Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Li Family Dreaming of the Impossible
The guard frowned slightly and looked at her in confusion, having no idea why she had suddenly blurted out those five words.
He still maintained his defensive stance.
Guards were like that. If you treated them politely, they would be even more polite to you.
But if someone tried to throw their weight around— that was precisely the sort of thing they refused to tolerate.
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan frowned as well.
“You do not understand?”
“We are from the Li Family of the East District! We came to pick out two horses!”
The moment the guard saw the way she was speaking, his tone immediately turned cold.
“Military district warhorses are not sold to civilians. They can only be exchanged for with contribution points and merit points!”
Li Xiaohong was instantly enraged.
Not only did they have no intention of giving them horses, they would not even let them buy them with money?
“My younger brother has an S-Rank talent! Li Xiaohao! Have you never heard of the Li Family of the East District?”
The guard replied coldly,
“I have. The family that stole someone else’s S-Rank talent, right?”
Qin Zhanye was a martial fanatic and did not pay much attention to social news.
But these guards had lives of their own as well, and all of them knew about the Li Family.
Just earlier, when they had seen Qin Zhanye arrive and leave with Li Mu, they had even thought of that matter.
Li Xiaohong instantly exploded with rage.
The other side clearly knew who they were, yet he still dared speak to them like this!
He was obviously not taking the Li Family seriously at all!
What was going on?
Could it be that the Li Family’s influence had not yet reached into the military district?
This was utterly outrageous.
She angrily pointed at Li Mu’s departing back.
“If lowly trash like Li Mu can buy a horse here, why can we not!”
The guard let out a faint laugh.
“My apologies, but Li Mu’s horse was not bought either. It was gifted by the military district!”
“Why!” Even Li Lan could not hold back anymore and shouted the question.
“There is no need for me to explain that to you.”
“I will say this one last time. Step back!”
The guard spoke coldly again, and two other soldiers also approached.
The few soldiers glared together, murderous intent spilling from them.
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan, faces full of resentment, gritted their teeth and stepped back.
The guard turned around coldly and returned to his post, staring straight ahead.
Under normal circumstances, he would not have needed to say that much to them in the first place.
But those two idiots kept saying “the Li Family” every other sentence.
They had stolen Li Mu’s talent, and now they were still calling him lowly trash over and over again. It was infuriating.
That was why, in the end, he had deliberately said those extra few lines just to knock them down a peg.
After leaving the stables, both Li Xiaohong and Li Lan were grinding their teeth in hatred.
“Damn it, why exactly?”
“Even lowly trash like him can have a military district warhorse.”
“I only wanted a military district warhorse to show off my status. Why is that so hard?”
Li Xiaohong clenched her fists bitterly.
Li Lan, meanwhile, took out her phone.
“We have to tell Old Madam about this!”
“That is right, call her!”
When their report reached the Li Family, the family happened to be holding a family meeting.
Old Madam Ma was seated in the seat of honor.
The family was sorting through the recent business and political figures who had come to discuss cooperation with them.
However, there was one thing that left them dissatisfied.
Although many people had come, they were all small fry.
None of the true heavyweights had shown any intention of working with them.
With things as they stood now, it would be difficult for them to break open the situation quickly.
“Mother, judging from what Xiaolan just said, Li Mu seems to have a very good relationship with one of the officers in the Abyss-Suppressing Army.”
The eldest uncle set down the phone. He had just put it on speaker, so everyone had heard it.
“It is highly likely that it has something to do with Third Brother’s old connections.”
The second uncle nodded as well.
“Back then, Third Brother had quite a bit of prestige and was very close with the Abyss-Suppressing Army.”
“Maybe one of his old friends learned that Li Mu is Third Brother’s son.”
“So he has been giving him some special care!”
The second aunt let out a sneer.
“Hmph. Li Mu has been hopping around like a clown these past two days.”
“So after all that fuss, it turns out he is only relying on that little bit of connection.”
“He deliberately let Xiaohong and Xiaolan see him for no reason other than to attract our attention!”
“He is already dreaming of returning to the Li Family so soon.”
“But once our Xiaohao stands out in this First Abyss Battle—” “at that time, the spotlight on him will be many times greater than anything Li Mu could ever have.”
“As for Li Mu wanting to return to the family? He can keep dreaming!”
Everyone turned to look at the old matriarch, the head of the family.
After thinking for a moment, Old Madam Ma said, “At present, our commercial development is moving the fastest, but there does not seem to be much improvement on the political side.”
“Many people are still sitting on the fence, waiting to see how Xiaohao performs in this first battle in the Abyss.”
“If we can establish ties with officers in the military district,” “then we can tamper with a few things in this first battle and ensure that our Xiaohao takes the championship without fail.”
“If you ask me, we might as well bring Li Mu back first.”
“Even using him as a stepping stone would be useful.”
The moment Old Madam Ma finished speaking, the second aunt practically jumped up.
“Mother! That will not do!”
“When we drove him out, we made it absolutely clear!”
“I will not agree to letting him come back so cheaply!”
“Besides, our Xiaohao has an S-Rank talent! He does not need to cheat at all.”
“Once Xiaohao wins a ranking, military ties will naturally be opened up!”
“We do not need Li Mu at all!”
The second uncle quickly shot her a look. “Enough. Stop rambling about this. Listen to Mother!”
Naturally, he understood exactly what his wife was worried about.
The Li Family’s pie was getting bigger and bigger now.
If Li Mu and his mother came back, would they not have to take a slice as well?
