“Holy… the control effect of this sword is way better than I expected.”
Shen Mu looked at the plain-clothed rogue cultivator, subdued in less than three seconds, his expression shifting with a hint of surprise.
He’d planned to use the Nether Phoenix Sword to gradually erode the man’s mind, driving him to mental collapse, but he hadn’t expected the effect to be this potent.
“Ugh…”
Before Shen Mu could approach to check the man’s condition, the cultivator suddenly raised his blood-red eyes, slashing a swift, ferocious sword strike at him!
Swish!
Shen Mu instinctively dodged to the side, glancing at his torn robe, revealing a black iron armor underneath with a sword mark.
“Damn… you’re pulling some deliberate revenge, huh?” Shen Mu, still shaken, looked at the Nether Phoenix Sword in his hand.
Clearly, the man had been manipulated by the sword to attack him.
This damn thing is really unruly, hard to tame, and even playing tricks like using someone else to kill me.
If he hadn’t been prepared, that sword qi would’ve hit him square.
Buzz…
The Nether Phoenix Sword emitted a faint black glow and a menacing aura, as if saying, “Yeah, I did it. What’re you gonna do about it?”
“You little…” Shen Mu realized this ferocious sword was a rebellious troublemaker, requiring immense power to subdue it.
“Argh!”
The next moment, the plain-clothed man roared furiously, his body surging with violent blood qi, swinging his sword fiercely at Shen Mu again!
Shen Mu maxed out his evasion speed, nimbly dodging the man’s chaotic, mindless attacks, letting them miss entirely and strike the surrounding ground and trees.
“Once my strength improves, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
Shen Mu’s temper flared.
Since this ferocious sword was so untamed and fond of backstabbing, he’d make it submit completely!
At most, it was a quasi-heavenly weapon. Could it really defy him?!
It had to be tamed into a weapon loyal only to him!
Soon after.
The three-hundred-meter radius of dense forest seemed to be shaved away, trees cut to pieces, the ground littered with blood-red craters.
The man, his blood essence nearly depleted, grew visibly weaker, his blood qi fading, his movements slowing drastically.
Finally, he collapsed from exhaustion, his sunken eyes dull and lifeless.
His black hair hung disheveled like a mad beggar, his body reduced to skin and bones, looking utterly pitiful.
The blood-burning secret technique had drained every drop of his essence, leaving nothing behind.
“Phew…”
Shen Mu, having outlasted him, exhaled in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Thankfully, the man, driven by rage, didn’t know restraint, acting like a crazed demon.
Otherwise, Shen Mu might not have had a good way to finish him off.
He glanced at his robe, tattered by stray sword qi, then at the Nether Phoenix Sword in his hand.
“I don’t care how ferocious you were before. From now on, we’re at odds.”
With that, his Myriad Transformation Cube enveloped the sword, sealing its aura, and stored it in his ring.
Then, Shen Mu looked at the lifeless, skeletal corpse nearby, leaping to its side to search it.
“Let’s see what he’s got…”
After a while, Shen Mu found several storage pouches in the man’s robe and opened them.
Four or five low-quality healing pills… a couple of talismans… a few second-grade techniques…
And some low-grade spirit stones…
“This guy was pretty poor, huh.”
Looking at the meager cultivation resources, Shen Mu could imagine how tough the man’s cultivation life must’ve been.
But he felt little pity for him.
That’s just how the cultivation world’s survival rules worked.
Shen Mu took everything from the pouches, examining them carefully, but frowned when he found no trace of the blood-burning secret technique’s scroll.
“Strange… did he obtain that technique through some kind of inheritance?”
He was most interested in that peculiar blood-burning secret technique; the rest was just junk to him.
“Sigh… a bit of a loss this time.”
Shen Mu shook his head with a sigh, glancing at the decent-quality green-patterned spiritual sword in the man’s hand, which he then took.
Guess I’ll settle for this.
After storing the sword in his ring, Shen Mu tossed the “junk” onto the man’s body.
Then, he ignited a four-colored spiritual flame in his palm, throwing it onto the corpse to burn it, preventing any sudden revival.
“Alright, that should do it.”
Watching the body turn to ash and charred remains, deader than dead, Shen Mu flew off with peace of mind.
About half an hour later.
The spiritual flames died out, and a faint blood-red soul fragment drifted from the ashes, vanishing into the void.
***
In a blood-colored pocket world.
A man in a blood-red robe, meditating on a high platform, furrowed his brow slightly.
“My first avatar fell just like that…”
He muttered, his expression gradually relaxing as he resumed his meditation.
***
“Senior Brother, that movement technique you used was awesome. Can you teach me?”
Back at the sect’s spiritual peak, Lin Yuhe immediately pestered Shen Mu to teach her the swift, evasive movement technique that seemed maxed out on dodge stats.
She believed that mastering such a fluid technique would make cross-realm battles much easier, if not invincible.
“What’s there to teach? It’s just the Wind Spirit Movement Technique.” Shen Mu leisurely poured a cup of spiritual tea in his room, explaining calmly.
“No way. Isn’t the Wind Spirit Movement Technique a first-grade technique even outer disciples look down on? How’s it as powerful as you used it?”
Lin Yuhe had studied the Wind Spirit Movement Technique before.
But she found it only slightly increased her speed, with no other notable features.
It was nothing like Shen Mu’s, which let him dodge cross-realm attacks effortlessly.
“Some things, the simpler they are, the harder it is to grasp their essence or use them to their fullest.”
Shen Mu sipped his tea, feeling refreshed, then asked, “Tell me, what’s the core principle on the first page of the Wind Spirit Movement Technique?”
“Ride the wind, soar through the nine heavens, wander the world freely as the wind.”
“From that principle… what does the Wind Spirit Movement Technique seem like?”
“…”
Lin Yuhe frowned, pondering. Thinking of the phrase “soar through the nine heavens,” she tentatively answered, “An escape technique?”
“Exactly. The Wind Spirit Movement Technique is actually a simplified escape technique, and its practical effects are quite remarkable.”
“…Really?” Lin Yuhe’s eyes held skepticism.
“Why would I lie?”
“Watch closely. I’ll show you the ‘riding the wind’ part.” Shen Mu glanced to the side, lightly flicking his finger upward…
An invisible updraft suddenly rose from Lin Yuhe’s legs, lifting her robe and skirt…
Revealing her smooth, fair legs and a hint of blue-white fabric.
“Eek!”
Feeling a cool breeze between her legs, Lin Yuhe yelped in embarrassment, hurriedly pressing down her skirt, her face flushing as she glared at him.
“That’s what you call ‘riding the wind.’”