Chapter 7

"Recovery Pill, Golden Essence Pill, Blood Activating Ointment, Body Strengthening Ointment..."

Surveying the gifts on the table, Qin Mo scanned them and shook his head disdainfully. They were all low-grade ordinary pills, which failed to spark any interest in him.

In the ancient continent of You, from low to high, the classification of pills, materials, and martial arts was uniformly divided into five grades: Ordinary, Spirit, Mystic, Earth, and Heaven. Each grade was further subdivided into three levels: Lower, Middle, and Upper.

For ordinary martial artists, lower-grade ordinary pills might still be somewhat precious, but for the direct descendants of the clan, they were just gifts received during festivals, nothing special.

For the direct descendants of the Qin family, middle-grade ordinary pills were considered valuable, while upper-grade ordinary pills were even coveted by the elders.

"Ha ha, the Great Elder and the others are truly stingy. Despite being treated so ‘well’ by them, they didn’t even offer a token of consolation." A cold smile appeared at the corner of Qin Mo’s mouth. All the elders of the Qin family had sent symbolic gifts, except for the Great Elder and Deputy Clan Head Qin Yide.

Suddenly, Qin Mo’s heart stirred, and he took out the gray treasure pouch from his chest, hoping to find something good inside.

In the gray treasure pouch, apart from a bottle of [Recovery Pill], dozens of low-quality true essence stones, and some loose gold and silver, the most valuable items were the manuals for [Thunder Fist] and [Bone Lock Claw], which disappointed Qin Mo greatly.

[Thunder Fist] and [Bone Lock Claw] were middle-grade ordinary martial techniques. Once the direct descendants of the Qin family reached the Martial Artist realm, they could choose martial arts of the same level from the library. For Qin Mo, these were somewhat redundant.

"Huh! What’s this?"

In the corner of the gray treasure pouch, there was a wooden bead, dull in color and unremarkable in appearance. However, his intuition told him that there was something wrong with this wooden bead.

[Swift Shadow Slice]!

Qin Mo’s palm sliced through the surface of the wooden bead, and a smile appeared on his face. "Zhao Yong, you would never have thought that the whereabouts of Mother’s jade pendant and the secret of this wooden bead would be revealed by a martial technique that doesn’t even rank in the ordinary grade."

In his previous life, after Qin Mo became a ‘mediocre person’ and could no longer practice any martial arts, he accidentally discovered the manual for [Swift Shadow Slice] among his grandfather’s relics. This martial technique didn’t even qualify as ordinary grade, and its power was extremely weak. However, it was silent and required no true essence to practice, making it the only martial technique Qin Mo could practice at the time.

Later, while wandering the continent, Qin Mo discovered the true use of [Swift Shadow Slice]. It could cut through the surface disguise of many items without damaging the contents. Thanks to [Swift Shadow Slice], he often collaborated with appraisers and alchemists, earning substantial rewards.

Sssss...

Qin Mo’s palm sliced repeatedly, sending eight silent palm winds into the wooden bead. After a few breaths, there was a crack, and the wooden bead split into eight pieces, revealing the true item inside.

A pill as clear as amber appeared before Qin Mo’s eyes, and a sandalwood-like fragrance filled the room.

"[Amber Qi Consolidation Pill]!" Qin Mo’s eyebrows raised. He hadn’t expected the item inside the wooden bead to be an upper-grade ordinary pill.

No wonder Zhao Yong was so cautious, using wood that could isolate odors to make the [Amber Qi Consolidation Pill] into a wooden bead. If outsiders knew that an outer courtyard guard possessed such a treasure, even the higher-ups of the clan might be tempted to kill and seize it.

Repackaging the [Amber Qi Consolidation Pill] as a wooden bead and placing it back in the gray treasure pouch, Qin Mo suddenly chuckled. If Zhao Yong knew that the gray treasure pouch and the [Amber Qi Consolidation Pill] had fallen into his hands, he wondered what his reaction would be.

At that moment, a drowsy voice came from behind, "Brother Mo, are you awake? I was going to wake you up early."

On the bed, Qin Xiaoxiao sat up, her chubby body stretching lazily. She then jumped off the bed and hopped onto Qin Mo’s lap.

"Early? Do you even know what time it is?"

Looking at the little girl, Qin Mo couldn’t help but smile. In his previous life, the little girl and Qin Mo were considered the least promising in the Qin family, symbolizing the decline of the clan head’s lineage.

However, Qin Xiaoxiao was different from Qin Mo. She was born unable to cultivate true essence but possessed innate superhuman strength. Even martial artists at the Martial Artist realm couldn’t match her in strength.

