A Lotus Blooms from the Heart of Fire, Heaven and Man Unite

At the summit of Jade Cluster Peak.

"It seems Elder Qian never intended to make my bargain-bin master pay back her debts at all. He was warning her not to borrow anymore."

Li Mo looked at the furnishings on the peak, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

A crude wooden hut, plus a few broken walls and ruined remnants.

That was it.

If he had not known this was inside the Clear Abyss Sect, he would have thought this place had just been attacked by a Calamity Beast.

"Master, Master?"

Li Mo called twice. No one answered, so he pushed open the wooden door.

The whole room reeked of alcohol.

On the bed, a woman was wrapped in a blanket, sprawled out in every direction as she slept, with a faint glimmer of drool at the corner of her mouth.

"Master?"

"Mm..."

The woman grunted twice like a lazy pig, rolled over, and kept sleeping.

Li Mo had no other choice. He leaned close to her ear and said softly:

"Elder Qian is here to collect your debt..."

The effect was extraordinary.

Shang Wu shot upright, but when she saw Li Mo standing before her, her wary, drunken eyes turned puzzled again.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your disciple," Li Mo said helplessly.

"Disciple... Ohhh, right, I remember."

Shang Wu scratched her head, seeming to recall it, though her almond eyes were still dazed. "What are you looking for me for?"

She was awake, but not fully awake.

Li Mo fell silent for a moment, then said, "After taking me in, shouldn't you... teach me something?"

"That does seem to make sense."

One of Shang Wu's fragrant shoulders was exposed, yet she seemed completely unaware of how unseemly her current posture was.

She stood up, her palace dress hanging loose and revealing half her shoulder. She was actually a little taller than Li Mo.

"Yesterday, I was thinking I should teach you something."

"If I haven't had any wine, my memory's just no good."

She frowned, looking slightly troubled.

No sooner had she spoken than there came a "pop"—the sound of a wine stopper being opened.

Shang Wu's nose twitched slightly, and she immediately recited the details as if counting her own family treasures:

"Green Ant Brew? A specialty of Ten-Mile Slope Winery. It must be cellared for five years, and when the wine turns amber, only then is it considered fine. Ten-year brew is even rarer. Where did you get this?"

She took the wine jar from her unlucky disciple's hand and drank deeply, the liquor running down her chest and tracing out astonishing curves.

Your memory isn't bad at all.

Li Mo simply could not bear to look.

Shang Wu wiped her mouth and said:

"I remember now. Yesterday, I made a bet with Old Ghost Han He."

"He actually dared to say this old lady doesn't know how to teach disciples. Could I tolerate that?"

Li Mo: "..."

What he said did not seem to be wrong.

No matter whom one took as a master, they probably would not receive an account book.

"He merely took in a Murong Xiao, and he dared strut around flaunting his might in front of me? Pah!"

"So I made a bet with him."

"In the next Nine Peaks Martial Tournament, if the disciples of Jade Cluster Peak rank higher, he'll help me settle the accounts at the Internal Affairs Hall."

"And if you lose?"

"Lose? As my disciple, can't you have a little confidence?"

As she spoke, Shang Wu turned around, rummaged through a chest, and took out a booklet.

Brimming with confidence, she said:

"This is my unique mental cultivation method. Within today, I'll guide you through the basics."

Li Mo took the booklet and saw the name of this mental cultivation method clearly:

Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique

It sounded pretty impressive.

Besides, even the system had judged Shang Wu to be extremely powerful.

Mm. With that many debts, she must have owed them all on the strength of her own ability.

To be able to owe the Internal Affairs Hall so many things, while Elder Qian could only tactfully remind her not to borrow any more, already said plenty!

Li Mo's heart steadied a little, and he opened the booklet.

After he finished reading, he asked, "Master, there were a few parts just now that I didn't understand..."

"Snore... snore..."

"Master?"

Li Mo looked up.

He found that his carefree beauty of a master had somehow fallen asleep again, and the wine jar had somehow been drunk clean by her.

She was thoroughly drunk. Even pushing her would not wake her.

Sis, could you be a little more reliable?!

"..."

Just as Li Mo's head was full of black lines,

[Investment successful. Investment: one jar of ten-year Green Ant Brew.]

[Calculating reward...]

[Congratulations, host. Reward: ten years of martial insight!]

[Ten Years of Martial Insight]: "Can be used on any martial art, increasing the host's attainment in it by ten years."

Ten years of martial insight?

The level of attainment in a martial art was divided into six realms: entry, initial proficiency, minor achievement, major achievement, perfection, and transformation.

Even among the ordinary, unranked martial arts of the jianghu, those who could cultivate one to perfection were few and far between.

Let alone to the transformation realm.

For example, his old man, Li Dalong. He had practiced the Wind-Catching Palm Technique for nearly twenty years, yet had only barely reached major achievement.

