Chapter 83: Chapter 80: Took One Extra Spiritual Artifact

“Bang——!”

Chu Huaixu, just as he was pulling the black bead, exerted his full strength, which made his force a bit too strong.

Now, not only did the black bead pendant not come off the sealed sword scabbard, it also pulled the scabbard down with it, causing the whole force to smash against his chest, striking him hard.

If nothing unexpected happens, it likely caused an injury.

Fortunately, Chu Huaixu isn’t afraid of pain.

At this moment, he was also dazed.

Because he clearly knew that this black bead must be a spiritual artifact! And it has some connection with the “Dao Scripture”!

But how did the sword scabbard come off too?

According to the rules on Hidden Spirit Mountain, everyone is only allowed to take one spiritual artifact.

He could sense they were independent entities; the black bead was not a part of the sword scabbard.

“How is this buy one get one free?”

Chu Huaixu couldn’t care less about this now.

The spiritual power within him had already been drained empty by the bead.

He immediately crushed the charred pass token.

The teleportation array was then activated.

In the next moment, the floating bronze sword seemed to grow angry again.

Its detest and hatred towards Chu Huaixu peaked in an instant!

Spiritual pressure swept over, causing Chu Huaixu to cough up a mouthful of fresh blood.

Because the black bead not only emptied the spiritual power stored in his Spiritual Embryo Secret Collection but also drained every bit of spiritual power from his flesh.

Without the support of spiritual power, the strength of his physique naturally declined.

Even more frightening, this spiritual pressure also oppressed the teleportation array!

The bronze sword was attempting to sabotage the array’s teleportation effect.

It wanted to keep Chu Huaixu on the mountain.

“If the teleportation array truly fails, and I’m stuck under this spiritual pressure, sooner or later I’ll succumb and die!” he knew this clearly in his heart.

Whether it’s his body or sea of consciousness, both were reaching their limits.

He wouldn’t need to stay on the mountain long, perhaps the time to drink a cup of tea, and he would die!

“Still not giving up, still wanting to kill me!”

“Evil Sword!!!”

Therefore, his bloodshot eyes flashed with ruthlessness when looking at this bronze sword!

The sword was angry, and so was he!

Fortunately, the teleportation array activated very quickly, and Chu Huaixu’s figure disappeared from the mountain peak.

In the next moment, he appeared at the foot of the mountain.

However, it seemed there was indeed a problem with the teleportation array; he was not safely transported to the foot of the mountain but instead appeared in mid-air.

“Bang——!” Chu Huaixu crashed heavily to the ground, raising a large cloud of dust.

At this moment, his black robe was particularly dirty, covered in dust and soil, with bloodstains on the sleeves, looking extremely disheveled.

However, that entirely jet-black sword scabbard, and the black bead pendant, were actually brought down the mountain by him!

…

…

“It seems a bone is broken.”

Chu Huaixu got up from the ground, assessing his current condition.

It could be said it was very bad!

His body was under heavy strain, and if not for the protection of the little black sword in his sea of consciousness, it would have shattered and collapsed by now.

Yet even so, he felt his head was heavy, his consciousness blurry.

Now, when he opens his eyes to see things, he can see multiple shadows, as if everything in the world could use the shadow clone technique.

Chu Huaixu looked down at his bosom and saw three sword scabbards and three beads.

He forcefully shook his head and then looked toward Hidden Spirit Mountain with a bewildered expression.

“Did the restriction on the mountain malfunction?” he thought.

Before he climbed the mountain, the senior brothers and sisters in the Hidden Spirit Hall patiently explained the rules to him.

“A disciple ascending the mountain can only take one spiritual artifact; otherwise, even if the wooden token is shattered, the array cannot transport them to the mountain foot and they will be blocked by the restriction on the mountain.”

The bead was obviously an independent spiritual artifact.

The sword scabbard was also an independent spiritual artifact.

