Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Chapter 128 Sword Cultivator

Inside the cave of Tiger Hill Cave.

This was where Master Guyue used to cultivate. Xia Dong found the secret chamber too stuffy. Now that Senior Guyue had moved away, he simply moved his cultivation here, using the secret chamber as a storage room for miscellaneous items.

As for Brother Snake, he remains in slumber, consolidating his Foundation Establishment level as a demon beast. Moreover, Brother Snake has thick skin and is not afraid of wind and rain, so living outside is no big deal for him.

Inside the cave, a specially made lamp burned continuously, and the spices inside emitted a unique fragrance that brought peace to the mind.

Xia Dong sat cross-legged on the bluestone couch where Senior Gu Yue used to meditate.

As it was a place where cultivators of the Purple Mansion had practiced, there was still a faint trace of special Daoist charm remaining.

In any case, it can at least provide some psychological support for spiritual practice.

Xia Dong closed his eyes tightly, his consciousness sweeping through his body again and again like ripples on water.

His physical body was now as powerful as an abyss, having already reached the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm. In fact, with every move he made, his martial intent could materialize and transform into a real pressure.

However, the legendary "true realm" remains just out of reach, like being separated by an invisible and intangible layer of paper.

"True meaning, true meaning—what exactly is true meaning?" Xia Dong pondered these two words repeatedly in his mind, his brows unconsciously furrowing into a knot.

He once tried to forcefully push his martial arts breakthrough with his initial Foundation Establishment stage spiritual consciousness, and also tried to combine the fierceness of the Vajra King Technique with the artistic conception of the Asura Yin Sha Blade in order to spark inspiration.

But these days of trying, apart from leaving me feeling mentally exhausted, have yielded no opportunity for even the slightest breakthrough.

The feeling is like a brute with immense strength, but unable to find a fulcrum to exert it.

"Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I'll stop thinking about it." Xia Dong's tense body suddenly relaxed, and he simply gave up on this pointless struggle.

He is an extremely pragmatic person at heart. Whether it's cultivating immortality or practicing martial arts, the worst thing to do is to get stuck on trivial details.

Xia Dong stood up and stretched her stiff muscles.

He walked to the stone wall of the secret chamber and began to calmly analyze the overall ecology of martial arts cultivation in this world.

Upon closer reflection, it's understandable that he couldn't find a breakthrough to the true essence of martial arts. His current martial arts techniques, whether it's the "Dragon Capturing Skill," the "Vajra King Skill," or the "Asura Yin Sha Blade," while each has its own unique characteristics, are all cobbled together and lack a systematic lineage that points directly to the Great Dao.

In this vast territory.

The most prestigious and orthodox martial arts traditions are almost entirely controlled by the Great You Dynasty.

Whether they were fierce generals who suppressed a region in the army or high-ranking members of the Eagle Wolf Guard who had connections everywhere, they all relied on the massive resources of the imperial court and practiced the top-level martial arts techniques from the imperial treasury, climbing up step by step over mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Following the imperial martial arts are the unfathomable Demonic Sect.

Demonic martial arts emphasizes extremes and brutality, often unleashing the deep potential of the human body in the face of life and death. Xia Dong's "Asura Yin Sha Blade" is a prime example of this.

Further down is Buddhism.

Buddhism emphasizes the cultivation of mind and body, following a path of great openness and indestructibility, with defensive and suppressive power that is unparalleled in the world.

"As for the Daoist sect—" Xia Dong paced back and forth inside the cave.

Over the years, he had reviewed countless confidential files in the Eagle Wolf Guard and knew that among the Taoist sects that held a dominant position in the cultivation world, the status of pure martial arts cultivators was actually extremely awkward.

In the era when Taoism was at its most powerful and superior, what were martial arts practitioners in their eyes? They were nothing more than "Taoist soldiers" used to do manual labor, serve as guards, and act as cannon fodder.

As long as a sect lets a little scrap of food slip through its fingers, it can support a large number of ordinary martial artists to go through fire and water for them.

It's not that the immortals of the Daoist sects are so aloof as to look down on the power of physical combat in martial arts.

