Clank!

The wooden pieces above Xu Xiaoshou's head were sent flying.

​​

Xu Xiaoshou was lying on the ground naked. He stood up from within his collapsed home, a confused look on his face.

"That is the first stroke of the White Cloud Sword Technique, the Fleeting White Cloud?"

"It must've been grossly modified!"

He'd managed to slice the entire building into pieces with one strike. "This is the White Cloud Sword Technique that I've practiced for three years but never dared use?" he thought.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare to believe it!

The execution, path, and movement of the Fleeting White Cloud were similar to before, but its essence had completely changed.

The Sword Technique Expertise was rather terrifying.

It had given him countless experiences with the way of the sword. Coupled with the fact that Xu Xiaoshou already had a foundation from his sword training, he could instantly convert that experience into practical use.

He grabbed a set of clothes from his ring and changed into them. He then walked out of the debris, not knowing what to say for the time being.

He'd only wanted to test out his sword technique. He didn't mean to destroy his house.

However, the house hadn't been destroyed in vain, as they'd personally gotten to witness the power of his sword technique.

He relaxed, and immediately started to feel weak. That stroke had depleted all of the spiritual power in his body.

Xu Xiaoshou took out a Spirit Crystal and took a slight whiff of it to recover. His body seemed to have developed resistance after it'd been brutalized by the Spiritual Cultivation Pill the last time.

It was only a tiny whiff. It wouldn't cause much of a problem.

As his body trembled slightly, Xu Xiaoshou noticed that his energy reserve had increased greatly.

"I achieved another breakthrough?"

Xu Xiaoshou investigated himself thoroughly and ascertained that he had indeed broken through to Level Six. And he hadn't just reached the beginning stages of Level Six. He had arrived at the peak of Level Six. He was just one step away from Level Seven.

"I unknowingly achieved a breakthrough?" he thought.

He remembered the illusion. His cultivation level must've risen while reaching an epiphany on the path of cultivation!

"The increase is rather large…" he thought.

It'd only taken him three days to reach Level Five. He had then effortfully stabilized his cultivation level after the insane battle during the group-stage competition, as he'd wanted to have a solid transition phase for the time being.

However, he had achieved a breakthrough once again!

Other cultivators would complain that their progress was too slow, while Xu Xiaoshou was worried that his cultivation level was increasing too fast and that he might not be able to consolidate and solidify his foundation.

However, he was clearly overthinking things. Achieving a breakthrough while going through an epiphany naturally meant that he'd become very compatible with the path of cultivation, so how could his foundation be unstable?

Advancing only one level during that phenomenon was a rather small increase.

A true genius would level up from the Acquired Stage to the Innate Stage when they reached an epiphany!

…

Two figures flew over from the horizon. Xu Xiaoshou looked over. This skill of "Walking on the Sky" was something only an Innate-stage expert could accomplish.

"Xiao Qixiu, Elder Qiao? What are they doing here?" he thought.

"The commotion from that strike wasn't that loud, was it?"

Xu Xiaoshou was confused. His yard had a soundproof array, and his strike was incredibly silent. The house might've made some sound when collapsing, but why would that alert these two elders?

"Xu Xiaoshou?" Elder Qiao said in shock when he landed on the ground.

"This is your yard?" Xiao Qixiu looked somewhat doubtful when he saw the young man. Wasn't this the narcissist from the group-stage competition who'd chosen to be a punching bag despite having an Innate-stage physical body?

"Good evening, Elders."

Xu Xiaoshou clasped his hands. He had to show Elder Qiao some respect when outsiders were around. "This is my yard."

Xiao Qixiu closely examined the Sword Will around them and ascertained that the one they'd felt had come from here.

Actually, he could've realized this just by looking at the house. It had been sliced to such a degree. How could the Sword Will not have come from here?

He pointed to the collapsed house and said, "What happened here?"

"Hm…"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. He did want to keep his technique a secret. However, the situation didn't allow for this. Thus, he said honestly, "I was practicing a sword technique just now and accidentally sliced the house into such a state."

"Got doubted. Passive Points +2."

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"I knew it!" he thought.

"I knew that this would happen, even if I spoke the truth!

"You're looking down on me, Xu Xiaoshou, right? Can't you just say it straight to my face?!

Xiao Qixiu knitted his brows. He almost would've believed Xu Xiaoshou's nonsense if he hadn't witnessed the young man's Innate-stage physical body.

He knew just how hard an Innate-stage physical body was to achieve. He also knew how hard it was to achieve the Acquired-stage Sword Will.

How could these two things come together into the body of a mere Spiritual Cultivation Level Six fighter?

If he had that talent, he wouldn't have had to stay in the outer yard for three years. He would have reached the Innate Stage and gotten taken into the inner yard a long time ago.

Elder Qiao wasn't so reserved. He took a step forward and slapped Xu Xiaoshou on the head.

"Oh my, you're that powerful?

"You should think over your words ahead of time if you want to lie.

"I was wrong the last time when I didn't believe you when you said that you have an Innate-stage physical body. However, if you also claim that you're the one who achieved the Acquired-stage Sword Will…"

The corners of his lips curled upward. "Hehe!"

If this were a different situation, Xu Xiaoshou would've argued with Elder Qiao. However, he was now very shocked. Acquired-stage Sword Will?

