Chapter Seventy-Eight: Techniques

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Riding the sword to guide the soul, wielding the heavenly sword to command fate.

Sword technique marks the beginning, sword intent is the peak, and the way of the sword is the end.

As Li Ju opened the Flying Sword Manual delivered by the Seventy-Three Sect, these words greeted him on the very first page.

He continued to peruse the manual. Although he had once been a disciple of the Flying Sword Sect, he had never truly practiced any of their martial arts. All his martial foundations were rooted in the Devil Sect; in terms of martial discipline, he was more a paragon of the Devil Sect than a genuine disciple of the Flying Sword Sect.

The Flying Sword Manual was divided into three parts: Sword Technique, Sword Intent, and finally, the Heavenly Sword. The section on Sword Technique corresponded to the cultivation methods for both the external and internal realms; Sword Intent aligned with the Minor Threefold Origin; but compared to the previous two chapters, the Heavenly Sword section seemed more like an incomplete hypothesis—a conjecture formulated by the founders of the Flying Sword Sect as to what the next realm might be.

Though the founders had managed to outline a general path for cultivation in the Heavenly Sword section, in several centuries of the sect’s history, not a single person had succeeded in following it to fruition.

“No wonder the Seventy-Three Sect handed over the Flying Sword Manual to me so readily,” Li Ju thought, shaking his head with some disappointment after reading through its contents.

Was the Flying Sword Manual lacking? On the contrary, it was an excellent text: the product of centuries of refinement by the sect’s founders, its system of cultivation was complete, and its accompanying martial techniques were formidable. Even among manuals at the Minor Threefold Origin level, it ranked as a treasured, upper-tier method.

It was, in fact, stronger than the Ghost Bat Skill that Li Ju currently practiced.

However, the Ghost Bat Skill was considered the weakest among the eight secret arts of the Devil Sect. While the Flying Sword Manual surpassed it, it would only rank mid-tier among the Devil Sect’s eight secret arts and still lagged behind the others.

For sects like the Devil Sect and the Seventy-Three Sect, techniques of the Flying Sword Manual’s caliber, though not common, were not especially rare either.

At his current level, Li Ju would never casually change his cultivation method unless it were for the likes of the sect-guarding skills such as the Execution Scripture of the Devil Sect or the Seventy-Three Tribulations of the Seventy-Three Sect. The Flying Sword Manual simply did not qualify.

It was likely that the Seventy-Three Sect had parted with the manual so easily because they knew it would do little to enhance Li Ju’s strength, and it wasn’t particularly valuable to them either—better to use it as a bargaining chip to reclaim their sect’s divine weapon.

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“So this is the gap between ordinary great sects and the overlords of the martial world…”

Even at its height, the Flying Sword Sect could have ranked among the top ten sects in today’s martial world. Yet the very inheritance they revered as a priceless treasure was an afterthought to the Seventy-Three Sect and the Devil Sect.

Such is the chasm in cultivation methods between these powers. It’s no wonder the Devil Sect and the Seventy-Three Sect stand head and shoulders above other sects—not by chance, but by the superiority of their arts.

With a sigh, Li Ju set the Flying Sword Manual aside. If the Heavenly Sword section had been complete, he might have considered switching over, but as things stood, he dismissed the idea.

“It’s better to focus on my Devil Sect techniques,” he thought.

From nearby, Li Ju picked up a small cloth bag—an item gifted to him by Zhuge Huang, containing all seven of the Devil Sect’s secret arts, save for the Execution Scripture.

The Demon Eagle Skill, the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body, the Demon Tiger Skill, the Demon Mantra, the Three Souls Art, the Core Heart Skill, and the Ghost Bat Skill.

He looked at the seven manuals before him and first opened the Ghost Bat Skill.

Thanks to his panel, he already possessed the Ghost Bat Skill and could now compare it to the copy provided by Zhuge Huang, to see if any traps had been set.

A quarter of an hour later—

“There are no traps. The manual Zhuge Huang gave me matches exactly with what I have from the panel.”

He set the Ghost Bat Skill aside. But this only proved that Zhuge Huang hadn’t tampered with this manual; as for the others, there might still be hidden dangers. After all, Zhuge Huang had spent years mastering the Devil Sect’s arts, while Li Ju was still a relative novice.

Of the seven manuals Zhuge Huang had given him, the one most likely to contain a pitfall was—

The Hundred Venoms Vajra Body.

Li Ju picked it up, running his fingers thoughtfully over its black cover.

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It could be said that all the upheaval he’d wrought in this world—the way he’d turned the scenario upside down, even elevating it to a higher tier and achieving his present strength—was due entirely to the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body.

Without it, he would not be who he was today.

With a rustle, Li Ju began to leaf through the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body.

Unlike other arts, the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body was an absolute method: once mastered, it reached its utmost limit, with no room for further progress. Either one failed entirely, or one succeeded and reached the peak—there was no middle ground.

Thus, the manual devoted only a small portion to cultivation technique; the majority concerned other matters.

Cultivating the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body increased only the blood essence among the body’s three vital energies, leaving the mind and strength untouched. For those without a martial foundation or with only modest attainment, sudden mastery could trigger an extreme imbalance in the three energies, ultimately shortening one’s lifespan—much like Li Ju’s current predicament.

To resolve this hidden danger, the traditional way was to advance one’s martial realm and rebalance the three vital energies. However, the manual also recorded another solution:

"Forge the Demon Body."

Li Ju softly recited the term he’d already heard from Zhuge Huang.

According to the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body, the Demon Body was the ultimate secret of the Devil Sect’s eight inherited arts—the final, perfected form, possessing terrifying power.

To forge the Demon Body, one must first master the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body, which was its embryonic stage and the foundation for its achievement. This made the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body uniquely significant among the Devil Sect’s secret arts; without it, there was no path to the Demon Body.

Assisting the practitioner in attaining the Demon Body was the true purpose of the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body. The common belief in the martial world—that its main use was to strengthen the flesh and serve as the foundation for Vajra bodyguards at the inner discipline realm—was, in fact, a lesser application.