Spirit Reflection Sword Manual

Among the crowd, who were coming to their senses as if waking from a dream, was Li Mo.

At that moment, the only impression Li Mo had of the cultivator was one of lofty disdain, of keeping mortals at arm's length.

It was as if, in his eyes, everyone present was nothing but a bunch of ants. He had no interest in having anything to do with them. After flashing his identity token, he had completely ignored them, as though saying one more word would be a waste of breath. The gulf-like divide between cultivators and mortals had been laid bare.

By comparison,

although Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou had also been powerful, his was the kind of strength those present could understand. In their hearts, he still belonged to their own kind.

But Li Mo had a feeling that this cultivator no longer belonged to their kind. It left him confused and afraid of the unknown.

"Cultivators."

At that moment, cultivators were no longer just a symbol in Li Mo's mind. They were a real group of people.

Becoming a cultivator meant stepping onto another path, one that granted power ordinary people could hardly withstand or hope to reach. A fierce longing stirred in his heart, and he couldn't help glancing at Jade Fox Wang Ying again.

Meanwhile,

once the cultivator had left, several bold gang leaders hurried into the cave of the Hall of Righteous Gathering, while others went to Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou's corpse and carefully searched it.

When Li Mo came to his senses, he joined them.

Between them, they found three books on Tai Shou's corpse.

One had been mostly burned, its writing illegible. The other two were titled Turtle Breath Technique and Raging Thunder Blade Qi.

"Haha! A Postnatal Realm cultivation manual!"

Holding the Turtle Breath Technique, Gao Zhen laughed excitedly. The other gang leaders' eyes burned with fervor too.

The ultimate goal of martial arts cultivation was likewise to refine the breath within. Once one cultivated Inner Strength, one could progress through the Postnatal Realm and Innate Realm, then attempt to comprehend the Dao and enter the so-called Golden Core Great Path.

But compared with the path of cultivators, the difficulty was worlds apart—one in ten thousand might succeed.

Across the Central Plains, only Xia Kingdom had inherited this tradition. Although Xia Kingdom was one of the six great powers of the Central Plains, it had always ranked last, and its tradition was not considered mainstream.

At that moment,

Li Mo could clearly feel the atmosphere growing oppressive.

But the Gao Brothers, immersed in their joy at obtaining the Turtle Breath Technique, seemed not to notice.

After hesitating briefly, Li Mo took a few steps back and left this den of trouble. He coveted the two martial arts manuals too, but his Three-Way Swordplay had yet to reach mastery, and his spiritual root aptitude had not been tested. He wasn't desperate yet; blindly getting caught up in the Pingshan Society's conflict would be foolish.

Apart from a little loose silver, there was nothing else to be found in the cave of the Hall of Righteous Gathering.

Even the altar built by Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou had been destroyed in the fighting. It seemed the patrol inspector had already stripped the man of everything truly valuable.

Over the next two days,

after the Pingshan Society's gang leaders confirmed that the Turtle Breath Technique was indeed a Postnatal Realm manual containing a cultivation method, they began openly and secretly battling over who would ultimately claim it.

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

Leading the Pingshan Society's gang leaders, she actually turned against the Gao Brothers, leaving Li Mo utterly dumbfounded.

After all, he had personally witnessed how extraordinary the relationship between the three of them had been.

As one of the stronghold's fourteen gang leaders—and the only physician there—Li Mo naturally became a target for both sides to win over. For a time, everyone in the Pingshan Society was on edge, with a storm seemingly about to break.

But just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, evenly matched, an unexpected piece of news arrived.

The whole Eighteen Mountains instantly erupted!

"An amnesty for all under heaven—is that news true?"

"Absolutely!"

Many of the Pingshan Society's gang leaders and members had been waiting for this day. Once the news was confirmed, no one could sit still.

That night,

Jade Fox Wang Ying sought Li Mo out again and asked him to join her side.

Li Mo immediately stated what he wanted in return: an explanation of the so-called trap and conspiracy behind the Heaven's Mandate Bureau testing spiritual roots in the various prefectures and counties during the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Agree to join my side and help me claim the Turtle Breath Technique, and I'll tell you."

Li Mo took a deep breath.

"What do you need me to do?"

Wang Ying smiled faintly.

"You need only rally the members to stand with us and treat the wounded on our side, not those on the Gao Brothers' side. How does that sound?"

"Agreed."

Seeing Li Mo agree so readily, Wang Ying knew that after this past year, he had likely grown resentful of her. Her foxlike eyes drifted over him, silky and suggestive, before she let out a soft laugh.

"Little brother, do you know that an amnesty is always followed by a crackdown?"

"Hmm?"

Seeing that Li Mo didn't understand, Wang Ying explained with a smile.

"In the past, the authorities would come to suppress the Eighteen Mountains every few years, or after a decade or so, to keep the banditry from taking root. But those crackdowns are nothing compared to the one that follows a general amnesty. Every mountain stronghold is now on the brink of disaster!"

She covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"That being the case, I naturally have to plan an escape route for myself. Why should this Turtle Breath Technique belong to the Gao Brothers?"

Then Wang Ying pulled an old, yellowed book from her bosom.

"What if I offer you this in exchange for your full support?"

Li Mo looked at the ancient book.

"Spirit Reflection Sword Manual!"

It reminded him of the eerie murmurs about Spirit Reflection Mountain in the Mystic Dream. His face filled with disbelief.

"Where did you get this?"

Wang Ying seemed not to notice Li Mo's reaction. She gazed at the ancient book, reluctant to part with it.

