After Li Chunsong left, it was Outer Sect Deacon Niu Yuanshan's turn to take charge.
But unlike the other deacons, he did not put on airs with the Registered Disciples.
In many people's eyes, he was fair in his dealings, tireless, and even-tempered.
That was why, after his undercover identity was exposed back then, many Outer Sect disciples refused to believe it. Even many Dao Sect players refused to believe it.
"Cough, cough." Niu Yuanshan cleared his throat and said, "Why don't the two of you first perform blood recognition on your Tokens?"
"Once you're bound to the Tokens, you'll have identity verification and officially become members of my Dao Sect." he added.
Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang exchanged a glance, and the two young people's hearts stirred with faint excitement.
For Han Shuangjiang, this was the first step toward changing the course of her life.
As for a certain transmigrator, he did not know whether the Dao Sect was a place where he could establish himself, or whether what awaited him was a treacherous future.
Their blood dripped onto the Tokens and was rapidly absorbed without a trace.
The System prompt sound rang beside Chu Huai Xu's ear.
"Ding! Congratulations, player. You have successfully joined a sect and obtained 'Faction—Mirror Kingdom Dao Sect.'" "The system is calculating your rewards."
Hearing that pleasant System prompt sound, he perked up considerably.
Back when he played the game, he had gone to great lengths to join Spring Autumn Mountain, one of the Four Great Sects.
Other players might already have been close to level 10, while he had neither joined a sect nor obtained a Cultivation Method, remaining a level-zero account the entire time.
It all came down to the player's personal choice.
Some sects were like diploma mills that would accept you as long as you paid.
For other sects, you had to bury your head in your studies and get in through your own efforts.
In the long run, it seemed that joining a stronger sect would offer better prospects for future development.
But Borrowed Sword was a game, after all. Some players got an early start and had already begun cultivating and leveling up, allowing them to seize the resources and opportunities of the beginner period sooner.
Chu Huai Xu had also seen some players join utterly lousy sects at the beginning, yet soar all the way because of one fortuitous encounter after another in the early stages.
It was precisely this uncertainty that filled the game with such charm in the eyes of players.
"But things are different now."
"I joined the Dao Sect without much effort."
In fact, he had even resisted it at first.
It was worth mentioning, however, that after players went through tremendous hardships to join a powerful sect, their faction rewards would be more generous.
If it was an ordinary sect, they would be assigned to an ordinary faction. The rewards for joining such a faction were standardized: one Random Attribute Point.
Throughout the Eastern Continent, only joining one of the Four Great Sects granted the even more generous faction reward of one Spiritual Embryo Attribute.
With a Spiritual Embryo Attribute, a player would no longer count as a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus.
As for the Eastern Continent players who could not join the Four Great Sects, they could later obtain Spiritual Embryo Attributes by completing hidden quests and major main quests.
"Someone with a Profound Yin Physique like Han Shuangjiang's is very likely to have a typical max-level Spiritual Embryo. Its Spiritual Embryo Attributes need to be maxed out—to 10 points."
"Before I transmigrated, no player had ever maxed this thing out. To be precise, the highest seemed to be only 7 points."
His Spring Autumn Mountain account had already reached 6 points before he transmigrated.
Compared with the true prodigies of the Xuanhuang Realm, it certainly still fell short.
But among players, it was absolutely a crane among chickens.
He had even written this information into his own companion-player profile to show that he was an expert and attract customers.
—Ladies, sure you don't want to come feel my Spiritual Embryo?
After just three breaths, Chu Huai Xu heard the System prompt sound. All his faction rewards had arrived.
Seeing that the two had completed blood recognition with their identity Tokens, Niu Yuanshan lightly tapped his Deacon Token and took out a large number of Jade slips from its storage space.
They were all Cultivation Methods for the Aperture Opening Stage.
He soon found the Ice Purity Art among them and handed it to Han Shuangjiang.
Chu Huai Xu looked at the Jade slip containing the Ice Purity Art and sent an Information Scan toward it.
The information he obtained was:
"Ice Purity Art": Cultivation Method of the Aperture Opening Stage.
Match Rate: 0%.
