Borrowed Sword

Chapter 146: Fearless Sword Intent, Divine Might Unleashed

Chu Huaixu had too many trump cards.

If he were to play all his cards, his overall combat strength would be astonishing.

However, even he wasn’t sure how much of the Evil Sword’s power Little Xu, holding the sword in his left hand, had actually drawn out.

“Maybe half?” he speculated in his mind.

Yet, even if it were truly half, if Xu Ziqing were to grip the sword with his right hand, Chu Huaixu figured that in his current state, he would still lose without a doubt.

This put tremendous pressure on him.

“Maybe I should just have Little Xu surrender?”

“After all, it’s just a matter of a word from me,” Chu Huaixu thought.

If he ordered Little Xu to forfeit, he feared he would quit right there and then.

But that, of course, was just a joke.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Heart Sword seemed to have sensed his emotions.

Dragging its frail, sickly ‘body,’ it was still forcefully cheering Chu Huaixu on, its fighting spirit positively brimming.

“You may want to charge in brainlessly, but I have to deal with reality,” he smiled helplessly.

──

On the other side, after the day’s matches concluded, Situ Cheng and the others flew to the Gentleman Temple.

Xiang Yan and his group followed. After all, it was still up to the Sect Master to steer the sect.

Don’t be fooled by Xiang Yan being bald, unsightly beyond words, and as fierce as a demon, with even a horrendous voice.

He was without a doubt the most reliable among the high-ranking members of the Dao Gate.

Otherwise, with that appearance alone, he’d be unworthy of holding the seat of a righteous path leader!

Within the Gentleman Temple, Xu Ziqing had already been dismissed by Jiang Zhi. He now sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the training room, absorbing the effects of the Spiritual Pill and recovering from his injuries.

The Little Martial Uncle of the Dao Gate lounged in a rattan chair, enjoying the autumn breeze under a tree, looking thoroughly relaxed.

Situ Cheng and the others soon arrived, flying through the air.

He lifted his gaze slightly and casually said, “Sit.”

Once everyone was seated, they got straight to the point.

The core of the discussion, naturally, was Xu Ziqing and the Dao Ancestor’s Sword.

The Dao Gate members didn’t hide much and directly revealed part of the Dao Ancestor’s Maxim to them.

Additionally, they didn’t conceal Xu Ziqing’s identity as a Sword Attendant.

Situ Cheng and the others exchanged glances. Upon hearing that the Dao Ancestor had left a backup plan within the sword, they felt somewhat reassured.

After all, if even the Dao Ancestor couldn’t be relied upon, no one would be able to suppress that sword. Everyone might as well give up.

Thus, the topic of discussion turned to how they could join forces to destroy the sword!

——Even if there was an eighty percent chance they still wouldn’t succeed...

“So, Senior Jiang, you said earlier that this round of the Origin Spirit Realm would be far more perilous than previous ones—was that the path the Dao Ancestor pointed out?” Teng Lingyi asked.

“That’s right,” Jiang Zhi replied.

He glanced at everyone and said bluntly, “Otherwise, with just those few disciples you brought, do you really think they could enter the first layer of the Origin Spirit Realm and make it out alive? Complete the mission successfully?”

“It’d be nothing but a suicide mission,” he snorted.

Situ Cheng and the others opened their mouths, but had no rebuttal.

In truth, after the meeting in the grand hall last time, they had already returned filled with worry.

“Does the Eastern Continent Grand Competition even have any meaning anymore?”

“If this round of the Origin Spirit Realm is truly that deadly, are we choosing our best disciple just to send them to die?”

Suddenly, the title of Champion seemed far less appealing.

These three Eighth Realm cultivators were all deeply conflicted.

But looking at the bigger picture, it did benefit the greater good.

After all, the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth involved the entire Xuanhuang Realm.

The Four Great Sects were still united in the grand scheme. These three high cultivators who came to the Dao Gate were definitely trustworthy—otherwise, the Dao Gate members wouldn’t be so forthright.

They continued talking for a long while before finally leaving the Gentleman Temple.

While flying, Li Chunsong once again couldn’t help but rub his hands together.

Xiang Yan and the others, seeing this, could only sigh inwardly.

He flew over to Mei Chuxue and the others, rubbing his hands faster and faster, his face full of hesitation.

“Fellow Daoist Li, what are you planning to bet on this time? Just say it straight,” Teng Lingyi, the elder one, said with a laugh.

The Dead Gambler immediately laid out his bet.

The three of them gave him strange looks upon hearing it.

“You, Chu Yinyin, and Shen Man... bet on Chu Huaixu to win?” Mei Chuxue asked in confusion.

She had witnessed that sword Xu Ziqing unleashed with her own eyes today.

She simply couldn’t imagine how Chu Huaixu, also in the First Realm, could possibly block it!

No wonder Li Chunsong never won a bet—what was he thinking?

As for Chu Yinyin, well, she was still childlike.

Shen Man, on the other hand, was harder to read. She’d always been strange—truly strange.

Mei Chuxue, clad in her revealing and fiery outfit, immediately burst into a radiant smile.

