novelapdf Chapter 1102 Liu Mo
Chapter 1102 Liu Mo
In the dead of night, Chishui City was divided into two worlds. The wards where mortals lived were pitch black, with only a few tiny lights flickering behind the thin paper windows. Most people had already fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, the market town in the east of the city was brightly lit, and the shops on both sides of the street were always open to welcome customers. Handsome or beautiful young cultivators greeted the cultivators who entered the shops with gentle smiles. Male cultivators greeted female customers, and female cultivators greeted male customers.
They were all mediocre Qi Refining cultivators, practicing the most widely circulated basic techniques. They lacked the courage to hunt low-level demonic beasts and had nothing to offer except their appearance. They had no choice but to earn spirit stones in this way to sustain their cultivation.
But aside from being somewhat undignified, it's not a bad thing.
Those cultivators with ordinary appearances couldn't even find this kind of work, so they could only go to the spirit herb gardens of the three major families to accelerate the growth of low-grade spirit herbs in exchange for even less spirit stones.
Mortals envy cultivators for their mastery of various wondrous supernatural powers and spells, but they do not know how humble cultivators are in order to obtain even a little bit of cultivation resources, and how they are no different from mortals who are busy struggling for survival.
As the gentle young woman respectfully bid him farewell, Liu Mo walked out of the Qidan Pavilion. After a moment's thought, he took out a mid-grade spirit stone and rewarded the young woman.
The girl was overjoyed and bowed gracefully, thanking him repeatedly.
She has already reached the peak of Qi Refining and is working hard to accumulate spirit stones in order to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill. This mid-grade spirit stone will shorten the time it takes for her to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
For Qi Refining cultivators whose lifespan is short, each year or even each month of lifespan is crucial, determining whether they can cross this insurmountable barrier and become true immortals capable of flying and escaping into the earth.
Liu Mo sighed inwardly, turned around and walked out of Qidan Pavilion, slowly heading towards the outside of the market.
Looking at the girl's respectful appearance, he couldn't help but think of his past self, who was also so humble and cautious, willing to abandon his dignity for a few spirit stones, completely lacking the demeanor of a cultivator.
Even now that he has formed his Golden Core, he will never forget those agonizing years.
At that time, his cultivation level was much lower than that of the girl, only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and he concealed his identity as a cultivator from the Liu family.
With his handsome appearance, Liu Mo greeted and saw off customers at a shop selling talismans in the market. After all, a Foundation Establishment stage shop owner wouldn't stoop to do such a thing.
Only a large, well-funded shop like Qidan Pavilion would be so extravagant as to have a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining to entertain guests.
Although Liu Mo was a member of a remote branch of the Liu family, he never imagined that he would one day do such a humiliating thing.
He should have cultivated steadily until the late stage of Qi Refining, then hunted low-level demonic beasts to accumulate combat experience, and then attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment, venturing into the interface fragments in hopes of obtaining a glimmer of opportunity.
This is the fate of most of the branch cultivators of the three major families. They are slightly stronger than independent cultivators, but the families can only support them to cultivate up to the Foundation Establishment stage. If they want to cultivate to a higher level, they must risk their lives on their own.
Only those with three or more spiritual roots can gain the attention of their family.
However, the reason why the three spiritual roots are called "true spiritual roots" is because they are extremely rare.
Of the countless cultivators in the Spirit Realm, only about 10% possess true spiritual roots; the other 90% are pseudo-spiritual root cultivators with four or five spiritual roots.
The Liu family has existed for over five thousand years, and their bloodline is stronger. However, this only means that a higher proportion of their descendants possess spiritual roots, while fewer possess five spiritual roots. Most of them have four spiritual roots, and those with true spiritual roots or higher are extremely rare. Earth spiritual roots and heaven spiritual roots are even rarer.
Liu Mo's lineage has been blessed with four spiritual roots for generations, and they can only improve their cultivation through their own efforts.
His grandfather did it, his father did it, his brother did it, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will follow the same path.
But an accident still happened, or rather, it wasn't an accident at all.
My elder brother died while exploring a fragment of the interface. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, as exploring interface fragments is extremely risky.
Interface fragments are formed after an interface breaks. They may not contain treasures, but they will definitely present dangers, mostly various spatial turbulence and spatial rifts.
The most dangerous situation is the combination of spatial power and the inherent dangers within the interface, which can even endanger those at the Core Formation or Nascent Soul stages.
However, his elder brother did not die in a dangerous place. Instead, he got into a conflict with another Foundation Establishment cultivator while fighting for a treasure, and died at that person's hands, severely injuring the other person before he died.
Unfortunately, the Foundation Establishment cultivator who killed his brother was named Shang Hao, who came from the direct line of the Shang family and had a father who was in the mid-stage of Core Formation.
The death of his elder brother did not quell Shang Hao's anger. After leaving the interface fragment, Shang Hao began to cause trouble for Liu Mo's family.
