Save Chao Qingteng First

Smack! Chao Qingteng's knees gave out, and he collapsed face-first onto the arena, unconscious.

His chest had been pierced clean through from front to back by Hidden Pain. The wound was the size of a fist, blood gushing out like a spring and staining the arena red in an instant.

"Save him!"

Seeing everyone standing there dumbstruck, Xu Xiaoshou immediately shouted at Xiao Qixiu.

With a wave of the referee's hand, medical staff rushed up at once, surrounding both Xu Xiaoshou and Chao Qingteng.

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the four familiar faces around him. Weren't these the people who had saved Big Watermelon before the match?

"Don't worry about me. Save Chao Qingteng first!"

Seeing them pull out bags and knives, Xu Xiaoshou panicked and hurriedly pointed to the other side. "He's got a hole in him, and he's a precelestial. He's more important."

"You're important too!" the medical staff declared righteously.

Saving lives was their sacred duty, even if the patient was someone with something wrong in the head.

Received concern, Passive Value +4.

Xu Xiaoshou watched them thread needles and prepare their tools, his face full of hesitation.

Saving people was certainly a good thing, but the problem was, he did not really need it right now!

In his battle with Chao Qingteng, only Great Cold Without Weapons and Profound Ice Stele-Sealing Palm had truly injured him.

But they had already passed!

The sword-path snowflakes formed by the former had nearly poked him into a beehive, yet Endless Vitality had kept him hanging on. The process had merely been somewhat painful.

The moment the sword-path snowflakes stopped, his injuries recovered by nearly half in a matter of moments.

As for that instant of ice compression from the latter, someone else would probably have had even their soul frozen solid. But Xu Xiaoshou had just swallowed the Emberlight Fire Seed, and with his precelestial body, plus Endless Vitality...

To be honest, Profound Ice Stele-Sealing Palm had done even less damage to him than Great Cold Without Weapons.

"I really don't need treatment..." Xu Xiaoshou said weakly.

The four staff members glared at him. Who had not seen him get beaten half to death?

Look at those clothes—they had been dyed red with blood!

And that little face, bruised blue and purple, clearly frozen badly.

"Fine..."

Xu Xiaoshou gave up resisting. With needles in hand and tools at the ready, the four of them reached for his body.

Received suspicion, Passive Value +4.

In an instant, all four froze at the same time, staring at Xu Xiaoshou with identical expressions of shock.

"This..."

How was this possible?

Was this guy some kind of freak? Chao Qingteng's attacks had only left him with these minor injuries? And the surging life force within his body flowed without end, more outrageous even than taking a Red-Gold Pill.

Why the hell was there any need to treat him? They clearly remembered him bleeding all over the place...

How could this be...

Could a precelestial body really be this powerful?

Xu Xiaoshou spread his hands and stood up. Though his skin was still somewhat purple from the cold, his mobility had recovered during that brief span of time.

"I told you I didn't need treatment, but you wouldn't believe me!"

Xu Xiaoshou pointed at Chao Qingteng. "Hurry up and save him. Hidden Pain should have avoided his vital points just now. He won't die."

The four hesitated, clearly so shocked that they had temporarily lost their bearings. To put them at ease, Xu Xiaoshou simply flicked his sleeve.

"I'll tell you the truth. This guy never caused me any harm at all!"

"Hurry up and save him!"

At the same time, the medical staff on the other side had just finished their treatment, their expressions lighting up with excitement.

"He's awake!"

"That's great... huh?"

Before anyone could celebrate for long, Chao Qingteng, who had just awakened, went black in the face and fainted again.

Received curse, Passive Value +1.

The four medical staff members on that side turned around and fixed Xu Xiaoshou with murderous glares.

Received attack, Passive Value +4.

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Received admiration, Passive Value +666.

Received admiration, Passive Value +888.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped out of the barrier, several messages came one after another.

Seeing everyone in the stands rise to applaud, Xu Xiaoshou grinned and waved back.

