Chapter – 59
The Tongtian Gourd
“Whose rooster wandered into the tribe during broad daylight without being tied up?” a childish voice called out. Qin Mo turned around and saw the little fat boy running toward him, bouncing with excitement.
Qin Yu, who was proudly walking ahead, immediately darkened in expression upon hearing this. He glared at the little fat boy but did nothing and continued on his way.
“Why are you wandering around the tribe instead of staying home to prepare for your Awakening?” Qin Mo asked.
“I barely got a chance to come out,” the little fat boy said with a pained expression. “You wouldn’t know—my life has been miserable lately. My dad has been refining my body with vital energy every day. It’s been excruciating.”
From his expression, it was clear he had suffered a lot. Qin Mo had gone through this himself when his father personally refined his body with vital energy.
The purpose of this was to allow the body to adapt quickly to the influx of vital energy after the Awakening. Without this preparation, when the body opens the acupoints post-Awakening, it could not handle the sudden surge of vital energy, which would cause immense pain and might even lead to going astray in cultivation.
“Endure it—it will benefit you in the future,” Qin Mo patted him on the shoulder with a sigh.
“Let’s go hunting,” the little fat boy suggested cheerfully, hugging Qin Mo’s thigh.
“No,” Qin Mo refused decisively.
“Why not?” The little fat boy immediately looked upset.
“I’m busy,” Qin Mo answered firmly, then strode toward his stone house.
The little fat boy hurried after him, not expecting such a decisive refusal. In truth, he had wanted Qin Mo to take him hunting to avoid the pain of the vital-energy refining. Qin Mo, however, clearly saw through his plan.
“By the way, have you prepared for the contest?” the little fat boy changed the subject.
“I haven’t prepared,” Qin Mo replied.
“What? You haven’t prepared?” The little fat boy panicked. “Do you know that the entire tribe has been planning for this event? And you haven’t prepared?”
“Tell me—am I participating in the contest, or are you?” Qin Mo stopped and looked at him.
“Of course it’s you,” the little fat boy laughed. “I’m just worried. I heard the Chief Elder gave Qin Yu a lot of Essence Pills. He’s already broken through.”
“I know,” Qin Mo said calmly. “That’s why I’m about to start preparing now.”
“….” The little fat boy was speechless but still followed him.
“Why are you following me anyway?” Qin Mo asked. “Don’t you know wasting others’ time is tantamount to courting death?”
“….” The little fat boy had no reply. In his heart, he thought: You clearly want to get rid of me and don’t want to take me hunting, yet you act all serious. Today, I’ll stick to you. If you won’t take me hunting, I’ll just follow you.
Seeing the little fat boy silently but persistently trailing behind, Qin Mo’s expression stiffened. He suddenly looked back and smiled: “Lieutenant Li Hai, I see you’re here for Xiao Hu.”
Upon hearing Li Hai’s name, the little fat boy’s expression instantly changed. He turned to look behind but saw no one.
Soon, he heard the stone door close. He immediately realized he had been tricked by Qin Mo. Before he could knock, Qin Mo’s voice came from inside:
“Boy, go back and refine your body. From now until the contest, I’ll be in seclusion.”
The little fat boy gritted his teeth angrily. “Qin… you’re ruthless! If you won’t take me hunting, I’ll go myself, humph…”
He pretended to leave, walking a few steps toward the door, but when he noticed no movement inside, he grew even angrier.
Just as he was about to smash the stone door in fury, someone appeared beside him, scaring him badly. Before he could see who it was, he felt a sharp pain in his ear.
“Quick, put it down! I was wrong! I know I was wrong for sneaking out,” the little fat boy said, full of grievance.
“Go back,” said the newcomer. Naturally, it was Li Hai.
“I may be fat, but I can’t just roll away,” the little fat boy said, holding his reddened ear with a mournful expression. “Oh no, if Miss Wang sees this, she’ll worry. Why do I have such a father?”
Li Hai’s face turned dark. In his mind, he thought: I also wonder why I have such an unfilial son. Anger flared, and he kicked the little fat boy in the rear, shouting:
“Ungrateful boy! Using your mother to threaten me? Let’s see who saves you today!”
The little fat boy, rolling on the ground from the kick, was terrified. Realizing his father was truly angry, he ran to the door, knocking:
“Brother Mo, help! Brother Mo, he’s going to kill me…”
Inside the stone house, there was no response. Seeing Li Hai approaching, the little fat boy relented: “Dad, I was wrong, truly wrong.”
