The Path of Cultivation

After Li Chunsong left, it fell to Outer Sect Deacon Niu Yuanshan to take charge.

But unlike the other deacons, he didn't put on airs with these registered disciples.

In many people's memory, this man was fair, tireless, and mild-tempered.

That was also why, when his undercover identity was exposed back then, many outer disciples refused to believe it—even many Dao Sect players didn't buy it.

"Cough." Niu Yuanshan cleared his throat and said, "How about you two start by performing blood recognition on your tokens?"

"Once you're bound to the tokens, you'll have identity verification and officially become members of our Dao Sect," he said.

Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang exchanged a glance, both young hearts faintly stirring with excitement.

For Han Shuangjiang, this was the first step in changing the course of her life.

For a certain transmigrator, he still didn't know whether the Dao Sect would be a place for him to settle down, or if what awaited him was a web of intrigue.

Their respective blood dripped onto the tokens, quickly absorbed without a trace.

A system prompt sound rang in Chu Huai Xu's ears.

"Ding! Congratulations, player has successfully joined the sect. Received 'Faction—Mirror Kingdom Dao Sect.'"

"System is now settling rewards."

Hearing that pleasant system prompt sound, he perked up a bit more.

Back when he played the game, he'd exhausted himself trying to join one of the Four Great Sects, Spring Autumn Mountain.

Other players might have already leveled up to 10, but he hadn't joined a sect or obtained a cultivation technique, stuck at level 0.

It all came down to the player's personal choice.

Some sects were like diploma mills you could buy your way into.

Others required you to bury your head in study and earn your spot through effort.

In the long-term, joining a stronger sect seemed to promise better future prospects.

But "Borrowed Sword" was still a game. Some players started early, already cultivating and leveling up, grabbing the resources and opportunities of the newbie period sooner.

Chu Huai Xu had also seen players who joined trash sects at the start but, thanks to a string of early lucky encounters, soared all the same.

It was precisely this uncertainty that made the game so captivating in players' hearts.

"But not anymore."

"I joined the Dao Sect this time without much effort."

In fact, he'd even resisted at first.

Still, it was worth noting that when players went through hell to join a powerful sect, the faction rewards were richer.

For ordinary sects, they'd be classified as a normal faction, and the joining reward was uniform—1 Random Attribute Point.

Across the entire Eastern Continent, only by joining the Four Great Sects could one earn an extra, more generous faction reward—1 Spiritual Embryo Attribute.

With a Spiritual Embryo Attribute, a player was no longer a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus.

As for Eastern Continent players who couldn't join the Four Great Sects, they could later earn Spiritual Embryo Attributes through hidden quests and major main storyline missions.

"Someone like Han Shuangjiang, with a Profound Yin Physique, is likely a typical maxed-out Spirit Embryo—needing all Spiritual Embryo Attributes maxed, which means 10 points."

"Before I transmigrated, no player had ever maxed that out. To be precise, the highest I'd seen was 7 points."

Chu Huai Xu's own account on Spring Autumn Mountain had reached 6 points before he crossed over.

Compared to the true prodigies of the Xuanhuang Realm, there was certainly a gap.

But among players, he was absolutely head and shoulders above the rest.

He'd even listed that info in his gaming companion profile, to show he was a top player and attract clients.

—Ladies, sure you don't want to come feel my Spirit Embryo?

After just three breaths, Chu Huai Xu heard the system prompt sound—his faction rewards had all arrived.

Seeing that the two had completed blood recognition on their identity tokens, Niu Yuanshan lightly tapped his own deacon token, pulling out a large number of jade slips from the storage space within.

These were all Aperture Opening Stage cultivation techniques.

He quickly found the "Ice Purity Art" among them and handed it to Han Shuangjiang.

Chu Huai Xu cast an Information Scan on the "Ice Purity Art" jade slip.

The info he got was:

"Ice Purity Art": Aperture Opening Stage cultivation technique.

Match rate: 0%.

