Chapter 281: The Path to Getting Stronger Has So Many Ways, Which One Feels Better?

The object hit the floor, rolling several times before coming to a stop and leaving a trail of bright red.

In Xiao Shi-liu's slightly downcast eyes, he was still in character, full of despair.

Any pre-death disbelief or terror was absent. Xu Xiaoshou, consumed by extreme fear, had extinguished it all in its infancy.

The Cinder Flame of the Heavens ignited once more.

Since coming into Xu Xiaoshou's possession, this flame seemed to have done nothing but alchemy and burning corpses.

Xu Xiaoshou felt he was doing it a disservice.

Though revered as the supreme flame of the age, capable of incinerating anything, it had fallen to a point where it couldn't keep up with him.

Fortunately, the elixirs refined under these circumstances didn't seem to affect their efficacy or taste.

*Ugh...* A faint wave of nausea washed over him at the thought.

Despite having killed so many people, Xu Xiaoshou was still not accustomed to it.

In the past, it felt more like he was just setting off fireworks.

When he was far away, he couldn't see it, so naturally, there wasn't much aversion.

This up-close, 'blossoming' method of decapitation, to be honest, was a bit too much.

*Sigh!* Composing himself, the Cinder Flame of the Heavens quickly cleaned up the bloodstains. After washing himself again, Xu Xiaoshou returned to the large bed.

"The Zhang family, Three Incense Sticks..."

To be honest, he had indeed considered directly assaulting the Zhang family's stronghold to settle matters.

From the outer court to the inner court, and then to Tiansang City, these repeated assassination attempts had begun to irritate even Xu Xiaoshou.

As for his strength...

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the little white cat, which was still squatting by the side of the large bed.

This fellow seemed to be enjoying itself immensely just by being near him, as if it didn't even need any more feeding.

Don't let its silly, idle demeanor fool you; this cat has powerful backing!

"Jiaotangtang and Xingu-gu..."

"These two seem capable of fighting a Throne Realm expert. At worst, if I really need them, I can just snatch their Zen staff and purple chain; something's bound to happen then."

"But considering the current situation, it still seems insufficient."

Xu Xiaoshou felt a headache coming on. If the Zhang family truly had at least three Throne Realm experts, it would be quite difficult to handle!

Even with A-Jie, his side could only muster three Throne Realm experts.

It was even debatable whether A-Jie possessed Throne-level combat power.

A grandmaster capable of instantly killing a Heavenly Phenomenon realm cultivator might not necessarily be able to instantly kill a Yin-Yang or Star Sacrifice realm cultivator, and a Throne Realm expert would be even more challenging.

His side could, at best, barely reach three Throne Realm experts, but the Zhang family might not necessarily be at their limit.

"Indeed," he mused, "for one person to directly confront an entire family, it's quite difficult."

"I can't be reckless!"

Xu Xiaoshou calmed down. If Zhang Taiying were the only Throne Realm expert, he would certainly make the Zhang family pay dearly.

But such an unequal confrontation would be too anxious to undertake.

"Wait a bit longer..." he mused. "I'm still young, and I can afford to play. To be honest, it's not so bad this way; occasionally, a few assassins bring me treasures, which can enrich life."

But then Xu Xiaoshou thought of "Three Incense Sticks"...

What kind of wretched organization was this, the Assassin Sanctuary?

Actually, Xu Xiaoshou had indeed heard of this organization. To be honest, its reputation was far greater than that of groups like the "Holy Slaves."

But it was merely hearsay; Xu Xiaoshou knew absolutely nothing about its internal workings.

He genuinely couldn't have imagined that such an absurd predicament would actually befall him.

He had been targeted by "Three Incense Sticks"!

"Dead Disciple, a million bounty."

Xu Xiaoshou's mood darkened.

Anyone with a blade suspended over their head would likely feel an extremely complex mix of emotions.

"That damn Zhang family, they really know how to stir up trouble!"

Since he couldn't deal with Zhang Taiying for now, Xu Xiaoshou decided to focus on improving himself.

Improving his own strength was one of the fundamental ways to eliminate the trouble.

As for cultivation, even though he had only recently left Tianxuan Gate, Xu Xiaoshou's current realm had already reached the peak of the initial stage through the continuous accumulation of the "Breathing Technique."

