Black Screen?

Xu Xiaoshou sprang up from the bed like a coiled spring.

Seventeen thousand!

He checked again. It really was seventeen thousand!

"I'm rich, I'm rich..."

"Not counting those guys whose punches didn't hurt, every punch gave one Passive Value. Seventeen thousand means I took nearly ten thousand punches..."

Xu Xiaoshou slapped his forehead. What a miserable experience! As a transmigrator, he had sacrificed his body just to make money...

What a humiliation!

But when he looked back at that five-digit number...

It smelled so good!

"Calm down, calm down!"

Xu Xiaoshou sat back down on the bed, forcibly suppressing his excited heart and trembling hands.

This was only the beginning. What he could draw with these seventeen thousand was still unknown.

This feeling of nerve-racking excitement was exactly what he loved most.

Xu Xiaoshou opened the shop. The items in its two slots had already lit up—a symbol of ample funds.

"Hm? Something new?"

He noticed a gray item had appeared in the third slot.

"When did that show up?"

Curious, Xu Xiaoshou opened it to take a look:

"Tier 2 Skill Point (Purchase: 5000 Passive Value)."

Five thousand?! Xu Xiaoshou's eyes went wide, and only in the next moment did he notice the prefix: "Tier 2."

Among his current passive skills, the only one that matched the term "Tier 2" was Innate Stage Sturdiness.

In other words, this Tier 2 Skill Point was meant to upgrade Sturdiness?

Once a passive skill reached the Innate Stage, ordinary Skill Points no longer worked, and one had to use Tier 2 Skill Points instead? Xu Xiaoshou understood that, but why was this thing gray and unavailable for purchase?

He had enough Passive Value!

Seventeen thousand versus five thousand—he could buy three Tier 2 Skill Points!

Uh...

After fighting tooth and nail, he could only afford three Tier 2 Skill Points. The thought made Xu Xiaoshou feel rather wronged.

This newly appeared Tier 2 Skill Point sent him into deep thought.

Perhaps the Passive System was related to his cultivation realm. Maybe he could only purchase Tier 2 Skill Points after breaking through Spirit Refinement Level Ten and entering the Innate Stage? Xu Xiaoshou felt that this deduction made sense.

Without that restriction, he could just grind Sturdiness alone, level it beyond the Innate Stage, and becoming a saint or god would no longer be a dream.

But was that possible?

According to the "barrel theory," if one part of the barrel was short, it could not hold much water. If there were only one long plank, then it was even more sheer nonsense.

If a little white rabbit had a body as sturdy as a lion's, would it necessarily be able to defeat a lion? Mm...

Though it was not impossible, in most cases, such a thing probably would not happen.

The moment it saw the lion, its instinct would likely still be to turn around and run.

Yet constrained by a body utterly at odds with itself, it would trip itself and deliver itself right into the other party's bloody maw.

"That makes a lot of sense..."

Xu Xiaoshou did not dwell on it. He had never intended to keep upgrading Sturdiness anyway; an Innate Stage body was enough for now.

Besides, there was plenty of time ahead. He did not want to rely on Sturdiness alone to get beaten into becoming useful—he needed to branch out in other directions.

With seventeen thousand Passive Value, it was time to experience the joy of a ten-pull!

"Hehe!"

Xu Xiaoshou rubbed his hands and bought ten Passive Keys without hesitation.

Passive Value: 7660.

Ten thousand had vanished in an instant. Xu Xiaoshou's heart ached, but the thought of gaining new skills gave him some small consolation.

He still had over seven thousand Passive Value left. If he drew a good skill later, he could directly level it to Lv.8! Last time, a three... er, four-pull had given him Sturdiness, which meant the roulette's drop rate was actually not low.

Following his previous method, Xu Xiaoshou inserted the ten keys one by one into the Red Roulette shrouded in gray mist, not daring to glance at the information panel again.

The keys sank in one after another, disappearing one after another. The room was so quiet that only the pounding of his heart could be heard.

