Borrowed Sword

Chapter 70: Secret of the Dao Ancestor

“Body Training, even dogs wouldn’t practice it!” ——Chu Huaixu.

——

Inside the bamboo hut, the young man dressed in black robes sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. His face flushed slightly, sweat poured down, and his lips couldn’t help but tremble.

“Pain, so much pain!”

Chu Huaixu clenched his teeth hard, feeling as though he was about to lose his mind.

The pain he felt now was vastly different from when he cultivated the 《Sword Refining Art》.

The 《Sword Refining Art》 relied on the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth to temper the body, using one’s own flesh as the sword embryo, enduring the hammering of Spiritual Energy.

That was an external-to-internal kind of pain.

But what the 《Dao Canon》 now brought him was different. Part of the Spiritual Energy entered the 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】, where it was warm and comfortable.

Another part surged into his body, bringing a pain that spread from the inside out!

——Tsk! It was an entirely new type of agony!

As the Spiritual Energy within him increased, the burden on his body grew heavier and heavier.

Chu Huaixu ground his teeth in hatred. He suddenly remembered the words written in the booklet introducing the 《Dao Canon》: impartial and harmonious.

You call this impartial and harmonious?

The pain expanded further, reaching its peak at the instant of breaking through.

In the room next door, Han Shuangjiang was just about to close her eyes to cultivate when she heard a familiar scream.

She was long accustomed to it, unfazed.

A playful smile flickered across the girl’s face as she shut her eyes on the meditation cushion.

But soon, she snapped them open again, immediately stood up, and rushed out anxiously.

“Didn’t he already open all Nine Apertures? Didn’t he obtain the 《Dao Canon》?”

“Why is this still happening?”

“No, I have to check—could he have gone into Qi Deviation? What if something happens?”

A deep concern surfaced on the face of the Big Ice Block. She quickly knocked on the door, but there was no response from within.

Han Shuangjiang ignored propriety between men and women, pushing open Chu Huaixu’s bamboo door.

He was collapsed on the meditation cushion, his black robes and underclothes drenched.

Sweat and blood mingled together.

Strangely, his body was covered in large swellings, with skin split open in many places, torn and bloody.

It was as if a force from within his body was pressing outward—

Swelling his flesh to the verge of bursting!

Han Shuangjiang’s lashes trembled. Out of concern, she momentarily panicked.

But quickly, she calmed herself, the first person who came to mind for help being Steward Niu.

She could tell Steward Niu was truly a good person.

Just as the Big Ice Block was about to rush off, she noticed something.

“Was it my imagination?”

“Why do the wounds seem less severe, and the swellings shrinking?”

She looked carefully and realized they were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Just like—”

“—that time in the Body Tempering Medicine Liquid!” Han Shuangjiang recalled the water pool of that day.

Relieved slightly, she guessed: “Did he take some Spiritual Pill?”

For such a recovery rate was impossible for the human body alone.

Still, the cold-faced girl remained uneasy.

“I’ll keep watch here,” she thought.

“If anything else happens, I’ll immediately find Steward Niu.” The Big Ice Block resolved.

Han Shuangjiang slowly crouched beside Chu Huaixu.

Before crouching, she habitually tugged her robe hem upward, lest her full hips become too tightly constrained by the robes.

Resting her arms on her knees, she lowered her small face against them, watching him this way.

“The Dead Fox’s wounds should heal completely soon.”

After some thought, the Big Ice Block extended her slightly cold hand, placing it on his forehead to feel his temperature.

“Not so hot anymore.”

Once her palm touched him, she noticed Chu Huaixu’s tightly furrowed brows eased a little.

Nearly an hour passed before Chu Huaixu slowly regained consciousness.

Curled on the floor, he opened his eyes to see Han Shuangjiang seated on a chair, pretending to pour herself tea.

“You’re awake?” Her tone was calm, cold as always, without a trace of concern.

“Mm.” Chu Huaixu shook his head vigorously, forcing clarity into his mind.

He got up, glancing at his robes.

“Why the hell am I bleeding again!” He was exasperated.

“I don’t know. When I arrived, your body was swollen and split in many places. Now everything’s healed, not even a scar remains,” Han Shuangjiang explained.

Chu Huaixu’s frown deepened.

He couldn’t tell if the 《Dao Canon》 was miraculous or sinister!

The Big Ice Block, still cold, asked: “Weren’t you cultivating the 《Dao Canon》 in your room? How did you end up like this?”

“Because I think I discovered a secret of the Dao Ancestor,” Chu Huaixu replied.

“What?” Han Shuangjiang’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

“I suspect that the Dao Ancestor, that venerable figure, was actually a crude Body Cultivator!”

Her eyes immediately sharpened, displeased: “Don’t joke about such things!”

Then she glanced around, hinting he should mind his words.

This was the Dao Gate! And he dared say the Dao Ancestor was a body trainer?

Utter blasphemy!

