For the past six months, Fang Cheng had been diligently practicing the Cyan Profound Sword Technique, but his progress in swordsmanship was less than ideal.
The realms of swordsmanship in this world are roughly divided into four.
The first realm is called Sword Heart Clarity.
Upon reaching this realm of swordsmanship, a cultivator can form a Sword Heart. They can use their Sword Intent to perceive the slightest details, making their sword light faster, more ruthless, and sharper.
This is also what makes Sword Cultivators so terrifying in combat!
Often, before an opponent can even react, the sword light arrives in a flash of thought, taking their head as easily as slicing a melon or chopping vegetables.
Even more impressively, they can use their Sword Heart to find the flaws in an opponent's magic and Divine Techniques, moving with ease, capable of breaking ten thousand techniques with a single sword.
The second realm is the renowned Sword Qi Thunder Sound!
The speed of the sword light breaks the sound barrier, becoming unbelievably fast, and its power surpasses that of the magic a cultivator can cast at their own realm.
This is why the feat of "defeating a higher-level opponent" often happens with Sword Cultivators.
The third realm is called Sword Light Division.
The fourth realm is called Refining the Sword into a Thread.
In the months Fang Cheng had been cultivating the Cyan Profound Sword Technique, he had slowly come to realize that he was not far from the First Realm of the Sword Dao.
If his Cyan Profound Sword Technique reached the great success stage, he estimated that he would be able to formally cultivate a Sword Heart!
'So... I still need to add points!'
'I've heard that once you become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Yinluo Sect, you can obtain one of its ultimate techniques. When that time comes, I must choose the *Netherworld Sword Technique*.'
Fang Cheng thought to himself.
The Cyan Profound Sword Technique was something his body's original owner's master had chanced upon in his early years. Its grade was not high, and compared to the Yinluo Sect's *Netherworld Sword Technique*, the difference was like that between heaven and earth!
Each of the Yinluo Sect's nine great ultimate techniques possessed world-shaking power. If one could cultivate any of them to the great success stage, they could sweep through most cultivators of the same realm in Yun Country.
This was not just the original owner's speculation, but the solid battle records of the Yinluo Sect's Inner Sect Disciples and True Disciples!
Fang Cheng's current plan was very clear: to climb step by step from Servant Disciple, to Outer Disciple, and then to Inner Sect Disciple...
The Demon Sect's method of raising disciples was rather extreme, following a path akin to "refining Gu"!
Survival of the fittest, selecting the best from the best!
Although the number of truly high-level disciples within the Yinluo Sect was not large, their strength was unmatched by their peers in Yun Country. Only cultivators from Taihao Mountain and the Flame God Palace, also major sects in Yun Country, could stand against them.
Fang Cheng gathered his thoughts and walked out of the house.
In the eastern corner of the small courtyard stood a large vat, from which a faint aroma of wine wafted out.
He was now refining four types of Gu simultaneously. The Love Gu, benefiting from the uniquely advantageous environment of Miaoxiang Tower, was progressing with incredible speed. Among the four Gu Insects, it was the highest grade and not far from reaching Tier One Upper Grade.
The Vajra Gu was a Gu Insect the original owner had been refining for many years, so he was most familiar with it. Now, nourished by Demon Beast Flesh and Blood, it had also successfully broken through to Tier One Middle Grade.
A few days ago, the Wine Gu had also finally broken through to Tier One Middle Grade.
Only the Poison Gu was progressing slowly; it was still just a pit full of ordinary Gu Insects that hadn't even reached Tier One Lower Grade.
Fang Cheng opened the Gu Pit and dispelled the restrictive seal. A rich aroma of wine assaulted his senses!
A cyan-jade-colored Gu Insect flew out, flapping its wings and wobbling as if drunk.
Fang Cheng reached out and caught the Wine Gu. Even for someone like him who didn't particularly like to drink, the wine fragrance emanating from the Gu made him feel a sense of refreshment and joy, giving him the urge to drink a large bowl of wine.
He walked over to the side and opened the large wine vat. The clear liquid inside was as still as a mirror, reflecting the sky.
The Wine Gu dawdled, seemingly looking down on the Spirit Wine Fang Cheng had brewed and was reluctant to go in.
Fang Cheng was both exasperated and amused. He activated a Secret Technique, forcing the Wine Gu to fly down into the vat.
The Gu Insect, like a piece of cyan jade, sank into the liquid.
A faint spiritual light emanated from the Wine Gu, spreading throughout the entire vat.
Fang Cheng sealed the wine vat once more.
