At night, on the train.
Mo Chuan lay on his back in the soft sleeper. Although his pent-up emotions had been vented, he still found it difficult to sleep.
Under the moonlight, Mo Chuan silently examined the back of his hand.
The system's long-absent voice echoed in his ears:
"Congratulations to the Host for completing the achievement: Dragon God's Blessing. Combined with this experience, two purple gift packs are awarded to the Host."
If you say that, I won't be sleepy anymore.
Mo Chuan sat up abruptly and thought to himself, "Open the two purple gift packs."
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining Thresh skins [Dragon God: Steel Dragon] and [Soul Blossom]."
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining [Ludens' Echo] fragments *1 (2/5 collected, equipment can be synthesized after completion)."
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the equipment [Winged Moonblade]. It is detected that the Host possesses [Banshee's Veil] and [Ruby Crystal]. An additional 800 gold coins can be spent to synthesize [Force of Nature]."
"Ding! Congratulations to the Host for obtaining one random hero skill."
"Damn..." Mo Chuan thought, his system daddy was truly his true love.
"Synthesize [Force of Nature], use random hero skill."
"Ding! Synthesis successful!"
"Ding! Host obtains new skill: [Soul Rend], Passive: Grants 4% magic penetration. Active: Pulls enemies towards your direction and deals magic damage."
"Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!——————"
"Destiny! Domination! Deception! My dear big boss Mordekaiser! System, you are my real dad! I must kowtow to you today!"
...
Two days later, Long Jing.
After arriving in Long Jing, Mo Chuan bid farewell to Tao Tu and Hui Yang, and then found a way to contact Cha Zhu. He hoped Cha Zhu could take him to see Mo Fei. With the permission of the Myriad Sword Sect Master, the two met and headed towards Yan Mountain together.
A few tens of minutes later, halfway up the mountain.
Mo Chuan carried a large bag filled with Mo Fei's favorite snacks like potato chips, Pocky, and forgotten little steamed buns.
He held a Pocky stick in his mouth. Speaking of which... influenced by that little girl, he had started to enjoy snacks too.
Mo Chuan shook his head, putting aside such idle thoughts. He turned to Cha Zhu and asked, "Senior, how much longer do we need to rest?"
Cha Zhu was reclining on the long bench in a pavilion by the mountain road, sipping wine. He glanced at Mo Chuan and couldn't help but marvel. He had deliberately chosen a longer route up the mountain to assess the physique of his future disciple. A normal Rank 4 ability user would be exhausted and gasping for air in the pavilion by now. Yet, this young man hadn't even broken a sweat, merely a little faint perspiration.
Cha Zhu shook his head, muttering "monster" to himself, then stood up from the bench with a "carp leap" and said to Mo Chuan, "Since you're rested, let's go."
With that, the two began their ascent towards the summit of Yan Mountain.
Walking on the mountain path, Mo Chuan felt the slightly cool mountain breeze and frowned, contemplating whether to get an extra quilt for Mo Fei.
"Mo Chuan," Cha Zhu said, interrupting Mo Chuan's thoughts. "Ahead is the Myriad Sword Sect's protective formation, the Green Pine Myriad Phenomena Array. Stay close to me, don't speak, don't look back, and focus on walking."
Mo Chuan nodded at this, lowering his head and following Cha Zhu into the vast pine forest.
In the pine forest, each tree stood solemn and majestic, with upright and proud spirits. Walking among them, one could truly feel a clear and refreshing aura.
Although Mo Chuan was very curious about the place, he knew that meeting Mo Fei was the most important thing, so he continued to walk with his head down.
However, suddenly, a fierce wind blew, rustling the pine needles and blocking Mo Chuan's path. By the time Mo Chuan emerged from the sea of pine smoke and needles, Cha Zhu's figure had long since vanished.
Mo Chuan did not call out for help. Instead, influenced by his recent encounters with the Yama Hall, he instinctively became alert and activated [Hellish Curse].
Hoo—
A gentle breeze blew, stirring the scattered pine needles on the ground and brushing against Mo Chuan's slightly fluttering robes.
"Zing!!—"
A sword cry sounded, and a long sword shot towards Mo Chuan's chest like lightning. Mo Chuan frowned, then swung his grappling hook to collide with the flying sword.
With a crisp sound of metal clashing, Mo Chuan raised his right hand, retracting the grappling hook, his eyes fixed on the slightly old flying sword.
But the flying sword did not fall. Instead, it spun in the air and flew towards a tall pine tree.
Mo Chuan focused his gaze and saw a handsome man, disheveled and with messy hair, lying on a slender branch. Beside him was a wooden box larger than himself. The man patted the wooden box, and the flying sword turned into a stream of light and disappeared into it.
The man took out his wine flask from his waist and took several gulps. He raised his hand, wiped his mouth, and then flipped himself over to get down from the tree.
However...
"Ouch!"
The man, perhaps due to drinking too much, fell face-first onto the ground with a thud. Facing such an embarrassing situation, this fellow was quite carefree. He stood up on his own, patted his clothes, and then leaned against the wooden box, taking a few more gulps of wine.
"Hic! Trespassing into the Myriad Sword Sect formation, lay down your arms and state your intentions, hic, otherwise I'll have you arrested and handed over to the Yan Mountain Public Security Bureau."
"Uh... Big Brother, this is a misunderstanding... I'm following a senior to visit my sister. Just now, while walking in the formation, a gust of ominous wind separated me and my senior. If Big Brother can escort me into the Myriad Sword Sect, I'll be able to find my senior and my sister."
The man opposite frowned, looked Mo Chuan up and down, and asked, "Are you a ghost cultivator?"
"Yes..."
"Then you're lying!" the man said confidently. "I've lived in the sect for several months, and none of the sisters' or cousins' families are ghost cultivators! Since you're a ghost cultivator, your senior must be one too! Our Sect Master doesn't associate with ghost cultivators!"
Mo Chuan's expression turned cold upon hearing this. Although the other party clearly lacked intelligence, the inherent discrimination still angered Mo Chuan.
"What! Did I get it right! Embarrassed and angered? Hahaha! My master was right, I really am the smartest on our mountain! Hahaha—"
But the man's laughter quickly ceased. He realized Mo Chuan was looking at him with a different kind of gaze—was this pity (everyone is responsible for caring for mentally challenged children)?
"Bastard! Don't look at me like that!" The man seemed to have suffered a thousand points of mental damage. Without another word, he patted the wooden box several times, summoning several flying swords, and then flicked his wrist, directing all the swords to stab at Mo Chuan.
Mo Chuan keenly felt that these flying swords were imbued with spiritual energy, so he didn't try to block them head-on. Instead, he focused on evasion, using his grappling hook and lantern to defend.
The two engaged in an offensive and defensive battle, with neither gaining a clear advantage. Although the opponent clearly possessed Rank 6 strength, he still couldn't get the upper hand against Mo Chuan.
"Ah!!—Stop looking at me like that! I hate you right now!" Although the man's words and actions were highly self-aggrandizing, he was not hesitant in combat. He controlled six flying swords simultaneously, each attacking Mo Chuan's blind spots.
"Rebellious disciple! Stop!"