Self-Taught

Daoist Buyu marveled that Lu Yang was truly worthy of being his fine disciple—able to concoct something like the Heavenly Court Cult entirely on his own without a teacher. Back when he himself was still in the Golden Core stage, he had only conned and swindled other Golden Core cultivators. When Lu Yang reached the Golden Core stage, however, he had already deceived Tribulation Transcendence patriarchs and the Three Great Demonic Cults above, while tricking low-level cultivators and common folk below. His skill at hoodwinking everyone from top to bottom was truly astonishing. Originally, he had intended to pass on his repertoire of deception to Lu Yang behind Yun Zhi's back, but now it seemed completely unnecessary. For a master to find that the skill he took the most pride in could not be passed down—he didn't know whether to call it a blessing or a misfortune. "Since I am now a Heavenly King Protector, I ought to contribute to our cult. I can promote the cult in the outside world." Daoist Buyu was full of responsibility and adept at playing to his strengths. "Out of the question," the Fourth Elder rejected Daoist Buyu's proposal. "Your reputation precedes you in the cultivation world—notorious and reviled, like a rat crossing the street with everyone shouting to beat it. Mortals and low-to-mid-level cultivators might not know your situation, but which high-level cultivator doesn't recognize you? "If you promote our sect—our cult—in the outside world, your main targets would be mortals and low-to-mid-level cultivators. But the Heavenly Court Cult exists primarily to deceive the enemies lurking in the shadows, and those enemies are all high-level cultivators. If you step forward to spread the word, it will only lower our credibility." Daoist Buyu: "..." Stripping away the heavily subjective—and objective—critiques, he had to admit Fourth Brother had a point. The Eighth Elder added, "In my view, the Heavenly Court Cult should avoid public activities for the time being. Frequent public appearances make us look suspicious, like we're putting on an act. Staying out of sight and letting the enemy guess and imagine the cult's terrifying might based on tiny scraps of intelligence is the superior strategy." The less intelligence they had, the more room the enemies had to imagine. Moreover, the Heavenly Court Cult's foundation was genuinely here; even if they took no action, others would misunderstand it as plotting something in secret. It was the enemies who would grow anxious. As Daoist Buyu's original mentor, the Eighth Elder had his own unique philosophy when it came to deceiving people. While Lu Yang listened to the elders' discussion, he simultaneously suppressed the Immortal Fairy's ballooning ambitions in his spiritual space. "Hey, hey! Your master is back! Hurry up and tell him to pass the Sect Master's seat to me!" The Immortal Fairy slapped the edge of the bed in excitement, urging Lu Yang to reveal his wild ambition and usurp the throne immediately. "Fairy, that's not going to be easy." "What's so hard about it? Looks to me like your master doesn't really want to be Sect Master anyway." "The problem isn't my master, but Eldest Senior Sister. Eldest Senior Sister has held the reins of sect power for eleven full years. She's long grown addicted to power and won't let go so easily. Letting you act as Acting Sect Master twice before was just because she wanted to take a short break. Even if my master steps down, the next Sect Master is most likely going to be Eldest Senior Sister." "Then what do we do?" "As long as you defeat Eldest Senior Sister, Fairy, that Sect Master seat is ours for the taking!" Lu Yang had to rein her in. He was genuinely worried that if he actually dared to propose taking over as Sect Master, his master might really just dump the position onto him. The Immortal Fairy nodded, finding Lu Yang's words quite sensible. "No need to rush the Sect Master matter. It's not that this immortal is afraid of that Yun girl; I just think she's doing a fine job as Sect Master for now. Once this immortal returns to peak condition, I'll fight for the Sect Master's seat!" "Fairy's foresight is profound, your vision farsighted! Biding your time and enduring hardship now will surely allow your talents to shine in the Dao Seeking Sect in the future!" "This immortal thinks so too." The impromptu Heavenly Court Cult meeting quickly concluded. In truth, there wasn't much to discuss; it was mainly to inform Daoist Buyu, who was already a member of the Heavenly Court Cult without knowing it. After the meeting ended, Daoist Buyu called Lu Yang back. "Little Yang, stay behind for a moment." "Master, is something the matter?" Daoist Buyu rested his whisk over his forearm and stroked his white beard, speaking slowly: "Nothing major. I just realized that ever since you became my disciple, I've never truly instructed you. Now is the perfect opportunity to teach you how to comprehend the Sword Dao." Lu Yang was overjoyed. Quite a few people in the sect knew sword techniques, but few were true masters of them. Lu Yang's sword forms were just basic moves, and his comprehension of the Sword Dao had largely relied on sheer natural talent. Two years after becoming master and disciple, both possessing a Sword Spiritual Root, instruction was only beginning now. "Take out your swords. Let me take a look." Lu Yang took out the Green Blade Sword and the Dark Moon Sword. "You keep your swords in your identity jade badge?" "Is there a problem with that?" Lu Yang asked in confusion. He had seen other sword cultivators do the same. Could it be that as a sword cultivator, one should always maintain intimate contact with one's weapon and care for it meticulously so it would feel more natural and responsive in battle? "A huge problem! When I was your age, I was constantly ambushed. To deal with ambushes, I kept my sword on me at all times. If you keep it inside your identity jade badge like this, won't your reaction be a beat too slow when you encounter danger?" "Was Great Xia's public security really that bad when you were young?" Lu Yang was startled. Since making his debut, he had never once been ambushed. Who knew Great Xia's governance had been so chaotic two thousand years ago? "Though others say public security in Great Xia two thousand years ago was just as good as it is now, according to my personal experience, Great Xia was very chaotic back then!" "Did you report it to the authorities after being ambushed?" "The matter was too complicated, so I generally didn't report it." Lu Yang understood—officialdom was dark and corrupt! "How complicated was it, exactly?" "Mainly, I was the one who ambushed them first. If things escalated to the yamen, neither of us would come out looking good." Lu Yang: "..." Daoist Buyu took the swords and drew each one partially from its scabbard, revealing a section of blade. The dazzling gleam happened to shine right into his eyes. Daoist Buyu was full of praise for both swords. "Fine swords! One was given to you by Xiaoyun, who even placed a seal on it, and the other was painstakingly forged by Old Five." His own whisk had also been crafted by the Fifth Elder. Though it looked like a whisk, it actually contained countless strands of sword qi, capable of launching a devastating surprise attack. Daoist Buyu reluctantly returned the two swords to Lu Yang. Xiaoyun was truly biased—he had asked her for the Green Blade Sword so many times, yet she had never given it to him. "Demonstrate your sword moves. Let me see how well you've mastered them." "Yes." Holding the sword hilt level with his chest, sword qi swirled around the blade like a coiled dragon around a pillar, magnificent and overwhelming. Lu Yang let out a shout, snapped his wrist, and moved like a startled swan. His sword moves were sharp and fierce, completely irresistible. Break Formula, Point Formula, Lift Formula... The basic sword moves seemed to come alive in Lu Yang's hands, connecting point by point into fluid lines, seamless and flawless. Daoist Buyu: "..." *This is the level one can reach through self-study?* He felt that even if he had personally guided Lu Yang, the result would hardly surpass this. Lu Yang brought his sword to a finish, holding the Green Blade Sword vertically behind his back, and bowed slightly toward Daoist Buyu. "Master, do you think there's anything in my sword technique that needs improvement?" Lu Yang felt rather apprehensive in his heart. His sword techniques were entirely self-taught. While he felt good about them, they might be riddled with flaws in his master's eyes. Daoist Buyu pondered for a moment, then said earnestly, "Next time you demonstrate your sword moves, remember to leave a few flaws so I have something to point out."