Chapter 721 - 803
For the next month, the sect remained peaceful. There were no ruins to explore, no evil paths to eradicate, and certainly no life-and-death bets to complete.
Long Xiaoyao seemed to have disappeared, with no plots targeting Chen Mo occurring within the sect, and Zhou Yang didn’t come to cause trouble either.
In short, staying within the Shenxiao Sect, as long as you weren’t worried about cultivation resources, safety was not a concern. Even within the confines of sect rules, one could gain relative freedom.
Chen Mo’s daily life consisted of brewing wine, flirting with his senior sister, and at night discussing the meaning of life with Yu Qianyi and Ruoqing.
However, this month, Chen Mo did not see Nangong Yue.
According to Nangong Xue, Nangong Yue had already started her seclusion, hoping to gain some achievements.
This left Chen Mo a bit surprised because he hadn’t heard from Nangong Yue. If she had mentioned it, Chen Mo would have shared some Immortal Drunk brewed with Spirit Marrow Liquid, which would have been beneficial for her secluded cultivation.
Half a month later, Zhao Fujin had some insights on Daoist Techniques and needed to engage in a period of seclusion.
...
The candlelight inside flickered gently.
The clean and tidy wooden floor vibrated slightly.
Only when the thin blanket slipped off did the floor regain its calm.
Chen Mo tugged at the thin blanket, covering the two women.
The two women looked as though they had soaked in a hot spring, with skin flushed as if scalded by hot water, a delicate blush on their faces as they nestled against Chen Mo’s chest.
The two women had just taken a sip of Immortal Drunk brewed from Spirit Marrow Liquid, and Chen Mo used Phoenix Qi, through dual cultivation, to transfer the energy of the Immortal Drunk to both women and himself.
Immortal Drunk was brewed from various treasure medicines and Spirit Marrow Liquid, using the liquid essence of heaven and earth. Even if dispersed, its energy was immensely beneficial to the two women.
Lately, Chen Mo had been using Immortal Drunk and dual cultivation with the two women.
In this way, not only was the body and mind joyous, but even cultivation was not delayed. With the help of Phoenix Qi, progress was much faster than secluded cultivation.
Truly, it could be said to advance by leaps and bounds.
Zhao Qianyi, leaning against Chen Mo’s shoulder, whispered, "Don’t you ever tire of this?"
During this period, they hadn’t heard him say it was tiring each night.
Chen Mo pinched Zhao Qianyi’s cheek, "With wives as beautiful as you two, looking isn’t enough, how could I ever tire?
The night is still young, and there’s still some Immortal Drunk left. Each of you take another sip and strive for an early breakthrough."
Chen Mo took out the wine jar containing the Immortal Drunk, gave each woman a sip, told them not to swallow, then took a sip himself, kissed Qianyi’s sweet lips, and rolled over to press upon her, spurring the Phoenix Qi to begin a new round of dual cultivation.
After half a quarter of an hour, he switched to Jiang Ruoqing.
Finally, both women together.
Not until all three were somewhat exhausted did they fall into a deep sleep.
And in the third-floor room, after watching the live show, Zuoqiu Yiren crossed her legs, her breathing a bit strange, but after a moment, she calmed down slightly, lay flat on the bed, and gave a long sigh.
Her jade hands felt a bit sticky...
It wasn’t her first time doing this.
Since that night of secretly watching, she seemed to have become enchanted, addicted, mentally stressing that she shouldn’t continue, yet the next day, she still secretly watched again.
Especially in this past month, after secretly observing, she started to have spring dreams at night, with Chen Mo as the object, which made her feel incredibly embarrassed.
This resulted in a strange feeling within her heart when facing Chen Mo during the day, and her eyes no longer looked at him purely as an elder to a disciple, but carried some complex emotions.
For instance, when she asked Chen Mo to brew wine, and he asked if he could take a day off and brew the next day.
In the past, Zuoqiu Yiren would have certainly disagreed.
But now, after a moment of hesitation, Zuoqiu Yiren agreed, becoming more patient.
"No, no, I must go into seclusion to calm myself; otherwise, I’ll go crazy."
Zuoqiu Yiren decided to start seclusion the next day, to come out once her mind was free of chaotic thoughts.
So the next day, when Chen Mo wanted to brew wine for Zuoqiu Yiren, and went to ask her for brewing materials, she transmitted that she would be in seclusion for a while.
Chen Mo was taken aback, feeling relieved inside that without the need to brew wine, each day would be easier.
This led to spending more than half of the twelve daily hours, excluding eating and resting, in dual cultivation with Zhao Qianyi and Jiang Ruoqing.
While this helped Chen Mo relatively less, its benefits for the two women were palpable.
...
Another month passed.
The sect announced the time for the grand assessment competition, set for a month from now.
Any disciples who had broken through to the Golden Core Realm and were under a hundred could sign up now.
As for the rules of this competition, they haven’t been released, but some information leaked, indicating that this competition would be more dangerous than any previous ones, reminding all participating disciples to consider carefully, as once registered, there’s no backing out.
When the news spread, all disciples were abuzz.
They weren’t intimidated; rather, they had been awaiting news of the assessment competition for a long time, given there were only eight months left until the Daoist Alliance’s assessment. If the sect’s competition didn’t begin, it would be too late.
After all, during Spiritual Power Infusion, some would definitely break through, and the breakthrough for those in the Golden Core Realm takes at least a few months. If the assessment competition were delayed, a seclusive breakthrough would mean missing the Daoist Alliance’s assessment, pushing it to the next opportunity.
Regarding the revealed dangers, most disciples didn’t care.
Each time there was an assessment competition, the sect would mention dangers, but few took it seriously because not many died.
In a group of a thousand participants, less than ten would die.
The ratio wasn’t significant.
This gave rise to a sort of lucky mentality among the disciples, thinking it wouldn’t happen to them.
After all, in the Primordial Heaven, even doing nothing, many still perished.
Unless adversity personally strikes, no one truly cares.
In the sect, almost all disciples reaching the Golden Core Realm and below a hundred years old signed up.
After tallying, there were over eight thousand participants.
...
Carefree Peak.
"Brother Long, it’s been reported. Someone saw Chen Mo come out from Merak Peak to sign up for the assessment competition; it seems he’s broken through to the Golden Core Realm."
After Chen Mo signed up, a disciple immediately informed Long Xiaoyao.
"Noted." Long Xiaoyao dismissed the reporting disciple, then produced a piece of talisman paper out of thin air, writing a few words on it with True Qi, murmuring to himself. A moment later, the talisman paper in his hand burned and vanished completely.
At the same time, a line of words appeared out of nowhere in front of an Inner Sect Disciple.