Borrowed Sword

Chapter 62: Farming Some Experience Points

The three silk pouches—Xu Ziqing was taken down.

......

Chu Huaixu left the Cold Pool and went straight back to the bamboo hut.

“World Protagonist, you mustn’t lose your drive!” That was all he thought.

By the time he returned home, the sun had already set in the west.

The Big Ice Block had already prepared the first dish.

“Make one less, Little Xu won’t be coming back for dinner today,” Chu Huaixu said to Han Shuangjiang, carrying a sense of a family of three.

“You just left him alone in the secret realm?” The Big Ice Block turned her head to glance at him.

“Yeah, he’s enjoying Death by a Thousand Cuts in the third trial,” he said with a casual smile.

The cold-faced girl didn’t respond further upon hearing that.

That ambiguous third trial—this young lady from a wealthy family didn’t want to delve deeper into it.

Even now, whenever she recalled it, her long jade legs stiffened slightly, causing her to unconsciously press them together.

To be honest, she had been a bit muddled these past few days.

Under Chu Huaixu’s personal will, a small miscellaneous servant had inexplicably appeared in their home, and then inexplicably become Junior Brother Xu.

Han Shuangjiang was inherently someone who valued personal boundaries and rarely allowed others to get close.

She and Chu Huaixu had been through a lot in a short time and had been living together, so their relationship naturally grew closer.

In her eyes, Xu Ziqing was now merely a fellow junior brother who worked efficiently.

So she didn’t pay him much mind.

Chu Huaixu had actually noticed this as well.

“Han Shuangjiang’s got the script of a major female lead—single-minded in pursuing her career, no room for romance.”

“But between World Protagonists, there’s bound to be bonds of friendship. After all, they’re future comrades-in-arms.”

“But because of my ‘third-party’ intrusion, it seems their bond never formed,” he thought.

But Chu Huaixu soon let it go.

“No worries, I can be the link between the World Protagonists. As long as both have a bond with me, it’s all good,” he thought openly, deciding to knowingly play the third wheel.

With Xu Ziqing not around tonight, it returned to the state of a solitary man and woman dining together.

Chu Huaixu suddenly recalled something. “Right, the Spirit Plate obtained in the secret realm—I forgot to exchange it for contribution points. But it’s not urgent; we can wait until all nine apertures are opened before going.”

“My personal suggestion is, when that time comes, you and I each use the contribution points to choose a preferred【Technique】from the Scripture Pavilion,” he said to Han Shuangjiang.

For the Qi-Opening Stage and First Level cultivation methods, the Dao Gate provided them for free—essentially mandatory education.

But【Techniques】were basically the equivalent of skills in a game.

These things were usable across all realms. A good technique could be used all the way to death, but they came with a cost.

The Big Ice Block, upon hearing that, didn’t offer any unnecessary opinion. She simply said, “Alright.”

“The top priority now is still to open all nine apertures as soon as possible. Can you maintain the pace of opening one aperture every one or two days?” Chu Huaixu asked.

“Probably,” Han Shuangjiang didn’t commit completely, but felt confident she could do it.

“Good.” Chu Huaixu nodded slightly, inwardly envious.

His current character level was 6, and the remaining experience points were enough to reach level 8.

But to fully open all nine apertures, he still needed 950 experience points.

On top of that, once he obtained the First Level cultivation method, he would need more experience points to level up again.

Learning【Techniques】also required experience points.

After dinner, since Xu Ziqing wasn’t around, dishwashing duty once again fell to Han Shuangjiang.

As the girl bent slightly, the full, plump curves of her hips and thighs were exposed without reservation. That waist, those legs, those hips—truly a naturally slit cheongsam sacred physique.

But Chu Huaixu, troubled in thought, didn’t even have the mood to appreciate such earthly beauty.

“Looks like I need to find another way to farm experience points,” he fretted.

......

......

After dinner, Chu Huaixu made another trip to the secret realm, bringing Xu Ziqing some dry food and water, afraid he might starve inside.

The delicate-featured young man looked at him with such moved eyes—it was obvious that the brotherly bond had deepened.

“Why does it feel like I’m not his senior brother, but his master?” Chu Huaixu gave a bitter smile, feeling speechless.

But it didn’t matter. After all, the guy was a World Protagonist. At this point, he himself counted as the angel investor.

After returning home, with Little Xu absent, Chu Huaixu could finally level up without restraint, not worried at all about letting out screams.

In any case, that long-legged lady in the neighboring room was long used to it.

On the contrary—were those really screams?

They were the rallying cries of competition!

Every time he howled, the Big Ice Block would know that this Dead Fox had broken through again.

Chu Huaixu opened the Character Panel and instantly leveled up twice in one go.

A heart-wrenching scream spiraled through the night sky, and Chu Huaixu passed out from pain as naturally as breathing.

Before losing consciousness, while feeling his entire body crushed under heavy pressure, the final thought in his mind was: “Damn it, it’s a fully-loaded seven-seater business van!”

He had now gained some enlightenment—enduring it head-on was the dumbest thing to do. Passing out directly was the smartest move.

The Big Ice Block living next door frowned slightly when she heard the wailing.

“Again?” she thought.

Han Shuangjiang, holding back a surge of drive, also began rushing to open her apertures.

When the sun was already high in the sky, Chu Huaixu slowly woke up.

Actually, he had regained some awareness after being unconscious for over an hour, but simply took the chance to sleep deeply instead of getting up.

After a quick wash, he saw a bowl of white porridge and some small dishes Han Shuangjiang had left for him on the wooden table.

Only the porridge wasn’t hot anymore—just warm.

Chu Huaixu wasn’t picky. Too lazy to knock on her door and ask her to reheat it, he poured in the small dishes and began gulping it down.