However, within the Taoist cultivation system, the niche of martial arts practitioners, which emphasizes extreme bursts and close-quarters combat, has long been firmly occupied by another group of even more extreme madmen—the sword practitioners.

"Sword cultivators, ah—" Xia Dong's eyes became somewhat profound.

In a sense, sword cultivators do indeed perfectly combine the advantages of magic cultivators and martial cultivators. They possess the agility and long-range killing ability of magic cultivators who can manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, as well as the terrifying destructive power of martial cultivators who can charge forward and unleash devastating attacks at close range.

They refined their own essence, spirit, and even their entire life force into a flying sword.

The ability to break through all laws with a single sword is far from just empty boasting in the world of cultivation.

However, the price of pursuing the path of sword cultivation is simply too high.

The laws of heaven and earth are always fair. The purer and more extreme a path is, the more terrifying its killing power in the early stages, and the easier it is to achieve results.

However, this "unyielding and clear-minded" mentality also means that sword cultivators are fundamentally inflexible in the complex and intertwined world of cultivation.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

Sword cultivators are too rigid in their approach; when faced with a problem, they simply cut it down with a single sword strike.

When the Great Emperor of the Great You Dynasty swept across the land and established his rule, those great sword-cultivating sects that had inherited their traditions from the medieval period refused to bow to imperial power.

In truth, the reason why those powerful sword-wielding sects were destroyed back then was simply because of their ugly behavior.

The spiritual energy of this place is irreversibly waning, and the resources for cultivation are dwindling with every use.

During this difficult time when everyone is tightening their belts, the major sword-cultivation sects not only fail to restrain their sharpness, but also become increasingly domineering.

If you set your sights on a spirit mine, you cut it down with a single sword stroke and take it; if you find a secret realm, you seal it off with a single sword stroke and steal it.

Their "self-centered and unyielding" style of doing things might be a good thing in an era of abundant resources, but in an era of depleted spiritual energy, it is cutting off everyone's path to survival.

This greatly displeased other cultivation forces, both large and small, and created deep resentment.

Because sword cultivators are individually so powerful and ruthless, no single one of them is a match for them. Therefore, when the world's power shifts dramatically, these major sword cultivator sects naturally become the target of everyone's attacks. Under such a combined assault, even the sharpest sword cannot withstand the encirclement from all sides.

The final result was that they were jointly annihilated by the imperial army and those Taoist families who had compromised early on, and even their mountain gates were razed to the ground.

In the current cultivation world of the Great Netherworld, although you can still occasionally hear a few rogue cultivators calling themselves sword cultivators, they have only learned a little bit of sword control magic.

That kind of sword cultivation tradition, where a single sword strike could chill nineteen provinces and was pure to the extreme, was completely severed into the dust of history with the establishment of the Great You Dynasty.

Following closely behind the sword cultivator was the Xuan Yin Sect, the source of the Xuan Yin Scripture, the immortal cultivation technique he now mainly cultivates.

The demise of the Xuan Yin Sect was also due to stepping on the landmines of the imperial court and various sects.

They followed an extreme path of "theocracy," not only taking the lion's share of resources for spiritual practice but also exercising absolute control over secular imperial power and the beliefs of ordinary people.

This approach is tantamount to leaving no room for other forces, making it impossible for the royal family, aristocratic families, and other sects to compete on the same plate.

The final outcome was no surprise. The Xuan Yin Sect was besieged by the entire world, and the once-great sect fell apart, leaving only a handful of members barely clinging to life in the shadows.

"To accomplish great things, one must never resort to fighting and killing."

"We should make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

Even if everyone is destined to fight to the death for profit, at the very least, they should pretend to be friends in the early stages and work together peacefully to make the pie bigger.

It's not too late to turn on them and strike decisively when the crucial moment arrives to divide the spoils and decide the fate of the nation.

If you're so eager to show your fangs from the very beginning, and your behavior is so unseemly, who would dare to play with you?

Everyone will just join forces to kill you, this unruly and hungry wolf.

The Great You Dynasty is now showing signs of resembling the sword-cultivating sects and the Xuan Yin Sect of yesteryear.

