Borrowed Sword

Chapter 103: Secret Realm: Growth Rings

“Puchi—!”

Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang tightly clasped hands, even as they pierced through a thin membrane.

The two of them seemed to merge into the maple tree itself.

But in truth, there was another world hidden within!

Chu Huaixu guessed that they had entered some sort of underground space.

Because after merging into the tree, he still felt a sensation of falling.

“【Ding! You have entered the two-player dungeon—Growth Rings.】”

Hearing the system notification, he only felt that the Daughter of Fortune was terrifying beyond belief.

“No wonder she’s the World Protagonist who can stumble into a dungeon even while rushing on the road.” He sighed inwardly.

Han Shuangjiang glanced around, feeling somewhat dazed.

Had they really entered an inheritance secret realm?

The Big Ice Block found it rather unbelievable.

She examined her surroundings, but soon her gaze shifted downward, settling on the hands they still held together.

She instinctively pulled away, only to feel lingering warmth in her palm.

Chu Huaixu lowered his head to look. First, he glanced at his own hand, then at her.

Under his unwavering stare, it was actually Han Shuangjiang—the one who had pulled away first—who felt slightly awkward.

The Big Ice Block sought a topic to change the subject: “Where is this place?”

“A secret realm, I suspect underground,” Chu Huaixu replied.

But strangely, though there was no sun here, the surroundings were brightly lit.

Moreover, the ground was covered with greenery.

They were standing on a vast lawn.

Around them were grasses and trees, vibrant with life.

It felt less like autumn and more like early spring.

At the farthest edge of their vision stood a stone door.

It was likely that opening the stone door would lead to the second stage.

After exchanging a glance, the two walked forward.

Han Shuangjiang’s left hand tightened slightly, gripping the spirit sword 【Zhegutian】.

Chu Huaixu held a sword scabbard in hand, observing the surroundings as they moved.

They had only taken a few steps when the plants around them suddenly came alive!

Every tree shed leaves, and those leaves turned into flying daggers, sweeping toward them.

The long sword in Han Shuangjiang’s hand instantly left its sheath.

Chu Huaixu, however, simply stood quietly.

The green leaves gathered midair, forming into two green tornados.

They seemed capable of precisely locking onto their positions, attacking from both sides.

Han Shuangjiang immediately slashed out sword qi, while Chu Huaixu vanished from sight in a flash, as if his feet were slick with oil.

【Flying Profound】!

As he had expected, the tornados made of leaves followed him relentlessly.

“Let’s not stand too close, otherwise it’ll be hard to fight.” He shouted.

“Alright!”

For an ordinary cultivator of the First Realm, the speed of these tornados was terrifying.

But to Chu Huaixu, who had achieved Minor Attainment in 【Flying Profound】, it was nothing.

His physique was already formidable, making his speed astonishing.

Now he darted about the lawn as if walking a dog, weaving back and forth.

The green tornados always remained a few meters behind him, unable to touch him.

Chu Huaixu even had the leisure to observe the Big Ice Block, curious whether her swordsmanship training had allowed her to draw out more of 【Zhegutian】’s power.

She swung forward, and a pale-blue sword light flickered across the heavens and earth!

Where the sword light passed, ice crystals formed.

A large portion of the leaves within the tornado were struck down, covered in a thin frost!

The girl’s combat experience was clearly lacking—sometimes defending in panic, sometimes attacking blindly.

Fortunately, her strength wasn’t weak, and with a supreme-grade spiritual artifact in hand, she wasn’t truly in danger.

After a few strikes, a third of the tornado had been destroyed.

But its speed grew even faster.

Han Shuangjiang held her spirit sword across her chest, then used her left hand to forcefully slide her fingers along the blade.

Where her fingers passed, a thick layer of ice formed on the sword.

In no time, the entire sword was frozen.

With a sharp cry, she lifted 【Zhegutian】 upward, and the surrounding temperature dropped by several degrees.

The ice covering the sword instantly shattered into hundreds of fragments, which shot toward the tornado above.

The ice shards collided with the green leaves, causing the tornado to explode outward from the middle.

Han Shuangjiang thought she had eliminated it completely, but several dozen leaves remained, flying at her from bizarre angles.

“Careful!” Chu Huaixu, still darting about nearby, shouted a warning.

In an instant, he arrived before the Big Ice Block—faster than the leaves themselves!

The sleeves of his black-gold robe swept out, unleashing a surge of qi force that blasted most of the leaves away.

Only one leaf slipped through, slicing toward Han Shuangjiang’s cheek like an escaping fish!

The girl’s gaze sharpened, and she instinctively tried to turn her head aside.

But the leaf was too fast, its angle too tricky—likely leaving a shallow cut on her face!

Just as her heart tightened, two fingers caught the leaf, halting it barely an inch from her left cheek.

Han Shuangjiang’s beautiful eyes trembled. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at those fingers, then looked at the black-robed man before her.

Chu Huaixu hadn’t even used the slightest trace of spiritual energy.

With sheer physical strength alone, he had easily caught the leaf.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The leaf was fast, but he was faster!

“Careful!” Han Shuangjiang quickly cried out, for the tornado that had been chasing Chu Huaixu was now sweeping down from behind him!

The two slender fingers holding the leaf shifted.

Without even turning his head, Chu Huaixu flicked the leaf upward toward the right!

—【Thunder at Fingertips】!

