Xiao Li's Face, Sword Armor

"This thing isn’t edible for me, what’s the point of keeping it!"

Little Li wore a calm expression as he chose to claim the reward, then placed the Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Divine Pill in the safest and most visible spot within his system space, ensuring he could find it immediately if needed.

Well, though he didn’t know when it might come in handy, it was still a divine pill after all!

Even Senior Brother Xiaobao had to refine all nine orifices to produce a divine pill, so a single one of these still held research value.

Who knows—maybe a genius like Little Li could glean insights into... something like the Great Dao of Nascent Soul?

The system, devoid of emotion, couldn’t comprehend its host’s thoughts. After some calculations, it also felt this reward was somewhat ill-timed:

[Considering the host’s significant investment this time, the system has calculated and decided to grant an additional benefit as a courtesy.]

"Golden Dragon and Jade Phoenix really doesn’t sound that great..."

Li Mo muttered to himself before noticing the system’s words again:

"What kind of benefit?"

[The remaining rewards can be exchanged for two free selections. The host may choose from the system’s reward list at will.]

"Free selections... what’s on the list?"

Li Mo relaxed, relieved that he wouldn’t have to worry about receiving useless rewards anymore.

The system displayed the reward list, which turned out to be overwhelmingly diverse—martial arts, pills, weapons, treasures... and even odd miscellaneous items. Just the martial arts section alone was dizzying.

[True Martial Seven-Sword Technique...]

[Tripartite Reunion Qi...]

[Yan Shuangying’s Gun-Fu...]

Seriously, with such a chaotic assortment, who wouldn’t be confused?

Li Mo simply had the system categorize and filter out the useless or low-value items.

A flurry of light later, the list became much clearer, resembling a mobile game’s in-app store.

"Since I’m still injured, I’ll check if there’s anything that can heal me first."

Li Mo browsed the pills section.

[Nine-Revival Soul Pill]

[Mortal World’s Flame Pill]

[Primordial Divine Pill]

...

"Any of these could restore me to full health, even better than before, but..."

After picking through them for a while, Li Mo suddenly realized something:

"System, can the rewards be delivered straight into my mouth?"

[Host, no.]

Li Mo: "..."

Then what’s the point of picking?!

"My inner world requires the power of living beings to repair, and the system doesn’t seem to have rewards like that. Even if I took those heaven-defying pills, it wouldn’t count as ‘breaking and rebuilding.’"

"As long as Ice Block is here, I’ll just need time to recover..."

After comforting himself mentally, the system’s words faded away.

Suddenly, Li Mo felt the moonlight before him begin to shimmer. A sensation from the depths of his soul made him feel like a drifting mayfly, untethered and aimless.

Yet, where he floated wasn’t without direction.

It was the familiar feeling of entering a dream.

Perhaps because their lunar energies were once connected, he had often visited Ying Bing’s dreams before.

But now, the lunar essence had been returned to Ice Block through Ying Huang’s hands.

Wait... this doesn’t feel like a dream...

This seemed to be fragments of the past, buried deep within the lunar essence. As the two lunar forces converged, it created an illusion of overlapping time and space.

These memories might have long faded even from Ying Bing’s own mind.

After she became the Phoenix Heaven Empress, embodying Ying Huang’s legacy, these memories were likely discarded entirely.

"If we have a daughter someday, will she be just like Little Ice Block?"

Li Mo grinned foolishly.

In the flickering light was a younger Ying Bing, newly arrived at the Li household. She stood lost on the street, her delicate face not yet fully grown but already hinting at her future breathtaking beauty.

But right now, she was like a startled fawn—she only remembered where her home was, but now, she had no home.

Ice Block had always been terrible with directions.

The world suddenly felt vast, rain began to fall, and the streets emptied.

She wandered aimlessly for a long time, the scenery growing increasingly unfamiliar. She had rarely ventured outside before...

"Finally found you! Let’s go home."

Suddenly, a small hand grasped hers. She turned in confusion and saw a mud-smeared little rascal holding a fish basket in one hand and her in the other.

"You went fishing in the river?! And you dragged Little Bing along?!"

"Do you even know what ‘worrying everyone’ means?!"

"Dear, it’s ‘being considerate of others.’"

That night, back at home, Old Li spanked Little Li relentlessly, his howls echoing through the house.

Little Ice Block tried to explain that she had run off on her own and it wasn’t Li Mo’s fault, but the little rascal, sprawled over the bench, still found the energy to wink and grin at her between his exaggerated yelps.

"I did something like this when I was little?" Li Mo chuckled.

He could still recall this incident.

The further the memories went, the more unfamiliar they became.

Due to his frail health, he was nearly rejected during the sect’s initiation ceremony, while Ying Bing, as always, shone brilliantly—a young phoenix’s first cry, stunning the world.

A young man’s pride made him avoid her, and under the whispers of others, he became painfully aware of the gap between them, unable to treat her as he once had.

His deliberate distance drove them further apart.

Until, eventually, he died during a sect trial.

"Wait, where did this come from?"

Li Mo leaned back, stunned for a long moment.

None of this had actually happened!

Yet it all felt so real...

"In Ice Block’s memory, I never awakened my past-life awareness."

"Which means... this is a future where I didn’t exist..."

The lunar essence contained traces of the Dao of Time—Li Mo had known this for a while.

Was this a future projected by the lunar essence, or... something that had truly happened?

Through the flickering light, he reached out to wipe away the glistening tear trailing down her cheek, but his hand passed through nothing.

The memory didn’t wait for him, just as time itself rushed forward without pause.

She stood alone, no kin or old friends left by her side, only mountains of bones and rivers of blood behind her... until she became the Mistress of the Moon Palace, standing at the pinnacle of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Some called her an empress, others a witch.

The latter opinion was more common.

After the remnants of Great Yu and Great Shang clashed near the Moon Palace, disturbing its tranquility, she cleaved a chasm with a single swordstroke, swallowing them all. From then on, the name Ying Bing became taboo.

"Moon Palace..." Li Mo murmured, leaning back slightly.

Without Little Li around, Ice Block turned into Dark Ice Block?

He always joked about having saved the world in a past life—now it seemed... it wasn’t just a joke?

Well, he had saved the Heavenly Phoenix Domain once, that much was true.

Now, the weight of saving the world seemed to have fallen on his shoulders again!

"If I kicked the bucket, I can’t even imagine how far Ice Block would spiral into darkness..."