Blade Mastery? Favorability Soars!

"Where am I?"

In his daze, Chen Mo only felt a warm current coursing through his body, nourishing his parched meridians and sea of qi.

As his consciousness gradually cleared, he slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself lying on a bed. Beside him sat a beautiful middle-aged woman, holding his wrist and continuously channeling true qi into him, her lovely eyes filled with worry.

"Mo'er, you're awake?"

the beautiful woman said softly.

"Mother?"

Chen Mo called out instinctively.

His gaze swept around the room, where two more figures stood beside the bed.

One was a finely dressed man with a goatee and an extraordinary bearing. He was probably his nominal father.

As for the young girl earnestly gnawing on Ginger Fermented Pig Trotters... he seemed to have seen that face before losing consciousness. It appeared she was the one who had brought him back.

Finally, I'm safe.

Only then did Chen Mo finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Mo'er, what exactly happened?"

"Miss Shen said she picked you up outside the Music Bureau... How did your body become so severely drained?"

He Yuzhi asked with concern.

"Hmph, living a life of debauchery and not even caring about your own life! At this rate, you'll die on a woman's belly sooner or later!"

Chen Zhuo looked utterly disappointed in him.

"No, Mo'er clearly fought someone..."

"Did you fight over a woman?"

"..."

Chen Mo secretly shook his head.

It seemed his nominal father's prejudice against him ran deep.

He cut off their conversation and said concisely, "Gu Manzhi is the Moon Radiance Sect's Holy Maiden, a sixth-rank Occultist who had been hiding in the Music Bureau all along. After I saw through her identity, I seriously injured her..."

"It should already be too late to catch her now."

The room immediately fell silent.

There was too much information in those words, and they were momentarily stunned.

Chen Zhuo's narrow eyes narrowed slightly. No matter how outrageous this unfilial son usually was, he would never joke about something like this.

Had the sects' hands already reached into Heaven Capital City?

"Wait..."

"You said she was a sixth-rank Occultist, and you seriously injured her?"

He Yuzhi was somewhat dazed, wondering whether she had heard wrong.

Martial artists had comparatively limited methods. Before entering the Heavenly Human Realm, they were generally suppressed by Occultists of the same realm.

Not to mention that the other party was sixth rank, while the two of them were separated by an entire major realm.

Chen Mo nodded and said lightly, "I caught her off guard, and my blade technique had reached mastery, so I managed to catch her unprepared."

Blade technique mastery?

He Yuzhi's eyes were full of disbelief.

She had personally taught Chen Mo the Blazing Flame Eight Slashes, so she naturally understood its intricacies.

If it were not missing a few traces of "Dao resonance," it would have been a powerful martial technique worthy of reaching Heaven Tier!

How could it be easy to cultivate it to mastery?

Countless prodigies had been trapped at that final step, unable to advance even an inch. Even she had only grasped its essence after reaching the Mortal Shedding Realm.

Yet Chen Mo was merely seventh-rank Mortal Realm...

"Mo'er's talent is indeed not bad, but it isn't this exaggerated."

"Could it be that his potential was stirred at the brink of life and death, allowing him to break through in the heat of battle? Mm, such things do happen from time to time... No wonder his body was so severely drained. That would explain it."

He Yuzhi pondered in silence.

"Someone."

At that moment, Chen Zhuo spoke.

The steward pushed open the door and entered. "Master."

Chen Zhuo ordered, "Have Cen Long immediately make a trip to the Music Bureau..."

Cen Long was the commander of the Chen Family guards, at the peak of the Fourth Rank Martial Path.

This matter was of great importance. Even if they could not catch anyone, they could still verify whether Chen Mo's words were true.

"Yes."

The steward quickly withdrew.

The room fell quiet.

Chen Mo leaned against the headboard, closing his eyes to rest.

Shen Zhixia silently gnawed on a pig trotter, her dark eyes curiously studying him.

Half an hour later.

A burly man entered the room. A savage scar ran across his left cheek, adding a few traces of Sha Qi to his appearance.