“Wrong about what?” Li Hai glared.
“Wrong in befriending a heartless, ungrateful scoundrel!” the little fat boy said indignantly, clearly referring to Qin Mo.
At that moment, the stone door suddenly opened. Qin Mo appeared at the doorway, smiling at the pair.
The little fat boy, seeing Qin Mo, felt he had found a savior and quickly hid behind him. “I’m not going back. Bring Miss Wang. Only when she comes will I go back.”
“You’re protecting him?” Li Hai asked, staring at Qin Mo.
“Not daring. You should just take him back, or I won’t be able to rest in peace,” Qin Mo said with a bitter expression, stepping aside.
“Qin Mo, you… you… are truly heartless and ungrateful!” the little fat boy shouted furiously.
After he finished speaking, Li Hai grabbed his ear, nodded at Qin Mo, and left. No matter how the little fat boy acted, Li Hai remained unmoved.
“Better luck next time,” Qin Mo said with a comforting look at their departing backs.
Since childhood, he knew that fighting with his father never ends well, especially against a strong-willed father.
Closing the stone door, Qin Mo returned inside and sat on the bed, beginning to rest immediately.
Having finished the task, a huge weight lifted from his heart.
He had originally planned to prepare for a match with Lin Yue in a year, but after encountering Qin Yu today, he changed his mind. He decided to make Qin Yu suffer in the upcoming contest.
Hence, he refused to take the little fat boy hunting and secluded himself in the stone house.
Of course, he knew he couldn’t reveal too much of his power; otherwise, the tribe would suspect him. On the surface, he still appeared to be a “white-blooded waste.”
This so-called seclusion was naturally not for breakthrough; he just needed a reason to hide his strength while making any display of power seem reasonable.
“If only my bloodline could enhance me,” Qin Mo sighed.
Technically, after breaking through the limits of the white bloodline so quickly, his bloodline should have been very high-level. But he had tried already. Since that life-and-death experience, the testing stone in the world no longer reacted to him. He had no idea what type of bloodline he truly possessed.
After thinking for a long time, Qin Mo still had no clue.
With his current strength, Qin Yu was not a threat. However, using two thousand jins of strength against him, without unleashing the power of the Tyrant Divine Blade, would make defeating Qin Yu difficult, though not impossible.
He wanted a crushing victory, not a hard-fought battle.
“Ah, that gourd,” Qin Mo suddenly remembered something.
In that cave, he had not only inherited Lu Junpo’s Divine Blade but also a treasure called Tongtian, a fiery red gourd.
Since returning to the tribe, he hadn’t had time to investigate it. Now, thinking of it, he became curious.
However, even he didn’t know how to summon it. Until now, the gourd had remained only in his mind, motionless.
“Divine Gourd, Divine Gourd, hear my command,” Qin Mo whispered in his mind.
Still, the red gourd remained unmoving. This frustrated him. He tried many methods, all useless.
Just as he was about to give up, he had an idea: he tried channeling the Divine Blade’s intent into the gourd.
“Hum”—he did it correctly. When the blade intent touched the gourd, it trembled in his mind, then appeared as a red light in his hand.
“Hahaha!” Qin Mo laughed, then examined the gourd carefully. It looked plain, with nothing unusual except for its deep red body.
“Named Tongtian, it should have some heavenly ability. But how do I use it?” Qin Mo was puzzled.
Lu Junpo’s residual consciousness had clearly been unhelpful, giving him the gourd and its name, but not its use.
So Qin Mo tried again, using the blade intent to activate the red gourd.
Sure enough, it moved again—but no strange power appeared. Instead, it floated back into his mind, calm and motionless.
He repeated the summoning many times but couldn’t figure out its use.
Finally, he tried rubbing the gourd with his hands. Something strange happened.
The gourd emitted a fiery red mist, filling the entire stone house.
Qin Mo’s first instinct was to leave, but when he inhaled a few breaths of the mist, he felt clear-headed, not poisoned.
More importantly, after absorbing the red mist into his body, he noticed changes—not in his physique, but in his bloodline. The sensation was as if he had transformed overnight from a beggar into a wealthy landlord.
Seeing that the mist lingered, he quickly stored the gourd. Soon, the red mist vanished.
Cautiously, Qin Mo went to the door and ensured no one had noticed anything, then finally relaxed.
As night fell and the tribe went to rest, Qin Mo quietly left his stone house and approached the central Testing Stone, placing his hand upon it…