Relying on its powerful military force and the overt scheme of the "Taoist Register" system, the imperial court forcibly controlled the vast majority of the secret realms and immortal sites in the world.

The Great You royal family and those top-tier Daoist clans were feasting on the leftovers, leaving traditional cultivation forces like the Qixia Immortal Sect unable to even get a bite of meat and only able to watch enviously as they licked the leftover soup.

This absolute monopoly on resources had long caused resentment and undercurrents among the various sects and independent cultivators below.

The reason why the Wusheng Sect has been able to grow rapidly like wildfire in recent years is this: when it can no longer survive, it will naturally rebel.

The high-ranking officials of the imperial court were well aware that if all the cultivators in the world were truly driven to a dead end, these people would absolutely risk everything to overthrow the Great You Kingdom.

Therefore, the imperial court cleverly left behind a "pressure relief valve".

For those powerful individuals who are dissatisfied with the rule of the Great You Dynasty or yearn for further advancement, the court will generally not obstruct them if they wish to leave the Great You Dynasty and head to the Three Islands Sea Area, which is much richer in spiritual energy.

The imperial court was even more pleased with this and proactively opened the teleportation array.

There is only one prerequisite—paying a large sum of spirit stones, enough to satisfy the imperial court, as "toll money."

Using spirit stones to secure a chance to leave both appeased the high-level combatants who might go berserk at any moment and eliminated the potential threat to the rule of the Great You Kingdom without bloodshed.

Since the overall situation is still operating according to some kind of hidden rules, what he needs to do now is to continue to wear the skin of the imperial court and safely exploit and accumulate resources within these rules.

As for achieving immortality and carefree existence, it's not too late to consider it when he has truly mastered the "Summoning Wind and Rain" technique to a high level, or when his magical power and martial arts are sufficient to disregard the Grand Master of the Purple Mansion realm.

In fact, regarding the "Ascension Order," in his view, the fact that the Great You royal family offered such a divine object was not a great imperial favor at all, but a completely open conspiracy.

Firstly, it was naturally to control and weaken those established Taoist families with deep roots.

Secondly, there is the even more insidious tactic of "shifting hatred."

Daoist families possess the Ascension Token, which naturally becomes a coveted prize in an era where spiritual energy is depleted and all high-level cultivators are obsessed with achieving immortality.

To protect this token, Daoist families often face countless open and covert attacks, getting caught up in endless struggles and constantly depleting their own strength.

In this way, the Great You Dynasty did not need to take any action itself. It was as if it had successfully used the greed of various forces in the world to perfectly restrain and suppress these Daoist families.

"However, there aren't that many fools in this world."

No matter how perfectly a plan is calculated, it ultimately depends on the people below to execute it.

Throughout these long years, the Taoist families and other forces were by no means lambs to be slaughtered.

They had long ago used methods such as marriage alliances and the transfer of benefits to infiltrate various government departments of the Great You Dynasty, gaining considerable real power.

The officialdom and cultivation world of the Great You realm are now a quagmire of intertwined factions, each deeply entrenched and interdependent. No one can easily uproot the other.

If Xia Dong didn't have Gu Yue Zhenren backing him up, he would have been recruited or eliminated by other factions long ago.

Especially the Ascension Token. If he had been even slightly greedy and hadn't decisively handed it over to True Person Lonely Moon when the red-robed envoy from the Tongxuan Division delivered it, he would definitely not be able to sleep soundly now.

He understood the principle of "possessing a treasure is a crime" better than anyone.

After sorting out his thoughts, Xia Dong thought of:

Since he couldn't figure out a breakthrough in the "true meaning" by sitting alone in his cave, he decided to try a different approach.

He stood up and decided to go directly to the Qianhu Office in the prefectural city to think of a solution.

Although the Great You Dynasty strictly controls cultivators and even suppresses and restricts them in every way, it is very open and encouraging towards martial arts cultivation.

Moreover, the path of martial arts practitioners has a significant early-stage advantage over the path of immortal cultivation.

In martial arts cultivation, spirit stones are only needed to assist in training after reaching the fifth level, the "Transcendent Realm." Before reaching the Transcendent Realm, spirit stones are primarily used by martial artists as a high-level form of currency.

