Murong Xiao's Past, Little Li's First Body-Tempering

His name was Murong Xiao, and he had grown up following his grandfather since childhood.

He had not always been called a genius.

Ever since he was small, he had scale-like markings on his body, and because of that, he was often bullied by other families' children.

Every time he came back from the private school covered in dust and dirt, his grandfather said he was too kind and cowardly, that he did not even know to fight back when he was beaten.

But only he himself knew.

When fists and feet rained down on him, what terrified him was not that he could not beat the others, but that a yearning voice would ring out from the bottom of his heart:

"Hungry."

So he did not dare fight back.

He was afraid that once he saw blood, he would never again be able to control that starving self of his.

As he grew older, that craving in his heart gradually faded, but he still kept the habit of eating vegetarian food.

Murong Xiao felt that he was already no different from a normal person.

Until today.

He reached the second level of Divine Blade Cave.

"You are a flood dragon, a great demon by birth, yet you actually refuse to eat blood food?"

"Stop erasing yourself."

"Return to your true self, and you will never again be bullied by the weak..."

The nature he had suppressed for so many years had never disappeared.

It was like a pile of dry straw that had grown higher and higher; once ignited, the flames could no longer be stopped.

Just as Murong Xiao's consciousness was on the verge of scattering, and scales had almost covered his cheeks.

The next second.

Someone pried open his mouth and stuffed something inside.

Round and plump.

Before he could taste what it was, it rolled down his throat.

The miraculous thing was.

His spiritual platform swiftly regained clarity.

Murong Xiao opened his eyes in a daze and saw a youth about his age standing in front of him, handsome in appearance, his smile bright as sunlight.

In his hand was a porcelain bottle, and the pill fragrance wafting from within refreshed the mind with just one sniff.

He recognized it. This was the youth who, like him, had been accepted as a true disciple at the Entrance Ceremony.

"You're finally all right."

Li Mo let out a breath of relief.

Holy crap, that was close.

Here on the second level, there were already few people to begin with, and he was the closest one to him.

If Murong Xiao had his mind seized by killing intent, the first target he attacked would probably be him.

"Thank you."

Murong Xiao thanked him in a low voice.

No matter how foolish he was, he knew that the youth before him had saved him.

What he had just swallowed should have been some kind of extremely valuable pill.

Otherwise, it would not have had such an effect.

"Many thanks for your help, Brother Li. I was careless for a moment and actually had my mind invaded by killing intent."

"I'm afraid it wasn't merely that, was it?"

"Mm?"

Murong Xiao's expression stiffened slightly, and he raised his head to look over.

He only felt that the other party's smiling eyes had already seen right through him.

"Actually, I once saw it in an ancient text. It said that those with half-demon bodies are usually affected by their bloodlines."

"The higher the grade of the bloodline, the deeper the influence. If it isn't controlled, their demonic nature will revive... Your bloodline should be something like a flood dragon..."

"Just now, I saw horns growing on your head..."

Li Mo had not finished speaking.

Murong Xiao's expression suddenly shifted several times.

In the end, his face sank, as if he had made some sort of decision.

Step by step, he slowly walked over.

Li Mo retreated two steps, somewhat on guard.

Surely this Murong Xiao hadn't gotten something wrong in his head and decided to kill him to silence him, right?

The thought had only just arisen.

Then—

Thud—

Murong Xiao simply and cleanly dropped to his knees.

He even knelt with quite some force, cracking the bluestone tiles beneath him.

"Please, I'm begging you, don't tell anyone else."

Li Mo: "..."

The Heavenly Mandate Divine Eye had judged his nature as kind and good, and it seemed he really was quite kind.

He even suspected that if he leaned to Murong Xiao's ear right now and said, "You don't want anyone else to know about your half-demon body, do you..."

After that, whatever demand he made, the other party might accept it.

"Doesn't Elder Han He also know about your half-demon body?"

Putting away the little evil thought in his heart, Li Mo was puzzled again.

Murong Xiao said bitterly:

"You also know that everyone in Purple Sun Prefecture calls me a Qilin child... This was actually a lie my grandfather spun."

After a round of explanation from Student Murong Xiao, Little Li finally understood the reason.

The Cry Dragon was a Calamity Beast.

Once it appeared, it would stir up foul winds and bloody rains.

Back then, Murong Xiao's father brought back a woman, who was Murong Xiao's mother.

Before long, the two were married.

However, it was not until she became pregnant.

That the old patriarch of the Murong Clan discovered his son was a ruthless man, even more impressive than Xu Xian.

A great many things happened in between.

But Murong Xiao was ultimately born safely.

The old patriarch knew there was no hiding a half-demon body, so he simply did not hide it, and only had people spread rumors through the city.

As time passed, everyone in Purple Sun Prefecture came to believe that Murong Xiao carried a trace of water Qilin bloodline.

The Qilin was an auspicious beast.

As time passed, Murong Xiao came to be called a Qilin child.

"..."

