A Masterstroke

At the earlier stages, improving the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique had been almost effortless.

As long as he practiced diligently every day, he could earn experience points.

And once he had enough experience points, he could immediately reach the next stage.

But after Shen Mo advanced to the stage of mastery, he finally encountered a bottleneck unlike any he had faced before.

"Recently, no matter how I practice, my experience with the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique hasn't increased at all."

The Supreme Clarity Sword Technique he had just practiced was grand in scale and imposing in power.

Yet throughout its execution, he had sensed that something was still missing, something that held back the sword intent and kept its power from reaching its full potential.

"If I can make up for that missing piece, it should be enough to take the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to the next level and bring it to Peak Mastery."

Thinking this, Shen Mo couldn't help giving a bitter smile. "But easier said than done."

Although he was only a hair's breadth from advancing the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to the next stage,

some people could sit in seclusion and practice bitterly for years without breaking through that final hair's breadth.

Who knew how long it would take him to fill the gap?

Suppressing his frustration, Shen Mo returned to practicing his sword with undivided concentration.

He had already advanced his cultivation arts, immortal techniques, and martial skills to perfection with astonishing ease—enough to make countless people green with envy.

Now he had only just run into a small bottleneck, and after a few days of being held back, he was already growing impatient.

He was simply too greedy.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Moonlight shone down from the heavens, edging all things on earth in silver.

In the distance, the Lancang River churned, its surging tide crashing against the banks.

The tide rolled on without end, its roar filling the air.

On the stone platform, Shen Mo swung his sword, wholly absorbed, slowly practicing each move in turn.

"Clang!"

The long sword flashed like a dragon, cleaving through gusts of force.

Leaves in the distance were swept up by the surging wind and sword intent, gathering in a swirling dance three feet around Shen Mo.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

His sword aura was dense and powerful, cleaving through the night like the tides of the Lancang River, each wave stronger than the last.

Though he practiced again and again, Shen Mo still hadn't gained any experience with the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique or reached the next stage.

But if he had paid a little attention, he would have noticed—

with every practice, the sword aura in his hand and the sword intent in his heart grew just a little stronger.

At that moment, Shen Mo couldn't sense it.

As he practiced, he had already immersed himself in the Way of the Sword, with no attention to spare for his own changes.

With each sequence of sword moves, the clamor in his mind faded away.

Shen Mo seemed no longer to feel his surroundings, his spirit roaming beyond the world.

In all of heaven and earth, it seemed there was only him and the sword in his hand!

This ineffable realization intoxicated him.

He couldn't tell how long it had been. He felt as if he had practiced for several hours.

And yet it also seemed he had only just raised his sword and hadn't even performed more than a few moves.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of a mighty wave crashing against the shore suddenly exploded in his mind.

The sound shook Shen Mo out of his epiphany, shattering his state of immersion.

He came to as if waking from a dream, gazing at the river, the tides, the moonlight, and the mountains before him.

All things in heaven and earth seemed to become clear and vivid in an instant.

"This sword... sword intent!"

He suddenly realized that at some point, he had gathered an immensely powerful sword intent.

This vast sword intent, deep as an abyss and broad as the sea, surged ceaselessly within him, leaving Shen Mo's eyes dazed.

"I have a feeling that if I swing this sword, I could split the river in two..."

A sudden premonition rose in Shen Mo's heart, as if inspiration had struck.

The instant the thought crossed his mind, he could no longer hold back the urge to swing his sword.

And so, he moved.

The Dragon Sparrow Sword in his hand erupted with a fierce pulse unlike anything before, turning into a streak of white light as it suddenly slashed down.

Sword Qi swept across the river, cleaving through the waters for a hundred yards!

The sword aura followed the riverbank and even shattered the surging tide of the Lancang River.

Then, the unstoppable Sword Qi split the river's surface, cleaving the churning waters in two and exposing the silt, fish, and shrimp on the riverbed.

"Crash!"

But the Sword Qi did not last long. Once it dissipated, the rift in the river vanished.

Endless waves smoothed over the water once more, leaving only the overlapping sounds of splashes.

"Faced with that sword, even an early-stage cultivator of the Qi Gathering Realm would die without a trace!"

Gazing at the spectacular sight of the surging river, Shen Mo came to his senses and thought in shock.

"When did I become this powerful?"

His mind was still in a daze when a message appeared before him.

[You practiced your sword against the river's tide. Amid these mountains and seas, you unexpectedly entered a state of epiphany and successfully comprehended the boundless mysteries of the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique. Your Supreme Clarity Sword Technique experience +9857]

"An epiphany... I actually entered the fabled state of epiphany that countless cultivators dream of while practicing my sword!"

Only after seeing the message from the Destiny Panel did Shen Mo understand what had just happened.

"No wonder that sword was so powerful!"

With the right time, place, and people all coming together,

Shen Mo, in his state of epiphany, had unleashed a terrifying Sword Qi that should have been far beyond his level of strength.

"The Supreme Clarity Sword Technique gained so much experience from that one stroke!"

When Shen Mo looked again at the figures in his martial skills panel, he froze.

[Martial Skill: Supreme Clarity Sword Technique—Peak Mastery (254/16000)]

"Peak Mastery?" Shen Mo drew a sharp breath. "That epiphany didn't just break through the bottleneck at the mastery stage—it let me skip right over Peak Mastery and take my understanding of the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique to the level of A Masterstroke!"

He had skipped an entire stage!

Nothing like this had ever happened before when he practiced martial skills or cultivation arts.

"The effects of an epiphany are terrifying!"

His heart still reeling with amazement, the corners of his mouth began to curl upward.

That smile grew wider and wider, until it turned into an unrestrained laugh of pure joy.

In the secular cultivation world, according to the Destiny Panel's levels, Peak Mastery was already the highest possible stage for cultivating martial skills and cultivation arts.

Reaching A Masterstroke meant he had cultivated the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique, a basic sword art, to a level no one before him had ever attained!

This martial skill, which hadn't even been ranked before, now had the power in his hands to turn the rotten into the miraculous.

"At this stage, my Supreme Clarity Sword Technique is utterly unlike the version ordinary disciples practice. Its power has also increased tremendously, far beyond the bounds of an unranked martial skill!"

Although Shen Mo had yet to practice a ranked offensive immortal technique, he reckoned that the power of the Supreme Clarity Sword Technique at this level of mastery must be no less than that of a Profound-grade, low-tier offensive martial skill.