Half an hour later, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang got up to leave. Niu Yuanshan politely saw them all the way to the courtyard gate. This gesture of his made the several handymen in the courtyard look over, not understanding why these two in-name disciples were worthy of the deacon's special attention.
After seeing the two off, Old Niu picked up the jar of Erlang Wine from the table and returned to his room by himself.
After entering the room, the expression on the thick-browed, square-faced man changed.
"How did Chu Huaixu open two apertures?" He was utterly baffled.
As a Gold Mask in [The Organization], who was previously in charge of the newcomer reception mission, he had read the kid's file.
"He's clearly a Pseudo Spirit Embryo."
"And, all nine of his innate apertures are blocked!"
This situation violated the common sense of the cultivation world. It was hard not to be shocked!
"Could it be that he's one of those legendary 'dust-covered' Spirit Embryos, whose embryo doesn't manifest, leading people to mistake it for a Pseudo Spirit Embryo?"
"Once he officially begins to cultivate, things become different?"
As a veteran of [The Organization], his curiosity about this newcomer grew stronger and stronger. He even had the urge to take a drop of his blood to properly investigate the condition of his Spirit Embryo.
After a few seconds, Niu Yuanshan's eyes suddenly sharpened. Then, he raised his hand fiercely and gave himself an incredibly forceful slap, knocking his own face askew. When he slapped himself, he even used his spiritual power.
Slap—!
"How many times has it been? How many times?"
"Niu Yuanshan, oh Niu Yuanshan, you really have a bad memory!"
"How can you keep making this kind of mistake!"
Article Three of The Admonitions: Do not harbor excessive curiosity towards our comrades.
...
...
On the other side, after bidding farewell to Old Niu, Chu Huaixu glanced up at the azure sky.
In that half an hour, he had been continuously trying to receive a quest based on his experience as a veteran player, striking up conversations of all kinds. But the quest system still had no reaction.
"Borrowing a Sword" was a game with an extremely high degree of freedom. There was no reason it wouldn't allow him to be a double agent.
Therefore, a seed of doubt was planted in his heart.
On the way home, Han Shuangjiang suddenly called out to Chu Huaixu. The cold-faced girl's gaze was somewhat evasive as she said, "That... thank you for what happened today."
Clearly, this ice mountain was not even good at expressing thanks.
Chu Huaixu made a nonsensical meme reference. "First of all, I'm not 'that one'.
Seeing the blank look in her eyes, he also began to feel that he was being incredibly boring.
"No need to thank me, it's what I should do. And, the final outcome was good, wasn't it?" He smiled at her.
In this regard, Han Shuangjiang also felt extremely fortunate. If Chu Huaixu had really gotten into an accident because of her, with her kind-hearted nature, she would have felt guilty for the rest of her life.
After thinking for a moment, she even took out the Jade Tablet Fragment from her storage token.
"This is for you. I don't think I should take it," Han Shuangjiang said.
Chu Huaixu glanced at her and suddenly felt that this World Protagonist seemed to love keeping accounts crystal clear. Before, when he said he would go home and have her go to Old Niu for help, she had refused. Now, she even wanted to give him the jade fragment she had obtained.
"I already have one. It's useless if you give me another. I don't need two 'keys'," Chu Huaixu said.
"You can take it and exchange it for [Sect Contribution Points]," Han Shuangjiang said with a serious and insistent expression.
As if Chu Huaixu would accept it! He knew that there were a total of 10 Jade Tablet Fragments, which meant Liu Tianfeng still had 8. At that time, it would be 8 of them against just the two of them in the dungeon. Therefore, although the three Liu bastards were in pain over the loss, they would still feel in their hearts—the advantage is ours!
But Chu Huaixu knew clearly in his heart that the ice mountain standing in front of him was a World Protagonist, the child of fortune who had claimed both of the remaining Dao Ancestor legacies for herself!
"With you in the dungeon with me, I'll feel more confident," was what he was thinking anyway.
And so, he frowned again and said in a displeased and somewhat fierce tone, "I told you to keep it, so keep it!"
Under her veil, Han Shuangjiang's tender red lips couldn't help but purse again.
Chu Huaixu looked at her and said, "Deacon Niu helped us get this. He has already made the distribution, one piece for each of us. Instead of giving it to me here, you'd be better off helping me more after we enter the secret realm."
