CHAPTER 352: CHAPTER 352: LURKING_1

Inside the Sword Tomb, Shen Mo had used his powerful soul to memorize every detail and rune on the magic altar.

He was not proficient in the Array Path, so he could only resort to this clumsy method.

In this way, he didn’t need to understand its operating principles. He would imprint the relevant memories into Horse Groom Lv’s Soul Body, allowing it to replicate a magic altar in the future by meticulously copying the design!

The Taiyi Sword Alliance is indeed not weaker than my Riverside Sect!

Holding the Soul Refining Flag, Shen Mo made a general assessment of this sect’s strength through the investigative feedback from Horse Groom Lv.

It could not sense cultivators at the Golden Core Realm and above... Therefore, Shen Mo could not determine the number of powerful cultivators at the Golden Core Realm or higher within the Taiyi Sword Alliance.

However, based on the ratio of Golden Core Realm to Spirit Sea Realm cultivators among the Five Great Sects, this sect definitely possessed experts who had reached these realms.

After leaving the altar, Horse Groom Lv detected more than thirty cultivators at the middle-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm or higher within a hundred-mile radius.

As for early-stage Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, their numbers were fewer, only about a dozen!

They might have been out on training expeditions, carrying out missions, or cultivating in other areas.

In addition, the Taiyi Sword Alliance seemed to lack the distinctions found in the Riverside Sect, such as outer disciples, inner disciples, and Three Peaks disciples.

All the Sect Disciples, whether at the early stage of the Body Tempering Realm or the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, were mixed together, appearing quite chaotic and disorderly.

Compared to the Riverside Sect, which had one hundred thousand outer disciples, the Taiyi Sword Alliance had far fewer Body Tempering Realm disciples; the number was likely less than five thousand.

However, even those who had just entered the Body Tempering Realm possessed admirable Proficiency in Swordsmanship, their auras as sharp as a sword!

And the number of disciples at the Qi Gathering Realm level was clearly twice that of the Riverside Sect’s inner disciples.

The Taiyi Sword Alliance, like the Heaven Sword Sect, seems to follow the elite route! Shen Mo thought to himself.

The Heaven Sword Sect did not have many disciples; when recruiting, besides criteria like Talent and disposition, they also had requirements for aptitude in the Sword Path.

This was unlike the Riverside Sect’s Outer Door, which accepted anyone for cultivation as long as they weren’t evil cultivators or disciples from other sects.

Of course, once they became peripheral disciples, they were generally left to their own devices.

Whether they continued to cultivate or left the sect to mingle in the mundane world was largely ignored, and cultivation resources had to be earned through their own efforts.

Only by advancing to the Qi Gathering Realm and becoming an inner disciple could one truly be considered a cultivator of the Riverside Sect!

Since the circumstances of each sect differed, one could not simply or crudely determine which method of cultivating disciples was superior or inferior.

Disciples from Sects like the Taiyi Sword Alliance and the Heaven Sword Sect were naturally more skilled in the Sword Path. But the Riverside Sect also managed to sift gold from sand, training Sword Path experts like the Female Sword Immortal and Shen Mo.

However, Shen Mo was certain of one point: The overall strength of the Taiyi Sword Alliance likely surpassed that of any single one of the Five Great Sects in the Red Flame Country!

Of course, if it truly came down to a life-and-death battle between two sects, the victor could only be determined after an actual fight.

It was just like a battle between two cultivators; judging solely by their Cultivation Realm was not always reliable. One also had to consider factors such as magic, Skills, magic artifacts, talismans, and so on.

"How unlucky! It took so much effort to earn a chance to use the altar, only for an accident to happen. Who knows when the next opportunity will come?"

A Sword Alliance disciple, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties yet had a large patch of white hair, was walking away from the altar toward his cave mansion.

His name was Yang Chengxiong, and his cultivation had reached Layer V of the Qi Gathering Realm.

Through relentless effort, he had finally accumulated enough merit to gain an opportunity to use the Comprehend Sword Altar.

However, when he rushed excitedly to the altar, Elder Xing, who was presiding there, informed him that an enemy had infiltrated the connected Sword Tomb Dungeon. He would have to wait for some time before he could offer his magic sword and comprehend his own sword intent.

Yang Chengxiong wanted to ask Elder Xing for a favor, but with a sweep of his sleeve, he was thrown three miles away.

At this moment, Yang Chengxiong still felt pain all over his body, as if he were about to fall apart.

