The Secret Scroll of the Demonic Sect: Minor Success in Dart Throwing Techniques!

"Uncle-Master Liu."

The man in the golden mask chuckled softly, a laugh devoid of warmth: "You truly don't know what's hidden in that booklet, which is why you can speak so 'frankly'? 'The sword manual was destroyed, a pity, but we did our best.' Or... you actually discovered the secret scroll hidden in the interlayer, but deliberately used the words 'sword manual' to deceive me, and perhaps that 'missing' first half... is hidden on yourself?"

This conjecture caused the air in the sealed room to freeze instantly.

"The man in purple robes... a master from beyond the Great Wall, yet his palm contains the power of a raging torrent..."

The masked man's mind raced: "Are they from the Northern Desert? Or remnants from the Western Regions? How did they know I sent the 'Secret Scroll' to Liu Family Village? Was the information leaked from within the Duba Manor, or... did we already have eyes and ears within our ranks?"

"Good...very good."

The masked man nodded slowly: "Either way, he was kept in the dark until his death, and the scroll might have been completely destroyed when it was torn—that would be the best outcome. Although the scroll is gone, at least it didn't fall into the hands of others."

"Or...?"

His voice suddenly turned cold: "Elder Liu discovered it, but chose to conceal it. It's even possible that the 'missing first half' was the first half of the map containing the core location of the secret scroll that he secretly intercepted! The second half is just the outer route and annotations; it doesn't matter if it falls into the enemy's hands—Liu Shiyuan wants to keep this incredible opportunity for himself!"

Cold sweat beaded on the gray-clad man's forehead. "My lord, then what should we do..."

"check."

The masked man said decisively, "Use all the personnel from both the 'Earth Listening' and 'Star Gazing' divisions, one openly and one covertly. Openly, continue searching for Liu Shiyuan's whereabouts; we must find him alive or dead. Covertly, send men to the ruins of Liu Family Village, especially the center of the battle, the study, the secret room, and... all the hidden places along the route he last disappeared in. Search every inch of it! Look for any torn leather fragments or traces of maps drawn with special potion!"

"also."

He added, his tone chilling, "We must closely monitor all black markets and secret workshops in the Jianghuai region, as well as the recently active experts from beyond the Great Wall. Since the latter half of the tribe has fallen into enemy hands, they will definitely try every means to find the former. We need to get ahead of them, or... follow their lead!"

"Understood!"

The man in gray bowed, accepted the order, and left.

...........

Over the next few days, Su Yang's life was unusually regular and fulfilling.

From the end of Yin hour to Chen hour, they completed the various physical fitness and basic swordsmanship training arranged by Yang Yunxing.

From Chen Shi to Si Shi: Breakfast, accumulate simplified points, then continue the morning group exercises or receive individual guidance from Yang Yunxing.

From afternoon to evening: After completing his daily patrols and guard duty, if he has any free time, he will find a quiet corner—sometimes a side room, sometimes a shady spot behind the archery range equipment room, or even during the rest interval after completing the night patrol—to take out his sewing kit and begin his "unique" practice.

He threaded a needle and mended his ripped shorts.

As his skill in [Armor-Piercing Dart Technique] improved to the level of beginner or even proficient, he found that his fingers became more stable and flexible, and his eyesight became more accurate. For example, he could easily thread a needle quickly and continuously, thread a needle with his eyes closed by feeling, and thread a needle while the needle was slightly shaking.

of course.

His shorts were patched and torn, then patched again.

It was during a break in training that afternoon.

Under the shade of a tree beside the archery range, Su Yang took out his needle, thread, and ripped shorts during a break. By the daylight, he focused intently on mending the frayed edges of his old shorts. His needlework was extremely steady, the stitches even and fine. He didn't sew fast, but his movements carried a peculiar rhythm, as if he weren't mending clothes, but performing some kind of precise ritual.

Wang Tiezhu, Li Shitou, Zhao Daqi and a few others were squatting nearby drinking water and catching their breath when they saw this scene, their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Su...Su Yang, you..."

Li Shitou nearly spat out the water in his mouth, pointing at the needle and thread in Su Yang's hand, stammering, "Why have you started doing this lately?"

