Hidden Moth-Chapter 451 - 256: Since Ancient Times, What Has Ever Awakened the Spirit?

He Kao initially wrote an automatic crawling program to collect various related information online, using the company’s AI platform to organize many so-called secret manuals.

Can these manuals actually be used for cultivation? Let’s just say that almost all of them are either hahahaha or totally unreliable. Some content comes from various cultivation websites and forums, while others are simply extracted from novels.

He Kao eventually chose a set of secret techniques to try cultivating, and the result was the Foundation Establishment Technique of the Insect Concealment Skill... How could it be such a coincidence? It was Jiang Daozhen and Li Xiuyuan who played tricks.

Among the many secret techniques He Kao compiled, two of them actually came from the book "Divine Travel" by Zhang Jingu; one was the Inner Elixir Skill, and the other was the Dream Observation Yin Spirit Skill.

The secret techniques were mostly excerpts from paragraphs in the book, surprisingly including cultivation experiences and insights from various realms. The AI also supplemented non-existent content, making it seem legitimate.

Just recently, He Kao specifically found and read this book, especially interested in the "Dream Observation Yin Spirit" secret technique described in it, because he had just grasped the Consciousness Detachment Divine Technique, which is very similar to the Yin Spirit Travel described in the book.

But it’s only similar; it’s not the same thing, and it’s not even the same system, just similar methods, with many different details... After all, it’s just a novel.

Zhang Jingu’s situation was different from He Kao’s. He received secret technique teachings in his youth. However, his master left early, and no one could guide him, so he kept consulting various materials and learning all kinds of knowledge to recharge himself.

After entering cultivation, he was convinced of the authenticity of secret technique cultivation, and he also loved reading online novels about immortals and cultivation... But why did he happen to bring this book with him today?

Because it tells a story of cultivation in a contemporary setting, in an era Zhang Jingu experienced, with many locations described that have corresponding places in reality.

The most important reason is that it aligns with Zhang Jingu’s imagination of the world of immortal cultivation.

It’s heard that He Kao has also read this book, Zhang Jingu was excited, and opened several folded pages, saying, "I’ve been to Wucheng several times; it’s not far from Qi Yuan. Look at these people, these secret techniques, these sects described in the book.

I found the Champion Scholar Bridge, found the Dragon Head Tower, discovered Zhaoting Mountain... but couldn’t find Qingwu Grotto Heaven, nor the Divine Wood Forest, not even the Three Dreams Sect or the Zhengyi Sect, let alone Shiye and Feng Junzi!"

He was referring to the locations, sects, and characters in the book.

He Kao smiled wryly, "Isn’t it normal that you couldn’t find them? If you could find all of these, then the world would really be out of whack!"

Zhang Jingu: "But according to the book’s description, many things happened here, and there’s one Grotto Heaven Secret Realm at Plum Blossom Mountain on the outskirts of Qi Yuan..."

He Kao waved his hand, "I just read it recently, and it’s called the Plum Blossom Holy Realm."

Zhang Jingu: "As a local of Qi Yuan, have you found the Plum Blossom Holy Realm, and have you seen any cultivators coming and going from that grotto heaven? To be honest, I first came to Qi Yuan ten years ago to look for the Plum Blossom Holy Realm, but found nothing."

He Kao couldn’t help but chuckle, "They say art comes from life and rises above life, literary works can be based on reality, but they are not reality itself.

"To untie the bell, one must first know how to tie it. You came to Qi Yuan ten years ago looking for the Plum Blossom Holy Realm, and now you’re here to find me again. You’d be better off asking the book’s author..."

Zhang Jingu: "Of course, I thought of that as well! I joined the reader group and later participated in an offline book fan gathering. I even drank with the author and directly asked him when we were quite tipsy."

He Kao: "What did he say?"

Zhang Jingu, somewhat disappointed, replied, "The author said—it’s just a novelist’s fiction, can’t be taken seriously... No, his exact words were—whatever you do, don’t take it seriously!"

He Kao got intrigued and asked, "Then did you ask about the secret techniques and formulas mentioned in the book?"

Zhang Jingu took a sip of his drink, put down the cup, and said, "Of course, I asked. The author said he made them up, and even said you could find numerous cultivation techniques compiled by ancients in libraries, with compilations by monks and Daoists. So why can’t he make them up?

My Spirit Awakening Skill is quite accomplished, so I know he wasn’t lying."

He Kao burst into laughter, "Interesting... In that case, why are you still asking me?"

Zhang Jingu, somewhat anxious, said, "You still don’t get what I mean, I’m not puzzled about why the things in the book are made up, but rather—if there really are secret techniques in the world, what would they look like?"

This question actually left He Kao stunned, and he couldn’t help but set down his drink, deep in thought.

Zhang Jingu continued, his tone a bit hurried, "If secret technique cultivation truly exists in the world, with various cultivation realms and divine techniques, it should look like what’s described in the book, not the way we see things now!"

He Kao instinctively asked, "What’s wrong with the way things are now?"

Zhang Jingu: "Have you ever seen a cultivator outside of the Magic Sects? Or to phrase it differently, have you ever seen a cultivator outside the lineages of the Magic Sects?

If secret technique cultivation truly exists, then there shouldn’t just be cultivators from the Magic Sects in the world, there should be many other cultivation sects, with various cultivation factions, and numerous secret realms. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Even if I previously had limited knowledge, from what you’ve just described, there are only Seven Great Magic Sects in the world, plus the newly uncovered Hidden Moth Sect, making it Eight Great Magic Sects.

Yet these Eight Great Magic Sects share the same origin, even us independent cultivators have lineages that trace back to these Eight Great Magic Sects.