Devour: Can you also draw entries from clone projection worlds?

In a flash, it seems you are still that junior brother who just arrived at the Cliff of Contemplation, and Linghu Chong is still that senior brother who was suspected by his master, abandoned by his junior sister, and abandoned by the entire martial arts world.

But in the blink of an eye, eleven years have passed, and everything has changed.

Linghu Chong is no longer the down-on-his-luck senior brother. He is the former head of the Hengshan Sect, Ren Yingying's husband, and a well-known figure in the martial arts world.

And you are still that outer disciple of the Huashan Sect, still that invisible person with zero presence, at least in the eyes of others, even though you have been silently practicing your sword on the Cliff of Contemplation.

"Why is Senior Brother here?" you asked.

Linghu Chong glanced at him, his gaze carrying an indescribable meaning: "I came to see you. I heard you've been living on the Cliff of Contemplation for several years now. Aren't you lonely all by yourself?"

"I'm used to it." You neither confirmed nor denied this.

"Habit?" Linghu Chong shook his head. "Staying alone for too long will drive you crazy. I used to face the wall at the Cliff of Contemplation, and I almost went insane after just a few months. You've been there for several years, how did you manage to endure it?"

"Perhaps it's because..." you thought for a moment, then said, "that you have a sword with you."

Linghu Chong was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. His laughter echoed through the valley, causing the snow on the pine branches to fall in a flurry.

"With a sword by my side! Well said!" He raised his wine gourd. "Come, let's drink to the sword, brothers!"

The two of them sat at the entrance of the cave, drinking and chatting.

Linghu Chong talked about many things: his married life with Ren Yingying, the interesting stories of the nuns of Hengshan Sect, and what Xiang Wentian was up to recently.

You listen quietly, occasionally interjecting a word, but mostly nodding.

Even without using any keywords, you can sense that every word Linghu Chong said was sincere, without any falsehood or pretense.

His love for Ren Yingying was genuine, his concern for the nuns of the Hengshan Sect was genuine, his trust in Xiang Wentian was genuine, and his friendship with his junior brother who drank with him on the Cliff of Contemplation was genuine.

Perhaps, besides you, he really has no other old friends he can confide in. After all, his fellow disciples from back then are either dead or scattered, and there are very few left.

Linghu Chong's greatest strength is his authenticity. He laughs when he's happy, cries when he's sad, curses when he's angry, and confesses his feelings when he likes someone.

He doesn't pretend, he doesn't act, and he's not hypocritical.

In this martial arts world where everyone wears a mask, Linghu Chong is one of the few who still retains his true self.

Although he has his flaws, you are not involved and should not comment on those matters.

Anyway, you're willing to drink with him. Being with such a genuine person means you don't need to be wary, you don't need to scheme, and you don't need to constantly think, "Is he lying to me?"

This feeling of ease is truly rare in the world of Swordsman.

Linghu Chong stayed on the Cliff of Contemplation for two days. On the first day, he drank and chatted with you, and on the second day, he watched you practice your sword.

"Junior Brother's swordsmanship is truly impressive," Linghu Chong commented after watching you finish practicing a set of sword techniques. "Your approach is correct, and your foundation is very solid. However..."

He paused, seemingly considering his words: "Your swordsmanship is too 'standard,' every move is executed with great precision, but precisely because it is too standard, it lacks something... spirit."

"Spiritual energy?" You probably guessed what Linghu Chong meant.

"It's that kind of...unexpected thing." Linghu Chong gestured. "Look, with your move 'Welcoming Guests from the Pine Tree,' the arc your sword tip traces is too round. Roundness is a good thing, but an overly round arc makes it easy for your opponent to predict where your sword will go. If you were here..."

He walked up to you, causing the tip of your sword to shift slightly.

"...If you deviate slightly here, the arc won't be a complete circle, making it harder for your opponent to predict which direction your sword will come from."

You thought about it and tried it as Linghu Chong had suggested. Sure enough, after the sword tip deviated, the arc became irregular. You yourself didn't know where the sword would eventually point, let alone your opponent.

"That's the essence of spiritual energy," Linghu Chong said with a smile. "It's not about practicing every move of the sword manual, but about making what's in the manual your own. Junior brother has practiced for so many years, and your foundation is solid enough. It's time to try to break out of the mold of the sword manual."

You nodded, keeping Linghu Chong's words in mind. You knew that the "spiritual energy" Linghu Chong mentioned was actually another manifestation of "sword intent".

Sword intent is something that cannot be cultivated through practice alone; it must ultimately be "comprehended" through understanding.

Although you have the entry for "Initial Manifestation of Sword Intent," that only means you've touched the threshold of sword intent. True sword intent requires you to comprehend, hone, and fully integrate it yourself.

After Linghu Chong left, you spent several days pondering his words: "Break free from the constraints of the sword manual."

You understand these principles perfectly well, it's just... easier said than done.

You've practiced swordsmanship for over a decade, following the sword manual for every move and stance. This has created muscle memory, and changing it won't happen overnight.

But don't rush, you have plenty of time.

You start trying to "mess around" when practicing swordplay. It's not really messing around, but rather adding some random variations to the standard movements.

For example, the arc might not be drawn perfectly round, the angle of the thrust might be slightly off, or the speed of retracting the sword might be a beat slower.

These changes make your swordsmanship less "standard," but also less "predictable."

Your opponent doesn't know where your sword will go; after all, even you sometimes don't know.

But this "ignorance" actually adds an inexplicable and threatening quality to your swordsmanship.

The phrase "Sword Intent Emerging" quickly took effect during this process. You could clearly feel that your sword intent was "stronger" than before, not in terms of range, but in terms of intensity.

Previously, your sword intent could only cover a few steps in front of you, and its suppressive effect on the enemy was very limited.

Right now, your sword intent can only cover a few steps in front of you, but within those few steps, you can clearly feel that the enemy's reaction speed and judgment are noticeably decreasing.

This change, once it takes place in actual combat, can mean the difference between life and death.

[The eleventh year has passed. Entry extraction in progress... It has been detected that the host is continuously practicing swordsmanship and movement techniques on the Cliff of Repentance, and under the guidance of Linghu Chong, has begun to explore the realm "beyond swordsmanship"...]

[Congratulations, host, you have obtained the white-level keyword: "Approaching Other Cases with Wisdom"]

[Effect: When learning or practicing a particular skill, it is easier to associate it with other related skills and gain inspiration from them. It significantly helps in the integration of knowledge and skills across disciplines.]

[Quality: White, Standard]

You look at this entry thoughtfully.

The effect of the term "drawing inferences from one instance to another" is, to put it simply, "learning by analogy".

When practicing swordsmanship, one can think of movement techniques; when practicing movement techniques, one can think of internal energy cultivation; and when practicing internal energy cultivation, one can think of sword techniques.

Integrate knowledge and skills from different fields to form a complete system.

This thing might not be of much use to others, but it will be very useful to you.

You have multiple entries, each corresponding to a field. Sword techniques include "Sword Heart Clarity • Beginner", movement techniques include "Agile Movement • Beginner", internal energy cultivation includes "Body Refining Genius", and psychology includes "Iron Heart" and "Knowing People's Hearts • Beginner", etc.

These terms, when used individually, have limited effect. However, if they can be integrated through "approaching similar things" to form a mutually reinforcing system, the effect will not be additive but multiplicative.

White, it's white again, but you're no longer disappointed by getting a white item.

After all, every white-label entry has its value; white-label entries are like bricks, and the more bricks there are, the thicker the wall becomes.