Chapter 67: All Nine Apertures Open, Evil Sword’s Unrest 【Seeking First Subscription!】
August 18, 2025 Author: Kindergarten Hand
Chapter 67: All Nine Apertures Open, Evil Sword’s Unrest 【Seeking First Subscription!】
At the foot of Hidden Spirit Mountain, the high-ranking members of the Daoist Sect gathered, with only the Seventh Elder, Shen Man, still confined within the purple bamboo forest.
They did not fly to the sky to overlook the mountain and observe its entirety from a higher vantage point.
This was because the entire mountain was equipped with a flight prohibition magic array, and anyone below the Ninth Realm could only ascend on foot.
“Sect Leader, what’s going on?” The Fifth Elder, Zhao Shuqi, whose eyes were already slightly narrowed, now had them almost closed into slits.
Xiang Yan raised his bald head, which resembled a stewed egg, and peered into the distance towards the peak of Hidden Spirit Mountain.
“It seems… unhappy?” he said.
“This isn’t just ‘unhappy’; it’s clearly throwing a massive tantrum,” the First Elder, Lu Pan, furrowed his brows, his deep worry lines etched as if carved by a knife.
“Why would that be?” Xiang Yan looked towards Nangong Yue.
After all, Nangong Yue was the only Grandcraftsman of Artifact Refining present, and she understood Spirit Artifacts better than anyone.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know either. Although I’m a Grandcraftsman of Artifact Refining, this sword is beyond my crafting capabilities,” the Ninth Elder, Nangong Yue, raised her hands in front of her two soft mounds, waving them repeatedly.
Sect Leader Xiang Yan clicked his tongue in wonder, “No one has challenged it on the mountain tonight. Why is it so enraged?”
Li Chunsong grumbled from the side, “That’s not right. If someone were to challenge it on the mountain, wouldn’t it always be excited?”
The group conversed back and forth, unable to reach a conclusion.
Only the Tenth Elder, Chu Yinyin, looked up at her senior brothers and sisters, finding their discussion tedious.
“What’s so strange about being angry? Sometimes I wake up in the morning and inexplicably feel like throwing a tantrum,” she said.
“This sword has been suppressed on the mountain for a full thousand years. A thousand years!” She gestured with her hand.
Lu Pan glanced at her and immediately said, “Junior Sister, speak with caution. It’s not suppressed on the mountain; the Dao Ancestor sealed it here, awaiting the destined person.”
“Tsk! Locking it up with an entire treasure mountain and then telling me not to speak carelessly, always telling me to be cautious, cautious,” Chu Yinyin muttered in her heart.
Sect Leader Xiang Yan lowered his head in thought, his uniquely unattractive face filled with doubt.
“In all my years as Sect Leader, this sword has never made such a stir.”
“Enough, I’ll go up the mountain to take a look.”
“Let’s all go together!” The others agreed.
As a result, they had barely taken a few steps before the mountain stopped shaking.
“It’s calmed down?” Chu Yinyin tilted her head up in confusion, “Are we still going up then?”
The others ignored her and continued their ascent.
This sword was a supreme treasure of the human world, the sword left by the Dao Ancestor to save the world.
Now that it was showing unusual activity, they could not afford to be careless.
By the time they reached the mountaintop, the sword had returned to its previous state, showing no signs of abnormality, making their trip a wasted one.
It merely floated in the air, motionless, yet possessing an air of superiority.
Although it was just a sword, it felt alive.
If one looked up at it, it felt as though it was looking down condescendingly from above.
Whether it was Chu Yinyin, who was in the Sixth Realm, or Xiang Yan, who was in the Eighth Realm, it looked down upon everyone equally.
Inside the bamboo house, as dawn began to break, Chu Huaixu finally got out of bed.
He had had a very, very long dream, dreaming that he was back in his childhood, back in that place that wasn’t truly a home, dreaming of the man who beat him and his mother every few days.
Until he grew taller and taller.
