Gilded Celestial Tome Seal, Upgradable Divine Techniques, World Seed

"Three investment returns at once?"

Little Li was both surprised and thrilled.

The rewards harvested from the ice block this time seemed not only high in quality but also satisfying in quantity.

For a moment, Li Mo was almost overwhelmed.

Truly, the ice block’s jade-like legs were the best to cling to.

Tomorrow, he’d definitely treat the ice block to something nice as a reward.

"Let’s take a look one by one."

Li Mo turned his gaze to the first reward.

[Gilded Heavenly Scripture Seal]: "Can elevate the grade of any martial art below or equal to a Divine Art."

"Even Divine Arts can be upgraded?"

Little Li gasped in astonishment, his lack of worldly knowledge showing.

To be honest, he had only heard of Divine Arts in passing.

After all, even the Qingyuan Sect, with its long history and a founding ancestor hailing from the Central Divine Continent, only possessed martial arts up to the level of Peerless Techniques.

Mastering a Mid-tier martial art was enough to be considered a powerhouse in Purple Sun Prefecture.

Mastering a High-tier martial art allowed one to establish their own sect.

Indeed.

At this point, as long as his cultivation kept up, Little Li could already be regarded as a notable expert in the prefecture just by mastering the "Fire Crane Thousand Feathers Sword Art."

As for Divine Arts...

Li Mo had only heard storytellers mention that a century ago, a powerhouse known as the Thousand Forms Martial Venerable from the Central Continent had fled to the Eastern Wasteland Domain with a Divine Art in hand.

At the time, countless experts from beyond the region descended, and local sects like the Qingyuan Sect didn’t even have the right to intervene.

Even the Great Yu’s Heaven-Seeking Guards personally stepped in.

In the end, no one knew who ended up with that Divine Art.

In his understanding, Divine Arts were the pinnacle of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Beyond Divine Arts?

That was completely beyond Li Mo’s imagination.

"Too bad I don’t even have a Divine Art yet. I’ll save this for later."

Li Mo’s heart raced, like a poor man who had suddenly stumbled upon a chest of gold bars.

The gold bars were great, but he couldn’t spend them right away.

The best martial art he currently possessed was only at the Peerless level.

Using the Gilded Heavenly Scripture Seal on a Peerless Technique would be a complete waste.

"There should be Heavenly Scripture Seals that can upgrade Peerless Techniques."

"Then I could first elevate a Peerless Technique to a Divine Art..."

"And besides, ‘just a Divine Art’—the ice block might drop one for me any day now."

Little Li had always been good at keeping his cool.

Having read so many novels in his past life, even if he hadn’t eaten pork, he’d seen pigs run.

Stay calm, stay calm.

Li Mo turned to the next reward.

[World Seed]: "A nascent small world in a state of chaos. It will grow and develop alongside its host’s strength, with the potential to evolve into a true Great World in the future!"

A Great World!

Those three words alone spoke volumes about its value.

This time, Li Mo was genuinely stunned.

Wait, wasn’t he just starting out in martial arts?

Now the future benchmark was leaning toward the realm of Pangu splitting heaven and earth?

The World Seed would grow stronger as he did.

And as the small world grew, it would in turn nourish him.

In the end, the world would become him.

Within his world, concepts like strength and weakness would no longer matter.

He would be the Heavenly Dao, the supreme ruler. A single thought from him could overturn the heavens, shift the stars.

"The vast Nine Heavens and Ten Earths must have started from a World Seed too."

"Did it expand naturally, or did it grow by attaching itself to someone?"

Li Mo’s thoughts wandered, drawing connections.

Well, that wasn’t something he could explore for now.

In his perception, his small world wasn’t even a sprout yet.

"Claim."

The moment the thought crossed Li Mo’s mind, the surroundings rippled like water.

In a daze, he saw countless colors surging, rearranging, transforming—a surreal kaleidoscope.

Then, in an instant, all the colors vanished, leaving only boundless emptiness.

When he came to, he found himself standing in a pure white space.

Endless white mist stretched in all directions.

The area already cleared was no larger than a basketball court, even smaller than the Autumn Water Pavilion.

But this space belonged entirely to him.

"Sword, come!"

With a solemn expression, Li Mo casually beckoned.

A divine sword materialized out of nowhere, its aura sharp and imposing.

Clad in white, he looked every bit the peerless swordsman.

Suddenly, he shouted:

"Sword Opens the Heavenly Gate!"

In an instant, boundless sword energy surged forth, sweeping through heaven and earth.