Liu Mo's parents were only barely at the Foundation Establishment stage, and were no match for the Core Formation cultivators of the Shang family. They died mysteriously at the hands of demonic beasts and tribulation cultivators.
Liu Mo knew, of course, that this was the work of the merchants, but his cultivation was too weak to fight back, and the Liu family would not stand up for him.
At that time, the Liu family was not yet the number one family in Chishui City. The family head, Liu Tingfeng, had not yet advanced to the level of a Great Cultivator. The Liu family was still slightly inferior to the Shang family.
The three major families of Chishui City both fight and cooperate with each other.
Shang Hao did not take action personally; instead, his father stepped forward and used spirit stones to hire a friendly elder from the Liu family to deal with Liu Mo's family. Liu Mo had nowhere to turn for help.
He could only swallow his anger and dared not even leave Chishui City.
No matter how deep Shang Hao's hatred for his elder brother was, he dared not openly kill a cultivator from the Liu family in the city, even though Liu Mo was just a remote branch and his cultivation was only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.
However, Liu Mo still needed to improve his cultivation. With his four spiritual roots, simply absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was too slow. He could only hide his identity and come to the shops in the market to earn spirit stones.
Those were difficult years. Liu Mo did not step out of Chishui City for a full fifty years, until his cultivation level reached the peak of Qi Refining, until Shang Hao forgot about Liu Mo's existence.
In Shang Hao's eyes, Liu Mo had already hidden away in fear, his cultivation had stagnated, and he dared not seek revenge.
At this time, Shang Hao's cultivation had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment. With his father's help, he was preparing to break through to Core Formation. Of course, he wouldn't take a nobody like Liu Mo seriously.
But Liu Mo never forgot the hatred of killing his brother, father, and mother. The hatred had been buried in his heart for fifty years and had been fermenting for fifty years.
He quietly left Chishui City, and three hundred years passed before he returned as a cultivator in the early stage of Core Formation.
He followed the same path as his grandfather, father, and brother, exploring the fragments of the interface and searching for opportunities and treasures, only decades later.
Liu Mo experienced countless life-and-death trials, but he was luckier than his brother. He did not actually die, but instead had several opportunities and formed his golden core.
The first thing Liu Mo did upon returning to Chishui City was to seek revenge on Shang Hao. Three hundred years had passed, and Shang Hao's father had failed to achieve Nascent Soul formation and had already passed away.
Shang Hao did successfully form his core with his father's full support, but his cultivation level remained at the early stage of core formation, comparable to Liu Mo's.
But he had always cultivated under his father's protection; how could he compare to Liu Mo, who had fought his way through life and death?
In just three years, Liu Mo found an opportunity to follow Shang Hao into a fragment of an interface, personally killed him, extracted his soul, and tortured him a thousand times over in a demonic artifact that had been prepared beforehand.
Liu Mo still remembers Shang Hao's pleas for mercy. His voice was filled with pain; he wasn't begging Liu Mo to spare him, but rather to kill him. Of course, Liu Mo wouldn't do that; killing Shang Hao outright would be too lenient.
Fifty years of enduring humiliation and three hundred years of life-and-death trials, the torment and pain that Liu Mo endured were as heavy as a mountain, almost forming a demon in his heart. Shang Hao had to repay all of this.
Shang Hao endured three more years of torment before dying. On the night his soul dissipated, Liu Mo came to the cenotaphs of his parents and elder brother, stood silently all night, and left at dawn.
He can finally let go of his hatred and pursue his own path.
Five years ago, after a hundred years of arduous cultivation and several adventures exploring fragments of the interface, his cultivation level finally reached the mid-stage of Core Formation.
Three days ago, he returned from a small fragment of an interface, obtained several broken treasures, sold some spirit stones, and with his previous savings, he was finally able to buy a bottle of cultivation pills, which would greatly improve his cultivation level.
Liu Mo knew that his talent was mediocre, his cultivation technique was not top-notch, and his opportunities were not profound enough.
However, he was confident that his Dao heart was no less than anyone else's, and with more than 500 years of lifespan remaining, he might still have the opportunity to form a Nascent Soul.
……
Liu Mo walked out of the market, his escape light flashed, and he flew into the sky, returning to the Liu family's territory. He landed in front of the cave dwelling.
A middle-aged man stood at the entrance of the cave. Upon seeing Liu Mo, he quickly walked up and said urgently, "Where have you been, my brother? The patriarch summoned me. I have been waiting here for three hours. Please come with me to pay my respects to the patriarch."
Liu Mo was startled: "Brother Jin, do you know what has happened?"
The middle-aged man said, "How would I know? The patriarch gave the order very urgently, and knowing that my brother and I are the closest, he sent me to invite my brother to come."
"However, I heard that the patriarch reviewed your family genealogy today, and a man in white came to the clan as a guest. The patriarch treated him with great courtesy, which is probably related to this matter. Do you have any clues, my brother?"
