Chapter 790: Awakening to a Great Feast

"Mastery of Painting" is incredibly powerful!

Xu Xiaoshou had anticipated that mastery-type passive skills would revolutionize his combat system.

However, he never imagined that this particular mastery-type passive skill would cause such a complete upheaval.

"It's an entirely new path..."

Xu Xiaoshou thought of his identity as a half-saint's successor.

In this "Xu Deyi" identity, he had actually taken action only a handful of times.

A significant reason, of course, was that "Xu Xiaoshou" had too many recognizable traits.

Once he made a move, his identity could easily be pinpointed.

For example, his previously used Master Physique and Master Sword Intent.

With those two alone, Night Watch even dared to directly target him, let alone iconic elements like White Flame and Ice Lotus.

Thus, "Young Master Xu" had always kept a low profile.

Either he offended people with words, using his background to overwhelm them.

Or, he would use his newly recruited subordinates to fight.

For instance, Xiao Wanfeng, and Xiao Wanfeng...

But one Xiao Wanfeng was too few after all.

During the Heavenly Net Battle, he could act on his behalf because Xu Xiaoshou had a hold of Xiao Wanfeng's lifeline, employing a small trick to push the guy's agile movements to their limit.

However, there were still limitations.

For example, when facing a true master, Xiao Wanfeng could only hide, and then hide some more.

Just as in the later stages of the Heavenly Net Battle, Xu Xiaoshou had to personally intervene to fight the Saint Physique user, Luo Yin.

The emergence of "Mastery of Painting" perfectly resolved this issue.

Xu Xiaoshou felt that as long as he continued to develop his thoughts within this new combat system, he would essentially be able to contend with his peers.

The Royal City Trial was merely a struggle among a group of nascent Innates; could there be an enemy that "Mastery of Painting" couldn't handle?

If it truly couldn't be resolved, he could simply summon an Eight Venerable.

Even just the thought of it would scare those younglings out of their wits!

He collected his thoughts.

"Passive Points: 399,467."

With his remaining passive points dwindling, Xu Xiaoshou decided against further lottery draws and opted to use them for awakenings.

Currently, one Awakening Stone cost 30,000 passive points.

This meant he could perform roughly ten consecutive awakenings.

"I hope something good comes out of this."

Xu Xiaoshou prayed devoutly.

Last time, he had done a batch of ten consecutive awakenings, which yielded "Proximity Field," and he had two Awakening Stones left over.

This was a small trick of his.

Xu Xiaoshou thought that if he didn't mention it and didn't pay special attention, the passive system would overlook this bug and not notice.

However, with this system upgrade, the two Awakening Stones he had secretly kept were still sacrificed!

"Damn it..."

This meant that accumulating passive points rapidly at a low cultivation level, then buying Awakening Stones and passive keys cheaply without using them, and saving them until one's cultivation broke through and the system upgraded, was impossible.

—This path was blocked!

The system's logic was too strong; it gave no opportunities for such exploits.

Xu Xiaoshou had no choice but to give up his petty tricks and stop trying to game the system.

"Here we go!"

With 390,000 passive points, Xu Xiaoshou refused to believe he couldn't awaken even one... Bah, bah, children's words don't count, children's words don't count.

"What should I awaken?"

Dispelling distracting thoughts, he pondered.

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated before the array of extended passive skills.

He felt that all the truly powerful passive skills he had were already awakened.

Now, only four passive skills remained unawakened: "Perception," "Transformation," "Tenacity," and "Conversion."

It wasn't that they weren't strong.

It was just that Xu Xiaoshou found it hard to imagine what their effects would be after awakening.

Soon, after some thought, he first ruled out "Transformation" and "Tenacity."

Because these two skills were currently sufficient.

They were the type he would immediately max out if he had extra passive points, but would relegate to the back of the upgrade queue if points were scarce.

But "Perception" and "Conversion" were different.

These two were very strong!

Both their combat and practical utility were powerful!

Xu Xiaoshou was torn; he felt "Perception" had been with him longer and wanted to awaken it, but he had no idea what its awakening direction would be.

He couldn't predict it at all!

"Foresight?"

"Danger Prediction?"

"Expanded Perception Range?"

Probably not...

Even if it were, Xu Xiaoshou felt he could develop "Eye of Heavenly Knowledge," and his "Perception" already provided sudden insights, with its current range being quite sufficient.

So, if possible, he wanted other abilities.

But "Conversion" was different.

This thing was too awesome.

It gave him the feeling that after awakening, it would be even more helpful in actual combat.

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated for a while, then stopped wavering.

"What am I afraid of?"

"Only children make choices; I, an adult, want them all!"

He regained his confidence, realizing that his nearly 400,000 passive points, in the past, would have been enough to awaken about four passive skills.

Why hesitate?

"Consort Perception, wait for me. Once I've blessed Consort Conversion, I'll definitely visit your chambers! Definitely!"

