Chapter 135: System Upgrade

Xu Xiaoshou briefly comforted the Hunling Benyuan, then exited the Zifu Yuanting with a complete lack of emotion.

He might complain and fuss, but this was the first time he had seen the system act in such a way.

"There must be some reason..."

The Beidong System barely did anything else besides popping up in the information bar now and then. Everything else was up to Xu Xiaoshou himself—buying skill points in the mall or spinning the wheel. Hmm, it might even be tampering with the draw rates.

Still, there was no denying that its presence was so low-key it almost made Xu Xiaoshou forget it was called the "Beidong System" and not just the "information bar"!

Pulling this stunt today...

Before Xu Xiaoshou could think much more, the well-fed system bubbled up in the information bar again:

"Beidong System upgrading, please do not disturb!"

Xu Xiaoshou froze.

An upgrade?

His eyes lit up. Was this because it had absorbed his Shuangchong Xiantian Shuxing Zhili and finally decided to improve the draw success rate out of conscience?

But soon his mood sank. No, given the system's nature... it might just make the draw rates even lower!

"Don't do that!"

Xu Xiaoshou really wanted to interrupt the upgrade, but the system gave him no chance. After that bubble, the entire red interface faded from his mind.

In the moment before it vanished, Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the text at the bottom of the information bar:

"Beidong Zhi: 66666."

That string of auspicious numbers nearly blinded him.

How could there be so many?

He remembered that last time, it was all "6"s too, but only four digits.

Now it was five digits?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the red interface was already gone.

Xu Xiaoshou panicked and quickly pulled out "Zang Ku," stabbed it into his hand, then pulled it out, watching the wound heal.

"Good, good, the passive skill is still there..."

It seemed the system had really gone off to upgrade on its own.

With that, overthinking wouldn't help, so Xu Xiaoshou let it go.

He turned his thoughts back to that last glimpse—over sixty thousand Beidong Zhi... Let's see, he had only been at Hei Luo Pubu for about three or four shichen!

During that time, it was all about him getting injured, resting, resting, then getting injured again...

He had unknowingly accumulated so much Beidong Zhi?

Hmm... Actually, it wasn't that much. If you calculated it at thirty to fifty points per second, then in six or seven hours, you could get around a million or so!

Xu Xiaoshou was startled by his own calculation, but he quickly calmed down.

That's ridiculous!

He couldn't possibly stand under Hei Luo Pubu from start to finish letting those sword qi hack at him. He could barely hold out for half a minute before being covered in wounds.

And healing took a while—over a small half a quarter of an hour, at least!

"But!"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly chuckled to himself. He remembered that in the Beidong System's mall, there was a "Erjie Jineng Dian" that had appeared early on, but it was always grayed out and unavailable for purchase.

This upgrade should make it buyable, right?

Xu Xiaoshou had been eyeing it for ages. Once he got "Shengshengbuxi" upgraded...

"Hehe, then I'd have an endless stream of Beidong Zhi?" he said with a sly grin.

Hmm...

Oh, right, before the upgrade, the passive skill level cap was "Xiantian Lv.1." After this, would it be "Zongshi Lv.1"?

Zongshi level?!

"Holy shit!" Thinking about that, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes gleamed green.

If "Qiangzhuang" at Xiantian level gave him a Xiantian physical body, then at Zongshi level, would it be the "Zongshi Zhishen" from the old stories?

That was a barrier almost no one on the entire continent could break through!

Xu Xiaoshou's heart burned with excitement. Giving up his Shuangchong Xiantian Shuxing Zhili didn't matter—if this crappy system upgraded properly and gave him something from the Hunling Benyuan...

"Pah, no, not that!"

His mind glitched, and a sharp pain hit him, like his brain was knotting up, snapping him out of his fantasy.

He quickly scanned his mind—nothing there.

With a thought, his Lingnian entered Zifu Yuanting, and there it was: a new red interface hovering above the Hunling Benyuan.

The Beidong System!

"It's done upgrading?!"

Xu Xiaoshou examined it eagerly, but he was stunned.

This...

Wasn't this an upgrade? It looked exactly the same as before, still like some cheap street vendor setup. So, upgrading just meant moving it and lying it down again?

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes dimmed. That was bad news!

Without overthinking, he immediately checked the information bar—the only way the system communicated with him.

Information bar:

"Congratulations, Beidong System upgrade successful!"

"New module unlocked: Juexing Chi!"

"Obtained special passive skill: Beidong Zhiquan!"

Three messages, and one was just filler.

Xu Xiaoshou's attention was instantly caught by the word "special" in "special passive skill."

The passive skills he had so far fell into three main categories: basic, extended, and mastery passive skills.

Based on that, this must be another category?

"Special passive skill..."

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the red interface, and sure enough, a new section had appeared below it with just one entry:

"Beidong Zhiquan."

Oh, nice!

It couldn't be upgraded?

Not bad, it was learning to save him some Beidong Zhi—still had a conscience!

Xu Xiaoshou swept his Lingnian over it and instantly got the details of the passive skill.

"Beidong Zhiquan: True damage."

"Beidong Zhiquan: Accumulates charge when taking damage; releases and clears charge when used. People can't always be passive—sometimes you need to strike back. When you can bear it no longer, you need bear it no more!"

"Beidong Zhiquan."

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

He got it. So, all those passive skills it dished out before were to build his foundation, and now it was openly telling him to go get beaten up, huh?

And calling it "When you can bear it no longer, you need bear it no more"?

This crappy system—was it trying to guide him in some weird direction?

Complaints aside, Xu Xiaoshou stared at the first line: "True damage," and fell into thought.

Was this like the true damage in games—ignoring defense?

If so, this passive skill was pretty awesome!

He clenched his fist and punched the ground.

A big crater!

That was from his Xiantian physical body.

Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath and shouted, "Beidong..."

"This feels a bit cringy..."

"Oh well... Beidong Zhiquan!"

"Ha!"

Another big crater!

It was pretty much the same as the one before.

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

"Is it because I have no charge? Zero charge means no damage boost?"

Xu Xiaoshou shook out his fist and glanced toward Hei Luo Pubu. That place could hurt him, so it should build up charge.

But instead of acting right away, he looked at the second message in the information bar:

"New module unlocked: Juexing Chi!"

He searched around but couldn't find it on the red interface. Then he remembered the red wheel in the mall and quickly entered it.

Sure enough, a dark, murky little pond was quietly sitting below the "red wheel."

"Juexing Chi!"