Peerless Heavenly Prodigy System, Loser's Punishment

Next-door side room.

Little Li stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

The good news: his childhood sweetheart had the bearing of a Great Emperor.

The bad news: his relationship with her was not exactly good, and he had spent every day leaping up and down in front of her.

Once she entered Clear Abyss Sect, she would definitely shine brilliantly.

In Li Mo's mind, he could not help picturing that classic scene where the protagonist tested their talent, and the talent-testing stone exploded with a boom.

Then the minor villains who had bullied the protagonist would start trembling and line up to get slapped in the face.

Just then.

[Investment successful. Investment: one bowl of old mountain ginseng chicken soup.]

[Calculating reward...]

[Congratulations, host. Reward: one Heavenly Spirit Vitality-Replenishing Pill]

[Heavenly Spirit Vitality-Replenishing Pill]: "A pill formed with six patterns, the finest of its kind, able to replenish innate deficiencies."

An opened jade box appeared out of thin air on the table.

Inside lay a crystalline pill wreathed in purple mist, divine light contained within and not yet released.

Li Mo opened his mouth, his expression stiffening slightly, and even his breathing stopped for several seconds.

He had heard of this thing before.

He had been born prematurely.

His mother had suffered a fright while pregnant, and he had been born early before the full ten months.

As a result, he had been weak and sickly since childhood, even learning to walk a year later than other children. People inside and outside Li Mansion, neighbors and townsfolk alike, had gossiped about him plenty, all saying the Li family was a tiger father with a dog son.

His father said nothing aloud, but in his heart he was anxious too, searching everywhere for methods.

Among them was looking for this so-called Innate Vitality-Replenishing Pill.

Unfortunately, this thing had a market but no price.

Even if they exhausted half of the Li family's wealth, they could probably only buy a two-pattern one, and they might not even be able to buy that.

Many great clans with deep foundations longed for this pill until their eyes ached, willing to pay a premium to buy it and nurture their younger generation. After all, before practicing martial arts, no one would complain about having a bit more innate vitality.

Thus Li Mo had always sought it but never obtained it.

He had never expected that he would actually obtain it in this way.

And it was even a six-pattern one!

No matter how ignorant Li Mo was, he knew just how precious this was.

For every additional pattern on a pill, its value could multiply several times over, and the higher it went, the more it increased by geometric multiples. Likewise, it was far harder for such pills to appear.

Six patterns—at least, he had never heard of one before. Its degree of preciousness was beyond imagination.

"Ah-woo~"

"Doesn't seem to have much flavor."

Li Mo smacked his lips.

No matter how precious something was, only once it entered his stomach did it become his own.

The pill entered his mouth. Before he could taste anything, it instantly melted, sliding down his throat and into his belly.

The next moment.

He felt warm currents appear out of thin air throughout his limbs and bones, transforming into swimming fish that roamed along his bones, meridians, and internal organs.

It was like rain after a long drought, like dead wood returning to spring.

"Whew."

Li Mo let out a long breath, then opened his eyes again, his gaze burning with light.

His body seemed to have cast off a thousand-pound burden. The world before his eyes seemed to have had a thin veil lifted away. With each breath, even the air carried an added fragrance, and within his body, there seemed to be inexhaustible strength.

It was not a very fitting description.

Li Mo felt as if he were a decrepit old man who had instantly grown several decades younger.

If he went to practice martial arts again, even if he could not be called uncarved jade, at the very least he would be a stone without cracks.

"A Six-Pattern Pill truly lives up to its name."

"And this was merely exchanged for a bowl of chicken soup."

Li Mo clicked his tongue inwardly.

This investment rebate was way too exaggerated.

Of course, the greatest reason was probably still the investment target.

Ying Bing.

In her impression, Ying Bing was exactly as her name suggested.

Her personality could basically be summed up in three words: "Ice Block."

Mending their relationship would definitely be a long road with a heavy burden, but he still had to grind for rebates in the end.

A red destiny, damn it—miss this village, and he wouldn't find this shop again in eight lifetimes.

"Housekeeper Xu!"

"What can I do for you, young master?"

The housekeeper hurried in at once.

Li Mo lowered his voice and asked, "Is there anything Ying Bing especially likes to eat?"

The housekeeper froze for a moment, then thought it over. "Most likely not. Miss Bing usually has no particular appetite for food."

"Does she have anything else she likes?"

"This... I don't know either."

The housekeeper pulled a bitter face. What bad scheme was the young master bottling up again today?

In the past, he had always ordered the servants to deliberately embarrass Miss Bing. When had he ever cared about her preferences?

"It's fine. Sorry to trouble you."

As Li Mo recalled it, he couldn't help feeling ashamed.

The housekeeper was just about to leave, but when he reached the door, he suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh right, young master. The master instructed that once we reach the city at the foot of Clear Abyss Sect, we are to take Miss Bing to see a physician."

"He also gave two hundred taels of silver for the consultation fee. What do you think..."

"Go. If the money isn't enough, take it from my private stash."

Li Mo waved his hand readily.

If he could exchange mere money for rewards, then it was simply too good a deal.

"We still have to travel tomorrow morning. Rest early."

"Yes..."

The housekeeper scratched his head and nodded in assent.

What was going on with the young master? Recently, it was as though he had changed his nature. Not only was he polite to him, even his attitude toward Miss Bing had gone from cloudy to clear skies.

Perhaps after leaving home, seeing the world, he had grown up?

The next day.

The first ray of morning light spilled down, and the frost condensed inside the side room shimmered faintly.

