Inside the room.
Li Mo soaked his feet and checked today’s investment returns.
[“Congratulations to the host, successful investment in one portion of Ice-Fire Wine and one portion of roasted beast meat.”]
[“Investment feedback: one jar of Frostflower Dew膏.”]
[“Investment feedback: one Night Pearl.”]
[Frostflower Dew膏]: “Top-grade healing medicine, made from the first dewdrops of rare flowers, containing excellent hair-growth properties, and is very effective for treating external wounds.”
[Night Pearl]: “From the Northern Sea, glowing eternally, a must-have item for the dwellings of highly skilled individuals.”
…
“These rewards should belong to my master.”
In the palm of Li Mo’s hand appeared a round pearl the size of a fist, softly glowing.
He had seen this kind of thing before.
At the auction platform of the Prosperous Trading House in Ziyang Mansion, there was also a Night Pearl hanging there.
Just judging by the luster and color, it was somewhat inferior to the one he had in his hand.
In short, it was quite valuable.
But its use? That would pale in comparison to the Frostflower Dew膏.
Li Mo applied a little on his body, the cool sensation spreading. The fine wounds caused by his body tempering at the Divine Edge Cave earlier in the day started healing almost immediately.
[“Congratulations to the host, successful investment in one portion of Ice-Fire Wine and one portion of roasted beast meat.”]
[“Investment feedback: twenty years of martial arts insights.”]
[“Investment feedback: one Spirit Essence Crystal.”]
…
“Still, nothing beats Ice Chunk’s fragrance.”
Li Mo couldn’t help but marvel.
Getting her to drink just a bit of small wine in return for twenty years of martial arts insights.
This kind of thing, you can never have too much of.
Clearly, for the same investment, even when his master clearly had a stronger preference for booze and meat, the rewards from Ying Bing were incomparably better.
This was the fear of having a red-marked destiny.
Hmm, to get these rewards, he should definitely cling to Ice Chunk’s delicate legs.
Whose legs? A money-making tree!
[Host still has one reward waiting to be collected. Would you like to collect it?]
Li Mo remembered.
He saved Murong Xiao during the day.
That should count as a significant change in his fate right?
What kind of great thing would pop up?
Little Li was a little excited, and with a thought.
“Collect.”
[“Congratulations to the host, successful investment of one bottle of Cleansing Heart Pills, successfully saving Murong Xiao from succumbing to demon influence.”]
[“Investment feedback: one Celestial Book Seal.”]
[Celestial Book Seal]: “Place it over any martial art, and it can enhance, refine, and improve the martial art, boosting its grade. It can theoretically lift a martial art to the uppermost level.”
“Improve martial arts?”
Li Mo was a little stunned, the Night Pearl almost slipping from his hands.
The next moment.
A small seal appeared on his left hand, about the size of a thumbnail.
The seal was copper-colored but unlike any yellow or green bronze Li Mo had seen, with four sides inscribed with tadpole-like characters, emanating a sense of ancient charm.
“If there’s a stone version of the Celestial Book Seal, are there copper versions, silver versions, or even gold versions?”
Li Mo thought for a moment.
The highest current martial arts he was practicing should be ‘Supreme Weapon Slaying Body’ and ‘Fire Heart Lotus Lotus Technique’, both belonging to the category of supreme arts and higher level techniques respectively.
Above supreme arts are divine arts.
If in the future he obtained silver or even gold Celestial Book Seals, perhaps he could upgrade the techniques that he had practiced.
Upgrading the techniques that he was already familiar with would definitely be easier than switching to new ones.
“Let’s leave that for later.”
Li Mo took out the ‘Blazing Blade Technique’ that his master gave him.
Other than this mid-tier sword technique, there weren’t many other martial arts that he could improve.
He lightly pressed the Celestial Book Seal on the book’s pages.
Instantaneously, the tadpole-shaped characters began to shine faintly before all “swimming” into the book, moving between the characters.
Some characters were reordered by little tadpoles swimming around, some were swallowed and spat out anew.
Li Mo found it wondrous to watch.
Around ten minutes later.
The tadpole-shaped characters all lost their glow and disappeared completely.
The sword technique inscribed in the book became:
[Fire Crane Thousand Feather Sword].
