Borrowed Sword

Chapter 105: Pulled Into His Arms

"So this is the Growth Rings Secret Realm？"Chu Huaixu felt he somewhat understood now.

He guessed that during the first trial, the two of them had cleared it quickly, and since their bodies were still very young at that time, they had not noticed the passage of time.

As for entering the second trial, when he heard that noisy cicada cry disturbing the Sea of Consciousness, he had directly relied on the ability of the Heart Sword, and in just a few seconds,

he had cleared it at high speed.

The devouring of years by the trial thus stopped, so they failed to notice, lacking sensitivity to it, only realizing that each time they walked past the stone door, they had aged somewhat.

"That is to say, this secret realm is actually timed."Chu Huaixu said.

The two of them looked toward the parasol forest ahead, their hearts tightening with a sense of urgency, knowing they could not afford to delay any longer.

One held the sword scabbard, the other the spirit sword, both looking highly alert as they walked into the forest.

Yet, nothing happened.

Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang walked for a long time, yet could not even find the next stone door.

"By logic, there should be spring, summer, autumn, and winter—four trials in total."

"But why is there no stone door？"He looked around.

All around the parasol forest were steep stone walls, but he did not see any exit for this trial.

Stranger still, they encountered no danger.

"Don’t tell me the content of this trial is simply to search for a hidden stone door？"Chu Huaixu said.

After speaking, he looked at Han Shuangjiang, and with an even more puzzled tone said:

"If it’s about finding the exit, with your luck, we should have already found it by now."

Big Ice Block:"

She still felt that Chu Huaixu’s words were somewhat exaggerated.

Even if today they had just come out for a walk, and really ended up entering a secret realm, she still thought he was exaggerating.

As if the whole world revolved around her.

Chu Huaixu looked at her, a thought flashing in his mind, and suddenly lifted his head to look upward.

The parasol trees here grew very densely, each one towering high with luxuriant branches and leaves.

No one knew how they had grown, but the branches and leaves gathered together, forming the appearance of a canopy, almost covering the entire sky above.

"Don’t you think these branches and leaves, when gathered together, look like an umbrella？"Chu Huaixu said.

"A little."Han Shuangjiang replied.

"Then is it possible that the exit is up there？"He voiced his guess.

"Hm？"

Before Big Ice Block could react, Chu Huaixu, this man of decisive action, had already begun to test his theory.

He leapt up with a single bound, relying on his powerful physique, and directly landed on a thick branch.

Then, he moved swiftly among the branches, jumping higher and higher.

Soon, he reached the densest area of branches and leaves.

It looked very unnatural, for it was simply too dense.

Truly like a great canopy!

They blocked his way, and when Chu Huaixu jumped up, he directly smashed out a punch.

But these parasol branches and leaves were incomparably tough!

Even with his formidable strength, he could not break through, and was instead bounced back!

Chu Huaixu’s body was knocked flying, but he twisted mid-air, braced his legs against the trunk of a parasol tree, and borrowed force to land safely on the ground.

"These branches and leaves truly have a problem."

"And just now, when I used divine sense to probe, the stone door is indeed up there, above the stone wall. To reach it, we must break through these branches and leaves."He said.

As he spoke, he was still breathing heavily.

It seemed he had really grown old, beginning to feel a little short of strength.

"This secret realm is truly bizarre！"Chu Huaixu thought in his heart.

Han Shuangjiang looked up toward the parasol leaves and said:"So what we must do now is break through them together."

"Right, and quickly."

Big Ice Block looked at these towering ancient trees, uncertain if she could even jump all the way up.

She had not learned any movement techniques, nor did she have a powerful physique. She could only rely on spiritual energy to forcibly move upward, which would be clumsy and extremely draining.

"I… might not be able to jump that high."She said.

Chu Huaixu laughed. Though his whole being already showed the signs of old age, he still wore that roguish smile, and said:"Can you climb a tree? If not, why don’t you slowly climb up？"

At these words, Big Ice Block grew faintly annoyed, and couldn’t help glaring at him.

Climbing up like that—that was far too improper…

"You people who don’t train the body are really useless！"Chu Huaixu finally found his chance.

Body cultivators stood at the very bottom of the hierarchy, with few chances to feel any superiority.

He looked at Han Shuangjiang and said:"Save your spiritual energy. I’ll take you up."

After speaking, Chu Huaixu stared at her graceful figure and asked:"You don’t mind, right？"

Big Ice Block, hearing this, was left speechless.

"At a time like this, you’re asking that？"She thought.

Even the black hair on her head had already grown a few more streaks of white!

In such a crucial moment, how could she bother with the differences between man and woman?

Besides, back in the Cold Pool Secret Realm, you had already… done that!

In Han Shuangjiang’s eyes, if you were going to carry her up, then just do it.

By asking, he only made her too embarrassed to answer, flustering her heart.

As someone ranked【Second on the Must-Eat List】, Chu Huaixu was naturally no clueless fool—how could he not know this?

It was just like with certain women: once the atmosphere had built up to this point, if you wanted intimacy, you should just act on it.

If you asked, “Can I hold you? Can I kiss you? Can I…”

…

It would only spoil the mood!

Asking, asking, asking—what nonsense! In the time you wasted asking, others would already have pretended to “slip in” by now!

