Black Cliff, Tianxuan Gate.

"Hehehe, hehehe…"

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A young man wearing only his underwear was cradling his knees as he sat on a huge rock sticking out of the lake, giggling like an idiot. This had been going on for quite some time.

Truth to be told, Xu Xiaoshou actually no longer knew just how powerful he'd become.

It'd been a painstaking effort for him to kill Zhao Shu and come up to scratch with the new Inner Yard Thirty-three in terms of powers. Yet, making another breakthrough into Innate Level had made him confused yet again.

"Zhang Xinxiong?

"Yeah, big deal."

He no longer even considered that man to be a threat. If the man were to have a big brother or something who was of Master Level, then fighting him might be a problem.

Master Physique…

He didn't want to be arrogant, but he felt that he'd indeed tried his best to underestimate his own powers.

Not only did he have Eternal Vitality at Master level, but the awakened effects of "Raging Giant" still had yet to be triggered.

"Oh, right. There's also Master Level 'Agility.'

"Well, does that mean I can graduate now?"

He immediately shuddered, and didn't allow himself to pursue that thought any further, as his life would be in danger if he did.

Judging by the stories that Elder Sang had told him, the old fart was probably of talents far above his and had possessed Master Physique at a young age, which meant that his powers were…

Unfathomable at present.

"But then again, something is off. I've just made a breakthrough into Innate Level, so why do I already feel that everyone in the world is beneath me? Am I seeing things or something?

"What if I find myself to be nothing more than a paper tiger when it comes time to fight?"

He was in the middle of deep self-doubt. The growth of his powers was a little too terrifying.

"Whatever. Whatever comes, comes."

He sorted out his feelings and checked over his items. There were still about 38000 left, which he decided would serve him well as a trump card.

He would level up his "Sword Techniques Expertise" by five levels in one go if anyone got on his bad side. So long as his mind could still function, his enemy's brain would be the one to get bashed instead.

"Huh?"

After checking everything, he found that he'd actually overlooked something.

Cooking Expert (Acquired, Lv.6)

"Why is there still a passive skill at Acquired Level?"

"Well, 5000 passive points. That's no big deal." He then dumped the necessary points into the skill to level it up.

Cooking Expert (Innate, Lv.1)

A great deal of knowledge surged into his mind, and he felt as if he'd just recognized all manner of Acquired Level herbs and meats.

He seemed to know their medicinal purposes and how they mixed with each other, as well as the effects of the mixes. All of this knowledge made him realize that they were all interconnected.

But what was even more terrifying was that he came to know what meats would work with what type of spiritual medicine to get mystical effects.

It all came to him like an epiphany.

"Umm, am I supposed to like develop pills made of meats, then…" he thought, a puzzled look on his face, as he knew that doing so would be to go off-course.

He thought that perhaps it had something to do with him having opened his Origin Court, as he was able to process all of the knowledge that surged into his mind within mere moments.

"Alright. I'll leave them be for the time being."

He reminded himself that he wasn't inside the Tianxuan Gate, so he couldn't delve into alchemy. And, besides, this was something that would take him considerable time and effort to look into, so he deemed it wise to save it for when he returned home.

"280 thousand points well spent."

He felt a mix of emotions. While the System's upgrade had gobbled up his two-fold Innate Elemental Powers, in general, he hadn't lost for it.

Of course, he mostly had the Black Waterfalls to thank for that.

There was only one thing that he could say about it all—it felt nice.

He stepped inside the falls yet again, and he was already able to completely ignore the weight of the heavy water. He felt nothing being subjected to it.

The white sword auras were utterly incapable of doing him any harm, as they would be instantly deflected, unable to deal him even a single scratch.

He looked up and came back to his previous speculation.

But the Black Cliff couldn't have such sapience. While it was quite possible that the entire mountain was actually sapient, he was more inclined to believe that there was something fully sapient at the top of the cliff.

He couldn't fathom why there would be white sword auras blasting about in the falls otherwise.

It just didn't make sense.

Furthermore…

"Black Cliff. Sounds like a name someone standing on top of the place would come up with."

He looked up and decided that he would call the place something like "Black Moat" instead.

"Hehe, there's definitely something left up there to be found, and that thing might actually be a sword. By the way, isn't there some saying like…

"Treasures are left are for those destined to take them?"

