Chapter 136: Overnight Wealth?

Awakening Pool: Can awaken extended passive skills.

This brief description made Xu Xiaoshou's body tremble with excitement.

Passive skills... awakening?

His array of passive skills was already incredibly powerful, and now they could even be awakened? That would be utterly game-changing!

Soon enough, he calmed down and noticed the unobtrusive word "extended" in the information.

"Only 'extended passive skills' can be awakened?"

The details didn't mention other restrictions, but the deliberate use of "extended" clearly excluded the "basic" and "mastery" categories of passive skills.

Of course, "special passive skills" probably couldn't be awakened either—these things couldn't even be upgraded, so awakening them was out of the question.

Shifting his gaze from the Awakening Pool, he looked back at the store grid, which displayed four items.

"First-tier skill point (Purchase: 1000 passive points)."

"Second-tier skill point (Purchase: 5000 passive points)."

"Passive key (Purchase: 5000 passive points)."

"Awakening stone (Purchase: 10000 passive points)."

The stingy Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened instantly when he saw the passive key, which had skyrocketed to five times its original price.

"Is this a rip-off? It used to be just 1000 passive points... Now pork prices are up, water costs are up, and even you're jumping on the bandwagon?"

The next second, he spotted the 10000 passive points for the awakening stone, and it felt like his heart took a direct hit of 10000 points, leaving his face turning green.

"This..."

"I busted my butt to earn over 60000 passive points, and that's only enough for six awakenings?"

If even one succeeded, that would be great, but Xu Xiaoshou thought about the system's usual tricky probabilities and figured he'd get fleeced again.

"Hold back—don't rush in!"

Xu Xiaoshou psyched himself up silently, turning his eyes back to the long-anticipated "second-tier skill point."

At least this one had no probability issues—it was straightforward.

A second-tier skill point for 5000 passive points, and considering the power of the Grandmaster state in his imagination...

Xu Xiaoshou thought the price was totally reasonable, even feeling like the system was being generous for only charging 5000 passive points. Had it glitched out?

Suddenly, he remembered he had nine major passive skills, and upgrading just one to Grandmaster would take exactly 50000 passive points.

Nine of them...

That would be 450000!

"Damn!" Xu Xiaoshou collapsed onto the sandy ground by the Hei Luo Pubu.

"You sneaky system, that's way too expensive!"

He realized he must have lost his mind to think the system was being generous—it was probably the breakthroughs that had addled his brain.

Shouldering the burden of nearly 500000 passive points, Xu Xiaoshou looked back at the Hei Luo Pubu, and even the roaring thunder in his ears sounded crisp and pleasant.

At first, he thought he had principles—the passive points earned through pain weren't suited to his path, but now...

Xu Xiaoshou dove straight into the Hei Luo Pubu.

Bring it on!

Go ahead and lash me all you want!

If you don't beat me, Xu Xiaoshou, to a pulp today, you can stop being Hei and change your name to Bai.

The rushing sword energy made Xu Xiaoshou snap to attention, his blood running cold as he quickly raised his defenses.

"Can't afford to get hurt, can't afford it."

"Let's upgrade... Shengsheng Buxi first?"

Xu Xiaoshou furrowed his brow. He had initially thought faster recovery would help grind passive points more effectively.

But now, he realized upgrading "Qiangzhuang" directly might be better!

As long as his physical strength improved, the sword energy's damage would definitely drop.

What worried him now was not reaching the Grandmaster level at once—if he did, and the sword energy couldn't hurt him anymore, he'd have nowhere to cry!

With his nine major passive skills starving for upgrades...

Xu Xiaoshou exchanged for a "second-tier skill point." He had over 60000 passive points, enough for ten, but he upgraded carefully, one level at a time.

Rushing skills might feel great, but not right now—it wasn't the way.

"Qiangzhuang (Xiantian Lv.6)."

After level five, the white sword energy that used to carve a huge gash in his shoulder could only barely nick his skin.

It was just enough to cause damage for grinding passive points without hindering his movement.

Paired with "Shengsheng Buxi"... grinding without injury!

"Awesome!"

Xu Xiaoshou stood with his hands behind his back in the Hei Luo Pubu, strolling leisurely as if in a garden.

After walking for a bit, he suddenly remembered that at the Xiantian level, he could fly. He quickly sensed the heavens and earth, and soon his body soared into the void.

"Flight!"

Flying freely without "Zang Ku"—this was a dream come true!

Xu Xiaoshou was over the moon, his face beaming with joy. This was too comfortable—grinding points while adapting to Xiantian power and mastering flight techniques.

On top of that, he was constantly cultivating without pause...

"My heavens, stepping into Xiantian Yuanting Realm—this is takeoff time!"

He thought of Yuan Tou...

Heh, that fool isn't worth scheming with!

And Zhang Xin Xiong—if you dare try to assassinate me, Xu Xiaoshou, again, once I leave Tianxuan Gate, I'll show you my true colors...

Xu Xiaoshou!

Wait, no—Xu Mengshou!

Ah, screw it—Xu Meng Beast!

Xu Xiaoshou felt himself getting carried away, swelling with arrogance. He knew it was bad, but he couldn't stop the restless excitement.

The sword intent suddenly spread out, actively provoking it. Sure enough, the furious energy unleashed a dense barrage of sword qi.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

Bloody marks appeared, only to heal rapidly.

Xu Xiaoshou laughed it off—a few hours ago, that white sword energy had him on the brink of ecstasy, but now, after his breakthrough, it was nothing!

His passive points jumped to 30 to 50 per second, doubling to over 100 per second!

And this time, he didn't even need rest breaks!

"Let me calculate..." With his heart pounding and hands shaking, Xu Xiaoshou started counting on his fingers, his head buzzing from the sword energy like it was being pounded with garlic, and his mouth trembling.

Sixty-six is 36; an hour has 3600 seconds; at a conservative 100 passive points per second...

That's a whopping 360000!

Damn, in just an hour, he could fully feed his "kids"!

Xu Xiaoshou was buzzing with energy, flipping his wrist like Iron Man as he shot into the sky.

"Bring it on—one hour, and whoever drops first loses!"

He flew higher and higher, the white sword energy growing more frantic, its numbers steadily increasing.

From 100 per second to 200, then 300...

Xu Xiaoshou's face was lit up with a grin—just increasing the quantity without boosting the attack power wouldn't make much difference!

"Sizzle!"

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a massive white sword energy hidden among the rest nearly sliced off his arm.

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned.

"What the hell, playing dirty?"

He focused quickly; his spiritual sense couldn't pick out the massive sword energy amid the swarm, but "Perception" could.

So...

"I'm dodging! I'm weaving!"

"Hey, you can't hit me!"

Xu Xiaoshou darted and dodged, avoiding the big hits and only taking the small ones, having the time of his life.

The white sword energy from above went even crazier. Xu Xiaoshou watched the wildly fluctuating info panel, worried the system might crash from the overload!

"It probably won't—it's still a system, basic as it is."

"Bring it... let me get rich!"