Chapter 134: Innate Full Consumption

"What should I do?" Xu Xiaoshou felt utterly helpless about breaking through to the Innate stage. Others might be able to circulate their cultivation techniques, with a conscious effort assisting and offering some comfort. But he didn't even have a technique to circulate; he could only watch himself being broken through.

"This..." No, he had to do something! Xu Xiaoshou felt that as the true master of this body, he had to take action. "You're breaking through just like that? Who gave you the right?" he thought. "I'll suppress it!" His Qi Sea suddenly contracted, then expanded again, absorbing an even more majestic torrent of spiritual energy from the heavens and earth. Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"Forget it," he thought. "At this point, I can't suppress it anymore, and there's no need to. Let it come!" He pulled out an "Innate Pill," his reward from the "Wind and Cloud Hegemony" competition, which was said to enhance enlightenment. Xu Xiaoshou didn't believe he needed it, but he still took a gentle breath, absorbing the pill as a stream of energy into his body. This was the only action he could take to help himself. Otherwise, just passively watching his breakthrough felt unsettling.

The moment the "Innate Pill" entered his body, Xu Xiaoshou immediately felt a profound tranquility. All distracting thoughts vanished, and his mind became highly concentrated, leaving only the magnificent surges within his Qi Sea. "It's actually quite useful?" he mused, momentarily breaking his intense focus. After a brief thought, he plunged back into the breakthrough, knowing he couldn't waste this opportunity.

The waves in his Qi Sea surged violently, one after another. After a while, they resembled a receding tide gathering strength before an impending tsunami. As the spiritual essence receded, nourishing his physical body, Xu Xiaoshou felt his body filling and expanding, so comfortable that he wanted to moan. Suddenly, a beam of golden light descended from the sky, bathing his Qi Sea. In the heavens and earth, faint Sanskrit sounds resonated, and the Great Dao seemed clearly visible. Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes, only to see an illusion, unable to discern the true essence of the world he sought. The roaring spiritual energy from heaven and earth paused for a moment, then was plundered into his body as if swallowed by a black hole. Under the light, a vortex formed in his Qi Sea, spinning rapidly. The thick spiritual essence was drawn in, transforming into a transparent Origin Pill. Spiritual energy refined through ten realms gathered in the Qi Sea; a golden dragon illuminated the pill, marking the step into the Innate stage!

A terrifying spiritual force diffused from his Qi Sea, shaking everything around, stirring up a swirling mist of spiritual energy over Blackfall Cliff. Xu Xiaoshou felt as if he had sublimated, his very soul intoxicated by this heaven and earth. Although he hadn't truly grasped the Great Dao, he felt an unprecedented connection with it—a perfect fusion. The state of enlightenment ended, having yielded significant gains. A gleam flashed in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes as his consciousness moved to his Purple Mansion between his brows.

"My cultivation is now Innate, just one step away from opening the Yuan Palace!" Without any hesitation, the spiritual energy from his Qi Sea, having just stabilized, surged upward, directly toward his Purple Mansion. The gate to the Purple Mansion, sealed by Innate Fetal Breath, appeared vaguely after his cultivation breakthrough. Its appearance was fleeting, so Xu Xiaoshou unhesitatingly commanded his spiritual energy to strike it directly. *Boom!* His mind buzzed. With a single strike from his spiritual energy, which was several times more powerful than that of others, the Purple Mansion gate was easily pried open. There was no suspense, which left Xu Xiaoshou stunned. "That was a bit too forceful, wasn't it..." he mumbled.

The Purple Mansion opened, and the Yuan Palace appeared! A vast and boundless world of consciousness clearly unfolded before him. Xu Xiaoshou could even see the origin of his soul. As the spiritual energy entered the Purple Mansion's Yuan Palace, it intertwined with his consciousness, instantly completing its evolution into Spiritual Sense! This was a special ability similar to "Perception," yet distinct. Currently, Xu Xiaoshou's "Perception" could clearly discern objects within about ten meters, while Spiritual Sense could scan several miles. The difference was that the latter had very low visibility, only providing a blurry outline. Xu Xiaoshou was overjoyed; the two abilities did not conflict. Used simultaneously, they complemented each other—a truly great thing.