"After exploring an ancient cultivator's tomb, Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon found this book on weapon-forging. It records the sword-forging methods of the world, as practiced by an ancient sect called Spirit Reflection Mountain. I served him for a long time before he agreed to lend it to me for a few days. I never expected something like this to happen. If you're willing to give me your full support, I'll give you this Spirit Reflection Sword Manual. What do you say?"

Wang Ying stared straight into Li Mo's eyes.

Li Mo didn't agree at once. He asked to see the contents first, and Wang Ying nodded.

Just as Wang Ying had said,

the book recorded the sword-forging methods of the world as practiced by the ancient Spirit Reflection Mountain.

According to the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual, treasures were divided into four levels: magical artifacts, magical treasures, Heaven-Piercing Spiritual Treasures, and Heavenly Might Treasures.

The methods for forging magical artifacts and magical treasures were somewhat abstract, but still within Li Mo's grasp.

For instance, one might need hundreds of pounds of copper and iron, refining them down to their essence—the so-called Iron Essence, Copper Essence, and the like—as the basis for forging a sword.

But at the level of Heaven-Piercing Spiritual Treasures, the methods became wildly extravagant. They called for entire immortal mountains, vast lakes and seas, or even the sun, moon, and stars as materials for refining.

The methods for Heavenly Might Treasures were even more fantastical.

The Spirit Reflection Sword Manual recorded only one method, called "Flowing Light Reversal." It required not only a fragment of the world as raw material, but also the return of a sealed chapter of ancient history to reality, causing the entire world to follow a completely different course of history. Only then could one forge a Flowing Light Reversal Sword, a Heavenly Might Treasure.

As Li Mo read the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual, he felt as though he were reading a myth.

"Do you know where Spirit Reflection Mountain is?"

Li Mo couldn't help asking.

Jade Fox Wang Ying pondered briefly, then shook her head.

"According to Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou, he was certain there was no such immortal mountain or sacred land within any of the Central Plains kingdoms. In fact, the place didn't exist anywhere in the Shan Hai Realm. Otherwise, even if that sect had possessed only a fraction of the power described in this book, the Central Plains kingdoms wouldn't be in their current state. Even the three figures widely recognized as the strongest among the kingdoms were only in the middle or late stages of Spirit Transformation. The Nascent Soul ancestors, meanwhile, represented the peak strength of the Shan Hai Realm. So Spirit Reflection Mountain must have perished in ancient times."

"Then one of those three must be the Qian Yuan Sage Lord of our Da Gan Kingdom, right?"

"Of course!"

Wang Ying then proceeded to teach Li Mo some basic knowledge about cultivators. She told him that the other two giants were the supreme ancestors of the largest sects in Lu Country and Ling Country. These countries had no so-called kings.

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

"Some ancient texts also speak of Void Refining, Body Integration, and Mahayana Stage cultivators beyond that. But they've long since become legends. So either the Spirit Reflection Mountain of the Northern Sea vanished along with the ancient cultivators, or this book itself is just a work of myth and legend. You've seen what's written in it—can you imagine refining weapons with rivers, lakes, and seas?"

Li Mo pondered for a moment, then shook his head as well.

Seeing Li Mo's disappointment, Wang Ying hurriedly tried to reassure him.

"But don't worry. According to Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon Tai Shou, at least the first half of this book is trustworthy. For example, he refined Silver Essence here, quite possibly to forge a treasured sword called Guishuang Silver Wind."

Li Mo considered it thoughtfully.

"I can agree to give you my full support, but I need to get the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual first."

"Deal."

Jade Fox Wang Ying agreed readily.

She knew that the question about the trap and conspiracy was the reason Li Mo had stayed until now. He wouldn't give up on finding out, and she had her own reasons for fighting to claim the Turtle Breath Technique.

Two days later,

the Pingshan Society's internal strife erupted at last.

The two sides clashed in an all-out battle. But they were only people of the martial world, and their conflict was utterly undisciplined. They fought by cursing, ambushing, and ganging up on the outnumbered. No one was foolish enough to charge headlong into the fray.

It had to be said,

over the past year, Li Mo had built up a fair amount of prestige. When he called on the members to take sides, a large number chose to back Jade Fox Wang Ying. Hei Wa and the others were especially grateful to Li Mo, even bringing their uncles along.

And so,

time reached the fourteenth day of the second month. Evening Moon was only two days away.

With Li Mo, a miracle-working physician, on her side, Wang Ying had gained a decisive advantage in the infighting. The Gao Brothers could no longer sit still. Facing a slow death, the two decided to make a frontal assault and fight to the death!

So, with their backs to the wall, the brothers launched a fierce attack on Wang Ying.

What no one had expected was that Wang Ying's side, despite having held the upper hand, fell into disarray in an instant when faced with the desperate assault of the gang members led by the Gao Brothers. They were soon at a complete disadvantage.

Many bandits began fleeing in the chaos. Their side looked like a great building about to collapse, and the situation was extremely dire.

"Brother Li!"

Wang Ying found Li Mo, her face anxious.

"Gao Po is under attack, and Gao Zhen is injured. At most, he can use seventy percent of his strength. The others are no threat."

Wang Ying took out two stones that glimmered faintly from within.

"I know you're strong, Brother Li. If you're willing to step in and hold Gao Zhen off, I'll give you these two Spirit Stones as well as that secret."

"I understand."

Li Mo drew a deep breath and replied calmly.

Wang Ying visibly relaxed. She tossed the two Spirit Stones straight to Li Mo.

As soon as Li Mo caught them, an indescribable coolness passed through his skin and sank into his bones. His body trembled despite himself. It felt as blissful as a long drought finally broken by rain.