In his simple understanding, the guards either practiced martial arts, drank and boasted, and at most polished their knives. Who would sit there seriously doing needlework? Even if their clothes were torn, they would collect them and throw them into the laundry room for disposal.

Zhao Daqi scratched his head and said憨憨地, "Brother Su, your skills... are even neater than my mother's!"

He genuinely thought the stitches looked nice.

Wang Tiezhu's expression was strange. He had traveled extensively and seen a lot, knowing that some seasoned veterans or people in special trades would deliberately hone their finger skills. But he had never seen anyone as young as Su Yang so focused on doing needlework in public before. He walked over, picked up the patch Su Yang had mended, and examined it. The stitches were fine and strong, without any flaws.

"Hey Su Yang," Wang Tiezhu patted his shoulder, his tone teasing yet slightly puzzled, "Have you been obsessed with needle and thread these past few days? Anyone who didn't know you'd know you worked at the Huang household, but anyone else would think you were a runaway apprentice from some embroidery workshop!"

He lowered his voice: "Is it... that you've taken a fancy to some maid who knows needlework? Want to learn a few skills to win her over? Tell me, and I'll give you some advice!"

These words made Li Shitou and Zhao Daqi chuckle to themselves.

Su Yang kept working without looking up, and said calmly, "Brother Wang is joking. Clothes always need mending when they're torn, and it's easier to do it yourself. Besides, it's good to practice your fingers."

He couldn't explain that this was cultivation, so he could only give vague answers.

Wang Tiezhu shook his head and sighed, "That's true, but this isn't something we men should be worrying about all the time. If you ask me, you should seriously find a wife who is caring and good at housework! Then, you won't have to do any of these chores yourself."

As they were talking, Yang Yunxing strolled over with his hands behind his back to check on everyone's rest.

He immediately spotted Su Yang "working hard" under the shade of a tree, and his brows furrowed into a knot.

Yang Yunxing had been on the battlefield and was extremely strict in disciplining his troops. He valued the bravery and fierceness of his guards the most.

He didn't care when his guards sharpened their weapons, wrestled, or even argued in their spare time, but this "virtuous" scene in front of him was quite a shock to his understanding.

He stepped closer and asked in a deep voice, "Su Yang, what... are you doing?"

Su Yang then stopped, stood up, and calmly replied, "Reporting to the instructor, I was mending my trousers."

Yang Yunxing's gaze swept over the needle and thread in Su Yang's hand and the tattered trousers, then he looked at Su Yang's nonchalant expression, and his lips twitched. He could tell that Su Yang's breathing was steady and his eyes were clear; he wasn't mentally weak or had any strange quirks, but it was precisely this behavior…

"Mending my shorts..."

Yang Yunxing repeated it, seemingly trying to find some other meaning in those two words, but in the end he just waved his hand, his tone complicated: "Hmm... well done. However, you should still focus more on the knife. Also... Wang Tiezhu is right, a real man will always have someone else take care of these trivial matters in the future."

He couldn't help himself and indirectly agreed with Wang Tiezhu's view that "he should find a wife."

Several guards with sharp ears couldn't help but chuckle when they heard even the cold-faced instructor say such a thing.

Su Yang remained calm and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yang Yunxing: "Yes, I have remembered your teachings, Instructor."

But in his heart he thought: Little do you know, every stitch I sew is a tool for killing!

He sat down again and continued his "cultivation".

[Armor-Piercing Dart Technique Proficiency +1!]

【……】

He paid no attention to the opinions and comments of others.

Since he acquired the "Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication" panel, he has realized that his path is different from others.

As long as he can become stronger, he will try anything, even stranger methods, let alone needlework.

..........

Late at night, in the side room.

The oil lamp flickered like a bean.

The fine needle in Su Yang's hand transformed into an almost invisible silver light, and the cotton thread moved nimbly through it.

His movements were so fast that they were difficult for ordinary people to see. His fingers flew across the paper with a graceful and precise beauty.

After several days of almost obsessive practice, coupled with the occasional use of the simplified points accumulated earlier to break through minor bottlenecks, the proficiency of the Armor-Piercing Dart Technique finally approached a critical point.

[Armor-Piercing Dart Technique Proficiency +1!]

[Armor-Piercing Dart Technique Proficiency +1!]

[Armor-Piercing Dart Technique (Minor Success 1/1000)]

Om-!

