The Jinxiu Continent finally regained its peace.

The result might not be satisfactory for both sides, but there is no other option. This wasn't a well-thought-out beast tide, or rather, no one has been able to truly understand what is hidden behind the beast tide?

Before parting ways, the Daoist Tianfeng reminded him, "I heard that the Southeast Daoist Sect captured an outer space Demon Beast during the battle in the Northwest."

Hou Niao raised an eyebrow, "I wondered why they seemed so satisfied; now it's clear."

Tianfeng said indifferently, "Don't underestimate them. Their true intentions are often hidden deep; it's not coincidental but a result of meticulous planning. Thousands of cultivators making a sudden attack, countless deaths, all to create an opportunity to approach that Demon Beast for them."

Hou Niao glanced at him, "You also have such an opportunity."

Tianfeng left with disdain.

… The continent quieted down, the Southwest also quieted down, and Dushan likewise became calm. This great battle lasted for half a year, with the sword cultivators first venturing into the sea, then fighting in the Northeast, Northern Territory, and Northwest. After this round of battles, each person underwent a transformation.

There weren't many hard battles; in fact, the real risk was only at the initial battle on the Ying Platform. The rest were smooth sailing. Yet even so, it brought a great shock to the young sword cultivators.

Their sword formations were practiced frequently, but only those formations that have gone through life-and-death combat are true sword formations. When everyone returned, countless improvements, shortcomings, and suggestions naturally formed a wave of fervent sword training at Dushan, without Hou Niao needing to lead them personally.

The goal is one: how to be sharper, faster, and more effective in future battles.

Hou Niao merely proposed a framework; the specific content within needs to be filled by the sword cultivators. This is the meaning of this battle.

The operation of Dushan began to slowly lean towards cultivation, sword formation, returning to the pace of a normal sect; as for construction, only Master Wu led a group to meticulously refine it.

The theft of the Grotto Heaven during Dushan's grand ceremony served as a wake-up call for everyone; Master Yang delved into researching the various defensive formations of the Mountain Gate, while Master Wu planned to start from construction, and Master Xu of the Shaking Light Sword Palace focused on improving the systems, each busy with their own tasks, leading to a fulfilling life.

Hou Niao also settled down, continuing his own cultivation. Since returning from Hell Star, he hadn't had the chance for a quality battle. It seemed people intentionally or unintentionally forgot how Constellation Hou made his name.

The messengers from the Upper Realm had strong self-control in this aspect and disdained such pure personal life-and-death struggles, bearing an air of the Upper Realm's Daoist tradition. But he knew this wasn't true; the reason everyone exercised restraint was simply that they believed the time was not yet right.

Sister Yue Duo had once told him that in the Universe Cultivation World, seven or eight out of ten times, problems ultimately had to rely on personal strength. Over millions of years, this had never changed.

However, in today's Jinxiu Continent, with the barrier fifty years ahead, anyone with a bit of strategy would hide themselves deeply, waiting for the moment of profound accumulation or sudden ascension.

He was the same; the less challenged he was, the more he felt his accumulation was insufficient.

Returning to his chamber, he now had a very urgent task, which was to convert the Golden Element experience gained on Blue Mountain Island into an understanding of the Gold Element. Initially on Blue Mountain Island, his time with the Golden Spirit Pearl was limited, determined by many factors that meant he couldn't linger long. When he left, the three Five Elements Pearls had already disappeared without a trace, and it was uncertain if he would have the opportunity to meet them again.

The Five Elements of Gold is often simply understood by many as making a flying sword sharper from this direction. Such thinking is very one-sided; the Five Elements are called Five Elements because they form an indispensable whole. The sharpness of gold is just a negligible part of it, and he had already moved beyond this immature concept.

Now is the time to add another dimension to his Five Elements Mysterious Light.

Cultivation knows no age, immersing slowly and forgetting worldly troubles.

......

Half a year later, the annual sword granting ceremony began once more.

The sword granting ceremony at last year's Dushan grand event still lingered fresh in everyone's memory. A full three hundred flying swords stirred everyone's spirits. It's uncertain how many flying swords the sect will bring out this time?

The rules remain the old rules: disciples of the Sword Sect themselves, regardless of whether they are Foundation Establishment or Golden Core, can participate; if they are external cultivators, there is a rank requirement, at least at the Golden Core level, with certain qualification assessments.

Simply put, those utterly reprehensible cultivators have no chance, and the original Sikong Mansion of the Sword Sect has very detailed records on this. While identifying all Foundation Establishment cultivators on the continent is impossible, it's mostly feasible for the considerably fewer Golden Core cultivators.

The reason there is teaching without distinction is still due to a scarcity of talent.

Given the unpredictable future of the Jinxiu Continent, strengthening the Daoist tradition and broadly collecting talents is what every Daoist tradition is doing, overtly or covertly. Poaching and enticing talent are common nowadays and have long been unremarkable over the past ten years.

The arrival of messengers from the Upper Realm has further exacerbated such events, for instance, when a certain Daoist tradition welcomed a preacher, not all cultivators within the tradition were willing to tread this path, especially those who already achieved something, with a set direction, or a stubborn temper. Such individuals often develop different thoughts; they envy other traditions' Upper Realm inheritances as they seem more fitting to them?

In the path of cultivation, suitability is crucial. It ensures that one can do more with less effort, leading to a bright future. If one continues down an undesirable and unsuitable path, it could be extremely troublesome, likely achieving nothing in the end, directly affecting strength and possibly future longevity.

In such a context, while many people are bound by sect rules and gratitude and cannot leave casually, many choose not to care about anything for the sake of advancement.

Cultivation, ultimately, is a personal affair. Sects not considering them in inheritance choices cannot blame these individuals for leaving, which is a vexing phenomenon on the continent these years: switching sects happens frequently.

Moreover, it's becoming increasingly severe! Once some take the lead and eat the crab, others follow the trend, gradually forming a culture where after inheriting from the Upper Realm, reemployment becomes fashionable.

With such incidents occurring frequently, it becomes unmanageable. The cultivation world on the continent has tens of thousands of Golden Cores, even if only ten percent entertain such thoughts, it adds up to a truly terrifying number, impossible to guard against.

Every Daoist tradition is desperately poaching others, while protecting its foundation. The result is both imports and exports exist. Ultimately, they found little difference inside and out, gradually relaxing requirements in this aspect and ceasing to brand traitors, let alone pursuing them across the continent.

There are signs that the inheritance is becoming fluid.

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