Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 311 Rumors
Within the territory of Xiaodongtian, Fuyu Mountain is located.

Ancient trees reach for the sky, greenery stretches endlessly, and spiritual energy flows and gathers like mist in the mountains.

A winding bluestone path leads down to a huge square.

The square appears somewhat empty, and the bricks and stones on the ground have many cracks.

All around, you can still see some broken walls and ruins, giving it a sense of vicissitude and antiquity.

It looked like some kind of ruin, which had been simply cleaned up.

In the center of the square stands a huge wooden pillar, upon which a lifelike dragon coils.

Looking at it stirs the soul.

"Everyone."

Xu Ziqing walked at the front of the disciples. Only after all the cultivators who had entered the place had arrived at the square did he turn around and slowly speak.

His voice drew everyone's attention away from their surroundings.

"This plaza is one of the core areas of the Lesser Heavenly Realm,"

“Some of you have been here before, but some of you are here for the first time.”

"There are some things I still need to say a few more words to explain to everyone."

"Within the Small Cave Heaven, the spiritual energy is pure and abundant, making cultivation here twice as effective with half the effort."

It's more than just achieving twice the result with half the effort.

Song Yan roughly sensed that the concentration of spiritual energy in this area was three to five times higher than that of the spiritual mountain caves within the sect.

"Fellow disciples, there are three things you should know about cultivating here. First, spiritual veins are everywhere here, and besides this plaza, there are many relatively intact cave dwellings remaining in the surrounding area."

"You may all find your own unoccupied cave dwellings to live and cultivate. Where you find one is up to fate, and you shall not interfere with each other, nor shall you forcibly take one."

Upon hearing this, many cultivators who had never been here before lit up, secretly pondering how to find an excellent place to cultivate.

"Secondly, the sect leader doesn't have the leisure to guide everyone's cultivation every day. He only comes here on the fourteenth of each month."

Xu Ziqing continued, "The sect leader will preach and expound the Dharma in this square. All disciples who cultivate here are welcome to attend and listen. The sect leader may expound the principles of the Dharma, demonstrate the Daoist arts, or answer any questions. This is one of the greatest opportunities for all disciples in the Lesser Heavenly Realm, so do not miss it."

"Thirdly," Xu Ziqing added as a final reminder, his tone becoming somewhat serious.

"Although this cave is a treasure of the sect leader, its space is special, and there may be demonic beasts deep within some ruins. When cultivating, you must be single-minded and not wander around aimlessly or touch anything unknown, in order to avoid unforeseen circumstances."

"If you encounter a problem that is difficult to solve, you can activate the disciple token, and I may be able to sense it."

This is only the first day of the month; there are still more than ten days until the sect leader begins his sermon.

After gaining a general understanding of the precautions for cultivation here, many disciples followed Xu Ziqing's instructions and flew away to find places to cultivate as their cave dwellings.

In fact, there is no need to be confined to a suitable cave for cultivation here.

All you need to do is find a place with abundant spiritual energy, such as a flat area, set up some formations, cast some spells, and build a wooden house.

After all, there is almost no danger from other cultivators here.

They were all from the same sect, and under the very noses of Golden Core cultivators, who would dare to act recklessly?

Unless he himself doesn't want to live anymore.

However, Song Yan still had certain expectations for the temporary cultivation cave, after all, he was one of the few people who were allowed by the sect leader to cultivate here for the longest time.

Besides Qin Ying, it's just myself.

I'll be staying here for about six months.

At first, several cultivators who were new to the place were in a hurry to seize the "best place for cultivation", but they soon realized that there was no need for that at all.

Only about thirty people entered the Cave Heaven Realm this time. They could choose almost anywhere around them, the only difference being whether they were slightly closer to or farther from the plaza.

Finally, Song Yan found a place to cultivate on the north side of the square.

It must have been opened up by senior brothers or sisters who came here before. The furnishings in the cave are relatively simple, but sufficient.

Song Yan casually cast a dust-removing spell and scattered some array beads.

With a surge of spiritual energy, it transformed into a simple protective array.

He then took out many things from his Qiankun bag and put them away.

Xiao He also immediately planned out a small nest for the snake treasure in the cave to place some toys and personal collections.

"The spiritual energy here is already about five times that of the outside world, further amplified by pills and the Spirit Gathering Sword Array..."

Song Yan estimated that these six months were probably equivalent to three or four years of arduous training in the outside world.

Every cultivator who can enter this place is an outstanding figure among their peers.

They all harbor the ambition to achieve the Foundation Establishment Realm in this lifetime and attain the Golden Core.

Within this limited lifespan, everyone would undoubtedly want to seize this opportunity.

According to Xu Ziqing, the sect leader would come to guide the disciples in their cultivation on the fourteenth of every month for the next year.

