CHAPTER 364: CHAPTER 364: FIRE SPARROW MASTER_1

Since it had come to this, Shen Mo wasted no more words. With a clean and decisive motion, he unleashed a River Opening sword Qi!

Fire Sparrow Master raised his hand and conjured a shield wreathed in firelight, resembling viscous, heavy volcanic lava.

BOOM!

The sword Qi struck the Magma Shield as if hitting lava. A large spray of incandescent molten rock burst forth, and the shield itself was split down the middle.

In the next moment, the lava quickly flowed back, restoring the shield to its previous form.

However, the River Opening sword Qi, after cleaving through the shield, had most of its power diminished. Its remaining force struck Fire Sparrow Master. A spiritual light flared from his crimson-brown Daoist robe, deflecting the residual sword Qi.

"A fine magic treasure!" Shen Mo exclaimed in praise.

If it had been an ordinary shield-type magic artifact, even if not destroyed by his sword Qi, its power would have been greatly diminished.

This Magma Shield, however, possessed a remarkable quality of using softness to overcome hardness. While it abraded the attacking force, its own wear and tear were minimal.

Currently, although this shield was still a top-grade profound level magic artifact, it was not far from birthing an Artifact Spirit and evolving into a low-grade Spiritual Artifact!

Praise was praise, but Shen Mo showed no mercy in his actions.

The Mana within his body surged, continuously pouring into the Thunderstroke Sword. In the blink of an eye, terrifying streams of sword Qi had already engulfed the Magma Shield and Fire Sparrow Master cowering behind it!

This time, he had unleashed the Mountain Collapsing Swordplay from the Universe Sword Guildbook.

The All-Encompassing Universe was no mere boast: River Opening, Blade Net, Starfall, City Toppler, Kingdom Ender, Myriad Demon, Mountain Collapse, Earthquake, Solar Eclipse... numerous formidable sword styles, each possessing a different form and intent.

Mountain Collapse was a sword style uniquely created by a Senior who cultivated the Universe Sword Guildbook, after observing the majestic spectacle of a great mountain chain collapsing.

Even a small mountain, if struck by this sword Qi, would crumble layer by layer into rubble. What chance did Fire Sparrow Master’s shield stand, which merely mimicked the form of lava from a volcano’s belly...

Under the devastation of the Mountain Collapsing sword Qi, it quickly disintegrated into small, slowly writhing clusters of lava, unable to coalesce immediately!

Fortunately, Fire Sparrow Master possessed more than this single defensive measure. He waved his sleeve, scattering a large number of defensive talismans. Clusters of spiritual light flashed and died, also wearing down much of the Mountain Collapsing sword Qi.

Moreover, the magic robe he wore was no ordinary item. The remaining force of the sword Qi was also negated and intercepted by a flame-like baleful aura that surged from the magic robe.

"The Patriarch is mighty..." The Dasheng Mountain disciples, cowering within the Mountain Protection Array, erupted in cheers upon seeing this.

Perhaps it was because Shen Mo had previously heavily injured White Ape Master with a single strike, which had deeply unsettled them.

Now that Fire Sparrow Master had merely blocked Shen Mo’s first wave of sword Qi attacks, they felt that their patriarch was indeed a patriarch, his strength formidable!

As for the fact that Shen Mo was a Layer I Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, while Fire Sparrow Master surpassed him by six Minor Realms in cultivation, the Dasheng Mountain disciples seemed to have completely forgotten it.

However, though Fire Sparrow Master appeared calm and composed on the surface, his heart was reeling with astonishment.

This boy is so young, his Realm unremarkable, yet the sword Qi he casually unleashes... why is it so terrifying!

He had lived a long life and had even crossed swords with Spirit Sea Realm cultivators from the Heaven Sword Sect. But the feeling Shen Mo gave him now was as if he were facing an old monster, one who had been immersed in the Sword Path for many years. Every sword strike, every style, was supremely exquisite, terrifyingly so.