If someone was offering free gifts, why not accept them?

“I’m betting on Xu Ziqing,” she said with a smile.

Li Chunsong then looked at Situ Cheng and Teng Lingyi.

Teng Lingyi simply waved his hand, clearly uninterested in profiting from him.

Situ Cheng just snorted coldly, “Not interested.”

......

......

The next day, the Eastern Continent Grand Competition proceeded in an orderly manner.

The match between Chu Huaixu and Zhao Xinghan was the third bout of the day.

The first two matches had been intense, but not exciting.

Both sides were equally matched and fought to a standstill.

Zhao Xinghan felt rather tense today, but mixed with that tension was spirited enthusiasm—he was even a bit excited.

“The Eastern Continent Grand Competition should be about fighting strong opponents close to my level!”

“The others are just not fun,” he thought.

Even so, he still remembered Teng Lingyi’s earlier advice—not to let someone like Chu Huaixu, who practiced both sword and body cultivation, get close easily.

After registering, the two of them cupped their fists and bowed.

“Brother Chu, please guide me,” Zhao Xinghan said with courtesy and a scholarly air.

“Brother Zhao, please guide me,” Chu Huaixu replied in kind, though in his heart, all he thought about was beating him to death.

Now that they’d reached this round, and with so many major cultivators watching, he figured he could start revealing some of his true power.

Zhao Xinghan wasn’t a sword cultivator, so he wasn’t eligible to test Chu Huaixu’s Heart Sword—a slight disappointment.

But regardless, Zhao Xinghan’s strength was evident.

So, Chu Huaixu planned to test something else on him.

Before the match officially began, Zhao Xinghan didn’t dare be careless and directly summoned his life-bound magical treasure—the Landscape Scroll!

The moment the Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact appeared, it instantly drew gasps from the onlookers.

Many looked on with envy in their eyes.

Seeing that Chu Huaixu was still swordless, Zhao Xinghan frowned and spoke up: “Brother Chu, even in a match against me, you won’t draw your sword?”

Wasn’t that a bit too arrogant?

Chu Huaixu, however, sighed and shook his head, speaking his true thoughts: “You don’t understand.”

You think I don’t want to have a sword?

Wouldn’t that look cool?

Zhao Xinghan gritted his teeth, feeling he had sincerely respected his opponent, yet the other acted so arrogantly, looking down on all heroes—he couldn’t help but grow a bit angry.

“Then Brother Chu, you’d best be careful!” he said, his tone turning colder.

─────

A vast scroll unfurled behind him, and within the painting were mountains and rivers.

Chu Huaixu was already aware of Zhao Xinghan and this treasured artifact.

『This guy feels like a fusion of 《Technique of the Minor Formless》 and 《Star Shift》 from a Jin Yong novel.』

『Able to imitate others’ techniques, using their own methods against them.』

More precisely, Zhao Xinghan was the one doing the mimicking, while the scroll behind him… perhaps it could reflect?

Chu Huaixu took out a small pebble from his Storage Token, then flicked a 【Thunder at Fingertips】 straight at him.

The scroll swept forward and swallowed the True Gang whole.

A moment later, under Zhao Xinghan’s control, it rebounded right back.

Chu Huaixu had only been testing, so he hadn’t used much spiritual energy in the strike.

When it bounced back, he didn’t dodge at all. He remained where he stood, raised his right palm, and caught it with sheer brute force.

He grabbed the True Gang with one hand and crushed it!

Then, as he opened his palm, the pebble wrapped in True Gang had already been pulverized into fine powder.

Seeing this, Zhao Xinghan’s danger alarms blared.

If this kind of body cultivator got in close and landed a hit… wouldn’t that be excruciating?

It would definitely cause serious injury.

Chu Huaixu was very curious about the limits of this scroll.

He directly retrieved a handful of prepared pebbles from his Storage Token and started flicking...

“Pfft——!”

“Pfft——!”

One after another, bolts of True Gang were absorbed into the scroll, only to be bounced back again.

And this time, two bolts rebounded in a single breath.

Because at some unknown moment, Zhao Xinghan had already managed to imitate 【Thunder at Fingertips】!

Chu Huaixu couldn’t figure out the underlying principle. This rough and unrefined body cultivator simply caught them with his bare palms to tell them apart.

『Hmm, the feel is off!』

No matter how accurate the imitation, a fake is still a fake!

He began using 【Flying Profound】 to try and close the distance.

But Zhao Xinghan had a slew of flashy techniques up his sleeve.

『He knows this many techniques?』 Chu Huaixu was slightly surprised.

He suspected the opponent knew more techniques than their entire Bamboo Hut family of three combined.

Although none of them were especially troublesome, they were completely different from one another.

『Jack of all trades, master of none.』 Chu Huaixu snorted coldly in his heart and judged.

Looked like he dabbled in everything, didn’t he?

So he had a wide repertoire of techniques, could mimic others, and could reflect as well?

If both sides were evenly matched in strength, then such an opponent would indeed be extremely troublesome.

Ordinary people would quickly grow fatigued from responding to so much.

You might even feel like you were fighting against two versions of yourself!

