The Sword God of Shili Slope in the Magical World

The roar had barely faded when a deafening crash of falling trees echoed from the depths of the forest, followed by a stench of blood.

A gigantic bear-like monster burst out of the shadows, its fur covered in ice crystals and its eyes glowing with an unnatural red light, clearly indicating that it was in a demonic state.

Diana immediately stepped in front of Dania, her knight's rapier glowing with holy light: "Watch out, it's been enhanced!"

Monsters in their berserk form are much more difficult to deal with, being more than a level stronger than usual.

"The Demon King is an undercover agent? What kind of hidden mission is this? When was I exposed?"

Su De had many questions in his mind, but he remained calm and observed, trying hard to recall his past moves.

They only paused briefly when passing through lower-level mazes.

With just this one clue, how could they have found us?

He quickly noticed that although the giant bear monster's movements were fierce, its steps were stiff, as if it were being controlled by invisible threads.

He recalled Dania's mention of "the chaotic timing of monster appearances" and the hint about the "Demon King's infiltration" in the hidden quest, and realized: "This is not an ordinary monster uprising; someone is manipulating it behind the scenes."

Before he could finish speaking, a dark purple light shot out from the trees on the side and struck the giant bear monster on the back.

The giant bear roared to the sky, its body expanding once more, and ice crystals condensed into an armor-like shield.

From the shadows, the hooded mage slowly emerged, a cruel smile on his pale face: "Oh? I didn't expect that besides those few good-for-nothings, there are even more worthy prey to feed."

Su De scrutinized the other person's appearance, wondering what resemblance he had to the Demon King's undercover agent.

He just doesn't look like a good person.

They must be the enemy.

"No rush to fight head-on," Su De replied in a low voice, quickly giving the two men tactical instructions.

"Dania, use intermediate magic to probe and disrupt his casting rhythm. Diana, cover me as I approach; he's very likely the mastermind behind the gathering of the giant bear monsters."

Despite her nervousness, Dania raised her staff and began chanting [Starlight Chains]—a control spell from the Stardust Magic Academy that could temporarily bind an enemy's movements.

The hooded mage scoffed at this, "A novice mage's trick!"

He waved his staff, and a black flame rushed towards him.

In the blink of an eye, Su De had already taken action.

He changed into the dust-avoiding robe and the hovering boots, his figure as fast as lightning. Using the trees as cover, he quickly approached and quietly crushed a lightning talisman in his hand.

A sudden explosion rang out.

The black flames suddenly dissipated as they approached Sud, and the hooded mage's expression changed: "How is this possible?"

"Your dark magic requires a constant channeling of environmental magic, but the magic in this forest has long been disrupted by the giant bear monster. Even for you, the thin magic makes casting spells difficult."

Su De sneered.

Diana slashed at the crystal on the opponent's staff—the source of dark magic.

The hooded mage hurriedly retreated, only to find that his feet were now restricted by a holy light trap set up by Diana.

In that instant, Dania's starlight chains wrapped around her, and although they did not completely bind her, they slowed her movements for a moment.

This is not a friendly sparring match, nor is it a practice battle.

It was a very formal war.

Su De finally got serious.

He took a deep breath.

"Diana, this is your third lesson: never reveal your hand, and always have a backup plan."

He then drew the iron sword from his waist and swung it forward.

Pfft!

The sword tip sliced ​​through the air, unleashing a deadly hurricane filled with murderous intent.

The leaves of trees within a radius of a hundred miles rustled softly.

Beneath the iron sword, a dark rift appeared, and all vegetation was destroyed by this single strike.

An extremely terrifying sword aura destroyed everything within a radius of a hundred meters.

Let the sky and clouds be divided in two.

The sword opens to the heavens, revealing the moon and clouds.

Such terrifying swordsmanship excited the hooded mage.

"It really was you!"

The terrifying sword energy, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly cleaved through the hooded mage's skin, revealing a hideous, dark creature.

The sword's edge pierced straight at the opponent's face: "Your master didn't send you here just for a few demons, did he?"

The hooded mage roared, unleashing an even denser, dark purple battle aura that coalesced into another face, forcefully breaking free of the chains: "Foolish! How could you possibly stop the master's plan!"

He abandoned ranged magic and instead used his staff as a sword to fight Sud in close combat.

Dark magic and sword energy intertwined, each collision triggering a small magical explosion.

But the more the Soviet Union fought, the calmer it became.

