Chapter 88: Chapter 85: Dao Ancestor’s Lifebound Spiritual Artifact

The moon is bright, the stars sparse, crows fly south.

Outside the bamboo hut, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang sat face to face, eating together.

He was just like a regular guest who appreciates free meals—a real glutton, with a fantastic appetite.

The two chatted as if sharing family stories, pouring out all the happenings of their day at Hidden Spirit Mountain.

Chu Huaixu listened to Han Shuangjiang’s account, realizing just how many times she’d struggled on her journey up the mountain.

Along the way, she was picked by quite a few artifact spirits.

Some were even Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts and Super Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

Unlike Chu Huaixu, who, aside from the Sword Spirit, only got a jade pendant related to Body Refining tossing him an olive branch.

But he acted just like a scumbag, telling it to chill out, and the second time he hiked up the mountain, he didn’t even spare it a glance.

What could he do? He didn’t have the right to choose another spiritual artifact—a person can only take one. Looking at more would just make things worse.

“No worries, Zhegu Heaven is the one best suited for you,” Chu Huaixu said, scooping rice into his mouth as he spoke.

Han Shuangjiang nodded, obviously agreeing.

But she still couldn’t help asking, “When you went up the mountain the first time, it picked you too, didn’t it?”

Chu Huaixu, picking up food for himself, replied calmly, “You already know the answer!”

He quickly added, maybe trying to comfort her:

“Don’t overthink it. With all those spirit swords on the mountain, which Sword Spirit hasn’t chosen me?”

“Other sword spirits get way more excited when they see me!” He wore a smug, cocky expression.

Big Ice Cube nodded. Though she still felt it was a bit weird, she didn’t say anything.

Now that Zhegu Heaven had recognized her as its master, she felt close to its Sword Spirit and didn’t want to fuss over such “minor details.”

What else could she do?

—Of course she’d forgive it.

Just then, the cold-faced girl asked, “The item you took is Daoist Ancestor’s sword scabbard?”

“Yeah.” Chu Huaixu nodded.

He didn’t mention the Black Bead to her, since that broke Hidden Spirit Mountain’s rules.

He’d already decided—the spiritual artifact he’d show openly is the sword scabbard.

“What’s its name?” Big Ice Cube was quite curious.

“I think… it doesn’t have a name?” Chu Huaixu sounded a little unsure.

Han Shuangjiang’s Zhegu Heaven at least had words carved in its blade.

This wooden sword scabbard only had some simple, ancient-looking patterns, no inscriptions.

And even when Li Chunsong told him stories about the sword scabbard, he never mentioned its name.

“The sword scabbard was originally paired with a wooden sword—a standard sword of Junzi Temple. I guess it could be… Gentleman’s Sword?” Chu Huaixu offered, very much guessing.

“So maybe it’s called Gentleman’s Scabbard?” He grinned.

But the three words “Gentleman’s Sword” weren’t his favorite.

Makes him think of Yue Buqun from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

So he was really just talking nonsense. He figured it didn’t actually have a name, otherwise the Daoist Sect would’ve recorded it.

All of a sudden, he thought, “Maybe the Dao Ancestor was just lazy about naming stuff?”

The cultivation technique he practiced didn’t have a name either; later generations just called it the Dao Scripture.

The sword scabbard he always carried didn’t have a name, so when people talked about it, they could only call it the sword scabbard.

Even the bronze sword he’d suppressed on the mountain, actually didn’t have a name.

People just habitually called it the Daoist Ancestor Sword.

“Since that ugly sword’s called Daoist Ancestor Sword, then my scabbard definitely can’t be named Daoist Ancestor Scabbard.”

“Cause the Charitable Gambling King said, the two aren’t a set.”

“Who wants to have some dumb couple’s name with that ugly freak? My scabbard is obviously elegant!” Chu Huaixu thought.

He picked up a chunk of meat, shoveled a huge mouthful of rice, then unconsciously poked his chopsticks twice into his rice bowl.

“Big Ice Cube, do you think… even though this sword scabbard is a Dao Ancestor relic, now I’m its new master—giving it a name isn’t over the line, right? Should be fine, right?” He asked Han Shuangjiang.

“How am I supposed to answer that?” The cold-faced girl looked frosty, firmly refusing to take responsibility.

You wanna name it, then name it. Why ask me for my opinion!

How would I know?

Chu Huaixu smiled at her response, his gaze lingering on the Zhegu Heaven lying on the table.

He kept on, “Lots of Daoist Sect spiritual artifacts are named after lyric titles.”

“Because those ten True Disciples of Dao Ancestor—all their lifebound magical treasures are named that way. Supposedly Dao Ancestor just flipped through a book and picked titles when naming them.”

“Since my sword scabbard was Dao Ancestor’s, why not give it a lyric-title name too?” Chu Huaixu felt his logic was sound.

Han Shuangjiang just stared at him, silent, waiting for him to speak the name.

Chu Huaixu put down his bowl and chopsticks, looking toward Hidden Spirit Mountain.

“Today, that sword on the mountain caused such an uproar…”

“From now on, I’ll call it Calming the Storm.” He said with meaning.

…

…

After dinner, Han Shuangjiang went to wash the dishes.

Chu Huaixu went back inside, stood in front of Xu Ziqing’s room, feeling a bit troubled.

—He was out of clean outer robes!

Earlier, he’d hung all his dirty clothes on the boy’s door-knob, figuring he’d wash them when he got back.

