Half an hour later.
Li Mo stared at the freshly minted “Fire Lotus Supreme Yang Technique” in his hands, lost in thought.
This was a secret art.
With the foundational Fire Lotus cultivation method and a decade of martial arts comprehension, he had effortlessly reached a profound understanding.
A top-tier mindset fused with a secret art—the difference was as clear as day.
But……
Out of thirty lotus seeds, the fluctuating energy was indeed much stronger, yet there were still no signs of any rooting sprouts.
“I don’t believe it.”
Li Mo pulled out a bottle of ancient earth vein spirit milk, opened it up, and downed it in one gulp.
Instantly, he felt a swelling sensation in his dantian and meridians.
He activated the “Fire Lotus Supreme Yang Technique” with all his might, and each lotus seed seemed like a water pump, crazily sucking in the essence of the earth vein.
Fifteen minutes later.
To his surprise, a tiny spark of red color actually emerged from his dantian.
“Internal Breath!?”
Before Li Mo could feel the thrill of joy, in an instant…
The newly birthed internal breath vanished into thin air.
It was as if an invisible abyss had devoured it, leaving no trace behind.
He was utterly baffled.
Not only was he struggling to condense the internal breath, but now that it had appeared, it was gone again?
“This is absurd.”
“Can I not break through even with a secret art?”
“Am I destined to stagnate at the bl**d Qi Realm for all eternity?”
Li Mo opened his eyes, stopped his energetic practice, and wore a face full of existential doubt.
He forced himself to calm down and think.
The techniques generated from the Bronze Heaven Book Seal were undoubtedly fine.
So, the problem could only lie with him.
“Xuanpin Immortal Body?”
A glimmer of insight flashed, and Li Mo muttered to himself.
Speaking of which, even though he had possessed this immortal body for a long time, he knew little about its properties.
During his visit to the library, he had flipped through some strange legends, but never found a single useful piece of info.
But after thinking it over.
Besides the immortal body, he couldn’t find any other reason.
“Thirty lotus seeds, not easy to condense internal breath through a secret art, and…”
“My body can’t hold internal breath.”
Summarizing these two issues, Li Mo fell back into contemplation.
What to do?
After careful consideration, he believed there were two plausible methods that might work.
One, disperse the qi and start over—this time, instead of opening up all thirty main meridians, he would only open ten, like a regular person.
Two, wait for a higher-level silver Heaven Book Seal.
With the silver Heaven Book Seal, the secret art could become a divine skill.
Moreover.
He also had a gilded Heaven Book Seal that could even enhance the “Fire Lotus Supreme Yang Technique” by another tier, elevating this martial art to…
Above divine skills!
The thirty meridians’ bl**d qi circulation was powerful.
Once he entered the Internal Breath Realm, the possibilities were unimaginable.
“Since I’ve started, I might as well see it through.”
Li Mo hesitated for merely a split second before making his choice.
Wait!
He had Ying Bing and Little Princess Jiang; it was just a silver Heaven Book Seal, after all.
It was just around the corner.
Returning to Qiushui Pavilion.
The leaves in the courtyard had stopped moving, coated in white frost, unable to lift their heads.
Tonight, Qiushui Pavilion felt unusually cold, as if he had instantly traveled into the depths of winter, where water froze the moment it dripped.
Inside the abode of a certain Ice Chunk.
An astonishing coldness was emanating, along with bursts of misty glow.
“Tonight is the night.”
“Tomorrow she’ll be in the Internal Breath Realm, right?”
Li Mo sighed as he returned to the adjacent room.
The cold wasn’t that bad.
It was just that his bed was shoved against the wall, and the blankets had frozen solid.
Suddenly, he sensed something.
The Seed of the Realm sent out a ripple.
“Jiang Chulong is pretty punctual every day.”
Li Mo lay on the bed, resting his body while his spirit entered the Seed of the Realm.
…..
“Teacher!”
Jiang Chulong was adorably sitting at a stone table.
Seeing Li Mo’s figure arrive while holding ‘teaching materials,’ her little face suddenly lit up with careful joy.
Li Mo elegantly sat down at the table and casually prepared tea.