He noticed that before each time the other person cast a dark spell, the ring on their left hand would flash slightly—it was a magic device that stored magic power, allowing them to release magic without chanting.

So in one confrontation, he deliberately created an opening to lure his opponent into unleashing a full-force magical attack.

Just as the magic was gathering, Sud suddenly unleashed his last lightning blast talisman, which struck the staff crystal precisely.

A mage without magical protection is like a lamb to the slaughter.

The air in the forest seemed to freeze because of the two people's confrontation.

Seeing his ranged magic thwarted, the hooded mage's eyes flashed with a fierce light. Suddenly, a layer of dark purple battle aura covered his staff, transforming it into a twisted longsword, which he then slashed at Sude. Dark magic and battle aura intertwined, each strike accompanied by a piercing sound of air being torn apart, leaving the grass and trees withered and the soil scorched black in its wake.

Su De stood quietly until the other party was within three steps, then he raised the seemingly ordinary iron sword in his hand.

There was no dazzling brilliance, no complicated moves.

He simply met the surging black-purple sharpness with a simple horizontal slash.

"Clang—!"

The moment the sword and staff clashed, the dark purple battle aura dissipated as if melting snow under the blazing sun.

The iron sword continued its trajectory, as if it were cutting through not magic and weapons, but the morning mist.

The hooded mage felt an irresistible force travel along his staff, causing his hand to split open and his whole body to stagger backward.

"This swordsmanship does not belong to you." Su De's voice was calm and even, but his figure was already close again like a gentle breeze.

The second strike is a straight thrust.

There is nothing that cannot be solved with a single sword strike.

If that doesn't work, then two swords.

The sword strike was not fast, and its trajectory was so clear that even the hooded mage could see every inch of the sword tip's advance.

But he found himself unable to dodge—all escape routes seemed to have been blocked by that unassuming sword edge.

He roared and poured all his remaining magic power into his staff, creating a triple shadow shield in front of him.

The iron sword touched the first layer of shield, and the shield shattered.

Upon reaching the second layer, the shield cracks.

Upon reaching the third layer—the shield remained intact, yet the sword tip pierced through it, precisely striking the magic-storing ring on his chest.

"Click."

A faint cracking sound was heard.

The hooded mage trembled violently as the backlash of magic surged into his meridians like a venomous snake.

He tried to struggle, but Su De's third sword was already upon him.

This sword strike descended from above, like a mountain falling.

There was no sword energy crisscrossing, no storm howling.

Where the sword passed, a deep, silent crack appeared in the ground, stretching to the hooded mage's feet. The last vestige of his dark magic disintegrated and vanished under the force of that single strike.

The hooded mage stood frozen in place, his staff clattering to the ground.

He looked down and saw that his robes had been cleanly ripped open by an invisible sword intent, yet there were no marks on his skin—what precise control, what terrifying suppression!

"Snap!"

In an instant, the ring shattered, the crystal dimmed, and the hooded mage let out a muffled groan.

The backlash from the dark magic caused blood to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

Diana seized the opportunity to charge forward and unleashed a Holy Light Slash, attempting to sever his staff; Dania, on the other hand, chanted his most powerful spell, Starfall, and a massive stream of light converged from the top of his staff, striking the opponent's shield.

"No...impossible! I am..."

The hooded mage staggered backward, his face aging rapidly due to the backlash.

It was unbelievable that his two powerful souls had been directly annihilated by the opponent.

These two are from the hero squad that has fought against the Demon Lord in previous generations, but of course they have failed.

Their souls were imprisoned within his wand, becoming his slaves.

Every year, there are groups of overconfident adventurers who come here to die, but it is undeniable that there are indeed some powerful individuals among them.

Su De approached with his sword drawn, coldly saying, "Go back and tell your master that human territory is not his place to meddle. If he dares to lay a finger on it again, next time it will be his head that gets chopped off."

The hooded mage produced a black scroll, his figure vanishing into the smoke, leaving behind only a venomous message: "Next time we meet, I won't be alone."

The giant bear monster fled with its master, its ice crystal armor shattering. After returning to its original state, it hurriedly fled into the depths of the forest.

[Task Completed]

[Rewards: Silver-tipped talisman brush, low-grade talisman paper, spirit-nourishing jade, and earth-grade material—Frost-mane Jade Marrow (a rare and precious material)]

Su De sheathed his sword and looked at the quest notification—[Hidden Quest] Completed, reward sent to storage ring.

Diana breathed a sigh of relief: "He escaped, but what if he brings back more monsters?"

