Inside the bamboo hut, a system prompt rang in Chu Huaixuâs ears.
âăDing! Congratulations, you meet the binding conditions and have successfully bound your Life-bound Magical Treasure.ăâ
Hearing this sound, his eyes narrowed slightly.
âMeet the binding conditions?â He quickly caught the key point.
In his memory, when he bound his Life-bound Magical Treasure before, these words should not have appeared.
This meant that this Black Bead and the Medicinal Cauldron inside it were very likely truly connected to the power of the ăDao Canonă within his body!
âNo wonder there was a mysterious resonance, and right from the start it completely drained me, sucking dry all of my Spiritual Energy, not even sparing what was within my flesh.â
At that instant, Chu Huaixu had a feelingâthat was... it was hungry?
In just a blink, it had devoured him clean, leaving nothing behind.
After finishing this, he drew a drop of blood from his fingertip and dripped it onto the sword scabbard, carrying out the blood-recognition ritual for ăDing Fengboă. But he did not merge it with his Sea of Consciousness to make it his Life-bound Treasure.
A Life-bound Treasure was uniqueâthis was unchangeable for anyone.
Chu Huaixu opened his Character Panel and checked his ăEquipment Slotă.
ăDing Fengboă had recognized him as its master, and now, resting across his thighs, the ăEquipment Slotă displayed it as: Equipped.
But very soon, he noticed something strange.
ăDing Fengboă was marked as: Offensive-type, Auxiliary-type Magical Treasure.
ăMedicinal Cauldron (Life-bound Magical Treasure): Unnamedă, was marked as: Defensive-type, Secondary-class Magical Treasure.
This left Chu Huaixu a bit surprised.
He hadnât expected that this sword scabbard could actually be offensive-type.
Auxiliary-type he could understandâthat was within his speculation.
âBut this sword scabbard can actually be linked to offense?â
Chu Huaixu immediately checked the functions of the Magical Treasure.
Then, his heart grew clear.
âSo thatâs it. It can store all of my Spiritual Energy in the form of Sword Qi inside the scabbard.â
âWith my current ăMagical Treasure Development Degreeă, I can only store 7 times.â
âIn other words, I can rely on the sword scabbard to unleash seven pre-stored strikes of Sword Qi.â
âBut because these are stored, although each Sword Qi consumed all of my Spiritual Energy, the damage it can cause is still inferior compared to my normal full-powered strike.â
âIt can only reach 30% of the effect.â
âThe emphasis lies in numbersâwinning through quantity.â
Chu Huaixu felt that this could indeed become one of his trump cards!
Even more importantly, the number of stored Sword Qi could be increased.
For low-level cultivators, even holding a supreme treasure would be like a Pearl Covered in Dust if one could not bring out its full power.
Oneâs cultivation realm must rise to match it.
According to the settings in ăBorrowed Swordă, once datafied, this became ăMagical Treasure Development Degreeă.
âNormally, a cultivatorâs Life-bound Magical Treasure has the highest development degree, while for non-Life-bound treasures, the degree is halved.â
âFor Life-bound Magical Treasures, a low-grade Spiritual Artifact can reach 100% at the First Level.â
âMid-grade Spiritual Artifacts require reaching the Third Level, high-grade Spiritual Artifacts the Fifth Level.â
âAs for the peerless Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifacts, one must reach the Seventh Level to reach 100%!â
ăDing Fengboă was not Chu Huaixuâs Life-bound Magical Treasure, so its development degree was halved. Therefore, at present, it only had a pitiful 7.14%.
Even if he cultivated to the Ninth Level, rounding off, its development degree would only be 64%.
This was the difference between non-Life-bound Magical Treasures and Life-bound ones.
Ultimately, the reason was that it only possessed spirituality, but lacked a Spirit within the artifact that could resonate with its masterâs heart!
âBecause now itâs only at 7%, I can only pre-store 7 strikes of Sword Qi.â
âOnce this number rises, becoming 14, 21... or even 64! That would be terrifying!â
âA Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact is truly frightening.â
Moreover, ăDing Fengboă was not only offensive-type, but also auxiliary-type.
