Chapter 446
**Clang—**
The short sword suddenly unsheathed, revealing a hidden intent to kill—pure, chilling, and even... dazzling. In an instant, it seized the target's consciousness.
An inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more perilous.
The short sword could not slash; it could only stab. This one strike simplified complexity to its essence, epitomizing danger to the utmost.
“Ha...”
Li Mo squinted, feeling the goosebumps on his neck.
He placed himself in the shoes of his opponent.
Despite the opponent's formidable physique and soaring spirit, he still sensed a profound threat!
With a single blow, he could crush the other.
Yet at the same time, he would be gravely injured by that eerie, chilling short sword.
If he were to use a sword...
“The intent left behind by the Tianren Divine Sword (Tianren Shenjian) is no trivial matter.”
Li Mo exhaled deeply.
“This sword of mine may seem simple, but it distills complexity into simplicity. It requires years of relentless practice—drawing the sword and stabbing three thousand times each day, each time with the determination to charge forward, even if it means shattering like jade.”
“Thus, even for those with exceptional talent in swordsmanship, mastering this sword demands painstaking effort.”
“Unfortunately for you, your luck runs out here.”
The sword intent that had been honed over the second day spoke indifferently.
“Only by mastering this sword can you learn the next sword technique.”
“But even those whose talent is on par with mine will need at least eight years to achieve a small success with this sword.”
Eight years.
By then, Li Mo would no longer be on the Qianlong Ranking (Qianlong Bang).
The Qianlong Conference was about to begin; he couldn't possibly rely solely on this one sword technique.
Fortunately...
What he feared the least was the slow grind of time.
【Thirty years of martial insights successfully infused.】
【In the first year, you began to grasp the essence of 'better to shatter like jade than to remain whole like tiles,' attempting to stab with your sword. You executed over ten thousand strikes, but only once did you barely capture the spirit of the Wuchang Tie (Wuchang Tie, a concept of impermanence).】
【In the tenth year, you continued your relentless practice of drawing and stabbing. Now, you can unleash nine thousand strikes, with one hundred of them resonating with the spirit of the Wuchang Tie.】
【In the twentieth year...】
【In the thirtieth year...】
【Congratulations, host, you have achieved a small success with the Wuchang Tie.】
【Congratulations, host, as you have mastered another powerful sword technique, your proficiency in the Dugu Nine Swords (Dugu Jiu Jian) has also risen, making significant progress.】
Boom—
Countless realizations surged in Li Mo's mind, as if he had experienced thousands of strikes.
In the end, millions of swords converged into one.
He opened his eyes.
A thread of chilling, pure sword intent flickered, dimming and brightening.
“...”
The intent left in the divine weapon was, after all, not alive.
It paused for a moment, as if experiencing a system crash.
It stared at Li Mo, silent for a long time.
A sword technique that required decades of refinement, the simplified Wuchang Tie, had achieved...
Small success in an instant!
The Tianren Divine Sword trembled slightly.
“Next, please. Thank you.”
Li Mo politely cupped his hands in salute to the next challenger, then smiled at the Tianren Divine Sword, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
Underestimating his swordsmanship talent? Foolish.
What does it mean to reveal one's true self before the sword!
Ahem, for now, it’s still revealing oneself before the sword; when the Qianlong Conference begins, it will be revealing oneself before the people!
.........
Noon.
Three hundred years of martial insights had been consumed.
Having achieved small successes in multiple sword techniques, Li Mo descended from the upper floor, exhaling deeply, and headed to the kitchen to stir-fry a few dishes to relax.
After receiving several profound sword technique legacies, his spirit felt somewhat swollen.
It seemed that even martial insights had their limits when used so extensively.
“Will the remaining one thousand seven hundred years be enough to learn all the sword intent legacies within the Tianren Divine Sword?”
Li Mo carried the dishes to the main hall, feeling a bit uncertain.
It seemed he had learned a lot.
In reality, compared to the vast sword intent legacies contained within the divine sword, he had only scratched the surface.
Little Li had never considered that even one thousand seven hundred years of martial insights could feel insufficient at times.
The more sword techniques he mastered, the stronger the power he could wield when controlling the Tianren Divine Sword.
Lost in thought, he found Murong Xiao and Xiao Qin waiting at the table for the meal to begin.
What level of chef at Biyun Tower could compare to Brother Li?
“That guy's dream last night was really strange, and ominous,” Qin Yuzhi said, her face dark as she took several sips of tea, seemingly still recovering from it.
