Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 438 - 438 437 Wishes Fulfilled

438: Chapter 437: Wishes Fulfilled 438: Chapter 437: Wishes Fulfilled Hou Niao suppressed his excitement, inspecting one ancient scroll after another, knowing that he had found what he was searching for!

His Qian Character Mantra was indeed part of the comprehensive Qian Character Mantra here, without a doubt, all it took was a glance through the main mantra to see it clearly.

Resisting the urge to read further, he quickly went through over a hundred ancient sword books, finding that most of them were variants of this ancient swordsmanship meant for soldiers, attempting to change the Body Sword Skill to a more accessible direction, yet none were successful.

He understood that the numerous efforts of the predecessors in the Quanzhen Sect were fruitless because their changes were not thorough, lacking the resolute determination of ‘I am the sword, and the sword is me’, nor did they have the demonstration from the Sword Soul he encountered in the Soul Realm, resulting in the discontinuation of the transmission of the Body Sword Skill.

His fortune was multifaceted, not only stemming from his implicit dissatisfaction with the mainstream Flying Sword Skill, but also from his innate talent for close-combat swordsmanship, and the succession of teachers in the Soul Realm, Sword One, Sword Two, Sword Three, and perhaps even Sword Four and Sword Five in the future.

With a plan in mind, he no longer was picky and directly took the nine ancient scrolls to the Tower Guarding Golden Pill, “Uncle Master…”

The Golden Core cut him off, casually tossing nine brand-new Jade Scrolls, “You can’t take the original, so I’ve prepared these replicas for you to reference, well, nine medium Spirit Stones, that’s the cost.”

Hou Niao saw that these were indeed perfect copies of the originals and felt embarrassed; it was clear that he wasn’t the first to fancy this set of Body Sword Skill, nor would he be the last, but he might be the only one to master it.

There were many Sword Cultivators with the same vision and ambition as him, but they lacked a bit of luck.

Leaving under the teasing gaze of the Golden Core Cultivator, he understood this Uncle Master’s meaning, which was no more than seeing another presumptuous figure too proud to see his limitations, bound to fail just like those predecessors…

Was it really so?

Since leaving Mirage City, half a year had already passed, and according to Li Chuping, now that he had joined the Sikong Mansion, he was required to follow the mansion’s orders after six months, whether to continue cleaning up the mess in Mirage City or to be dispatched elsewhere.

In any case, he would not be staying in Jade Capital to enjoy a leisurely life; that was a treatment reserved for experienced seniors.

As a newcomer like him, his destiny was to toil everywhere.

He still had half a year of peaceful cultivation time.

Behind the closed doors, no longer sending out ripples through the overlapped gates, he devoted all his focus to this Body Sword Skill, which was fundamental to the qualitative change in his swordsmanship.

Approaching soldiers and dueling men, all arrayed in battle lines.

The nine character incantation, as Daoism calls it, is known as the Secret Jia Blessing, taken from “Baopuzi – Inner Chapter, Volume Seventeen – Ascending”: To seek something within a famous mountain, start on a Jiazi day, hang five pieces of five-colored silk, each five inches long, above a large rock, and what you seek you will certainly obtain.

It also says, those who enter the mountains should be familiar with the Secret Jia Blessing.

The blessing states, ‘Approaching soldiers and dueling men, all arrayed in battle lines.’ With these nine characters, secretly bless them constantly, and nothing can withstand you.

The essential path is not troublesome; this is what is meant by it.

Specific to the Body Sword Skill, this is a series of swordsmanship that involves changing the maneuvers of mana through hand gestures, in combination with the execution as if one were the sword spirit.

The crux is not in the sword held by one hand, but rather in the free other hand!

It’s the source of the intrinsic change in the Body Sword Skill.

The Sword Dao hand gestures use the left hand as a constant stillness, hence named the Wisdom Hand, to enlighten the foolish masses.

The right hand is constantly active, hence named the Conquest Hand, to enlighten the adept.

They are called ‘the dual functions of Wisdom and Conquest.’

Approach: Both hands’ index fingers stand erect, while the other fingers bend and combine.

