"Zhao Fan, look at you, scared out of your wits! With an immortal master here, what are you afraid of those demon snakes for?"
"Exactly. We just need to stand by. With an upper sect immortal master's abilities, wiping out those harmful demon snakes will be a piece of cake!"
Many of the Zhao Family's guards were still somewhat afraid of the demon snakes.
After entering the Spirit Field, they couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
But when they saw the thin yet resolute figure ahead, the guards felt much more at ease and began whispering among themselves.
Shen Mo, scouting ahead, heard the guards' chatter and tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
They all regarded Shen Mo as the pillar that held the sea steady. Little did they know that even this upper sect immortal master was feeling a little nervous.
After all, this was Shen Mo's first time leaving the mountain to formally slay demons.
"They're just a bunch of low-level demon beasts. There won't be any danger."
If he was too tense, he might mess up when it came time to slay the demons. Shen Mo hurriedly tried to reassure himself.
But his self-reassurance did little good.
So he removed the special Destiny [Encounter: Mortal] he had equipped and put on [Boldness].
Only then did his earlier nervousness gradually ease.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
As soon as he equipped the special Destiny, a strange sound suddenly came from beside his ear.
His gaze flashed like lightning as he looked toward the sound.
"A demon snake."
On a Vermilion Fruit tree three zhang away, a Silver-Ringed Demon Snake was coiling its body and flicking its tongue at him.
The Silver-Ringed Demon Snake was about as thick as an adult's arm. Silver patterns covered its body, radiating a dangerous aura.
Most chilling of all were the demon snake's yellow-brown pupils, now narrowed to slits.
It was poised to strike!
Whoosh!
The moment Shen Mo noticed the demon snake, it raised its head, opened its jaws to reveal its fangs, and suddenly lunged at him.
"Immortal master, watch out!"
Hearing the guards behind him cry out in alarm, Shen Mo's heart clenched.
Almost by instinct, he raised the Green Edge Sword in his hand and slashed.
Pfft!
As the sword flashed, the Silver-Ringed Demon Snake was sliced in two.
Dark green blood splattered across the ground.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The Silver-Ringed Snake Demon, severed at the waist, didn't die just like that.
Dragging half its body behind its head, it still charged toward Shen Mo at astonishing speed.
Clang! Clang!
Perhaps [Boldness] had taken effect. Shen Mo was no longer nervous as before, and the Green Edge Sword in his hand came down in a swift slash.
Two more streaks of Sword Qi descended like rainbows.
The demon snake, already severed in two, was cut apart again.
Pfft!
After slicing it into three pieces, Shen Mo didn't stop.
He knew the Silver-Ringed Demon Snake had an extremely tenacious life force. He had to crush its head into pulp to make sure it was dead.
So he flicked his sword into a flurry of glinting arcs, chopping the snake's head into mincemeat.
The Silver-Ringed Snake Demon finally stopped moving.
"Just as you'd expect of an upper sect immortal master! When we fight these snake demons, our weapons strike them like steel—we can only leave white marks on their bodies, without even cutting the skin. But the immortal master cuts through them like slicing melons and vegetables!"
These Zhao Family guards were martial arts experts in the mortal world, but against demon beasts and cultivators, their combat strength was only five.
Unable to help Shen Mo slay the snake demons, they began showering him with praise.
"Of course. An upper sect immortal master—"
But before they could shower him with a few more compliments, what happened next silenced everyone.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The once-still Spirit Field suddenly filled with the rustle of swaying plants.
At the same time, Silver-Ringed Demon Snakes began appearing from every direction, one after another.
Hundreds of them swarmed over like a tide, making everyone's scalp prickle!
The guards' faces turned ashen at the sight.
One man couldn't bear the fear and bolted for the exit.
The moment the first person ran, it was like a domino falling. Everyone began fleeing outside.
Only Shen Mo remained, sword in hand, without retreating a single step.
"Supreme Clarity Sword Technique!"
Facing the surging tide of snakes, he let out a low shout. The long sword in his hand turned into streaks of Sword Qi.
The Sword Qi wove together, gradually forming an airtight net. Paired with the wind-and-thunder speed of Thunderbolt Quickstep, it kept every demon snake from coming within one foot of Shen Mo.
Pfft!
Pfft!
The demon snakes surged forward one after another, their blood spouting like fountains.
Yet as Shen Mo looked at the ground strewn with snake corpses, the more he killed, the bolder he became.
Squelch!
Streaks of sword light kept appearing, sweeping through the snakes like a gale scattering fallen leaves.
[As you use Thunderbolt Quickstep to fend off enemies, you sense the profound mysteries of this immortal art and deepen your understanding of this movement art. Thunderbolt Quickstep experience points +1] [As you use Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to fend off enemies, your execution of this martial art grows more proficient. Supreme Clarity Sword Technique experience points +5] [As you use Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to fend off enemies, your execution of this martial art grows more proficient. Supreme Clarity Sword Technique experience points +5] [As you face your enemies in battle, your spiritual power surges and your blood boils. You feel the bottleneck in your cultivation realm loosen.]
As one notification after another appeared, Shen Mo had already slain more than twenty demon snakes.
"Gulp!"
He swallowed one of the prepared Qi Recovery Pills, replenishing the spiritual energy he'd spent, then swung his sword again and continued his frenzied slaughter!
[You slew a Silver-Ringed Demon Snake and unexpectedly obtained Destiny Points. Destiny Points +1]
When a notification saying he'd gained Destiny Points appeared before his eyes, Shen Mo was overjoyed.
"Just as I thought! Slaying demon beasts can increase my Destiny Points too!"
Now that his guess was confirmed, the Sword Qi from Shen Mo's blade grew even more fierce.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The demon snakes charged forward one after another, surrounding Shen Mo on all sides.
Yet even within that airtight encirclement, he remained as steady as a mountain.
With a light flick of his sword, he cut another demon snake in two.
Before he knew it, more than forty demon snakes had died beneath Shen Mo's sword.
At last, the frenzied demon snakes began to change.
Their meager intelligence seemed to be telling them they were afraid.
The snakes began to retreat and scatter in every direction.
"Trying to run?"
Seeing the tide of snakes begin to break apart, Shen Mo curled his lips into a cold smile. "You won't get away! Every last one of you is going to die!"
Now that he'd gradually gotten used to real combat, he no longer felt the slightest fear.
The tide of snakes looked terrifying, but the demon snakes were all weak. Not one of them was even comparable to a cultivator at the fifth layer of the Body Tempering Realm.
They posed no threat to him. On the contrary, they were all moving experience packs!
He gripped the Green Edge Sword and charged into them like a wild wolf plunging into a sheep pen, slaughtering in every direction.
The tide of snakes quickly scattered.
Every demon snake had felt Shen Mo's terrifying might and began fleeing for its life.
"You won't get away!"
Shen Mo had no intention of sparing them. He pursued them with his sword raised.
He chased them all the way to the center of the Spirit Field, beside an exceptionally huge Vermilion Fruit tree.
There, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Before you continue