Borrowing a sword

Chapter 105 Secret Realm: Annual Rings

"Pfft——!"

Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang held hands tightly, even through a thin membrane.

The two seemed to blend into the maple tree.

In reality, there's a hidden world inside!

Chu Huaixu guessed that they must have entered an underground space.

Because after merging into the tree, he still felt a sense of falling.

"[Ding! You have entered the two-player instance - The Rings of Time.]"

Hearing the system notification, he felt that the Lady of Destiny was terrifyingly powerful.

"No wonder he's the protagonist of this world who keeps falling into dungeons while traveling." He thought to himself.

Han Shuangjiang looked around, and she was also a little confused.

Have we truly entered the secret realm of inheritance?

The large block of ice was somewhat incredible.

She looked around, but soon her gaze began to fall downwards, fixed on the two people's clasped hands.

She instinctively pulled away, only to feel the warmth in her palm.

Chu Huaixu looked down at himself, first at his own hands, then at her.

Under his unwavering gaze, Han Shuangjiang, who had broken free first, felt somewhat embarrassed.

The large ice block started a conversation: "Where is this?"

"It's a secret realm, I suspect it's underground," Chu Huaixu said.

But for some reason, even though there was no sun, the surroundings were unusually bright.

Moreover, the ground was covered with green plants.

They were standing on a huge lawn.

The surrounding area is covered with green grass and trees, creating a lush and verdant atmosphere.

It feels like early spring, not autumn.

At the far end of the field of vision, there was a stone gate.

It is estimated that opening the stone gate will lead to the second level.

The two exchanged a glance and then walked forward.

Han Shuangjiang tightened her grip on the spirit sword [Partridge Sky] with a slight effort in her left hand.

Chu Huaixu held his sword sheath and looked around as he walked.

They hadn't walked more than a few steps when the surrounding plants seemed to come alive!
Leaves fell from every tree, then swept towards them like flying knives.

Han Shuangjiang's longsword was instantly drawn from its sheath.

Chu Huaixu simply stood there quietly.

These green leaves converged in mid-air, transforming into two green tornadoes.

They attacked from the left and right sides, as if they could pinpoint the exact location of the two people.

Han Shuangjiang immediately unleashed her sword energy, while Chu Huaixu vanished from the spot in an instant, as if he had greased his feet.

——【Fei Xuan】!
As he expected, the tornado formed from the leaves followed him.

“Let’s not stand too close, otherwise it will be difficult to maneuver,” he shouted.

"it is good!"

For a typical first-level cultivator, this tornado was incredibly fast.

But for Chu Huaixu, who had achieved minor success in the [Flying Profound] technique, this was nothing at all.

His already strong physique made his speed even more astonishing.

He's now moving around on the lawn like he's walking a dog.

The green leaf tornado kept a distance of several meters from him and couldn't hurt him at all.

Chu Huaixu even had the leisure to observe the large ice block, to see if she could unleash more power from [Partridge Sky] after learning swordsmanship?

She swung her sword forward, and a pale blue sword light flashed between heaven and earth!
Wherever the sword light touched, ice crystals were formed.

A large number of leaves on the tornado were knocked down by this sword, and a thin layer of frost still clung to the leaves!
The girl clearly lacked combat experience, sometimes frantically parrying and sometimes blindly attacking.

Fortunately, she was quite strong and had a top-grade spiritual artifact, so she wasn't in any real danger.

With a few sword strikes, a third of the tornado was destroyed.

But it became even faster.

Han Shuangjiang held the spirit sword horizontally in front of her, and then forcefully ran her left hand along the blade.

Wherever her two fingers touched, a thick layer of ice crystals would form on the sword.

In no time, the entire sword was frozen solid.

After she gave a light rebuke, Partridge Sky tilted its head upwards, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

The ice crystals on the sword shattered instantly, turning into hundreds and thousands of pieces that flew towards the tornado high above.

The ice crystals collided with the green leaves, causing the tornado to explode outwards from the center.

Han Shuangjiang thought she had completely resolved everything, but in the end, there were still dozens of leaves left, flying towards her from a very strange angle.

"Watch out!" Chu Huaixu, who had been dodging and weaving around on the sidelines, called out a warning.

He quickly arrived in front of the large block of ice.

Even faster than these leaves!

With a sudden flick of his black and gold robe sleeve, he unleashed a burst of energy that shattered almost all the green leaves.

Only one leaf, like a fish that slipped through the net, slid towards Han Shuangjiang's cheek!

The girl's gaze sharpened, and she instinctively wanted to turn her head away.

But the leaf was too fast and the angle was too tricky; it'll probably leave a shallow bloodstain on my face!
Just as her heart tightened, two fingers pinched the leaf, stopping it about an inch from her left cheek.

Han Shuangjiang's beautiful eyes trembled slightly. She glanced at her fingers out of the corner of her eye, then looked at the black-robed man in front of her.

Chu Huaixu didn't even use a single bit of spiritual power.

He easily caught the green leaf using only the strength of his own body.

Everything happened in a flash of lightning.

The leaves moved quickly, but he was even faster!
"Watch out!" Han Shuangjiang shouted immediately, because the tornado chasing Chu Huaixu was sweeping in from the upper right behind him!

The two long, slender fingers that were only an inch from her cheek began to move.

Chu Huaixu, holding the leaf between his fingers, flicked it upwards and to the right without looking back!

