Chapter 101: Chapter 96: System Access Not Yet Unlocked

The next day, early in the morning, the family of three sat at the table having breakfast together.

The scenery of the Daoist Medicine Mountain was very beautiful, and outside both Chu Huaixu’s and Han Shuangjiang’s bamboo huts, a tree was planted.

Hers was a pomelo tree, while Chu Huaixu’s was a phoenix tree.

Today’s scene was quite fitting with Li Bai’s verse: “Amidst the cold, people among the pomelo; the autumn colors the old phoenix tree.”

The high autumn sky was clear and the temperature today was exceptionally comfortable.

Han Shuangjiang looked at the two “Feast Immortals” sitting across from her and thought, “At home we eat regular rice; if they were eating the spirit rice that aids cultivation, it would be impossible to afford their appetite.”

At this thought, she couldn’t help but remember alchemy, and curiously asked, “Chu Huaixu, have you started learning alchemy?”

Xu Ziqing, who was busy drinking porridge, immediately raised his head, licking the rice grains from his lips, full of curiosity.

Chu Huaixu, who was also feasting, immediately straightened up and displayed a refined elegance when he heard the little housekeeper’s inquiry.

He took a small sip of hot porridge, then looked at her with a leisurely gaze and said calmly, “I’ve successfully concocted three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.”

“Hm?” Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing were both shocked.

Just yesterday he exchanged for the alchemy technique, and already succeeded by last night?

And, three bottles of elixirs, that’s 30 pills…

This isn’t just basic entry; did you master it overnight?

Big Ice Cube couldn’t help but recall what Chu Huaixu said yesterday: I feel I have a talent for alchemy.

Lately, the cold-faced girl has been cramming tons of common knowledge about the cultivation realm.

She knew very well that alchemy and artifact refining were lucrative, but extremely challenging; in the beginning, the failure rate was absurdly high, considering the materials as tuition fees.

Yet with his talent, could he possibly be the reincarnation of a Pill King?

Chu Huaixu leisurely continued sipping his porridge, starting to brag again:

“Actually, I was an Alchemy Grandmaster in my previous life, in this life, I reincarnated without forgetting everything.”

Big Ice Cube rolled her eyes internally and couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Xu Ziqing found his senior brother humorous and impressive.

After the meal, Han Shuangjiang returned to her room to continue cultivating.

Xiaoxu started cleaning the dishes, then resumed researching the “Six Out of Seven” in the courtyard, trying to continue proving his worth.

Yesterday, he bathed in herbal residue and absorbed a small amount of medicinal power.

The young man pondered, tonight he should have the chance to unblock the seventh acupoint!

As he saw himself getting closer to fully opening the nine acupoints, it represented the real gateway to the cultivation world, about to officially open before him.

Xu Ziqing’s heart was still faintly excited.

Chu Huaixu went to the Treasure Pavilion again, intending to sell these 30 Qi Gathering Pills, then purchase another batch of raw materials to let the medicine cauldron continue refining tirelessly!

“To be honest, I’m really working hard.” He thought to himself.

Because each batch of Qi Gathering Pills takes two hours, he even instructed the artifact spirit of the medicine cauldron to wake him while he was asleep, just like setting an alarm clock.

“Sigh, the path of alchemy truly demands both mental and physical efforts.” Chu Huaixu looked up at the sky and sighed.

“It’s not easy providing for a family!”

When Chu Huaixu left the Treasure Pavilion, his storage token was filled with raw materials for Qi Gathering Pills.

Thirty perfectly crafted Qi Gathering Pills did not garner any attention inside the Treasure Pavilion.

The Daoist disciples working here had become numb to all kinds of treasures.

When they first started, handling all sorts of heavenly and earthly treasures, magical treasures, and spirit pills daily felt quite novel.

As time passed, it became just routine!

After all, these treasures didn’t affect them financially in the slightest.

Moreover, these were just mere Qi Gathering Pills, with nothing flawed but the quality.

Even if Chu Huaixu’s number increases, they’d only think he established an alchemy team.

The lower-level staff wouldn’t care much, thinking it’s none of their business.

As for the management, they’d never be aware of such trivial matters; it didn’t reach that level.

Additionally, inside the Treasure Pavilion, buying and selling areas were separated, and the disciples responsible for each were different groups.

So, no one noticed this young man bought a pill formula and spirit grass yesterday and came today to sell spirit pills.

Conversely, after selling the spirit pills, Chu Huaixu went to buy spirit grass from the same senior brother he met yesterday, who kindly offered him a few words of comfort.

Because in this senior brother’s view, yesterday’s batch of spirit grass was sufficient for several attempts.

Just acquiring the pill formula meant low efficiency, it was virtually impossible to use it up in one day.

If squandered this quickly, there’s only one possibility!

He failed midway, turning into waste material!

Which used it up faster than it was wasted.

“Junior brother, crafting the Qi Gathering Pill really is somewhat challenging.” He spoke with the tone of experience, full of empathy.

This left Chu Huaixu, who wanted to covertly show off, slightly disappointed.

“It seems I’ll have to continue showing off fiercely in front of Big Ice Cube and Xiaoxu after returning home!” He thought.

…

…

One day passed quickly by.

Chu Huaixu didn’t do much, just simply leveled himself up.

The reason was simple; that sly dog Han Shuangjiang broke through again, matching his cultivation level.

Seeing her work so hard, he figured he had to outdo her. Anyway, he had tens of thousands of experience points left, so leveling up again wouldn’t hurt.

