Borrowing a sword

Chapter 264 Imperial Pool and Imperial Mausoleum

Before the bell, Chu Huaixu tried his best to keep his facial expression calm.

But the shock in his heart could not be calmed down.

Although he was just a companion, he wasn't uneducated; he knew this verse.

"It seems to be from the Lotus Sutra."

The meaning behind this statement is actually not difficult to understand; it is quite obvious.

However, isn't this setting my expectations a bit too high?

Are you placing me on such a grand scale?

So this is what a lamp looks like.

[By passing on the light from one lamp to many, eventually all lamps will shine.]

"But what the hell does this have to do with the name Huai Xu?" Chu Huai Xu cursed inwardly.

In fact, Xiang Yan and the others thought the same thing.

This is also what puzzles them.

Furthermore, the phrase "槐序" (Huai Xu) does not even appear in this sentence, so the format is clearly incorrect.

But this made Chu Huaixu basically realize that his previous assumptions were not just his overthinking.

"The Dao seal is [Huai Xu], and [Yi Deng] appears in the sentence."

"In other words, both of my names in the Xuanhuang Realm have appeared."

Since the Dao Ancestor had "clearly indicated" it to this extent, even if Chu Huaixu was stupid, he wouldn't deceive himself into thinking it was a coincidence.

He raised his head and looked up at the sky, having already found some answers in his heart and felt that supreme power.

"So, this is the Dao Ancestor?"

After receiving the seal bestowed by the Dao Ancestor, the three were taken to the main hall of the Dao Inquiry Peak.

According to Xiang Yan, the idea was for everyone to sit down and have a chat.

The topic of conversation was naturally the trip down the mountain, where everyone shared information.

Chu Huaixu has told him everything he knows.

But he knew nothing about what Jiang Zhi had experienced.

Through their descriptions, he learned that the Daoist sect had indeed known about the Black Moon Cult's existence much earlier than he had.

However, just like him, they all underestimated this sect that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

There's no way around it; the Black Moon Cult accepts all sorts of nobodies, as if there are no entry requirements.

As for the claim that the sect leader's strength is comparable to that of the ninth realm, that is considered utter nonsense by ordinary people.

There is no such thing as a ninth-realm evil cultivator in this world!
Each person at the Ninth Realm can sense the presence of others and can even locate others based on the [Original Power] within their body.

Jiang Zhi had already investigated and found no signs of the [Origin Power] activity within the Daoist territory.

I never expected that someone who has reached the Nascent Soul stage would appear in the Xuanhuang Realm!
Moreover, he also possessed primordial power, though it seemed he hadn't fully refined it.

"This person gives me a very strange feeling," Jiang Zhi said in a deep voice.

"He gives me the feeling of a cultivator, but it doesn't seem like that entirely."

"His own answer was: yes and no."

Chu Huaixu listened from the side, feeling completely bewildered.

"What?! You can cultivate immortality in the Xuanhuang Realm?!" He was shocked.

He had originally planned to use the four spiritual roots within the Chongdan pill, as well as Ye Kongxuan's corpse, to conduct some small "scientific experiments" in the future, becoming a "mad scientist" who played with corpses.

But who would have thought that someone had already figured it out and actually fixed it?

But then he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

“It doesn’t match up,” Chu Huaixu said, looking up.

"What doesn't match up?" Jiang Zhi asked.

“The timing doesn’t match,” he replied.

Chu Huaixu continued, "Grandmaster, if someone in the Xuanhuang Realm finds a method for cultivating immortality, then it would take at least several hundred years to reach the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, right?"

"After all, in the Kunlun Grotto-heaven, those who can attain the Nascent Soul stage in a few hundred years are considered geniuses among geniuses."

"If that's the case, then it's like there's a cultivator who has been living silently in the Xuanhuang Realm for hundreds, or even thousands of years, without anyone noticing."

Jiang Zhi and Xiang Yan exchanged a glance and nodded repeatedly.

The sect leader spoke up, "This is also one of the issues I discussed with my junior uncle. It's very good that you thought of this immediately."

"That possibility is not high."

"However, even cultivators cannot travel from their original spiritual realm to the Xuanhuang Realm."

"Only the primordial spirit can do this."

Xiang Yan paused for a moment after saying this.

Jiang Zhi then said, "Moreover, he also possesses the Myriad Soul Banner, which he claims was once a celestial treasure used by those in the Nascent Soul stage."

"It is precisely because it is a treasure of the Nascent Soul stage that it contains a large number of banner spirits of the Nascent Soul stage."

"However, there are also a few banner spirits of eighth-realm powerhouses, which is also very strange."

"This means that quite a few eighth-realm experts have died under this Myriad Soul Banner."

“In recent years, the number of Eight Realms cultivators who have died can be counted on one hand.” Jiang Zhi said, then suddenly fell silent.

Chu Huaixu understood the meaning behind it.

The spirit within this Myriad Souls Banner was definitely not crafted in recent years.

However, this contradicts the topic we discussed earlier.

"Could it be that someone has actually found the path to immortality and then wandered silently in the Xuanhuang Realm for hundreds of years?" Chu Huaixu frowned, puzzled.

"But where did this Myriad Souls Banner come from, and where did the method of cultivating immortality come from?"

At this thought, a possibility came to mind. Xiang Yan said, "Huai Xu, but you told us earlier that they were trying to find the [Nascent Soul Fruit], which has given us a new idea."

