CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 88 CONFLICT_1

"Such big talk! Sisters, let’s go!"

With a sharp cry, Zhong Mei led the attack, sending out a wave of sword Qi.

Following her, the five fellow female cultivators behind her also launched various attacks. Azure rainbow flashes, palm auras, and fist imprints—numerous attacks converged, smashing towards Shen Mo.

An offensive of such magnitude would force even a Qi Gathering Realm Layer II cultivator to temporarily evade.

But Shen Mo took a step forward, initiating an attack.

"CLANG!"

A long rainbow of sword Qi surged, stirring up endless spiritual energy waves as it shot out.

In the face of Shen Mo’s Shangqing Sword Qi, those various attacks seemed pathetically weak and were all annihilated.

"How is this possible?"

The expressions of Zhong Mei and the others changed drastically.

Before they could react, the sword Qi was already upon them.

The female cultivators of the Profound Moon School hurriedly raised their magic artifacts to defend.

Seizing this opportunity, Shen Mo, swift as lightning, advanced with his Dragon Sparrow Sword, mercilessly reaping.

The foremost female cultivator from the Profound Moon School, seeing Shen Mo’s longsword nearing her, turned pale with fright.

If this sword strike lands on me... I’ll be at least seriously injured...

Damn it!

This female cultivator made a swift judgment, not daring to resist head-on.

She crushed a Realm Breaking Talisman, and her form was pulled away by spatial power, vanishing from this region.

However, from the spot where she disappeared, several spiritual medicines imbued with the aura of the Mountain River Realm dropped out, not having been repelled by the spatial power along with her.

"You dropped something!"

A cold glint flashed across Shen Mo’s face, but he didn’t rush to pick them up.

He raised his longsword again, swinging it towards another robust female cultivator.

"THWACK!"

This female cultivator, however, showed some courage and didn’t immediately crush a Realm Breaking Talisman to flee in terror.

She took Shen Mo’s sword strike head-on and was sent flying, severely injured.

"Next, it’s your turn!"

Having dealt with two of them in quick succession, Shen Mo abruptly turned, his gaze falling upon the remaining four female disciples of the Profound Moon School.

So strong!

With Shen Mo having forced two of their fellow disciples out of the Mountain River Realm, Zhong Mei and the others now deeply regretted their actions.

They had initially assumed he was just an unknown, ordinary disciple.

They never expected to have kicked an iron plate.

Their group of six Qi Gathering Realm Layer I cultivators was no match for him alone.

This person was definitely a top-tier talent among the new disciples of the Riverside Sect.

"Fellow Daoist... we don’t want the Earth Core Liquid anymore," Zhong Mei blurted out, her heart trembling, daring not to meet Shen Mo’s unwavering gaze.

"You don’t want it anymore?"

He shook his head. "It’s too late to say that now."

If these disciples from the Profound Moon School had been willing to show some courtesy earlier, Shen Mo would naturally have returned the favor.

But now, they had made their stance clear.

Shen Mo, of course, was not concerned about making enemies.

"Will you crush your Realm Breaking Talismans and leave on your own, or do you need me to send you on your way?"

"Fellow Daoist, your strength is indeed formidable, but we are not without our trump cards! If we really fight to the bitter end, the outcome is still unknown!"

Zhong Mei glanced at her fellow disciples around her. She was ultimately unwilling to end her trial experience like this.

So obstinate.

Shen Mo didn’t feel like wasting any more words. He raised his Dragon Sparrow Sword high; the Shangqing Sword Qi transformed into countless swimming dragons, all slashing down.

"Jade Water Mirror!"

Gritting her silver teeth, Zhong Mei took out a gold-inlaid, jade-adorned Treasure Mirror magic artifact and activated it.

The water mirror transformed into a square light barrier, shielding them within, attempting to block Shen Mo’s sword Qi assault.

However, this magic artifact only held for a moment before Shen Mo, striking from above with his sword as if it hung from the sky, shattered the water mirror’s light barrier.

"Go!"

When the Jade Water Mirror was shattered, they could no longer harbor any illusions. One by one, they crushed their Realm Breaking Talismans, admitting defeat.

As these female disciples of the Profound Moon School were expelled one after another by the spatial power, the dozens of assorted Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures they had collected also scattered to the ground.

