Borrowing a sword

Chapter 41 The Big Heroine

"Could this be the mystery of my spiritual embryo?" Chu Huaixu fell into deep thought.

Seeing that the illusion had been broken, but he was still frowning and thinking, Han Shuangjiang did not disturb him.

As far as she was concerned, he would do anything as long as he didn't look at the puddle of water she had left behind him.

At that moment, she looked back with a touch of curiosity.

All ten roads lead to this open space paved with bluestone slabs.

"Was the place before the illusion really a maze?" she wondered.

"Everyone else is still trapped inside, and I'm just so lucky that I chose the right path at every one of the ten forks in the road?" She was still a little skeptical.

Besides this, Han Shuangjiang had another question in her mind.

Where is the next level?

There's nothing here, and there's no road ahead.

Surely this secret realm isn't just a trick, and this is the end, with the departed senior leaving nothing behind?
As a newcomer to Taoism, she was unaware that such situations actually existed, with some disrespectful elders deliberately playing tricks on their descendants.

Of course, this is a very small minority.

Chu Huaixu was still unable to figure out the small black sword in his sea of ​​consciousness, so he began to look around to see what the next step should be.

There was a stone wall ahead. He walked over and searched carefully, patting it randomly, and actually found a mechanism.

He pressed hard on a protruding spot, and a stone door opened.

Clearly, the focus of this level is the illusion in front of you; the mechanisms are not the main point and are not well hidden.

After exchanging a glance, the two walked forward together.

The stone gate closed again, as if it had never been opened.

Along the way, Chu Huaixu muttered to himself, "The illusion ahead should still be usable, right? It wasn't destroyed, was it?"

"What's wrong?" Han Shuang asked, puzzled.

“Once Liu Chengqi and the others get out of the maze, we can trap them!” Chu Huaixu said matter-of-factly.

The big ice block let out a soft "uh," not even giving it a second thought.

The two walked and talked, and soon they were out of the stone path.

What came into view for the two was an underground river.

It is about fifty meters wide.

At the other end of the underground river, there is a stone pillar more than one meter high.

There seemed to be something resembling a compass on top of the stone pillar.

Further on, there is another stone gate.

"What is that?" Han Shuangjiang also saw the compass.

“That’s the Spirit Disc.” Chu Huaixu was much more knowledgeable than her.

He explained, "It's used to determine the grade of a spiritual embryo."

He never expected that there would be a spirit plate placed in front of the stone gate here.

Normally, you can check someone else's spiritual embryo grade just by using blood.

A powerful figure like Li Chunsong, at the seventh level, with extensive knowledge and experience, could detect that Han Shuangjiang possessed the Xuan Yin Body with just a drop of blood.

However, ordinary cultivators do not have such high cultivation levels. Even if Liu Tianfeng were given a drop of Han Shuangjiang's blood, he could at most mistakenly identify it as a superior spiritual embryo!
In reality, spiritual embryos are divided into ten levels: the lower three levels are low-grade, the middle three levels are medium-grade, the upper three levels are high-grade, and the highest level is the super grade, which is only seen once in a hundred years!

If he didn't reach the fifth realm or above, even if someone with a high-grade spiritual embryo stood in front of him, he wouldn't be able to distinguish which of the three upper levels it was, let alone a super-grade spiritual embryo.

The [Lingpan] can then be used for detailed classification.

However, this thing is expensive to manufacture, and basically only medium to large sects use it.

Even a third-rate sect like the Joyful Sect doesn't have any great cultivators; they still rely on the most primitive method—blood testing for pregnancy.

Han Shuangjiang's Xuan Yin Physique is a rare find, even if it were a pearl hidden in dust.

Upon seeing the spirit disc, a smile appeared on Chu Huaixu's face.

“This thing is very expensive to make. We can sell it to the sect and exchange it for contribution points,” Chu Huaixu said.

Upon hearing the word "expensive," the poor man next to him began to stare at it intently.

Chu Huaixu turned to look at her and said, "My choice was right after all. I should have kept you by my side. You are my lucky star."

Hearing him emphasize this again, Han Shuangjiang felt a little embarrassed, but she still kept a straight face and asked, "Why do you say that?"

He pointed forward and said, "It's obvious that this senior has a prejudice against spirit fetuses."

"Look, there's a spirit plate here, and the stone gate is right behind it."

"I estimate that if the measured level isn't high enough, the stone gate won't even open!"

