```
Guns?!
An Jing was stunned for a moment, finding it hard to believe, but immediately became alert and scanned his surroundings, "All the people with guns died here, is this relic that dangerous?!"
"And what world is this? Sword Spirit... How should I address you? My Lord or Your Excellency?"
"We have a mutual aid relationship, there's no need to call me My Lord," the Sword Spirit said. "I also do not know what world this is, but a piece of me is here."
"However, I recognize this relic... It feels somewhat familiar, it must have some connection to the era I came from."
After looking for a while, the Sword Spirit couldn't be certain. It admitted straightforwardly, "But I am broken, I have forgotten much."
"Most of these skeletons had Inner Breath like Silk, and those leading the group seemed to have had Inner Breath as Vast as River or higher. Something that killed them appears to be some kind of soul-capturing technique."
"This place is indeed somewhat dangerous, better to break through the Inner Breath stage quickly and get back."
An Jing nodded slightly. If so many gun-wielding individuals at the Inner Breath realm had died here, the danger of this relic was probably even greater than that of Hanging Fate Manor.
Besides, danger was one thing, but he also needed to get back to the manor and pretend to be asleep as soon as possible.
This was the unspoken agreement with the Master of the Medicine Manor; he had to pretend as if nothing had happened and not reveal any flaws.
He had to score full marks on this test.
The Master of the Medicine Manor would never expect that An Jing, upon his return, would be at the Inner Breath realm!
As for whether the breakthrough would reveal any flaws... with the Sword Spirit and the Tranquil Sword Manual, An Jing believed ordinary people would never see his true strength, definitely not the Master of the Medicine Manor.
However... An Jing thought about the Master of the Medicine Manor's own strength.
The manor master was at the Inner Strength realm, having reached 'Divine Abnormality within,' and possessed many special abilities and mysterious techniques that ordinary people could not possibly have.
Even though he was extremely aged and his vital essence had declined, he was still a formidable opponent.
Unless...
An Jing lowered his head and looked at the guns in the hands of those corpses.
Since they died from a soul-capturing technique, there shouldn't be any poison, right?
After querying the Sword Spirit and receiving confirmation that there was indeed no poison, An Jing started to search the bodies without any reservations.
There wasn't much of anything extra in these corpses; mostly bullets and firearms, and those who had been leaders had more equipment, with damaged communication terminals and elixirs among other things, but all had been completely destroyed.
The bones had turned into this state, which meant they'd been dead for at least seven or eight years, and in seven or eight years, many tough items could become fragile and decayed.
Aside from the obviously decayed firearms and clothing, the strangely-shaped small daggers hanging from the waists of the corpses were also completely deteriorated, covered in rust.
However, the gun in the hands of the leader's corpse was different from those held by the others.
It was the size of a normal rifle and looked like two metal rails with a white crystal at the center, very similar to 'jade'—this strange gun had not decayed. Although it couldn't be considered as shiny as new, it was merely covered in dust.
"This is a Magic Artifact," said the Sword Spirit, looking at it with some surprise. "Magic Artifacts and Artifact Spirits, Magic Treasures and Spiritual Treasures."
"Although a Magic Artifact is merely a lower-grade artifact capable of carrying Daoist arts, it still has marvelous uses. It should be a Magic Artifact made for releasing some kind of attack technique."
"This Magic Artifact requires at least Inner Breath to use, and its spiritual core is nearly exhausted, unusable... Hmm, there's another one on the left that's still functional."
An Jing looked at the intact Magic Artifact indicated by the Sword Spirit, picked it up and examined it. He noticed that the white jade-like stone in the center was still emitting a faint light, "Then it's just right to keep."
```
After searching the corpses, An Jing acquired quite a few items—not only did he find a magic weapon gun, but he also obtained two undamaged gunpowder weapons.
Both gunpowder weapons were kept in cases, likely spare weapons belonging to someone; they had a large caliber and offered fierce firepower, and they functioned normally.
