Chapter 45 - He’s Hopeless

"Wait, he won? Just like that?"

The audience was utterly confused, and even some of the fighters from the Inner Yard were puzzled by what they saw.

It was probably the most puzzling win in the history of the Outer Yard fights.

The one who'd lost was just as puzzled as the one who'd won.

"The first half of the fight was splendid, so why did things take a weird turn in the second half?"

"You done asking? It's Xu Xiaoshou, that's why. An outcome like that is actually pretty normal as far as Xu Xiaoshou's concerned…"

"Hahaha, I've watched all of the matches with him in it, and boy, the match isn't Xu Xiaoshou's if the outcome isn't anything less than weird."

"Yeah, but this is the semi-finals…"

Some still found the outcome totally unbelievable and were wondering why the semi-finals, which had been nothing short of utterly intense the past years, had ended so messily today.

Doubted, Passive Points +664.

Doubted, Passive Points +121.

No one knew what to think about the match.

Spectators aside, even Xu Xiaoshou himself was baffled by the whole deal.

He actually had to attribute his victory to that bite from Mu Zixi. Otherwise, who was to say what the final outcome would've been.

If it hadn't been for that greedy bite from her, causing her to be paralyzed long enough for him to throw her off of the ring, he might've been the one to bite the dust.

But then again, like it or not, that was reality.

He straightened up, then gestured at the crowd as he walked, feeling very pleased with himself as he checked on the Passive Points he earned from all the doubt cast on him.

Very nice.

The barrier shut out information from the outside once he walked into the waiting area, yet lines kept popping up all the same.

Doubted, Passive Points +2.

Doubted, Passive Points +2.

"…"

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the two staff, who were standing frozen in place, and flashed an awkward grin.

Walking forward with a win, leaving the question marks behind in the dust…

The man who'd gotten into the finals thanks to his passive skills got into his changing area, where he washed himself and his clothes of all that dirt and bloodstains before returning to the chair to meditate.

Xu Xiaoshou took out a piece of Spirit Crystal and sniffed it, thinking back on the fight.

He had to admit that Mu Zixi was indeed powerful.

This was a girl who'd opened his eyes to other avenues of combat. He was thoroughly impressed by different ways combat could take place at Innate levels.

"Zhao Qingteng, Mu Zixi…"

"Well, I guess Zhou Tianshen could count," he thought.

Xu Xiaoshou started looking forward the growth he would experience after getting to the Innate Stage.

In his mind, he imagined that he probably would no longer be limited by those passive skills and could truly shine and beat countless others out there.

"But then again," he thought, "I'm probably limited because I wasn't able to collect more useful passive skills because I didn't have enough time."

His eyes narrowed as he figured that it'd been too short of a time since he acquired the Passive Skill System.

Despite having earned Passive Points in a frenzy the whole time, he hadn't been able to get more than six Passive Skills, which had barely managed to get him to the finals. That had definitely been hard work.

His level and number of skills could possibly get higher if he were to be given more time, so much so that he'd be okay with not gaining any Innate Elemental Powers.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded furiously. "Yeah, that makes sense."

The two staff members stuck close to the corner of a wall and whispered among themselves, "There he goes again…"

Xu Xiaoshou was exasperated by the two's antics.

"You guys really have no idea that I've gained Sense eh?" he thought.

"Hmph."

He turned around and took out a Spiritual Cultivation Pill, took a deep whiff, and rapidly recovered.

The best plan he had at the moment was actually to head out and watch Mo Mo fight, but his injuries from fighting Mu Zixi were rather grievous.

While Eternal Vitality alone was capable of healing his injuries, it would still take time. As such, he simply closed his eyes, shutting the outside world out, and devoted his energies to recovery.

A staff member came over and woke him up a while later.

"The match is on?"

"Not yet."

The staff member then handed him a letter. "This is from Elder Qiao."

His eyebrows twitched. What was so important that it needed to be delivered in a letter?

"Well, makes sense, I guess," he thought. "Elder Qiao's probably watching the battle now and couldn't come here personally, so he had to send a letter. It probably only got to me because an elder delivered it."

He then tore the envelope open. There were only two words on it:

Sealing Technique.

Woff.

Spiritual Energies burst and burned the letter, and he lapsed into deep thought.

"What does 'Sealing Technique' mean?" he wondered.

"Does this have anything to do with my fight with Mo Mo in the finals?"

