Anle City

Greenface Tiger Gao Zhen, who was slaughtering his way through, looked at the man standing before him.

He wore a bamboo hat, a straw cloak, and held a sharp sword, his eyes indifferent.

This man was none other than the martial arts fanatic and divine doctor of the Pingshan Society, Li Mo.

In the past year, Li Mo had grown noticeably taller and had earned the title of "Martial Arts Fanatic Divine Doctor" in the mountain stronghold. Even standing before Gao Zhen, he no longer resembled the green and naive adolescent from before; a sense of pressure quietly emerged.

This internal strife within the Pingshan Society had left the two brothers betrayed by their followers, with only three battalion commanders willing to continue their allegiance. Li Mo was inextricably linked to this situation.

Shouts of killing echoed all around.

"Doctor Li, what benefits did that vixen give you? We brothers treated you well, why do you betray us?"

Li Mo's eyes remained cold.

Setting aside the fact that Jade Fox Wang Ying had treated him reasonably well, when he first joined the Pingshan Society, he had personally heard Gao Zhen threaten to flay him alive if the bear gall bladder failed to cure Greenface Tiger Gao Zhen.

After witnessing the methods the two brothers used against Water Jumper, Li Mo didn't believe they were joking.

Thus.

The benefits Li Mo had received since then were merely a matter of mutual exploitation.

Gao Zhen continued in a cold voice, "I admit your martial arts have improved significantly this past year, but you should know, you are no match for me."

Li Mo remained silent.

The sounds of battle raged, and many had already died in this gang infighting.

Gao Zhen knew that further persuasion of Li Mo was futile. He stopped wasting words, let out a cold snort, and assumed the stance of a fierce tiger emerging from its mountain lair. His body coiled like a tiger ready to pounce, poised to launch a fierce assault.

Li Mo knew the martial art Gao Zhen practiced was called the Tiger's Might Fist, emphasizing brute force and explosive power, excelling at inflicting massive damage in an instant. Each move seemed to carry the roar of a tiger's charge. He also wanted to use this opportunity to test his own progress over the past year.

Seeing the opponent's powerful advance, pressing towards him with an unstoppable force, Li Mo did his best to utilize the agile and nimble footwork of the Three-Way Swordplay, creating distance and maintaining a defensive posture, using subtle sword techniques to continuously attempt to inflict damage.

A brief moment passed.

Their figures crossed repeatedly, thirty-odd exchanges with no clear victor.

Gao Zhen was inwardly shocked to find Li Mo so difficult to deal with. The speed of this man's martial arts improvement was truly astonishing.

He once again lunged from above, his attack missing, kicking up dirt as he landed. The impact was truly formidable.

Seeing Li Mo about to create distance again, intending to continue exhausting his stamina by engaging him with his soft sword style, Gao Zhen let out a great roar. From his tiger-claw-like sleeve, he flung out a chain, wrapping it around the unsuspecting Li Mo. This was his signature skill, the Beast-Trapping Chain.

Li Mo unleashed the Willow Branch Sword Parry, responding with the principle of using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.

However, at that very moment, Gao Zhen's speed beneath his feet suddenly increased. He executed a move called "Fierce Tiger Pouncing on Sheep," pushing his explosive power to its limit, aiming for a decisive blow.

Li Mo's eyes beneath his bamboo hat narrowed.

After deflecting the chain attack with as much of the "four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds" principle as possible, he spun his body rapidly, shedding his straw cloak in a bid for a golden cicada's escape.

With a swish, the straw cloak was instantly reduced to shreds in Gao Zhen's "Fierce Tiger Pouncing on Sheep" attack.

Then, Gao Zhen, even at the cost of being grazed by Li Mo's sword across his face, unleashed a tiger claw. His right claw pierced through the tattered cloak and landed on Li Mo's left shoulder.

"Such immense strength."

Li Mo was sent flying ten feet, his left shoulder bleeding profusely and already dislocated.

His expression turned slightly grim, but as a doctor, he didn't panic due to his physical injury. He almost instantly reset his own dislocated bone.

Gao Zhen's chain swept towards him again, and Li Mo extended his sword to block.

However, in his haste, Li Mo felt two terrifying forces surge through the chain. This was one of Gao Zhen's signature skills, known as Dual Force.

Immediately, Li Mo's sword flew out of his hand, putting him in a critical situation.

"Doctor Li, we'll meet again in the next life!"

Seeing Li Mo roll, attempting to retrieve his sword, Gao Zhen sneered and roared as he charged.

Li Mo's expression remained indifferent, and he didn't fall into a panic. He suddenly executed a "Returning Horse Spear" maneuver, swinging the scabbard at his waist. A puff of white smoke erupted.

