After several hours, the furnace refining stage concluded smoothly without any mishaps, and both breathed a sigh of relief. Extinguishing the furnace fire, Mo Qi channeled his spiritual energy to proceed with the refinement. Watching Mo Qi alternately input and cease spiritual energy, sometimes increasing its intensity, sometimes flowing it gently, his masterful control left Jin Dan in awe. Throughout the entire process, Jin Dan’s eyes were fixed on Mo Qi, paying particular attention to his methods during transitions and changes within the furnace. He learned a great deal, benefiting immensely.
Several more hours passed, and the refinement concluded, followed by cooling. Mo Qi, with trembling hands, opened the furnace lid. The spirit stone had become dull and lusterless, and the fish scale beast hide had lost all trace of its original form, transforming into a single, smooth, soft thin sheet, resembling leather clothing. Its surface shimmered with an ethereal light that solidified into a layer of luminous, tangible hide upon touch, as if it had grown there.
Mo Qi immediately sensed the formidable power of this protective artifact, naming it the Body-Protecting Battle Armor. Just as he was about to hang it on the wall to test its defensive capabilities with an attack, Han Yang’s voice came through the transmission stone, stating that a beautiful female cultivator from the Divine Sword Sect was waiting outside the main gate and wished to see Mo Qi. He had no choice but to put away the protective battle armor for the time being.
“A beautiful female cultivator from the Divine Sword Sect? Who could it be?” Mo Qi asked, a look of confusion on his face as he put away the fish scale beast hide.
“Could it be Lu Xiaoyue?” Jin Dan inquired.
Mo Qi shook his head with absolute certainty, “Impossible. The enmity between us is already too deep.”
Jin Dan was surprised, “What kind of enmity could there be between you two? When she was little, she barely left her house, and when she did, she never played with us. Now that we’re older, we don’t interact at all. Where does this hatred come from?”
Mo Qi sighed deeply, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you more when there’s an opportunity. I should go out and see.”
“I’ll go with you. I can just watch the show,” Jin Dan said with a smile.
Mo Qi neither agreed nor disagreed, turning to leave. Jin Dan trotted along behind him.
From a distance, he saw a graceful and shapely young woman standing outside the main gate, her face etched with a hint of nervousness. Mo Qi hesitated. He recognized her as Lu Xiaoyue, and a thousand questions flooded his mind: “Why is it her?”
“What does she want with me?”
“Is she still holding a grudge about the arena match? She’s come all the way here. How deep must her resentment be?”
Jin Dan came up and nudged him, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you moving? Who is that?”
Due to the distance and Jin Dan’s long absence from seeing Lu Xiaoyue, he hadn’t recognized her yet.
Mo Qi continued to walk forward, head held high. Since she had come all this way, he couldn’t possibly hide. If she wanted to fight again, so be it; he wasn’t afraid of her anymore.
As Jin Dan walked closer, he saw more clearly, beginning to compare her beautiful face with his memory of Lu Xiaoyue. A moment later, Jin Dan confirmed with Mo Qi, “Is that Lu Xiaoyue? She looks a bit like her?”
Mo Qi nodded, “It’s her.”
Lu Xiaoyue saw the two approaching from afar. The one in front was Mo Qi. Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t help but turn her head and look away. She thought that as soon as she conveyed the message, she would leave immediately, not lingering for a moment.
“Oh, isn’t this our Miss Lu? What wind blew you to our humble village?” Jin Dan had, at some point, moved ahead of Mo Qi.
Lu Xiaoyue turned around, looking at Jin Dan, her expression somewhat blank, clearly not recognizing him.
“She’s made a fool of herself,” Mo Qi thought.
“This is Jin Dan, from the west end of our village,” Mo Qi immediately stepped forward to help Jin Dan out of his predicament.
Lu Xiaoyue pondered for a moment and said expressionlessly, “Yes, the one who used to steal cucumbers from my family’s field when we were children.”
Jin Dan’s face immediately turned red, “When we were kids, could that be called stealing?”
Lu Xiaoyue glanced into the mountain gate and then exclaimed, “I never expected that even though the four great sects don’t accept those with mediocre talent, there are still sects like this that accept anyone. It’s quite a good place for you all.”