“What dream?” Li Mo asked, curious.
Sister Qin was at the seventh realm; she must have encountered countless bizarre sights in her dreams. What kind of dream could leave her so shaken?
“That person’s dream was filled with Tianzun-brand instant noodles. Just the thought of it makes me want to vomit.”
As she spoke, Qin Yuzhi began to feel nauseous again, casting a resentful glance at Li Mo.
In the Southern Wilderness, she had been promoting instant noodles in the dreams of the common folk, and now that she was in the imperial capital, the noodles were still haunting her!
“What’s worse is that he ate the noodles with a disgusted expression, as if he were about to become an immortal.”
“And in the end, he actually died, forcing me to interrupt my dream journey.”
“He died?”
Li Mo was taken aback and inquired about the man's appearance.
“He was skinny, but when he ate the instant noodles, he looked as strong as an ox.”
“Lu Zhuang?”
Li Mo froze.
He had originally planned to follow the clues from Lu Zhuang to figure out how the Tianzun instant noodles were infused with divine power, but unexpectedly...
The man was already dead.
“Sister Qin, do you know where he died?”
---
**Chapter 497: You Still Say You're Not One of the Demon Sect!**
In the early morning, the eastern sky brightened with a faint fish-belly white, and a dreamlike butterfly flew out from Biyun Tower.
A bronze carriage quietly rolled out of Biyun Tower, gliding through the morning dew, trailing behind the dream butterfly. After traversing half an hour through the vast imperial capital, it moved from the bustling areas to the chaotic backstreets.
The streets were dirty and disorderly, with intersecting alleys creating a dizzying maze.
The difference from the muddy corners of Ziyang Prefecture was simply that this place was larger.
“The imperial capital has such places too,” Li Mo thought to himself. If Bing Tuozi came here, the chances of getting lost would be a thousand to one.
“Every city has its shadowy corners,” Xiao Qin remarked, though she had never been to the imperial capital, she seemed accustomed to such scenes.
“Amitabha,” Murong Xiao softly chanted a Buddhist phrase as he looked at a grass mat in the corner of the street.
Wrapped in the mat was a corpse, and it was unclear whether the person had been barefoot before or if their shoes had been stolen after death, leaving only a pair of dark blue feet exposed.
Li Mo felt that strange sensation rising again within him.
Clearly, it was the same city, where brothels adorned with porcelain and gold paved roads existed, yet on the other side, there were frozen bones on the streets.
Before long, the dream butterfly dissipated.
Qin Yuzhi's voice came as the dream butterfly faded:
“This is the place.”
Ahead stood a single-story house, its door slightly ajar.
Peering through the crack, Li Mo frowned and pushed the door open.
A musty, damp odor assaulted his senses as he entered. Aside from a bed, the place was bare.
A corpse lay on the bed, face up.
It was none other than the emaciated Lu Zhuang.
In the realm of divine perception, he would have been a notable martial artist even outside the imperial capital, yet now he lay in a tragic state, with several rats gnawing at his body.
“It was indeed right for me to come with Brother Li; this Tianzun sauce is truly harmful,” Murong Xiao said, his face showing pity as he sighed.
On the way here, he had already realized that this person had brought this upon himself.
“Cough, it’s the divine power powder!” Li Mo exhaled deeply, emphasizing.
Had he known it would turn out this way, he wouldn’t have given the instant noodle recipe to the Demon Sect, preferring to forgo those powers of sentient beings.
He just hadn’t anticipated that the Blood Refining Hall would be so reckless.
Of course, even without the Tianzun-brand instant noodles, the divine power powder would still spread in other ways.
“He probably died around midnight yesterday,” Xiao Qin deduced.
“His body is hollow, his vitality exhausted, completely devoured.”
Huang Donglai was saying this when—
Squeak!
A rat suddenly glared fiercely, having eaten the flesh from Lu Zhuang's body, its size now several times larger than an ordinary rat, it suddenly lunged at Huang Donglai.
But in mid-air, it was caught by Huang Donglai.
“This divine power powder seems indigestible by the human body; even the rats benefit from it,” he noted.
“Now that the person is dead, what should we do?” Murong Xiao asked.
“Let me think,” Li Mo said, activating his mind.
“First, Lu Zhuang didn’t simply purchase the divine power powder; he had a portion with him yesterday to sell to others. He might have just been a runner for the Demon Sect.”
“So, the person who provided him with the divine power powder, if they can’t contact him for a long time, will definitely come looking for him.”
“We can find a place to wait.”
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