The first light of dawn illuminated Qingyuan Main Peak. Li Mo sat at the dining table, occasionally bursting into laughter—and the laughter seemed to grow increasingly... odd?

"Ah, nice! The Heaven and Earth Manifestation, hehehe..."

"Ha ha ha ha..."

"Jie jie jie..."

Shang Wu and Qin Yuzhi exchanged bewildered glances. At first, they suspected that their junior Li might have been possessed by something.

But after an authoritative diagnosis by Sect Leader Qin, it was confirmed—he wasn’t.

He was simply being weird.

"What’s gotten into you?" Shang Wu expressed concern for his mental state.

Qin Yuzhi thought for a moment and said seriously, "He’s been feverish for days. Maybe his brain got fried?"

"I just remembered something happy, that’s all."

Li Mo suppressed his grin and cleared his throat. "Haven’t you noticed? I’ve broken through."

Qin Yuzhi studied him carefully and nodded. "Just now, right? Still fresh."

"But isn’t breaking through normal for you?"

"The divine insight I observed was special. I’ve gained a new technique."

Li Mo took a bite of his steamed bun, a faint smirk on his lips.

"What technique?" Shang Wu asked.

"Getting bigger!"

Qin Yuzhi blinked. "That’s not particularly rare. Many martial arts can enlarge the body. I know quite a few."

"Yours might be one I’ve seen before. Show me."

"Then I’ll demonstrate just a little."

Li Mo’s expression turned solemn as he suddenly let out a low shout.

Rustle—

The sound of bones resonating and blood surging could almost be heard.

Chaotic energy swirled, converging toward one of his arms!

"Hah!"

Li Mo exhaled sharply. His height remained unchanged, but his right arm thickened by threefold, pulsing with overwhelming power!

Hmm...

And that was it.

He now had an "Qilin Arm."

"Is there more?" Qin Yuzhi sensed the technique wasn’t fully displayed.

Li Mo replied, "Nope."

"Pfft—! Shouldn’t your whole body grow? Why just one arm... It looks so ridiculous, hahaha!"

Shang Wu covered her mouth, struggling to hold back laughter.

Her precious disciple now looked like someone born with a congenital deformity.

"Watch your words!"

Li Mo was displeased. This was the Heaven and Earth Manifestation, a divine ability of the Great Sage. If you don’t understand, don’t mock it.

He instinctively tried to stand but, unused to the overwhelming power in his right arm, nearly lost his balance and face-planted into the soy milk.

"HAHAHA!! You’re hilarious!"

His beautiful master no longer held back, pointing and laughing at him.

"Hiss... This seems familiar. Wait, I remember now!"

Qin Yuzhi, whose memory was spotty at best, stared at Li Mo’s mismatched arms as a long-buried recollection surfaced.

"Once, I saw a warrior from the Martial Refinement Hall who was born with a deformity—though not in his arms, but his legs. One was enormous, the other shriveled like an infant’s."

"Oh?"

Li Mo felt a strange sense of déjà vu but couldn’t place it.

He did know of the Martial Refinement Hall. Qin Yuzhi had mentioned that its members were pure martial artists, devoted solely to tempering their bodies—extremely powerful in combat.

But they all seemed a bit... simple-minded.

Qin Yuzhi continued,

"He was born disabled, but as they say, when the gods close a door, they open a window. That suited him perfectly."

"With one leg crippled, the other became abnormally strong. He dedicated all his effort to refining that leg."

"And in the end, he truly forged an incredible martial art!"

"What art?" Li Mo asked.

"The Heavenly Crippled Leg!"

Qin Yuzhi said gravely, "Just like you, he could suddenly enlarge one leg to colossal size. A single kick could shatter mountains—utterly fearsome."

"Pfft—!"

Li Mo nearly choked on his soy milk.

What kind of nonsense was this "Heavenly Crippled Leg"? His was the Heaven and Earth Manifestation! How could they even compare?

"Sadly, fate was unkind to him."

"He was defeated?"

"No. A treacherous sorcerer poisoned him with a curse—giving his good leg... athlete’s foot."

"......"

Li Mo suddenly lost his appetite.

Damn it, the Heavenly Crippled Leg got athlete’s foot?!

Since the Heaven and Earth Manifestation had never appeared in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, explaining it would be pointless.

He reverted to normal, grabbed his hammer, and left the courtyard, heading for the Divine Arms Peak to test his newfound strength.

Just as he stepped outside—

From the second-floor window of her chamber, Ying Bing watched him leave Autumn Water Pavilion before quietly closing the shutters.

What she had just witnessed told her, through her martial intuition, that this was nothing like the "Heavenly Crippled Leg" Qin Yuzhi described.

It was simply that Li Mo hadn’t yet mastered it, making it seem clumsy and comical.

Just how strong was Li Mo’s physique and power?

Perhaps no one understood better than the ice-cold girl herself.

If even the "Divine Hammer Prodigy" struggled to control this strength—how terrifying must it be?

"Seven days... no."

"Six days left."

This time, she was confident...

......

On the mountain path to Divine Arms Peak, Li Mo pondered as he walked.

"My current body is still too weak. The chaotic energy is limited, unable to fill my entire form, and the duration is too short."

"So forget transforming into a thousand-foot giant—I can’t even enlarge my whole body yet. Only partial growth..."

At this thought, he focused his mind.

He swallowed a six-marked pill to replenish his vitality and attempted the Heaven and Earth Manifestation again.

He distinctly felt his leg swelling under the chaotic energy’s nourishment, its power multiplying tenfold!

Thud—

The ground trembled. Without using any movement technique, pure strength alone launched him like a cannonball from the mountainside straight into the forging yard.

The Divine Arms Peak disciples gaped in shock at the sight of him.

But Li Mo paid them no mind. Dispelling the technique, his eyes gleamed.

"Divine Refinement strengthens the body during forging."

"And if I master the power from the Heaven and Earth Manifestation, I can amplify the strength of my hammer arm at critical moments, boosting efficiency."

"The two complement each other!"

"Wait..."

As everyone knew, Li Mo was full of ideas—many of which struck him out of nowhere.

Though he could only enlarge parts of his body, he could choose which parts!

Which gave him a bold thought.

He glanced down at a certain recently unruly part of himself. What if...

"!"

Li Mo recoiled slightly, startled by his own audacity.

Li Mo, what are you thinking?!

......