Chen Mo furrowed his brow, realizing there was a serious problem. He had expected to encounter the girl in red, a ghost, after being possessed by evil and entering Ghost Land at the gates of Li Manor.
But what was going on with Old Master Li, whom he'd seen on the street?
Had he entered Ghost Land back then?
Impossible!
There had been so many people around.
Qiulan, Ma Tie, and Xie Dong had all been there.
What they'd seen and heard on the street had to be real.
Hadn't Old Master Li died eighteen years ago? How could he have gotten up and walked around? And even stopped the sedan to speak?
Then what had Chen Mo seen back then?
The more he thought about it, the more horrifying it seemed.
Qiulan, standing beside him, saw sweat pouring down Chen Mo's forehead and asked, "Young Master, what's wrong?"
Chen Mo came back to himself. "Did you get this information directly from Xie Dong?"
Qiulan shook her head. "I didn't see Young Master Xie Dong. His maid gave it to me."
"Did the maid say where Xie Dong got the information?"
"She said Young Master Xie Dong asked his Third Uncle."
Chen Mo's heart sank.
So it was that old coroner, Xie Lianghong, again.
It seemed the old coroner was no ordinary man. He must know plenty about Mad Demon Disease and the Li family. Chen Mo would have to ask him in person later.
Besides, Third Master Xie's information was far too detailed, as if he'd had deep dealings with the Li family. Perhaps he was hiding something important. For instance, why had Old Master Li regretted killing Li Hongxi?
Chen Mo would have to ask him face-to-face.
With that in mind, Chen Mo put away the papers. "How many more days does Xie Dong have to stay under house arrest?"
"Seven," Qiulan replied without hesitation.
"Thanks for your hard work, Qiulan. Go to the kitchen and get something to eat." Seeing how hard she'd worked, Chen Mo sent her off to have a meal.
Though young, Qiulan was thoughtful, capable, and knew how to adapt. She was a fine maid, and a particularly reliable one.
After watching Qiulan leave, Chen Mo felt the urgency pressing on him grow stronger.
"Everyone in the Li family is stranger than the last. Now that they've set their sights on me, I can't afford to let my guard down. Granny Li might come after me again."
Chen Mo went over his plans:
First, he had to complete Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation as soon as possible and enter the Inner Family realm. Then he could master the Blood Fire Seal, an Internal Martial Technique that was highly effective against ghosts. Besides, Internal Martial Masters had vigorous, surging qi and blood, which could suppress ghosts.
Second, he had to find a way to meet Daoist Priest Li of Black Mountain Stronghold and learn some powerful methods for dealing with ghosts. That was the only way he'd feel safe.
Third, once Xie Dong's house arrest ended in seven days, he'd visit the poor Dongzi and ask his Third Uncle about the details of Li Manor.
Once he'd made up his mind, Chen Mo sprang into action.
While waiting for Liu Hao, he decided to practice with his saber.
By dusk, Liu Hao arrived.
He exchanged a few pleasantries with Chen Mo, then conveniently dropped a booklet before leaving.
Chen Mo: ...
You really are going all out with the act...
Chen Mo played along, waiting until Liu Hao had left before pretending to notice the booklet on the ground. "Huh? Who dropped this? How strange..."
He picked up the booklet and returned to the main room. When he opened it, he saw four bold characters on the cover:
Black Tiger True Qi!
The booklet contained more than two thousand characters, detailing the methods and techniques for Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation. In short, it involved emulating a tiger's formidable qi and blood, using medicinal supplements to build them up furiously until they reached a boiling fever pitch, then leaping past the limit to transform them into Black Tiger True Qi.
The process required long-term use of an auxiliary medicine called Tiger Qi Pill. It nourished the five viscera again and again, using the strength of the five viscera, solid as a slab of iron, to cultivate qi before attacking the Triple Burner. After a year or two of perseverance, one could finally complete Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation through sheer willpower.
Just seeing the words "a year or two" gave Chen Mo a headache.
Granny Li's claws were closing in. Even staying inside Chen Mansion was no longer safe.
How could he wait a year or two?
The next moment, Chen Mo brought up his panel.
