Cultivating Swordplay

Cliff of Contemplation.

Wang Ming brought a large quantity of medicinal herbs when he arrived. He was now in charge of Hua Shan, so naturally, no one bothered him.

He stayed on the Cliff of Contemplation for half a month. The medicinal herbs were almost used up, but he was pleased that the Primal Chaos Technique had reached great mastery.

The Indestructible Vajra Body had also been cultivated to the sixth level.

Although the Indestructible Vajra Body was only at the sixth level, Wang Ming found it to be even more powerful than the great mastery Primal Chaos Technique.

This was not surprising. The Primal Chaos Technique had a very imposing name, but in this era, it was quite ordinary.

Someone who had merely cultivated the Primal Chaos Technique to great mastery would be seeking death if they provoked any of the Five Great Sword Sect leaders.

This era was not the same as Yuan Chengzhi's era. Even the Purple Haze Divine Skill, which was more powerful than the Primal Chaos Technique, could not dominate this world.

Let alone the Primal Chaos Technique?

The Indestructible Vajra Body could be cultivated so quickly thanks to a partial overlap in meridians and acupoints between the two martial arts, saving Wang Ming a lot of effort.

This realm was essentially the same, all involving opening certain meridians in the body.

Wang Ming got up from the stone platform and walked to the side. He found a stone weighing over 300 jin and lifted it with one hand.

"As expected, the Primal Chaos Technique can enhance a person's strength."

Wang Ming put down the stone. He clearly felt that lifting the stone was much easier than before.

With the Primal Chaos Technique at great mastery, Wang Ming wanted to continue cultivating the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Unfortunately, After the sixth level, he made no progress in half a month of cultivation.

Instead, it consumed all the medicinal herbs.

Although there were still medicinal herbs in the Hua Shan medicine storehouse, Wang Ming estimated from the progress of this martial art that even emptying the Hua Shan medicine storehouse would not allow him to break through to the next level.

Bang!

Bang!

Clang, clang!!

Wang Ming practiced swordplay in the cave on the Cliff of Contemplation, sword energy continuously scattering from the blade.

The sword energy struck the stone wall, leaving shallow marks before dissipating into nothingness.

In reality, Wang Ming was not practicing swordplay but searching for the passage carved out by the elder of the demonic cult.

Crack!

A burst of sword energy struck a very thin stone wall, piercing through it instantly.

Wang Ming's expression immediately showed confusion. Then, as if he genuinely didn't know there was something inside, he walked over, used his hand to enlarge the opening, and lit a torch, preparing to enter.

All of this was done slowly and calmly, without any sense of urgency.

Because...

Wang Ming was not actually here for the sword moves in the cave, but for the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Everything he did was merely to lure out the old man.

After dawdling for a long time, the legendary elder with immortal demeanor, white eyebrows, and white beard did not appear, so Wang Ming had no choice but to enter the cave.

Inside the cave, besides the sword moves, there were also various curses against the Five Great Sword Sects, calling them despicable and shameless.

"They must be out of their minds. With so many people, why didn't they fully excavate the stone wall? Instead, they spent a lot of effort deducing the Five Great Sword Sects' swordplay. They could have gotten out much earlier with that effort," Wang Ming couldn't help but complain.

It was clear that only one person was using an axe to excavate the stone wall, while the other nine had completely given up.

The stone wall clearly had inscriptions like "X defeated Y Swordplay here," with a skeleton lying on the ground below.

"Are they trying to write their own epitaph before they die?"

Wang Ming didn't dwell on this matter further. He turned to look at the sword moves on the wall and memorized them with concentration.

"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer World"

The sword techniques in this world had reached their peak. This was a world of distorted development.

Internal energy cultivation in this world was many times more difficult than in the "The First Under Heaven World." Very few people could project their internal energy externally.

Anyone who could project their internal energy externally was a master, and most of them were sect leaders.

Since internal energy cultivation was difficult, individuals focused a lot of energy on researching techniques.

Furthermore, in this world, there was a martial art that was the pinnacle of pure sword techniques—the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Linghu Chong could blind an expert of the first-rate without even having internal energy, which showed its power.

The swordplay of the Five Great Sects was not entirely useless; it could deepen Wang Ming's martial arts accumulation and foundation.

Claiming that one can overcome skill with no skill is misleading. Everything has a process.

Linghu Chong's "no skill" would be useless if he hadn't seen these sword moves and the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Realms require something to accumulate, otherwise they are empty.

Everyone in modern times knows the epitaph of Dugu Qiubai, but who can actually use it?

Wang Ming practiced the Five Peaks Swordplay on the platform in front of the cave on Sigou Cliff, gradually understanding the characteristics of these swordplays.

The Mount Song Swordplay is majestic and imposing, like an army of thousands charging forward, with spears and halberds, across a thousand miles of yellow sand.

The Mount Heng Swordplay is dense and rigorous, excelling in defense, yet often striking with killing moves at the most unexpected moments. It has ample density but lacks ferocity, making it suitable for women.

The Mount Tai Swordplay is heavy, stable, regular, and strict. Just as the "Eighteen Pan" of Mount Tai ascends higher and becomes more perilous with each turn, this swordplay becomes more ruthless with each rotation.

The Mount Hengshan Swordplay is agile and unpredictable, its transformations like those of ghosts and spirits. One can only witness its ever-changing, unpredictable moves to believe such wondrous and varied sword techniques exist in the world.

