Zhao Xidong couldn't be bothered wasting time talking to Xu Xiaoshou and running around in circles. The good news was he didn't understand what the other man was talking about.

But this wasn't Xu Xiaoshou's problem. It was Zhao Xidong's.

​​

He decided to cut to the chase. "Spill it. What caused the explosion?"

Xu Xiaoshou lightly tapped his finger on the windowsill, his face emotionless.

"An experiment."

Zhao Xidong's lips twitched. His face darkened, then paled, then darkened again.

An experiment? So Xu Xiaoshou was the one who'd caused the explosion, then.

"What kind of experiment?" Zhao Xidong asked.

"An experiment on Lesser Fireball."

Xu Xiaoshou eyed the two fireballs on his palm before quietly extinguishing them. He wasn't going to need them, after all.

Everyone else was stupefied.

…a Lesser Fireball?

Did Xu Xiaoshou really just tell them that a Lesser Fireball had caused that terrible explosion?

Did he think they were idiots?

Suspected, Passive Points +275.

Zhao Xidong took a deep breath and suppressed the agitation that was bubbling inside him. "Get down here," he huffed. "We need to talk."

They were talking right now, weren't they?

Xu Xiaoshou ignored Zhao Xidong's orders. He could faintly sense the murderous rage coming from them.

He had killed three men, after all.

"Does that mean…you can't get in?" At that moment, it hit Xu Xiaoshou that this was the Spiritual Library Division. They might be law enforcers, but they probably didn't have the authority to force their way into the Spiritual Library Division.

In fact, they couldn't have forced their way in if they'd wanted to.

The Spiritual Library Division was the foundation upon which the Tiansang Spirit Palace rested. Its security measures could probably keep powerful men like the masked figure out. It wasn't a place that the average law enforcer could barge into.

Elder Sang had let him in, which was how he'd been able to enter the Spiritual Library Division in the first place.

"It was just a small experiment…" Xu Xiaoshou eyed the look of hostility in the men's eyes and attempted to appease them. "Don't panic. It's not a big deal."

The look on Zhao Xidong's face was absolutely stormy.

If this were anyone else, he wouldn't have been worried. But this was Xu Xiaoshou they were talking about!

It was Xu Xiaoshou!

An absolute troublemaker!

How could he not be worried?

"Why don't you get down here first…"

These men didn't seem convinced by Xu Xiaoshou's words, and they weren't giving him any Passive Points at all. Xu Xiaoshou lost all desire to continue the conversation.

They were preventing him from cultivating his pills and were wasting his precious time.

He went back into the room and rummaged around. This was Elder Sang's private quarters, and it was filled with plenty of stuff that wasn't exactly valuable or important.

"I found it!"

It didn't take Xu Xiaoshou long to locate a dark red token. This should grant him the necessary authority.

He walked back to the window and raised the token. "By the orders of Elder Sang, you are hereby dismissed!"

Zhao Xidong stared at the young man. The image of Su Qianqian brandishing the same token popped up in his head. They were cut from the same cloth!

"You…" he paused suddenly.

Hold on a second.

That fellow had been behaving oddly since the beginning, going on about an experiment and playing with the Lesser Fireball…

He wouldn't be joking with them without a reason.

That explosion hadn't been an illusion. It had happened. Pill cultivation couldn't have led to such a huge explosion.

Something wasn't right.

Besides, Xu Xiaoshou was only at Level Nine. He shouldn't be able to cultivate pills at all!

Zhao Xidong's pupils contracted. Xu Xiaoshou had been trying to tell them something right from the start…

That must be it.

He hadn't caused the explosion. Someone else had.

Xu Xiaoshou…

…was being held captive!

His kidnapper was the one who had unleashed that terrible attack!

The thought of it was terrifying!

Zhao Xidong extended his spiritual senses but failed to identify anything suspicious in the vicinity. His eyes fell on the Spiritual Library Division again.

The answer was staring them right in the face.

The kidnapper was also in the Spiritual Library Division.

In fact, he might be hiding behind Xu Xiaoshou right now, threatening and terrorizing the latter into convincing Zhao Xidong and the others to leave.

