Chapter 31

Where was it?

Luo Qingzhou widened his eyes and stared at his fingertip where the drop of “ink” had disappeared.

Not a single trace was left behind!

After being momentarily stunned, he quickly shook that finger hard, as if he wanted to shake out that liquid that had just entered his body.

But it was useless.

With his other hand, he squeezed that finger hard, trying to squeeze that liquid out of him.

However, his effort was futile.

“What on earth is it?”

Luo Qingzhou wondered.

Feeling anxious, he studied the mirror again.

The morning sun shone through the window lattice and landed on the side of the mirror carved with the moon.

The mirror was still dark.

Even the bright sunlight could not illuminate the darkness inside.

Luo Qingzhou’s expression turned solemn.

Last night, he merely felt that this mirror was interesting. He thought that the special materials used to create the mirror resulted in it having two different sides.

But now, he felt that things were not that simple.

A drop of ink-like liquid strangely appeared on the mirror and crawled into his fingertip. Even under the sunlight, the moon-carved mirror still looked sinister.

There was something strange about it.

This bronze mirror was definitely not simple!

Luo Qingzhou hesitated for a moment before reaching out to pick up the mirror and placing the side of the moon in front of him.

His face immediately appeared in the mirror.

The light was dim and gloomy.

In the mirror, his face also gave off a strange and sinister feeling.

A few more glances actually made his hair stand on end.

He turned the mirror again and shone it on the other side.

His face was immediately reflected in the mirror carved with the sun.

He looked handsome, cheerful, and his eyes were bright. He had a warm-hearted look to him. Others would feel a refreshing feeling at that sight.

One side was dark, while the other side was sunny.

Luo Qingzhou looked at the mirror carved with the sun and thought for a moment. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. He placed it on the table, aiming it at the sunlight that shone in through the window.

Last night, the mirror carved with the moon was facing up. Then, this morning, he came in and realized that a drop of liquid that looked like ink had suddenly appeared on the mirror. Therefore, a thought came to him. He wondered,

“Will something strange appear if I shine the side that has the sun engraved on it in the sunlight?”

However, after an hour, there was still no reaction from the mirror.

Although he was puzzled, he did not want to waste any more time.

After arranging his books, he went out.

After entering Moonlight Rain Court and seeing that there was no one inside, Luo Qingzhou immediately walked to the northwest corner and entered the bamboo forest.

Soon, the sound of flesh colliding with tree trunks came from the bamboo forest.

Today, Luo Qingzhou exerted more strength than usual.

He cultivated all the way until noon. He only stopped when pain coursed through his entire body, and his skin was about to split open.

After a short rest, he practiced the Thunder Fist again.

This time, he did not use too much strength. He felt that it was much easier to execute the Thunder Fist now.

After two consecutive rounds, Luo Qingzhou’s face was red, and he was panting heavily. He was drenched in sweat and every single muscle in his body ached.

After washing his face in the lake, he returned to the small courtyard.

Xiao Die returned with lunch.

After lunch, Xiao Die left. Luo Qingzhou went to the bamboo forest and continued cultivating.

He seemed to be much more energetic today.

It was not until evening when his entire body was drenched in sweat and his skin had cracked slightly, that he stopped. He could no longer practice due to the excruciating pain.

However, something was strange.

Luo Qingzhou had used up all of his strength, his muscles were aching, and harsh, sharp pain enveloped his skin. Despite that, he was still feeling energetic.

Usually, at this time, his body and mind were exhausted.

However, things were different today.

“What is going on?”

he wondered.

Luo Qingzhou suddenly thought of the drop of “ink” that had seeped into his fingertip this morning.

“Could it be because of that?”

He looked at the sky. It was already afternoon.

He freshened up at the lake, put on his clothes, and returned to the small courtyard.

Xiao Die had not returned yet.

Luo Qingzhou entered the house and walked to the desk. He glanced at the bronze mirror on the desk and his eyes widened.

Another drop of liquid had appeared on the mirror!

However, this drop of liquid was not ink-black like the drop of liquid in the morning. Instead, it was dark blue, like the color of the deep sea.

Luo Qingzhou subconsciously stretched out his finger, wanting to touch it. However, he gave a sudden jolt and hurriedly retracted his finger.

He did not want it to seep into his finger again.

“What the hell is this thing?”

he thought.

He made a vague guess as to what it was.

At night, when the moon-engraved side of the mirror was facing the moonlight, a drop of black liquid would appear on the mirror the next day.

During the day, if he placed the sun-engraved side of the mirror facing the sunlight, a drop of this dark blue liquid would appear on the mirror at night.

But what exactly was the use of the liquid?

He was especially energetic today. Was it because of the drop of ink-black liquid?

All of this still needed to be investigated further.

Luo Qingzhou did not dare to touch the blue liquid.

