This Cultivation Was a Bit Addictive

Xu Xiaoshou looked over the red interface in his mind.

Passive Value: 148.

"Not enough..."

Although it was quite a bit more than before, there was still an enormous gap between this and the 1,000 Passive Value needed to purchase a skill point.

From the looks of it, being attacked, doubted, mocked, and the like could all generate Passive Value for him, but these only occurred when other people came into contact with him.

In other words, if he wanted more Passive Value, he could only burrow into crowds and make a scene! Xu Xiaoshou silently complained, "Isn't this forcing me down the path of a clown jumping on a beam? It feels like I'm becoming a villain..."

He would grandstand, flaunt himself without restraint, and then someone would emerge to stomp him viciously beneath their feet, becoming the protagonist favored by Heaven.

The more he thought about it, the more Xu Xiaoshou shuddered. "This is damn well too passive!"

At the thought of "passive," he thought of the Passive System, then the Black Turntable, and suddenly felt as though fate had arranged everything for him.

"Forget it. I should think more about how to raise my strength in three days!"

Though his physical body had already reached the Innate Stage, with his cultivation at the Fourth Realm, he might not necessarily win against those battle maniacs of higher realms.

Shaking his head and refusing to think further, Xu Xiaoshou took out the pill bottle Elder Qiao had given him. Three Spirit Refining Pills lay quietly inside.

These Spirit Refining Pills were incomparably precious. Each one was worth several times more than his twenty Spirit Crystals. Elder Qiao had actually been this generous?

Xu Xiaoshou pondered. He currently possessed two major cultivation methods. One was the Houtian-grade Spirit Refining Mental Method he had been cultivating before.

This thing cultivated extremely slowly. Even supplemented with Spirit Crystals, its absorption rate was less than one percent. It was far too wasteful of resources.

The second was the Breathing Method. This was a basic passive skill given by the system. Though he had not leveled it up, perhaps it could produce an unexpected effect.

"I'll try it with a Spirit Crystal first!"

Xu Xiaoshou put away the pill bottle, took out a Spirit Crystal, and then found himself at a loss.

Wait... how was he supposed to cultivate again?

The Breathing Method was a passive skill. He did not even know how to circulate it, so how was he supposed to absorb a Spirit Crystal?

Could it be...

Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned strange as an absurd cultivation method formed in his mind.

"Exhale..."

He let out a deep breath, held the Spirit Crystal in his hand, and took a fierce drag.

"Gasp!"

It had been an utterly ridiculous idea, yet with that single inhale, two streams of dense spiritual energy instantly flew from the Spirit Crystal and shot into Xu Xiaoshou's flared nostrils like green snakes.

As his nostrils fluttered, Xu Xiaoshou felt as though his soul had encountered the gentle caress of a holy maiden. Every pore across his body exploded open.

A sense of bliss and sublimation rose from the soles of his feet and burst out through the crown of his head.

"Ah~"

Xu Xiaoshou could not stop himself from moaning. This feeling was too exquisite—his first time in eighteen years! He quickly came back to himself, unable to stop his body from shuddering.

"Holy shit!"

"This is cultivation?"

"Is it really this addictive?"

The Spirit Crystal in his hand had shrunk slightly. Xu Xiaoshou was astonished. That had only been one breath, yet the change was so obvious?

He inspected his sea of qi, and his entire body was immediately stunned.

His sea of qi was like a vortex, his spiritual power surging like a tide, each wave rising higher than the last. There was not the slightest sign of an unstable realm.

He had only just broken through to the Fourth Realm, yet that one breath had directly stabilized his realm?

Xu Xiaoshou was overjoyed. This Breathing Method was a little too terrifying! No need to cultivate actively, no need to circulate a mental method, no need for a heavenly cycle, no resources wasted—one drag, one burst of bliss; one breath, one realm.

You deserved to have it!

"If I upgraded this to the Innate Stage, then with enough spiritual energy supplied, one inhale per realm would be no dream at all!" Xu Xiaoshou froze. This was way too powerful!

