20: Chapter 20 The Taste of Braised Pork, and the "New Book" on the Back of My Hand
In the early morning at the Heavenly River Sword Sect, the long-awaited sunlight finally dispelled the gloom of many days.
The catastrophe that nearly wiped out the Sect last night had vanished into thin air under the thunderous methods of a "mysterious expert."
The entire Sect was decorated with lanterns and streamers, filled with a festive atmosphere.
All the Disciples were praising the Divine Might of Grand Elder Dugu Yun—it was said that the Elder's sword light chilled nineteen provinces, slaying the Old Ancestor of the Blood River from a distance and turning the tide at the last moment.
At this moment, the legendary "great hero," Dugu Yun, was slumped unceremoniously in a chair on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
He watched the Servant in front of him gorging himself, his beard trembling with rage.
"You brat, you're certainly eating heartily."
Dugu Yun pointed at the mostly empty porcelain basin in front of Li Mo, which had originally been filled with braised pork, bright red in color, fatty but not greasy.
"I was outside being surrounded by those Disciples singing hymns of praise until my face almost froze from smiling, yet here you are, hiding away and eating alone?"
Li Mo picked up the last quivering piece of braised pork, popped it into his mouth, and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.
"Elder, this is a necessary supplement after intense brain labor."
He said slowly, "Last night, in order to 'make a name' for you, I emptied out all my trump cards."
"Trump cards?"
Dugu Yun's gaze swept over the corner of the table, where the human skin book "Xiao Hei" was focused on gnawing a bone; his eyelid couldn't help but twitch.
"The things you have hidden away... if they were truly released, they would probably be even more terrifying than the Old Ancestor of the Blood River."
His tone shifted, his expression becoming solemn.
"However, this matter isn't that simple. Although the Old Ancestor of the Blood River is dead, the power behind him... the Great Zhou Dynasty, will definitely not let this go."
"Especially that State Preceptor Sima Changfeng; this man is incredibly petty and vengeful, and he is proficient in the art of deduction. He is extremely difficult to deal with."
Upon hearing this, Li Mo put down his chopsticks.
He nonchalantly pulled down his sleeve, covering the back of his left hand.
There, a dark red skull mark was burning hot, and a lingering, greasy sensation of being spied upon persisted.
"Don't worry, Elder."
Li Mo picked up his teacup and took a sip to cut through the greasiness of the meat.
"Soldiers come to block, water comes to earth. The Great Zhou Dynasty is a hundred thousand miles from here; even if he wants revenge, he won't arrive in a day or two."
"You certainly are light-hearted."
Dugu Yun sighed and stood up to leave.
"I will be presiding over the reconstruction of the Mountain Protection Grand Array for the next few days, and I'll shield you from the storms outside while I'm at it. You... take care of yourself. If there's ever a day you truly can't hold out, remember to tell me. Don't try to endure it alone."
Watching the old man's slightly hunched yet still upright back disappear down the stairs, the smile in Li Mo's eyes slowly faded.
Can't hold out?
Li Mo whispered to himself, then raised his left hand to examine the hideous, blood-colored skull mark.
This thing was not just a locator; it was a curse that devoured the vitality within his body every second.
If it were a normal Cultivator, their entire body would rot and they would die within three days.
But with Li Mo's Longevity Body, this rate of consumption was no different from a mosquito bite—painless and insignificant.
However, this thing was too conspicuous, and it made him extremely annoyed.
"It has always been me spying on others; no one has ever dared to plant a locator on me so brazenly."
Li Mo snorted coldly and placed his palm flat on the table.
"System, activate [Deep Analysis] mode."
"Target: Back of left hand, Styx Blood Seal."
[Ding!]
[High-level spiritual link carrier detected.]
[Reverse tracking in progress... Link source: Great Zhou Dynasty State Preceptor's Manor.]
[Would you like to treat this mark as a 'book' for reading?]
"Yes."
A trace of a crazed smile curved at the corners of Li Mo's mouth.
Since you sent your Divine Sense projection to my doorstep, don't blame me for 'reading' you like a book!
Buzz—!
The command was issued.
Li Mo's pupils turned into a bottomless, pure black.
In his vision, the skull mark on the back of his hand came to life, exploding into hundreds of millions of fine blood-colored threads that pierced through the Void Realm, all pointing toward the distant East.
Li Mo's Divine Sense followed these threads, flowing upstream.
Boom!
Images flashed frantically in his mind.
A towering Star-Observing Tower, a floor covered in shattered astrolabes, and a white-haired old man sitting cross-legged with hair draped over his shoulders—Sima Changfeng.
At this moment, Sima Changfeng was closing his eyes to heal; clearly, that cross-void strike from before had caused a significant backlash.
"Found you."
Li Mo sneered in his heart.
[Reading target's Divine Sense projection...]
[Reading progress: 10%... 20%...]