Jin Dan was enraged. His eyes widened, and fire seemed to blaze from them. He was about to step forward and slap her, “You little girl, you were quite cute when you were young. How did you turn out like this as you grew up? Have you learned no manners or shame after leaving your parents? If no one taught you, I will.”
Mo Qi grabbed him, “Calm down, calm down. A true man doesn’t fight with women.”
Lu Xiaoyue didn’t even glance at Jin Dan, her gaze fixed on Mo Qi. “Mo Qi, I didn’t come specifically to find you, nor do I have the inclination to. I just pity Mo Zhenzhen and came to deliver a message to you on her behalf. After you left, she went to the riverbank every day waiting for you. She asked me to tell you that she wants to see you. Originally, she wanted me to bring her to see you, but I refused. However, I hope you will go back and see her.”
Having said that, she turned to leave.
“Did you go back?” Mo Qi asked.
“Nonsense. If I hadn’t gone back, how would I know Zhenzhen wanted to see you?” Lu Xiaoyue stopped but didn’t turn around.
Mo Qi suddenly came to his senses. She must have gone back to confirm that matter. He wondered what her parents had told her. But it didn’t matter how they answered; he had already let it go.
Lu Xiaoyue suddenly turned back, her expression still one of disdain. “I don’t care what my parents promised you, but I won’t agree. I make my own decisions. Don’t think you can aspire to something beyond your reach.”
Mo Qi smiled faintly, “Didn’t you tear up the marriage contract? Why would I still aspire to something beyond my reach?”
Lu Xiaoyue was stunned for a moment. “Did I just stir up trouble for myself?”
“An-anyway, I just don’t agree,” Lu Xiaoyue finished, then her figure flickered, turning into a red light as she sped away.
At this moment, several groups of people passed by the main gate, witnessing the entire scene. They couldn’t help but start discussing amongst themselves, “Is that scoundrel trying to seduce another innocent girl?”
“From the looks of it, he’s not succeeding.”
“Isn’t it normal that he’s not succeeding? Does he think he’s a Casanova? One look and thousands of women fall for him, desperate to throw themselves at him? And then go mad, wanting to pledge themselves to him? To marry no one but him?”
“Exactly. He has such a plain face but always puts on a show of being handsome and dashing. It’s too shameless.”
Mo Qi listened to these discussions, feeling utterly speechless.
Jin Dan, however, was preoccupied with another matter. Hearing Mo Qi mention a marriage contract, he looked at Mo Qi, completely bewildered, “What marriage contract? What do I know nothing about?”
Mo Qi glared at him, “The less you know, the safer you are.”
Jin Dan stuck out his tongue.
“When Lu Xiaoyue went to cultivate, Steward Lu actually disagreed. It was the day Lu Xiaoyue was taken away by Ling Xu. I went to the Lu family, and I told Steward Lu that I could bring Xiaoyue back, but only if he wrote a marriage contract for me. That way, I would have sufficient reason to bring Xiaoyue back from the Divine Sword Sect,” Mo Qi said, gazing at the clear blue sky.
Jin Dan burst into laughter, “What a scheme! That’s using a crisis to your advantage with masterful skill!”
Mo Qi glanced at him, “Is it funny? I thought it was funny too, so I tore up the marriage contract myself. And when I fought her in the arena, I returned the torn marriage contract to her.”
Jin Dan suddenly stopped laughing, “Actually, I think the current Lu Xiaoyue is not worthy of you at all.”
Mo Qi glanced at him but said nothing.
After a moment, Mo Qi suddenly stared at Jin Dan and said, “When you left, did you tell your parents?”
Jin Dan said frankly, “Of course, I did. Families like ours are different from Lu Xiaoyue’s. My parents couldn’t wait to send us away because they couldn’t afford to keep us at home.”
Mo Qi knew he had five older brothers, so he understood the helplessness in his words.
“Why don’t we go back today?” Mo Qi said with a smile.
“I also think it’s time we went back.”
