New Passive Skill!

From the sixth level of Body Tempering to the ninth—it had been that easy to break through?

For a moment, Zhou Feng wondered if he was actually quite talented.

At that moment, he could feel considerable changes in the blood energy within his body.

If the blood energy flowing through his body before had been sparse and scattered, then the blood energy now circulating within him was condensed like frost.

With just a simple breath, his chest rose and fell like a bellows.

The surrounding temperature rose slightly as great amounts of heat continuously escaped through his pores.

Blood like mercury? Was this what blood like mercury meant?

That meant he could begin Qi Induction now!

Zhou Feng glanced at the marks beside him and discovered that it had taken only three days to break through to the ninth level of Body Tempering.

"Then I might as well finish it in one go!"

Breaking through directly to the ninth level of Body Tempering had given him tremendous confidence.

He planned to begin Qi Induction immediately.

Before that, however, Zhou Feng followed his usual practice and checked the Skill Panel.

The progress bar on the Skill Panel had long since filled up.

Moreover, it had turned blue.

Should I hold out for another Golden Passive?

He considered whether he should wait and try to obtain another Golden Passive.

Golden Passives were simply too powerful.

If not for the Golden Passive Skill, Combat Instinct, he would never have noticed Zhao Jun's hostility toward him.

But if he continued holding out for another Golden Passive, it meant that for quite some time to come, he would be unable to obtain any Passive Skills, and his combat strength would stagnate.

Compared to cultivating diligently, directly obtaining Passive Skills was the fastest way to increase his combat strength.

Forget it!

Though he truly wanted to get another Golden Passive Skill, an Inner Sect disciple's threat was hanging over his head.

It was better to turn it into combat strength as soon as possible!

"Draw!"

Zhou Feng silently uttered the command in his heart.

At once, the Skill Panel began drawing a new Passive Skill!

Drawing...

Bone Plating (Level 1): Generates a layer of bone within the body, reducing the first instance of damage received.

The damage reduction is affected by realm, and requires seven days to regenerate.

"A defensive Passive? Not bad!"

His luck seemed fairly good this time. He had directly drawn a defensive Passive.

This gave him Passive Skills from the combat, defense, and support categories.

His combat strength had become more well-rounded as well, making it harder for others to catch him off guard.

"The damage reduction is affected by realm?"

Zhou Feng carefully read through the description again.

Simply put, Bone Plating's damage reduction had an upper limit.

If both sides were at the same realm, the damage reduction would be normal. If the opponent's realm was higher than his own, the reduction would be weakened to its lowest point.

Conversely, if the opponent's realm was lower than his, the damage reduction would increase to its maximum, nearly allowing him to completely negate that attack.

Looking at it this way, the skill was not particularly heaven-defying. It was fairly standard.

The cooldown was just a little too long.

It actually took a full seven days for Bone Plating to regenerate.

That was truly far too long!

As he lamented this, Zhou Feng felt a thin layer of bone form beneath his skin.

"Is this the bone layer?"

He squeezed his hand and discovered there was an extra thin layer there.

How should he put it? It felt as though his skin had been wrapped in a layer of plastic film.

It was incredibly strange, yet it barely affected his movements at all.

After drawing the Passive Skill, he immediately began drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The final page of the Adamantine Great Strength Fist mentioned how to break through to the Qi Induction Realm.

One had to use one's mind to guide the energy: close one's eyes, sense the spiritual energy around oneself, then slowly draw it into the body through the mouth and nose.

The method described in the manual was extremely crude—one could even say it was as good as saying nothing.

However, the final sentence stated that if one could not sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, one should try activating the Bloodthirsty Gu.

"Do I have to rely on the Bloodthirsty Gu?"

Clearly, for disciples of the Three Gu Sect, the Gu insect within their bodies was the most essential thing.

Compared to humans, Gu insects themselves possessed the ability to draw in spiritual energy.

The question was whether one could command the Bloodthirsty Gu. That was another matter entirely.

If the ninth level of Body Tempering posed no bottleneck for any Outer Sect disciple, then Qi Induction was the first obstacle.

Zhou Feng thought for a moment, then closed his eyes and began sensing spiritual energy.

After breaking through to the ninth level of Body Tempering, his body seemed to have undergone some sort of change, and his perception of the outside world had become exceptionally sharp.

"Huh? I can sense it?"

To his surprise, he actually sensed an exceedingly faint strand of spiritual energy.

That spiritual energy was not floating between heaven and earth—it was on his body?

Opening his eyes, he looked toward the source of the spiritual energy.

"Isn't that the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant?"

The spiritual energy was actually being emitted by the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant he had taken from Zhao Jun earlier!

To be honest, he had nearly forgotten about it.

But unexpectedly, this thing actually contained a trace of spiritual energy. Once he closed his eyes and focused his mind,

he could clearly sense strands of spiritual energy continuously seeping into his body.

"Could this be fate?"

At that moment, he felt like he was the chosen one.

This was going too smoothly! With such a treasure, drawing spiritual energy into his body did not seem difficult at all!

In his excitement, he began guiding the faint strands of spiritual energy from the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant into his body.

"Ah!! It hurts!"

What caught him completely off guard was that those seemingly gentle strands of spiritual energy

became incomparably tyrannical the moment they entered his body, instantly tearing apart his meridians.

Even Zhou Feng's physique, which he considered robust, could not withstand this trace of spiritual energy.

One's physical body being unable to bear the tyrannical spiritual energy of heaven and earth was in fact the greatest difficulty of the Qi Induction Realm.

Why did more than half of the Outer Sect disciples die every year,

while only a handful truly became Inner Sect disciples? The reason lay here.

The existence of Gu insects did indeed allow many people to disregard their bones, talents, and innate gifts. So long as they had sufficient resources, they could break through to the ninth level of Body Tempering.

But that was as far as they could go. The realms beyond required talent.

Qi Induction was the first true test through which the Three Gu Sect selected its disciples.

As had been said before, all Outer Sect disciples were merely nourishment for others.

Only by becoming an Inner Sect disciple would one possess even a sliver of value worth cultivating.

The first step in breaking through to the Qi Induction Realm was taming the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Each time, one had to ensure that only an appropriate amount of spiritual energy was drawn in, allowing the body to adapt before slowly increasing the amount.

This was a small trick, but the Three Gu Sect never told these Outer Sect disciples about it.

Because in the eyes of many higher-ups, once people felt pain, they would learn their lesson.

As for those who drew in spiritual energy and were torn apart by it, suffering severe injuries, that merely meant they were not cautious enough.

Those who lacked caution could not survive in the Three Gu Sect, so this was also a test of temperament.

To successfully achieve Qi Induction in an environment like the Outer Sect, one needed exceptional luck, temperament, perseverance, and more to break through successfully.

Only disciples like that were qualified to become true disciples of the Three Gu Sect.