Demon Immortal

Duncan spread his consciousness and enveloped the surrounding region as much as possible. He was currently seated in the middle of a cave that was hidden behind a hedge of overgrown wild plants.

Initially, he had tried sitting at the bottom of a hill or looking at it from a distance. But, soon Duncan found out that he wasn't able to elicit any feelings regarding the hills in front of him.

As a cultivator who was at the peak of the Spirit Sea realm, Duncan could extend his consciousness and perceive the surroundings easily. But, the range his consciousness could perceive was really limited.

The hills were big. They spanned miles in every direction from top to bottom. His meager consciousness couldn't envelop them and perceive them. This caused a huge issue in his effort to understand the qualities of the hill.

Duncan was forced to adopt another method in order to perceive the wonders of nature in front of him. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't get a clear picture of the feeling of what a hill entailed. Let alone a mountain.

This made him realize that cultivating this soul art wouldn't be an easy issue. Considering that this was legacy art imparted as a reward, Duncan was already prepared to face failure. But, he never expected to fail so miserably.

But, Duncan wasn't discouraged. He knew that there were multiple sides to an issue. Since he can't perceive the might of a mountain by looking at it from the outside, he decided to go inside and try it out.

Thus, he found this cave that was in a remote location and decided to give it a try.

Moreover, the cave entrance also gave Duncan the right location to set up the defensive formation he had obtained from the spatial ring. While Duncan didn't have any accomplishments in formation crafting or understanding their mysteries, setting up an already prepared formation wasn't difficult for him.

After setting up the formation, Duncan sat in the middle of the cave and decided to perceive the surroundings without any goal in mind. Duncan's thought process was simple. Since he couldn't gain anything by focusing on a particular aspect, he would let go and let nature guide his way.

He wanted to perceive his surroundings initially and see if he could gain anything from them. With him present in a cave inside a hill, Duncan figured that his chances of gaining something would be doable.

The first time Duncan tried to perceive his surroundings inside the cave, Duncan was pleasantly surprised to note that there was a marked difference in his perception of things.

Even though Duncan had lived in a cave and meditated in it for some time before this, he had never tried to perceive the surroundings as a whole. Earlier, he only used his perception to stir the qi between heaven and earth and attract them toward his body.

This time, it was completely different.

The first change Duncan noticed was that he was able to sense each and every grain that was under him easily. He concluded that being in direct contact with him, these were the first things he could perceive easily.

And the grains and gravel he could perceive under him had a different kind of feeling from what he usually had when he saw them normally. This wasn't just something he saw anymore. They had a feeling of weight and some unexplainable things attached to them.

Initially, Duncan was engrossed in this new kind of feeling for a long time. Only after a day or two did he snap out of it. There was a multitude of things roaming around in his perception at that moment. It was like a new world waiting in front of him.

The only problem was that his consciousness wasn't able to enter this new world at all. His consciousness was stopped at the most superficial level and he couldn't penetrate to learn the mysteries anymore.

Duncan realized that his soul wasn't yet powerful enough to study the mysteries that were present around him. During his discussion with Shen Wulong, Duncan heard him say that the power of the soul will aid him greatly in the future.

Until now, he hadn't fully realized the impact of that statement.

This wasn't the power of the soul to attack or defend itself. Rather, this was the power of the soul to perceive the hidden meanings and mysteries present in the nature around him. This was the power of the soul to perceive that elusive Dao that Shen Wulong spoke about.

During that chat with Shen Wulong, Duncan's cultivation and martial techniques were merely at the bottom-most level. So, he wasn't able to understand most of the things that Shen Wulong talked about.

Concept! Domain! Law! Dao!

When Shen Wulong had talked about them, he had given Duncan a bare minimum explanation of the nature of these things. With that Duncan had grasped the initial stages of two concepts so far – Windspeed & Swordcut.

Duncan was able to do so because of the martial arts he practiced. But, at this moment, Duncan realized that there was another way to grasp concepts. From perceiving the grains and the gravel beneath him, Duncan vaguely felt that they might give him some inspiration into another concept.