In Fengxi Village, a bridge had been erected overnight across the river outside the village. Jin Dan and Mo Qi had worked all night to build the bridge. Although they both possessed some magical power now, building a bridge was not an easy task. They first went to a nearby quarry and used their swords to hew stone blocks from the mountain one by one. With the aid of spiritual energy, each block was cleaved with a single sword strike, making them exceptionally flat.
They had planned in advance, cutting the blocks for the bridge piers thicker and those for the bridge deck thinner. After preparing all the stone blocks, they transported them to the riverbank using their storage bags.
When they tried to place the bridge piers in the river, they encountered difficulties. Even with the enhancement of spells and divine abilities, the stone blocks couldn’t be smoothly driven into the riverbed mud. The river was too deep, and the current too swift. Every time they lowered a bridge pier, it was washed askew by the water and couldn’t be driven in, giving them a feeling of futility. Furthermore, upon preliminary measurement, the bridge piers were too short. To ensure stability, they had to be driven deep enough, but if driven deep enough, the bridge deck would likely be submerged below the water surface.
Thus, the two returned to the quarry and cut a batch of longer bridge piers. This time, they tested a few spots and found a shallower section of the river. Mo Qi grabbed one end of a stone block and, from a great height in the sky, plunged down rapidly with the stone. However, although it was driven in, it wasn’t deep enough and swayed precariously. Then, the two repeatedly dropped their bodies from a height. After several impacts, they managed to firmly erect the bridge pier in the river, ensuring it protruded at the appropriate height.
Just this single bridge pier took up most of the day. Having no other choice, Mo Qi consumed an Emergency Pill. His spiritual energy surged, and with practiced ease, he placed the bridge pier securely in just a few moves. Once the bridge pier was in place, the bridge deck was relatively simpler. Since the length and width had been calculated in advance, under the impetus of spiritual energy, the stone blocks floated over one by one in an orderly fashion, landing on the river surface and fitting between the bridge piers.
After completing these tasks, the two collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
A moment later, as dawn was just breaking, exclamations could be heard, “On the river, a bridge has appeared on the river.” Immediately after, people in groups of three and five gathered from all directions, all filled with astonishment.
“It wasn’t there yesterday, and today a bridge has suddenly appeared here. This is a divine creation.”
“Since Mo Qi left, there’s been no ferry on this river. Every time we go out, we have to take a long detour, which is incredibly troublesome. This time, it’s truly a blessing from heaven.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What divine creation? What blessing from heaven? It must have been built by human hands.”
“Nonsense, who could build such a large bridge overnight?”
At this moment, Mo Qi and Jin Dan suddenly stood up on the bridge, causing the discussions on the opposite side to abruptly cease.
After a moment of silence, a voice whispered, “Look, aren’t those two Mo Qi and Jin Dan?”
“They look a bit like them.”
“Uncle Zheng, it’s not just a bit like them. I am Mo Qi, and this is Jin Dan,” Mo Qi said loudly.
With their words, the two walked towards the crowd on the opposite side.
“Oh my, these children, weren’t you said to have gone to cultivate? Why are you back? Did you not succeed?” Zheng Yan said excitedly, then slapped his forehead, “Look at my head. You must have succeeded! Otherwise, who could have built such a large bridge overnight?”
Upon hearing this, everyone else seemed to realize the truth, nodding repeatedly, “Yes, they must have succeeded in cultivation! These two children, having become immortals, still remember their roots. They are good children.”
“What good children? They are good immortals.”
“Immortals descended to the mortal realm! We’ve really seen living immortals!”
Amidst their chatter, Mo Qi and Jin Dan reached them.
Then, people began to reach out and touch them, “Come, come and absorb some immortal energy.”
“I heard that immortals glow with multicolored light and have halos above their heads. Look at these two; they’re no different from us.”
“What do you know? They haven’t unleashed their powers. If they did, they’d have not only halos but also three heads and six arms, and eight legs.”
“Wouldn’t eight legs make them crabs?”
“Who cares? Let’s absorb some immortal energy first. It might grant us longevity.”
“I don’t want to live a hundred years. I just want to win more when I play cards.”
Mo Qi and Jin Dan rolled their eyes at the commotion.