Chu Huaixu had a very long dream. But after waking up, he couldn't remember any of it.
When he opened his eyes, what greeted him was an exquisitely beautiful face.
The unveiled Han Shuangjiang was sitting beside his bed, holding a facecloth, having just finished wiping the sweat from his face and neck.
It was a face so beautiful it could make one lose their senses. Fortunately, Chu Huaixu had a relatively strong resistance in this regard. In his line of work, which was essentially a service industry, after doing it for a long time, one could develop a... slight aversion to women.
Interestingly, due to her own upbringing and life experiences, the peerless beauty before him also had a slight aversion to men. This wasn't too difficult to understand.
The ice-cold woman looked down at Chu Huaixu and said, "The Sixth Elder asked me to take care of you."
However, Chu Huaixu's reply was, "Smells nice."
This slightly frivolous reply made her gaze freeze.
"Not talking about you!" The foxy-faced man frowned and glanced at her. He sat up from the bed and began to search his room for the source of the fragrance. Soon, he saw a stick of incense on the table, almost completely burned out.
Chu Huaixu turned his head to look at Han Shuangjiang, his face full of inquiry.
"This is Mind-Calming Incense, left by the Sixth Elder." Her face visibly turned colder, and she stood up directly. She walked straight out of the bamboo hut and went back to her own room, leaving Chu Huaixu sitting on the bed, rubbing his temples.
When playing "Borrowing a Sword", as long as a player chose to level up, their realm would improve. He still retained this golden finger, but the overall experience was not good.
"Players can adjust their pain index. I can't do that now," he thought.
Of course, Chu Huaixu knew very well that the reason it was so painful was entirely due to the technique itself. When a player leveled up, it was essentially skipping the step-by-step process of cultivation. Or rather, all these processes were completed in an instant, and the feedback was then felt on one's body.
"So I circulated the 'Sword Tempering Art' several times in an instant, which is why it hurt so much?" Chu Huaixu was perplexed. He guessed that even if he practiced this technique normally without his cheat, it probably wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
*"To be this painful, and you have the nerve to call yourself the 'Sword Tempering Art'? You might as well call yourself the 'Menstrual Pain Art'," * he complained in his heart.
So, the question was:
"On what grounds does it have a 93% compatibility with me!"
He certainly didn't think of himself as a masochist. Although there was a classic saying in his industry—"The flower language of the steel wool ball is forbearance and wealth"—that had nothing to do with him. He really had no such kinks and was repulsed by the "rich woman's happy ball." On his companion homepage, he would never hint at such things to his clients by putting tags for niche kinks on his profile.
There was a chain of disdain in their industry: those who engaged in BDSM were, after all, niche companions and would never make it big!
Therefore, Chu Huaixu felt the system owed him an explanation.
After getting up from the bed, he felt his body.
"It seems... I'm really much stronger?"
"Is it because I added 1 point to [Physique] before? So the boost in this area is greater?"
"It should be more than just that reason." He set his sights on the jade slip and the small booklet on the table.
Sitting down, Chu Huaixu picked up the booklet and once again opened the first and second pages.
"Don't practice!"
"Heed the advice!"
He now understood. These two "predecessors" must have suffered immensely, so they left behind two bad reviews to warn future generations, which was quite painstaking of them.
Chu Huaixu felt he too had a duty to write something for those who came after. He picked up a brush and, with a serious expression, wrote in large, flamboyant characters on the third page:
"Peerless Divine Art!"
...
...
Practice it! All of you better practice it!
Chu Huaixu sat on the chair, fuming. After closing the booklet, he realized he still had important business to attend to.
"I still haven't added the [Spirit Embryo Attribute Point]."
The Spirit Embryo was also closely related to a cultivator's innate divine abilities. This thing was just too, too important. A Pseudo Spirit Embryo had no future.
He opened his character panel and directly added the 1 [Spirit Embryo Attribute] point.
However, the interface that popped up first was—Select Spirit Embryo Type.
This was easy to understand. Every Spirit Embryo had its own characteristics. Take the person with the Profound Yin Physique next door for example. If Chu Huaixu were to choose the Profound Yin Physique at this time, his character panel would display in the Spirit Embryo section: [Profound Yin Physique (Dust-Covered)]. Only after adding attribute points up to 10 would the words "Dust-Covered" disappear, and the Spirit Embryo would reach Great Perfection!
However, when players chose a Spirit Embryo, they could only select a major category and then receive a random one from within it. Physiques like the Pure Yang and Profound Yin were in the [Yin-Yang] category.
Besides [Yin-Yang], there were dozens of other Spirit Embryo categories, such as [Five Elements], [Lightning], [Dark Night], [Godspeed], [Joyful Union], and more. Each category was further subdivided. If one were to choose carefully, they could be dazzled by the options.
But Chu Huaixu had already made up his mind.
"I have no choice. After all, by a twist of fate, I've already entered the Dao Gate."
"And that sword is in the Dao Gate!"
Without even looking at the other categories, he made his choice—[Sword]!
"[Ding! You have selected the [Sword Spirit Embryo]. A random selection is in progress.]"
"[Congratulations, you have obtained [Spirit Embryo: Heart-Sword].]"
Heart-Sword?
In his memory, there was no information related to it. He had never seen any sword cultivator player with this type of Spirit Embryo.
Chu Huaixu only felt his body undergo a strange transformation in an instant! He closed his eyes and could perceive a sword floating in his sea of consciousness.
A completely pitch-black sword!
For some reason, he felt that it was alive, connected to his own heart and mind, possessing its own spirituality. It just seemed listless and half-dead.
Chu Huaixu was not surprised by this. Because his character panel now clearly stated: [Spirit Embryo Heart-Sword: 1. (Dust-Covered)].
Below it was a small line of text introduced by the system:
"[A sword to sever the body, a heart to sever the soul]."
...
...
Medicine Mountain, the deacon's small courtyard.
Niu Yuanshan sat cross-legged on his bed, his mind restless.
At this moment, the east was beginning to whiten; the sky was about to brighten. Just two hours ago, Sixth Elder Li Chunsong had come looking for him again, asking where the 'Sword Tempering Art' came from.
Niu Yuanshan told the truth, stating that he didn't know either. The jade slip was indeed in his possession, but he was not in charge of cataloging these aperture-opening stage techniques.
"Sixth Elder, there should be records of it in the Scripture Pavilion," he carefully suggested.
Li Chunsong nodded and immediately disappeared, flying towards the Scripture Pavilion, leaving Deacon Niu utterly bewildered.
"Wasn't the 'Sword Tempering Art' given to the newcomer from the Organization?"
"Why did the Sixth Elder suddenly come asking about this?"
"Could it be that there's a problem with this aperture-opening technique!"
"Then this Chu Huaixu..."
Niu Yuanshan felt the urge several times to go to the other's bamboo hut overnight to check on his condition. He suppressed the thought, but after a while, it would rise again. He spent the entire night in a state of conflict, his mind racing with wild thoughts.
Deacon Niu's mind was full of Chu Huaixu. He saw him when he opened his eyes, and he saw him when he closed them.
Slap—!
A slap, even louder than before, echoed in the courtyard.
Niu Yuanshan had hit himself even harder this time, making his own face swell up.
"Article Three of The Admonitions: Do not harbor excessive curiosity towards our comrades!"
"Loy—alty!"