Borrowed Sword

Chapter 101: Plucking Flowers and Picking Leaves, All Can Harm People

The morning sunlight fell upon the bamboo of the Purple Bamboo Forest.

This bamboo forest was truly extraordinary. Throughout the four seasons, it underwent little change.

The bamboo leaves never withered, and the bamboo stalks only grew taller and taller.

But their growth was painstakingly slow.

Atop the massive boulder in the forest’s center, the thin Daoist nun facing the stone wall slowly opened her eyes.

Immediately after, her brows faintly furrowed.

This Dao Gate’s Seventh Elder carried a strong aura of transcendence.

She seemed like one untainted by the dust of the mortal world.

Yet at this moment, her face bore a rare trace of shame and indignation.

Shen Man, usually stingy with words and stammering, even muttered a curse under her breath.

“Le... lecher!” she spat out in hatred.

This thin Daoist nun had awakened at the same time as Chu Huaixu.

However, their experiences had been vastly different.

Chu Huaixu felt as though he had survived a catastrophe. He sat up from the bed in shock, panting heavily.

Shen Man, on the other hand, was different.

She had indeed intended to give him a form of special training.

But in truth, it was also a form of self-cultivation for her.

As the Dao Gate’s Seventh Elder who had inherited the Dao Ancestor’s legacy, her nightly cultivation was monotonous.

Her cultivation practice had but one focus—swinging her sword!

Although she appeared to simply sit high upon the boulder, drawing a circle as though imprisoned, doing nothing, in truth, she spent most of her time immersed in her Sword Domain, swinging her sword again and again!

The only difference now was that, unlike before when every swing was solely to comprehend the Dao Ancestor’s inheritance, last night’s sword swings carried an additional target.

Chu Huaixu’s feeling was correct.

Before that incomparably powerful sword light, he truly had been cut down incidentally, as if in passing.

Over the course of three hours, Shen Man had actually swung her sword countless times.

That Chu Huaixu only suffered forty strikes was purely because this future First Master still possessed some compassion.

After every ten strikes, she gave him time to catch his breath.

Otherwise, his mind might have truly collapsed.

Unlike Chu Yinyin’s lawless temperament, Shen Man was a person of measure.

And her Sword Domain was mysterious and defied reason.

It possessed something akin to insight into people’s hearts!

When fighting an opponent, unless the other’s overall strength far exceeded hers to the point of overwhelming her, she could predict their next move, understand their every action, and even glimpse their innermost thoughts!

With Chu Huaixu’s cultivation, all of his thoughts were laid bare before Shen Man—nothing more than a “completely exposed” state.

However, during her year of seclusion, she had grown accustomed to swinging her sword unceasingly within the Sword Domain, completely immersed.

Only after halting would she review and digest, absorbing everything that occurred in those three hours.

Originally, today should have been no different from usual.

Yet upon opening her eyes, her mind had been filled with... filth?

Chu Huaixu’s every thought, without omission, was seen through by her at this very moment!

This included, of course, his first thought after dying, believing he was dreaming, which birthed his “desire to act wantonly.”

And later, after repeated deaths, his growing desire for revenge—wanting to seize the hateful woman before him and devour her without end.

Fortunately, later his energy had been exhausted, leaving his mind muddled and mostly asleep.

This Daoist nun, usually so otherworldly, now bore rare anger upon her face. She lifted her gaze toward the morning sky, watching the clouds billow.

As said before, Shen Man had never once considered taking a disciple.

But since the Sect Master and others had insisted that Chu Huaixu could only be taught by her, and needed her guidance, she had accepted this future disciple.

Now, however, she felt some regret.

This disciple, she rather did not want anymore.

Dao Gate, Medicine Mountain.

Outside a bamboo house, a family of three sat at a table for a meal.

Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing were both secretly glancing at Chu Huaixu’s 【Black-Gold Robe】.

They could tell it was a spiritual artifact, though they had no idea where he had acquired it.

Besides that, the robe truly looked good on him.

Yet, the two were somewhat puzzled.

“Why does he look so dispirited today?”

Strangely, his complexion seemed very healthy, his body showing no signs of harm.

And yet, he gave the impression of being utterly listless, his eyes nearly devoid of light.

Indeed, Chu Huaixu was somewhat numb at this point.

Normally, he was a pure glutton—his appetite so large that even Little Xu, also a glutton, would start off eating slowly out of fear his senior brother wouldn’t have enough.

But today, his eating appeared mechanical.

Toward the end, as though competing with someone unseen, he suddenly revealed a fierce determination and began devouring madly!

After finishing, he slammed his bowl down heavily on the table.

Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing exchanged bewildered looks.

“Senior Sister Han, what’s wrong with Senior Brother?” the delicate youth asked in confusion.

Big Ice Block’s brows furrowed slightly. After a brief moment of thought, she guessed, “Could it be the pressure of pill refinement is weighing on him?”

At present, Chu Huaixu was the only one of the three engaged in “work.”

This made the two “idlers” feel a fleeting pang of guilt.

Back in his bedroom, Chu Huaixu sat upon the meditation cushion and opened his skill panel.

