Chapter 52: A Mountain of Treasures
A [The One Without a Sword], with [Clarity of Sword Heart]?
“Have Chu Huaixu ascend [Hidden Spirit Mountain]!” Sect Master Xiang Yan suddenly made a decision on the spot.
This mountain could be considered a treasure mountain for the Daoist Sect.
Under normal circumstances, only the outstanding batch of young disciples upon entering the [First Realm] would qualify to ascend the mountain.
Unless under special circumstances, one could only ascend the mountain once in their lifetime.
The sword left by the Dao Ancestor was located at the peak of [Hidden Spirit Mountain].
However, not many people could reach the summit to witness the sword’s splendor.
This was because the entire mountain was divided into three areas: the foot of the mountain, the mountainside, and the summit.
The vast majority of disciples could only obtain spots to enter the foot of the mountain, lacking the qualifications to proceed further upwards.
Those who could reach the mountainside were already considered outstanding.
Liu Chenggong’s [Green Pine Sword] was obtained at the foot of the mountain.
Do not be fooled by his position as vice-captain of the outer sect’s disciplinary team, which sounded impressive. In reality, which true prodigy would be willing to linger in the outer sect?
They would certainly be striving with all their might to break into the inner sect.
Everyone present was well aware that when the Sect Master said to have Chu Huaixu ascend [Hidden Spirit Mountain], it was definitely not for a spot at the foot of the mountain.
—It meant the entire mountain!
Naturally, no one objected to this.
Li Chunsong cupped his hands to everyone and said, “I will wait in the Secret Realm first, everyone else wait for me here in this Purple Bamboo Forest.”
Since Shen Man had used the technique to confine herself within this area, she definitely couldn’t go anywhere else.
Therefore, bringing that kid here was the most suitable.
Not long after, Li Chunsong flew to the side of the cold pond.
At this moment, the crowd gathered by the cold pond had not decreased, but rather increased.
It felt like more than half of the outer sect had gathered here, squeezing for space.
Seeing the Sixth Elder arrive to take charge, everyone realized the matter was even more significant.
However, Li Chunsong began to clear the area as soon as he arrived, even dismissing the deacons.
Niu Yuanshan cooperated extremely well and led the way out.
Upon seeing that it was the Sixth Elder and not someone else, the perceptive Niu Yuanshan already had an inkling of what was happening and left with a smile on his face.
This left Mo Qingmei, who was glancing at him from the corner of her eye, completely baffled.
Liu Tianfeng was not completely foolish either and had some suspicions, but he still braced himself and dared to say, “Sixth Elder, my son Chengqi is still down there.”
“It’s fine, this matter has nothing to do with him, therefore it also has nothing to do with you. You may leave,” Li Chunsong waved his hand dismissively.
As soon as these words were uttered, Liu Tianfeng felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and the sky had fallen!
As he left, he kept looking back over his shoulder. His expression grew increasingly grim, eventually turning ashen, like a walking corpse.
Inside the Secret Realm, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang were standing in front of the stone door.
He raised his hand and pressed the mechanism on the stone wall, and the stone door slowly opened.
The third trial area was empty, which put Chu Huaixu at ease.
Then, under Han Shuangjiang’s astonished gaze, he suddenly jumped into the water.
The four holes at the bottom of the water did not react, and no body-tempering medicinal liquid gushed out. The formation beneath the water also did not activate water blades.
“I just felt there would definitely be body-tempering medicinal liquid within the mechanism,” he explained his peculiar behavior.
“It seems that the mechanism and formations cannot be activated this way. This Secret Realm likely has its formations and mechanisms linked as a whole,” Chu Huaixu stated his guess.
“Let’s go,” he climbed out of the water and said to Han Shuangjiang.
Before leaving, he still glanced at the four holes.
Unwilling to give up, he planned to come back again, starting from the first trial next time, to see if there would be any effect.
“This instance probably isn’t a one-time thing, it’s just that the final reward has been taken,” Chu Huaixu speculated.
Han Shuangjiang, standing beside him, also glanced at the pool before leaving.
However, in her mind, she saw scenes of intimacy in the water.
She quickly gathered her thoughts, trying not to recall, attempting to erase these ‘dirty things’ from her mind.
The pair then walked out of another stone door, and what greeted them was Liu Chengqi, still trapped in the illusion.
He looked dazed, his steps heavy, pacing back and forth across the large open space, resembling a zombie from ‘Plants vs. Zombies’.
There was no light in his eyes, as if he would never reach the end.
“This illusion is of a high level. Look, he hasn’t even noticed our appearance,” Chu Huaixu said.
Han Shuangjiang nodded, as Liu Chengqi hadn’t even heard his words, clearly having his five senses blocked.
“Ignore him, let’s go.” Chu Huaixu’s heart and mind were as dark as the swords within his sea of consciousness.
“This is also a form of training for him. We shouldn’t interfere with Senior Brother Liu’s experience!” Chu Huaixu added, righteous in his demeanor.
His system functions allowed him to check the time. Only a little over six hours had passed, which was only three sichen.
According to the words left by Senior Lei Wenyan, the time limit for both the first and second trials was two sichen, otherwise, they would be expelled.
Liu Chengqi would likely be kicked out soon.
