Omen

Meanwhile

At the Cao Courtyard, Jia Shan was sparring with his sword disciple. This was his 10th time that the sword saint visited Cao Mao to check his disciple's current skills.

The progress of Cao Mao's improvement was astonishing. At first, Jia Shan had expected the disciple to take a long time before the latter could get better at basic. But over a month, Cao Mao's movements were as fluid as water, yet, each strike contained power and flexibility.

Every strike Jia Shan sent to Cao Mao, the latter didn't even look at them. He just blocked everything as if he was a solid mountain. But when Cao Mao counterattacked, his weaknesses were apparent.

Jia Shan tried to abuse the openings and counterattack, but Cao Mao blocked everything with his mountain defense style again. The spar slowly changed into a turn-based game, where each fighter took turns to attack and defense.

Jia Shan was satisfied with the development. Unfortunately, something didn't make sense.

"Say, Xu Miao. Where and when did you practice swordsmanship? I heard that you only fucked your wives all day. How did you train?"

Cao Mao rolled his eyes while he was parrying Jia Shan's wooden sword. He seemed relaxed despite being barraged by 20 attacks every second.

"If I say that I'm a genius that gets a lot of inspiration during sex, will you believe me?"

"Bull-fucking-shit! Swordsmanship isn't some scriptures or textbooks that you can memorize! It requires muscle memory and the practice of each movement! You didn't do shit!"

"Xu Xiuying said the same. Well, look at me. Ain't I a genius?"

CLANK

Cao Mao deflected one strike from Jia Shan. As soon as he finished speaking, a counterattack came for Jia Shan's chest.

Surprised, Jia Shan raised his eyebrows as he dodged the thrust. Then, he sent a low kick to Cao Mao's right knee to disrupt his posture.

Cao Mao raised his right knee and intercepted Jia Shan's kick with Bruce-Lee's side kick.

Both men kicked each other away.

Cao Mao took two steps back while Jia Shan only needed one step to regain his stance.

Jia Shan took his time as he was analyzing Cao Mao's combat style, but the latter was rude. He charged at the sword saint using haunting ghost footwork.

"No Qi usage!"

POEK

A fist smacked on the top of Cao Mao's head even though Jia Shan was 3 meters away from the former. It was a teleportation punch, a variation of domain usage.

"OUCH! CHEATER!"

"You're the cheater! I said, no Qi in combat! Be one with the sword without using your Qi, not trying to win with a sword!"

"But I didn't use Qi!"

"Bullshit! That footwork clearly reeks Qi!"

"That wasn't Qi! It's my own legs and muscle!"

"Don't lie to me, you piece of shit!"

That day, Cao Mao got over a hundred bruises all over his body. His face swelled since he was mercilessly beaten.

After sparring with Jia Shan ended, Cao Mao ate his orc strength pill and heal his superficial injuries.

"Brat, take this."

Jia Shan tossed a thick book to Cao Mao. The title of the book was Simplified Murder Sword Formation.

"What's this, master?"

"This is the simplified version of my sword style, tactics, and combination of all skills I've learned."

"But why simplified?"

"Fool! If you learn the real version, you'll automatically become a vessel of Lord Kunwu. This is the best I can teach you. The rest depends on your comprehension. Once you've mastered everything in the book, you should start combining your sword knowledge with other techniques that you've learned, then, come up with your own dao! Remember, dao is not a singular path. You don't have to follow any specific path to discover your own dao and your sword style."

Cao Mao scratched his head as this topic was too complex, "Isn't it too early for me to learn anything about dao? I'm struggling to reach the meridian establishment realm, and I don't think I have enough brain capacity to handle complicated and irrelevant stuff."

Jia Shan smacked Cao Mao's head in anger.

"Idiot! The earlier you are conscious of your goal, the faster you progress after the 5th-stage. You need to start searching for your dao right now, or you will get stuck at the 5th-stage like all those trashes forever. Let me ask you this, how many 6th-stage or 7th-stage masters have you met so far?"

Cao Mao counted his fingers. He had seen Xu Xiuying and the 10 elders of Silver Phoenix Sect, but only 2 of them were actually 6th-stage cultivators. On the other hand, he ran into many 4th-stage and 5th-stage cultivators.

"Not many."

"5th-stage is the threshold that separates lazy mediocre cultivators from the talented ones. Remember what the 5th-stage cultivators need to achieve?"

Cao Mao paused to think, but only naked women and boobs came to his mind, "I forgot."

Jia Shan smacked Cao Mao's head again.

"There are two paths at the 5th-stage! Drill this into your head and don't make the same mistake as them! Firstly…"

Jia Shan kept lecturing about the variation of the advancement during the 5th-stage. Most people in the continent skipped the elemental parts and began building dao foundation pillars.

The choice wasn't wrong as many people managed to advance to the 7th-stage and the latter realms this way, and they could form elemental continents in their dantian world later. However, they always found themselves spending more time than the other type of cultivators, who formed elemental continents early.

When one formed elemental continents, they were required to comprehend the nature of various attributes. Thus, they automatically searched for their own dao and sharpened their mind.

As a result, they would be a lot stronger than their peers at the same strength. This was what Jia Shan wanted Cao Mao to become.

"Even though the matter relating to the 5th-stage is irrelevant to you on the surface, in reality, you need to prepare early! Once you can reach the level of being one with the sword, you will learn the basics of metal and blood elements! Being able to use the element power before the 5th-stage is a huge advantage over the others! Remember, don't disregard the far future since it will come back and haunt you faster than you've ever imagined!"

