Borrowing a sword

Chapter 67 All Nine Apertures Open, Evil Sword Stirs [Seeking First Subscription!]

At the foot of Cangling Mountain, all the high-ranking members of the Daoist sect gathered, except for the Seventh Elder, Shen Man, who remained in the Purple Bamboo Forest, drawing a circle around himself.

They did not fly high up to overlook the mountain and observe its entirety from a high vantage point.

Because the entire mountain is protected by a no-fly formation, those below the Nine Realms can only ascend the mountain on foot.

"Sect Master, what's going on?" Fifth Elder Zhao Shuqi, who already had narrowed eyes, now had them almost slits.

Xiang Yan raised his bald head, which resembled a hard-boiled egg, and gazed into the distance at the heights of Cangling Mountain.

"It doesn't seem too happy?" he said.

"This isn't just being unhappy, this is clearly throwing a tantrum." Elder Lu Pan frowned deeply, his forehead wrinkles looking like they were carved by a knife.

"Why is that?" Xiang Yan looked at Nangong Yue.

After all, Nangong Yue was the only master weapon refiner present.

She understands spirit artifacts better than anyone else.

"Don't look at me, I don't know either. Although I am a master weapon refiner, this sword is beyond my ability to forge." Ninth Elder Nangong Yue held up her hands in front of the two soft mountains and waved them repeatedly.

Sect Leader Xiang Yan clicked his tongue in amazement: "No one has come up the mountain to challenge it tonight, so why is it so angry?"

Li Chunsong muttered to himself, "That's not right. It's not always excited if someone comes up the mountain to challenge it."

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, but they couldn't come to a conclusion.

Only the Tenth Elder, Chu Yinyin, looked up at her senior brothers and sisters, all of whom were getting a little tired of listening.

“What’s so strange about getting angry? Sometimes I wake up early in the morning and suddenly feel like I’m going to lose my temper for no reason,” she said.

“This sword has been suppressed on the mountain for a full thousand years, a thousand years!” She gestured with her hand.

Lu Pan glanced at her and immediately said, "Junior Sister, be careful what you say. What do you mean by 'suppressed on the mountain'? It was the Dao Ancestor who sealed it on the mountain, waiting for the chosen one."

"Tch! Locking it up with an entire mountain of treasure and calling it suppression? All they ever tell me is to be careful what I say," Chu Yinyin thought to herself.

Sect Leader Xiang Yan lowered his head in thought, his distinctively ugly face filled with doubt.

"I've been the sect leader for so many years, and this sword has never made such a sound."

"Fine, I'll go up the mountain and take a look."

"Let's go together!" everyone echoed.

As a result, they had only taken a few steps when the mountain stopped shaking.

"You're not angry anymore?" Chu Yinyin looked up blankly. "Then should we still climb up?"

The group ignored her and continued walking up the mountain.

This sword is a priceless treasure, a world-saving sword left behind by the Dao Ancestor.

Now that it has suddenly shown unusual behavior, we cannot be careless.

When the group reached the summit, the sword had returned to its original state, showing no signs of abnormality, making their trip a complete waste.

It simply floated in the air, motionless, yet looked down from above.

It's just a sword, but it feels alive.

If you look up at it, you'll feel as if it's looking down at you from above.

Whether it's someone like Chu Yinyin, who's at the sixth realm, or someone like Xiang Yan, who's at the eighth realm, it looks down on everyone equally.

Inside the bamboo house, as dawn was breaking, Chu Huaixu finally got out of bed.

He had a very long dream, in which he returned to his childhood, to that home that wasn't really a home, and dreamed of the man who would beat him and his mother every few days.

Until he grew bigger and taller.

When he hit himself and his mother again, no matter how painful the blows were, he would protect his mother.
—Fight back!

He's afraid of pain; he's been afraid of pain since he was a child.

There's no one in the world who isn't afraid of pain.

But he was more afraid that he would be the only one suffering, while the alcoholic man was enjoying himself.

Later, Mom passed away, and the man grew old.

The man seems to have changed; he's become kinder, more willing to show fatherly love, and more caring.

But Chu Huaixu knew clearly that it wasn't that he had become better, but that he had grown old—he couldn't be bad anymore.

He never reconciled with himself, nor did he ever reconcile with himself.

Many adults hit children to teach them the lesson of being hit.

Now that so many years have passed, you're asking me why I still remember?

At this moment, Chu Huaixu sat on the bed and shook his head vigorously a few times.

"It's been a long time since I've had these kinds of weird dreams." He lowered his eyes slightly.

Perhaps it was because it hurt too much last night?

But he still felt that the stick in his memory hurt more.

After letting out a long breath, Chu Huaixu stood up, stretched his body, and the gloom dissipated. As if he could change his expression, he returned to his usual somewhat frivolous and cheeky demeanor.

He felt the power of his physical body, clenched his fists tightly, and made the signature "Super Saiyan" pose.

"The improvement in the ninth aperture is so great?" He was somewhat surprised.

If Liu Chenggong were to stand before him now, without using his spiritual power, he would absolutely not be afraid to lose; in a fit of rage, he could even kill him.

"A Nine-Aperture expert, terrifying indeed!" Chu Huaixu suddenly felt that the hardships he had endured recently were worthwhile.

No longer needing to cultivate the "Sword Refining Technique," he felt as light as a feather and refreshed.

After washing up briefly, he pushed open the door of the bamboo house.

It was barely dawn, and the big ice block next door hadn't even gotten up yet.

Chu Huaixu did nothing but sit on the high wooden fence and admire the morning view of Medicine Mountain.

A gentle breeze ruffled his long, jet-black hair, and his feet swayed freely in mid-air.

