Chapter 96: Xu Xiaoshou Was Kidnapped

Zhao Xidong couldn't be bothered to waste time with Xu Xiaoshou. If he didn't get entangled with this guy, it was always for the best. If he did get involved, he couldn't blame the other person for having issues; it was definitely his own fault.

He cut straight to the chase, getting right to the point: "Tell me truthfully, what was that explosion about just now?"

Xu Xiaoshou lightly tapped his fingers on the window ledge, his expression completely unruffled. "Just an experiment."

Zhao Xidong's mouth twitched, his face turning an unhealthy shade of pale green. 'An experiment, my foot!' he thought. 'So, that massive commotion was really caused by you?'

"What kind of experiment?" he asked.

"The Art of the Small Fireball." Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the two fireballs in his hand, then silently dismissed them; they were no longer relevant.

The crowd below, however, was dumbfounded.

"Small Fireball... Art?"

"That terrifying explosion just now was caused by your so-called 'Art of the Small Fireball'?"

"You've got to be kidding us!"

"Suspected, Passive Points, +275."

Zhao Xidong took a deep breath, suppressing the rage rising within him, and exhaled, saying, "You come down first; let's talk face to face."

'Aren't we face to face now?' Xu Xiaoshou didn't bother to respond. 'Don't think I can't detect the faint killing intent emanating from you all,' he thought. 'After all, I'm a man with three lives on my hands!'

"So... you can't come in?" Xu Xiaoshou suddenly realized this was the Spirit Repository Pavilion, and even if they were law enforcement officers, they probably couldn't force their way in. If they tried to force it, they might not even be able to breach it. After all, this place housed the very foundation of the Heavenly Sang Spiritual Palace. Its defensive capabilities were likely strong enough to repel formidable figures like the masked man, certainly not something these current officers could break through. He had only been able to enter because Elder Sang had opened the barrier for him.

"I'm just doing a small experiment, really..." Xu Xiaoshou saw them looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy, so he tried to reassure them: "Don't panic, it's not a big deal."

Zhao Xidong's face went completely dark. 'If it were anyone else in here, I wouldn't be so worried, but who are you? You're Xu Xiaoshou! No, Xu the Poison! How could I possibly feel at ease?'

"You come down first..."

Seeing that they were still uneasy and no longer providing passive points, Xu Xiaoshou immediately lost interest in talking to them. 'Wasn't this just delaying his alchemy? Time was precious!' He turned back and fumbled around in the room. This was Elder Sang's private space, where many less valuable items were kept.

"Got it!"

Soon, Xu Xiaoshou picked up a black and red token. 'This should grant some authority, right?' He walked to the window, held up the token, and declared, "Elder Sang has given the order! Everyone withdraw!"

Zhao Xidong looked up at the young man, and an image of Su Qianqian giving orders suddenly buzzed into his mind. 'These two are cut from the same cloth, aren't they!'

"You..." He suddenly trailed off. 'Wait! This guy has been strange from the beginning. "An experiment," "The Art of the Small Fireball"... Why would he joke like that for no reason? And that explosion just now couldn't have been fake. Could alchemy really cause something that massive? No! Fundamentally, he's only at the Ninth Realm; there's no way he knows alchemy!'

Zhao Xidong's pupils contracted. From the very beginning, Xu Xiaoshou had been hinting at something... 'That's it! The explosion absolutely couldn't have been caused by him; it was someone else! Xu Xiaoshou... He's been kidnapped! And the kidnapper is the one who truly caused that terrifying attack!'

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became! Zhao Xidong expanded his spiritual perception widely, yet still couldn't find any suspicious signs within several miles. He looked back at the Spirit Repository Pavilion. The answer was now clear. 'That person is also inside! They might even be right behind Xu Xiaoshou, coercing him, making him tell them to leave.'

"No wonder..."

"No wonder Xu Xiaoshou was so anxious to send us away..."

Zhao Xidong's mind settled. After piecing it all together, all the lingering questions, big and small, finally made sense.

"Suspected, Passive Points, +1.""Suspected, Passive Points, +1.""Suspected, Passive Points, +1.""..."

Xu Xiaoshou stared blankly at the black-clad man below, not understanding what nonsense he was cooking up now. Then, the guy suddenly made a series of bizarre gestures: He raised one finger, wiggled it a few times, then brought up a second hand and placed it behind the first... Then he blinked and gave a questioning look.

"What does that mean?" Xu Xiaoshou was baffled. He completely missed the meaning of the earlier gestures, and even the blink... he didn't understand either. But that didn't stop him from blinking back a few times and mouthing, "Hurry up and leave!"

Zhao Xidong, surprisingly, revealed an expression of sudden realization... 'What was that all about? He seemed to be looking behind him?'

"Go!"

Before Xu Xiaoshou could even react, the former referee waved his hand, and after a moment of stunned silence, everyone vanished with a whoosh... 'What in the world was going on?' Xu Xiaoshou was completely bewildered. 'What was all that about?'

***

Not only was Xu Xiaoshou completely baffled, but the vast majority of the law enforcement officers who had left with them also had no idea what was going on.

"Wasn't that an enemy attack? Why are we leaving?" someone asked.

Zhao Xidong hurried along, saying, "Quickly, you go find Boss Xiao first. I'll go see where Elder Sang is. Call them all; saving him is urgent!"

"Save someone?"

Zhao Xidong stopped and turned his head to look at the speaker. "Can't you see that?"

"Xu Xiaoshou has been kidnapped!"

***

*Slam!*

The window closed. Before Xu Xiaoshou settled back into the large bathtub, he gritted his teeth in frustration. Sure enough, once he tried to put in effort, countless annoying things seemed to pop up, trying to disrupt everything.

"I can't let myself be affected. Focus on alchemy!"

He took out the herbs again and, following his previous method, combined spherical flames with the "Breathing Technique," repeatedly attempting the process.

*Hiss!**Hiss!**Hiss...*

The string of failures extinguished his initial enthusiasm. Xu Xiaoshou realized that perhaps Elder Sang had genuinely overestimated his talent. 'Indeed... he was still the same person who had only managed to cultivate one stance of the "White Cloud Sword Art" in three years...'

"Hmm, perhaps it's not quite like that," he mused. "It should be related to my cultivation level."

Xu Xiaoshou still didn't give up; he wasn't one to abandon something halfway through. However, the fact that he had mastered innate elemental power at the Acquired Realm level so early, while certainly powerful, was also a drawback. Because his cultivation level wasn't high enough, he clearly couldn't wield this power with perfect control or mastery.

Xu Xiaoshou lay on the ground in frustration, clearing his mind, yet his consciousness still perceived the red interface in his mind.

"Passive Points: 6442."

"Over six thousand..." 'Sigh, if only I could draw something like "Fire Mastery," how wonderful that would be...' Xu Xiaoshou's mind wandered, yearning for such a skill, but as soon as he recalled the increasingly abysmal drop rate, he quickly dismissed the thought. 'Honestly, over six thousand passive points wouldn't even be enough for this system to devour in one go.'

His gaze returned to his surroundings. The lingering glow of the setting sun streamed through the window. As Xu Xiaoshou watched the sunset clouds in the sky, his spirits lifted slightly.

"It's been a long time since I've relaxed like this all by myself..."

When people are relaxed, they often like to fiddle with something. Without much thought, Xu Xiaoshou casually exchanged for a key and inserted it into the roulette wheel. Since passive points couldn't upgrade skills anymore, he might as well use them up; otherwise, he'd always be hoping for a lucky draw.

The next second, he suddenly shot upright.

His vision went black?

"???"