The cold-faced girl hesitated for a moment, then could only give up, saying softly, "Alright."
Along the way, the two walked and talked. After this battle, their relationship seemed to have grown a little closer. The young woman, who had always been reserved and kept her distance from people, rarely revealed her inner thoughts.
"I didn't expect the Dao Gate to have predecessors like Deacon Liu. I thought all the Dao Gate predecessors were like Deacon Niu."
Hearing this, Chu Huaixu was amused.
"If they were all like Old Niu, wouldn't the Dao Gate be finished? What, from the Sect Master to the deacons, they're all undercover agents?" he muttered to himself.
Chu Huaixu glanced at Han Shuangjiang and said, "This is very normal. There will be bad apples anywhere. What's more, human nature is ultimately complex."
"As long as they are human, they will have selfish desires."
"Let me tell you, that Liu Chenggong who came to arrest me seems to be a troll. I got a lot of information out of him on the way."
"Our Deacon Liu, many years ago before he was promoted to deacon, he took a group of outer sect disciples down the mountain for a mission and ran into trouble."
"His wife died on the spot, and he was also seriously injured. Since then, his cultivation has not progressed an inch, but all the outer sect disciples were unharmed, well protected by him."
"Perhaps he was corrupted by power, or perhaps his son is his reverse scale. Who knows?" Chu Huaixu shrugged.
Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang became even more silent.
Chu Huaixu looked at her and said, "It's alright. Since they wanted to make a move against us, you see that I didn't let them have an easy time either, right?"
The cold-faced girl turned her head to look at him and said seriously, "I really didn't expect that you would suddenly strike out with your palm at the end."
As a result, he became even more smug, a crooked smirk on his face. "What do you think? Arrogant, right?"
Han Shuangjiang: "..."
She didn't speak, but he just stared at her, forcing her to give a slight nod.
"Right? Arrogant is the way to go!" Chu Huaixu laughed.
The more arrogant he was, the more unfathomable they would think his background was!
He continued, "Do you know why there's a saying 'bully the soft and fear the hard,' and why there's a saying 'bully subordinates and curry favor with superiors'?"
"Because those who bully the soft often fear the hard, and those who bully subordinates often curry favor with superiors."
"How about we make a bet? I bet you that even though I struck out like that, they will still come to visit tomorrow with lavish gifts," Chu Huaixu said.
Han Shuangjiang asked, "But didn't they already give us the keys to the secret realm?"
"That was compensation, and it was Deacon Niu who demanded it," Chu Huaixu waved his hand.
"Didn't he say it himself at the beginning? That he would prepare lavish gifts and visit tomorrow. Since he said it, he has to do it. He can't just turn the page because he gave us the Pill King's Token."
"After all, he can't be sure if we took his earlier words to heart or not. What if we did?"
Deacon Liu was a wily old fox. He still had that much experience in handling social situations.
"What's more, compensation is compensation, and building good relations is building good relations."
Chu Huaixu looked at her and continued to ask, "Anyway, are you betting or not!"
"Not betting," Han Shuangjiang shook her head repeatedly and quickened her pace. She felt that she was far inferior to him in many aspects of her thinking. No way!
"Just a small bet. I haven't even said what the stakes are. Don't refuse so quickly," Chu Huaixu felt she was being a killjoy. This woman was so boring.
"Not betting, not betting," Han Shuangjiang said with a cold face, her long legs walking even faster.
...
...
Not listening, not listening, a turtle chanting scriptures.
No matter what Chu Huaixu said, Han Shuangjiang just wouldn't make a bet.
After returning home, the two went back to their respective bamboo huts.
Chu Huaixu sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and began to adjust his breathing. He had gained a lot this time, getting 1000 experience points. He could level up again, and it was enough to level up several times.
"With Han Shuangjiang's heaven-defying cultivation speed, if I don't have some experience points, I'll be left far behind her in no time."
"And, after this battle, she probably has a sense of urgency too and is even more eager to become stronger. Her cultivation speed might even be faster," he guessed.
"Having good talent is just awesome. Unlike me, who has to endure pain and do quests. Everything I have, I got through my own hard work!"
"System! Level me the hell up!"
Sword Tempering Art, third layer, fourth layer, fifth layer.
Chu Huaixu broke through three apertures in a row.