Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 277 - 277 276 Wholehearted Cultivation

277: Chapter 276: Wholehearted Cultivation 277: Chapter 276: Wholehearted Cultivation Hou Niao, after devoting over half a year to carefully managing Xionger, finally obtained a relatively peaceful cultivation environment.

This operation established their status among the people of the town; nobody saw the three Upper Envoys as negligible anymore.

The general atmosphere began to take on a well-ordered harmony.

All of this had meaning.

At the very least, their consciences were clear, and no one could accuse them of warming a seat without contributing.

He calmed down, and Tideng and Zhi Sun calmed down as well, no longer concerning themselves with the chaos of the outside world, because they all knew very well that only with personal strength would they be eligible to be involved; otherwise, it would be a joke.

Time hurriedly passed, and two years went by.

On this day, Hou Niao came to Chicken Mountain again.

This was his fifth visit in nearly three years in Xionger, not because he wanted to find the blind old man in order to repay his kindness, and certainly not for the Stone Spirit Milk, but because he truly felt this place was magical.

Was it the arrival of the blind old man that changed this place, or was it the magic here that drew the blind old man?

He wasn’t sure.

But he vaguely knew about the situation within Anhe Country; Wu Sect was intensifying its integration of the loose cultivator forces within the country, and many cultivators who were unwilling to be restrained chose to leave, which probably was why the blind old man came here.

Out of the five visits, the first was to find someone, the second to accompany Xiang Zhiwen to the Upper Realm.

The remaining three visits grew progressively longer each time: three days, ten days, a month, which allowed him to glimpse the opportunity for his own bridge-making breakthrough.

He felt that his process of bridge-making wasn’t confined to a location, or an environment, but rather was it an accumulation over time in response to natural changes?

This accumulation led to a subtle change in his Purple Mansion Sword Orchid.

Why was it so?

He couldn’t quite understand.

Was it the magic in his eyes, forged by Feileng Spring, that allowed him to read the changes of the seasons?

Or was it the brief time in Tongling Cave Heaven that helped him comprehend the profound principles of heaven and earth?

He didn’t know, but it was clear that all the changes he was experiencing were inseparable from the Anhe Daoist Sect; it was the Purple Eye Cultivation Technique given to him by Chong Ling Daoist, the opportunity at Feileng Spring he had been guided to, and the chance provided by that unfamiliar Anhe elder to enter the Tongling Cave Heaven.

When the task of lying low became nebulous and the roots of his origin began to falter, those bonds slowly took effect in other ways, making it even harder for him to forget his original intention.

To return to the Daoist Sect, is that my true intention?

In constant searching and trying, he gradually discovered that his own bridge-making didn’t seem to be tied to any specific object or affair.

It was difficult to describe such a feeling, but that was what he believed.

How to prove this?

He decided to cultivate on Chicken Mountain for a year, to witness firsthand the four seasons’ cycle of nature—the waxing and waning, the cold and heat, the green and yellow.

Is bridge-making related to the changes of time?

The transformation of the sea into mulberry fields?

This sort of realization could actually be achieved anywhere outside, as long as he stepped out of his room; but he still felt Chicken Mountain was more suitable due to its uniqueness.

Amidst the same natural changes, this place, with its underground Spirit Vein, was more conducive to a cultivator’s perception.

For this day, he had been preparing for a long time.

Everything he needed was ready, and he felt that if his guess was correct, then his first attempt at bridge-making might very likely reach a conclusion, just as Xiang Zhiwen had confidently achieved his breakthrough in Banyan Cave, with cultivators being confident in their own intuition.

The first time was also the one with the highest chance of success.

He chose to enter the mountain in early summer, for there was a particular reason for this; during the summer, all things thrive and life force is at its most vigorous, which aids in perception, and the final stage of insight into the four seasons the following year happens to be the spring when everything comes back to life, perfectly suited for the Sword Orchids in the Purple Mansion to take root and sprout.

He didn’t say goodbye to his two colleagues, because those two fellows had left for some place unknown before him; everyone had their own way, their own opportunity, but they shared a common intuition: the time was about right.

