Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 158 - 158 157 The Life of Patrol

158: Chapter 157: The Life of Patrol 158: Chapter 157: The Life of Patrol Upon opening the Treasure Gourd given by the Chong Ling Daoist, he was greatly startled.

The skills gifted by the old Daoist weren’t just the few he had mentioned, but rather a whole pile!

These included not only those that could be cultivated before reaching the Tongxuan Realm but also many that were meant for after entering the Tongxuan Realm.

He picked and chose and found there were actually about ten types.

Did he really see himself as a disciple of the Daoist Sect?

Or, did he think he would stay in the Quanzhen Sect for a long time?

Or perhaps, the old Daoist sensed something and thus made arrangements in advance?

He had a bad feeling, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

He hoped it was just that the old Daoist was wealthy and generous, and it didn’t matter to him, right?

The skills for after reaching Tongxuan could be ignored, but those before it were still worth checking out.

One thing the old Daoist said was very true: in terms of the diversity and complexity of the skills, not even the Quanzhen Sect could match these true teachings of the Daoist Sects.

Currently, he could learn a total of five secret techniques: the Hesitation Skill, the Burning Elixir Skill, the Breeze Dao Body, Spring Hibernation, and Eye Purple.

The Hesitation Skill was a type of technique centered around the soles of the feet—it was not used to attack enemies, but rather to release a faint force field through the spiritual power emanating from the soles into the surrounding ground.

Once cultivated profoundly, one could detect any slight movement within a certain range without using the Six Consciousness, especially since unless the opponent could fly, as soon as they contacted the ground, they could not escape detection by this technique.

There were too many techniques for concealing one’s presence in the Cultivation World, all of them quite ingenious, and correspondingly, there were countless methods of detection, akin to a contest between spear and shield; there was no such thing as dominating with a mere single sense.

A truly powerful cultivator possessed a whole system of perception, including the Six Consciousness and the Hesitation Skill, which was an important part of that system.

Below the Tongxuan Realm, cultivators could not yet fly; they always had to touch the ground, and hence the Hesitation Skill’s importance at this stage was evident—high-end and practical.

Frankly, he had not seen similar techniques in the Sword Storage Tower of Jin City, which was quite rare.

The Burning Elixir Skill, as its name implied, was about burning the Dantian to increase the output of spiritual power for a certain period—it was akin to borrowing against future energy, like activating an afterburner.

It was quite common in the Cultivation World, as nearly every school had similar methods for cultivators to exert themselves at crucial moments of life and death.

As a sect known for its proclivity towards battle and derogatorily labeled as the Demon Sect, the Quanzhen Sect naturally had a deep exploration of this area, including several methods that could fully or even excessively exploit this explosive battle technique.

However, in terms of burst power, the Daoist Sect’s Burning Elixir Skill was still somewhat inferior.

But the Daoist Sect’s Burning Elixir Skill had one advantage: the impact on the body and Dantian was minimal.

A little adjustment of the Dantian afterwards would naturally restore it to its original state.

In other words, the Quanzhen Sect only used their Burning Elixir Technique in a real life-or-death situation and did not dare try it lightly at other times; there was a price to pay afterwards, which could even affect their cultivation.

But the Anhe Daoist variant could be used normally, an afterburner technique without side effects.

The significance of this was not ordinary; for Hou Niao, desperation was the last resort, what if desperation was useless?

Was he to be left powerless to the mercy of others?

The Breeze Dao Body was a Daoist body cultivation technique, compared to those body skills that readily transformed the body into a golden body, almost wishing for an undying body, the Daoist body cultivation seemed like a gentle and imperceptible nourishing rain.

In terms of effects, it might not match those famous and powerful body skills from various schools, but on closer comparison, it wasn’t much less effective either.

In actual combat, even if it couldn’t be used to overcome an opponent, it wouldn’t make one suffer tremendously from inadequacies in body skills!

The advantage was that there were few cultivation restrictions, and it also had self-healing capabilities.