Chu Huaixu restrained his expression, speaking seriously: “Alright, let me be clear. In fact, I suspect the Dao Ancestor was truly someone who cultivated both inside and out.”

“Hm?” Han Shuangjiang grew more confused.

Even in Chu Huaixu’s eyes there lingered traces of bewilderment.

Back during the Qi-Opening Stage, when he claimed he cultivated both internally and externally, it was just boasting.

The 《Sword Refining Art》 was pure body training, a sinister technique relying entirely on external hammering to stimulate digestion of the Qi-Opening Pill.

Others assumed when he said “internal and external,” it meant he also tempered his body alongside his cultivation method.

Admirable perseverance, but nothing more.

In truth, many body cultivators liked to call themselves “dual cultivators” to raise their status—

But most people scoffed.

That was the style of body training.

Those who trained the body usually did so because their 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】 was too low-grade, unable to hold much Spiritual Energy.

With scarce energy, their cultivation remained meager, breakthroughs difficult.

Perhaps, in ancient times, a certain genius thought: Why not store the energy in the body instead of the Spirit Embryo Secret Store?

The result was, of course, exploding to death.

Later, more “geniuses”—or rather, lunatics—appeared.

If the body kept exploding, then clearly, the body was too weak!

Thus the body-training school was born.

These extremists strengthened their bodies, finding indeed the flesh could hold energy—but only if tempered to sufficient toughness!

The process was extremely arduous and torturous.

Most body trainers who called themselves dual cultivators only had a trickle of energy in the Spirit Embryo Secret Store, with most stored in the flesh instead.

Usually, the ratio was 20-80, or 30-70, sometimes even 10-90.

But when Chu Huaixu upgraded just now, his feeling was strange.

He clearly felt his energy splitting evenly within—

This was a true fifty-fifty balance, the real meaning of internal and external dual cultivation!

Han Shuangjiang asked, “Your body’s strange condition earlier—wasn’t it because you took some healing pill?”

The Dead Fox winked at her. “This is my big secret. I’ll only tell you, don’t spread it.”

“Alright.”

He shook his head. “I only took the Advancement Pill from the Treasure Pavilion. I didn’t take any healing pills.”

“This result was completely unexpected. Why it happened, I’m still exploring.” He spoke honestly.

Han Shuangjiang was shocked. “But the rumors of the 《Dao Canon》 are widely known—even in the Mortal World people say no one has ever perfected it.”

“But I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing what you did while cultivating it.”

“Tsk, that just means they practiced it wrong!” Chu Huaixu grinned.

Yet inwardly, his doubts deepened.

She was right: over a thousand years, countless people had practiced the 《Dao Canon》, but none had experienced internal and external activation together.

“Not even players!” 

That was what startled him most.

Many hardcore players followed “review styles.” With such a perfect material as the 《Dao Canon》, how could they not post reviews on the forum?

He was sure no other player had his situation.

“Could it be because our initial physique was different?” His thoughts raced. “I was tempered by the 《Sword Refining Art》, meeting the real requirements of the 《Dao Canon》?”

He wasn’t certain.

He only knew the 《Sword Refining Art》 was also strange. No other body method at the Qi-Opening Stage could reach that intensity.

Especially after opening the Ninth Aperture, his body improved drastically. He suspected even First Realm body cultivators couldn’t match him.

“Legend says the Dao Ancestor accidentally obtained an unnamed cultivation method, beginning his path.”

“So, could it be, when he was just a little Daoist, he polished his body daily, indulging in ‘self-torment,’ reaching a level comparable to mastery of the 《Sword Refining Art》?”

“If so, what did he practice before the 《Dao Canon》?”

Chu Huaixu grew more bewildered.

From the timeline, the Qi-Opening Pill was invented when the Dao Ancestor reached the Ninth Realm. Only then did matching Qi-Opening Stage methods emerge.

A thousand years ago, the Qi-Opening Stage didn’t even exist. Everyone began from the First Realm, and cultivators were few.

So, back then, methods all started from the First Realm. There was no “preparatory” foundation.

The man who reigned supreme for a millennium was shrouded in endless mysteries.

Chu Huaixu opened his 【Character Panel】, checking carefully.

Inside, the 【Spirit Energy Value】 in the 【Spirit Embryo Secret Store】 showed: 86.

He wasn’t surprised. He remembered clearly, in those 《Dao Canon》 reviews, the numbers shown were always around the 80s.

“No wonder many say the 《Dao Canon》 is really only equivalent to an Earth-rank cultivation method, placed under Heaven-rank purely out of respect for the Dao Ancestor.”

“For Earth-rank First Realm methods, Spiritual Energy Value typically ranged from 80–100 after mastery. That was the Earth-rank standard.”

“As for Heaven-rank, it was 100–120.”

On the cultivation path, the further one went, the greater the difference became.

Thus, the 《Dao Canon》 only barely passed as Earth-rank.

“But the problem is—” Chu Huaixu’s eyes lowered.

“My flesh also contains 86 units of Spiritual Energy!”