He considered himself to be that destined person and immediately shot upward, moving at blitzing speed. Despite the massive weight of the Black Waterfalls, he moved unhindered.

If this place could no longer be used for earning Passive Points, then he would just pick the place clean of loot before making his way elsewhere, then.

He had all the time in the world to spare, as he'd already completed two of the goals he'd come to the Tianxuan Gate to achieve. The next minor thing he had to do was just earn as much as he could.

"There's the Black Cliff, so who's to say there isn't a White Cliff, or even a Purple Cliff, eh?

"Let's go!"

He shot over a kilometer upwards, a height he hadn't dared to climb to when riding his word to fly. However, given that he could already fly on his own, there was no longer anything to fear.

"So long as I keep my eyes up and don't look down."

By the time he reached the height of over three kilometers, his legs were already wobbling, yet he gritted his teeth and kept climbing.

"So high already, yet the limit is nowhere in sight yet."

The Black Waterfalls seemed to still be rumbling above his head, as if it had no end, but he didn't believe for even a second that there this waterfall didn't have an end to it.

"What? You think this is something like 'the Milky Way descending from the ninth heaven' or something?"

Thump!

As he kept climbing at frightening speeds, he seemed to crash into some formless barrier, and he plummeted from the impact before quickly steadying himself.

"The end is here?" He was more excited than shocked.

When he looked up, he saw that the waterfalls were still falling from above.

He could see a clear rippling effect above him. It was obvious that the formless barrier had materialized when his Master Physique crashed into it.

He went near the barrier at once and touched it. It felt spongy and sticky.

He clenched his fist and threw a punch.

Booom!

He was sent flying yet again, but his Sense allowed him to see the barrier shaking violently, bobbing up and down as it became unstable.

"Well, well, isn't that something? 30 percent power from someone with Master Physique and it just took it like that. Not bad."

He was just about to throw another punch when he saw words start to appear on the barrier after it finished wobbling.

"No admittance."

Boom!

Sparkling bits of light exploded, and he shot right through the shattered barrier and continued his climb.

"Was there something around just now? My eyes are blurry, and I can't see a thing."

After passing through the barrier, there were still only the Black Waterfalls. It truly seemed like that place had no end.

Yet he kept climbing without stopping. "H*ll, you've met your match today. Even if I have to go to the top of the sky, I'll find where this waterfall ends."

He was about seven kilometers away from the ground when he felt that something was wrong.

A barrier was seen in midair again.

"Another one, eh?"

Before he could attack it, the words "no admittance" appeared on the barrier, and he closed his eyes instead.

Boom!

Boom!

70 percent power, 100 percent power… shattered!

He just kept climbing while reeling in shock. What kind of a thing was up there to warrant such a level of protection?

He recalled that those at Master Level were unable to enter the Tianxuan Gate, but the gate's level of protection was so great that it probably rendered the place off-limits to average Master Level ones too.

He'd already climbed up to 10 kilometers upward, yet the anticipated breathing difficulties never occurred, and he ran into the third barrier as anticipated instead.

He took a deep breath and kept up with his speed.

"Let's give it a try."

His next punch was at 120 percent as he put the force of his flight behind it and rammed into the barrier, breaking the speed of sound.

Pfftt!

The recoil caused him to spit blood, and he was sent flying over 100 meters away.

He stopped attacking. His eyes were glittering with excitement.

"There's definitely treasure to be had! Probably a treasure unlike any other given the level of protection around it!"

He wasn't about to give up. Even though he'd put 120 percent behind that punch before, it was still just an ordinary punch.

"You think that I, Xu Xiaoshou, is someone who fights with this? What a joke!

"If an ordinary punch can't do the job, how about the 'ordinary power of thought' then, eh?"

He closed in and touched the barrier, yet he didn't choose to attack the barrier with sword aura.

Such a level of protection only meant that the more powerful the attack, the greater the recoil.

"But if I were to focus everything on a single point…

"10 Sections of the Finger Sword!"

He closed his hand and erected two fingers, then thrust them at the barrier, which actually broke right away with a crack.

He tore the barrier open and immediately leapt inside.

The top of the cliff!

His pupils dilated as he jerked his head to look at the place.

"This is…"