Chapter 30

Goose Lake.

Surrounded by railings and embraced by willows, the place exudes a spiritual aura.

Xu Xiaoshou was not aimlessly wandering this time. He held his sword, carefully observing the surroundings, hoping to see the old man with the straw hat and black circles under his eyes again.

If he saw him, he would make the oath from last time come true.

Unfortunately, even when the full moon rose high, he still did not see the old man.

Goose Lake, a serene place, was indeed very suitable for cultivation. During the waiting period, Xu Xiaoshou quickly integrated and comprehended the insights from his swordsmanship practice in the afternoon.

After the "Sword Mastery" skill appeared, his perception of swordsmanship seemed to be forcibly elevated to several higher levels. At such a high level, his swordsmanship talent seemed to continue improving as the passive skill level increased.

After calming down, he quickly understood many things.

For example, during the battle with Di Xiner, the flaws in her swordsmanship were obvious to him. At that time, he thought it was because Di Xiner's swordsmanship was not refined. Now, it seemed that his level had already surpassed that of ordinary people.

Only Zhou Tiancan, who had also comprehended the postnatal saber path, could give him pressure in these realms of intent.

Xu Xiaoshou had no guide, so he could only constantly ponder and study his sword intent. The more he studied, the more he felt that using sword intent to fight seemed more natural and reasonable than using spirit techniques.

He rubbed his head, falling into deep thought.

"Hmm... It must be an illusion. After all, I only know one move of the 'White Cloud Sword Technique.' What qualifications do I have to discuss which is stronger between the two?"

He quickly abandoned this promising idea. If a great swordsman came to resolve his doubts, he might continue to study in this direction.

But clearly, he did not have such an opportunity.

Above his dantian, the "Ashen Flame Seed" hung like a scorching sun, roasting the qi sea until it turned crimson. In just one day, Xu Xiaoshou's own spiritual energy had been ravaged to the point of being unrecognizable.

Every time he circulated his energy, the scorching spiritual energy would tear his meridians.

Even a postnatal body was in such a state; if this thing were placed in an ordinary person's body, they would probably die within seconds.

Although his attack power had greatly increased, it was a case of killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of his own.

"I must completely refine this thing. Otherwise, even with 'Endless Vitality,' I estimate that within a few days, my body will be fine, but my cultivation will be ruined."

He glanced at his mind, where the passive value was 27,899.

Originally, in the afternoon battle with Zhou Tiancan, he used 5,000 passive points to upgrade "Sword Mastery," leaving him with only a little over 5,000.

However, after being roasted for more than three hours, his passive points had increased by over 20,000. Of course, some of this was from enthusiastic spectators.

The increase in passive points was good, but the internal and external roasting was too painful. Xu Xiaoshou would rather be beaten by a hundred people on the stage for half a day than continue to endure this.

Moreover, he did not know what hidden dangers this thing in his qi sea might bring.

"Damn old man..."

He had made up his mind to completely refine this thing tonight.

Xu Xiaoshou took out two Crimson Gold Pills, held them in his hand, and after some thought, directly exchanged five skill points and placed them on "Breathing Technique."

"Breathing Technique (Postnatal Level 6)."

After upgrading five levels, Xu Xiaoshou did not feel any changes.

This might be the only passive skill that showed no reaction after upgrading.

But seeing this information, he still instinctively shuddered. In terms of fear, he was most afraid of this "Breathing Technique."

Originally, he planned not to upgrade this technique until he reached the postnatal stage, but now he had no choice. If he failed to refine the "Ashen Flame Seed" and the Crimson Gold Pills' effects were insufficient, he would be in serious trouble.

Moreover, his body had developed a significant resistance to the pills due to recent excessive consumption, and the pleasure had clearly decreased a lot. This was why he dared to upgrade five levels at once.

With these preparations, Xu Xiaoshou first tried to mobilize his spiritual energy to actively contact the "Ashen Flame Seed."

Sizzle—

The spiritual energy surged, but when it encountered the "Ashen Flame Seed," it suddenly scorched, leaving only a thin thread. Xu Xiaoshou seized the opportunity and used this thin thread of spiritual energy to draw out the energy between the seeds.

