Free Web NovelInside the Plum Blossom Pavilion.
The young man and woman, who had known each other for many years, were in the same room for the first time.
The curtains of the large bed were lowered by a delicate hand, concealing the young woman's figure.
"She's become an Ice Cube again."
Li Mo withdrew his gaze, hugging his quilt and lying on the soft couch.
No matter how he looked at it, she didn't seem like someone who could be changed by a few words.
Forget it, who knows what she's thinking...
"Speaking of which, does investment necessarily have to be an item?"
Li Mo pondered, looking at the reward he had just received.
"Xuanpin Immortal Body: 'Leaping beyond the Nine Heavens, not within the Ten Lands, an immortal body that has been refined by the rolling Mortal World into a mortal form, ultimately returning to its original purity, without self-form, without sentient being-form, encompassing all forms, possessing various profound mysteries.'"
"Do you wish to claim it?"
The reward was simple, just four words.
But at this very incongruous phrase, Li Mo's eyebrows slightly rose.
The style was completely off, wasn't it? This was clearly a martial Dao world.
Was it just an adjective to make the System seem high-end and grand?
Anyway.
It sounded pretty good.
With a thought, he claimed the reward.
Instantly.
A thunderclap, audible only to him, exploded in his ears.
His mind felt as if dark clouds had been torn apart by the thunder, plunging into Chaos with a boom, he couldn't even feel himself.
Buzz—
Buzz—
Within the Chaos, it was like a furious storm, the initial creation of heaven and earth, filled with countless colors and sounds.
Li Mo couldn't see clearly, nor could he hear clearly.
At that moment, he felt both as tiny as dust and as vast as something not to be looked directly at.
It was as if he no longer existed, yet was omnipresent.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Li Mo lost consciousness.
Not far away.
On the bed, the silk curtains were gradually covered by frost, as if they would shatter with a touch.
The young woman hugged her slender legs, her lips pale, her eyelashes tinged with snow.
Even the breath she exhaled carried an ancient, unmelting chill.
She herself seemed to be placed in an extremely cold ice prison.
But she had long been accustomed to it; there was no pain, no panicked expression, only tranquility.
Ying Bing knew that this torment would end when she mastered Taiyin Power.
Before that, she first needed to open her Meridians.
"Pure Yang Pill."
"Xue Jing is considered the foremost Alchemist in the Ziyang Prefecture region."
Ying Bing picked up the Medicinal Pill and swallowed it.
A slight warmth rose from her Dantian, slowly flowing into her Meridians.
Completing the Meridian opening before the sect's entrance ceremony wouldn't be a problem!
Suddenly, she remembered something.
Ying Bing lifted the frozen curtains and looked towards the soft couch.
She saw the young man lying there peacefully, even snoring softly.
Sleeping quite soundly, wasn't he?
"He... is he alright?"
......
The next morning.
Li Mo opened his eyes on the soft couch, his gaze as deep as if it held countless stars, calm and clear yet like a mountain spring.
From the outside, he still looked like himself.
But even just standing there, he gave people a sense of blending with nature.
"Name: Li Mo"
"Age: 16"
"Bone Structure: Xuanpin Immortal Body."
"Realm: None."
"Destiny: ??"
"Evaluation: Possessing an Immortal Body, destiny is Chaos, future is unknown."
"Recent Encounter: Relationship with childhood friend has improved, finally stronger than strangers."
Li Mo had thought his destiny would turn purple or even gold.
Who knew it would directly become two large question marks.
"There must be changes."
"But where the differences lie, I can't quite tell for a while."
He thought for a moment, then stopped dwelling on it.
The investment feedback given by the System so far, at least those [N O V E L I G H T] obtained from the Ice Cube, had never disappointed him.
"I haven't even started Cultivating martial Dao yet, so I can only experience it slowly."
Li Mo picked up the kettle to make tea, only to find the water inside had frozen into ice.
The root of all this was a certain Ice Cube on the bed. frёeωebɳovel.com
An astonishing chill emanated, yet he didn't feel cold in the slightest.
Currently, it seemed.
At least he had become immune to heat and cold.
"At least I don't have to worry about being eliminated from the entrance ceremony."
"At the very least, I should be able to enter the inner sect, right?"
Li Mo's mood brightened.
With nothing to do and unable to Cultivate.
He decided to go out and try his Luck, to see if he could find a suitable investment target.
.........
..........
Two days passed in a flash.
Since receiving the Pure Yang Pill, Ying Bing had remained in her room.
She didn't eat or drink.
Li Mo wasn't worried, though.
Possessing Heaven-Defying Luck, she wouldn't starve herself to death.
It was probably due to her Physique; it was best not to interfere.
So, after two days, the chill in the Plum Blossom Pavilion persisted, and the furnishings inside were likely ruined; Li Mo paid five hundred taels of silver to settle the matter.
These two days, Li Mo also encountered various investment targets.
Most were quite ordinary, with very few being blue.
Recent encounters were also bizarre.
For example, a student whose academy grades were not ideal and wanted to find a rich woman.
For example, someone with too much money who found life boring and wanted to experience poverty.
There was even a burly man who yearned to wear women's clothes...
Li Mo couldn't help with these encounters even if he wanted to invest.
Of course, normal people were still the majority.
Even mosquito legs are meat.
Because of this, he also received many feedbacks, among which very few were beneficial for martial arts practice; most were strange things.
Paintings, toys, ingredients, fine wine, and even a maiden's belly band...
This kind of wide-net approach yielded truly mediocre returns.
On the morning of the third day.