——【Fingertip Grenade】!
The domineering true energy clung to the green leaves and crashed into the terrifying tornado, unleashing a deafening roar, like a thunderclap! The astonishing tornado was instantly shattered!

Chu Huaixu looked down at her, and she looked up at him in shock.

Their eyes met, and the fallen leaves drifted down slowly.

It was as if a green rain had fallen beside them.

Han Shuangjiang's eyelashes trembled slightly, then she looked away, no longer meeting Chu Huaixu's gaze.

She said in a very soft voice, "Thank you."

Although the leaves wouldn't cause her much harm, as a young girl, she ultimately didn't want her face to be scratched.

Chu Huaixu looked at her and casually said, "It's nothing."

However, after the recent commotion, Han Shuangjiang once again realized the gap in strength between the two.

The opponent's overall combat strength is already far, far greater than ours!

Chu Huaixu smiled slightly and asked, "You've already reached the fourth level of the first realm?"

"Yes, I broke through last night," she replied.

"The Xuan Yin Body truly allows for rapid progress; your cultivation speed is simply heaven-defying," he couldn't help but exclaim.

Han Shuangjiang wondered to herself, "You broke through faster than me."

"I just watched you wield your sword, and your swordsmanship is already quite proficient. I suppose you've at least achieved a minor level of mastery?" Chu Huaixu asked again.

“Yes, Yellow-level sword techniques aren’t difficult to learn,” she said.

"With your comprehension, you really should directly train to the Profound level."

Chu Huaixu was also unsure whether his [Flying Profound] and [Fingertip Thunder] were allowed to be shared with outsiders.

However, the former is fine, but the latter is too fierce and domineering, and is not really suitable for large blocks of ice.

The reason why his [Fingertip Lightning] is so powerful is that he not only transforms the spiritual power in his body into true energy, but also circulates the qi of his physical body when he releases it!
Only when the two are combined can they have such power!
Listening to Chu Huaixu's words and recalling the strength he had just displayed, the poor girl was finally persuaded and decided to "borrow" money from him.

"Indeed, now is not the time to worry about these trivial matters. The most important thing is to improve my own strength." She was convincing herself.

She has clearly gone from striving inwards to borrowing inwards.

After exchanging a few more words, the two headed toward the stone gate ahead.

As they walked forward, flowers bloomed on the lawn beneath their feet.

Wherever the two went, flowers bloomed.

The girl looked at the strange scene before her, her eyes shining.

The air is filled with the fragrance of flowers, and the flowers are in full bloom.

The frost on Big Ice Cube's face faded a bit, and he became lively and vibrant.

"So beautiful," she thought to herself.

A man and a woman walked side by side along the flower-lined path, and the atmosphere seemed to become more romantic.

Reaching the stone gate, Chu Huaixu began to push it forcefully.

Han Shuangjiang stood behind him, unable to resist turning back to look at the sea of ​​flowers again, as if she wanted to imprint this beautiful scene in her heart.

The stone door was pushed open, and a wave of heat swept in.

Behind the door, it seemed, was a scorching hot world!

Chu Huaixu had a feeling and vaguely guessed what was going on.

"This secret place is called the Annual Rings."

"The first challenge is probably [Spring]."

"And this hurdle is most likely [Xia]!"

The two went inside and felt that the temperature inside was much, much higher than outside.

Chu Huaixu suspects that it has a degree of forty.

This is a small path with two rows of large trees on both sides.

As soon as they entered, the cicadas in the trees began to chirp.

I don't know exactly how many cicadas are here.

The sound of them all calling out was so incredibly noisy!
The sound of cicadas filled their ears, and Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang both began to feel inexplicably irritable.

And it's getting more and more annoying!

A few seconds later, they started to feel dizzy.

It's a bit like heatstroke, but much more uncomfortable.

There's clearly something wrong with the cicada's chirping.

This stage is probably testing your ability to keep moving forward amidst this dizzying noise.

This path is very, very long.

This is mental torment.

Chu Huaixu guessed that the further they went, the louder the cicadas would be, and the more dizzy they would become, possibly even causing them to faint on the spot.

It's targeting the sea of ​​consciousness!
"Showing off your skills before an expert!" Chu Huaixu sneered.

These cicada chirps might be a difficult problem for ordinary outer disciples to solve.

But for Chu Huaixu, who possessed the [Heart Sword], it was far too easy.

—The sword severs the flesh, the heart severs the soul!

This Heart Sword could even shake away Chu Yinyin's divine sense, who was caught off guard.

If we take her as the unit of measurement, does your outer sect's secret realm possibly have the power of one Chu Yinyin?

With a wave of his hand, Chu Huaixu caused the sleeves of his black and gold robe, trimmed with gold, to flutter in the air.

"Shut up!" he snapped.

The small black sword in the sea of ​​consciousness trembled slightly at this moment, and the whole world instantly fell silent!

Seeing how easily he had overcome this obstacle, Han Shuangjiang couldn't help but look up at him.

Immediately afterwards, she froze for a moment.

Chu Huaixu looked down and met her gaze, momentarily stunned.

Because their appearances had changed at this moment!

They seemed to age ten years after stepping through that stone gate.

Chu Huaixu looked like he had reached the age of thirty; he appeared even more mature.

Han Shuangjiang, on the other hand, has shed her girlish naiveté and exudes a unique charm.

(P.S.: Second update, please vote with monthly tickets!)
(End of this chapter)