Borrowed Sword

Chapter 68: 《Myriad Swords Converge》

Regarding the legends of the Dao Ancestor, Chu Huaixu was all too familiar.

It was said that on Ask-Dao Peak there once stood an ordinary Daoist temple with a strange name—it was actually called Gentleman Temple.

The Dao Ancestor was just a little Daoist boy from that temple.

By chance, he obtained an unnamed First Realm cultivation method and began cultivating.

Some said his later methods were patchworks gathered from all over, while others claimed they were entirely his own creations.

In any case, this little Daoist went from being just a Daoist, to a Dao Lord, and finally became the Dao Ancestor.

The name 《Dao Canon》was given by later generations, or rather, it was an honorific.

The Dao Ancestor himself had never named his own cultivation method.

“《Dao Canon》is divided into nine volumes, corresponding to the First through Ninth Realms,” Chu Huaixu thought.

The cultivation system of the Xuanhuang Realm was rather peculiar.

The methods of each realm were not actually linked together, for the cultivation models of every realm were different.

The First Realm had its own methods, and the Second Realm had different ones.

Cultivation, in essence, was the continuous development of the 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】. By developing it, one could store more spiritual energy within, strengthen the divine sense of the Sea of Consciousness, and obtain one’s own divine abilities.

The nine realms were actually nine stages of opening the 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】—a gradual process.

Cultivation methods were simply the ways and means of opening the 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】.

Upon reaching the next realm, the “place” to be developed was already different, entirely unrelated to the previous realm. It was not strictly an unbroken lineage.

For example, the 《Six Sovereigns Canon》that Han Shuangjiang chose also had three volumes, corresponding to the First through Third Realms.

But amusingly, 《Six Sovereigns Canon 2》was only Earth-rank, while 《3》was merely Profound-rank.

They were all created by the same person, hence sharing the same name, though in fact, they were not closely related.

Of course, the creator could have chosen to name them differently—entirely up to personal choice.

Some, realizing their later works grew increasingly poor, would even rename them to avoid tarnishing the reputation of their earlier ones.

According to the Xuanhuang Realm’s cultivation system, once Han Shuangjiang reached the Second Realm, she could entirely skip 《Six Sovereigns Canon 2》and instead cultivate another Heaven-rank Second Realm method.

For the first three realms, it didn’t matter much. As players would say: “Just train however the hell you want!”

But by the Fourth Realm, one had to pay attention to the 【system】. Each method chosen had to be considered in advance for compatibility with the next, lest the system become overly chaotic—or even conflicting!

At such times, guidance from elders was best.

This was why the Dao Gate divided disciples into outer and inner sects.

With sufficient strength, one could enter the inner sect and formally take a master.

In this world, successful independent cultivators were rare, and someone like the Dao Ancestor was an exception among exceptions.

Yet the 《Dao Canon》that the Dao Ancestor cultivated was somewhat strange.

Logically speaking, if one could master all nine volumes of 《Dao Canon》, they should be able to perfectly replicate the Dao Ancestor’s path of cultivation and become an unmatched powerhouse like him.

“But bizarrely, not a single person in history has ever reached the level of a Major Cultivator through 《Dao Canon》! Not even a broken-through Fifth Realm!” Chu Huaixu thought.

“Back then, the Dao Ancestor accepted ten true disciples, and not one of them was made to cultivate 《Dao Canon》.”

“Later generations revered the Dao Ancestor, some even blindly worshiping him. Given the chance to cultivate 《Dao Canon》, they would do so without hesitation.”

“But the result was always the same—lifelong regret. No one could ever break through the Fifth Realm using volumes one through four of 《Dao Canon》. Once you reached the peak of the Fourth Realm, you could never practice the Fifth volume. Try to switch to another method? You’d find yourself unable to learn it.”

“This gave rise to two sayings in the Xuanhuang Realm.”

“The first: to reach the Fifth Realm through 《Dao Canon》, one must be a peerless genius like the Dao Ancestor himself. People speculate that once the Fifth Realm is reached, the true uniqueness of 《Dao Canon》would finally be revealed!”

Indeed, volumes one through four of 《Dao Canon》were all perfectly aligned with the principles of ‘Balance and Harmony’. They had nothing special about them.

The Dao Gate had existed for a thousand years now, and everyone tacitly agreed: volumes one through four of 《Dao Canon》were merely ordinary among Heaven-rank methods—at best Earth-rank.

Amusingly, in those long thousand years, some Dao Gate disciples experimented—practicing volumes one through three of 《Dao Canon》, then skipping the fourth volume and cultivating something else. The result? They actually managed to break into the Fifth Realm!

“Hence, the second saying, somewhat ridiculous yet not without credibility: when writing the fourth volume of 《Dao Canon》, the Dao Ancestor made a mistake.”

That was why anyone who cultivated the fourth volume would forever be barred from the Fifth Realm, doomed never to become a Major Cultivator.

