Skill Pavilion

Night fell.

The moonlight was bright, and the stars glittered overhead.

Courtyard.

Room.

Bedroom.

Hun Xiu sat cross-legged on the bed, holding the Fire Devouring Scripture he had obtained from his cheap old man, Soul Emperor, during the day.

He directly skipped the first and second pages. In Hun Xiu's view, those so-called first and second pages were merely there to pad the word count.

Who knew what mindset the predecessor who had left behind this cultivation technique had possessed.

The first page read: "To practice this divine art, one must first castrate oneself."

Was this meant to trick those who came after him?

At any rate, Hun Xiu had not fallen for it, though he had come dangerously close. Fortunately, he had not castrated himself.

After skipping the first and second pages, Hun Xiu flipped straight to what followed and began rapidly browsing through the Fire Devouring Scripture.

The more he read, the fiercer the fire in Hun Xiu's eyes became, because he discovered that it was an unparalleled cultivation technique.

This technique simply surpassed Heaven Tier techniques. Although Hun Xiu had never seen the Flame Mantra cultivated by the protagonist, he was confident that his own technique was even superior to it.

"Phew..."

Hun Xiu closed the Fire Devouring Scripture, placed it in his Storage Ring, and let out a long breath of stale air.

Having lived two lives, Hun Xiu's Soul Power was exceptionally strong. He possessed a photographic memory, and by now, he had already memorized the Fire Devouring Scripture by heart, deeply engraving it into his mind.

Hun Xiu murmured, "So the Fire Devouring Scripture is divided into three stages."

"First, the Flame Devouring Chapter. As its name implies, it devours flames. Any flame under heaven, including Heavenly Flames, can be devoured and turned to one's own use after cultivating this chapter."

"Second, the Flame Creation Chapter. After cultivating this chapter, one can devour the power between heaven and earth and turn it into flames. The stronger one is, the stronger the flames one can condense. This seems to have the same effect as ordinary fire-attribute cultivation techniques."

"Third, the Flame Replication Chapter. Replication means copying. As long as one obtains a Sub-Flame, it can be nurtured within the body. Given enough time, it will break away from its original body and become another independent, terrifying flame."

"What I need to cultivate now is the Flame Creation Chapter. Only the Flame Creation Chapter is most suitable for me."

"Though the three chapters place flame devouring first, flame creation second, and flame replication last, that does not mean their order cannot be changed."

"From now on, I'll mainly cultivate the Flame Creation Chapter, with flame replication as support and flame devouring last."

Having made up his mind, Hun Xiu closed his eyes and began cultivating according to the circulation route of the Flame Creation Chapter.

His breathing was measured, and the hand seals before him shifted. The powerful Dou Qi between heaven and earth gradually gathered toward Hun Xiu.

With every breath, a terrifying aura seeped out.

The next day.

"Phew..."

Hun Xiu slowly opened his eyes, stopped forming hand seals, and exhaled a long breath of stale air.

Hun Xiu discovered in delight that he had not only stabilized his Dou Ling cultivation, but had also advanced another star. He was now a two-star Dou Ling.

Although such strength was not even enough to compare to a servant in the Hun Realm, among the younger generation of the Hun Realm, he was an outstanding existence.

Hun Xiu said delightedly, "The Fire Devouring Scripture truly is an incredible cultivation technique. In just one day, it stabilized my cultivation and even raised me to a two-star Dou Ling."

While rejoicing, Hun Xiu followed the circulation route of the Flame Creation Chapter and condensed a flame above his palm.

Though the flame was only the size of a palm, Hun Xiu could sense that the power contained within it was not much weaker than his own.

This flame possessed the might of a full-force strike from a two-star Dou Ling.

Hun Xiu could not help but sigh. "A terrifying flame."

Then, as though recalling something, he sighed, "What a pity. Such a terrifying cultivation technique actually has a flaw."

Thinking of the Fire Devouring Scripture's flaw, Hun Xiu could not help but smile bitterly.

Although the Fire Devouring Scripture was terrifying, it had one requirement for its cultivator: the cultivator had to be a virgin.

Once one lost their virginity, the consequences were their own to bear. Though he did not know what those consequences were.

Still, he would try his best.

Of course, once one cultivated to the Dou Emperor realm, this flaw could be resolved.

Moreover, if someone who was not a virgin wished to cultivate the Fire Devouring Scripture, they had to castrate themselves before they could cultivate it.

Otherwise, they would inevitably explode and die.

That was why the first page bore those eight shining golden words: "To practice this divine art, one must first castrate oneself."

As it turned out, beneath those eight shining golden words on the first page, there was also a line of small print.

Those who are not virgins must castrate themselves before cultivating.

Those who are virgins, please turn the page.

The words were tiny and placed at the very bottom. If one did not look carefully, they would truly be difficult to notice.

Hun Xiu had only discovered them after flipping through it several times last night.

Hun Xiu got out of bed and left the bedroom.

Hun Xiu knew that today was the day to select Dou Skills. Those who had activated the Dou Emperor Bloodline would seek out the elders of their own families that day for suitable cultivation techniques.

After first stabilizing the realms that had soared from activating their bloodlines, they would head to the Skill Pavilion the next day to select suitable Dou Skills according to their attributes.

Cultivation techniques were extremely important to a strong cultivator's foundation, so they were personally selected by the family elders.

Dou Skills.

They were important as well. They determined how powerful one's every move could be and how much of one's Dou Qi could be brought to bear.

However, compared to the importance of cultivation techniques, Dou Skills were slightly less important. The family elders would not interfere too much in their selection of Dou Skills.

After all, everyone had the right to choose. As elders, they would not be so rigid as to force the younger generation to live according to their wishes.

Skill Pavilion.

Many members of the younger generation were gathered in the plaza, waiting for the Skill Pavilion to open.

Seeing so many people, Hun Xiu sensibly found himself a corner.

In the Hun Clan, he had always seemed so out of place because he had focused on cultivation since childhood. Thus, he had no friends in the Hun Clan.

Over the years, he had grown accustomed to being alone.

After all, the strong were always lonely.

Under normal circumstances, no one would notice Hun Xiu even if he "hid" in a corner.

But during yesterday's bloodline activation, Hun Xiu had made a stunning appearance, obtaining the Eleventh-grade Bloodline that surpassed even the Divine Grade Bloodline.

Even if he wanted to keep a low profile now, it was impossible.

Though he was "hiding" in a corner, many had already noticed Hun Xiu the moment he arrived at the plaza.

Among them were Hun Feng, Soul Jade, and the rest.

They looked at Hun Xiu with unfriendly expressions. If not for Hun Xiu, they should have been the center of attention among the younger generation yesterday.

But because of Hun Xiu, they had become his stepping stones.