[Current Original Understanding Essence: 0] [Current Recognition Count: 1] [Recognizable object detected. Identify?]
"Recognition Count is back?"
Chen Mo's thoughts stirred at once:
Identify!
Buzz!
Chen Mo's mind spun. When he came to, the text before his eyes had changed.
[Name: Black Tiger True Qi] [Type: Yang-type Internal Art] [Function: Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation] [Description: An internal art created by a novice Internal Martial Master. It focuses on squeezing the body's qi and blood to temper domineering true qi.] [Note: This internal art is extremely fierce. It forces the body's potential to achieve rapid results. Tiger Qi Pill works too slowly and has serious side effects. Use ten-year-old cold-natured fresh lotus root as the main ingredient, along with Snow Lotus, Bear Heart, Crocodile Bone, and Hundred-Year Ganoderma. Stew them together in equal weights and take the mixture. This will greatly reduce the side effects and rapidly temper Black Tiger True Qi.]
Chen Mo immediately fetched paper and brush and wrote on the rice paper: ten-year-old cold-natured fresh lotus root, Snow Lotus, Bear Heart, Crocodile Bone, Hundred-Year Ganoderma...
When he was done, Chen Mo set the wolf-hair brush on the mountain-shaped brush rest, then called Qiulan in and asked her to buy the ingredients according to the prescription.
At dusk, Qiulan returned carrying a cloth bag packed to the brim.
Chen Mo checked the herbs inside and, once he'd confirmed everything was in order, said, "Qiulan, I'm going into seclusion for the next few days. Don't let anyone come in and disturb me."
"Qiulan will remember."
The days passed one by one.
At Chen Mo's instruction, Qiulan kept outsiders from entering the East Courtyard.
Zhou Liang came by, hoping to discuss the details of setting up the medicine workshop and Library Tower with Chen Mo, but Qiulan turned him away.
Chen Wu even brought over the boots Zhang Ru had made, hoping to thank Chen Mo, but Qiulan stopped him too.
Even when Chen Yin Fu and Lin Yu Lan came to visit their precious son, Qiulan wouldn't let them in. Fortunately, the Chen Couple knew Chen Mo was in seclusion to practice martial arts, so they didn't disturb him, though they couldn't help feeling a little worried.
After all, there were plenty of people who went berserk while practicing martial arts these days.
Chen Mo paid none of this any mind. He stayed shut in his room, focused solely on cultivation... Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation!
He knew the solution his Golden Finger had given him was the fastest and best one. Other people needed a year or two of Tiger Qi Pills. But he certainly wouldn't.
On the morning of the eighth day.
Before sunrise, a pale fish-belly white glow appeared along the eastern horizon.
The heavy snowfall had just stopped, but the cold had grown even more piercing.
Chen Mo sat cross-legged in his room, circulating the Black Tiger True Qi technique.
He had no idea how many times he'd taken the medicinal decoction or how many times he'd tried to break through the threshold of the Inner Family realm. Every attempt had failed.
But Chen Mo never lost heart.
When he failed, he adjusted and tried again.
He knew the threshold was difficult to cross, and he knew he wasn't some martial arts prodigy. He'd simply been lucky enough to have the Golden Finger's help. He'd never set his hopes too high or thought himself exceptional.
After cultivating through the night, Chen Mo again felt the qi and blood inside him burning like fire.
As his cultivation reached its peak, he suddenly felt a stream of heat welling up at the base of his spine. It surged up along his vertebrae to the crown of his head, made a circuit through his mind, then poured down through his chest and settled in the Yellow Court of his lower dantian.
The stream of heat was tiny, but wondrous. It warmed every muscle and bone in his body, leaving him more refreshed and at ease than a round with his girlfriend in his previous life.
Having tasted success, Chen Mo circulated the formula again. The heat in his Yellow Court immediately rose along his spine to the top of his head, then descended once more into the Yellow Court.
As one rose, the other fell, forming a cycle.
Everywhere it passed, his muscles and bones loosened, and his fatigue vanished.
Whoosh!
Chen Mo suddenly opened his eyes, a brilliant gleam shooting from them.
"Blood Infusion to Qi Transformation—it worked! I, Chen Mo, have finally entered the Inner Family realm!"
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