Its auxiliary function lay in its second wondrous effect.
A sword scabbardâs purpose was to sheath swords.
Its auxiliary role leaned toward sealing and suppressing.
It could weaken all Spirit Swords in terms of speed and effect.
For non-sword type treasures, the weakening was halved.
The exact weakening value depended on the difference in strength between the two sides.
Of course, the higher the development degree, the stronger the effect.
âIf oneâs cultivation suppressed the opponent, if oneâs Sword Dao realm suppressed the opponent, and the gap in strength was vast, it could even make the opponentâs sword unable to leave its scabbard! And even if unsheathed, unable to attack!â
âNow this is interesting.â
âThis ability, together with my ăHeart Swordă, can form a mutually reinforcing effect.â
âThe scabbard suppresses the treasure itself, while the Heart Sword suppresses the swordâs spirit.â
This was absolutely an unexpected joy!
Chu Huaixu could already imagine how terrifying this would be in actual combat!
âLater, Iâll try it out on the Big Ice Block.â The Dead Fox was itching to bully a woman.
Immediately after, his gaze shifted to the true highlightâthe Medicinal Cauldron.
Chu Huaixuâs glance swept over it, and his eyes couldnât help but freeze.
âWhatâs going on?â
âWhy is the development degree only 10%?â
âEven if itâs a Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact, at the First Level it should be over fourteen percent!â
âCould it be...â A shocking thought rose in his heart.
This Medicinal Cauldron seemed to be the Life-bound Magical Treasure of the Dao Ancestor during his lifetime.
Just like the Bronze Sword on the mountain, it transcended the category of Spiritual Artifacts!
Sitting on the meditation cushion, Chu Huaixu looked out the window, forcing himself to calm down.
The more he thought about it, the more credible the rumors seemed. The more he suspected this was truly the Dao Ancestorâs Life-bound Treasure!
Even if not, then it was at least the Medicinal Cauldron the Dao Ancestor used regularly!
âAfter all, the Dao Ancestor was the greatest alchemist of all time.â
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âOnly the Pill King could barely be compared with him.â
Chu Huaixuâs heartbeat faintly quickened. He had not expected that this trip to Hidden Spirit Mountain would allow him to obtain such a treasure!
He began to carefully examine the functions of the Medicinal Cauldron.
It was a secondary-class Magical Treasure, which did not surprise Chu Huaixu.
A Medicinal Cauldron was naturally used for refining pills and medicines, an essential tool for alchemists.
Things like pill refining, artifact refining, talisman crafting, and formations... all these fell under secondary professions in ăBorrowed Swordă.
âBut since it is also a defensive-type Magical Treasure, I must carefully study its defensive effects.â
The result, ridiculously enough, in the system introduction, the defensive effect was followed by three question marks.
Chu Huaixu instantly grew furious.
âWhat the hell! This is my Life-bound Spiritual Artifact, and you wonât even give me access to its details?â
Such a phenomenon was unheard ofâutterly incomprehensible!
As things stood, he could only, like Han Shuangjiang next door, rely on himself to explore the properties of the Magical Treasure.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Huaixu next examined its secondary functions.
After just one glance, his left eyelid twitched violently.
Because what he saw was this:
âăSecondary Profession: Alchemist.ăâ
âăStatus: Not Initiated.ăâ
âăFirst-grade Low-rank Pill, Current Success Rate: 100%.ăâ
These three lines left Chu Huaixu dumbfounded.
Because the third line did not align with the first two at all.
He had not studied any pill-refining methods.
Pill-refining belonged under the category of ăTechniquesă, and could be studied on the fourth floor of the Outer-Gate Scripture Pavilion.
The Dao Gate had an Alchemy Grandmasterâits Second Elderâbut he was not currently on the mountain.
âI havenât even studied yet, and the success rate for refining First-grade Low-rank Pills is already 100%?â
âWhat does this mean, I just toss the raw ingredients into the Medicinal Cauldron and itâll succeed?â
âWhat kind of fully automatic pill furnace is this!â Chu Huaixu was astounded.
