I Am Loaded with Passive Skills

Chapter 3226: Chapter 1636: Seven Sword Deities Traverse Mountains Remembering the Past, Hallmaster Dao Arrives during the Darkest Period_2

In his concept, it was always about “exchange” — whether an equivalent exchange or a non-equivalent exchange.

You get something from me, you’ll eventually have to spit it out and pay me back; if I give you something willingly, you will return it to me double.

In one sentence, you might not lose anything, but that’s because you think you’re not losing. You’re just foolish, having been sold and still happily helping count the money for others.

I always win.

“Exchange” is steady, it is a calculation made after deep thought, it’s a quality of thinking that a mature person should possess.

Xu Xiaoshou lacks such quality.

He certainly knows how to make precise calculations, but when necessary, he would also dance on a tightrope.

Normally, he is steady, but in extreme situations, he takes huge risks; losing big, winning big, and winning big yields a full pot.

This kind of intense thrill is something a consistently steady person cannot comprehend.

Which is better or worse?

After thinking for a while, Dao Qiongcang felt that there was no absolute good or bad, only differences in personality and life experiences.

He is a cautious type, the decisions he makes appear risky to others but he holds the pearl of wisdom.

Xu Xiaoshou is the risk-taking type, fond of excitement, chasing high returns with low investments, perhaps related to his upbringing.

A chess piece, indeed, must be such.

Socio-political landscapes are easy to change, but nature is hard to shift.

The loss of the cautious type can be recovered.

The risk-taking type, however fast they charge, in the end, like Bazhun’an, they will take a dramatic fall.

On this point, if he were to deal with Xu Xiaoshou in the future, such character flaws could indeed be useful… Dao Qiongcang’s eyes flickered.

“You’ve been thinking for more than ten breaths now. Surely you’re not calculating how to trap me, right?” A skeptical voice suddenly arose from beside.

Dao Qiongcang’s eyelids twitched, and he raised his head unperturbed, smiling: “How could that be, my Xu.”

After a pause, he rubbed his chin, his face reflecting on the matter at hand: “I was considering the pros and cons of your recent move… tsk, it’s incredibly enlightening, impressive, Lord Shou.”

Xu Xiaoshou scratched his head: “Weird, you’re actually explaining yourself?”

Dao Qiongcang’s heart tightened.

He silently gave himself a reminder:

In the future, in front of Xu Xiaoshou, do not explain.

…

“Divine Relics, show’s over!”

When the curtain fell, Xu Xiaoshou truly felt like he wasn’t a living person, but a character in a play, having struggled through a whole act, so tired, so weary.

He rarely gave himself a break, sprawled on the war-torn barren ground, emptied his mind for a long while, not thinking about any schemes, not about dividing the spoils after the war, not about going home.

The unpredictable Hallmaster Dao lay beside him, carefree, both watching the gray skies of the Divine Relics.

Almost surreal…

In Jade Capital City, Changde Town, Qingyuan Mountain, etc., the great battles seemed like mere dreams, and the two interacted as if they had never been enemies.

Looking even further back…

At Tiansang Spirit Palace during the Windcloud Competition, when Zhou Tianshen used the Sword Style, Xu Xiaoshou would never have imagined that one day he would stand shoulder-to-shoulder in battle with the Hallmaster from Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe, high above the clouds.

Was it pleasant?

No, cooperating with him, just like battling against him, only two words: mentally exhausting.

“It’s as if I’m dying.”

Xu Xiaoshou laughed self-deprecatingly, feeling that at this moment Dao Qiongcang could turn into Cursed Yin, and decapitate him to conclude the drama, leaving a lasting effect, thought-provoking.

Clearly, real life isn’t a drama, it won’t always be so gripping.

“Where’s the carousel?”

Dao Qiongcang turned his head, speaking with a smile:

“When I was young, after every great battle, exhausted in spirit, I too liked to lie here and watch the sky.”

“At that time I’d think, ah, what virtue and ability do I have, to be able to compete against these advanced predecessors and design their downfall to death.”

“Is it that they are all acting for me, and I’m just a supporting character in the world, eventually to be used by others; or am I genuinely smart, and are there indeed hierarchies in birth, at least in terms of spiritual intelligence?”

Xu Xiaoshou gritted his teeth, realizing Dao Qiongcang wasn’t boasting, so he rolled his eyes at him.

You’re really annoying.

Dao Qiongcang turned over, his legs curled up, resting his arms, and with another hand unconsciously fiddling with the dirt, he began recalling past glories with an uncle’s laugh:

“At that time, the most interesting thing was, I felt I wanted to be the Hallmaster.”

“Actually, there’s nothing much to look forward to, I just feel being a Hallmaster is just so, but people think it’s a very high position, kind of has a ‘top of the world’ feel.”

“I felt I was up to it, so I wanted to prove it to myself, I suppose I was okay…”

“Suddenly!”

Dao Qiongcang in a flash and flair, also had a storyteller’s talent, spoke with a twist: “Just as I was thinking this, the opportunity really came.”

“What was it?” Xu Xiaoshou was genuinely curious about how this guy rose to his position. The stories on Sacred Mountain seemed fascinating, surely not the classic patricide tale.

“You Tu carried a sword, stormed up Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe, the Seven Sword Deities just decapitated the prior Hallmaster, utterly unreasonable.”

“Ancient swordsmen are madmen!”

“Before him, no one dared to do this, Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe didn’t even have what you’d call a ‘great array’ for protection, or you might say the previous spiritual arrays were just for show.”

“After all, the Council of Ten was there, the headquarters of Holy Divine Palace was there, Ninth Divine Priest took root there, and the God Worship Willow Tree was also there.”

“This guy’s brain, must have been kicked by a donkey, swallowed, shat out, then stuffed back into his head to do such crazy things, right?”