Borrowing a sword

Chapter 268 Who can learn the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to One] technique?
Upon hearing this, Situ Cheng, atop the nameless peak, immediately flew into a rage.

"That day, you caused all the spiritual swords in the inner sect to soar into the sky and slash at me, and you still say that wasn't the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin]!"

Even now, Situ Cheng feels a bit scared when he thinks about it.

Countless spiritual swords eventually hovered in front of him, only to be forcibly stopped by the middle-aged scholar.

Even the slightest mistake, and I'd probably be turned into a hornet's nest.

Over the years, only that sparring session two years ago made him begin to doubt: "Am I really only a little weaker than my senior brother?"

Even after unleashing the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin] technique, the middle-aged scholar appeared extremely weak and had lost the ability to fight.

This made him realize: "It's still just a hair's breadth away, because if I'm lucky enough to survive, or if I've prepared a backup plan in advance, he'll definitely be the one who dies!"

Of course, this is just him deceiving himself.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone two long years without causing trouble at Wuming Peak.

But now you're telling me that what you did wasn't the real "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One"?!

I, Situ Cheng, am the first to disbelieve this!
"That's the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to One]!" Situ Cheng said stubbornly, "It's the number one technique in the world, the Dao Ancestor's signature move—[Ten Thousand Swords Return to One]!"

The middle-aged scholar usually obeyed his junior brother. He had always done so since entering the sect. After they went down the mountain to train together, Situ Cheng burned his lifespan, and the scholar obeyed him even more in everything.

But at this moment, contrary to his usual behavior, he stubbornly insisted, "Junior brother, that is not the real [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin]."

"Why do you say that?" Situ Cheng asked.

"Because the Dao Ancestor's [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin] is probably not like this."

"What is it like?"

"Junior brother, have you seen that sword manual?"

“Who in the world who practices swordsmanship hasn’t seen this?” Situ Cheng was speechless.

"Have you grasped the essence?" the middle-aged scholar asked again.

"Of course not!" Situ Cheng replied confidently.

That's all nonsense! If I could understand it, wouldn't I be able to master the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" technique?

“I understand now,” the middle-aged scholar said.

"Then why do you still say that's not [Ten Thousand Swords Return to One]!" Situ Cheng was furious and slammed his hand on the stone table.

"It is precisely because I have understood that I know that it is not true." The middle-aged scholar sighed.

"If you've figured it out, then you have! If not, then you haven't figured it out!" Situ Cheng, listening to his contradictory nonsense, wished he could start a fight right then and there.

However, the Sword Master suddenly shook his head and said:
"No, there is no sword technique in this world that I cannot comprehend, and the same is true for the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin] technique."

How arrogant that is!

But his tone was calm, as if he were stating a fact.

Ironically, Situ Cheng, who had been comparing himself to his senior brother for most of his life, also agreed with this statement.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" he asked, frowning.

Seeing that his junior brother was losing patience, the middle-aged scholar quickly poured him some tea.

He said, leaning to one side.

"I suspect that all those who have been able to unleash the 'Ten Thousand Swords Return to One' technique over the past thousand years are like me—they have only grasped the essence of swordsmanship, but have not actually mastered this power."

"We can do the first two words, but we can't do the last two."

"He can control ten thousand swords, but the swords cannot return to their source."

Upon hearing this, Situ Cheng frowned slightly and asked, "You mean that the Dao Ancestor is the [Return of Ten Thousand Swords], and you have only forcibly controlled these swords and are using them temporarily for your own purposes?"

"Absolutely right!" The middle-aged scholar clapped his hands and laughed heartily, not forgetting to add, "Junior brother is indeed quick to understand; chatting with him is the most enjoyable thing ever!"

Situ Cheng was secretly pleased and extremely pleased, but his face revealed a hint of disdain and contempt, as if he did not feel honored to be regarded as a confidant by the Sword Master.

He simply said in a deep voice, "How can you describe this number one swordsmanship in the world like something out of a novel, where a tyrant forcibly takes a woman's body but not her heart?"

"Junior brother is truly talented! His words may be rough, but the principle is sound!" The middle-aged scholar's smile deepened.

Situ Cheng then asked, "Are the two very different?"

"That's natural. My [Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin] might not even be a tenth of the Dao Ancestor's skill."

"Such a big difference!?" Situ Cheng was truly shocked this time.

He still vividly remembers the defeat he suffered two years ago.

At that moment, he was shaken and felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He was amazed that there was a sword technique in the world that was so powerful, far surpassing the Heaven-level sword technique he had mastered!
But now my senior brother says that it only has one-tenth of the true power of the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin" technique?
A forced melon can't possibly be this sweet!

This melon is really only good for quenching thirst, right?

The middle-aged scholar nodded slightly and said, "This is just my personal guess."

Upon hearing this, Situ Cheng immediately replied, "But there are all kinds of spirit swords in this world, which will give birth to all kinds of sword spirits."

"How could there possibly be someone in the world who could make all the sword spirits submit to him wholeheartedly, willingly bow down, and serve him? Huh!" He paused halfway through his sentence, suddenly remembering a certain person and a certain event.

The middle-aged scholar looked at his junior brother with a slightly puzzled expression.

Situ Cheng suddenly stood up, looking somewhat startled: "Chu Huaixu! Yes, yes, yes! Chu Huaixu!"