While Duncan was excited about this discovery, he wasn't carried away by it. He was here to perceive the hills and cultivate the soul art legacy he had received from the tests. He knew very well trying to learn everything at the same time would only be detrimental to his growth.

But, Duncan was also not willing to let go of this opportunity. It was rare for him to find such things. He didn't know when he would get another time like this to sit around and calmly perceive things.

The atmosphere in the Heavenly Demon Sect wasn't really suited to this type of cultivation. Even though he only stayed in the sect for two or so weeks, Duncan can easily perceive that the Heavenly Demon Sect didn't believe in the philosophy of gradual development.

His master's actions were a clear example of the Heavenly Demon Sect's thinking. The sect was a gathering place for demonic path cultivators. Fights and ruckus were really common in that place. Duncan didn't think that anyone there would allow him to sit and quietly comprehend these kinds of profound mysteries.

Even the cultivation technique he practiced didn't allow for such things. Unless he engaged in slaughter and collected enough slaughter qi, he wouldn't be able to progress any further in his cultivation.

Duncan felt that he mustn't miss out on this opportunity. His gut feeling was telling him to capitalize on this opportunity and increase his strength. Gaining insight into another concept can only aid him further in increasing his strength.

So, Duncan didn't proceed immediately after waking up from his meditation.

*****

Duncan contemplated on what he should do for the next two days in silence.

He didn't meditate immediately after that. Rather, he recalled and savored the feeling he had when he meditated during the two days. He was like someone who had just gotten the taste of alcohol and was intrigued by it.

Sometimes he would take out his sword and practice his <Absolute Cut Sword Arts>, sometimes he would sit there in a daze and look at the ceiling of a cave for hours, sometimes he would empty his mind and try to perceive try out the visualization, sometimes he would simply eat to his heart's content and laze around thinking about trivial things.

Like this, two days passed and Duncan's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"I initially thought that there can be no improvement in my martial techniques in a short while. But, after meditating for two days, I feel that I can still improve if I was able to deepen my understanding of the concepts I have grasped," Duncan said rising up and swinging his sword.

A faint light formed along the sword's surface and it flew towards the distant cave wall. When it made contact, there was a sharp sound followed by a small cut on the side of the cave wall.

"I didn't use any cultivation while swinging my sword. Even then, my attack can cut through the walls of this cave easily from a distance. This is because I instilled the concept of Swordcut I have grasped in my swing," Duncan mumbled looking at the small cut in the distance.

"This is similar to how I was able to run on air without using my cultivation. That time, I used the concept of Windspeed to run on air. Both my techniques can be said to be attained initial mastery of the concepts they were based on," Duncan said thinking aloud.

"But, how do I raise my understanding further? I don't think I can do that by practicing my martial arts anymore. I have mastered the techniques a hundred percent. The only difference is the level of insight I have in the concepts they are based on," Duncan mumbled walking around the cave in a daze.

"How can I raise the insight level? Practicing repeatedly is no use. I need to try a different approach. Can I meditate on these concepts and see if my level improves?"

"But, I feel that it would take some time for me to raise my insight level. What I need right now is to increase my battle power immediately. These few months in the Grotto Heaven made me realize that without enough strength, I can't even walk freely. If the situation is like inside this Grotto Heaven, then what will be the situation outside of the Grotto Heaven?"

"With my strength, do I even have the qualification to roam the world? I decided some time ago that I should roam the world and see all the sights it could offer me. But, without strength, I can't do it. Moreover, I still want to eliminate the Wang Clan in Starmist City. Without enough strength, how can I do it?"

"I'm currently at the peak of Spirit Sea realm. Since I can't break through, I must focus now on improving my battle strength. How should I do it? I initially thought cultivating the soul art would be a good method. But, it looks like it is too difficult to do at my current level."

"But, it doesn't mean I must abandon it fully. Until now, I have only been seeing the forest in front of me and not looking at the trees that create it. Instead of focusing on comprehending the essence of a mountain or a hill, I must study other effects. This can also aid me in increasing my battle strength."

"That said, how should I do it? How do I combine the cultivation of both the soul art and my martial arts? I must find the intersecting point first. Only then, I can do it…"