Liu Mo frowned. His lineage was unremarkable. In the past thousand years, apart from him, a Core Formation cultivator, there had not been a second late Foundation Establishment cultivator. Why would the patriarch personally check the family tree?
Could it be that his plot to assassinate Shang Hao has been exposed?
But he did it flawlessly, leaving no evidence whatsoever; the merchants didn't even see Shang Hao's body.
Moreover, when Shang Hao died, the family head had already advanced to the level of a great cultivator, and the Liu family was poised to become the number one family in Chishui City. Even if the Shang family had some suspicions, they did not cause him any trouble back then, so why would they wait a hundred years before coming to his door?
Liu Mo's mind raced, but he still couldn't find an answer. The middle-aged man urged him a few more times, and Liu Mo finally dared not disobey the family head's summons. He had no choice but to follow the middle-aged man to pay his respects to the family head.
The two flew deeper into the clan's territory and arrived in front of a magnificent hall, where they landed using their escape light.
Liu Mo was secretly alarmed. This hall was called Muyue Hall, the most solemn hall in the Liu family. It was never open to the public except for the ancestral worship ceremony and the Nascent Soul Ceremony.
But at this moment, the palace doors were wide open, and the palace was brightly lit. The eternal lamps, lit with the oil of a level seven whale demon, were solemn and serene, illuminating half of the night sky outside the palace.
Liu Mo followed the middle-aged man into the palace gate, and the sight before them made them subconsciously slow their pace.
There were only two people in the spacious hall. An excessively young man in white sat on a jade chair, while the family head, Liu Tingfeng, stood respectfully to the side, just like the gentle girl from Qidan Pavilion who had seen Liu Mo off earlier.
When Liu Tingfeng saw the two enter the hall, his eyes lit up and he said, "Liu Mo, come and pay your respects to Senior Chen."
Liu Mo was a little confused, but he still quickly stepped forward and bowed to the young man in white, saying, "Liu Mo greets Senior Chen."
The young man in white on the jade chair had an indifferent expression, and his deep eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, causing Liu Mo to lower her head slightly to avoid his gaze.
Liu Mo was now relieved. For the family head to treat him with such respect, the young man in white must be a Nascent Soul cultivator, and probably not a merchant seeking revenge.
The patriarch waved to the middle-aged man, who immediately left the main hall.
"What is your relationship with Liu Kaiyang?" the young man in white asked calmly, his voice clear and melodious.
Upon hearing this name, which he hadn't heard for hundreds of years, Liu Mo was both familiar and unfamiliar. He paused for a moment, then looked up and said, "Liu Kaiyang is my elder brother."
The young man in white asked again, "How did your brother die back then?"
Liu Mo's heart sank. Had he guessed wrong? Was the young man in white here to demand an explanation for Shang Hao's death?
But in front of the patriarch, he ultimately dared not hide the truth, nor did he want to: "Back then, my elder brother entered a fragment of an interface and fought with Shang Hao, a direct descendant of the Shang family, for a treasure. He died at Shang Hao's hands."
Where is this person?
Liu Mo was silent for a moment before slowly replying, "He has already been killed by this junior."
The young man in white raised an eyebrow: "How did you kill him?"
Once Liu Mo admitted it, he wouldn't go back on his word. He slowly said, "Back then, Shang Hao killed my brother, but my brother also seriously injured him. After Shang Hao left that fragment of the interface, he harbored resentment towards my brother and bribed an elder in the clan to attack my father and mother..."
He recounted the events of more than four hundred years ago in detail, but he glossed over all the hardships he had suffered after leaving Chishui City.
"...Shang Hao has a blood feud with me for killing my father, mother, and brother. Since I have captured Shang Hao, I will naturally extract his soul and refine his spirit to vent my hatred!"
Liu Mo spoke each word with conviction, his gaze towards the white-robed youth revealing a resolute determination.
Even if this senior Chen really came to demand an explanation, he would not run away.
The young man in white nodded slightly, a hint of appreciation in his eyes: "Where is the Liu family elder who attacked your parents back then?"
Liu Mo said, "When I returned to Chishui City, he had already passed away peacefully at the end of his life."
Liu Tingfeng, standing to the side, was covered in cold sweat. He bowed deeply to the young man in white and said, "I failed to discipline my own people properly, which led to such a scoundrel in our clan. He is so heartless and inhuman that he is worse than a beast!"
"This junior will immediately consult the family genealogy, capture this person's descendants, and bring them to justice without any leniency!"
The young man in white said calmly, "When a person dies, the enmity ends; there's no need to implicate the innocent."
Liu Tingfeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he was determined not to let this branch of the family get away with it.
The young man in white looked at Liu Mo again and said slowly, "Your elder brother did not die back then. After leaving that fragment of the interface, he became a disciple of me. In recent years, he has been unable to return to Chishui City for some reason."
"You are Kaiyang's brother, and you avenged him; I should naturally grant you a great opportunity." (End of Chapter)