Chapter 153: Eight Direction Thunder Movement's Highest Level - Blink Thunder Escape
A few days later, at the Qingxuan Sect's mountain gate, in the Jujube Tree Courtyard.
The courtyard was empty, with only a figure sweeping past like a violent gust of wind.
He appeared on the roof one moment, beside the pond the next, and then on the treetop.
His speed was astonishing, almost leaving afterimages in his wake.
"I'm feeling it! Once more!"
Shen Mo was overjoyed. He immediately sat down cross-legged and refined another piece of thunder essence.
At the same time, he continued to peruse the Eight Direction Thunder Movement manual.
With the help of the thunder essence's abundant thunder spirit energy, his understanding of this movement technique further deepened.
He seemed to have pierced through a certain layer of obscurity.
At a certain moment, Shen Mo suddenly stood up.
Spiritual power surged within his body, connecting with the thunder spirit energy of heaven and earth.
In an instant, wind surged under his feet, and thunder roared beside his legs.
With a whoosh, his figure shot forward several dozen feet.
He had unexpectedly crossed through the courtyard wall of the Jujube Tree Courtyard without warning, appearing outside.
The disciple guarding the gate was stunned. "Y-Young Sect Master, what are you..."
Shen Mo, overjoyed, waved his hand. "It's nothing, just training."
Having said this, he returned to the courtyard.
Clearly, he had cultivated the Eight Direction Thunder Movement to the eighth level.
Simultaneously, he grasped a new move.
"Blink Thunder Escape!"
As he spoke, Shen Mo executed the technique again.
Whoosh.
His figure vanished abruptly from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already standing on the rooftop.
"This move is executed without any warning and can pass through objects. If the opponent is unaware of my method, they will certainly be caught off guard, giving me the advantage in battle."
"The only flaw is that it consumes a lot of spiritual power."
Shen Mo chuckled wryly.
Each time he used the "Blink Thunder Escape," it consumed 20% of his spiritual power.
In other words, he could theoretically use it a maximum of five times in quick succession.
However, this was just the theoretical limit.
In reality, his spiritual power constantly needed to support the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame, so the amount of power he could freely use wasn't much.
Moreover, he needed to reserve some spiritual power to use offensive and defensive techniques.
Considering various factors, he estimated that using the Blink Thunder Escape three times consecutively would be his limit.
If his spiritual power were truly exhausted, that would not be a pleasant experience.
"Anyway, having mastered this movement technique to its highest level and grasped a new move is quite an accomplishment."
Shen Mo nodded in satisfaction.
With this, all his martial arts had reached their highest level.
The only thing left to improve was his cultivation realm.
He pushed open the courtyard gate, intending to take a walk.
After a few steps, he noticed several familiar figures.
They were Song Chaofeng, Wei Xiongtie, Elder Li, and others.
Although he hadn't gotten close, Shen Mo had already heard what they were discussing.
Song Chaofeng said, "...What should we do? The Demon Armor has been recruited by the Heavenly Water Sect!"
Elder Li replied, "He's just a guest elder, probably only affiliated with the Heavenly Water Sect. Elder Song, you don't need to worry too much."
Song Chaofeng argued, "That's not necessarily true. As long as enough benefits are offered, a guest elder could serve the Heavenly Water Sect. Besides, the Demon Armor is just a rogue cultivator driven by profit."
Wei Xiongtie added, "Exactly. It's hard to guarantee that he won't act against our Qingxuan Sect. A few days ago, several of our deacons near the Thorny Forest went missing. I suspect it was the Demon Armor, secretly eliminating our people on the orders of the Heavenly Water Sect!"
Shen Mo found this amusing.
You all are overthinking it.
Why would I harm the people of the Qingxuan Sect?
"Young Sect Master!"
"Greetings, Young Sect Master!"
At this moment, the three of them noticed Shen Mo and quickly bowed in respect.
Shen Mo nodded, "You're talking about the Demon Armor? He joined the Heavenly Water Sect?"
"What do you think, Young Sect Master?" Song Chaofeng sighed.
