Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 173 - 171: Golden Cicada Concealment Technique [Subscription Request]

Chapter 173: Chapter 171: Golden Cicada Concealment Technique [Subscription Request]

A drop of water should be repaid with a spring.

This saying is simple, but how many in the world can truly achieve this?

Dong Jianping, as a loose cultivator, with no mentors to guide him from a young age and no sect rules to bind him, managed to accomplish something that most people cannot. It is genuinely commendable and worthy of respect!

When Zhouyang first saved Dong Jianping, he didn’t think about expecting gratitude. He simply didn’t want to watch the only person he was familiar with in Zhenyue Immortal City perish by demon beasts’ mouths, as much as was within his power.

As for the second time he saved Dong Jianping, strictly speaking, it wasn’t with the intention of saving him. Instead, the Eagle Lion Beast had its sights set on him and, seeking revenge, forsook the opportunity to deal Dong Jianping a final blow and lunged at him instead.

Unexpectedly, Dong Jianping always kept this in his heart, and before Zhouyang’s departure, as they were about to part ways, he offered such a generous gift.

To say he was not moved would be utterly impossible!

"Among loose cultivators, noblemen like Dong Jianping exist, and in clans, there are undoubtedly despicable people like Chen Fangping who envy the virtuous and are jealous of the talented!"

"One shouldn’t generalize!"

"This matter should be chronicled and passed on to my Zhou family’s young cultivators for learning. Let the young cultivators take Dong Jianping, who repays acts of kindness, as a role model, and refrain from emulating the envy-fueled arrogance of Chen Fangping!"

Zhouyang sighed deeply from the depths of his heart, a complex expression playing across his face.

As Dong Jianping mentioned, being a clan cultivator, Zhouyang naturally had unfavorable opinions about loose cultivators, which also related to his previous environment.

In places like the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, where resources are scarce, the Yellow Sand Sect and various Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clans occupy the best oases, hoarding seventy to eighty percent of cultivation resources. Sect cultivators and clan cultivators, of course, can speak of rules, etiquette, and morality.

However, in reality, sect cultivators and clan cultivators account for less than thirty percent of the total number of cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

Under such circumstances, more than seventy percent of loose cultivators share less than thirty percent of resources. Expecting each of them to speak of justice and morality, propriety, and integrity, and abide by rules, is something even a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal couldn’t achieve.

Therefore, it seems only natural that loose cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm break rules and disregard ethics in their climb for advancement.

As the saying goes, "One knows etiquette when the granaries are full, understands honor and disgrace when well-fed and clothed," this is indeed the case.

Zhouyang, from the kind and lawful camp, previously looked down on the chaoticly evil and neutrally evil factions among the loose cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, cannot be said to be wrong.

However, if he were to continue this way in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, it would indeed be looking at people through tinted glasses.

In the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, most loose cultivators don’t fare as well as sect cultivators and clan cultivators either, but the channels through which they can obtain resources are entirely incomparable to those of the loose cultivators in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

In the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, as long as loose cultivators are willing to fight hard, they can obtain cultivation resources from territories occupied by demon beasts and alien races without harming fellow human cultivators.

So, although there might also be many in this place who are unscrupulous and ungrateful, there will also be honorable loose cultivators like Dong Jianping who express gratitude and have good conduct.

If Zhouyang, when venturing through the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm in the future, treats loose cultivators as he once did in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm, then he’s merely generalizing and being blinded by a single leaf.

Cultivators journeying out have purposes beyond seeking treasures and opportunities to enhance their cultivation and strength. They also aim to broaden horizons, refine their Dao heart, and prepare for ascending to higher realms in the future.

If a cultivator likes to generalize and views people through colored lenses in matters they encounter, their eventual achievements will surely not reach high places.

Upon awakening at this moment, Zhouyang felt both ashamed and delighted in his heart. freёnovelkiss-com

Life holds surprises everywhere; it merely depends on whether one discovers or remains oblivious, whether one has the enlightenment.

In his joy, he couldn’t help but pick up the jade scroll Dong Jianping had given him, projecting his divine sense into it to inspect the secret technique recorded within.

The secret technique gifted by Dong Jianping is named "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," which consists of three layers, corresponding to Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, and Purple Mansion.

The Golden Cicada is a type of cicada demon beast, renowned not only for the famous "Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell" divine ability but also for its commendable ability to conceal its aura.

It is said that when the Golden Cicada sleeps, its aura can be concealed to the point of emitting not a single hint. Even if it were hidden within tree trunks or soil, a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator’s divine sense sweeping past would mistake it for mere rocks or twigs.

The "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" is a concealing breath secret technique created by a senior cultivator in the Cultivation Realm, inspired by the divine technique of the demon beast golden cicada concealing its aura.

For cultivators practicing the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," although they can’t reach the level of completely concealing their aura like the golden cicada, they can still effectively reduce their aura by seventy to eighty percent.

According to the words left by Dong Jianping in the jade scroll, after achieving the second layer of the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," and fully activating this secret technique while remaining still, one can reduce their sixth-layer Foundation Establishment aura to the third layer of Qi Cultivation.

