Chapter 4: Spiritual Affairs Pavilion

The sun was high in the sky.

There was a constant stream of people coming and going in the Lingshi Pavilion. This was where the Tiansang Linggong dealt with all kinds of trivial matters for the outer courtyard disciples. It was very large, with 108 director seats.

"Hello, Senior Brother."

"Hello, Senior Brother Xu."

"Good morning, Senior Brother... uh, good afternoon?"

Xu Xiaoshou walked along with his sword on his back. There were people he knew and strangers. Anyway, he had seniority, so there was no need to call people, just a nod.

Entering the Lingshi Pavilion was like entering a vegetable market, with a lot of people.

Most of the people here came to sign up for the "Wind and Cloud Battle". After all, if they didn't sign up, they would be regarded as abstentions.

And if they abstained for three years, they would be kicked out of the palace. Of course, the same was true for kneeling for three consecutive years.

A very small number of people did not want to be embarrassed by participating in the competition, so they came directly to apply to be a deacon in the secular world, eating and waiting to die.

The 108 director seats were basically full. Xu Xiaoshou went straight to the No. 1 director seat, but there was no one here.

"Sure enough!"

In memory, the other directors were some senior outer courtyard disciples who handled affairs, and only the No. 1 director, the elder Qiao Qianzhi of the Lingshi Pavilion, was in charge.

This elder Qiao was good at everything, but he kept scolding, so other people would rather queue up than provoke him.

Xu Xiaoshou had a very good relationship with this elder, mainly because his potential had reached its limit, and Elder Qiao was too lazy to scold him.

After all, this was a man who tried his best but still could not break through the fourth realm.

Entering the room, Elder Qiao was dozing off. Xu Xiaoshou quietly walked over and tapped the table with his knuckles, "Wake up!"

Elder Qiao, who was lying on the back of the chair with his lips slightly open, was startled. He didn't even wipe the saliva from the corner of his mouth, and a slap came over. Xu Xiaoshou ducked down very nimbly, "Little guy!"

"It's Xiaoshou... um, Xu Xiaoshou?"

Elder Qiao saw who was coming and suddenly lost all his sleepiness. He was surprised, "Aren't you in a dead-end retreat? Not dead?"

A few black lines fell on Xu Xiaoshou's forehead. I can't break through, right? I have to become a corpse to meet your expectations?

"Dead, and I'm pretending to be a corpse!" He said unhappily.

Elder Qiao smiled embarrassedly and pointed at the people outside and said, "Are you also going to leave here and be a deacon outside?"

"What deacon? Isn't it better to be in the top ten of the Fengyun Ranking?" Xu Xiaoshou retorted.

"You?" Elder Qiao suddenly burst into laughter, shaking violently.

He was really bored in the outer courtyard, and only Xu Xiaoshou dared to talk to him like this. Only in front of Xu Xiaoshou would he put down some of his airs and smile wildly.

"Being ridiculed, passive value, +1."

Ritual?

A new world has been opened again!

Xu Xiaoshou laughed, it seems that it is just as he thought, as long as he is passive enough, the passive value will continue.

"What? Don't you believe that I will be stronger after the death retreat?"

Elder Qiao was wiping his saliva with a tissue, and after wiping, he picked up a cup to rinse his mouth, and the corners of his mouth could not stop rising.

"Being suspected, passive value, +1."

Xu Xiaoshou was happy, he continued to flick his sleeves, and said seriously: "To be honest, I, Xu, have broken through the innate!"

"Puff!" Elder Qiao spit out a mouthful of water.

He couldn't hold back anymore when he saw Xu Xiaoshou's serious expression. His devilish laughter echoed throughout the Lingshi Pavilion, "Ha ha ha ha ha..."

"I can't take it anymore, Xu Xiaoshou. This expression... you're so funny." He wiped his tears with a tissue.

"Praised, passive value, +1."

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Praise?

God damn praise, this is a sarcasm, brother, this system is poisonous, I feel you are making something out of nothing!

Outside, the disciples who were pierced by the devilish sound also stretched their necks to look over, trying to find out what was going on.

"Fuck, whose laughter is so devilish!"

"Keep it down, you don't know Elder Qiao's laughter, do you want to be scolded?"

"Who is so awesome that he can make Elder Qiao laugh?"

"I don't know, let's take a look?"

These guys were curious and didn't line up. Anyway, group crimes were not illegal, so they crouched down and came to the door of the No. 1 director's room.

"Uh... is it Xu Xiaoshou? Isn't he in seclusion?"

"Wow, you are well-informed. I heard that he has broken through the fourth realm and come out of seclusion!"

"Tsk tsk, you are not that good. I heard yesterday that he reached the fifth realm."

