Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1084: Chapter 1080: Gaining Merit

Earlier, I suspected this was a shortcut, and now it’s finally confirmed—it is indeed a shortcut.

Unfortunately, right now, there’s no way to immediately descend the mountain to slay demons; my cultivation isn’t sufficient.

I must become a Venerable as soon as possible.

He walked to the clearing in the middle of the courtyard, on the other side of the flower garden.

Drawing his sword from its sheath, he swung it slowly, with True Yuan circulating within his body along with the sword posture, forming a strange cycle.

While Chu Zhiyuan waved his sword, he practiced Dual Use.

On one hand, he focused on the sword posture, experiencing the longsword’s slicing and spinning through the air, savoring the sensation of the airflow cutting across the blade.

On the other hand, he paid attention to the circulation of True Yuan, experiencing the connection between the speed of True Yuan’s operation and the sword posture.

He quickly discovered the profoundness of the Heavenly Sword Secret Scripture.

The speed of the sword posture is not proportional to the operation speed of True Yuan.

It’s not that the faster the sword posture, the faster the True Yuan, nor is it that the slower the sword posture, the faster the True Yuan.

It’s not that an appropriate speed means the True Yuan will be faster.

What determines the operation speed of True Yuan is not the speed of the sword posture, but the posture and rhythm of the sword stance.

The more precise the sword position, the faster the True Yuan.

This precision is not identical to the six sword forms in the Heavenly Sword Secret Scripture, but rather finding the sword posture that fits oneself.

The sword posture of a certain form, according to the Sword Scripture, should stab upward at a forty-five degree angle. But in actual practice, stabbing upward at forty-five degrees is not optimal.

Through careful experience and observation, he found that stabbing upward at fifty degrees is better, making the sword posture smoother and the True Yuan circulate faster.

Executing this sword stance made the spirit more complete.

For ordinary people, they would hardly dare to modify it; after all, it is the Heavenly Sword Secret Scripture. But for him, it seemed quite ordinary.

Through the operation of True Yuan, he continuously corrected the sword posture to fit himself better.

For others, this sword form is too intricate and difficult to master, but for him, it’s quite the opposite.

His powerful spiritual power combined with his ability for Dual Use made practicing this sword form feel like a fish in water, progressing at an astonishing speed.

He found that compared to operating on his own and practicing Qi with intention, the Heavenly Sword Secret Scripture had greater advantages.

No need for spiritual power, just by the sword posture, he could guide the circulation of True Yuan. As long as the physical strength kept up, he could keep practicing.

Compared to physical strength, spiritual power is harder to improve, so the cultivation speed while practicing this Heavenly Sword Secret Scripture isn’t too slow.

After two hours, he could clearly feel that the True Yuan had completely turned crimson.

This is the First Transition of Qi Transformation.

He didn’t know whether this progress was fast or slow.

When he opened his eyes to look outside, he found it was already dusk with the setting sun.

The sky was filled with rosy clouds, reflecting on the entire Heavenly Sword Peak.

Heavenly Sword Peak became spectacular.

At this moment, a clear cry sounded.

This clear cry came from the Void, as if transmitted from the distant sky, yet clearly reaching his ears.

Chu Zhiyuan immediately saw figures flying across the sky, along with a few white cranes.

Li Hongzhao’s voice then sounded outside his courtyard: ”Hurry, go to the square.”

Chu Zhiyuan opened the door, glanced around, and saw figures flitting past.

As these figures flew past, most of them glanced at Chu Zhiyuan, nodding in greeting.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and nodded in response.

Li Hongzhao, now in a new red robe, was standing at the door waving, ”You’re really dawdling.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Is it time to activate the array again?”

Li Hongzhao nodded, ”The earlier sound was the signal to enter the array; we need to hurry over.”

Chu Zhiyuan turned his head to look into the air.

The sun was setting, scarlet clouds stretched across the sky, and there was nothing else.

”Hurry up, don’t dawdle,” Li Hongzhao urged.

”Alright, let’s go.” Chu Zhiyuan did not activate his Super Sense and walked with Li Hongzhao towards the main hall.

At this moment, Dong Muyu hurried out of the courtyard, her clothes slightly disheveled, and her hair still damp.

”Li Junior Sister, Chu Junior Brother, quickly, enter the array with me,” Dong Muyu said.

Li Hongzhao asked, ”Senior Sister Dong, is there another enemy attacking?”

”It’s most likely those Black Crow Demons again!” Dong Muyu replied angrily, ”They’ve been continuously harassing the past couple of days!”