Sud shook his head: "Not in the short term. The backlash from the dark magic will be enough to hurt him, and the fact that they sent in spies shows that he is still in the probing phase and doesn't dare to launch a full-scale attack."

He turned to Dania and smiled, "Thanks to your magical control this time, it was excellent."

Dania blushed and lowered her head: "It was thanks to your excellent tactical arrangements, senior..."

Sude patted her on the shoulder: "Go back to town and submit the request first. As for your subsidy—"

He blinked and said, "I know a teacher in the Silvermoon Kingdom; perhaps I can write a letter of recommendation."

"Really?"

Dania was overjoyed.

Sude remembered that his eighth disciple, who disliked sword practice the most, wrote back some time after he left, saying that he had become a qualified magician and had also started teaching. He also said that he would like to visit the Silvermoon Kingdom if he had the opportunity.

This matter had happened a long time ago, and he only remembered it when Diana mentioned the Silvermoon Kingdom.

I wonder how Lao Ba is doing now.

I think I'm qualified to write a letter of recommendation.

Sud thought for a moment, then removed the red tassel from his sword and handed his token to Dania.

"Take this and go find an elf girl named Zoe."

"Zoe?"

Dania felt the name sounded familiar.

I think I've heard this name before, on the guest list for the freshman ceremony.

She solemnly accepted the token and expressed her gratitude.

Sude killed the prescribed number of giant bear monsters and brought them back to the capital as spoils of war.

Thus, this adventure came to an end.

On the way back, Sud noticed that Diana was lost in thought in the carriage, seemingly still reliving the experience of this adventure and drawing lessons from it.

[You have successfully trained Diana, changing her mindset and endowing her with the qualities to become a top-tier swordsman.]

[Should we accept him as a new personal disciple?]

"Yes."

Su De breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the system had finally approved him.

This long trip was definitely worthwhile.

When Diana's panel was reopened, it had changed considerably.

Name: Diana

Age: 16

[Level: 39]

[Class: Light Swordsman (Rank B)]

[Talent Traits: Noble Bloodline (+30), Obedience (+10), Kindness (+10), Insight (+10), Chivalry (+10), Diligence (+10)]

[Qualification Score: 60 (Fair)]

[Can be accepted as a disciple]

Su De keenly noticed that he had gained two new traits: [Listen to Advice] and [Hard Work]. Moreover, his original impulsiveness was gone, and he had received only positive buffs, and had even leveled up three times.

He wasn't in a hurry; progress is a gradual process, and there aren't that many geniuses.

【Strength: 40】

【Speed: 60】

[Agility: 67]

【Intelligence: 100】

Swordsmanship lv60 (Mastery)

【Blessing of Light lv50 (Mastery)】

...

Actually, Diana's stats aren't bad; there aren't many human characters who can reach this level at level 39.

[Main Quest: Increase the number of disciples under your tutelage to 10, and personally accept one as your personal disciple (Completed)]

[Current progress: Sect disciples (100/10), New personal disciples (1/1)]

[Settlement Rewards: Sect-grade Profound Spirit Gathering Array, Nine Heavens Frost Soul Technique, Ice Silk Cicada Robe.]

[New main quest: Increase the intimacy level of one of your disciples to 40, and the training progress to 50%.]

"Intimacy level? How do I increase that?"

Sude found this novel gadget and was somewhat intrigued.

The intimacy level between master and apprentice has been unlocked, which I don't think was available before.

The "favorability" system is understandable, but the "intimacy" system seems to require a strategy or conquest.

......

The Silvermoon Kingdom of Letherland.

Starry City.

The nobles in the inner city wore happy smiles, symbols of wisdom and knowledge, while the ordinary people at the bottom were constantly toiling away, struggling for their next meal.

Such a vast magical city would likely struggle to survive without these ordinary people.

Magic can hardly conjure food, nor can it conjure gold.

Those deceptive alchemies only charge tuition fees to the short-sighted.

Dania returned home and could only sigh helplessly at her father, who was still exhausted from his work.

But she decided to still look for the person that Teacher Su De had mentioned.

What if it works?

She came to the Magicians' Guild, intending to find a

All I could see was a huge statue standing in the front hall of the temple.

Only magicians who have made outstanding contributions, pioneers and trailblazers, are qualified to be engraved as statues and stand before the gates of the highest magic temple.

Dania happened to see a line of text.

"Zoe, the current principal of Floran Academy, the most prestigious magic academy on the continent."

......