A Spirit Crystal lasted for roughly a dozen breaths before vanishing entirely into Xu Xiaoshou's nostrils. At the same time, his realm steadily rose with the tide.

His previous mental method had absorbed less than one percent of a Spirit Crystal's energy. This Breathing Method was terrifying—it had not wasted even a trace, directly absorbing everything perfectly.

Accordingly, Xu Xiaoshou now looked like a drunken shrimp, sprawled crookedly across the bed in a thoroughly inhuman state.

This absurdly addictive cultivation method did not merely consume Spirit Crystals. It also took quite a toll on the body.

"Clack, clack, clack..." Xu Xiaoshou's teeth chattered back and forth.

"Hel-help me up, clack... I can still cul-cultivate..."

With a thud, the pill bottle fell from his robes.

When Xu Xiaoshou saw it, his body jolted violently.

Three days flashed by amid Xu Xiaoshou's increasingly addictive cultivation.

At the outer court of Tiansang Spirit Palace, Cloud-Emerging Platform was packed with people.

This place had originally been called Cloud-Emerging Peak. Legend had it that Elder Sang, vice headmaster of Tiansang Spirit Palace, had forged Cloud-Emerging Peak with fire, burning away half of it and creating the Cloud-Emerging Platform that could hold ten thousand people.

Cloud-Emerging Platform dipped inward halfway up the mountain, with tier upon tier of spectator seats surrounding it. From a bird's-eye view, it resembled a great black bowl resting quietly atop the peak.

At this moment, there were very few people in the spectator seats, because the outer court disciples were basically all on Cloud-Emerging Platform.

An elderly man carrying a sword stood suspended in the air. His name was Xiao Qixiu, the chief elder of Tiansang Spirit Palace's Spirit Law Pavilion. He oversaw all disciplinary matters in both the inner and outer courts, wielding immense authority.

And at this moment, he was the chief referee of the outer court's Wind and Cloud Tournament.

Xiao Qixiu raised his eyes to the sun. After confirming the time, his booming voice suppressed every clamor on Cloud-Emerging Platform.

"Silence!"

Everyone's gazes immediately burned as they stared straight at him. Xiao Qixiu calmly withdrew a sheet of paper from his robes and read aloud:

"There are 1,782 registered participants in this tournament, corresponding respectively to the numbers on your Wind and Cloud Tokens."

"The preliminaries will be group elimination matches. Each group contains one hundred people, for a total of eighteen groups, corresponding respectively to eighteen arenas."

Xiao Qixiu took out a purple formation token. As he activated it with spiritual essence, the token emitted a violet glow.

Cloud-Emerging Platform below trembled as eighteen enormous arenas slowly emerged. Each arena was enveloped by a transparent barrier of light.

Those who had originally been standing atop Cloud-Emerging Platform were immediately squeezed aside by the barriers. These people were naturally the newcomers participating in the Wind and Cloud Tournament for the first time.

The old hands had long since folded their arms and leaned against the edges of Cloud-Emerging Platform, looking as though they were waiting to watch a good show.

Eighteen streaks of black light descended from the sky, each landing within one of the eighteen arenas.

Xiao Qixiu called out, "Each arena has a professional referee in charge. The moment he acts to save you is the moment you are deemed defeated."

"Here, I offer everyone a word of advice: deaths and injuries are unavoidable, but stop when the point is reached."

"Furthermore, once you step onto the arena, you must be prepared to die. Referees are not gods. They too have moments when they space out, lose focus, get shocked, or scratch an itch. At such times, they cannot save you."

Some newcomers immediately panicked upon hearing this. This was somewhat different from what they had imagined.

The referee could space out?

What kind of joke was that? Could they not be more professional?! Meanwhile, the veterans merely smiled without speaking. Elder Xiao's cold jokes were as consistent as ever, making people's hearts tremble even in the blazing summer heat.

