The grey mist figure was about to explode with rage.

It swore that it would never again say anything else to that young man.

​​

That kid was simply too shrewd, and the grey mist figure knew that it would fall into another one of his traps if he wasn't careful.

The spiritual source on its hand fluctuated, once again enveloping the grey mist figure in a sphere that shielded it from everything on the outside.

The indistinct voice was heard again. "Six Paths, Shrouding Heavens!"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened in disbelief… That thing's powers had climbed yet again!

"Oh, h*ll no!" he thought.

The Tianxuan Gate was a world unto itself. The highest level it could accommodate was but the peak of the Innate Level.

Even if one were to stretch it, one could only get to Master Level, and that was only possible as some cultivator had actually managed to breakthrough Innate Level into Master Level.

Yet, that grey mist figure before him had actually managed to fool the world and crank itself to even higher levels.

This… was keeping one's existence a secret from the heavens in order to continue making breakthroughs?

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

He wondered just how powerful one had to be to get that far, as well as if such methods so far surpassed spiritual techniques that one would have to "get in touch with the Great Path" to get to such a level.

When it came to comprehending the Great Path, Xu Xiaoshou thought that one probably wouldn't be able to get that far if one lacked the knowledge and experience.

As such, that meant the grey mist figure was really terrifying.

Xu Xiaoshou immediately made the decision to slash at the grey mist figure.

While the power of his sword aura was formidable, that thing's sealing power was so unbelievable that it simply deflected his attack with a clang.

"Oh, f**k this sh**! How am I supposed to fight like this?"

He immediately dashed to Mu Zixi's side, picked her up, and started running.

"Sis, your brother here has taken revenge for you. Two punches and one slash. Strictly put, you've already earned your fill, and now…

"It's time to bail!"

Mu Zixi's injuries had mostly been healed from Spirit Mark of Life's healing effects, yet she still seemed a little dazed, as she didn't even respond when Xu Xiaoshou hoisted her up and ran away.

"Do you really think you can run?" The grey mist figure then said coldly, "Winds!"

It pressed its hand together, and eerie winds blew all over the place again.

Xu Xiaoshou was alarmed.

Before coming here, he'd swept that thing with his spiritual thoughts and found that the wind actually gradually severed one's connection to the outside world when one was inside it.

He had no idea if this would hinder his Sense, but when he recalled how his Sharpness had been wiped away in his fight against Mo Mo during the Wind and Cloud Contest, he immediately knew one thing:

Can't try, can't touch!

He was no longer the Xu Xiaoshou he used to be. He'd made quite a lot of progress.

He enveloped himself in those formless flames of his, and the wind was burned to nothing as soon they got close to him, preventing the wind from hitting his body.

The Infernal Heavenly Flames had no form, were of super-high temperatures, and could burn down just about anything.

"Spiritual sense is now useless, then…"

Even though he'd yet to be hit by the wind, he was no longer able to search the road outside using his spiritual sense.

He became rather flustered. He knew that if he were to be lost in the grey mist, then what had happened to Mu Zixi would quickly happen to him.

He immediately peered that that red interface in his mind.

Passive Points: 38694.

At this moment, he was feeling incredibly grateful for his foresight, as he'd avoided having to spend all of his passive points and left behind more than 30000 just in case.

Sense (Innate, Lv.1)

Sense (Innate, Lv.6)

He immediately dumped 25000 passive points into Sense.

He'd learned through his earlier experience that so long as the grey mist figure's sealing qi didn't touch him, his techniques wouldn't be sealed.

After upgrading Sense the last time, the clarity had been so greatly improved that he'd felt as if he were seeing everything with his very own eyes. However, there was still another thing that could be upgraded.

That something was none other than range.

As expected, after the skill's level was upgraded, the number of scenes and things he could perceive in his mind greatly increased.

After the upgrade, his Sense's range immediately from its original 10 meters or so to nearly 500 meters, which was a considerable range of half a kilometer!

Furthermore, the clarity was as clear as could be, which was the complete opposite with spiritual sense, where he had to struggle to figure out what he'd just perceived.

"Awesome!"

Xu Xiaoshou saw that the grey mist figure was in no rush to attack and that it had secretly fished out pills while his Sense was muddled and was popping them.

"Man…" Xu Xiaoshou was baffled by this.

"Could you get any more prideful than this?" he thought. "You could've taken the pills before but picked now to do so?

"By the way, Red Gold Pills, huh…

"D*mn, look how far you've fallen!"

He was very pleased with himself. He pretended ignorance and looked as if he were fumbling about to try and find his way while all the while slowly moving outside.

