Chapter 351: Sword Sect

Passive Value: 66888.

It seemed like it had only been a few days since the last lucky draw.

Yet, in this short span, Xu Xiaoshou had somehow managed to accumulate over sixty thousand passive points.

Gazing at this auspicious string of numbers, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't help but recall Hong Gou's final, devastating blow before his demise.

This significant haul of points didn't come from a moment of glory.

It was merely a small return from the pieces of flesh that had been sliced off him, nothing more.

Given the choice, Xu Xiaoshou would never trade such physical degradation for a mere sixty thousand passive points.

Well, maybe if you added a zero to the end, it might be worth considering.

Shivering at the thought, Xu Xiaoshou snapped out of his daze.

Hong Gou's attack had nearly sent him to the depths of hell—at the very least, it had completely incapacitated him, even if he hadn't died.

Frankly, he wasn't fond of earning passive points through such life-and-death struggles.

But since they had been bestowed upon him...

Could he really refuse them?

Steeling his resolve, Xu Xiaoshou stared at the red interface above and made his decision.

"This time, no lucky draw!"

"The passive points are too few—even if I get something powerful, without sufficient skill levels, it's useless."

"Besides, based on past lottery experiences, these sixty thousand-plus points would barely cover one draw of ten."

"It's probably not even enough to satisfy the system's appetite!"

"Now is a critical time to prepare for Zhang Taiying—I must use my resources wisely!"

With his mind made up, Xu Xiaoshou quickly focused on the panel.

Since draws and awakenings were likely to fall short, his only option was to directly enhance his skill levels.

"Which one to upgrade?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Xu Xiaoshou's eyes locked onto the mastery-type passive skill at the bottom.

"Sword Technique Mastery, Innate v3."

This was a passive skill that had been temporarily set aside in his combat system.

Not because it was weak—quite the opposite, it was incredibly powerful!

Throughout his journey, Xu Xiaoshou had relied on "Robustness" for his straightforward brawling.

But whenever he managed to turn the tide against overwhelming odds, without any awakened skills in play, it was all thanks to "Sword Technique Mastery"!

The reason he had put off upgrading it was simply because his progress had been too rapid.

This wasn't just in cultivation—his understanding of sword intent had advanced just as quickly!

What others might take a decade or more to grasp, he had achieved from scratch in just a month, even reaching the level of Innate Sword Intent.

That was one thing.

In such a short time, attaining Innate Sword Intent might merely lead people to consider him a genius.

But if he immediately broke through to Sword Sect right after...

Xu Xiaoshou was unsure of the consequences that would follow, and he tended to envision the worst-case scenarios.

He was terrified of being captured, studied, or dissected.

But now, he couldn't wait any longer.

"Has it been about half a month since I broke through to Innate Sword Intent in the Fengyun Contest?"

"Or has it not even been that long?"

"Forget it, let's just consider those scattered spirit fragments as half a month!"

"Half a month to go from Innate Sword Intent to Master Sword Intent—that doesn't seem too unreasonable, does it?"

Scratching his head, Xu Xiaoshou tilted it to one side.

He thought of Su Qianqian—how long had that little girl taken?

No, don't think about it!

If he dwelled on that, he'd lose his resolve to break through!

"That's right, Ba Zun An!"

Changing his train of thought, he quickly regained his confidence.

"This world has its share of geniuses."

"The legendary Eighth Sword Immortal—Innate in three breaths, Sword Immortal in three years!"

"Compared to that, even if I go from Innate Sword Intent to Master Sword Intent in half a month, I'm still just a nobody!"

Xu Xiaoshou nodded emphatically.

"That's right, I'm a nobody!"

While self-hypnotizing, he casually exchanged for skill points and upgraded without a second thought.

"Sword Technique Mastery, Innate v3."

"Sword Technique Mastery, Innate v5."

A flood of knowledge surged into his mind, making his head spin.

He didn't dare overdo it, adding just two levels at a time to avoid overwhelming himself.