It wasn't just Gao Zhen who had his unique skills; Li Mo also possessed his own. He had prepared quite a few special poison vials and healing medicines this time.

Gao Zhen sidestepped, avoiding Li Mo's poisonous smoke.

After Li Mo retrieved his sword, he casually applied some hemostatic powder to himself and re-established distance, choosing to engage in hit-and-run tactics. His gaze remained indifferent and calm.

"You!"

Gao Zhen noticed that after Li Mo applied the hemostatic powder to himself with a reverse grip, the bleeding from the wound immediately stopped. His face turned ashen. This was precisely the high-grade hemostatic powder Li Mo had specially made from the century-old Blood Red Flower, its efficacy truly extraordinary.

Li Mo ignored Gao Zhen, who had fallen into a furious rage.

After a while.

Li Mo mentally calculated the time and gestured to the wound on his cheek.

Gao Zhen frowned slightly at this, casually touching the bloodstain on his cheek. It was merely a superficial wound, and he paid it no mind. Before engaging Li Mo, he had already sustained several injuries under the encirclement of Jade Fox and others. However, his Tiger's Might Fist originated from the military camps, possessing characteristics that tempered muscles and skin, and strengthened survival abilities. It was considered a second-rate martial art in the Jianghu, so this superficial wound was nothing.

But then he remembered the white smoke from Li Mo's scabbard, and his face instantly changed drastically. Immediately, he felt his body become weak and powerless.

Li Mo knew the poison had taken effect.

To avoid further complications, he immediately used the "Three Immortals Returning to the Cave" technique and charged forward.

Gao Zhen's movements were a beat slower. As the sword pierced through his chest, Li Mo quickly widened the distance between them, evading Gao Zhen's final counterattack and watching the other man fall with an unwilling expression.

"The poison I personally concocted is not something Blood Decay can compare to."

"Brother!"

Upon witnessing Li Mo kill his brother, Bloodface Lion Gao Po's eyes nearly burst from their sockets. However, Li Mo ignored the struggling lion and turned his gaze to Jade Fox Wang Ying.

"Speak, what exactly is that conspiracy and trap!"

He had already gone above and beyond.

Seeing that Li Mo had single-handedly killed Gao Zhen, Wang Ying was overjoyed.

"You absolutely must not go to the four great commanderies or the counties to test your spiritual root aptitude. You must go to the prefectural city, Anle City. The number of people detected with spiritual roots there each year far exceeds that of the commanderies and counties. Some say it's because the aristocratic disciples of Lingmu Sect are unwilling to widely recruit rogue disciples into the sect, so they deliberately conceal those with spiritual roots. Only in Anle City do they find it difficult to completely control!"

Li Mo was shocked.

If this matter were true, it would have been worth the long wait.

Otherwise, if he were unfortunately concealed by the aristocratic disciples testing spiritual roots and mistakenly believed to have none, wouldn't he regret it for life?

"Thank you!"

The resentment in Li Mo's heart vanished. He immediately left the Pingshan Society stronghold and headed out of Eighteen Mountains. It seemed that only by leaving this den of iniquity as soon as possible could he live up to his mother's earnest expectations and not bring her shame.

He no longer needed to endure humiliation.

During the Evening Moon period.

Li Mo took shelter in a rural household.

The family consisted of only a grandfather and grandson, living a poor life. Seeing that Li Mo was willing to pay One String of Coins for accommodation and meals for the next half month, the two happily agreed.

With a place to settle, Li Mo took out the spirit stones he had obtained and began to study them carefully.

These two spirit stones had different hues. As he gripped them tightly in his palm, besides the refreshing coolness that seeped into his bones, he also seemed to sense wisps of ethereal mist within the stones. This sensation was very similar to the mist in his ethereal dreams, only denser.

"Could this truly be the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

Li Mo studied them for a long time, repeatedly contemplating, and confirmed that he could indeed sense the special gas within the spirit stones.

"Could it be... I possess spiritual root aptitude?"

Cultivators, besides spiritual roots, also had aptitude.

Spiritual roots were the foundation of cultivation, while aptitude was the direction of cultivation.

But without a doubt, only those with spiritual roots could sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If what Li Mo was sensing now was truly the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, wouldn't it indirectly prove he possessed spiritual roots?

"Forget it, I'll wait until after Evening Moon and head to the prefectural city, Anle City, to get tested during the Dragon Boat Festival. Then everything will be clear."

The prefectural city of Muzhou, named Anle City, was located within Zhanghe Commandery.

The northern region of Zhanghe Commandery was relatively the most prosperous area in Muzhou.

