Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 510: Self-Taught Genius

The Taciturn Daoist Priest sighed. Lu Yang is truly my dear disciple. He could cook up something like the Heavenly Court Creed without anyone teaching him.

Back at the Golden Core Stage, I only sabotaged and scammed fellow Golden Core cultivators. Yet here is Lu Yang, also at the Golden Core Stage, already duping the full spectrum—from Transcendent Tribulation old ancestors and three Great Diabolic Creeds to low-level cultivators and common folk. His ability to manipulate everyone from all walks of life is genuinely astonishing.

Originally, I’d planned to secretly pass down my entire arsenal of deception arts to Lu Yang behind Yun Zhi’s back. But now, it seems unnecessary.

I’m his shifu, yet I can’t pass on my proudest skills—I can’t tell whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate.

“Since I’m a heavenly king protector, it’s only right that I contribute to our creed,” the Taciturn Daoist Priest declared with a strong sense of duty, eager to capitalize on his talents. “I can spread word of our creed in the outside world.”

“No,” Fourth Elder immediately vetoed the proposal. “Your infamy in the cultivation world spreads far and wide. You’re like a rat scurrying through the streets; everyone wants to take a swing at you. Mortals and low-to-mid-level cultivators might not know you, but which high-level cultivator doesn’t recognize you?

“When you were promoting our sect in the outside world, your main audience was mortals and low-to-mid-level cultivators. But the Heavenly Court Creed’s goal is to deceive our enemies hiding in the dark, all of whom are high-level cultivators. If we have you as the face of our publicity, it would only undermine our credibility.”

The Taciturn Daoist Priest, “...”

Setting aside those heavily subjective and objective assessments, I have to admit Old Four has a point.

Eighth Elder added, “In my opinion, the Heavenly Court Creed should refrain from public appearances for now. Frequent visibility would make others suspect us of putting on an act. The superior strategy is to remain unseen and let our enemies rely on scraps of information to speculate and imagine how formidable our Heavenly Court Creed is.”

The less information they have, the more our enemies’ imaginations will run wild. Moreover, the Heavenly Court Creed’s strength is undeniable. Even if we don’t act, people would misinterpret it as us operating some grand scheme in the dark. The ones sweating will be our foes. As the Taciturn Daoist Priest’s first mentor, Eighth Elder had his unique philosophy on the art of deception.

While Lu Yang listened to the elders debate, he was struggling to keep the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s increasingly inflated ambitions in check within his mental space.

“Hey hey! Your shifu’s back! Quick, tell him to hand over the position of sect leader to me!” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy excitedly smacked the edge of her bed, urging Lu Yang to reveal his treacherous ambitions and usurp power.

“Immortal Fairy, that would be difficult.”

“What’s difficult about it? Your shifu doesn’t look like he wants to be sect leader.”

“The issue doesn’t lie with my shifu, but with Big Senior Sister. She’s held the sect’s reins for eleven years and has long been intoxicated by authority, unwilling to let go of power so easily. Letting you serve as acting sect leader twice was merely her way of taking a break. Even if my shifu steps down, she’s the most likely successor.”

“Then what do we do?”

“As long as you defeat Big Senior Sister, the sect leader position is ours for the taking!” Lu Yang had no choice but to intervene. He was worried that if he actually dared suggest becoming the sect leader, his shifu might really hand the position over without hesitation.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy nodded, finding Lu Yang’s reasoning sound. “No need to rush this matter. It’s not that I fear Lass Yun, but because I think she’s doing a pretty good job for now. Once I’ve recovered my power and returned to my peak, I’ll contend for the position of sect leader!”

“You are amazingly shrewd, far-sighted, and tenacious, Immortal Fairy. Your talents will undoubtedly shine brightly in the Dao-Seeking Sect.”

“I think so too,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy concurred.

The Heavenly Court Creed’s impromptu meeting concluded swiftly. Frankly, there wasn’t much to discuss beyond informing the Taciturn Daoist Priest, who was already a member but didn’t know it himself.

After the meeting, the Taciturn Daoist Priest called Lu Yang. “Little Yang, stay a while.”

“Shifu, is something the matter?”

The Taciturn Daoist Priest placed his horsetail whisk on his arm and stroked his white beard. “It’s nothing major. I just felt like I’ve never properly taught you since taking you as my disciple. Now’s a good chance to teach you how to comprehend the Sword Dao.”

Lu Yang was overjoyed. While many in the sect were familiar with sword spells, few were truly proficient. Lu Yang’s sword moves were rudimentary, and his comprehension of the Sword Dao had essentially relied on his innate talent.

Despite being master and disciple for two years and both bearing Sword Spirit Roots, formal lessons only began now.

“Show me your swords.”

Lu Yang drew the Qingfeng Sword and the Mingyue Sword.

“You keep your swords in your identity jade tablet?”

“Is there a problem?” Lu Yang was bewildered. He had seen other cultivators do the same. Is a sword cultivator supposed to maintain close contact with his sword and tend to it meticulously to make it easier to wield in battle?

“There’s a big problem. At your age, I often faced ambushes. To counter them, I always kept my sword on me. If I’d stowed it away like you do, wouldn’t that have made me react slower in times of danger?”

“Was Great Xia’s public order that terrible in your youth?” Lu Yang was stunned. Since entering the world of cultivation, he had never been ambushed. I didn’t expect things to be so chaotic in Great Xia two thousand years ago.

“Although others say Great Xia’s public order was just as great as it is now, based on personal experience, it was absolute chaos then!”

“Did you report the ambushes to the authorities then?”

“It was too complicated. I usually didn’t report to the authorities.”

Lu Yang could understand him. Such is the darkness of officialdom.

“How was it complicated?”

“Mainly because I’d ambushed them first. Taking it to the authorities wouldn’t do anything good for us both.”

Lu Yang, “...”

The Taciturn Daoist Priest took the sword. Both blades slid halfway from their sheaths, and the gleaming light happened to reflect directly into his eyes.

He lavished praise on the two swords. “Good swords! One was gifted by Little Yun, who added seals to it for you, and the other was carefully forged by Old Five.”

His horsetail whisk had been crafted by Fifth Elder. Though it appeared to be a nondescript horsetail whisk, it actually encompassed countless sword qi to catch opponents off guard.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest reluctantly returned the swords to Lu Yang. Little Yun is really biased. No matter how many times I’d begged for the Qingfeng Sword, she refused to give it to me.

“Perform your sword moves. Let’s assess your progress.”

“Yes.”

The sword’s hilt aligned with his chest, sword qi swirling along the blade like a coiling dragon wrapped around a pillar, its momentum like a soaring rainbow.

With a loud cry, Lu Yang rotated his wrists, and his swords moved like a startled swan—swift, fierce, and unstoppable.

Breaking Word Mantra, Pointing Word Mantra, Flicking Word Mantra... Foundational sword moves came alive in Lu Yang’s hands, connecting seamlessly into one fluid motion.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest, “...”

...Is this really a level one can achieve through self-study?

He felt the results couldn’t have been better even under his personal tutelage.

Lu Yang sheathed his swords and placed the Qingfeng Sword vertically behind his back before bowing slightly to the Taciturn Daoist Priest.

“Shifu, is there anything in my sword moves you think needs improving?”

Lu Yang was on tenterhooks. I’d taught myself all my sword moves. Although I’m satisfied with them, maybe it’s riddled with flaws in Shifu’s eyes.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest paused for a moment before saying earnestly, “Next time, remember to leave a few flaws in your sword moves for me to point out.”