In the cultivation world, spirit stones are the true hard currency. Using them to buy rare medicinal herbs, high-grade beast meat, and other cultivation resources in markets or black markets is far more useful than worldly gold and silver.

At Xia Dong's current level, many cultivation resources that can truly determine life and death and enhance one's foundation are not even worth a glance at, even with boxes of gold and silver. They only recognize spirit stones.

However, gold and silver are actually a very basic cultivation resource that is consumed in large quantities.

In the cultivation world, in the "Way of Artifacts" and "Way of Arrays," gold and silver, with their excellent ductility and spiritual energy conductivity, are often used as basic auxiliary materials for refining magical artifacts and inscribing array plates.

It's just that these mundane things are too easy for cultivators to obtain, which is why they seem cheap.

After thinking it over, Xia Dong prepared to set off for the prefectural city.

Just then, he received a communication talisman from Zhao Ting.

"Xueyi, come to my residence immediately. An important task has been assigned to you; it's of utmost importance, and you must go there in person."

Xia Dong raised an eyebrow slightly.

If this task can be so challenging for Zhao Ting, who is now a deputy commander and has seen many ups and downs, it must be no ordinary job.

After entering the city, Xia Dong went straight to Zhao Ting's private residence.

Xia Dong was no stranger to this spacious and elegantly furnished mansion.

Because a few years ago, this was the residence of Master Qian.

It turns out that the location with the most abundant spiritual energy in Lin Yuan Prefecture City, which truly occupies the "spiritual eye" of the underground spiritual vein, is actually the garrison of the Eagle Wolf Guard's thousand-household unit.

Although the Wusheng Sect caused a great disturbance in the Crimson Fire Mine and the city back then, resulting in the spiritual veins below being polluted by evil energy for a while, the Great You Dynasty had a deep foundation, and the Eagle Wolf Guards spent several years using formations and spiritual objects to sort out and restore the spiritual veins to about 70-80%.

After Lord Qian successfully squeezed his way into the position of Commander of the Thousand Households and officially took up the post of Commander of the Thousand Households, he naturally and rightfully moved into the core courtyard of the Thousand Households, which had the most abundant spiritual energy.

The mansion he vacated was then given directly to his most trusted confidant, Zhao Ting.

In Xia Dong's opinion, it must be said that Mr. Qian is indeed a very capable and generous boss.

As long as you are useful to him and can help him get things done, he will never hesitate to give you benefits and rewards.

Even if subordinates are sometimes incompetent or accidentally mess things up, as long as it is confirmed that you are not deliberately disobeying orders, Lao Qian will never deliberately make things difficult for you or criticize you.

In short, in the treacherous world of officialdom, Lao Qian is a man of action. When trouble comes, he is truly courageous and willing to protect his own.

Crossing the front yard, Xia Dong saw Zhao Ting pacing back and forth in the study.

"Brother Zhao, what kind of important job is it that even I can't escape being idle?" Xia Dong casually asked as he sat down on a rosewood chair.

Zhao Ting stopped, gave a wry smile, poured a cup of hot tea, and handed it to Xia Dong: "Something's happened in the neighboring Nan Yue province. There's a secret realm there that needs guarding, and the task is extremely arduous. This time, the higher-ups have issued a strict order, specifically requiring all surrounding prefectures to send their most elite personnel to assist."

Xia Dong paused slightly, holding his teacup, somewhat puzzled. "Sending elite troops to help is common practice. We have plenty of experts in Lin Yuan Prefecture, so why is it that I'm the only one who can be sent?"

Zhao Ting looked at Xia Dong, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and sighed, "It's all because you stole the show at that martial arts competition! Your reputation as 'Xia Yidao' is now legendary in the Eagle Wolf Guard system of several surrounding provinces. This time, the higher-ups need elite troops, and all the commanders of the other provinces seem to have conspired to recommend you, Xia Dong, to their superiors."

"Recommend me?" Xia Dong was taken aback at first, then immediately realized what he meant, and his face darkened instantly.

This is not a recommendation, it's clearly a case of flattery to kill and revenge!