The Huashan Sect was truly a sect that spawned the Sword Faction back then, possessing a considerable number of swordplays. Furthermore, each swordplay had its own distinct characteristics.

The Morning Sun Qi Sword is grand and imposing, suppressing others with qi; the Nurture My Swordplay is outwardly round and inwardly square, adept at both offense and defense; the Xiyi Swordplay is silent and insidious, harming opponents with its strangeness.

Wang Ming only briefly practiced the counter-moves deciphered from the Demon Cult elders. Once he could use them, he stopped bothering. Those moves were scattered and unorganized, having little use except against the Five Peaks Sword Sect. The moves were discontinuous and lacked variation, resembling calisthenics.

These swordplays were treasures of this world, greatly enriching Wang Ming's knowledge base. In his view, the process of learning swordplay should progress from simple to complex, and then from complex back to simple.

By obtaining these five swordplays, Wang Ming had achieved the transition from simple to complex. When he could eventually merge the Five Peaks Swordplay into a single technique, his swordsmanship would have truly begun.

Wang Ming ceased his practice and gazed at the distant, wind-blown clouds and mist.

It had been two months since he discovered the secret cave containing the Five Peaks Swordplay, and he had been practicing swordplay on this mountain every day.

"The footprints left on the fine ash scattered at the cave entrance most likely belong to Feng Qingyang. I imagine he must have seen the sword techniques inside," Wang Ming mused, looking at the iron sword in his hand.

Wang Ming shook his head and sighed inwardly, "I've been deliberately practicing here for half a month, hoping to lure out Feng Qingyang. My plan to get a top-tier swordplay for free seems to have failed."

After so many years at Huashan, he had only now come to seek out the swordplays left by the Demon Cult elders.

Firstly, he was not lacking in martial arts to practice, and secondly, it was difficult to keep it secret and could easily cause trouble for Huashan.

Therefore, he had delayed opening the cave.

To be honest, Although the Smiling, Proud Wanderer World had indeed reached the pinnacle of Jin Yong's wuxia in terms of pure techniques, Wang Ming didn't think much of the Five Peaks Swordplay.

These swordplays, apart from enriching his own swordplay accumulation, were basically useless.

Frankly, if he mastered the Indestructible Vajra Body, the entire Five Peaks Sword Sect combined couldn't do anything to him.

The Five Peaks Swordplay techniques were indeed exquisite and made very efficient use of internal energy, but they were not what Wang Ming pursued.

The martial arts of this era primarily focused on how to use less internal energy, how to achieve more with the least amount of internal energy. Consequently, their power was diminished.

It was akin to pursuing both low fuel consumption and high performance in a car.

Wang Ming would not be confined to this world; he didn't need to deliberately pursue conserving his internal energy.

Such martial arts would be powerless against someone with stronger internal energy.

In this world, the truly formidable swordplays were only three: the Tai Chi Swordplay, the Evil Warding Swordplay, and the Nine Swords of Dugu.

The Tai Chi Swordplay was created by Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang. It was easy to learn but difficult to master, and its deeper aspects were related to Taoist philosophy. Without enlightenment, it was just an ordinary swordplay.

The Evil Warding Swordplay came at a considerable cost. Its most terrifying aspect was its ability to alter the cultivator's personality and will, which was truly dreadful. Guihai Yidao's Hegemon Under Heaven drove people mad, making them aware of their own abnormality. The Evil Warding Sword Manual caused a gradual, subtle change, making one's personality completely opposite to its original state, and one would even feel that the change was for the better.

The Nine Swords of Dugu was something Wang Ming particularly valued. It was practically the ceiling for techniques. Once this swordplay was learned, one could spot the flaws in all moves.

In Wang Ming's opinion, the Nine Swords of Dugu was less a set of sword techniques and more of a formula. A formula for calculating and analyzing the offensive trajectories and flaws of all weapons.

The Nine Swords of Dugu itself had no set moves; this martial art emphasized the realm of "no moves."

In the Smiling, Proud Wanderer world, apart from Yu Canghai, few people actually paid attention to the Evil Warding Swordplay. So why did so many people later clamor for it?

It became a hot commodity because of Linghu Chong!

Linghu Chong, with the Nine Swords of Dugu, became invincible throughout the jianghu, drawing the attention of everyone in the martial world to him.

But...

To outsiders, the Nine Swords of Dugu appeared as a simple basic sword move, precisely striking at an opponent's weakness.

Only Chongxu in the entire jianghu recognized the Nine Swords of Dugu; everyone else shouted "Evil Warding Swordplay!"

This alone showed how extraordinary this swordplay was.

Wang Ming knew his plan had failed and thought to himself, "Thinking about it, Feng Qingyang and the Qi Sect were already mortal enemies, and their philosophies didn't align. How could he easily come out and teach me?

Linghu Chong was purely a beneficiary of protagonist's halo. Otherwise, how could Feng Qingyang, who ignored the decline of Huashan for decades, suddenly emerge to teach a Qi Sect disciple like Linghu Chong swordplay?"

The cave on Sigou Cliff had long been restored by Wang Ming. He glanced back one last time at the surrounding environment outside the cave, but there was still no one in sight.

"As expected, if you're ugly, don't expect too much."

Without further hesitation, he descended Sigou Cliff.

This is my first time writing a book. Your collections and recommendation tickets are the greatest encouragement to me. Thank you all.