Know that in these thousand years, many top-grade Spirit Embryo holders refused to believe this curse and stubbornly cultivated 《Dao Canon》all the way through. Even two supreme Spirit Embryo holders tried, one of them also a Pure Yang Body like the Dao Ancestor himself.

As for volumes five through nine of 《Dao Canon》, no one in the entire Xuanhuang Realm had ever mastered them.

Many tried cultivating other methods for the first through fourth realms, then switching to 《Dao Canon 5》at the Fifth Realm, but they couldn’t even begin to practice it.

The same held true for the later volumes.

No matter what—no one could learn them!

People began to suspect that the Dao Ancestor had already written something wrong in volume four, and from volume five onward, it was nothing but nonsense.

But because the Dao Ancestor’s prestige was too high, many still stubbornly believed the fault lay not in 《Dao Canon》but in themselves.

——How could the Dao Ancestor be wrong? It must be me who is wrong.

This led many academic factions within the Dao Gate to dedicate themselves to studying 《Dao Canon》.

And so, generation after generation, they researched for a thousand years, yet came up with nothing.

By rights, Chu Huaixu should not have paid 《Dao Canon》much attention.

But unfortunately, he was a cheater.

In his memory, there had been players who cultivated 《Dao Canon》all the way to level 49.

The only reason they hadn’t entered the Fifth Realm was because the current version’s level cap was 49!

This had been mentioned before: even Chu Huaixu’s own main account, before transmigrating, had been stuck at 49, awaiting the next patch update.

More importantly, those players who cultivated 《Dao Canon》had character panels showing the same note as everyone else—【After the version update, you may level up】.

This meant that players were not bound by that limitation!

For Chu Huaixu, who possessed the system, it was impossible not to notice 《Dao Canon》.

Besides, even though he had transmigrated, he still retained a player’s mentality, daring and reckless.

“Damn, I kinda want to learn it!” he thought.

“Instead of picking different methods for each realm and worrying about compatibility from the Fourth Realm onward, why not just replicate the Dao Ancestor’s path, pushing straight through with 《Dao Canon》?”

If he could truly do this, before him would lie a heavenly path—one leading straight to the Dao Ancestor’s very realm!

After the Dao Ancestor’s passing, none knew what awaited at the end. To become a Major Cultivator through 《Dao Canon》—what an unimaginable sight that would be.

Time passed, and Chu Huaixu still hesitated.

At last, he gritted his teeth and reached for the jade slip of 《Dao Canon》’s first volume.

But his arm was suddenly caught by a slightly cold little hand.

“You’re sure you want to choose 《Dao Canon》?” Han Shuangjiang asked.

Legends of the Dao Ancestor were always widely spread.

《Dao Canon》was no exception.

“I’m sure,” Chu Huaixu replied. Once he made up his mind, he never changed it.

He was never one to dither, hesitate, or be swayed by others.

Before he decided, others could offer advice. But once he had decided, any further advice was asking him to second-guess himself.

Han Shuangjiang frowned and stared at him for a long time, but in the end, she said nothing more.

“Anyway, the first three volumes can still be cultivated. The one to avoid is the fourth,” she thought.

Yet the cold-faced girl still couldn’t understand—why did Chu Huaixu insist on choosing 《Dao Canon》?

The Big Ice Block finally spoke: “Since your mind is made up, I won’t say more.”

Chu Huaixu regained his usual demeanor, glancing at the 《Six Sovereigns Canon》in her hand with a smile: “And you—you really chose that one, huh?”

Han Shuangjiang’s pretty face remained stern as she answered solemnly: “I intended to choose it from the start. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Really? That so? Fine, fine.” Chu Huaixu replied with three dismissive phrases in a row.

The Big Ice Block’s delicate brows furrowed again. Somehow, those casual words piled together sounded rather grating to her ears.

“Since we’ve both chosen, let’s go.” Her voice was cold again. She was starting to find him somewhat annoying.

Chu Huaixu only smiled at her and asked, “Are you sure? Leaving now?”

“What, are you reconsidering? Fine, I’ll wait for you. No need to rush,” Han Shuangjiang quickly said.

She still felt 《Dao Canon》was a poor choice.

“No, I mean—are you sure you don’t want to go upstairs? Just heading straight home?” Chu Huaixu raised a finger and pointed upstairs.

The Big Ice Block followed his gesture, glancing up at the stairs.

She said: “Upstairs are Second and Third Realm methods. What use do we have for those?”

“The fourth floor is for techniques. But without Spirit Plates to exchange for Sect Contribution Points, we can’t redeem any.” she added.

Chu Huaixu looked into her eyes and replied, “Did you forget something?”

He continued without waiting: “Do you know the Dao Ancestor once created a Heaven-rank technique that shook the world? Instead of hoarding it, he made it public, allowing all cultivators to study it. Yet after a thousand years, few have ever mastered it.”

Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang’s eyes lit up. Her cool, frosty face seemed to thaw, showing a rare spark of vitality.

“You mean—” she looked at Chu Huaixu.

Chu Huaixu nodded, speaking each word clearly: “That’s right. On the fourth floor lies 《Myriad Swords Converge》!”