"Those old foxes—" Xia Dong shook his head speechlessly.

Sure enough, what goes around comes around; what goes around comes around. The thrill of frying fish was momentarily satisfying, but now the consequences are coming.

"Lord Qian is also in a difficult position," Zhao Ting added helplessly. "The other commanders jointly recommended him, saying that the secret realm of Nan Yue Province is dangerous and urgently needs someone like Commander Xia to take the lead. They've put it this way; if Lord Qian were to forcefully detain him, he would not only offend his colleagues but also risk being accused by his superiors of 'cowardly resisting and hiding his elite troops.' He couldn't withstand the pressure and had no choice but to agree."

Xia Dong understood that since Lao Qian couldn't hold on any longer, he had no choice but to go on this trip to Nanyue Province.

Since we can't avoid it, we can only face it with equanimity.

A trip to the secret realm might just lead to an opportunity that allows you to break through your limits.

"Okay, I understand."

"Let's go, Brother Zhao. Now that the assignment has been settled, let's go to the garrison to see Lord Qian and hear what specific instructions he has."

Upon arriving at the council hall of the Thousand Household Office, the atmosphere was quite solemn.

Qian Qianhu sat upright in the main seat, his face dignified, and methodically briefed the officers and deputy officers of the unit on the general situation of the secret operation in Nanyue Province and the personnel deployment requirements.

The entire process was conducted strictly according to official procedures, without any unnecessary chatter.

After all the military orders were in place, Lord Qian waved his hand and announced the meeting was adjourned.

The military officers clasped their hands in farewell and took their leave, and the hall quickly emptied.

However, just as Xia Dong and Zhao Ting were about to leave with the crowd, Master Qian slightly raised his chin, signaling them to stay.

As the heavy wooden door was tightly shut from the outside by the guards, the atmosphere in the hall instantly changed.

Xia Dong looked at Lord Qian, who had stepped down from the main seat and seemed much more relaxed, and understood.

This has always been the rule in officialdom: hold large meetings for minor matters and small meetings for major matters.

The truly crucial secrets are always discussed in private, behind closed doors. Old Qian deliberately kept the two of them alone, clearly indicating that he had some extremely important details to share that couldn't be revealed to outsiders.

:

:

Lord Qian walked up to the two men and said directly, "Actually, the secret realm in Nanyue Province this time was not exposed because of any loose formation or unexplained location, which attracted the covetousness of various evil cultivators and led to the need for us to strengthen its defenses."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ting immediately realized: "Does Your Excellency mean—this news was intentionally leaked by the imperial court?"

Qian Qianhu glanced at Zhao Ting with admiration, nodded slightly, and sneered: "In recent years, those rebels from the Wusheng Sect have been jumping around too much, causing unrest in various provinces, especially our Linyuan Prefecture. How much of a hidden loss did we suffer at the Chihuo Mine and in the prefectural city? The high-ranking officials of the court have been holding back their anger for a long time."

"Perfect timing. The spiritual energy and fortune within this secret realm in Nanyue Province have been almost completely drained, and it's on the verge of becoming utterly desolate. The bigwigs above figured they might as well 'make use of the waste' and set up a scheme."

Xia Dong sat to the side, outwardly calm, but inwardly she instantly understood.

Isn't this the "baiting" tactic that anglers loved to use in their past lives?

They used a soon-to-be-abandoned secret realm as bait, scattering it across the waters of Nanyue Province, waiting for those greedy fish to bite the hook themselves.

However, Xia Dong was also well aware that for cultivators in the world, the allure of this "bait" was far too great and too deadly.

The Great You Dynasty has extremely strict control over cultivation resources. The locations of those secret realms and immortal sites that truly produce high-level spiritual herbs and rare treasures are often classified as top secret, and the outer perimeter is covered with a net of heaven and earth and heavily guarded. Ordinary forces cannot even get a glimpse of them.

For this reason, once the locations of these secret realms are "accidentally" revealed, it will be like throwing a piece of bloody meat into a pack of hungry wolves, instantly attracting the frenzied covetousness of various forces, rogue cultivators, and even members of the demonic sect.

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