Swordplay

Last night, Shen Mo and Chen Mengze talked at length.

After hearing the stories Chen Mengze shared that night, he gained a new understanding of her.

However, none of this changed anything.

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

He still cooperated with Senior Brother Guo, each taking what they needed.

After telling Guo Zhao the birthday gift Chen Mengze wanted, Guo Zhao was overjoyed and, as promised, gifted him a low-grade Profound-tier spiritual sword.

At the same time, Shen Mo performed his duties faithfully, staying in his room to refine pills and craft talismans as agreed, never stepping out.

Time passed quickly.

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

Over the past month, aside from the Stone Spirit they encountered at the very beginning, there had been no other disturbances during their nightly patrols.

As for the Gold-Devouring Rats that loved to burrow into and consume the Mystic Crystal Mine, Shen Mo and his group had seen a few.

However, it never fell to Shen Mo to take action.

Senior Brother Guo specialized in dealing with these demonic beasts; whenever they were encountered, he would handle or drive them away.

Shen Mo's only work was his turn at night patrol every three days, and occasionally cooking for Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao, waiting for them to return to eat.

He spent the remaining time openly slacking off and meditating, with no one to disturb him.

Recently, Senior Brother Guo had even exempted him from night patrol duties.

Guo Zhao scrambled to go on patrol with Chen Mengze, hoping for a chance to get closer to her.

However, there are always mountains that remain unyielding, and moons that are hard to keep full.

Just as Shen Mo had anticipated, despite Senior Brother Guo's eager attitude, he never found an opportunity to bridge the distance between himself and Chen Mengze.

On the contrary, the relationship between Shen Mo and Senior Brother Guo warmed up through their repeated secret consultations and plotting, eventually turning them into close acquaintances.

The stars hung low over the vast wilderness, and the moon surged with the flowing river.

Tonight, Guo Zhao and Chen Mengze remained in the Mystic Crystal Mine cave for their patrol.

With nothing to do, Shen Mo simply walked out of his cave dwelling and arrived at the stone terrace by the Lancang River to practice his swordplay.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

As Shen Mo flicked his wrists, the sharp edge of his blade seemed to shatter the void in the dark night, sending gusts of wind swirling.

"Shatter!"

He stood with his sword held high, pointing toward a massive boulder in the distance, and let out a sharp shout.

Bang!

The next instant, a burst of Sword Qi erupted from the tip of his blade, smashing the boulder into dust.

"It truly lives up to its name as a spiritual sword; it is indeed extraordinary."

Looking at such formidable destructive power, a faint smile rose on Shen Mo's face.

He had been practicing with this Dragon Sparrow Sword, a gift from Guo Zhao, for over a month, and he was gradually becoming proficient with it.

Through this, he had also begun to grasp its miraculous nature.

According to Guo Zhao's introduction, the reason this sword was classified as a spiritual weapon was not only because it was forged from Cold Ice Mystic Iron, making its strength and sharpness far superior to ordinary mortal weapons.

There was another crucial point: when the Dragon Sparrow Sword was forged, a sword master had imbued it with Sword Intent.

[Life-Slaying]

This was the name of the Dragon Sparrow Sword's intent.

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

The strike that had shattered the boulder from a distance was the power of that intent.

"With my current strength, if I fully unleash this Dragon Sparrow Sword Intent, its power is comparable to that of a cultivator in the Qi Gathering Initial Realm."

He calculated it secretly and felt quite satisfied.

If this strike were unleashed against an enemy, a ninth-level Body Tempering Realm cultivator caught off guard could potentially be severely wounded and rendered unable to fight in a single blow.

It was equivalent to having an extra finishing move for the battlefield.

"However, while the intelligence within the Sword Intent can be activated for combat, that is all it is. It is still a long way from becoming a true weapon spirit that can communicate with others and possess independent consciousness."

In the world of cultivation, all kinds of weapons, divine armaments, and spiritual treasures are divided into four major grades.

Profound-tier, Spirit-tier, Treasure-tier, and Immortal-tier.

Each grade is further divided into four ranks: low, middle, high, and supreme.

The Profound-tier is collectively known as spiritual weapons; this level has already transcended the mortal standard and become objects highly sought after in the cultivation world.

Dharma artifacts possess the property of spiritual resonance with a cultivator; they only require a drop of blood to be refined and triggered.

As for spirit artifacts, they require the object to develop its own nascent intelligence.

As for spirit treasures, it is unknown if even a single one exists within the entire Red Flame Kingdom, and ancient texts are vague regarding what kind of power and miraculous properties they might possess.

Immortal artifacts are even more legendary in existence.

At this moment, Shen Mo is far from being able to touch upon such a level.

Even if he were to ponder it in his heart, it would be difficult to imagine.

After all, when one's experience is insufficient, even when speculating or fantasizing, it is inevitable to be ridiculously off the mark.

It could lead to laughable scenarios, like imagining the Eastern Palace Empress baking flatbread or the Western Palace Empress rolling scallions.

"Better to practice the sword!"

Suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind, Shen Mo raised the Dragon Sparrow Sword in his hand and began to practice the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique.

"Clang! Clang!"

Under the silent night sky, endless sword light swept forth, converging into a magnificent momentum that faintly held the appearance of soaring into the heavens.

Shen Mo swung his sword, his movements flowing like clouds and water, unspeakably free and easy.

This Supreme Clarity Sword Technique was the foundational swordsmanship he learned upon joining the River-Facing Sect, and he had been practicing it for over a dozen years.

Previously, the original owner was dull-witted and had never made any progress.

It was only after he transmigrated, took his place, and activated the Destiny Panel that he began to advance by leaps and bounds.

After months of bitter cultivation and various real-combat experiences in places like the Profound Crystal Mine and the Zhao Family Spirit Field, he had now cultivated this sword technique to the realm of perfection.

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

"Mastery." Looking at this assessment on his basic attributes, Shen Mo murmured, "According to the standards of the cultivation world, the level of my Supreme Clarity Sword Technique has now reached the realm of perfection."

"However, on the Destiny Panel, this stage is not the limit!"

On the Destiny Panel, there are seven levels of assessment for the proficiency of martial skills and immortal arts.

They are, in order: First Glimpse of the Path, Slight Mastery, Entering the Hall, Thorough Mastery, Reaching the Peak, Transcendent Transformation, and Returning to Simplicity.

Yet, the cultivation world does not have so many levels for the cultivation of these martial skills and immortal arts.

They are only divided into four realms: Entry, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and Perfection.

After some exploration and experimentation, Shen Mo had determined that the proficiency levels of the first four stages on the Destiny Panel were basically consistent with the cultivation realms of the cultivation world.

Glimpse of the Path corresponds to Entry.

Minor Accomplishment corresponds to Minor Accomplishment.

Entering the Hall corresponds to Major Accomplishment.

And Mastery corresponds to the level of Perfection commonly used in the cultivation world.

Under normal circumstances, once a practitioner reaches the level of Perfection in a martial skill or immortal art, their mastery has reached its limit and cannot be improved further.

Only those with heaven-sent talent could possibly deduce and improve upon the martial skills or immortal arts created by their predecessors to reach the legendary ultimate level.

However, for Shen Mo, having cultivated this Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to this stage was merely stepping onto the halfway point; he had not yet reached the limit.

"The Destiny Panel seems... to allow me to reach the ultimate realm of martial skills and immortal arts more easily than ordinary cultivators."

"It is just that, in the end, there are still bottlenecks."

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