“Looking at his zombie-like appearance, he definitely won’t be able to enter the third trial,” Chu Huaixu did not think he would go in and waste body-tempering medicinal liquid.
Han Shuangjiang glanced at the ‘dead fox’ beside her, and of course, she wouldn’t wake Liu Chengqi, who had harbored improper thoughts about her.
They left the Secret Realm just like that and then swam out of the cold pond.
As soon as they reached the shore, they found that Deacon Liu and Deacon Niu were gone, with only Li Chunsong standing there.
“Greetings, Sixth Elder,” they immediately bowed.
Li Chunsong scrutinized Chu Huaixu from head to toe, marveling.
“You brat truly gives me a big surprise every time!” he exclaimed.
“I didn’t expect to alarm the Sixth Elder. This disciple is ashamed,” Chu Huaixu said humbly, unaware that he had triggered an anomaly in the heavens and earth.
“Hmph, alarm me? You brat alarmed even the Sect Master!” Li Chunsong retorted grumpily.
This caused Han Shuangjiang, standing beside them, to tremble internally.
Sect Master Xiang Yan was a figure standing at the apex of the entire Eastern Continent!
The Eastern Continent was unlike the Western Continent, where imperial power reigned supreme. The Four Great Sects were more powerful than the imperial court.
Xiang Yan’s words carried more weight than those of the Emperor of Mirror Country!
“Even the Sect Master is paying attention to him?” Han Shuangjiang was truly the one who felt ashamed.
She had ascended the mountain with Chu Huaixu, and with her stubborn nature, she didn’t want to be left too far behind by him.
“It seems I truly need to redouble my efforts,” she thought, preparing to work harder.
Li Chunsong looked at the two and said, “Shuangjiang, you may return first. Chu Huaixu, you will come with me.”
“Yes.” The two acknowledged the order.
As for Liu Chengqi, still at the bottom of the cold pond—no one cared.
Within the Purple Bamboo Forest, Chu Huaixu was brought here by Li Chunsong.
He recognized all the Daoist Sect’s high-ranking members present from the forums of ‘Sword Borrowing Art’.
Li Chunsong introduced them to him one by one, and he bowed to each of them.
“The Sect Master looks even uglier in person than in the players’ screenshots. He actually belongs to the type that looks good on camera? Are pictures better than the real person?” Chu Huaixu mused.
“Elder Zhao Shuqi has narrow eyes. There’s a meme online saying people with narrow eyes are monsters. I need to be careful around him.”
“Elder Nangong Yue indeed comes from the ‘Great Thunder Sound Temple’. No! Why is she so buxom? And she has such a married woman aura.” He couldn’t understand.
“Elder of Discipline Lu Pan’s perpetually grim face makes him seem like a dean of students. No wonder his popularity is low.”
“As for Chu Yinyin, she’s just a loli, boring.”
What was the difference between her and a brat in fifth or sixth grade?
“She does look quite cute though.”
But based on Chu Huaixu’s experience, when he worked as a companion, he had also served some ‘cute’ type clients, and yet, the cuter they were, the more difficult they were to handle!
On the other hand, the one sitting high on the large rock attracted his particular attention.
Although he couldn’t see her face, only a slender back, he still thought, “Is this the most mysterious Seventh Elder of the Daoist Sect?”
Chu Huaixu didn’t know much about her.
Because she died in Xuanli year 1993, which was three years from now.
Within the Purple Bamboo Forest, Sect Master Xiang Yan spoke first, his voice so unpleasant it would make those sensitive to sound detest him: “Chu Huaixu, you don’t need to be nervous.”
“You just triggered an anomaly in the heavens and earth. We called you here to check your situation.”
“En?” Chu Huaixu was a little confused, having actually triggered an anomaly.
But he could roughly guess that these high-ranking individuals were likely using their [Divine Sense], scanning him all over.
In front of them, he was actually somewhat exposed.
What made him uncomfortable was that from time to time, they would also emit sounds of doubt.
For example, “hiss” and “ehh”?
This felt very unpleasant, comparable to having a CT scan with a group of doctors surrounding you and making such sounds.
Later, everyone also took a drop of Chu Huaixu’s blood.
They were not surprised that Chu Huaixu had transformed from a [False Spiritual Embryo] into a Level Three [Spiritual Embryo].
They could also feel a trace of [Profound Heaven Fetal Respiration Pill] lingering on him.
But strangely, they did not sense the existence of a sword heart on him.
“How can he, a kid who hasn’t officially started cultivating, manage to conceal and reveal it at will?”
“There’s no reason he could escape our discerning eyes!”
In fact, these high-ranking officials had specifically summoned Chu Huaixu with the intention of having Lu Pan, a grandmaster of formations, place a restriction on him, so that some high-level cultivators could not easily detect his sword heart!
This was a form of protection for him.
But now, Lu Pan was in a difficult situation.
Because he couldn’t find where that thing was!
In their helplessness, everyone turned their gaze to the Daoist Nun on the giant rock, looking at this one of the [Four Divine Swords].
Among everyone present, no one understood swords better than her!
“Sea of consciousness,” the slender Daoist Nun said in a very soft voice.
Chu Huaixu’s heart tightened when he heard that she had detected this so easily.