He curled his lips slightly and muttered inwardly, "This technique's name is all 'pure and flawless,' and it has a 0% match with me?"

"Calling me dirty, huh?"

He guessed that the "Ice Purity Art" probably had a near-100% match with the Profound Yin Physique.

The Aperture Opening Stage was a simple cultivation phase. Truly talented people could speed through it with any technique.

For players, leveling up isn't impossible either—the experience points needed from levels 0 to 9 aren't that high.

It's just that the higher the technique's compatibility, the fewer experience points it costs to level up.

These intricate settings are actually meant to further enhance the game's playability and stoke players' desire to explore in the early stages.

Niu Yuanshan looked at the young fellow cultivator before him, his mind undoubtedly set on being extremely attentive.

Thus, this Outer Sect Deacon, with his thick brows, big eyes, and an air of righteousness, spoke with a warm smile: "Come, these are all the Aperture Opening Stage techniques of the Outer Sect. Pick one, and if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. No need to rush."

"Thank you, Deacon." Chu Huai Xu was very polite.

As he browsed, Niu Yuanshan thoughtfully asked Han Shuangjiang: "The night is already deep; he'll probably need some more time. You can head back to rest on your own, no problem."

Unexpectedly, Han Shuangjiang gently shook her head, her voice still icy cold, as if devoid of emotional fluctuation: "I'll wait for him."

Hearing this, Chu Huai Xu turned his head to glance at her, then continued searching through the techniques.

He had been using Information Scan nonstop the whole time.

"Overlord God Art, compatibility 53%."

"Nine Heavens Ten Earths Profound Technique, compatibility 49%."

"Eight Desolations Divine Ability, compatibility 9%."

These Aperture Opening Stage techniques were supposed to be the most basic, yet over half of them had names that sounded incredibly grandiose.

But the problem was, after looking through them all, none exceeded 60%.

"This one's not bad—Lesser Farmer's Art, compatibility 78%. But who came up with this name?"

By now, he had nearly finished examining all the jade slips.

Niu Yuanshan and Han Shuangjiang just watched him squat there, picking and choosing, never once asking the Deacon for guidance, puzzled by what he was doing.

Time ticked by, and Niu Yuanshan felt he should take the initiative, so he offered kindly: "Is there one you're focusing on? I can explain a bit about it."

"No need, Steward Niu." Chu Huai Xu looked up, then continued browsing.

After another incense stick's worth of time, Han Shuangjiang's patience and curiosity were completely exhausted.

For her, tonight was an unusual yet exhausting night.

"How much longer will you be?" she asked.

Chu Huai Xu glanced sideways at her. Since he was squatting, his gaze angled upward from that position, making her strikingly proportioned jade-like legs appear even longer.

"I didn't ask you to wait for me. If you can't stand it, go back," he retorted.

Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She said nothing more but didn't leave either.

Niu Yuanshan, with his thick brows and big eyes, listened to the exchange from the side, utterly astonished.

He had assumed this icy beauty would simply turn and walk away.

This made him marvel inwardly once again.

Having worked as a companion player for so long, Chu Huai Xu had encountered far too many women.

There was a reason he thrived in this line of work.

Don't let Han Shuangjiang's cold exterior fool you—she had a strong sisterly aura and seemed hard to get along with, but that was just her form of self-protection.

Abandoned by her parents as a child, she was sold into a brothel.

Born into such a family and raised in that environment, one's nature changes.

Abandonment breeds insecurity.

Brothel girls are trained from childhood in obedience, taught how to serve others.

The Madam wanted obedient "daughters"; if you weren't compliant, you can imagine the consequences.

Thus, this cold and alluring young woman might even carry a hint of "subservience" in her nature.

Chu Huai Xu did want to latch onto this World Protagonist's coattails.

But he had no interest in kneeling and licking her jade-like legs.

Chu Huai Xu ignored her and continued searching.

Finally, he found what he was looking for.

(PS: New book period—requesting monthly votes to climb the new book rankings~)