Of course, this was also related to one's personal comprehension.

"I won't say my comprehension is heaven-defying, but at least I count as quick-witted."

Li Mo simply walked out of the room and sat down on the ground.

Thinking this, he poured all ten years of martial insight into the Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique.

[Ten years of martial insight successfully infused.]

[In the first year, you carefully pondered every word and sentence of the Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique and began experimenting. You successfully reached entry.]

[In the third year, you seemed to gain some insight and discovered the trick to this cultivation method, cultivating it to initial proficiency.]

[In the ninth year, your Fire Heart Lotus-Birth Technique grew increasingly practiced and reached the minor achievement realm.]

[In the tenth year, you seemed to touch upon a bottleneck, but in the end, your accumulation was insufficient.]

In an instant, countless images surged through Li Mo's mind. It was as if he had truly spent ten years painstakingly studying the Fire Heart Lotus-Planting Technique, and had already cultivated it to the minor achievement realm.

"Huff..."

"Ten years, minor achievement."

That feeling of suddenly comprehending the Dao gave Li Mo a wondrous sensation, as if he had flown into the clouds.

He could not wait and began his first round of cultivation.

Within his dantian, a wisp of heat rose...

And the surrounding grass and trees also began to move on their own, though there was no wind.

"For my first cultivation session, it'll count as success if I can complete the opening of my meridians."

Li Mo calmed his mind.

Inside the room, the drunken Shang Wu suddenly furrowed her brows.

She mumbled, "Unity of heaven and man?"

"Who had such damned good luck..."

At the same time, elsewhere.

Clear Abyss Main Peak, Practice Hall.

Several elders stood off to the side, each able to see the astonishment in the others' eyes.

What had left them so stunned was the young girl seated not far away, five points facing the heavens.

At this moment, these old men, whose combined ages added up to five hundred, were all beginning to doubt life.

They doubted whether the first halves of their lives had all been lived on a dog.

"She grasped the basics in a single day?"

Xue Jing murmured in disbelief.

"To be precise, it was one quarter of an hour."

As Qian Bufan corrected him, he was filled with endless emotion. Then he turned and asked, "Han He, you also practiced this Frost-Pointing Origin-Seeking Technique. How long did it take you back then?"

The corner of Han He's mouth twitched. Only after a long while did he answer, "One month."

Back then, Han He had still been very young, likewise a youth who had just entered the Clear Abyss Sect.

He still remembered that when he had spent a month grasping the technique's basics and successfully opening his meridians, his master had joyfully called him a genius.

Compared with the little girl before them...

As the elders spoke, the hot breath they exhaled instantly turned into ice crystals.

"Every generation has its talents. My Clear Abyss Sect is about to flourish."

Xue Jing sighed solemnly.

His perception was extremely keen.

When Ying Bing practiced, it was as though there was an endless supply of Taiyin Power inside her, flowing without cease.

Even though she was the master of this power, she would inevitably be injured by it.

Taking yang-natured medicinal ingredients or pills could offset a small portion of it.

It seemed the bottle of Pure Yang Pills he had sold to Li Mo a few days ago had helped this little girl open her meridians.

Hiss—

A soft sound rang out.

The cold wind seemed to form a vortex with Ying Bing at its center.

"She's opened one meridian!"

Han He's eyes went wide.

He could clearly sense that the first main meridian in Ying Bing's body was already completely unobstructed.

"At this rate, doesn't that mean all twelve meridians will be opened in just a few days?"

Those words were only half right.

Ying Bing could indeed open all twelve meridians within a few days.

But what she had to open was far more than twelve.

In the end, the elders of the Clear Abyss Sect were limited by their horizons.

The human body was like a secret treasury. The meridians that could serve as primary meridians numbered far more than twelve.

Of course, ordinary Blood-Qi Realm martial artists, even if they knew of their existence, could not make them run through completely. That required extremely practiced and minute control.

But to her, this was no difficult problem.

What Ying Bing wanted to do was open twenty-four meridians, forming a great circulation within her body.

When she entered the Inner Breath Realm after that, she would be stronger by far more than tenfold!

"With such a monster, we've truly drawn legs on a snake."

Xue Jing gave a bitter smile.

The sect master was busy with affairs and had specifically asked the three of them to teach Ying Bing, to answer her questions and clear her doubts, while also avoiding the mistakes that might arise from a single person teaching her due to habit.

Now, there was no need.

Watching Ying Bing practice, they felt as though their entire bodies were full of mistakes.

"I'll leave this place to you. I'm going to Jade Cluster Peak."

"What are you going there for? Inauspicious."

At the mention of those words, Elder Han He gave a cold snort.

"Are you truly at ease letting Shang Wu teach a disciple?" Xue Jing tugged at his Hundred-Patch Robe and said.

Qian Bufan took a deep breath. "Junior Brother Xue, hurry and go. If you're late, I'm afraid it'll be too late."