Mortal Mirror

Li Ergou found a box and carefully collected the fish scales. Although the scales had lost their color, they were the only memento the golden fish had given him. He wondered if he would ever see it again and if it would blame him for damaging the scales.

He shook his head slightly, the thought fleeting as he dismissed it completely.

Li Ergou was very excited and went to explore the martial arts true energy within his heart's divine palace.

He suddenly stood there dumbfounded, because he suddenly realized, what was happening? He could actually see his own physical structure and the situation inside his body.

Was this the power of martial arts? Was this the divine sense mentioned in that book? It was terrifying.

Before he could think further, he saw a mysterious space appear within his heart. The space appeared to be the size of a sesame seed, but inside it seemed to contain endless space. However, in just a moment, he felt a bit dizzy.

It seemed his divine sense was too weak; watching it for a while consumed a lot of energy.

Even so, he was happy. He stood up, and with a thought, the strand of martial arts true energy within his body began to circulate. He immediately felt a huge force erupt from his heart.

"Ah..." He couldn't help but cry out in comfort.

At that moment, he felt his strength suddenly burst from three hundred pounds to about five hundred pounds. The powerful force gave him an urge to release it.

Unfortunately, the items in the room were all precious, and he would have to pay for any damage. Helpless, he could only punch the air.

Boom! As he threw a punch, he heard the sound of his fist tearing through the air.

He was greatly surprised, but a feeling of exhaustion immediately hit him. He looked again, and the strand of martial arts true energy in his divine palace had become translucent.

His face turned awkward. He was really afraid that the strand of energy would dissipate directly, so he didn't dare to do anything more.

He plopped down on the bed and lay down. The broken bed made creaking noises, and coincidentally, the sketchbook under the bed was squeezed out and fell to the ground.

"So comfortable," he exclaimed, noticing the sketchbook on the ground, and immediately bent down to pick it up.

"Creak," the door opened.

Shitou walked in, covered in sweat. He wiped himself with the towel he was carrying and said, "What are you shouting about so late at night? I heard you all the way at the training ground. I thought something had happened. 'Ah, ah, comfortable,' and the bed keeps creaking. What's wrong? Is the bed broken?"

At that moment, he saw Li Ergou's hand about to pick up the sketchbook on the ground.

Out of curiosity, he quickly grabbed the sketchbook. He looked at the cover and saw the words, "My Affairs with Ping'er."

Shitou was puzzled. "Who's Ping'er?" He opened the book and saw an illustration on the first page, a picture of bare skin that made his eyes widen. He said in disbelief, "What, what's going on here?"

He closed the book and looked at Li Ergou with a strange expression. "So that's how it is. Li Ergou, I didn't think you were this kind of person."

Li Ergou was more wronged than Dou E. He quickly said, "Shitou, it's not, it's not what you think."

"Hehe, what kind of person? What kind of person?" Shitou's face showed a mischievous smile.

Li Ergou was speechless and didn't know what to say. However, he suddenly pointed at Shitou and said, "Hey, you're bleeding from your nose."

Shitou touched his nose, and his face turned red. He quickly said, "Um, it might be a little hot these days, causing me to get a nosebleed. I'm going to take a shower."

Li Ergou quickly said, "My sketchbook, you haven't returned it to me yet."

"I'm in a hurry. I'll return it to you when I get back." With that, the guy disappeared in a flash.

Li Ergou was speechless. He thought that he had to put the sketchbook away properly later. He was careless, and even more tragic, he felt that Shitou seemed to have misunderstood him.

Why did he take my sketchbook when he was taking a shower? It's really strange. I hope he doesn't get it wet.

He shook his head and lay down again. The damn bed made creaking noises again. He thought that he had to repair the bed properly tomorrow.

Lying on the bed, he couldn't sleep at all. On the one hand, he was excited, and on the other hand, he was a little depressed. He was clearly cultivating the divine path, but now he had accidentally opened up the martial path.

The two were fundamentally different. The biggest difference now was that he had no martial arts cultivation methods at all. Wasn't that worrying? How could he cultivate without a method? Was he supposed to create his own? Don't be ridiculous. He didn't even understand how martial arts methods worked.

Besides, the divine path method was right there. Wouldn't it be a pity if he didn't cultivate it?

Not to mention one hundred taels of silver, only by cultivating the divine path could he cultivate properly. After all, Wu the Immortal had a whole book of cultivation methods. When he passed the martial artist exam in the county, he could learn the methods passed down by the imperial court, and he wouldn't have to worry about methods anymore.

The current situation was that if he didn't cultivate the divine path, how could he pass the martial artist exam? He thought back and forth, and he became more and more depressed. Wu the Immortal had clearly said that whether it was the martial path or the divine path, they were both very difficult paths.

If one cultivated both the physical body and the Dharma, it would be even more heaven-defying. But his current situation, alas. He thought for a long time and finally decided to ignore it. Anyway, he didn't want to be immortal or have the power to overturn rivers and seas.

He only wanted to pass the martial artist exam. Although martial arts were powerful, he didn't understand it at all and didn't know how to cultivate it. He could only continue to cultivate the divine path method and strive to cultivate the divine path's martial arts true energy.

With a goal in mind, he felt much more at ease. He was just about to sleep when he heard the door creak open again. He squinted and saw Shitou glance at him, then sneak to his bed.

Li Ergou wondered why this guy was being so secretive. He heard the sound of flipping pages from inside Shitou's blanket, and then he heard a cheap laugh, just like the sound a little fox makes when stealing a chicken.

Li Ergou's eyes widened instantly. He thought, "Don't you dare damage my sketchbook."

Nothing was said overnight. Early the next morning, Li Ergou got up and did his usual chores: carrying water, chopping firewood, and brewing medicine for Granny Wu. But today, when he was working, he suddenly found that his strength had increased by fifty pounds, a full three hundred and fifty pounds! What made him even more excited was that his speed was also much more agile than before.

Even his hearing and eyesight were sharper. Was this the benefit of martial arts?

He marveled in his heart, like a child who had tasted honey for the first time. He was secretly delighted, but the lack of martial arts methods made him feel depressed again.

He looked inside his divine palace and found that the translucent strand of martial arts true energy was still the same as before, with no change at all. He didn't know how to make this martial arts true energy replenish.

He pondered and pondered, wondering if he should ask Old Silkworm Head when he returned, or go directly to Wu the Immortal. But if he went to Wu the Immortal, wouldn't he have to spend more money?