Spirit Reflection Sword Manual

The dazed crowd, including Li Mo, finally came to their senses.

At this moment, Li Mo's impression of the cultivator was one of aloof disdain, a complete disregard for mortals.

It seemed that in his eyes, everyone present was nothing more than ants, beneath his notice. He hadn't bothered to interact with anyone, merely flashing his waist token before completely ignoring them, as if speaking another word would be a waste of breath. The vast chasm between cultivators and mortals was laid bare.

In contrast.

Although Jiujiang Thunder Dragon Tai Shou was also powerful, his strength was understandable to those present. In their hearts, he was still one of them.

However, Li Mo felt that this cultivator was no longer one of them, stirring a sense of confusion and fear of the unknown within him.

"Cultivator."

At this moment, "cultivator" was no longer just a symbol in Li Mo's mind, but a real, existing group.

Once one became a cultivator, they embarked on a different path, possessing power that ordinary people could not hope to match. He felt a strong yearning for this, and couldn't help but glance at Jade Fox Wang Ying again.

Meanwhile.

Seeing that the cultivator had left, some of the bolder leaders rushed into the Juyi Hall cave, while others went to the corpse of Jiujiang Thunder Dragon Tai Shou to search carefully.

Li Mo, after reacting, joined them.

From Tai Shou's corpse, they found three books.

One of them was mostly burned, its text illegible. The remaining two were the Turtle Breath Technique and the Raging Thunder Blade Qi.

"Haha! A Postnatal Realm mental cultivation method!"

Gao Zhen, holding the Turtle Breath Technique, laughed excitedly. The gazes of the other leaders turned fervent.

The ultimate pursuit in martial arts was to cultivate inner energy, forming Inner Strength. After that, it was divided into the Postnatal Realm and the Innate Realm, with the final goal of attempting to achieve enlightenment and enter the so-called Golden Core Great Path.

However, the difficulty involved was worlds apart from becoming a cultivator, with only one in ten thousand succeeding.

On the Central Plains, only the Xia Kingdom possessed such a lineage. And although the Xia Kingdom was one of the six great powers of the Central Plains, it remained in a subordinate position, its traditions not mainstream.

At this moment.

Li Mo could clearly feel the oppressive atmosphere.

But the Gao brothers, immersed in the joy of obtaining the Turtle Breath Technique, seemed oblivious.

After a slight hesitation, Li Mo retreated a few steps, leaving the scene of potential conflict. While he was also greedy for the two martial arts manuals, his Three Harmony Sword Style was not yet perfected, and he hadn't tested his spiritual root aptitude. He wasn't at the point of despair yet, and blindly getting involved in the Pingshan Society's conflict would be unwise.

Inside the Juyi Hall cave, besides some loose silver, there was nothing else.

Even the altar built by Jiujiang Thunder Dragon Tai Shou had been destroyed in the battle. It seemed that all the truly valuable items on the Jiujiang Thunder Dragon had already been plundered by the patrol envoy.

For the next two days.

After confirming that the Turtle Breath Technique was indeed a Postnatal Realm manual with accompanying martial arts, the various leaders of the Pingshan Society began to engage in open and covert struggles over its ownership.

To Li Mo's surprise, Jade Fox Wang Ying became the central figure in this conflict!

She led many of the Pingshan Society's leaders in an internal conflict against the Gao Brothers, leaving Li Mo utterly astonished.

After all, he had personally witnessed the unusual relationship between these three.

As one of the mountain stronghold's fourteen leaders and the only doctor present, Li Mo naturally became a target for both sides. The Pingshan Society was in a state of panic, with an impending storm brewing.

However, as the two sides remained deadlocked in a stalemate, an unexpected piece of news arrived.

It immediately set the entire Eighteen Mountains ablaze!

"A general amnesty, is the news true?"

"Absolutely true!"

Many leaders and members of the Pingshan Society had been waiting for this day. Upon confirming the news, no one could sit still.

That night.

