novelraw Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Li Family Can Keep Dreaming
The guard frowned slightly and looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she had suddenly blurted out those five words.
He still maintained his guarded stance.
Guards were like that. If you treated them politely, they would be even more polite in return.
But if someone tried to throw their weight around,
that was exactly the kind of thing they refused to tolerate.
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan frowned deeply as well.
“You do not understand?”
“We are from the Li family of the Eastern District! We came to pick out two horses!”
The moment he heard the way she spoke, the guard’s tone immediately turned cold.
“Warhorses of the military district are not sold to civilians. They can only be exchanged for Contribution Points and Merit Points!”
Li Xiaohong was instantly furious.
Not only did he have no intention of giving them horses, he would not even let them buy them with money?
“My younger brother is Li Xiaohao, the one with the S-rank talent! Have you never heard of the Li family of the Eastern District?”
The guard replied coldly,
“I have heard of you. You are the family that stole someone else’s S-rank talent.”
Qin Zhanye was a battle maniac and did not pay much attention to social news.
But these guards had lives of their own, and they all knew about the Li family.
When they had seen Qin Zhanye arrive and leave with Li Mu earlier, they had even remembered the matter.
Li Xiaohong was instantly enraged.
Since he clearly knew who they were and still dared to speak to them like that,
it meant he simply did not take 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 outrageous.
She pointed furiously at Li Mu’s retreating figure.
“If low-class trash like Li Mu can buy a horse here, why can we not!”
The guard gave a faint smile.
“My apologies, but Li Mu’s horse was not bought either. It was a gift from the military district!”
“Why!” Even Li Lan could not endure it any longer and shouted the question aloud.
“There is no need for me to explain that to you.”
“I will say it one last time. Step back!”
the guard said coldly again, while two other soldiers also walked over.
The several soldiers glared together, their killing intent spilling over.
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan grit their teeth and retreated unwillingly.
The soldier turned coldly and returned to his post, staring straight ahead.
In truth, under normal circumstances, he would not have needed to say so much to them.
But these two fools kept bringing up the Li family over and over again.
They had stolen Li Mu’s talent, and now they were still calling him low-class trash. It was genuinely infuriating.
That was why he had deliberately said those extra few lines at the end, just to strike at them.
After leaving the stables,
Li Xiaohong and Li Lan were both grinding their teeth in fury.
“Damn it, why exactly?”
“That low-class trash even gets a military district warhorse.”
“I only wanted a military district warhorse to show off my status. Is that really so hard?”
Li Xiaohong clenched her fists hatefully.
Li Lan, meanwhile, took out her phone.
“We have to tell the old madam about this!”
“Right, call them!”
By sheer coincidence, when their report reached the Li family, the family happened to be holding a family meeting.
Old Madam Ma was seated at the head of the room.
The family was in the middle of sorting through the recent visitors from the business and political worlds who had come seeking cooperation.
There was, however, one thing that dissatisfied them somewhat.
Although many people had come, they were all small fry.
The truly important figures had shown no intention of cooperating with them.
Under the current circumstances, it would be difficult for them to open things up quickly.
“Mother, from what Xiaolan just said, Li Mu seems to have a very good relationship with some officer in the Abyss Suppression Army.”
Eldest Uncle set down the phone. He had just had it on speaker, so everyone had been able to hear.
“It is highly likely that it has something to do with Third Brother’s old connections.”
Second Uncle nodded as well.
“Back then, Third Brother did have quite a bit of prestige, and he was very close to the Abyss Suppression Army.”
“Perhaps it is one of his old friends who learned that Li Mu is Third Brother’s son.”
“So he is giving him some special care!”
Second Aunt gave a scornful laugh.
“Hmph, Li Mu has been prancing around like a clown these last two days.”
“So after all that, he was just relying on that little bit of connection.”
“He deliberately let Xiaohong and Xiaolan see it. He only wants to attract our attention!”
“He is already dreaming of returning to the Li family this soon.”
“But once our Xiaohao stands out in this Abyss First Battle,”
“his reputation will eclipse Li Mu’s by who knows how much.”
“If Li Mu thinks he can come back into the family, he can keep dreaming!”
Everyone turned to look at the old madam, the head of the family.
After thinking for a moment, Old Madam Ma said,
“At present, our commercial development is progressing the fastest, but there does not seem to be much improvement on the political side.”
“Many people are still waiting and watching. They are all waiting to see Xiaohao’s performance in this Abyss First Battle.”
“If we can establish ties with officers in the military district,”
“then we can make certain arrangements in this First Battle and ensure that our Xiaohao takes first place without fail.”
“In my opinion, we may as well bring Li Mu back first.”
“He can serve as a stepping stone.”
The moment the old madam finished speaking, Second Aunt jumped up at once.
“Mother! That will never do! When we kicked him out, we said it very clearly!”
“I absolutely will not agree to letting him back so cheaply!”
“Besides, our Xiaohao has an S-rank talent! He does not need any cheating at all.”
“Once Xiaohao earns a placement, our ties with the military will naturally open up!”
“There is no need for Li Mu at all!”
Second Uncle hurriedly shot her a look. “Enough. Stop nagging about this. Listen to Mother!”
Of course he understood his wife’s concern.
The Li family’s cake was getting bigger and bigger.
If Li Mu and his mother returned, would they not have to take a slice as well?
The old madam sighed.