Old Madam Ma sighed.
“That is enough. I know what you are worried about. Do not worry. We are only agreeing to let Li Mu return to the family temporarily.”
“But that does not mean we are restoring him to the family register!”
“He will have no chance to claim any share of the Li Family’s property.”
“Tell him that we will observe his performance for a year, and naturally he will work hard to prove himself.”
Old Madam Ma spoke with complete confidence.
As though Li Mu were nothing more than a lapdog who would come wagging his tail over at the slightest crumb of bread.
She never even considered the impossible possibility that Li Mu might refuse.
The second aunt folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “That is more like it…”
“Then it is settled. Call Xiaohong and Xiaolan and have the two of them go together.”
“Tell them not to be too harsh on Li Mu.”
“We would rather need that military connection right now.”
Old Madam Ma rose to her feet, not forgetting to remind everyone of that.
The Li Family all answered in unison.
Inside the Abyss, in the military training zone, Li Mu returned to Blackwater High School’s training area on horseback.
The students immediately exploded with excitement and crowded around Li Mu’s warhorse, marveling at it nonstop.
Some of the students who were concerned about Li Mu gathered around him even more directly.
Xiao Lingtong urgently asked, “Li Mu, why are you covered in dust? Are you alright?”
“That is right. The officer did not make things hard for you, did he?”
Faced with everyone’s concern, Li Mu shook his head.
The reason he had ridden back on horseback was precisely to reassure everyone. Not only had he not been punished, he had even received rewards.
That way, everyone’s impression of the Abyss-Suppressing Army would not decline.
This was the little task Qin Zhanye had assigned him.
The three new instructors Blackwater High School had received were all very responsible.
The content of the military training also alternated between practice and explanation.
It mainly covered the types of monsters students were likely to encounter in the First Abyss Battle, combat methods, physical conditioning, team assignments, live combat drills, and similar subjects.
The afternoon training ended very quickly.
To ensure the students’ safety, no students were kept overnight inside the Abyss.
They would come down again the next day.
So at around six o’clock, all the students gradually gathered by the Abyss elevators and began returning to the surface.
After that, everyone boarded skyrail trains back to their respective schools.
Once he got on the skyrail train back to school, Li Mu chose to sit cross-legged and meditate directly, so that the classmates around him would not surround him and pester him with endless questions.
When everyone saw that Li Mu had entered meditation, they found it awkward to disturb him, so they could only discuss his cloak and warhorse instead.
For most poor families, it was hard enough even to obtain a mortal-grade Black Iron weapon.
Even for moderately well-off families willing to spend heavily for the First Abyss Battle, the most they could do was upgrade to a high-grade weapon.
Li Mu, however, not only had a premium Spiritual Treasure, he even had a warhorse!
What they did not know was that Li Mu also had a premium weapon and two High-Grade Techniques.
Techniques were far more precious than weapons or Spiritual Treasures of the same tier.
After all, the various energy sources and resources gathered from the Abyss were all materials for making weapons and Spiritual Treasures.
But techniques had to be passed down.
Every single technique was a painstaking work born from a martial artist’s blood and sweat.
Li Mu took out the technique stone and clenched it in his hand, beginning to comprehend the first defensive technique, Dragon’s Final Resonance.
The technique comprehension was complete.
Li Mu inwardly marveled.
The No-Grade Celestial Immortal Art was truly terrifying. It could add fifty years of insight to every technique.
If it were inner cultivation or a high-level technique, it would not be strange if someone used it for fifty years.
But for a low-quality technique like the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock, most people would replace it after just a few years.
No one would ever keep using a foundational technique for fifty or sixty years!
And even if someone did, it would still be impossible for them to have the same level of comprehension as Li Mu’s Celestial Immortal Art granted him.
In other words, even if a martial artist practiced the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock for fifty years, he still might not be able to comprehend the Five Shocks of Flowing Cloud.
So when Li Mu used his Celestial Immortal Art to cultivate other techniques, it was, in effect, raising the tier of the techniques he learned.
Take Dragon’s Final Resonance, for example. It was actually an upgraded version of the mortal-grade technique Golden Bell Shield.
When the mortal-grade Golden Bell Shield was activated, the user could not move, and it had only a defensive effect.
But Dragon’s Final Resonance— through a shouted cry, it could rapidly mobilize True Qi and cast a shield.
It was extremely flexible.
Not only could the shield withstand damage, but if it was filled to the brim with a large amount of True Qi at the end, it could also explode!
When it shattered, the sound was as thunderous as a dragon’s cry, and the resulting energy explosion could send the opponent reeling back. It was a defensive technique that combined both offense and defense.
However, its advantage lay mainly in its functionality.
Strictly speaking, in terms of defensive power alone, it was not stronger than Golden Bell Shield, nor did it have as large a defensive range.
And when it finally exploded, it required an enormous amount of True Qi.
But after gaining fifty years of insight and understanding, Li Mu could make the shield absorb the damage it blocked.
He could use that external energy to fill it, then make it explode at the end.
That way, it would reduce the True Qi consumption by at least eighty percent, while the recoil force would become even greater than before.
Most importantly, Li Mu felt that he did not need to shout in order to mobilize his True Qi.
As long as he was in a combat state, with True Qi circulating through his entire body, he could cast it instantly.
That was the terrifying aspect of the Celestial Immortal Art!
After that, Li Mu took out the second High-Grade Technique, Iron-Cleaving Form, and began to comprehend it.