Those familiar with them knew that the disciplinary elders of the Spirit Law Pavilion were each strong enough to defy the heavens and cold enough to freeze people solid. How could they possibly space out on the arena?

And scratch an itch? What a joke! Xiao Qixiu watched most of the rookies below begin to panic, and the corner of his mouth twitched as his expression changed slightly.

That was more like it!

Life was always full of surprises. How could you possibly be allowed to appear in perfect condition every time?

With a wave of his hand, an ancient, melodious bell sounded from afar. "Dong—"

"High noon has arrived. The Wind and Cloud Tournament begins!"

At No. 12 Arena, the referee looked indifferently at the people outside the light barrier. "The group matches use an elimination format. Whoever remains on the arena until the final moment shall be the winner."

"The top ten of each group will receive prizes and advance to the next round. Give it your all!"

He symbolically waved an arm and said coldly, "Enter the arena when your number is called!"

"No. 1101, Zhou Zuo."

A somewhat short young man shuddered and walked over. Liu Zhen instructed from behind him, "Take out your token and press it against the barrier."

Zhou Zuo did as instructed, and his entire body was absorbed into the arena.

"No. 1102, Liu Zhen."

Only then did Liu Zhen realize that the two of them had registered together and had consecutive numbers.

"..."

"No. 1120, Zhao Xiaosan."

A young man walked forward with a bitter expression, as though heading to the execution ground.

"..."

"No. 1130, Xu Xiaoshou."

No one responded.

The referee frowned and called again, "No. 1130, Xu Xiaoshou."

Still no response.

The inside and outside of the arena immediately grew somewhat lively.

"Didn't Xu Xiaoshou come out of seclusion?"

"Yeah, I personally went to collect the corpse that day. I saw him—he wasn't dead!"

"Don't tell me he overslept?"

"That can't be, right? I think I saw him on the road just now. He was walking a little strangely."

"Maybe you saw wrong?"

The referee grew angry and shouted, "No. 1130, Xu Xiaoshou?"

Everyone fell silent, looking around in all directions, yet Xu Xiaoshou was nowhere to be seen. Helpless, the referee could only skip him and continue calling the next number.

If he still did not arrive when the time came, there was nothing to be done. It could only be treated as forfeiture.

Who was this Xu Xiaoshou? His nerve was truly enormous. He dared to be late for the Wind and Cloud Tournament?...

In the spectator seats.

Unlike the other arenas, No. 12 Arena's spectator seats had viewers—and there were three of them.

A red-dressed woman with an enchanting figure lounged lazily in her chair, displaying her graceful curves to the fullest. Light rippled across her red lips as she said, "Little Sister Su, is this the little beast brother you brought me to see? Did you wake him up?"

The white-clad girl beside her blushed and said coquettishly, "Sister Rao, what are you talking about!"

"Little Beast Brother will definitely come. He must have been delayed by something. This is his final match, and I have to watch it."

The white-clad girl, Su Qianqian, was around fourteen or fifteen years old, really just a little girl. Yet she carried a massive sword taller than herself, currently laid across her knees.

She gently wiped the massive sword on her lap, memories in her eyes. "When I first entered the outer court, I had no relatives and no one to rely on. Little Beast Brother helped me so much that I was able to enter the inner court in one month."

"One month..." Rao Yinyin lowered her head and murmured. Though she knew Su Qianqian had not meant anything by it, did she know that such unintentional words hurt even more!

Far away.

Elder Qiao squatted atop his seat, scratching his ears and cheeks as he cursed, "Damn Xu Xiaoshou, where did he run off to!"

"You wouldn't even let this old man give you a ride?"

"You're worrying me to death!"

Inside the barrier.

"One last time!"

The referee's voice, like that of the Death God, fell. "No. 1130, Xu Xiaoshou!"

The ninety-nine people inside the arena, along with the referee, and the three people outside all craned their necks in anticipation.

Xu Xiaoshou, where exactly had he gone?