The young girl curled up on the bed with her knees in her arms, like a spirit sleeping amid ice and snow.

Ying Bing was dreaming.

She dreamed of her life in her previous existence.

She had entered Clear Abyss Mountain, and at the very beginning, she was found to have severed meridians. Half a year later, she obtained a fortuitous encounter and was finally able to open them.

After that, she revealed monstrous talent and left her peers far behind.

At eighteen, the Clear Abyss Sect Master was already no match for her.

She walked out of the Eastern Wasteland Domain and beheld a broader world.

The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths were too vast.

Hidden sect inheritances, ancient-land monsters, dynasty prodigies, and even old monsters reincarnated to cultivate anew—heroes sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain.

It was a dazzling era.

And yet, she was still the most radiant existence amid that surging great tide!

First on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, first on the Human Ranking, first on the Profound Ranking, first on the Earth Ranking, first on the Heavenly Ranking...

In the end, she ranked among one of the Nine Heavens, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Martial Emperor of the Yu Dynasty in Central Province, titled Phoenix Heaven.

The Nine Heavens.

It meant the nine most powerful people in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Of course, above the Nine Heavens, there was still a legendary supreme realm.

Ying Bing slowly opened her eyes.

Everything was reminding her that she had truly, genuinely returned to the past.

She had also encountered something that had never appeared in her previous life.

"It's still here?"

Before her eyes was a stretch of strange text.

These words were visible only to her, as though as long as she did not make a choice, they would exist forever.

System...

In her past life and this one, she had never seen such a thing.

"The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths are boundlessly vast. I am far from all-knowing."

"Perhaps this is a power I have never come into contact with?"

Ying Bing lowered her eyes for a moment, and with a thought, made her choice.

[Ding-dong. Binding successful.]

[Host: Ying Bing.]

[This system is the Peerless Heavenly Prodigy System, dedicated to helping the host achieve the path of invincibility.]

Ying Bing's expression remained calm and indifferent, showing no particular reaction.

The path of invincibility?

She had already walked it once.

Her road of rising had itself been a path of invincibility. Among the brilliant heroes who shone like stars, no one had been more dazzling than her.

In her previous life, even Emperor Yu had only been able to stand evenly against her by relying on special methods.

At her peak, one would probably have had to flip through the history books to find her an opponent.

In this life, she would only be stronger!

[Clearance reward: an opportunity to become immortal.]

At that moment, another line of information surfaced from the system.

Ying Bing's breath stilled for an instant.

This was a phrase that existed only in legend!

It was said that in every era, a unique "immortal" would appear in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Standing above all living beings, they were truly transcendent, truly undying.

Yet ever since the Yu Dynasty had established its rule over the realm, becoming immortal had fallen into legend, as if that road had been utterly severed, adding an even deeper veil of mystery to it.

This was also what every generation of the Nine Heavens had pursued and fought over—the greatest hidden secret of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

With no gate to ascend to immortality, she had chosen, in high-spirited confidence, the most difficult path in the end—also a rarely trodden path on which only a scant few had ever succeeded from ancient times to now.

But in the end, she had still fallen one step short...

This so-called system actually had an opportunity to become immortal?

Ying Bing calmed herself and said, "What does 'challenge' mean?"

[This system will include all talented martial artists of the same generation within a certain region and rank them once every month.]

[After the ranking is announced, rewards will be issued according to the host's placement.]

[Current ranking range: Eastern Wasteland Domain.]

In Ying Bing's mind, many memories appeared in an instant.

They included not only the system's rules, but also all kinds of restrictions.

For instance, she was not allowed to use any outside factors to interfere with a challenge.

She was not allowed to reveal the system's existence and have the other party deliberately yield.

Things of that sort had basically blocked off every path of trickery.

However...

A ranking of heavenly prodigies?

In her previous life, she had been synonymous with the monstrous geniuses of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

And now, she possessed the memories of her past life. Walking the martial path again, she would only be stronger than before!

If what the system said was true, then there was no doubt it would greatly shorten the time she needed to return to her peak, and even allow her to step into that unknowable realm.

Even if it was boasting beyond measure, she would suffer no loss.

Loser's Punishment?

In her past life and this one, she had never experienced the taste of being pressed beneath someone else.

Central Divine Province had always been known for producing outstanding people in a land blessed by spiritual essence. Yet after she went there, the younger generation was cast under a shadow, to the point where nearly everyone's expression changed at the mention of "Bing."

There had even been old monsters who, in order to blunt her sharp edge, changed their faces, suppressed their cultivation realms, and pretended to be rising talents to challenge her.

Then they were forced to reveal their true forms.

And in the end, they still lost.

[Prompt: Activate punishment mechanism?]

[Once activated, the rewards will become even more generous, but after the rankings are announced, you must complete Loser's Punishment with the person at the top of the rankings.]

"Couldn't ask for more."

Ying Bing's choice was beyond doubt.

She was certain to be at the top of the rankings.

To her, this punishment was as good as nonexistent.

This was not arrogance.

For something she had already done before, why wouldn't she maximize the rewards?

[Loser's Punishment activated successfully!]

Ying Bing pushed the door open and stepped out.

"Morning."

Not far away, the young man happened to open his door as well.

Their eyes met. Li Mo grinned, revealing a smile as warm as a spring breeze.

Compared to yesterday, the gloom on his face seemed to have vanished, adding a few more touches of handsome, spirited grace.

Overnight, he seemed to have turned into a bright, sunny boy.

He seemed a little different from the him in her distant memories.