34: Chapter 33 Trivial Matters of the Outer House 34: Chapter 33 Trivial Matters of the Outer House Mr.
Hou was led into an external residence of the Sword Mansion, located in a wealthy district within Jin City.
The surroundings were quiet and pleasantly arranged, and it was not far from the Sword Mansion itself.
Of course, the only thing he complained about was that he still did not know what area “Sword Mansion” specifically referred to.
The external residence consisted of individual courtyards, not out of luxury, but because the cultivator profession highly valued personal privacy; cultivation life could not coexist with others, irrespective of their realm,
path, or, in the end, it was a journey one had to undertake alone.
The courtyard was not large, but it was adequate for practicing sword strikes; there were two rooms, designated for meditation and cultivation.
It was evident that the Quanzhen Sect was very practical in this aspect, maintaining only the basic necessities for cultivators, without any other furnishings to compare with his accommodation conditions back in the Daoist School in Divine City of Anhe.
It should be noted that here, he held the status of an official disciple; yet in Divine City, he was a prisoner awaiting punishment.
Could this also indicate the difference in financial resources between the two places?
By the time he checked in, it was already dark, the surrounding courtyards were all quiet without any noise, and nobody paid attention; he was just another person seeking to join the sect and acquire cultivation resources.
Hou was very satisfied; by this point, he had done all that Daoist Chong Ling had instructed, and all that remained was how to improve himself, which was the only issue he needed to consider at the moment.
After completing the evening classes, he took out the bamboo slip that Daoist Wang had given him; this item was also meant to be a standard option post-formal entry into the sect, he merely accessed it a month early, which wasn’t exactly breaking the rules.
Once a cultivator reached the Energy Induction Realm, they could begin to explore the real techniques of the Cultivation World.
In the Daoist Sects, this meant trying various basic spells.
For a Demon Sect like Quanzhen, the main focus was on swordsmanship.
Of course, this wasn’t absolute.
In fact, every disciple in the sects carried a longsword, learning the most basic defensive swordsmanship.
The Quanzhen Demon Sect didn’t completely ignore spells either; it was natural for everyone to grasp a few minor spells, still, the emphasis differed, but it wasn’t absolute.
To have a primary and secondary order is the true essence of technique orientation.
There were three sets of swordsmanship: Sweeping Central Army Sword, Yanhui Thirteen Slashes, and Cross Quick Sword.
He was also considered an expert in sword skills, and his first impression of these three sword techniques was that they were inexplicably fierce.
They were fundamentally different from sword techniques like Taiji Sword, Eight Diagrams Sword, Seven Stars Sword, and Youlong Sword, which were both practical for combat and beneficial for health.
Typical of the Demon Sect, even the basic sword techniques were characterized solely by their lethality.
He was not unfamiliar with swordsmanship.
In fact, every person on the path of cultivation was familiar with swords.
Speaking purely of weapons, the sword was undisputedly the premier weapon in the Cultivation World, accounting for ninety percent of the weapons used, with all other weapons combined making up the remaining ten percent—that was the reality in the Cultivation World.
It could fend off enemies and was visually impressive; roaming through Three Mountains and Five Mountains, other than wearing a sword, there were no other choices.
It wouldn’t be fitting to carry a mountain-splitting axe or a huge hammer like a lone golden figure, would it?
The sword was popular because of its elegance, which matched well with cultivation; however, in the Quanzhen Sect, there was no trace of elegance, only an infinite exploration of its ferocity.
Was this a deviation or the right path?
Hou was skilled with the sword not because he was solely devoted to it, but because it was the inevitable choice of his family of jurists.
To subdue bandits and fierce criminals, swords were not suitable; swords were more impactful, which was a tradition with the authorities.
Of course, these so-called traditions were just for the populace.
In the Cultivation World, tradition was another matter entirely.
He was familiar with swords, and the difference between the two was merely a matter of focus and emphasis on the use of weapons.
An expert in sword skills could certainly wield a sword, and a master of swordsmanship could also certainly wield a sword; there was no fundamental difference.
Unless he switched to a long spear, he would have to start over.
He felt relieved that Quanzhen Sect wasn’t the Demon Body Sect.
If he had to change to heavy weapons like large spears or clubs, it would genuinely be frustrating enough to kill a person.
Below the Tongxuan level, mastery of weapons was extremely important.
At this stage, they couldn’t use spells without limitations—their mana was limited, their methods were meager, and they needed weapons to fill the gaps in combat.
The lower the realm, the more this was the case.
Hou now in the Energy Induction Realm, if he were to fight, weapons would be his mainstay with only occasional usage of Daoist Magic.
By the time he reached the Fasting Bridge Connection Realm, perhaps spells would dominate, occasionally executing a mighty slashing move?
His sword was a gift from several elders in Jiangyou, not a divine weapon but a superior mortal artifact.
That bookworm raved about it, even wrote a poem praising it as unmatched under heaven, did he think him a fool?
The wine buried underground naturally enriches, but a sword buried will surely rust; a truly good sword must incorporate special precious materials found only in the Cultivation World, which is another price altogether, something those poor fellows in Jiangyou wouldn’t afford.
The one aspect of the sword he was satisfied with was its weight.
It was a heavy sword, which suited him used to the weight of a blade; anything lighter felt unnatural, like grasping a straw.
He didn’t rush into practicing techniques; to him, such things were what only beginners would emphasize, not the main point.
The main thing was—thrusting, slashing, reverse sweeping…
When you perform these basic movements thousands of times daily and master them, only then do techniques become mere icing on the cake.
An opponent is not made of wood, will they let you perform a set routine move by move?
Everything requires adaptability; his experience in swordsmanship was rich, teaching was unnecessary.
For him, the biggest challenge was how to attach the faint spiritual power in his body to the sword; this was what differentiated a cultivator’s sword from a mortal’s.
Controlling spiritual power in the Energy Induction Realm was problematic because the Dantian was empty, the spiritual essence nourishing flesh and bones, making it difficult to summon, a challenge he needed to adapt to continuously.
He had to break through the Energy Induction Realm quickly, otherwise, meeting any danger outside with his current strength was worrying; he knew well that his opponents in the future would no longer be ordinary mortals — the players had changed.
After some initial discomfort, he quickly became familiar with the stabbing techniques of the sword, a benefit of regularly handling weapons.
The rest was a matter of practice, nothing else but diligent training.
But he was still unable to perform thousands of sword swings, each infused with Qi, exhausting his inner Qi after just a hundred swings.
This was a gap in his foundation; he couldn’t emit sword Qi from the longsword, not even an inch, so he could only maintain the Qi circulation within the sword to make it sharper and more durable.
Everything had to start from the basics.
He knew his strength was probably seen as mere luck by his neighbors, which is why he seldom went out or mingled.
The world was full of opportunism; why seek discomfort?
For several days, he spent most of his time enriching himself in this small courtyard, ignoring the new city and working on his foundational accumulation.
At twenty-three years old, time was pressing, or what would he have to face the future storms?
…Three-foot sword amidst the world’s dust, a lifetime in the Jianghu as a single poem.
Hou forsakes the return path, Jinxiu in turmoil just when it stirs.