[Extracting information fragments: "State Preceptor's Manor Defense Map (Incomplete)", "One Hundred Hypotheses on Stealing the Heavenly River Sword Sect's Dragon Vein", "Sima Changfeng's Weakness: Every full moon night, his Cultivation Technique reverses, requiring the blood of a virgin boy to suppress it"...]
Streams of top-secret information flooded into Li Mo's mind like a tide.
What kind of curse mark was this?
This was clearly an intelligence gift pack personally delivered by Sima Changfeng!
Just as Li Mo was reading with great interest, the distant Sima Changfeng suddenly opened his eyes, his sinister gaze exploding with shock and suspicion.
"Who?! Who is spying on this seat?!"
He sensed that the mark he had left on the mysterious person was not only failing to devour the opponent's vitality, but was instead acting like an open valve, frantically leaking his own Divine Soul information!
"Junior, how dare you!"
Sima Changfeng roared, his hands forming seals as he prepared to forcibly cut the Divine Sense link.
"Want to run? Too late."
Inside the Scripture Pavilion, a cold light flashed in Li Mo's eyes.
Since the connection is established, how could I not leave a "souvenir"?
"Xiao Hei, let me borrow your 'Abyssal Gaze.'"
Li Mo clenched his left hand suddenly, firmly grasping the skull mark that was attempting to dissipate.
At the same time, the human skin book "Xiao Hei" in his arms understood his intent, opening its large mouth to spit out a surge of the purest, most chaotic Abyssal mental pollution.
Li Mo grabbed this pollution and "pushed" it back through that Divine Sense thread with all his might!
"A return gift, don't mention it!"
...
Great Zhou Dynasty, Star-Plucking Tower.
"Ah—!!"
A shrill scream that didn't sound human echoed through the clouds.
Sima Changfeng, who was in the middle of casting a spell, suddenly clutched his head and tumbled straight off the astrolabe.
Pitch-black blood gushed from his seven orifices.
His mind was now filled with countless indescribable whispers, screams, and... a demonic looping scene of "The Overbearing Prince Fell in Love with Me," with every word shattering his sanity.
"What is this... what the hell is this thing?!"
Sima Changfeng's hair was disheveled, and he looked like a madman.
The mental pollution from the Abyss was directly striking his Dao Heart, causing his rock-solid Nascent Soul cultivation to actually manifest terrifying, spiderweb-like cracks!
Pfft!
Another mouthful of black blood sprayed out, and Sima Changfeng's eyes rolled back as he fainted dead away.
...
Heavenly River Sword Sect, Scripture Pavilion.
Li Mo looked at the completely dissipated mark on the back of his hand and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
[Ding!]
[Completed a "mental counterattack" across ten thousand miles.]
[Obtained special achievement: Long-distance Slap.]
[Extracted special entry: Divine Sense Hacker (Gold)]
[Entry Effect: When any existence attempts to link to you through Karma, Divine Sense, or curses, you can reverse-invade the opponent's Sea of Consciousness, read their memories, or even implant false information.]
"A divine skill."
Li Mo looked at this new entry, smiling like a fox that had stolen a chicken.
In the future, if anyone dares to conduct remote surveillance on him, he would let them know what it means to "be able to come through the line to hit you."
"Li Mo, are you finished eating?"
Just then, Chu Linger's cold voice came from the top of the bookshelf.
She was holding the "Art of War," looking down at him. "If you're finished, start working. You promised to teach me how to open that 'dragon vein heavenly book.'"
Li Mo retracted his smile and looked up at this former little princess.
After fighting side-by-side last night, the hostility in this girl had dissipated quite a bit, replaced by a firmer conviction.
"What's the rush?"
Li Mo stood up and walked to the massive bookshelf, his fingers lightly brushing across the ancient texts.
"To open the dragon vein heavenly book, just reading isn't enough."
From the most inconspicuous corner of the bookshelf, he pulled out a dusty, nameless black notebook.
This was something he had discovered in a hidden layer of the Old Ancestor of the Blood River's storage ring while organizing the loot from the Overlord Blade Sect.
"We need to go dig a grave first."
Li Mo patted the dust off the notebook, his eyes flashing with the light of an explorer.
"Whose grave?" Chu Linger was stunned.
"The grave of the Heavenly River Sword Sect's Founding Ancestor."
Li Mo grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"According to the records in this notebook, our Founding Ancestor... was not only a Sword Cultivator, but also an old thief who stole your family's former dynasty's dragon vein to use as an array eye."
"The first volume of the dragon vein heavenly book is buried right under his coffin lid."
Chu Linger's eyes widened, and she was completely petrified.
Is this man... crazy?
That is his own Ancestor Master!
"Don't look at me like that."
Li Mo shrugged, his expression calm.
"Rule Three of the Path of Caution: For the sake of survival, even the Ancestor Master's coffin lid can be lifted."
"Besides, I'm helping him clean up the Sect. If he knows in the afterlife, he might even be grateful to me."
Outside the window, the winds were rising.
A grave-robbing operation involving "betraying the ancestors" was quietly brewing on this warm afternoon.