"Nonsense, I heard it was the seventh realm."

"Eighth realm!"

"He just said in there that he is innate..."

As the last weak voice fell, the whole room was silent. The onlookers looked sideways at the speaker, "I don't believe you!"

Elder Qiao saw a group of people at the door and suddenly felt a headache. Realizing that it was his laughter that attracted this wave of onlookers, he immediately walked out of the door and shouted: "What are you looking at? Report your names!"

"Hehe, Elder Qiao, calm down, calm down!" Everyone waved their hands and scattered like birds and beasts.

Xu Xiaoshou inside was already holding his head in laughter, he looked at the constantly updated news in the information bar:

"Suspected, passive value, +42."

"Suspected, passive value, +31."

"Suspected, passive value, +16."

"Suspected, passive value, +3."

There were about a few hundred people in Lingshi Pavilion, and there were dozens of onlookers. The passive value harvested by Elder Qiao with a wave of laughter was more than his previous combined.

This first wave of passive value should be sent by the onlookers, and the latter was the information passed on, or the second wave of suspicion?

Xu Xiaoshou found that this passive value seemed to be given to each person at most a little at a time. If you want to get more at once, there is only one condition:

A lot of people!

He fantasized that if he shouted "I am a congenital master" in a crowd of 10,000 people, would he instantly get 10,000 passive values?

Well, he might also be beaten to death as a lunatic, although what he said seemed to be true.

"What are you grinning at?" Elder Qiao closed the door and turned back to sit in his exclusive chair.

"No!"

Xu Xiaoshou came back to his senses and said, "I forgot to talk about serious things. I'm here to sign up for the 'Wind and Cloud Contest'."

"Aren't you afraid of losing face?"

As Elder Qiao spoke, he took out a cyan token from the drawer and put it on his forehead to input the information.

Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes. Sure enough, he still didn't believe himself. I'm really born with it, okay? Why lose face!

He sighed. There was no way. The life of a genius was accompanied by criticism and doubt.

"Fourth Realm of Refining Spirit?" Elder Qiao asked.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about it, decided not to struggle anymore, and nodded.

"Here!"

After taking the cyan token from Elder Qiao, Xu Xiaoshou put it on his forehead and quickly read the information inside:

Xu Xiaoshou, Fourth Realm of Refining Spirit, Group 12, Number: 1130.

More than a thousand people...

Although he had expected it, Xu Xiaoshou was still secretly shocked.

Every year, there are thousands of contestants in the "Wind and Cloud Contest". No matter if you have been practicing in the outer courtyard for one, two, or three years, as long as you are an outer courtyard disciple, you must participate.

The last-ranked person will be sent away directly after the decision of the elders in the Spirit Palace if he does not perform well.

Elder Qiao has made an indelible contribution to Xu Xiaoshou's staying until now.

But you can only save him for a while, not for a lifetime. If he ranks last for three consecutive years, Elder Qiao alone is doomed to fail to save him.

However, these seem to be no longer a problem at present!

Xu Xiaoshou put away the token, raised his eyebrows at Elder Qiao, and then rubbed his hands, "Elder Qiao, where are my spirit crystals..."

The first purpose of his coming here was to sign up, and the second purpose was naturally to get back his training subsidy.

Counting the two months before and after, he had twenty spirit crystals deposited here. Since he bought the "Cangku", he was penniless. Although twenty is not much, mosquito meat is also meat, right?

"You are the smart one!"

Elder Qiao laughed and scolded, counting out 20 spirit crystals from the drawer, shaking his hand, and another pill bottle appeared, and they were placed on the table.

"This is..." Xu Xiaoshou was surprised. Those who could work in the Spiritual Affairs Pavilion were all famous for being stingy, not to mention Elder Qiao. Why would he give him an extra bottle of pills?

"Private sponsorship, don't tell anyone!"

Elder Qiao said sternly, pushing the spirit crystal and pill bottle over, his expression suddenly became melancholy, "Maybe I won't see you again in the future..."

Xu Xiaoshou felt warm in his heart, and hurriedly put away all the things, laughing: "Don't worry, even if I am kicked out of Tiansang Spiritual Palace, I will come back to see you!"

"Hehe!"

Elder Qiao laughed, "Can you get in?"

"Don't worry, I can't be kicked out."

"I hope so!"

Seeing Xu Xiaoshou happily walk out of the Spiritual Affairs Pavilion, Elder Qiao put away the melancholy in his eyes, frowned and muttered: "I didn't expect this kid to be able to break through, it's amazing."

"Fortunately, he should not know about selling his information, and this pill can be considered as compensation..."

He crossed his fingers, "Well, ten times the profit, this wave is not a loss!"