Northern Drift Chapter 26: The Appointment with Liu Mo

"Empowerment?"

Mo Hao could not help but let out a soft exclamation.

"Hurry up! Why are you standing there dazed? Are you still half-asleep? Do you need my little whip to wake you up?"

Liu Yue turned her head and bared her teeth at Mo Hao, looking fierce. Mo Hao sighed helplessly, knowing that this woman would do exactly as she said, and hurriedly followed her.

The two arrived at the main palace where Liu Yue resided. The interior was not decorated like the dwelling of a typical cultivator, but rather resembled a garden, filled with rare birds, exotic beasts, spiritual flowers, and spiritual trees. Many of these spirit beasts possessed cultivation bases above the Foundation Establishment stage.

They reached a jade bed, and Liu Yue gestured for Mo Hao to sit cross-legged. He immediately felt a piercing chill emanate from beneath him; the jade bed was emitting waves of icy energy. The flow of spiritual power within his body accelerated significantly, and his cultivation speed increased due to the properties of this bed. If this were not the residence of a Golden Core demon race, Mo Hao would have been tempted to take out a small hammer and secretly chip off a piece.

As for Liu Yue, when Mo Hao sat on the jade bed, she shed her outer garments. In an instant, a flash of golden light erupted, and a golden flood dragon appeared before Mo Hao. The golden dragon was shaped like a snake, with two faint horns atop its head and a body that shimmered with a golden hue. Had he not watched Liu Yue transform into her true form right before his eyes, Mo Hao would have thought this was just another stray spirit beast.

He saw the golden dragon transformed from Liu Yue spit out a Golden Core, which radiated brilliant light. She then breathed a puff of air onto it, and the core’s radiance receded. Mo Hao was unsure what she was doing. A quarter of an hour later, a surge of spiritual power suddenly shot from the Golden Core toward him. Mo Hao instinctively wanted to dodge, only to find his body frozen in place.

Before he could react, the power struck the crown of his head. Mo Hao felt his brain swell, and he grew drowsy. Just then, Liu Yue’s voice echoed in his mind:

"Do not fall asleep, or you might wake up a simpleton!"

Although Liu Yue spoke in a joking tone, her words held truth. He hurriedly forced himself to suppress the desire to sleep. A surge of spiritual power flooded his body, causing the meridians throughout his limbs to swell violently.

"What are you doing? The spiritual power is about to burst your meridians; why aren't you refining it?"

Liu Yue's anxious voice rang out in his mind again. Mo Hao felt his meridians were saturated to the limit, but he had no idea how to perform the refinement.

"How on earth did you reach the middle stage of Grain Imbibing? Quickly, use that scroll of the Heavenly Remnant Divine Art! By the look of you, you must have just fallen asleep the moment your head hit the pillow yesterday. Sigh!"

After saying this, Liu Yue transmitted numerous characters into his mind—the very same Heavenly Remnant Divine Art. Having only glanced at it briefly yesterday, he had no choice but to follow the instructions within the art to refine the spiritual power surging through him.

His cultivation level improved step by step. The Heavenly Remnant Divine Art divided the incoming spiritual energy into the powers of the Five Elements, channeling them thread by thread into his Dantian. In an instant, he broke through the barrier of the second layer of the Grain Imbibing middle stage and headed straight for the third. With his meridians now interconnected, his capacity for spiritual power was no less than that of any late-stage Grain Imbibing cultivator.

The Heavenly Remnant Divine Art was truly marvelous, capable of converting external spiritual energy into one’s own. It was the most compatible technique for a cultivator with Five-Element spiritual roots. After nearly an hour, feeling his cultivation nearing the peak of the second layer of the middle stage and on the verge of breaking through to the third, Mo Hao felt the power coming from the Golden Core weaken. After a moment, the incoming force was only seventy percent of what it had been. Mo Hao opened his eyes and looked at the golden dragon hovering in mid-air:

"I request that Senior Liu hold on a little longer!"