Last night, he had obtained two spell jade slips, but hadn’t had time to study them before drinking himself unconscious.

Now, with abundant Experience Points, he intended to learn them.

“With nearly ninety thousand points, if I save up another ten thousand, I’ll have enough to learn 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】.” he thought.

But after some hesitation, he decided against it.

His Experience Points were not abundant, so he shouldn’t be so extravagant.

“If it’s only entry-level 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】, then it’d be better to raise that True Gang spell a few more levels instead!”

“The power would definitely surpass beginner-level 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】!” Chu Huaixu felt this was more cost-effective.

Spells of the Earth-rank absolutely crushed those of the Profound-rank at the same level.

The problem, however, was that they consumed far too many Experience Points. Even if he learned it, he couldn’t upgrade it further.

Normally, for someone still at the First Level, even learning a Profound-rank spell was already a luxury!

Yet Chu Huaixu planned to level up two spells at once—and more than just one level!

“Movement technique called 【Crane Form】?” he muttered in surprise.

At once he recalled the verse: Train the body into crane form, beneath a thousand pines recite twin scriptures.

“What kind of Xuanhuang Realm nonsense is this?” Chu Huaixu was dumbfounded.

He suddenly remembered Emperor Jiajing’s ridiculously long Daoist titles.

The shortest of them was still: Lingxiao Shangqing Thunder Origin Yang Supreme Flying Profound True Lord.

The other two spanned dozens of characters.

“Come to think of it, Jiajing also loved alchemy...” Chu Huaixu grew increasingly speechless.

He wasn’t particularly fond of the name 【Crane Form】.

The crane wasn’t a bad symbol, but in many novels, names with the character ‘crane’ rarely belonged to good people.

Fortunately, spell names could be freely changed in the skill list. So, resigning himself, he picked two characters from Jiajing’s Daoist titles—【Flying Profound】.

As for the other True Gang spell, it carried a different flavor.

Also three characters: 【Thunder at Fingertips】.

It resembled the famed technique of Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi—Finger Flicking Divine Power.

A simple flick of the fingers unleashed boundless might!

Because the ejected True Gang was incredibly fast and overwhelmingly forceful, it was named 【Thunder at Fingertips】.

But this spell had a requirement: True Gang needed a medium to attach to.

“At first, the medium must be hard, like pebbles. Attach True Gang onto the pebble, then flick it out.”

“When cultivated to mastery, the medium hardly matters. At that point, even plucked flowers or picked leaves can harm people.”

Chu Huaixu first spent over seventeen thousand Experience Points to learn both Profound-rank spells.

Then, after some hesitation, he spent another forty-two thousand to raise them both to Level 2, advancing from entry-level to minor accomplishment.

Sixty thousand Experience Points gone just like that—his heart ached bitterly.

Yet with 【Flying Profound】 and 【Thunder at Fingertips】, his overall combat strength had undoubtedly risen.

Afterward, Chu Huaixu’s spirit lifted. He decided to go out and show off.

He no longer looked so dispirited.

Outside the bamboo house, Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing watched in puzzlement as he came back out.

Today, Chu Huaixu seemed brimming with fiery energy.

Under their gaze, he casually picked up a fallen leaf from a Parasol Tree.

Then, he cast 【Thunder at Fingertips】.

The leaf shot forth, wrapped in True Gang, its speed astonishing!

It struck a boulder in the distance, exploding it instantly with a thunderous boom—brutal and domineering!

Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing both gasped.

Such thunderous means!

Yet under their stunned gazes, Chu Huaixu chose to stop, tucking his fingers back into the wide sleeves of the Black-Gold Robe, turning back toward the house.

As he took one step forward, he suddenly transformed into an afterimage!

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from outside and reappeared in his bedroom.

Only Big Ice Block and Little Xu remained outside, exchanging astonished glances—their shock growing deeper.

“When did he learn True Gang and a movement technique?” Han Shuangjiang exclaimed.

For a moment, she felt her own burden grow heavier, sensing her gap with the Dead Fox widening once more.

In the coming days, she had to push herself even harder!

Night gradually deepened.

Chu Huaixu lay flat on his bed.

He didn’t want to close his eyes, didn’t want to face what was to come.

He never imagined his cultivation path would be so grueling.

“Before, it was just physical torment. Now, there’s mental torment too.”

“Close my eyes, and I get wrecked!”

Just half an hour ago, he even had the thought of trying to exploit a bug.

“The mission says survive thirty days.”

“Then if I don’t sleep at night, won’t that work?”

He wasn’t sure if it would count toward the days, but he was tempted.

Unfortunately, comprehending Sword Intent was far too tempting.

Though he hadn’t yet figured out how to raise his evaluation, he knew bug abuse wouldn’t work.

Sighing, Chu Huaixu glanced at the time—it was nearly the same as yesterday.

Closing his eyes, troubled thoughts kept him from sleep.

Yet after about the time of one incense stick, though he was clearly awake, he still entered that blank space once more.

Before him, as always, was thick fog.

And within the mist stood that thin Daoist nun, holding a longsword, her face still obscured.