As long as one persisted, the future achievements were equally considerable, making it the best choice for many cultivators who didn’t specialize in body skills.

Spring Hibernation was a type of breath-concealing skill with a very wide range of applicability, different from the breath-concealing skill specializing in Soul Ghosts that Hou Niao had learned before; it did not require a deep level of profound energy but needed a certain affinity with nature.

Eye Purple was a special eye-cleansing technique, and also the only eye skill that required external items for cultivation.

It was said that once cultivated deeply, it allowed one to predict future events and clear obstacles, making it a rare insight technique especially suitable for a school like sword cultivators that required quick adaptiveness on the fly.

After reviewing these five techniques, Hou Niao felt somewhat touched; none of these techniques was possessed by the Sword Pavilion in Jin City, nor had he seen them in the markets of Jin City and Liuyang, which spoke of their rarity.

The old Daoist giving these secret techniques to him privately really meant he was treated as one of his own.

He was somewhat embarrassed about the little schemes he had played on himself.

Five spells were necessary for cultivation!

He had achieved a minor success in swordsmanship, but his deficiencies in other areas were equally evident.

The old Daoist truly lived up to his reputation as an Upper Cultivator from the Tongxuan Realm—discerning and sharp.

The spells he had chosen were indeed applicable to him and didn’t attract attention; he had truly put his heart into it.

So, should he start making a strenuous effort?

…

Nine days of rushed work later, the embankment of the White Ribbon River was finally completed.

With this, the river which had been redirected for over a hundred years returned to its millennia-old course.

In the sparsely populated Yinling Wilderness, the change in the river’s course made no fundamental difference to nature, altering only a section and not the whole.

Yet, for the larger and smaller fortresses, it was a fundamental change providing them with the precious water resources necessary for their survival.

Hou Niao was heading towards Fang Family’s Castle.

The punishment from Jin City was clear—he was not allowed to return and enjoy the city’s comforts.

Whether Fang Family’s Castle was considered part of the city was debatable, but he didn’t want to challenge the limits of the three bureaus just yet.

Being a law officer by origin and one not to tolerate any sand in his eyes, he feared that returning to a place as controversial as Fang Family’s Castle might lead to trouble; being harsh on the Demon Clan could be justified, which most people within the sect would not oppose, but if common mortals were involved, probably even the Capital Commandant could not save him!

Before he left, Sang Junzi had advised him with a half-smile not to think about returning to the city for seclusion and rest, and perhaps that was the deeper meaning behind his words.

Very experienced, indeed.

He was accompanied by two people, one was the grandson of old Jiang, Jiang Jiawang, a robust and honest young man, and a child aged seven or eight, the eldest among the Jiang family’s children, who was now old enough to begin learning something.

So, he was fulfilling his promise.

Two horses, one for Hou Niao, the young man holding the child on the other, they leisurely walked through the wilderness, where the revival of all things made even the desolate Yinling have a unique charm.

Jiang Jiawang was very ingratiating, “Sir, rest assured, I will stay in Fang Family’s Castle for at least half a year, and I will take good care of Xiao Nan’s daily life.”

Xiao Nan was the child, the only son of the Jiang Han family; obviously, the Jiang family couldn’t send every child to Fang Family’s Castle for education—sending one per family was already their maximal capacity.

Hou Niao responded nonchalantly, “Good, you are all relatives, and helping each other out is proper.

If you can achieve something in the future, everyone can share in the benefits.”

Jiang Jiawang nodded in agreement, “You’re right, sir.

If someone from the Jiang family could have even a tenth of your abilities, it would transform the smaller fortress.

Alas, over these years, none succeeded.”

Hou Niao nodded, “Has Jia Wang tried as well?”

Jiang Jiawang responded hesitantly, “Of course, I’ve tried.

Every slightly well-off family in the smaller fortress has tried.

My grandfather said that if I showed potential, even if it meant selling the iron pot, he would support my cultivation!”

Hou Niao chuckled, “And then?”

Jiang Jiawang laughed naively, “I, I managed to save our family’s iron pot…”