Martial Saint with Passives

...

That night, the sky was moonless and the wind was high.

In the Black Pine Wood, ten miles from the Cangyun Sect.

A night breeze swept through, and the leaves rustled like the whispers of ghosts.

Xie Songnian’s figure suddenly appeared in a clearing like a phantom.

The wound on his shoulder still ached faintly, and with his son missing, his mood grew increasingly foul.

Before long, the shadows before him twisted and coalesced into a familiar figure clad in a large, black cloak.

The Shadow Demon, Mo Wuhen!

"Did you get the item you were after?" Xie Songnian asked, getting straight to the point.

Mo Wuhen was silent for a moment before saying grimly, "No. That Rebirth Bell... it’s stranger than I imagined. After that kid from the You Family activated it, they vanished... but they didn’t just hide. They... vanished completely! It’s like they went to another world. I have no way to track them... I’m still searching for the two of them."

Xie Songnian was shocked. "You didn’t get it? Even if you failed, you still have to honor your promise! I took a huge risk helping you, and now I’m severely injured!"

Mo Wuhen seemed to have expected this reaction. He said flatly, "Rest assured, Sect Leader Xie. The Shadow Prison Sect always honors its agreements!"

As he spoke, he tossed over a palm-sized jade box.

Xie Songnian caught it. Opening it, he found a longan-sized elixir pill nestled inside, shimmering with golden light and emitting an exotic, fragrant aroma.

It was the Golden Spirit Pill he had always dreamed of!

The tension on his face finally eased slightly, and he carefully put the jade box away.

But when he thought of his missing son, his heart sank again.

"One more thing," Xie Songnian said in a low voice. "My son, Xie Xingwen... is missing. He was last seen in the dense forest north of You Manor. I suspect... that little bastard You Honglang did it! While you’re tracking down the Rebirth Bell, if you find any clues, help me find him!"

Mo Wuhen’s face, hidden beneath his hood, was unreadable. He simply replied flatly, "Very well. If I come across him, I’ll keep an eye out."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure dissolved silently into the deep darkness, as if melting into ink.

Xie Songnian stood alone in the woods, clutching the box containing the Golden Spirit Pill.

But he felt little joy in his heart.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Che returned to his residence.

Closing the door, he leaned his back against it and let out a long, heavy breath.

’Facing Xie Songnian today had been like walking through the gates of hell!’

’I passed the test for now, but I know Xie Songnian will never let me off the hook so easily!’

’The killing intent that flashed in that instant was real!’

’Xie Songnian had wanted to kill me!’

’I’m still not strong enough!’

An intense sense of crisis instantly welled up in his heart.

Then, he took out all the Top Grade Elixir Pills he had obtained.

Next, he carefully took out the bottle of top-grade Snow Crystal Milk he had taken from Xie Xingwen.

With these precious cultivation resources, he once again rented a B-level Cultivation Room.

He grabbed a handful of elixir pills and tossed them into his mouth, followed by a drop of Snow Crystal Milk.

Then he began to meditate and refine them.

A pure, immense energy instantly exploded within his body, and his Qi Blood surged as if it were boiling!

In the days that followed, he spent nearly twenty-four hours a day in the B-level Cultivation Room.

He consumed all sorts of Top Grade Elixir Pills and Snow Crystal Milk as if they were free, while ceaselessly circulating the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Technique to guide and refine the immense medicinal power.

His meridians ached faintly, stretched by the surging Qi Blood Strength, but he paid it no mind.

Only one thought remained in his mind.

’Get stronger! I have to get stronger, as fast as possible!’

Time flew by amidst his frantic cultivation.

「Before he knew it, three months had passed.」

Fueled by an almost extravagant amount of resources, Jiang Che’s cultivation soared at an astonishing speed!

The bones in his body were repeatedly tempered by Qi Force, emitting an increasingly dense and crisp humming sound as their strength continuously increased!

As the tempering of the final bone was completed, he finally broke through to the Late-stage Bone Forging Realm in one fell swoop!

And without losing momentum, he continued to charge toward the Peak of the Bone Forging Realm!

At the same time, through his arduous cultivation, he also reached Perfection in the second layer of the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Technique!

Jiang Che’s Qi Blood was now incredibly vigorous, and his Strength was exceptionally condensed.

He was overjoyed. ’As long as I break through to the critical point of the Peak of the Bone Forging Realm, the Skill Proficiency Panel will naturally guide me to break through that barrier and officially step into the Refining Organ Realm!’