When he beat himself and his mother again, no matter how painful the blows from the stick were, he would protect his mother, and then…
—fight back!
He was afraid of pain, afraid of pain since childhood.
Who in the world isn’t afraid of pain?
But he was even more afraid of being the only one in pain while that drunken man felt pleasure.
Later, his mother left, and the man grew old.
The man seemed to change, becoming kind, wanting to express paternal love, and caring for him.
But Chu Huaixu knew it wasn’t that he had become better; it was that he had grown old—he could no longer be bad.
He never reconciled with him, nor with himself.
Many adults beat children precisely to make them remember the pain.
Now that so many years have passed, why do you ask me why I still remember?
At this moment, Chu Huaixu sat on the bed, shaking his head vigorously.
“I haven’t had these chaotic dreams in a long time,” he said, lowering his gaze slightly.
Perhaps it was because it hurt too much last night?
But he still felt that the memory of the stick hurt more.
After exhaling a long breath, Chu Huaixu stood up and stretched his body. The gloom dissipated as if he had changed his face, returning him to his usual playful and impish demeanor.
He felt the strength of his physical body, clenched his fists forcefully, and struck a signature pose like a “Super Saiyan.”
“The improvement in the Ninth Aperture is this significant?” He was somewhat surprised.
Now, if Liu Chenggong stood before him and didn’t use spiritual power, he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to admit defeat. If he fought fiercely, he could even kill him.
“Nine Aperture experts are terrifyingly formidable!” Chu Huaixu suddenly felt that the hardships he had endured recently were worthwhile.
No longer needing to cultivate the Sword Refining Art, he felt light as a feather and refreshed.
After washing up slightly, he pushed open the door of the bamboo house.
As the sky was just beginning to brighten, the “big ice block” next door had not yet woken up.
Chu Huaixu did nothing but sit on the tall wooden railing, enjoying the morning on Medicine Mountain.
A gentle breeze blew through his ink-black hair, and his feet dangled casually in the air.
After a while, he heard the sound of the door next door opening.
“My five senses seem to have been greatly enhanced as well?” Chu Huaixu felt a hint of surprise.
He remained seated on the railing, leaning back and tilting his head back slightly, looking sideways at Han Shuangjiang and saying, “You’re up.”
The “big ice block” looked at him, and her first sentence was, “You fainted yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Mhm,” Chu Huaixu was already used to it and no longer felt embarrassed or ashamed.
—But not in front of Xu Ziqing!
“I knew you fainted,” Han Shuangjiang said. “Medicine Mountain experienced an earthquake last night, a minor one.”
“Oh?” Chu Huaixu exclaimed, “Really?”
The cold-faced girl nodded.
Chu Huaixu jumped down from the railing, “That’s strange. With the mountain-protecting magic array in place, how could there be an earthquake? The source must be within the ‘Mountain Beyond Mountains’.”
Han Shuangjiang nodded.
“Has the sect not announced the situation externally?” he asked.
“No,” the “big ice block” replied.
“Then don’t think about it. It’s not something that registered disciples like us should be concerned about,” he said.
A minor earthquake, at most, would just make the bed shake a couple of times.
Chu Huaixu was now more focused on, “Have you opened your Ninth Aperture?”
“I have,” Han Shuangjiang had cultivated until late into the night yesterday.
“That’s good. Eat breakfast, and then let’s go to the Scripture Pavilion together.”
“Okay.”
The thought of obtaining a First Realm Cultivation Technique soon made the cold-faced girl’s heart flutter with joy.
After a simple breakfast, the two of them headed to the Scripture Pavilion together.
Chu Huaixu’s mind was brimming with excitement. Upon reaching the First Realm, he would be able to use that token to go to Hidden Spirit Mountain!
Along the way, they walked briskly.
The Scripture Pavilion was not located on Medicine Mountain but on Book Mountain, one of the outer sect’s three peaks.
The place where outer sect disciples exchanged treasures for Sect Contribution Points was also on Book Mountain, and it had a rather uninspired name: the Treasure Pavilion.