After a while, he heard the sound of the door in the next room opening.

"It seems that the five senses have also been greatly enhanced?" Chu Huaixu was somewhat surprised.

He remained seated on the railing, leaning back and tilting his head slightly backward, looking at Han Shuangjiang sideways, and said, "Get up."

The big ice block looked at him and the first thing it said was, "You were unconscious again yesterday, weren't you?" "Yeah." Chu Huaixu was already used to it and no longer felt embarrassed or ashamed.

But not in front of Xu Ziqing!

"I knew you were unconscious," Han Shuangjiang said. "There was an earthquake in Yaoshan last night, a small one."

"Huh?" Chu Huaixu exclaimed in surprise, "Really?"

The cold-faced girl nodded.

Chu Huaixu jumped down from the fence: "That's not right. With the mountain-protecting formation in place, how could there be an earthquake? The root cause can only be inside the [Mountain Outside the Mountain]."

Han Shuangjiang nodded.

"Why hasn't the sect made it public?" he asked.

"No," the large ice block replied.

"Then forget about it. This isn't something we nominal disciples should be thinking about," he said.

It's just a minor earthquake; at most, it'll just make the bed shake a couple of times.

Chu Huaixu is now more concerned with: "Have you opened your ninth acupoint?"

"It's working." Han Shuangjiang had been cultivating until late last night.

"That's good. Let's eat breakfast and then go to the library together."

"Ah."

The thought of soon obtaining the first level of cultivation techniques made the cold-faced girl's heart leap with joy.

After having a simple breakfast, the two went to the library together.

Chu Huaixu was filled with excitement. Once he reached the first realm, he would be able to use that pass to travel to [Hidden Spirit Mountain]!

The two walked quickly.

The library is not located on Medicine Mountain, but on Book Mountain, one of the three peaks of the outer sect.

The place where outer disciples exchange treasures for sect contribution points is also on Book Mountain. It has a rather rustic name: Treasure Pavilion.

Cultivation techniques, elixirs, spiritual weapons, and rare and precious materials can all be sold to the Treasure Pavilion in exchange for sect contribution points.

Of course, you can also buy things here.

The Book Mountain also has an Affairs Hall, which, simply put, is where outer disciples receive missions from their sect.

Work hard and you'll earn contribution points.

If you need help from your fellow disciples, you can also post a bounty at the Affairs Hall using your contribution points.

In addition, next to the library, there is also a practice room at Shushan.

Each training room contains a spirit-gathering array.

Cultivating inside will result in a richer spiritual energy environment and faster progress.

Of course, it also requires spending contribution points.

It was the first time for both of them to visit Shushan, so they walked and stopped along the way, like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.

The stone steps leading up the mountain are named "Diligence is the Path," which Chu Huaixu found quite interesting.

—Diligence is the path to the mountain of books, and hard work is the boat to the boundless sea of ​​learning.

This can also be considered one of the clever little touches in "Borrowing a Sword".

The library was located at the top of Book Mountain, and it took the two of them quite a while to reach it.

When they entered the first floor of the library, they found many senior brothers and sisters wearing "Outer Disciple" tokens on their waists, who were watching.

At this moment, a disciple with mastery of all nine orifices is trying his best to break the magic array in the eastern area of ​​the first floor.

He had already broken through the first magic array, inside which was a Yellow-level cultivation technique.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, cultivation techniques and spells are divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang.

The library on the outer mountain is only four stories high.

The first floor contains the cultivation techniques for the first realm, the second floor for the second realm, the third floor for the third realm, and the fourth floor is entirely dedicated to spells and techniques.

These outer disciples were simply watching the spectacle.

The Taoist sect is the most focused on opportunities among the four major sects. Once someone obtains an opportunity, it will cause a great stir.

When a storm arises, word spreads, and people become spectators.

Eating melons (gossip) is a habit that can easily become ingrained, which is why Taoists are among the most fond of watching the excitement.
At this moment, some people are cheering, while others are jeering.

"Junior brother, keep up the good work! Trust your senior brother, this second barrier is easy to break through."

"Don't stop! There aren't many disciples in our Daoist sect who cultivate Yellow-level techniques."

The mentality of these outer disciples is understandable, because they have also come this far, just like the senior students in university who go to watch the freshmen military training with half a watermelon.

A middle-aged man in a white robe looked idly at the incense burning in front of him. He was in charge of all matters on the first floor of the library, and he was already tired of this kind of thing.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang's entrance attracted the attention of many people.

Handsome men and beautiful women will always be the focus of attention wherever they go.

Of course, if someone is uniquely ugly like the sect leader Xiang Yan, they will naturally attract a lot of attention.

Among them, there was a smiling senior who was clearly an E-type person, and the kind who was very successful in the business world.

Seeing that Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang were also watching, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation and asked, "Are you two junior brothers and sisters also here to obtain the first realm cultivation technique after opening the nine orifices?"

“Exactly,” Chu Huaixu replied.

"My name is Chen Jiye, you can call me Senior Brother Chen. Congratulations in advance on your upcoming promotion from nominal disciples to outer disciples. May I ask how you two junior brothers and sisters should be addressed?" Chen Jiye asked.

"Preface to the Chu Huai Tree".

"Han Shuangjiang".

Both of them answered politely in soft voices, but as a result, this senior brother Chen immediately became startled.

"You are Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang!?" He spoke very loudly.

Instantly, everyone around turned their heads to look, and even the librarian in white robes looked up.

Even the disciple who was struggling to break through the array barrier stiffened slightly upon hearing those two names and couldn't help but turn around to look.

(End of this chapter)