Chen Zhuo asked, "What did you find?"

Cen Long replied, "By the time this subordinate arrived, the place was already empty. There were traces of a fight in the room, along with lingering auras of Daoist arts and Blazing Flame Blade Aura."

As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Mo, a trace of surprise and curiosity flashing through his eyes.

"Besides that, this subordinate also found this."

Cen Long presented a wooden box.

Inside lay a bloody, mangled dead thing, nearly crushed into minced flesh. Its original form could no longer be discerned.

However, the crescent moon emblem imprinted on the box was enough to explain everything.

"So they really were remnants of the Moon Radiance Sect."

Chen Zhuo furrowed his brows tightly, looked at Chen Mo, and asked, "So you noticed that something was wrong with that woman long ago, which was why you deliberately approached her?"

"That's right."

"At first, I merely had some suspicions, but I wasn't certain of her identity. To avoid alerting the snake in the grass, I didn't tell anyone."

"I originally intended to see the act through to the end. Publicly tearing up the marriage contract today was meant to test her further, but I didn't expect her to try to harm me. Left with no choice, I could only fight back..."

"In the end, I was too impatient and turned cleverness into clumsiness. It'll be even harder to catch her now..."

Chen Mo sighed, looking annoyed.

There was truth and falsehood mixed into that explanation. Even if the two were suspicious, they could explain it away as him greedily seeking credit and rashly pressing forward.

Chen Zhuo was silent for a moment before snorting coldly. In a stern tone, he said, "Nonsense! You even dared to hide this from your mother and me. Your courage is growing by the day!"

"Consider yourself lucky this time. You met Zhixia, and that's the only reason you managed to keep your miserable life!"

"You are confined for one month. Stay obediently in the residence, and don't go anywhere!"

With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned to leave the room.

"Mo'er, don't overthink it. Your father is doing this for your own good."

"The situation is chaotic right now. Rest and recover properly at home, and take good care of your body. Leave the rest to us."

He Yuzhi comforted him gently.

She then took out Purple Heaven Powder, which could replenish qi and strengthen one's foundation. Only after watching Chen Mo take it did she leave with peace of mind.

When they reached the courtyard, Chen Zhuo's expression darkened. He said to Cen Long, "Notify the Heavenly Qilin Guard. Seal off the Music Bureau immediately. Dig three feet into the ground if necessary, and do not overlook a single clue!"

"Arrest everyone who has had dealings with Gu Manzhi. I'll interrogate them one by one myself!"

"Anyone who dares resist may be executed first and reported afterward!"

Whoever it was, daring to reach for the Chen Family had already completely touched his reverse scale!

"Yes."

Cen Long answered and departed.

He Yuzhi walked over and said, "This matter still needs to be reported to Highness. As for Mo'er... although he was somewhat reckless, he did eliminate a potential threat."

"I never noticed before that he had such courage and thoughtfulness..."

Chen Zhuo said coldly, "He merely took a dangerous gamble and got lucky! He only knows how to flaunt a common man's bravery; he'll never accomplish anything great!"

He Yuzhi rolled her eyes at him. "Enough. There's no one else here. The corners of your mouth are practically impossible to keep down, yet you're still putting on an act?"

Upon hearing that, Chen Zhuo instinctively touched his cheek.

Noticing He Yuzhi's teasing gaze, his expression became slightly awkward. He snorted and walked away with his hands behind his back.

He Yuzhi helplessly shook her head.

"Tch, what a man whose mouth says one thing and heart says another... A-Fu."

"This old servant is here."

"Prepare the carriage. We're entering the palace!"

Chen Mo had no objections to being confined.

Gu Manzhi definitely hated him to the bone now. Who knew when she might leap out and bite him? It was better to lie low at home for the time being.

Just then, his vision blurred, and several lines of notification text appeared:

[Gu Manzhi's favorability has increased.]

[Favorability has broken through the threshold. Progress lock removed.]

[Current progress: 45/100 (Regret not meeting sooner).]

Chen Mo: "¿"