"Ha!"

"Luck Emperor, possess me!"

As the final Passive Key disappeared, Xu Xiaoshou gave a loud shout, drew a Taiji Bagua in the air with both hands, and glanced at the information panel.

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Pfft!"

Xu Xiaoshou spat out a mouthful of blood and plunged headfirst onto the floor.

That streak of five peerless results on the information panel sent him straight back into the blood pool.

"Fuck me!"

He swallowed the little heart that had leaped into his throat back into his chest and continued looking down in despair.

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

"One More Key!"

"Obtained Extended Passive Skill: Sharpness!"

"Thanks for Your Patronage!"

With a bang, Xu Xiaoshou landed a critical hit on the bedframe, nearly cracking it apart.

One! There was one! Xu Xiaoshou was so excited that he no longer dared hope for a double pull—he was afraid his little heart would not be able to take it.

He was even more afraid that "Thanks for Your Patronage" would suddenly pull off a godlike ten-streak and send him to the rooftop to experience the bone-scraping pain of cold wind.

Sharpness?

Xu Xiaoshou carefully pondered the word. What kind of effect would it have?

After the two harsh lessons of Breathing Method from the pull before last and Sturdiness from last time, he already knew not to expect the Passive System's draws to have any lofty, impressive names.

On the contrary, although the things it gave had plain and unadorned names, every single one was immensely useful, and all of them were closely tied to their names.

This Sharpness...

What would it be like?

Since it was still an Extended Passive Skill, it should still apply to himself rather than making Hidden Pain in his hand sharper.

But where on his body could be sharp?

His teeth?

His hair?

His toes?

Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned strange. How was that supposed to be useful? Could he really have drawn a useless skill? He raised a finger and carefully inspected his nail. It seemed...

A little longer? Was it merely a subjective psychological effect? Xu Xiaoshou stretched out all ten fingers and viciously jabbed them at the floor.

"Hiss!"

The next second, pain made him bare his teeth as he shook his fingers repeatedly.

The floor now had four holes, along with a tiny indentation.

This...

Wasn't Sharpness!

This was Sturdiness—the effect brought by an Innate Stage body!

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought. At last, he realized a terrifying problem: passive skills might overlap in function?

That thought nearly made him cry.

Damn system, this cost me ten thousand Passive Value!

"No, no!"

"The system can't possibly be this scummy!"

Xu Xiaoshou consoled himself. If that were true, then might he draw "Robust," "Powerful," "Keen," and "Razor-Sharp" in the future...? He forcibly expelled this nightmare-level thought from his mind.

It could not be like that! Absolutely not!

If so, then only one final possibility remained...

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the description in the second section:

Extended Passive Skills:

Sturdiness (Innate Stage Lv.1).

Sharpness (Houtian Lv.1).

"Houtian Lv.1—the level is too low!" Xu Xiaoshou declared firmly to himself.

It had been the same last time. When Sturdiness had first appeared, its level had been so low that he had nearly dismissed it with contempt. Only after it had been upgraded to the Innate Stage had it erupted with terrifying power.

It had even propelled Xu Xiaoshou, who had only been at Spirit Refining Fifth Realm, straight onto the altar of group-stage champion.

"Perhaps this Sharpness will only bare its edge once I level it up!"

Xu Xiaoshou looked at his Passive Value: 7660.

Should he keep drawing?

Or should he level up the skill?

"Ah, don't I still have one key?"

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remembered the One More Key from the ten-pull and immediately chuckled. "Let's use this one first!"

He inserted the Passive Key into the Red Roulette and twisted it hard.

Watching the key gradually turn into starlight and disappear, Xu Xiaoshou paid it little mind, his thoughts already occupied with how to use Sharpness.

The key completely vanished. Before Xu Xiaoshou could look at the information panel, his vision abruptly went black and heaven and earth shook violently.

"What's going on?"

Xu Xiaoshou panicked. Bla... black screen?