Chapter 192 : A Scheme Spanning a Millennium

Chapter 192: A Scheme Spanning a Millennium

When Xiang Yan uttered the words “cultivating immortality,” Chu Huaixu felt as if a jolt of electricity surged through his body, leaving goosebumps all over his skin.

Earlier, when he had suddenly mentioned the Golden Core and Nascent Soul, Chu Huaixu had already sensed something was off.

No wonder—he’d read too many xianxia novels. So this was the hidden world background of 《Borrowed Sword》 from the very beginning?

In his understanding, cultivation novels could be summed up by that internet joke: there were really only three realms.

If you could beat them, they were in the Ant Realm; if you were evenly matched, they were in the Fellow Daoist Realm; and if you couldn’t beat them, they were in the Senior Realm.

Who would’ve thought that inside the Origin Spirit Realm, he’d be facing a...

—Cultivator!

Yet because of this, a long-standing confusion in his mind was finally resolved.

‘I had always wondered, why in 《Borrowed Sword》, everyone in the Xuanhuang Realm only ever said they were cultivating and only called themselves cultivators.’

‘Even after transmigrating, it was the same.’

‘So that’s why! That’s why!’

‘Because they weren’t cultivating immortality at all!’

In the grand hall, everyone saw Chu Huaixu stunned in place and said nothing more, allowing him time to process it all.

Back when they themselves had learned the truth, they too had been shocked for a long time—learning that the ones on the other side were madmen seeking immortality.

After a long while, Chu Huaixu finally asked, ‘Sect Master, then when I enter the first level of the Origin Spirit Realm, what realm of cultivator will I encounter?’

At this, Xiang Yan began to explain.

‘Over in the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven, their realm system is different from ours.’

‘The Xuanhuang Realm is divided into nine realms.’

‘But the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven only has five: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation.’

‘Therefore, what you’ll be facing is a cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.’

‘Under normal circumstances, each of their realms is roughly equivalent to two of ours.’

‘You can think of the peak of the Qi Refining stage as roughly equal to the Second Realm, Great Perfection, in our system.’

Upon hearing this, Chu Huaixu stared at them and blurted out:

‘Sect Master, Little Martial Uncle Ancestor, Elders... you can’t be serious...’

You can’t be serious! What kind of joke was this? Were they just sending him to die?

Sending someone at the First Realm to fight the strongest of the Qi Refining stage?

That was an entire realm higher, for heaven’s sake!

If it were just an ordinary peak Qi Refining cultivator, Chu Huaixu would have thought, “Fine, I’ll fight.”

With all the ‘hacks’ he had, what was there to fear? He’d march in fearless.

He was already capable of slaying Second Realm cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm!

But the other side clearly wouldn’t be sending some random low-level cultivator, would they? So by rough estimation, wasn’t he essentially going up against the strongest Second Realm cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm?

Because of the Fearless Sword Intent, he rarely felt fear—but that didn’t mean he thought this setup was fair. He wasn’t just going to volunteer for a suicide mission.

To think he might be facing someone at the Fellow Daoist Realm—or even the Senior Realm!

Everyone found his expression quite amusing.

Nangong Yue chuckled helplessly, saying, ‘Chu Huaixu, if that were really the case, then we would’ve been unable to solve the Origin Spirit Realm’s problem centuries ago.’

‘Anyone from the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven who sets foot in our Xuanhuang Realm would be suppressed by the power of the world’s origin.’

‘Or you could say, suppressed by the Heavenly Dao itself.’

‘In that state, their strength would be extremely limited.’

Chu Huaixu nodded. ‘I see.’

He followed up, ‘So then, for those who entered the first level before me, how high was the success rate?’

At the mention of such a deadly topic, Jiang Zhi couldn’t help but answer first, ‘About 80%.’

For cautious cultivators of the Slinking Path, an 80% chance of survival might as well be suicide.

But for someone like Chu Huaixu, his first thought was: “So basically guaranteed victory!”

This dungeon? Already in the bag!

Chu Huaixu: “Pfft, it’s just an Ant Realm enemy!”

Seeing his smug face, the others felt an ominous premonition.

Li Chunsong quickly interjected, ‘Ahem! Chu Huaixu, don’t celebrate too early! The Dao Ancestor left behind a maxim—it warned that the suppression from the world origin on these heretics may be weakening this time.’

‘Perhaps something is wrong with the origin power of the Xuanhuang Realm.’

‘Or, maybe they’ve spent the past millennium finding a way to counter it.’

Xiang Yan nodded repeatedly. ‘Personally, I lean more toward the latter.’

He then elaborated:

‘Little Martial Uncle has merged with a piece of the【Fragment of Xuanhuang Origin】and cultivated a power of the Heavenly Dao within, successfully advancing to the Ninth Realm.’

‘If something were really wrong with our world’s origin, he would’ve sensed it.’

Jiang Zhi, listening on the side, nodded with pride—only for that pride to quickly vanish into gloom, as if reminded of something.