“That is enough. I know what you are worried about. Do not worry. We would only be agreeing to let Li Mu return to the family temporarily.”
“But that does not mean we would restore him to the family genealogy!”
“He would have no chance to divide up the Li family assets.”
“We will tell him that we are observing his performance for a year. Naturally, he will work hard to prove himself.”
The old madam spoke with complete confidence.
It was as though Li Mu were a lapdog who would come wagging his tail as long as they tossed him a few bread crumbs.
She had not considered for even a moment the impossible scenario of Li Mu refusing.
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 with Li Mu.”
“We do need this military connection right now.”
Old Madam Ma rose to her feet and did not forget to remind everyone as she did.
The Li family all answered in unison.
In the Abyss, at the military training zone,
Li Mu returned to Blackwater High School’s training area on horseback.
The students instantly erupted with excitement and crowded around his warhorse, staring at it in fascination.
Some students who were concerned about Li Mu quickly surrounded him as well.
Xiao Lingtong asked anxiously,
“Li Mu, why are you covered in dust? Are you all right?”
“Yes, did that officer give you trouble?”
Faced with everyone’s concern, Li Mu shook his head.
The reason he had returned on horseback was precisely to reassure them that not only had he not been punished, he had actually received a reward.
That way, they would not think less of the Abyss Suppression Army.
This was the little task Qin Zhanye had assigned him.
The three replacement instructors assigned to Blackwater High School were very responsible.
The military training itself was half practice and half explanation.
It mainly consisted of lectures on the types of monsters one was likely to encounter in the Abyss First Battle, their methods of fighting, physical training, squad assignments, combat drills, and related subjects.
The afternoon training session ended quickly.
To ensure the students’ safety, no students were allowed to remain overnight in the Abyss.
They would come back down again the next day.
So at around six o’clock, all the students gradually gathered at the Abyss elevator and began returning to the surface.
After that, everyone took the Skyrail train back to their respective schools.
Once he boarded the Skyrail train back to school,
Li Mu chose to sit down cross-legged at once so that the students around him would not keep crowding him with questions.
When they saw that Li Mu had begun meditating, they felt awkward about disturbing him, so they could only whisper among themselves about his cloak and warhorse instead.
For most poor families, even obtaining a single Mortal-Grade Black Iron weapon was difficult.
Even for moderately well-off families willing to spend heavily for the Abyss First Battle,
at most they might manage to equip themselves with one High-Grade weapon.
Li Mu, however, not only had a Premium Spirit Treasure, but also a warhorse!
What they did not know was that Li Mu also had a Premium weapon and two High-Grade Cultivation Arts.
Cultivation arts were far more valuable than weapons or Spirit Treasures of the same level.
After all, the various energy sources and materials collected from the Abyss were all raw materials for making weapons and Spirit Treasures.
But cultivation arts required transmission.
Each cultivation art was the painstaking work of a Martial Artist.
Li Mu took out a Cultivation Art Stone and held it tightly in his hand, beginning to comprehend the first defensive technique, Dragon’s Final Resonance.
Once his comprehension of the cultivation art was complete,
Li Mu sighed inwardly in admiration.
The Unranked Heavenly Immortal Art was truly terrifying. It could add fifty years of understanding to any cultivation art.
For internal cultivation methods or advanced cultivation arts, it was possible for someone to spend fifty years on them.
But for low-grade cultivation arts like Flowing Cloud Three Tremors, ordinary people would replace them after just a few years.
No one would possibly spend fifty or sixty years using a basic cultivation art!
And even if someone did, it was absolutely impossible for them to have comprehension equal to Li Mu’s Heavenly Immortal Art.
In other words, even if a Martial Artist spent fifty years using Flowing Cloud Three Tremors, they still might not comprehend Flowing Cloud Five Tremors.
So when Li Mu used his Heavenly Immortal Art to cultivate other arts,
he was effectively raising the grade of the cultivation arts he learned.
Take Dragon’s Final Resonance, for example. It was actually an upgraded version of the Mortal-Grade cultivation art Golden Bell Shield.
When an ordinary Mortal-Grade Golden Bell Shield was activated, one could not move, and it only had defensive effects.
But Dragon’s Final Resonance
could rapidly mobilize True Qi through a shouted cry and release a shield.
It was extremely flexible.
Not only could the shield block damage, but if one infused it with a large amount of True Qi at the end, it could also explode!
When it shattered, the sound would ring like a dragon’s cry, and the explosion of energy could rebound against the opponent. It was a defensive cultivation art that combined offense and defense.
Its advantage, however, lay only in its functionality.
Strictly speaking, in terms of defensive power alone, it was not stronger than Golden Bell Shield, nor did it have a wider area of protection.
And its final explosion consumed a tremendous amount of True Qi.
After adding fifty years of understanding to it, however, Li Mu could completely make the shield absorb the damage it blocked.
Then he could use that external energy to fill the shield before detonating it.
That would reduce the True Qi consumption by at least eighty percent, while making the rebounding force even stronger than before.
Most importantly, Li Mu felt that he no longer needed to shout in order to mobilize True Qi.
As long as he was in a combat state and True Qi was circulating through his whole body, he could release it instantly.
That was the terrifying part of the Heavenly Immortal Art!
Afterward, Li Mu took out the second High-Grade Cultivation Art, Iron-Cleaving Form, and began to comprehend it.