Gently stroking Qin Xiaoxiao’s head and inadvertently brushing back her bangs, he noticed her smooth forehead, as white as jade, with a peculiar luster. The shocking Crimson Phoenix mark had yet to appear.

...

"Brother Mo, Brother Mo..." A call interrupted Qin Mo’s thoughts. The little girl opened her bright eyes, full of anticipation, "Since you’ve returned safely, let’s go out to celebrate."

"No." Qin Mo’s face turned serious, "Grandfather instructed me to choose a suitable martial technique from the library today. You can come with me to help choose."

The little girl pouted, sighing reluctantly, "Alright, I’ll reluctantly practice [Polestar Fist] with Brother Mo."

Qin Mo couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. This little girl was really bold. [Polestar Fist] was an initial-grade spirit martial technique, a unique skill of the Qin family and the only spirit-grade martial technique they had. Only core disciples of the Qin family, who had reached the third rank of the Martial Artist realm, could勉强 practice it.

In fact, according to past practices, even core disciples of the Qin family generally reached the sixth rank of the Martial Artist realm before starting to practice [Polestar Fist].

Given Qin Mo’s current cultivation, even with the rare purple true essence in his body, he dared not rashly practice this spirit-grade martial technique at the first rank of the Martial Artist realm.

"Wait... spirit-grade martial technique."

Qin Mo was momentarily stunned, suddenly remembering an incident in the family library in his previous life, involving a mysterious spirit-grade martial technique.

"Let’s go. After choosing the martial technique, I’ll take you to town."

Hearing this, the little girl cheered, grabbing Qin Mo and eagerly heading towards the library.

...

The library was located in the deepest part of the Qin residence, a crucial area of the clan.

"That’s not Young Master Qin Mo and Miss Xiao, are they going to the library to choose a martial technique?"

"Have you heard? Young Master Qin Mo has finally broken through and is now a first-rank Martial Artist."

"It took him eight years to break through. Now, Young Master Qin Mo’s strength can only be considered among the top hundred of the third generation, far behind Young Master Qin Han."

...

The surrounding Qin family guards and servants’ discussions reached the little girl’s ears, making her clench her fists in displeasure.

Qin Mo, however, was indifferent. In his previous life, after his cultivation was revoked and he became a ‘mediocre person,’ he had heard countless rumors and gossips, to which he had long grown accustomed.

Exiting the long corridor, a building appeared in a grove of trees.

"The library..."

Looking at the pavilion, Qin Mo’s senses extended like a flood, activating his ‘Hearing as Sight’ ability, clearly revealing the scene in the grove.

In the depths of the path, under a large tree in front of the pavilion, an elder in a brown robe was seated, with a chessboard in front of him.

This elder was the Pavilion Guardian Elder Gao, who did not belong to the elder lineage. He usually stayed at the entrance of the library, playing a game of chess with himself.

"Elder Gao still enjoys playing chess with himself."

In his previous life, Qin Mo was not familiar with Elder Gao, but each time he came to the library, he would wonder if the elder found it boring to play chess alone for decades.

Suddenly, under the gaze of ‘Hearing as Sight,’ Qin Mo noticed a long branch hanging from the tree, which seemed to move slightly.

Bang!

Qin Mo’s body jolted, as if he had bumped into something. The scene presented by ‘Hearing as Sight’ vanished, and he realized he had collided with a leg.

"Hmph! Qin Mo, I didn’t expect you to really break through after eight years and reach the Martial Artist realm. You’re quite lucky, aren’t you?"

In front of him, a tall young man extended a leg, blocking the path. Qin Mo, who had been using ‘Hearing as Sight,’ hadn’t noticed and had bumped into him.

"Qin Da."

Qin Mo’s brows furrowed. This tall young man was Qin Da, ranked 40th among the third generation of the Qin family, a key young martial artist cultivated by the elder lineage.

However, the enmity between Qin Mo and the tall young man was not simply a struggle between the clan head lineage and the elder lineage. Eight years ago, during a family competition, Qin Mo had thoroughly defeated Qin Da, thus forming a grudge.

Later, Qin Mo’s cultivation stagnated, while Qin Da broke through to the Martial Artist realm and frequently caused trouble for Qin Mo, both openly and secretly.

"I heard that after breaking through, you fought a second-rank Martial Artist from the outer courtyard for a long time. Is that true? Let me, your cousin, test the truth of the rumors."

Qin Da, speaking to this point, infused true essence into his legs and suddenly lifted his leg, aiming a fierce kick at Qin Mo’s calf.