Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 333 - 333 332 The Secret of Blue Mountain 1

333: Chapter 332 The Secret of Blue Mountain 1 333: Chapter 332 The Secret of Blue Mountain 1 Hou Niao carefully swam his body towards the shore, realizing that the place the red-scaled creature had chosen for him must be very special, as there was an obscure suppressive force present which greatly affected the flow of mana in cultivators.

While swimming, he remained vigilant for any strange creatures in the water that might bite him again—he had limited abilities to exert and truly could not endure any more trouble.

Fortunately, it was common knowledge that the Sea Clan never willingly approached the shore, just as humans are wary of the sea; every creature prefers to live in the environment it is familiar with.

During his swim, Hou Niao continuously tried to mobilize the mana within his body, clinging to a sliver of hope that the suppression stemmed from some mysterious force in the sea.

To his disappointment, the closer he got to the shore, the more intense the suppression became, leading him to realize it likely originated from the land itself.

Why had the red-scaled creature left him in such a place?

This was a desolate beach, showing little sign of human activity.

There were no distant sails or port buildings in sight; where he was, he couldn’t yet fully confirm whether humans inhabited the place due to limited visibility.

First things first after reaching shore: he checked his condition, for better or worse.

The bad news was that his ability to use mana was essentially gone—he was now nothing more than a mere mortal.

What could he do when a cultivator’s Purple Mansion was shut, the Dantian almost stagnant, and meridians blocked?

Before, the mana within his body was powerful, like an unending mighty river.

Now, it felt as if the river had no water, only mercury!

Incredibly heavy, difficult to mobilize.

He didn’t rush inland to search for signs of life but worked on moving his mana.

Ordinarily, what took a mere hundred breaths to complete one circulation now could hardly complete a cycle in an hour.

This state doomed his abilities to remain internalized, encapsulated.

It was like a government warehouse guard, who oversaw the contents that he did not own.

The good news, however, seemed that the damage caused by the leech was also suppressed to almost nonexistence.

The creature released by the Daoist was now likely residing in his Dantian, perhaps even in his meridians, or possibly had infiltrated his Purple Mansion!

This entity was not exactly a living being but rather a very special primordial energy form.

According to the realm classifications of the cultivation world, this entity was something that should be utilized by those at least at the Golden Core level or above.

How had that Daoist managed to apply it to himself?

He truly thought highly of Hou Niao.

The leech had entered his body and then vanished from sight.

Not its form, for the energy it contained wouldn’t just disappear.

After days of introspection, he roughly understood the nature of the leech—it wasn’t poison nor malevolence but simply the purest form of energy.

Energy wasn’t always a good thing, either; it depended on whether one could withstand it.

Like giving a mortal an Essence Building Pill—it wasn’t to benefit them but rather to harm them.

For mortals, the supplemental pills of cultivators were as deadly as an irreversible poison.

Similarly, higher-level primordial energy was fatally poisonous to him, a mere Tongxuan Cultivator.

This was the rule of the cultivation world—what he called poison wasn’t the kind understood by mortals but referred to what was beyond one’s capacity to contain, which was a truly sophisticated method.

There were solutions to such an infiltration.

For instance, if a cultivator who created the leech took action, removal might be a simple affair but if assisted by another cultivator of the same realm, due to differing mana characteristics, the process would be complex and prolonged.

Leaving aside whether Hou Niao had such a senior or powerful figure to assist him, even if there were, a decade or even more spent on treatment would delay his cultivation severely.

That was the vicious nature of the leech.

Its physical sensation wasn’t much, but its impact was far-reaching.

This is why the red-scaled creature had thrown him here, instead of Crab Claw Island.

Since the energy of the leech was suppressed to the minimum here, did it also imply that there was a way to solve the hidden danger in his body?

He owed gratitude to the red-scaled matriarch, not only for saving him from the orca’s jaws but also for pointing him in the right direction.

As to why she hadn’t spoken outright or told him how to cure himself, it wasn’t hard to understand; after all, differences between species meant differences in bodily understanding.

What suited the Sea Clan might not suit humans.

The red-scaled creature could only intuitively place him here, but how to resolve his issues was his own matter.

For a cultivator, it is taboo to be led by the hand through teaching, an easy way to produce someone incapable of adapting.

The red-scaled creature saw how he was injured and thus moved him across vast distances to a place where he could possibly recover.

That was its kindness.

Whether this human could survive depended on his own abilities.

This was the cultivation world—no one would nurse you, attending to every need.

Just as Hou Niao did not genuinely assist it when it was most injured, he chose to ignore it.

To the red-scaled creature, this was a form of help, unique to cultivation creatures.

Having realized all this, Hou Niao understood just how lucky he was: thrown here swiftly by the red-scaled creature, the mana-suppressing environment ensured that the toxic primordial energy could not run rampant, while still leaving him time to search for a solution.

Once familiar with his body, his new condition was akin to that of a robust mortal with extraordinary physical strength.

Something mysterious here suppressed the flow of his mana, and his current state did not allow for frequent usage.

Because the flare-up of toxic primordial energy used mana as its carrier, the more impatient he was to heal, the faster he would die.

For now, it was best to regard himself as a mortal.

Understanding his predicament, he started to venture deeper inland, first aiming for a hilltop to get a good vantage point, then deciding where to go next.

Mentally shifting to a mortal’s perspective wasn’t hard for him; the trouble was elsewhere.

For instance, he couldn’t access his weapons.

He had all his belongings on him, true, but opening the Treasure Gourd required externalizing mana—something he couldn’t do now.

Then there was the issue of food.

As someone of his realm, he could normally harness the Heaven and Earth Spirit Mechanism for the energy to act but that was no longer an option—he had to rely on eating.

What frustrated him, though, was that his food was also within the Treasure Gourd.

As he walked, he scoured the land, a tree branch catching his eye.

Breaking off a suitable fork, he used it as a makeshift longsword—a simple means of defense.

Climbing up wasn’t too arduous; the hill wasn’t tall, and at least physically, he wasn’t at a disadvantage.