Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 283 - 283 282 The Secret of Tongxuan 1 Seeking Minimum Guarantee at the Beginning of the Month

283: Chapter 282 The Secret of Tongxuan 1 [Seeking Minimum Guarantee at the Beginning of the Month] 283: Chapter 282 The Secret of Tongxuan 1 [Seeking Minimum Guarantee at the Beginning of the Month] Li Chuping glanced at him, “This White Tiger Hall is a place for judging criminals.

If you’re interested, I don’t mind arranging it, but I’m afraid you might end up revealing even more information?”

Hou Niao shook his head, “Then forget it, everyone involved in cultivation has their own little secrets, don’t they?”

Li Chuping teased, “Elder Martial Brothers You and Gao must have given you quite a few benefits, huh?

But why do I see that you’re still not quite satisfied?”

Hou Niao sighed, “It’s all cultivation insights, direction choices, not a single practical thing, like Spirit Stones, treasures, immortal birds and whatnot—I just don’t know…”

Li Chuping cut him off succinctly, “I don’t have those either, you’re thinking too much.

Besides, in the cultivation world, insights from seniors like these can’t be bought with Spirit Stones.

And yet you remain unsatisfied, always desiring more.”

“Well, since the two elder martial brothers have set excellent precedents, it wouldn’t be right for me to exceed these limits and cause everyone to lose face.

I also have a record of insights, are you content with just taking a look?”

Hou Niao gladly accepted it, and with these three volumes, it should cover all aspects of the Quanzhen Sword Cultivator’s path, which would save him from taking many detours.

In terms of practical significance, they were priceless.

Li Chuping rarely spoke about cultivation, “The three offices of Jin City are currently governed by those in the last of the three Tongtian realms.

Elder Martial Brother You achieved enlightenment the earliest, followed by me, and then Martial Brother Gao.

This doesn’t determine which of us three will be the first to ascend to the Golden Core realm.

The Golden Core is another great hurdle, harder to cross than Tongxuan, and it’s extremely challenging.

But I estimate that within the next three years, there will be some changes among us three.

This is also normal for the Quanzhen Sect in Shan Country.

Disciples guard a town for a period of three years, and we’re no different, only our time is somewhat longer.

There will eventually be changes, it’s not possible to let one person operate in one place for too long.”

Hou Niao nodded, “I understand.

Elder Martial Brother means that we should broaden our horizons, not just focus on this one corner of Da Feng Plain.”

Li Chuping nodded in satisfaction.

He admired this about Hou Niao, who could grasp the essence of a matter with just a hint, not needing to be told twice.

“However, the direction of Anhe Daoist will always be a main focus, which won’t change for a period of time.

So, there will come a day when you will return.

If you want to better help your homeland, it depends on what heights you’ve reached by that time.

Below the Golden Core, one is just a fighter, the kind that waves flags and shouts, unable to decide any direction.”

Hou Niao fell silent.

The words were hard to hear, but they were the truth, and Li Chuping wouldn’t share these sentiments with him were he not considered one of us.

“So going out isn’t a bad thing, it’s especially suitable for you.

Staying in one place for too long, it’s inevitable that the ‘mess’ under your butt won’t be wiped clean, it might be better to switch to a different privy…”

Hou Niao felt quite embarrassed, but these were also the hard truths.

Before he could make sense of everything himself, continuously shifting his position was indeed an excellent strategy.

Li Chuping didn’t press the topic further and stopped there, “The insights given to you by Elder Martial Brothers You and Gao, I don’t need to see to know all about them.

Decades have passed, who doesn’t know about each other’s tricks?

You Sunzhi’s swordsmanship focuses on the basics, where skill and Techniques complement each other, fully leveraging the features of the cultivation technique, and providing strong support for the swordsmanship.

His swordsmanship leans toward Magic Sword and seems without remarkable power, yet might have a slight advantage in upper realms of cultivation.

Rather than saying he cultivates the sword with Techniques, it would be more accurate to say he cultivates Techniques with the sword.

Such an approach would be excellent in peaceful times; however, if one were in tumultuous times, it would lack the resolve to settle Qian Kun with a single strike!

I suspect that by the end of his path, there might not be much difference between his way and the methods of the Daoist Sects.”

Hou Niao listened attentively, taking the lesson to heart.

Without broadening his perspective and merely revolving in the small plot of his current understanding, he wouldn’t achieve greatness.

The key point was that his current understanding of the world and cultivation was far from mature.

Li Chuping continued his critique, “Gao Jianli’s swordsmanship is about killing; it belongs to the category of Extreme Sword and takes an extreme path.

The pairing of Skills does not consider the outcome of cultivation, focusing only on maximizing the power of the Flying Sword, pushing everything to the limit without regard for the means.

Therefore, within the same realm, his swordsmanship is a few notches stronger than others, and he even has the capability to slay enemies above his own level.

How about that, aren’t you envious?”

Hou Niao, however, remained composed, “You haven’t mentioned his weaknesses, and I would think that if everything pursued the extreme, why is it only slightly stronger than other sword cultivators of the same realm?

It should be much stronger.”

Li Chuping was somewhat surprised, and he had to admit that Hou Niao’s intuition about swordsmanship was incredibly sharp, pinpointing the heart of the issue.

“There are many weaknesses, such as the difficulty in ascending realms, slow recovery, reversal of Techniques… But the most crucial point is that it leads one down an increasingly narrow path!

In cultivation, law is prioritized over skill; this is the principle.

Any pursuit of skill must be within the framework of law, or there will be various constraints, to the point where even skill becomes unattainable.

That’s why, no matter how hard he tries, Gao Jianli will not be able to get far ahead of others in swordsmanship; and as time passes, his advantage continues to diminish.

This is the limitation law places on skill.

There may be some genius with an extraordinary talent who can solve such a problem and explore swordsmanship while also considering cultivation.

However, this should not be the direction of a Sect.

A person dies if their path becomes too narrow, and a force’s lineage will be cut off if their path narrows too much.”

Hou Niao seemed thoughtful, “So Elder Martial Brother, you mean to say that the path someone like Martial Brother Gao takes wouldn’t really be considered falling into devilry?”

Li Chuping smiled approvingly, “That’s why I said, the sword is just a sword, but it’s the person that wields it.

If the sword falls into devilry but the person does not, it’s a false devilry; if the sword isn’t devilish but the person is, then it’s sham devilry; only when both the person and the sword fall into devilry, yet can still step out of the range of devilry to inspect oneself, can one be a true Sword Devil.

It’s laughable that Gao Jianli always calls himself a ‘Sword Madman’, but what he practices is a path of balance within the Quanzhen Sect.

He doesn’t even dare to take a stance, so what ‘Sword Madman’ does he claim to be?

The will of a person should be primary, and the sword’s will supplementary.

If this order is reversed, the future achievements will be limited.

If he really continues down this road, he might not even go as far as You Sunzhi, the sham sword cultivator.”

Hou Niao listened with great interest, “What about your swordsmanship, Elder Martial Brother?”

Li Chuping smiled proudly, yet his response made Hou Niao uneasy, “Go see for yourself, there are no rules, no certainty, whatever is comfortable for me is fine.

How should I describe my own swordsmanship?

If I praise myself, you’ll say I’m arrogantly boastful; self-deprecation doesn’t fit the facts.

So, better left unsaid.”

He pointed at Hou Niao, “I won’t make decisions for you, because only you know yourself best.

Your physical attributes, psychological expectations, temperament, and even those so-called little secrets of yours are the foundation of which path you decide to take.

All we can do is to share our own choices.

What matters isn’t what we chose, but what we considered during the process of choosing?”