Borrowed Sword

Chapter 35: The Terror of the World Protagonist

There were many legends about this sword in the Xuanhuang Realm, and the versions varied.

One version said that the sword embryo of this sword was forged by the number one artifact-refining grandmaster from a thousand years ago.

All the materials used were heavenly treasures, extremely precious.

It was said that it even drew upon a mysterious source of power between heaven and earth, infused into the sword body.

Normally, a cultivator would possess many magical treasures, but only the life-bound treasure would develop some sentience through cultivation and reinforcement.

Take sword cultivators, for example—their life-bound treasure must be their sword.

They would select a sword embryo, drip blood to claim ownership, connect it with their soul, and turn it into their life-bound weapon!

The sword cultivator would continuously nourish it—as the person grew stronger, so did the sword.

Eventually, it would give birth to a sword spirit, sharing a deep connection with its wielder.

But this sword was strange.

While it was still only a sword embryo, it already developed sentience.

Just this alone sounded like the beginning of a myth about a divine sword.

However, this sword was no divine weapon—it was an utterly evil sword!

No one knew how that high-realm grandmaster of artifact-refining died under the sword.

It was only known that the evil sword devoured its master to empower itself.

The mighty figures of the cultivation world all emerged, trying to subdue the sword.

The matter even alarmed the sword-dao sacred land of the Eastern Continent—【Sword Sect】.

But no one could destroy it, not even suppress it!

Anyone who tried to tame it would be backlashed by it—its evilness was extraordinary!

Until the Dao Ancestor took action and subdued it, sealing the sword in its scabbard.

Some unofficial records claimed that the Dao Ancestor was originally a pill refiner, with a life-bound treasure being a medicine cauldron.

But he aspired to the sword path, and though he had no life-bound sword, he always called himself a sword cultivator.

Whenever enemies appeared, if a sword cultivator was nearby, he would borrow a sword to use.

As the Dao Ancestor grew stronger and more renowned—eventually suppressing even the Sword Sovereign of 【Sword Sect】—sword cultivators of the world all considered lending him their spirit swords an honor!

Later, the Dao Ancestor even created his own unique heaven-tier spell— 【Myriad Swords Converge】!

That borrowing meant borrowing the swords of the world!

It was said that when he first cast this technique, all the swords within a hundred miles rose into the sky!

Moreover, unlike some sword sects that hoarded their techniques, the Dao Ancestor made the spell public.

He openly shared it with the world’s sword cultivators for their mutual study!

However, very few could master it.

Since then, if anyone could perform  【Myriad Swords Converge】, nearby sword cultivators were often willing to lend their swords, seeing it as the elegance of their kind!

Even after a thousand years, this remained true.

In terms of self-proclaimed elegance, sword cultivators were always the most extravagant in the cultivation world.

In other words, before the Dao Ancestor obtained that sword, this man—the strongest of his time—kept calling himself a sword cultivator, then... freeloaded others' swords.

But no matter what, after that moment, the Dao Ancestor finally had a sword of his own.

An evil sword that devoured its master!

……

……

“There are way too many versions of this sword’s legend on the forum,” Chu Huaixu had read more than a dozen.

This was merely the most popular one.

“There’s also a version that says this sword was always the Dao Ancestor’s life-bound sword, only he kept nourishing it and never drew it, so he just borrowed swords in the meantime. Later, he created  【Myriad Swords Converge】.”

“And only when his divine skill reached perfection did the divine sword fully awaken.”

In short, both righteous and evil versions existed.

He personally adhered to the principle of not believing or spreading rumors, so he just skimmed through them.

“Anyway, the sword belongs to Xu Ziqing—what the hell does that have to do with me?” Chu Huaixu would always think like that, just for a bit of amusement.

However, now that he had transmigrated, and the time was Xuanli 1990, that sword was still unclaimed.

Moreover, Chu Huaixu knew exactly where that sword was.

"It's on that mountain!"

In addition, he also clearly knew what it took to qualify to ascend that mountain!

Chu Huaixu's thoughts swirled as he withdrew his gaze from Xu Ziqing.

