Lu Mo woke up.
She rubbed her bleary eyes and saw that it was only a little past six o’clock.
‘School just started, and I don’t even have an eight o’clock class. Why am I awake so early?’
She grumbled inwardly and pulled the covers over her head, preparing to go back to sleep.
However, she soon discovered something.
She couldn’t fall back asleep.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Did I bring my lifestyle habits from the Simulated Reincarnation back to reality?’
After fifteen minutes passed, Lu Mo felt more awake than ever.
She finally gave up the struggle, tossed the sheets aside, and sighed. “Fine, fine…”
Since she was up, she might as well get up.
She could use the early hour to practice her swordplay in the courtyard.
“Afu,” Lu Mo called out habitually.
But no response came from outside the room.
Lu Mo rose, walked out of her room, and knocked on the door next door.
“Who is it…?” a sluggish voice came from inside, clearly belonging to someone who hadn’t fully woken up yet.
“Afu, it’s me,” Lu Mo replied.
She heard the sound of the girl inside the room bolt upright.
“Lu— Lu— Lu—”
Afu was instantly jolted awake, sounding panicked. “My deepest apologies! Please wait a moment, My Lady. I’m coming out right…”
Then came the sound of the girl falling heavily to the floor.
Followed by…
It sounded like Afu had knocked over everything on her nightstand.
A small object seemed to land right on her head with a dull *thud*.
Vague, pitiful whimpers drifted from behind the door.
“Afu… are you okay?” Lu Mo suddenly felt a bit guilty. Perhaps she shouldn’t have woken her clumsy little maid so early.
“Ugh… I’m fine, Miss Lu Mo. I’m coming out now…”
A short while later, Afu hurried to open the door. She lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed to Lu Mo. “Good morning, Miss Lu Mo.”
“Morning,” Lu Mo replied. She could faintly see traces of tears in the corners of Afu’s eyes and a slight bump forming on her forehead.
“Miss Lu Mo!!!”
“Waaaah—”
The sounds of various objects hitting the floor echoed again.
Before long, the little maid finished helping Lu Mo get ready.
Lu Mo stood in the large courtyard wearing a light dress.
The morning air was crisp, infused with the scent of dew and fresh grass.
Everything in the distance was blurred by a light morning mist. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting a comfortable warmth on her skin.
‘It’s a good time for a morning run… wait, no, it’s a good time to practice the sword.’
“Let’s begin—”
Lu Mo took a deep breath and quickly raised the wooden sword in her hand.
At the same time, outside the residential area where Lu Mo lived.
Elia was approaching from a distance.
As the Empress, it was simple for her to find out where Lu Mo was staying.
Elia’s eyes looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept at all.
In fact, that was exactly the case. She had spent the entire night wondering how to approach Lu Mo without any success.
But she couldn’t hold back anymore.
She had to see Lu Mo right now.
Immediately!
Otherwise, she felt she would go mad from the repressed longing.
‘If I really can’t find a way to get close, then so be it…’
‘At the very least, I won’t disturb Sister Lu Mo for now.’
‘For this stage, it’s enough just to watch from afar, to sense Sister Lu Mo’s presence and catch her scent…’
Elia whispered to herself, sounding uncharacteristically humble.
As she entered the residential area, she drew closer and closer to Lu Mo’s location.
She felt her heart start to throb once more.
When she stood outside the courtyard and peered through the fence, she saw a girl practicing her sword.
Lu Mo swung the wooden sword, her figure constantly shifting positions.
In that instant, Elia felt as if she had been transported back many years to the first time she had secretly watched Lu Mo train.
The girl’s figure had danced through the night sky, trailing points of light like a swarm of fireflies.
On that night, the girl had reached out to her—who had possessed nothing—and said with a smile, “Do you want to learn? I’ll teach you—”
In a daze, 300 years had already passed.
Now, Lu Mo was no longer the candidate of the Shadow Moon Hall.
When she practiced her sword, she no longer drew upon the powers of light and darkness.
She seemed to have become a perfectly ordinary girl.
‘Even so, Sister Lu Mo still refuses to give up. Does she wake up to practice while everyone else is sound asleep?’
Elia felt a wave of emotion, mixed with a pang of heartache.
No.
Perhaps Sister Lu Mo had woken up even earlier.
Sister Lu Mo might have already seen the sun at four in the morning at Cangyu Academy.
In the past, when she had nothing and no talent, it was Sister Lu Mo who took her hand and pulled her forward every step of the way.
And now, times had changed. Sister Lu Mo had lost everything.
Yet, at this time, was there anyone willing to stand up and take Sister Lu Mo’s hand?
‘Well… it seems a certain Saintess tried to grab her hand before I could.’
‘But that Saintess isn’t worthy, so she doesn’t count.’
Looking at Lu Mo practicing alone, a hint of sorrow filled Elia’s eyes.
She clenched her fists tightly.
She felt she had to do something.
She wanted to walk over, stay by Sister Lu Mo’s side, and give her a long, deep hug.
At this moment, Lu Mo was completely immersed in her practice and didn’t notice the figure outside.
She finished her first round and came to a temporary halt.
This time, she was practicing a sword style she had brought back from her second Simulated Reincarnation.
The technique’s grade was above average, but its greatest advantage was that it had no threshold; even a low-level beginner could fully master it.
Furthermore, during the practice process, energy circulated through the entire body, serving to nourish and strengthen it.
For Lu Mo, who had just gained cultivation talent and the powers of Light and Shadow, it couldn’t be more perfect.
Once her realm was higher, she could try practicing powerful secret arts like the Shadow Moon Secret Codex.
Although she had completed a full set during the first round, Lu Mo still noticed a few issues.
For example, when she swung a certain strike, her center of gravity was slightly too far back.
Or when she performed a thrust, her strength was too weak, causing the speed to drop slightly.
The reason was that while practicing, Lu Mo would occasionally forget for a second or two that her current body wasn’t the one from the second simulation.
In reality, she was a young woman, while in the second simulation, she had only been a girl.
With a different physical stature, deviations in her swordplay were natural.
However, it wasn’t a major issue.
Lu Mo felt that after practicing two or three more times in reality, she would be able to master the style perfectly.
“Student, your sword…”
Suddenly, a girl’s voice rang out from outside the courtyard.
Lu Mo blinked and quickly looked toward the fence.
She saw the figure of a tall girl.
As she looked at her, she was suddenly struck by an incredibly strong sense of familiarity.