But Chu Huaixu was doing it on purpose.

He knew exactly what kind of person Han Shuangjiang was, so he deliberately insisted on asking—insisted she answer!

"That’s what makes it fun."The Dead Fox thought.

Seeing him staring at her, Han Shuangjiang, in the end, could only lightly bite her lip, her heart burning with shame and anger, and answer:"Time is short."

That was consent.

The next moment, before she could react, Chu Huaixu had already reached out his right hand, wrapped her in his arms, and lifted her by the armpits.

Everything happened too quickly.

But quickness was exactly what he wanted!

Big Ice Block let out a startled cry. Caught off guard, her heart began to race madly.

Chu Huaixu gave her no time to prepare—he had already leapt powerfully upward!

As they rose, he teased her with a grin:"Better hold on tight."

Han Shuangjiang, without thinking, tightly grabbed his Black-Gold Robe.

Though both of their hair was now threaded with silver strands, in this moment, it felt as if they were once again a young boy and girl.

They leapt from ancient tree to ancient tree, higher and higher, higher and higher.

Chu Huaixu could even smell the faint fragrance emanating from her.

The human body was quite soundproof, yet Chu Huaixu’s senses were sharper than most. He faintly seemed to hear her thunderous heartbeat.

Before long, Chu Huaixu landed with Han Shuangjiang on a thick branch.

They were now very close to that great canopy of branches and leaves.

"Branches this dense, only insects could fly through."He spoke again with exaggerated words.

After leaving his embrace, Han Shuangjiang felt as if his scorching warmth still lingered on her body.

Chu Huaixu was secretly panting heavily.

Clearly his physique still held great strength, yet why was it that after only a few moves, his breath came like an ox?

"Truly disgraceful for us body cultivators, to be mocked as having nothing but dead muscles."

In truth, as time passed, more of his hair had turned white, and the wrinkles on his face had deepened.

He even felt a little relieved that he hadn’t just pulled his back…

"Bring out all your trump cards, let’s try again. Best if we can break through in one go！"Chu Huaixu said in a deep voice.

"Alright."

A cold gleam flashed—Zhegutian was unsheathed!

Han Shuangjiang used her old trick once more, her left hand’s two fingers slowly sliding across the blade of the spirit sword. Very quickly, ice began to form.

She exhaled a long breath, and what came out was a rush of cold air, forming tiny ice crystals in the air, freezing the moisture around them!

Her face grew even colder, with what little color she had fading further.

Chu Huaixu, meanwhile, pinched a small pebble between his fingertips, as True Gang began to gather upon it.

"Now！"he called out.

Sword light and True Gang shot upward, quickly blasting apart a great mass of branches and leaves.

A gap opened, though it was still short of piercing all the way through.

Then, a strange scene occurred.

The surrounding branches and leaves began to tilt toward the gap, closing it back up!

If it sealed, all their efforts would have been wasted.

Chu Huaixu immediately wrapped his arms around Han Shuangjiang and leapt toward the gap.

The surrounding branches spread quickly, yet his speed was just a bit faster.

But even so, the way ahead had not been completely cleared, while branches from all around were already surging toward them.

Leaping there now meant that the countless branches coming from all directions would pierce straight through their bodies, leaving them impaled high in the air!

Han Shuangjiang’s heart clenched, but she trusted that Chu Huaixu was not reckless.

She saw his left hand, which held the sword scabbard, suddenly sweep out!

The seven stored sword energies within 【Ding Fengbo】 burst forth!

Sword qi crisscrossed, cutting apart the parasol branches and leaves.

They pierced straight through this “barrier”!

Then, relying on 【Flying Profound】, Chu Huaixu borrowed force from the treetops of one ancient tree after another, swiftly darting toward the stone door embedded in the cliff wall.

Because the canopy was so dense, Chu Huaixu felt as though he were running across the surface of an umbrella…

The parasol trees suddenly seemed to come alive, still trying to obstruct them!

In that split second, Chu Huaixu made his decision!

He wrapped Han Shuangjiang tighter, spun in the air, braced his legs against a thick branch for leverage—then launched!

The two of them shot sideways through the air, flying toward the stone door.

The wildly spreading branches were only about half a meter from his feet.

As they neared the stone door, Chu Huaixu’s right arm tightened fiercely around Han Shuangjiang, no longer holding her to the side but pulling her straight into his chest.

Bodies pressed together, he could feel the softness of Han Shuangjiang’s delicate frame and the warmth of her body.

He arched his upper body slightly upward in midair, adjusting their angle.

Then, still holding her tight to protect her, he crashed his own back hard against the stone door!

"Boom——！"

He actually smashed the door open by force!

As the door burst apart, the momentum in their bodies had not yet fully dissipated.

Chu Huaixu clutched Han Shuangjiang tightly, the two of them flying backward together.

If this stone door was seen as a line of time, then it was their heads that crossed first, followed by their bodies.

Whatever crossed that line aged instantly.

Including their hair!

The parts within the line turned completely white.

The parts still trailing beyond the line remained mostly black.

The hair of the two figures, locked in each other’s embrace, flew about wildly in the air, until, as their whole bodies crossed the line, inch by inch, strand by strand, it all turned snow-white.