The Sword Technique

Last night, Shen Mo and Chen Mengze talked for a long time.

After hearing about Chen Mengze's past that night, he had come to see her in a new light.

Still, it changed nothing.

He continued to follow his own plans and pace, arranging his daily cultivation step by step.

He still worked with Senior Brother Guo, each getting what he needed.

After telling Guo Zhao what Chen Mengze wanted for her birthday gift,

Guo Zhao was overjoyed and, as promised, gifted him a low-grade Mystic-rank spirit sword.

At the same time, Shen Mo diligently kept to his duties. As agreed, he spent each day in his room making pills and talismans, without going out.

The days passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by, and more than half their assignment guarding the mine had passed.

Over the past month, aside from the Stone Spirit they'd encountered at the beginning, their night patrols had turned up nothing else.

As for the Gold-Devouring Rats that liked to burrow into the Mystic Crystal Mine and devour its crystals, Shen Mo and the others had seen a few.

But Shen Mo never had to step in.

Senior Brother Guo handled those beasts himself, driving them away whenever they appeared.

Shen Mo's only duties were taking his turn on the night watch every three days and often cooking for Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao to eat when they returned.

The rest of the time, he could openly slack off and cultivate in seclusion, undisturbed by anyone.

Lately, even his night-watch shifts had been excused by Senior Brother Guo Zhao.

He'd eagerly taken turns patrolling with Chen Mengze, hoping for a chance to spend time with her.

But the mountain didn't always stay green, and the moon didn't always grow full.

Just as Shen Mo had expected, despite Senior Brother Guo Zhao's eager attentions, he never found a chance to grow closer to Chen Mengze.

Instead, as they schemed together and traded advice again and again, Shen Mo and Senior Brother Guo Zhao gradually grew closer, becoming good friends.

Stars hung low over the vast plain; the moonlight surged upon the great river.

Tonight, Guo Zhao and Chen Mengze were on night patrol inside the Mystic Crystal Mine.

With nothing else to do, Shen Mo simply stepped out of the cave and headed to a flat patch of stone by the Lancang River to practice his swordsmanship.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

As Shen Mo raised his elbow slightly, his sharp blade seemed to cleave the void in the darkness, sending gusts of wind surging around him.

"Shatter!"

He stood with his sword in hand, pointing toward a boulder in the distance, and roared.

Bang!

The next instant, a streak of sword energy shot from the tip and smashed the boulder to pieces.

"No wonder it's a spirit sword of the magical-weapon class. It really is extraordinary."

Looking at its fearsome destructive power, Shen Mo smiled faintly.

He'd been practicing with the Dragon Sparrow Sword Guo Zhao had given him for over a month, and was gradually growing accustomed to it.

He'd also begun to uncover its remarkable qualities.

According to Guo Zhao, the reason this sword ranked as a magical weapon

wasn't just that it had been forged from Cold Ice Mystic Iron, making it far stronger and sharper than ordinary mortal weapons.

There was another crucial reason: a swordsmanship master had awakened its sword intent during its forging.

[Life-Slaying]

That was the name of the Dragon Sparrow Sword's sword intent.

Shen Mo only needed to pour enough spiritual power into it to activate this sword-intent technique.

The strike that had shattered the boulder from afar was the power of its sword intent.

"With my strength, unleashing the Dragon Sparrow Sword's full sword intent gives it power on par with a cultivator in the Qi Gathering Initial Realm."

He quietly ran the numbers and felt quite satisfied.

If he landed that strike on an enemy in battle, the enemy could be caught off guard. Even a ninth-level Body Tempering Realm cultivator might be so badly wounded by a single blow that they couldn't fight on.

It was like having another killer move ready for battle.

"Still, this sword intent has only the faintest glimmer of awareness. It can be activated to fight enemies, but that's all. It'll be a long time before it can become a true artifact spirit—one that can communicate with people and develop an independent consciousness."

In the cultivation world, weapons, divine weapons, and spirit treasures were divided into four major grades:

Mystic-rank, spirit-weapon, spirit-treasure, and immortal-weapon.

Each grade was further divided into four tiers: low, middle, high, and supreme.

Mystic-rank weapons were collectively known as magical weapons. They had already surpassed the mortal realm and become coveted treasures among cultivators.

Magical weapons could resonate with their cultivators. A cultivator only needed to refine one with a drop of blood to activate it.

Spirit weapons, on the other hand, needed to develop a consciousness of their own.

As for spirit treasures, no one even knew whether the Red Flame Kingdom possessed a single one. Ancient texts offered only vague accounts of their power and wonders.

Immortal weapons were even more legendary.

Shen Mo was still nowhere near that level.

Even trying to imagine it was beyond him.

After all, when you lacked experience, even your wildest guesses could be wildly off the mark.

You might end up with absurdities like the Eastern Palace's lady baking flatbread while the Western Palace's lady rolled scallions.

"Better get back to sword practice!"

Suppressing his wandering thoughts, Shen Mo raised the Dragon Sparrow Sword and began to practice the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique.

Clang! Clang!

Under the silent night sky, endless sword light swept forth, gathering into a majestic tide that seemed ready to surge into the heavens.

Shen Mo's sword strokes flowed like clouds and running water. Every movement was so free and natural that words could hardly describe it.

The Supreme Clarity Sword Technique was the basic sword art he'd learned after joining the River-Facing Sect. He'd been studying it for more than a decade.

The original owner had been dull-witted and made no progress at all.

Only after Shen Mo had crossed over, taken the original owner's place, and activated the Destiny Panel had he begun to improve by leaps and bounds.

After months of hard practice, and numerous real battles at the Mystic Crystal Mine and the Zhao Family's Spirit Field, he had now mastered the sword technique completely.

[Martial Skill: Supreme Clarity Sword Technique Thoroughly Mastered (3999/4000)]

"Thoroughly Mastered." Gazing at the words in his basic attributes, Shen Mo murmured, "By the standards of the cultivation world, my Supreme Clarity Sword Technique has now reached perfection."

"But on the Destiny Panel, this isn't the limit!"

The Destiny Panel listed seven levels of proficiency for martial skills and immortal arts.

They were First Glimpse of the Path, Slightly Accomplished, Entering the Hall, Thoroughly Mastered, Peak Mastery, Transcendent Mastery, and Return to Simplicity.

The cultivation world, however, didn't have so many levels for practicing martial skills and immortal arts.

It divided them into just four: initiation, minor achievement, major achievement, and perfection.

After experimenting and making a few observations, Shen Mo had confirmed that the first four levels on the Destiny Panel were essentially the same as the cultivation world's stages of mastery.

First Glimpse of the Path corresponded to initiation.

Slightly Accomplished corresponded to minor achievement.

Entering the Hall corresponded to major achievement.

And Thoroughly Mastered was the level of perfection commonly recognized in the cultivation world.

Under normal circumstances, once cultivators reached perfection, they'd have mastered a martial skill or immortal art to its limit, with no room left for improvement.

Only a peerless genius might be able to refine and improve martial skills or immortal arts created by their predecessors, reaching the legendary pinnacle.

But for Shen Mo, reaching this level with the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique was only the beginning of the second half. He still hadn't reached its limit.

"The Destiny Panel seems to make it easier for me than for ordinary cultivators to reach the limits of martial skills and immortal arts."

"But there are still bottlenecks."

He gazed at the Dragon Sparrow Sword in his hand and sighed.