Borrowing a sword

Chapter 123 Junior Uncle Arrives

After parting ways with Niu Yuanshan, Han Shuangjiang and Chu Huaixu continued walking towards the bamboo house.

Along the way, Big Ice noticed that the dead fox seemed preoccupied and frequently lost in thought.

He couldn't accept the faction quests from the organization, but he couldn't figure out why.

He always felt that he needed to take this matter seriously, and a seed was planted in his heart.

Overall, Chu Huaixu naturally had no sense of belonging to the so-called "organization".

He wasn't brainwashed.

Moreover, he once saw a saying that said, "Loyalty that is not absolute is absolute disloyalty."

So, what does someone like Chu Huaixu mean to the organization?

His loyalty is not just inconsistent.
On the contrary, after spending so much time in the Taoist sect, he had become somewhat accustomed to it.

Moreover, he now seems to be deeply bound to the Dao Ancestor.

He also took the sword sheath and the medicine cauldron, and even completed the Daoist Canon.

For him, it cannot be said that he has a strong sense of belonging to the Taoist sect.

But at least his home is here.

The autumn wind is bleak, and there is already a chill in the air.

Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang walked side by side and soon returned to the bamboo house.

After saying goodbye, the two went back to their respective rooms.

Another day has passed, but Xiao Xu still hasn't returned home.

This made him feel somewhat unaccustomed, as the house wasn't as lively as before.

"The big ice block lives next door."

"Besides, she's always been a quiet person."

After returning to his bedroom, Chu Huaixu sat down on the futon.

He placed the sword sheath across his lap, then took out the refined elixir from the black bead.

"Tsk! All the pills I prepared for him are ready, but he's never home." He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"I wonder what he's been doing these past few days?"

The inner gate leads to Hidden Spirit Mountain.

At the mountaintop, the wind howled.

The bronze sword was still suspended in the air, but it was different from before.

Previously, it was extremely spiritual; the sword was a living thing, and one could sense its superior attitude.

But now, the bronze sword is like an inanimate object, devoid of any spirit.

Xu Ziqing sat cross-legged beneath the sword, his eyes closed.

Fifth Elder Zhao Shuqi stood aside, protecting him.

The boy had actually woken up a few days earlier and, under the instructions of the high-ranking members of the Daoist sect, had taken another Xuan Tian Fetal Breathing Pill.

After consuming the elixir, he began to digest its medicinal properties, nourishing his damaged spiritual embryo.

Strangely, some of the medicinal power was absorbed by the small, dark blue sword inside the Spirit Embryo's secret treasure trove!
After the restriction in Xu Ziqing's palm was fully formed, the dark blue-black sword fell into slumber.

Even so, it seems to still have the instinct to devour everything.

The medicinal power of the Xuan Tian Fetal Breathing Pill had just entered the Spirit Embryo's secret treasure when it began to unconsciously compete for it!
This surprised the high-ranking members of the Taoist sect who were watching at the time.

I never imagined that he would possess such sinister abilities after falling into a deep sleep!

After discussing it, everyone reached a consensus: "Fortunately, Xu Ziqing is a body cultivator who refines his body."

They suspected that if one were to cultivate normally and use the Spirit Embryo Secret Treasury to store spiritual energy, it would likely absorb the spiritual energy and compete for it during the cultivation process!

“In this way, the child’s cultivation speed will be very slow.”

"He needed to practice the 'Sword Nourishing Technique' and had to spend a lot of time nourishing the sword every day."

"Then, your spiritual energy will be drained while you are practicing."

But body tempering is different.

The path of body refinement is to conceal the spirit within the physical body.

The spiritual power hidden within the spiritual embryo is extremely limited.

The vast majority of spiritual power is mixed in various parts of the physical body.

“In this way, the sword spirit can only devour a very small portion,” said Sect Master Xiang Yan.

"He chose the path of body refinement, and by some twist of fate, he avoided this calamity." He clicked his tongue in amazement.