"’Blood Mushroom, Thousand-year Polygonum Multiflorum, Soul Infant Fruit...’"

Shen Mo picked up these rare spiritual medicines one by one. After a quick calculation, he mused, "These items could probably fetch about 160 Lower Grade Spirit Stones in the Market."

A team of ten, and this is all they gathered in a day.

Shen Mo felt a little disappointed.

It seems I overestimated the treasure-hunting efficiency of the other disciples.

「When he returned on his sword, the bonfire was still burning.」

Cao Ren had awakened. Seeing Shen Mo return from a distance, he visibly sighed in relief. "Where did you run off to?"

He had woken up earlier to find Shen Mo missing and had worried that something had happened to him.

"Following the guidance of the Spirit Storage Rat, I discovered some treasure in the distance and went to retrieve it."

As Shen Mo spoke, he took out the Earth Core Liquid and showed it to him.

"That’s good stuff!"

Cao Ren recognized the spiritual medicine, his eyes instantly lighting up.

But before he could utter his next sentence, through the flickering firelight, he faintly saw some bloodstains on Shen Mo’s robes.

"Are you hurt?"

Shen Mo paused slightly, only then noticing the marks on himself.

These bloodstains were most likely from that sturdiest female external cultivator of the Profound Moon Sect.

She had taken a sword strike from me head-on; blood had gushed like a spring at the time.

"The blood isn’t mine; it’s someone else’s."

"Earlier, when I was collecting spiritual medicine, I encountered some tactless people."

Shen Mo recounted the events to Cao Ren.

"You’re too strong, aren’t you? Facing six alone and you still easily routed them?"

Although he had already witnessed Shen Mo’s formidable fighting prowess during the Newcomers’ Contest, hearing him so casually say he had encountered a team trying to rob him and then sent them all packing still left Cao Ren feeling rather stunned.

"It seems you’re a strong enough backer; following you, I won’t have to worry about any dangers."

"Not necessarily. It’s always best to be cautious in all things."

Shen Mo currently had a clear assessment of his own combat strength.

Against cultivators at the same Qi Gathering Realm Layer I as him, as long as their combat power wasn’t monstrously beyond their peers like his or Lu Ming’s, he could handle ten of them without a problem.

As for Qi Gathering Realm Layer II cultivators, he also had the confidence to fight them!

Despite this, it’s always wise to be careful. One can never tell if some special existence might be encountered.

"True. But I’m suddenly a bit curious, among those six female disciples from the Profound Moon Sect, were there any pretty ones?"

"Don’t even get me started. They had Bear’s Stamina, were built like oxen, and had nothing to do with being pretty."

"I see. No wonder you struck so ruthlessly, without a hint of cherishing the fairer sex. HEHE!!"

"Get back to sleep!"

「The night passed quickly.」

The next day, the sun rose once again in the Mountain River Realm.

After feeding the Spirit Storage Rat a hearty meal, Shen Mo, dragging Cao Ren along, once again went treasure hunting all over the map.

For the next three days, their training and treasure hunting proceeded smoothly. They didn’t encounter anyone else trying to snatch spiritual medicine, like that group of Profound Moon Sect disciples.

To be precise, they hadn’t encountered anyone else at all.

Only yesterday had they once again seen a team pass by them, streaking across the sky like a ray of light.

This was normal; after all, the Mountain River Realm was too vast and immense.

Even this accessible barren region spanned a thousand miles in radius.

Over a hundred disciples from the Three Major Sects, placed in this region, were like a few drops of rain entering a great river.

Not encountering others was the norm.

"’Today was another bountiful day.’"

Shen Mo sat before the bonfire, having Cao Ren tally up their gains.

The spiritual medicines, rare treasures, spiritual ores, and other miscellaneous items they had gathered today amounted to over a hundred items.

Their value, calculated according to Market prices, could reach 730 Spirit Stones.

At this rate, once Shen Mo got out, he would be fabulously wealthy!

Although he had grown accustomed to this pace of treasure hunting, he still felt quite excited each night when tallying the day’s harvest.

Since transmigrating, he had always lived frugally.

Even with side professions like talisman making and alchemy to generate income, he had to work day and night without rest to save up a few Spirit Stones for his cultivation.

This was the first time money had come so quickly and so easily!