Borrowing a sword

Chapter 88 Sword Sheath and Medicine Cauldron [Third Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets!]

Inside the bamboo house, Chu Huaixu heard a system notification.

"【Ding! Congratulations, you have successfully bound your natal magic weapon, meeting the binding requirements.】"

He narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing the sound.

"Meets the binding requirements?" He quickly grasped the key point.

In his memory, these words should not have been present when he bound his natal magic weapon.

This suggests that the black bead and the medicine cauldron inside are very likely closely related to the power of the Daoist canon within his body!
"No wonder I had a feeling in the dark, and it drained me right away, absorbing all my spiritual power, even the energy in my physical body."

At that moment, Chu Huaixu had a feeling that... he was very hungry?
In an instant, it devoured him completely, leaving nothing behind.

After doing all this, he took a drop of blood from his fingertip and dripped it onto the sword sheath, performing a blood oath ceremony with the [Calming the Waves] sword. However, he did not use his divine sense to fuse with it and make it his own.

The object associated with one's birth year is unique, and this will not change for anyone.

Chu Huaixu opened his character panel and checked his [Equipment Slots].

[Ding Feng Bo] has already recognized its master and is now being held on his lap. The equipment slot shows that it is equipped.

But soon, he realized something was wrong.

The item marked as "Calming the Storm" is an offensive or support-type magic item.

【Medicine Cauldron (Native Magic Treasure): Unnamed】, marked as: Defensive, Secondary Class Magic Treasure.

This surprised Chu Huaixu somewhat.

He hadn't expected that the scabbard could be used for attack.

He could understand the auxiliary functions; that was within his guessing range.

"But can this scabbard be linked to attack?"

Chu Huaixu immediately checked the effects of the magic weapon.

Then, I roughly understood.

"So, it turns out that it can store all the spiritual power in one's body into the sword sheath in the form of sword energy."

"With my current level of [magic item development], I can only save it 7 times."

"In other words, I can use the scabbard to unleash seven pre-stored sword energies."

"But since it is stored, although each sword aura consumes all my spiritual power, the damage it can cause is still not comparable to my full-force attack under normal circumstances."

"It can only achieve 30% of the effect."

"The key is still in quantity, winning by sheer volume."

Chu Huaixu felt that this could become one of his trump cards!

More importantly, the pre-stored amount of sword energy can be increased.

For low-level cultivators, even if they possess a great treasure, they cannot unleash its full power; it is like a pearl being covered in dust.

One's cultivation level must be up to match it.

According to the setting in "Borrowing the Sword", once it is quantified, it becomes the "Magic Weapon Development Level".

"Under normal circumstances, cultivators have the highest development level for their natal magic treasures, while the development level for non-natal magic treasures is halved."

"If it is a natal magic weapon, the development level of a low-grade spiritual weapon can reach 100% when it is in the first realm."

"A mid-grade spiritual weapon requires reaching the third realm, and a high-grade spiritual weapon requires reaching the fifth realm."

"A supreme-grade spiritual artifact, so rare in the world, can only reach 100% perfection at the seventh realm!"

【Calming the Storm】is not Chu Huaixu's natal magic weapon, so its development level is halved. Therefore, his current development level is only a pitiful 7.14%.

Even if he cultivates to the ninth realm, the development level of his magic weapon, after rounding, is only 64%.

This is the difference between a non-natal magic weapon and a natal magic weapon.

Ultimately, it's because it only has spirituality, but lacks a spirit that can communicate with people's minds!

"Because there is only 7% left, only 7 sword energies can be stored in advance."

"If that number increases to 14, 21, or even 64, that would be quite formidable!"

"A top-grade spiritual artifact, truly terrifying."

In addition, [Calming the Storm] is not only an offensive magic item, but also a support item.

Its auxiliary function is reflected in its second miraculous aspect.

The purpose of a scabbard is to sheath the sword.

Its auxiliary function leans towards sealing and suppression.

