Li Yuan shot through the mountain valley like a bullet, using Shadow Cloud Steps constantly in order to blur through his surroundings. Ahead of him, Zi Mo floated calmly in the air, her robes fluttering gently as though she were strolling through a garden rather than racing across the mountains even faster than him.
And no matter how hard he pushed himself, the gap between them continued to widen. His eyes narrowed.
'Let's see how casually you handle this.'
His arm snapped forward. And sword in his hand hummed as Boundless sword intent surged into the blade and a moment later… Slash! A crescent of compressed sword intent tore through the sky.
The attack streaked toward toward Zi Mo, only for her to sidestep the attack with ease. The attack then headed for the mountains behind her and went through a dozen mountains, before it finally ran out.
If he had not intentionally kept his Sword slash small in size, then all those mountains would've been severed in half by now, falling to the valleys and causing a small, localised earthquake across all of Redleaf Prefecture.
Li Yuan's lips twitched at how easily Zi Mo dodged his attack, so he raised his sword and launched more attacks against her, his arm moving faster as he sent smaller but more numerous sword slashes at her.
A dozen mountain-cleaving arcs erupted from his blade and tore through the valley with enough power to slice apart the surrounding peaks.
Zi Mo finally turned her head and looked at the approaching sword slashes. But there was no worry or panic in her eyes. Then, she raised one hand, and formed a protective Qi barrier. His attacks hit the barrier with immense force… and then vanished without leaving so much as a ripple.
Li Yuan almost gaped. Those attacks were each strong enough to cut an entire mountain in half after all. To see them neutralised like that…
A Late Stage Golden Core expert was truly on an entirely different league.
Before he could launch another strike… Zi Mo suddenly vanished. And Li Yuan's pupils shrank as his instincts screamed at him.
He turned quickly… but was still too slow as Zi Mo appeared beside him, her fist heading toward his torso. There was no technique in that attack, just a simple punch. But he felt like Genos at that moment as a punch in the form of 'DEATH' approached him.
Li Yuan barely managed to raise his sword in time before the fist collided with the blade—
Crack.
The Peak 2nd Tier weapon he took from the Qin family treasury didn't last for a single moment and was shattered like glass before the punch finally arrived and slammed into Li Yuan's body, making his world go white with pain. The next instant—
Boom.
His body smashed into the side of a distant mountain. Stone erupted outward as the impact carved a deep crater into the cliff face. Cracks spread across the rock like a spiderweb while fragments of shattered stone rained down the slope below.
Li Yuan groaned as he simply hung there, half-embedded in the cliff, pain erupting through his entire body. Then, he finally glanced down.
His right arm was twisted into a grotesque shape, the bones beneath the skin completely shattered and poking out of the flesh here and there. Several ribs had collapsed inward, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as they punctured his inner organs.
"Damn…" He rasped as he coughed blood. Then a bright flame ignited across his arm. The fire spread quickly through his entire body, golden light flowing along his form like liquid warmth. A moment later, his mangled arm begin to shift.
Bones cracked and slid back into place, torn muscle fibers reknit themselves, and bruised or torn apart flesh regenerated at a visible pace. Li Yuan grimaced slightly as the bones aligned again and finally, half a minute later, he flexed his fingers.
Good as new.
Yes, he had recently managed to learn the Yang Flame Restoration Technique, and even took it to Major Mastery. Alas, he'd finally run out of points and couldn't raise the skill any further until he gained access to more powerful corpses.
Li Yuan pushed himself free from the mountain and dropped down toward the valley floor. The ground crunched beneath his boots as he landed, and he looked up to find Zi Mo was already waiting for him.
She stood calmly near the base of the cliff, her arms folded lightly beneath her massive breasts as she studied him with a complicated expression. Li Yuan wiped the last traces of blood beneath his lips and walked toward her.
"So," he asked, "how did I do?"
Zi Mo remained silent for a moment. Then she sighed softly. "Before… last night," she said, "I would've rated you as having the strength of a pseudo–Golden Core cultivator."
Li Yuan tilted his head slightly. "What does that even mean?"