He curled his lips slightly and complained inwardly, The name sounds so pure and flawless, yet my Match Rate is 0%?
Does it think I'm dirty?
He guessed that the Ice Purity Art's Match Rate with the Profound Yin Physique was probably close to one hundred percent.
The Aperture Opening Stage was a very simple stage of cultivation. Those with true talent could quickly master any Cultivation Method they learned.
For players, it was impossible to get stuck at a level, either. The Experience Points needed for levels 0 through 9 were not high.
It was merely that the higher the Cultivation Method's Match Rate, the fewer Experience Points it took to level up.
These complicated mechanics further increased the game's playability and enhanced players' desire to explore during the early stages.
Niu Yuanshan was certainly paying close attention to the young fellow Daoist before him.
Thus, the broad-browed, big-eyed Outer Sect Deacon, whose entire bearing radiated righteousness, smiled warmly and said, "Come, these are all the Cultivation Methods for the Outer Sect's Aperture Opening Stage. Pick one. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. There's no need to rush."
"Thank you, Deacon." Chu Huai Xu was very polite.
While he was choosing, Niu Yuanshan considerately asked Han Shuangjiang, "It's already late at night, and he may need some more time. You can go back and rest on your own if you wish. It's no trouble."
Unexpectedly, Han Shuangjiang gently shook her head. Her voice remained as cold as ice, as though she had little emotional fluctuation: "I'll wait for him."
Upon hearing that, Chu Huai Xu turned to glance at her, then continued searching through the Cultivation Methods.
He had been using Information Scan the entire time without stopping.
"Overlord God Art, Match Rate: 53%."
"Nine Heavens Ten Earths Profound Technique, Match Rate: 49%."
"Eight Desolations Divine Ability, Match Rate: 9%."
These Cultivation Methods for the Aperture Opening Stage were clearly the most basic ones, yet more than half of their names sounded outrageously impressive.
The problem was that after looking through them all, he still had not found one above 60%.
"This one is pretty good: Lesser Farmer's Art, Match Rate: 78%. But what kind of name is that?"
By now, he had nearly finished looking through all the Jade slips.
Niu Yuanshan and Han Shuangjiang watched him squat on the ground, picking through them one by one. From beginning to end, he never asked the deacon a single question, leaving them completely baffled.
Time passed second by second. Feeling that he ought to take the initiative, Niu Yuanshan thoughtfully asked, "Is there one you're particularly interested in? I can explain it to you."
"No need, Steward Niu." Chu Huai Xu raised his eyes, then continued choosing.
Another incense stick's worth of time passed, and Han Shuangjiang's patience and curiosity were both exhausted.
For her, tonight had been an unusual yet exhausting night.
"How much longer?" she asked.
Chu Huai Xu glanced sideways at her. Since he was squatting, he was looking up at her obliquely from below, making her astonishingly proportioned jade-like legs appear even longer.
"I never asked you to wait for me. If you can't wait, go back." His tone was sharp.
Han Shuangjiang's delicate brows furrowed slightly at that. She said nothing more, but neither did she leave.
Broad-browed and big-eyed, Niu Yuanshan listened to their exchange from the side, utterly astonished.
He had thought that this ice-cold beauty would turn around and leave immediately.
This made him marvel all over again.
Chu Huai Xu had worked as a companion player for a long time and had met far too many women.
There was naturally a reason he had thrived in that line of work.
Though Han Shuangjiang was cold, carried a strong big-sister aura, and seemed difficult to get along with, that was merely a form of self-protection.
Her parents had abandoned her when she was young and sold her into a Brothel.
Being born into such a family and growing up in such an environment would change a person's temperament.
Being abandoned would leave her with a sense of insecurity.
Brothel women were trained from childhood. The main lesson was obedience, teaching them how to serve others.
A Madam wanted a "daughter" who would obey. If you did not obey, the consequences were obvious.
Thus, it was entirely possible for this cold and beautiful young woman to carry a trace of servility.
Chu Huai Xu did indeed want to cling to the leg of this World Protagonist.
But he had no interest in kneeling down and licking her jade-like legs.
Chu Huai Xu stopped paying attention to her and continued searching.
At last, he found what he wanted.
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