Mo Hao understood that such an empowerment was no simple feat, and even a powerful Golden Core demon like Liu Yue was nearing exhaustion. Liu Yue rolled her eyes but said nothing. Her dragon body trembled, and another wave of spiritual power surged toward Mo Hao. Seizing the opportunity, he simultaneously practiced the Qingyuan Technique and the Heavenly Remnant Divine Art, merging the two forces into one as they rushed toward his Dantian. Mo Hao felt his Dantian grow hot, knowing he had reached his limit, and immediately circulated the power throughout his entire body.

With a loud roar, Mo Hao felt his spiritual power flowing freely; he had stepped into the third layer of the Grain Imbibing middle stage—the final layer of the middle stage, just a hair's breadth away from the late stage. However, at that moment, he felt the power from Liu Yue’s Golden Core drop to a mere twenty percent of its original strength.

The golden dragon before Mo Hao swallowed her core and descended to the ground. With a flash of gold, a young woman in green robes appeared before him. Mo Hao let out a long breath and looked at her. He saw that the girl was covered in beads of sweat, looking utterly exhausted. Mo Hao hurriedly stepped forward to support her, helping her sit on the jade bed.

He then began to sense the spiritual power within his own body. His cultivation was now at the peak of the middle stage, but his spiritual power was pushing toward the second layer of the late stage. Mo Hao felt a surge of joy, though he did not show it. Instead, he sighed in front of Liu Yue. Seeing this, Liu Yue unceremoniously slapped him across the back:

"You brat, you dare to sigh? Do you have any idea how much energy I’ve expended? If it weren't for the fact that I need your Five-Element spiritual roots to resolve that Five-Colored Divine Light, I would have tossed you to my spirit beasts for food long ago!"

Mo Hao was sent flying several yards by the sudden strike, crashing into a crooked spirit tree. He coughed repeatedly, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. Fortunately, he had diligently practiced the "Ocean Turning Method," or that single palm strike would have left him bedridden for half a month.

"Senior Liu certainly hits hard!" Mo Hao gritted his teeth as he spoke. If not for the vast gap in their cultivation, he would have taught this little girl a lesson. However, the Green Water Golden Dragon had not used lethal force, so she was likely just venting her frustration.

"Sigh! How is it that your Five-Element spiritual roots are so strange? You directly split the heaven-and-earth energy I gathered into five parts, and they are even fusing with one another. Only twenty percent of the power was usable by you; otherwise, a normal cultivator would have already advanced to the third layer of the late stage. It seems I miscalculated!"

Mo Hao nodded slightly, having already realized this. He could only master twenty percent of this ambient spiritual energy, which left him feeling rather frustrated. The Five Elements, in their cycle of creation and destruction, were infinitely profound. Yet, this twenty percent was the most refined essence of the Five Elements. The techniques he could perform with this power were enough to contend with late-stage cultivators of the second layer, which was Mo Hao's greatest reliance for cross-boundary combat. There is always a trade-off in the path of cultivation.

Liu Yue looked exhausted and stopped talking to Mo Hao. After a while, as if she had recovered some of her vitality, her complexion slowly returned to a ruddy state. However, Mo Hao noticed something was wrong; Liu Yue’s face was becoming increasingly flushed.

*Puff!*

A mouthful of blood sprayed from her cherry-like lips, making them look even redder against the blood. Mo Hao took a step forward and hurriedly steadied her.

"Senior Liu, are you alright?"

Liu Yue waved her hand. Mo Hao suddenly felt a white shadow appear beside him—Liu Chi was glaring at him with hostility. Mo Hao quickly withdrew his hand from Liu Yue’s arm; the temper of this late-stage Foundation Establishment beast was not to be trifled with. Liu Yue reached out to stroke Liu Chi’s head and said to Mo Hao:

"You may leave now."

Mo Hao bowed to Liu Yue and walked back to his room. Liu Chi remained guarding her side. Liu Yue whispered to the beast:

"No wonder you and I searched for these Five-Element spiritual roots for years without success. These roots collect all the elemental forces of the world, creating and destroying each other. If this boy didn't have such a unique constitution, it’s unlikely that five mutually creating and destroying roots would ever appear in one person. I was too impatient this time. I thought fifty percent of my Golden Core's power would be enough to push him to the late stage. I didn't expect his roots to refine my power into such pure energy that even using one hundred percent failed to advance him. I fear you will have to endure your pain a while longer."

