Why is she acting so weird today

Master rushed off to the library in a hurry, not even stopping for breakfast.

She said she was going to review knowledge related to the Inner Breath Realm.

Noon.

Tendrils of cooking smoke rose from Autumn Water Pavilion.

"Not a single sound all morning."

"Did the Ice Block really run into trouble?"

"Or was it because of yesterday's spar..."

Li Mo's mind flashed back to the scene from yesterday when he had pinned Ying Bing to the ground.

After all, she was a woman, and it had happened in front of everyone.

Could it be that she was avoiding him out of embarrassment?

"Probably not... right?"

Li Mo didn’t think Ying Bing was the type to act that way.

After some deliberation, he decided to go upstairs and check on her.

Carrying the freshly cooked dishes, he climbed the stairs and knocked loudly on the wooden door.

No response.

Li Mo blinked, then pushed the door open with a creak.

The moment he stepped inside, he froze.

The room was as cold as a freezer.

On the cracked bed, where one would normally sleep, lay a massive block of ice.

Inside the ice, a girl was curled up in a fetal position, her condition unknown.

It was Ying Bing.

A literal ice block.

Li Mo: "!"

How in the world did you manage to encase yourself in ice?

There wasn’t even enough water in the room for this!

It made no sense.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Ice Block."

"Ice Block?"

Li Mo tapped the ice and called out twice, but there was no response. He didn’t have time to question the absurdity of the situation—he immediately prepared to smash the ice open.

Whoosh—

But halfway through swinging his fist, he abruptly stopped.

The eerie blue ice was clearly no ordinary frozen water—it was unnaturally solid.

Who knew if shattering the ice would also shatter the Ice Block inside?

"Wait, Inner Breath!"

Li Mo suddenly remembered—he was now a martial artist in the Qi Condensation stage of the Inner Breath Realm.

He extended his hand and channeled wisps of Inner Breath into the ice.

Swish, swish—

Under his control, the Inner Breath acted like a precise chisel, slowly eroding the frozen mass.

The progress wasn’t fast.

......

Half an hour later.

The Ice Block was finally "rescued."

Her eyes were tightly shut, her delicate brows furrowed as if trapped in a nightmare, but her breathing was steady.

Li Mo took her wrist and checked her pulse, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to pull his hand back—

A cold grip suddenly tightened around his wrist.

She held on tightly,

like a drowning person clutching a lifeline.

"You..."

Li Mo wanted to ask if she was alright, but the words died in his throat when he saw Ying Bing open her eyes.

What a complicated gaze.

Confusion?

Complexity?

Even a hint of... helplessness.

He had never seen the Ice Block look at anything with such an expression before.

The Ying Bing of the past had always been aloof and detached, as though nothing in the world could truly matter to her.

She had always seemed in control, certain of her every move.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Li Mo had no idea what she had gone through, so he could only ask this.

Ying Bing took a deep breath and loosened her grip slightly.

The chill in the depths of her soul had faded a little.

If not for him, she wouldn’t have let her guard down last night.

And yet, it was also him who pulled her out of that nightmare.

"Were you holding back yesterday?"

After a long silence, Ying Bing’s quiet voice finally came.

During their spar, Li Mo clearly hadn’t displayed strength surpassing hers.

That could only mean one thing—he had been hiding his true power.

Ying Bing had once concealed her own strength in the past.

Li Mo: "!"

So she was still hung up on yesterday?

And she even went into "isolation" over it?

Something was off.

Was this really the Ice Block? Why was she acting so strange today?

"Sorry."

Li Mo gave an awkward chuckle.

Ying Bing lowered her gaze.

He admitted it.

He had indeed held back during their fight.

"Why?"

"......"

Li Mo fell silent at the question.

It had been an accident—there was no deeper reason.

But if he had to give one...

"Because of the hammer."

Li Mo pulled out the Star Piercer from his sleeve.

"The Worldbreaker Meteor Hammer?"

Ying Bing blurted out.

A divine weapon?

No... only the appearance matched. It lacked the essence of the real thing.

This was just a replica—a mere profound weapon.

Li Mo: "!"

How did the Ice Block know?

Back at Divine Edge Cave, they had sworn secrecy—no fourth person was supposed to know.

Unless... Master?

Thinking of Shang Wu, Li Mo immediately understood.

She must have let it slip while drunk.

Li Mo sighed.

"The Worldbreaker Meteor Hammer is indeed with me. Please don’t tell anyone."

"I had no choice. Hope you don’t mind..."

Well, the Ice Block wasn’t an outsider. If she knew, so be it.

"No choice..."

Ying Bing’s eyes flickered with realization, as though a fog had lifted.

Now she understood.

The commotion at Divine Edge Cave that day—it was because the Worldbreaker Meteor Hammer had chosen its master.

And that master was Li Mo.

A divine weapon couldn’t be revealed so easily.

"Can you... wield it?"

Ying Bing asked seriously.

"Barely."

"Unless it’s life or death, I’d rather not."

Li Mo shrugged helplessly.

Back when he was at the peak of the Qi-Blood Realm, he could only sustain the power of the World Seed for a single breath. Any longer, and he’d collapse from exhaustion—or worse, injure himself.

"No wonder... no wonder..."

Ying Bing finally grasped the situation.

The system ranked them based on combat prowess.

And "prowess" didn’t include external aids.

For example, if someone had a one-time-use weapon of immense power, it wouldn’t count toward their permanent strength.

But Li Mo was the master of a divine weapon—one he could barely wield.

Naturally, the hammer became part of his strength.

The might of a divine weapon...

Ying Bing recalled a scene from her past life—Shang Wu wielding the Worldbreaker Meteor Hammer. A single strike could topple mountains, like a meteor crashing from the heavens.

That kind of power was beyond human limits.

Could she withstand it?

Absolutely not.

No matter how invincible she was within her realm, or how she could fight above her level, there was no way she could block a divine weapon’s strike in the Inner Breath Realm.

But... a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator wielding a divine weapon?

Wasn’t that just a fantasy?

She couldn’t fathom how he had managed it.

Yet this was essentially exploiting a loophole in the system.

As long as she couldn’t withstand the hammer’s power, she would forever be ranked below Li Mo.

"Now that everything’s cleared up, let’s eat."

"...Mm."

Ying Bing had faced far greater challenges in her life.

She didn’t fear adversity—she feared the unknown.

Now that she knew the reason, it was fine.

Divine weapons didn’t grow stronger, but her cultivation advanced every day.

If she could secure the system’s rewards...

[Reminder: Today is Day 1 of the Loser’s Punishment.]

[Host must strictly adhere to the penalty conditions.]

For the first time, Ying Bing found the food tasteless.

That unfamiliar, unsettling feeling rose in her chest again, lingering stubbornly.

Sharing a bed... for a whole month...