That actually means that if you can cultivate here for a few months, you can receive a few days of guidance from the sect leader.

Moreover, the number of fellow disciples cultivating in the Lesser Heavenly Realm will decrease over time, until finally there are only a few left.

even……

Song Yan thought of Qin Ying.

She can cultivate here for a year, which means that on the fourteenth of each of the last few months, she will be able to receive one-on-one guidance from the sect leader.

I couldn't help but feel a little envious.

However, considering Senior Sister Qin Ying's achievements, I felt a sense of admiration.

As for rewards, they should naturally be given to the capable.

Quickly banishing all distracting thoughts, Song Yan immediately summoned his flying swords, scattering them around to form a complex sword formation.

We still have some resources in terms of spirit stones, and in addition, we've kept some high-quality flying swords every time we captured Qiankun bags during our years of fighting against the demonic cultivators.

Therefore, the natal flying sword Bu Xi Zhou was not used. In addition to the three ancient swords Ji Lin Jun, Ti Yue, and Shu Feng, six other ordinary flying swords were used.

Nine flying swords, three inside and six outside, swirled in the air along a specific trajectory.

At a certain instant, they fell simultaneously.

In an instant, the abundant spiritual energy near the temporary cave dwelling surged and gathered from all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the small cave was filled with spiritual energy.

Song Yan sat cross-legged and began to practice the Qi-refining method of the Zixiao Dao Scripture.

"The effect of this Spirit Gathering Sword Formation is actually far superior to that of an ordinary mid-level Spirit Gathering Formation..."

This is the sword shadow of the former Spirit Gathering Sword Formation, now replaced entirely by the Spirit Absorbing Sword Formation with real flying swords!

This can be considered the true method by which sword cultivators gather spiritual energy.

Its effect has completely surpassed that of high-level spirit-gathering arrays on the market.

Unfortunately, the Spirit-Absorbing Sword Formation causes significant damage to swords.

The ancient swords are fine, as they are naturally compatible with sword energy, and they are usually nourished by the Endless Treasury and the Sword Nourishing Chapter, so there is not much to worry about in terms of wear and tear.

The other flying swords are not so durable. If the Spirit-Absorbing Sword Formation is used continuously, they cannot withstand the impact of the sword energy and will probably be scrapped in a few months.

This is still based on the fact that these flying swords themselves are of extremely high quality.

Therefore, only with such an excellent opportunity for cultivation would he be so bold as to use it without regard to the cost.

Time is of the essence, and Song Yan could only cultivate here for six months in total, so he immediately went into seclusion.

With his spiritual cultivation nearly complete, he naturally focused on improving his spiritual power.

He would only occasionally stop to practice the Wuyou Sword Technique to avoid damaging his body's meridians.

Soon, the fourteenth of the first month arrived.

Sect Master Chen Linyuan did indeed arrive as promised, and all the cultivators within the Cave Heaven Realm gathered in that square.

At first, some disciples hesitated, worried that their questions would be too foolish and dared not speak. But Xu Ziqing, who was by the sect leader's side, gave them a hint.

"Fellow disciples, do not keep silent just because you think your questions are too simple. As the saying goes, a thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole."

"Moreover, in front of the sect leader, all questions are superficial and there is no difference between them."

As a result, many fellow disciples began to raise the difficulties they had encountered in their cultivation.

These problems are mostly related to the cultivation of spiritual power, and many of them are also problems that Song Yan is facing.

After a few words of guidance from Chen Linyuan, everything became clear to him.

When it was Song Yan's turn, he asked a question about the art of sword control.

Since the sect leader rarely gave lectures in person, he decided after much deliberation to ask some questions related to swordsmanship.

This was also a well-thought-out decision, since everyone already knew that Song Yan was skilled in swordsmanship.

It won't seem too abrupt.

In the following months, Song Yan's questions began to become more and more complex, eventually touching on matters of sword intent, which the surrounding disciples could not understand at all.

It is said that this Junior Brother Song has had his own extraordinary encounters and opportunities, and is therefore specializing in swordsmanship.

In the past few months, Song Yan has been in excellent condition, making rapid progress in both spiritual power and sword cultivation.

Not only has his soul fully recovered, but the sword spirit Xianxian also woke up in the third month.

Although still very weak, I am alright overall.

Sometimes, when Xiao He wasn't cultivating, she would leave her cave and wander around.

Song Yan was worried that the snake treasure had gone too far and ventured into dangerous places, so he would send Xianxian to follow it.

By the fourteenth day of the fifth month, apart from the sect leader, only three disciples remained in the Cave Heaven Realm: Xu Ziqing, Qin Ying, and Song Yan.

Xu Ziqing was chosen because he was the sect leader's only disciple by name.

By this time, most of the questions regarding cultivation realms had already been answered when other fellow disciples had asked them.