Halfway through eating, an unexpected guest arrived outside the bamboo hut.

——Deputy Captain of the Enforcement Team, Liu Chenggong.

This guy's motive was pure—he had come to privately build good relations.

He had already concluded that both Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang were dragons and phoenixes among men!

As for his cousin... sigh!

Liu Chengqi had been acting deranged lately, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. Every time he closed his eyes, he had nightmares, claiming he was still trapped inside and couldn’t get out. He seemed like he was experiencing sleep paralysis, unable to open his eyes no matter what.

His cousin’s condition was dire—he couldn’t even muster interest in playing with married women anymore, clearly beyond saving.

“Junior Brother Chu, having porridge?” Liu Chenggong approached with two jars of fine liquor, smiling.

He was already prepared for a cold reception.

No helping it—this Chu Huaixu was the type who dared to slap even his uncle’s face in public. His background was sky-high, his arrogance boundless!

But Liu Chenggong was clear-headed: no matter how cold this butt was, he had to stick his face on it!

What surprised him, however, was that he saw a gleam in Chu Huaixu’s eyes as he got up with a welcoming smile.

“He’s here? Messed up my experience point plan,” Chu Huaixu thought.

Originally, he had planned to grab a plank, write the words “Invincible Among Qi-Opening Stage” on it, and post it in the outer sect arena area to provoke a wave of hatred.

His goal was to incite public anger.

He had already figured it out—open a group taunt, draw in a swarm of Qi-Opening Stage cultivators to gang up on him.

Cultivation wasn’t about locking oneself away. Sparring among cultivators was quite common—it benefited one's insights and cultivation progress.

As such, the system had this function.

But experience points gained through sparring had a cap in each realm—they couldn’t be farmed endlessly.

If Chu Huaixu one-sidedly crushed someone or was crushed himself, it was hard to gain experience points.

Even fights were rewarded.

A narrow loss also granted some.

Even a miserable defeat could yield experience points.

But if he was instantly killed, the system might not give him anything.

“Right now, I’m a mighty Eight-Aperture cultivator!”

“Plus I cultivate both internally and externally!”

“If these Qi-Opening Stage folks don’t gang up on me, wouldn’t they just get flattened one by one?”

So Chu Huaixu had even prepared the wooden board—he just hadn’t written the words yet.

Chu Huaixu, oh Chu Huaixu, when did you become the number one in Qi-Opening Stage?

—Right now!

But Liu Chenggong arrived at just the right time, and he happened to be a decent sparring opponent.

“Senior Brother Liu, since we’re already so familiar, I’ll skip the formalities,” Chu Huaixu said bluntly.

Liu Chenggong: “???”

Although puzzled, he understood well—many in power were like this. They casually found an excuse to get you to do things, and one line of “we’re close” felt like a bestowed favor, your honor.

Seeing that this was a warm welcome, the Deputy Captain of the Enforcement Team instantly hurried to stick his face on.

“Junior Brother, speak freely. Here in the outer sect, our Enforcement Team can handle quite a few things.” He straightened his back, and the lightning patterns on his black uniform were particularly striking.

“Senior Brother, my cultivation’s hit a wall. Today I’m stuck at the ninth aperture and can’t get through no matter what. I fear I’ll make no progress today. I’d like to spar with you—would that be possible?” Chu Huaixu asked.

“Bottleneck stage! Yes! Bottleneck stage!” he added.

Liu Chenggong was stunned.

“You’ve opened eight apertures already? In just a few days? And judging by your tone, you feel uneasy just for not improving in one day?”

“What? You call being stuck for one day a bottleneck?” He looked at that fox-like face, feeling pained inside.

But since he had come to please a Dao Gate prodigy, and seeing such rapid progress, he had to give it his all.

Liu Chenggong immediately set down the two jars of liquor, putting on a heroic air. “Alright! Then I shall spar with Junior Brother, and afterward, we’ll drink together and finish off these jars!”

“Thank you, Senior Brother Liu!” Chu Huaixu clasped his hands in salute.

Their rowdy voices even drew Han Shuangjiang out from next door.

But her dislike for the Liu family ran deep, so she simply stood by the door of her bamboo hut and watched, not coming over.

Liu Chenggong proposed, “Junior Brother Chu, since we’re sparring, I won’t use the spiritual energy in my body.”

He was at the Second Level. Using spiritual energy would be too oppressive.

With spiritual energy and without—it was the difference between clouds and mud.

Liu Chenggong even removed the most showy spirit sword on him, saying, “Junior Brother, blades have no eyes, so I won’t use the Cangsong Sword for now.”

“No, Senior Brother Liu, you can skip the spiritual energy, but you must use the sword,” Chu Huaixu insisted.

“Well… alright then. But be careful, Junior Brother!” he warned.

Then, Liu Chenggong drew his mid-grade spirit sword and began explaining his sword and swordsmanship in a long-winded fashion.

He believed that as a training partner, this would make for better results.

Yet Chu Huaixu didn’t listen to a single word.

—Jilibulu whatever! Hurry up and beat me up!

The spar officially began. From a distance, Han Shuangjiang watched the sharp Cangsong Sword, still somewhat worried.

She also felt that blades had no eyes—how could bare hands go against a sword?

“Junior Brother Chu, watch the sword!” Liu Chenggong thrust forward, executing his Thunderclap Sword Technique.

Though he didn’t use spiritual energy, his speed still far exceeded that of Qi-Opening Stage cultivators!

Of course, he had deliberately held back.

Chu Huaixu sidestepped, taking half a step back, and dodged the long sword.

His jet-black hair fluttered backward from the motion.

He raised his right hand, bringing together his index and middle fingers, then flicked them forward—two fingers striking the sword’s blade.

“Ding—!”

The sword was flicked away.

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