Huo Qing, not being a sword cultivator, only felt that it indeed was an excellent cultivation method for training the Soul and Spirit.
However, Nian Quan was different. Being a sword cultivator and possessing the innate Heavenly Water Spiritual Root that facilitated easy meditation, his expression after obtaining the Tranquil Sword Manual was like that of someone seeing a law-giving immortal.
—Indeed, the power backing An Jing must have picked up the sword cultivator’s inheritance from a Primordial Spirit of the Dao Courtyard before Demon Calamity, right?
Besides that, An Jing’s "Technique Law Path" and the final division into four Dao stages also deeply intrigued them both.
According to those standards, they also realized that in the entire Tianyuan Realm, the propagation of "Skills" is unrestricted. Any skill can be found in libraries, spiritual networks, and private tutoring classes. Even those exceptionally powerful and mysterious skills are merely a matter of paying more to learn.
But once it comes to the "Law" level, there is no place that publicly disseminates it. If there are any, they definitely won’t be available for long before they are taken by others.
Every "Law" is a secret transmission within a cultivator’s family. The textbooks contain traces of "Law", but they are all fragmented and only slightly referenced.
The "Zhou Liu Wu Zang Yi Qi Nourishing Body Technique" passed down in Huo Qing’s family is a method under the category of Body Cultivation and Spiritual Methods, considered one of the decent laws encompassing practices such as the Hundred Grass Technique, Eating Six Livestocks, Transforming Primordial Qi, Solidifying Viscera, and Strength Enhancement internally.
As for Nian Quan’s "True Spirit Eye," it, too, is a Spiritual Method. It even comes with additional techniques on how to utilize Pupil Skills. It couldn’t be said to be better than the spiritual methods inherited by Huo Qing’s family, but it certainly had a longer tradition with many special techniques left by predecessors.
As for the "Dao Entering" above Spiritual Methods... both Huo Qing and Nian Quan unanimously believed that it was something only large clans and the four great Daoist Academies could possibly possess such arcane texts.
In the Tianyuan Realm, it’s not just the spirit qi and spirit stones that are monopolized and sealed off, but also the transmission of skills and methods.
"Dark, it’s so dark!"
Although the three seeds of rebellion were filled with righteous indignation, they still prioritized cultivation for the time being.
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity to share cultivation experiences, they also had a good discussion on the similarities and differences between "Sword, Formation, Law".
Because An Jing began Artifact Refining this time, he understood the relationship between Hundred Arts of Cultivation and cultivation itself. With this understanding, he could fully comprehend and participate in the discussions on formations and alchemy, even gaining considerable insights.
Huo Qing and Nian Quan naturally did not doubt that An Jing’s previous silence was due to not understanding their discussion. In their view, An Jing’s prior silence was because "he was busy and had no time to chat", but now that he had time, An Jing’s outstanding views and deep insights on Artifact Refining made them both believe that An Jing was actually a skilled artifact cultivator who had been studying Artifact Refining since childhood.
"I say, An Jing, how do you know how to handle all weapons, even using firearms and sword boxes more skillfully than I do."
Huo Qing sighed, and Nian Quan nodded, "Sword and artifact as one, An Jing’s mastery in Sword Dao is so high, his Artifact Refining must naturally be first-class too."
What else could An Jing say? That he only just learned Artifact Refining less than a month ago? But at this point, no one would believe whatever he said, so he could only respond vaguely, meanwhile taking advantage of his connection with Nian Quan to buy a few Thunder Talismans, and via Huo Qing and Rusty Feather’s channels, he bought a large batch of gunpowder and drones.
Although it was best not to use them, if he could lure the Demon Shedding out of the Primordial Spirit Cave, An Jing would certainly not be stingy in deploying heavy firepower.
Soon, two decades passed, and An Jing confirmed that he was unlikely to make significant progress in strength in the short term and had reached the short-term peak.
The spirit fields at the mountain’s base were harvested quickly, and the storage warehouses in Linjiang City were now nearly full. Although they mostly contained cheaper inferior spirit plants, they were still spirit plants. A great deal of silver coins and various food resources were sent back to Linjiang City, making the city increasingly busier against the tide of the Frost Calamity.
Similarly, the collection of all sorts of information about Demon Shedding was also perfected.
It was time to set out on a demon-slaying journey.