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

Standing at the foot of the cliff of contemplation, you looked up at the winding stone steps leading upwards. You had walked this path many times, but never climbed it. Before, you dared not, afraid of being discovered by Feng Qingyang, afraid of being seen by Linghu Chong, afraid of causing unforeseen complications.

But it's different now.

Firstly, your foundation in this world is much deeper than before, your cultivation is firmly in the first-class, and you have honed your swordsmanship to your own level. Even if you encounter any unexpected events, you will at least not be powerless to fight back.

Secondly, you need something more advanced to break through your current bottleneck. Once you've mastered the basic sword techniques of Huashan, the next level up is the advanced sword techniques that only core disciples of the Huashan Sect can access.

You can't learn those things, and you don't want to learn them through normal channels. That means exposing your abilities, attracting Yue Buqun's attention, and greatly diminishing the effect of being "ordinary."

The stone carvings on the Cliff of Repentance are your safest option right now. You don't need to find a master, ask for favors, or interact with anyone. Just go up, find the secret cave, and memorize what's on the carvings.

As for Feng Qingyang, that big shot only has eyes for Linghu Chong and wouldn't care about a sneaky outer disciple. After all, you're a disciple of the Huashan Sect, and your lineage is considered upright.

You take a deep breath and start walking upwards.

The Cliff of Contemplation is even more desolate than you might imagine; the stone steps are covered in moss, and the bushes on both sides almost completely block out the path.

The higher you go, the stronger the wind becomes, making the pine trees rustle like a thousand horses galloping through the valley.

You walked for about half an hour before you finally saw the silhouette of the Cliff of Contemplation. It was a real cliff, and the space inside was quite large.

You stood on the edge of the pendant for a while, making sure there was no movement inside, before carefully walking in and quickly finding the entrance to the cave.

You took out a tinderbox and lit a pine branch that you had prepared beforehand. The firelight reflected on the stone wall, illuminating the carvings.

Seeing the bones scattered on the ground, your heart skipped a beat. Clearly, these were members of the demonic cult who had been trapped and died inside. One of them, so close to the cave entrance, had fallen at the last moment—a truly heartbreaking sight.

Of course, you don't care about any of that, because the stone wall in front of you is covered with densely packed characters, some neat, some messy, some with powerful strokes that penetrate the stone, and some just a few shallow lines.

In some places, the handwriting overlaps, making it impossible to distinguish one character from another.

You raised the pine branch a little higher and began to examine it one by one.

Even though you were mentally prepared, you were still shocked by the content of the stone carving.

These stone carvings are much richer than you can imagine. In addition to the lost secret techniques of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, the moves to break the Five Mountains Sword Sect's sword techniques, the ten elders' evaluation of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, their own summary of martial arts, and their desperate curses of being trapped and dying in the belly of the mountain.

"The Huashan sword technique is all show and no substance. The so-called 'endless falling leaves' is nothing more than using speed to defeat slowness, which is extremely easy to break. Just when their sword momentum is about to end, a slanted thrust will disrupt their formation."

After reading this passage, you subconsciously recalled the "Endless Falling Leaves" move that you had practiced countless times.

The core of this move is indeed to use speed to overcome slowness, unleashing more than a dozen sword strikes in one go, leaving the opponent overwhelmed.

But if someone were to suddenly thrust their sword at the last moment of the attack... and you follow that line of thought, you can't help but feel a chill.

It can be broken, it really can be broken, and broken cleanly and decisively.

Of course, you're not stupid. Unless your opponent's swordsmanship is superior to yours, they wouldn't reveal such an obvious flaw.

You secretly memorized this counter-strategy, and then continued reading.

"The Mount Tai sword technique, with its 'How is Mount Tai?' phrase, is deliberately mysterious. To break it—ignore the variations in its sword moves and simply strike its wrist."

"The Hengshan Sword Technique, with its 'hundred transformations and a thousand illusions,' is all show and no substance. To break it, close your eyes and listen to the wind, locate it by sound, and its illusions will crumble on their own."

"The Hengshan Sword Technique, the 'Myriad Flowers Sword Formation,' is all show and no substance. To break it—use brute force to overcome skill; with a single sweep of the sword, the formation will collapse on its own."

"The Songshan Swordplay, 'Eternal Dragon,' is more powerful than agile. To counter it—avoid its sharp edge and attack its flanks."

Each and every sword strike is far superior to the basic Huashan sword techniques you've practiced.

You were so engrossed in watching that you didn't notice the pine branch had burned out until a spark burned your finger, bringing you back to your senses. You then quickly lit another one.

These things are too "money"—no, they are too valuable.

It's not that these solutions are particularly ingenious, although some are indeed quite clever, but rather that they offer a perspective you've never had before.

In the past, when you watched swordplay, you focused on how to practice, how to use it, and how to make it faster and more accurate.

But from the Tenth Elder's perspective: Why was this sword strike used in this way? What is its logic? What is its foundation? What is it most afraid of?

This perspective of "destruction" is far more profound than that of "construction."

As the saying goes, if you understand one method, you understand all methods. Regardless of whether the ten elders of the Demonic Sect are proficient in swordsmanship, their cultivation level is at least far above yours. Their insightful guidance is enough to allow you to gradually stand on the shoulders of these "giants".

You take a deep breath and begin watching the video a second time. This time, you don't just skim through it; you carefully analyze each move, memorizing every single one.

You dare not make a rubbing of the stone carvings, nor take anything away. If someone discovers the secret cave, you will be the first to be suspected.

So you can only use the dumbest method, which is to memorize it by rote.

Fortunately, your memory isn't bad, and these things are so useful to you that you want to memorize every single word so you can't forget them even if you want to.

Before you knew it, it had gotten dark, and you realized that you had been in the cave for most of the day.

You quickly extinguished the tinderbox and groped your way out of the cave.

When the mountain wind blows, you realize your whole body is stiff; you've been squatting in the cave for too long, and your legs are numb.

You sat by the cave entrance for a while until you felt better before starting to walk down the mountain. By the time you got back to your room, it was already completely dark.

You didn't even turn on the light. You lay down on the bed in the dark, closed your eyes, and went over what you had written down that day in your mind again and again.

Fortunately, you remember most of it; for the few parts that are blurry, you plan to go back and fill them in tomorrow.

In the days that followed, you would go to the Cliff of Contemplation every few days, sometimes during the day, sometimes in the evening, always choosing times when Linghu Chong was not around.

You dare not go too often, for fear of being discovered, even though you have the "ordinary" attribute, so you stay for a long time each time you go, trying to remember as much as possible.

After a month, you've memorized most of the inscription on the stone.