With my tires on my mtb on my full suspension, my mtb does not do great on pavement. But it’s not like I couldn’t get a workout with it on pavement.
I’d just rather have a couple bikes. 
I would never ever ride MTB on road with folks on road bikes! That would be silly. Even if I could keep up, I would be so jealous of how easy the roadies have it… 
Long story, but I’ve experienced the reverse… riding with & watching a former 2000’s USOC & mid-level pro on a hardtail & fully (with regular MTB tires), absolutely destroy the local hot shoes on roadies 
It was one of those IFYKYK deals, and more than a few on the group ride didn’t know “who he was” and figured the dude on the MTB would get dropped immediately. Fun to sit back and watch it all play out
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Ok, so I own three road bikes… but I’m thinking I now need a set of semi slicks or file treads for my XC bike.
Actually, I moved about a year ago and now the closest trailhead is only 4 miles away… I always just slab it with my XC bike. I don’t even remember the last time I took a road bike out. Maybe June?
My prior responses were assuming that the OP and probably most in this thread are comfortable with mountain bike skills and don’t need to read this. But just in case… 
In pretty much every XC MTB race I’ve ever been in, there are riders whose fitness matches the category they are racing in, but who are skittish on the singletrack descents where there is no room to pass safely. It causes an entire conga line of (usually disgruntled) riders behind them. In one race I was in, someone completely stopped on a rock feature. This trail was on a bench cut on a hillside, so they couldn’t be passed, and riders for over 100 meters back were at a stand still waiting for several minutes! It was nuts.
So, sure train on road/road bikes some of the time but plan to spend time on trails and work on your skills! Learn about race course and its skill demands and practice them. That’s what makes MTB racing unique and fun and that’s why we do it, otherwise we’d be racing road or gravel.
But don’t feel bad if you have to walk a feature that’s beyond your current abilities - be safe above all else. If there are riders behind you, communicate with them - as soon as there is a safe spot, pull off to the side and let them pass. Some features can’t be cleared from a stand still, so be aware of that for the riders behind you. And more skilled riders - be encouraging and helpful always.
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Agree. This happens all the time. IMO, the only time it’s acceptable to not make an effort to allow people to pass - whether on climbs or descents - is if you are racing for the podium.
I pull over all the time on climbs to allow people to pass. I’m relatively stronger descending, so I expect the same from others when descending.
Thankfully, in my local race series, people are great about this. It’s in the bigger races where it gets more challenging.
I’m not good enough to race for podiums, so I race to have fun. Having the most fun (for me) means riding as fast as I can on the descents. If I don’t get that opportunity, the race is not as fulfilling.
On the OPs original question, I initially just rode MTB. Getting a road bike and gravel bike allowed me to ride when the trails were wet, and also offers a break from MTB which can boost motivation by virtue of being different.
All-in, I think it’s worth getting an additional bike.
But MTB is still better
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