Demon Sword Sect's Undercover-Chapter 803 - 802 Grassland Weather

The Northern Territory is the largest of the five regions on the Jinxiu Continent. The Daoist sects here are quite complex, with various forces intertwined and no single sect dominating. The power balance is maintained.

Regarding the Daoist Sect, the Yan Sect and Zhao Sect are among the larger ones, lagging behind the Southeast Daoist but not by much.

The Buddhist Sect consists of Longtan Buddha Country, Qingci Buddha Country, and Pure Land Buddha Country, each a powerful sect. Together with the Buddha countries of the Northeast Region, they form a formidable system that few would dare to offend lightly.

The Demon Sect is led by Lian Country’s Heartless Dao, along with a few smaller demon country sects, all following the lead of Heartless Dao. In terms of strength, they are considered one of the top Demon Sects of the Northern Territory, qualified to have nine True Disciples, comparable to Shan Sect.

There are also some fringe countries, mainly consisting of medium-sized Body Cultivation Daoist sects. Although none are particularly strong, they support each other and are cohesive enough to survive.

Of course, the grassland forces are also one of them, but are the most scattered, spread across a dozen countries, fragmented.

They can’t be considered a country, as they have no Nascent Transformation Master to guard them, so they are only nomadic tribes, moving according to water and pasture; because the living conditions are generally unacceptable to mortals, they remain outside the sects. Over one or two thousand years, they haven’t grown strong nor been annexed.

No one can annex them, because no one wants to immigrate, and the herdsmen here are notoriously stubborn, making cultural assimilation difficult.

Kangba Left Banner lies deep in the grassland. Theoretically, this land belongs to Daitao Country, but, of course, no one collects taxes or assigns officials. They maintain close trade relations, exporting grassland specialties and exchanging them for various Central Plains goods.

It’s a Taoyuan paradise in broad daylight; the question is how long this tranquility can last?

Time flies, and flying swords on the grassland are becoming ever more numerous.

In the first half year, dozens of grassland swordsmen awakened their Sword Spirit, leading the once-failing disciples scolded by the senior master to finally usher in their own spring; although they were only approaching Core Formation and not yet achieved it, through persistent efforts, elites led by Shi Le succeeded in Self Sword Spirit, drastically increasing their combat power and ensuring they won’t be dragged around like before.

Inspired by their fame, more and more grassland swordsmen are arriving. To those cultivating swords, this place is like a Holy Land; in less than a year, hundreds of Tongtian Realm swordsmen have arrived, but their Sword Spirit awakening results are dismal because the most outstanding ones have succeeded, leaving those arriving later with uneven abilities.

Although the ancient sheepskin scroll is magical, it cannot guarantee everyone successfully awakens the Sword Spirit. As more people arrive, the overall success rate drops—from seven or eight-tenths to no more than half, now down to two or three-tenths. It can be foreseen that the ratio will further decline as swordsmen from remote regions come, a normal ecological phenomenon in the cultivation world.

Some Golden Core Elders have arrived, not many, but a few; they are not afraid of dying but are wary of their power greatly reduced after the Body Stripping Skill. Despite Hou Niao explaining the risks, three elders still chose to try.

No choice, Body Sword Integration, soaring through the sky is irresistible.

Half a year passed, and as predicted by Hou Niao, none succeeded; that’s a barrier, limiting the awakening of Body Sword Skill to before Core Formation, and no one has the power to change it.

This thwarted the grassland people’s idea to greatly enhance their power; they still need to lie low, waiting for this batch of Tongtian Realm Sword Cultivators to elevate to truly achieve a qualitative leap in grassland cultivation power.

With their Sword Spirit awakened, the next step is adaptation—how to truly integrate learned skills into battle and fully unleash their power, which requires a process.

Skill does not equal immediate combat power.

The sky is filled with flying sword lights; grassland sword cultivators chase each other in battle, honing their swordsmanship through such fights. But it’s not enough; they can only simulate battles between Sword Cultivators, which rarely occur in actual combat.

Real battles often happen between Magic Cultivation, monks, Body Cultivation, and various fringe sects. There’s no choice, apart from venturing out, no one is willing to be their fencing target.

One day, Shi Le came before him, "Senior Brother, our people had a conflict with Daitao cultivators at Shuanggou Market. I want to bring people to check it out."

Hou Niao was speechless, "To provoke someone you don’t need such a clumsy excuse, right? I know you’re trying to find an excuse, but don’t you feel it’s dangerous to provoke neighbors now? The best approach is to disperse across the continent, travel, accumulate experience, and consider the next step when more mature."

Shi Le smiled wryly, "Senior Brother, we aren’t looking for excuses. Though the brothers’ power has greatly improved, we aren’t naive enough to act now.

Shuanggou Market is a key marketplace for trade exchange between the grassland and the inland. Most nearby grassland products are traded through Shuanggou Market, usually unmanaged by cultivators, but this time something inexplicably flared up. One of our brothers suffered a big loss, and the news just arrived—it needs verification."

"Is Daitao Country the Body Cultivation Daoist Sect? Are they usually so arrogant?" Hou Niao was still not very clear about the situation in the Northern Territory.

Shi Le nodded, "Zhenggu Sect, a Daoist Sect specializing in bones, generally reasonable, though not amicable, there are no major disputes. Everything’s reciprocal with no grudges, making this situation odd—I want to personally lead people over to see, hoping it’s resolved peacefully."

Hou Niao smiled, "It’s good you understand this principle. We aren’t afraid of conflict but there’s no need to deliberately stir it; think about it, in six years the Spiritual Green will descend, and then the continent will surely change—why not observe clearly first?

As for grassland strength, decades later many of you will ascend to Golden Core, and by then not even Nascent Transformation Masters would dare to recklessly rampage on the grassland, facing a siege from many Golden Core sword cultivators.

This period is crucial, the best time window to enhance power. If you understand this, you’ll know how to handle this dispute."

Shi Le replied, "Endure a moment of anger, just to triumph in the future—I understand."

"Need me to accompany you?"

"No need. Such a small matter, if it requires Senior Brother’s intervention, it means we’re too incompetent, right? Grassland has been passed down for a thousand years, we have our own way of survival."