Once he had fully absorbed and mastered this wave of basic sword forms, he moved on.

"Sword Technique Mastery, Innate v7."

"Sword Technique Mastery, Master v1."

As the skill reached Master level, a fierce aura erupted from Xu Xiaoshou.

In that instant, every sword cultivator on Nan Tian Street felt a jolt, their swords humming and unsheathing on their own.

Everyone instinctively looked up.

The evening sky was shrouded in dusk, with shades of blue and gray replacing the daylight.

Yet in that moment, as they gazed upward, they still caught sight of leisurely white clouds on the horizon.

This serene realm transcended the bounds of day and night, drawing everyone into a breathtaking illusion.

The next second, the illusion shattered.

Countless swords danced in the void, as if summoned by the great dao itself—all swords returning to their sect!

A thunderous sword cry exploded from the courtyard, piercing through nearly half of Tian Sang City.

At the same time, the major powerhouses in Tian Sang City sensed it.

Whether from the city lord's mansion, the four great clans, or various other factions and lesser families, they all turned their attention.

And they all looked directly toward Xu Xiaoshou's location!

Awakening from the illusion, Xu Xiaoshou immediately realized his mistake.

He had forgotten that breaking through to Sword Sect would produce a sword cry, announcing to the world that Xu Xiaoshou had become a Sword Sect!

But this wouldn't do!

He was breaking through to take down Zhang Taiying—he couldn't let everyone know!

So, almost the moment he regained his senses, he activated his Yuan Fu, and whoosh—he vanished in an instant.

Clang, clang, clang!

The swords in the street suddenly lost their target and plummeted awkwardly from the sky, crashing to the ground.

This left everyone stunned.

"What just happened?"

"It seemed like someone broke through to Sword Sect!"

"Yes, that realm was definitely Sword Sect—a sight we haven't seen in years!"

"Such a scene of all swords returning to their sect usually only happens when someone first breaks through and can't control their realm power, but now..."

"Yeah, so what about those swords?"

"Did the breakthrough fail?"

Not only were the people on the street confused—even the powerhouses from the major factions, who had rushed to pay respects to the new Sword Sect, suddenly lost their target.

"The aura is completely gone?"

At Duo Ling Inn.

"Second Senior Brother, who do you think this Sword Sect could be?" Gu Qingsan asked.

"Senior Brother, I feel like it might be that guy..." Gu Qinger also turned to their eldest.

"Stop guessing—let's go check it out!" Gu Qingyi said, sword in hand, gesturing for his junior brothers to follow.

If there was anyone suspicious, it had to be that body cultivator!

Ever since he returned, Gu Qingyi had racked his brain and couldn't separate him from those two instances of sword intent appearances.

Add to that a man's intuition...

"Perhaps this body cultivator is also a sword user?"

The three arrived at the door of the damaged room.

The door had already been repaired, and the barrier was back in place.

"Junior Brother, you go first!" Gu Qinger nodded toward Gu Qingsan.

Gu Qingsan hesitated.

"Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, isn't this a bit rude? It's his room, after all. Maybe we should knock?"

He was genuinely wary of that guy.

"No way!" Gu Qingyi rejected it outright. "If we knock, he'll hide too well and we won't see anything. We have to catch him off guard and burst in to get a real look!"

"Senior Brother is right!" Gu Qinger and Gu Qingsan nodded in agreement.

They stepped back slightly to create space, and Gu Qingsan took a deep breath, raising his fingers.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The door was instantly shredded by sword energy and collapsed with a boom.

The three rushed into the room.

"You little brat, still hiding? I'll drag your true nature out—"

"Huh?"

They froze, staring at the two pale figures on the bed.

Two people?

That didn't add up.

The room was dim, the bed was shaking, and the bodies were pale.

The unfamiliar man recoiled in shock, while the unfamiliar woman quickly covered herself and let out a piercing scream.

"Ah!"