She then looked at Chu Zhiyuan with a smile, ”This time, we are counting on you, Junior Brother Chu!”

Chu Zhiyuan replied, ”If they are indeed Black Crow Demons, I surely will not shirk my duty. But are we sure they’re Black Crow Demons? Moreover, do the new Black Crow Demons know about my Demon Suppressing Saber?”

Dong Muyu said, ”It’s very likely still Black Crow Demons. They wouldn’t have gotten the news so quickly... Black Crow Demons aren’t that smart.”

Chu Zhiyuan questioned, ”Black Crow Demons aren’t smart?”

”Not smart, but also not stupid; smart, but a bit strange—it’s hard to say,” Dong Muyu shook her head. ”These demons and ghosts are all unpredictable. The only thing to do is to kill them.”

Clearly, she had no interest in understanding these demons and evil beings more; she just wanted to kill them on sight.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

They arrived at the White Jade Square, where rings of light had already lit up.

Within the light rings stood disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect, all operating beneath their feet, injecting True Yuan into the White Jade Stone.

In the distance, a large mass of black shadow approached, like a dark cloud swiftly moving toward them.

Immediately, a light curtain rose.

A white light flew out from Chu Zhiyuan’s sleeve, mixed with a hint of gold.

This white light pierced through the light curtain, heading towards that mass of darkness.

But when it got close to the black shadow, it suddenly turned and shot in a different direction.

The mass of darkness ignored the white light, crashing into the light curtain.

”Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...”

With incessant dull thuds, the light curtain seemed to tremble.

It seemed as if the light curtain was about to be shattered.

A series of dozens of dull thuds later, it finally turned into a thick mist.

As the thick mist began to retract, the white light from afar turned again, heading in its direction, and burrowed into the black mist.

The black mist continued to quickly shrink, still ignoring the white light as it burrowed in.

The white light disappeared suddenly, as if engulfed by the black mist.

The disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect, who were fixated on this scene, were immediately disappointed.

They typically closed their eyes to cultivate, not wanting to listen to the arrogance of the Black Crow Demons that would follow.

This time, however, they were hopeful, waiting to see how Chu Zhiyuan would act.

But to see the white light get swallowed, they sighed in resignation.

This time, the black shadow was several times larger than last time, the black mist several times denser.

Apparently, the Demon Suppressing Saber that handled the previous Black Crow Demons was ineffective this time.

Just then, a streak of golden light suddenly pierced through the black mist.

Screams suddenly rang out.

Under the watchful eyes of the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, the golden light grew brighter, continuously flickering within the black mist, tracing golden paths.

The successive screams echoed throughout the sky and earth.

Hearing these screams was like sipping fine wine to the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect, indescribably delightful.

They watched with smiles on their faces as the golden light inside the black mist grew brighter and denser while the black mist grew thinner.

Finally, all the black mist vanished in the golden light, and the golden light swiftly retracted, returning into the flying knife.

The flying knife turned into a golden light, re-entered the light curtain, and went back into Chu Zhiyuan’s sleeve.

Dong Muyu cried in excitement, ”What a Demon Suppressing Saber!”

The round-faced girl and the oval-faced girl beside them smiled brightly.

”Junior Brother Chu, I’m impressed!”

”Thank you, Junior Brother Chu!”

”Haha... what a Demon Suppressing Saber, how satisfying!”

”Next time, we don’t even need to activate the array, just let Junior Brother Chu handle it!”

.....

The disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect all voiced their admiration.

They had endured enough of the Black Crow Demons’ arrogance and ridicule, longing to rush out and slay them, yet always found it impossible to handle the Black Crow Demons.

Now, seeing Chu Zhiyuan handle it so cleanly and neatly was extremely satisfying.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and cupped his fists in response.

After this lively scene, he walked back with Li Hongzhao and Dong Muyu.

Just after leaving the White Jade Square, a slender girl approached lightly, smiling, ”Junior Brother Chu, I’m from the Merit Hall. For these two times, you have a total of eight hundred merits.”

Dong Muyu was surprised, ”Senior Sister Zhang, eight hundred merits?”

The slender girl was gentle and kind, smiling, ”Yes, Junior Brother Chu altogether exterminated eighty Black Crow Demons, each is ten merits.”

Dong Muyu said, ”This time, there were so many Black Crow Demons... Qinglian Sea over there mustn’t withstand it and sent out so many Black Crow Demons!”

Previously, there were only six, and now all of a sudden thirty-four.

The number multiplied several times, clearly indicating desperation.