Chapter 376: One Shot... Black Screen?

"So many?"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled.

This Beidong Zhi was completely used up last time, so how had it increased so much in just a short while?

Did they reproduce or something?

"No... that time, at Zhang Fu..."

Xu Xiaoshou realized this must have been collected during his time at Zhang Fu.

After the dan yao explosion, he hadn't been in the mood, nor had he paid any attention, to check the growth of his Beidong Zhi.

But even just Zhang Fu alone had a considerable number of Lian Ling Shi.

What's more, Dongqing Street, where Zhang Fu was located, was basically full of the wealthy and powerful.

Even if they didn't match up to the Zhang family, these small families and minor factions together still had an impressive number of Lian Ling Shi.

When there's a fight, people might be afraid and panic, but who doesn't feel awe in the face of it?

At the market's lowest price, calculating one hundred Lian Ling Shi per family,

If just ten families each contributed ten points of "admiration received," that would already add up to ten thousand!

"I can't believe it!"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked by his own calculations—how could it be this exaggerated?

Based on that, eighty thousand Beidong Zhi seemed rather low!

"That wave of the furnace explosion, plus that later sword strike, and the long time spent floating in the void acting cool—how could that only yield eighty thousand Beidong Zhi?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt like his Beidong Zhi had been stolen!

But once he calmed down...

No one had been watching during the explosion!

By the time those guys reacted, it was already after the fact.

What really drew the crowd's attention was actually the end of the battle, specifically the fight at the Cang Jing Ge.

Probably, most of this massive Beidong Zhi came from that time.

Xu Xiaoshou secretly clicked his tongue in amazement.

"A bit of a surprise..."

He had only glanced at it out of habit, never expecting such a big gain.

This Beidong Zhi that accumulated in passive form—truth be told, as long as he didn't check it for a while, he'd be shocked every time he opened the system.

Because sometimes, even Xu Xiaoshou himself didn't know what outrageous thing he'd done, but somehow, a lot of people had their sensitive nerves triggered.

"Tsk tsk, as expected, group activities are more my style..."

"Even if it's just two people fighting, with a crowd watching..."

Xu Xiaoshou had originally planned to keep a low profile, but now he suddenly felt like spreading his wings at the Chengzhu Fu banquet.

What if he refined ten furnaces of dan yao there...

He thought about it, then quickly shivered.

"Zhang Taiying is important, killing him is important... Hmm, this is a critical moment, can't get carried away... too fast!"

Coming back to his senses, his gaze focused on the eighty thousand Beidong Zhi.

"How should I use it?" Xu Xiaoshou paced back and forth.

His current strongest skill, Jian Shu Jing Tong, was already maxed out. To make another breakthrough, theoretically, mastery-type passive skills were still the most effective.

One Jian Shu Jing Tong had basically let Xu Xiaoshou fully comprehend the "Guan Jian Dian," and even directly accelerated the process of "Guan Jian Cheng Nian."

That was how he got that sword strike that cut through the Zhang Fu tower!

"So, should I upgrade Chu Yi Jing Tong?"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated a bit.

The main issue was that upgrading Chu Yi Jing Tong meant he didn't have anything like the "Guan Jian Dian"—a fire-attribute treasure—to comprehend right now.

In other words, this upgrade and breakthrough would likely only give him skills for cooking, making meals, and controlling fire.

It wouldn't greatly boost his direct combat abilities.

And when it came to killing Zhang Taiying, it's hard to say if these skills would even be useful.

"Jin Zhao Tian Yan Bai Yan and Long Rong Jie could work, but they both require the Jin Zhao Da Huo Zhong!"

"He still didn't know where to get that, so he couldn't comprehend them yet..."

Xu Xiaoshou felt a headache coming on.

His gaze settled on "Feng Li."

Among the passive skills, this was the only one that could directly enhance combat power.

The others were either maxed out or supportive.

"But Feng Li overlaps a bit with my sword techniques, and I don't know what direction it upgrades in. If there's no linked passive skill to go with it, upgrading this one might not mean much."

Xu Xiaoshou looked away and finally walked up to the mall's turntable.

"Lottery or awakening!"

Once he'd made up his mind, Xu Xiaoshou felt it was time to add some new passive skills to himself.

"For awakening, it's ten thousand per try, and if I'm unlucky, it could all go to waste."

"Besides, 'Kuang Bao Ju Ren' and 'Zha Lie Zi Tai' haven't been fully developed yet—in fact, I've only tapped into a tiny bit of their power..."

Xu Xiaoshou decided against awakening.

He could use that time to study "Zha Lie Zi Tai" more!

Just that one Qi Pearl attack alone had multiple variations, and "Zha Lie Zi Tai" was far more than that.

"Let's do a ten-draw first—that's only fifty thousand Beidong Zhi!"

Xu Xiaoshou paused for a moment, then exchanged for ten keys.

Next, he wandered back and forth in the Yuan Fu, trying to find a suitable auspicious spot.

"Water?"

Looking at the Ling Yu leaping out of nowhere, Xu Xiaoshou flew over and lay suspended above the Ling Chi, taking several deep breaths.

"This should be an 'auspicious' spot, right!"

Grinning happily, Xu Xiaoshou felt a bit comforted this time—he didn't even need to say something like "Emperor of Luck possess me."

Maybe in a new place with a new posture for drawing, he needed to match it with a new way of speaking?

For example...

Not saying anything?

With a click, Xu Xiaoshou looked at the Tan Shen fishing below him and couldn't help but smile amusedly. He cheerfully inserted the key into the turntable.

He inserted one and was about to insert the second.

But at that moment, everything suddenly went dark— the Ling Yu playing, the chaotic mist, all of it vanished!

Xu Xiaoshou jumped in fright.

The next second, he reacted as if he'd been injected with adrenaline, springing up from the void.

"Holy crap!!!"

Accompanied by a deafening shout, sure enough, Xu Xiaoshou was pulled into an illusion.

In this new Ling Di, there was a vast blue sea and sky.

All things vied for survival—massive Kun Peng alongside tiny Mayflies.

It was as if he'd traveled through time; the scene before him was a complete new world.

This place had ancient flying beasts and giant creatures, as well as newly sprouted tender shoots.

There were violent, rampaging combat races wildly slaughtering enemy beings; and there were secluded, content low-martial existences seeking only to survive in peace.

Xu Xiaoshou observed this world from a god-like perspective, sensing a strange sense of balance.

"What is this illusion trying to convey?"

"The way of moderation, the interplay of yin and yang?"

Every time an illusion appeared, it carried the most direct and profound meaning, and what it presented might even be the ultimate essence of that mastery-type passive skill.

For Jian Shu Jing Tong, it was the endless, flowing sword intent—seeming to die yet living, unbreakable and eternal.

For Chu Yi Jing Tong, it was using the heavens and earth as a furnace, with all things edible, burning the sky and boiling the sea.

This time, was this illusion also from a mastery-type passive skill?

What was it trying to express?

Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head, not thinking too deeply yet.

The next second, all the living and dead beings in this world—all existences—lit up with the light of the Great Dao.

Every leaf, every stone, and every moving life form had bright patterns appearing on their bodies.

These were the veins of the leaves, the age marks on the stones, the muscles and veins of living beings...

Perplexed and confused, Xu Xiaoshou frowned.

"The Dao?"

Suddenly, that word popped into his mind.

After a moment of surprise, Xu Xiaoshou looked at this world and his eyes flashed with joy, though he wasn't entirely sure.

"Is this... Ling Wen?"