Xu Xiaoshou locked onto his target and immediately turned to the shop to buy Awakening Stones.

Since his little trick was useless, he didn't need to buy in batches of ten.

He bought one at a time, then bound it to the "Conversion" passive skill, tossing it into the "awakening pool."

"Awakening Failed!"

As expected...

It really was a waste.

Xu Xiaoshou's mouth twitched, but he wasn't discouraged and continued with the next one.

"Awakening Failed!"

Again.

"Awakening Failed!"

"Damn it..." This time, Xu Xiaoshou couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his fist into the ground, splitting it into pieces.

He felt the ground should just be renamed "the passive system."

In just a few breaths, 90,000 passive points were gone?

This wasn't just throwing money away; it was playing with his heart!

Nearly 100,000 passive points, if used for upgrading, would be another Throne-level passive skill...

Xu Xiaoshou had to consider whether it was worth it.

These hard-earned passive points, sacrificed by his own hands...

Were those merely passive points?

They were his sons!

"Phew, calm down, calm down. The upgrade period has passed. If an awakened skill truly appears, its combat power boost would be incomparable to any remaining Throne-level passive skills."

"What if 400,000 points go to waste?"

"This time, I, Xu Xiaoshou, will treat you, this dog-like system... Ugh, Dad."

With a blank expression, Xu Xiaoshou exchanged another Awakening Stone, bound it to "Conversion," and tossed it into the pool.

"Awakening Successful!"

"Conversion (Awakened: Gluttonous Feast)!"

Holy cow...

It appeared!

Calling it "Dad" worked!

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes almost popped out as he stared intently at the info bar, gazing at the newly appeared words "Gluttonous Feast," his heart nearly leaping from his chest.

"Calm down, calm down."

"It's just a mere awakened skill; no need to get excited to death."

"Gluttonous Feast, what's its function? A skill for providing food?"

Although the name was somewhat unexpected, Xu Xiaoshou didn't think it would be a food-providing skill.

Even if it were for food, he could twist it into a combat application.

Like eating people.

"Shall I try it?"

He stood calmly and collectedly.

Xu Xiaoshou glanced around, seeing no one. He suddenly spread his legs, widened his eyes in fury, pointed one finger to the sky and one to the ground, and theatrically roared, "Gluttonous Feast!"

Oh god, how embarrassing...

This name wasn't suitable for intimidating enemies.

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized, then with a thought, activated the awakened skill.

A low growl.

A low growl echoed from behind him.

Xu Xiaoshou was startled; "Perception" clearly showed a hideous beast head appearing on his back, like that of a rampaging giant.

However, the only similarity between the two was the condensed form of energy.

The difference was that this gluttonous beast head was only the size of a millstone.

Although large enough compared to a human head, it could only serve as a backdrop, hanging on Xu Xiaoshou's back.

The gluttonous beast head was entirely crimson, radiating a hungry red glow.

It had a gaping maw, its tongue lolling out, drooling profusely.

However, as the drool dripped from its mouth, it would transform into energy and vanish.

"Is it really for eating?"

Xu Xiaoshou's face stiffened.

At that moment, he sharply noticed that after the beast head was summoned, the spiritual energy within him was rapidly depleting.

This rate of depletion was so fast that even the Throne-level "Endless Vitality" struggled to keep up.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

The Throne-level "Endless Vitality" was even sufficient for him to continuously use "Ascension in a Single Step," as long as he didn't cast it consecutively and allowed a small gap for spiritual energy recovery in between.

Did this gluttonous beast head consume such an immense amount of energy?

"It's definitely not for eating; this thing consumes so much spiritual energy, which means its effect can only be even more terrifying!"

Xu Xiaoshou pondered, a feeling stirring within him, and commanded the beast head to swallow forward.

"Roar!"

The crimson gluttonous beast head couldn't move too far from his body, but with no target ahead, it merely snapped its mouth shut at the void.

"Gulp."

The gaping maw swallowed a vast amount of natural elements and life aura.

At that instant, Xu Xiaoshou felt a slight increase in his spiritual energy sea, but it was still a net loss; the consumption continued to outweigh the replenishment.

However, after this experiment, Xu Xiaoshou fully understood how to use "Gluttonous Feast."

"Conversion!"

"This is a direct conversion ability!"

He trembled with excitement.

The gluttonous beast head could swallow anything and convert it into the energy he needed, immediately replenishing his body's required nutrients?

"Can it only swallow energy?"

Xu Xiaoshou didn't think so.

He pulled out a handful of pills and tossed them behind him.

This time, even before he consciously thought about it, the gluttonous beast head automatically opened its mouth forward and snapped it shut.

"Gulp."

The pills didn't even need time to convert; they immediately transformed into pure spiritual energy and nourished his spiritual energy sea.

"It can take energy, and it can take physical objects!" Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. "And it's a passive attack, requiring no command?"

