Chu Huai Xu's Spirit Embryo

Chu Huai Xu had a very long dream.

But after waking up, he couldn't remember any of it.

When he opened his eyes, a stunning face caught his eye.

Han Shuangjiang, without her veil, sat beside his bed, holding a cloth she'd just used to wipe the sweat from his face and neck.

It was the kind of face that could make anyone lose focus.

Luckily, Chu Huai Xu had a strong resistance in that area.

In his line of work, it was basically the service industry.

Do it long enough, and you get a mild case of "misogyny"?

Interestingly enough, given her own upbringing and life experiences, the peerless beauty before him also had a mild case of "misandry."

That wasn't hard to understand.

The icy woman looked down at Chu Huai Xu and said, "The Sixth Elder told me to take care of you."

But Chu Huai Xu's reply was, "Smells nice."

That slightly flippant answer made her gaze sharpen.

"Not you!" the Fox Face said, frowning at her.

He sat up from the bed and searched his room for the source of the scent.

Soon, he spotted a stick of incense on the table, nearly burned out.

Chu Huai Xu turned his head to look at Han Shuangjiang, his expression questioning.

"That's Calming Incense, left by the Sixth Elder." Her face was visibly cooling as she stood up.

She left the Bamboo House without another word and went back to her own room.

Chu Huai Xu was left sitting on the bed, rubbing his temples.

When playing "Borrowed Sword," players could level up by choosing to upgrade, and their realm would rise accordingly.

He'd kept this Golden Finger, but the overall experience wasn't great.

"Players can adjust the Pain Index, but I can't now," he thought.

Of course, Chu Huai Xu knew the pain came from the technique itself.

Player upgrades essentially skipped the step-by-step cultivation process.

Or rather, all those processes happened in an instant and then fed back into your body.

"So I ran through the Sword Refining Art several times in an instant, and that's why it hurts this much?" Chu Huai Xu was baffled.

He guessed that even without cheating, this technique wouldn't be comfortable to practice normally.

"Hurting this bad, and you still call yourself the Sword Refining Art? You might as well be called Menstrual Cramps," he grumbled inwardly.

So, the question was.

"How the hell does it have a 93% Match Rate with me!"

He didn't think he was a "McDonald's."

Sure, there was a classic saying in his industry: "The flower language of steel wool is endurance and wealth."

But that had nothing to do with him.

He really didn't have that kind of fetish, and he felt a strong aversion to steel wool—those rich-wife happiness balls.

His companion profile never hinted at such things to customers, nor did he slap a "McDonald's" or "Starbucks" label in his bio.

There was a hierarchy in their industry too: the kink crowd was always niche companions, never amounting to much!

So, Chu Huai Xu felt the system owed him an explanation.

He got up from the bed and checked his body.

"Seems... a lot stronger?"

"Is it because I added 1 point to Physique earlier? That boost is bigger?"

"Probably not just that." He turned his gaze to the Jade slip and booklet on the table.

Sitting down, Chu Huai Xu picked up the booklet and flipped back to the first and second pages.

"Don't Cultivate!"

"Listen to Advice!"

He understood now—those two "predecessors" had suffered terribly and left two bad reviews to warn later generations. It was a thoughtful effort.

Chu Huai Xu felt he should write something too, for those who came after.

He picked up a brush, his expression serious, and scrawled bold, flowing characters on the third page:

"Peerless Divine Art!"

Cultivate it! Everyone, get your asses in here and cultivate!

Chu Huai Xu sat fuming in his chair. After snapping the booklet shut, he realized he still had something important to do.

"I haven't added my Spiritual Embryo attribute points yet."

The Spiritual Embryo was also closely tied to a cultivator's innate divine abilities.

This thing was way, way too important.

A Pseudo-Spirit Fetus had no future.

He opened his Character Panel and directly added that 1 point of Spiritual Embryo attribute.

But the first interface that popped up was—choose the type of Spiritual Embryo.

This was easy to understand: each Spiritual Embryo had its own traits.

Take that Profound Yin Physique guy next door, for example. If Chu Huai Xu chose Profound Yin Physique right now, his Character Panel would mark the Spiritual Embryo column as: Profound Yin Physique (Dust-Shrouded).

Only when the attribute points reached 10 would the words "Dust-Shrouded" disappear, and the Spiritual Embryo would reach Major Accomplishment!

However, when players selected a Spiritual Embryo, they could only choose a broad category and then randomly draw from within it.

For instance, Pure Yang Physique and Profound Yin Physique were both in the Yin-Yang category.

Besides Yin-Yang, the Spiritual Embryo categories also included Five Elements, Thunder, Dark Night, Divine Travel, Joyful Union, and dozens more.

Each category had further subdivisions.

If you really wanted to pick carefully, it could make your eyes go cross.

But Chu Huai Xu had already made up his mind.

"No choice. After all, through a twist of fate, I've already entered the Dao Sect."

"And that sword is right here in the Dao Sect!"

He didn't even glance at the other categories and directly made his selection—Sword!

"Ding! You have chosen the Sword Spirit Embryo. Drawing in progress."

"Congratulations! You have obtained the Spiritual Embryo: Heart Sword."

Heart Sword?

In his memory, there was no information about it. He'd never seen a Sword Cultivator player with this kind of Spiritual Embryo.

Chu Huai Xu felt his body undergo an instant transformation!

When he closed his eyes, he could sense a sword floating in his Sea of Consciousness.

A pitch-black sword!

For some reason, he felt it was alive, connected to his mind, possessing its own spirit.

But it seemed lifeless, half-dead and listless.

Chu Huai Xu wasn't surprised by this.

Because right now, his Character Panel clearly stated: Spiritual Embryo: Heart Sword: 1. (Dust-Shrouded).

Below it was a line of system text:

"The sword cuts the flesh; the heart cuts the soul."

Medicine Mountain, Steward's Courtyard.

Niu Yuanshan sat cross-legged on his bed, restless.

At this moment, the East had turned white, and dawn was nearly here.

Just two hours ago, Sixth Elder Li Chunsong had come knocking again, asking where the "Sword Refining Art" came from.

Niu Yuanshan told the truth, saying he didn't know either.

The Jade slip was indeed with him, but the storage of these Aperture Opening Stage techniques wasn't his responsibility.

"Sixth Elder, there should be records kept in the Scripture Pavilion," he cautiously suggested.

Li Chunsong nodded and vanished instantly, flying toward the Scripture Pavilion, leaving Steward Niu utterly baffled.

"Isn't the 'Sword Refining Art' already given to that newcomer in the organization?"

"Why did the Sixth Elder suddenly come asking about this?"

"Could there be something wrong with this Aperture Opening technique?"

"Then what about this Chu Huai Xu..."

Niu Yuanshan felt the urge several times to rush over to the other's Bamboo House overnight and check on him.

He suppressed the thought, but it would rise again after a while.

He spent the whole night tangled in all kinds of worries and Wild thoughts.

Steward Niu's mind was full of Chu Huai Xu.

Eyes open, it was him. Eyes closed, it was him too.

"Slap—!"

In the courtyard, a slap rang out, even louder than before.

Niu Yuanshan hit himself harder this time, swelling his own face.

"Admonition Article Three: Do not harbor excessive prying desires toward fellow Daoists."

"Loy—alty!"