Chapter 793: Quietly

Tang Zhao heard his words and seemed to understand his meaning a little, saying, "Are there Great Heavenly Demons on the mountain?" He had seen with his own eyes the hunting parties bring back a few Fierce Beasts, but Fierce Beasts were still far from being Great Heavenly Demons; those worthy of being called Great Heavenly Demons could at least match a Sword Guest.

The old man said, "There is a Great Heavenly Demon nest, and there should be a very powerful Great Heavenly Demon. There is also a group of its demon spawn, what you call Fierce Beasts. This group of demon spawn seems to pop out of the ground; they cannot be killed off. We used to go up the mountain with the neighboring village fort to clear them out. A few times we almost dug three feet deep and even unearthed our ancestral graves; surely they should have been wiped out, right? But within two days they popped out again, and they came aggressively, even more powerful than the last time. After a few such sieges, the neighboring village fort moved away, feeling there was no hope. Yet I am unwilling; I always feel that if we move away, we are just handing over our own land. But if we keep persisting like this, I don't know when it will end."

Tang Zhao pondered. Regardless of whether the other party implied a request for help, he would take it as such, saying, "I will go up and take a look. If possible, I will deal with it while I'm at it. Anyway, with such a group of unwelcome guests on the mountain, it is very troublesome for me to handle my affairs. It is better to kill two birds with one stone. As for Great Heavenly Demons, killing them is never wrong."

The old man was indeed overjoyed and said, "I only fear that the honored guest's two fists cannot match four hands. Do not be too careless. Our village still has a hundred or so young and strong men willing to follow the honored guest up the mountain to eliminate the demons."

Tang Zhao said, "Naturally, stability comes first, but I must go up and check the situation first to scout out its nest. If a large force goes up the mountain from the start, it might startle the snake. If there is a need, I will come back down to request reinforcements."

The old man was very happy and brought out the best wine and food in the village to treat Tang Zhao. The food was mainly Fierce Beast meat, with a small amount of grain, and the wine was brewed from some unknown sour fruit, which tasted very astringent. Tang Zhao did not like to drink, and now he did not have much need for food or drink, so he just dealt with a few mouthfuls casually.

However, after eating the Fierce Beast meat, Tang Zhao discovered that the meat here was much better than he remembered. Although there was still a faint fishy stench, it could already be suppressed by spices, and the energy contained within was very abundant and easy to absorb. He smiled and said, "This meat is nutritious; no wonder even the children in the village have excellent physiques."

The old man sighed and said, "Eating alone cannot train one to be like this; this is all from practicing 'Spirit Martial Arts'. I heard that you people outside don't practice it, but focus on Sword Guests instead. Actually, we also want to be Sword Guests, but we have no swords. This Spirit Martial Art, as long as there is Yin Qi, anyone can practice it, and the progress is very fast. It's just that it was passed down from the Great Heavenly Demon side after all, so I always feel uneasy in my heart."

Tang Zhao suddenly realized that this "Spirit Martial Art" was the power system of the Great Heavenly Demon side. There were at least two power systems on the Great Heavenly Demon side. Among them, the one similar to the status of "Sword Guest" in the Human World was actually the Divine Martial system, which was serving gods to obtain Divine Power, and then using Divine Power, including using Divine Power to refine the body. These Divine Martial Artists were few in number but high in status, and theoretically, their upper limit was also unreachable. But the masses had another system, which was "Spirit Martial Arts" based on spiritual energy, that is, cultivating "Yin Qi". It is said that if practiced well, it is also very powerful, and many Great Heavenly Demons who invaded the Human World were Spirit Martial Artists.

This system actually corresponded to the "Spirit Official system" in the Human World, which everyone could practice, and the threshold was lower, but because of the change of dynasties, the Spirit Official system declined. Moreover, although the Spirit Official system was unpredictable, it always had some innate defects, such as insufficient tempering of oneself, and there was no guarantee for the future and lifespan.

This reminded Tang Zhao of his senior brother and his crocodile partner's research on souls and martial arts. More than two years had passed, and he did not know what results they had achieved. If they could combine this kind of Spirit Martial Art, perhaps they could have more inspiration?

Tang Zhao was still looking forward to their results. After all, he always felt that the strength of the Human World was insufficient. It was insufficient compared to the Tianmo Jie before him, and even more insufficient compared to that powerful world that came from who knows where.

Moreover, Tang Zhao even felt that Sword Guests as high-end combat power were not the norm; that was a bit like the power of salvation that appeared in the world at critical moments. If the world were peaceful, Sword Guests should not be common; there should still be a sufficiently universal power system.

At this time, the old man said he was "uneasy". Rather than saying he was afraid that the Great Heavenly Demon harbored bad intentions, it was more that he was a bit embarrassed. Clearly, they were so anti-Great Heavenly Demon, yet they still learned the Great Heavenly Demon's power system; it seemed they couldn't save face. Tang Zhao said, "Learn the skills of the barbarians to control the barbarians. There is nothing wrong with learning Spirit Martial Arts to strengthen yourself. If it is a good thing, take it bravely; if it is a thief, drive it out. This is a matter of course."

The old man was even more pleased after hearing this. He not only treated Tang Zhao with everything he had but also took Tang Zhao to watch the children practice martial arts.

At this time, the sun was already high, but the weather was not warm. The children practicing martial arts under the sun did not feel the heat; instead, they were full of spirit. It is said that in the Taiyin Domain, there is a moon almost every night, but there is not necessarily a sun during the day. There are many cloudy days, and when the sky is overcast, people feel depressed. Once the sun comes out, everyone runs out to bask in it; it is truly an enjoyment.