Jade Fox Wang Ying approached Li Mo again and asked him to join her faction.

Li Mo immediately stated his price: to be told about the "trap and conspiracy" during the spiritual root testing by the Heaven's Mandate Bureau in each county of the Dragon Boat Festival.

"If you agree to join my faction and help me obtain the Turtle Breath Technique, I will tell you."

Li Mo took a deep breath.

"What do you need me to do?"

Wang Ying smiled softly.

"You only need to rally the members to our side and only heal our people, not those of the Gao Brothers. How about it?"

"Alright."

Seeing Li Mo agree so readily, Wang Ying knew that Li Mo likely harbored resentment towards her over the past year. Her alluring fox-like eyes flickered, and she finally let out a soft laugh.

"Little brother, do you know that after a general amnesty, a crackdown is inevitable?"

"Hm?"

Seeing Li Mo's confusion, Wang Ying smiled and explained.

"In the past, the authorities would inevitably come to crack down on the Eighteen Mountains every few years, or at most a decade, to prevent the banditry here from becoming too entrenched. But such crackdowns are insignificant compared to the one after a general amnesty. Now, all the mountain strongholds are facing imminent danger!"

She covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Since that's the case, I naturally must plan a way out for myself. This Turtle Breath Technique, why should it belong to those two Gao Brothers?"

Then, Wang Ying took out a yellowed ancient book from her bosom.

"What if I use it as a condition, and ask you to assist me with all your might?"

Li Mo heard this and looked at the ancient book.

"Spirit Reflection Sword Manual!"

This made him recall the strange murmurs about Spirit Reflection Mountain in his ethereal dream, and his expression became one of disbelief.

"Where did you get it from?"

Wang Ying seemed not to notice Li Mo's strangeness. She looked at the ancient book with great reluctance.

"This is a book on artifact forging found by Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon after exploring an ancient cultivator's tomb. It records the methods for forging swords from all under heaven, as documented by an ancient sect called Spirit Reflection Mountain. After I served him for a long time, he finally agreed to lend it to me for a few days, but I didn't expect this to happen. If you are willing to assist me with all your might, I will give you this Spirit Reflection Sword Manual, how about it?"

Wang Ying stared intently into Li Mo's eyes as she spoke.

Li Mo didn't agree immediately. He asked to see the contents first, and Wang Ying nodded in agreement.

Indeed, as Wang Ying had said.

The contents of this book were the methods for forging swords from all under heaven, recorded by the ancient Spirit Reflection Mountain.

According to the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual, treasures could be divided into four levels: Magical Artifacts, Dharma Treasures, Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasures, and Heaven-Dominating Supreme Treasures.

The forging methods for Magical Artifacts and Dharma Treasures, while somewhat abstract, were still within Li Mo's comprehension.

For instance, it required hundreds of pounds of copper and iron, refined to their essence, to form what were called iron essence, copper essence, and so on, which would then be used as the basis for forging swords.

However, when it came to the level of Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasures, the forging methods became too exaggerated. It actually required an entire immortal mountain, an entire lake and sea, or even the sun, moon, and stars as refining materials.

The Heaven-Dominating Supreme Treasure stage was even more abstract and exaggerated.

The Spirit Reflection Sword Manual only recorded one forging method called "Flowing Light Reversal." It not only required a fragment of heaven and earth as raw material but also demanded that a sealed ancient history be brought back into reality, causing the entire world to take a completely different historical trajectory. Only then could a Heaven-Dominating Supreme Treasure-level Flowing Light Reversal Sword be forged.

Li Mo looked at the contents of the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual and felt as if he were reading a fairy tale.

"Do you know where Spirit Reflection Mountain is?"

Li Mo couldn't help but ask.

Jade Fox Wang Ying pondered for a moment before finally shaking her head.

