Investing in the Reborn Empress, She Actually Calls Me ‘Husband’

Chapter 10: “Fire Lotus Blooms from the Heart” – The Union of Heaven and Man

At the Ninth peak of Qingyuan Mountain.

“It seems Elder Qian had no intention of letting my cheap master repay her debt. It’s more of a reminder not to borrow again.”

Li Mo glanced at the surroundings, his mouth twitching slightly.

A simple wooden hut, along with some broken walls and ruins.

Nothing else.

If he didn’t know this was within the Qingyuan Sect, he would have thought this place had just been attacked by disaster beasts.

“Master? Master?”

Li Mo called out twice, but there was no response, so he pushed open the wooden door.

The room reeked of alcohol.

On the bed, a woman was sprawled out under a blanket, her posture utterly unrefined, with a faint glisten of drool at the corner of her mouth.

“Master?”

“Mm…”

The woman groaned lazily like a pig, turned over, and continued sleeping.

Li Mo had no choice but to lean close to her ear and whisper, “Elder Qian has come to collect the debt…”

The effect was immediate.

Shang Wu bolted upright but, upon seeing Li Mo standing before her, her alert yet drunken eyes were filled with confusion:

“Who are you?”

“I’m your disciple,” Li Mo said helplessly.

“Disciple… Oh right, I remember now.”

Shang Wu scratched her head, seemingly recalling something, her almond eyes still hazy. “What do you need from me?”

She was awake but not fully conscious.

After a moment of silence, Li Mo asked, “Now that I’ve joined, shouldn’t you… teach me something?”

“That seems quite reasonable.”

Shang Wu’s shoulder was exposed, completely unaware of how indecent her current posture was.

She stood up, her palace robe hanging loosely, revealing half her shoulder. She was actually taller than Li Mo.

“I was thinking yesterday about teaching you something.”

“When I don’t drink, my memory isn’t the best.”

She furrowed her brows, looking slightly troubled.

Just as she finished speaking, there was a ‘pop’ sound – the sound of a wine cork being pulled.

Shang Wu’s nose twitched, and she immediately identified it with expertise:

“Green Ant Brew? That’s a specialty from Ten-Mile Slope Winery, aged for five years. It has an amber hue and is considered a fine product. A ten-year-old one is even rarer. Where did you get this?”

She snatched the wine jug from her unlucky disciple’s hand and drank deeply. The wine trickling down her chest, outlining an astonishing curve.

Your memory seems perfectly fine.

Li Mo could hardly bear to look.

Shang Wu wiped her mouth and said, “I remember now, yesterday I made a bet with that old Ghost Han He.”

“He dared to say this old lady doesn’t know how to teach disciples. How could I tolerate that?”

Li Mo: “……”

It didn’t sound like he said anything wrong, though.

No one would expect to be handed a ledger when they became someone’s disciple.

“He just accepted a Murong Xiao, and he dares to show off to me? I spit on that!”

“So, I made a bet with him.”

“At the next Nine Peaks Martial tournament, if the disciples from Myriad heavens Peak rank higher, he’ll help me clear the accounts at the Internal Affairs Hall.”

“And if we lose?”

“Lose? As my disciple, can’t you have some confidence?”

Saying this, Shang Wu turned around, rummaging through a box, and took out a booklet.

She said confidently, “This is my unique cultivation method. Today, I’ll guide you through it.”

Li Mo took the booklet and saw the name of this heart method clearly:

«Fire Heart Grows Lotus Method»

It sounded quite impressive.

Moreover, even the system had evaluated that Shang Wu’s strength was extremely strong.

Well, with so many debts, they must have been earned through her abilities.

Being able to borrow so much from the Internal Affairs Hall, and Elder Qian could only gently remind her not to borrow anymore, that already said a lot!

Li Mo’s heart settled a bit, and he opened the book.

After reading it, he asked, “Master, there are some parts I don’t understand…..”

“Snore….. snore……”

“Master?”

Li Mo looked up.

He found that his carefree and beautiful master had fallen asleep again at some point, the wine jug now empty, drained to the last drop.

She was completely drunk, couldn’t be woken up even when pushed.

Sister, can you be a bit more reliable!

“…….”

Just as Li Mo was feeling exasperated.

[Investment successful, Investment: One jar of ten-year-old Green Ant Aged Wine.]

[Calculating reward……]

[Congratulations to the host, Reward: Ten years of martial arts insights!]

[Ten years of martial arts insights]: “Can be used on any martial art, giving the host ten years of proficiency in it.”

Hmm?

Ten years of martial arts insights?

For any martial art, the levels are divided into six stages: Entry, initial mastery, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Perfection, and Transcendence.

Even for ordinary martial arts in the jianghu, those who can practice to Perfection are few and far between.

Let alone reaching Transcendence.

For example, father Li Dalong’s Wind-Capturing Palm technique, which he has practiced for nearly twenty years, has only barely reached Major Accomplishment.