Tang Zhao watched the Spirit Martial Arts carefully and found that in terms of tempering muscles and bones externally and standing in horse stances, it was not dissimilar to the martial arts of the Human World, but the most important inner technique was completely different. Spirit Martial Arts emphasize forming a "Qi Seed" in the dantian, using this as a foundation to accumulate Blood Qi, and step by step washing the body from the inside out. It is somewhat similar to internal martial arts, but more ferocious. The power introduced into the body from the outside does not go through the meridians in a refined way to complete the Great Circulation, but rather flushes the internal organs, meridians, and bones in a "flooding" manner... finally completing the cultivation of shedding the mortal body and exchanging bones.

Tang Zhao understood the principle and couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder. It wasn't that he thought Spirit Martial Arts were so wonderful, but he praised the "spiritual energy" as magical. Compared to Yuan Qi, cultivating spiritual energy was much more convenient.

One must know that humans actually cannot directly cultivate Yuan Qi. In the Knight-Errant stage, they all rely on eating to replenish energy. Only when the internal and external are complete can they practice the Mysterious Technique. Even if they practice the Mysterious Technique, it is mainly based on Spirit washing. To temper the body, one must introduce Yuan Qi bit by bit. If one is not careful, it is easy to practice incorrectly and be unable to make any progress.

One has to wait until they get a sword and become a Sword Guest to use the sword as a medium to cultivate Yuan Qi in large quantities, forming a power called Sword Essence. One doesn't even dare to be sure if it is a power that belongs solely to oneself; it seems like borrowing the light of the sword.

Tang Zhao did not think that the people of the Tianmo Jie were more brilliant and had found exquisite cultivation methods. One must know that the cultivation of Spirit Martial Arts was very extensive and rough, not as detailed as the good inner techniques of the Human World, let alone compared to the Mysterious Technique.

This should be the gap in the Qi itself. Using Chen Zong's theory, in the absence of a sword, this Human World cannot be considered high martial arts, and even medium martial arts is barely acceptable. The rules of the world are that it does not allow humans to compete with heaven and earth, only allowing people to play with small tricks between each other, using brilliant or, in other words, flashy ways to fight.

Until the appearance of the Sword Guest, which broke this upper limit, the Sword Guest can compete with heaven and earth, even if it is not the heaven and earth before them.

It is hard to say if the Human World really had consciousness, whether it would be willing to see the appearance of Sword Guests.

From this point of view, the world of the Tianmo Jie is much more "generous" than the Human World.

Seeing that there was such an expert as Tang Zhao watching, the instructors in the village fort also seized the opportunity to come up and ask questions, saying that in these years of practicing Spirit Martial Arts, progress was rapid at first, but after reaching a certain level, they stopped moving forward, and there were many injuries and illnesses, and their lifespans were not as good as ordinary people. They asked if they were practicing incorrectly, or if there was a problem with the technique, or even if the Great Heavenly Demon side deliberately passed down defective techniques to make trouble?

Tang Zhao was also confused after hearing this question. He was only strong in strength and considered knowledgeable among his peers, but he was far from being erudite or a Grandmaster. He could only first take the technique from the instructor's hand and study it carefully.

The villagers naturally would not urge him. In fact, they were just taking a shot in the dark and did not really expect Tang Zhao to solve the problem. The Elder arranged for a young villager to be a guide for Tang Zhao so that they could go up the mountain as soon as possible; that was the real business. Tang Zhao said it was not urgent, because since they were sneaking up the mountain, they might as well wait until night to set off.

This guide was about the same age as Tang Zhao, about eighteen or nineteen years old, clean and capable. He said his surname was Yang, so Tang Zhao called him Xiao Yang.

Tang Zhao could see that this Xiao Yang was not only a capable person, but his martial arts were also not bad. In the Human World, he would definitely be considered an up-and-coming star in the Jianghu, and wherever he went, he would be called a "Young Knight", but here he was just an ordinary resident. Tang Zhao let him sit in the back seat of the Six Dragon Carriage.

Xiao Yang was very surprised and said, "Ah? Aren't we sneaking up the mountain?"

Tang Zhao said, "It's just the two of us, taking advantage of the late night to sneak up the mountain; how is that not sneaking up the mountain?"

Xiao Yang said, "But your carriage is very loud when it moves. It's not as good as riding a horse; at least horses don't neigh all the time. Yours doesn't stop for a moment."

Tang Zhao smiled, secretly activated the mechanism, and the Six Dragon Carriage suddenly became quiet. It moved forward like a spirit cat, its movements light and quiet. He said, "Actually, the Six Dragon Carriage can be quiet; it's just that if it doesn't roar, there's no feeling in driving. Let's go, up the mountain."

Xiao Yang sat in the back seat, feeling only the speed of the wind and was very excited. However, he was cautious by nature and still said, "It would be better if the target were smaller. We all wear fur for camouflage when we go up the mountain. We should have just taken the largest animal skin and covered both the carriage and the people, pretending to be a large Fierce Beast, so no one would notice..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Tang Zhao lightly flick his hand. A hot wind seemed to scrape past his ears, followed by a "chi" sound that was almost imperceptible.

Xiao Yang had been training in the mountains for a long time, and his eyesight was very good. He could capture dynamic movements and adapt to the dark, but he only saw something flash behind a tree and then disappear into thin air.

It seemed to be... a Fierce Beast?

A Fierce Beast hiding in the bushes waiting for an opportunity, a Fierce Beast that would require at least two or three experts from the village fort to attack together to be able to contend with, just disappeared silently like that?

Tang Zhao said in front, "Look, as long as you are fast enough to strike, and eliminate the guys who see us first, then it is definitely sneaking up the mountain."