"Then, does my yang fire and yin ice count as an element?"

"Pfft. Don't be conceited. Your fire is the byproduct of yang while ice is the byproduct of yin. If you can use a strand of yin Qi to create a fireball that can melt gold, that's when you can say you can use fire element."

"..."

Jia Shan dropped Cao Mao with a complex lecture since the latter would jump into another realm soon. This little knowledge might be useful if Cao Mao were to run into trouble and couldn't return.

"When you return from the botany realm, I'll spar with you again. Make sure you don't cheat next time."

"I didn't cheat!"

"Yeah, yeah. Well, good luck tomorrow. Don't be greedy and get entangled in an unnecessary fight. Be careful of teleportation arrays in there."

The elder left without realizing that Cao Mao was speaking the truth. He didn't use Qi throughout the sparring match.

After all, Cao Mao practiced many weapon styles from various schools - Qing Swordsmanship, Stripper Swordsmanship, Rakshasa Swordsmanship, and the new techniques he had learned from the system.

_ _

[Basic Information]

Name: Mao Miaomiao (Cao Mao)

Cultivation Rank: 2nd Stage Level 9

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[Physique / Bloodline]

Incomplete Vital Yin Core (7)

Incomplete Orc King Bloodline

Baby Daemon Physique

Aphrodisiac Immunity

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[System Skills]

Isolation Training Space (LV 4/10)

Qing Swordsmanship +20 (MAX)

Wind Slash +20 (MAX)

Shadow Restrain +20 (MAX)

Energy Drain +20 (MAX)

Telekinesis +20 (MAX)

Million Rapier Dance +20 (MAX)

Butterfly Sword Style +20 (MAX)

Iron Wall Sword Fortress +20 (MAX)

Fire Manipulation +20 (MAX)

Cauldron Manipulation +20 (MAX)

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[Self-Learned Skills]

Dual Flame

Vampiric Touch

Goose Tongue

Turtle Breathing

Body Cleansing

Stripper Swordsmanship

Rakshasa Swordsmanship

Rakshasa Spearmanship

Yaksha Archery

Yaksha Fist Technique

Haunting Ghost Footwork

Incomplete Fire Dragon Saber Style

Incomplete Fire Dragon Dance

Incomplete Fire Dragon Skin

Incomplete Avatar Manifestation

_ _

There were many changes as Cao Mao had bought volume 2 of Demonic Body Strengthening and Orc King Sutra. After he mastered both of them, the techniques and the sutra changed into an incomplete bloodline and a baby daemon physique.

In addition, Cao Mao's cultivation base increased by many levels. As he was practicing the three core techniques to complete the 9th tutorial quest, he needed natural resistance abilities from the higher realms.

The next day was another big day. Although Cao Mao didn't expect much in the harvest event, he didn't let his guard down as anything could go wrong.

Alone at night, Cao Mao stood in front of a mirror. He paced his breath as he rubbed his right eyebrow, which had twitched once after Jia Shan had left.

'Don't twitch again. I beg you. If you do it again, I won't join the event.'

Getting nervous, Cao Mao thought of a way to calm himself. He recalled the rookie days before his first ring debut. He was so anxious that he couldn't sleep, so he went out to pick a street hooker. Unfortunately, she drained his stamina, and it affected his ring performance the next day. He won the debut fight though.

Sex was the best stress reliever. Even now, Cao Mao was never tired of having sex.

'Welp. Time to stick it into a hole. Which one should I pick today?'

.

.

.

The next day

Over 10 thousand cultivators gathered in front of Yeet City's main gate today.

The registration of the sect's event was held there as too many participants joined more than everyone had expected. Ju Shoufen and other garden masters sent several strong elders to monitor the crowd.

As there were too many people, chaos ensured. Rogue cultivators began fighting among themselves while people from orthodox sects formed groups and distanced themselves from the others.

Despite the chaos, the number of people slowly decreased after they got through the registration process. They simply paid a certain amount of refined stones to the Myriad Cauldron Sect and walked to a magic circle. Then, they disappeared.

No one panicked or made a fuss. Everyone was aware that the alchemist elders had activated some kind of teleportation arrays, sending them to the other realm.

Soon, a man with a wooden mask got his turn.

"What's your name?" Asked an alchemist elder.

"Xie Tian, senior."

"Your cultivation base is 3rd-stage. That's 10 refined stones."

"I've just broken through. Can't I use the same rate as 2nd-stage ones?"

"No. Ten refined stones or leave. You're wasting my time!"

Xie Tian bitterly paid the stones.

"Walk to the magic circle over there and stand still."

Xie Tian complied with the order. Then, his body faded to nothingness as he joined the botany realm.

An hour later, 300 meters away from Xie Tian's previous location, Cao Mao got his queue to another registration counter.

"What's your name?" The alchemist elder asked the same question.

"Cao Mao, sir."

"Oh? Aren't you our guest? Aren't you the supplier of the red superior healing pills?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, well. You've come to the wrong place. This portal is for outsiders. Our sect's disciples and guests should use the other entrance."

The elder laughed and guided Cao Mao to the city, leaving the crowd behind. Another old alchemist took over the elder's post and resumed the registration process.

As Cao Mao walked closer to the magic circle that everybody had used, his right eyebrow twitched like a rapper song. But once he walked away, the twitching stopped.

'What?'

Cao Mao only glanced at the circle array, where everybody jumped in and disappeared.

Something wasn't right about that portal.

The elder noticed Cao Mao's expression. He grinned and patted his back.

"There's nothing to worry about. Let's go."

"…"