After seven days, this vat of Spirit Wine would be officially brewed. By then, its taste, aroma, and the Spiritual Qi it contained would all rise by a grade, reaching the level of a fine Spirit Wine.
Low-level cultivators, especially those who practiced Demon Path Cultivation Methods, had not completely abandoned the mortal desires of the palate.
Eating, drinking, and seeking pleasure are human instincts, and practicing Demon Path Cultivation Methods required one to vent these instincts even more.
Therefore, in the Yinluo Sect Marketplace, large Spiritual Cuisine Restaurants were everywhere, and their business was booming.
The Spiritual Cuisine Skill was also an important Cultivation Miscellaneous Technique!
This technique involved using secret methods to prepare and cook Demon Beast Flesh and Blood, Spiritual Medicines, and Spirit Plants—all containing potent Spiritual Power—into supreme delicacies. These meals could not only satisfy one's appetite but also had various wondrous effects, such as enhancing Magical Power and Divine Sense or healing hidden injuries to a cultivator's body and Divine Sense.
They were comparable to Spiritual Elixirs and Wondrous Medicines.
Spirit Wine was just one branch of the Spiritual Cuisine Technique.
If one simply followed a recipe step-by-step, anyone could brew Spirit Wine, but the taste, aroma, and the Spiritual Power within would vary drastically.
But with the Wine Gu, it was like having a master brewer at work, capable of turning the mundane into the miraculous!
Back then, the original owner's master, Fangrushan, had relied on the Wine Gu to get by quite well among the Loose Cultivators.
If not for his reclusive and eccentric nature and his dislike of dealing with people, he could have gone even further on his cultivation path.
At least, in the original owner's memories, Fangrushan had never refined a Love Gu, let alone passed down this legacy to his two disciples.
...
While the Wine Gu was "optimizing" the Spirit Wine, Fang Cheng made another trip to the Demon Beast Wilderness Island and hunted more than ten Demon Beasts.
He couldn't cultivate a Tier One Upper Grade Vajra Gu for the time being, but he could refine a few more Tier One Middle Grade Vajra Gu.
In addition, he also needed to sell some of the Demon Beast Flesh and Blood in exchange for poisons to speed up the cultivation of his Poison Gu.
Now that his sword technique had improved and his experience had grown, hunting First-stage Mid-level Demon Beasts no longer took much effort.
Unless it was a Demon Beast with special talents, an ordinary First-stage Mid-level Demon Beast was no match for him at all.
「This day.」
He returned to the marketplace, riding on a cloud of light, and walked through the main gate with a look of regret on his face.
His second-hand First-rank Lower Grade Flying Sword had finally met its end, breaking on the Demon Beast Wilderness Island.
'It's time to buy a First Rank Middle Grade Flying Sword...'
Fang Cheng walked along the marketplace street, his gaze sweeping over the shop signs on both sides.
A First Rank Middle Grade Flying Sword cost around five to six hundred Lower-Grade Spirit Stones.
As for an even better Tier One Upper Grade Flying Sword, the price was eight to nine hundred Spirit Stones!
'I'll think about it after I sell the Spirit Wine.'
For now, he didn't have enough Spirit Stones on hand to afford a First Rank Middle Grade Flying Sword.
What frustrated Fang Cheng even more than the Flying Sword was how rare Dao Pattern Spirit Jade was!
Fang Cheng had visited nearly every shop, large and small, in the entire Yinluo Sect Marketplace, but not a single one had Dao Pattern Spirit Jade for sale.
Wan'Er of the Feng Family from Flame Demon Island hadn't come looking for him in the past six months either, so she probably hadn't managed to collect any Spirit Jade.
'A broken Flying Sword can be replaced, but running out of creation points is truly depressing.'
As he walked, he arrived in front of a familiar shop and stepped inside.
The shop's facade was not large, and it was located far from the marketplace's main street, in a rather remote spot.
Its customers were mostly Servant Disciples of the Yinluo Sect, Loose Cultivators, and the like, so the goods sold were all on the lower end.
After Fang Cheng entered, a round-faced old man behind the counter looked up and smiled. "Fellow Daoist Fang, back from the Demon Beast Wilderness Island again?"
Fang Cheng nodded and asked casually, "Shopkeeper Liu, how has business been recently?"
The round-faced old man stroked his beard and said lazily, "Not good, not bad. Just enough to get by. Unless the Yinluo Sect launches a major campaign against the Demon Beasts of the Abyssal Marsh, my little shop will never strike it rich."
...