Borrowed Sword

Chapter 56: Three Tips

“Cultivation method! It’s a cultivation method!” Xu Ziqing’s blood surged with excitement. He already understood what was about to greet him.

The gates of cultivation were about to truly open for him!

With a cultivation method, as long as he could master it, he would officially step onto the path of cultivation.

“Father, mother, little sister, grandmother... did you all see this from heaven?” Overcome with emotion, his thoughts turned once again to his departed family.

When he had accepted Xu Ziqing, the servant, Chu Huaixu had already considered that the 《Sword Refining Art》 might be highly compatible with this world protagonist who was both a False Spirit Embryo and a sword path genius.

That notion hadn’t changed even after he awakened his Spirit Embryo Divine Ability.

Because he speculated that this was mainly related to his 【Spirit Embryo: Heart Sword】.

Perhaps the 《Sword Refining Art》 had also played a role—after all, it had even manifested a “Sword Spirit”—but the two complemented each other.

Everything was a coincidence of fate, like the best arrangement destiny could offer.

“Xu Ziqing definitely wouldn’t encounter a situation like mine.”

“In my memory, he didn’t seem to have a Spirit Embryo Divine Ability?”

“This world protagonist seemed to exist solely for that sword on Hidden Spirit Mountain!” Chu Huaixu thought.

Of course, Chu Huaixu was someone with vision. If the 《Sword Refining Art》 could truly elevate this young man, he wouldn’t hoard it selfishly.

“I rely on the system to cheat, and you rely on your own comprehension—this way I can even use you as a reference.”

Most importantly—suffering alone wasn’t as good as suffering together!

“Senior Brother, you summoned me. Do you have instructions?” Xu Ziqing asked respectfully.

“No need to feign ignorance.” Chu Huaixu chuckled and pointed to the jade slip and small booklet on the table.

“These two items—keep them well. This cultivation method for the Qi‑Opening Stage, I’ve already memorized it thoroughly. It’s of no further use to me. As for this small booklet, it contains the insights of predecessors.”

“If you have any realizations, you can write them down for the benefit of those who come after,” he explained.

“Thank you, Senior Brother, for passing down the cultivation method!” Xu Ziqing’s face turned red with excitement, and his tone even raised a few degrees.

He even lifted both hands to respectfully receive the jade slip and the booklet.

“I know you’re probably itching to begin cultivation,” Chu Huaixu smiled again. “But I still have a few words of advice.”

“Please speak, Senior Brother.” The handsome youth wore a solemn expression and listened with utmost seriousness, committing every word to heart.

“Although I haven’t cultivated for long myself, I can already feel that cultivation is a path defying the heavens, and it is filled with hardships.” He glanced at the youth, hinting, “You must be mentally prepared.”

But a youth eager to cultivate wouldn’t be frightened by such words.

He came from a family in the martial world renowned for swordsmanship and had endured hardship from a young age—not some pampered noble son.

“Senior Brother, I’m not afraid of hardship,” he replied sincerely.

“Good! Since you’re still a little rookie, I’ll gift you three extra silk pouches.” Chu Huaixu took out the items he had prepared long ago, mimicking the style of Zhuge Kongming.

“Little rookie?” It was Xu Ziqing’s first time hearing the term, but he could roughly guess its meaning.

“Rookie probably means someone who’s not very good,” he thought.

At this moment, he quickly accepted the silk pouches with both hands.

In Xu Ziqing’s eyes, he was nothing more than trash with a False Spirit Embryo, while the man before him was a Heavenly Prodigy observed even by the Dao Gate’s upper echelons.

Chu Huaixu pointed at the three silk pouches and said, “When you circulate energy in your body for the first complete cycle, open the first pouch.”

“When you feel no progress, open the second.”

“When you achieve small success, open the third.”

He looked smugly at the three silk pouches and hummed in his heart: “Little brother, with this, how could I not win you over?”

Xu Ziqing quickly responded, “Yes!”

He could feel his senior brother’s patient guidance and admired him even more.

Before leaving, he also heard Chu Huaixu’s final reminder.

“Oh right, start cultivating early. Don’t train again in the middle of the night.” That damned fox could already foresee the scene.

Don’t you dare disturb this master’s sleep.

...

...

After the handsome youth left his room, Chu Huaixu sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion.

He opened his own Character Panel and checked his current 【Free Experience Points】 and 【Cultivation Method Experience】.

The former was just over a thousand, the latter over two thousand.

Combined, it was enough to level up twice, with some left over.

“The obsessive studier next door should be triggered by now,” Chu Huaixu had recently noticed that Han Shuangjiang had been quite competitive lately.

Then what was he waiting for?

Out-compete that Big Ice Block!

However, after much deliberation, he decided to level up just once tonight.

“With my current pain tolerance and incredible willpower, leveling up once should keep me from crying out.”

“But two levels in a row would trigger a reflex in the body—I wouldn’t be able to endure, and little Xu would definitely hear.” He thought.

He didn’t want to shatter the glorious image he had in Xu Ziqing’s eyes. After all, as a Virtual Male Model, he did carry a bit of an idol burden.

With this thought, Chu Huaixu leveled up once, opening the sixth orifice in his body.

A wave of endless pain swept over him—it was that same crushing agony throughout his whole body.

He clenched his teeth, cold sweat poured down his body, his limbs trembled uncontrollably, and his face turned snow white.

In the end, he truly relied on sheer willpower to only let out a deeply muffled groan.

Truth be told, that groan, if played on an ASMR channel, would sound rather provocative and quite suggestive.

After finally steadying his trembling body, Chu Huaixu stood up, preparing to make a trip in the dark to the Cold Pool.

He intended to explore the 【Pill King Token】 dungeon again to see if he could reuse its resources to grind more experience.

“This is something that must be done sooner rather than later.”

“To my knowledge, once certain secret realms are fully explored, the sect retrieves them and converts them into trial grounds for disciples to temper themselves.”

Chu Huaixu was already savoring the delightful sensations of the Water Blade and the Body Tempering Medicine Liquid.

But he wasn’t in a rush to set out just yet.

Because he was still waiting for something.

Chu Huaixu looked toward Xu Ziqing’s room with anticipation: “Calculating the time, he should’ve read the 《Sword Refining Art》 a few times from start to finish by now, right?”

In the small room inside the bamboo hut, Xu Ziqing sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, having already memorized the entire 《Sword Refining Art》.

Back home, any martial arts manual he picked up could be memorized after a single reading, and once he practiced it, he could grasp the essence right away.

Since the 《Sword Refining Art》 was his first cultivation method, he read it three times over to ensure there were no mistakes.

Before officially starting his practice, he focused his gaze on the small booklet.

“After all, this is a cultivation method. I can’t afford to be as careless as I was when learning martial arts before.”

“Better to read the insights of those who came before.” The handsome youth thought.

Xu Ziqing picked up the booklet.

“Don’t practice!” On the first page, Xu Ziqing frowned slightly.

“Heed the advice!” On the second page, his brow furrowed even deeper.

“Peerless Divine Art!” On the third page, his brow finally relaxed.

….