Chapter 84: Chapter 81: Dao Ancestor’s Sword Scabbard

At the foot of the mountain, Chu Huaixu listened to the Sixth Elder’s question, immediately glancing around as if checking for “walls with ears.”

Damn, Li Chunsong, you really dare ask anything!

“Watch your language and status, Sixth Elder!” Chu Huaixu grumbled inwardly.

This hopeless gambler saw him not answering, kept looking around, and couldn’t help but find it funny.

“Stop looking, it’s just you and me here.”

But then, thinking it over, because he rather admired Chu Huaixu, he didn’t hide it, and added, “The Sect Leader and the others are in the hall. Later, you’ll probably have to follow me to the Purple Bamboo Forest again.”

Chu Huaixu got the message; for now, he was under “Divine Sense surveillance.”

Several “cameras” were secretly spying on him right here.

So Chu Huaixu replied, “If you’re going to ask like this, Sixth Elder… I don’t dare answer!”

Li Chunsong was absolutely amused by that.

On his plain face appeared a trace of a smile, and with a half-joking voice, he said:

“Trying to keep secrets from me? Even if you don’t tell me, the Library Pavilion has all the records. Including when you went to register in the Hidden Spirit Hall just now—the halls keep records too. All I’d have to do is check.”

Chu Huaixu looked at him, again thinking: “Laugh! Go ahead and laugh!”

He was clear: now that he’d taken the Dao Scripture, there was no way to keep it from these high-level folks.

So he just put on the last bit of a show, acting put-on: “Does Sixth Elder really insist on an answer?”

“Out with it!” Li Chunsong flicked his sleeve, a little impatient, “Where’d you learn this, so fond of being mysterious?”

Chu Huaixu saw him like this and thought: Well, don’t blame me now!

He clasped his hands towards the sky, and announced in a loud voice:

“The technique I cultivate is the Dao Scripture, left behind by the Dao Ancestor himself!”

As soon as the words came out, Li Chunsong’s expression instantly changed.

“What!?” He cried out in shock, “Impossible!”

This bizarre Evil Skill, how could it be the Dao Scripture, always known for ’Central Justice and Peace’?

Kid, you think nobody nowadays still practices Dao Scripture, so I wouldn’t know?

If this really is the Dao Scripture, then aren’t I out here slandering the Dao Ancestor, slandering the Dao Scripture?

—Truly, forgetting one’s ancestors and their teachings.

Seeing his reaction, Chu Huaixu pretended to be helpless, “Not hiding from you, Sixth Elder, it really is the Dao Scripture. I wouldn’t dare make up anything about the Dao Ancestor.”

Li Chunsong immediately raised two fingers and gently pointed ahead.

A semi-transparent ripple spread forward as he started probing the spiritual power in Chu Huaixu’s Spiritual Embryo Secret Collection.

Well, four words come to mind—Central Justice and Peace!

Because each technique has different properties, a cultivator’s spiritual power also varies.

Some might be scorching and wild, some icy and bone-piercing…

The spiritual power in Chu Huaixu’s body looked completely featureless, fitting the Dao Scripture to a T.

Li Chunsong stared at him in surprise, almost wanting to slap himself—literally chewing himself out.

Sure enough, he heard the Law Enforcement Elder, Lu Pan, send a Transmission to his ear.

“Sixth Younger Brother, once this is over, you and I go to the Law Enforcement Hall and accept punishment together.”

Well, Li Chunsong, deceiving master and ancestor, huh.

But the Sixth Elder quickly latched onto the important part.

“So the Senior Brother is getting punished, too? Hahaha!”

“Fine, I don’t feel bad anymore.” He recovered his mood at once.

He even muttered to himself: “Why didn’t Little Junior Sister blab this time! What a shame! Wanted to see her getting whipped with the Thunder Whip, bawling her eyes out.”

Just as Li Chunsong was about to withdraw his fingers, he heard Sect Leader Xiang Yan’s Transmission.

“Sixth Brother, check his physical body.”

Sect Leader had spoken, so Li Chunsong hurried to comply.

In the next moment, he exclaimed out loud.

“Shell Spirit!”

“That’s body refining!”

…

…

Inside the Daoist Hall, everyone shot each other looks again.

Sect Leader Xiang Yan this time really couldn’t help it, finally lifted his hand and scratched his bald head.

What’s going on lately, why do weird things keep happening? Makes my scalp itch.

This new Outer Sect Disciple, with a cultivation only at First Realm Second Heaven, why does everything about him defy common sense?

“He’s using Dao Scripture for body refining?”

“And he succeeded?” Zhao Shuqi’s eyes were practically squinting shut.

Li Chunsong’s Transmission sounded in everyone’s ears:

“He cultivates both inside and out. It’s strange—the total spiritual power in the Spiritual Embryo Secret Collection and in Shell Spirit keeps an odd balance.”

The so-called ’Inner and Outer Cultivation’—people usually focus on one or the other.

Chu Huaixu’s case—practically unheard of!

Li Chunsong kept transmitting, “Also, if you add the two up, his total spiritual power is way more surging than other cultivators at the same realm! I’m talking about disciples cultivating Celestial Level Techniques!”

Realizing this, he couldn’t help secretly inhaling.

The Daoist Sect upper echelons were shocked inside; for many, the shadow looming over their hearts cleared a little.

Sect Leader Xiang Yan directly said, “Spiritual power so abundant, plus Sword Heart Clarity…”

“Even without that sword, he’d be unmatched in his realm, right?”

“That means our odds in the Origin Spirit Realm just improved again.” He couldn’t help but say so.

Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking the Sect Leader was spot-on.

Chu Yinyin spoke up, “Could it be, what he’s cultivated is the real Dao Scripture? That for a thousand years, Daoist predecessors haven’t really begun to master it?”