"That's it…

"That's why Xu Xiaoshou's desperately trying to send us away…"

Zhao Xidong was convinced that he was right, and everything else that had been bothering him now made perfect sense.

"Suspected, Passive Points +1."

"Suspected, Passive Points +1."

"Suspected, Passive Points +1."

"… …"

Xu Xiaoshou stared dumbly at Zhao Xidong and wondered what crazy thoughts were going through that man's head right now.

He was rewarded with a series of strange gestures.

He stared as Zhao Xidong stuck one finger out, wiggled it, then raised his other hand and placed it behind the first…

The man blinked and gave him a questioning look.

What did he want? Xu Xiaoshou was baffled.

He didn't understand any of Zhao Xidong's gestures. As for that blink…

…he had no idea what that meant either.

That didn't stop him from blinking back. "Leave right now!"

He didn't expect a look of dawning realization to appear on Zhao Xidong's face…

What was going on?

Zhao Xidong seemed to be staring at his back.

"Let's go!"

Before Xu Xiaoshou could comprehend what was going on, the former judge flicked his wrist. Everyone around him stilled suddenly, then vanished the next moment…

What the h*ll was going on?

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered.

…

He wasn't the only one who was confused. The majority of the law enforcers who had left also had no idea why Zhao Xidong had issued the order for a retreat.

"I thought there was an attack. Why are we leaving?" someone asked.

Zhao Xidong seemed to be in a hurry. "Hurry up. I need you to find Boss Xiao while I locate Elder Sang. We need the both of them. We have to move quickly if we want to save him!"

"Save who?"

Zhao Xidong came to a stop, then tilted his head and stared at the man who had voiced the question.

"Haven't you realized?

"Someone's kidnapped Xu Xiaoshou. He's being held captive!"

…

Slam!

Xu Xiaoshou shut the windows.

He walked back to the bathtub, sat down, and ground his teeth in frustration.

He should have expected this. As soon as one had the slightest intention to work hard on something, trouble would come knocking at one's door and attempt to ruin everything.

"I can't be distracted. I have to focus on cultivating my pills!"

He got his herbs out and repeated what he'd done previously, attempting repeatedly to fuse his Breathing Technique with the burning ball of flames.

Poof!

Poof!

Poof…

His consecutive failed attempts doused the excitement that had been burning inside him. Xu Xiaoshou wondered if Elder Sang had made a mistake. Perhaps he didn't have the gift for it.

He should have known…

He was still the guy who had taken three years to learn the first move of the White Cloud Sword Technique…

"That's not exactly true. This probably has something to do with my cultivation level."

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't giving up just yet. He wasn't the sort who gave up that easily.

He had acquired Innate Level abilities while his cultivation level was still stuck at the Acquired Stage. While he possessed great power, his control of it was incomplete and flawed.

His cultivation level wasn't up to par. As a result, he couldn't wield the power he possessed as effortlessly or freely as he should've been able to.

Xu Xiaoshou fell onto his back and lay down on the floor sullenly. He let his thoughts wander. A red screen appeared in his head.

Passive Points: 6442.

He had accumulated more than six thousand points…

Wouldn't it be great if he somehow managed to draw a skill that granted him expertise on fire?

Xu Xiaoshou was seriously tempted, but then he remembered his increasingly dismal success rate and decided to abandon the idea.

He only had six thousand Passive Points. Honestly, the system would devour everything in a single go and still ask for more.

He yanked his thoughts back to the present.

The rays of the setting sun spilled through the window. As he gazed at the sunset, Xu Xiaoshou could feel his spirits lifting slightly.

"It's been a while since I got to unwind and spend time alone with myself…"

During moments of tranquil solitude, one was often seized by the sudden impulse to do something.

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't thinking when he traded his Passive Points for a Passive Key and slotted the latter in the wheel.

With the number of Passive Points that he had right now, he couldn't level up any skills. It seemed like such a waste to not use them. After all, he might get lucky.

He sat up suddenly.

He couldn't see anything.

What was going on?