Immortal Body Tolerates No Inner Breath, Beyond Divine Power Departing for the Nine Peaks Martial Gathering

Half an hour later.

Li Mo stared at the freshly forged "Lotus Flame Extreme Yang Art" in his hands, lost in thought.

This was a supreme martial art.

With the foundation of the "Heart-Fire Lotus Method" and a decade's worth of martial insights, he had effortlessly mastered it to perfection.

The difference between an advanced cultivation technique and a supreme one was unmistakable.

And yet...

Despite the significantly stronger fluctuations from the thirty-six lotus seeds, none showed any signs of taking root or sprouting.

"I refuse to believe this."

Li Mo pulled out a vial of Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Vein Spirit Milk, uncorked it, and took a large gulp.

Instantly, his dantian and meridians swelled with overwhelming energy.

He channeled the "Lotus Flame Extreme Yang Art" at full force, each lotus seed acting like a pump, voraciously devouring the earth vein essence.

Fifteen minutes later.

A faint flicker of flame emerged in his dantian.

"Inner Breath?!"

Before Li Mo could rejoice—

In an instant.

The newly formed Inner Breath vanished without a trace.

As if swallowed by an unseen abyss, leaving no shadow behind.

He was utterly baffled.

Not only was it difficult to condense Inner Breath, but even when he succeeded, it disappeared?

"This makes no sense."

"Even a supreme art can't break through my bottleneck?"

"Am I doomed to remain stuck in the Qi-Blood Realm forever?"

Li Mo opened his eyes, ceasing his cultivation, his face a picture of existential doubt.

He forced himself to calm down and think.

The technique derived from the Ancient Bronze Heavenly Scripture Seal couldn’t be flawed.

The problem had to lie within himself.

"The Profound Yin Immortal Physique?"

A spark of realization flashed as Li Mo muttered to himself.

Truth be told, though he had possessed this immortal physique for a long time, he knew little about it.

During his visits to the library, he had scoured through countless records of myths and legends but found no mention of it.

Yet, after careful consideration, he could think of no other explanation.

"Thirty-six lotus seeds make it incredibly hard to condense Inner Breath with a supreme art, and..."

"My body cannot retain Inner Breath."

Having identified these two issues, Li Mo fell into deep contemplation once more.

What now?

After much deliberation, he concluded there were two plausible solutions:

First, abandon his current cultivation and start over—this time, only opening twelve main meridians like ordinary practitioners, instead of all thirty-six.

Second, wait for a higher-grade Silver Heavenly Scripture Seal.

With it, he could elevate the supreme art into a divine one.

Moreover, he still possessed a Gilded Heavenly Scripture Seal, which could push the "Lotus Flame Extreme Yang Art" even further—beyond divine, into...

A realm above divine!

The thirty-six-meridian Qi-Blood cycle was already formidable.

If he could break through to the Inner Breath Realm, the results would be unimaginable.

"Since I’ve already gone this far..."

"I might as well see it through."

After hesitating for exactly three and a third seconds, Li Mo made his choice.

Wait!

With the ice block (Ying Bing) and Little Princess Jiang (Jiang Chulong) by his side, obtaining a mere Silver Heavenly Scripture Seal was only a matter of time.

Returning to Autumn Water Pavilion, he found the courtyard eerily still.

The leaves hung frozen under layers of white frost, weighed down and lifeless.

Tonight, the pavilion was unnaturally cold, as if winter had descended in an instant, turning everything to ice.

Inside a certain ice block’s room,

An intense chill radiated, accompanied by swirling auroras of light.

"She said tonight, and tonight it is."

"By tomorrow, she’ll have reached the Inner Breath Realm."

Li Mo sighed and retreated to his own room next door.

The cold didn’t bother him much,

But his bed, pressed against the shared wall, had frozen solid, the blankets stiff as boards.

Suddenly, he sensed a ripple—

The World Seed was reacting.

"Jiang Chulong is always punctual."

Li Mo lay down, letting his body rest while his consciousness entered the World Seed.

......