In fact, no one expected that the sword attendant would actually be a physical cultivator.

The "Ice Skin and Jade Bone Heart Method" has been on the first floor of the library for many years, but very few people choose to read it.

These disciples are all capable of entering the Heavenly Realm; who would want to become a crude body cultivator?

Immediately afterwards, these great masters of cultivation began to pay attention to whether the medicine was effective enough.

They soon discovered: "How could this child's constitution and absorption be so good?"

Even though half of it was devoured by the sword spirit, he essentially repaired his slightly damaged spiritual embryo with just half a spiritual pill, and even upgraded it from a low-grade level three spiritual embryo to a mid-grade level four spiritual embryo!

Li Chunsong joked, "Second Senior Brother would probably like someone like him."

The Second Elder of the Daoist sect is a top-ranked alchemy master in the entire Xuanhuang Realm.

After Xu Ziqing's spirit fetus recovered, everyone let him stay by Zhao Shuqi's side.

They did not urge the boy to practice the "Sword Cultivation Technique," but instead let him practice as usual and then carefully observe him for a few days, which was a more prudent approach.

Chu Huaixu and Xu Ziqing's trip to Cangling Mountain was full of unexpected events.

Everyone was genuinely afraid that something might go wrong again.

The squinty-eyed Fifth Elder, while interacting with the young man, asked curiously, "Xu Ziqing, why did you choose the 'Ice Skin Jade Bone Heart Method' among so many cultivation techniques?"

The young man answered honestly, "Because my senior brother hopes that I will have the opportunity to go to Cangling Mountain, after I looked through them, I found that if I cultivate other techniques, even if I take pills, I will not be able to meet the requirements in a short period of time."

"It was my only choice so as not to disappoint my senior brother," he said.

This surprised Zhao Shuqi somewhat.

"So, the whole thing stems from just one sentence from Chu Huaixu?"

This kid indirectly helped him again.

After observing for several days, Zhao Shuqi finally taught Xu Ziqing the "Sword Cultivation Technique" yesterday, instructing him: "Don't rush to practice it, first try to comprehend it."

The art of sword nurturing is extremely difficult.

Although its function is merely to nurture the sword, it is extremely difficult to master.

After taking a look, they felt that its difficulty was comparable to some Earth-level spells.

For a disciple who has only reached the first realm, that is not something that can be mastered in a short time. Even with everyone's careful guidance, it will still take some time.

They all became much faster at mastering Earth-level spells after entering the realm of great cultivators.

Today, Zhao Shuqi brought him to Cangling Mountain simply to have him try practicing the "Sword Cultivation Technique" once, and then correct him himself.

The sword was left on the mountain for the time being, and for various reasons, they did not allow the boy to take it down.

The fifth elder of the Taoist sect stood guard to the side, his squinty eyes slowly widening.

He actually had a pair of eyes with a hint of dark gold!

In his eyes, Xu Ziqing's entire cultivation process was completely exposed.

He can see every detail clearly without needing to use his divine sense to investigate.

Zhao Shuqi's eyes can directly see spiritual energy.

This is one of the reasons why everyone asked Xu Ziqing to stay with him for the time being.

"Huh?" The Fifth Elder quickly let out a surprised exclamation.

Then, the surprise on his face grew deeper and deeper.

"I didn't expect it to be another little prodigy!"

"Could he have really learned the Sword Nurturing Technique in just one day?"

"This level of comprehension is a bit too extraordinary."

So far, he has not found any errors.

After circulating spiritual energy within his body, the boy slowly raised his right hand.

The restriction on his palm began to emit a faint glow.

Then, a force rushed toward the bronze sword.

The sleeping sword instantly awoke!
It began to devour this power with extreme greed.

After completing one cycle of the "Sword Nurturing Technique," it was clearly still extremely dissatisfied.

Too little!
That's too little!!