After some thought, he found a small porcelain bottle and carefully picked up the bronze mirror. He poured the liquid into the porcelain bottle and covered it with a wooden stopper to preserve it.

In the next few days, he decided to study the bronze mirror and the strange liquid it produced.

Time seemed to fly while he was immersed in cultivation every day.

In the blink of an eye.

A week had passed.

For the past week, other than cultivating diligently every day, Luo Qingzhou had been studying the bronze mirror.

In the end, he realized that his previous guess was right.

At the same time, he received a pleasant surprise.

Only when both sides of the mirror were facing the sun and moon respectively could they produce a droplet of liquid every day.

The drop of black liquid could indeed strengthen his spirit. Even after cultivating for an entire day, he was still full of energy.

For the time being, he could not tell if there were other effects.

What surprised him was the drop of dark blue liquid.

Luo Qingzhou mustered his courage and decided to do a self-experiment.

In the end, he was pleasantly surprised to find that after his fingertips absorbed the dark blue liquid, not only did the pain coursing through his skin decrease a lot during cultivation, but the traces of his skin splitting could be quickly repaired. At the same time, his skin tempering speed was increasing rapidly.

In just seven days, the skin membrane of his entire body had become even tougher. When he punched the tree trunk, the hard bark was immediately shattered. At the same time, he did not feel any pain in his fists at all.

His skin became as strong as copper, and his punches were as powerful as the hooves of an ox.

He was about to succeed in skin refinement!

At the same time, he had used all his strength to practice Thunder Fist, yet he could complete the entire set of moves once. His muscles only ached a little.

His physique, skin, strength, and spirit seemed to have strengthened a lot.

It was recorded in the secret manual that skin refining required three things. Internal cultivation techniques, coupled with external attacks, and martial artists soaking in medicinal baths would ensure that they would get a better result in half the time.

It seemed that the drop of dark blue liquid could serve as a skin-refining medicine!

To Luo Qingzhou, this was indeed a pleasant surprise that excited him.

Of course, in these seven days, other than cultivating and studying the liquids, he would pay his respects to First Young Miss Qin every night.

As usual, Qin Jianjia ignored him.

But that did not matter.

Luo Qingzhou was focused on cultivating. Nothing could distract him from his cultivation.

In another ten days or so, it would be one month after his marriage. He had to make a trip out of the city to visit his mother’s grave and inform her about his marriage.

He hoped that his mother’s spirit could rest in peace. At the same time, Luo Qingzhou hoped that his mother’s spirit would bless him so that he would be successful in his cultivation. That way, during the Dragon Academy’s entrance examination next year, he would be able to let all members of the Luo family receive the retribution they deserve!

Luo Qingzhou wished that when the time came, his mother’s spirit could look down upon them, and she would be able to see First Madam’s exasperated and anguished expression.

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sun was setting, spreading a golden-orange hue across the sky.

In the bamboo forest of Moonlight Rain Court, Luo Qingzhou was practicing the Thunder Fist. He had a cold, clammy sweat all over his body. When he was near the end of the move set, there was a faint sound of thunder and wind as he punched out.

The surrounding leaves fluttered to the ground.

The withered bamboo leaves on the ground were also swirling around his feet under some invisible airflow.

Boom!

He struck out and punched at a nearby tree.

The tree trunk, which had already festered, suddenly shook violently. The white wood that was vaguely visible under the tree bark cracked.

If this punch landed on an ordinary person, their bones would definitely break and they would fall to the ground, unable to get back up.

Luo Qingzhou stopped cultivating. He was very satisfied with his current cultivation progress.

He was proud that he was no longer the weak scholar who could not even lift a bucket of water!

Looking at the time, he realized that it was already late.

After cleansing himself in the lake, he put on his clothes and left.

Not long after he left, on the trunk of a big tree in the bamboo forest, the bark was still festering at the spot where he had just punched, but the wooden surface inside was slightly charred.

Luo Qingzhou returned to the small courtyard. Xiao Die was putting away the clean clothes. Seeing that he had returned, she hurriedly reported, “Young Master, I met Second Young Miss’ maidservant, Zhu’er, this afternoon. Zhu’er wants me to tell you that Second Young Miss will be meeting a friend tonight at the Moon Gazing Pavilion, and she wants to invite you along.”

“Zhu’er also said that if Young Master is unwilling, she will complain to First Young Miss.”

Luo Qingzhou frowned. “Why didn’t Zhu’er tell me herself?”

Xiao Die said helplessly, “Zhu’er said that you rejected her Young Miss in front of so many people the previous time, so she doesn’t want to talk to you. She said that she gets angry at the sight of you.”

Luo Qingzhou said, “Then tell her that I’m rejecting Second Young Miss’ invitation again.”

Xiao Die was at a loss for words.