Chapter 73

Standing beside the cave of the white snake spirit, Wei Shizheng spent the entire summer. It was a peaceful and simple summer, living in seclusion, with nothing to consider but hunting and cultivation. Starting from the Dazhui acupoint, he sequentially refined the Taodao, Shenzhu, Shendao, Lingtai, and Zhongyang acupoints, infusing them with twelve times the primordial energy to condense into a single drop of liquid. Perhaps due to the influence of the Bashi bloodline, this body was well-suited to the Xiaoyue Technique, and his progress was extremely fast. By the end of summer, Wei Shizheng had already refined four acupoints and glimpsed the dawn of condensing the Dao embryo.

One day, he stood by the mountain stream, looking up at the clouds, lost in thought. The autumn wind had begun to blow, and he still had half a year before leaving Jietian Ridge. This time was not enough for him to refine all the acupoints. Once he left Jietian Ridge, without the supplementation of demon flesh, his cultivation would be extremely difficult. If he went to Guimen Abyss to hunt, not only would his strength be insufficient, but even if he hunted the human-faced dove or fire demons, they would not be very useful. The Penglai Bag had limited capacity, and even when filled with demon flesh, it would not last long. The best plan now was to stop cultivation, enter Jietian Ridge to hunt demons, and collect demon cores instead of demon flesh. If he could gather a couple of hundred suitable demon cores, it would probably be enough.

Wei Shizheng made up his mind, bid farewell to the white snake spirit, and prepared to enter Jietian Ridge, causing a bloody storm.

The white snake spirit asked for the reason, and seemed quite interested in his cultivation technique. Wei Shizheng took out two pieces of animal skin and explained the origin and development of the Xiaoyue Technique. When he mentioned compressing primordial energy, refining acupoints, and condensing a single drop of liquid, the white snake spirit suddenly understood and laughed, saying, "You've been deceived. The Xiaoyue Technique actually originates from a demon race's body-refining technique, which is not suitable for humans. The meridians and acupoints of demons are much simpler than those of humans. It was some great cultivator of the Yunya Sect who, in a sudden inspiration, corresponded the main meridian of demons to the Du meridian, creating this hybrid Xiaoyue Technique."

"Human cultivation of demon techniques is laborious and slow. Relying solely on swallowing moonlight, it would take ten years to open just three acupoints. With your talent, if it weren't for the Bashi bloodline, which allows you to convert demon flesh into primordial energy, you wouldn't have achieved what you have now even after a hundred years of practice."

"Demons refine their bodies to the extreme, achieving states like 'Crystal,' 'Vajra,' 'Iron Sandalwood,' or 'Jade Crystal,' by simply opening the acupoints on the main and side meridians, which are limited in number. The human body is much more complex, with twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary meridians. Opening all 365 acupoints is impossible. The Xiaoyue Technique is a defective body-refining technique. Even if you collect all the pieces and spend your entire life, you cannot refine your body to the extreme."

These words aligned with what Grandma had said, and Wei Shizheng was deeply discouraged, smiling bitterly, "A defective technique is better than nothing. With my talent, I can't practice the 'Taiyi Foundation Building Scripture,' so I have to make do. By the way, which demon body-refining technique does the Xiaoyue Technique originate from?"

"Swallowing moonlight to refine the body is likely the Taiyin Swallowing Sea Technique, which is widely spread among demons. Condensing a drop of 'primordial liquid' in an acupoint is called the first level, two drops the second level, and three drops the third level. Following this piece of animal skin, you can reach up to the twelfth level. Powerful demons can reach the thirty-third level."

"Then, if I gather twelve drops of 'primordial liquid' in the dantian, can I condense the Dao embryo?"

"In theory, practicing the Taiyin Swallowing Sea Technique should result in the formation of a demon core at this stage. However, since you are a human practicing this modified technique, the outcome is uncertain. It's best to ask a cultivator who has practiced it."

Wei Shizheng thought, "The Yunya Sect was exterminated over a decade ago. The only survivor is probably Yu Yao. Wei Rongniang might know Yu Yao's whereabouts, but she won't easily reveal it."

"You don't need to be discouraged. Once you reach the twelfth level, ordinary sword cultivators won't be your match. If you can find a suitable ancient divine weapon, you might even be invincible below the sword qi level."

Wei Shizheng sensed that she seemed to know a lot about sword cultivators, so he took the opportunity to ask more. The white snake spirit, with thousands of years of cultivation, was well-informed and casually provided some insights, broadening his horizons.

Sword cultivators have seven stages of cultivation: the Dao embryo stage for beginners, the sword seed stage, the sword control stage, the sword light stage, the sword qi stage, the sword thread stage, and the sword spirit stage. Kunlun disciples focus on sword control techniques, reaching the realm of 'mind and sword as one, smooth and unobstructed,' then choose a sword technique to practice, starting from the easiest and progressing to the most difficult, such as sword light, sword qi, sword thread, and sword spirit.

Sword light is easy to achieve, but sword qi is difficult to condense. Most disciples stop at the sword light stage, unable to break through the bottleneck. Only a few can reach the sword qi stage, and once they do, they can surpass artifact, talisman, and body cultivators, becoming invincible. As for the sword thread and sword spirit stages, they represent the realm of 'one sword breaking all techniques.' Throughout Kunlun's history, fewer than twenty cultivators have achieved this, all of whom were exceptionally talented and deeply connected to the Dao.

The power of sword cultivators is one-third in cultivation, one-third in the flying sword, one-third in the sword technique, and one-tenth in destiny. With a suitable divine weapon and the supreme sword technique, a beginner at the sword control stage can defeat a master at the sword light stage. The most famous flying swords of Kunlun are the Demon Subduing Sword, followed by the Qingming Sword, the Exorcism Sword, and the Concealed Moon Frost Sword. The most powerful sword techniques are the Qingming Technique, the Chaos Technique, the Red Lotus Technique, and the Zhuyin Technique. The Qingming Technique is vast and invincible, the Red Lotus Technique breaks all techniques with its fiery power, the Zhuyin Technique illuminates the netherworld with its breath, and the Chaos Technique is primordial and existed before heaven and earth.

...

The two talked through the night. The next morning, Wei Shizheng bid farewell to the white snake spirit and entered the vast Jietian Ridge. In the days that followed, he fought across the northern slopes, achieving victory after victory.