Well...

If one ignored the fact that this "heaven and earth" was only a few dozen feet across, the move was still pretty cool.

"Being a swordsman is awesome."

"If only I could pull this off in the real world."

Little Li sighed.

His sword talent hadn’t improved—this was just his performative side acting up, with the world playing along.

"This place still feels too empty."

"Let’s decorate it a bit."

Li Mo felt inspired to spruce up his private space.

......

Ten minutes later.

Little Li had exhausted all the imagery he’d absorbed from novels to transform the place.

The barren ground now boasted pavilions and towers, all crystalline and translucent—understated yet brimming with sophistication.

Among the structures were an ancient well, a chessboard, an alchemy furnace... and a host of other extraordinary items.

Li Mo even considered adding exotic flowers and rare herbs.

Unfortunately...

"Seems I can’t create life yet."

He realized that even as the ruler of this world, there were limits to his power.

Creating life was one of them.

"I can bring living beings from outside in, though."

"But they can’t be stronger than me."

"And things created here can’t be taken out yet."

After some experimentation, Li Mo gained a better understanding of his small world.

......

Late at night.

Withdrawing his consciousness from the World Seed, Li Mo glanced at the moon outside.

He estimated he’d spent about two hours inside, and roughly the same amount of time had passed in the real world.

For now, the flow of time in both worlds seemed synchronized.

"Oh right, there’s one more reward."

He’d been so engrossed in playing around that he nearly forgot the last one.

[Faceless Glazed Mask]: "Shape-shifting, capable of blocking all detection methods."

The description was concise.

Li Mo summoned it directly.

It was a glazed metal mask.

When he put it on and looked in the mirror, his entire demeanor had changed.

With a change of clothes, even he wouldn’t recognize the person behind the mask.

For instance, everyone has a certain aura.

But with the mask, he could project an air of profound mystery if he wished.

Not only could the mask alter his aura, but its appearance could shift too.

Swish—

In the next moment, the Faceless Glazed Mask transformed into a dragon-headed visage.

Swish—

The dragon head morphed into a chubby, comical pig face.

"My voice can change too..."

Li Mo spoke, and his voice deepened into a resonant baritone.

Satisfied, he withdrew his focus and began his cultivation.

......

By the afternoon.

Just as Li Mo was about to finish his meal and prepare to unblock his eleventh meridian, a guest arrived at the Autumn Water Pavilion.

It was Elder Hanhe, an old acquaintance.

"Li Mo and Ying Bing, why didn’t you two go to the Divine Blade Peak today?"

The old man frowned as soon as he entered, directing his question at Shang Wu.

"Why should we go to the Divine Blade Peak?"

Shang Wu was comfortably lounging on a rocking chair, basking in the sun, and absentmindedly picking at her ear.

"They placed in the top three of the sect’s trial!"

Elder Hanhe was clearly exasperated.

Why is it said that every inner disciple can go to the Divine Edge Cave to select a weapon?

Because those who enter the inner sect usually achieve decent results in the sect’s trial.

As a reward, they are granted one opportunity to enter the Divine Edge Cave and choose a weapon.

Of course, as top-three finishers, their rewards go beyond just that. However, the sect has been busy lately, and some rewards haven’t been distributed yet.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I do recall something like that."

Shang Wu tilted her head slightly, finally remembering.

Elder Hanhe had no patience to argue further with her. Seeing that both Ying Bing and Li Mo were present, he said,

"Come with me to the Divine Blade Peak."

"Elder Hanhe, I have a request."

Ying Bing suddenly spoke up.

"Go ahead."

The elder paused mid-turn.

Notifying disciples was usually beneath the duties of a peak elder like him.

The only reason he had come personally was because Ying Bing was the sect’s treasured prodigy.

Naturally, her opinion mattered.

Ying Bing said, "I’d like to postpone our visit to the Divine Edge Cave for a few days."

"Why?"

Ying Bing glanced at Li Mo and replied softly, "I feel my swordsmanship can still improve. By then, I’ll be able to obtain a better weapon."

"Hmm... That’s not entirely unreasonable."

Elder Hanhe raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by her progress in swordsmanship, then nodded.

"That’s acceptable, but no more than three days."

"After three days, the Divine Blade Peak will enter its annual season of raging underground flames, and the Divine Edge Cave will be inaccessible."

"I understand."

Three days.

Ying Bing was confident she could elevate Li Mo’s swordsmanship to a higher level.

By then, gaining the recognition of a famed weapon shouldn’t be difficult.