Hou Niao found an excellent spot, right on a protruding boulder halfway up the mountain, with a sweeping view of the mountain landscape, dense forests, and green grass, the mountains vibrant in the distance, the sounds of water heard close yet making no noise.

He had never tried to enter such a prolonged meditative forgetfulness, not because he couldn’t, but because he was reluctant; as a cultivator, one always needs to take this step.

He bowed reverently to the mountain, then sat cross-legged on the rock; there was no master here, but there were always some who arrived earlier and others later.

Since the blind old man didn’t show himself, he could only offer a gesture of respect.

He didn’t enter meditation right away but instead calmed his mood and reflected on the reasoning behind his actions.

As for what to use as a bridge in cultivation, he had seen too many incredible experiences of his seniors over the years, which could be summed up in one sentence: “The world is vast, nothing does not serve as a bridge.”

The Stone Spirit Milk chosen by Xiang Zhiwen was just one of the most common choices, and one that many cultivators would make, which involved using some kind of spiritual object to stimulate the Spirit Plants in the Purple Mansion.

Stone Spirit Milk was one such object, among various other items related to the Five Elements, Demon Beast bones and teeth, plant roots, flowers, and stems, and there were even those who directly used Spirit Stones as their bridge, there was no fixed method, suitability was key.

Then there were a small number of cultivators who employed more advanced objects for their bridge, they didn’t use tangible items, but instead took inspiration as their guide; for example, some could observe the tides to fill their Purple Mansion, some understood the movement of clouds, some watched the light breeze, others basked in the Spring Rain…

all were ways of experiencing the outside world and using it to produce a bridge effect in the Purple Mansion.

This included the application of the understanding of the Great Dao.

In theory, low rank cultivators shouldn’t be capable of comprehending the Dao, which requires a considerably high realm, not even within the reach of Golden Core cultivators.

The minimum threshold for applying the Great Dao starts at Nascent Transformation, a common knowledge acknowledged in the Cultivation World.

However, cultivation was unpredictable, everything was subject to change, the Daoist Records also roughly mentioned that a great change occurred in the heavens and the earth more than a thousand years ago, affecting all aspects of the world.

It’s due to the Jinxiu Continent that spirit mechanisms started to recover, making traces of the Great Dao even more commonplace, resulting in even the most basic cultivators at the Tongxuan threshold getting vague glimpses of the Great Dao’s essence.

Of course, glimpsing is one thing, to truly understand, familiarize with, and master it, and to transform this comprehension into one’s own asset, demonstrating it in cultivation and battle, one still has to follow the ancient cultivation principles where Nascent Transformation is the threshold.

Just as a frog in a well can never understand the world outside, if it does not leap out of the well, it cannot see the world outside, how can it truly comprehend?

Likewise for humans, only cultivators who have undergone Nascent Transformation can break free from the shackles of the Jinxiu Continent, view the world from a cosmic perspective, and lay the foundation for the capabilities of the Great Dao.

Therefore, in the Cultivation World, people often broadly categorized the Tongxuan Realm into two types: those who used tangible items as their bridge were known as practitioners of the ‘Lesser Mahayana Introduction,’ while those who relied on enlightenment as their bridge were called practitioners of the ‘Great Mahayana Introduction.’ Although never explicitly stated in the Cultivation World, there is an acknowledged hierarchy between these two methods, with cultivators who ascended through the Great Mahayana Introduction usually possessing stronger potential, which becomes more apparent as they progress.

Unless cultivators admit it themselves, most people would not readily reveal their secrets, whether they ascended through the Lesser or the Great Mahayana Introduction?

The common mindset was, “Can you guess?”

Concealing one’s capabilities was something everyone understood, it was the best way to protect oneself; for instance, in the insights that Li Chuping shared with him, although much was explained in detail, there was no mention of what exactly he used as his bridge to ascend, indicating the same mentality.

How many Spirit Stones were there in the Treasure Gourd?

Nobody would tell others, fearing they might borrow them.

Whether one ascended through the Great Mahayana Introduction or not, it was linked to the choice and power of their cultivation techniques, a trump card in battle, equally not something people would willingly show.