"Hm?"

He suddenly spotted Elder Qiao and Zhou Tianshen. Both men were giving him a thumbs-up, only a warm embrace away from charging down to him.

Received praise, Passive Value +2.

Fortunately, this was the third match, so the audience could not come down and spare them an embrace between men.

Xu Xiaoshou smiled back at them, but inwardly, he was rather puzzled.

He could understand Elder Qiao coming to watch his match and encourage him, but what the hell was up with Zhou Tianshen?

They had fought a match just moments ago, and now he was already his fan?

After returning to the waiting area, Xu Xiaoshou did not leave immediately, even though it was already getting late.

Once the arena had been cleared, Xiao Qixiu did not even need to draw lots, because only the final round of the quarterfinals remained.

Mo Mo!

A precelestial expert!

The top-ranked person on the Wind and Cloud Ranking! In terms of strength, she was unquestionably the foremost senior sister of the outer court!

Xu Xiaoshou stayed behind because he naturally wanted to observe Junior Sister Mo, who had a high chance of becoming his opponent tomorrow.

In the arena, Mo Mo wore a robe of green, her skin fairer than snow.

She held a small bronze censer in one hand, burning sandalwood incense. As a precelestial expert, coupled with her serene, orchid-in-an-empty-valley temperament, she utterly overshadowed her opponent until no one even noticed him.

Xu Xiaoshou watched eagerly.

Yet once the match began, there was neither danger nor suspense. In the blink of an eye, Mo Mo sent her opponent, who was at the tenth realm, flying out of the arena within two exchanges.

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Damn precelestial experts!

He turned around in frustration and left the waiting area.

A forest path split into two roads. One led to Goose Lake, while the other led back to the courtyard.

The former represented mystery and the unknown; the latter, peace and comfort.

Without a second thought, Xu Xiaoshou chose the latter.

What a joke. He had finally gotten rid of the Emberlight Fire Seed—why would he go to Goose Lake? To eat another one?

Even if he wanted to die, that was no way to die. It hurt like hell!

Back at the courtyard, after taking a bath and lying down on his bed, a wordless sense of comfort welled up in Xu Xiaoshou's heart.

Xu Xiaoshou took out a Spirit Refining Pill and inhaled.

"Hiss~"

Double the joy!

The upgraded Breathing Method had become stronger. One inhale now consumed an entire pill, but fortunately, Xu Xiaoshou could now resist the pleasure with all his might.

Even so, the impact still made him lose focus for a moment. Then spiritual energy churned, and tides rose within his sea of energy.

As his body gave a shudder...

He broke through...

The eighth realm of Spirit Refining!

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded.

After refining the Emberlight Fire Seed last night, he had painstakingly suppressed his cultivation realm. Yet now, after one careless moment, he had broken through...

"Forget it. Fast is fast."

"Maybe to some truly gifted geniuses, my speed isn't anything special at all."

Xu Xiaoshou consoled himself and stopped worrying about it. In any case, his realm would stabilize itself after a night's sleep.

He simply sent his consciousness to the information panel in his mind.

Passive Value: 18882.

"Mm, it's a bit less."

Though he had roughly guessed the result, Xu Xiaoshou still felt a little disappointed.

Without the Emberlight Fire Seed providing one Passive Value every second, relying solely on the contributions of the thousand-plus spectators meant that one match could at most earn him four or five thousand Passive Value.

And that was thanks to Chao Qingteng using Great Cold Without Weapons midway through the match. Otherwise, he would have lost another one or two thousand Passive Value.

"Emberlight Fire Seed..."

Xu Xiaoshou found himself somewhat missing that thing now. But the fire seed was like a time bomb—better just think about it...

But perhaps he could control it...

Xu Xiaoshou rubbed his chin in thought, then finally suppressed that bold idea.

Rather than think about the Emberlight Fire Seed, he might as well consider what that damned old man's intentions had been in making him swallow it.