Soldiers: Both hands’ index fingers stand straight, with the middle finger placed over them, the pinkies and ring fingers bend and combine.

The thumbs stand erect.

Duel: Ring fingers, middle fingers, and thumbs stand erect, the pinkies and index fingers bend and combine.

Men: Index fingers and thumbs stand erect, the other fingers join at the nails.

All: All fingers bend outwards and combine.

Array: All fingers bend inward and combine.

Battle Lines: The left hand’s index finger stands erect, while the right hand grasps it, with the thumb tucked inside.

Front: The thumb and index finger of the second hand form a circle.

Execution: The left thumb and index finger circle up, while the remaining fingers of the left hand gently clench into a fist, with the right hand enveloping the left.

…Body Sword Skill is not the hand-to-hand entanglement technique that involves holding a Sword in hand.

To be exact, the set he is most familiar with should be called Sword Holding Skill, which is a different concept from Body Sword Skill.

The true Body Sword Skill is actually transforming the body into a Sword, still in the state of a Flying Sword when attacking.

It is suitable for both close and distant combat, and relies on the Sword Cultivator’s thoughts and intentions.

In such a state of combat, the opponent only sees the Flying Sword, not the Sword Cultivator, with swift and fluid movements, moving like lightning; no longer restrained by physical limitations, nor troubled by defensive concerns, taking the swordsmanship attack to the extreme.

It can be said that one is always on the offense, no longer needing to defend.

It is nothing less than striking at the enemy’s head— if the foe doesn’t die, oneself perishes!

It is precisely due to such an extreme method that the attack of Body Sword Skill reaches its pinnacle, establishing the possibility of a fatal blow even among cultivators of the same Realm.

Every attack is a gamble with life at stake!

One must admit, only such a philosophy of Sword Dao truly fits the essence of the sword; it has been gradually abandoned because it is too extreme.

From this, one can infer that this is not a philosophy unique to Shan Sect; rather it is a legacy of Sword Dao from beyond, which encountered resistance in integrating with the specific conditions of the Jinxiu Continent, hence it was relegated to obscurity.

What he is now picking up is such a fierce Sword Skill; it is even more extreme than he imagined, and not something he could understand while practicing the Qian Character Mantra.

If he truly uses this as a blueprint to transform his own Sword Skill System, he will walk a path different from all other Sword Cultivators of Shan Sect.

He will either be ostracized by the mainstream Sword Sect of Quanzhen, or he will change the entire direction of Swordsmanship in Shan Sect.

Of course, he needs to first prove that this path is correct.

Being at the level of Tongtian’s third Realm is far from sufficient; he needs to reach higher, many levels higher.

According to his plan, he must at least achieve awe-inspiring success at the Nascent Transformation Realm—that’s the minimum.

Does he have a second option?

At this crossroads of cultivation, he has no other choice.

Who was it that created this system?

No longer considering these annoying worries, he refocused his mind back on swordsmanship itself.

Since the heart follows the thoughts, it was time to begin.

The thumb and index finger of both hands formed a circle, silently operating the Mysterious Skill, allowing the Mana around his body to circulate in a closed loop.

This was a brand-new method of utilizing Mana.

As he gradually got used to this method, he found similar changes occurring within his Purple Mansion; the tip and hilt of the Flying Sword began to interlock, also forming a circle…

Other Sword Cultivators couldn’t achieve this because they hadn’t given birth to a Sword Spirit, nor would they transform themselves into one.

This had surpassed the use of Mana and the operation of the Purple Mansion, belonging to the mysterious realm of the divine.

When inside and outside his body, both outward and inward secrets, turned into a circle with the making of the Dharma Seal by his hands, he felt that he himself was a circle!

The Flying Sword surged out while he himself disappeared from the spot; all that was left in the sky was a singular trail of the Sword, sketching out mysterious large and small circles, curved and elliptical…

No longer was there a need to return the Flying Sword to the Purple Mansion to recuperate and build momentum after each thrust, no longer giving the opponent a chance to catch their breath!

Life does not cease, nor does the killing stop!

He is the Sword, and the Sword is him!