This is quite remarkable!

For example, if a Tier Three Middle Grade demon beast is sleeping, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator or another Tier Three demon beast approaches within a ten-mile radius, their immense aura would immediately awaken it.

However, if it were a third-layer Qi Cultivator or a Tier One Lower Grade demon beast, the sleeping demon beast would completely ignore such presence.

When an elephant sleeps, it may be awakened by the aura of a lion, but it would never wake up just because a mouse passes by its feet.

In the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, Dong Jianping concealed his aura down to the Qi Cultivation stage, so even if he passed through the territory of a Tier Four demon beast, unless his human cultivator identity was directly scanned by the divine sense of the Tier Four demon beast, the low aura he emitted would not alert beasts of that level.

At the same time, when using this secret technique to ambush Tier Three demon beasts, he almost never missed, rarely failing in an attack.

Originally, there was also a Tier Three magic in magic techniques that could conceal a cultivator’s aura, called the "Concealing Breath and Qi Technique," an enhanced version of the Tier Two magic "Concealing Breath Technique."

However, this magic could at most reduce a cultivator’s aura by a minor realm, such as from mid-stage Foundation Establishment to early-stage Foundation Establishment, which was evidently incomparable to the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique."

Zhouyang already had the "Mist Dust Pearl" magical artifact that could block divine sense scans, and now obtaining the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" gifted by Dong Jianping truly added wings to a tiger.

With these two items in hand, when his cultivation reaches the Purple Mansion stage, even without the "Hidden Spirit Incense," a specially crafted spiritual object by the Yellow Sand Sect to help conceal spiritual light waves, his chances of traversing the Broken Cloud Mountain Range alone would greatly increase.

However, though the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique" is excellent, it was not as practical for Zhouyang, who was about to leave the city, as another Tier Four spirit talisman gifted by Dong Jianping was.

Although this "Wood God Escape Talisman" is only of Tier Four Lower Grade, it is a rare escape technique spirit talisman. High-tier spirit talismans of this wood element escape technique are only available for purchase in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm. In the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, such things are priceless yet unavailable, even if one has money.

Of course, in a place like the Boundless Desert Sea, surrounded by yellow sand, the "Wood God Escape Talisman" would be useless.

This type of wood-based escape technique spirit talisman can only achieve maximum effect in mountainous terrains with lush forests, like the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, or vast grasslands.

For Zhouyang and his fellow Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, such a Tier Four Lower Grade escape technique spirit talisman for running for one’s life is far more useful than those Tier Four Upper Grade spirit talismans for attack and defense.

Carefully storing away this life-saving talisman, Zhouyang proceeded to tidy up his cave abode, packing up and disposing of all the waste materials left from his artifact refining, then peacefully waited for a message from the Divine Weapon Workshop.

After waiting for another five days, Zhouyang finally received a communication flying sword sent by Hua Yuerong.

Upon receiving the message, he immediately went to the rental office to return his cave abode, retrieved his deposit, and then bid farewell to Dong Jianping. Finally, amid the heartfelt blessings from Dong Jianping and his son, he headed straight to the Divine Weapon Workshop’s location.

Upon arriving at the Divine Weapon Workshop, Zhouyang found that he was actually the last to arrive; the nine cultivators who applied for the escort position with him that day were already there.

"Alright, now that Fellow Daoist Zhou is here, let us head to the city wall, shall we?"

In the Divine Weapon Workshop, Hua Yuerong’s beautiful eyes swept over Zhouyang, and she decisively ordered them to depart.

Zhouyang had already learned beforehand that Hua Yuerong was among those leaving Zhenyue Immortal City with the caravan from the Divine Weapon Workshop. It was said that her service period at the workshop had ended, and this time she planned to return to the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers Sect for closed-door cultivation.

He initially wanted to ask Hua Yuerong whether they had hired Jia Yunzhen, but after thinking about it, he resisted the urge.

However, as they arrived at the meeting place Hua Yuerong mentioned, he instantly spotted Jia Yunzhen’s figure standing like a lance on the city wall.

"May I introduce the escort situation for this occasion to the fellow Daoists? Our caravan from the Divine Weapon Workshop comprises only three beast vehicles, and the destination is Cyan Yang Immortal City of Jade Dragon Country. Including myself, there are seven accompanying personnel, and your task, fellow Daoists, is to prioritize our safety before ensuring the safety of the cargo."

"I need to remind you, fellow Daoists, that unless we, as employers, issue an order to terminate the escort, you absolutely cannot leave the caravan without permission. Otherwise, our Divine Weapon Workshop will issue a ’Heavenly Dao Pursuit Order’ against the escapees. If any Daoist is confident enough to oppose the entire Celestial Dao Alliance, I won’t stop you!"

"Lastly, for the safety of this journey, we have specifically paid a large sum to hire Elder Jia Yunzhen as the chief guardian for this mission. In any combat and kill situations, follow Elder Jia’s command without exception."

Below the city wall, Hua Yuerong sternly addressed Zhouyang and his ten companions, explaining the escort mission’s details seriously.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