"Is what Grandmaster and Masters are thinking... that someone from the Xuanhuang Realm might have accidentally obtained the Nascent Soul inheritance?" Chu Huaixu asked, looking up.

“That’s right.” Before Xiang Yan could even speak, Jiang Zhi immediately chimed in with his reply.

Xiang Yan glanced at his junior uncle who had answered first, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.

"But this is on the premise that the information you obtain is correct, that there really are lost Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm, and that there really were Nascent Soul stage cultivators who descended to this realm and then died and disappeared," Jiang Zhi added.

"After this Nascent Soul cultivator died, he left behind his lost position, as well as the Myriad Soul Banner and his inheritance."

"The latter was acquired by the leader of the Black Moon Cult."

"His Nascent Soul stage perfection might be related to this."

"However, even so, there are still many mysteries."

Upon hearing this, Chu Huaixu's brain had already stopped working.

That's just how he is; if he can't think of something, why bother thinking about it at all!
Or perhaps he still retains some of the mindset of a gamer?

What's the use of just thinking? What's the use of just guessing? Let's keep developing the mission and keep exploring the hidden storyline!

"We need to go through the storyline!" he thought to himself.

Anyway, he's a cheater; he has a system at his disposal.

He actually learned about the Nascent Soul stage indirectly from the system.

This information is currently unavailable to the Black Moon Cult.

Based on his intuition as a player, he firmly believed that "it was probably originally a later part of the story in 'Borrowing Swords'."

This level of big boss has appeared far too early.

"If nothing unexpected happens, he has probably been lying low for a long time."

"But why make such a big fuss this time? Why do you seem so anxious?"

"Is it really because I have the aura of a high-ranking official?" Chu Huaixu wondered.

However, during this period, the three of them basically ate, lived, and traveled together.

"If I've touched the fruit position, then Big Ice Block and Little Xu should have it too, right?"

"The only thing they haven't been directly involved in during my recent trip was providing treatment for Zhong Ming."

"But the problem is, there's no reason why the [position of authority] should be in Zhong Ming's hands."

"In that round of the fifth level of the Origin Spirit Realm, although the Dao Sect suffered heavy losses, they still managed to break through and clear the level."

"He was the only one who left the Spirit Realm with a fragment of the Primordial Origin."

However, this position clearly belonged to the former owner of the Myriad Souls Banner.

This Ten Thousand Souls Banner clearly didn't originate from the Primordial Spirit Realm of that year.

This creates a contradiction.

"Moreover, what exactly is this so-called 'Transformation Godhood'?" he wondered.

Regardless, Chu Huaixu's sense of crisis has been growing stronger lately.

First, the old Grand Preceptor of the Moon Kingdom attacked me, and now the Black Moon Cult has suddenly appeared.
The cult leader actually managed to escape from Jiang Zhi's clutches, only losing an arm.

"I still need to hurry up and become stronger," Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

Fortunately, the day of the Third Realm East-West Continent Grand Competition is getting closer and closer.

"After the grand competition is over and I've cleared the second level of the Origin Spirit Realm, I need to find a way to level up quickly and raise my cultivation to the fifth level or higher as soon as possible," he planned in his mind.

Only by becoming a great spiritual practitioner can one have a slightly greater sense of security.

"It's still too slow."

"I've been transmigrating for so long, and I'm still only at the third realm."

"I'm using cheat codes, but my cultivation speed isn't even as fast as the big ice block."

He was quite speechless about this.

Because he upgraded [Six Out of Deficiencies] by one level, his current realm is stuck at the seventh level of the third realm, and he has already used up all his experience points.

"I'm worried," he thought to himself.

Chu Huaixu is someone who knows how to allocate experience points reasonably.

Even the most skillful cook can't cook without rice.

Inside the main hall, as everyone chatted, they soon got to the topic of the East-West Continent Grand Competition.

Xiang Yan spoke up: "Do you know that the competition in the Third Realm is not divided into the Eastern Continent Competition and the Western Continent Competition, but is held directly in the form of the Eastern and Western Continent Competition?"

"This disciple understands." Chu Huaixu had experienced this plot in "Borrowing the Sword" and naturally knew the rules.

Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing exchanged a glance; they really didn't know.

The two of them had the same thought: How did you know that?
Chu Huaixu always seemed to know more than them, and it was unclear where he got his information from.

"And this Third Realm East-West Continent Grand Competition will be held in the monastery of the Moon Kingdom," Xiang Yan continued.

"Because the previous champion was a person from the Moon Kingdom."

"Judging by the time, you should be setting off in a little over a month. Once you arrive in the Moon Kingdom, take some time to adjust and make some preparations."

"Chu Huaixu, you are the leader of the Xuanhuang realm in the first stage. According to the rules, you are exempt from the first few rounds of competition."

Chu Huaixu nodded; he had directly qualified for the top 16.

This is the privilege and honor of being the leader of Xuanhuang.

"The reason I asked you to go earlier is because Junior Uncle said that Qin Xuanxiao, as the representative of the Moon Kingdom, expressed the Moon Kingdom Emperor's attitude and was willing to let you enter the Imperial Pool or the Imperial Mausoleum as a reward for you to solve the first level of the Origin Spirit Realm," Xiang Yan said.

"Yes, he did mention it."

"Have you decided whether to enter the Imperial Pool or go to the Imperial Mausoleum?"

(P.S.: Second update, please vote with monthly tickets at the beginning of the month.)
(End of this chapter)