Cultivation Techniques, Spirit Pills, Spirit Artifacts, rare heavenly materials—all could be sold to the Treasure Pavilion for Sect Contribution Points.
Of course, one could also buy things there.
Book Mountain also housed the Affairs Hall, which, in simpler terms, was where outer sect disciples received their sect tasks.
By working diligently, one could earn Contribution Points.
If you needed help from fellow disciples, you could also post a bounty in the Affairs Hall using your own Contribution Points.
In addition, next to the Scripture Pavilion on Book Mountain, there were also cultivation rooms.
Each cultivation room contained a spirit gathering magic array.
Cultivating inside would provide denser spiritual energy, leading to faster progress.
Of course, this also required Contribution Points.
It was the first time for both of them to visit Book Mountain, so they stopped and started along the way, like Liu Grandma entering the Grand View Garden.
The stone steps leading up Book Mountain were called the “Path of Diligence,” which Chu Huaixu found quite interesting.
“There is a path to the mountain of books through diligence, and a boundless sea of learning through hard work.”
It was a small touch of ingenuity from “Sword Borrowing Art.”
The Scripture Pavilion was located at the summit of Book Mountain, and it took them quite some time to reach it.
When they entered the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, they found quite a few senior brothers and sisters wearing the “Outer Sect Disciple” token gathered around.
At this moment, a registered disciple who had successfully opened all nine apertures was diligently attempting to break through a magic array in the east section of the first floor.
He had already broken through the first magic array, which contained Yellow-grade Cultivation Techniques.
In the Profound Yellow Realm, Cultivation Techniques, like Spells, were divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.
The Scripture Pavilion on the outer mountain was only four stories high.
The first floor contained First Realm Cultivation Techniques, the second floor contained Second Realm, the third floor contained Third Realm, and the fourth floor was entirely filled with Spells.
These outer sect disciples were purely there to watch the show.
The Daoist Sect was the most focused on fortuitous encounters among the four major sects. Once someone obtained a fortuitous encounter, it would cause a stir.
When a stir occurred, word would spread, and people would flock to spectate.
Spectating easily became a habit, so members of the Daoist Sect were also the most eager to watch events unfold.
At this moment, some were cheering him on, while others were heckling.
“Junior Brother, keep up the good work! Believe your senior brother, this second barrier is easy to break.”
“Don’t stop! There aren’t many disciples in our Daoist Sect cultivating Yellow-grade Cultivation Techniques.”
The mindset of these outer sect disciples was understandable, as they had all come this way, much like university seniors watching freshmen undergo military training with half a watermelon.
A middle-aged man in a white robe listlessly watched the burning incense timer in front of him. He was responsible for overseeing everything on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, a task he had long since grown tired of.
At this moment, the arrival of Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang attracted the attention of many people.
Handsome men and beautiful women, no matter where they went, would always be the focus of attention.
Of course, if one was as uniquely ugly as Sect Leader Xiang Yan, they could also garner significant attention.
Among them, a smiling senior brother was clearly an extrovert, specifically a sociable one.
Seeing Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang also stopping to watch, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation, asking, “Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, have you both also opened your nine apertures and come to obtain First Realm Cultivation Techniques?”
“That’s right,” Chu Huaixu replied.
“My name is Chen Jiye. You can call me Senior Brother Chen. Congratulations in advance on being promoted from registered disciples to outer sect disciples. May I ask for your names?” Chen Jiye inquired.
“Chu Huaixu.”
“Han Shuangjiang.”
Both responded politely in low voices. As a result, this Senior Brother Chen immediately became startled.
“You are Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang!?” he exclaimed, his voice exceptionally loud.
In an instant, everyone around turned to look, and the Scripture Pavilion manager in the white robe also raised his head.
Even the registered disciple diligently trying to break through the magic array barrier slightly stiffened his neck upon hearing these names and couldn’t help but look back.
(End of Chapter)