Li Mo was deeply shaken after hearing it.

Your whole family is full of ruthless people.

"Don't worry. I'll keep my mouth sealed like a bottle."

"But even if I don't say anything, you'll give yourself away sooner or later."

"Sigh..."

Murong Xiao was silent for a long while, then let out a long sigh.

How could he not know that?

Even if he passed this hurdle today, what about later?

As a martial artist, he couldn't spend his whole life being a harmless nice guy, could he?

At this moment, Murong Xiao's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Right, what pill did Brother Li give me just now?"

"Here, this is called a Clear Heart Pill."

Li Mo gave him the bottle.

"A Clear Heart Pill?"

"I've taken it before, but it shouldn't have had such an effect..."

Murong Xiao poured one out and examined it for a while, and his gaze dimmed again.

This was indeed a Clear Heart Pill, no mistake.

But it had six patterns!

A Six-Pattern Pill, even if it was the simplest healing pill, was something one could only stumble upon by luck and not seek out, and its preciousness far exceeded the pill itself.

No wonder its effect was so good...

Even though the Murong Clan held considerable power in Purple Sun Prefecture, such a thing could only be encountered by chance, not sought out.

Because even if an alchemist refined one, they usually would not put it up for trade.

"All right, I'm leaving first. I still have to go train."

At that moment, Li Mo waved a hand.

"Brother Li, your pills!"

"You keep them for now. A man's knees have gold beneath them—consider that grand bow of yours not wasted."

"Huh?"

"As for the matter of your bloodline, I'll go flip through that ancient text again. There might be a way."

"Huh??"

Murong Xiao held the porcelain bottle and knelt there in a daze.

He, too, had grown up with a golden spoon in his mouth, but this was the first time in his life he felt his imagination had been limited by poverty.

No way, big bro.

Six-Pattern Pills.

And not just one—an entire bottle!

He did not even know how much this was worth.

Because in the hands of someone who needed it, this was a priceless treasure.

Student Murong suddenly felt a little regretful.

Since he had already knelt, he should have knocked his head a couple more times.

Murong Xiao wanted to chase after him, at least to say a few words of thanks.

But after only taking a few steps, he stopped.

Because he realized that the place Li Mo was heading toward seemed to be somewhere he could no longer continue forward.

"Brother Li! Brother Li Mo!"

"That's the third level!"

Murong Xiao's voice echoed through the cave.

With the strength of his own fleshly body, he could only reach the middle section of the second level.

A Blood-Qi Realm cultivator going down to the third level of Divine Blade Cave?

Just thinking about it made one's hair stand on end!

"No, Brother Li just saved me. I absolutely can't let anything happen to him!"

"I can't go to the third level, so I can only go beg Master..."

Murong Xiao scrambled to his feet.

He ran swiftly toward the outside of Divine Blade Cave.

As for a certain Little Li, he knew absolutely nothing about this.

As he walked, he saw a message from the system:

[You have an investment return pending. Claim it?]

"No."

Li Mo stepped into the third level, his full attention focused.

Raising his eyes, he saw all kinds of weapons stuck here and there in the mountain walls.

These weapons had all once belonged to Inner Realm experts.

Looking at them was like seeing the pasts of those famed weapons' masters.

He saw them stabbing into others' bodies, held in their masters' hands as they fought enemies in life-and-death struggle.

And likewise—

The Weapon Intent they brought with them was more than several times stronger!

There might still be people on this level.

But at least, they were not within Li Mo's field of vision.

"This should be about right."

"If I keep going, even with the Extreme Weapon Slaughter Body, there'll be danger."

Li Mo found a piece of bluestone and sat down.

First, he took out a gourd and gulped down two mouthfuls.

Ice-Fire Wine.

When it entered his mouth, it was like a secluded spring in the mountains, refreshing, sweet, and cool. But once it entered his belly, it seemed to burst into flame, making every inch of his meridians, fascia, and even bones burn scorching hot.

"Let's begin!"

Li Mo breathed out a gust of wine fumes, chewed the Clear Heart Pill to pieces, and swallowed it.

He circulated his technique.

As the Extreme Weapon Slaughter Body began to run, that Weapon Slaughter Sharp Qi washed through his body.

Fine sweat seeped from Li Mo's forehead, and he gritted his teeth, holding on.

He felt his muscles were like stubborn stones being constantly polished, gradually revealing the jade glow within, becoming ever tougher and more resilient.

As for the strength of the Ice-Fire Wine, it acted as a lubricant within it all, pushing the tempering effect to an even higher level while also promoting the reformation of his muscles.

Sweat soaked his clothes, and white smoke rose from the top of his head.

Little Li experienced firsthand just how painful a thing horizontal training truly was.

But since he had already started training, he might as well continue.

After testing it a little, he began to include his meridians as part of the tempering as well.

Buzz—

Just as Li Mo was cultivating, the weapons embedded in the stone wall seemed to all sense something, and one after another, they began vibrating without rest.