Distancing himself from his enemy probably wasn't the best way to fight, but he was all about running and no longer cared about all of that.

That grey mist figure had apparently found ranged attacks more to its style. It popped the pills and managed to ease its injuries somewhat.

It mobilized some of the spiritual source it'd gained earlier from forcing a breakthrough, then performed yet another seal.

"Six Paths, Dusty Gate!"

Six gates shimmering with grey light slowly moved toward one another right under Xu Xiaoshou's nose. When they clicked together, Xu Xiaoshou guessed it would become that grey mist crystal that had trapped Mu Zixi before.

But…

D*mn, this was slow.

There was an odd expression on Xu Xiaoshou's face. He finally realized why the winds were needed before that other skill could be used.

"If Mu Zixi hadn't had her senses shrouded, she probably would've been able to escape the barricade right away," he thought.

Xu Xiaoshou casually twisted his body, making it look like an accident, and slipped through the cracks between the six gates and moved further outside.

That grey mist figure was baffled.

Was this a coincidence?

It had to be.

"I'll give it another try while that kid has yet to see the gates," it thought to itself.

The grey mist figure performed yet another seal, and six more gates shimmering with grey light appear in the air again and slowly closed in on Xu Xiaoshou.

"Ouch!"

Xu Xiaoshou acted as if his legs had just given out from under him and slipped through the cracks between the gates yet another time.

The grey mist figure was speechless.

Could it really just be a coincidence?

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

That grey mist figure put its hands together. "Six Paths, Dusty Gate!"

Six gates appeared yet again.

However, he no longer pretended this time and immediately slipped through the cracks between the huge gates and broke through to outside the scope of that eerie wind, finally able to breathe fresh air.

The grey mist figure was stunned.

"Is he toying with me?" it thought.

"He was actually able to see everything!?

"D*mn it!"

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

The grey mist figure was incredibly furious. It immediately disappeared from where it was standing and gave chase in complete mist form.

"Xu Xiaoshou, how dare you dupe me?"

"Dupe you?" Xu Xiaoshou put on an innocent look, but he didn't at all stop his legs from moving. "My leg really was sprained and just managed to fix itself. Did anything just happen back there?"

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

That grey mist figure was so furious that it felt like it was about to explode. It no longer bothered talking. It swore to not talk to that kid anymore so as to prevent itself from being duped again.

Xu Xiaoshou discovered that his Master Level Agility had met its match for the second time. The grey mist behind him stuck to him like some kind of stubborn glue, preventing him from shrugging it away.

When he took a closer look at it, he could even see that the thing's speed was actually somewhat faster than his own.

He gasped as he commented, "Master Level beings are really, really terrifying indeed."

He carried Mu Zixi, who was so jostled about that drool kept falling all over the place from her mouth, as he ran. He then slipped his hand into her chest and took that Spirit Mark of Life out.

"Stop chasing me. Your sh**… umm, no, your mark!"

Xu Xiaoshou gestured for the grey mist to stop and began to bargain. "I'll let you have this thing, and then we'll just part ways, alright?"

Passive Points: 13694.

Passive Points: 3694.

Sword Technique Expertise (Innate, Lv.1).

Sword Technique Expertise (Innate, Lv.3).

Massive amounts of knowledge immediately flooded his mind. He looked at the Senluo Woods beneath his feet. The wind was howling through the trees, and fallen leaves were everywhere.

He immediately had an epiphany.

He turned around again and saw that, as expected, the grey mist figure was still charging at him. However, Xu Xiaoshou stood his ground instead of continuing to run.

"Don't come any closer. I'm very sincere here. We could trade from her!" he said, his voice full of desperation.

That grey mist figure's eyes were full of disdain. Being that Xu Xiaoshou was willing to trade the mark for his life, it figured that the kid had truly run out of tricks.

"Today I'm out to get the mark, as well as your life!" it thought.

It didn't say anything and simply kept charging.

However, the grey mist figure did so only to rush into the range of Xu Xiaoshou's new technique. The grey mist figure felt the hairs on its body stand on end, and it tried its hardest to stop moving.

Xu Xiaoshou lowered his head.

While the ancient trees below looked like they were still very lush, the truth was that they'd all completely lost their foliage.

Every single leaf, whether they had dropped on their own or been withered by something else, were all infused with potent sword will as well as the "ordinary power of thought" that he'd learned not too long ago.

He scanned the place and found that the leaves probably numbered in the tens of thousands at least.

The grey mist figure was stunned.

"H-He set me up again?" it thought.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.