Brother Li Yue

The newcomer stood nearly seven feet tall, with a formidable build and handsome features.

His eyes shone like cold stars, his twin brows looked as though they had been brushed with ink. His broad chest carried the imposing air of a man a thousand foes could not withstand.

He wore crimson armor, a longsword at his waist. Though hidden within its sheath, it still radiated a fierce, oppressive aura. The hilt bore a golden dragon carving, making it look incomparably majestic.

This man was Li Mansion's eldest son, Li Mu's elder brother, Li Yue.

"Brother Yue, weren't you leading troops at Black Dragon Mountain to hunt down bandits? How did you come back so quickly?"

Lin Qingzhu knew that the two Li brothers had been at odds for years, so she hurriedly spoke up to break the awkward silence.

"Mere bandits are hardly worth mentioning. I have already cleared out Black Dragon Mountain. From now on, the northern trade route of Qinglan City will be smooth and unimpeded."

When Li Yue looked at Lin Qingzhu, his expression softened considerably. He had always been deeply protective of this younger sister who had grown up with him.

"Brother Yue is still as amazing as ever. Oh, Qingzhu has a sword move I haven't been able to figure out lately. Brother Yue, please hurry and give me some guidance."

Lin Qingzhu knew that Li Yue's sudden appearance meant he had come to trouble his younger brother. She quickly walked over to Li Yue, seized his arm, and tried to stop the conflict between them.

"Wait. Second Brother, while I was away suppressing bandits, I heard that you were struck by lightning while drinking with courtesans at Twin Phoenix Tower, then lay unconscious for days. Now all of Qinglan City is saying that the second young master of Li Mansion had spent too long chasing flowers and chasing grass, until even Heaven could no longer stand the sight of it. Hmph. You've truly made yourself a laughingstock."

Li Yue looked coldly at his younger brother, his tone thick with dissatisfaction.

"I think it was Heaven looking after me. I was indeed lax in my cultivation before, but I will not be again. There is no need to trouble yourself worrying about that, Brother. One day, I will catch up to you—and even surpass you. When that time comes, I hope Brother will not be stingy with his guidance."

Li Mu did not yield an inch. He immediately stepped forward, met Li Yue's gaze, and replied with cupped fists.

In the memories Li Mu had inherited, this elder brother had always looked down on him. The previous Li Mu had constantly avoided direct conflict, dodging whenever he could. But the current Li Mu was no longer the same man. Not only had he lived two lives, but he also possessed the cheat-like Simulation System. Naturally, he met needle with needle, awl with awl.

"Good, good, good! That bolt of lightning has knocked some backbone into you. But I do not agree to your joining Qinglan Academy. No matter how much of a wastrel you are, you are still a member of the Li family. If you go to the academy, you will represent the Li family's honor. I will not allow you to go and make a fool of yourself."

Li Yue likewise stared straight into his younger brother's eyes and calmly rejected his request to join the academy.

"I'm enrolling in the academy myself. What does it have to do with you?"

Li Mu frowned. He had not expected the very first step after transmigrating to be met with such restraint.

"Brother Mu, Qinglan Academy was founded by your father, and Brother Yue is also its vice dean. If he wants to keep you from entering, it really is just a matter of one sentence."

Seeing Li Mu's strange expression, Lin Qingzhu hurriedly leaned close to his ear and quietly explained the connections involved.

Li Mu was dumbfounded. He had not expected this elder brother of his to truly hold the power of life and death over whether he could take the first step on the path of immortality.

"I will not make things difficult for you. If you can master the third move of our Li family's Three Basic Sword Techniques, I will agree to let you join the academy. Otherwise, do not go and disgrace our Li family."

Li Yue continued to look coldly at his younger brother as he stated his condition.

"Ah, Brother Yue, the Li family's inherited sword style is vast and profound. Although the first three moves of the basic sword techniques do not emphasize the intricacies of techniques, mastering them completely tests one's fundamentals immensely. It took me half a year to fully grasp them."

Though Lin Qingzhu was not a member of the Li family, her father was Li Yubai's true brother through life and death. Thus, she too had practiced the Li Family Sword Style since childhood.

"Three days. Give me three days, and I will master the first three moves of the Three Basic Sword Techniques. By then, I hope Big Brother will no longer stop me from joining the academy."

Just as Lin Qingzhu was still pleading for him, Li Mu raised three fingers and declared decisively.

"Fine. Three days from now, at the Training Ground. I will wait for you there. I hope your strength is greater than your mouth."

A trace of surprise flashed through Li Yue's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. After setting the assessment date with Li Mu, he turned and left.

His younger brother seemed somewhat different. The thought flashed through Li Yue's mind and was gone.

"Brother Mu, don't act on impulse! How could you possibly learn the Three Basic Sword Techniques in three days? I'll go plead with Brother Yue. Maybe he'll agree to let you enter the academy."

Lin Qingzhu naturally assumed that Li Mu had acted on a moment of impulse and hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Zhu'er, it's all right. Believe me. I'm no longer the man I used to be. Three days from now, I will personally seize the right to enter the academy and leave my elder brother completely speechless."

Faced with an impossible task, Li Mu was brimming with confidence. A man should act with spirit and abandon. If he did not even have this much backbone, what immortality was he cultivating for?

"Brother Mu, I know you're angry with Brother Yue, but Brother Yue isn't actually the way you think he is."

Lin Qingzhu looked at the high-spirited Li Mu. After hesitating, she still spoke.

