Hidden Moth-Chapter 439 - 248: Practicing the Crane Form with a Bamboo Branch in the Tranquil Courtyard

Chapter 439: Chapter 248: Practicing the Crane Form with a Bamboo Branch in the Tranquil Courtyard

Facing He Kao’s retort, Li Xiuyuan explained leisurely, "If I’m not mistaken, you originally didn’t want too much interaction with Elder Mei and planned to stay as far away as possible; otherwise, you wouldn’t have specifically applied for a long mission outside.

But Elder Mei just asked you if you were willing to learn swordsmanship from her, and you agreed."

He Kao smiled awkwardly, "You’re right, but I truly want to learn."

Li Xiuyuan nodded slightly, "Wanting to stay away from trouble and wanting to learn her swordsmanship, you’ve made a trade-off between the two. I have nothing to say about that, but what happened just now?"

He Kao: "What happened just now?"

Li Xiuyuan: "You clearly know that the affairs of those three people don’t require your involvement, nor should you intervene. You originally didn’t want to care, so why did you change your mind and pursue them using travel divine techniques?

Did you feel embarrassed after gaining their swordsmanship and wanted to repay the favor?"

He Kao: "Maybe that’s the reason."

Li Xiuyuan glared at him, "Speak the truth!"

He Kao: "The truth is it was a moment of thought; I suddenly felt curious and wanted to confirm my judgment, so I went to scout."

Li Xiuyuan: "Those three people don’t need you to investigate, yet you wanted to show off, meddling in other people’s affairs and even using Hidden Moth’s divine techniques; what were you thinking?"

He Kao: "I don’t know either, it’s unclear in the world."

Li Xiuyuan: "How can there be so many things unclear? Curiosity itself isn’t wrong, the desire for knowledge, desire for performance, according to current viewpoints, are all part of the six desires, one must have desires to cultivate.

The first obstacle to entry-level cultivation is ’seeing the desire.’ You should have experienced it long ago, but ’seeing desire and acting openly’ isn’t just a matter of that stage.

There’s more than one disciple of the Magic Sect who’s leaked secrets, but I don’t think everyone intentionally wants to violate the gag order of the Ancestral Hall; some people don’t even have the intention to betray their sect.

Yet they just happen to do these things, maybe they inadvertently let something slip, maybe they treated it lightly, or maybe they couldn’t hold back, or thought privately telling someone else wouldn’t matter.

Even a high-tier sorcerer like you might do such a thing; do you want to expose Hidden Moth’s identity? Of course not! Yet, what did you do?

You’re clearly the closest person to the scene, the one behind the scenes couldn’t possibly not notice you, yet you couldn’t hold back and immediately used Yin Spirit Travel’s divine technique to track those three punks.

This could get noticed by experts.

As long as the distance is close enough, a Tier Six Seat Master from the Qi Observation Sect can detect your presence; as long as you were spying, a Tier Six Illusion Master from the Xingshen Sect could sense your spying.

If you thus exposed Hidden Moth’s divine techniques, you could further expose Hidden Moth’s identity or even lead someone to devise a method against Hidden Moth... Was this your intention?

Why do people act this way? Because their cultivation is not thorough enough! Specifically to your issue, it’s likely due to inadequate fixed thought, which makes your mind restless.

People often praise you for having a meticulous mind? Yet no matter how meticulous the mind is, it can still be careless. To tame the restless mind, thinking more won’t help but starts with cultivating fixed thought."

He Kao was soaked in sweat by his elder’s words, lowering his head further, "Thank you for teaching me, I did indeed not consider enough!"

Li Xiuyuan showed a slightly angry expression, "Were my words just now all in vain? This isn’t a matter of insufficient consideration; no one can possibly think of everything; this is just inadequate cultivation of fixed thought!"