"You were strong enough that you could defeat Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators easily," she explained. "But a true Golden Core expert would still overwhelm you. But now…"
She paused and eyes studied him carefully.
"Now… you might be able to fight a First Stage Golden Core cultivator," she said slowly. "Possibly even defeat one, if they were careless."
Li Yuan blinked. "Really?" Like… he knew he was strong. But to think that he's already reached such a level of strength while still being a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator.
Zi Mo nodded.
"You have access to so many terrifying techniques that fighting you is a nightmare. And your sword intent is even more scary. Even I might get injured should I take such an attack head on," she said. "Not to mention the Special Physique benefits you gained from our dual cultivation has improved your physique to that of a Mid to Late Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator."
Then, her expression hardened slightly. "But this doesn't mean you're truly ready to challenge Golden Core Cultivators. Everyone who reaches that level of power does so after surviving countless life and death encounters and has decades of battle experience." She warned. "Not to mention the countless defensive and offensive artefacts in their body that even your sword intent would struggle to break."
Li Yuan nodded as he had no desire to face Golden Core cultivators either. "I understand," he said.
He then removed his damaged robe and tossed it aside before pulling a fresh robe from his storage ring. As he was about to wear it, he noticed Zi Mo watching his body intently.
Li Yuan smirked faintly. "See something you like?"
Zi Mo nodded. "To heal your body so completely in such a short time. Your healing technique is not normal either."
He rolled his eyes at her words. "You keep praising my skill and abilities but you defeated me so easily back there. You didn't even take me seriously."
Zi Mo raised an eyebrow. "Are you really comparing yourself to me right now?"
He nodded. "Didn't you say that my strength is akin to a 1st Stage Golden core cultivator? And you're in the same realm, so shouldn't I pose at least some challenge to you?"
Zi Mo chuckled faintly. "I keep forgetting how young you are."
His eyes twitched at those words. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Maybe some rare genius might be able to defeat a 9th Stage Qi Condensation while being at the 1st Stage of Qi Condensation Realm himself." She said. "But I've never heard of a Foundation Establishment cultivator accomplishing the same. And to even think that a 1st Stage Golden core could pose a challenge to a 9th Stage Golden Core cultivator would be considered utter madness."
"Why?" He asked. "I mean, I've always known that the gap between the realm increases the further you advance in cultivation. But is the gap really that vast?"
"It is." Zi Mo replied immediately. "At Qi Condensation realm, each minor realm increases strength, speed, vitality, Qi reserves and such by roughly ten percent."
Li Yuan rubbed his chin and nodded. "That sounds about right."
And while 10% might not seem like much, just imagine fighting someone who's 10% taller than you. That's the difference between a man at 5'5'', fighting another man standing at 6'1''. Provided both men of those heights are similarly skilled, there's no way the 5'5'' guy would ever win.
Of course, it's not a perfect comparison but it's close enough to show what a 10% difference could mean. And from what he knew, the difference in strength doesn't improve linearly but instead compounds over each minor realm.
"What about those at higher realms?" He asked.
"Well, for a star, when someone at 10th stage of Qi Condensation breaks through to Foundation Establishment, their abilities in all vectors doubles immediately. Strength, speed, vitality, Qi reserves… and all that." She said. "Not only that, but their Qi also compresses and gains a denser form, which naturally suppresses the Qi of lower level cultivators. This is why fighting across levels is considered a nigh impossible feat except for rare geniuses."
"I see…" he said, finally gaining a better understanding of his own situation.
"Once you enter Foundation Establishment, each minor realm gives around a twenty percent increase." She said. "And when you cross from Peak Foundation Establishment into Golden Core, your strength increases roughly threefold."
Li Yuan whistled softly. "Damn! And you're telling me that this kind of thing continues to happen across higher realms?"
Zi Mo nodded. "Not at such a great pace, but yes. The higher the realm, the more dramatic the difference becomes. Of course, at such realms, the cultivators had lived for centuries. So, the skills they have, as well as the artefacts they possess play an equally important part in the battle. Not to mention other things like Special Physiques."