“Newly acquired 20 years of martial arts insights.”
“If added to other two arts, it might not be enough to go from accomplished to perfection level.”
“Let me learn the sword technique first.”
Little Li rubbed his hands, trying to convince himself.
Okay, truthfully, what he really wanted to do was learn the sword technique.
Who wouldn’t want to be a swordsman who flies in winds and questions the moon, handsome and dashing?
Powerful or not, style is forever.
With yearning, Li Mo poured all the martial arts insights into the Fire Crane Thousand Feather technique.
[Twenty years of martial arts insights, successfully infused.]
[First year: Enthralled with deep interest, you have seriously started learning Fire Crane Thousand Feather Sword and succeeded in mastering its fundamentals.]
[Third year: You are highly interested in the sword technique, and the practice is smooth, eventually reaching initial mastery.]
[Eighth year: You enter a plateau period of no progress for a long time and start doubting yourself.]
[Twentieth year: After sitting in prolonged meditation, summing up sword-fighting experiences through persistent practice, you finally achieve a semblance of accomplishment.]
Li Mo opened his eyes.
Instantly, the experience of practicing for twenty years day and night, regardless of harsh weather, was vividly and clearly remembered.
He looked at a branch outside the window.
No, this was clearly a legendary divine sword!
Breaking off the branch, he waved it around enthusiastically. The branch in his hand let out a faint but clear wind-resonating sound.
The Blazing Blade Technique was about explosion.
After being refined and improved, the Fire Crane Sword inherited this advantage, and took it to the next level.
Every time it hits an enemy, it leaves a force inside them, and red marks resembling burning crane feathers would appear on their bodies.
When the force reaches its peak, it can be exploded all at once.
Small accomplishment could only stack the force to nine layers.
“When I reach the Internal Breathing Realm, I can turn the force into internal energy.”
Li Mo threw away the branch covered with cracks and felt quite satisfied.
Calm down, he thought.
Then he couldn’t help but think.
Twenty years, just to become slightly accomplished?
Is it because sword techniques are inherently harder to master compared to internal techniques or physical training? Or maybe he just doesn’t have much talent for sword techniques?
“Next time when I get more sword techniques, I can add some martial arts insights to see what happens.”
Li Mo refocused.
Cross-legged on the ground, he began to practice his internal technique.
“The speed at which meridians open needs to be increased.”
“Seems like my Progenitor Elixir Body has more main meridians, making the bl**d and Energy Realm path longer than others.”
—
Setting
—
Weng — the resonance with the heavens and earth was extraordinary.
Ke Mo once again entered the state of harmony with heaven and man, the purest energies of the world flowing into him like water filling a vessel.
His consciousness slowly descended, entering within himself.
Internal vision.
This did not require deliberate practice, since after mastering the Fire Heart Lotus Technique, Ke Mo could naturally achieve it.
That said, for others, they might need to reach the Internal Breathing Realm to fully command this ability.
Ordinary people in the bl**d and Energy Realm could only rely on diet and relentless practice to cultivate their bl**d and energy. Only then could they aim to breakthrough their meridians.
But with internal vision, Ke Mo not only could refine bl**d and energy using this energy, but also use it to wrap the bl**d and energy and precisely direct it into the meridians.
To put it metaphorically.
The former was like spilling a whole bucket of water all at once.
The latter was like attaching a hose, precise and efficient.
Hence, Ke Mo’s process of opening meridians could be described as ‘effortless’.
There was no such thing as a bottleneck, and there was no possibility of injury.
It seemed simple, but truly achieving this was due to a combination of factors.
The Progenitor Elixir Body, the accomplished supreme internal technique, and the strengthening of the Extreme Weapon Slaying Body for the meridians – none of these could be lacking.
“Alas, a bit slow.”
“Probably won’t finish unblocking ‘Yang Wei’ until midnight.”
Ke Mo sighed lightly in his heart.
This could only be thought of quietly.
Because if said out loud, others would probably beat him up.
Even the external disciples of the sect were picked elites from a single domain, and each generation aimed to enter the inner sect.
The condition was to unblock the twelve main meridians within three years and enter the Internal Breathing Realm.
Yet, ultimately, only one in ten people successfully enter the inner sect.