Watching from below, Geng Tianhe and Kui Muquan were already pondering how they would fight if it were them facing Zhao Xinghan.

『Just dragging this out isn’t going to work, is it?』 the two thought.

『Besides, Chu Huaixu still can’t get in close. His Thunder at Fingertips keeps getting reflected, and his advantage of both sword and body cultivation is going to waste.』

However, having had his fill, Chu Huaixu quickly found it boring.

『If you’re so good at reflecting, then let me see where your limit lies!』

『I don’t believe it! We’re both in the First Realm. Can this thing really absorb and digest everything?!』 he thought.

Chu Huaixu stepped forward and cast 【Flying Profound】, dashing ahead.

Zhao Xinghan’s danger alarms went haywire. He didn’t understand—why was Chu Huaixu suddenly faster?!

『That speed! So much faster than before!』

Moreover, he sensed a profound aura radiating from the other’s body.

Suddenly, it didn’t feel like a body cultivator was charging toward him—

——but a flying sword!

A flying sword that was incomparably sharp and utterly unstoppable!

Up on the high platform, Situ Cheng—one of the Four Great Divine Swords—suddenly stood up.

“What sword intent is this!” he couldn’t help but exclaim.

Even he had never seen such a thing!

In truth, the Dao Gate upper echelon had long known Chu Huaixu had grasped sword intent.

But up to now, he had never unleashed it fully.

His sword intent was indeed unusual, and gave off a strange vibe—its rank seemingly not inferior to Reincarnation Sword Intent?

More importantly, it carried a certain ——momentum!

Yes, momentum!

Unrelenting, unyielding, fearless!

As if nothing could stop his steps, stop this sword.

A strand of sword qi gathered at Chu Huaixu’s right hand, between two fingers.

He seemed thoroughly fed up with that scroll of mountains and rivers.

He didn’t even aim it at Zhao Xinghan. Instead, he leapt straight up and slashed at the scroll floating high above!

Zhao Xinghan didn’t have time to dodge, nor could he retract the scroll.

He just couldn’t understand—how could someone in the First Realm explode with such speed and catch him completely off guard?!

『Even if he’s a body cultivator, even if he’s reached minor completion in a Profound-rank movement technique—it shouldn’t be possible!』

Just as he was reeling in shock, Chu Huaixu had already leapt high, and the sword qi between his fingers slashed down at the scroll of painted mountains and rivers.

He slashed from top to bottom!

From the top of the scroll’s spindle, all the way down.

Zhao Xinghan poured all his strength into activating the scroll.

Because he’d realized—this was sword intent! Chu Huaixu’s sword intent!

『So this is your trump card!』

He frantically churned his spiritual energy, desperately driving the Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact.

Chu Huaixu’s fingertip sword qi slashed down, while the scroll desperately absorbed the force within it.

『Try absorbing this, you bastard!』

『Let me see you mimic this!』

The surge of spiritual energy from the 《Dao Canon》 intertwined with sword intent and erupted completely!

【Fearless Sword Intent】 might sound plain, but its rank was no less than Reincarnation Sword Intent. How could a First Realm cultivator using a spiritual artifact easily absorb and reflect it?

Zhao Xinghan’s face paled within a few short breaths.

Yet Chu Huaixu’s sword qi still slashed downward! The momentum seemed poised to cleave the entire scroll in two!

Finally, when the slash had cut through about three-fourths of the scroll, Zhao Xinghan couldn’t bear it any longer. He coughed up blood, and the floating scroll was directly sent flying!

That single instant of vulnerability, and suddenly—his vision blurred. A figure had already appeared right before him.

And the fingertip sword qi—

Was only an inch away from his brow!

Chu Huaixu’s movement had been so fast, it stirred a gust of wind that swept all of Zhao Xinghan’s long hair back!

Zhao Xinghan felt like his mind was about to explode, his hair stood on end, and he remembered what Teng Lingyi once told him:

——『Within a single inch, a man can match a whole nation.』

This distance belonged to body cultivators!

And what stood before him now, was someone dual-cultivating sword and body.

Zhao Xinghan’s pupils shrank, his face full of disbelief.

『Impossible! Impossible!』

『How could you be this fast?!』

Chu Huaixu’s sword pointed at his brow. He tilted his head slightly and said blandly:

『Why couldn’t I be this fast?』

What was 【Fearless Sword Intent】?

He didn’t fear injury, didn’t fear pain, didn’t fear someone stronger, not even death.

No matter what stood before him, he wouldn’t dodge!

His heart held no distractions—he only pressed forward, for the sake of unleashing this sword.

Therefore, of course he was fast!

What you all fear, what burdens your hearts—none of it mattered to him.

The body you so cherish, so afraid to injure—would never be his burden.

Since you are a disciple of Luo Heaven Valley, then let me quote a line from 《Collected Mysteries of Purple Clarity》:

『If one is unburdened by form, before them lies Great Luo Heaven.』

Even if you use ten thousand techniques to stop me, I would never think of dodging—only of killing you with the strongest force, at the fastest speed!

Before absolute speed, distance becomes meaningless.

——No fear, no distance.

......