"Do you remember when you were five? You fought General Wang's eldest son and accidentally broke one of his legs. Your father was furious and sentenced you to fifty strokes of the rod. If those had truly landed, even if you didn't die, you would have been severely injured. Yet you never actually received the beating. You always thought it was because your father had shown mercy, but in truth, Brother Yue took the punishment in your place. He was only twelve that year."

Lin Qingzhu finally spoke of that incident from back then, a story the previous Li Mu had never known.

"You two were actually very close when you were children. But because of your mother, Uncle Li had always harbored resistance toward you. Over time, you began to give up on yourself. That is why Brother Yue gets angry with you. He cannot bear to see you willingly sink into weakness."

Li Mu fell silent. His attitude toward Li Yue had been entirely shaped by the memories he inherited from the previous Li Mu. But now, it seemed many matters had been viewed too subjectively. In the future, he would need to make his own judgments about people and matters.

"Zhu'er, don't worry. I'm not acting on impulse. I truly have confidence that I can master the Li family's Three Basic Sword Techniques within three days. Then I'll prove to Big Brother that I have shed my mortal frame and exchanged my bones."

Seeing how confident Li Mu was, Lin Qingzhu stopped trying to persuade him. After chatting idly for a few more moments, she left the courtyard.

Carefully closing the door, Li Mu sat upright on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.

The reason he had dared to proclaim that he would master the Li family's Three Sword Techniques within three days was still the Simulation System in his mind.

Just as the two had confronted each other, that familiar electronic notification sounded once again.

Simulation System activated. Talent System initialization commencing. Initialization complete. Please select whether to view the first layer of the Talent page.

Then came the familiar options of "Yes" and "No."

To this day, Li Mu did not understand the conditions for activating the Simulation System. He only knew that after each function was unlocked, he could summon its interface at will. The Shop System had been like that, and now the brand-new Talent System was as well.

His consciousness entered the system selection interface, and Li Mu chose "Yes."

A massive scroll slowly unfurled before Li Mu. Golden flames continuously burned along its edges as icons gradually emerged one after another. Then came a second scroll, and a third. Yet clearly, just like the Shop System, all the scrolls except the first remained locked and dark gray.

At the very top of the first scroll was carved a single grand character: Immortal. Six layers of icons were arranged upon the scroll, three in each layer. At present, only the first layer was lit, while the others clearly had yet to meet their unlocking requirements.

"So it's a Talent Tree—and three pages, too. Isn't this just the design from that game, Some World?"

Li Mu recognized at a glance that the Talent System's design came from a role-playing game he had played before. Thinking back to being struck by lightning and transmigrating while he had been sitting beside his computer tower, it seemed this Simulation System had been configured according to the games on his computer.

He focused his gaze on the glowing icons in the first layer.

Novice Immortal Body: Increases physical strength. Five Talent Points required to reach maximum level.

Novice Potential: Increases meridian width. Five Talent Points required to reach maximum level.

Novice Spirituality: Enhances comprehension. Five Talent Points required to reach maximum level.

More exciting than the contents displayed by these three icons was a line of small text beneath the scroll: Initial Talent Points: 5. Gain five Talent Points for every rank increased.

"Haha, this Talent System is far more reliable than the Shop System. It actually gave me initial Talent Points. With these talent bonuses, I should be able to quickly grasp those Three Sword Techniques."

Li Mu was full of confidence as he began considering how to distribute the five initial Talent Points.

The Immortal Body was physical enhancement, the foundation of cultivating immortality. Without a powerful body to support it, no matter how high one's cultivation was, one's actual combat ability would certainly be lacking. Not to mention that at the Tribulation Crossing Realm, tribulation lightning descended from the heavens. If one's Immortal Body foundation was insufficient, failure would be inevitable, ending in death and the dissipation of the Dao. Thus, Immortal Body cultivation would run through the entire system of immortal cultivation and was extremely important.

Potential referred to the width of one's meridians, which directly determined the upper limit of immortal cultivation. Some people exhausted their entire lives and worked with all their might, yet could not form a Nascent Soul. Others were born with extraordinary talent, leaping over the many thresholds of the path of immortality in a single bound. That was the difference in potential. The wider one's meridians, the more Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi they could contain, allowing them to form a core, form a Nascent Soul, expand the Immeasurable Sea, and then undergo Tribulation Transcendence and Ascension.

Lastly came Spirituality, which was comprehension. There were countless cultivation methods, moves, and ultimate arts under Heaven. Some people needed three to five years merely to enter the door of the same cultivation method, while others could reach Perfection in mere days. This was caused by the difference in comprehension. Yet Spirituality was too ethereal to measure by any single standard. Still, there was no denying that most who had carved out illustrious reputations in the world of immortal cultivation possessed exceptionally high comprehension.

Li Mu carefully studied the three talents available to him. He had not yet formed a core, so Potential could be set aside for the time being. His agreement with Li Yue concerned his mastery of the first three moves of the Li Family Sword Style, not a contest of life-and-death combat, so physical strength could also wait.

Having made up his mind, Li Mu did not hesitate as he allocated all five points to Novice Spirituality.

Talent learned successfully. Enhancement commencing.

As the system's electronic prompt sounded again, Li Mu felt himself enveloped by a golden light. Then his head buzzed, and everything returned to calm.

"Uh, that's it?" Li Mu's consciousness returned to reality as he examined his body, but he found no change whatsoever.

"Right. Comprehension isn't something you can see just by looking. I should first practice the Three Sword Techniques. Then I'll know how effective this talent enhancement is."

Li Mu gathered himself, greeted Chunxiang, who had been waiting in the side hall, and headed toward the Family Training Ground.