Now look at him—the one he’s wearing is absolutely filthy. There’s still a clean inner shirt left, but tomorrow he’ll have to pick the least dirty outer robe from his pile…

“If Sect Leader and the Elders don’t come looking for me tomorrow, I’ll go check up on him at Cold Pool.”

“Can’t just keep cultivating nonstop—sometimes you gotta get out, breathe a little, wash the junior’s clothes, then go home.”

“Kids just don’t know how to behave!” He decided he’d really scold Xu Ziqing tomorrow.

Back in his own room, Chu Huaixu sat on the straw mat and took out Calming the Storm from the Storage Token.

Lots of cultivators’ lifebound spiritual artifacts are kind of like Pikachu from Pokemon.

Other pokémon would rather stay in the pokeball, but Pikachu just won’t go inside.

Lifebound spiritual artifacts are the same way, often.

Other magical treasures mainly possess spiritual power—but lifebound artifacts are nurtured till their artifact spirit matures.

Once they gain intelligence, they get a lot more… complicated.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu’s big hand gently stroked the black-wood scabbard.

When his palm touched the Black Bead, he felt as if the spiritual power within him was being tugged once again.

“The sword scabbard is a Super Grade Spiritual Artifact, but this bead is an absolute mystery.”

“Even when I toss an Information Detection at it, the system just spits out a string of question marks,” he thought.

To be honest, giving the sword scabbard a drop of blood and making it his lifebound object was totally doable.

It’s at least a Super Grade Spiritual Artifact—high enough quality.

Even in Borrowed Sword, he’d never gotten such a top-level treasure.

In the entire Profound Yellow Realm, artifacts of this caliber are rare, and among all East Continent players, Super Grade Spiritual Artifacts are literally single digits.

“But this bead is too freaky,” Chu Huaixu pondered.

In his view, the bead picked him, not the scabbard.

Calming the Storm just got dragged along by the bead as a bonus gift…

So, even though the Black Bead was crazy mysterious, his inner conflict raged and he wanted it to be his lifebound object.

“It sucked the spiritual power from my body, then unlocked the seal on the sword scabbard.”

“So, is it the key?”

“Or is the Dao Scripture’s power actually the key?”

Chu Huaixu couldn’t answer that yet.

More frustrating: the bead felt like… a dead thing?

On the sword scabbard, he could at least sense wisps of spirituality. No artifact spirit yet, but the spiritual nature is there.

Spiritual artifact, spiritual artifact—it’s all about the ’spiritual’ part.

But the bead—he felt absolutely nothing.

If not for that faint, fated tug, he’d seriously think it was a dead object, not a spiritual artifact.

“Maybe that’s why none of the Daoist Sect elders ever noticed anything?” Chu Huaixu guessed inwardly.

“When I took it down the mountain, the seal from the stone pedestals was gone, yet the Charitable Gambling King didn’t even notice the bead, just paid attention to the sword scabbard.”

He started letting the system judge.

Players without a lifebound magical treasure just have to hold an unclaimed item with both hands, stare at it for ten seconds, and the system pops up: [Do you want this as your lifebound spiritual artifact?]

For Chu Huaixu, this binding system had two advantages.

First, he could know: does the system count this bead as a spiritual artifact or not?

Second—he could keep the whole thing secret.

Cultivators’ basic way to claim a lifebound spiritual artifact is the blood-drop recognition, followed by leaving a trace of divine sense.

You could also choose other ways.

Some would nurture the item with divine sense for ten days or half a month, then imprint a trace of divine soul before finally recognizing it.

Fancy approaches—some good, some not so good.

Chu Huaixu planned to just bind it with the system.

Because he wasn’t sure if the Daoist Sect higher-ups would be watching him closely in the coming days.

Live divine sense probes? No way, too exhausting—and people have stuff to do, it’s not like they’re bored.

But, given recent circumstances…

“Definitely can’t let anyone know I took more than one item up there.”

But, by using the system binding for his lifebound object, he didn’t have to worry.

The system was his cheat, totally undetectable; even the prompts popping in his ears, nobody else could hear.

With that thought, he set the sword scabbard on his legs, and while it looked like he was holding the scabbard, he actually picked up the Black Bead hanging from Calming the Storm.

Chu Huaixu stared at it for ten seconds, and right on cue—the system prompt popped up.

“[Do you want this as your lifebound spiritual artifact?]”

Chu Huaixu activated his heart thought and picked: [Yes].

In the next instant, that fated tug grew even stronger!

A wonderfully mystical feeling sprouted in his heart.

Now it wasn’t just the Heart Sword in his Sea of Consciousness—he had one more thing connected to his mind.

Right then, the utterly opaque Black Bead started to change in his vision.

Only Chu Huaixu could see—the bead was now semi-transparent!

Looking in, he could see something within!

It was like—there was a whole mysterious space inside the bead!

There was a cauldron—a medicine cauldron?

In an instant, Chu Huaixu’s mind erupted with tidal waves, his head rocked with thunder!

Once again he remembered the legends about the mountain sword.

“There are lots of stories about the Dao Ancestor’s sword.”

“One version is the Evil Sword story.”

“And in that version there’s a mention—”

“Supposedly, Dao Ancestor was actually an alchemist; his lifebound magical treasure was a medicine cauldron, but he yearned for Sword Dao—though he had no lifebound sword, he always called himself a sword cultivator!”

…

(ps: Second update, begging for monthly votes to keep sixth place!)

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