A friendly reminder: The upper right corner of the page has options for “Switching between Simplified and Traditional,” “Adjusting Font Size,” “Reading Background Color,” and other features.
He brewed the tea but didn’t drink it, looking up and clearing his throat:
“Ahem, last time I taught you, you understood everything, right?”
“Uh-huh!”
Jiang Chulong nodded like a chick pecking at grains.
She was super serious about her studies.
The Heavenly Master had high expectations for her; she was afraid of not meeting them and disappointing her teacher.
Even when she went out to pick up trash, she waved a stick around a couple of times to practice.
“Well then, regarding the confusion you had last lesson, let me explain it to you.”
The heavenly master opened the teaching materials.
This textbook was lovingly provided by the Ice Chunk and revised by Little Li.
There was only one copy in the whole world.
Jiang Chulong’s talent for swordsmanship was absolutely remarkable.
After these past few days of lectures, without her being taught any sword technique, she had perfected her self-created martial art to a high level.
And she was not far from a secret art.
What nonsense!
This time, she was like a sponge, absorbing all the sword knowledge that Li Mo brought from the Ice Chunk.
During the process, Li Mo even had to use his martial understanding to keep up with her thought process, trying to comprehend the sword knowledge taught by Ying Bing.
After Li Mo’s not-so-glorious lecture ended…
“How’s your body recovering?”
“Um… about the same.”
Jiang Chulong intertwined her fingers nervously.
“Then let’s strike while the iron is hot! The sooner you recover, the sooner you can start training.”
Li Mo pulled out various nourishing medicines.
Once Jiang Chulong’s body had fully recovered, a nice reward should come from it, right?
Just as he was thinking this.
“Teacher…”
“Yes?”
Li Mo looked up.
He noticed that Jiang Chulong across from him had her lips pressed together, hesitating like she wanted to say something, her fingers intertwined again, and her gray eyes sparkled with a hint of hope…
“What is it?”
“I… I want to… hear a story from the Wasteland.”
“…..”
Last time, after practicing, Li Mo had embellished a novel he read to motivate Little Princess Jiang by slightly altering the legend he shared with her.
I have to say.
The fact that it left such an impression on him meant it was highly motivational…
And also quite entertaining.
So Jiang Chulong’s glimmering little expectations were merely two words:
“Update!”
“Alright…..”
…….
The next day.
Shang Wu surprisingly got up bright and early.
In the little Qiushui Pavilion, her serious voice echoed:
“For years, we at Qunyu Peak have faced defeat after defeat, with morale dwindling and our peak’s reputation sinking. This situation must be completely turned around from now on.”
“Little Ice Girl, my precious student, we must showcase our talent, display our confidence, and achieve results in this competition!”
“Let’s forge the glory of Qunyu Peak; you all…..”
Shang Wu pumped her fist, as if she could already see Qunyu Peak rising back to the top under her leadership.
After a moment of silence.
Little Li glanced at the Ice Chunk, then raised his hand hesitantly:
“Master, just saying, is there any chance…”
“Ying Bing is the true inheritor of the sect?”
Shang Wu: “!”
Oh right.
How did she forget that?
Her almond eyes instantly lost their sparkle.
“Oh no, I bet a lot of money on this…..”
Li Mo: “….. There’s a betting pool in the sect?”
So not only were you concerned about the sect’s rewards, but you were also planning to pull some side hustles?
“That’s called excitement. I bet on Qunyu Peak to come in first.”
Shang Wu looked like she’d been hit by frost, glanced at her student, and shook her head:
“Not good, there’s definitely no hope.”
Her precious student was only at the bl**d Qi Realm.
She originally had high hopes for Ying Bing breaking through to the Internal Breath Realm.
Li Mo helplessly replied:
“It’s not just me; I can’t possibly drag down our ranking that much, can I?”
“No use; I bet on being first place. You couldn’t possibly outdo Little Ice Girl, right?”
Shang Wu shook her head again.
She was already calculating how to avoid paying up.
Thus, the pre-competition mobilization meeting at Qiushui Pavilion ended hastily.
By the time they reached the entrance, Old Ba was there with the carriage, right on schedule.
“The two true inheritors should head to the main peak now!”