Liu Yue stroked the white leopard’s furry head, her eyes fixed in the direction Mo Hao had gone, as if contemplating something. The white leopard, Liu Chi, lay quietly beside her.

Back in his room, Mo Hao sat cross-legged. He felt the changes brought by his increased cultivation. Although he lacked the miraculous sensation of his initial breakthrough, advancing through two small realms in a single day left him ecstatic. However, thinking of what Liu Yue had said—that without reaching the late stage, he could not help treat Liu Chi’s injuries—he felt a headache coming on. His Five-Element roots had already caused a Golden Core demon to vomit blood just by reaching the third layer of the middle stage; how was he supposed to enter the late stage?

He took out the *Heavenly Remnant Divine Scroll* and flipped through it page by page. Mo Hao examined it thoroughly and found that it was completely different from the traditional path of the Five Elements. While the roots naturally created and destroyed each other, the scroll proposed a method of "co-existence rather than destruction." For example, water and fire were naturally antagonistic, but the scroll taught how to cultivate them in a symbiotic way, where fire nourishes water and water protects fire. This, however, was an act of defying the heavens.

Furthermore, the scroll mentioned that if a cultivator relied on this mental technique to break through a major realm, while the benefits were immense, the Heavenly Tribulation would be far more ferocious than that faced by other cultivators. Mo Hao stopped thinking about it for now; he was determined to continue practicing this method. Not only was it perfectly suited to his roots, but he had also seen a technique that could only be cultivated through the *Heavenly Remnant Divine Art*: the Five-Colored Divine Light.

The Five-Colored Divine Light was extremely rare on the continent and possessed unparalleled power. Given that a single strike had severely wounded a late-stage Foundation Establishment beast like Liu Chi, preventing her from advancing to the False Core stage, its power was evident.

As Mo Hao imagined himself traversing the continent with the Five-Colored Divine Light, Liu Yue’s voice called out. He hurriedly tidied himself and rushed to her residence. He saw Liu Yue sitting on the jade bed, her complexion much improved.

Liu Yue pointed a finger at him, and Mo Hao felt the restriction she had placed within his body vanish. He was puzzled but said nothing, knowing she would explain. Sure enough, Liu Yue said:

"Kid, although our races are different, I have no desire to harm you. I’ve called you here to make an agreement. After careful thought, I’ve decided to let you leave. I still need to suppress the injuries on Liu Chi. If you reach the late stage of Grain Imbibing, you must return here immediately to treat her. I assume you’ve read the *Heavenly Remnant Divine Scroll*, so you should understand what is required."

"I only need you to use the Five-Element symbiosis method to extract the remnants of the divine light from Liu Chi’s body. The reason I removed the restriction in your body is that I don't want your cultivation to be hindered, but I cannot fully trust you. When I removed the restriction, I left a tracking mark. This is a unique technique of my Green Water Golden Dragon clan; it won't affect you, but I fear only a Nascent Soul old monster could remove it!"

Mo Hao nodded. He pointed a finger toward the sky:

"I, Mo Hao, accept Senior Liu’s great favor. Once I reach the late stage of Grain Imbibing, I will definitely return to Green Water Pool to treat Senior Liu Chi. If I fail, may I never have the chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage!"

Mo Hao swore to the heavens. A cultivator’s oath is governed by the world, and breaking a Great Dao oath invites heavenly punishment. Seeing Mo Hao take the oath, a smile returned to Liu Yue’s playful and lovely face. She handed him a talisman, which Mo Hao discovered was very similar to a遁行 (Escaping) talisman.

"Take this talisman and use it on the teleportation array here to reach the lands of your human race. I can only send you to the borders of human territory; otherwise, those few Golden Core old men among your kind will come looking for trouble. Stay one more night, and then set off tomorrow."

Mo Hao knew he had to leave. He sighed internally; this place was rich in spiritual energy and truly a wonderful place to cultivate. However, having been away from his sect for so long, and considering the vast amount of Spirit-Awakening flowers and grass he had gathered, he would be able to exchange them for a large number of Spirit-Awakening pills for his cultivation. He was eager to return and complete his mission. At the thought of this, Mo Hao felt a surge of excitement.

Liu Yue saw Mo Hao grinning like a fool again and called out to him. Startled, Mo Hao scurried back to his room.