“Did the restriction fail to detect?”

“Logically speaking, every spiritual artifact on the mountain is linked with the restriction by an aura.”

“Unless… one of them is not among the listed items!”

Chu Huaixu’s eyes sharpened, and he felt the issue lay with the bead.

If it weren’t for the internal spiritual power link and that mysterious calling, he would also think this bead was merely a pendant on the sword scabbard.

Or rather, it was just a part of the sword scabbard.

The tensed nerves relaxed at this point, and the physical burden eased, Chu Huaixu began to cough violently, continually spitting blood.

Inside the Daoist Hall, there was a dead silence at this moment.

The scene before them completely deviated from their earlier assumptions.

Or rather, from the moment the spiritual pressure appeared, the storyline’s development was nothing like they had imagined!

Only Li Chunsong was in a daze, speaking in an incredulous tone, “I won?”

“Hahahahaha! I won?”

“I actually won!” The gambling addict fell into a semi-mad state.

Things like the great calamity of heaven and earth, the sword of salvation, the Daoist Ancestor’s proverbs… he completely forgot them.

This king of charity only knew he won, and moreover… won again!

Ever since he took Chu Huaixu up the mountain, his current winning rate was a terrifying one hundred percent; he won every gamble!

The air pressure inside the hall was a bit low, but only Li Chunsong’s hearty laughter echoed within.

After laughing for a good while, he transitioned his identity between [Gambler] and [Daoist Six Elders].

Though his right hand was still shaking with excitement, he quietly tucked it into his sleeve, still frantically justifying himself:

“Cough, cough, cough!”

“Hiss—, the Sword Attendant in the Daoist Ancestor’s Proverbs didn’t take this sword, but took the sword scabbard instead?”

“Could it be… the Daoist Ancestor’s Proverbs are mistaken?”

“Or did the Junior Martial Uncle really pick the wrong person?”

It was obvious that this sixth-ranked guy never considered that the problem might be his own.

Everyone turned their gaze towards Sect Leader Xiang Yan, even the most spontaneous Chu Yinyin didn’t stand up to yell at this moment.

No way around it, this concerns the great calamity of Heaven and Earth, it concerns the Origin Spirit Realm!

The First Realm Competition of the Profound Yellow Realm is about to begin.

If he could wield that sword, he would surely win the competition.

With him holding the sword entering the Origin Spirit Realm, that would be the safest solution.

Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!

But how did he not take the sword?

Why did he take the sword scabbard instead?

Moreover, there was a seal on the sword scabbard, how did he even manage to take it?

Xiang Yan noticed everyone looking at him, and he even thought about reaching up to touch his bald head, he was also a bit puzzled.

“The situation as it stands can only be pondered over a long period.”

“Sixth Junior Brother, go down to the foot of the mountain to check on him, Chu Huaixu seems to be in a bad state, we mustn’t let anything go wrong.”

“Once you’re back, we should head to the Purple Bamboo Forest to discuss with Seventh Junior Sister.”

The Daoist Ancestor Inheritance was obtained by Shen Man, and the Daoist Ancestor’s Proverbs were also discovered by her.

Such a big matter surely requires her to be part of the discussion, even though she might not say much…

“Alright!” Li Chunsong immediately left the hall, flying towards the foot of Hidden Spirit Mountain.

When he arrived, he saw that Chu Huaixu had already sat down cross-legged.

Chu Huaixu had no intention of returning since Big Ice Cube was still on the mountain.

—He intended to wait for her.

Thus, he now took time out from his ’busy schedule’ to delve into his quest interface, to check the rewards for his task here.

“Gained 30,000 experience points, and 1 point of [Random Attribute Points].” Chu Huaixu was quite satisfied.

Clearly, the task rewards mainly focused on attribute points, and the 30,000 experience points were just a bonus.

Moreover, he was well aware of the system’s peculiarities.