"Quality is more important than quantity."
"In the future, unless it's a special circumstance, I won't actively invest in white or gray."
Li Mo pushed the door open and entered the room.
Upon entering, he saw a beautiful back, combing her smooth dark hair in front of a mirror.
"Are you better?"
"Better than before."
Ying Bing's porcelain-like face seemed to have gained a slight blush.
She had opened her Meridians.
Successfully opening her Meridians meant she was no longer in a state of blocked Meridians, and it also meant her hidden talent had resurfaced.
This was inseparable from that bottle of Pure Yang Pill.
"Come quickly and have breakfast," Li Mo smiled.
Ying Bing picked up her bowl and softly said, "Thank you."
"What?"
Li Mo's movements paused slightly, his eyes wide.
The Ice Cube, actually said thank you?
He was shocked.
"I didn't hear clearly, what did you just say?"
Li Mo wasn't quite sure.
Ying Bing, however, remained silent and began drinking her plain porridge.
When the sky was fully bright, the two finished breakfast and went downstairs together.
Today was the day Qingyuan Sect opened its gates.
The carriage could no longer move after traveling several tens of li, because there were simply too many people, all crowded on the official road.
They could only get out and walk; the scene made Li Mo's DNA twitch a little.
The surroundings were full of young people, giving him a sense of déjà vu from his student days, going to the playground for morning exercises.
After walking for about another half an incense stick's time.
Ahead, they could see the mountain gate of Qingyuan Sect, and many Qingyuan Sect Disciples dressed in various colored robes, and in front of the Disciples, seven Stewards sat at large desks.
"Clang—"
"Clang—"
"Clang—"
Three morning bells rang.
"Bone structure is the first hurdle in martial arts practice. If one's bone structure is too poor, progress in martial Dao will be difficult, and even putting in immense effort will be futile."
"Those with inferior bone structure, do not waste your time; you may leave on your own."
A short, stout old man with a ruddy face, his voice like thunder, rolled across the entire area.
No one left.
Everyone who came here either was already confident or wouldn't give up until they saw the coffin. They had already reached the mountain gate.
Since they were already here.
Seeing this, the short, stout old man waved his hand and said:
"Then line up, and come forward one by one for bone appraisal." free𝑤ebnovel.com
As his voice fell, countless young men and women, under the management of the Qingyuan Sect Disciples, consciously lined up for the assessment.
The Stewards seemed to have practiced a special method; with a pat on the shoulder of the examinee, they could roughly discern their bone structure.
"Wu Ping, C-minus, you may pass."
"He Haikuo, D-middle."
"Qian Ningning, D-minus..."
Bone structure was divided into four Ranks by Qingyuan Sect: A, B, C, and D. Anyone of Rank C or above was qualified to enter the mountain gate.
Many factors determine Aptitude, and bone structure is only one of them. Having a C-Rank bone structure indicates possessing the entry ticket to martial Dao.
Even so, only one or two out of ten were C-Rank or above.
Just the first test would probably filter out eighty percent of the people.
Above A Rank?
That could only be uniformly classified as A-plus.
"It's not necessarily accurate, but most people with green destiny or higher successfully passed."
Li Mo was in line, his Tianming Divine Eye always active.
"Little girl, come up."
The old woman in front beckoned.
Ying Bing stepped out of the crowd, drawing countless gazes.
Simply because she was too beautiful...
Standing there, cool and serene, the surroundings seemed to fall silent, making her impossible to ignore.
Li Mo rubbed his chin.
According to his experience reading novels, if nothing unexpected happened, there were two possibilities.
Either she was an absolute Prodigy, or an absolute Trash.
Possessing great Luck, she certainly wouldn't be ordinary...
"Hiss..."
As expected.
The old woman's brows instantly furrowed.
She became much more serious, sinking her Qi into her Dantian, her robes moving without wind, clearly intending to use her internal energy to examine the other party's bone structure.
The commotion here made everyone unable to resist looking over.
Even the other Stewards became curious.
Even for examining A-Rank bone structure, it wouldn't be like this.
The next moment, the old woman Steward's voice spread throughout the entire area:
"Ying Bing, A-plus!"
Her tone was complex, astonished yet excited.
The crowd erupted in an uproar.
An A-plus Aptitude was rare even in the history of Qingyuan Sect.
Murong Xiao, who was just now known as the Qilin Child of Ziyang Prefecture, was barely A-minus.
And even so, Murong Xiao was still rated as the top Genius in the next ten years.
Li Mo: "..."
It seemed to be the former.
Watched by various gazes, Ying Bing became the center of the crowd.
The young woman herself remained neither joyful nor sorrowful.
Because she knew this was nothing.
The reason she was A-plus was because Qingyuan Sect's highest Rank was only A-plus.
"Unmoved by honor or disgrace, this Heart-Nature is truly rare. I look forward to your performance on the Ascension Stone Steps."
The short, stout Elder couldn't help but praise her.
Bone appraisal was merely to weed out those unqualified to practice martial arts.
The true comprehensive test of Aptitude, however, was the second stage.
The Ascension Stone Steps!
Bone structure was not the entirety of Aptitude, but with just an A-plus bone structure, this young girl's results in the second stage couldn't possibly be bad.
The entrance ceremony had just begun.
The top performer had probably already appeared.
Ying Bing nodded and stood among the group of successful candidates.
The self-satisfaction and pride on the faces of the young men and women who had passed the first stage silently vanished.
They were still thinking about how to enter the inner sect.
Ying Bing, at the very least, would be a true Disciple.
