A few days later.
Inside the cave mansion, Lü sat cross-legged on a Zafu, his right hand performing a Dao Finger Gesture. At his fingertips, a point of light appeared and expanded, then transforming into a flying white-bone sword, as thin as a cicada's wing.
The sword was bluish-white, and when it resonated, it echoed with the sound of thunder.
"Go!"
Lü flicked his fingers, and the Flying Sword shot forth, trailing a magnificent arc of sword-light, roaring through the sky like thunder rolling across the heavens.
"What a sword technique!"
Seeing this, Lü's face immediately showed a bit of delight. Then as he changed the Daoist hand seals, the flying sword instantly split into two in the air.
The next second, Lü's figure disappeared from his original place, as if teleporting, and reappeared where one of the sword lights was located. As the Daoist hand seals changed, his figure seemed to transform into a bolt of lightning, kept blinking between the two swords, appearing by one blade only to reappear by the other in the next instant.
After a long while, Lü finally stopped his actions, looking excited.
"Good! The Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery is truly remarkable!"
The sword technique was straightforward: once mastered, it allowed the cultivator to generate streaks of sword-light—and then instantly shift their position into the very beams. The greater one's cultivation, the farther this teleportation carried them.
If the head of the Sword Pavilion used it personally, he could remain seated in his base and still, with a single sword-light step, traverse ten thousand miles to take an enemy's head with effortless ease.
And that was only the technique's basic application.
Further refinement was said to manifest true Thunder from the Supreme Heaven within the sword-light itself. Unfortunately, that part of the technique lay beyond Lü Yang's reach—not because he failed to milk it out of the woman, but because she herself did not know it.
However, this was perfectly normal. If it were the complete Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery, there's no way it would cost only a thousand contribution points—ten thousand might barely be enough.
"Hmph, you idiot!"
A cold laugh came from behind, and Lü turned his head, only to see the woman looking at him with disdain and disgust.
After spending several days together, Lü had gained a deeper understanding of her.
The woman was named Yun Miaoqing, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Sword Pavilion. She was once a disciple of the Perfected Supreme Heaven, primarily cultivating the Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery, and had reached the Sixth Level of Qi Refining.
Lü looked at Yun and curiously asked, "Did I use the sword technique incorrectly?"
Yun heard this and turned her head aside, "Do you think I'd tell you? Demon, even if you steal my sword technique, you are just copying it blindly!"
"Is that really necessary?"
Lü shook his head, stepped up to Yun, and gave her a helpless look.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me? Or… are you trying to force me to use that again?"
"Th–that…"
Yun's gaze locked onto him.
"It's just that demonic art. Do you think I'd yield to it?"
"Funny you say that," Lü replied, pointing at the marks on her chest. "But you already yielded once… didn't you?"
"You—! I didn't!"
Her lips tightened in humiliation as she glanced down at the mark on her body.
"That time… you only succeeded because I was at my weakest!"
After speaking, she clenched the pendant around her neck.
It was a small white-jade sword, an artifact used only by Sword Pavilion disciples—essentially their version of Lü's disciple token.
"I am a disciple of the Sword Pavilion, and I will never coexist with you Demonic Daoists!"
"No matter how strong your demonic art is... I'll never submit to it."
"My loyalty to the Sword Pavilion will absolutely never waver."
"I swear on my sword!"
When the words fell, Yun clenched her silver-white teeth and fixed Lü with a resolute gaze—like a lotus rising unstained from the mud.
...
Another day had passed—another day she felt claimed.
Inside the cave mansion, Lü sat cross-legged on a Zafu, with his soles, palms, and the crown of his head facing upward toward the sky.
After a long time, Lü heaved a heavy breath.
"You have actually already mastered the Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery quite well; there are no major issues. Even if there are problems, they lie in external things..."
Yun said weakly.
Under Lü's severe hands-on interrogation, she finally begged for mercy. When Lü asked her again, she just gave a snort and then obediently said:
"Disciples of our Sword Pavilion, once entering the Qi Refining Stage, will use a Secret Technique to extract Gold Essence, supplemented with various medicines, to craft a sword pill. All sword techniques in the Sword Pavilion requires the sword pill's assistance to unleash full power; the higher the quality of the sword pill, the greater the techniques' power."
Through Yun's explanation, Lü finally understood:
'Now when using the Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery, he can only produce two sword lights, and though the speed is high, the power is insufficient.
However, if he has the sword pill to aid him, the quantity of sword lights he can produce will at least double.
Moreover, he can also fuse with the sword pill, bursting with astonishing slashes while maneuvering among the sword lights, which will give him an overwhelming advantage in combat.
Once his opponent is surrounded by sword lights, it's like falling into his trap. And regardless of what means his opponent employs, he can easily evade, attacking from another direction. After several rounds, the opponent will naturally expose a fatal flaw, at which point he can deliver a powerful slash, and the opponent will basically be inescapable.'
"That's why us Sword Pavilion disciples top the south in combat!"
Saying this, Yun's face instantly showed pride.
"Demon, you..."
Lü stood up, "So the difference lies in the sword pill. I also know how to craft one... hmm, there's nothing more for you; go and rest."
Yun: "???"
Is he kidding? It's over just like that?
"Isn't there another round of interrogation?"
The next moment, she suddenly regained her senses, instinctively clutching the sword around her neck, "No, it's fine like this... I am after all a disciple of the Sword Pavilion..."
.....
"I need to earn money."
Walking out of the cave mansion, Lü began contemplating the future.
"I've only got fifty contribution points left. After paying this month's cave-residence fee—another thirty points—if I don't earn something soon, I'll have to move back into the Yin-Yang Unity Hall."
In the Stain Sect, there were plenty of ways to earn contribution points besides sect missions, including:
holding various paid posts within the sect, selling one's own items, collecting bounties for completed requests.
"But for someone like me—no connections, no assets, no real strength—I can't get any sect posts without backing, most of my belongings aren't worth anything, and I'm not strong enough to take on the high-reward bounties. All I can do is keep taking sect missions… basically doing gig work for the sect just to scrape by."
The more Lü Yang thought about it, the more irritated he became.
I'm a cultivator now… and I still have to work?