However, the restrictions on the sword and the boy's palm took effect again, and the sword spirit immediately fell into a deep sleep once more.

Xu Ziqing slowly opened her eyes, and Zhao Shuqi also slowly narrowed her eyes, returning to her usual squinty-eyed appearance.

"Good, very good!" He couldn't help but praise.

"Chu Huaixu said before that you seem to have a great talent for magic."

"But I never expected you to be so perceptive."

Zhao Shuqi praised him several times in one breath, but Xu Ziqing only caught the key point - "Chu Huai Xu Shuo".

My senior brother even praised me in front of the sect leader and elders?

In the past, Chu Huaixu was always indifferent to him, at most saying "not bad".

A warm feeling welled up in the boy's heart.

“Let’s go, come down the mountain with me,” Zhao Shuqi said.

"Yes, Fifth Elder."

As night fell, Xu Ziqing practiced the "Ice Skin and Jade Bone Heart Method" in Zhao Shuqi's courtyard.

The Fifth Elder then went to the main hall of the Inquiry Peak.

The higher-ups in the Taoist sect have been holding small meetings every day lately.

On one hand, they discussed matters related to the Eastern Continent Grand Competition, and on the other hand, they discussed Xu Ziqing and Chu Huaixu.

As a result, everyone heard a telepathic transmission when they were only halfway through their conversation.

"Come to the Purple Bamboo Grove."

The group exchanged glances and then stood up.

"Junior Uncle has returned to the sect!" Li Chunsong said.

Only Chu Yinyin uttered a sound: "Huh?"

But she quickly realized that it was clearly her junior uncle who hadn't sent her a telepathic message!

"Ugh! I'm so angry!" She immediately stood up and followed the others.

This time, Xiang Yan and the others did not chase them away.

To be precise, they desperately need Chu Yinyin to be present tonight.
Inside the bamboo grove, the slender Taoist nun still sat high on the boulder.

The junior Taoist master, dressed in white robes, stood with his hands behind his back, while the second Taoist elder, who looked like a farmer, stood behind him.

After landing, everyone bowed in unison, saying, "Junior Uncle."

This junior master of the Taoist sect is surnamed Jiang and named Zhi.

—The road is long and arduous, but if you keep going, you will reach your destination.

He turned and glanced around at everyone, finally fixing his gaze on Chu Yinyin, and said with a wry smile, "What are you doing here?"

Chu Yinyin was the most favored in the Daoist sect, and she was no exception with her junior uncle.

"Hmph! I already know everything, of course I can come," Chu Yinyin said.

"You all told her?" Jiang Zhi immediately frowned and glanced at the others, scolding, "Nonsense!"

The Taoist nun on the boulder readily took the blame, stammering, "I...I said it."

The junior master, dressed in white robes, looked up at his only beloved disciple, his tone softening slightly, but he still said, "You're being ridiculous too!"

In his view, Chu Yinyin was still like a child, so she was naturally the most unreliable.

"Luckily I came back early, I was just afraid something might go wrong." He said in his habitually prophetic tone.

As a result, he immediately noticed that everyone's expressions were somewhat strange.

This immediately made him frown, despite his confident demeanor.

What? I'm already back in charge, how could there still be a problem?
Or has Chu Yinyin already gotten herself into trouble?

I already said in the message that they were not allowed to interfere with Xu Ziqing and Han Shuangjiang's cultivation. They should be treated as ordinary outer disciples for now. Surely they did not follow my instructions?

"What's with all those expressions?" he asked, his tone displeased.

As the sect leader, Xiang Yan was naturally required to report at this time.

He coughed lightly and said, "Junior Uncle, there's still a problem with Chu Huaixu."

Upon hearing this, the junior master of the Daoist sect looked even more confused, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

Even the Second Elder, who was standing to the side, began to look puzzled.

The next moment, Jiang Zhi said something that left everyone completely baffled.

Junior Uncle asked:
Who is Chu Huaixu?

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