He Kao didn’t argue and quickly said, "Speaking of fixed thought, Wei Luo just told me a while ago that once cultivation reaches a certain level, one must enter long-term meditation to clarify mind and spirit, and she suggested I try it during the Spring Festival holiday, starting with three to five days of long-term meditation."

Li Xiuyuan: "You indeed need to do this, it’s a test of willpower. Only with willpower can there be fixed thought, what if you can’t do it?"

He Kao: "I was about to ask you, how does one cultivate willpower?"

Li Xiuyuan: "Fixed thought can’t be explained too intuitively, but willpower is something visible."

He Kao: "Can it be seen?"

Li Xiuyuan: "My master taught me a very simple little trick, though a bit crude. Fixate on an object, not letting it move at all, no matter what you’re doing, but the object must remain still, for as long as possible."

The crude method taught by Elder Li was indeed simple enough, Tier Three cultivators could use it. Using Object Control Skill to fix an object, it could be very small like a toothpick, it could float in the air, or be placed at an angle without falling.

But one point to note is keeping the object fixed without movement.

After finishing these words, Li Xiuyuan got off the carriage and left, he had specifically come to admonish He Kao. Although He Kao appeared steady, he was actually a bit restless, but it wasn’t surprising; whoever gains Hidden Moth’s abilities would inevitably develop some restless habits.

He Kao didn’t see it, but after getting off the carriage, his elder’s lips lifted slightly, as if couldn’t help but smirk, like someone who succeeded in a mischievous deed.

He Kao further didn’t know the method taught by Elder Li could indeed cultivate fixed thought. However, on the other hand, it’s also a small technique for sorcerers to prevent others from affecting their mind with Spirit Awakening Skill.

This is the main secret transmission of the Xingshen Sect, Elder Li could teach it to him but wouldn’t reveal its true subtlety.

He Kao immediately tried the "little trick" and discovered, using a piece of chess he carried, that it wasn’t easy.

The Object Control Skill is exerted through the Divine Sense, which acts like an extended hand that can make the chess piece float in the air, but even the hand can be unstable at times.

If the Divine Qi and Mana are slightly dispersed and not condensed, or if the person is slightly anxious and impatient, even if the magic is not interrupted and the chess piece still floats in the air, there will still be tiny disturbances, making it difficult to maintain long-term "stability."

Trying it while driving is certainly not a good idea, so He Kao put away the chess piece, planning to continue at home.

He Kao considered Mei Guyu to be troublesome, ultimately because he feared being also watched by others. As Hidden Moth, being watched was truly uncomfortable.

But being Hidden Moth also had an advantage: he could sense when he was being observed.

On the journey from the city across the river back to Pugang Town, He Kao was certain that no one was tracking or observing him, and his mindset gradually relaxed... Mei Guyu had her cultivation, and He Kao had his own.

The newly acquired Sword Control Skill inheritance, along with Elder Li teaching him the clumsy method to cultivate Willpower, were today’s gains and tomorrow’s cultivation. Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly had a mysterious feeling stemming from Floating Colors Grotto Heaven.

This feeling was unlike any he had experienced, yet he naturally understood what it was—someone had cultivated Insect Concealment Skill to breakthrough Tier Four and become a Scholar.

No matter what Technique one is cultivating, breaking through to Tier Four will mystically receive a Grotto Heaven summon; Gu Chun had once described his experiences to He Kao in detail.

Gu Chun was cultivating Alchemy Cauldron Skill back then, and during his university years, he broke through Tier Four Cultivation, mystically sensing a summon from a faraway place amid the heavens and earth.

He later learned it was the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven of the Alchemy Sect, and this summon persisted indistinctly; he could vaguely sense the portal’s position.

This was akin to receiving a form of Divine Thought or awakening a certain memory; he could sense it whenever he wished. It was likely that disciples from the Seven Great Magic Sects would experience similar sensations after breaking through High-tier Cultivation.

He Kao himself had a breakthrough in High-tier experiences, at which time he sensed Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, the expanded form of the so-called Hidden Moth Space.