The breakthrough took a long time to describe, but in reality, it happened within a few breaths. In that short time, Xu Xiaoshou's aura completely transformed, stepping from the Acquired into the Innate stage! However, the surging spiritual energy pouring into his body showed no signs of diminishing. Xu Xiaoshou, equally filled with anticipation, focused his gaze on his Yuan Palace.

In the center of the Yuan Palace was a blurry human figure, which was the origin of his soul. As it continuously absorbed spiritual energy from heaven and earth, it seemed to grow rapidly, soon manifesting Xu Xiaoshou's appearance. Just then, the Yuan Palace vibrated, and a beam of multicolored divine light shot skyward from the soul's origin. "Innate elemental power!" Xu Xiaoshou's fists clenched with anticipation. "What will it be?" He looked at the fiery red within the multicolored light, clearly feeling its strong presence and its extreme compatibility with him. "Fire attribute?" Xu Xiaoshou was very excited. With the fire attribute, were there also the other four colors? Was he going to gather all five elements? "Indeed..." he thought. "As expected, I, Xu Xiaoshou, am a buried genius! To think I've awakened all five elements..."

Before he could finish his excited thoughts, a red interface suddenly appeared above the divine light, seemingly opening an invisible maw and swallowing it whole. Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered. "What the hell?!" he yelled. "You damn well spit it out!" Xu Xiaoshou was utterly distraught. He had waited so long for his Innate elemental power, and it just got eaten like that? "You've never been so active normally, but at a crucial moment like this, you're aggressively asserting your presence?" "You damn system!!!" Xu Xiaoshou was furious. He wanted to intervene and stop all this, even smash the system, but he was powerless. Inside his Yuan Palace, even though he mobilized a large amount of spiritual sense and struck the red interface, it was like hitting emptiness. "Damn it..." he cursed. "It ignored damage!" The red interface simply faded away after eating, not even bothering to wipe its mouth.

Just then, the origin of his soul, having gathered immense strength, trembled again, and a beam of white divine light shot skyward. "There's more?" Xu Xiaoshou was shocked. Was he... a genius among geniuses? Able to awaken dual Innate elemental powers? As far as he could see, although the white divine light was significantly smaller, as if lacking innate essence, its soaring sword intent could even suppress the previous multicolored divine light! "That's too strong!" he exclaimed. "Indeed, even with the system's suppression, my unprecedented talent cannot be stopped!" Xu Xiaoshou laughed heartily, hands on hips, and cursed the heavens, "Haha, you damn sys... huh? What the hell, what are you trying to do? Stop it!!"

The red interface, which had faded into the void, seemed to be bewildered by Xu Xiaoshou's extraordinary talent. The next second, it solidified again... The invisible maw opened, swallowed, silently and without pause, then faded away again... "Damn it!" Xu Xiaoshou was completely dumbfounded. Both of his Innate elemental powers were completely eaten? His heart was instantly filled with boundless rage, a fury so potent it could shatter the heavens. Yet, Xu Xiaoshou felt his spirit plummeting, his eyes filled with hollowness. Even yelling wouldn't help now; it had all been eaten...

As his mind reeled, he saw the origin of his soul tremble again. "No way! There's more?" Surprise surged in his heart, but it turned out the origin of his soul was merely blurred from anger, unable to squeeze out anything more. "As expected, it was completely drained." An inexplicable, endless anger surged in his heart. Xu Xiaoshou watched as the origin of his soul suddenly lunged, charging toward the red interface fading into the air. He froze completely, then opened his Spiritual Sense wide, directly intercepting it! "Don't be impulsive!" he cried. "If even you get eaten, what will I do?!" Xu Xiaoshou was on the verge of tears, looking at the now considerably blurred origin of his soul, a wave of sorrow and heartache washing over him. "Remember it!" His Spiritual Sense pointed at the red interface that had vanished into the void, Xu Xiaoshou's voice hoarse. "Listen, remember it! That red interface—when we become powerful, we'll come back for revenge, we can even blow it up! For now, let's calm down..."