"The only thing that would have anything to do with this are the upcoming finals, and there's no doubt that my next opponent will be Mo Mo."

"Come to think of it, I don't think anyone has seen what that Outer Yard big sister can actually do…"

"She threw everyone she fought out of the ring with just several strikes. Does that have something to do with 'Sealing Technique' here?"

"Is that some kind of Innate Elemental Power as well?"

"How does this sealing thing work by the way? Sealing one's Spiritual Energy?"

That letter had apparently brought him more questions than answers, so he simply stopped thinking about it altogether.

If it was something that worked by sealing Spiritual Energy, then the technique would technically not be of any use against him.

He'd hardly ever used Spiritual Energy in all of his fights so far, with the exception of the four moves of the Fleeting White Clouds.

Even if he were to be short on Spiritual Energy, he could easily take out a Spiritual Cultivation Pill and bring the fight to a standstill for half a second, which would give him enough time to recover. So he saw no need for concern.

"Call me when the final match is on," he said to the staff member, and closed his eyes again to work on his sword will.

The staff member agreed to it and sat down to have tea again.

However, before the staff member could pick up the cup, it started shaking, and sword will rose all of a sudden, causing the tea inside to spill.

The two staff members looked at each other, speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points +2.

The corners of Xu Xiaoshou's mouth lifted upward slightly as he closed his eyes to train, causing the cup to shake even harder.

Cursed, Passive Points +2, +2, +2, +2

…

Whack!

At the edge of the ring, Mo Mo launched a palm attack and sent her stout opponent flying out of the ring. Xiao Qixiu's voice was then heard.

The audience was in awe. Everyone had suprised looks on their faces, yet, at the same time, they found the outcome reasonable.

"Yet another show of slapping her opponent out of the ring with her left hand alone. Gosh, Sister Mo really… is just too powerful."

"Yeah, even in the semifinals no one was able to corner her well enough to make her use her right hand that's cradling that bronze cauldron. That is really something indeed."

"By the way, what's in that pot anyway? I've never seen her use it for anything."

"No idea. Probably just something to keep her right hand from doing anything else, just to give her opponents hope…"

"Hmm… she's indeed powerful. I wonder if Xu Xiaoshou will be able to force her to use both of her hands…"

Mo Mo stood in the ring with her white garb billowing.

Strictly-speaking, she had features so plain that she looked nothing more than ordinairy.

Yet, due to all of those achievements of hers, no one could afford to ignore her.

Zhang Xinxiong had a funny look on his face as he tilted his head and said, "This Mo Mo girl is formidable. If I were at the same early stage of Innate Origin Court Level as her, I probably wouldn't even be able to beat her."

He then paused and added, "Drawing the fight out, that is."

Liu Zhen was surprised.

He spoke so highly of some girl who was so plain-looking, yet during the fight between Xu Xiaoshou and Mu Xizi, he hadn't said a word.

"So, you're saying that if we were to fight Sister Mo, we'd have to end it quickly?"

Zhang Xinxiong nodded and answered, "Definitely. Every attack of hers comes with some special effect capable of decreasing her opponent's powers. It's a rather strange ability. I'm not quite sure what it is."

"Some Innate Elemental Power that she possesses, I guess?"

"Perhaps…"

Liu Zhen was rendered silent, wondering what kind of a special ability it could be.

The most awakened powers among the fighters at Innate Stage was the power of the five elements. The more extraordinary such elements turned out to be, the more difficult said opponent would be.

But then again, the prerequisite was that the possessor of such powers was familiar with their uses. Otherwise, it'd simply be better to pray that one would acquire one of the mainstream five instead.

Mo Mo was one such genius out of the ordinary. That eerie ability of hers to reduce her opponent's powers, coupled with her agile moves, enabled her to reign supreme as soon as the fight was drawn out.

Liu Zhen recalled the battle in the breakout match with Xu Xiaoshou and said, "Brother Xiong, what do you think of the upcoming final match?"

"Innate Level Physique eh…"

Zhang Xinxiong shook his head as he recalled the hilarious figure of Xu Xiaoshou riding on his sword backwards, and giggled.

He was unable to fathom just how someone like that had been able to make it to the final fight.

He wondered if that kid was probably one of those so-called "lucky ones."

He shook his head slowly and said, "Xu Xiaoshou… he's hopeless."