Like a big girl still stuck in her teens, really dares to say anything.

And yet somehow, everyone felt she might have a point.

Sect Leader Xiang Yan could only sigh again, “Given the situation, we’ll have to wait and see.”

All they could do for now was guess. After all, Dao Scripture had stumped the Daoist Sect for a thousand years.

Chu Huaixu’s cultivation was just starting—they’d have to observe more.

“For now, this seems a major plus for dealing with [Origin Spirit Realm],” said Xiang Yan.

At the foot of Hidden Spirit Mountain, Li Chunsong caught the Sect Leader’s transmission; he didn’t ask further.

This matter would have to wait.

The priority now—the Hidden Spirit Mountain!

The focus—Dao Ancestor’s wisdom!

Li Chunsong eyed the ancient sword scabbard in Chu Huaixu’s hand, reverence flashing in his eyes.

This was the Dao Ancestor’s sword scabbard.

“I didn’t expect that during your climb up Hidden Spirit Mountain, you’d actually remove the Dao Ancestor’s sword scabbard,” said the Sixth Elder.

Chu Huaixu pondered this information.

Thinking to himself: “From this, I can guess the upper echelon thinks I only got the sword scabbard?”

“Meaning, they don’t know about the true secret hidden in the bead—they just think it’s part of the sword scabbard?”

At this, he sighed with relief.

He’d been stressed, thinking he’d snatched two spiritual artifacts at once and would have to give one back…

“So that means the sword scabbard can serve as my ’publicly visible’ spiritual artifact.” He reached a decision.

Once he was clear, Chu Huaixu raised the sword scabbard and said to Li Chunsong, “I’m not sure, just felt some kind of call.”

Li Chunsong nodded with amazement, “This really is strange, since the Dao Ancestor sword scabbard was also sealed on the stone platform.”

“No idea why it came off for you.”

“Maybe it’s just your fate today.” It was the only explanation he had.

In the Daoist Sect, anything that made no sense was chalked up to fate—after all…

—Fate, mysterious beyond words.

Listening, Chu Huaixu cradled the ancient black sword scabbard, bowing his head for a closer look.

With Li Chunsong there, he decided to ask more, try to get some answers.

“Sixth Elder, is this sword scabbard part of that sword?”

In artifact refining, some swords and scabbards are made as a set—using similar or complementary materials.

Like that Zhegu Heaven, sword and scabbard are one set.

But some swords are forged without a scabbard at all, just the sword embryo.

So the scabbard is a separate spiritual artifact; the two are independent.

Li Chunsong thought it necessary to tell him, since he’d already become the sword scabbard’s future owner.

“Take a look at their designs. You think they’re a set?” he asked, smiling.

Chu Huaixu shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

The sword scabbard in his hand was pitch black, ancient-looking, no idea what kind of wood it was made of.

It was carved with simple patterns. Not flashy at all, but elegant and tasteful overall.

On the other hand, that bronze sword—its only feature was that it was longer than most,

Plus, it was ugly as hell…

An ancient black wooden sword scabbard and a hideous long bronze sword—they looked totally mismatched.

Li Chunsong nodded, “You’re right. They’re not a set.”

Sixth Elder gazed up into the sky like a master, getting ready to reveal a bit of history.

“You must’ve heard plenty of legends about the Dao Ancestor since you were small, right?”

“Yes!” Chu Huaixu replied, face full of respect, determined to dig for info.

Li Chunsong grinned and went on, “As everyone knows, before the Dao Ancestor… got this sword, he didn’t have a sword.”

Chu Huaixu snarked internally, “Yeah, didn’t have a sword, just liked borrowing everyone else’s for free.”

“But whether for fun or some other reason, Dao Ancestor always called himself a Sword Cultivator,” said Sixth Elder, still gazing up.

“So even without a sword, he always carried a sword scabbard.”

He pointed, “That one right there.”

So you could tell, this sword scabbard and that sword really had nothing to do with each other.

Chu Huaixu was disappointed. “Thought I’d stolen its ’wife.’”

Turns out, not a couple at all.

Talking about the Dao Ancestor, Li Chunsong was really into it.

He kept going, “There’s another story you must know, being a Daoist Disciple. A thousand years ago, this sect used to have the Junzi Temple here.”

Chu Huaixu nodded eagerly, all ears.

He knew Junzi Temple wasn’t really gone, just existed in another way now.

The Daoist Sect divides into Inner and Outer Sects, but within the Inner Sect, there are Inner Sect Disciples and True Disciples.

And every True Disciple could join the Junzi Temple!

Li Chunsong gazed at the sky again, hands behind his back, “Back then, Dao Ancestor was a Daoist in Junzi Temple.”

“Junzi Temple would give every Daoist a set of wooden sword.”

“But after Dao Ancestor accidentally acquired the Nameless Technique, first time he went out for training, his wooden sword snapped during battle, leaving just the sword scabbard.”

“After all, being made of Black Wood, it’s only harder than normal wood—a spiritual artifact, yes, but not strong enough against other spiritual artifacts.”

The more Chu Huaixu listened, the more off it sounded.

“But…” He looked down at his sword scabbard, hesitating.

“You’re thinking—the sword scabbard isn’t normal, right? It’s actually a spiritual artifact?”

“Exactly, that’s what I mean,” said Chu Huaixu.

Li Chunsong smiled at him, waving a hand, “Hey! Us ordinary cultivators can’t fathom the Dao Ancestor’s realm.”

“I can tell you for sure—the sword scabbard in your hand is a standard Junzi Temple scabbard, nothing special. Just regular Black Wood, no Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, no artifact refining or refinement involved.”

“It only became a Super Grade Spiritual Artifact because it followed the Dao Ancestor so long. Over time, it just naturally turned super.”

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep