Little Black Sword

Inside the secret chamber, Han Shuangjiang had been guarding Chu Huai Xu the whole time.

She could clearly sense his aura shift several times, but couldn't put her finger on why.

Until the moment Chu Huai Xu opened his eyes—she couldn't help but feel a jolt in her heart.

Strange. She actually sensed a sharp, piercing edge coming from a person!

But that feeling dissipated cleanly in no time.

Chu Huai Xu let out a long breath of stale air and glanced down at his own body.

"So comfortable," he mused inwardly.

"If the Sword Refining Art were this pleasant, cultivation would be downright addictive."

Han Shuangjiang stepped forward a few paces and asked with concern, "How is it?"

"Feels great," he replied.

"Then try using the Spirit Disk and see how much your Spiritual Embryo grade has improved." She was genuinely curious.

What else could Chu Huai Xu do? Indulge her, of course.

He took out the Spirit Disk from his Storage Token and pressed his large hand onto it.

The needle no longer lingered at scale one—it went straight to scale three.

"One pill, and it jumped two grades." Han Shuangjiang clicked her tongue in amazement.

Sure, Chu Huai Xu was still a Low Grade Spiritual Embryo, but anyone who'd cultivated knew that raising a Spiritual Embryo's grade was a heaven-defying feat, incredibly difficult.

That was common knowledge.

For that very reason, among all a player's attributes, improving the Spiritual Embryo Attribute was the hardest.

Chu Huai Xu nodded and said, "This Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill was personally refined by Pill King himself. Its effects are probably stronger than the usual ones."

"Too bad it only works for people with Low Grade Spiritual Embryos. If anyone could use it, that'd be something," he added with a smile.

In theory, the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill's maximum effect was to boost a Level 3 Low Grade Spiritual Embryo to a Level 4 Mid-Grade Spiritual Embryo.

But Chu Huai Xu had no intention of hoarding it to hit that limit.

On one hand, possessing a treasure invited trouble and unexpected risks.

On the other, relying on his memory—like a half-prophet—he had other channels to improve his Spiritual Embryo.

Better to boost his strength early on.

Without enough power, many opportunities weren't worth having.

Right now, Chu Huai Xu cared more about his Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability: Clear Heart Sword.

"Awakening a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability this fast?" That caught him off guard.

Normally, High-grade Spiritual Embryos and Super Grade Spiritual Embryos had a chance to awaken their own Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities during cultivation.

Usually, it happened at least by the Great Cultivator stage.

From a game perspective, techniques were like active skills, while Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities were more like passive ones.

When players improved their Spiritual Embryo Attribute, there was also a chance to awaken a divine ability.

The reason was simple—take Chu Huai Xu's Heart Sword, for example. The state marked on the Character Panel was: Dust-Shrouded.

In theory, his upper limit was 10 points of Spiritual Embryo Attribute, meaning the Heart Sword's ceiling was a Super Grade Spiritual Embryo, just still in the dust-shrouded phase.

So, manifesting a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability wasn't surprising.

"But the problem is, based on my past experience, no player has ever awakened a divine ability below 5 attribute points!"

Even his own main account was no exception—it awakened the divine ability: Instant, right when he hit Level 5 Spiritual Embryo.

That was already considered lucky.

"Why did it awaken at just Level 3 this time?"

"Is it because the pill Pill King personally refined was especially potent?"

"Or did Han Shuangjiang, this World Protagonist carrying immense fortune, really bring me good luck? Did I leech off her blessings?"

He recalled that on the forums, many players had said that going on dungeon runs with Han Shuangjiang, or doing main storyline quests under her lead, always yielded impressive rewards—incredible luck.

"Could she actually have some koi fish attribute on her?" Chu Huai Xu looked up and studied her.

Meeting his gaze, Han Shuangjiang felt a bit uneasy and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I feel like today's fortune is really something ridiculous."

His next words made even this Cold-faced girl's expression shift in shock.

"I awakened a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability," Chu Huai Xu said.

Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities were generally exclusive to powerful cultivators, and also one of their symbols.

That's why the tales spread among mortals often mentioned them.

Han Shuangjiang never expected that Chu Huai Xu, still in the Aperture Opening Stage—not even formally starting cultivation—had awakened a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability.

"And wasn't he a Low Grade Spiritual Embryo?" the girl asked, baffled.

Yet amid her surprise, she still felt happy for him.

She even felt happy for this Senior Lei Wenyen as well.

Shuang Bao's nature was indeed kind.

She also had the tact not to ask what specific ability it was.

But Chu Huai Xu was full of questions.

"Why Clear Heart Sword?"

"Why did it have to be Clear Heart Sword?"

His spiritual embryo was the Heart Sword, and awakening Clear Heart Sword seemed fitting on the surface.

But he knew well that the Sword Heart was actually a realm for Sword Cultivators.

Sword Cultivators with great strength and deep insights into the Sword Dao would all develop a Sword Heart.

The so-called Clear Heart Sword was the supreme realm of the Sword Heart!

The four peerless Sword Cultivators of the current era, known as the Four Great Divine Swords, were all at the Clear Heart Sword realm.

This seemed incredibly impressive, yet Chu Huai Xu's feelings were still a bit complicated.

The reason was simple: if he chose the Sword Dao and became a Sword Cultivator, then as he grew stronger, a Sword Heart would eventually come to him anyway.

This meant he had essentially wasted a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability! Since when was a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability just a Sword Heart!

But looking on the bright side, developing a Sword Heart was something that happened in the mid-to-late stages of cultivation.

As for the Clear Heart Sword realm, that was an even more distant level.

To put it pretentiously, the Four Great Divine Swords could kill me like stepping on an ant, but when it came to Sword Dao insight, you're all on the same level as me.

The moment Clear Heart Sword awakened, Chu Huai Xu seemed to gain a profound understanding of the Sword Dao, as if he had glimpsed countless scenes in an instant.

Yet in the blink of an eye, he remembered nothing, only a mysterious Artistic Conception lingering in his heart, indescribable and unclear.

He was carried away by the meaning, grasping the essence while losing the form!

Chu Huai Xu opened his Character Panel and carefully examined its description.

As he had expected, the effect of this Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability matched his understanding of Clear Heart Sword—it wasn't just a coincidence of names.

Simply put, once a Sword Cultivator developed a Sword Heart, all their sword techniques and various effects would be enhanced.

In game terms, when a Sword Heart first appears, the boost is 10%.

Minor Accomplishment of the Sword Heart gives 40%.

Major Accomplishment gives 70%.

Clear Heart Sword gives 100%!

Don't underestimate such small percentage differences.

In actual combat, this is a total stomp!

Because it's a comprehensive boost, improving not just sword damage but also speed, armor penetration, and more.

For Chu Huai Xu at his current stage, being invincible among the same rank was just basic.

Beyond that, he could feel the little black sword in his Sea of Consciousness had become noticeably more active, no longer so lifeless.

"It's like evolving from a barely breathing near-death state to a sickly one?" That was Chu Huai Xu's impression.

He inexplicably felt like he was raising a child, gradually nursing it back to health.

"There's one more thing, very important."

Chu Huai Xu was connected to this Heart Sword in spirit, and he could clearly sense its state.

Through his perception, he could tell that the power of Clear Heart Sword was actually stored within the little black sword.

"Thinking about it, it makes sense—since it manifested as a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability, and my spiritual embryo is the Heart Sword."

With this thought, his eyes sharpened, and a bold guess emerged in his mind.

"Then does this mean I still have a chance to develop a Sword Heart on my own?"