At higher levels of cultivation, practitioners could harness the forces of nature and borrow the power of heaven and earth.
The prime example was the Divine Sword Controlling Lightning True Formula, one of the Qingyun Sect's four great divine arts. As its name suggested, it drew on heavenly lightning to destroy demons and monsters.
Unfortunately, the Qingyun Sect's four great sword arts were secret techniques. Ordinary disciples could not learn them unless their talent was exceptional enough to catch the eye of the sect's leaders.
"The first level of Shangqing!
The goal of Shangqing is to cultivate the Yin Spirit, strengthen the Yang Spirit, unite Yin and Yang, and form the Primordial Spirit.
Then the Primordial Spirit peers into the void and comprehends the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Indestructible Spiritual Light condenses within it. That is the method of Taiqing."
A single morning spent admiring the view had unexpectedly freed him from a bottleneck that had held him for more than ten years. Even with his calm disposition, the corners of his mouth lifted.
Then he looked at the battered, unremarkable little bell at his waist, and helplessness crossed his face.
He had spent decades studying the broken bell, but had learned nothing.
At one point, he had even believed it was nothing more than an ordinary bell. Several times, he had nearly thrown it into a bottomless abyss.
He had also put it in the Treasure Pavilion a few times, only to take it back out of habit and hang it at his waist again.
He stood and gazed toward the distant horizon. The Sea of Clouds still churned beneath the rising sun. Gentle light fell across lush, rugged mountains bursting with life.
From where Shi Yongheng stood, he occasionally saw Qingyun Disciples fly over the Qingyun Mountain