She glanced at him again. "Which is why what happened to us last night is something I still have trouble believing."
Li Yuan smiled faintly. "Yeah. I suppose no one expects to jump from 4th Stage to 9th Stage of Golden Core in a single night."
"Yes." Zi Mo said with a disbelieving chuckle. "Before this, crossing so many minor realms might've taken me an entire century. Maybe longer. And unless I found some special treasure, reaching Nascent Soul would've been… incredibly difficult. No, it would've been outright impossible."
"I see." He said and Zi Mo surprised him as she moved forward and pulled him into a gentle embrace.
"Of course, if that was all there was to it, it would've already been pretty miraculous. But there's more." She said.
"Your Special Physique." He said, knowing that it had changed as well. Though he didn't know the details.
"Indeed. My Stellar Yin Physique has now evolved." Zi Mo said as she looked him in the eyes tenderly, "Before, it only gave me a faint connection with the stars, allowing me to study them for divination. Now, that connection has deepened, and would allow me to make far precise divinations regarding people and events."
"That sounds pretty impressive." He said. Being a user of a similar, if higher level cheat, he knew well enough of just how bullshit such an ability could be.
"That's not all," Zi Mo said. Suddenly, the world plunged into a paradoxical twilight—both dark and blindingly bright. Confused, he looked up to find the day had vanished into an instant night. The sun and moon had vanished, leaving only the stars behind. And the stars themselves burned with a hundred times its usual brightness.
"This…" He trailed off, the words dying in his throat. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
"With my Stellar Yin Physique evolving, the stars are no longer just for divination," she revealed, eyes reflecting the silver glow. "I can use them for Cultivation and draw energy from them during combat. At nighttime, the energy would be enough to give me nigh-infinite Qi."
He blinked, stunned. He'd spent so long thinking his Lakeheart Gu, and the limitless reserves it promised, was a once-in-a-lifetime trump card. Now, here stood someone with an ability just as broken.
"Because of all this, I'm far stronger than before." Zi Mo said proudly. "Far stronger than an ordinary 9th Stage Golden Core cultivator."
"How strong are we talking about?" Li Yuan asked curiously.
Zi Mo hesitated slightly, then spoke up. "If it's night time, I could probably hold my own against a First Stage Nascent Soul cultivator."
Li Yuan paused at those words. After all, according to his calculations, a Nascent Soul Realm expert should be 4 times greater than a Peak stage Golden Core expert in every aspect. At that level of power difference, the mere pressure of their Qi was enough to end a fight before it began.
"Are you serious?" He asked.
"I'll only be able to fight them for a while," she said quickly. "But yes."
Li Yuan stared at her for a moment before laughing softly. "Well… that's very impressive. Doesn't this mean that you're now the second strongest person in the Snow Peak?"
Zi Mo quickly shook her head. "You're forgetting that all the disciples taken by my Master have special Yin physiques of their own. And some of them are almost a century older than me, with two having reached the Peak of Golden Core Realm. So, no, that's probably not the case."
"Damn. Your Snow Peak is bullshit." He said, and Zi Mo chuckled.
"That it is." She said before her expression suddenly turned serious. "The entire Snow Peak has grown rapidly under Teacher Wu Yuechan's leadership. But she has also ordered us to lay low and focus on our own growth, lest one of us make the same mistake as her and draw the attention of unsavoury individuals. For that reason, you should understand why I would need to hide my strength when we return to the sect."
"I do." Li Yuan said with a nod. After all, he would've done the same were he in her position. "Well… what now? Should we head back?"
Zi Mo raised an eyebrow. "You really think I dragged you all the way out here just for the spar?"
Li Yuan blinked. "…No?"
Zi Mo offered a faint, knowing smile. Then, with a slow tug, she undid the sash at her waist, letting her robes pool around her feet in a soft heap of silk. She stood naked before him, the light catching every curve of her bared form.
Moving with a predator's grace, she turned and leaned against a nearby tree, arching her back to present her ass to him, spreading her cheeks to reveal her pink pussy and puckered asshole. "Well?" she asked, her voice a low, amused purr. "What are you waiting for, husband? Come and claim your right."