“Even if this passive task concerns this number one sword in the world, based on the player’s own level, the task experience point rewards have a cap.”

“No matter how high the difficulty coefficient of the task, the experience points won’t be too exaggerated, but other rewards besides experience points will increase.”

“30,000 could well be the cap.”

Due to Chu Huaixu’s current poor health, his body was depleted of spiritual power, and his Sea of Consciousness was in a chaotic state, so he simply chose to level up.

Using leveling up to eliminate these negative statuses!

“’Borrowed Sword’, unlike some games, doesn’t fully restore health upon leveling up, but it does fill up mana!”

“Within the Sea of Consciousness, divine sense also grows with the increase in realm.”

“Furthermore, the ’Dao Scripture’ involves both inner and outer cultivation, so the body might self-heal to a certain extent, it’s possible I might completely recover health!”

Therefore, before Li Chunsong arrived, Chu Huaixu issued a command silently in his heart.

“System, level me up!”

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged towards him madly, and the new sensation of pain spread from the inside out, causing him extreme suffering.

Considering he was already bruised and battered, it was even more torturous.

Lumps appeared on Chu Huaixu’s body, as if the spiritual power was trying to burst out from his flesh, his skin began to crack.

This scene was completely witnessed by Li Chunsong.

The plain-looking Daoist Six Elder suddenly frowned, waved his sleeve, and a faint blue airflow wrapped around Chu Huaixu, and started examining his condition.

Since he was on the verge of a breakthrough, he dared not intervene excessively, lest Chu Huaixu fall into a demon.

“How could it be so strange?”

“Wasn’t he no longer practicing that evil skill ’Refining Sword Formulas’?” Li Chunsong muttered to himself.

With his keen eye power, he could naturally see how bizarre this cultivation technique was, distinct from that of ’Refining Sword Formulas’ yet somehow reverse.

Once he confirmed that Chu Huaixu’s life wasn’t in danger, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He quickly noticed that the wounds on Chu Huaixu were rapidly healing.

“What kind of evil skill is this! When did our Daoist Sect have such a cultivation technique!” He frowned deeply, his tone sank, starting to criticize this kind of cultivation method that disregards human well-being.

“Our Daoist Sect is a prestigious sect, directly descended from the Dao Ancestor, yet such sinister heart methods that I am unaware of are on the mountain?”

“Hiss—, the body cracks and heals, and cracks again, along with all these areas of swelling…” he couldn’t help but feel the pain.

In the Daoist Hall, the Daoist Sect’s high echelon also expressed amazement.

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Pan was the first to speak.

“Our sect has such a tormenting cultivation technique? How come I didn’t know?”

Chu Yinyin’s adorable face contorted, she shivered just looking at it, feeling the agony.

Suddenly, she felt that her disgusting cultivation technique seemed tolerable compared to Chu Huaixu’s?

After a good while, the cross-legged meditating Chu Huaixu finally opened his eyes.

Tormented by the Bronze Sword on the mountain, the fierce nature within him was thoroughly stimulated, and his anger hadn’t yet subsided, so he didn’t bite down or cry out in pain, but rather endured the agony of breakthrough stoically.

The spiritual power within him was replenished once more, the power of divine sense within his Sea of Consciousness enhanced, the chaotic sensation finally dissipated, and his physical body recovered significantly.

He could clearly feel himself getting stronger again.

The spiritual power within him was even more vigorous, and the strength of his physical body greatly improved.

Should he climb the mountain again, he felt he could perform better, enduring longer under spiritual pressure.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing Li Chunsong, he promptly picked up the ancient sword scabbard resting on his knees and rose to salute: “Sixth Elder.”

The counterpart nodded, his eyes began examining the Daoist disciple before him.

Finally, he asked in a very serious tone:

“Chu Huaixu, what is this strange cultivation technique you’re practicing?”

…

(ps: Third update, still a ten-thousand-word update, asking for monthly votes!!)

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