After agreeing to watch each other’s backs in the bl**d Phoenix Secret Realm, Li Mo made his way down the mountain, squinting into the setting sun.
He felt a bit fatigued, a tad weak in the knees…
Alright, it was just an illusion.
Little Li, our diligent student, knew he was actually stronger than when he first climbed up. The nine-petal lotus in the field had already unfurled two leaves at this point.
However, it couldn’t compare to the overwhelming presence he felt when he wielded the Dragon and Tiger token back in the field—where everything felt charged like the world itself was gathering around him.
Once Xiao Bao, his senior brother, stepped out, Li Mo felt like his body had gained an extra layer of weight.
“With this experience, I’ll find it way easier to consolidate my Xuanji in the future.”
Little Li was filled with hope regarding his Xuanji Realm.
As he descended the mountain, he stopped by the outer hall to buy some groceries while checking his investment returns from earlier.
【Congratulations, host, for helping ‘Tang Xiaobao’ to awaken!】
【Investment return: Bronze Creation Seal.】
【Bronze Creation Seal】: “Used on the Guan Shen diagrams, it can elevate high-grade and lower Guan Shen diagrams by one grade.”
“Creation Seal… similar to some heaven-sent script item?”
Li Mo pondered.
He only had two Guan Shen diagrams: one imagined the Golden Crow transforming the sun, which was an extreme form and couldn’t use the Creation Seal.
The other was a stone carving of a Night Ghost, which was a lower form for imagining.
To use it on that would be wasteful.
“With my handsomeness, practicing this would be such a waste!”
Little Li decided to tuck that Creation Seal away for later.
When he returned to Qiushui Pavilion, dusk was just setting in.
No sooner did he step in than a chilly frost, still hanging around, blasted him straight in the face, enough to send a shiver down a regular person’s spine.
Clearly, a certain Ice Chunk had just finished some practice.
“It’s just a little wind and frost,” Li Mo said as he entered with a basket of groceries.
His eyes caught sight of a girl sitting under a tree, engaged in a game of chess.
Where she found a chessboard, he had no idea, but she was busy playing against herself during her spare time.
The moonlight bathed her and the board in a soft, dancing glow.
Upon hearing footsteps, she perked up, her delicate nose twitching.
“What’s that smell on you?”
Ehhh…
Li Mo leaned in to sniff his sleeve and suddenly realized, “Ah, it’s the fragrance from Danding Peak!”
“By the way, why are you playing chess by yourself?”
Ying Bing’s gaze shifted to Shang Wu, who was nearby.
Alright then.
Their master didn’t seem like someone who would play chess.
Li Mo pondered; maybe it was time to organize a little team-building exercise.
It was necessary to maintain his relationship with the Ice Chunk, the big financial backer!
“Perfect—today we’re having a tasty meal, and we can play while we eat.”
“Then I’ll teach you a type of chess that even our master can learn!”
Shang Wu rolled her eyes at him.
Translating to respectful master: “You, really?”
…..
Not long later, a pot was set up in the little courtyard.
A salted veggie casserole bubbled away.
“This is what you call good food?” Shang Wu sniffed skeptically.
She preferred big fish and large meat.
“That’s where you’re wrong, master. Do you not know what…”
Li Mo chopped tofu while humming a little tune:
“Salted veggie rolling tofu~ the Emperor himself can’t top me~”
The casserole was anything but ordinary, mind you.
As everyone knows, Little Li wouldn’t give up a rare investment opportunity just to switch up the taste.
The tofu was crafted from exquisite green beans, and the salted veggies were made from Qi Ye nourishing grass, aromatic indeed.
Shang Wu tried singing a few lines back, took a bite of tofu, and her eyes lit up, “Eating hotpot and singing? That sounds pretty fun!”
“Your voice is actually quite nice, have you ever thought about letting me be your agent for a gig at Qunfang Pavilion?”
“Hmph, forget it. If I go, do they even need to compete for the top spot?”
“Very true, very true.”
The master and disciple chatted and joked while eating.
Ying Bing, who had been all tense, inexplicably calmed down at that moment.
Today, she had learned about the bl**d Phoenix Secret Realm.
In her last life, the essence of her bl**d Phoenix was something she got after defeating Han Zhen, and she was already at the Nexus state.
But unlike her previous life, this time the bl**d Phoenix Secret Realm had stirred quite the commotion, attracting movement from various parties and thus, likely a lot of twists and turns.
“Ice Chunk.”
“Hmm?”
Li Mo’s call brought her back to reality.
“Did you learn it yet?”
“What?”
Ying Bing gently popped a piece of tofu into her mouth.
“The Five in a Row game! If you haven’t got it yet, I’ll teach you again.”
Li Mo didn’t care whether she was interested; he picked up the chess pieces and began demonstrating.
“Like this, line up five pieces in a row, and you win.”
“Isn’t that a kid’s game?”
Ying Bing shook her head.
Seeing she was disinterested, Li Mo shrugged and continued playing with Shang Wu.
Beautiful master had yet to lose in luck games but was hopeless in technical plays.
“Master, you’re so bad at this!”
“Wah, I refuse to accept that!”
A sticky note was stuck to Shang Wu’s eyebrow.
Fast forward two minutes later…
“Talent takes practice… but losing at the hands of the chess saint of Qingyuan Sect is still an honor,” Li Mo struck a pose of grandeur.
“Little Ice Girl, help me get back at him!”
Shang Wu called for outside assistance.
She already had two sticky notes on her face.
Li Mo smiled over, noticing that while Ice Chunk had claimed boredom, she had been watching everything unfold.
“Do you want to play a few rounds?”
“If you call this a kid’s game, then let’s see if you can win against me!”
Had anyone else said that, Ying Bing would have ignored it entirely.
She didn’t need to win against others to validate herself.
Yet this was Li Mo.
“Okay.”
She set down her chopsticks, her clear gaze focusing intently.
Li Mo: “!”
What was this suddenly fiery competitive spirit?
This was even more intense than a duel at the arena between the nine veins.
The Ice Chunk’s competitive drive was truly something else.
But Little Li, the so-called ‘founder’ of the Five in a Row game, wouldn’t falter.
“Hmph, all I need is a slight effort to completely dismantle you!”
……
One minute later.
Li Mo stared at the game board, a look of disbelief crossing his face.
Lost?
He, the Five in a Row national champion! With all the grid notebooks he’d scribbled in from high school, if stacked up, they could wrap around Qiushui Pavilion three times!
How on earth did he lose on the first try?
“Looks like we won’t be playing much longer.”
Ying Bing spoke faintly.
Her moonlit eyes sparkled with a hint of delight.
“Fine, fine, a bet’s a bet.”
Seeing her relaxed face, Li Mo ripped off a sticky note.
“Come on, stick it on me.”
“Umm…”
Ying Bing took the note, glanced down for a few seconds, then poked a certain someone’s pressure point.
Li Mo: “?”