"Well, well! Isn’t this Junior Brother Yang?"

As he was passing by a riverbank, Yang Chengxiong was stopped by three fellow sect cultivators.

Two of them were at Layer VI of the Qi Gathering Realm, and the other had even reached Layer VII, already a late-stage Qi Gathering Realm cultivator!

"Junior Brother Yang, when you went to the Comprehend Sword Altar, did you manage to grasp your own unique sword intent?" the one with the highest cultivation asked. He seemed concerned about Yang Chengxiong, but his tone was filled with contempt and disdain.

Where there are people, there are disputes!

Yang Chengxiong had once competed with this disciple, named Wang Gai, for a spiritual medicine, and Wang Gai had held a grudge ever since.

Unfortunately, his Talent was inferior to Wang Gai’s. After Wang Gai advanced to the late-stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, he would come looking for trouble with Yang Chengxiong every few days!

"There was a problem with the Comprehend Sword Altar. I’ll go back in a few days to comprehend my sword intent," Yang Chengxiong replied quickly, not wanting to start a conflict with them, and then quickened his pace.

However, Wang Gai did not want to let him off so easily.

The Taiyi Sword Alliance did not prohibit private fights among disciples. As long as no one was killed or crippled, the sect would not pursue the matter.

"What could possibly go wrong with the Comprehend Sword Altar? Don’t tell me you failed to comprehend any sword intent and just made up an excuse to fool us?"

Wang Gai’s figure flashed, blocking Yang Chengxiong’s path. He paused, then added, "I kindly inquired about you, yet you treat me with such disrespect. It seems like you’re itching for a beating after not getting one for three days, huh?"

CLANG!

A sword hummed.

Yang Chengxiong drew his magic sword, its tip pointed directly at Wang Gai. "If you want to fight, then let’s fight! Why bother looking for excuses? Unless you kill me, don’t even think about making me submit to you!"

His fighting spirit was commendable, but unfortunately, his cultivation was inferior.

Wang Gai and his two companions rushed forward together. In just a few moves, they knocked Yang Chengxiong’s magic sword away and then pinned him down, pummeling him relentlessly.

Just then, the spiritual level Dao sword hanging in the central hall of the Taiyi Sword Alliance suddenly shot into the sky.

Streams of clear Sword Light, like the brilliance of the sun and moon, illuminated the entire sect.

It shone on Yang Chengxiong, Wang Gai, and the others, feeling just like ordinary sunlight or moonlight, and didn’t affect them in the slightest.

But just a hundred zhang away from them, an illusory figure was revealed by the Sword Light.

Wang Gai, who was busy punching and kicking Yang Chengxiong, felt his vision blur for a moment. The illusory figure then vanished, as if it had been a trick of the eye.

"Did you see anything?" Wang Gai asked his two companions.

"No!"

"Alright, let’s continue. If I don’t beat the crap out of this kid, I’ll write my surname Wang backward!"

However, they didn’t notice that Yang Chengxiong’s expression had changed, as if he had become a different person. Yet, even he himself was unaware of this transformation.

Inside the Sword Tomb Dungeon, Shen Mo breathed a sigh of relief.

Earlier, the Demon Soul General Horse Groom Lv had almost been exposed by the radiance of the Spirit Sword.

Fortunately, Yang Chengxiong, Wang Gai, and other Taiyi Sword Alliance disciples were nearby. Shen Mo, not bothering to be selective, directly controlled Horse Groom Lv to use its Possession Skill and attach to Yang Chengxiong.

Originally, his preferred target was Wang Gai, but Wang Gai had comprehended his own sword intent, making possession difficult.

The same was true for Wang Gai’s two companions. Although the sword intent they had comprehended was relatively crude, it wouldn’t be easy to possess them without triggering resistance from their sword intent.

Having no other choice, Shen Mo had to select Yang Chengxiong, who was currently being beaten. This young man had not comprehended any sword intent and thus had weaker resistance to the Possession Ghost’s Skill.

As for the Demon Soul General Horse Groom Lv, Shen Mo had already engraved all the details of the ancient array into its Soul Body.

Using the Soul Refining Flag, he issued a single directive: it was not to act rashly but to lie low. If an opportunity arose, it was to cautiously use Yang Chengxiong to build the ancient array for the magic altar.

As for whether any complications would arise without the blood flag’s control, Shen Mo could only leave it to Fate!