Passive Old Skin

"Since you've already passed the trial, I might as well tell you a few things!"

Wei He placed the Bloodthirsty Gu he had collected earlier into a small pouch.

Then he explained the situation to the two before him.

It turned out that nearly all the information Zhou Feng had learned earlier was false.

This was not the headquarters of the Three Gu Sect, nor were there many cultivators here.

Naturally, the cafeteria they had mentioned earlier was fake as well.

And that nonsense about personally teaching everyone this morning was also a lie.

By this morning, nearly everyone was dead. Teach my ass!

Next, as an official disciple who had entered the sect, Zhou Feng would be taken to Gu Mountain. That was where the Three Gu Sect's headquarters truly lay.

As for meals afterward, they would have to fend for themselves.

The only purpose of this place was to have the nearby Stockades send their children here.

Put plainly, this was merely a recruitment site.

Its purpose was to draw in more recruits. After all, disciples of the Three Gu Sect were expendable goods.

If they did not recruit enough people, they simply could not keep up with the rate of consumption.

That was why they had established an outpost here, enticing the surrounding Stockades to send over their children.

At the same time, this place was also a resource site under the Three Gu Sect's control.

Every year, grain and Blood Qi Gu were transported from here to Gu Mountain.

The so-called Blood Qi Gu were actually Bloodthirsty Gu that had drained their hosts dry after their deaths.

Every Blood Qi Gu carried a human life on its back.

Learning this cruel truth, Zhou Feng could not help clenching his fists.

"Alright! You'll naturally learn the rest once you reach Gu Mountain!"

"You two should get acquainted as well. Life at Gu Mountain won't be easy!"

After giving them a few more brief instructions, Wei He left.

Leaving Zhou Feng and the other person behind.

"Dead... They're all dead..."

Zhou Feng glanced at the woman, whose gaunt body looked almost like a zombie.

He found that she kept muttering that they were dead.

It seemed that some of her friends or family had died in the initiation trial, and she could no longer bear the blow.

He had no intention of comforting her.

For one thing, he did not know her. For another, he had no spare energy to worry about anyone else.

They were all clay bodhisattvas crossing the river—barely able to save themselves.

Still, it was rather ironic. He remembered that on the day of Gu Planting yesterday, the enormous crowd had been divided into ranks high and low.

Quite a few so-called Stockade folk had looked down on the abandoned people who had been shoved to the very edges.

Yet in the blink of an eye, everyone had become equal. Nearly all of them had been buried here.

"Huh? The progress bar is almost full?"

Zhou Feng found a shady spot and sat down, then opened the Skill Panel.

After opening the Skill Panel, he was surprised to discover that the progress bar below was nearly full.

He remembered that after obtaining the Gluttony passive, the progress bar had been reset to zero.

Why was it suddenly almost full again?

What exactly was the pattern here? Or did doing certain things speed up the progress bar?

"Forget it! I should circulate my blood qi!"

Unable to figure out why, Zhou Feng began cultivating the Blood Condensation Art where he sat.

At the same time, he took the dried meat hidden in his clothes and began chewing it.

During this time, Yin Ling spoke to him a few times.

That was right. The woman who had entered alongside him was named Yin Ling.

However, the two had no common topics.

After a few awkward exchanges, neither had any intention of continuing the conversation.

After waiting quite a while longer, Wei He finally appeared again.

The one taking them to Gu Mountain was not Wei He, but another senior brother from the Three Gu Sect.

At this point, Zhou Feng also saw several people who looked like walking skeletons. They were the other survivors.

He also spotted someone who looked rather familiar. This person seemed to have stood at the very front on the day of Gu Planting.

However, the people who had been around him all seemed to be nowhere in sight.

Before long, their group was brought to the foot of a mountain.

Several enormous rhinoceroses stood before them.

If he was not mistaken, these rhinoceroses would be taking them to Gu Mountain next.

The rhinoceroses were immense, with huge saddles mounted on their backs, large enough to seat many people.

What was even more noteworthy was that the rhinoceroses' eyes contained only whites, without any pupils!?

Furthermore, these rhinoceroses made no small movements at all. Like carriages, they were completely devoid of life.

How had this been done?

Zhou Feng looked somewhat dull and blank on the surface, but inwardly, questions were exploding through his mind.

On the rhinoceros's back, a silent and eerie atmosphere hung in the air.

No one spoke, and no one looked around.

Almost everyone kept their heads lowered in silence.

This was probably because what they had experienced earlier had dealt everyone too heavy a blow.

On the third day of their journey to Gu Mountain.

Zhou Feng discovered that the progress bar on the Skill Panel had filled up.

It began randomly drawing a new passive skill.

"Drawing..."

"Passive skill obtained: Old Skin!"

Old Skin (Level 1): Each time you are injured and then recover from your injuries, defense +1.

"A defensive passive?"

Zhou Feng raised an eyebrow.

Honestly, he had quite a great need for defensive passives.

After all, he was currently in such a dangerous environment. Essential means of preserving his life were a necessity.

But when he clearly saw the description of this passive skill.

An indescribable expression appeared on his face.

What did it mean, every time you were injured and then recovered from your injuries, defense +1?

What kind of bullshit activation condition was that?

It meant that if he wanted to trigger the Old Skin passive skill, he first had to get beaten up.

After getting beaten up, he had to nurse his injuries. Only once he had fully recovered could he gain one point of defense.

He did not even know what to say about this passive.

Because this was practically a skill exclusive to masochists and battle maniacs.

He had no interest in being a masochist, and his personality was not that of a battle maniac either.

Not to mention that he had no idea how this one point of defense was quantified.

Or what actual effect that additional point of defense would have.

Everything was unknown. With the benefits unknown, he was supposed to deliberately get himself injured?

Especially in an unorthodox sect like the Three Gu Sect, the risk was simply too great.

After thinking it over and weighing the matter, Zhou Feng felt that this newly acquired passive was somewhat useless.

Perhaps it would have room to shine only if it were paired with other passives, such as one that accelerated injury recovery.

Having gained a rather unimpressive passive skill, Zhou Feng's feelings were somewhat complicated.

It was a pity it was not one of those heaven-defying passives, like the kind that raised attributes just by idling.

But it was not that much of a pity, either.

After all, he had practically gotten it for free. Something was better than nothing, and no matter how he thought about it, he had not lost out.

What else could he do? It was what it was!

"If I can obtain a passive after just a period of time, doesn't that mean that as long as I lie low for long enough..."

At that moment, he realized something extremely crucial.

If he could obtain a passive skill at regular intervals.

Then as long as he lay low long enough, would he not be able to possess thousands upon thousands of passives?

By then, even if he did not become the strongest, he would at least have the ability to protect himself, right?

At this moment, Zhou Feng's mindset changed slightly, and his plans for the future changed with it.