He even felt an urge to immediately acquire a pill formula for a First-grade pill, get some raw materials, throw them into the Medicinal Cauldron, and see if it really worked so magically.
At that thought, Chu Huaixu slapped his thigh hard.
âDamn it, I spent over four hundred Sect Contribution Points to exchange for pills!â
âWhat a loss!â
He deeply regretted it.
After all, even without relying on taking pills to gain Experience Points, he still had other methodsâthough admittedly, not as convenient.
As mentioned before, some Secret Realms already explored by others would be modified by the Dao Gate into trial grounds, opened to its disciples.
These were essentially sect dungeons, and Chu Huaixu could earn Experience by clearing them.
Sighing, he began to adjust his mindset.
He was not one to dwell in self-blame.
âForget it. As a dignified transmigrator, I shouldnât be petty over a few contribution points.â
Chu Huaixu lowered his head, gazing at the Black Bead hanging from the sword scabbard.
Inside the bead was an inner world, and it seemed to be integrated with the Medicinal Cauldron.
He didnât even need to take the cauldron outâhe could activate it within the beadâs space!
This made it far more discreet.
Chu Huaixu began carefully examining his Life-bound Magical Treasure, not missing a single detail.
This Medicinal Cauldron was pitch black throughout, its material unknown.
Like most cauldrons, its form was: three legs, two handles.
Hence the saying âa tripod cauldron stands firm.â
Compared to the simple, unadorned sword scabbard, this Medicinal Cauldron was engraved with far richer patterns.
On it were intricate carvings of birds, beasts, plants, fruits, and even demons and spirits.
Everything imaginable was present, vividly lifelike.
When his divine sense entered the beadâs inner world, he could sense the state of the cauldronâs artifact spirit.
âIt was hungry!
It desperately wanted to devour Chu Huaixuâs Spiritual Energy.
Apparently, what it had drained earlier was not even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
After some thought, he poured his Spiritual Energy into the Black Bead, which the Medicinal Cauldron absorbed.
In the next instant, he felt the artifact spirit grow livelier.
But once he cut off the energy, it immediately reverted to its previous stateâhungry.
Perhaps his cultivation was just too low.
Right now, the Medicinal Cauldron gave him the impression of something insatiable.
And he still didnât know what use this absorbed Spiritual Energy served.
âWhen I channel energy into the sword scabbard, at least it turns into Sword Qi.â
âBut for this Medicinal Cauldron, nothing is apparent.â
Of course, a Life-bound Spiritual Artifact required constant nourishment from its owner.
The mainstream method was to nourish its spirit with oneâs divine sense, supplemented by special items crafted by artifact refiners for maintenance.
It was like people saying when buying a car: âI can afford to buy it, but not to maintain it.â
The better the artifact, the costlier it was to âraise.â
Settings like these in ăBorrowed Swordă also existed in many games, where equipment came with a ăDurabilityă value.
âCould it be that the way to nourish this Medicinal Cauldron is simply through continuously devouring Spiritual Energy?â
Chu Huaixu tried communicating with the artifact spirit, only to find it seemed to lack much intelligence, forever conveying just one thingâhungry!
âAre you kidding me, are you Taotie reincarnated?â Chu Huaixu was speechless.
And indeed, among the engravings, he spotted Taotie, as well as dragons, phoenixes, and qilin.
Since he was idle, he began carefully inspecting every carving on the cauldron.
Chu Huaixu even started counting.
In the end, he tallied a total of eighty-one types.
After finishing the exterior, he examined the inside.
There, on the inner wall, he found three characters.
They were not deeply engraved and were easy to miss unless closely inspected.
âCould this be the name of this Medicinal Cauldron?â
âIt does correspond well with the patterns carved outside,â Chu Huaixu thought.
On the inner wall of the Medicinal Cauldron were inscribed: ăDao Birth Oneă.
âMedicinal Cauldron: Dao Birth One!
This inevitably reminded him of the saying:
Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two give birth to Three, and Three give birth to all things!