Dominating True Gang attached itself to the green leaf, sending it crashing into the raging tornado with a thunderous boom, as if a lightning strike had split the skies!

The mighty tornado was instantly obliterated!

Chu Huaixu lowered his head to look at her, while she stared up at him in shock.

Their gazes met, as fragments of leaves drifted down like a green rain around them.

Han Shuangjiang’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She quickly turned her gaze away, avoiding his eyes.

In a soft voice, she said, “Thank you.”

Those leaves might not have caused her severe harm, but as a young woman, she certainly didn’t want scars on her face.

Chu Huaixu looked at her and casually said, “It was nothing.”

But after this brief encounter, Han Shuangjiang once again recognized the vast disparity in their strength.

His overall combat power was simply far beyond her own!

Chu Huaixu smiled faintly and asked, “You’ve already reached the First Realm, Fourth Heaven?”

“Mhm, I broke through last night,” she answered.

“Body of Profound Yin… truly advancing a thousand li in a single day. Your cultivation speed is defying the heavens.” He couldn’t help but sigh.

Han Shuangjiang felt puzzled: “Clearly, you advanced even faster than me.”

“I saw you wield the sword just now. Your swordsmanship has already reached the stage of comprehension. At least Minor Attainment, yes?” Chu Huaixu asked again.

“Mhm, a Yellow-rank sword art isn’t difficult to learn,” she replied.

  “You truly have such comprehension, you should directly cultivate a Profound-rank method.”

Chu Huaixu was also unsure whether his 【Flying Profound】 and 【Thunder at Fingertips】 could be passed on.

The former was still manageable, but the latter was far too domineering and fierce—truly not suited for the Big Ice Block.

The reason his 【Thunder at Fingertips】 was so powerful was not only because he transformed his spiritual energy into True Gang, but also because when flicking it, he circulated the qi force of his physical body!

Only when the two combined could such might erupt!

The impoverished young girl listened to Chu Huaixu’s words, recalling again the strength he had just displayed, and in the end was successfully tempted, deciding… to “borrow a loan” from him.

“Indeed, now isn’t the time to fuss over details. The urgent matter is to raise my strength.” She tried persuading herself.

She had clearly shifted from working hard in competition to borrowing in competition.

After exchanging a few more words, the two walked toward the stone door ahead.

As they proceeded, flowers bloomed upon the lawn beneath their feet.

Wherever they walked, blossoms followed.

The girl gazed at the miraculous sight before her, her eyes glowing.

The fragrance of flowers filled the air, blossoms dazzling bright.

The frost on the Big Ice Block’s face melted slightly, her whole being becoming lively and spirited.

“So beautiful.” She sighed inwardly.

The man and woman thus walked side by side along a road of flowers, the atmosphere turning faintly romantic.

Arriving before the stone door, Chu Huaixu began to push it open with great force.

Han Shuangjiang stood behind him, unable to help but glance back at the sea of flowers, as if to etch the breathtaking scene forever in her heart.

The stone door opened, and a wave of heat surged forth.

Beyond the door seemed to be a scalding world!

Chu Huaixu sensed it, faintly guessing.

“This secret realm is called Growth Rings.”

“The first stage must have been 【Spring】.”

“And this stage is surely 【Summer】!”

When they stepped inside, the surrounding temperature was far higher than outside.

Chu Huaixu suspected it was at least forty degrees.

It was a narrow path, with rows of large trees on both sides.

As soon as they entered, the summer cicadas upon the trees began their buzzing cries.

No one knew how many cicadas there were.

But when all cried together, the noise was unbearably grating and deafening!

As the cicada cries filled their ears, both Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang’s moods became inexplicably irritable.

The longer it went on, the more irritable they grew!

Within seconds, they even began to feel dizzy.

It was like heatstroke, yet far worse than mere heatstroke.

These cicada cries clearly carried something abnormal.

This stage, most likely, was testing their ability to press forward amidst this dizzying sound.

The path stretched long and endless.

This was torment upon the spiritual level.

Chu Huaixu guessed that the further they walked, the louder the cicada cries would grow, the dizzier they would feel—perhaps even to the point of blacking out on the spot.

It was clearly targeting the Sea of Consciousness!

“An axe before Lu Ban!” Chu Huaixu sneered coldly.

These cicada cries might be an insurmountable problem for ordinary Outer Sect disciples.

But to Chu Huaixu, who possessed the 【Heart Sword】, it was far too simple.

A sword could cut the body, the heart-sword cut the soul!

This Heart Sword could even blast out Chu Yinyin’s divine sense when she was unguarded.

If she were the measuring unit, then could this Outer Sect secret realm really compare to one Chu Yinyin’s worth of power?

Chu Huaixu swept his great sleeve, the gold-trimmed fabric of his black-gold robe swirling in the air.

“Noise!” he shouted.

The Black Small Sword within his Sea of Consciousness gave a light tremor, and in an instant the world fell into silence!

Han Shuangjiang, seeing him break through this trial so easily, couldn’t help but lift her eyes toward him.

Immediately, she froze in place.

Chu Huaixu lowered his head, meeting her gaze, and he too was briefly stunned.

For at that moment, both their appearances had changed!

It was as though after stepping through the stone door, they had each aged ten years.

Chu Huaixu now appeared as though he had reached the age of thirty, looking far more mature.

Han Shuangjiang had shed her youthful innocence, her entire being radiating a captivating allure.