Chapter 74: Deep Immersion in One Path

The contents of this black Porcelain Bottle were actually this potent! He had only sniffed it in the wind, and he had such a strong reaction?

Duan Rong put the black Porcelain Bottle back into his inner robe pocket, intending to return and find another opportunity to study it properly!

Duan Rong kicked Wu Hui's headless corpse into the pit, then threw his head and the Wolf-Tooth Club in after it, cursing, "Die, bald donkey, you go to the bottom!"

Next, Duan Rong dragged Zhou Shoushan's corpse and shoved it onto Wu Hui's body. At this moment, Duan Rong turned his head to look at the Ghost Head Blade on the ground.

He removed the severed hand from the Ghost Head Blade, threw it into the corpse pit, grabbed the Ghost Head Blade in his hand, his gaze shifted, and he silently recited: "Spirit Reader!"

Duan Rong looked at the set of data appearing before him.

Artifact: Ghost Head Blade.

Spirit Artifact Tier: First Tier.

Devouring requirement: Host Mental Power Level 1 (met).

Devouring effect: Yellow Springs Saber Technique Proficiency.

He did not intend to devour the Spirit Tool of this Ghost Head Blade; he was just curious about what kind of saber technique this was, the one Zhou Shoushan used with such methodical defense.

So it was the Yellow Springs Saber Technique!

It seemed that among the Spirit Tools on the weapon racks in the Yuanshun Escort Agency Martial Arts Arena, there was also this saber technique!

In the Spirit Tool of that Broken Blade Broadsword of Xiao Zongting's, there were only three martial arts!

One of them was even a Lightness Skill!

Besides the Cloud Snake Step, the other two were the Lesser Vehicle martial art Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber and the Middle Vehicle martial art Head-Severing Thirteen Forms!

That is to say, Xiao Zongting's cultivation method, whether in the Inner Breath Realm stage or the True Qi Realm stage, was to specialize in one!

As the saying goes, to be a jack-of-all-trades is to be a master of none!

Deep immersion in one path is the true way of cultivation!

Moreover, the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber, after years of exploration and improvement by Xiao Zongting, could be said to have achieved a very good balance in all aspects, far superior to those dime-a-dozen goods on the market!

Of the six Escort Heads of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, five of them were trained by practicing this saber technique.

It is evident that this saber technique has some substance to it!

This had also been Duan Rong's consistent thought, because greed for too much leads to indigestion!

However, after the experience of initially merging the Cloud Snake Step and the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber a few days ago, and after the bloody battle with Zhou Shoushan today, Duan Rong's thinking had been changing imperceptibly!

An ordinary Martial Artist would naturally suffer from greed for too much, but he was elevating himself directly by devouring Spirit Tools!

Why should he limit himself?

Furthermore, this Yellow Springs Saber Technique of Zhou Shoushan's today was quite good at defense, which made Duan Rong see a highlight!

Different martial arts have different focuses and are suited for different occasions!

Although the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber is balanced in all aspects, from another perspective, couldn't one say that it has no single aspect that is particularly outstanding?

While balance is a form of overall excellence, it is also a form of local mediocrity!

For example: this Yellow Springs Saber Technique, while weaker in offense, is stronger in defense!

And Duan Rong felt that the structure of the martial arts moves of this Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber, after Xiao Zongting's repeated exploration, was already very complete!

As long as he used this structure as a framework and stuffed in the various essences from other martial arts to achieve a thorough mastery, it would be an even richer and more versatile Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber!

On the basis of inheriting Xiao Zongting's achievements, he would carry forward his own characteristics!

As the saying goes, stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one!

Perhaps he could use the ability to devour Spirit Tools to walk a completely different path of cultivation!

Although Duan Rong thought this way, he did not devour the Spirit Tool of the Ghost Head Blade in his hand; after all, there would be discomfort in his brain after devouring a Spirit Tool!

And in the Martial Arts Arena of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, there was also a Spirit Tool with the proficiency level of this saber technique, so why should he be in such a hurry?

Thinking this, Duan Rong was about to throw the Ghost Head Blade in his hand into the pit!

But just at this moment, Duan Rong suddenly noticed that the blade of the Ghost Head Blade, reflecting the sunlight, was flashing with a faint, elusive blue light!

Duan Rong's gaze tightened. "This is?"

Duan Rong's gaze suddenly shifted, and in his heart, he vaguely guessed an answer!

Holding the Ghost Head Blade, Duan Rong slashed across the back of Zhou Shoushan's corpse lying in the pit!

Zhou Shoushan had only just died, and the corpse still had residual warmth. As this blade slashed across, a half-foot-long wound immediately opened on his back, and blood seeped out from the upturned flesh...

In just a few breaths, the blood began to turn black, and the wound had already begun to fester...

Duan Rong immediately smelled a foul stench!

This smell was just as foul and reeking as the scent drifting from the contents of that black Porcelain Bottle!

In just a few breaths, the wound on Zhou Shoushan's back had festered into a patch as large as a human face, and only then did it finally stop spreading...

The wound had turned black, and the pus and blood flowed slowly over the wound like maggots...

Duan Rong's expression became very ugly!

This Ghost Head Blade in Zhou Shoushan's hand had clearly been quenched with the poison from that black Porcelain Bottle!

One could only wonder what this poison was refined from!

The toxicity was actually this violent!

Duan Rong recalled the previous entanglement with Zhou Shoushan, and his heart was filled with lingering fear!

If he had been even slightly careless at that time, the one who died would likely have been him!

Duan Rong realized that he seemed to have still underestimated the danger and viciousness of the fierce bandits of the Jianghu!

Using every possible means, as disgusting as maggots and as venomous as snakes and scorpions, is actually the norm of the Jianghu!

Those gentle and refined, chivalrous and heroic sentiments are nothing but the delusions of a fool!

Duan Rong drew a slight cold breath and threw the Ghost Head Blade in his hand into the pit!

Only then did he lower his head to look at the corpses of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng!

The two corpses were still quite clean, with only a small bloodstain on their chests, lying on the ground by the edge of the pit, looking no different from being asleep!

Duan Rong saw an Ox-Tail Saber placed beside Zhang Zheng, and only then did he notice that the blade of that Ox-Tail Saber already had four or five chips in it; it was a discarded blade used by Miscellaneous Disciples for practice!

That was right, only after being promoted to an Apprentice Escort would the Yuanshun Escort Agency provide a brand-new Ox-Tail Saber, and Zhang Zheng did not yet have that qualification!

"Without even a decent weapon, why did you have to go through the trouble of coming to muddy these waters as well?"

Duan Rong sighed with no small amount of sorrow, reaching out his hand to wipe away the dried blood scab at the corner of Zhang Zheng's mouth.

Seeing this discarded blade, all sorts of scenes from his time as a Miscellaneous Disciple suddenly flooded into Duan Rong's mind!

Duan Rong's gaze, filled with a touch of sorrow, swept over the faces of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng!

Young faces!

Dead faces!

Among their batch of Miscellaneous Disciples, only four people participated in the final assessment!

Besides himself, there were also Kong Bin, Zhang Zheng, and Li Chong!

They could already be considered strong; at the very least, they dared to challenge their own fates and were unwilling to submit to destiny!

Li Chong failed the assessment and hanged himself!

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng had also died by this time!

Only he alone had survived!

And Duan Rong was very clear that he was actually no longer the original owner, as the original owner had already died of illness long ago!

The path to rising up for their batch of Miscellaneous Disciples had, in reality, ended in total annihilation, without a single exception!

To climb out from the bottom! In any world, it is equally difficult!

(End of this chapter)