Of course, this also has to do with one’s aptitude.

“Not to say I have god-like aptitude, but I’m at least considered clever.”

Li Mo simply walked out of the room and sat down cross-legged.

With this in mind…

He applied all ten years of martial arts insights to the “Fire Heart Grows Lotus Method”.

[Ten years of martial arts insights, infusion successful.]

[First year, you’ve carefully pondered all the phrases in the “Fire Heart Grows Lotus Method” and begun to experiment. You’ve successfully entered the Entry stage.]

[Third year, you seem to have some insights, discovering the key to this method. You’ve practiced it to Initial mastery.]

[Ninth year, your “Fire Heart Grows Lotus Method” is increasingly proficient, reaching the Minor Accomplishment stage.]

[Tenth year, you seem to have encountered a bottleneck, but ultimately lack sufficient accumulation.]

Instantly..

Countless images flooded Li Mo’s mind, as if he had truly spent ten years meticulously studying the “Fire Heart Grows Lotus Method”, practicing it to the Minor Accomplishment stage.

“Whew…..”

“Ten years, Minor Accomplishment.”

That sudden feeling of enlightenment gave Li Mo a wonderful sensation of soaring into the clouds.

He eagerly began his first practice session.

In his dantian, a thread of heat rose…

And the surrounding grass and trees began to move without wind.

“If I can open my meridians on the first try, it’ll be a success.”

Li Mo calmed his mind.

Inside the room.

The drunken Shang Wu suddenly frowned.

She mumbled in her sleep:

“Unity of Heaven and Human?”

“Who has such damn good luck…”

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Main Peak of Qingyuan, Cultivation Hall.

Several elders stood on the side, each able to see the astonishment in the others’ eyes.

What caused them such shock was the young girl sitting not far away, with her five centers facing the sky.

At this moment.

These old folks, whose combined age exceeded five hundred years, were all questioning their life choices.

Wondering if they had spent the first half of their lives living as dogs.

“She reached entry-stage in one day?”

Xue Jing mumbled in disbelief.

“To be precise, it was a quarter of an hour.”

Qian Bufan reminded while feeling endless emotion. He then turned to ask:

“Han He, you also practiced this Frost-Seeking Primordial Technique, how long did it take you back then?”

Han He’s mouth twitched, and after a long while, he replied:

“One month.”

At that time, Han He was still very young, also a newcomer to the Qingyuan Sect.

He still remembered how his master joyfully called him a genius when he reached entry level and successfully opened his meridians in a month.

Now, compared to the young girl before him…

The hot breath exhaled by the elders as they spoke instantly turned into ice crystals.

“Each generation has its own talented individuals. Our Qingyuan Sect is about to flourish greatly.”

Xue Jing commented solemnly.

His perception was extremely sensitive.

When Ying Bing was practicing, it seemed as if there was an endless amount of lunar energy within her body, continuously flowing.

Even though she was the master of this power, it was inevitably causing her harm.

Using Yang-natured herbs or pills could offset a little of it.

It seems that the bottle of Pure Yang Pills he sold to Li Mo a few days ago was to help this little girl open her meridians.

Hiss——

A light sound.

The cold wind seemed to form a vortex with Ying Bing at its center.

“She… has opened a meridian!”

Han He’s eyes widened.

He clearly sensed that the first main meridian in Ying Bing’s body was now unobstructed.

“At this rate, won’t she have all twelve meridians open in just a few days?”

This statement was only half correct.

Ying Bing could indeed open all twelve meridians in a few days.

But, how could she be satisfied with just twelve?

The elders of the Qingyuan Sect were ultimately limited by their vision.

The human body is like a hidden treasury; there are far more than twelve that can be considered main meridians.

Of course, ordinary martial artists in the Blood Qi Realm wouldn’t be able to open them even if they knew of their existence. That requires extremely skilled and meticulous control.

But for her, this wasn’t a problem.

What Ying Bing wanted to do was to open twenty-four meridians, forming a great circulation within her body.

When she enters the Inner breath realm then, she’ll be more than ten times stronger!

“Such a prodigy, we’re just being superfluous here.”

Xue Jing showed a bitter smile.

The sect leader is busy with many affairs and specially arranged for the three of them to guide Ying Bing, answer her questions, and avoid mistakes that might occur due to habitual practices if only one person was teaching.

Now it’s unnecessary.

Watching Ying Bing practice, they felt their entire beings were full of mistakes.

“I’ll leave this to you, I’m going to Myriad heavens Peak.”

“Why are you going there? It’s unlucky.”

At the mention of this, Elder Han He snorted coldly.

“Are you really at ease letting Shang Wu teach disciples?” Xue Jing tugged at his patched up robe and asked.

Qian Bufan took a deep breath:

“Brother Xue, you’d better go quickly. I’m afraid it’ll be too late if you delay.”