It felt as if a string in the depths of my mind was being gently plucked.

A surge of heat, far more powerful and subtle than when one is a beginner or proficient, flows from both arms to the ten fingers and then spreads throughout the body's subtle meridians!

All sorts of experiences with darts—the influence of rotating force at different angles on the trajectory, how to utilize environmental airflow, how to infuse true qi to enhance penetration, and even insights into some insidious and treacherous advanced techniques such as "boomerangs" and "mother-child darts"—flooded into his consciousness like a tide and quickly transformed into profound muscle memory and instinct!

at the same time.

His ten fingers became exceptionally sensitive and powerful, and his wrist stability reached a whole new level.

He even had the illusion that he could probably pierce the wings of a buzzing mosquito with a needle right now.

The greatest truths are the simplest.

[Su Yang]

【武学/技能：虎形拳（圆满），破锋刀法（圆满），四十九式霸刀.残25/49（未入门0/1000），破甲镖术（小成1/1000）】

[Simplified point: 56.1]

"After three days of hard work, we've finally achieved some success!"

Su Yang looked at the panel in his mind, let out a long breath, and his eyes shone brightly.

"I've made some progress in the armor-piercing dart technique, but I still need to find time to forge some more darts."

He put down his needle and thread, looked at the three bronze triangular darts, and pondered.

He wrapped his hands with three layers of linen and held one of the darts in his hand.

These three darts are highly poisonous. I don't have time to go out and make new darts right now, so I'll just use these carefully to test their power.

At this moment, the dart felt as light as a feather in his hand, yet it seemed to be connected to him by blood.

With a casual lift, he could clearly sense its center of gravity, balance, and even the slightest air resistance. Various launch plans naturally came to mind, tailored to different distances, targets, and environments.

He walked to the wall, made three small dots on it with charcoal ash, and then stepped back two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

With a flick of the wrist, a bronze dart silently slid into his fingers.

Without any visible effort from him, only a very slight "hiss" was heard.

The bronze dart transformed into a thin, dark blue line, precisely embedding itself in the center of the leftmost charcoal spot, penetrating half an inch into the wall. The dart's tail trembled slightly, emitting a low hum.

"good!"

Su Yang secretly praised him.

At the initial stage of mastery, one can hit any target within twenty steps with unparalleled precision and sharpness.

If it were to be poisoned again… He glanced at the dark blue marks on the dart that hadn’t been wiped clean.

More importantly, the extreme training of fingers, wrists, and eyesight brought about by "threading the needle" not only affects his throwing of darts, but also has a subtle benefit to his training in "Forty-Nine Styles of Overlord Blade (Incomplete)" and even his daily swordsmanship.

He put away the darts and blew out the oil lamp.

"They laugh at me for doing needlework?"

"Did Instructor Yang tell me to practice my sword skills more?"

In the darkness, Su Yang's lips curled into a slight smile.

They had no idea that what they saw as "strange" and "trivial" in the past few days had allowed Su Yang to quietly master a ruthless skill that could turn the tide of life and death in a critical moment.

The sound of the clapper at midnight came from outside the window, but Su Yang was wide awake.

He lay in bed, able to clearly feel the flow of every wisp of air in the room, the lingering warmth of the oil lamp on the table after it went out, and even the slight trembling of the leaves outside the window—this was the enhanced perception brought about by the minor mastery of the [Armor-Piercing Dart Technique].

"The Forty-Nine Styles of the Overlord Blade requires 100 points of simplification; we're still short by 40 points..."

"Relying on food is still too slow... What if I ate ginseng soup, chicken soup... or some powerful tonic pills, would it be faster?"

In the darkness, Su Yang's thoughts were exceptionally clear: "Right, the guards can rest now, so I might take a break tomorrow. I'll go to the nearby Good Fortune Restaurant for a good meal; that should speed up the acquisition of simplification points! Then, I'll go craft a batch of ordinary throwing darts!"

He received a reward of 5 taels of silver for selecting guards, and seized 4 taels from killing the man in black. He currently has more than 9 taels of silver, which is more than enough to afford a good meal at the Lucky Restaurant.

Get 100 simplification points as soon as possible, simplify the Overlord Blade. Once the Overlord Blade is perfected, won't the silver come in like a tidal wave?

........