Chapter 10: Black Screen?

Xu Xiaoshou sprang up from the bed like a coil.

Seventeen thousand!

He double-checked—it was indeed seventeen thousand!

"I made it, I made it..."

"Excluding those weak hits that didn't hurt, each punch gave me one passive value point, so seventeen thousand means I took nearly ten thousand punches..."

Xu Xiaoshou patted his head—this was such a miserable life!

As a time-traveler, he had sacrificed his body just to make money...

What a humiliation!

But when he looked back at that five-digit number...

It was so tempting!

"Calm down, calm down!"

Xu Xiaoshou sat back on the bed, forcing himself to steady his racing heart and trembling hands.

Everything was just starting—what he could get with these seventeen thousand points was still unknown.

This thrilling suspense was exactly what he loved most.

Xu Xiaoshou opened the shop, and the items in the two product slots were now lit up, a sign of ample funds.

"Hmm? Something new?"

He noticed that a third slot had a gray item in it.

"When did this appear?"

Curious, Xu Xiaoshou tapped to check:

"Second-tier skill point (Purchase: five thousand passive values)."

Five thousand?!

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened instantly, only then noticing the "second-tier" prefix.

Among his current passive skills, the only one that matched "second-tier" was the Xiantian-level "Qiangzhuang."

That meant this second-tier skill point was for upgrading "Qiangzhuang"?

Once a passive skill reached Xiantian level, regular skill points no longer worked—it had to be upgraded with second-tier skill points?

Xu Xiaoshou understood, but why was this item grayed out and unpurchasable?

He had enough passive values!

With seventeen thousand versus five thousand, he could even buy three second-tier skill points!

Uh...

After all that life-or-death struggle, it only amounted to three second-tier skill points—thinking about it, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt a bit wronged.

This new "second-tier skill point" left him deep in thought.

Perhaps the passive system was tied to his own cultivation realm, and he could only buy second-tier skill points after breaking through the Lianling ten realms and entering Xiantian?

Xu Xiaoshou figured that reasoning made sense.

If there were no such restrictions, he could just solo-upgrade "Qiangzhuang" straight to beyond Xiantian, and becoming a saint or god wouldn't be a dream.

But was that possible?

Following the "barrel theory," if you had one weak point, you couldn't hold much water—if all you had was one strong point, it would be even more absurd.

Could a little white rabbit with a body as strong as a lion's really beat a lion?

Hmm...

It wasn't impossible, but in most cases, it probably wouldn't happen.

The moment it saw the lion, its instinct would be to turn and run.

Yet, because of that mismatched body, it might trip itself and fall right into the lion's jaws.

"Makes a lot of sense..."

Xu Xiaoshou didn't dwell on it too much—he never intended to keep upgrading "Qiangzhuang" anyway. His Xiantian-level body was already sufficient for now.

Besides, the future was long; he didn't want to rely solely on "Qiangzhuang" to tough it out—he needed to explore other directions.

It was time to enjoy the fun of a ten-pull with his seventeen thousand passive values!

"Hehehe!"

Xu Xiaoshou rubbed his hands together and, without hesitation, bought ten passive keys.

Passive values: seven thousand six hundred sixty.

The sudden drop of ten thousand made his heart ache, but thinking about the new skills, he felt a bit consoled.

With over seven thousand passive values left, if he drew something good later, he could upgrade it straight to Lv. 8!

Last time, with that three... uh, four-pull, he got "Qiangzhuang," which showed the wheel's drop rate wasn't too bad.

Xu Xiaoshou followed his previous method, inserting the ten keys one by one into the red wheel shrouded in gray mist, avoiding any glances at the info bar in between.

The keys vanished one after another, and the room was so quiet that only the "thump-thump" of his heartbeat could be heard.

"Ha!"

"May the luck of the emperors be with me!"

As the last passive key disappeared, Xu Xiaoshou shouted, drawing a Taiji Bagua in the air with his hands, and glanced at the info bar.

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Pfft!"

Xu Xiaoshou spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the floor.

That string of five straight "thank you for your patronage" messages sent him plummeting back into despair.

"Dammit!"

He swallowed the little heart that had leaped to his throat and desperately scanned further down.

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

"One more spin!"

"Obtained extended passive skill: Fengli!"

"Thank you for your patronage!"

With a bang, the bed frame took a heavy hit from Xu Xiaoshou and nearly split.

One!

At least there was one!

Xu Xiaoshou was thrilled—a double yolk was beyond his expectations; he was afraid his little heart couldn't take it.

He was even more afraid that another string of "thank you for your patronage" might turn into a perfect ten-pull and send him straight to the rooftop for a wind-chilling experience.

Fengli?

Xu Xiaoshou pondered the term—what kind of effect would it have?

From the lessons of "Breathing Method" last time and "Qiangzhuang" before that, he knew the passive system didn't go for fancy names.

On the contrary, the items it produced were plain but incredibly practical, and always closely related to him.

This "Fengli"...

What could it be?

Since it was still an extended passive skill, it should affect his body, not make his "Cang Ku" sharper.

But which part of his body was sharp?

Teeth?

Hair?

Toenails?

Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned odd—how would that even be useful? Had he really drawn a useless skill?

He lifted his fingers and examined his nails closely—they seemed... longer?

Was that just his imagination?

Xu Xiaoshou straightened his ten fingers and jabbed hard at the ground.

"Hiss!"

The next second, he winced in pain, shaking his fingers frantically.

The ground had four holes and a small groove poked into it.

This...

It wasn't "Fengli"!

This was "Qiangzhuang," the effect of his Xiantian body!

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought—he finally realized a terrifying possibility: passive skills might overlap in function?

The idea nearly made him cry.

Damned system—this cost me ten thousand passive values!

"No, no!"

"The system can't be that stingy!"

Xu Xiaoshou comforted himself—if that were the case, he might end up drawing "Qiangjian," "Qiangda," or "Ruili," "Fengrui"...

He forcibly banished that nightmare scenario from his mind.

It couldn't be like that!

Absolutely not!

So, that left only one other possibility...

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the second section's description:

Extended passive skills:

Qiangzhuang (Xiantian Lv. 1).

Fengli (Houtian Lv. 1).

"Houtian Lv. 1—the level's too low!" Xu Xiaoshou muttered to himself.

It was the same last time—"Qiangzhuang" almost got dismissed when it first appeared because its level was low, but once it upgraded to Xiantian, it unleashed terrifying power.

It even propelled Xu Xiaoshou, who was only at Lianling five realms, straight to the group stage championship.

"Maybe the effect of 'Fengli' will only truly shine once I level it up!"

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at his passive values: seven thousand six hundred sixty.

Keep drawing?

Or upgrade the skill?

"Huh, don't I still have one key left?"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered that in the ten-pull, there was a "one more spin," and he chuckled. "Let's handle that first!"

He inserted the passive key into the red wheel and twisted it hard.

As the key slowly turned into stardust and vanished, Xu Xiaoshou didn't pay much attention, his mind still mulling over how to use "Fengli."

Once the key completely dissipated, before Xu Xiaoshou could look at the info bar, everything suddenly went dark, and the world shook violently.

"What the heck?"

Xu Xiaoshou panicked—the screen had gone black?