"According to Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou, he is absolutely certain that there is no such immortal mountain or sacred land within the countries of the Central Plains. In fact, there is no such place in the entire Mountain Sea Realm either. Otherwise, even if this sect possessed only a fraction of the power described in this book, the Central Plains countries would not be in their current state. Even the three universally acknowledged strongest powers are only at the mid-to-late stage of Spirit Transmutation, while those Nascent Soul ancestors are the peak powers of the Mountain Sea Realm. Therefore, this so-called Spirit Reflection Mountain likely perished in ancient times."

"Then among these three powers, there must be Emperor of the Qian Yuan Era from our Da Gan Kingdom, right?"

"Naturally!"

Following this, Wang Ying proceeded to educate Li Mo on the basic knowledge of cultivators and informed him of the identities of the other two great powers: the Supreme Elders of the largest sects in Lu Country and Ling Country. These countries did not have kings.

Cultivators in the Mountain Sea Realm could be divided into five stages: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment Realm, Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Realm, and Spirit Transmutation.

"And according to some ancient texts, there were also cultivators in the Void Refining, Integrated Body, and Mahayana Stage realms above these. However, they have long since become legends. Therefore, the Spirit Reflection Mountain in the Northern Sea mentioned in this book has either disappeared along with the ancient cultivators, or this book itself is merely a myth and legend. You've read the contents; can you imagine using rivers, lakes, and seas for artifact forging?"

Li Mo pondered for a moment and also shook his head.

Seeing that Li Mo seemed somewhat disappointed, Wang Ying quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"However, you don't need to worry. According to Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou, at least the first half of the book's content is credible. For example, his refining of silver essence here might be for forging a treasure sword called Guishuang Silver Wind."

Li Mo appeared thoughtful.

"I can agree to assist you with all my might, but I need to obtain this Spirit Reflection Sword Manual first."

"Deal."

Jade Fox Wang Ying readily agreed.

She knew that the questions about that trap and conspiracy were the reason Li Mo had not left yet. He would definitely not give up, and she also had her own reasons for needing to contend for the Turtle Breath Technique.

Two days later.

The internal strife within the Pingshan Society inevitably erupted.

Both sides engaged in all-out combat. However, they were merely martial artists, and their conflicts were utterly undisciplined. Their methods of fighting often involved curses, sneak attacks, and ganging up on individuals. No one would foolishly charge into the fray.

It must be said.

Over the past year, Li Mo had indeed accumulated considerable popularity. Thus, under his call, a large number of gang members chose to defect to Jade Fox Wang Ying, especially Hei Wa and others, who were deeply grateful to Li Mo and even summoned their uncles.

And so.

Time moved on to February 14th, with Evening Moon just two days away.

Wang Ying's side, with Li Mo, the divine physician, had already gained a comprehensive advantage in this internal conflict. The Gao brothers could no longer sit idly by. Facing a slow death, they decided to launch a frontal assault, fighting to the death!

Thus, under the desperate gamble of the two brothers, they launched a fierce attack on Jade Fox.

Unexpectedly, Wang Ying's side, which had a complete advantage, was thrown into disarray in an instant and fell into a comprehensive disadvantage when facing the desperate offensive led by the Gao Brothers and their followers.

Many opportunistic ruffians began to flee amidst the chaos, showing signs of imminent collapse. The situation was extremely critical.

"Brother Li!"

Wang Ying anxiously found Li Mo.

"Of the Gao brothers, Gao Po is currently under siege, and Gao Zhen is injured, only able to exert seventy percent of his strength. The others are not worth worrying about."

Wang Ying took out two stones with contained spiritual light.

"I know Brother Li's strength is considerable. If Brother Li is willing to act and stop Gao Zhen, besides that secret, this concubine is willing to offer these two spirit stones as well!"

"I understand."

Li Mo took a deep breath and replied calmly.

Jade Fox Wang Ying visibly relaxed upon hearing this and directly tossed the two spirit stones to Li Mo.

Upon receiving the spirit stones, Li Mo felt an indescribable coolness seep through his skin and into his bones, causing him to tremble involuntarily, like a parched traveler finding sweet rain.