Borrowing a sword

Chapter 87 The Dao Ancestor's Natal Artifact

The moon star is thin, and the black dragonfly flies south.

Outside the bamboo house, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang sat facing each other, eating.

He was like a very acquaintanced customer, with an enormous appetite like a glutton.

The two chatted casually, recounting their experiences at Cangling Mountain that day.

As Chu Huaixu listened to Han Shuangjiang's story, he understood that she had struggled with her decision several times on her journey up the mountain.

Along the way, quite a few spirits chose her.

Among them are many high-grade and super-grade spiritual artifacts.

Unlike Chu Huaixu, who, apart from the sword spirit, only had the jade pendant related to body refinement extend an olive branch to him.

But like a jerk, he told it to calm down, and when he went up the mountain a second time, he didn't even glance at it.

There was nothing he could do; he no longer had the right to choose a magical artifact. Each person could only take one, and seeing that would only make things worse.

"It's alright, [Partridge Sky] is the most suitable for you." Chu Huaixu said while shoveling rice into his mouth.

Han Shuangjiang nodded, naturally agreeing with this.

But she couldn't help asking, "When you first came up the mountain, it chose you, didn't it?"

As Chu Huaixu served himself some food, he said quite frankly, "You know perfectly well why I'm asking!"

He quickly added something, though it was unclear whether he was trying to comfort her:
"Don't worry too much about it. Of all the spirit swords on this mountain, which one didn't choose me?"

"Other sword spirits are much more excited when they see me than this one!" He had a smug look on his face.

The large ice block nodded, though he still felt a bit strange, but he didn't say anything.

Now that [Partridge Sky] has recognized her as its master, she only feels close to the sword spirit and doesn't want to dwell on such "trivial details" anymore.

What else can she do?

—Of course, we should forgive it.

At that moment, the cold-faced girl asked, "Are you holding the Dao Ancestor's sword sheath?"

"Mm." Chu Huaixu nodded.

He didn't mention the black beads to her because it didn't conform to the rules of Hidden Spirit Mountain.

He had already planned it out; the obvious magical artifact would be the sword sheath.

"What's its name?" the big ice block asked curiously.

"It seems... there's no name?" Chu Huaixu was somewhat uncertain.

Like Han Shuangjiang's "Partridge Sky", there are words engraved on the sword.

The wooden scabbard has only some simple, rustic patterns and no inscriptions.

Even when Li Chunsong told him the story about the scabbard, he didn't mention its name.

"This scabbard was originally part of a set with a wooden sword. It was the standard sword of the Gentleman's Temple. I guess it might be called the Gentleman's Sword?" Chu Huaixu said, though he was just guessing.

"So, it might be called the Gentleman's Sheath?" he smiled.

However, he didn't particularly like the term "gentleman's sword."

It would remind him of Yue Buqun from "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer".

Therefore, he was just rambling on. He suspected that it didn't even have a name, otherwise, the Taoist sect shouldn't have no records of it.

This made him suddenly realize: "Does the Dao Ancestor seem to be quite lazy when it comes to naming things?"

The cultivation method he practiced had no name; it was later respectfully referred to as the "Daoist Canon."

The sword sheath he always carried had no name, so that later generations could only refer to it as the sword sheath when telling his story.

Even the bronze sword he suppressed on the mountain didn't actually have a name.

People habitually refer to it as the "Daozu Sword".

“Since that ugly sword is called the Dao Ancestor Sword, then my scabbard certainly can’t be called the Dao Ancestor Scabbard.”

"Because the philanthropic gambling king said that they are not a couple."

"Who wants to have a couple's name with that ugly freak? This sword sheath looks elegant!" Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

He picked up a piece of meat for himself, ate a big mouthful of rice, and then unconsciously poked the rice twice with his chopsticks.

“Big Ice Block, you said... Although this sword sheath is a relic of the Dao Ancestor, I am now its new owner. Giving it a name is not excessive, is it? It shouldn’t be considered overstepping my bounds, right?” He asked Han Shuangjiang.

"How am I supposed to answer that?" The cold-faced girl's expression was frosty, resolutely refusing to take the blame.

You can choose a name yourself, why are you asking for my opinion!
How would I know?

Upon hearing this, Chu Huaixu smiled slightly, his gaze lingering on the [Partridge Sky] on the table.

He continued speaking to himself, "Many of the magical artifacts of the Taoist sect are named after the titles of ci poems."

"Because the Dao Ancestor's ten true disciples all named their natal magic weapons in this format, it seems that the Dao Ancestor just randomly flipped through a book."

"Since this sword sheath originally belonged to the Dao Ancestor, why not name it after a ci poem title?" Chu Huaixu thought this made sense.

Han Shuangjiang listened to these words and looked at him silently, waiting for him to say his name.

Chu Huaixu put down his chopsticks and looked in the direction of Cangling Mountain.

"Today, that sword on the mountain has caused such a great disturbance."

"From now on, let's call it 'Calming the Waves'," he said meaningfully.

After the meal, Han Shuangjiang went to wash the dishes.

Chu Huaixu returned to the bamboo house and stood in front of Xu Ziqing's room, looking somewhat troubled.

He no longer had a clean outer robe to wear!

Previously, he had hung all the dirty clothes on the boy's door, so that the boy would wash them when he came back and saw them.