Li Yuan stared, his throat suddenly dry. He rubbed the back of his neck, a helpless smirk tugging at his lips. "Well," he muttered. "I suppose the clan's affairs can wait a little longer."
—————
Li Yuan sat in the cool shade of a pavilion, overlooking the Li clan's main courtyard. From his vantage point, the awakening ground was a literal sea of humanity that seemed to swallow the stone floor.
It was crowded—staggeringly so. He had never seen the estate like this.
Mortals stood in endless rows, spilling out past the iron gates and into the distance. Nervous fathers paced in tight circles while mothers clutched their children, whispering frantic prayers into the wind. In the center of it line, the prepubescent teens stood frozen, their wide eyes darting around as they waited for the moment that would change their lives.
The line seemed endless.
Never in the Li clan's history had this many people come for the Meridian Awakening Ceremony.
Part of that was due to the clan's sudden expansion. After absorbing nearly two-thirds of the Qin family's territory, the Li clan's lands had almost doubled in size. Dozens of towns and hundreds of villages had now fallen under their authority, bringing with them a massive increase in mortal population.
But that wasn't the primary reason for this crowd. The real reason was far simpler. Money. Up until last year, the Li clan had charged one gold coin to awaken a mortal child's meridians.
For a cultivator, such an amount was practically meaningless. For a mortal family, however, it could represent several years of savings.
The justification for the gold coin fee was simple: time and Qi. Cultivators had to travel between remote villages and spend their own energy to awaken children, resources they would rather spend on their own advancement.
The clan needed to compensate them for the trouble, but rather than paying out of their own coffers, they simply passed the cost directly to the mortals.
It might seem like a malicious practice. But Li Yuan knew that the Li clan was far from unique in this practice. In fact, from what he'd seen from his memories, this was the norm everywhere.
Nearly every cultivation family he had encountered did the same. In fact, some were far worse, charging dozens of gold coins, so that only the wealthiest of mortals may get the chance to check whether their children would get to walk the path of cultivation or not.
The only exception was imperial territory like Redleaf City, where the cost dropped to a mere dozen or so silver coins.
But that system was limited to those already living in imperial hubs. For mortals in distant villages, the journey alone was a death sentence. Between bandits, rogue cultivators, and spirit beasts, the roads were too lethal to traverse. Even under the Empire's rule, only a fraction of mortal children ever awakened their meridians.
Historically, the Li clan awakened less than a thousand children a year. And most of those had indirect ties to the family. Now, Li Yuan's gaze swept over lines that snaked far beyond the estate gates, encompassing tens of thousands of children.
And the main Li clan estate wasn't even the only place performing the ceremony. Several nearby towns were conducting the same event simultaneously. All because of one decision.
A decision made by him.
Li Yuan leaned back, watching the slow procession toward the awakening platforms. When he had first proposed this to Clan Head Li Tian, his uncle had been hesitant. The loss of immediate income was manageable, but the long-term risks were high.
Not every child they awakened would swear fealty to them; some would remain independent or might even become rogue cultivators, draining resources and heightening competition within the clan's own borders.
Essentially, the Li clan could be funding its own future competition and hidden dangers. Yet Li Tian had eventually folded, primarily because Li Yuan's contributions to the clan made his requests impossible to refuse.
Even so, Li Yuan felt a flicker of doubt; he wasn't entirely sure this wouldn't come back to haunt him. He could only hope this gamble would strengthen the clan, and finally give the mortals under the Li family's rule a chance at rising higher in life.
After all, from what he'd seen in Zi Mo's Special Physique, the concept of Fortune and destiny truly existed in this world and wasn't a unique concept to him. With that in mind, was it so hard to believe that Karma could exist as well? And if it did, wouldn't it be for the best for his clan to accumulate as much good karma as possible?
Now all he had to do was make sure the future Li clan members didn't turn into the arrogant young masters that seemed to plague every cultivation world.