And you’re still complaining about being too slow?
Before he knew it.
Night fell deep.
A moon larger than Earth’s by more than ten times shone down, bathing the Qingyuan mountain range in moonlight.
In the room, fluctuations in heavenly energies slowly settled.
“Yang Wei is open.”
Ke Mo glanced out, seeing the moon perfectly at the center of the sky.
It probably… took three hours?
If others knew, they might think they saw a ghost.
But inside Ke Mo’s body, the vein that had just been unblocked brimmed with abundant energies.
This was naturally within Ke Mo’s expectation.
What truly surprised him was the number of meridians inside his body.
“Should I have thirty-six main meridians?”
Ke Mo was both surprised and delighted.
For martial artists, the main meridians in the body were like engines.
That was, the amount of bl**d and energy he could mobilize later would be three times that of an ordinary bl**d and Energy Realm individual?
The disparity in combat strength would be even greater.
“There’s about ten days left until the sect trial.”
“I wonder if any unexpected incidents will happen.”
After all, in Ying Bing’s evaluation, it was clearly written that her destiny was fraught with difficulties.
So, if everything went according to plan, something untoward would probably happen to her.
And if she got into trouble, the person under the same roof as her, himself, would likely be inevitably dragged in too.
A sense of urgency arose in Ke Mo’s heart.
Desire to throw tiles!
“Energy accumulated through cultivation should be enough to unblock another vein.”
Ke Mo muttered to himself.
After using the restroom and drinking a glass of water, he sat down again.
The heavenly energy began to fluctuate once more.
It was strange.
Whenever he cultivated, it seemed like he didn’t feel even a trace of fatigue or weariness?
If it weren’t limited by the conversion speed between energies and bl**d, cultivating twelve hours every day would not have been impossible…
…
Next door.
Ying Bing’s room had many things already frozen.
She never lit candles.
Because, during her practice, candles had no right to burn.
In the Palace of Osmanthus, the lighting objects used throughout the palace were all Jade Crystal Lamps made from merfolk fat.
“Two veins.”
“Still, not fast enough.”
Ying Bing closed her eyes slightly, calculating in her mind.
She needed to enter the bl**d and Energy Realm with at least eight veins open for whatever inheritance place she aimed for.
Meaning, in this more than ten days of time, she would need to unblock at least six more veins.
Suddenly.
Ying Bing seemed to recall that this sect trial was not peaceful.
At the time, she hadn’t yet succeeded in opening a vein and didn’t participate, but she had heard some rumors.
It was said that some disciples of the sect had disappeared during this trial.
True, not dead, but disappeared without a trace, bodies and spirits vanished.
What happened in the midst of everything was unknown.
“A bit stronger would mean more chances.”
“One of the life essences of the Nine-colored Phoenix, I must obtain.”
Ying Bing’s emerald-like eyes shimmered slightly.
In the previous life, she accidentally entered a mysterious place, coincidentally responding to one of the nine essences of the Nine-colored Phoenix, the ‘Misty Essence’.
It was also through this that she showed her talents, altering her destiny.
Later on in her travels, this inheritance had always been intricately intertwined with her.
Through various fortunes or means, she eventually gathered all nine essences of the Nine-colored Phoenix, which became one of her important supports in her invincible path.
It could be said that in her life’s major fortunes, the Nine-colored Phoenix could rank among the top three.
Ying Bing’s self-created Divine Skill – Nine-color Mysterious Phoenix Canon, also required practicing with the possession of the nine essences.
“Is Ke Mo still cultivating?”
“Indeed, he has some perseverance.”
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Whenever Ying Bing thought of Ke Mo being next door, the heart lake that had been once like ice rippled slightly.
She didn’t dislike this feeling, but she disliked being influenced by it.
What annoyed her even more was that she didn’t know where this emotion arose from.
“Could it be because I still owe him a favor?”
Ying Bing pondered for a moment and decided.
When going to the inheritance place, she would bring Ke Mo along.
Whatever minor fortune within, obtaining even a bit would be enough to change an ordinary person’s fate.
Perhaps, it would enable him to step out of Ziyang Mansion, even the Eastern Wilderness Domain in his lifetime.
If he could witness even a trace of the wondrous of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, then this life would not be in vain.
