Chapter 14

Yu Sheng Mo was definitely the strongest opponent Jiang Mu Ming had ever encountered.

Although the evaluation of her as First in Southern Decisive, Second in the World was somewhat exaggerated, there were still existences like Mo Yi and Xie Zhize above her, both in the Profound Spirit Realm.

But her swordsmanship had already reached an unparalleled level.

Even the so-called sword immortals could not hold their heads up before her.

Her strength had reached the terrifying Half-step Profound Spirit!

However, Jiang Mu Ming's strength was no weaker. His cultivation had likewise reached the Half-step Profound Spirit.

He also had the Great River Sword Intent with him.

Even when facing Yu Sheng Mo's Demon Immortal Sword, he remained unmoved.

On the ancient road.

Two sword intents confronted each other, like the Chu River and Han Border, their boundaries clearly defined.

On one side, demonic energy surged into the heavens.

On the other, a great river roared.

Neither side yielded.

With her longsword in hand, Yu Sheng Mo looked at Jiang Mu Ming with interest.

"What sword intent is this?"

Yu Sheng Mo was a prodigiously talented swordswoman, so she could naturally see the extraordinary nature of Jiang Mu Ming's Great River Sword Intent.

Yet this sort of sword intent had never appeared in the martial world before.

Even Yu Sheng Mo had never seen it.

That was why she felt curious.

"This is the Great River Sword Intent," Jiang Mu Ming replied, sword in hand.

Yu Sheng Mo pondered it carefully.

She found that Jiang Mu Ming's sword intent was indeed like the waters of a great river.

Vast, grand, and weighty!

It carried the momentum of a great river descending from the mountains and rushing toward the sea.

Nothing could stop it.

"You're not bad," Yu Sheng Mo praised.

At such a young age, he already possessed such powerful sword intent and martial cultivation.

Given enough time.

The world might well gain another Li Changsheng!

"You're worth my attack."

Yu Sheng Mo swept out her long sleeve. In an instant, her powerful sword intent transformed into a black dragon.

It charged toward Jiang Mu Ming.

The black dragon opened its mouth and spat out endless sharp swords.

With a single casual move, it turned the entire ancient road into a wasteland, as if something had plowed through it.

"That's quite a display."

After Jiang Mu Ming's strength broke through to the Half-step Profound Spirit, he was also itching to test his limits.

He swung his sword.

In an instant, an boundless river descended from above the nine heavens. Every drop of its water seemed to be a sharp sword.

It crashed violently into the black dragon summoned by Yu Sheng Mo.

For a time, the two sides were evenly matched, their supreme sword intents sweeping away everything around them!

"Be careful."

Yu Sheng Mo called out a warning. Then a strange light appeared in her eyes, and a wisp of flame seemed to burn within them.

This was a sign of cultivation deviation.

But Yu Sheng Mo had not deviated from her cultivation. Instead, she had willingly entered demonic cultivation to obtain greater power.

And unleash an even stronger sword technique!

This was the Demon Immortal Sword cultivated by Yu Sheng Mo!

And after Yu Sheng Mo entered demonic cultivation.

The sky also grew gloomy and lifeless, as if a storm were about to break.

Dark clouds blotted out the sky and sun.

It seemed that the heavens and earth might collapse at any moment!

On the other side.

Jiang Mu Ming held his sword toward the sky. Heaven and earth seemed to transform into a surging, flowing great river.

Everywhere the eye could see.

There was only endless river water.

It came crashing down!

This was a duel unique to sword immortals. With every move, every form, they summoned strange phenomena from heaven and earth, displaying the greatest splendor of the mortal world!

And as these two powerful sword intents finally collided.

A world-shaking shockwave spread across the four corners of the earth.

Even the city a hundred li away could feel it!

Everyone in the city thought an earthquake was happening and anxiously rushed out of their homes.

Yet they saw, on the horizon—

a Mysterious Bird wreathed in dark flames.

It was battling an endless, boundless river.