He estimated that just a few more sleeps, and he might be able to break through to the middle stage.

This was even without hardly consuming any elixirs for cultivation!

"Too fast!" Xu Xiaoshou mused.

When he fought, he didn't truly rely on his cultivation realm for support. Even if his realm reached the Upper Spirit Realm, for him, who didn't use spirit techniques...

To be honest, it was pretty useless.

The only benefit was a larger Qi Sea.

But he had "Full of Vitality," and as long as he didn't frequently use the newly developed "Great Fireball Technique," it was entirely sufficient.

And if he genuinely encountered a situation requiring multiple uses of the "Great Fireball Technique"...

Xu Xiaoshou felt he might as well just unleash A-Jie!

At that point, he feared, relying solely on himself, he would be completely unable to handle such a situation.

Realm advancement hadn't granted him many more benefits, but merely revealing his early Innate Realm cultivation often brought surprises.

Unknowingly, his enemies seemed to have all risen to the Grandmaster level, yet his own cultivation appeared to be stagnant, which allowed him to trick many to their deaths.

Xu Xiaoshou planned to let this illusion of being "merely Innate" persist for a longer time. It seemed quite effective, didn't it?

Although theoretically speaking, this duration wouldn't genuinely last much longer.

But during this period, with such an information asymmetry...

A grandmaster, no matter how cautious, when facing an Innate Realm cultivator, especially an early Innate one, would inevitably harbor some degree of disdain deep down.

In battles between experts, who would miss these seemingly insignificant opportunities?

Xu Xiaoshou wouldn't, "Agility" wouldn't, and a grandmaster's body certainly wouldn't!

"Since I don't plan to quickly improve my cultivation," he mused, "then I can only start from other aspects."

Xu Xiaoshou took out the jade slips for "Cinder Flame of the Heavens: White Flame" and "Dragon Infusion Realm."

He had already examined these two items. The prerequisite for cultivating "Dragon Infusion Realm" was to first refine "White Flame."

While its destructive power was undoubtedly great, it was too difficult to cultivate and still required some preparations.

"Cinder Flame Grand Seed..."

Xu Xiaoshou felt a chill down his spine. He hadn't misread it; this new item indeed had an extra "Grand" character compared to "Cinder Flame Seed."

As for how "grand" it was...

Xu Xiaoshou didn't know, nor did he plan to ask, and he certainly didn't want to think about it.

The shadow of Goose Lake Night Moon had not yet been dispelled from his mind. For Xu Xiaoshou to actively cultivate this wretched cultivation method...

Unless Elder Sang arrived, or Zhang Taiying immediately came knocking!

Putting the items away, Xu Xiaoshou took out Li Qi and Xiao Shi-liu's rings.

He hadn't looked at Xiao Shi-liu's yet, but Li Qi's ring actually contained something Xu Xiaoshou was very interested in.

"Spirit arrays..."

If he learned spirit arrays, he could prepare array disks for the "Great Fireball Technique" in advance. Then, while Zhang Taiying was sleeping, he could throw hundreds into his room...

That would perfectly resolve the issue of the "Great Fireball Technique" not being continuously usable.

This idea was not entirely impossible to achieve; the only prerequisite was for him to master the path of spirit arrays.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't find it particularly difficult; on the contrary, he was getting excited.

Some extremely challenging situations he had encountered in the past seemed to have been resolved by the red interface in his mind.

"Stamina" before "Wind-Cloud Hegemony," "Everlasting Vitality" after "Cinder Flame Seed," "Culinary Mastery" drawn immediately upon entering the Spirit Treasure Pavilion...

It seemed this system was truly sentient and knew exactly what he wanted most.

In fact, it directly supplied whatever he lacked!

Wherever there was a weakness, it was immediately strengthened.

If that was the case, would it also exert some effort this time and grant him something like "Spirit Array Mastery"?

Xu Xiaoshou put down the ring in his hand, stood up from the large bed, closed the ventilated window, and maximized the soundproof barrier in the room.

Self-cultivation, for others, was diligence; for Xu Xiaoshou, it was truly a bit of a waste of time.

He looked at the red interface within his Yuan Mansion, his eyes filled with expectation.

"My apologies," he murmured, "it's been too long since I've graced you with my presence!"