Xiang Yan continued, ‘Also, there's something even more terrifying.’

‘If a cultivator from the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven really achieves Fruit Position and reaches the Soul Formation stage, their lifespan would be terrifying—they might live for unimaginable lengths.’

‘To us, a thousand years is generation after generation sacrificing to protect the Xuanhuang Realm.’

‘But on the other side, it could be just one—or a handful—who have lived all this time, plotting from a millennium ago.’

‘What we’re facing... is a scheme spanning a thousand years!’

Chu Huaixu shuddered at this.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, countless generations of cultivators had perished over a millennium.

And yet over there, there might be a few people... who had watched them all this time!

He couldn’t say why, but it left him deeply uneasy.

As if, above the nine heavens, there were invisible eyes silently watching!

They were like patient beasts—waiting for the perfect moment to strike!

...

...

Truthfully, Chu Huaixu wasn’t surprised at this difficulty increase in the Origin Spirit Realm.

“It was supposed to be Little Xu’s fight to begin with.”

As the proper World Protagonist, he wouldn’t be handed an easy fight.

After all, troubled times produce heroes.

If it weren’t hell difficulty, it wouldn’t have been up to the World Protagonist to save the day.

Seeing Chu Huaixu’s calm demeanor, everyone else felt reassured.

In matters like this, his mental state was excellent. He didn’t cower in the face of danger.

Still, Xiang Yan figured it best to let him know the worst-case scenario, so he’d be mentally prepared.

‘Chu Huaixu, you experienced a Possession incident firsthand this time.’

‘We had discussed earlier—if the Dao Ancestor’s maxim proves true, and the Origin Spirit Realm is especially perilous this time, then the worst-case scenario would be...’

Xiang Yan enunciated each word: ‘...that what you encounter isn’t an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, but one who has restarted cultivation after a Possession!’

Chu Huaixu understood instantly.

A Nascent Soul old monster... restarting at Qi Refining through Possession?

“Now that’s interesting.”

A physical body at the Ant Realm... with a Nascent Soul of the Senior Realm.

From what they’d said before, only upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage could one generate an immortal Nascent Soul capable of external Possession.

And once one achieved Soul Formation and gained Fruit Position, their soul might be bound to the Heavenly Dao of the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven—likely limiting them. So it wouldn’t be a Soul Formation monster coming personally.

In that case, an average First Realm cultivator entering the Origin Spirit Realm really would be walking into death.

Even the Heir of Prince Rui, despite help from his Future Consort, using Spiritual Power Loan and Divine Sense Loan, would have no chance—it would be guaranteed death!

The opponent’s Nascent Soul alone could toy with Qin Xuanxiao like a child.

“It’d probably be like an old man playing with a toddler.”

Qin Xuanxiao’s Divine Sense, even paired with Lin Zixuan’s, couldn’t match that of a Nascent Soul monster.

After all, the Rank of a Nascent Soul was inherently higher than a regular cultivator’s Divine Sense.

Only now did Chu Huaixu fully understand why it had to be Little Xu, why it had to be the Bronze Sword.

He also came to understand many of Jiang Zhi’s heavy-handed actions.

—Though he still found them annoying.

‘It’s clear now. Because of the uniqueness of the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven, what’s needed isn’t just the sword’s power... but also that trace of Baleful Aura.’

Chu Huaixu suddenly realized—everything the Dao Ancestor had arranged was like hidden lines beneath the grass—each a foreshadowing!

‘According to Little Xu, the Sword Spirit of the Bronze Sword split in two, and one half entered his body.’

‘In that case, the sword spirit could take over in the life-or-death match, while its presence in his body could block Nascent Soul Possession!’

Chu Huaixu personally speculated that after merging with Xu Ziqing, the Evil Sword’s Sword Spirit would act like a Heart Sword—an immovable stabilizer.

Whether it was Divine Sense attacks or Nascent Soul Possession—it likely wouldn’t work at all.

What’s more, the Evil Sword had a very high Rank too. It remained to be seen how it compared to the Heart Sword.

He could already imagine the arrogant Sword Spirit of the Bronze Sword raging furiously if a Nascent Soul dared to enter Xu Ziqing’s body and tried to evict it...

“Just picturing it is hilarious,” Chu Huaixu thought.

But even in the amusement, he grew ever more awed by the Dao Ancestor.

He didn’t know how this person, who had passed away a millennium ago, had managed it.

It was as if he could foresee the future—had made all the calculations, laid out all the contingencies, and planned everything for those who came after.

This was a terrifying power indeed!

‘Yes... Perhaps over in the Kunlun Grotto-Heaven, there are one—or several—immortals who have watched the Xuanhuang Realm as prey for a thousand years.’

‘But in the Xuanhuang Realm, there is also a Taoist who passed away a millennium ago...’

“...who had already made his move on the board—”

“—and now contends with them across the chasm of time!”