"T-Teacher!"

Jiang Chulong sat obediently at the stone table in a seiza-like pose.

When she spotted the figure approaching with a stack of "teaching materials," her small face lit up with a cautious smile.

Li Mo settled at the table with practiced ease, brewing tea.

He poured but didn’t drink, instead raising his eyes and asking,

"Ahem. Have you fully grasped what I taught last time?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Jiang Chulong nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking at rice.

She took her studies extremely seriously.

Teacher Heavenly Venerable’s standards were high, and she dreaded falling short of his expectations.

Even during her daily trash-collecting outings, she’d practice swordplay with a stick.

"Good. Then let’s address your lingering doubts from last session."

The Heavenly Venerable opened the textbook.

This teaching material was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece—

Courtesy of the ice block (Ying Bing), revised by young disciple Li.

Jiang Chulong’s sword talent was absurd.

Without learning a single formal sword art, she had refined her self-created technique into an advanced-level martial art—

Nearing supreme-tier.

It was downright ridiculous.

Today, she absorbed every bit of sword knowledge Li Mo had borrowed from Ying Bing, soaking it up like a sponge.

At one point, Li Mo had to tap into his martial insights just to keep up with her comprehension.

Once the lesson—which had been somewhat taxing for Li Mo—concluded,

"How’s your recovery coming along?"

"A-Almost done!"

Jiang Chulong fidgeted with her fingers.

"Then don’t waste time. The sooner you recover, the sooner you can train properly."

Li Mo handed her another batch of restorative medicines.

Once Jiang Chulong fully healed, he expected a decent reward.

Just as he was thinking this—

"T-Teacher..."

"Hm?"

Li Mo glanced up.

Jiang Chulong sat across from him, biting her lip hesitantly, her fingers twisting together, her pale gray eyes shimmering with... anticipation.

"What is it?"

"I... I want... to hear more about the Desolate World."

"..."

Last time, to motivate the little princess, Li Mo had embellished a story from his past life—repackaging a novel he’d once read as an ancient legend.

Unsurprisingly,

The tales that had stuck with him all these years were not only highly inspiring...

But also incredibly engaging.

So the gleam in Jiang Chulong’s eyes spelled out one thing:

"Next chapter, please."

"Fine..."

......

The next morning.

To everyone’s surprise, Shang Wu rose early.

Her stern voice echoed through the small Autumn Water Pavilion:

"For years, our Jade Cluster Peak has suffered defeat after defeat, sapping our morale and tarnishing our prestige. This ends today!"

"Little Ice (Ying Bing), my precious disciple—we must compete with dignity, confidence, and excellence!"

"The glory of Jade Cluster Peak rests on your shoulders..."

Shang Wu clenched her fist, as if already envisioning the peak’s triumphant return to supremacy.

After a beat of silence,

Li Mo exchanged a glance with the ice block (Ying Bing) before raising his hand.

"Master, hypothetically speaking...

Isn’t Ying Bing the Sect Leader’s personal disciple?"

Shang Wu: "!"

Oh. Right.

How had she forgotten that?

The master’s smile faded rapidly.

"This is bad. I placed heavy bets..."

Li Mo: "...There’s a betting pool in the sect?"

So you weren’t just counting on the sect’s rewards—you were planning to clean up on side wagers too?!

Shang Wu looked at her disciple, massaging her temples with a sigh.

"Welp. We’re doomed."

Her precious disciple was still only in the Qi-Blood Realm, after all.

She had initially held high hopes for Ying Bing, who had recently broken through to the Inner Breath Realm.

Li Mo sighed helplessly:

"Even if it's just me alone, it shouldn’t drag Jade Cluster Peak’s ranking down too badly, right?"

"Useless. I bet on first place—do you really think you can defeat Little Bing?"

Shang Wu shook her head again.

She was already scheming about how to weasel out of her bet.

And so, the pre-tournament rally at Autumn Water Pavilion ended abruptly.

Outside, Old Ba arrived right on time with the carriage.

"Young Masters, it’s time to head to the main peak!"