An Jing collected a substantial number of bullets that seemed usable and then gave the guns a tentative shot—the power was extraordinarily great, and after the thunderous blast, the rocky ground was left with a depression nearly the depth of a palm.
The guns' load of gunpowder was immense, and it seemed the muzzle was also enhanced with Daoist patterns, making their destructive power significantly higher than what he remembered from his past life.
"Flying sword?"
Hearing the firepower of the guns, the Sword Spirit exclaimed surprisingly, "Is this really a flying sword box? But such a fragile, disposable flying sword is indeed a first for me to see."
"This is not a flying sword, it's a firearm." An Jing originally wanted to explain, but the Sword Spirit was a bit confused, "Made from the Five Metals, with high power, extremely fast, used for piercing and armor breaking to injure the enemy, capable of easily killing cultivators weaker than oneself—look, isn't this a flying sword?"
An Jing blinked, thought for a moment, and then realized, "Right, this is a flying sword."
"This path of the flying sword has developed quite maturely, even ordinary people without Inner Breath Spirit Qi can use it."
On this matter, the Sword Spirit became quite enthusiastic, "It seems that the artifact cultivation skills in this world are very advanced."
An Jing didn't respond; he did not know what to say, but in any case, he collected a lot of bullets, carried some with him, and then preserved most of them at the original location, "I don't need too many, they cannot be concealed."
Two guns, one magic weapon gun, of which he currently lacked the power to use the magic weapon gun.
The two pistols were enough; after all, he only had two hands.
Moreover, for some reason, An Jing found he was quite adept at using guns—what on earth had he been in his previous life? How had he comprehended the heavens and the earth, and now he even knew how to use guns?
Suppressing this puzzlement, An Jing, who gained unexpected loot, did not forget his original purpose for coming to this other world.
To make a breakthrough in Inner Breath.
"To be honest, I'm not very familiar with the path of becoming a Martial Cultivator in the Embracing the Void realm; in my era, everyone followed the path of Qi Refinement," said the Sword Spirit, getting straight to the point in response to An Jing's inquiry.
"But I think, in the same world, even if tens of thousands of years, several eras have passed, as long as it's the same kind of people, the fundamentals shouldn't change much."
"Ultimately, it's about grasping the innate qi, using it as the foundation, from threads and strands until it fills the whole body."
"Now the question is, which method do you want to use to advance? The Method of Motion? The Method of Stillness?"
"The Method of Motion, the Method of Stillness?"
Upon hearing this, An Jing understood that these were another way of defining the 'active and passive' methods.
He could not help but ask, "I'm more familiar with the Method of Motion... Isn't the reason we traveled to another world to avoid the eyes and ears of the Demon Sect while advancing? Or is there something special about the Method of Stillness?"
"The Method of Motion allows for breakthroughs during combat, the Method of Stillness is a bit safer."
The Sword Spirit quickly grasped the concept of the active and passive, motion and stillness, yin and yang, and after pondering for a moment, said, "But it's best to have both, to combine motion and stillness, to unite yin and yang."
This piqued An Jing's curiosity, "What do you mean by that?"
An Jing actually knew about the Method of Stillness, as it was once mentioned in the An family's Martial Scripture: in the southern seas of Xibo Country, there was a mysterious sect named the White Pony Sect.
The disciples of this sect excelled at entering the Dao through dreams, spending their days in deep sleep, moving their Complete Circuit in their dreams.
If the Martial Scripture was just this, it would be nothing more than a collection of folk tales. The most important part of the Martial Scripture was the commentary, and according to it, the White Pony Sect mastered a special visualization method that could greatly strengthen the spirit, and then capture the 'inactive but stable innate qi,' to thereby master Inner Breath.
All paths lead to Shenjing, both the active and passive methods are the right path; this is another way.
The so-called all-day sleep was nothing but meditation to maintain a 'still' state; disciples of the White Pony Sect may not be adept at martial skills, but their Inner Breath was extremely strong.