Self-Taught

The Silent Daoist sighed, "Lu Yang truly is worthy of being my good disciple; he can even fabricate something like the Heavenly Court Sect without a teacher."

Back when I was still in the Golden Core stage, I was just swindling and cheating other Golden Core cultivators. But when Lu Yang was in the Golden Core stage, he had already deceived Tribulation Transcendence stage elders and the three major demonic sects, as well as low-level cultivators and ordinary people. His ability to deceive his superiors and subordinates was astonishing.

He had originally intended to pass on his deception skills to Lu Yang behind Yun Zhi's back, but now it seemed unnecessary.

As a master, I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse that I can't pass on what I'm most proud of.

"Since I am the protector of the Heavenly King, I should contribute to our sect. I can promote our sect to the outside world." The Silent Daoist was very responsible and adept at using his strengths.

"No." The Fourth Elder rejected the Silent Daoist's suggestion.

"Your reputation in the cultivation world is infamous, like a rat crossing the street, hated by everyone. Mortals and low- to mid-level cultivators may not know your situation, but which high-level cultivator doesn't know you?"

"Your promotion of our sect is mainly aimed at mortals and low- to mid-level cultivators, but the Heavenly Court Sect's main purpose is to deceive enemies hidden in the shadows. These enemies are all high-level cultivators, so your promotion will only reduce credibility."

The Silent Daoist: "..."

Setting aside those highly subjective and objective evaluations, he admitted that what the fourth brother said made sense.

The Eighth Elder added, "In my opinion, the Heavenly Court Sect should refrain from public activities for the time being. Frequent public appearances could be seen as a performance. The best strategy is to remain out of the public eye and allow the enemy to speculate and imagine the power of the Heavenly Court Sect based on a tiny bit of intelligence."

The less intelligence available, the more room there is for the enemy to imagine. Moreover, given the strength of the Heavenly Court Sect, even if it doesn't take any action, it will be misunderstood as secretly plotting something, which is worrying for the enemy.

As the mentor of the Silent Daoist, the Eighth Elder had his own unique theory on deception.

While listening to the elders' discussion, Lu Yang suppressed the Immortal Fairy's growing ambition in his mental space.

"Hey, hey, your master is back! Hurry up and have him pass the position of Sect Master to me!" The Immortal Fairy excitedly patted the edge of the bed, urging Lu Yang to quickly reveal his wolfish ambition and seize power.

"Fairy, this is difficult."

"What's so difficult about it? I don't think your master is very willing to be the Sect Master."

"The problem isn't with my master, but with my eldest sister. She's held power in the sect for eleven years and is already obsessed with it, unwilling to relinquish it easily. The reason she temporarily made you the acting Sect Master twice was just to give you a break. Even if my master doesn't become the sect Sect Master, my eldest sister is the most likely Sect Master to be the next one."

"Then what should we do?"

"As long as you, Fairy, defeat Senior Sister, we can take the position of Sect Master if we want!"

Lu Yang had no choice but to stop him; he was worried that if he dared to propose becoming the Sect Master, his master might actually pass the Sect Master to him.

The Immortal Fairy nodded, finding Lu Yang's words quite reasonable. "There's no need to rush the matter of becoming Sect Master. It's not that I'm afraid of Yun'er, but rather that I think Yun'er is doing a good job Sect Master now. Once I've recovered to my full strength, I'll then compete for Sect Master position!"

"The fairy is far-sighted and has a long-term vision. She has endured hardship and persevered. She will surely be able to display her talents in the Ask Dao Sect Seeking Sect in the future."

"That's what I think too."

The Heavenly Court Cult's temporary meeting ended quickly. There wasn't much to say, except to inform the Silent Daoist, who was already a member of the Heavenly Court Cult but didn't know it yet.

After the meeting, the Silent Daoist called out to Lu Yang.

"Xiao Yang, can you stay here for a moment?"

"Master, is there something you need?"

The Silent Daoist draped his whisk over his arm, stroked his white beard, and slowly said, "It's nothing serious. I just feel that since you became my disciple, I've never truly taught you. Now is a good opportunity to teach you how to comprehend the Dao of the Sword."

Lu Yang was overjoyed. There were many people in the sect who knew Swordsmanship, but not many who were proficient. Lu Yang's sword moves were just basic moves, and his understanding of the way of the sword was basically based on talent.

They've been apprenticed for two years, both master and apprentice possess Sword Spirit Root, and only now is the teaching process beginning.

"Bring out your sword, let me see it."

Lu Yang took out the Qingfeng Sword and the Mingyue Sword.

"You put the sword in your identity jade pendant?"

"Is there a problem?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled. He had seen other sword cultivators doing the same thing.

Does this mean that as a swordsman, one should always maintain close contact with their weapon, carefully preserving it so that they can use it more skillfully in battle?

"This is a big problem. When I was your age, I was often ambushed. To deal with ambushes, I always carried my sword with me. If you keep it in your identity jade pendant like this, won't your reaction be a beat slower when you encounter danger?"

"Was the security situation in the Great Xia Dynasty this bad when you were a child?" Lu Yang was surprised. He had never encountered a sneak attack since he debuted. He never imagined that the Great Xia Dynasty was so chaotic two thousand years ago.

"Although others say that the Great Xia Dynasty was just as safe two thousand years ago as it is now, based on my personal experience, the Great Xia Dynasty was very chaotic back then!"

"Did you report the attack to the authorities?"

"The matter is too complicated; I generally don't report it to the authorities."

Lu Yang understood; the officialdom was corrupt.

How exactly is it complicated?

"The main problem is that I attacked their house first. If the matter goes to the authorities, neither of us will get away with it."

Lu Yang: "..."

The Silent Daoist took the sword, drawing both swords out of their sheaths, revealing a section of them, the bright light shining directly into his eyes.

The Silent Daoist praised the two swords highly, "Excellent swords! One was a gift from Xiao Yun, who also placed a seal on it. The other was meticulously crafted by Lao Wu."

His whisk was also crafted by the Fifth Elder. It may look like a whisk, but it actually contains countless Sword Qi that can strike unexpectedly.

The Silent Daoist reluctantly returned the two swords to Lu Yang. Xiao Yun was being unfair; he had asked for the Qingfeng Sword many times, but Xiao Yun wouldn't give it to him.

"Show us your sword techniques and see how well you've mastered them."

"Yes."

The sword hilt was aligned with his chest, Sword Qi swirled around the blade like a dragon coiling around a pillar, its momentum as powerful as a rainbow.

Lu Yang shouted loudly, flicked his wrist, and his sword moved like a startled swan, the sword move was fierce and unstoppable.

Breaking Word Techniques, Pointing Word Techniques, Picking Word Techniques...

The basic sword moves seemed to come alive in Lu Yang's hands, flowing smoothly and flawlessly.

The Silent Daoist: "..."

Is this the level that can be achieved through self-study?

He felt that even if he personally guided the students, the result would be no different.

Lu Yang sheathed his sword, held the Qingfeng sword upright behind his back, and bowed slightly to the Silent Daoist.

"Master, do you think there's anything about my swordplay that needs improvement?"

Lu Yang was quite uneasy. He had learned all his sword techniques on his own, and although he felt good about himself, his master might find them full of flaws.

The Silent Daoist pondered for a moment, then said seriously, "Next time you use your sword techniques, remember to leave a few openings for me to spot."

The second update will be at 11 PM.