A wave of scorching heat rushed over, and Xu Xiaoshou felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his whole body trembling. Just drawing out this bit of the seed's energy instantly destroyed his meridians.

"Endless Vitality" once again displayed its power, instantly repairing the damage. The Crimson Gold Pills he had prepared were not needed.

Xu Xiaoshou bled from his seven orifices, suffering intense pain.

At the cost of his body being destroyed and instantly repaired, he refined and completely integrated the drawn-out energy into his qi sea, feeling a qualitative change in his spiritual energy.

Originally ordinary spiritual energy suddenly seemed to have a hint of fire attribute.

The attribute power unique to postnatal experts, he had actually grasped a bit in the postnatal stage. If he could fully refine it, could he use postnatal cultivation to challenge postnatal experts?

Xu Xiaoshou pondered.

From this, it seemed that the old man's intention in making him swallow this thing was good. If he could really refine the "Ashen Flame Seed," his strength would indeed soar.

Xu Xiaoshou calmed down, but he felt that the refinement speed was too slow!

Refining it bit by bit, it would probably take at least half a month to consume this seed.

In the first half of the day, he had been tormented to the brink of death by this thing. Now, realizing that he had the qualifications to refine it, although it was painful, Xu Xiaoshou began to complain about the slow refinement speed.

It had to be said that this guy indeed had a very big heart.

The pain during refinement that ordinary people could hardly endure, he could endure without a sound, gritting his teeth and enduring it.

"How can I increase the speed..."

Xu Xiaoshou touched the blood on his face, watching the fat goose playing in the water, pondering for a while.

Currently, the only method he had to refine the "Ashen Flame Seed" was to use ordinary cultivation techniques, which were still painful and extremely slow.

However, in his daily cultivation, he used "Breathing Technique" as a cultivation technique.

Since that was the case, could he refine it through "Breathing Technique"?

"Breathing Technique..."

Xu Xiaoshou muttered softly, and suddenly a flash of inspiration came to him.

In the past, this basic passive skill was only used by him for cultivation and healing, but the skill description did not say it was a cultivation technique; it was just a basic passive skill.

Could it have other uses?

"Breathing Technique..."

"Exhale, inhale..."

"Exhale..."

Xu Xiaoshou slapped his head. If he took the literal meaning, his previous cultivation and healing were merely using the "inhale" part of "Breathing Technique," while he had never used the "exhale" part.

"Since I can use the 'inhale force' to draw energy into the qi sea by smelling the pills, can I use the 'exhale force' to expel the energy from the 'Ashen Flame Seed' out of my body?"

Xu Xiaoshou was startled by his own idea but felt it was highly feasible.

Action is better than words!

He immediately adjusted his breathing, took a deep breath, and focused all his attention on the "Ashen Flame Seed." Imagining ordinary breathing, he added the intention of expelling the "Ashen Flame Seed" and gently exhaled.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

A surge of scorching energy was drawn from the "Ashen Flame Seed" and flowed through his airway directly to his mouth, burning the tissue like lava.

Xu Xiaoshou was suddenly choked and spat blood. The scorching energy instantly spewed out of his mouth and nose. At that moment, he felt as if half of his throat had been melted, almost dying on the spot.

But the existence of "Endless Vitality" kept him alive. He quickly picked up the Crimson Gold Pill in his hand and took a deep breath.

"Damn!"

The moment he inhaled the pill, Xu Xiaoshou panicked.

He watched as the Crimson Gold Pill in his fingers instantly turned into gas and dissolved, and the large amount of pure scorching energy that had been expelled rushed back into his mouth and nose.

Under the moonlight, on the opposite side of Goose Lake, an old man with a straw hat sitting on a willow branch suddenly trembled, almost falling off the branch.

"Is this kid trying to kill himself?"

...

PS: Confirming the update times, two chapters a day, one at 12:00 PM and one at 7:00 PM. This will be the basic schedule from now on.

Hmm... Also, I'd appreciate some recommendation votes.