That was what the Sword Technique Expertise gave him? Why hadn't he noticed that?

Hm…

Passive skill…

It would've been weird if he'd noticed that.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't expect his strike to carry an Acquired-stage Sword Will. It was no wonder that the house had collapsed and these two elders had come to investigate.

It was much harder to become a swordsman than a Spiritual Cultivator. The existence of the Acquired-stage Sword Will was a hurdle that countless geniuses couldn't pass over.

However, that clearly didn't apply to Xu Xiaoshou.

Xu Xiaoshou almost wanted to laugh when Elder Qiao doubted him.

Elder Qiao had done the same thing when he'd told him about his Innate-stage physical body back at the Spiritual Affairs Division. Hadn't he obediently come to admit his mistake after the group-stage competition ended?

"What right does this old fogey have to doubt me?" Xu Xiaoshou laughed to himself.

However, he obviously couldn't say this out loud. He pointed behind him and said seriously, "This is my house. Who else could've done this but me?"

"Sigh!"

Elder Qiao sighed and said in a heartfelt tone, "I know that you've become more brazen after coming out of seclusion. It's all right for the young to be wilful, but there has to be a limit to everything, right?"

Xu Xiaoshou pouted. "I'm not brazen," he thought. "I was forced to do this. I'm actually pure and kind."

Elder Qiao continued, "See, now someone that you've offended has come to seek revenge. Fortunately, he showed mercy. He only destroyed your house and didn't take your life, right?"

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly confused.

"What kind of imagination is this," he thought.

"Do you have a huge hole in your brain? Or could it be that your entire brain is full of holes?

"He even conjured up an enemy…

"I, Xu Xiaoshou, am a cautious and conscientious man. How could I have a mortal enemy?"

Elder Qiao saw Xu Xiaoshou's shocked expression, and a confident look appeared on his face that seemed to tell Xu Xiaoshou that everything was as he'd expected.

"Tell me, what swordsman did this...

"Hng, it's all right if you're too embarrassed to say. After all, your house has been destroyed."

"All right, you need not say his name. All you need to do is point in the direction he headed in, and Elder Xiao and I will go look for him!"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked by how Elder Qiao had come up with his own narrative of events and didn't let him speak.

He looked at Xiao Qixiu. Elder Xiao was also a swordsman and should be more dependable. Thus, he shot Elder Xiao a questioning look.

Xiao Qixiu nodded slightly and looked like he agreed with the assessment.

"We'll seek vengeance for your destroyed house in the future.

"Tell us, where did that swordsman go?"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

These two people would rather believe in the fake enemy that they'd created than believe that he, Xu Xiaoshou, had achieved the Acquired-stage Sword Will?

He gripped his Hiding Pain, then pointed it toward his back to signal that he was the one who had destroyed the house with his sword.

"Tell us!" the two elders encouraged.

Xu Xiaoshou gave up. He pointed in a random direction.

"Keep at it!" The look in Elder Qiao's eyes showed that he hadn't given up on Xu Xiaoshou.

"Work hard!" Xiao Qixiu was rather relieved.

"Got encouraged. Passive Points +2."

Xu Xiaoshou sat on the ground. He raised his head and looked at the sky. He looked like a deflated ball.

Why did no one believe him? He'd told the truth.

The fleeting clouds in the sky had nothing to say. Only the fallen leaves of the spirit trees in the yard that had been sliced by the energy of the sword echoed his sadness.

…

Xu Xiaoshou moved to the guest room. He would publish a mission at the Spiritual Affairs Division tomorrow and get someone to deal with the pile of rubble. It was something that could be solved with a few Spirit Crystals.

There was a day for recovery after the group-stage competition. He had to seize the time to get back into tip-top shape.

He returned to the red interface in his mind. He still had over 7000 Passive Points.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about it. He purchased Skill Points with all of his Passive Points and put it all into Sharpness.

Sword Technique Expertise had given him too much knowledge. He needed to digest it all and shouldn't rush into leveling the skill up.

If his guess was right, Expertise Passive Skills like those would give him a ton of knowledge with every level it increased.

He didn't plan to level the Sword Technique Expertise up before he fully grasped the Fleeting White Cloud.

As for leveling the Breathing Technique up?

One had to be joking. He still wanted to live a few more days!

The Breathing Technique had to remain at Level One before his cultivation level reached the Innate Stage. There was no other reason!

In the notification panel.

"..."

"Sharpness (Acquired Lv. 8)."

Xu Xiaoshou raised his right hand. His fingernails hadn't changed, but his fingers had become more slender. They looked surprisingly good.

He once again poked his fingers into the ground.

Creak!

There was no pain!

It felt like he was stabbing a piece of tofu with a sword. Even Xu Xiaoshou's wrist plunged directly into the stone floor. At this moment, his clenched, slender fingers were like blades.

"Wow!"

Indeed, as he'd expected, the skill's effects were drastically different now that it'd been leveled up.

It was like having two concealed weapons at any given time!

No, they were unconcealed weapons!

They were unconcealed weapons that an enemy couldn't guard against!

Xu Xiaoshou silently stood up. He looked at the small hole in the ground and lapsed into deep thought.

If he changed his fist into a spear when facing an enemy in the future…

Tsk tsk!