However, the accumulation required for this final step far exceeded his imagination!

His progress slowed down noticeably!

’Unfortunately, my Root Bone is too poor, and my utilization of the medicinal power is too low... It seems I won’t reach the Refining Organ Realm before the Cloud Tier Inquiry Conference...’ Jiang Che estimated, feeling a little regretful.

However, even though he hadn’t reached the Refining Organ Realm, his strength was no longer what it used to be.

In these three months, by repeatedly cultivating and then using Dissipating Skill, he had obtained a large number of new, basic Talents.

These numerous fragmentary Talents were absorbed and fused into his several more complex Talents.

As a result, these Talents were strengthened to varying degrees.

Among them, the All Attribute Passive Bonus from [True: Infinite Battle Armor] increased by another small amount.

To his even greater surprise, the incredibly powerful Active Skill, "Tenfold Strike," had evolved again!

The Active Strike was now at fifteen-fold!

Moreover, thanks to his now much larger total Strength and the optimization of the Talent itself, he could still unleash it twice in a row!

This undoubtedly raised the lethality of his trump card to a whole new level!

Besides [True: Infinite Battle Armor], [True: Shadowless Escape Stream] was also slightly enhanced.

Its passive speed was strengthened to a certain extent.

After testing it, Jiang Che found that his current speed now far surpassed that of an average Martial Artist in the Refining Organ Realm!

He secretly compared himself to his master, Xu Qingshan, and the other deans, discovering that while he couldn’t match them yet, he wasn’t far behind!

As for the Active Skill, [Shadow Escape], he could now move much faster without revealing his form!

This was undoubtedly a major enhancement!

’After all, if an opponent guesses I’m hiding nearby and starts launching indiscriminate attacks, it would be very dangerous if I’m too slow to get away!’

’Now that [Shadow Escape] allows me to maintain a certain speed and escape immediately, I’m much safer!’

Additionally, [Yin Yang Transformation Force] was strengthened again because he had reached Perfection in the second layer of the [Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Technique].

The conversion ratio had increased to a certain degree.

As for [Nine Li Commander], it was also enhanced, but not as much as the other Talents.

But the biggest surprise was [All-Seeing Eye].

This Talent had finally been enhanced to the True Level, becoming [True: All-Seeing Eye]!

In addition to its passive effects being greatly strengthened, it had also activated an active effect called [Pupil Seal]!

[Active Skill: Pupil Seal. Upon activation, the caster uses their Mental Power to condense an invisible Soul Seal and implant it deep within the Divine Soul of a target (human or beast) that is far weaker than them. Once the seal is successful, the target will absolutely obey any of the caster’s commands and will never betray them. The caster can take over the target’s body at any time, sharing their vision, controlling their actions, and reading all their memories, as if it were a clone. The number of seals is limited by the caster’s Cultivation Realm; the higher the Realm, the more seals can be controlled. Casting Pupil Seal on a previously sealed target will cancel the seal.]

After reading the skill description for [Pupil Seal], Jiang Che was deeply shaken!

’This ability is simply incredible! It can remotely control another’s mind, even read their memories and share their vision, just like a clone!’

Suppressing his excitement, he decided to test it on some animals first.

After all, using it on a person was too risky, and he couldn’t bring himself to cross that moral line.

First, he took a walk around the back mountain.

Before long, he had caught a buzzing hornet, a spotted snake hiding in a rock crevice, and a noisy black-feathered crow perched on a branch.

Finally, he bought a mongrel watchdog from a farmer’s house at the foot of the mountain.

Back in his room, he shut the door tightly and picked up the struggling hornet.

With a flicker of his will, the Active Skill of [True: All-Seeing Eye], [Pupil Seal], quietly activated. A thread-like wisp of intangible Mental Power extended and gently pierced the hornet’s tiny head.

PFFT.

An extremely faint sound echoed as the hornet in his hand suddenly stiffened. Its thin legs twitched twice, and then it went completely still!

"...It’s dead?"

Jiang Che froze, speechless. He pinched the hornet’s wings and lifted it up for a look.

’This fragile?’

He shook his head and tossed the dead hornet aside.

’I guess the insect was too weak to withstand the power of the Soul Seal!’

Next, he looked at the coiled, spotted snake, which was flicking its tongue out from time to time.

He focused his mind again and activated [Pupil Seal].

This time, the feeling was completely different!