The guest room at Buyun Tower.
"Scared the feathers off me..."
At the same time, Shang Qinqing abruptly sat up from the bed, panting heavily, her face still etched with lingering fear.
It—the totem of Great Shang, in a way, was also her ancestor.
Even the faintest trace of its presence, barely discernible as a memory or a fleeting thought, carried no malice whatsoever. Yet merely lingering for an instant had made her feel utterly insignificant.
She really had been chasing sweets without regard for her life, daring to even entertain the thought of resistance...
"Whew... You woke up normally."
Qin Yuzhi finally relaxed when she saw Shang Qinqing lively and unharmed.
Sudden disturbances like this could leave one lost in the gaps between dreams.
"Xiao Qing, don’t dwell on it. Since ancient times, apart from that one exception, no one has ever returned from the Immortal Realm. Its level of existence is likely beyond our comprehension.""I’m not dwelling. I’m just annoyed that someone yanked the candy out of my mouth halfway through..."
Shang Qinqing shook her head, then murmured:
"No wonder Xiao Bing'er’s talents—from martial arts to soul resonance, even her musical aptitude—are all so absurdly overpowered... But why does something like that exist within her?"
Qin Yuzhi pondered before answering: "It must be because all nine fragments of the Primordial Phoenix’s soul have gathered within her..."
Shang Qinqing frowned. "But I recall Xiao Bing'er mentioning that she’s been precocious since childhood—her constitution cold, her memory flawless, especially in chess. Even the top players of Great Yu couldn’t hold a candle to her."
Ying Bing’s first acquired fragment of the Primordial Phoenix’s soul was the Mist Phoenix Aura.
Yet her most astonishing talents had already manifested long before that.
"So that means..."
Qin Yuzhi’s eyes widened, her breathing quickening:
"The presence in the depths of her soul resonance wasn’t awakened by the fragments of the Primordial Phoenix’s soul or the Phoenix God’s legacy."
"Rather... it was innate? Always there?"
Shang Qinqing and Qin Yuzhi exchanged glances, their expressions frozen in stunned disbelief, as if they had turned into soulless stone statues.
"In the Great Shang Chronicles, didn’t she return to the Celestial Realm?"
"That’s what I remember too."
"Then how is it influencing the mortal world?"
Shang Qinqing’s question was more of a mutter to herself.
Yet after speaking, she noticed Qin Yuzhi—a seventh-stage Dreamweaver Sage—struggling faintly within her petrified expression.
It was as if she was trying to recall something buried deep in her memory, but the harder she tried, the more her thoughts scattered.
Like an invisible shackle had been clamped around her mind.
"I feel like I’ve forgotten something very important..." Qin Yuzhi’s face paled.
"Dreamweaving techniques can alter memories..."
An absurd thought flashed through Shang Qinqing’s mind.
What kind of event could distort the memories of a former near-eighth-stage Sage who commanded the Dream Dao—to the point where she couldn’t even recall it?
......
The morning holds the key to the day.
Young Li Mo suddenly grasped a deeper meaning behind this oft-repeated adage.
Just four simple words, yet they contained such profound wisdom.
After two more days of rest, Li Mo found himself unusually relaxed—after all, he was the only one with an undefeated record, guaranteeing him a spot in the top three.
The Hidden Dragon Ranking’s top position was practically his.
He and Ying Bing had entered Tianren City together, with only her next match left.
She might face Jiang Yu.
But the ice block’s chances of winning? A solid one thousand percent!
Over the next two days, Li Mo kept busy. First, he took over Fengyue Xiaozhu, granting freedom to all the women there—including those treated as mere playthings.
Yet these women, skilled only in pleasing men, were emotionally numb. The concept of "freedom" left them utterly indifferent.
Most chose to stay and continue working there.
Of course.
When the soon-to-be Hidden Dragon champion demonstrated his expert foot-massage techniques, Fengyue Xiaozhu fell into stunned silence.
Since when was this guy so multi-talented?!
Do geniuses excel even at this?!
The rest of his time was split between the Prince of Zhennan’s estate and the Tian Mountain Sword Manor’s forge.
Worth mentioning—
Old Zhong and Xie Xuan were now Fengyue Xiaozhu’s second and third owners, with Li Mo having shared portions of the business with them.
This made the establishment a joint venture between the Prince’s estate and the Sword Manor.
If the Fourth Prince tried any underhanded tricks to take it back...
Xie Xuan, now a proud business owner with money-making as his life’s goal, and Old Zhong would be the first to object!
Two days passed in a flash.
The final round of the Hidden Dragon Tournament began, marking its imminent conclusion.
If there was any remaining suspense...
It lay in one matchup:
[Ying Bing vs. Jiang Yu]
"The Frost Fairy is up against Jiang Yu too?"
"Obviously. How else would they decide second and third place?"
"Speaking of which, have you noticed Ying Bing hasn’t even gone all out yet? Probably because she hasn’t met a worthy opponent..."
"Well, there was that one time..."
Countless eyes in the bustling crowd turned toward a certain figure in the distance.
"The Hidden Dragon Tournament ends today."
Li Mo stood below the stage, gazing at the Meridian Gate gilded by sunlight.
It symbolized the moment when the most brilliant, spirited youths of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands would leap like carp through the Dragon’s Gate.
His journey here had been treacherous, every step taken as if treading on thin ice. One might say he could—
Wait.
What was he being sentimental about? He’d already locked in first place while others were still fighting for rankings.
But the odd feeling in Li Mo’s heart was real.
In his past life as an NPC, his peak extravagance had been using a discount coupon for takeout, and his trendiest moment was carrying groceries in a "national chic" plastic bag...
He’d always joked about being the best actor, but for the longest time, he’d seen himself as little more than an accessory dangling from the ice block’s flawless legs.
Now, though, he might’ve outgrown that role—pearl-white silk and dark gauze were both a bit slippery...
He was about to become the Hidden Dragon champion.
"Never having beaten the ice block fair and square... I wonder if this title really counts."
Li Mo turned his gaze to the stage.
He and the ice block had agreed to a spar tonight.
With a little wager on the side.
Under the sunlight—
Jiang Yu stood with his hands behind his back, having mostly recovered from his loss two days prior, his aura undiminished.
Ying Bing’s eyes shifted from the crowd back to the stage, her demeanor instantly turning frosty:
"You’re not as weak as I imagined."
Jiang Yu: "?"
Li Mo was the one who beat me, not you.
Are we suddenly on the same team now?