Dual Cultivation God Returns Chapter 8: The Way of the Sword

Although his cultivation base showed no advancement, his physique underwent tremendous enhancement. Given the pitiful condition his body had been in prior, remarkable progress could be attributed solely to that core.

He further employed a profound technique to refine the quality of his Yang Qi for upcoming endeavors. The state of his slumbering dragon also advanced, showing no visible alterations yet promising greater efficacy for future treatments.

With night fallen, he invoked a technique acquired early in his rogue cultivator path, back when sleep was essential but perilous as easy prey. This method enabled slumber while maintaining the body in a primed, alert state with heightened vigilance. Unneeded for Core Formation Realm and beyond, where cultivators forgo sleep, food, and drink entirely, he hadn't employed it in countless ages, though it remained a valuable skill obtained through immense effort.

In lotus position he sat, eyes closed in sleep.

Truthfully, security posed no concern, as beasts were scarce for miles around, and this intense heat repelled most anyway. Fire-aligned ones nearby would clash endlessly with the Scorching Heart Wolves over territory, alerting at any disturbance here.

The wolves, despite low intellect, boasted sharp danger sense and survival instincts, evident in their panicked flight from the encounter—they likely still fled. The initial young male attacker was an outlier, rash from inexperience and youth.

Over the following two days, Wu Long ventured deeper into the spiritual land's heart, yet luck evaded him unlike the first day, yielding nothing beneficial.

During rests, he gathered handfuls of White Spirit Grass casually, amassing a solid quantity for the mission.

Using the jade knife, he severed it precisely at the base, preserving the intact root untouched by metal. In cultivation realms, utterly ruining spiritual treasures was a grave sin, and his sect's tools served exactly this purpose.

Though not scarce and prone to sprouting naturally here, handling medicinal plants with care was ingrained habit for him.

He also gathered a handful of exchangeable ingredients for potential points if required.

Demonic beasts assailing him met swift death, but as mostly 1st tier, they offered no cores—only worthless materials. A Three Horned Bull's meat became barbecue, aiding his body tempering slightly more.

On day four, fortune struck.

Wu Long perched atop a vast cliff wall gazing down at a lower expanse. Amid a rocky clearing rose a mound bearing a vivid blue flower radiating soft azure light. Nearby lounged a high-level 2nd tier Blue Tongue Purple Lizard, its massive form clad in dense purple scales gleaming with metallic sheen.

'Hmm, technique alone won't slice it—the sword lacks sufficient hardness and edge for that hide,' Wu Long mused while eyeing the lizard below.

Highly venomous and thickly armored, the Blue Tongue Purple Lizard defied his sword's quality regardless of finesse; external Spiritual Qi manifestation to empower it lay beyond him, else he'd sever it barehanded effortlessly.

'Sword Intent it is? Taxing on this body though… Must avoid fights right after.'

Decision made, he scouted hours away. The lizard stirred restlessly at the intruder but held back, fearing flower theft in its absence.

Confirming no follow-up threats post-lizard, he entered the clearing.

"Shhhh, shaaa"

Emerging from encircling trees and bushes, the lizard rose with a warning hiss, blue tongue flicking serpent-like.

Wu Long drew his sword with steady calm, shutting his eyes while drawing in a profound breath, showing no concern whatsoever for the lizard.

The creature seized the opening without hesitation, lunging forward with astonishing speed that belied its bulky build.

Just as it closed to within a handful of meters, Wu Long's eyes flashed open, a razor-sharp aura blanketing the area in an instant.

The lizard froze in place, rigid like it had been trapped in timeless ice. An eerie hush fell over the surroundings for a heartbeat, as if every noise had been sliced away and time dragged to an agonizing creep.

Sounds rushed back with a sudden breeze, revealing the lizard's head cleaved perfectly in half, the cut gleaming smooth as polished glass.

Inertia would have hurled any ordinary beast forward upon losing control, yet this lizard's singular leg technique erased all momentum with every stride, instantly reigniting it for the next while keeping its mass perfectly balanced, enabling abrupt halts anywhere without momentum's sway.

This extraordinary motion mastery usually proved an asset, but here it aided its downfall slightly, since Wu Long struck exactly when the lizard nullified its forward drive from one step to launch the next—a mere fraction of a second—heightening his strike's lethal precision.

Sweat drenched Wu Long's frame meanwhile, waves of weakness and throbbing numbness ravaging his muscles. A fierce ache stabbed through his sword arm from fingertips to shoulder and even scapula. Leaning his free hand against a nearby tree for support, he panted heavily.

"Fuuuu…, that was risky"

He murmured with a faint chuckle.

Sword intent didn't hinge strictly on cultivation level or body forging extent; it sprang from profound sword comprehension. Grasping it demanded grueling sword practice beyond imagination or a genius mentor with unmatched teaching prowess and sword insights scaling unimaginable peaks, let alone wielding it.

With his full reservoir of memories, experiences, knowledge, and insights intact, Wu Long wielded it effortlessly.

Yet independence from cultivation or physique didn't mean it spared him strain—in truth, unleashing even sword intent's basest form in Qi Gathering Realm was mad, much less Body Tempering Realm. Still, nothing short of it could breach the lizard's armor. Lacking means to project Spiritual Qi externally, he couldn't amplify his blade's edge via Qi-infused sword arts, forcing this perilous shortcut for a swift kill.

A peculiar look crossed Wu Long's face as he eyed the corpse ahead.

'Not even the whole body, huh?'

He mused, having only bisected its head rather than cleaving it fully asunder.

'Well, at least I won't fret over cultivation spots here—this wretched beast's domain spans wide, scaring off all other creatures from even approaching.'

He slid his sword back into its sheath. Though he resorted to a blade now due to weak cultivation, at his sword mastery pinnacle, sword intent needed no weapon.

Grabbing his dagger, he pressed a palm to a flank scale on the lizard, grunting through lingering body-wide agony to roll it belly-up, exposing vast armor-plated scales beneath. He pried with the dagger along his head wound down the neck to gut, peeling free those massive inner scales.

Reaching a specific belly spot, Wu Long sliced into the flesh, swiftly extracting a white orb laced with purple veins, resembling a lustrous marble.

This was the Blue Tongue Purple Lizard's Neidan, lethally poisonous and typically requiring refinement for use.

He pressed on through the sword intent backlash, still aching and winded. Urgency drove him to harvest fast despite delaying recovery, lest the corpse leech the Neidan's power if left inside longer. Stowing it away, he exhaled in relief, urgent tasks complete.