He understood the use of "Gluttonous Feast" now.

No wonder the consumption was so immense.

This thing was meant to be summoned during combat to devour attacks and sneak attacks from enemies coming from all directions, or from hidden locations.

"Xu Xiaoji!"

The moment he thought of this, Xu Xiaoshou immediately dashed in front of Xu Xiaoji.

Xu Xiaoji had returned to normal by this point; various world-class peak experts were still strolling in the Yuan Mansion world, but he couldn't be bothered to pay attention, simply counting and arranging the crimson gold liquid as usual.

Hearing the call, he turned his head.

But he almost fainted, his eyes rolling back, from being scared by the hideous beast head behind Demon King Xu.

Was the Demon King no longer trying to hide his identity as a grim reaper?

Had he even revealed this ominous thing?

"Master Shou?"

Xu Xiaoji suppressed his wildly beating heart.

He always felt that the thing behind Demon King Xu was radiating an intense craving for him.

Craving what?

Xu Xiaoji didn't know.

But he subjectively guessed it was everything... including his body and soul!

"Hit me," Xu Xiaoshou said excitedly.

"Again?" Xu Xiaoji was about to cry. "I don't dare..."

"This time, don't use physical attacks on me; use energy attacks," Xu Xiaoshou said.

"Energy?"

Xu Xiaoji stared thoughtfully at the crimson beast head behind the Demon King.

So, was this another test of a new move?

Where did you get all these strange moves?

He settled his mind and threw a punch.

Spiritual energy surged in the void, and a supremely powerful black cutting force sliced out. There were no other terrifying displays, but the attack's intensity was more restrained.

Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow.

This attack method was beyond his expectations...

He didn't react.

As the black cutting energy, like sword qi, reached his back, true to form, the gluttonous beast head behind him jutted forward, opened its mouth, and swallowed.

"Burp."

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly burped, filled with utter shock.

It truly was direct conversion!

His spiritual energy sea had been continuously depleted to only 50%.

Swallowing this attack immediately brought it back up to 70%!

One must know, he was only at the Master cultivation level.

The energy of a Throne-level attack far exceeded the capacity of a Master's spiritual energy sea.

Likewise.

A Throne-level attack would also be completely devastating to a Master's spiritual energy sea.

But after conversion by the gluttonous beast head, there was no damage at all.

Furthermore, the attack transformed completely into pure energy; although there was some energy loss, the replenishment was still incredibly exaggerated.

"Is this the highest level of... conversion?" Xu Xiaoshou was amazed.

The "Conversion" extended passive skill could only balance internal energy and absorb attack energy.

But "Gluttonous Feast" could devour all energy in heaven and earth and utilize it for himself?

"What is its strength limit?"

Xu Xiaoshou keenly realized this question.

What if it could even swallow attacks from a Grand Void realm expert?

He gasped.

His mind went blank for a moment.

Xu Xiaoshou noticed a crucial point.

Either the gluttonous beast head swallowed the attack and he was overwhelmed by the surging energy,

Or the gluttonous beast head couldn't swallow it, and he would be shattered by the Grand Void attack.

But no matter what, after such a conversion, the attack power would definitely decrease!

"It can directly swallow Throne-level attacks, transforming them into pure power, with no damage felt."

"Even if it can't handle Grand Void attacks, it should at least reduce their power, right?"

"Damn it, this is actually a divine defensive skill!"

Xu Xiaoshou felt that perhaps "Gluttonous Feast" wasn't originally intended as a defensive awakened skill, but he had discovered this crucial aspect.

And finally, the true use of this thing...

Xu Xiaoshou chose to deactivate "Gluttonous Feast," then told Xu Xiaoji to attack again.

Just as the attack approached, he instantly activated "Gluttonous Feast," then instantly deactivated it.

Xu Xiaoji was dumbfounded.

His attack went through, only for him to see a flash of red light behind Demon King Xu, and the attack energy inexplicably vanished.

Immediately after, the Demon King started burping...

"Damn, he really wants to eat me!" Xu Xiaoji's mind exploded, and he fled in panic.

"Exploiting another bug..."

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoshou silently observed everything happening within his body.

He only needed to expend a tiny bit of spiritual energy to activate the "Gluttonous Feast" awakened skill to replenish a vast amount of energy.

Continuously keeping such a passive awakened skill active indeed consumed a terrifying amount.

However, the spiritual energy consumed to activate the awakened skill didn't even provoke a desire for "Full of Vitality" to kick in.

Because the moment his spiritual energy dropped, "Gluttonous Feast" immediately replenished it to full capacity.

"I'm speechless."

Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head back, looking at the sky.

He had thought his endurance was already strong enough.

He never expected it could be even stronger!

But...

"Now, what are my enemies going to do?"

"What's with the disappearing attacks?"

"Their hearts are also fragile and need care too!"