"Oh? What's wrong with this leader of the Xuanhuang realm, the first level?" the middle-aged scholar asked with a smile.

Situ Cheng couldn't help but recall the various strange techniques Chu Huaixu could use when he encountered sword cultivators during the Eastern Continent Grand Competition, and how uncontrollable those spiritual swords were!

He recalled how Mo Lingfeng, a disciple of the Sword Sect, could barely draw his sword when facing him.

That day, seeing Mo Lingfeng so distraught, the young man gave him his answer.

He said, "Because your sword is afraid of me!" Situ Cheng later summoned Mo Lingfeng and tried to use his sword domain to suppress the sword spirit, preventing it from being drawn, so that he could identify if this was the feeling.

Mo Lingfeng's reply was: I feel that the Blade Spirit is more afraid of Chu Huaixu!
At the time, Situ Cheng naturally didn't take it seriously, thinking that this silly boy had been tortured into stupidity and was spouting such nonsense.

I am an eighth-realm sword cultivator, and the second of the Four Great Divine Swords!

But the more I think about it, the more something seems off.

He told his senior about it, and added:

"Also, in the finals of the Eastern Continent Tournament, didn't Chu Huaixu face off against that Dao Ancestor Sword?"

"In that battle, he even borrowed a sword from Han Shuangjiang!"

"I witnessed it that day, and I felt that the sword spirit of the [Partridge Sky] was extremely excited, even joyful, and it flew directly from its master's hand towards Chu Huaixu!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged scholar's eyes immediately lit up: "Junior brother, is this really true?"

Why would I lie to you!

"But why didn't you explain it in detail last time?"

"Last time, it was because you and the sect leader were only concerned with asking me about the Dao Ancestor Sword and the Dao Ancestor's admonitions that everyone's focus was on the subsequent Origin Spirit Realm! Now you're questioning me instead!" Situ Cheng was furious.

He added, "The Taoist sect did invite you to attend the ceremony, but you didn't go on your own!"

The middle-aged scholar quickly apologized, saying, "It was my fault, senior brother."

He began to analyze in detail: "Moreover, my junior brother said before that this Chu Huaixu seems to have mastered the true Dao Canon, become the successor of the Dao Ancestor, and obtained the Dao Ancestor's sword sheath on Cangling Mountain?"

"Correct."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged scholar burst into hearty laughter; this person who had been practicing superstition seemed to have finally seen a glimmer of hope.

"Hahaha! Borrowing one sword is borrowing, borrowing ten thousand swords is also borrowing!"

"Perhaps, once he truly comprehends the sword technique of [Ten Thousand Swords Return to One], he will be able to unleash the true [Ten Thousand Swords Return to One] just like the Dao Ancestor!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

His face showed a rare hint of excitement.

The middle-aged scholar, who disliked descending the mountain, now inquired, "Junior brother, would you mind taking your senior brother with you to the Eastern and Western Continents Grand Competition of the Third Realm?"

The Taoist school, the mountain of books.

After entering the stone's inner space, Han Shuangjiang was initially stunned for a moment.

"How did I end up in this secret realm again, without even realizing it?"

She still found it somewhat unbelievable.

Could it be that I really have incredible good fortune?

But he had lived such a hard life before, and had no extraordinary encounters before entering the Taoist sect.

"On the contrary, they lived a life of constant wandering."

She first looked up and glanced ahead, and what came into view was the large characters on the stone wall.

But this time the characters are different from those in the Dao Ancestor's Secret Realm last time.

"Could it be that we didn't enter the Dao Ancestor's Secret Realm this time?"

"Was it by chance, while searching for the Dao Ancestor's legacy, that you triggered the legacy left by other predecessors?"

Last time, a huge character for "Tao" was carved on the stone wall.

I have heard that this is true of every lineage of the Daoist patriarch.

But now, what lies before her is the word "sword"!

She quickly turned her head away and refused to look anymore.

I was afraid that, like last time, I would fall into a mysterious state just by looking at that word.

The girl wasn't afraid of this scene; it was simply because, "Chu Huaixu hasn't come in yet."

She is waiting for him.

Only in this way can we, as before, go through trials together and grow together.

To be precise, almost every time their relationship deepened, it was related to the secret realm.

But then Han Shuangjiang thought for a moment: "But if it weren't for the Dao Ancestor's Secret Realm, wouldn't it be possible that he wouldn't be able to get in?"

Indeed, Chu Huaixu only possessed the "key" to the Dao Ancestor's inheritance.

A few breaths later, the giant ice block with its back to the huge sword character saw a figure appear in front of it.

Looking at the [Treasure-Hunting Rat (Companion Version)] in front of him, Chu Huaixu thought that the big ice block was really useful!
His past life's work experience told him that sucking up to a woman was really appealing.

"Impressive! You've found another Dao Ancestor's inheritance. You truly are a chosen one," he praised.

"Is this really the lineage of the Dao Ancestor?" Han Shuangjiang said.

"Of course, otherwise how would I have gotten in?"

However, the next moment, she immediately noticed that Chu Huaixu's expression changed, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.

Little did they know that it was because the dead fox had heard a system notification in its ear.

"[Ding! You have entered the Dao Ancestor's Inheritance Dungeon - Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin]."

(P.S.: First update, please vote with monthly tickets!)
The second update will be a little later.
(End of this chapter)