"Why are you here, sir?"

Xu Xiaoshou tried his best to steady himself and explained, "I didn't break any of the books or scrolls, and I didn't mess up the boxes…"

​​

"Relax. I'm not going to do anything to you." Elder Sang flashed him an amicable smile. "What happened to those two was purely incidental. I'm here specifically for you."

Xu Xiaoshou panicked even more. He'd rather this old man were here for his head than anything else.

What that old man did to him before had been excruciating.

He wondered how the old man would deal with him next.

"Let me have a look at the technique that you've picked." Elder Sang reached out his hand.

Xu Xiaoshou took out the broken piece, wondering what the old man was up to.

"Ten Sections of the Finger Sword?"

Elder Sang frowned as soon as he took the piece. "You picked this thing despite it looking so broken already? You'd be lucky to even get one section out of all ten!"

He took the broken piece and flicked his hand, and an exquisite jade scroll appeared in his grasp.

Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled.

"What does this mean?" he thought. "What is that old fart up to now?

"Give me back my broken piece!"

"Pretty, right?" Elder Sang snickered.

Xu Xiaoshou immediately got a bad feeling inside, but he couldn't do anything but nod.

"Nice that you find it pretty. This is something I made specifically for you!" Elder Sang then stuffed the jade scroll into his hand, then gestured with his chin. "Take a look."

"I don't wanna take a look!" he thought.

"I want my broken piece back!"

"Pretty thing indeed." Xu Xiaoshou grinned as he pressed the jade scroll to his head, then scanned it with his will.

"Infernal Heavens?"

His heart almost stopped right then and there at the familiar word.

Infernal?

He wasn't about to believe any claims about this thing if it had something to do with that Infernal Fire Seed he'd swallowed back then.

Xu Xiaoshou stopped pretending and handed the jade scroll back, saying, "Sir, you've overestimated me. I really have very little talent, so much so that I was only able to master one move of that White Cloud Sword Technique, even after practicing it for three years. I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to master this."

Elder Sang waved his hand dismissively.

"It's fine. Talent and potential are not requirements for learning this thing. So long as your physical body is strong enough to resist the burning might of the Infernal Fire Seed, you'll do fine."

Xu Xiaoshou panicked. "The thing is I don't want to go through all that!" he thought.

"I have the Passive System, man! Why the h*ll would I want to do this to myself?"

"I could just slowly earn Passive Points. This thing here is no joke, man! One misstep and I could be reduced to dust!"

Elder Sang pushed the jade scroll back, grabbed his hand, then sensed for a bit.

"Hmm, you've internalized the Infernal Fire Seed well. You're already halfway there. I definitely have a good eye."

Elder Sang then flipped his hand over, and that familiar scorching hot red seed appeared in his hand, which he immediately stuffed into Xu Xiaoshou's hand.

"Register this spiritual technique when you head out. Practice it well, and when you're done, come and look for me here again."

"To h*ll with you!" he thought.

"I don't wanna see your face anymore!"

Xu Xiaoshou's heart almost seized as that terrifying pain and heat from the seed seemed to creep inside him again.

He then realized that he couldn't just roll with whatever life threw at him, that he needed to resist sometimes.

"Sir, I don't want to eat this thing…"

Shuu!

Elder Sang flicked his finger and shot another seed into Xu Xiaoshou's throat. Xu Xiaoshou swallowed it with a grunt.

"You can keep this one for later if you don't want to eat it now. Let's eat another one instead." The old man said amicably, squinting at him.

He then took out a jade bottle and carefully put the seed in Xu Xiaoshou's hand into it before shoving it back to him and saying, "No need to hurry. Just take your time."

Xu Xiaoshou staggered and fell to the ground, his face drained of color.

"That's not what I meant," he thought.

"I don't wanna eat any of these!"

He was entirely baffled. This trick had come so suddenly, making him think that the old man was entirely devoid of the air usually present in formidable seniors for having utterly relied on petty tricks.

He no longer dared to do anything rash with that seed in his stomach, and maneuvered his qi to quickly stabilize himself.

The heat in his body quickly rose, and his entire body became red hot again.

He leaned on a bookshelf as steam emanated from his body and that familiar, intense pain came again, almost making him go crazy.

Attacked, Passive Points +1.

Attacked, Passive Points +1.

"…"

He knew there'd be a massive rush of Passive Points, but he wasn't happy about it.

That was the price of pain!

No!

That was the price of being in h*ll!

If he started refining it, the pain would only get a lot more intense.

"Wasn't I here to pick my spiritual technique?" he thought. "How did this happen…"

He looked dazed, as he felt like his soul was leaving his body.

Elder Sang, regardless of this, put ten bottles of pills before Xu Xiaoshou, causing the latter's face to twitch.

"Red Gold Pills?" he thought.

"Ten bottles?

"So, that's what's happening…"

He felt as if fate were toying with him.

"You'll have a bright future ahead of you after you tough through this. Trust me." The old man rummaged for a bit, then put down yet another bottle of pills.

"Work hard!

"And remember to come and find me again after you've mastered it." After saying this, he disappeared from where he was standing.

Encouraged, Passive Points +1.

Xu Xiaoshou sat where he was, dazed, feeling as if life had lost all meaning.

"Why?" he thought.

"I fought so hard and became champion, yet I didn't get to enter the Inner Yard?"

"I finally got a once in a blue moon chance to go into the Spiritual Library Division to pick a spiritual technique, and yet I got played instead?"

Xu Xiaoshou was unable to find an explanation for it. He felt like the world was out to mess him up.

"Forget it. Whatever…"

He registered his spiritual technique in a dazed state and left the place.

…

Back in the Inner Yard.

In some spiritual spot.

Bubble, bubble.

A wine flask, which was made of spiritual silver jade, burned nicely.

Lan Xinzi retracted the blue flames in her hand and opened the lid of the flask. The fragrance of wine went everywhere.

She took two cups, picked up the flask, and walked with steps as light as a feather to the side of a man training with his eyes closed.

"Master Zhang, this is the Murky Sage Brew that the head of the clan just sent here. How about trying it out for a bit?" she probed.

Zhang Xinxiong opened his eyes, coming out of his training state. He looked at the woman before him.

He had to admit that Lan Xinzi was an absolute beauty.

Her dress flowed like a goddess's, and her shoulders were barely covered. She didn't need much makeup to make flowers lose their radiance in her presence.

"Your dress fell down. Wear it right." Zhang Xinxiong looked away.

"What do you mean? This is how it's worn…" Lan Xinzi's lips twitched all of a sudden, and she said slyly, "Well, I have two cups in my hands, and, as you can see, my hands are full, so how about you straighten it for me, then?"

Zhang Xinxiong took the cups away and gulped the contents down. "Straighten it yourself."

Lan Xinzi only rolled her eyes at him, then went on to pour him more wine, saying in his ear, "News from the clan."

"Speak properly." Zhang Xinxiong tilted his head away and frowned. "What is it this time?"

"The thing about Wen Chong getting killed. Did you actually think you could hide it?"

Lan Xinzi stretched about lazily, putting up quite a show before the man, and continued.

"Your second mother would only need to whisper at your father's ear. You see, more news here now." She lightly blew on the wine in the cup while casting a glance at the man, looking alluring.

Zhang Xinxiong snickered. "What does the matter with the Wen family have to do with me?"

"That guy is your cousin!"

"Just a good-for-nothing piece of trash."

"…"

Lan Xinzi was speechless for quite a while.