Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 556 - 556 555 Accidental Gains

556: Chapter 555 Accidental Gains 556: Chapter 555 Accidental Gains The caravan moved slowly forward, at a pace so lethargic it was maddening; for Hou Niao, who had already become accustomed to flying, it felt even more like torture, but he endured it, as it was a necessary process to experience.

As the sun set, the caravan would group the camels together, with people setting up simple tents within the circle; the desert experienced extreme temperature differences between day and night, and even in the heat of summer, the nighttime temperatures could nearly freeze, posing a great challenge to humans.

Of course, the crops that grew in such harsh environments were exceptionally sweet.

There was none of the dancing around the campfire that Hou Niao had imagined from scholar’s fantasies; after such a hard day’s labor, once camp was set and a simple meal eaten, everyone would go to sleep early, for there was still an early start for the next day’s travel.

Hou Niao did not disturb their travel habits, nor did he incessantly question anyone, he just watched quietly, quietly savoring the unique sensation of the desert.

For him, when his mind returned to tranquility, he could feel the stirring of small creatures beneath the sand, but overall, there was no danger, just common desert snakes, scorpions, and insects.

He began shifting his focus back to his cultivation, preparing to perfect and refine his skill system to the utmost.

Opening the jade scroll given to him by Master Xiao Zhen, even though he had always based his approach to skills on his own needs, never greedily seeking diversity, he still valued the cultivation technique presented by a Nascent Transformation elder, with Chong Ling Daoist’s gifted skills preceding, these mysterious Daoist techniques held reference value for him as a sword cultivator.

He knew well that he would have many opportunities to interact with the Daoist Sect in the future, and even if he did not study these things, having an extensive understanding was necessary, for the saying went, “Know thyself, know thy enemy.”

Master Xiao Zhen had his own motives for gifting him these items, which were a form of a higher level of commitment; it was no longer about command-style tasks but about a heart-to-heart draw, as though a thread was pulling him, and no matter how high or far he flew, he could not break free from this bond.

He did not want to break free, after all, he could never truly deny everything from his heart, he was of Anhe, it was the Anhe Daoist Sect that gave him a new life.

The key was timing, the right method; moreover, he now did not believe that he must sacrifice the interests of the Shan Sect Quanzhen for that, it was the view of a less mature time for him and Chong Ling, now his realm had far surpassed that of Daoist Chong Ling’s Tongxuan Realm, when looking at the issue from a higher perspective, he realized the disputes between the Shan Sect and the Anhe Daoist Sect were truly insignificant.

The real conflict lay between the Demon Sect and the Daoist Sect, with the Buddhist Sect and side doors interspersed, and then there were the Demon Clan, the Ghost Clan, the undead…

To this day, he had even pondered whether what he could see were not the only conflicts of the Jinxiu Continent, perhaps there were some things he was still unable to see?

That was why he was determined to achieve the status of a True Disciple, and maybe, the real conflict came from beyond the heavens?

Over these days, by day and by night, when he wasn’t interacting with the sand people, he immersed himself in the jade scroll from Master Xiao Zhen, studying meticulously the divine skills and mystical techniques written there; even if he could not learn them, they were a great help to him, especially in understanding the Five Elements, after all, the fundamental teachings of the Shan Sect Quanzhen were indeed of Daoist origin and were essentially interconnected.

Most of them he could not learn, due to reasons of insufficient realm or incompatibility with his system; cultivators will come across many opportunities to learn divine skills and secret techniques in their lives, but it’s not about greedily gobbling up every new find as if it were a treasure.

A person’s life is ultimately limited, and it is essential to discern what they truly need, what they can do without, and what is superfluous, otherwise, sooner or later, one will exhaust themselves to death and descend into madness from over-cultivation.

Among the skills he could learn, there was one specific direction he was particularly interested in, and one that Master Xiao Zhen had especially highlighted in the jade scroll; because this technique came from a wish from the heavens, Hou Niao was surprised to discover that the time marked on the scroll for acquiring the technique was exactly when he had been offered as a sacrifice!

Is this skill fated for me?

This absurd thought popped into his head!

The Huangting Inner View Scripture was the result of that prayer, not entirely his own doing, but at least he had played a part; considering this was the only one with a date marked in the scroll, it suggested that since that wish, there had been no other gains, making it a rather rare object indeed.

Looking closely, it seemed somewhat familiar, bearing similarities with the Six Meridians Huangting Decision from within the Sect, the more he looked, the more apparent it became, as if they were from the same source, the only real differences being in the expressions and slight deviations in application, but this did not change their essence of sharing the same origin.

Some regrets, some puzzles, but this did not change his decision to put off studying this technique for the time being, however, attached to the back of the Huangting Inner View Scripture was a Body Cultivation Technique that greatly piqued his interest.

Thunder Fire Refining Golden Body

The more he looked at it, the more it seemed as though it was tailor-made for him; when he first started on the Daoist path, he chose the Natural Dao Body, which sounded impressive but was essentially a universal body cultivation technique with compatibility as its main feature, able to coexist seamlessly with other skills.

After his second visit to Blue Island, he then learned the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body from the Guo Sect, a body cultivation technique learned from claiming the achievements of the dead; yet after a period of effort, he gradually realized that the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body was a very specialized body cultivation technique with too strong an exclusionary property.

If he continued to cultivate in that direction, he feared that his path would become narrower and narrower.

The ultimate direction of the Primordial Magnetic Body was the Liangyi Divine Light, which was a completely different conceptual framework from the Flying Sword Skill, with thunder being only one of its branches.

His main focus was the Flying Sword Skill, which would never change; to complement with thunder, it would be better to borrow the greatness of the Great Dao’s thunder, not the thunder and lightning of the Primordial Magnetic Body, as there was a significant difference between the two.

But the Thunder Fire Refining Golden Body was very suitable for him, not hindering his Flying Sword Skill and possessing unspeakable benefits for controlling thunder; most importantly, to learn this body skill, he wouldn’t even need to deliberately seek out a place of thunder, he could generate thunder for his practice, strike himself with his own lightning, which was incredibly convenient.

In cultivation, one must be bold to try new things, relying solely on imagination to find the most suitable path is difficult; he had already made many choices in body cultivation, and this would not be his last.

The Thunder Fire Refining Golden Body is divided into five stages, Thunder Crossing of Skin and Membrane, Golden Bone Thunder Forging, Refining Three Treasures, Heaven and Earth Furnace, Chaos Thunder Body.

It all sounds magnificent, but he wondered about the actual effects of the practice?

He decided to begin his new experiment in the Kneecap Desert and hoped that this technique, which he had sought himself, would not disappoint him.