Chapter 3 - Strengthen

Xu Xiaoshou really was rich.

He had a small pond of spirit fishes, a fake mountain, and a few tall spirit trees in his yard.

Xu Xiaoshou had wanted to go back to sleep after he closed the door. However, he noticed that a new section had appeared in the red interface in his mind: Store.

He s.h.i.+fted his gaze down to the text beneath it. Pa.s.sive Points: 64.

Xu Xiaoshou was elated. He had earned a lot of Pa.s.sive Points just now. Could it be that he had only unlocked the store when his Pa.s.sive Points had reached two digits?

He tapped into the store. The store was empty save for a red gift box.

"Pa.s.sive Gift Box (Purchase: 10 Pa.s.sive Points)."

Xu Xiaoshou had tried to upgrade his skills with his Pa.s.sive Points last night but hadn"t been able to figure out how to do it. He realized now that the Pa.s.sive Points were used to purchase items.

Without thinking too much, he immediately tapped to purchase the gift box. He tore the gift box open and the notification panel refreshed.

"Skill Point +10."

"Pa.s.sive Key +3."

At the same time, the store shook as a red wheel appeared. This wheel was a size smaller than the black wheel from last time. Also, the surface of the wheel was obscured by a layer of gray fog. He couldn"t see its contents.

The corners of Xu Xiaoshou"s mouth involuntarily twitched when he saw the wheel, and his eyes dulled. He immediately recalled the needle that he had broken the last time.

Two other gray items appeared within the store section.

"Skill Point (Purchase: 1000 Pa.s.sive Points)."

"Pa.s.sive Key (Purchase: 1000 Pa.s.sive Points)."

Xu Xiaoshou was startled when he saw these two notifications. It was that expensive?

Had he just purchased 10,000 Pa.s.sive Points worth of items just with 10 Pa.s.sive Points just now?

"Wow!" Xu Xiaoshou"s eyes widened. He realized that the gift box was equivalent to a bundle for new players that didn"t measure up to his level. It might as well have been free!

It felt great!

"Pa.s.sive Key… That must be used to activate this wheel, right?" Xu Xiaoshou deliberated. Had the wheel upgraded itself after being ravaged the last time? It was no longer activated manually?

He didn"t have to think too hard about the Skill Points. Those were definitely used for upgrading his pa.s.sive skills.

"So do I upgrade the Breathing Technique?" he thought to himself. But Xu Xiaoshou quickly tossed that idea to the side. "Let me try the Pa.s.sive Key first. I might be able to obtain other pa.s.sive skills."

The Windcloud Compet.i.tion of the outer yard would be held in three days. It was a compet.i.tion for the bosses who wanted to place in the top 100 of the Windcloud Scoreboard. However, to Xu Xiaoshou, it was an elimination exam.

He might be able to continue training in the Tiansang Spirit Palace if he obtained a decent pa.s.sive skill from this red wheel. He wouldn"t have a place to stay if he were really ousted out of the Spirit Palace.

Xu Xiaoshou inserted the key into the small hole at the base of the red wheel. The fog above his head became even thicker. He couldn"t see a thing.

"Give me a chance. Give me something that can instantly make me stronger!"

After he turned the key, Xu Xiaoshou placed his hands together and started to pray, "I don"t want techniques. I don"t want techniques. They can"t help me for the time being…"

The gray fog billowed. Xu Xiaoshou didn"t know what was going on within the fog, but the notification panel soon refreshed.

"Better luck next time!" it read.

Xu Xiaoshou"s expression turned black. "What"s going on here?" he thought. "Would I really have better luck next time?"

Couldn"t they have come up with something that an average person could use? Why was the system always so evil? It was just like the needle from the previous wheel!

Xu Xiaoshou finished venting internally. He still had two keys. Xu Xiaoshou inserted another key and then shouted like a maniac, "Go! RNGesus!"

The gray fog billowed. Xu Xiaoshou looked at the notification panel expectantly.

"One extra key!" Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"Hey, what"s the meaning of this?" he thought. "I spent one key to get one key and nothing else? Are they just toying with me?"

Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes back as far as they"d go. "Do you think you"re Mr. Big Shot or something? One extra key?"

"Well, I"m not amused!"

He had used two keys and had two keys left.

Xu Xiaoshou could no longer stand such torture. He inserted one key and stopped looking at the notification panel. He estimated that sufficient time had pa.s.sed and saw that the key had vanished. He then pushed his last key fiercely into the hole.

"Nothing good, nothing good…" he muttered, trying to jinx it as he stole glances at the notification bar.

"Obtained an Extended Pa.s.sive Skill: Strengthen!"

"Better luck next time!"

Jinxing himself had worked!

Xu Xiaoshou slapped himself on the thigh when he looked at the line of text. He"d finally gotten something good.

However, after he read the sentence more closely…

"Strengthen?"

Xu Xiaoshou was so flabbergasted he almost vomited blood.

Why not just say I"m scrawny while you"re at it?