It can weaken the attack speed and attack effect of all spirit swords.

For non-sword-type magical artifacts, the reduction is halved if weakened.

The specific amount of the reduction is linked to the strength of both sides.

Of course, the higher the development level of the magic weapon, the better its effect will be.

"If cultivation level and sword realm are suppressed, the disparity in strength between the two sides will be immense, to the point that the opponent's sword will be difficult to draw! And even if it is drawn, it will be unable to launch an attack!"

"That's interesting."

"This function, together with my [Heart Sword], can actually complement each other."

"The scabbard suppresses the magic weapon itself, while the heart sword suppresses the sword spirit."

This is absolutely a pleasant surprise!
Chu Huaixu could easily imagine how terrifying this would be in actual combat!
"Let's try finding the big ice block later." The dead fox was itching to torment the woman.

Immediately afterwards, he turned his attention to the main event—the medicine cauldron.

Chu Huaixu's gaze swept over the area briefly before his eyes narrowed involuntarily.

"what happened?"

"How can the development level of the magic weapon only be 10%?"

"Even a top-grade spiritual weapon should have a development level of over fourteen points in the first realm!"

"Could it be..." A startling thought popped into his mind.

This medicine cauldron is suspected to be the Dao Ancestor's natal magic weapon.

It looks just like the bronze sword on the mountain, but it is an existence that transcends the category of spiritual weapons.
Chu Huaixu sat on a futon, looking out the window, trying to calm himself down.

He felt the rumors were more and more plausible, and he became increasingly suspicious that this thing was indeed the Dao Ancestor's natal artifact!

Even if it's not his natal object, it's probably the medicine cauldron that the Dao Ancestor uses on a daily basis!

"You should know that the Dao Ancestor was the greatest alchemist of all time."

"Only the Pill King can barely be compared to him."

Chu Huaixu's heart was pounding slightly. He never expected that this trip to Cangling Mountain would yield such a treasure!
He began to carefully examine the functions of the medicine cauldron.

It was a secondary-level magic weapon, which didn't surprise Chu Huaixu.

A medicine cauldron is used for refining elixirs and medicines; it's an essential tool for alchemists.

In "Borrowing Swords," skills like alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman making, and formation are all considered secondary professions.

"But since it is still a defensive magic weapon, I need to study its defensive effects carefully."

Unfortunately, the system description listed three question marks after the defensive capabilities. Chu Huaixu was immediately enraged.

"No way! This is my natal magical artifact, and they won't even give me access to investigate it?"

This phenomenon is simply unheard of and inconceivable!
In this way, he would have no choice but to figure out the properties of the magic weapon on his own, just like Han Shuangjiang next door.

After taking a deep breath, Chu Huaixu began to examine its secondary functions.

His left eyelid started twitching uncontrollably after just one glance.

Because the information he saw was:

"[Secondary Profession: Alchemist]"

"[Status: Beginner.]"

"【First-grade low-level pill, current success rate of refining: 100%】"

These three lines of text left Chu Huaixu speechless with astonishment.

Because the third line does not conform to the logic of the first two lines.

He has not yet learned any alchemy techniques.

Alchemy is also considered to fall under the category of "magic arts," and you can learn it on the fourth floor of the outer sect's library.

There is a master alchemist in the Taoist sect, who is the second elder of the sect, but he is not on the mountain at the moment.

"I haven't even started learning yet, and the success rate for first-grade low-level pills is already 100%?"

"What does this mean? I just throw the raw materials into the cauldron, and then I can successfully refine it?"

"What kind of fully automatic alchemy furnace is this?!" Chu Huaixu exclaimed, his eyes wide with amazement.

He even wants to get some recipes for first-grade pills right now, then gather some raw materials, throw them into the medicine cauldron, and see if they are really that miraculous.

Upon realizing this, Chu Huaixu suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I even spent over four hundred sect contribution points to exchange for pills!"

"We lost out!"

He was filled with regret.

