Passive: Gluttony

Southern Border...

Due to its climate and geography, Southern Border was filled with jungles and poisonous insects. Meanwhile, thanks to conditions such as hot and humid weather and miasma, it was sparsely populated.

However, there were two sides to everything. Although the environment was harsh and the area was sparsely populated, there was an abundance of unique resources, which attracted many people to open up a world in Southern Border.

…

"Tomorrow is the day to plant the Gu?"

At present, Zhou Feng was a little stunned.

One had to know that he had only transmigrated to this world three days ago.

In these short three days, he had barely adapted to this world. At the same time, he had barely understood this world, and he was unclear about many things.

What Zhou Feng could understand now was that this was a cultivation world, and he was a disciple of a cultivation sect, a new one at that.

If that was all there was to it, it would be fine.

But after a few days of investigation, he found that he was in an evil sect known as the Tri-Gu Sect. From its name alone, it seemed to be a sect that specialized in raising Gu.

The original Zhou Feng seemed to have been forcibly taken up the mountain in a nearby village.

No matter how Zhou Feng looked at it, forcibly taking someone into the sect did not seem like the style of a righteous sect.

As for the so-called day of planting Gu, simply put, tomorrow, the disciples would need to plant a Gu in their bodies.

As long as they planted a Gu, then they would be considered to have officially entered the sect.

Planting a Gu in their bodies?

Just by hearing it, Zhou Feng's entire body seemed to be saying 'No'.

He did not know what would happen and what were the effects of the Gu worm once it was planted in their bodies. Not only was he clueless about it all, it was something that he would not have any control over.

'Escape? That is not possible!'

When thinking of his future days, Zhou Feng's first thought was to escape.

But after thinking about it, he realized that this was not realistic.

Not only were there patrols around the mountain, but miasmata of all sorts was also protecting it. Even if a normal person like him managed to escape, he would not survive.

He had no confidence that he would be able to survive in this dense forest.

Even if he escaped, what could he do?

He was already unfamiliar with this world, so it would be better for him to mingle in the Tri-Gu Sect. In this way, it is more promising to be an ordinary disciple of the Tri-Gu Sect.

Moreover, it was not as if he did not possess a cheating device.

At that moment, a skill panel appeared in front of him.

This was the skill panel of a game he had been playing in his previous life, and the name of the game was 'Passive Master'.

In short, all the skills in this game were passive, even the skills of the enemy. The opponents would directly attack each other to see whose skills were more passive and powerful.

Zhou Feng was uncertain what had happened to the skill panel after transmigrating here.

"Eh? This is a progress bar? 100%?"

Zhou Feng suddenly realized that there was a progress bar under the skill panel, and it was already full.

[Drawing passive skills…]

When the progress bar was full, a lottery screen appeared on the skill panel.

Then, he drew a passive skill called 'Gluttony'.

Gluttony (Level 1): Every time you digest food, you can digest it faster and more perfectly. At the same time, you will starve faster.

Zhou Feng immediately felt a bizarre warm current transforming his stomach.

"Gluttony? This passive skill…" Zhou Feng frowned slightly.

This skill was considered a late-stage skill in the game.

In its early stage, this passive skill was too weak as it could not immediately increase battle strength, and the early-stage benefits were not too high. The only advantage was that he could eat more, and he would not need to be afraid of indigestion.

At the thought of this, Zhou Feng's stomach started to growl.

Unfortunately, there were only two steamed buns in front of him. Since he had not planted any Gu, he was not an official disciple of the Tri-Gu Sect yet. Thus, he only had so much to eat.

"Just bear with it!" Zhou Feng picked up the slightly stiff steamed bun and comforted himself in his heart.

Since he could not change this reality, he had to learn to accept it.

Zhou Feng was famished, so he finished these two steamed buns in a few bites. He had just gulped down the steamed buns, but he did not feel full at all. Instead, he felt even hungrier.

He could even feel the blood in his stomach flowing rapidly.

The two buns he had just eaten seemed to have been directly digested.

"This…"

This first passive skill he had obtained was too trashy!

Zhou Feng looked outside and saw that there were still patrolling disciples, so he instantly gave up on his machinations.

There was no other way-- he could only endure like this for an entire night.

Just like this, Zhou Feng starved for an entire night.

At daybreak, the other Tri-Gu Sect's reserve disciples, who were in a similar position as Zhou Feng, gathered together.

Zhou Feng followed the crowd and blended in to observe his surroundings. He was also observing whether there was anything to eat. 

From last night until now, he had been feeling that the walls of his stomach were burning. He had already gone from a very hungry state to a somewhat numb state now.

To his surprise, the reserve disciples were also divided into three, six, and nine grades.

Those like Zhou Feng, who were dressed in rags, were the majority. They were basically at the end of the line or directly pushed to the edge of the line.

Some people with neat clothes and clean faces were standing in the second line, while a few people were standing at the very front.

It was as if everyone was following some kind of unspoken rule.

These three groups of people were clearly divided, and there was a distinct dividing line.

"Something's wrong!"

The unease in Zhou Feng's heart grew more and more intense as he observed this scene. This was because compared to the people at the very front, the group at the very back seemed like they were just making up the numbers.

Most of the people beside him also looked confused. None of them had any idea of what was going to happen.

Just as Zhou Feng was feeling uneasy, he noticed that a group of people in front of him had started talking. He immediately took two steps forward and pricked up his ears.

The rag-wearing people next to him looked at Zhou Feng with surprise in their eyes. Then, they immediately lowered their heads and quietly stood there and waited.

Perhaps the people in the front did not expect that the abandoned villagers behind them would eavesdrop. Thus, they were discussing loudly.

"Do you plan to choose the Penta-Poison faction or the Bloodthirsty faction?"

"I haven't decided yet!"

"If it's possible, I would like to choose the Sect Leader's faction!"

"You? Based on your capabilities, you dare to choose the Sect Leader's faction? Stop dreaming!"

"…"

Zhou Feng made a simple deduction thanks to these people's discussion topics.

It turned out that this Tri-Gu Sect should have three factions. They were divided into three factions based on the three types of Gu. These three types of Gu were Penta-Poison Gu, Bloodthirsty Gu, and Ice Spirit Gu.

The Gu that the Sect Leader's faction possessed were Ice Spirit Gu.

Next was the Penta-Poison Gu and Bloodthirsty Gu that formed the elder faction.

The only people that had come for the ceremony were from the Bloodthirsty Gu and Penta-Poison Gu factions.

Simply put, among the three Gu, he could only choose to plant in his body the Penta-Poison Gu or the Bloodthirsty Gu.

'So that's the case!'

After digesting the new information, Zhou Feng nodded secretly.