This Grotto Heaven exists nowhere in reality; He Kao cannot quite say where it is—it can be reached in an instant by means of the Invisibility Ability.

If he were an ordinary Hidden Moth Sect disciple, naturally, he would not have this ability, and could only sense the so-called portal position. The portal of Hidden Moth Space is not fixed; it is the landscape painting.

The landscape painting had been adorned by Ancestor Master Leidunzi with Tan the Immortal’s likeness, becoming the "Tan Xian’s Walking Stick Painting" passed down through the ages.

Now He Kao experienced this matter from a different angle; as Hidden Moth, he was also the master of Hidden Moth Space, sensing the Grotto Heaven’s summons, indicating that someone broke through Tier Four Cultivation of Hidden Moth Skill.

That person’s current feelings must be peculiar—they can sense the existence of Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, but cannot sense the portal position because He Kao took the painting into the Grotto Heaven, making Floating Colors Grotto Heaven a doorless room.

However, He Kao was unconcerned for that person; they should understand the situation, having already visited Floating Colors Grotto Heaven.

Gao Xue’e had not yet entered, nor had Lan Jiwan formally begun practicing Hidden E Technique; at this moment, the only ones to breakthrough Tier Four Cultivation of Hidden E Technique were one of the three Elders.

Elder Li had just met, and the other wasn’t in a state cultivating for breakthrough, so it was either Elder Gu or Elder Jiang... in just a few days, they combined cultivation with breakthrough of Hidden E Technique? Elders are indeed formidable!

Upon arriving home, he immediately sent a message to both Elders: "Was it you who broke through? It’s truly awe-inspiring!"

A little while later, Elder Gu replied: "What did I break through? Such drama!"

He Kao cautiously refrained from mentioning Hidden E Technique’s name, replying simply: "The technique we discussed last time when we met."

Gu Chun: "It’s barely been a week; do you think this is a game where you level up quickly? Who knows if I can even master it!"

Based on his words, he hadn’t even started cultivating, meaning it must be Elder Jiang. Elder Jiang had not responded, perhaps engaged in some Flower Shocking Grotto Heaven connection, or simply disinclined to acknowledge him.

A true Tier Seven Grand Calculator, whom He Kao perceived as having the highest cultivation among sorcerers encountered, he couldn’t help but admire!

After getting home, he had a simple dinner, and once reasonably digested, began practicing Sword Control Skill in the courtyard. Sword Control Skills’ entry-level practice is quite basic; it’s a set named Five Elements Fist Small Frame, called Five Elements rather than Five Forms.

The Five Elements Fist is said to mimic animal movements, and tutorials are available online nowadays. Yet the set Mei Guyu taught differed from modern versions; many moves impossible to emulate or complete.

Small Frame here implies fists are a sword frame, with fists’ footwork cultivating bodily form stepping techniques incorporating sword move basics.

Similar skills were ones He Kao frequently practiced, like the Five Elements Staff Gu Chun taught, used as fist practice though essentially spear techniques. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

However, Five Elements Staff is purely Martial Skill, its further use applicable in cold weapon era cavalry charges, today deemed obsolete. But Sword Control Skill differs; its later practices are infinitely evolving swordsmanship, intensifying in difficulty as cultivation rises.

He Kao already had a foundation, thus skipped the Small Frame stage, starting with a bamboo branch practicing sword technique. First, he needed adeptness in sword form to develop Sword Intent then amalgamate Holding and Controlling Skill.

Holding and Controlling Skill, still involving hand-held sword object, also uses Divine Sense for sword control, a Tier Three Sword Technique. Upon reaching Tier Four, releasing Sword Qi can be attempted.

The basic of entry-level sword techniques is Five Elements Small Frame, where He Kao particularly senses Crane Form; if combined with Elder Gu’s magnificent use of Moth Wings magical treasure, execution should be uniquely agile and graceful...

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