise.
The 60,000 points were not accumulated in a glorious way.
Some of them were mere points gained in exchange for the pain Xu Xiaoshou underwent as pieces of his flesh were cut off by Red Dog.
If he had a choice, he would never have traded the pain and shame of his physical body being damaged and injured for those Passive Points.
At least, he should have gotten more like 600,000 Passive Points.
His body shivered. Xu Xiaoshou put an end to his nonsensical thoughts.
The attack from Red Dog had nearly sent him into the pits of hell. If he had not managed to barely scrape by, he would have lost all of his combat powers with that one attack.
To be honest, Xu Xiaoshou was not interested in Passive Points gained through life-and-death battles.
However, since the points had already been given to him, he was certainly not going to reject them.
Clearing his head of these thoughts, Xu Xiaoshou returned his attention to the Red Interface at the very end and made up his mind.
‘No lottery this time!’
‘My Passive Points are too low. If the powerful items I get don’t match up with the skill level, it would be useless anyway.’
‘Besides, from previous lottery experiences, the 60,000 Passive Points are at best 10 consecutive draws.’
‘By rough estimation, it would not be enough to fill a tooth gap!’
‘I’m preparing to take Zhang Taiying on now, so the good materials should be used on the blades!’
After the decision had been made and sealed in his heart, Xu Xiaoshou quickly turned his attention to the panel above him.
He had chosen to give up on the lottery and awakening as they were things that had a great probability of failure. Since he had decided to abandon them, he could only turn to rashly raise his current skill levels.
‘Which one should I level up?’
Xu Xiaoshou’s gaze locked on the Expertise Passive Skill at the bottom of the screen without much hesitation.
Sword Technique Expertise (Innate Level 3).
The Passive Skill technique was temporarily sidelined by Xu Xiaoshou’s combat system.
It was not due to it being weak. Rather, it had been sidelined because it was far too strong.
On the long path Xu Xiaoshou had walked, he had been stubbornly and unreasonable using his foundations in the face of the enemies and reliant on Strengthen.
However, in every table-turning situation, Sword Technique Expertise had carried the burden of the battle before anyway awakening of skills.
He had restrained from leveling up the technique because he felt that his progress was too fast.
The logic behind this was not limited to the cultivation leveling. The realization of Sword Will was the same as well.
What would have taken others 10 years or decades but still failed to realize had only taken Xu Xiaoshou a month. He had progressed from nothing to the level of an Innate Stage of Sword Will.
That was not all there was to it.
To reach the Innate Stage of Sword Will was at best a signal to others that Xu Xiaoshou was a prodigy.
However, if he were to press on and push until he had reached the stage of a master swordsman…
As someone who had always considered the worst possible outcome when it came to deliberation, Xu Xiaoshou was unsure about the consequences of that act.
He was afraid that others would capture him for research purposes and take him apart piece by piece to study him.
However, the time was nigh, and Xu Xiaoshou could not wait any longer.
‘Half a month or so should have passed since I had reached the Innate Stage of Sword Will at the Windcloud Competition…’
‘Or not?’
‘Whatever, let’s not sweat the details and say it has been half a month!’
‘Half a month to reach the Master Stage of Sword Will from the Innate Stage does not seem too much.’
Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head and scratched it slightly.
He thought about Su Qianqian and wondered how long it had taken the girl to reach her current stage.
‘Drop it. Don’t think about that,’ he thought.
He warned himself that if he had kept these thoughts around, he would be afraid to attempt to reach a higher stage.
‘Right, Bazhun’an!’
His confidence in reaching a new stage returned the moment he changed his mindset.
‘There are geniuses in this world.’
‘There is the legend of the Eighth Sword Deity, who became an Innate in three breathes and a sword deity in three years!’
‘Even if I took just half a month from Innate Stage to reach Master Stage of Sword Will, I’m still trash when compared to the deity!’
Xu Xiaoshou nodded convincingly.
‘Yes, I’m trash!’
He coaxed himself into a state of relaxation with self-reassurance. While doing so, his hand reached out without hesitation to exchange for Skill Points.
Sword Technique Expertise (Innate Level 3).
Sword Technique Expertise (Innate Level 5).
A huge wave of knowledge surged into his mind. Xu Xiaoshou shook his head slightly.
He dared not to press another time. He had limited himself to two levels at a time to prevent his head from exploding with the surge of knowledge.
After he had carefully read and learned the wave of fundamental sword techniques until he had fully ingested and internalized the knowledge, he reached out and continued the next action.
Sword Technique Expertise (Innate Level 7).
…
Sword Technique Expertise (Master Level 1).