Far more dreadful than any Spirit Sea Realm expert from the Heaven Sword Sect he had ever fought.

Ordinary Sword Path experts, even those with a Realm comparable to mine, would not find it so easy to break my Rock Heart Shield!

Yet, under this boy’s sword Qi, my Rock Heart Shield doesn’t even get a chance to reform.

It even forced me to use three layers of defense...

Little did he know that the immense power of Shen Mo’s casual sword Qi strikes was the result of a combination of many factors.

Firstly, although his Realm was low, he had opened three Spirit Seas within his body. Each Spirit Sea was comparable to those of the prodigies of the Immortal Path, rendering his Mana overwhelmingly vast and robust, with no risk of depletion!

Secondly, Shen Mo’s Universe Sword Guildbook had reached the realm of Elite. This was a level even beyond the ’Perfection’ state typically seen in cultivation methods within the cultivation world!

Unless one possessed extraordinary talent and had diligently studied a particular cultivation method for many years, ordinary cultivators lacked the qualifications to even glimpse this realm.

Thirdly, there was the Skill Sword Body, the enhancement from his formidable vitality, and his Carefree Sword Intent.

Even if he were a mortal with no cultivation, practicing mere worldly martial arts, he could still earn the title of a Sword Path Master.

Thus, the sword Qi Shen Mo casually unleashed made Fire Sparrow Master, despite his Layer VII Spirit Sea Realm cultivation, feel his heart pound with trepidation!

I cannot let him continue like this...

Otherwise, sooner or later, he will wound and kill me!

The look of distress on Fire Sparrow Master’s face intensified. His True Yuan surged within him, and in an instant, blood-red light, shot through with strands of incandescent white, erupted from all over his body.

This boundless fiery light seemed to come alive, gradually coalescing into the shape of a flaming bird that superimposed itself onto the Master’s body.

The next moment, Fire Sparrow Master spread his wings and lunged at Shen Mo.

Shen Mo had seen the manifestations of this cultivation method on White Ape Master; it was Dasheng Mountain’s main cultivation method, the Treasure Beast Santra. However, White Ape Master cultivated the White Ape of the mountains, while Fire Sparrow Master cultivated a fierce, fiery bird of prey!

With a cold, low cry, "Universal Wrath Tide!" sword Qi like a raging tidal wave, carrying endless water vapor, surged towards the Master who had transformed into a flaming bird.

HISS!

HISS! HISS!

It was like pouring cold water onto red-hot iron. When the Wrath Tide sword Qi collided with Fire Sparrow Master’s form, there was no earth-shattering impact, only a series of strange hissing sounds.

In the blink of an eye, the sword Qi evaporated and disintegrated. The fiercely burning, flame-like raptor on Fire Sparrow Master was doused.

Yet, to Shen Mo’s surprise, from the dimmed flames that resembled embers, a spark of even purer and hotter fire suddenly erupted without warning.

FWOOSH!

The spark grew larger. In the next moment, the flaming bird materialized once more, and Fire Sparrow Master’s aura became even more integrated and surging than before!

Originally, he carried old injuries, but now there was no sign of any lingering ailment.

"Hmm?"

A trace of surprise flickered in Shen Mo’s eyes. He no longer cared about the expense of ten middle-grade Spirit Stones and used the Destiny Skill Examine on Fire Sparrow Master. Then, a look of realization dawned on his face.

So he has grasped a sliver of the True Intention of the Nirvana Phoenix Emperor! No wonder he could birth a stronger flame from mere embers!

Fire Sparrow Master cultivated the firebird aspect of the Treasure Beast Santra.

Through years of secluded cultivation to heal his wounds, he had actually cultivated this method to an extremely profound level, reaching the realm of Elite as defined by the system panel.

Moreover, he had also comprehended a sliver of the Nirvana essence of the ancient Phoenix Emperor.

However, Fire Sparrow Master had not cultivated this method to Epic, nor had he touched upon the Godlike state. Naturally, he had not mastered the Nirvana Skill; at best, he possessed a fraction of its power!