Chu Huaixu had a very long dream.
But when he woke up, he couldnât remember a thing.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an incomparably beautiful face.
Han Shuangjiang, without her veil, sat beside his bed, holding a cloth, having just wiped the sweat from his face and neck.
It was a face so beautiful it could make one lose themselves.
Fortunately, Chu Huaixu had quite a high resistance to this sort of thing.
In his line of work, it was essentially a service industry.
After doing it long enough, one could develop a slight... "dislike for women"?
Interestingly, due to her own upbringing and life experiences, the stunning beauty before him also had a slight "dislike for men."
It wasnât hard to understand, really.
This cold, aloof woman looked down at Chu Huaixu and said, âThe Sixth Elder asked me to take care of you.â
However, Chu Huaixu replied, âSmells nice.â
This rather flippant response made her gaze sharpen.
âI wasnât talking about you!â The fox-faced man frowned and glanced at her.
He sat up from the bed and began looking around the room for the source of the fragrance.
Soon, he spotted a stick of incense on the table, nearly burned out.
Chu Huaixu turned to look at Han Shuangjiang with a questioning expression.
âThatâs Calming Incense, left by the Sixth Elder.â Her expression visibly turned colder, and she stood up straight away.
She walked out of the bamboo house and returned to her own room.
Leaving Chu Huaixu sitting on the bed, rubbing his temples.
When playing ăBorrowed Swordă, as long as a player chose to level up, their cultivation stage would improve accordingly.
He still retained that cheat, but the overall experience wasnât pleasant.
âPlayers can adjust the Pain Index, but I sure canât right now,â he thought.
Of course, Chu Huaixu understood very well that the pain was entirely due to the cultivation method itself.
Player leveling essentially skipped over the step-by-step training process.
Or rather, those processes happened all at once in an instant, and the feedback hit your body immediately.
âSo I cycled through the Sword Refining Art multiple times in a flash, and thatâs why it hurts this much?â Chu Huaixu was puzzled.
He suspected that even practicing this technique the normal way without cheating wouldnât be much more comfortable.
âFor something this painful, you still have the nerve to call yourself the Sword Refining Art? Youâd be better off named Menstrual Cramps.â He complained inwardly.
And so, a question arose.
âWhy the hell does it match me 93%?â
He didnât see himself as a âMcDonaldâs,â after all.
Although there was a classic saying in his industry: the flower language of steel wool is endurance and wealth.
But that had nothing to do with him.
He truly didnât have that kind of kink, and even disliked those rich-woman-happy steel wool balls.
His Play Companion Profile certainly didnât contain any hints for customers, nor did it carry labels like âMcDonaldâsâ or âStarbucks.â
Even their industry had a hierarchy: people into âletter playâ were ultimately niche companionsânever mainstream!
Therefore, Chu Huaixu felt the system owed him an explanation.
After getting up from the bed, he checked how his body felt.
âSeems like... I really did get a lot stronger?â
âWas it because I added 1 point to ăPhysiqueă earlier? So the boost is significant in that area?â
âIt probably isnât just that.â He turned his attention to the jade slip and small booklet on the table.
Sitting down, Chu Huaixu picked up the booklet and once again flipped open to the first and second pages.
âDonât practice!â
âTake the advice!â
He now understood that those two âseniorsâ must have suffered greatly, so they left behind two bad reviews to warn future practitioners â it was truly painstaking.
Chu Huaixu felt he should also write something for those who came after.
He picked up the brush and, with a serious expression, wrote a flamboyant phrase on the third page:
âPeerless Divine Art!â
...
...
Practice! Everyone get your asses to practice!
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Chu Huaixu sat on the chair, cheeks puffed with frustration, and closed the booklet, realizing he still had unfinished business.
âI havenât assigned the ăSpirit Embryo Attribute Pointă yet.â
The Spirit Embryo was closely tied to a cultivatorâs innate divine powers.
This thing was just too, too, too important.
A False Spirit Embryo had no future at all.
He opened his Character Panel and directly assigned the 1 point of ăSpirit Embryo Attributeă.
But the first thing that popped up was â the selection of Spirit Embryo type.
This was easy to understand, as each Spirit Embryo had its own traits.
Take the Body of Profound Yin, for example. If Chu Huaixu selected it now, the Spirit Embryo section in his Character Panel would show: ăBody of Profound Yin (Covered in Dust)ă.
Only when the attribute reached 10 points would the âCovered in Dustâ label disappear, and the Spirit Embryo be considered fully developed!
However, when players selected their Spirit Embryo, they could only choose a major category and then draw one at random within it.
For instance, the Pure Yang Body and Profound Yin Body belonged to the ăYin-Yangă category.
Besides ăYin-Yangă, other Spirit Embryo categories included ăFive Elementsă, ăLightningă, ăDark Nightă, ăSwift Movementă, ăHarmonyă, and more â totaling several dozen types.
Each category was further subdivided.
If you were to carefully select one, your eyes would be dazzled by the choices.
But Chu Huaixu had long made up his mind.
âNo choice â by a twist of fate, Iâve already entered the Dao Gate.â
âAnd that sword... is within the Dao Gate!â
He didnât even look at the other categories and immediately made his choice â ăSwordă!
âăDing! You have selected the ăSword Spirit Embryoă, now initiating draw.ăâ
âăCongratulations! You have obtained ăSpirit Embryo: Heart Swordă.ăâ
Heart Sword?
He had no memory of this Spirit Embryo; no sword cultivator players ever had this one.
Chu Huaixu felt his body undergo a sudden transformation!
He closed his eyes and could sense that within his Sea of Consciousness, a sword was floating.
A pitch-black sword!
He didnât know why, but he felt as if it were alive, attuned to his will, and had a certain spiritual nature.
However, it seemed rather lifeless, hanging there half-dead.
Chu Huaixu wasnât surprised.
Because right there on his Character Panel, it clearly read: ăSpirit Embryo Heart Sword: 1. (Covered in Dust)ă
Below it was a line of text introduced by the system:
âăThe sword cleaves flesh, the heart cleaves soulă.â
...
...
Medicine Mountain, Outer Stewardâs Courtyard.
Niu Yuanshan sat cross-legged on his bed, restless.
At this moment, dawn was breaking in the east â it was nearly morning.
Just two hours ago, the Sixth Elder, Li Chunsong, had come knocking again, asking where the Sword Refining Art came from.
Niu Yuanshan answered truthfully, saying he didnât know.
It was true the jade slip was in his possession, but matters regarding the archive of Qi-Opening Stage cultivation methods werenât under his jurisdiction.
âSixth Elder, there should be records in the Library Pavilion,â he cautiously suggested.
Li Chunsong nodded, vanished on the spot, and flew to the Library Pavilion, leaving Steward Niu completely baffled.
âDidnât we give the Sword Refining Art to that newcomer from the Organization?â
âWhy is the Sixth Elder suddenly asking about this?â
âCould there be a problem with this Qi-Opening method?â
âThen that Chu Huaixu...â
Niu Yuanshan felt the impulse several times to rush to Chu Huaixuâs bamboo house in the middle of the night to check on him.
He suppressed the thought, but after a while, it would rise again.
All night long, he was plagued with inner turmoil and wild thoughts.
Chu Huaixu filled his mind.
Eyes open, it was him. Eyes closed, still him.
âSmackâ!â
In the courtyard, an even louder slap rang out.
This time, Niu Yuanshan hit himself even harder than before, swelling up his own face.
âAdmonition Rule Three: Do not harbor excessive curiosity about your peers!â
âLoyaltyâ!â
...