Chu Huaixu couldn't help but recall an ancient online novel he had read on Earth, the first chapter of which was titled "The Fallen Genius." But at least Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was measured as "Level Three!"

He placed his hand on the spirit plate, which was the lowest of the low, a pitiful level 1 spirit embryo.

Of course, with this giant ice block's talent, opening the stone door is a piece of cake.

With this thought in mind, Chu Huaixu smiled and said to Han Shuangjiang, "So, you are my key."

"What do you mean, yours or mine?" Han Shuangjiang's cheeks flushed slightly as he spoke.

One minute it's a lucky star, the next it's a key—nonsense!
But she basically agreed with Chu Huaixu's explanation; otherwise, why would she need to place a spirit plate?
She looked at the underground river ahead and said, "Then all we need to do is cross the river?"

"It's definitely not that simple." Chu Huaixu stared at the river.

He walked towards the underground river, squatted down, and examined it carefully.

The river water was very clear, but the current was very slow.

There are four holes in the rock wall below the river, and it seems there are also mechanisms.

At both ends, two huge stone walls rise into the air, looking as if they will fall and block the flow of water.

"Only mortals or those in the Qi Refining stage can enter this secret realm."

"For us, the only option is to swim across," Chu Huaixu said.

If their cultivation level were higher, they could simply leap over it, but they couldn't.

"Moreover, since this is part of the test, I suspect that crossing the river by other means would also be hindered." He analyzed based on his experience.

Chu Huaixu looked around, picked up a small stone, and then threw it forcefully across the river.

Sure enough, the stone hit a transparent barrier, creating a semi-transparent ripple in the air that couldn't penetrate it at all.

The stone simply fell into the river without causing any unusual events.

He continued trying, throwing a few more pieces directly into the river, and even specifically choosing an extra-large one.

There was still no response.

"I reckon there's a formation involved; someone has to go down there to activate it," Chu Huaixu said.

He has a rather divergent way of thinking. He looked around and said, "I wonder if there are any rats or anything like that. Let's see if a living creature entering the water will activate the formation."

Han Shuangjiang looked at him, seriously doubting that if Liu Chengqi and the others were standing by the river right now, this dead fox would kick him in to test the waters.

The big ice block thought for a moment: "Since Liu Chengqi isn't here, does that mean... it's just me?"

"Shall I try going into the water first?" she suddenly said.

Chu Huaixu was taken aback for a moment: "Huh? Don't be silly!"

Han Shuangjiang stared straight at him with her beautiful, dark eyes and said seriously, "I'm serious."

Seeing that he didn't nod for a long time, she pointed to the other side of the river.

"Besides, didn't you also say that only I can open that stone door? So I'll definitely have to go into the water," she said.

"I don't know what type of magic array this is," Chu Huaixu said, looking at her and stating the facts.

Although he has extensive experience in running dungeons, he is not an expert in everything.

"It's alright. This secret realm was originally prepared for disciples in the Qi Refining stage, so it shouldn't be too difficult." Han Shuangjiang seemed quite carefree.

"If you don't even dare to try this little thing, how can you prove the supreme path?" she asked Chu Huaixu in return.

Han Shuangjiang, despite her young age, inexplicably possessed a mature and sophisticated aura. Now, as she spoke these words, she appeared even more assertive and powerful.

Chu Huaixu looked at her and muttered to himself, "She really is the one who got the 'female lead' script in 'Borrowing the Sword'."

Among gamers, she has more female fans than male fans.

Because Han Shuangjiang, as she's grown up, is really cool, perfectly fitting the "older sister kills me" standard.

"Let me try first," he insisted in one last instance. "After all, I've already opened five apertures, while you only have four, right?"

Yes, after a night of cultivation, Han Shuangjiang has rapidly opened up another acupoint, which is terrifying!
After hearing this, she looked back and asked, "Is there enough time now?"

"If the illusion outside is still effective, it must be incredibly abundant; they won't be able to break it anytime soon." Chu Huaixu shrugged and continued:

"Of course, if they come in, I can just kick Liu Chengqi out."

Han Shuangjiang: "."

—That sly fox really thought that way!

The person with the Xuan Yin physique looked at him and said, "It's good if there's enough time."

After saying that, she sat cross-legged next to Chu Huaixu and began to cultivate the "Ice Purity Technique".

After circulating her internal energy for a full cycle with exceptional skill, she opened her beautiful eyes.

“Now, I also have five orifices,” she said.

(End of this chapter)