Borrowing a sword

Chapter 118 The Destined Man
"These are the words carved by my senior brother?"

Standing before the Monument to the Gentlemen, Xu Ziqing, his eyes bloodshot, stared at the crooked characters on the stone tablet, and his soul seemed to tremble.

His personal will seemed to have been spurred on.

"A wise man uses things, but is not used by things!" The boy repeatedly recited this sentence in his heart.

In the midst of endless pain and torment, he finally let out a series of roars and shouted out loud.

It was as if this was a pillar of support, sustaining him in his continued struggle!
The bronze sword hovered in the air, its spirit already split in two.

Half of it entered Xu Ziqing's spiritual embryo secret treasure, while the other half remained inside the sword.

Xiang Yan and the others at the foot of the mountain immediately understood.

"The secret treasure of the spiritual embryo is the most mysterious part of the human body and the foundation of cultivation."

"Xu Ziqing's spiritual embryo attributes are being altered by this sword!"

Simply put, the bronze sword must train its swordsman to conform to its own form.

But for some reason, unexpected changes kept happening.

The golden halo around the hilt of the sword shone even brighter.

The obscure runes inside began to become glaringly obvious.

The exact same scene was unfolding in Xu Ziqing's right palm.

Chu Huaixu couldn't help but ask, "Sect Master, Elders, what is this?"

Standing at the foot of the mountain, he could feel a force spreading outwards.

Its status was extremely high, and even the small black sword in his sea of ​​consciousness seemed to be subtly suppressed.

“That’s a restriction left by the Dao Ancestor,” Chu Yinyin answered instantly, her big mouth never failing her.

Elder Lu Pan immediately turned his head and glared at her.

"A restriction left by the Dao Ancestor?" Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

"This restriction is actually divided into two parts, one part is on the sword, and the other part is in Xu Ziqing's hand?"

He felt he was starting to understand.

This is the insurance that the Dao Ancestor provided for Xu Ziqing!
Otherwise, given the evil nature of this sword, taking it down the mountain would definitely bring disaster to the world!

"But why is this sword vying for the right to use his body?" Chu Huaixu had a new question in mind.

But he had, after all, read a great deal of novels, watched movies, and read anime.
He has also played all sorts of games.

Based on his understanding of some plot points in "Borrowing the Sword," he quickly formed a guess.

"Damn it, every time Xiao Xu unleashes his full power with the sword at the last moment, could it be that this sword is actually doing the fighting for him?" Chu Huaixu was shocked.

The one who truly displayed his skills was not Xu Ziqing, but rather someone possessed by this sword.
Chu Huaixu thought about it more and more and felt that the possibility was extremely high.

He felt something was strange after his last mountain climb.

This sword is malevolent, arrogant, and bloodthirsty.
What makes Xu Ziqing think he can control it? Why would it willingly acknowledge Xu Ziqing as its master and become his natal spirit sword?
Now, Chu Huaixu has obtained the answer.

"This is completely rebellious against the Heavenly Gang; it's trying to enslave Xiao Xu!"

Then, a new problem arose.

If it's true that every time Xu Ziqing unleashes his power, it's because this sword is "doing the work for him," then looking at his current state on the mountain, writhing around like a zombie, how can he possibly fight him?
"Does this mean that Xiao Xu is to voluntarily relinquish control of his body?" Chu Huaixu wondered.

While he was lost in thought, the high-ranking members of the Taoist sect began to communicate telepathically.

Li Chunsong said, "This is really strange. This phenomenon is completely different from what is described in the Daoist ancestor's admonitions."

"If Xu Ziqing has truly become the sword's chosen servant, then it should be able to control him."

"Although the restrictions on it are still in place, and the power it can exert is not strong, it shouldn't be like this."

Sect Leader Xiang Yan nodded, a strange expression appearing on his face, which was sparsely covered with eyebrows and almost barren. He transmitted his voice and said:

"The Dao Ancestor's restrictions are incredibly powerful. The Sword Attendant is essentially a key; as the Sword Attendant grows stronger, he will be able to unlock more and more seals."

"After the sword spirit possesses the body, it is equivalent to entering the realm of [Man and Sword as One], except that the sword takes the lead. The larger the opening of the restriction, the more amazing the power that can be exerted."

"The restriction on his right palm is connected to the restriction on the bronze sword."

"This will keep everything under control."

"Although he is only at the first stage, and his key has only unlocked the first lock, it shouldn't be like this."

"Given his current condition, even if he wields this sword, he won't be able to unleash its full power!"

They exchanged glances, all with the same thought: "How could this be?"

Zhao Shuqi squinted and said, "The Dao Ancestor placed a total of nine restrictions on the bronze sword, which is equivalent to having nine locks."

"Now, the first lock has been opened, and part of the sword's power has been unlocked, as has part of the sword spirit's power."

"Logically speaking, this force should be able to overwhelm Xu Ziqing."

"Because if absolute suppression cannot be achieved, the sword spirit cannot control his physical body."

"Even if Xu Ziqing is willing to be controlled by it, it won't work!"