As the skill level hit the Master Stage, a chilling presence emerged from Xu Xiaoshou’s body and exploded all around.
At this moment, every swordsman on Nantian Street felt a pang of anxiety in their hearts. Their personal swords whistled and suddenly broke out of their sheaths.
All of the swordsmen looked up subconsciously.
In the middle of the endless twilight sky, rays of green and gray had replaced the light of the day.
Those who held up their heads to look witnessed a stray white cloud drifting leisurely at the edge of the sky.
The relaxed state was outside of the boundaries and rules of day and night. It pulled the onlookers into an impeccably beautiful fantasy realm.
In another second, the fantasy realm shattered.
Thousands of swords danced in the void. The Great Path called out, “All Swords to the Master!”
The sound of the vibration was so loud that it shook the air.
The sky-splitting screech of the sword boomed through the courtyard. It had pierced through close to half of Tiansang City.
At the same time, many powerful big names in Tiansang City felt their senses tingle.
Whether it was the City Lord Mansion, the Big Families, or groups who had varied strong powers that were either earned or inherited had collectively turned their complete attention to another direction.
All of them had simultaneously turned toward the direction of Xu Xiaoshou’s location.
As Xu Xiaoshou awakened from the fantasy realm, he felt a sense of premonition grip his heart.
He had completely forgotten about the screeches of the sword that was produced as one reached the state of the master swordsman. It was a sign to the world that he, Xu Xiaoshou, had attained the stage of master swordsman.
This was certainly not part of his plan.
He had attained master swordsman to assassinate Zhang Taiying. He was at a loss of what to do. Everyone now had complete knowledge that he had attained the Master Stage.
Not willing to wait a single second, he opened the Mansion as he gained just a grain of consciousness and disappeared inside of it with a whoosh.
Clang! Bang! Clang!
The thousands of swords on the street had lost the target of the master they were returning to. The swords rained down onto the streets in a cacophony of clangs and bangs.
All of the people on the street were too stunned for words.
“What happened?”
“It seemed like someone reached the stage of a master swordsman.”
“Yeah, the state of will definitely belongs to a master swordsman. We haven’t seen this in years, have we?”
“The scene of All Swords to the Master normally appears at the initial attainment as a master swordsman and those who could not contain the state of will. Judging by this…”
“Based on the swords we see, what happened?”
“Could it be that they failed?”
It was not just the people on the street who were confused. Even the well-known strongmen who hoped to visit the newly crowned master swordsman had suddenly lost the direction of the swordsman.
“The presence had completely disappeared.”
…
Back in the Abundant Spiritual Inn…
“Second Elder Brother, who do you think this master swordsman is?” Gu Qingsan asked.
“Elder Brother, I have a hunch that it might be…” Gu Qinger turned to look at the leader of the three.
“No more hunches. Follow me. Let’s check it for ourselves!”
Gu Qingyi gripped his sword and waved for the two brother disciples to follow.
The most suspicious individual around was undoubtedly the man who had a Forged Body.
No matter how hard he thought, it was impossible to separate the man from the two occurrences of sword cognition.
Additionally, his sixth sense had supported this hunch.
“Perhaps, the physique cultivator is also a swordsman.”
The three rushed toward the room with the door that they had previously broken.
The door had already been repaired, and the barrier had been perfectly fixed up as well.
“Let’s go, my little brother!” Gu Qinger nodded toward the door.
However, Gu Qingsan hesitated.
“Elder Brother and Second Elder Brother, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Since it is someone else’s room, shouldn’t we knock?”
He had grown afraid of the man.
“No can do!”
Gu Qingsan rejected the idea almost immediately. “That fella is good at hiding. If we knock, he will have the chance to deceive us again. The best way is to have the element of surprise and catch him in his act as we breakthrough!”
“That’s true elder brother!” Gu Qinger and Gu Qingsan instantly nodded in agreement.
Gu Qingsan stepped back and allowed for some space between him and the door. He inhaled deeply and straightened a finger.
The fingers made a chilling swish sound as they slashed through.
The room’s door had been cut into pieces instantly by the Sword Aura and collapsed with a loud boom.
The three charged into the room together without much thought.
“Are you still hiding you rascal? We already figured you out…”
“Hm?”
The three immediately stared at the two white figures on the bed and fell silent.
Two people?
The number seemed a little off to the three.
The room was dark, and the bed was shaking slightly. The figures of the bodies seemed more white than usual.
Lying on the bed was an unfamiliar man who was quivering with fear. The unfamiliar woman next to him grabbed her body immediately and let out a shrill scream.
“Ah!”