As for the cultivation of swordsmanship, there is nothing more to ask; the rest requires one to explore and comprehend on one's own.

After all, the most important aspects of swordsmanship—sword intent and Dao heart—are different for everyone; no two are exactly alike.

Therefore, Song Yan asked a special question.

"Sect Master, how does a sword cultivator's sword intent develop into a divine power?"

He read many ancient books and tried his best to understand everything about sword cultivators.

However, things like comprehending sword intent, sword realm, and supernatural powers are really quite vague.

To avoid Chen Linyuan misunderstanding, he added, "This disciple is not being overly ambitious; I am simply curious and would like to work towards this goal in advance."

Song Yan guessed that Chen Linyuan must possess supernatural sword skills.

Although the Taixu Transformation Book states that cultivators who comprehend supernatural powers at the Golden Core stage are extremely rare.

However, sword cultivators have a unique advantage in this regard, and he also believes that his sect leader is most likely an unparalleled genius who possesses sword supernatural abilities.

That's why I ask this question.

Unexpectedly, Chen Linyuan paused slightly, his expression somewhat strange, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

The scene was silent for a while.

After a moment, the sect leader shook his head and said, "I don't know."

There is no such claim.

Not only Song Yan, but even Qin Ying and Xu Ziqing were stunned.

Why did you ask a question that even a Golden Core cultivator couldn't answer?

Qin Ying frowned, thinking to himself that this Junior Brother Song might be a bit too ambitious and incompetent, and was just putting on airs.

Song Yan was initially puzzled.

There's no such saying? Could it be that my understanding of this principle is flawed?
Then I felt a little regretful.

It seems that either the sect leader himself has not comprehended the sword technique.

Either the sect leader is exceptionally talented, and his sword intent naturally developed into a supernatural power without much effort, so there's nothing more to say.

Or perhaps this is something that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words, and the sect leader is worried that saying it out loud will affect his swordsmanship.

The latter two are more likely.

However, he quickly adjusted his mindset. This was something far in the future, so it was better to focus on the present.

He asked a few more questions about the fusion of sword formations, and this time he received answers.

Six months passed quickly.

Although Song Yan's cultivation level has not yet broken through to the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he can vaguely sense the bottleneck.

It seems that this period of cultivation has brought about significant progress, and the day of breakthrough is not far off.

Furthermore, under the sect leader's guidance, he also began to grasp the method of integrating sword formations that suited him.

On the first day of the seventh month, Song Yan also left the Little Cave Heaven Realm.

Feeling the spiritual energy around them return to normal, I couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to leave that grotto.

In fact, the area within the Lesser Heavenly Realm seems to be quite vast, capable of accommodating many cultivators.

I wonder how few disciples have had the opportunity to enter and cultivate there over the years.

It's not that I'm speculating the sect leader is stingy; perhaps it's because this treasure has some kind of restriction.

My thoughts drifted away, and before I knew it, I was back at the No. 21 cave on Wiping Sword Peak.

Gold silver nest nest as their own kennel.

Only after returning to his own cave dwelling did his lingering attachment to the Cave Heaven Realm begin to dissipate somewhat.

Although Song Yan maintained a good attitude and it did not affect his subsequent cultivation, this vague feeling of melancholy still lingered.

It's strange, I never had this experience after cultivating in the illusionary realm of the old man in the straw raincoat on Mount Wu.

After much thought, it was probably because the flow of time in the illusion was different from that in the outside world that I didn't feel such a big difference in my own cultivation.

These days, he occasionally visits the Wendao Gorge Meditation Center.

Practice calligraphy, play chess, cultivate your mind and character.

Apart from Song Yan, most of the other disciples in this meditation hall are Qi Refining disciples.

These young disciples' favorite thing to do is chat about everything under the sun, talk about the sect's "secrets," and make irresponsible comments about the elders.

Occasionally, when he had some free time, Song Yan would secretly listen to the gossip among the disciples around him.

"Do you know Qin Ying from the inner sect?"

"Senior Sister Qin Ying? Of course I know her..."

"I'm telling you this, but don't tell anyone else."

"Oh oh."

The man peeked around, looked at himself, and continued, "Senior Brother Wang said that Senior Sister Qin Ying has been getting very close to the Sect Master lately."

"What's the big deal? Senior Sister Qin Ying is exceptionally talented and appreciated by the Sect Master..."

"That's not what I meant, it's..."

The man said with an air of seriousness, "Senior Brother Wang guesses that Elder Xu Ziqing, the sect leader's nominal disciple, has not yet resolved his inner conflict. The sect leader can't wait any longer and this time he intends to take Senior Sister Qin Ying as a formal disciple!"

Upon hearing this, Song Yan scoffed.

I thought there was some kind of scandal going on.

(End of this chapter)