However, he certainly wouldn’t spend all his experience points, keeping some in reserve for emergencies.

For example, being able to break through at a crucial moment or restore his full mana state.

After all, leveling up could happen at any time, it’s just a matter of sooner or later.

“This way, I can slowly level up, always staying just one small realm ahead of her, tormenting the Big Ice Cube to death,” Chu Huaixu chuckled to himself.

In his eyes, Han Shuangjiang was always cold-faced day in and day out.

The more she was like this, the more he enjoyed it and found it amusing.

Xu Ziqing, after soaking in medicine residue for two consecutive days, continued to grit his teeth and diligently practice the “Refining Sword Formulas,” opening the seventh acupoint that had already loosened.

This afternoon, Chu Huaixu heard his uncontrollable screams.

As someone who’d been there, he silently grumbled in his heart, “This is just the beginning; breaking through the Nine Acupoints will be real torment! Several times more painful than this!”

But those screams, he found quite satisfying to hear. Shared pain was indeed more enjoyable than solitary pain.

“At this rate, he should be able to break through to the First Realm within half a month.”

“If I refine some suitable elixirs for him, it could speed up even more,” Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

“Looking at it this way, this guy, who should have been the champion, can still catch up to the big competition of the East Continent.”

The only uncertainty now was: “Does Xiaoxu have the chance to take that sword from the mountain?”

“Given his aptitude, getting the charred Passage Wooden Token is really difficult; he’d have to consume a lot of elixirs to manage it.”

“Thankfully, I gave him the Profound Celestial Fetal Breath Pill, turning his Pseudo Spiritual Embryo into a Level 3 Spiritual Embryo.”

“Otherwise, no matter how many elixirs he consumed, he couldn’t meet the requirements within three days,” Chu Huaixu understood this clearly.

Moreover, even if he got the charred wooden token, could he surely take the sword down the mountain?

In “Borrowed Sword,” how Xu Ziqing got the token and climbed the mountain, Chu Huaixu had no idea because, before the game’s official release, this storyline had not been uncovered by players.

How he obtained that sword, Chu Huaixu also didn’t know.

“But he seemed to seldom use the Bronze Sword?” He recalled.

In his memory, Xiaoxu, like the protagonists in many TV dramas and anime, would explode into action at critical moments…

If not in a life-or-death situation, he would never draw his sword!

This led many players to speculate that although this world protagonist possessed the number one sword, there were likely many restrictions, perhaps paying a huge price each time it was used!

Because there were several instances where the protagonist team was almost beaten to death, and the other three did not urge Xu Ziqing to quickly use the sword.

Chu Huaixu imagined the scene; if it weren’t for a huge price, and I’d been beaten half to death, damn it, Xiaoxu still wouldn’t draw his sword, dawdling there. I’d beat him up when I got home!

“This time going up the mountain, I can confirm that this world-renowned sword is very likely an Evil Sword!”

“Truly getting the sword – is it a blessing or a curse for Xiaoxu?” Chu Huaixu was uncertain.

However, he always respected personal choice.

After all, the allure of this sword was simply too great, and it was incredibly powerful.

It’s like being offered a billion, even if it means living fewer years, there would still be plenty willing to accept.

Many things, whether they’re good or bad, ultimately depend on how you perceive them.

But there’s one thing Chu Huaixu is certain of.

“The Dao Ancestor must have ensured that sword’s safety, and even if it descends the mountain, it would certainly be relatively controllable.”

“Otherwise, with its nature, leaving the mountain’s seal, wouldn’t it cause chaos?”

“Then in ’Borrowed Sword,’ Xiaoxu wouldn’t be the world’s protagonist embarking on a path of salvation, but rather the big villain Boss.” He thought of this and couldn’t help but smile, unable to imagine that scene.

The one thing that bothered him a bit was that the Bronze Sword had murderous intent toward him.

Chu Huaixu concluded indirectly that it hated the Dao Ancestor, so it also loathed him, who possessed the power of the “Dao Scripture.”

When his seven acupoints bled due to spiritual pressure, that sword couldn’t be more pleased.

“Acting all high and mighty, and yet, without my little brother, you can’t even descend the mountain!” he scoffed.

“Once it descends, if it discovers Xiaoxu’s innate respect for me, won’t it be utterly disgusted?”

Chu Huaixu thought about this and found it secretly amusing.

Overall, he maintained a wait-and-see stance, curious to see how the next plotline would unfold.

“If there’s a chance to meet Chu Yinyin, I could squeeze some information out of my second master to learn more inside details,” Chu Huaixu began contemplating the idea of the older girl.

She was a big talker, easy to cajole, and just a few smooth words would mollify her, making her easy to convince.

Today, there was another matter that Chu Huaixu was somewhat interested in, with a hint of puzzlement in his heart.

“According to the schedule, ’Borrowed Sword’ is about to start its closed beta.”

“Logically, my forum function should have already been enabled.”

“This game has been highly anticipated, even before the closed beta officially starts, once the forum goes live, the silly netizens would be chatting eagerly. During that time, I’d also posted, advertising as a companion player.”

“If it’s because I’ve transmigrated, similar to [pain modulation], and the function is restricted, that would be understandable, but it shows that the forum hasn’t been opened yet.”

“Normally, there would be a big banner on the forum, displaying the countdown to the closed beta.”

“Why is that?” Chu Huaixu stared at his system, a bit perplexed.

“Is this closed beta happening or not?”

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep