Looking at the wooden sword, now shattered into pieces, Wang Mu felt a pang of regret. After all, he had personally carved it from a branch of a Sword Locust when he first set out. Though not a magic artifact, it had been a remarkably sharp weapon.

"Body cultivators truly are a bunch of brutes," the Senior Brother sighed. "You're not bad, lad. You should be stronger than me in the future. If it had been me in the Qi Refining Realm back then, I might not have been able to take that last punch of yours."

He added, "This trip out, being able to fight so heartily, was worth it."

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother," Wang Mu said.

Wang Mu also felt it was worthwhile, as it allowed him to understand the power of his Hundred Refinement Body Technique.

During the fight, he sensed that the Senior Brother was clearly holding back. His Cultivation Realm was likely very high. Wang Mu estimated he was at least in the Golden Core Realm and possessed a wealth of combat experience. It was just unclear whether it was due to being confined or some other reason that his Spiritual Power fluctuations were only at the Qi Refining Realm.

"Time to go back," the Senior Brother said, ruffling his messy hair. "Come visit Contemplation Cliff when you're free. If you can't learn the sword techniques and magic of our Sword Sect, or if you're a bit slow in that regard, I can still teach you a few other moves. Hmm, provided I'm sober, of course..."

He continued, "Also, lad, be careful. You're a disciple of Heavenly Sword Peak and a body cultivator. Body cultivators struggle to train their Divine Sense, so their resistance to those demonesses is very low. It's easy to get ensnared when you're out traveling."

"Cultivate more of our Sect's Heart Calming Illusion Sword Technique..." the Senior Brother added offhandedly.

Wang Mu nodded. "Senior Brother, can I just go to Contemplation Cliff whenever I want?"

This should be one of the travel events for Upper Cloud Peak, right? Yet, the Sword Sect's Contemplation Cliff seems to be an off-limits place.

"Of course not," the Senior Brother said.

Wang Mu was speechless. Then how am I supposed to find you?

"So, what should I do?" Wang Mu asked.

"Just commit an infraction," the Senior Brother said with a straight face. "The simplest way is to get yourself enchanted by a demoness. Then, get caught and brought back, and you can come to Contemplation Cliff to keep me company."

Wang Mu was silent again. That's a serious punishment!

"Or," the Senior Brother continued, "you could sneak into the central area of the Sword Sect Holy Land and steal something. That would also violate the Sect's rules, and you'd be sent to Contemplation Cliff..."

That's also a serious punishment! Wang Mu thought.

"Why don't you teach me a few moves now?" Wang Mu suggested with a smile.

"No can do. Our relationship hasn't reached that stage," the Senior Brother said, waving his hand.

Wang Mu was at a loss for words. For a moment, he wanted to say something but couldn't. He had to admit, the Senior Brother had a truly unique personality; his way of thinking and speaking was beyond ordinary comprehension.

Just then, the Senior Brother's expression changed as if he had sensed something. He turned to leave.

"Alright, I'm off!"

With that, he vanished in a flash.

The onlookers were bewildered, wondering why the Senior Brother had left so abruptly.

But it wasn't long before a figure floated down onto the plaza. It was a woman in a black dress.

"Where's that scoundrel?" the woman in the black dress snapped, scanning the surrounding disciples. "Didn't he come out?"

All the disciples present were cowed into silence, unable to speak.

"He ran that way," Wang Mu said, pointing in the direction the Senior Brother had disappeared.

"Good!" The woman in the black dress nodded. "Wang Mu, you're very honest! I'm starting to admire you!"

With that, she too vanished in a flash.

The crowd was speechless.

Watching her retreating figure, Wang Mu thought to himself, There goes another one hopelessly in love.

「Back at Upper Cloud Peak.」

Wang Mu looked at the completed travel entry in his log, feeling quite content.

Now, I should be able to focus on Cultivation for a while.

This month's harvest was still quite bountiful. His wine-making skill was approaching 30. Progress had become extremely difficult, as many types of wine no longer had any effect on him. Only some top-grade wines could still significantly improve his wine-making skill.

However, top-grade wines weren't brewed in large quantities at Alcohol Sword Peak, and generally, only Inner Peak disciples possessed them. Exchanging for such top-grade wines usually started at over a hundred Spirit Stones per jar, making them very precious; prices of several hundred Spirit Stones were common. Moreover, others might not even be willing to trade if your relationship wasn't good enough.

Nevertheless, a wine-making skill of 30 was very high. When drinking and discussing wine with the Outer Peak disciples of Alcohol Sword Peak, hardly anyone could outdrink him. According to these disciples, his wine-making skill was only slightly inferior to that of some Senior Brothers in the Golden Core Realm.

With this wine-making skill, I should barely be able to handle that Divine Monkey Brew...

Of course, Wang Mu hadn't tried it yet, as he only had one jar.

The wines from Alcohol Sword Peak actually had powerful effects. If one's wine-making skill was good enough, drinking a jar could induce a powerful, long-lasting beneficial state, such as increased Spiritual Energy recovery speed or a slight improvement in Divine Sense. The most important aspect was the long duration of these effects. They were an excellent choice for venturing out on expeditions.

In the fifth month, Wang Mu found the Fire Control Technique, essential for artifact refining, in the bamboo hut on Heavenly Sword Peak. Senior Brother Su Yu had gone out on an expedition a month ago and hadn't returned. Who knows if something happened to him out there...

The Fire Control Technique, the most common spell in the Cultivation World.

Its principle involved channeling Spiritual Power to combine with the Five Elements Fire Spirit naturally present in the world, thereby creating a spirit flame with controllable temperature. This spirit flame could be used for artifact refining, alchemy, illumination, incineration, and more. It was an essential technique for both daily life and travel.

However, because the spirit flame's temperature was controlled by Spiritual Power, the flame produced by cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm, even when they had perfected the technique, could hardly be used to refine mid-grade or higher elixirs or magic artifacts. If the spirit flame's temperature wasn't high enough, many mid-grade or higher materials couldn't be melted. Consequently, mid-grade or higher elixirs or magic artifacts couldn't be refined.

Unless one possessed a top-grade fire Spirit Root, in which case casting such spells would naturally be more potent, allowing them to refine impressive elixirs or magic artifacts surpassing the limitations of their Cultivation Realm.

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