"Now, I wonder if this is the butterfly effect caused by me, the transmigrator—at the very least, the storylines of these two World Protagonists have already deviated from the original."

"But who knows whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Seeing that Xu Ziqing had already sorted all the gifts, Chu Huaixu finally stepped into the house.

The delicate-looking youth who was squatting on the ground glanced up at him, secretly envious of Chu Huaixu's height.

He had sometimes thought, if he wasn’t so short, would his overall appearance be a bit better?

After briefly examining the practical daily supplies, Chu Huaixu couldn’t help but ask, “You checked all these—none of them have silver coins?”

“Uh, no,” Xu Ziqing shook his head.

Upon hearing that, Chu Huaixu cursed silently in his heart.

All that effort, and no money was sent!

Then, his eyes landed on two jade bottles.

There were paper labels on the jade bottles, with the names of the spiritual pills written on them.

“Qi-Gathering Pill.” This was actually a good item at this stage.

Consuming a Qi-Gathering Pill would accelerate the absorption of spiritual energy into the body.

During the Qi-Opening Stage, it was especially helpful for breaking through the orifices.

But that was about it.

If the body's nine orifices weren't opened, the Xuanhuang Secret Store couldn’t be unlocked. Spiritual energy, once absorbed, couldn’t be stored in the body or transformed into spiritual power.

"Once all nine orifices are open and you obtain a First-Realm cultivation method, then consuming Qi-Gathering Pills will speed up the transformation of spiritual energy. A single day of intense training would be worth several days."

"The actual effect varies from person to person."

"The better the talent, the stronger the pill effect—damn it!"

"And for players, this essentially meant gaining more experience points from cultivation after taking the pills."

Each jade bottle contained ten pills.

Chu Huaixu was well aware—if Han Shuangjiang took these, that cold-faced girl’s cultivation speed in the First Realm would instantly skyrocket.

“However, for cultivators, it’s best to take pills scientifically, in moderation.”

“Spiritual pills are meant to assist cultivation—overreliance would only hinder one’s upper limit.”

But as for how much was considered "moderate," that also varied by person.

“Pills like the Qi-Gathering Pill—seems like taking up to 10 should be totally safe,” he thought.

“Han Shuangjiang and I together got 20 pills from Liu Tianfeng. Fair enough.”

Players, on the other hand, didn’t need to worry about this, as the system would provide a judgment. If overdosed, it would issue a warning.

Of course, silly players being what they are, there would definitely be some rebellious types still stuck in their adolescence, who’d say: "Screw it, I’m taking more anyway!"

This would cause their character level to rise, but their 【Spirit Embryo Attribute】 would get penalized...

After checking everything in the house, Chu Huaixu led Xu Ziqing outside.

Outside, Han Shuangjiang was still practicing her palm technique.

After this short period of training, she had grown increasingly proficient with 【Eight Wastelands Wandering Dragon】.

The cold-faced girl was learning martial arts for the first time, and was currently a bit high on the experience—completely immersed and thoroughly enjoying it.

She struck out again and again, whipping up gusts of palm wind.

Watching from the side, Chu Huaixu found it pleasing to the eye.

Since he had transmigrated, there were no phones to play with, no videos to watch—the entertainment options were too limited.

Watching a beauty practice palm techniques wasn’t a bad way to pass the time.

However, at that moment, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xu Ziqing was also watching very intently—too intently, almost immersed.

“What, want to learn?” Chu Huaixu asked casually.

Only then did Xu Ziqing come back to his senses, as if waking from a dream.

The boy had joined as a servant just to enter the Dao Gate.

He had a sudden thought and wanted to show some initiative.

So, he nodded slightly, testing the waters.

To his surprise, this “new master” beside him agreed without hesitation.

“Sure,” Chu Huaixu said with a look of indifference.

Hearing that, the delicate youth glanced once more at Han Shuangjiang, then suddenly made a move—swinging his palm forward.

“Whoosh—!” Palm wind surged forth.

He had already learned it.

......