Shen Mo nodded slightly. "This Demon Armor is driven solely by profit, and his stance is unclear."
"It's best if we don't provoke him first."
"But if he dares to trouble our Qingxuan Sect, we must show him that we are not to be trifled with!"
The three men quickly nodded, "The Young Sect Master is right."
Shen Mo smiled faintly.
What he said was all nonsense, but as long as his stance was made clear, it was enough.
He wanted to say a few more words to completely dissociate Demon Armor from the Qingxuan Sect.
However, the mother jade in his storage ring suddenly vibrated.
A slight change in Shen Mo's expression, "Something just came up. I need to go into seclusion for a while. No one is allowed to enter the Jujube Tree Courtyard during this time."
"Understood." The three nodded.
Shen Mo quickly returned to the courtyard, took out the mother jade, and injected his spiritual power into it.
Immediately, a voice came from within.
"Elder Demon Armor, I am Elder Long Tao of the Heavenly Water Sect. I will be the elder you will be liaising with from now on."
"Currently, my Heavenly Water Sect has three tasks for you to choose from."
"First, infiltrate the Profound Frost Cave, destroy its formation, and kill the Qingxuan Sect elder guarding the cave. We will provide you with the necessary intelligence. The reward is a bottle of Great Essence Replenishing Pills and a low-grade Profound Rank martial technique, Sky-Breaking Dragon Fist."
"Second, go to the Thorny Forest and assassinate the second elder of the Thunderfire Sect, Lu Ren, who is hiding there. The reward is the mid-grade Profound Rank spiritual artifact, Green Lotus Robe."
"Third, go to Black Jade Mountain and find traces of the Great Rock Python. The reward is a fourth-rank demon crystal and the low-grade Profound Rank spiritual artifact, Mountain-Splitting Saber."
Shen Mo listened, his expression half-smiling.
The other party had proposed three tasks.
The tasks were very specific, clearly meant to test him.
"I'm more interested in the Green Lotus Robe. I've heard it's something your Heavenly Water Sect purchased from a major sect in Yuzhou?" Shen Mo inquired.
Long Tao replied, "Indeed, the Green Lotus Robe is sewn from century-old green lotus leaves. It's extremely tough and can accelerate blood circulation."
"Moreover, the Green Lotus Robe we acquired has been refined with a third-rank wood-attribute demon crystal, further enhancing its defensive capabilities and boosting the blood circulation effect."
Shen Mo nodded slightly. "Then I'll take this task."
"Alright, now here is the intelligence on Elder Lu Ren of the Thunderfire Sect. Listen carefully, Elder Demon Armor." Long Tao continued.
Moments later, the two stopped their communication.
Shen Mo put the mother jade back into his storage ring, pondering.
He knew very well that these tasks were deliberately arranged by Zhuang Mochou.
The three tasks had different objectives and targets.
The purpose was simply to test his stance.
To see if he was truly trustworthy.
Most importantly, they needed to ensure that "Demon Armor" wouldn't side with their enemies.
Whether "Demon Armor" was a rogue cultivator or a sect disciple didn't matter.
As long as he could be used by the Heavenly Water Sect and not by the Qingxuan Sect, that was enough.
Of course, to Shen Mo, Zhuang Mochou's response was irrelevant.
He was currently "Demon Armor." Since there was an opportunity to fleece the Heavenly Water Sect, he would naturally take full advantage of it.
Not profiting would be a loss!
"In the Thorny Forest, there's also a fragment of the Forest Sword Art."
"While I'm there, I'll take it as well."
"By the way, what kind of conflict has broken out between the Heavenly Water Sect and the Thunderfire Sect for things to escalate this far?"
Without further intelligence, Shen Mo couldn't think of an answer and was too lazy to dwell on it.
Knowing where to go, who to kill, and what the reward was would suffice.
He soon left the Qingxuan Sect's mountain gate quietly, heading straight for the Thorny Forest.
After cultivating the Eight Direction Thunder Movement to its highest level, his speed was astonishing.
So much so that no one noticed his departure.
All they felt was a gust of wind passing by.
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