According to Jade Fox Wang Ying, due to the conflict between aristocratic disciples and rogue disciples in Lingmu Sect, the aristocratic disciples often deliberately omitted some rogue disciples when testing spiritual root aptitude in various commanderies and counties, informing them they had no spiritual root aptitude to reduce the admission rate of rogue disciples. Therefore, it was best to go to the prefectural city, Anle City, to test spiritual root aptitude.

Li Mo naturally adopted an attitude of "better safe than sorry."

After all, this was something that concerned his destiny and future. If he could change it with just a word from the other party, he didn't want to miss this opportunity due to his own attitude and regret it for life.

After Evening Moon.

Li Mo bid farewell to the grandfather and grandson. It took him a full month of steady travel to finally arrive at Anle City in Zhanghe Commandery. His leg strength was now more than double what it was over a year ago.

As the prefectural city of Muzhou, the prosperity of Anle City truly opened Li Mo's eyes.

The brilliantly lit city walls were like daylight at night.

What surprised Li Mo the most were the giant birds soaring high in the sky, the massive flying boats tens of feet long, and the wooden oxen and flowing horses that moved on the roads by themselves.

Some used them to transport goods, while others used them as transportation.

Those giant birds and flying boats were actually private rental vehicles and public transportation between various commanderies.

Although Li Mo had heard of Anle City's prosperity before, he was still deeply shocked when he saw it with his own eyes.

In addition to these giant birds, flying boats, and wooden oxen and flowing horses.

The buildings within Anle City were also exceptionally magnificent. Seven or eight-story tall buildings were common, and there were even some thirty to forty-zhang tall towers, brilliantly lit and beautiful.

Li Mo was dazzled.

Before this, he hadn't even been to a county town or a commandery town, only living in Hua'an Town and the Eighteen Mountains region.

The sounds of various vendors hawking their wares along the streets were endless.

Storytellers, face-changing magic, stilt walking, fire-breathing acrobatics, collarbone spear balancing, shadow puppetry, tiger and leopard tamers, various itinerant performers' shows were endless. There were even some people in strange costumes strolling through the streets.

Li Mo lingered, reluctant to leave.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh and marvel, wishing his mother and Xiao Man could see such beautiful sights together.

That night, Li Mo fell asleep very late.

It was already early April. For the next month, he only needed to wait in Anle City for the Dragon Boat Festival to arrive before he could test his spiritual roots within the city.

The next day.

Li Mo went to a tavern to eat and inquired about the reason for Gan State's grand amnesty this time.

As the prefectural capital of Muzhou, Anle City naturally had more access to information.

"It's of course because the war with Lu Country has temporarily ended, and our Da Gan Kingdom achieved victory. The Emperor of the Qian Yuan Era, to mourn those who died in this war, has granted a general amnesty to the world."

Listening to the waiter's leisurely narration, Li Mo appeared lost in thought.

"Didn't the war end seven years ago?"

"That was just the end of the war between mortals. The cultivators of Gan State and Lu Country have been confronting and fighting each other over in Zhongshan Country."

Zhongshan Country was a small country sandwiched between the two great powers of Gan State and Lu Country.

"Oh, so that's how it is."

For the next period, Li Mo found a delivery job in Anle City, responsible for packing and delivering dishes from the Hundred Delicacies Hall to various parts of the city, earning some hard-earned money.

During this process.

Li Mo accumulated knowledge and experience while also gathering information about immortal mountains and sacred lands. He learned that Gan State had a total of twelve major sects.

Among them, Muzhou, despite being the most vast in area among the nine prefectures of Gan State, was also the most barren and had the sparsest population. Therefore, it only had one sect named Lingmu Sect, located on Qingming Mountain, hundreds of miles west of Anle City in Zhanghe Commandery.

"Lingmu Sect."

Li Mo recalled the two Inspectors from the Heaven's Mandate Bureau he had encountered in Hua'an Town. They were both from Lingmu Sect.

One was the Inspector who pursued the Meishan Six Killers, and the other was Lu Qi, who had slain the river god Malevolent Spirit.

If he didn't want to travel thousands or tens of thousands of miles to other prefectures and commanderies to find immortal mountains and sacred lands to join a sect, his only option was to try and join Lingmu Sect to seek his fortune.

As the prefectural capital of Muzhou.

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, cultivators would publicly test spiritual root aptitude in Anle City. However, the process of testing spiritual root aptitude was quite cumbersome. For ordinary people to be tested, they needed to be at least at the age of capping and also pay a testing fee of five diao of money.

This fee of five diao, while preventing overcrowding, also caused many people from impoverished families to miss out on their opportunities.

Who knows how many people, perhaps possessing spiritual roots, ultimately lived ordinary lives.