"Because his underlying will will still resist, it's human nature, it's human instinct, and he must be completely suppressed by the sword spirit."

"Logically speaking, the Dao Ancestor is a man of divine wisdom and would not have made such a mistake."

"Now it seems, it's because this swordsman is unexpectedly strong?"

"He is stronger than the Dao Ancestor expected?" Everyone understood what he meant.

This is the only explanation!
At this moment, the boy on the mountain has an overall strength that is a bit beyond the norm.

So much so that after the first lock was opened, this contradictory scene unfolded.

If things proceed as planned, it will be a delicate balance.

Within this balance, the sword spirit, still sealed by the eight restrictions, can only exert a very small portion of its power.

After paying a price, the sword servant can break free from the absolute suppression of the sword spirit and then regain control of the body by relying on the restrictions.

But now, this delicate balance has been broken.

The Blade & Soul's suppression of him may have reached 80% or 90%, but it's not absolute!

Unless it's 100%, something similar to what's happening now will happen.

“Now it’s all over. The sword can’t control him, and he’s even less likely to control the sword.” Nangong Yue crossed her arms and spoke in a solemn tone.

"In that case, he is safer."

“The sword servant can forcibly regain control of the body without paying any price, relying on the restriction in the palm.”

But what about the great calamity of heaven and earth? What about the Primordial Spirit Realm?
Currently, Xu Ziqing's swordplay is significantly less powerful.

A gloomy feeling settled over Xiang Yan and the others, because it seemed they had messed things up.

Only Chu Yinyin, with her naturally unconventional personality, voiced her opinion at this moment.

“I know where the problem lies!” she said.

Everyone looked at her.

Chu Yinyin replied telepathically, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world: "The reason is very simple! Because Xu Ziqing is not the chosen one mentioned in the Dao Ancestor's admonition! He was never chosen by the Dao Ancestor to serve as a sword attendant!"

"So even if the Dao Ancestor is incredibly resourceful, he certainly couldn't have predicted it accurately."

"The chosen one is Chu Huaixu!"

A breeze blew past the foot of Cangling Mountain.

Chu Yinyin stood tall and proud, a smug look on her face.

With an expression that seemed to say she had seen through everything, she continued to transmit her voice to everyone.

"The Dao Ancestor is absolutely infallible; all his arrangements must be flawless."

"And Chu Huaixu is a man of destiny, there is no doubt about that."

"Unless Junior Uncle is unreliable and found the wrong person."

"Then it must be because of this sword that's causing trouble!"

"It used some unknown method to actually act outside of the Dao Ancestor's original plan!"

The more Chu Yinyin spoke, the clearer she felt her thoughts became.

Yes, there is only one truth.

The Dao Ancestor has no problem, Junior Uncle has no problem, and we have no problem. The problem lies with the Evil Sword!

"Although you all forbid me from saying this, I believe that you all think the same way I do – that this sword is an evil sword!"

“Every time we go up the mountain, you can’t help but feel its imposing presence.”

"This is hardly a savior sword! If it could break free of its seal and act freely, I suspect it would want to kill and devour everyone in the world!"

"Therefore, it must be the problem with the evil sword. It must have found a loophole somewhere and failed to choose Chu Huaixu, instead choosing Xu Ziqing, thus disrupting all of Dao Ancestor's arrangements."

"Perhaps, this young man and this sword are not a good match at all! Chu Huaixu is the one who is truly suited to it!"

Upon hearing this, everyone surprisingly felt that there was some truth to it.
People quickly accepted that the problem lay with the evil sword.

That's just how reputation is!
This sword left a terrible impression on everyone.
It exudes an overwhelming aura of evil.

Just as Junior Sister said, if this sword hadn't been sealed by the Dao Ancestor, it would have definitely slaughtered all living beings in the world.

As for us
What problems could we possibly have?

Before we reached the Hidden Spirit Mountain in Chu Huai Xu, we did almost nothing, just following our junior uncle's instructions!
"But the current situation is indeed somewhat awkward," Xiang Yan said helplessly.

"The savior in the Dao Ancestor's admonitions is a man with a clear sword mind and has also learned the Dao Canon, but he has no sword in his hand and is a swordless man."

"Xu Ziqing became a sword attendant, but he was unable to unleash the full power of the sword."

"If only they could merge into one, the problem of the Origin Spirit Realm would surely be perfectly solved," Xiang Yan remarked.

"Unfortunately, only one person can enter the Origin Spirit Realm at a time."

While everyone was communicating telepathically, the restrictions on Xu Ziqing's right palm and the bronze sword on the mountaintop had already been fully formed.

The golden halos and runes all merged into his body, leaving patterns on his palm.

The small, dark blue sword inside his spirit embryo was immediately suppressed.

Xu Ziqing regained complete control of her body.

He stared at the monument to the virtuous man before him and murmured to himself again: "A virtuous man uses things, but is not used by things."

"I guess I'd say I did it?"

Then, exhausted, he collapsed backward and lost consciousness completely.

(End of this chapter)