After all, even without relying on drugs to gain experience points, he still has other methods, just not as convenient as drugs.

As mentioned before, some secret realms that have been developed by others will be modified by the Taoist sect and opened to Taoist disciples as trial grounds.

This is essentially a sect instance; Chu Huaixu can also gain experience by clearing it.

He sighed and then began to adjust his mindset.

He's never been one to engage in internal strife.

"Forget it, as a transmigrator, don't be so petty about such a small amount of contribution points."

Chu Huaixu lowered his head and looked at the black bead hanging on the sword sheath.

The inside of the bead is a hidden world, and it seems to be integrated with the medicine cauldron.

He didn't even need to take the medicine cauldron out; he could activate it within the space inside the bead!
That would make it more confidential.

Chu Huaixu began to carefully observe his natal magic weapon, not missing a single detail.

This medicine cauldron is completely black, and it is unknown what material it is made of.

Like most ding vessels, it has a three-legged, two-eared design.

That's why there's a saying, "a tripartite balance of power."

Compared to the simple and unadorned sword sheath, the patterns carved on the exterior of this medicine cauldron are much more elaborate.

It meticulously depicts birds and beasts, plants, flowers and fruits, and even demons and monsters.

It has everything, and it's incredibly lifelike.

After his divine sense entered the inner cave of the pearl, he was able to sense the state of the spirit within the medicine cauldron.

It's very hungry!

It desperately wanted to absorb the spiritual energy within Chu Huaixu's body.

It seems that what it sucked away earlier wasn't enough to fill its teeth.

After thinking for a moment, he poured the spiritual energy in his body into the black bead, which was then absorbed by the medicine cauldron.

The next moment, he felt that the spirit of the artifact had become more active.

But as soon as he disconnected his spiritual power, it reverted to its previous state—"I'm very hungry."

Chu Huaixu didn't know if it was because his cultivation level was too low.

The feeling he gets from this medicine cauldron is that no matter how much he feeds it, it can never be enough.

Moreover, he didn't know what effect the absorbed spiritual energy would have.

"If I channel my spiritual energy into the scabbard now, it can at least be converted into sword energy."

"But we can't tell anything about this medicine cauldron yet."

However, the natal spirit artifact itself needs to be constantly nourished by the cultivator.

The mainstream approach is to nourish the spirit of the artifact with one's own divine sense, and then use items made by artifact refiners to perform regular maintenance on the artifact.

This is similar to what many people say when buying a car: "I can afford to buy it, but I can't afford to maintain it."

A good spirit artifact will require more resources to "nurture" it later.

The concept of "borrowing a sword" actually appears in many games. In many games, equipment has a value called "durability".

"Could it be that the way my medicine cauldron is nourished is by constantly absorbing spiritual energy?"

Chu Huaixu tried to communicate with the artifact spirit, only to find that it seemed to have little intelligence and could only express one thing to him—hunger!

"Laughing my head off, are you the reincarnation of the Gluttonous Beast?" Chu Huaixu was speechless.

Sure enough, he actually saw the Taotie on the cauldron, as well as dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns.

Since he had nothing better to do, he began to carefully examine all the patterns engraved on the tripod.

Chu Huaixu even started counting.

He finally counted them out, and there were a total of 81 different kinds of carvings.

After looking at the outside, he went to look at the inside of the cauldron.

As a result, he saw three words inside.

These three characters are engraved on the inner wall, but they are not engraved very deeply, and they may be easily overlooked if you don't look closely.

"Could this be the name of this medicine cauldron?"

"It does echo the patterns carved outside," Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

On the inner wall of the medicine cauldron, it is engraved with the words: "The Tao gives birth to One".

—The Medicine Cauldron: The Dao Gives Birth to One!

This reminded him of that saying:
Tao gives birth to one, gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things!
(P.S.: This is the third update! It looks like I'll be the top daily vote-getter today! 10,000 words update, please vote!)

　Asking for a monthly ticket! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)