With a single flap of its wings, the Mysterious Bird unleashed flames that seemed capable of burning the entire sky.

Yet they alone could not burn away that endless river.

The people in the city were all terrified.

"What... what is this? Could this be a scene of Heaven destroying the world?"

"How can such a shocking sight exist in this world?"

But there were also some people of extraordinary knowledge.

The people from the Hundred Information Hall were the first to leave the city, heading toward the site of the Dark Wind Burning River phenomenon.

Such a sight could only mean that peerless sword immortals were exchanging moves!

But by the time the people from the Hundred Information Hall arrived.

Everything had already come to an end.

They could only stamp their feet and sigh. "That dark fire phoenix must have been Yu Sheng Mo's Demon Immortal Sword."

"But who was behind that Nine Heavens Long River?"

"There are actually matters in this world unknown even to the Hundred Information Hall! We must investigate this thoroughly!"

Ancient road.

Jiang Mu Ming walked shoulder to shoulder with Yu Sheng Mo.

Jiang Mu Ming carried a book.

Yu Sheng Mo carried an umbrella.

The two looked nothing like they had when they had been fighting moments ago.

In that battle.

The two had merely been sparring, and neither had used their full strength.

There had been no victor or loser, no distinction between higher or lower.

But both had acknowledged the other's strength.

"You're so young, yet you already possess such cultivation. Have you never thought of making a name for yourself throughout the world?"

Yu Sheng Mo asked.

As direct and blunt as ever.

"Making a name for myself throughout the world?"

Jiang Mu Ming smiled and replied, "To me, that's not as good as reading a few more books."

Yu Sheng Mo stopped walking.

She tilted her head toward Jiang Mu Ming and asked curiously, "You're so obsessed with reading."

"How could you have attained such swordsmanship?"

Jiang Mu Ming countered, "Why couldn't I?"

"My Great River Sword Intent was comprehended from books."

"If you read more books."

"You might be able to comprehend even more powerful martial arts from them. Then, when you challenge Li Changsheng, you'll have a few more chances of victory."

Yu Sheng Mo frowned.

"You know that I intend to challenge Li Changsheng?"

Then she chuckled and said, "Since you know that the person I intend to challenge is Li Changsheng, you should also know that reading a few books won't be of much use."

But Jiang Mu Ming handed her a book.

He said, "You haven't read it. How do you know it's useless?"

Yu Sheng Mo had originally wanted to refuse.

But after thinking it over, she still accepted it and looked at the cover. Four large characters were written on it: Smiling Proud Wanderer.

"Then I'll take a look and see whether it's truly as wondrous as you claim."

Half believing and half doubting, Yu Sheng Mo opened the book.

But the moment she began reading—

her thoughts were completely drawn into it.

The vivid characters depicted in the novel seemed to leap from the pages: Dongfang Bubai, who declared, "The sun rises in the east; I alone am undefeated."

She too possessed a male body and a female appearance.

Yet compared with herself, who could only remain beneath Li Changsheng—

this Cult Master Dongfang was the genuine Number One Under Heaven!

The Sunflower Manual she cultivated was also a peerless martial art rarely seen in this world. If one could comprehend the mysteries of Celestial Being Incarnation, then even the Profound Spirit Realm might not be beyond reach.

And that Senior Dugu in the book.

His swordsmanship was even more unfathomably profound. He had actually proposed the idea that even without a sword in hand, one could have a sword in one's heart.

The heavens, earth, mountains, and rivers—anything could become a sword!

If she could comprehend these mysteries, perhaps she would possess the strength to fight Li Changsheng...

And just as she was thinking this.

In a daze, Yu Sheng Mo seemed to glimpse a red figure practicing martial arts atop Blackwood Cliff.

"This... is this the cultivation method of the Sunflower Manual?"

She had actually comprehended the technique from the book?!

At the same time.

A voice rang in Jiang Mu Ming's ear.

[ Ding! Having imparted the Sunflower Manual to Yu Sheng Mo, reward: Sunflower Manual, Grand Completion! ]