"Oh? Maybe it"s not what I think?"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered that the Breathing Technique he"d gotten the other time also had an una.s.suming name, yet had a marvelous effect. Perhaps Strengthen would also have an unexpected effect?

"Let"s hope so!" Xu Xiaoshou collected himself and looked at the red interface. He noticed that the interface had changed again.

One, Fundamental Pa.s.sive Skills.

Two, Extended Pa.s.sive Skills.

Three, Store.

"There"s an extra Extended Pa.s.sive Skills tab?" He looked again at the notification panel and realized that Strengthen was an Extended Pa.s.sive Skill. It belonged to a different category than the Breathing Technique.

"The cla.s.sification is quite detailed…"

He tapped open the tab and saw a small line of text at the bottom: Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 1).

"Could it be a technique that will strengthen my body?" Xu Xiaoshou pinched his arm. His arm hadn"t become more muscular because of the appearance of the pa.s.sive skill.

Could it be that its level wasn"t high enough?

Xu Xiaoshou was conflicted. He still had ten Pa.s.sive Points. What should he use them on?

The Breathing Technique was a fundamental technique and naturally worth leveling up. However, it took a long time to acc.u.mulate its effects. He had only managed to achieve a breakthrough yesterday because he already had a strong foundation.

On the other hand, Strengthen, if it was as he guessed, was a pa.s.sive skill that would strengthen his physical body. It was undoubtedly a more suitable choice for leveling up at this moment.

He would have a fighting chance at the Windcloud Compet.i.tion if his body could be enhanced. At the very least, he wouldn"t be eliminated.

After weighing the options, Xu Xiaoshou ultimately decided to use his Skill Points on Strengthen. What if there was a miracle?

He used his Skill Points in the interface. The notification panel immediately got updated.

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 2)."

Xu Xiaoshou constantly monitored his body for changes. He didn"t know if it was an illusion or not, but he felt that he now had more strength, but the transformation wasn"t apparent. He continued tapping on the skill level on the panel.

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 3)."

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 4)."

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 5)."

The transformation was much more obvious this time. Xu Xiaoshou felt his muscles bulge slightly, and he no longer looked scrawny.

"That"s good!" Xu Xiaoshou was elated. He punched the ground, and there was a dull thud from the impact. He"d created a slight indention in the ground.

"That"s great. It"s obvious that my strength has increased. Could the Acquired Stage of the pa.s.sive skill be equivalent to the ten levels of Spiritual Cultivation of Spiritual Cultivators?" Xu Xiaoshou murmured to himself.

There were ten levels of Spiritual Cultivation when Spiritual Cultivators first started their training. After those ten levels was the Innate Stage.

Thus, the first ten levels of Spiritual Cultivation was called the Acquired Stage. No problem there. The technique was only an Acquired Lv. 5 right now, yet it had such power. He"d be able to break a few rib bones if he punched a person!

If it was as he thought and the levels of the technique were equivalent to the levels of a Spiritual Cultivator, wouldn"t his body reach the Innate stage if he put all of his Skill Points into the technique?

"Oh, wow!" Xu Xiaoshou felt a wave of pa.s.sion. It was more difficult for the physical body to reach the Innate Stage than to reach the Innate Stage in Spiritual Cultivation!

He had wanted to split the Skill Points evenly between the two techniques. However, he now decided to put all of his Skill Points into Strengthen. He wanted to see what kind of effect it would have.

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 6)."

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 7)."

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 8)."

His body"s power continuously skyrocketed. Xu Xiaoshou felt as if he"d taken drugs. He felt like he had infinite energy.

But after his muscles had reached a size that could be considered muscular for the average person, his muscles no longer bulged and started to tone instead, becoming perfectly defined.

Xu Xiaoshou took off his s.h.i.+rt, revealing a beautiful, toned body underneath.

Boom!

He shattered the ground with a punch!

It was powerful enough to rival a Spiritual Cultivation Level Eight fighter!

Xu Xiaoshou was in awe. "Too powerful. This is too powerful!"

He should be able to rank within the first few hundred of the Windcloud Scoreboard just with that fist alone. It was more than enough for him to avoid elimination!

There was a glimmer in Xu Xiaoshou"s eyes. He wasn"t going to stop here. He still had three Skill Points, go!

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 9)."

"Strengthen (Acquired Lv. 10)."

"Strengthen (Innate Lv. 1)."

Xu Xiaoshou"s mind turned blank with bliss after he saw the last line of text, "Innate, to think that it"s really innate!"

Every inch of muscle in his body started to twitch violently. The next moment, his muscles expelled sticky black impurities that smelled immensely foul.

Xu Xiaoshou looked up and let out a long howl, giving himself a fierce slap.

Pow!

He wasn"t dreaming!

He punched the ground. With a thud, a palm-sized crater appeared, and web-like cracks spread out from the crater"s center for a few inches.

That was just half his power!

Xu Xiaoshou was dazed. He had only used half of his power. If he were to punch someone"s head at full power…

Hehe.

Xu Xiaoshou felt that the Windcloud Compet.i.tion might be very interesting...