Now things are really messed up. His outer robe is so dirty, but he still has a clean inner garment left. Tomorrow, he'll have to choose the least dirty one from among the dirty outer robes.
"If the sect leader and elders don't come looking for me tomorrow, then I'll go to the Cold Pool to see him."

"How can you keep cultivating all the time? You need to come out for some fresh air occasionally, wash your senior brother's clothes before going back."

"Being young means you don't know any better!" He decided to give him a good scolding tomorrow. After returning to his room, Chu Huaixu sat down on the futon and took out the [Calming the Storm] from his storage token.

Many cultivators' natal spiritual artifacts are somewhat like Pikachu from Pokémon.

All the other Pokémon are willing to stay in their Poké Balls, but Pikachu refuses to go inside.

The same often applies to one's natal spirit weapon.

Most of the other magical artifacts only contain spirituality, but the natal magical artifact is nurtured to develop a mature artifact spirit.

With intelligence comes more trouble.

At this moment, Chu Huaixu's large hand slowly stroked the scabbard made of black wood.

When his palm touched the black bead, he felt as if the spiritual energy within his body was being drawn back.

"The scabbard is a top-grade spiritual artifact, but this bead shows no signs of anything."

"Even if I send out an [Information Probe], the system's response is just a series of question marks," he thought to himself.

In fact, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to drip blood onto the scabbard to signify its ownership, making it his natal object.

It's a top-grade spiritual artifact after all, so its grade is already high enough.

He had never possessed a magic weapon of this level when he played "Borrowing Swords".

Throughout the entire Xuanhuang Realm, spiritual artifacts of this level are extremely rare. At most, players in the Eastern Continent possess only a handful of top-grade spiritual artifacts.

"But this bead is a bit too magical," Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

In his mind, it was actually the bead that chose him, not the scabbard.

[Calming the Storm] was purely pulled down along with this bead; it was a freebie that came with it.
Therefore, even though this black bead is very mysterious, he is still extremely conflicted and prefers to make it his natal object.

"It drained the spiritual energy from my body and then broke the seal on the sword sheath."

"So, it's a key?"

"Or is it that the spiritual power of the Daoist Canon is actually the key?"

The answer to the question of Chu Huaixu is not yet available.

What frustrated him even more was that the bead seemed to be a dead object.

He could still sense a few wisps of spirituality on the scabbard. Although it had not yet condensed into a weapon spirit, the spirituality was still present.

The key word in "spiritual artifact" is "spiritual."

But you can't feel anything on the beads.

If it weren't for that mysterious pull, he would have truly believed it to be an inanimate object rather than a spiritual artifact.

"Perhaps, that's why the seniors of the Daoist sect didn't see anything either?" Chu Huaixu wondered to himself.

"When I brought it down the mountain, the seal on the stone platform on the mountain was broken. Without the seal, the charity gambling king didn't notice the bead and only paid attention to the scabbard."

He then let the system make a judgment.

Players without a personal magical artifact simply need to hold the unclaimed item in both hands and stare at it for ten seconds. The system will then prompt: "[Do you wish to make it your personal magical artifact?]"

For Chu Huaixu, this auxiliary function has two advantages.

Firstly, it would let him know whether the bead is considered a spiritual artifact in the system's judgment.

Secondly, they concealed the matter.

The simplest way for a cultivator to identify their natal spiritual weapon is through a blood oath, followed by the use of a wisp of divine consciousness as a guide to leave a divine imprint.

In addition, other methods can also be used.

Some people will choose to nurture it with their divine sense for ten days or half a month before taking a wisp of divine soul and finally recognizing it as their master.

Fancy methods can be good or bad.

Chu Huaixu planned to bind directly to the system.

He was unsure whether these high-ranking Taoist figures would pay special attention to him recently.

Using divine sense to detect in real time is impossible; it would be too tiring, and people are busy too, not idle.

But the current situation is unusual.
"I can't let anyone know that I took an extra item from the mountain."

However, he was not worried because he had bound his destiny to the system.

After all, the system was his cheat code, and no one could detect it. Even the system notifications that kept ringing in his ears were unheard by anyone.

With this thought in mind, he placed the scabbard on his lap, and then, while his hands appeared to be holding the scabbard, he actually picked up the black bead hanging from the [Calming the Waves] sword.

Chu Huaixu stared intently for ten seconds, and sure enough, a system notification popped up in front of him.

"【Do you wish to make it your natal spirit weapon?】"

Chu Huaixu's mind raced, and he chose: [Yes].

The next moment, that mysterious pull began to grow stronger!
A very mysterious feeling began to grow in his heart.

The sword in his mind was no longer the only thing that resonated with him; now there was another.

At that moment, the opaque black bead changed before his eyes.

Only in Chu Huaixu's eyes was this bead translucent!
He looked inside and could see that there was something inside the bead!
It's as if there's a mysterious space inside!

That was a cauldron, a medicine cauldron?

In an instant, Chu Huaixu's heart was filled with turbulent waves, and his mind seemed to explode with thunder!

He recalled once again the legend of the sword on the mountain.

"There are many versions of the legend about the Dao Ancestor's sword."

"One of them is the Evil Sword version."

"And this version mentions it briefly."

"It is said that the Dao Ancestor was an alchemist, and his natal magic weapon was a medicine cauldron. However, he yearned for the way of the sword, and although he did not have a natal sword, he always called himself a sword cultivator!"

(P.S.: Second update, please vote to maintain sixth place!)
(End of this chapter)