That… might be harder. Because as Li clan grows in strength and size, such malignant tumours were bound to emerge.
…he decided to talk with his uncle after this ceremony. Maybe creating laws to severely punish bullying or infighting in the clan could stymie such existences for a while. He would also ask his grandfather to watch from the shadows and ensure such a situation doesn't occur in their clan.
He would have to think more about this later.
Then, a loud voice suddenly echoed across the courtyard. The clan crier had stepped forward onto the main platform and started giving his speech.
"In his great magnanimity," the man shouted proudly, his voice amplified by qi, "Young Lord Li Yuan has removed all fees from the Meridian Awakening Ceremony! From this day forward, all mortals within Li clan territory may awaken their meridians without paying a single coin!"
For a moment, the crowd was silent. Then the courtyard exploded with cheers as their hopes and dreams were finally made true.
Parents bowed repeatedly toward the clan elders. Some even dropped to their knees in gratitude. Children looked around in confusion as their families celebrated like they had just won a great battle.
Unknown to Li Yuan or anyone else, as tens of thousands of people thanked him in their hearts, a strange energy begin to coalesce in the air and enter his body. While this energy emanating from only those people was still too thin to be noticeable or show any impact, that may change in the future.
Li Yuan watched quietly as the ceremony officially began. And what followed was a long and exhausting affair.
Every Foundation Establishment cultivator, as well as every late and Peak stage Qi Condensation expert in the Li clan had been mobilised for this task.
Dozens of awakening platforms had been erected across the courtyard, each glowing faintly as cultivators channeled their qi into the bodies of waiting children.
The process repeated endlessly as one child after another stepped forward. Most showing nothing while some revealed thin, fragile meridians barely capable of supporting cultivation. Only a few displayed slightly better talent.
Whenever such a child appeared, they were quietly escorted to a separate area where clan representatives would speak with their families, giving them a simple offer. Join the Li clan in exchange for cultivation resources.
Children accepted into the clan would receive half the cultivation resources of true Li family members until adulthood. Once they matured, they would marry into the clan and fully integrate into the family.
It was a compromise, one designed carefully by Li Yuan and Li Tian. It allowed the clan to absorb new talent while still prioritising the descendants of the Li bloodline.
Hours passed as the morning slowly turned into afternoon and then evening.
Li Yuan remained seated quietly, his gaze drifting from child to child. But unlike others, he wasn't observing their meridians. He was watching their halos.
Hundreds passed. Then thousands. Then tens of thousands. But none stood out. Not a single one displayed a halo that would mark them as someone extraordinary. Li Yuan leaned back slightly, disappointed as the number of children dwindled to a few dozen.
His eyes drifted upward toward the faint halo hovering above his own head. It was still a dull white, not having improved since the night he fucked Zi Mo so hard her Special Physique evolved.
Jokes aside, after learning of Zi Mo's evolved physique, he finally understood where his Immense Fortune went. And he didn't regret it in the least, even if it meant he won't be having any fortunate encounters until he returned to the sect and got to his usual shenanigans of stealing others' fortunes.
After all, having Zi Mo as a shield protecting both him and the Li clan was worth far more than a bit of lost fortune.
His gaze returned to the ceremony just as another child finished the awakening process. The boy's meridians were slightly thicker than average but nothing extraordinary. But still good enough for the child and his family to be escorted aside for the offer.
Li Yuan watched quietly. Then… a sudden surge of qi erupted from deep within the clan estate. The entire courtyard fell silent and several heads turned.
Moments later, three figures stormed out of the inner compound. These were the Bai clan representatives. The three Foundation Establishment cultivators who had come to his grandfather's 'funeral'.
Their expressions were dark with anger as they strode across the courtyard without acknowledging anyone, their robes snapping in the wind as they mounted their spirit beast horses and rode off.
Li Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at their halos. Then a faint smile appeared on his lips. So they had failed. It seems his uncle has grown a spine and has finally become more reliable, not needing him to handle such matters anymore.
Good. With his uncle acting so decisively, he won't have to worry about he clan's future for when he returns back to the sect. A day that was now closer than ever before.